domestic man of mystery

ON NEGATIVITY

I read a fascinating snippet of a Times.co.uk piece in today's Mercury News Perspective section. The theories can be applied to one's personal and professional lives... but other than that, it sort of speaks for itself. So I'll shut up now.

Modern humans, stuck with an ancient brain, are like rats on a wheel. We can't stop running, because we're always looking over our shoulders and comparing our achievements with our neighbors'. At 20, we think we'd be happy with a house and a car. But if we get them, we start dreaming of a second home in Italy and a turbo-charged four-wheel-drive.

This is called the "hedonic treadmill" by happiness scholars. It causes us to rapidly and inevitably adapt to good things by taking them for granted. The more possessions and accomplishments we have, the more we need to boost our level of happiness. It makes sense that the brain of a species that has dominated others would evolve to strive for the best.

Our difficulty, according to Daniel Nettle, is that the brain systems for liking and wanting are separate: "The things that you desire are not the things that you end up liking. The mechanisms of desire are insatiable. There are things that we really like and tire of less quickly - having good friends, the beauty of the natural world, spirituality. But our economic system plays into the psychology of wanting, and the psychology of liking gets drowned out."

Liking involves different brain chemicals than wanting. Real pleasure is associated with opioids. They are released in the rat brain by sweet tastes. When they are blocked in humans, food tastes less delicious. They also dampen down pain so that pleasure is unadulterated.

Happiness is neither desire nor pleasure alone. It involves a third chemical pathway. Serotonin constantly shifts the balance between negative and positive emotions. It can reduce worry, fear, panic and sleeplessness and increase sociability, co-operation and happy feelings. Drugs based on serotonin, such as ecstasy, produce a relaxed sense of wellbeing rather than the dopamine pattern of euphoria and craving.

In essence, what the biology lesson tells us is that negative emotions are fundamental to the human condition, and it's no wonder they are difficult to eradicate. At the same time, by a trick of nature, our brains are designed to crave but never really achieve lasting happiness.

So. You're negative? Well then, you're normal. Er, we're normal.

I'M YOUR VILLAIN

Right, then. It's taken me a while to catch up, but here goes:

Franz Ferdinand at the Greek was smashing. Unbelievable, more like. After paying a scalper for two tickets in the terrace, Mary and I got upgraded to the pit. So, watched TV On The Radio and Franz from no more than five feet away. It was, with a couple weeks to reflect now, the best show I've seen in a long and storied history of seeing shows. Never have I witnessed a band play so tight and polished onstage and also still have so much obvious FUN while doing it. And I'd seen them once before. But this was unlike anything else.

So those missing-the-SND-conference blues quickly faded after that and spending the next day lazing on Venice Beach.

Which isn't to say that there wasn't some fun had in Houston. Check out Kenney's slide show (and try to count the beers on the table in front of Kevin).

And speaking of the esteemed Mr. Wendt, his team, the Hey Pappies, are headed to the October Classic. And so is he, after dropping enough cash to buy a small car on two tickets. He'll be blogging for the Merc from the Windy City. Check out the first couple entries here.

More fun on tap this weekend: Mary's back in town - her inaugural visit to NorCal - and plans include a night out with the gang here, a trip to Grass Valley to see those Golden Shoulders and Radical Bros., the exciting side project from Dana Deathray and Max de High Speed Scene. Then a day in the City by the Bay, and perhaps a drink with Chris.

Then the weekend will be over all too soon, as it always seems to be.

MUSICAL BITS: If you haven't listened to the new Wolf Parade album at least a dozen times, you're missing out. It's a magical melding of the Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse. Seriously. ... There's a heartfelt - and telling - blog entry from the aforementioned Dana here, that gives some insight into the trials and tribulations of a brilliant band without a home. ... Along those lines, saw Cake in Santa Cruz on Friday, and just cringed when the crowd went nuts hearing "The Distance." It's not your song, McCrea! Effer!

BREAKING MUSIC NEWS

Green Day, fresh off (er, not even off yet, actually) a ginormous arena tour, will play at L.A.'s Wiltern on Oct. 11 and San Francisco's own Warfield on Oct. 13.

The Wiltern date comes just two days after a two-night stint at L.A.'s Home Depot Center, the vast stadium built for MLS' L.A. Galaxy.

By far the smallest venues the band has played in ages, both theater shows will feature a full-length performance of "American Idiot," the band's rock opera released to critical acclaim not so long ago.

Tickets on sale Monday at Ticketmaster.

THE GAWKER AND THE TRUTH

So did you read the E&P story on the Boston Globe's buyouts?

Probably no need to comment on it much here, because, a) all this is effing depressing; and b) because nothing I say will be anywhere near as funny (nor eerily near-accurate) as this, the Gawker refer to the story:

Pretty much everyone who works for a newspaper has been or is about to be fired. This is the story of 500 of them.

Sigh.

SND HOUSTON | WEST COAST EDITION

All right, so that headline's a little misleading. No conference for me this year, for a number of reasons.

And for a number of alltogether different reasons, I'm spending the next four days in L.A. So, there's some consolation there.

Started things off with a bang tonight by going to the High Times (no joke) Comedy Night at the Hollywood Improv. And while it (and Sarah Silverman, in particular) was hilarious, I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as most of the crowd. I was, shall we say, at a pharmaceutical disadvantage.

So, in an effort to get my annual three days of partying in around this time (though, for once, I'll be doing it without throngs of other designers around), on tap for tomorrow is Idlewild at the El Rey; Saturday is Franz Ferdinand at the Greek Theater (with Mary, imported specially from Indy); Sunday will likely be spent recovering. See, just like Sunday at SND!

If you're interested, you likely already know about it, but just in case, the conference blogging this year has taken on a life of its own, with blogging en masse on the official site and our good friend Newsdesigner. Last year, the Newsdesigner blogging ship was captained by Mark, of course, with assists from Kenney and me. This year, my absence has necessitated a throng of bloggers from around the country attempting to fill my shoes. Good luck, kids. (Jokes! Just jokes...)

So, let the fun in Houston begin. And the fabulousness in L.A., too.