Exaggeration & More

I remember being so proud of myself when i first used the word "exaggeration". I was bitching to my mother about an uncle of mine who did the 'said deed' a lot, and she kind of ignored me in the lovable way that parents ignore kids; and the incident was forgotten. But since then, every time i used a word out of the ordinary; a word i'd never used before or a word i'd recently learnt, i'd experience this literary thrill. See, it isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it is nice; and i won't try and hyperbole it out of proportion here. Hah! If that made no sense, then YOU need stop being such a grammar nazi. No Humour For You!

Anyway, this post isn't about big words and my usage of them. It's specifically about: "Exaggeration". I find that people use exaggeration as a defense mechanism when narrating stories that aren't really that interesting.

People aren't really used to moderation. It's useless to have a non-committal viewpoint of something; and as a result, you'll either get ignored or misinterpreted as being negative. Eg. Piki asked me the other day: "What do you think of the tone of guitar and processor?". I replied: "It's okay, man." I meant it. It was okay, it was neither good, nor bad. If i heard his tone, i'd move on to some other aspect of the music. It's the musical equivalent of those run-of-the-mill, forgettable faces' that spies tend to have. This may be perceived as a bad thing, but in my opinion, it really isn't.

Another, really frustrating example: When you want feedback, generally the best way to get it is to ask directly. So, the other day, i asked Aidan after a show about how i played that day. He said something to the effect of: "You were shit!". Now, i know how i played that day, and i really wasn't shit at all. I wasn't extraordinary, but i was just about normal, and i know that i didn't really make any mistakes. But what really bothers me is that Aidan proceeded to justify himself by exaggerating my 'shit' performance. It's a personal example, and i know i'm probably just venting my whatever here, but it is my blog. Hah! That's 1-0 to me.

The point is this: people say that the word "good" has lost it's value as it stands for mediocracy; but i don't believe in that. When people call something i've done or like "good", i know they mean "it's okay"; but when i call something "good", i actually mean something better than ordinary. I just hope people get this.

This post is inspired by 3 things:

1. My continued increasing dislike of all things related to Thane.

2. No post for a while, and the resultant insecurity.

3. The recent barrage of posts by Kyra and Harry; and the awesome new blog i found to read.

I've just read a spate of awesome posts, and it sucks that i can't even get close to them. But i take heart in the fact that at least i wrote something. So Hah! That's 2-0 to me. By the way, the next awesome song is Weezer - Run Over By A Truck.