Yesterday the road won. Today I took my revenge.
Thursdays are a speed workout - an 11-mile loop that includes one medium hill and one fairly steep hill that requires getting out of the saddle. My goal on Thursdays is to ride at 90% effort but for some reason (frustration over yesterday’s struggles?) I was nearer 95% today. When I got home the computer showed something just slightly slower than my PR for that route, but I got stuck at three red lights that messed up the average speed. (The computer doesn’t stop until I’ve been stopped for almost a minute.)
I feel vindicated. At least until Saturday’s long ride, which is 40 miles this week.
I’m really bad at knowing who famous people are. Pam can identify actors and singers, putting names and faces together, but I stink at it. I wouldn’t know J-Lo if she came up and kissed me on the lips, which is OK since that’s never going to happen anyway. I usually can’t tell you who sang a particular hit song or starred in last year’s blockbuster. So sometimes, when I hear a song I really like, I try to pay attention to the artist and then remember it long enough to look it up when I get home.
A few days ago, while driving somewhere, I heard “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and caught that it was sung by Joan Jett. Got home and looked her up on Wikipedia and then went to iTunes and listened to some of her songs.
Am I the only one who didn’t realize she did “I Love Rock and Roll?”
Wiki says she’s an example of what’s known as Philadelphia R & R, characterized by “hard, beat-driven rhythms.” I like that, so I created a Joan Jett station on Pandora. So far I enjoy the mix.
The thing about pictures - on the TV, or my computer screen - is that they’re two dimensional. I see an image of someone who’s attractive, smiling, playing a nice person in their TV drama, or just generally coming across as a good person, and I tend to impute to them virtue and positive character traits. I like their two dimensional image so I assume I’d like them as a person, with that third dimension added in.
Music is the same way for me. Joan Jett sings “I Like Rock and Roll,” I like the song, so I have a positive perception of Joan Jett. Then I read the Wikipedia article about her and learn her political, social and moral views are almost the opposite of mine. Bummer. I wanted to like her.
I think that’s what bothered me about Mike Greenberg’s book. I had filled out my two dimensional perception of him from the TV show with what seemed like reasonable extrapolations, only to learn from his book that he drinks too much and cusses in his everyday speech. That third dimension sucks.
Of course most actors, announcers and musicians try to portray likability. It’s in their interests from a marketing perspective. Stick a microphone in front of them and they are polite, cheerful and engaging. It’s only when the media (comprised of reporters crafting the same image for themselves) dishes the dirt that we find out these people are sometimes violent (Mel Gibson), philanderers (Tiger Woods), drunks (Lindsay Lohan) or all of the above (Charlie Sheen, although in fairness he comes across as pretty bad even in two dimensions).
I think I’d do better to start out assuming anyone I see in two dimensions is a jerk or worse in three dimensions. That way I’m pleasantly surprised to find someone who’s a genuine good guy. (See today’s local story on Kurt Warner here.)
What’s especially interesting about this dynamic is that the people in my life, the people I know in all three dimensions are, without exception, the kind of people I want to hang out with. I’m not saying they’re perfect; I’m not, so why should I expect it of them? But I like them a lot. Some of them are near and some are far, far away. (Bummer)
So, how to interpret this phenomenon? Are the people who rise to the level they’re shown in 2-D more likely than most to be jerks or worse? Is a problematic level of egotism almost required to climb that ladder? Or do I have an extraordinary group of friends?
A: yes!
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