SIGH

Those of you who watched Wall.E in VivoCity with me at the end of August will remember me shelling out on a new set of earphones for my iPod. Well, they lasted some four months. Even Apple's fared better. Granted, they were of an obscure and unreputed (please distinguish from disreputable!) brand, but one is entitled to expect slightly better? For what length of time they lasted, though, these in-ears provided a level of comfort and sound quality that left me more than pleased.

Compelled by necessity, I purchased a replacement set from Harvey Norman yesterday. Ostensibly more durable, they looked a good buy. Looked. In truth, they are awful. Though they are in-ears, they are completely incompetent at blocking out external noise and require the volume on the iPod to be adjusted to three-quarters of a bar for decent listening pleasure. That's triple what my brandless ones used to demand of my iPod. The sound quality itself leaves much to be desired.

It was then that I realised what enjoyment and satisfaction are like. These two idols in our lives which we worship and pursue with pious devotion are plausibly of a temporal and ephemeral nature. What is the use of having an obdurate and hardy item at your disposal if all it does is annoy you with subpar levels of performance and satisfaction? Its lengthier lifespan is just a longer stay of time for it to irritate. And often objects rendering a good level of enjoyment either wear themselves down (because we use them so heavily) and become useless, like a pair of spoilt earphones); or lull us into a state of expectation (as opposed to appreciation) that we take such enjoyment for granted and start finding fault with its less blatant shortcomings. In short, our infinite wants will never allow our possessions to be both good and lasting. You either have something nasty that persists as a nuisance, or drain enjoyment from one particular source and move on to the next when your marginal utility decreases below your threshold of acceptance. The better choice is obvious here.

不追求天长地久, 只在乎曾经拥有. Such sentiments may border on the Nihilistic, but they do not deserve short shrift. Perhaps if you joined me and watched the drama series that runs at 2.30pm each weekday on Channel 8, you would be more inclined to agree. It explores Nihilism in a humorous and highly forgiving manner, which is rather interesting. Hang on, this here might just be something good and lasting. It's called Channel 8. :p