Didn't realize that being almost hit by a car while crossing the street would result in a pervasive bad mood #sigh #ihadthewalksignal

— Jennifer Ng (@jennism) June 5, 2017

It all started with that. I was crossing the street when a car making a left turn went at full speed. I stared at it, willing the driver to see me. But in sudden fear, I hesitated in the crosswalk so if the car did get that close, I would still be standing. And it did stop, like out of a heart attack. I raised my hand in a fist, an imaginary punch in the air.

And that’s how the bad mood in the afternoon started.

The night before, I had dreamt being in stuck in a world of Gilead like that of Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale. “My nightmare was worse!” I complained when Chris told me that his nightmare was about cinder blocks falling on him and injuring him. “It’s not the same, because you’re a guy.”

“I guess so,” he said.

I had begun the day worried that my friend wasn’t sleeping well and that Chris needed to wake up. I woke up suddenly 8 minutes to 6 am wondering why the room was filled with light and realized that the sun rises early. But all was well. I looked at the time and willed myself back to sleep.

And back into the mind trying to recover from the nightmare.

But then all was well. I made a smoothie by pitting cherries (found a technique on the internet to use the pastry tip to remove the seeds), lime, banana, some lactose-free milk, and three ice cubes. Then a dash of chia seeds at the end for a bit of crunch. Two pint glasses full later, I finally then made a lunch of the remaining bbq. Half of a corn cob. A sausage. Then I cut up two tomatoes and harvested a pinch of cilantro leaves.

I felt slightly irritated that little buggies were now roaming around my little garden. I moved the plants away from each other and put them in the sun on the counter.

Then I washed the dishes, returning to my desk. That’s when my alarm went off reminding me of the coffee I had set up at 1pm. On the way, that’s how I nearly was in a traffic accident.

And that’s when the bad mood peaked.

Unfortunately one of the first comments made during the coffee meeting was an admiration of Apple’s “consistency” and its incredible design. Great branding and marketing made consumers feel like Apple is the best at design. And yet…is it? It’s one of my disliked subjects to discuss in design, because it’s about pure admiration and perfection, rather than what works in terms of the user experience.

But then I talked about the bad mood. And soon I felt better. Because it was pushed aside. It doesn’t rest inside me. It’s beyond me. At least for now.