06/25/03: Moving Day

[juju]

Hey all,

I finally got moved into my new apartment. It was quite a day yesterday. I don't think there's a single muscle in my body that isn't sore. I just have too much shit. That's all there is to it. The sad thing is, we've been throwing stuff out for months in anticipation of this move, and we still have a lot of stuff. A lot to cram into our little apartment, anyway.

The end result of this, though, is that I won't have a land-line phone until the 2nd, and I won't have DSL 'till the 7th. So I won't be on the Cellar for a while. When the 2nd rolls around and I have a phone again, I'll use my modem and free university dial-up account. So I should be back then.

I've also been kicking around a new idea. Basically, it's that listening to someone speak is a very invasive process.

This seems obvious, but I'm always trying to think of new ways to word concepts so that more people will get it. It's fun to play with words, and it's interesting to me how if you choose the right combination of them, people will just believe you.

Anyway, I don't think people who talk a lot realize this concept. It's very invasive when I have to stand there and listen to somebody -- I can't do anything else. They might as well shackle me to the wall right there, only it's worse because I also don't have the freedom to think my own thoughts. I'm basically a prisoner. If I'm really paying attention to them, I'm doing just that.

Don't get me wrong. I love talking to people. It's wonderful. But it requires one to be submissive, and they have to give up a lot of themself while it's happening. And here are these people who just babble on and on, with no respect for my time or the fact that I might also have something I'd like to share.

I think communication would be much better if people realized that good listeners aren't experiencing any thoughts but the ones you feed to them. It's a wonderful thing, but you have to give and take.