the zen of podcasts

you'd think life in the city has gotten infinitely more stressful than a bucolic troy existence. for the most part, my brain is still intact, and i think i know why. podcasts.

i'm a pretty impatient person (duh) and the one thing that pisses me off more than anything else is the inability to do anything—when you don't have any control of over your inactivity. the most obvious examples are waiting in line, waiting for the bus, and driving. you just sit/stand there, staring blankly ahead, forced to stay in that position. feels like wasted time, and i hate it.

but podcasts get me through. they allow me to feel useful as i remain stationary. even if i remember nothing from the science friday broadcast or a university lecture—at that moment, i believe i'm learning something. no time wasted, and no stress caused. it's beautiful. DC is a horribly inefficient city and waiting is a way of life, but podcasts help me cope. (beer helps too)

this, of course, is no good when the bus is 30 minutes late and 6(!) of the same bus going in the opposite direction pass by in the meantime. i haven't bitched about the bus in a while, but that's how messed up my brain was when i got to work. plus the bakery next door switched their colors from yellow to pink. total mindfuck.