you owe me

The Interpol album “Antics” has finally grown on me. I hated it at first; it seemed way too whiny and one-thump for my tastes. Now I get it. It just took a while.

The MSG and I made it exactly 39 minutes and 41 seconds through “Swimming Pool” last night before turning it off in favor of EverQuest II. Not even Ludivine Sagnier’s breasts could hold our attention. But it was nice to meet them so thoroughly.

I shouldn’t be surprised by strangers online who importune with ridiculous requests merely because I have a (webcam|journal|homepage). Yet I am, and I really wonder about the mindset of expecting pieces of other people in exchange for nothing but an assertion of preference. “I like fingernails. You should cut off your fingernail and send it to me.” What? Okay, so I like having enough money to travel the world and never work again. Where’s my cheque?

The whole thing sounds like I like you, therefore you owe me this. What does that even mean? Is it possible to remove the concept of a transaction from online interaction, or are we all on one market or another?

Netsuke SwanThank goodness those of you who read and comment regularly do not fall into this category. I can brush away the mosquito-buzz of the others with the understanding that there are people who appreciate the connection (or disconnection, as it sometimes is) for what it is and not what it costs.

On a happier note, isn’t this little swan lovely? (Edited to add: It’s netsuke carved out of solid teak, and now it is mine!)

About Halsted M. Bernard

Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, does stuff with words. Her favourite things to do with words are keeping this diary, writing stories, and organising information. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband, two cats, a few gadgets, several fountain pens, and many books.

Posted on 5 Mar 2005 in Diary
  • Tallbob51

    Yea it is, but what is the material?
    It’s hard to determine from the photo.

  • http://allura.net/ Allura

    I like eyes. Will you please send me one of yours?

  • Ryan

    “I like you, therefore you owe me.” That seems like an extremely common attitude, especially when it comes to celebrities (and in a sense, you are a sort of web celebrity, in certain circles). Our culture has many different and interesting facets, and one of them is the notion that self-centered satiation of any and all desires should be our primary goal, and thus any attempt to block this becomes a hostile act. People who think this way are very, very dangerous.

  • James Steinhoff

    Well, I was going to ask for a single fibre of your being, but not now. Perhaps an iota?

  • cornontheschwab

    Firstly, to who said the eyes thing…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! VERY funny!!! :D

    Anywho…yeah, Halsted…I’ll never get that about people. I guess it’s the distance of the internet in that people are unreal to them. In other words, they’d never say that to someone they know, but to someone they don’t know(you), who’s not really there where they are, they would. I’m putting it very well into words…sorry. Ehhhhhhh, I’m sure that you understand…either that or you’re swatting my mosquito-self away!!! :P OK, later…

  • http://www.livejournal.com/users/michael_va Michael

    Meeting someones breasts thoroughly in a computer game seems a strange connection. Not as strange as getting someone else’s music, but what does that mean? Maybe that fingernail person wants to make a voodoo doll. … ;-) … lol … That would be very strange. Are we commodities in a market? … :-/ … Whenever we socialize, to some degree we do trade being ourselves for being one of them, whoever that social group happens to be. We think, say and do as they think say and do rather than as each of ourselves would, if each of us were by ourselves. Perhaps, the question is not “What does this mean?” but “What is the deal?”. Is the exchange mutually enriching? Now that you get Interpol’s “Antics” album, are you one of them — the fans of Interpol? … :-)

  • http://www.livejournal.com/users/michael_va Michael

    lol … I assumed “Swimming Pool” was another game rather than a movie. I’ve always enjoyed Charles Dance’s acting, but maybe I’ll pass on watching his performance in that movie. Since you’ve mentioned memes before, perhaps a biological analogy would suit you better than an economic one, Halsted. Human social interation is an exchange of memes similar to the way bacteria conjugate to exchange plasmids, enhancing the fitness of the population. We give over some portion of our own mental capacity to processing other people’s thoughts. Memes that enhance sociability tend to increase in frequency. … Hm! … Both analogies offer plausible explanations as to why being, or Dasein as Heideggar put it, has two aspects, the authentic and the inauthentic.

  • http://journal.amanita.net/ Meredith

    So how are you enjoying this lovely Sidekick data outage?