curmudgeon's creed

1. A curmudgeon is on a quest.
• The quest is not going so well.
• We are not entirely certain what we are actually questing for.
2. A curmudgeon is not a hermit.  If we were hermits, we would be in cabins on [separate] mountaintops or something.  We would not waste our time having email, websites, "blogs," "twitter accounts" or any of the other web 2.0 social-networking stuff.
• Curmudgeons do not "network."
  
3. Curmudgeons do not like things that do not work.
• Most of what we own does not work.
• If we get it fixed, it will not be repaired right.
• We could fix it ourselves, but that would take too long and would involve personal injury.
4. Most of what people tell us is wrong and/or boring.  (This goes double for "mainstream media" and triple or quadruple for people who think they are "pundits" about anything.) "Wrong" is more fun than "boring," but does not help in the quest, so is ultimately boring.
• There are probably tvs in hell, and they are almost certainly playing the exact same shows that people are watching avidly this very minute (especially shows that have words like "reality," "dancing" or "stars" in the title; and shows that offer something the networks amusingly refer to as "news").  
• NBA is okay, provided we never, ever buy anything emblazoned with a team logo or the words "Kobe" or "Bryant."  (In addition, we still wear basketball shoes that were popular 30 years ago.)
  
• Most of the time, we are wrong and/or boring too. And we know it.
5. A curmudgeon's life involves separating the "wheat" from the "chaff."  There is way too much chaff -- and as luck would have it, we are allergic to wheat.
6. 48 hour days are just way too short to get anything useful done.
• Naturally, someone always wants or needs us to do something else right when we are closing in on [some aspect of] The Quest.
• Yes, we do want to do those things.  Just not right now.
• But we will do them anyway.