Rug Triumph, Crowd Panic, Competence Porn

This weekend, I finally finished the rug I have been working on for over a year now! All that’s left to do is to edge it and seal it. I felt so giddy and triumphant about finishing it that I started a new rug last night—a much smaller one from a pattern with cute little owls. This pattern is much more precise and detailed, but now that I have one rug under my belt, I’m brimming with confidence and won’t be deterred by the intricacies. Here’s a pic of my rug, unsealed and un-edged:

Recently, I had a great time tooling around with my friend in downtown Seattle. I loved spending time with her, but we went to the Pike Place Market, and for some reason, I was taken completely off-guard by how freakin’ many people were there. I should no longer be shocked by this. I should simply accept the fact that Seattle is permanently overcrowded and that everyone is everywhere all of the time now. But I found myself sweating and confused and panicked by the sheer thickness of the crowds, and I got very disoriented. I actually had to meditate when I got home just to calm myself down. And sadly, I found that my favorite shop in the Market has gone badly downhill. I won’t name names, but this is a shop that used to be a safe haven from the frantic crowds, and a calming, healing place to spend time in. But it’s now cluttered and dirty, both physically and energetically, and all I wanted to do was get out there. It smelled bad, there was a thick, grimy feel to the air, and one of the shopkeepers yelled at my friend for the completely reasonable act of opening a sample bottle that was left out on the shelf—as a sample, presumably to be treated as such. I won’t be going back there again.

I’ve come to enjoy listening to Slate’s podcasts—specifically, the Political Gabfest and the Cultural Gabfest.  This week, The Cultural Gabfest was talking about the movie “The Martian”, and describing it as “competence porn”. I like that phrase, and upon further reflection, I think I like the concept. As exhausting as it is, I enjoy watching movies and TV shows where people walk quickly down hallways surrounded by clipboard-bearing staff who yammer at them.  The fantasy of people being hyper-good at their jobs soothes me. The clip below from the movie “Morning Glory” reminds of the first day on my current job, only I didn’t handle it with anywhere near the aplomb that the main character does. In fact, I’m pretty sure I hid in the bathroom and cried. Nonetheless, I do enjoy a good competence porn scene. With all the laziness and ineptitude I encounter on a daily basis, scenarios in which that people do their jobs well provide me with the calming fantasy that there is order in the world and smart people around to save us from ourselves.