It was awful. The character’s accent. It was so bad it ruined the whole movie.

To be fair, I know accents are not easy. Especially in English language movies whose characters would not be actually speaking English.

But the accent was awful and made the acting seem even more awful and each scene with that character doubly awful and topped off with this character appearing in every other scene. It was awful.

Funny how sometimes one little thing can ruin something much larger, whether in the movies or other art of life as a whole. It doesn’t always happen. Art and life are filled with errors and inconsistencies that are, well, just life.

I recently read a book that I really enjoyed. I thought it was inventive and well-constructed. It was set in 19^th century France. A light-hearted and comedic period piece. Except that the author thought he needed to use the word “boink” when referring to characters’ having sex. I know it’s a comedy but “boink” was so out of place it shocked me (not in a prudish way) every time I came across it. I had to work to let it go.

Or like being at a concert and the patron behind you is overly effusive or unaware his or her dialog can be heard by everyone around them. I mean the actual duration of the annoyances probably only last two minutes over a two hour concert. But each two second infraction becomes more and more annoying.

Almost neurotically so. I’m not generally a nit-picky person. I don’t go looking for flaws. But sometimes they just find you. Well, I suppose these events teach us and give us opportunity to learn to let go. Just breathe.

But little things can be good too.  One minor character can make a whole movie worth seeing. That happens to me a lot. Like the scene stealer in an otherwise average movie. Makes you smile. Makes it memorable. Sometimes saves the whole thing.

Or a line or section in a song. Sometimes just one phrase or small series of notes lights up the whole song. I have songs where I am just waiting for that moment to happen. Sometimes if I am distracted during the song and miss the key part, I’ll rewind it. It’s what makes the song all worth it.

Perhaps for each of those occasional little things that get to me that I cannot seem to control, I need to actively look for those little things that make me smile. Who’s in charge of my brain anyway? I’d like to think it was me. I think I’ll go work on that.