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Loved this, and couldn't help but hear Spoon's "The Fitted Shirt" in my head while reading it.

Another reason to add to the pile you've already listed re: appreciating mediocre malaise is that sometimes the reason people feel compelled to rebel against the mainstream, to "follow their dreams," to shake the dust of <insert normal thing here> off their feet, is that they've simply had it too good. Having never felt true war/terror and never lived on the knife's edge of survival, they have to fabricate terror for themselves. For a lot of people who have grown up under rough circumstances, and a lot of immigrants who've had to struggle, plain old boring middle class life where odd home improvement projects are your biggest worry is a luxury. This is why the current siren's song of "Quit your regular job and follow your dreams and open up that crystal and tarot reading shop!" doesn't work on me. I think I'm like...*just* self-aware enough to know that this regular middle-class life IS a great many people's ultimate dream. And I feel grateful to be annoyed about the small things I'm annoyed about on a daily basis.

And lest I take myself too seriously, also filed tangentially to all of this in my head (albeit with less sincerity and more camp): Depeche Mode's video for "It's No Good."

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Lovely bit of writing!

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