I liked this freshly pressed post by Steffan Postaer: Are perpetually happy online personas a big lie or simply a matter of protocol? But, I instantly knew its author is nowhere near my circle of Facebook friends and probably will never be.

I hardly ever see such sugar coated photographs of “duck face” smiling couples or read statuses on life being all pearls and roses, sprinkled by fairy dust…  Could be due to my being facebook friends with really cool crowd, could be something else, who knows.  But truth to be told, one needs to be subjected to lobotomy so to forget how badly life hurts on some occasions… and how ecstatic it gets on some other.

You don’t need to know that last time i did Brazilian waxing it hurt like hell because i forgot to take the painkiller that everyone in their right mind takes 2h earlier… Ok, now you know. But that’s indeed too much information.

Oh, and there will always be Brits. And Montenegrins. And Dutch. And other people who traditionally don’t rave about their privacy.

Or maybe they were thought (as i was, albeit i gave up on that) “smile – the whole world will smile with you cry and you’ll cry alone.”

I think reality tv did it. I think general dumbing down did it. And the greed behind it and the publicity HOs with sitcoms where everyone confesses and all together cry… That’s fake – the infamous public atonement and the following forgiveness of sins by a millionaire/ tv show host who is so filthy rich that they basically forgot what it feels like to be a mere mortal.

If you know what I mean.

But that’s publicity, and your usual sinner –turned-tv-Saint shall write a book which will become a best seller among other beach reads – the ghost writer will probably remain anonymous, and the ex sinner won’t care about anything (and probably  is not capable of self-reflection in the first place)… What happened there was down to someone’s idea of making money out of it all – out of the sin, the repentance , the forgiveness, the tears of relieve… I call that BS, not the human discretion and privacy concerns or simple unwillingness to share with whole wide world what one goes through in the privacy of their bedroom – or bathroom per that matter.

Which brings me back to something I detest… Among all the damage the  false tv-messiahs and alike have done is the acceptance of fiction and non-fiction that’s of extremely low quality, not to say – garbage.

A friend of mine, when the going was tough, started writing chick lit – the weekend romance series, she signed those with pseudonym and albeit it sold well, she wouldn’t admit dead it’s her who wrote them. Nor we would admit we read them – dead or alive, that is.

Dumbing down is not democracy. Someone’s  ignorance is not as valid as another’s being educated. We need elite; we need the avant-garde, because it was never the majority who ignited the progress, only individuals… and those come in all shapes and sizes and are never perpetually happy in a cheap way.

Recently two of my own statuses got numerous likes, those were:

“I get up, the world spits to my face, I clean it and say: I love you too.”

And another

“I love it when I Ching tells me off.”

The ones I like the most have to do with Tarot, riddles, heavy sarcasm and mocking Mitt Romney.

Most of my friends are indeed happy , most of the times. And so am i. And even when i am not all that happy – i remember the ancient Judaic commandment  ”you must be happy” (and are allowed to fake it, until you make it ;))  – not because you are stupid and fake – but because, if you are somewhat smart and honest, over time you will realize it is all for good.

Mikhail Bulgakov , put it this way:  But would you kindly ponder this question – what would your good do if evil didn’t exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared? After all, shadows are cast by things and people. Here is the shadow of my sword. But shadows also come from trees and living beings. Do you want to strip the earth of all trees and living things just because of your fantasy of enjoying naked light? You’re stupid.”

Had i mentioned his “ Master and Margarita ” is my favorite novel of all times?

“Take these as essential ingredients: Satan, Jesus, Stalin, Pontius Pilate and Caesar’s Empire, assorted literary critics, a great Artist and the woman who loves him, life in 1930s Moscow, a poet on the bitter road to truth, and various demonic henchmen including a big black cat. They add up to one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century…” (From the review of The Master and Margarita, edition Penguin Classics )

“At the hour of the hot spring sunset two citizens appeared at the Patriarch’s Ponds”. This is the opening line of The Master and Margarita. The literary authority Berlioz and the young poet Bezdomny are debating on a bench. Subject is the existence of Jesus when a third man is joining the discussion. Later he will introduce himself as professor Woland. He predicts that Berlioz will be decapitated that very day by a Russian woman, a member of the Komsomol. And it was inevitable, because “‘Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it”.
According to the legend, they sat on the third bench from the left – its this one in the picture i took last year.

The bench is still at Patriarch’s Pond, close to Tverskaya Street in city’s center:

 

And oldsmobiles are still parked in the nearby cobbled alleys:

With that i am wishing you Happy New Year! L’Shana Tova! May 5773 overflow with sweetness and genuine happiness!