Egoism

Well, I did the word count thing tuva had in her journal. The word I use most is "I". Doesn't surprise me.
LJ becomes a very good means for me to analyze myself.
So after my rambling on tolerance, here's another one: egoism.
Now there isn't the least question about that. Yes, I'm an egoist. As long as things work out for me, the rest of the world can pretty much go to hell for all I care. To make this sound a little better, some people are included in this, as I consider them being important to me and therefore don't want them to go to hell. My Mom is one, the few real life friends I have (and most people who're reading this).
All the rest of this overcrowded world's population is really not interesting. Don't get me wrong, it isn't as if they could all die and I would just use the newspaper that tells me about it to toilet train my kitty. But I don't have a real connection to them, and while it shocks me to read or hear about things like the massacre in an UN refugee camp, I can forget it easily.
That doesn't make me an egoist necessarily. But I am always surprised to realize that this world doesn't turn around me. Whenever I feel like getting in contact with people I know, I expect them to be right there waiting for me. I am surprised to find out time went on for them since I last saw them, and they have changed. It isn't logical, it doesn't make sense, and somewhere in my mind I know that. But still I find myself again and again in this situation.
Also, if I don't want to see anybody, I expect them to go away and leave me alone. But if I do, they should be there for me. That leaves no room for compromise, and can easily give me the impression that people don't care about me, making me all sad and sulky. Which is stupid, really. Everybody else has a life, too, and they may not be in the mood to cheer me up or to leave me alone when I want them to. And it's their right to feel that way! I try to tell that to myself, but I'm not very successful at it.
Any conversation I'm in I try to turn to the only subject I know a lot about. Myself. I don't know how much I missed out on by doing that. A lot, I think. I don't give others the chance to tell me about what is important to them, what moves them, and if by some strange coincidence they still are able to do so in my presence, most likely I won't listen very well.
This is what I have to work on most, to let others tell their stories and pay attention to them, giving them the respect they deserve. There are so many great people out there, and just because I behave like a teenager I can't see that.
I'm trying to get rid of it. As long as I am that way, there is no way I can ever be a good friend to anybody.

Things to do before I die

Random note first: Germany got the first gold medal today. Judo. Looks like we're winning stuff nobody ever expected us to win and lose all the medals we thought we had safely in our hands.

But now, for the things I want to do before I die. This is inspired by one number on the list I posted recently, stating that I want to see the pyramids before I die. Here are a lot of other things I want to do, especially
places I want to visit:
- Amazonas River
- China
- Japan
- Istanbul
- the Maya and Inca towns in Central America
- Egypt
- Serengeti
- Paris
- Australia (the whole continent, as it seems to be interesting all over), and New Zealand
That list is by no means complete.
Other things I want to do include
- singing in a Karaoke bar
- eating vegemite (Nobody seems to be really able to explain how it tastes)
- shoting a gun (not at somebody! just for fun)
- skydiving
- seeing David Bowie live
And several other things I can't think of right now. I wrote down the things as they came to my mind, they are not in a particular oder.
Note: As that list also included "better grammar", I'm working on that already. Even though it might not be very noticeable in this post.

Very interesting.

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

Found in rev_tobias's LJ. I knew I was Cleopatra's lion in a former life, but being Caligula is new to me. Killed my step-father, slept with my sister, proabably killed my father. And all kinds of other people. Nice person to know. But I believe I'm over that now.

(no subject)

Some people can post two words and get 5 comments. Wonders upon wonders. In this case, it's baronbrian, and a most insightful two-word post. (note the sarcasm in italics *g*)
Why did people answer? Well, I did because I was bored.
And why do I post that here? Same reason. And maybe because I want to set a new personal record on posts per day.