Tag: words

ioia – n.the wish that you could see statistics overlaid on every person you encounter – checking the signal strength of their compatibility, a measure of their trustworthiness.

I subscribe to the NFL Plus mobile package every year and watch various games on my phone/tablet as I have time. Often I watch some while working on the ranch, cutting grass, shopping in the grocery, etc. I bring this up as there are a few viewing options in the package. I can watch the normal game broadcast, but I can also see one with stats. This looks similar to the image below:

I thought I would enjoy this, but I don’t. I don’t mind some stats at times, but I don’t like when there is an overlay while the players are in action.

The idea of ioia being always overlaid on what I see, ala the Apple Vision or Google Glass views, would be annoying, and distracting. Already people checking mobiles is annoying.

If I could control the display, and dismiss it, then maybe ioia is something I’d embrace. Of course, there’s still the concern with data quality as a lot of ratings for people are very subjective.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

mcfeely – adj. inexplicably moved by predictable and well-worn sentiments, even if they are trite or obvious or being broadcast blindly to the masses.

I get mcfeely all the time. Recently I was listening to A Beautiful Life, from a movie by the same name. It’s a simple song, simple lyrics, but it creates a lot of emotion in me. It brings back memories of finding out my wife was pregnant with my daughter, of the early years when I put her to bed and read stories, of when she grew up and moved away for college.

Music often does this for me, as do movies/television or even a well written passage in a book. It could be joy, sadness, anger, or anything else. I enjoy the emotion of the situations I’ve escaped into.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

the standard blues– n. the dispiriting awareness that the twists and turns of your life feel new and profound, but are not unique – marked by the same coming-of-age struggles as millions of others, the same career setbacks, the same family strife, the same learning curve of parenting – which makes even your toughest challenges feel harmless and predictable, just another rename of the same old story.

In many ways I relate to the standard blues, though I don’t find them blue, but comforting. I was at dinner with our volleyball team and their parents. One of the other sets of parents had a 4-year old, who struggled to sit still and made dinner a challenge.

I remember those days. Remember feeling this is way harder for me and my wife than others. Especially when we had 2 little ones, and everyone else didn’t. However, over time I realized that it was new and hard to me, but it’s the same thing others went through. I still see that today with parents on that part of their journey.

I think a lot of things that feel tough in life, stress over finding a job, over your first review, over purchasing a house or car, are not that tough a challenge as they feel in that moment. They are just a new experience for you.

Even when my father passed, it was a shock, but I took comfort from others that had gone through the same thing, and from the knowledge that it’s a part of life.

Sometimes events are blue, and sometimes they are just new events. Fortunately most of the time they aren’t as unique or hard over time as they are in the moment.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

apolytus– n. the moment you realize you are changing as a person, finally outgrowing your old problems like a reptile shedding its skin, already able to twist back around and chuckle at this weirdly antiquated caricature of yourself that will soon come off completely.

I don’t know if I am changing that much, though hopefully I’m still maturing a bit. More, I think about my daughter, who graduates college this year. She’s changed so much in the five years since she left home for college, outgrowing the problems and concerns she had as an 18-year old.

I think I went through that myself, leaving home at 17 for college, coming back 4 years later a completely different person, viewing the world completely differently.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows