The simple list is the list of things my sister does actually get het up about.

Except marketing. I can't bring myself to get mad at marketing. But other than that, she's got a pretty sensitive view of the world, but she has to take steps to shut herself off from certain sources of news because it puts a stranglehold on how she lives.

She doesn't ignore well. She boycotts a lot.

But I can pick up a plastic spoon with a lot less stress than her, or one of those veggie plastic bags in the supermarket. For her it's a stress cycle every single time. I have no idea how she functions.

Yeah, that's why I think it's OK. There's no way I could care enough to do anything about everything important and still function. So I take on my things, and let other people handle the rest.

I have no idea how my sister functions either. But that's for very different reasons.

A luge athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash in training on the Olympic track

Damn. I heard he was seriously injured.

Athletes have complained about the safety of the luge track, the fastest in the world. He flew off the track and slammed into an unpadded pole.

For her it's a stress cycle every single time. I have no idea how she functions.

I am your sister, at least to some extent. I pretty much always think about the environmental/social impacts of everything I do. But frequently I shrug and do it anyway.

I've read part of this Atlantic article, and it's depressing as fuck:

How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America

The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar men. It could cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a despair not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come.

I think I need to curl up in a corner with a bottle of booze and cry....

I score pretty well on carbon footprint just by virtue of living in an apartment with no car and not travelling a lot. I figure my using plastic spoons is the least of the earth's worries.

I think about the environmental impact of what I do. But I think she ulcerates about having to put the tomatoes in a separate bag from the grapes. I can't imagine. I just watch.

I was not expecting that crash article to have a picture of the crash. Colour me naive that way.

I think they were replaying the crash on TV. I don't know if they've stopped since he's now dead.

I was so bored at work this afternoon, I resorted to cat stacking.

And my boss's puppy started limping today at work and noone knows why. I hope it doesn't put an end to Puppy Fridays.

Are there things that occur that you *know* you should get more het up about because it's offensive, but don't because really you just can't be bothered with one more thing?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this--like, above people are talking about environmental impact they have, do you mean that i should be more worried about like "OMG, I should be doing X Y and Z" kind of thing? Or more like "The Senate is NOT APPROVING THIS BILL THAT IS A TRAVESTY!" kind of thing? Cause the first one...well, I suppose if I thought about it, I would know I should be, but I don't even tend to think about it overly much. I mean, my carbon footprint might be OK ...except for all the PLANE TRIPS I take. Etc etc.

As for the "taking offense at shit"---yes. There is definitely times when I feel like I should be protesting more things and doing more writing to representatives and signing more petitions and educating more bigots and yadda yadda. But I get tired. Heck, even in my own life. Though just last night I finally managed to call a friend out on something that's been bugging me that a bunch of my friends have been doing for a long time, and I resolved a while back to start saying something about. And it felt good. And I want to keep saying something when it happens.