Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Louis C.K. does this now classic piece of pure standup gold where he laments his perception that "Everything's Amazing And Nobody's Happy." In a nutshell, he rips our tap-the-touchscreen-and-it's-there society, pointing out the self-entitled absurdity of air travelers complaining when the in-flight WiFi fizzles out. He lists a whole bunch of wonders we largely consider default options of modern-day life.

I'm not the happiest guy in the world. Never have been. I have to work hard to keep my psychology in check. And I don't buy into the Gretchen Rubin notion of happiness anyway. I'm not a fan of prescribing one poorly defined state of being for a large and diverse collection of humans.

If I can feel reasonably good most of the time, avoid bitterness, enjoy my work, strive to be creative, chase my potential, strike for work-life balance and have fun with family and friends, I'm good. That's not happiness: It's just a good life. My mood notwithstanding.

There are two big enemies: bitterness and style. If I can escape them both, then I'll be happy. - Elliott Smith

I have never taken for granted society's incredible accomplishments of the last 20-25 years and, with the explosion of smartphones, tablets and apps, the last five to 10. In fact, I have always been in awe of the things I can access ... everyday ... with minimal, if any, effort. Things that simply did not exist when I was a teenager or younger. For the record, I turn 38 in July.

Almost every night in the hour before she goes to bed, my daughter asks whether she can change the channel on the television set from hockey to something she wants to watch, usually a Nickelodeon program or something similar she has DVR'd. When I was a kid, this type of request might have started World War III in some households. But not anymore.

Last night, I pulled out my iPhone (because I was too lazy to go grab my iPad), fired up NHL GameCenter and watched the Canucks/Blues on the Canadian feed. And the picture on that relatively tiny iPhone screen was amazing. So perfectly scaled. And in flawless HD.

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