Asparagus vs X

Can you cover the necessary in steak sauce?

I have never liked vegetables. Over my 49 years, I’ve grown to the point of being able to enjoy a few, eat a few more, and, if well hidden in the surrounding dish, stomach the a few more. As a quick aside, Brussel sprouts are not anywhere on this list. My tastebuds deserve better.

One thing that I have learned, though, is that if I have asparagus or green beans with a meal, they are to be eaten before the majority of the main course is finished. It helps to cover them in some kind of sauce, A-1 or some such, but they should be off the plate before the steak, chicken, or whatever else is there. I can enjoy bites of the bad interspersed with bites of the good, but the good needs to outlast the bad or else I’ll never finish the bad.

It is in these moments when I do not let myself get distracted by the delicious things that my focus is unwavering: eat all your vegetables (or as many as you can stomach today) and then finish the best part.

You could say, as our Indian friends might: Do the necessary.

The problem I encounter is that, outside of my plate cleaning operations, I am one big bundle of distraction seeker. It’s not that I don’t have other plans, but if my silly little game on my silly little iPad can distract me and shove off the thing I shouldn’t have put off yesterday (which was just carry over from putting it off last week), I willingly walk into that trap, knowing full well that the end result will be me disappointed in myself, much like when I eat at Checkers. Good food, but never a good idea.

And if it’s not my iPad, it’s my Xbox or some ridiculous tv show. But the worst distraction for me, undoubtedly, is X, formerly known as Twitter, but a hellsite by any other name and all that rot.

I don’t know that I can walk away entirely from it, and it is not entirely a bad or unnecessary place. It gives me a place to say things I want to say, to see news and views from people that I usually wouldn’t, and a way to “hang out” with people that I enjoy.

But it is a distraction.

I need to write more. I need to do some projects for work. I need to read more. I need to learn more.

X is so much easier than all of that. Here I am, minding my own business, trying to get caught up on emails, when suddenly the mouse cursor finds the Brave icon, pulls the web browser to the front, and of course X is the first tab up. Curses! Productivity foiled again! How can I possibly create the next form for the service department when people are arguing over stupid things on the internets?!

Distraction is only a finger-tap away.

On one hand, I want to say that in 2024, I will be less distracted and more focuses on doing those things that I need to do. On the other, pronouncements of these kinds usually last a couple of weeks past Jan 1, and then fizzle out much like my willpower to eat broccoli after the first taste.

I guess we will see what happens. I am going to try to do better, but then again, I wonder what has been posted on X since I started writing this. I should go see.