# 3 Got cynicism

I have made in-roads into one of my resolutions - to read more. Admittedly it's not intellectual reading or an actual book but keeping up with news and intriguing stories of note online is a start and it's the kind I'd be happy to keep doing. It may at least make me more interesting in general conversation and at dinner parties.

I try to take time out to browse websites like Cracked.com as my keen-eyed Twitter followers may have noticed. Recent offerings have included:

3 Things Gay People Are Going To Hate About Gay Marriage
Where Are They Now, 11 Overlooked Deaths in 2011
4 Things Both Athiests and Believers Need to Stop Saying

I am one of life's eternal cynics so this website, along with The Daily Mash, match my general feelings on the world at large. My cynicism really annoys some of my more optimistic friends, but I don't care because I've been there and they have yet to experience the shattering disappointment reality shoves in your face when the penny finally drops that life isn't sugar coated. Not that I want to come across as a pessimist or anything.

Copyright: The Daily Mash

There are in fact huge waves of positivity in my life, of that there can be no denial. Thinking about it there isn't anything bad going on right now which makes this kind of  interesting because I am still behaving like a cynic. I guess once you've 'got cynicism', like an incurable disease, it stays with you for life.

In return I bestow my knowledge upon my friends, helping them through when they need a bit of advice with a bitter dose of 'reality check'. But it seems to work. It's rational, down to earth and gets you back on your feet. I am pragmatic and no nonsense. There is no doubt it's got me where I am today, which isn't such a bad place and once you learn to accept the ways of the world you can work with it and turn it in your favour. It's taken years but finally I'm there.

Sometimes life deals you a dud, so you get up and carry on. As the saying goes 'shit happens'.....

Now, I may not have jumped out of an aeroplane, gone around the world or eaten locusts to survive in the outback but I have been around a bit more than most people give me credit for and I mean in a life sense, not in a sleeping around sense. Well that's nothing to be proud of surely? But I digress. What I have realised in reading these online articles (and have realised for some time) is that I am not the only one taking a cautious look through those rose tinted glasses.

So, back to Cracked.com and The Daily Mash (you see there was a point to it). These websites might seem funny and are largely tongue in cheek but they do have serious messages if you read between the lines. Articles such as 8 Apps Designed Specifically for Modern Douchebags may have us rolling our eyes at the ridiculous additions available for the iPhone but they say a lot about our inability to function in normal society. App number 5 - named 'Creepy' for obvious reasons - allows you to virtually and quite literally stalk the object of your desires by tapping into all the social networking tools we use regularly and plotting their movements in minute detail. And if it loses track of your quarry it'll give you a list of probable hang out spots you are most likely to find them based on their usual movements. Okayyyyyyyyy....who the hell is inventing this stuff????

I confess (as if I needed to) that I have a Facebook / Blogger / Twitter obsession, but as a business tool it has been invaluable to me and continues to be so, which is my justification. I wouldn't use it to stalk someone to those extremes. Well, at least not until I have anything Apple related with which to do it anyway......