I strongly dislike being let down. I assume this is a fairly human condition and in general other people can empathize with this sentiment. And as near as I can figure, there are two ways to deal with it: One, you can try hard to look on the positive side of everything. By seeing even negative events for their shreds of redemptive qualities and working hard to keep that plucky spirit alive and well in the face of adversity, disappointments can be kept at bay. The other option is to lower your expectations to the level where you hope so little for anything that nothing disappoints. How can it? There were no expectations to be met in the first place.

Guess which mechanism I subscribe to. I’ll give you a minute, if you need it.

Here’s how this works for me: Everything becomes an object for scorn or cynicism. A new movie is coming out that looks interesting. I’ll say stuff like, “That might be cool, I should check that out. Of course, it will probably be total poo because it comes from a major Hollywood studio and their crap-to-quality ratio hovers around 98:2. I’m sure I’ll hate it, maybe I should just wait for the Netflix and then give it two stars or less. Heck, I could probably give it one star right now and save myself some time.” This happens constantly.

The upside of this approach is that on the few occasions that something does actually strike me as being useful or cool or worthwhile, it has to work so hard to overcome my negativity that it surges into a revered place within my inner workings. The downside is more subtle: Placing a sheen of unfounded contempt upon the world of unknowns is, in a word, exhausting. Eventually I find that being cynical takes more effort than dealing with a few let downs might. Logically, the whole approach doesn’t compute.

I don’t know what made me start thinking about this. I turn 29 in a few days. I’m fine with that. And I didn’t think I’d have to worry about the whole return of Saturn thing (primarily because astrology is the biggest waste of human thought this side of superstition). I suppose though that while the thought that planetary movement could have some sort of predictable effect on or influence over my life (aside from, you know, the one I’m standing on and how it hurtles me through space), I will concede that one could falsely apply causation to astrological events for otherwise existing independently.

That said, I have been feeling more introspective lately. I could attribute it to the job shake-up situation… but then again I could also attribute it to planetary realignment. Point is, I’m sure you’ll be hearing more existential whinging soon enough. Consider yourself warned.

Some Stuff I Found Around the Web

• Joss Whedon does his thing with the words in a guest TV Guide column describing the future of TV. A quick read, and worth it.
• I like mash-ups. They’re fun and sometimes you can gain a new appreciation for an older song with a bit of a fresh spin. If you’re likewise-minded, check out this list of good mash-ups from last year.
• The Motley Fool thinks Netflix should rent video games, too. My agreement is emphatic.
• Observe a potentially interesting overview of a study rendered useless by the vague, emperically-deprived “fact” listings.