"Warring Ideals in One Dark Body"

I find it fascinating that in the space of a month wild_irises , Barbara Ehrenreich, and Dave Chappelle all basically said the same thing.

I was in my living room, studying trying to be a good, little, fucking boyscout as usual. pokershaman and wild_irises  came in, and I apologized for an earlier interaction in which (in my mind) I had snapped at them. This perplexed them, as (in their minds) at most perhaps there had been an edge in my voice. wild_irises said, "This is really important. You shouldn't have to feel like you have to be 'on' all the time with your friends."

I said, "I'll have to think about that, cause I have no idea what that would be like," which prompted pokershaman to coo at me in that wonderful way he has and come give me a backrub. I just said, "I'll think about it," again, because I didn't feel like crying in front of anyone just then, and wild_irises  said, "OK. But think about it for real because... it's a burden to always have to be okay." (You damn right, too. Go 'head on, wit' cho bad self.)

I no longer apply to jobs asking for "perky" or "energetic" people. I assume I would be abused there by The Cult of Happy People, the "create your own reality" folks who think if you aren't rich and happy and in good health and conventionally beautiful and privileged then it must be because you didn't wish hard enough for it or think the right way about it and if you can't do that, then you're an inherently negative person who probably has bad karma. You must deserve it and nothing good will ever come to you and you don't want to be in that boat so smile, and stop bringing us down with your illness or your grieving or your need for social justice or to end the war or to be treated like a human being or make enough money to feed your kids or go to the doctor or your PTSD. Stop it with that and be happy, because it could be worse, so we need not think about how we could do better. Cheer up, because I don't want to think about your pain. If you can't do that, just go be quiet somewhere where I don't have to see you or deal with you or think about much except me. Me. "The rattle? Oh, that's my single brain cell--isn't it divine?" Oh, and BTW, I can't hear you because you sound so angry...

I hate those perky mother-fuckers. I wish I could hogtie me one of 'em an' beat the shit out of one of 'em in a positive feedback loop where their sunny disposition and platitudes causes an exaggeration in the stimulus. When I get tired, I got friends and y'all could all come over and kick the crap out of one of these.... I hate these perky bitches. (Yeah, there are a couple of 'em I'm in direct contact with pretty regularly--nobody here, thankfully.)

Links to Ehrenreich's interview on Democracy Now! and The Daily Show
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/13/author_barbara_ehrenreich_on_bright_sided
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-14-2009/barbara-ehrenreich

and here's Chappelle weighing in