I just learned a new word today. (definition somewhere linked on the sidebar daily clicks) Its an interesting word, almost as good as schadenfreude. Thinking about it, growing up is a mild form of anhedonia because really, the things I've grown to enjoy as a kid, well, they just don't do it for me these days. I remember I'd spend hours just sprawled out on the living room carpet or kitchen floor zooming my little HotWheels cars around. Those were simple times, and I guess it was a simple pleasure. These days, its been hard to experience simple pleasures. Its all about setup, before we can experience these pleasures. I have to be at a specific place, at a specific time with specific people to be able to enjoy a "simple pleasure."

Then again, in the process, I've also created new simple pleasures. Like this morning after we got into the car and my wife and I started reiterating lines from the SNL sketch "Two A-Holes at a Travel Agency."

The only reason I found out about this word is because I was googling around for the word "islomane." After seeing it on boingboing.net, and realizing one of their bloggers basically left the U.S. to live in Rarotongo and then became completely disillusioned with living on a tropical island. Which is ironic since he was supposedly someone completely in love with the idea of islands. Probably best that he did it, and not me. I was becoming pretty bored in the Bahamas after awhile even though I was somewhat of an islomane before I ever stepped foot on an island. I guess the dreamy idea of something is always better than the gritty reality of it. There's only so many times I could go to the beach and lounge by the pool. Which is the spoiled side of things, I also saw the people that actually had to make a living and work there, and it was kinda depressing. I thought it would be paradise, but like our driver said on the way to the airport, "once it becomes your backyard, you don't really notice it." Which can probably be said for living in DC and all the monuments and attractions around that I rarely take advantage of. Reminds me of a New Order lyric, "it was always special, it was like water down the drain."

So perhaps its good that there are lulls in between the good stuff in life, otherwise, I'd probably become completely anhedonic.