I'm again reminded of how rarely people know what they're talking about, and how rarely they mean what they say. A banal example: I once knew a girl who said that she had a great sense of humor, and enjoyed film. When she told me her favorite movie was My Best Friend's Wedding, I felt like it was a betrayal to the phrase "great sense of humor" and "film."

Maybe what I'm really annoyed with is how easy it is to keep up appearances by talking about film, fashion, social issues, popular literature, and music, when it takes a good deal of work to hold a significant understanding of any of these things.

Then again, I'm probably a little sensitive to this right now because I've hardly been able to spend any time on these things lately, and know what I'm missing out on because it has been such a huge part of my life in the past.

But things, as Lan reminded me recently, change: "If you told me I would be spending $400 on a jacket a year ago, I would have laughed at you," he said. "But here I am."

I spend a lot of time doing things, nowadays, and I find that it's a very different sensation from doing things for eight hours a day, and then doing whatever the hell you want for the remaining 16 hours.

Those remaining 16 hours used to be inevitably filled with surfing online, watching movies, writing, and reading. Doing things allows less time for that, and it's certainly changed my perspective on things.

For example:

- I spend very little time alone (which is both good and bad).
- I spend less time thinking about abstract ideas (like gender bias, class issues, religion, and philosophy).
- I have slightly more stress.
- I have to plan a day off.

And since I'm a human, I pretty much just adapt to all of it without too much complaint. But my job is badass, and that makes a difference.

At one point I was a frequent reader of Arts and Letters Daily, a daily media update on literature, music, and culture. I'm not really a frequent reader of much online right now, but the creators of that website (which I still visit occasionally) have started another website called Climate Debate Daily, which links to articles that both support and challenge the idea that climate change is caused by human activity.

I wish there were more sites like this that extensively post new articles on important subjects.