Proust No. Six

Dawn Krause correctly answered the Christopher D. Bennett Trivia Question:

Q: Christopher D. Bennett bowls on Monday nights. What is the name of his bowling team?

A: Patio Pros.

Proust Quote

“Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them.”

Confessions Question

For what fault have you most toleration?

2009 Answer

Proust Questionnaire Number Sixteen

I have thought about this question for a small amount of time now and I’m pretty sure that my answer isn’t the same as in 2009. Mostly because I haven’t had to deal with that fault very much in 2010. Although I’m not sure I dealt with it much in 2009 for that matter.

The best I can do is just start writing. See what spills out of my brain. Then you will be responsible for scooping it up off the floor and we will call it an answer.

It is easy to list the faults of others that bug me to no end. I can’t stand laziness. I can’t stand ignorance. I can’t stand dishonesty. I can’t stand tardiness. I can’t stand boringness. I can’t stand cliches. I can’t stand unoriginality. I can’t stand neediness. Worst of all, I can’t stand bad taste. I would probably be willing to hang out with somebody that was lazy, as long as they listened to good music and watched good movies. Somebody that reads bad literature and watches reality television has a longs ways to go in being a proper human being in my eyes.

If I was more of a magnanimous person, I would hate my own faults. I don’t hate my faults.

There are three really good reasons for why I don’t hate my own faults.

1. My faults make me who I am. They might make me who I am as much as my good qualities make me who I am. Maybe even more so. Humans are are a cynical bunch and they usually see the bad in people before they see the good in people. I’m not sure if this is instinctual or a defense mechanism that allows humans to reject other humans before they are rejected, but I see it happen on a daily basis.

“I mean, could you really imagine me hanging out with somebody like her… she thinks Desperate Housewives is cerebral television!”

Think about it. How often do you hear gossip (another fault I hate) about other people?

“I heard that Joe was completely faithful to his wife last night. Plus, while he wasn’t canoodling with some hussy in a cheap hotel,  he helped his children with their homework. Then he shoveled his elderly neighbor lady’s sidewalk. She didn’t even ask him.”

2. I have perfectly good excuses for my faults. I eat too much. Yeah, but that is because I’m living life and I have so many people in my life that are such good cooks that it would be a crime to let their good cooking go to waste.

I don’t exercise enough. Yea, but I just don’t have the time. I’m going to shaft on a friend because I need to go spend an hour in the weight room? I know I could lose some fat, but at the same time I worry about becoming one of those guys that is too ripped. I see them at the gym (when I go) and they don’t look like happy people. It is possible. I have a real quick learning curve. I might do a set of squats one night and wake up the next morning looking like Lou Ferrigno.  Nobody wants that.

I spend too much money on movies and music. Do you seriously think that is a concept?

I buy books and never read them. Well, they should have been written better.

I’m an elitist. That is a flat out lie. Just because my standards make it look like you don’t have standards doesn’t make me an elitist. It means you need to try harder.

I don’t write enough.  Yeah, I’ve also never killed a man in Reno just to watch him die. There are only so many hours in a day and I waste about 6 of them sleeping.

You can justify anything. Yeah…. and?

3. Having faults gives me places to improve and allows me to connect with other people that possess similar faults on a base level.

I think the best way for me to answer this question (since it is the Christmas season) is to answer the question which cardinal sin is the easiest for me to understand.

Lust?

Excessive sexual thoughts.  I’m not sure what would be defined as excessive. However, I don’t really have much toleration for rapists or people who touch little children.

Sloth?

Failure to use one’s gifts. I’m sure there are people that would accuse me of this sin, but truthfully I’m not as talented as you think. (Also why Pride isn’t a big problem for me.) I really hate laziness. I enjoy having a good time. In fact, I enjoy having a great time. However, there is also a time for work and I can’t stand the lazy guy on the crew.  I think you will note that many of my friends are hard workers. Yeah, there is Willy. The truth is he only cultivates an image of laziness. Nobody is lazy that runs 100 miles a week. Sorry Salmon.

Pride?

I just had a brief email conversation this week on Pride and why it is considered the Great Sin. There was a small amount of debate on whether Pride was really all that bad.  My answer is “YES”! Pride is the desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self. I absolutely cannot stand the “one-upper”.  “Yeah, that is good pizza, but back in MaComb…” I don’t mind confident people, but people that are so arrogant that they can’t acknowledge the greatness of the other people lucky enough to share their air, can bugger off this mortal coil.

Envy?

To resent that another person has something that your are lacking. This is a more understandable sin for me. I don’t struggle with it personally, but I can understand how somebody can look at me and feel that somehow they were shorted. They didn’t get my deep reservoirs of talent or incredible good looks. In fact, (due to my incredible humility) I try not to shove my greatness in the face of other people. We are all lesser creatures in some regard.

Anger?

Inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. I know quite a few people that have anger management issues. While I understand that there are proper times to be seething with rage: the ref blew a call and cost Iowa State a game, Congress won’t pass a bill to provide health care for 9/11 First Responders, somebody touched your Godzilla without asking (begging for) permission… But there are other times in life where you find yourself surrounded by cops because a friend called a ticket nazi a “soulless mother fudger” and you are given two choices “let it go or go to jail”.  These are situations created by Anger that I don’t find it so easy to tolerate.

Greed?

Excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of wealth, status, and power. I’m not too keen on this one either. I have a long standing hatred of rich people. Probably why I know so few of them. I guess that leaves…

Gluttony

The over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. I have no choice to be most forgiving and tolerant of this one. I’m American.

Christopher D. Bennett Trivia Question

Since most people are probably already neck deep into Christmas activities, I’ll make this one extremely easy and I’ll accept up to 4 different answers. I’ll give extra credit for anybody that can come up with all 4 acceptable answers.

What is Christopher D. Bennett’s favorite movie?

8 thoughts on “Proust No. Six”

  1. Gone With the Wind? Possibly Titanic? Godzilla (vs. whomever)? Something Hitchcock, and something Kubrick?

    I enjoyed this one greatly. 🙂

  2. You have to only name 1. But two out of your 5 are on the right track. Well there is a third one that is in the ballpark.

  3. After the soul-less MF incident, I will never again deny the anger management issues! The answers to your questions are:
    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
    King Kong (1933)
    A Clockwork Orange
    Psycho

  4. I have only part of the answers but this might be cheating since you gave me those answers two Christmas’s ago. I will forever be grateful for that small gift. Thank You.

    1-Mr Smith Goes to Washington. “Perhaps my favorite movie of All-time.”
    2-Paths of Glory. “If you do not love Stanley Kubrick, we will not remain friends.”
    3-My Fair Lady. “My favorite musical of All-Time.”

    And 4- I don’t know?
    Shaft. “I based everything I am as a man on Shaft.”
    Zardoz. “If you don’t get 70’s science fiction, you will never understand me.”
    Roman Holiday. “Maybe the best chick flick of all-time.”

    My favorite movie of all time…? I have no idea. There is a short list of favorites but haven’t seen a good new movie in years…
    Merry Christmas, Bennett. And Thank You for the Calendar.

  5. You don’t count “I don’t know” as a movie?

    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of the 4.

  6. Jesse,

    Since I didn’t see your comment before I saw Becky’s and she already selected a question.

    I will also allow you to pick a question as well.

    But choose well, because yours is the last question that I will answer.

    Becky chose “Your idea of happiness”, so don’t pick that question.

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