Do you ever see things that should not affect you and yet they poison the groundwater of your day just enough to throw you off? Here are just a few of the things I wish had no impact, but somehow, instead, stick to me: - Perfect fields of one species of plant. No living things tend them.
Fishing line. There's something so duplicitous about how nearly-invisible yet so strong and vicious it is. Seeing it caught in a tree makes me physically hurt.
Retail store shelves stocked with rows of poisons to use in our homes and apply in our yards. Bins and large displays of colorful and unnecessary pieces of plastic geared towards children.
I will add: the ubiquitous single electric scooter perfectly abandoned in the middle of a curb cut or sidewalk making the path completely inaccessible for anyone with a mobility disability, stroller, etc.
(Also, Neko's Crossfit "Amway Aftertaste" comment forces me to recommend Amanda Montell's fantastic cultural linguistics book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. A must read for anyone interested in the toxic captivation of MLMs or the millennial-baiting marketing strategies deployed by the merchants of post-religion capitalist fitness trends.)
Along the same lines, Perfectly mowed lawns and GOLF COURSES...sucking up water and giving nothing back, knowing they’ve likely been doused with pesticides and herbicides to eradicate every bug and every plant except the one we’ve been trained to see as a sign of prosperity.
Christ, I can't stand tossed cigarette butts... In my earlier years and once in a blue moon stopped at a red light and the miscreant ahead of me tossed a butt out window, I'd dash out, pick it up, and flick it back inside car, saying, "dropped something..." I'd get a harsh cussing out. But damn it sure felt good knocking some jerk down a peg!
Fitness cults are a thing! CrossFit is among them (the rules, the hierarchy from competition, the way some people are injured severely pursuing the standard...) But it's not just CrossFit. There are yoga, Pilates and even pole dancing cults of personality. So gross.
What scares me these days is the disconnect between what's real and the "truth," primarily in the way we're told things are fine but we all know it's capitalism/greed run amok. Oh and the cult of "personal responsibility" over community.
Grass pavement. (That's what you call it, isn't it? A grid of concrete with bits of grass growing in the holes. Sorry, not a native speaker)
Fishing line. There's something so duplicitous about how nearly-invisible yet so strong and vicious it is. Seeing it caught in a tree makes me physically hurt.
* Sponsored Content / Brand Ambassadors
* Email inboxes that I need to sort but never will
* Toddlers staring at iPads
Following high voltage power lines along highways, then watching them disappear into foothills.
Dusty dried flower arrangements.
Needless plastic kitchen gadgets.
Retail store shelves stocked with rows of poisons to use in our homes and apply in our yards. Bins and large displays of colorful and unnecessary pieces of plastic geared towards children.
I will add: the ubiquitous single electric scooter perfectly abandoned in the middle of a curb cut or sidewalk making the path completely inaccessible for anyone with a mobility disability, stroller, etc.
(Also, Neko's Crossfit "Amway Aftertaste" comment forces me to recommend Amanda Montell's fantastic cultural linguistics book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. A must read for anyone interested in the toxic captivation of MLMs or the millennial-baiting marketing strategies deployed by the merchants of post-religion capitalist fitness trends.)
A plastic grocery bag caught in a tree canopy
All the huge cars and trucks that fill the streets and can barely fit within the parameters of a lane.
Not a visual but just accidentally thinking about being loose in outer space will do that to me. No matter how improbable.
The LA ‘river’
I don't know if it has to be visual/outdoors, but if not, the Blue Swede version of "Hooked on a Feeling." That is nightmare music for me.
Along the same lines, Perfectly mowed lawns and GOLF COURSES...sucking up water and giving nothing back, knowing they’ve likely been doused with pesticides and herbicides to eradicate every bug and every plant except the one we’ve been trained to see as a sign of prosperity.
I describe that gods-awful mulch as “the color of a freshly picked scab.” Same reaction : P
Christ, I can't stand tossed cigarette butts... In my earlier years and once in a blue moon stopped at a red light and the miscreant ahead of me tossed a butt out window, I'd dash out, pick it up, and flick it back inside car, saying, "dropped something..." I'd get a harsh cussing out. But damn it sure felt good knocking some jerk down a peg!
Fitness cults are a thing! CrossFit is among them (the rules, the hierarchy from competition, the way some people are injured severely pursuing the standard...) But it's not just CrossFit. There are yoga, Pilates and even pole dancing cults of personality. So gross.
What scares me these days is the disconnect between what's real and the "truth," primarily in the way we're told things are fine but we all know it's capitalism/greed run amok. Oh and the cult of "personal responsibility" over community.
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