“Moving forward.”
Shut. Up. Seriously. STOP SAYING THIS. It’s become a joke in our office to say it, mockingly of course. It was humorous for a few weeks after I noticed how popular the term had become. Now I hear it more than ever and it’s no longer funny. It’s a constant reminder that people (you) are mindless a-holes all attempting to fit in and be super cool and hip with the most popular vernacular (even “popular vernacular” is a dumb, over-used term that should also be outed from our vocabulary).
It’s driving me nuts. To you stupid, stupid idiots who keep repeating “moving forward”: try thinking for yourself just a tiny bit and come up with your own dumb talking point/catchphrase thing. I don’t even know what it’s called. But it’s stupid so stop saying it. Thanks.
Moving forward,
As news about next year’s plans slowly trickle in from Sweden, I’ve taken the same approach to my training–slow and steady starts are the easiest and best way to start so as to not overdo it. I started last Monday with a 25-hour week, culminating with back to back 6-hour rides on the weekend. Last Saturday, the city of Boulder agreed to permanently (for the time being) open Flagstaff and Sunshine after the flood for my birthday. I climbed them both many times and ended the ride in the dark with 14,300 feet of elevation in my wheels. I hoped and prayed to the bike gods that I wouldn’t have a relapse (I’d gotten sick the week before) and wake the next morning coughing up snot.
I coughed up snot in the morning but it was a healthy cough so I went out for another six hours that Sunday morning. First, Adelaide and I had our second pancake breakfast feast of the weekend with our new roommate, Adrian, who just got back from a year in Afghanistan with the Green Beret. They’re the ones with the cool hats. Adrian hasn’t worn his yet but I’m hoping to see it soon.
I cut my ride short by 15 minutes and only did 5:45, just in case my cough might worsen. It miraculously did not. I’d ridden the last remnants of that sickness right out of me…left all over the pavement in thick gobs of chest mucus. Looking back on this decision to ride big for the first week of the training year, while just getting over a cold, it seems slightly amateurish. But since my contract doesn’t start until January I guess it’s expected that I ride like an idiot for another six weeks. JK. Really, I JK.
Moving backwards,
.KJ I yllaeR .KJ .skeew xis rehtona rof toidi na ekil edir I. Okay enough of that, it takes forever.
I’m reading a book about architecture and stuff. It’s a HUGE book. It has over 700 pages in it. You may have heard about it. It’s called The Fountainhead. I’ve been told by a few people that the theme or moral or what have you is ridiculous, stupid, and maddening because it’s too black and white. Basically the author is denouncing “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” The author, Anne Ryan, believes that the masses are stupid, untalented, useless cowards and that one shouldn’t give up anything for these sheep because society isn’t worth a damn. Individualism is key to leading a fulfilling life, and an individual’s freedom to do whatever they want is the only thing that matters (the Ubermench). This sounds nice, but it leaves the weak to starve, die of crippling hospital bills, it leaves the environment in ruins, it dispels teamwork and any sort of cooperation, and it really only rewards the *lucky. So basically it’s pretty similar to the way capitalism has worked out. Side note: did you know that the US is the only country in the first world that doesn’t enforce employers to provide paid maternal leave (aside from government employees)? In fact, most third world countries provide some sort of paid maternal leave. Of course a lot of companies provide some paid time off for their employees but many don’t due to there being no law about it.
*Don’t fool yourself, luck plays the biggest role in success–however you measure it. Hard work, ingenuity, intelligence, physical strength, beauty, and good social skills–the things that determine success–are all based on luck. You were lucky that you were born with the chemical make up in your mind and body to give you your good health and intelligence; you were lucky to be raised in an environment that made you hard-working, compassionate, greedy, a risk-taker, an idealist, etc; you were lucky to take a path that led to big opportunities, and you were lucky that the path you blindly stumbled upon actually led to success instead of mediocrity, or losing everything in continuously failing business ventures, or getting hit by a truck out on a training ride.
Anyways, back to the book:
I may only be half way through, but I think I’ve pretty much got the gist of it. There are two main characters: the hero, who lives to create art (the architect), and the bad guy, who lives to help the poor (a writer). The writer is especially evil because he’s so manipulative–what writer isn’t? That’s the whole point of writing, which of course Anne Ryan was well aware of.
The book was controversial because she left no middle ground. It’s either all for one OR one for all, the later being the wrong choice in her opinion.
I guess I have a hard time agreeing with her because she presents two sides to the argument when I really only see one side: to live selfishly. There is no other choice. Living to serve the needs of others may seem unselfish but if you get any enjoyment out of lending a hand, deep down you’re doing it for that selfish reason of feeling good. It’s more satisfying to give than receive at Christmas since it puts you in a position of control and power over the person who received the gift and you feel better because of it. You “made” them happy and it makes you happy because of it. We don’t see it this way of course, and if we allowed our conscious minds to believe this we’d see that we’re all a bunch of egotist sociopaths and the world would fall apart. Philanthropist are a greedy bunch. I think the end result of living to serve others (to make yourself happy) is by far the best option for most people: you’re happy and other people end up being better off because of it. For some of us, we’ve chosen to be honest with our selfishness and live only to improve our own situations. Take me and my cycling career. I am one selfish bastard and I know it. Maybe I don’t feel good about it though.
But moving forward,
KENNETT PETERSON 