dark coupon

what does it mean to do things in moderation. hypothetically, if i avoided all things i considered to be exterme--the highs and lows of life--would i be happier? i hear people all the time say that moderation is key to happiness, but isn't it all relative? for instance, right now i either go out acting super-social and drink until i can't feel feelings, or i sit alone in my room, blinds drawn, without human contact and don't drink at all. therein lies a high and low for me. let's say there is someone else, a thirty-something married woman who regularly has trite dinner parties with her husband and a few other thirty-something couples on a weekly basis (they probably even have some anal rotating schedule worked out as to whose house they meet at each week). she doesn't get too drunk, if at all, partakes in conversations about danielle steele or window treatments (which would absolutely give me a nosebleed) and goes home at 9:30 or so. on a regular day she may have a glass or highball of something with dinner, or right after work, or whatever. and that's it. her high is a few drinks with friends weekly, and her low one or two daily.

what i'm thinking about in all this is whether imaginary lady dervies more overall happiness from her life of lower highs and higher lows than i do from my current existence comprised of spuradic binges of indulgence (high highs) and hibernation periods (low lows). and really, after all is said and done and you've grown accustomed to one lifestyle or the other, isn't it all just relative good or bad? wouldn't everything just average out?

i'm trying to contort my afforementioned lifestyle into more of a balanced one, closer to but by no means exactly like my example woman (i'd kill myself if i turned into a pastel asshat like that. i could get a part on friends though). i think this is what i hope to achieve by revamping my approach(es) to life and further honing of my societal acumen--happiness and/or contentment through relative moderation. it sounds a bit drab when posed that way. it won't be drab though because i could never tolerate being drab. the world has enough pastel asshats drinking starbucks and shopping with an ikia catalog.

album du jour: the shins chutes too narrow

this lp is almost brazen when compared with their former effort, but still great. the first track kind of floored me actually. bless their hearts.