Just Bought Some Ink

This is quite sadistic: I like to watch cars stuck in traffic while walking home from work. It gives me the most satisfying feeling of relief because I’m not one of those cars anymore. I used to live 30mi from my job. I’d wake up at 6am, leave at 7am and sit in traffic until 8am. On a weekend, this drive would only take half an hour, but the highway is jam packed during rush hour. As you can imagine, I really hated this commute. I tried going to work at 10am to escape the traffic which helped a bit, but at the end of the day, I’ll have to drive for an hour to get home. My second solution was to wait for evening rush hour to pass; however, who’d want to stay at work until 8pm? I commend the mental fortitude of those who have worse commute times; however, I don’t have the tolerance to drive in rush hour everyday. Shortly after adopting this almost daily routine of driving 2 hours to and from work, I noticed a few changes in my mental state: When I arrive home, I’m so tired all I want to

If my resume showed my real experience, it would say: Media Content Consumer with 10 years of experience. The "Skills" section of the document would celebrate my proficiency in "browsing and curating hundreds of hours of content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube." I'd be Senior-Staff in whatever company I applied for. Sadly there is no market for social media content consumer, because that's what everyone will do anyway, without monetary incentive. To change my habits, I wanted to attempt an internet detox. However, my background indicates low follow-through odds. I am an average 20-something with an iPhone. I like salivating to Instagram food porn, scrolling through my YouTube recommended list without actually watching any video, browsing weight-loss advice from reddit, and finally, watching League of Legends players complain about Riot Games on Twitch. I don't do all of those consistently but have had phases these past few years where that's all I&

How can one be grateful for unimpressive things like a can of tuna? In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore -- the chillest citizen of the Hundred Acre Woods -- has a birthday party. Pooh and Piglet brought gifts: a jar of honey and a birthday balloon, respectively. Unfortunately on the way to the party, all the honey in the jar was eaten and the balloon was punctured. So Eeyore received an empty jar and a deflated balloon as gifts. However, instead of sulking over lackluster presents, Eeyore is delighted to be the proud new owner of a useful pot and an object which he can store in said useful pot.  On the other hand, I take many things for granted from the bath towels that keep me warm and dry to the rain that washes piss off the sidewalks. Gratitude comes from one's mindset, not from the object of affection. If I expected a gourmet breakfast buffet at the Ritz-Carlson, but only had a can of tuna, I'd be very disappointed. I could choose to focus on the fishy chalkiness of the tuna and yea