dg, i'm right there with you. i always feel i *should* keep up with the news because it's important to know what's going on, but sometimes i feel really overwhelmed and depressed by the state of the world. lately, every time i listen to the radio, all they are talking about is the "economic crisis" and even hearing the word makes me feel stressed. a few days ago they did a report about the increased frequentation of soup kitchens this winter, and how it might be necessary to keep them active all year long, and i thought "oh my god it's like we're living in the 1930's".
i think i'm going to have to take a break from the news as well (i don't have a television, but i'll just turn the radio to a music station instead and leave it alone).
pshrynk, please DO go give your PE teachers hell, and know that there are so many people right there with you !! i hated sports when i was a child (i still do in fact) and i was a really skinny kid with no upper body strength at all (and not much strength anywhere else in fact) and little to do endurance (still true as well), so trying to do pullups on a bar was like torture to me and i really suffered during the enforced running. luckily i was taking classical ballet classes all through childhood and adolescence, and when i was about 14 or 15 i had 5 hours of class per week, and i was able to have that counted as my sports class and skip the ones at school. i can't even tell you what a relief it was to escape the official torture sessions.
like everyone else has said, it's completely idiotic to expect everyone to perform well at all the same things (physical and intellectual). i have some friends who never finished high school and who are some of the most intelligent, reflected and cultivated people i know.