Tuesday Hate

Over the past three years, I've become a habitué of The Weblog, a "virtual neighborhood" created by Adam Kotsko, a graduate student in theology, and de facto in continental philosophy, who lives in Chicago. A number of other people post there, pllus there is a lively, if sometimes oblique, comments section.

At first my hanging around was a largely matter of eavesdropping on the discussions about various thinkers -- some of them (Deleuze, Zizek) more or less familiar to me, others (Nancy,Badiou, various theologians) not so much. I hoped to pick up some insight into the latter by osmosis. That aspect of the site has lately migrated here, more or less. Conversation at The Weblog also led to the occasional musical tip, e.g. The Shins. And then there was the t-shirt. A long story, that one, and I don't even know all of it, probably.


Anyway, one of the routines or rituals of The Weblog is Tuesday Hatred. Adam has usually asked for volunteers to disburden themselves (likewise with the Friday Confessions). But in recent weeks, Claire M. (last name redacted per her request) has taken over as regular Tuesday Hater -- finding much to denounce in the world, or in her corner of it.

Here are some of her Greatest Hits, which I have selected without regard to nuances of context and arranged in no particular order:

I hate that the closest I can come to adopting a sea otter is a "symbolic donation" to a wildlife charity.

I hate that the best tasting beer has live yeast chunks in it.

I hate that the turkey loaf I made has the consistency and odor of Nine Lives cat food.

I hate that it is 10am and I have already polished off two slices of turkey loaf.

I hate that no one takes my PhD in Philosophy from an online university seriously.

I hate that narcissists, by their very nature, are unlikely to be able to tolerate therapy.

I hate that I have Justin Timberlake's "My Love" on repeat in my head.

I hate that in the Hippie's absence, Boring Married Guy served me my coffee.

I hate that I am sought after by alcoholic men of all stripes.

I hate that our newest employee is overly enthusiastic and has a pear-shaped head.

I hate that my coworker's response to any question is a blank look, a shrug and nervous
laughter.

I that I rationalize my reception job by telling myself that I am perfecting my velvet voice for radio.

There will be a link, here, to today's imprecation, fresh off the griddle, once it goes up....Here it is.

February 6, 2007 7:16 AM | | Comments (4)

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4 Comments

I'm glad to see that Claire is getting the recognition she deserves. She's a talented up-and-coming blogger, and I'm humbled and awed by the fact that she is getting her start at The Weblog.

"Hatred" seems too emotionally loaded a word for many of these ... irritations. Like smashing a fly with a bag of cement. Perhaps Claire and the Weblog can take their cue from the now-famous-online Helsinki Complaints Choir: Compile the Tuesday hatreds and set them to music ("We always lose to Sweden in hockey ... the daily paper is too thick"). It seems to lead to precisely the kind of collective expression that Tuesday Hatreds is designed to air.

Be sure to get a slow-building, semi-solemn melody that lends the right weight to observations like "Tramline 3 always smells of pee."

I find Claire's hatreds to be right on the mark in their seriousness. If they were any more serious, i.e. "I hate AIDS," or "I hate that we're all going to die from global warming in ten years," they just wouldn't be funny.

"I hate AIDS" is pretty good though.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Quick Study published on February 6, 2007 7:16 AM.

Searchin' for My Mainline was the previous entry in this blog.

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