The following are my pet peeves, in order from least to most annoying.
-Ignorant tweens and teens who claim any of the current fad musicians are fit to hold the title of "king" or "queen" of a given genre, usually pop or rock, otherwise consider them a "legend" despite the fact that said musicians have been musically active for less than a decade/have contributed nothing of lasting value to contemporary music, claim they're totally original when they're clearly ripping some other artist's work. Examples of this kind of tripe are people claiming Justin Timberlake is the new king of pop, Lady Gaga is the new queen of pop, or Miley Cyrus is the new princess of pop. Other snicker-worthy examples are: Beyonce is the greatest diva (as claimed by some blogger a poster here brought to our attention), Avril Lavigne is a musical legend, "LADY GAGA iz lyk 100% original and so ttly creativ so SHUT UP B--CH!!! Dat b--ch Christina copied her, Gaga iz better than Madonna little monsters put yer pawzz uppp!!" (I kid you not--some idiot Gaga fans on YouTube actually type like this--I guess they were born that way). :smilerolleyes: I've said it a million times before, there's nothing wrong with liking any of those people (I, for one, like some of Lavigne's material and I like Beyonce), however, one has to be realistic about the context in which their musical careers exist. None of them are legends, icons, or kings/queens/princesses of anything. Anyone who claims otherwise just makes himself seem asinine and uninformed about music history and standards of quality.
-People excusing celebrity misbehaviour/poor choices. All men are equal--celebrities are not demigods. If they commit crimes (i.e. get caught using drugs/drinking when underage, stealing, vandalizing, etc.), they should be treated like everyone else.
-People claiming poorly written books (i.e. Twilight) are "literature." An interesting (albeit unverified) quote attributed to Mark Twain adequately sums up my point:
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." Again, anyone who claims such trash is deserving of the title is delusional at best, and a complete idiot at worst.
-People who care (more like, obsess over) what others think--one can't win everyone's affection/favour, even if one tries one's best to be "perfectly likable." I call that the Willy Loman syndrome (not currently recognized by the DSM-IV), named thus after the protagonist of the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. He believed the most essential thing in life was to be "well-liked." The play concludes in Loman committing suicide once he realizes he's a complete failure (by his own standards) and not well-liked at all. One could say people who overly preoccupy themselves with making a positive impression in the eyes of others are forcing their true selves to commit figurative suicide. Of course, once they fail, they have mental breakdowns, etc. It's more sad than anything, I reckon, but I list it as my pet peeve because it's thoroughly unnecessary suffering and certainly something I cannot understand, as I have never cared what people think of me, whether it be positive or negative.
-Native English speakers who don't have the decency to write/speak their own language correctly.
-Large groups of teenagers in public places. I dunno--they just put me on edge. I reckon my rationale for reacting that way is the fact that I've suffered greatly at the hands of these people. Out of all the people who have personally gone out of their way to make a fraction of my life a living Hell, 99.9% of them have been teenagers/young adults. I am especially wary of the ones who travel in large groups because bullies seldom travel alone, as they're nothing more than bloody cowards. The noise they generate just grates my nerves--it'd be the equivalent of nails scratching on a chalkboard for the average person (interestingly enough, I love the latter noise). An unobservant party could sum it up as me just being overly sensitive to noise--but I daresay this is not the case. When a large group of children or older adults make a similar or greater amount of noise (playing and running around for kids, noisy parties for adults), the noises they make don't bother me one bit. Hell, not even an infant crying gets on my nerves as much (it's annoying, but it doesn't put me
on edge). A potential reason for my reaction may be linked to the fact that, when children or babies make lots of noise, it's usually because they need something, or are at play. When a group of older adults makes noise, it usually means they're just having a good time. Conversely, when teenagers/young adults make lots of noise, they're usually making fun of some innocent souls behind their back and laughing hysterically, or else gossiping or engaging in other asinine activity.
-The fluttering of insect wings/buzzing/the noise an insect's exoskeleton makes when it inadvertently bumps against a surface. This is probably THE most annoying sound in the world for me. I've hated it since childhood, and I continue to hate it to this day. I especially dislike the sounds produced by:
*Flies
*Stink Bugs (Some blogger described their buzzing as being "soothing."
uke: Soothing!? Compared to what, a detonated hydrogen bomb?)
*Beetles (exoskeleton, ew!)
-Insects in general. Kill them all.