There's this: As a guy, first of all, I think it crass beyond belief to be totally obvious about staring at a woman's chest- but I also have to admit that I'm a guy and guys look at breasts. I think the proper etiquette is to be brief and discreet about it and, above all DON'T GET CAUGHT. And above all- don't mention it in conversation! Good God. If you're going to be a stereotypical, slobbering male, at least be polite and discreet about it. Guys are, after all only human, but that doesn't mean they can't be respectful and discreet when they look at attractive women.
My mild confession on this subject: my freshman year of college when I was an incredibly callow young man with no social skills whatsoever, I was attempting to flirt with a woman who was actually, flirting back a little. At the time, this was a novelty to me- all that came to an end, when, upon noticing she had her cell phone snugly tucked into her cleavage, I 'playfully' asked her what else she kept down there. It was one of those moments where you just knew what you had just said was completely the wrong thing to say and every possible comeback completely vanished out of my head and I just figured the best thing to do at that point was to run away and find a corner to die in from mortification. Oddly enough (not really though), I never saw her again- but took some comfort from the fact that it could have been worse. I could have asked her if she had her phone set on vibrate.
Then there's this: this dude is a douchebag. No other word for it. No, women who breastfeed aren't 'sows', but yes, at the same time (I think Miss Manners would back me up on this) it's a lot cooler, when you're in public to use a blanket. If the D-Bags point was that people should use a blanket when breastfeeding in public, then he picked an incredibly shitty and sexist way to make it. But somehow, I don't think that was his point- I think he was just calling breastfeeding women sows.
Douche. Bag.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Diets and Running
We (everyone) is on the South Beach Diet for reasons passing understanding. It's Day 3 and I understand why dieting doesn't work AND why thin people are so damn miserable. The initial phase of the South Beach Diet consists of lettuce, other random forms of rabbit food and no carbs whatsoever. My own personal hell. Oh and no caffeine for the first two weeks, no chocolate and naturally, to add insult to injury no booze either.
This sucks- and if I haven't lost weight at the end of these two weeks, I'm going to be pretty damn pissed. And then stick my face into a burger. Preferably one from Hardees.
But, on the running front: 1.21 miles in 12.51 today! I'm getting better! I have the JC Sheriff's Department test tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes!
This sucks- and if I haven't lost weight at the end of these two weeks, I'm going to be pretty damn pissed. And then stick my face into a burger. Preferably one from Hardees.
But, on the running front: 1.21 miles in 12.51 today! I'm getting better! I have the JC Sheriff's Department test tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is Crying.
I just stumbled across this little bit of painfully sad video that's been circulating the internet. Apparently, some students down at NYU decided to have a good, old fashioned takeover of the Food Court. Not a sit-in the President's Office, but a takeover of... yeah, that's right- the food court.
Their demands are OK- some of them make sense, some of them don't- I don't know why you'd lead off with a demand for an amnesty for all those involved. Yeah, way to be martyrs for your cause. Way to put your ideals on the line... 'we want to protest, but we demand NOT to get in trouble for it!' It's like they were going for civil obedience instead of civil DISobedience. And demand number 2? That workers be compensated for fiscal losses suffered during the occupation. WHY ARE YOU PENALIZING THE UNDERPAID FOOD COURT WORKERS? Come on NOW! This is why you take over some place that matters, like the President's office. You take over the Food Court, you're going to piss off students that want food and penalize some of the lowest paid workers (I would guess anyway) on campus. Yeah, up with the proletariat. They can do without a paycheck or two while you attempt to push your demands on people who could care less. The President makes, well, lots and LOTS of money- disrupt his work environment to make your point, not the cooks in the Food Court.
Second of all: wow, do you people not know how to protest. Have you ever seen a documentary on the 60s? Do you not get how to build barricades? And who sends negotiators OUT to meet with authorities? I mean DUH. Of course they're going to be detained! And kids- let's learn how to build a barricade and make some homemade teargas. When a cop just starts shoving your barricade aside as you're in the middle of your revolutionary harangue, it should be a clue that the supposed ramparts of your revolution are not up to the task. And why are you running around trying to have a group therapy session? Do you need facilitators? Why? Why haven't you figured this out before you get to this point? You know- like sit down and say hey, if the police bust in, this is what we're going to do!
The Flower Power of 60s Radicalism just died somewhere. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Shit, somewhere Ayn Rand is crying. Somewhere Gandhi is crying. It doesn't matter what your ideological standings and beliefs are- any way you slice it, this is just sad.
If you're going to takeover a building. DO IT RIGHT! And I would have voted for taking over the President's Office and staging a sit-in for your demands- and practicing non-violent resistance as you did so. I remember when Students Against Sweatshops was emerging on the University of Iowa Campus- they were radical, passionate- and I didn't entirely agree with them. But did they take over the IMU food court. Nope. They took over the President's Office. And FRONT PAGE the next day was shots of them being carried out by police officers. It was peaceful, well-organized and although it was disruptive, it got their points across very, very well.
If you're going to protest, then do it right.
Their demands are OK- some of them make sense, some of them don't- I don't know why you'd lead off with a demand for an amnesty for all those involved. Yeah, way to be martyrs for your cause. Way to put your ideals on the line... 'we want to protest, but we demand NOT to get in trouble for it!' It's like they were going for civil obedience instead of civil DISobedience. And demand number 2? That workers be compensated for fiscal losses suffered during the occupation. WHY ARE YOU PENALIZING THE UNDERPAID FOOD COURT WORKERS? Come on NOW! This is why you take over some place that matters, like the President's office. You take over the Food Court, you're going to piss off students that want food and penalize some of the lowest paid workers (I would guess anyway) on campus. Yeah, up with the proletariat. They can do without a paycheck or two while you attempt to push your demands on people who could care less. The President makes, well, lots and LOTS of money- disrupt his work environment to make your point, not the cooks in the Food Court.
Second of all: wow, do you people not know how to protest. Have you ever seen a documentary on the 60s? Do you not get how to build barricades? And who sends negotiators OUT to meet with authorities? I mean DUH. Of course they're going to be detained! And kids- let's learn how to build a barricade and make some homemade teargas. When a cop just starts shoving your barricade aside as you're in the middle of your revolutionary harangue, it should be a clue that the supposed ramparts of your revolution are not up to the task. And why are you running around trying to have a group therapy session? Do you need facilitators? Why? Why haven't you figured this out before you get to this point? You know- like sit down and say hey, if the police bust in, this is what we're going to do!
The Flower Power of 60s Radicalism just died somewhere. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Shit, somewhere Ayn Rand is crying. Somewhere Gandhi is crying. It doesn't matter what your ideological standings and beliefs are- any way you slice it, this is just sad.
If you're going to takeover a building. DO IT RIGHT! And I would have voted for taking over the President's Office and staging a sit-in for your demands- and practicing non-violent resistance as you did so. I remember when Students Against Sweatshops was emerging on the University of Iowa Campus- they were radical, passionate- and I didn't entirely agree with them. But did they take over the IMU food court. Nope. They took over the President's Office. And FRONT PAGE the next day was shots of them being carried out by police officers. It was peaceful, well-organized and although it was disruptive, it got their points across very, very well.
If you're going to protest, then do it right.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Crossing the Line
I take it as an article of faith that most of what you find on television today is crap. Most of it. There are shows worth watching out there- some of them critical acclaimed, some of them swept under the rug by the snobbish Hollywood elites. But by and large, there's a lot of crap on television.
So it's always a pleasant surprise when you find yourself watching television that is tackling an issue that is incredibly sensitive- and doing so in a thorough, nuanced and generally even-handed way. The issue: sexual harassment. The show: JAG.
JAG continues to surprise me. I never watched it regularly when it was on the air, resorting instead to falling back on the occasional episode on those slow mornings that found me at a loose end in front of the television, desperate to avoid soaps. The USA Network and JAG would always kill an hour in an entertaining way. And it was a good- and unique show. The genre of 'military courtroom drama' is one that is hardly the most crowded of demographics, so that made it different. But the attention to detail and research (not to mention the sometimes cheesy, early 90s special effect inserting actual footage of various Presidents and leaders into the show) is impressive. JAG, which I've started to watch more closely recently, is a show very aware of what year it is- the military of JAG is still wrestling with the issue of women in combat and still reeling from the sexual harassment scandals (OK. Make that 'Scandal' singular. Tailhook is very much remembered by this show) that shook the armed services in the 90s.
It takes you awhile to realize it, but when both male and female characters occasional steer the conversation away from risque conversational topics by saying 'RED LIGHT' or 'GREEN LIGHT' it takes you awhile to figure out what they're doing and why they're doing it. (A verbal tool employed by the armed services, I guess, to indicate when conversational topics are approaching uncomfortable and prickly areas. Hence- RED LIGHT=change the subject.)
And of all the shows on television, the one place you'd least expect to find a quiet strain of feminism is JAG. Yet, there, lurking in the corner is feminism. The female lead, Mac, played ably by Catharine Bell is a tough minded career Marine Major, who knows all too well what it takes to get ahead in the military. The male lead, Harm (David James Elliot) flips back and forth between attitudes portrayed as 'typical boys club' military thinking to atypical, more nuanced views that firmly line up behind doing what's right.
Early on in the second season, this all collides brilliantly in an episode entitled 'Crossing the Line.' The title refers to an apparent (I'm assuming they did the research on this one) naval tradition of 'initiating' new recruits the first time a ship crosses the equator- the 'tradition' resembles little more than a mild fraternity hazing- and if it's portrayal is anything close to accurate, then there are frat houses out there that do far, far worse.
But there's a twist: this time around, a female pilot accuses the CAG (Combat Air Group) commander of sexual harassment. What follows was probably the most thought-provoking, careful, nuanced- and above all entertaining hour of television I had ever seen. Mac and Harm are dispatched with their trust sidekick Bud to the aircraft carrier to investigate this complaint. Admirals in Washington are all over this- and soon, a high level Congresswoman, critic of the Navy and champion of women in the armed services is dispatched to take stock.
The female pilot gives an eloquent account of her feelings of humiliation at having jello rubbed in her hair, being forced to dance with another female officer, being poked and prodded in the buttocks with pitchforks and being dunked into 'the tank of truth and justice' which seems to be a tank of sewer water or something equally unpleasant. Mac is firmly on the side of the pilot while Harm shrugs it off as part of naval tradition.
Things change quickly: we find out from the Chief of the Boat (MC for this little tradition) that everyone was treated absolutely equally, regardless of gender. The other major female character involved in the ceremony (a backseat flyer- an RIO) agrees that everyone was treated equally. This throws Mac for a loop and backs up Harm's point of view- but it is the female RIO that probably delivers the moral of the story: 'Sometimes a woman has to give up some of what it means to be a woman in order to fit in with the guys. And sometimes it sucks.'
The obvious question: is that right? Is that OK? Why do women need to 'fit in with the guys?' Granted, the military is very much a boy's club, so it'll be a struggle for any woman to get ahead, but should they have to sacrifice a fundamental part of what it means to be a woman, just for the sake of fitting in with everyone? It's worth noting that in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, we were forced to do a linguistic dance with the Saudis- who objected to women being allowed to drive on their soil. 'Women' wouldn't be driving, they were told. 'American Soldiers' would be. Wouldn't that be the ideal the military would want to achieve? Not male soldiers and female soldiers, but just plain soldiers (or sailors, marines- whichever applies?) Such an ideal surely has been pushed before when the Armed Services were integrated on the basis of color, so why not on the basis of gender?
The CAG against which the complaint has been filed is undoubtedly a hardass. Perhaps even a fossil- even inappropriately so. But his position is crystal clear. He has standards for his pilots- high ones (especially given how insane it is just thinking about what's required to land a very large plane, going very fast on a very small runway in the middle of the ocean)- and those standards he will not compromise. Everyone has to meet the same standard. The female pilot was grounded because she had a couple of bad landings and was not meeting the expected standards.
This raises another question: should there be different standards for women? Such an idea seems both inevitable and anti-feminist. Inevitable, because basic biological gender differences mean that women and men achieve different standards of physical fitness at different rates. You only have to look at the differences in times at the Olympics to realize that. There are fast woman and fast men- but they don't compete against each other. Yet it also seems anti-feminist, because feminism seems to call for an end to gender bias and differences- and at the very core of this debate is a simple fact: if women are expected to succeed in the armed services, wouldn't it be in their benefit to show the boys they can take their standards and meet and beat them?
At the end of the day, JAG seems to settle on the ideal of aiming for a gender blind military where there are no men, no women, but just soldiers, sailors, marines and pilots. The hardass CAG is forced to send the female pilot he grounded out on patrol (in order to assuage the Congresswoman) and he sends the female RIO along to back her up. (The female pilot and the RIO don't like each other- the RIO feels that the pilot looks to blame everyone but herself for her mistakes.) Tragically, the CAG's judgment is proved correct. The female pilot blow her night landing on the carrier and crashes her plane- which bursts into flame. The female RIO ejects at the last minute (is saved by the always heroic Harm) and earns the respect (which she already had) of the CAG- she is undeniably one of the boys.
The underlying message of the show is an interesting one. As I've already said, JAG does seem to line up behind the idea that the military should be gender blind and everyone should play on an equal footing. I was somewhat uncomfortable about the idea of the female pilot being killed off in the show, but it just serves to reinforce the underlying point: the military is a serious business and standards have to be high, because even if you're on a routine flight, mistakes in their line of work can cost lives. Why should that ideal be softened because of someone's gender? Should it? Ultimately, it feels like the question is essentially unresolved however: there is an interesting contradiction being played out- on the one hand, gender blindness seems to be the ideal that the show lines up behind. But on the other hand, there's that quietly devastating remark by the female RIO that still lingers: in order to fit in with the guys, women do have to sacrifice just a little of what it means to be a woman.
Is that right? Should we- or women, for that matter be OK with that? That particular question is never really resolved, but the fact of the matter is that JAG takes the view that a gender blind military would be the ideal, but is also pragmatic enough to recognize that such an ideal has a price for all concerned. For women, the things they have to do to 'fit in' in such a male-dominated business. For the men and the COs, the pressure they feel to compromise high standards on the basis of gender and the hard truth that a male-dominated culture has to somehow, someway, adapt to change.
All in all, it was incredible well done- the most thought-provoking 45 minutes of television I have ever seen. If you haven't taken a closer look at JAG, even though it's off the air now- whip out the Netflix and give it a shot. It may just surprise you- because it sure as heck surprised me.
So it's always a pleasant surprise when you find yourself watching television that is tackling an issue that is incredibly sensitive- and doing so in a thorough, nuanced and generally even-handed way. The issue: sexual harassment. The show: JAG.
JAG continues to surprise me. I never watched it regularly when it was on the air, resorting instead to falling back on the occasional episode on those slow mornings that found me at a loose end in front of the television, desperate to avoid soaps. The USA Network and JAG would always kill an hour in an entertaining way. And it was a good- and unique show. The genre of 'military courtroom drama' is one that is hardly the most crowded of demographics, so that made it different. But the attention to detail and research (not to mention the sometimes cheesy, early 90s special effect inserting actual footage of various Presidents and leaders into the show) is impressive. JAG, which I've started to watch more closely recently, is a show very aware of what year it is- the military of JAG is still wrestling with the issue of women in combat and still reeling from the sexual harassment scandals (OK. Make that 'Scandal' singular. Tailhook is very much remembered by this show) that shook the armed services in the 90s.
It takes you awhile to realize it, but when both male and female characters occasional steer the conversation away from risque conversational topics by saying 'RED LIGHT' or 'GREEN LIGHT' it takes you awhile to figure out what they're doing and why they're doing it. (A verbal tool employed by the armed services, I guess, to indicate when conversational topics are approaching uncomfortable and prickly areas. Hence- RED LIGHT=change the subject.)
And of all the shows on television, the one place you'd least expect to find a quiet strain of feminism is JAG. Yet, there, lurking in the corner is feminism. The female lead, Mac, played ably by Catharine Bell is a tough minded career Marine Major, who knows all too well what it takes to get ahead in the military. The male lead, Harm (David James Elliot) flips back and forth between attitudes portrayed as 'typical boys club' military thinking to atypical, more nuanced views that firmly line up behind doing what's right.
Early on in the second season, this all collides brilliantly in an episode entitled 'Crossing the Line.' The title refers to an apparent (I'm assuming they did the research on this one) naval tradition of 'initiating' new recruits the first time a ship crosses the equator- the 'tradition' resembles little more than a mild fraternity hazing- and if it's portrayal is anything close to accurate, then there are frat houses out there that do far, far worse.
But there's a twist: this time around, a female pilot accuses the CAG (Combat Air Group) commander of sexual harassment. What follows was probably the most thought-provoking, careful, nuanced- and above all entertaining hour of television I had ever seen. Mac and Harm are dispatched with their trust sidekick Bud to the aircraft carrier to investigate this complaint. Admirals in Washington are all over this- and soon, a high level Congresswoman, critic of the Navy and champion of women in the armed services is dispatched to take stock.
The female pilot gives an eloquent account of her feelings of humiliation at having jello rubbed in her hair, being forced to dance with another female officer, being poked and prodded in the buttocks with pitchforks and being dunked into 'the tank of truth and justice' which seems to be a tank of sewer water or something equally unpleasant. Mac is firmly on the side of the pilot while Harm shrugs it off as part of naval tradition.
Things change quickly: we find out from the Chief of the Boat (MC for this little tradition) that everyone was treated absolutely equally, regardless of gender. The other major female character involved in the ceremony (a backseat flyer- an RIO) agrees that everyone was treated equally. This throws Mac for a loop and backs up Harm's point of view- but it is the female RIO that probably delivers the moral of the story: 'Sometimes a woman has to give up some of what it means to be a woman in order to fit in with the guys. And sometimes it sucks.'
The obvious question: is that right? Is that OK? Why do women need to 'fit in with the guys?' Granted, the military is very much a boy's club, so it'll be a struggle for any woman to get ahead, but should they have to sacrifice a fundamental part of what it means to be a woman, just for the sake of fitting in with everyone? It's worth noting that in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, we were forced to do a linguistic dance with the Saudis- who objected to women being allowed to drive on their soil. 'Women' wouldn't be driving, they were told. 'American Soldiers' would be. Wouldn't that be the ideal the military would want to achieve? Not male soldiers and female soldiers, but just plain soldiers (or sailors, marines- whichever applies?) Such an ideal surely has been pushed before when the Armed Services were integrated on the basis of color, so why not on the basis of gender?
The CAG against which the complaint has been filed is undoubtedly a hardass. Perhaps even a fossil- even inappropriately so. But his position is crystal clear. He has standards for his pilots- high ones (especially given how insane it is just thinking about what's required to land a very large plane, going very fast on a very small runway in the middle of the ocean)- and those standards he will not compromise. Everyone has to meet the same standard. The female pilot was grounded because she had a couple of bad landings and was not meeting the expected standards.
This raises another question: should there be different standards for women? Such an idea seems both inevitable and anti-feminist. Inevitable, because basic biological gender differences mean that women and men achieve different standards of physical fitness at different rates. You only have to look at the differences in times at the Olympics to realize that. There are fast woman and fast men- but they don't compete against each other. Yet it also seems anti-feminist, because feminism seems to call for an end to gender bias and differences- and at the very core of this debate is a simple fact: if women are expected to succeed in the armed services, wouldn't it be in their benefit to show the boys they can take their standards and meet and beat them?
At the end of the day, JAG seems to settle on the ideal of aiming for a gender blind military where there are no men, no women, but just soldiers, sailors, marines and pilots. The hardass CAG is forced to send the female pilot he grounded out on patrol (in order to assuage the Congresswoman) and he sends the female RIO along to back her up. (The female pilot and the RIO don't like each other- the RIO feels that the pilot looks to blame everyone but herself for her mistakes.) Tragically, the CAG's judgment is proved correct. The female pilot blow her night landing on the carrier and crashes her plane- which bursts into flame. The female RIO ejects at the last minute (is saved by the always heroic Harm) and earns the respect (which she already had) of the CAG- she is undeniably one of the boys.
The underlying message of the show is an interesting one. As I've already said, JAG does seem to line up behind the idea that the military should be gender blind and everyone should play on an equal footing. I was somewhat uncomfortable about the idea of the female pilot being killed off in the show, but it just serves to reinforce the underlying point: the military is a serious business and standards have to be high, because even if you're on a routine flight, mistakes in their line of work can cost lives. Why should that ideal be softened because of someone's gender? Should it? Ultimately, it feels like the question is essentially unresolved however: there is an interesting contradiction being played out- on the one hand, gender blindness seems to be the ideal that the show lines up behind. But on the other hand, there's that quietly devastating remark by the female RIO that still lingers: in order to fit in with the guys, women do have to sacrifice just a little of what it means to be a woman.
Is that right? Should we- or women, for that matter be OK with that? That particular question is never really resolved, but the fact of the matter is that JAG takes the view that a gender blind military would be the ideal, but is also pragmatic enough to recognize that such an ideal has a price for all concerned. For women, the things they have to do to 'fit in' in such a male-dominated business. For the men and the COs, the pressure they feel to compromise high standards on the basis of gender and the hard truth that a male-dominated culture has to somehow, someway, adapt to change.
All in all, it was incredible well done- the most thought-provoking 45 minutes of television I have ever seen. If you haven't taken a closer look at JAG, even though it's off the air now- whip out the Netflix and give it a shot. It may just surprise you- because it sure as heck surprised me.
Freedom
I usually am a fairly oriented person. It's a side effect of spending far too much of my youth with my nose buried in an atlas instead of outside in the fresh air. I usually know which was is north, where the nearest big cities are, what's coming up when, and so on and so forth. Once I've been to a place once, I can usually find my way back without (too much) assistance.
So Saturday night, at the party, I wandered outside and stared up at the most beautiful night sky I'd ever seen and I realized that between one rural back road and another, I had no idea where I was. Somewhere between Rochester, Austen and Winona was the nearest I could think.
The Universe suddenly felt very large and I felt very small and almost invisible. Normally, that tends to depress people- myself included. It makes you feel small and insignificant. But this time, it felt wonderful. No one, myself included, could find me. The World had grown large and I had become invisible. There was a free keg of Miller Light back inside the bar and I just felt this incredible surge of goodness run through me.
I didn't know where I was. But the beer was free, the world was shut out for a few hours and I had never felt better.
I felt free. And it was great.
So Saturday night, at the party, I wandered outside and stared up at the most beautiful night sky I'd ever seen and I realized that between one rural back road and another, I had no idea where I was. Somewhere between Rochester, Austen and Winona was the nearest I could think.
The Universe suddenly felt very large and I felt very small and almost invisible. Normally, that tends to depress people- myself included. It makes you feel small and insignificant. But this time, it felt wonderful. No one, myself included, could find me. The World had grown large and I had become invisible. There was a free keg of Miller Light back inside the bar and I just felt this incredible surge of goodness run through me.
I didn't know where I was. But the beer was free, the world was shut out for a few hours and I had never felt better.
I felt free. And it was great.
A Juxtaposition
So, we went up to Austin, MN for a friends birthday party yesterday and driving down Interstate 90, I noticed something that disturbed me ever so slightly.
On one side of the interstate is the famous Hormel Factory where, of course, SPAM is made in great quantities.
On the other side, 'THE HORMEL INSTITUTE'
Which wouldn't have been that disturbing. After all, McDonald's has things like 'HAMBURGER UNIVERSITY' so why can't Hormel have an institute? Processing what I'm sure is essentially offal into meat cannot be an easy task.
But underneath that, in smaller letters:
'MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER'
Think about that juxtaposition for a second...
The mind boggles.
On one side of the interstate is the famous Hormel Factory where, of course, SPAM is made in great quantities.
On the other side, 'THE HORMEL INSTITUTE'
Which wouldn't have been that disturbing. After all, McDonald's has things like 'HAMBURGER UNIVERSITY' so why can't Hormel have an institute? Processing what I'm sure is essentially offal into meat cannot be an easy task.
But underneath that, in smaller letters:
'MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER'
Think about that juxtaposition for a second...
The mind boggles.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Exciting News, Sports Fans
I just hopped out of the shower only to find that the University of Iowa Police Department had called me (moi?) to let me know that their trainee positions were going to be advertised starting tomorrow- AND that they hoped that I was still interested because I was an ideal candidate.
Testing is 30 days from tomorrow, March 21st- applications due as soon as I apply! (Tomorrow) and then it's off to the races, literally:
1.5 miles in 12.51
29 push-ups (real ones that go more than halfway down to the ground)
38 sit-ups
16.5 inch sit and reach.
That's my goal.
I want this one BAD. I think this would be the ideal job for me and it'd give me experience in law enforcement, let me give back to the campus and the community that have given me so much and I think it'd be downright interesting. This is the cop job I want.
Friday Rocks!
Testing is 30 days from tomorrow, March 21st- applications due as soon as I apply! (Tomorrow) and then it's off to the races, literally:
1.5 miles in 12.51
29 push-ups (real ones that go more than halfway down to the ground)
38 sit-ups
16.5 inch sit and reach.
That's my goal.
I want this one BAD. I think this would be the ideal job for me and it'd give me experience in law enforcement, let me give back to the campus and the community that have given me so much and I think it'd be downright interesting. This is the cop job I want.
Friday Rocks!
Well, What Do You Expect?
This is why I'm against the Fairness Doctrine or anything that'll let government start sticking its nose into Free Speech. Thank God America has a tradition of free speech absolutism, that so far anyway is holding up just fine. Not to hate on Queen and Country, but the problem with the UK isn't necessarily multiculturalism and the tiresome debates about identity and assimilating immigrants I think the problem comes down to Free Speech.
The UK pretty much let the Ulster Unionist run amuck in Northern Ireland until they couldn't pretend the situation wasn't happening anymore. Then London got involved and everything went pear-shaped in a hurry. And laws controlling speech just go down unpleasant roads and lead to things like well, fascism- and you'd think that a country that had the balls to stand alone and spit in the eye of Hitler for two years would care a little more about that.
Not to sound insensitive, but who cares if some nutjob Dutchman has extremist views on Muslims? There are people in this country who have extremist views about African-Americans, gay people, handicapped people and other people who aren't white. Do I think they should be banned from saying such things as a matter of 'public safety'? Nope. I just ignore them, which is what they so richly deserve. By banning this dude for his views on Islam, all you're doing is guaranteeing that everyone with an internet connection is going to go and find out WHY he was banned.
Does that make sense? Giving such views credence only gives them attention- and a soapbox to stand on so they can shout it out to the world. So, don't give 'em credence. Let wackos be wackos. Anyone with a brain in their head is going to ignore them.
But authoritarianism is all the rage these days in the United Kingdom, apparently. There's a shiny new report out that gives all the juicy details... oh, and by the by, I'm all for cultural sensitivity, but I'm tired of Muslims in Europe having such thin skins. If you don't like anti-Islamic views, police your fellow Muslims and have them stop blowing shit up! You have the right to your beliefs- that's an absolute. But where I jump off the train is where you- or anyone else for that matter (unlike the UK government I am NOT selective about this) try to force those beliefs on me. That's not cool.
Not cool at all.
The UK pretty much let the Ulster Unionist run amuck in Northern Ireland until they couldn't pretend the situation wasn't happening anymore. Then London got involved and everything went pear-shaped in a hurry. And laws controlling speech just go down unpleasant roads and lead to things like well, fascism- and you'd think that a country that had the balls to stand alone and spit in the eye of Hitler for two years would care a little more about that.
Not to sound insensitive, but who cares if some nutjob Dutchman has extremist views on Muslims? There are people in this country who have extremist views about African-Americans, gay people, handicapped people and other people who aren't white. Do I think they should be banned from saying such things as a matter of 'public safety'? Nope. I just ignore them, which is what they so richly deserve. By banning this dude for his views on Islam, all you're doing is guaranteeing that everyone with an internet connection is going to go and find out WHY he was banned.
Does that make sense? Giving such views credence only gives them attention- and a soapbox to stand on so they can shout it out to the world. So, don't give 'em credence. Let wackos be wackos. Anyone with a brain in their head is going to ignore them.
But authoritarianism is all the rage these days in the United Kingdom, apparently. There's a shiny new report out that gives all the juicy details... oh, and by the by, I'm all for cultural sensitivity, but I'm tired of Muslims in Europe having such thin skins. If you don't like anti-Islamic views, police your fellow Muslims and have them stop blowing shit up! You have the right to your beliefs- that's an absolute. But where I jump off the train is where you- or anyone else for that matter (unlike the UK government I am NOT selective about this) try to force those beliefs on me. That's not cool.
Not cool at all.
If This Happens...
...I might look for jobs in Canada. This is such an incredibly stupid idea and what's worse is that a Republican seems to think that it's a good idea! Basically, President Obama's transportation secretary Ray LaHood thinks it's a good idea to start looking at shifting from a gasoline tax to pay for infrastructure projects to a VMT tax- a vehicle miles travelled tax. In other words, they'd tax you for the miles you travel rather than the gasoline you burn.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
First of all, we're taxed too damn much already. That maybe dangerously Republican of me to say, but really in an economic crisis, everyone- left and/or right can agree that more taxes are the last thing we need. It's a struggle just to pay the bills. I don't want to be taxed because I have to drive to work.
Second of all, the greatest thing about this country is that's its so damn big and there's so much to see. Taxing people for the miles they travel essentially means keeping people at home and having them never leave their hometowns or states. America, especially the Midwest is too provincial already. We need to be encouraging our young people and Americans in general to travel across this great country and THEY SHOULD NOT have to pay for the privilege. It should be their right as Americans. Next thing you know (and again, this will sound dangerously Republican) we'll have to have papers to travel from point A to point B and then we might as well just go for breadlines, Pravda and bad vodka.
On a more rational and less hysterical note (even though I think this idiotic plan sets a bad and entirely undemocratic precedent) we need people to be able to travel with ease. They SHOULD NOT have to pay for it- if they do, then families in the Midwest who want to go to places like DisneyLand or California might think twice about that if they have to pay per miles driven or even for a plane ticket. You see where I'm going with this? Travel should be as CHEAP as possible. Otherwise, people don't go to those tourist areas, don't bring money to those local economies and consequently, I think that adds up to 'bad for business.'
Downright stupid idea.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
First of all, we're taxed too damn much already. That maybe dangerously Republican of me to say, but really in an economic crisis, everyone- left and/or right can agree that more taxes are the last thing we need. It's a struggle just to pay the bills. I don't want to be taxed because I have to drive to work.
Second of all, the greatest thing about this country is that's its so damn big and there's so much to see. Taxing people for the miles they travel essentially means keeping people at home and having them never leave their hometowns or states. America, especially the Midwest is too provincial already. We need to be encouraging our young people and Americans in general to travel across this great country and THEY SHOULD NOT have to pay for the privilege. It should be their right as Americans. Next thing you know (and again, this will sound dangerously Republican) we'll have to have papers to travel from point A to point B and then we might as well just go for breadlines, Pravda and bad vodka.
On a more rational and less hysterical note (even though I think this idiotic plan sets a bad and entirely undemocratic precedent) we need people to be able to travel with ease. They SHOULD NOT have to pay for it- if they do, then families in the Midwest who want to go to places like DisneyLand or California might think twice about that if they have to pay per miles driven or even for a plane ticket. You see where I'm going with this? Travel should be as CHEAP as possible. Otherwise, people don't go to those tourist areas, don't bring money to those local economies and consequently, I think that adds up to 'bad for business.'
Downright stupid idea.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Chessboard Dance
Israel's delicate electoral dance has begun. The right wing Likud Party has won the backing of the harder right Yisrael Beitenu Party, which should give the right wing about 65 seats in the Knesset and thus give them enough for a government.
But there are some catches: YB is indicating that they will support Likud, but only as a part of a wider coalition.
So YB wants a wider coalition government- Kadima is pushing for a grand coalition as well- with a rotating PM situation similar to the one that Likud and Labour had during the 80s. Livni and Kadima have made it clear that they won't be junior partners in a purely Likud lead government. There are large cleavages between them- (Kadima's for continuing negotiations, Likud says no) and really, Kadima sort of has a point. Stability would be nice, national unity would be nice- especially given a probably showdown with Iran and continuing troubles in Gaza.
An equally big problem for Kadima is their track record, however. Kadima and Labor have lead Israel to two lopsided results in two wars so far- and have been tainted by a corruption scandal. Why would people want them anywhere near the reins of power? Take these factors and combine them with the fact that in politics, nice doesn't matter and then you get a couple of scenarios to look at:
1. Likud and YB take over, Kadima and company head for the Opposition: probably the most likely scenario, I think- but YB doesn't seem to want to be in a narrow coalition government- so Likud might need Kadima in order to make this work, but then again, maybe the YB shrugs and just says, 'what the heck' and jumps in with Likud. BUT: YB doesn't want to be seen as a tool of Likud and with the number of seats they have, they could just as easily sit on the sidelines and play kingmaker whenever they want without having to play by the 'rules' in some coalition.
2. Kadima and the Amazing Rotating Prime Minister: It worked in '84, why not now? There are some pluses to this scenario- national unity and stability at a time when it's badly needed. Problem is that with YB positive on the idea of a coalition with Likud, there's not a lot of motivation for Likud to sign onto this. Why would they?
3. Shas! Word on the pavement is that Shas doesn't like YB and Lieberman. Lieberman's all about selling pork products and a few other things that rub ultra-orthodox Jews the wrong way. More word in the 'hood is that Likud had a deal with Shas sown up before the election, but here's the thing: will YB in coalition with Likud be a deal breaker for Shas? Could they potentially jump ship and sign on with Kadima and company?
Likely numbers:
Kadima, Labour, Meretz (a left-wing party), United Arab List (YB not being hot on Israeli Arabs): 48 seats
Likud, YB, Shas: 53 seats.
Balad, Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism, National Union and Hadash: 19 seats. Kadima and company will need 10 of those seats from minor parties to get them a majority. (Technically they only need six- so two of the minor parties, depending on their ideological orientations could do it for them. But if they're more religious parties, then not so much.)
Let the horse-trading BEGIN!
But there are some catches: YB is indicating that they will support Likud, but only as a part of a wider coalition.
Israel Army radio reported Mr Lieberman telling Mr Peres that he supported the Likud leader as prime minister but "only as part of a wider government".
"We are not talking of a government with a restricted majority. To govern the country, we need a government with the three largest parties - Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu.
"Netanyahu will be prime minister, but it will be a Bibi-Livni government," said Mr Lieberman, using Mr Netanyahu's widely-used nickname.
So YB wants a wider coalition government- Kadima is pushing for a grand coalition as well- with a rotating PM situation similar to the one that Likud and Labour had during the 80s. Livni and Kadima have made it clear that they won't be junior partners in a purely Likud lead government. There are large cleavages between them- (Kadima's for continuing negotiations, Likud says no) and really, Kadima sort of has a point. Stability would be nice, national unity would be nice- especially given a probably showdown with Iran and continuing troubles in Gaza.
An equally big problem for Kadima is their track record, however. Kadima and Labor have lead Israel to two lopsided results in two wars so far- and have been tainted by a corruption scandal. Why would people want them anywhere near the reins of power? Take these factors and combine them with the fact that in politics, nice doesn't matter and then you get a couple of scenarios to look at:
1. Likud and YB take over, Kadima and company head for the Opposition: probably the most likely scenario, I think- but YB doesn't seem to want to be in a narrow coalition government- so Likud might need Kadima in order to make this work, but then again, maybe the YB shrugs and just says, 'what the heck' and jumps in with Likud. BUT: YB doesn't want to be seen as a tool of Likud and with the number of seats they have, they could just as easily sit on the sidelines and play kingmaker whenever they want without having to play by the 'rules' in some coalition.
2. Kadima and the Amazing Rotating Prime Minister: It worked in '84, why not now? There are some pluses to this scenario- national unity and stability at a time when it's badly needed. Problem is that with YB positive on the idea of a coalition with Likud, there's not a lot of motivation for Likud to sign onto this. Why would they?
3. Shas! Word on the pavement is that Shas doesn't like YB and Lieberman. Lieberman's all about selling pork products and a few other things that rub ultra-orthodox Jews the wrong way. More word in the 'hood is that Likud had a deal with Shas sown up before the election, but here's the thing: will YB in coalition with Likud be a deal breaker for Shas? Could they potentially jump ship and sign on with Kadima and company?
Likely numbers:
Kadima, Labour, Meretz (a left-wing party), United Arab List (YB not being hot on Israeli Arabs): 48 seats
Likud, YB, Shas: 53 seats.
Balad, Jewish Home, United Torah Judaism, National Union and Hadash: 19 seats. Kadima and company will need 10 of those seats from minor parties to get them a majority. (Technically they only need six- so two of the minor parties, depending on their ideological orientations could do it for them. But if they're more religious parties, then not so much.)
Let the horse-trading BEGIN!
Vision Statement
I want to work in Washington D.C., either in the employ of an interest government agency and/or a think-tank dedicated to trying to make the country better. (Or at an NGO that is dedicated to making a difference in the world itself.) I picture a townhouse in somewhere like Georgetown (or wherever that neighborhood was in the opening of Minority Report.)
Five years of that, then a PHD, a professorship, a chase for tenure, research, writing tons of books- both fiction and non-fiction and then an MFA in Creative Writing (preferably from the University of Iowa) and then I'd like to do a stint teaching Social Studies at my old high school. (After that, retirement, scotch, travel, grandchildren and lots of good television shows, reading and cards in my twilight years.)
There. I've got it all down on paper. Now all I have to do is make it happen- and that is my goal over the course of the next few months. The Federales are notoriously slow when it comes to hiring- but I gots the skills to get there. I'll go ahead with the cop stuff and if I get that, then I get that- it's a dream deferred, not a dream denied. But:
1. Washington D.C. job.
2. The University of Iowa Police Department
3. Another job in Eastern Iowa somewhere- ACT, etc.
4. A job elsewhere.
Them is my preferences. This is my vision.
Let's make it happen.
Five years of that, then a PHD, a professorship, a chase for tenure, research, writing tons of books- both fiction and non-fiction and then an MFA in Creative Writing (preferably from the University of Iowa) and then I'd like to do a stint teaching Social Studies at my old high school. (After that, retirement, scotch, travel, grandchildren and lots of good television shows, reading and cards in my twilight years.)
There. I've got it all down on paper. Now all I have to do is make it happen- and that is my goal over the course of the next few months. The Federales are notoriously slow when it comes to hiring- but I gots the skills to get there. I'll go ahead with the cop stuff and if I get that, then I get that- it's a dream deferred, not a dream denied. But:
1. Washington D.C. job.
2. The University of Iowa Police Department
3. Another job in Eastern Iowa somewhere- ACT, etc.
4. A job elsewhere.
Them is my preferences. This is my vision.
Let's make it happen.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Cali On The Brink
This is going to help the economy. If you've never seen a state implode before, keep watching your friendly cable news networks. California, barring a last minute budget deal is beginning to derail.
It's going to be an ugly, spectacular, horrific train wreck. Hopefully they can avoid it.
It's going to be an ugly, spectacular, horrific train wreck. Hopefully they can avoid it.
New Job Chronicles Day 9
I'm going to try a different tack. Recession be damned, I want to push myself and reach for something real, significant and just plain awesome. Sure, I could be a cop in some place like Webster City. That would be a solid accomplishment for 5 years or so and it wouldn't be nothing- but I think my goals and aspirations can be higher than that. Ali consistently accuses me of being scattershot and wanting to do something different every single day- but really, I don't. I don't change the menu around every day- I just make it longer. With all the options in the world, I want to make sure I'm aiming high enough.
So, that said- my latest tack:
1. Iowa Democratic Party
2. Iowa Libertarian Party
3. Iowa Green Party
4. Congressman Dave Loebsack
5. CATO Institute
6. NPR (WSUI/KSUI and/or Iowa Public Radio)
7. KRUI, 100.7 or 102.9 (it'd be fun to work in radio)
8. The Press-Citizen and the Gazette (let's try journalism- add the DMRegister to that list as well.)
9. The Alphabet Soup of Government Agencies I find interesting. (Some of which I've already applied for.)
10. The United Nations and a plethora of international organizations I find interesting. (Why not indeed?)
I think that pretty much covers it. My goal is to get resumes, cover letters and writing samples out to all of these places by the end of the month and see what happens. That way, whatever happens- I'll know that at the very least, I tried everything and didn't limit myself to the mundane or the practical. Even in a recession, there's no time for the mundane or the practical. I'm not a mundane or a practical person- neither is Ali really. We both have elements of practicality, but mundane we are NOT. Which is probably we're so perfect for each other. Even if we do end up somewhere like Webster City, we won't be conventional about things.
Don't be conventional. Don't be mundane. Don't be practical. Do anything and everything you want to do- and even if you're struggling to find a job or struggling in general, live the cliche. Take the lemons of this recession and make lemonade out of them. View the chaos of the economy as an opportunity not a hazard.
Hopefully, I'll reap the benefits.
So, that said- my latest tack:
1. Iowa Democratic Party
2. Iowa Libertarian Party
3. Iowa Green Party
4. Congressman Dave Loebsack
5. CATO Institute
6. NPR (WSUI/KSUI and/or Iowa Public Radio)
7. KRUI, 100.7 or 102.9 (it'd be fun to work in radio)
8. The Press-Citizen and the Gazette (let's try journalism- add the DMRegister to that list as well.)
9. The Alphabet Soup of Government Agencies I find interesting. (Some of which I've already applied for.)
10. The United Nations and a plethora of international organizations I find interesting. (Why not indeed?)
I think that pretty much covers it. My goal is to get resumes, cover letters and writing samples out to all of these places by the end of the month and see what happens. That way, whatever happens- I'll know that at the very least, I tried everything and didn't limit myself to the mundane or the practical. Even in a recession, there's no time for the mundane or the practical. I'm not a mundane or a practical person- neither is Ali really. We both have elements of practicality, but mundane we are NOT. Which is probably we're so perfect for each other. Even if we do end up somewhere like Webster City, we won't be conventional about things.
Don't be conventional. Don't be mundane. Don't be practical. Do anything and everything you want to do- and even if you're struggling to find a job or struggling in general, live the cliche. Take the lemons of this recession and make lemonade out of them. View the chaos of the economy as an opportunity not a hazard.
Hopefully, I'll reap the benefits.
Monday, February 16, 2009
New Job Chronicles Day 8
Low point today. Didn't want to get out of bed, move, do anything. Felt totally inadequate, resented the fact that everyone I know seems to have a better grip of careers and jobs than I do and was just desperate for something better.
I'm doing the best I can. Really, at this point if all I can gripe about is not having a better job or my own place, I'm doing OK. But perspective sometimes isn't enough. Sometimes you just want to know why- why you can't even seem to get started. Why you can't seem to catch a break and get anything better.
I am doing the best I can. But it's hard. Today, it's a little harder.
But hopefully, someday, it'll get easier.
I'm doing the best I can. Really, at this point if all I can gripe about is not having a better job or my own place, I'm doing OK. But perspective sometimes isn't enough. Sometimes you just want to know why- why you can't even seem to get started. Why you can't seem to catch a break and get anything better.
I am doing the best I can. But it's hard. Today, it's a little harder.
But hopefully, someday, it'll get easier.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Glitch in the Matrix
For awhile I thought that Iowa City seemed like some weird, bizarre dream. Now, driving down Court Street I take the time to wonder if Mankato was the dream and Iowa City had never ceased to be reality for me at all.
A glitch in the proverbial matrix.
A glitch in the proverbial matrix.
New Job Chronicles Day 7
I feel like tacking into the wind. I love writing and I love languages. I want to use both again and find not just a job to ride out the economic storm winds. I have one life and I don't want to waste time looking for solid work. I want something that I love to do- that makes me excited to get out of bed in the morning and go to work and I want that something to pay my bills and I'm tired of compromising on what I want.
Lets be clear: I'm a good worker. Anything I do, I'll be competent at- even good at. That's just who I am. And economic times like these are scary as hell- but I don't want to cower in a storm cellar for the next five years while the storm passes. I want to run out into it and fly. Because I can. I'm smart, I'm intelligent and I'll be damn good at whatever I do.
Being a cop at the University would be amazing. Being a cop in Webster City would be fine. Be a Sheriff's Deputy for Johnson County would be damn good work experience. They'd be jobs to pay the bills and they'd let me get a house, a life- even a kid and do what I love on my days off- namely write. It's a sensible, logical path to follow. But it's not the only path to follow. Starting tomorrow, I'm on a new path. To break into journalism and write. To break into politics and make a difference for some candidate somewhere- whether it's just shuffling papers or it's actually giving them my honest opinions on how they can be better and how to make the country better.
I have the best degree in the world. It'll let me do anything.
So I'm going to do everything. And wherever happens, happens.
The storm has broken- and I'm tacking into the wind.
Lets be clear: I'm a good worker. Anything I do, I'll be competent at- even good at. That's just who I am. And economic times like these are scary as hell- but I don't want to cower in a storm cellar for the next five years while the storm passes. I want to run out into it and fly. Because I can. I'm smart, I'm intelligent and I'll be damn good at whatever I do.
Being a cop at the University would be amazing. Being a cop in Webster City would be fine. Be a Sheriff's Deputy for Johnson County would be damn good work experience. They'd be jobs to pay the bills and they'd let me get a house, a life- even a kid and do what I love on my days off- namely write. It's a sensible, logical path to follow. But it's not the only path to follow. Starting tomorrow, I'm on a new path. To break into journalism and write. To break into politics and make a difference for some candidate somewhere- whether it's just shuffling papers or it's actually giving them my honest opinions on how they can be better and how to make the country better.
I have the best degree in the world. It'll let me do anything.
So I'm going to do everything. And wherever happens, happens.
The storm has broken- and I'm tacking into the wind.
Mau Money, Mau Problems
Churchill has been banished from the White House. Along with 13 year old fathers, the British press was aflutter about this. Bush the Younger had a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office, but President Obama prefers a bust of Lincoln apparently.
The British Diplomatic establishment is busy parsing this move for any weird signals that it might send about the future of the Special Relationship. One suggestion is a bust of 19th Century MP Jacob Bright who was an ardent supporter of the Union forces during the Civil War. (Britain and France preferring to surreptitiously aid the Confederacy in the name of instability on the North American continent.) My vote would be for a bust of William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist that helped to abolish slavery in the British Empire.
More votes? I think Pitt the Younger would be a good choice- he didn't have much interaction with the Americans that I can remember- but he didn't fit comfortably into the partisan system in Britain at the time. And having achieved power at the age of 24, he was certainly groundbreaking. His tenure might be just a little too historically close to the Revolution to be a comfortable choice though.
The official reason for the banishment of Churchill-- it was only on loan through January of 2009. The speculation? Churchill was responsible for surpressing the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya- one of the people caught up in that mess? None other than the President's own Grandfather.
President Obama appears to have a fairly cogent sense of his own family history. It'll be interesting to see how that might come into play when (and I am assuming he's going to) he visits Kenya.
The British Diplomatic establishment is busy parsing this move for any weird signals that it might send about the future of the Special Relationship. One suggestion is a bust of 19th Century MP Jacob Bright who was an ardent supporter of the Union forces during the Civil War. (Britain and France preferring to surreptitiously aid the Confederacy in the name of instability on the North American continent.) My vote would be for a bust of William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist that helped to abolish slavery in the British Empire.
More votes? I think Pitt the Younger would be a good choice- he didn't have much interaction with the Americans that I can remember- but he didn't fit comfortably into the partisan system in Britain at the time. And having achieved power at the age of 24, he was certainly groundbreaking. His tenure might be just a little too historically close to the Revolution to be a comfortable choice though.
The official reason for the banishment of Churchill-- it was only on loan through January of 2009. The speculation? Churchill was responsible for surpressing the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya- one of the people caught up in that mess? None other than the President's own Grandfather.
President Obama appears to have a fairly cogent sense of his own family history. It'll be interesting to see how that might come into play when (and I am assuming he's going to) he visits Kenya.
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Imagine a bleak, stone, Church basement. A circle of chairs, all filled by nervous looking people. An imposing, older lady that has 'battle axe' engraved on her features. And an old man, long white beard, top hat and tails, creaks to his feet:
"Hi, I'm Uncle Sam."
"Hi Sam!" Comes the chorus in return.
"And I am a shopaholic."
There are certain universal things that, as a man, one can recognize- especially on Valentine's Day. When you walk into a theater for a movie like Confessions of a Shopaholic and you realize that pretty much every guy in the theater is there because of his wife and/or girlfriend or boyfriend- resigned to watching a movie that doesn't involve explosions, attractive, martini-sipping spies or scantily clad women. Guys all realize that this is expected of them on Valentine's Day- and the guys that want to actually have some 'fun' on Valentine's Day (at some point during Valentine's Day, that is) usually accept the inevitability of a 'chick flick' with some semblance of good humor.
Confessions of a Shopaholic was just the latest in a series of movies that, if flying solo I wouldn't have bothered with- however, loving my wife the way I do, I become her willing seatmate and sharer of popcorn- and to be honest, not all these movies are bad. (Plus Confessions of a Shopaholic and 27 Dresses, although Ali doesn't know yet, will be revenged upon by Watchmen and the new Star Trek movie in May.)
Yet, I was somewhat surprised by Confessions of a Shopaholic. It wasn't the mindless hour and a half of fluff I was expecting. My initial nausea level rose quickly, as it appeared we were headed towards a pale clone of Sex and the City, but without the apparently excellent income that being a journalist provides Carrie Bradshaw. Shopaholic's titular character Rebecca Bloomwood is also a journalist, but has 12 credit cards and a shopping problem. She also works, initially anyway, at a gardening magazine. She is Carrie Bradshaw without the means to afford Carrie Bradshaw's opulent lifestyle.
There is a twist in all of this though- we immediately begin to wonder about the state of Ms. Bloomwood's mental health as she has long, detailed and intimate conversations with the mannequins in the stores she cannot apparently resist. And we're not talking in a fun, 80s movie type of way. These mannequins are actual, faceless mannequins- they don't look like Sarah Jessica Parker and there's no catchy theme song to go along with them. Throughout the rest of the movie, we're left wondering if Rebecca is actually going to learn a lesson and acknowledge her problem at some point, even as she dodges debt collectors, succumbs to temptation, lies to her best friend and ironically ends up a magazine called 'Successful Savings.'
There are the usual rom-com tropes- attractive, British man (Hugh Dancy), small town parents (Joan Cusack and John Goodman) and the inevitability of the entire movie and it's natural destination of a happy ending for all concerned. Isla Fisher continues to impress with her versatility- and Hugh Dancy is serviceable as the main love interest. But it's the random surprises that really are impressive: Kristen Scott Thomas, John Lithgow, Julie Hagerty, Joan Cusack and John Goodman provide solid performances and make for an interesting cast.
This pink ball of fluff however, does have some added resonance in these days of economic turmoil. Even as Rebecca runs around on her spending spree, it occurs to you that her slavery to the mindless consumerism of modern society is part of the problem we face today. Our nation's economic policy is driven on the backs of writing checks, IOUs and running up debts that we don't think about. Like Rebecca, we buy pretty things and life feels good. It's not until we get the bills (20 years from now) that its all going to come crashing down on us. The United States of America is a nation of Bloomwoods, run by Bloomwoods and there's serious doubts that we, as a nation are going to learn our lessons. Like Rebecca and Confessions of a Shopaholic, we treat our addiction lightly. It's a real problem with destructive consequences relegated to the level of superficial, romantic comedy.
Rebecca ends up with a happy ending- overcoming the consumerism that's consumed her life and realizing that happiness can be found in something more than a shiny new Coach purse or a pair of Prada shoes. What's not at all clear is whether we, as a country are going to learn our lesson anytime soon- or ever. We spend and spend and spend and whenever we're backed into a tight fiscal corner, we just whip our credit cards and spend more. Like Rebecca, it feels good at the time- but eventually and inevitably all the chickens come home to roost.
"Hi, I'm Uncle Sam."
"Hi Sam!" Comes the chorus in return.
"And I am a shopaholic."
There are certain universal things that, as a man, one can recognize- especially on Valentine's Day. When you walk into a theater for a movie like Confessions of a Shopaholic and you realize that pretty much every guy in the theater is there because of his wife and/or girlfriend or boyfriend- resigned to watching a movie that doesn't involve explosions, attractive, martini-sipping spies or scantily clad women. Guys all realize that this is expected of them on Valentine's Day- and the guys that want to actually have some 'fun' on Valentine's Day (at some point during Valentine's Day, that is) usually accept the inevitability of a 'chick flick' with some semblance of good humor.
Confessions of a Shopaholic was just the latest in a series of movies that, if flying solo I wouldn't have bothered with- however, loving my wife the way I do, I become her willing seatmate and sharer of popcorn- and to be honest, not all these movies are bad. (Plus Confessions of a Shopaholic and 27 Dresses, although Ali doesn't know yet, will be revenged upon by Watchmen and the new Star Trek movie in May.)
Yet, I was somewhat surprised by Confessions of a Shopaholic. It wasn't the mindless hour and a half of fluff I was expecting. My initial nausea level rose quickly, as it appeared we were headed towards a pale clone of Sex and the City, but without the apparently excellent income that being a journalist provides Carrie Bradshaw. Shopaholic's titular character Rebecca Bloomwood is also a journalist, but has 12 credit cards and a shopping problem. She also works, initially anyway, at a gardening magazine. She is Carrie Bradshaw without the means to afford Carrie Bradshaw's opulent lifestyle.
There is a twist in all of this though- we immediately begin to wonder about the state of Ms. Bloomwood's mental health as she has long, detailed and intimate conversations with the mannequins in the stores she cannot apparently resist. And we're not talking in a fun, 80s movie type of way. These mannequins are actual, faceless mannequins- they don't look like Sarah Jessica Parker and there's no catchy theme song to go along with them. Throughout the rest of the movie, we're left wondering if Rebecca is actually going to learn a lesson and acknowledge her problem at some point, even as she dodges debt collectors, succumbs to temptation, lies to her best friend and ironically ends up a magazine called 'Successful Savings.'
There are the usual rom-com tropes- attractive, British man (Hugh Dancy), small town parents (Joan Cusack and John Goodman) and the inevitability of the entire movie and it's natural destination of a happy ending for all concerned. Isla Fisher continues to impress with her versatility- and Hugh Dancy is serviceable as the main love interest. But it's the random surprises that really are impressive: Kristen Scott Thomas, John Lithgow, Julie Hagerty, Joan Cusack and John Goodman provide solid performances and make for an interesting cast.
This pink ball of fluff however, does have some added resonance in these days of economic turmoil. Even as Rebecca runs around on her spending spree, it occurs to you that her slavery to the mindless consumerism of modern society is part of the problem we face today. Our nation's economic policy is driven on the backs of writing checks, IOUs and running up debts that we don't think about. Like Rebecca, we buy pretty things and life feels good. It's not until we get the bills (20 years from now) that its all going to come crashing down on us. The United States of America is a nation of Bloomwoods, run by Bloomwoods and there's serious doubts that we, as a nation are going to learn our lessons. Like Rebecca and Confessions of a Shopaholic, we treat our addiction lightly. It's a real problem with destructive consequences relegated to the level of superficial, romantic comedy.
Rebecca ends up with a happy ending- overcoming the consumerism that's consumed her life and realizing that happiness can be found in something more than a shiny new Coach purse or a pair of Prada shoes. What's not at all clear is whether we, as a country are going to learn our lesson anytime soon- or ever. We spend and spend and spend and whenever we're backed into a tight fiscal corner, we just whip our credit cards and spend more. Like Rebecca, it feels good at the time- but eventually and inevitably all the chickens come home to roost.
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Response from McCoy
Senator Matt McCoy from Des Moines recently said it was worth looking at selling the University of Iowa's massive Pollock Mural in order to keep tuition low for students in these tough economic times (that it would also keep it low for maybe two seconds or so was beside the point.) I emailed him to tell him what a dumb idea this was and I freely encouraged other people to do the same. This is the response one of my friends got:
Dear *****:
Thank you for contacting me concerning my comments regarding the sale of
the Pollack mural at The University of Iowa. I appreciate your
concerns. As you know, this isn't the first time the issue has been
discussed. Following the Board of Regents' initial mention of its sale,
they approved obtaining a new appraisal of the work.
I have continually tired to develop ways for loan forgiveness for
college students and to find ways to pay their college loans. As the
discussion regarding the selling of the painting developed, it appears
that money raised from such a sale would have to stay with the museum,
stay in their endowment, or be used for the purchase of additional art
work.. It makes no sense to sell it unless the Regents decides they
want to acquire other pieces. In retrospect, I regret bringing up again
the issue of selling the Pollock that had been initially raised by a
member of the Board of Regents.
We should be able to freely discuss and dialogue on difficult decisions
that need to be made. Some ideas are better then others but know that
the ultimate goal of keeping student tuition low is worth pursuing.
Matt McCoy
State Senator Matt McCoy
Senate District 31
Representing south & west portions of Des Moines
So, it's sounds like Senator McCoy hasn't mastered the whole art (hahahaha- pun intended!) of thinking before speaking. If the debacle of the Regents trying to play with this issue should have taught him anything, it should have been the importance of legwork. The inability of the University to sell this piece solely for profit has been something that has been widely publicized in the press. One would have thought that a State Senator would have known that, but apparently not.
And if McCoy wants to get serious about helping students in these tough economic times- how about joining up with Bono and championing his cause: debt forgiveness. You don't have to forgive all the debt, but if you said students, depending on their debt levels could be eligible for up to 20K in forgiven loans, that would help- and more to the point, be a real live help.
That would do more than selling off Iowa's greatest art treasure.
Dear *****:
Thank you for contacting me concerning my comments regarding the sale of
the Pollack mural at The University of Iowa. I appreciate your
concerns. As you know, this isn't the first time the issue has been
discussed. Following the Board of Regents' initial mention of its sale,
they approved obtaining a new appraisal of the work.
I have continually tired to develop ways for loan forgiveness for
college students and to find ways to pay their college loans. As the
discussion regarding the selling of the painting developed, it appears
that money raised from such a sale would have to stay with the museum,
stay in their endowment, or be used for the purchase of additional art
work.. It makes no sense to sell it unless the Regents decides they
want to acquire other pieces. In retrospect, I regret bringing up again
the issue of selling the Pollock that had been initially raised by a
member of the Board of Regents.
We should be able to freely discuss and dialogue on difficult decisions
that need to be made. Some ideas are better then others but know that
the ultimate goal of keeping student tuition low is worth pursuing.
Matt McCoy
State Senator Matt McCoy
Senate District 31
Representing south & west portions of Des Moines
So, it's sounds like Senator McCoy hasn't mastered the whole art (hahahaha- pun intended!) of thinking before speaking. If the debacle of the Regents trying to play with this issue should have taught him anything, it should have been the importance of legwork. The inability of the University to sell this piece solely for profit has been something that has been widely publicized in the press. One would have thought that a State Senator would have known that, but apparently not.
And if McCoy wants to get serious about helping students in these tough economic times- how about joining up with Bono and championing his cause: debt forgiveness. You don't have to forgive all the debt, but if you said students, depending on their debt levels could be eligible for up to 20K in forgiven loans, that would help- and more to the point, be a real live help.
That would do more than selling off Iowa's greatest art treasure.
New Job Chronicles: Day 5a
So when you're driving out of town in the middle of an increasingly vicious snowstorm, you almost skid off the road four times before you get anywhere the interstate- and you get stuck on a hill that's a solid sheet of ice...
And it's Friday the 13th--
Go the heck home. Someone is trying to tell you something.
Part of me thinks its feels like 'STRIKE ONE'. I mean, I'm walking away from the Cedar Rapids Police Department without even knowing whether or not I could cut it. Another part of me knows that a written test might not have been a problem, but no way can I run a mile and a half in 12.51. Or do 29 push-ups. Not yet- maybe in a month or so, but not now. I was viewing CR as a practice test- a way to see what the process was like and to get a feel for it. So by not going, I didn't lose anything much.
Plus, it's worth noting that the weather outside is vicious- this snowstorm is worse than expected (more than one inch that's for sure) and it started out as drizzle, which froze as the temperature dropped and it started to snow. So you have a sheet of ice underneath soft snow- not heavy, wet snow- the slick stuff. Put it all together and it equals potential disaster.
Next week- in fact, maybe even tomorrow, I'll start trying to work out every single day- and maybe work my way up from 5.5 miles an hour on the treadmill to 6- and work my way from running 12.51 all the way up to a mile and a half. Gradually, slowly but surely, I'll get there. And even if I don't get there- I'll sure as hell get buff. And that ain't nothing.
And it's Friday the 13th--
Go the heck home. Someone is trying to tell you something.
Part of me thinks its feels like 'STRIKE ONE'. I mean, I'm walking away from the Cedar Rapids Police Department without even knowing whether or not I could cut it. Another part of me knows that a written test might not have been a problem, but no way can I run a mile and a half in 12.51. Or do 29 push-ups. Not yet- maybe in a month or so, but not now. I was viewing CR as a practice test- a way to see what the process was like and to get a feel for it. So by not going, I didn't lose anything much.
Plus, it's worth noting that the weather outside is vicious- this snowstorm is worse than expected (more than one inch that's for sure) and it started out as drizzle, which froze as the temperature dropped and it started to snow. So you have a sheet of ice underneath soft snow- not heavy, wet snow- the slick stuff. Put it all together and it equals potential disaster.
Next week- in fact, maybe even tomorrow, I'll start trying to work out every single day- and maybe work my way up from 5.5 miles an hour on the treadmill to 6- and work my way from running 12.51 all the way up to a mile and a half. Gradually, slowly but surely, I'll get there. And even if I don't get there- I'll sure as hell get buff. And that ain't nothing.
I Heart The Internet
I love the internet.
Because I find stuff like this:
This Is Why You're Fat Dot Com.
Is it strange that I actually want to try some of those things?
Because I find stuff like this:
This Is Why You're Fat Dot Com.
Is it strange that I actually want to try some of those things?
New Job Chronicles: Day 5
Today is the day. The Cedar Rapids Police Department is hiring and I am going up there to take a written test and if I pass that, then tomorrow morning, it's off for the physical test and if, by dint of some miracle I pass that, then there's polygraphs and the like and then a job.
Of course, I get to do this all over again in two weeks. And all over again in two weeks after that- and if anyone else is hiring I'll do it again! Sometime I'm bound to get it right- if I keep working out the way I do, I should be super buff at the very least. I may not be able to pay my bills working a ten dollar an hour job, but at least I'll look good.
Wish me luck.
Of course, I get to do this all over again in two weeks. And all over again in two weeks after that- and if anyone else is hiring I'll do it again! Sometime I'm bound to get it right- if I keep working out the way I do, I should be super buff at the very least. I may not be able to pay my bills working a ten dollar an hour job, but at least I'll look good.
Wish me luck.
Kirk Til 2015
The University of Iowa has, in a stroke of genius, signed football coach Kirk Ferentz to an extension that keeps him here until 2015.
Excellent! Ferentz has been a solid replacement for Hayden Fry and keeping him here is an extremely smart move- hopefully they can do something about the basketball team next- it might be nice to get to the Big Dance again sometime soon.
I think Ferentz should be good to go here until 2011- after that, if there's a big move to be made, I'd see what happens after JoePa retires at Penn State. Ferentz has long-time ties to PA and if he wants to jump, it might be back to PA. I can't see him going to the NFL. Nick Saban jumped to the Miami Dolphins and then jumped right back into college football, so transitioning from college to pro doesn't always go so well.
But yeah- awesome move down at the U.
Excellent! Ferentz has been a solid replacement for Hayden Fry and keeping him here is an extremely smart move- hopefully they can do something about the basketball team next- it might be nice to get to the Big Dance again sometime soon.
I think Ferentz should be good to go here until 2011- after that, if there's a big move to be made, I'd see what happens after JoePa retires at Penn State. Ferentz has long-time ties to PA and if he wants to jump, it might be back to PA. I can't see him going to the NFL. Nick Saban jumped to the Miami Dolphins and then jumped right back into college football, so transitioning from college to pro doesn't always go so well.
But yeah- awesome move down at the U.
Are You There Adam Smith? It's Me, The Economy...
I give up. For 8 years, I have been hoping and praying that the Democrats would get back into power so they could clean up the mess the Republicans were making of things. I didn't hope for that out of any particular fondness for the Democratic Party- quite the contrary. I hoped that by throwing the first group of bums out, the second group of bums could not possible screw things up anymore than they already were.
Oops. Silly me. Congress is about to pass a stimulus bill that is going to make things worse before it'll make them better. One Democratic Senator is on the record saying that most of his colleagues aren't even going to get a chance to read the damn thing before it passes. And Nancy Pelosi apparently wants things done in a hurry so she can go to Rome. Rahm Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff is saying that Obama lost control of the stimulus bill when he put too much focus on bipartisan outreach.
This quote, however is my favorite:
“There is plenty to complain about for everyone, and perhaps that’s the sign of a good compromise,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. “Regardless of party, we all cast our votes with one hand and crossed our fingers with the other.”
Wow. Things are obviously going really, really well in our nation's capitol. And the Democratic Party, having climbed back into power is obviously hell bent on handing it right back again. If this Bill goes wrong, then it's going to be the Albatross that hangs around the necks of the Democratic Party and it will devastate them in the 2010 elections. People remember incompetence- they might forgive Presidents for it, but they won't forgive Congress for it. So things need to turn around right now. We were promised a chance to view the bill at least 48 hours before any vote. That ain't gonna happen. Recovery.gov is a barren, empty wasteland of a website- sure, it's supposed to track the bill and how the money is spent AFTER its passed, but why not before? And will it happen at all?
I'll believe it when I see it. So what happens now? Well, for the sake of his presidency, I hope President Obama decides to bitch-slap the legislative branch by vetoing this festering turd of a stimulus bill and telling Congress to send him a bill that has the actual, honest-to-goodness support of BOTH parties. He needs political cover and we need an economic action plan that's going to be supported by everyone and not picked and bloated to death by lobbyists and Washington Fat Cats. This is a National Emergency and people need to act like it.
Emmanuel wasn't wrong, exactly- Obama did lose control of the message by focusing on bipartisan support for the bill- but he also failed in that he went to Congress as a supplicant, not a President. He should have sat Congress down and said, 'look people- this is what I want- you tell me what you want, get me a bill with real, live bipartisan support and we'll go from there.' He should have made perfectly clear what he wanted in terms of bipartisan support and also made it clear that he would veto any bill that didn't meet his expectations.
I don't think he's in a position to do that now- but I wish he would. It might give him a chance to get the ball back and actually start acting like a President. Everything is not about political parties- Disraeli did say 'damn your principles- stick to your party' but in America we do have checks and balances. There was an episode of The West Wing where Leo relates a story about how a young freshman congressman comes to town and says 'Where's the Republicans- I want to meet the enemy." And the old, grizzled Speaker says to the kid- "The Republicans are just the opposition. The Senate's the enemy."
People forget that. Obama is the head of the Executive Branch, Congress is the Legislative Branch- those may seem like fairly self-evident points, but the fact remains that usually, the twain never meet- and when they do, it doesn't end all that well. Obama is the Commander in Chief- so he commands- or he leads with what he wants and he gets Congress behind HIS bill. He doesn't get sucked into the gigantic partisan lovefest of whatever it is Reid, Pelosi and company want.
That's the play I would have called- and that's the play I'd still call. But today, with what's going on in Washington D.C. right now I don't have a lot of faith in my government and I don't have a lot of faith in the idea that things are going to turn around in a hurry- in fact, I think six months from now, we're going to see Congress digging out the nation's checkbook and doing this all over again- hoping like hell 'the check' doesn't bounce or send us into an overdraft.
But come to think of it, I've never had a lot of faith in our government to begin with. All this crap just brings the amount of my faith down crazily microscopic levels.
Oops. Silly me. Congress is about to pass a stimulus bill that is going to make things worse before it'll make them better. One Democratic Senator is on the record saying that most of his colleagues aren't even going to get a chance to read the damn thing before it passes. And Nancy Pelosi apparently wants things done in a hurry so she can go to Rome. Rahm Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff is saying that Obama lost control of the stimulus bill when he put too much focus on bipartisan outreach.
This quote, however is my favorite:
“There is plenty to complain about for everyone, and perhaps that’s the sign of a good compromise,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. “Regardless of party, we all cast our votes with one hand and crossed our fingers with the other.”
Wow. Things are obviously going really, really well in our nation's capitol. And the Democratic Party, having climbed back into power is obviously hell bent on handing it right back again. If this Bill goes wrong, then it's going to be the Albatross that hangs around the necks of the Democratic Party and it will devastate them in the 2010 elections. People remember incompetence- they might forgive Presidents for it, but they won't forgive Congress for it. So things need to turn around right now. We were promised a chance to view the bill at least 48 hours before any vote. That ain't gonna happen. Recovery.gov is a barren, empty wasteland of a website- sure, it's supposed to track the bill and how the money is spent AFTER its passed, but why not before? And will it happen at all?
I'll believe it when I see it. So what happens now? Well, for the sake of his presidency, I hope President Obama decides to bitch-slap the legislative branch by vetoing this festering turd of a stimulus bill and telling Congress to send him a bill that has the actual, honest-to-goodness support of BOTH parties. He needs political cover and we need an economic action plan that's going to be supported by everyone and not picked and bloated to death by lobbyists and Washington Fat Cats. This is a National Emergency and people need to act like it.
Emmanuel wasn't wrong, exactly- Obama did lose control of the message by focusing on bipartisan support for the bill- but he also failed in that he went to Congress as a supplicant, not a President. He should have sat Congress down and said, 'look people- this is what I want- you tell me what you want, get me a bill with real, live bipartisan support and we'll go from there.' He should have made perfectly clear what he wanted in terms of bipartisan support and also made it clear that he would veto any bill that didn't meet his expectations.
I don't think he's in a position to do that now- but I wish he would. It might give him a chance to get the ball back and actually start acting like a President. Everything is not about political parties- Disraeli did say 'damn your principles- stick to your party' but in America we do have checks and balances. There was an episode of The West Wing where Leo relates a story about how a young freshman congressman comes to town and says 'Where's the Republicans- I want to meet the enemy." And the old, grizzled Speaker says to the kid- "The Republicans are just the opposition. The Senate's the enemy."
People forget that. Obama is the head of the Executive Branch, Congress is the Legislative Branch- those may seem like fairly self-evident points, but the fact remains that usually, the twain never meet- and when they do, it doesn't end all that well. Obama is the Commander in Chief- so he commands- or he leads with what he wants and he gets Congress behind HIS bill. He doesn't get sucked into the gigantic partisan lovefest of whatever it is Reid, Pelosi and company want.
That's the play I would have called- and that's the play I'd still call. But today, with what's going on in Washington D.C. right now I don't have a lot of faith in my government and I don't have a lot of faith in the idea that things are going to turn around in a hurry- in fact, I think six months from now, we're going to see Congress digging out the nation's checkbook and doing this all over again- hoping like hell 'the check' doesn't bounce or send us into an overdraft.
But come to think of it, I've never had a lot of faith in our government to begin with. All this crap just brings the amount of my faith down crazily microscopic levels.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Two-Zero-One-Six
Chicago, Madrid, Rio and Tokyo- here's the low down on the four candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics.
Personally: GO CHICAGO!
I think they've got a good shot. North America does get the Olympics in 2010, but Europe gets them in 2012 so I think Madrid chances are going to get hurt by that as I'll doubt they'll do two consecutive European Olympics. The Summer Olympics haven't been in the US since 1996, so we're probably due again. Chicago has never had them- Tokyo has and Rio, well, Rio might have some security issues given the crime rate, but I think the thought of the first South American games could be tempting to the IOC.
So I think Rio and Chicago are the top two- the thought of the first South American games going up against the corporate money (should there be any left by 2016) that Americans can bring to the games.
GO CHI-TOWN, Go!
Personally: GO CHICAGO!
I think they've got a good shot. North America does get the Olympics in 2010, but Europe gets them in 2012 so I think Madrid chances are going to get hurt by that as I'll doubt they'll do two consecutive European Olympics. The Summer Olympics haven't been in the US since 1996, so we're probably due again. Chicago has never had them- Tokyo has and Rio, well, Rio might have some security issues given the crime rate, but I think the thought of the first South American games could be tempting to the IOC.
So I think Rio and Chicago are the top two- the thought of the first South American games going up against the corporate money (should there be any left by 2016) that Americans can bring to the games.
GO CHI-TOWN, Go!
New Job Chronicles Day 4
Phlebotomy. I have no idea what it is, but the University is looking for a Phlebotomy Technician and I applied for it- so hopefully, I'll get a chance to find out.
Some questions floating through my mind today:
Why is there so much crappy, maudlin music on the radio?
What if I've gone to school for so long, it's the only thing I'm good at?
Why can't I just say 'screw it' and go get a PHD and be an awesome college professor and study things like 'the politics of the Vatican' or 'women in leadership across the world?' (Other than that annoying reason- money- and the fact it is Ali's turn to go back to school.)
Why can't I have a passion for something that makes money and careers instead of things like politics and writing? (Sadly, one cannot apply to be a politician. Though things might be a little better if one could.)
Jobs I'm seriously considering applying for:
1. Tambourine Player, E Street Band
2. NCIS Special Agent (Mark Harmon is a bad-ass)
3. FBI Agent (David Boreanaz is a bad-ass)
4. Master Blogger (hopefully for an online publication of some kind)
5. Alpaca Farmer
Or there's always phlebotomy- whatever that is.
Some questions floating through my mind today:
Why is there so much crappy, maudlin music on the radio?
What if I've gone to school for so long, it's the only thing I'm good at?
Why can't I just say 'screw it' and go get a PHD and be an awesome college professor and study things like 'the politics of the Vatican' or 'women in leadership across the world?' (Other than that annoying reason- money- and the fact it is Ali's turn to go back to school.)
Why can't I have a passion for something that makes money and careers instead of things like politics and writing? (Sadly, one cannot apply to be a politician. Though things might be a little better if one could.)
Jobs I'm seriously considering applying for:
1. Tambourine Player, E Street Band
2. NCIS Special Agent (Mark Harmon is a bad-ass)
3. FBI Agent (David Boreanaz is a bad-ass)
4. Master Blogger (hopefully for an online publication of some kind)
5. Alpaca Farmer
Or there's always phlebotomy- whatever that is.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Angelina (and Madonna) Can Suck It
Via Perez Hilton, this.
Well... this ups the ante with the whole celebrities helping out in the Third World thing. Angelina and Madonna may adopt African babies, but Salma Hayek donates mammary time.
How's that for charitable giving?
Well... this ups the ante with the whole celebrities helping out in the Third World thing. Angelina and Madonna may adopt African babies, but Salma Hayek donates mammary time.
How's that for charitable giving?
New Job Chronicles: Day 3
I just applied to be an admissions counselor with the University of Iowa. Probably another job application that's going to get me squat in the way of a response. It's easy, I think to get discouraged about the job market and the economic news, but patience, faith and the law of large numbers are on my side. And I think pretty much everyone can say the same thing. Problem is that the numbers may be a little larger than usual, given everyone flooding the job market these days.
Prayer helps. It's odd to say that, but I'm finding it to be increasingly true. I've always felt that prayer was something that could be highly individual and you could choose whatever method you felt was best for you. It's that feeling you get when you talk (or think) at your ceiling at night and you get the strange feeling that someone out there is listening. Whether anyone is or not is a matter for an entirely different series of blog posts. But I find that a minor conversation with any potential deity (or deities) generally makes me feel a little more peaceful inside before I head into work.
Faith is a follow-on from that. I am too qualified, too smart and entirely too good to be working at this call center forever. I am too driven and too ambitious. Ali worries sometimes- as do I, that we'll be stuck in neutral forever and never get started with our lives, but I refuse to believe that. At least this week. I am not stopping until I get that job and get us moving forward with our lives- because I don't want to work at this call center one minute longer than is necessary. (Though there is a rapidly emerging virtue from the call center- the days do go by quickly. There's not a lot of room for boredom and someday, I'll get the hang of timing my last calls of the night just right.)
The law of large numbers is also on my side. The more jobs I apply for, the higher the probability I'm going to find one. That's just the way it works, so I intend to apply for all and sundry and everything I can get my hands on.
There's also the question of firefighting. I saw today in the paper that two veterans of the Iowa City Fire Department are retiring and I believe that they're getting ready to plan another fire station here soon- so maybe I should do the cop thing and the fireman thing and see which one I get- I'll have to see what the requirements are, how to apply and what ridiculous training regimen I have to put myself through and I think also I'll have to take a hard look at the notion of rushing into burning buildings as part of my average work day. I'm just not sure how I feel about that.
But, the work continues.
Prayer helps. It's odd to say that, but I'm finding it to be increasingly true. I've always felt that prayer was something that could be highly individual and you could choose whatever method you felt was best for you. It's that feeling you get when you talk (or think) at your ceiling at night and you get the strange feeling that someone out there is listening. Whether anyone is or not is a matter for an entirely different series of blog posts. But I find that a minor conversation with any potential deity (or deities) generally makes me feel a little more peaceful inside before I head into work.
Faith is a follow-on from that. I am too qualified, too smart and entirely too good to be working at this call center forever. I am too driven and too ambitious. Ali worries sometimes- as do I, that we'll be stuck in neutral forever and never get started with our lives, but I refuse to believe that. At least this week. I am not stopping until I get that job and get us moving forward with our lives- because I don't want to work at this call center one minute longer than is necessary. (Though there is a rapidly emerging virtue from the call center- the days do go by quickly. There's not a lot of room for boredom and someday, I'll get the hang of timing my last calls of the night just right.)
The law of large numbers is also on my side. The more jobs I apply for, the higher the probability I'm going to find one. That's just the way it works, so I intend to apply for all and sundry and everything I can get my hands on.
There's also the question of firefighting. I saw today in the paper that two veterans of the Iowa City Fire Department are retiring and I believe that they're getting ready to plan another fire station here soon- so maybe I should do the cop thing and the fireman thing and see which one I get- I'll have to see what the requirements are, how to apply and what ridiculous training regimen I have to put myself through and I think also I'll have to take a hard look at the notion of rushing into burning buildings as part of my average work day. I'm just not sure how I feel about that.
But, the work continues.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What If You Held An Election And Everyone Won?
The dust has settled and the horsetrading has begun in Israel following their elections last night. Everyone is pretty much claiming victory- and by everyone I mean the two largest parties- the right wing Likud Party and the centrist Kadima Party. The final numbers shake out like this:
Kadima: 28 seats
Likud: 27 seats
Yisrael Beiteinu: 15 seats
Labor: 13 seats
Shas: 11 seats
United Torah Judaism: 5 seats
National Union: 4 seats
Hadash: 4 seats
United Arab List Ta'al: 4 seats
Balad: 3 seats
Jewish Home: 3 seats
Meretz: 3 seats
The BBC is reporting that Likud had a deal sown up with the ultra-orthodox Shas Party in the run up to the election, so that should pretty much put the two of them at 38 seats. Throw Labor and Kadima together and you end up with 41 seats. The magic number they're going to want to reach is 61 for the majority they're going to need to form a government- but even with Shas and Labor in the mix, Kadima and Likud are going to need more coalition partners if they want to form a government. I'm getting that Kadima can count on the United Arab List- bringing them up to 45- and maybe even some of the other smaller parties, but the real Kingmaker right now is the far right (and shit scary) Yisraei Beiteinu Party. They could put Likud in power very easily.
The question is, what would be the implications for the peace process and Israeli democracy as a whole if they did? YB leader Avigdor Lieberman has made it plain that he considers Israeli Arabs a potential fifth column in the heart of the Jewish state AND wants them to sign loyalty oaths pledging their loyalty to the state- if anything close to that comes to pass, it would be a blow to the heart of Israeli democracy itself. For sixty years, Israel has had a robust and proud democratic tradition and when you start singling out your own citizens because of their religious or ethnic background it represents a clear and present danger to democracy itself, wherever you are.
I can understand and respect the fact that Israelis might feel besieged and encircled, given the depredations of Hamas and the lopsided results of Israel's war in Lebanon- however, if Israeli democracy isn't strong, how can Israel expect to survive in the long term. A YB-Likud-Shas Government would be the worst of all possible combinations for Israel and anyone concerned with the future of the Middle East Peace Process.
The reason the process is so stalled is because there is no leader with the chops to do what needs to be done- on either side. The Palestinians have to face up to the fact that they're not getting an unlimited right of return, all the settlements probably aren't going away and they might have to give up on East Jerusalem- and control Hamas somehow. The Israelis, for their part, are going to have to leave the West Bank- and that, like the evacuations from the Sinai and Gaza will be nationally traumatic moments that Israel will have to face- and they might have to give up parts of East Jerusalem. Until there are leaders with the political capitol to carry through with these tough decisions, I don't think the peace process is going anywhere.
And if Israel tilts right, then if Hamas twitches the wrong way, they'll get steamrolled right out of Gaza, international opinion be damned. If Iran twitches the wrong way, they can kiss their nuclear program goodbye, courtesy of the IAF. If what I'm hearing about former President Khatami running are true, then conciliation and quiet diplomacy could avoid a disaster with regards to the Iranian question.
Whatever your opinions about the Middle East, it is ironic in an election where everyone claimed victory, everyone might end up losing.
Kadima: 28 seats
Likud: 27 seats
Yisrael Beiteinu: 15 seats
Labor: 13 seats
Shas: 11 seats
United Torah Judaism: 5 seats
National Union: 4 seats
Hadash: 4 seats
United Arab List Ta'al: 4 seats
Balad: 3 seats
Jewish Home: 3 seats
Meretz: 3 seats
The BBC is reporting that Likud had a deal sown up with the ultra-orthodox Shas Party in the run up to the election, so that should pretty much put the two of them at 38 seats. Throw Labor and Kadima together and you end up with 41 seats. The magic number they're going to want to reach is 61 for the majority they're going to need to form a government- but even with Shas and Labor in the mix, Kadima and Likud are going to need more coalition partners if they want to form a government. I'm getting that Kadima can count on the United Arab List- bringing them up to 45- and maybe even some of the other smaller parties, but the real Kingmaker right now is the far right (and shit scary) Yisraei Beiteinu Party. They could put Likud in power very easily.
The question is, what would be the implications for the peace process and Israeli democracy as a whole if they did? YB leader Avigdor Lieberman has made it plain that he considers Israeli Arabs a potential fifth column in the heart of the Jewish state AND wants them to sign loyalty oaths pledging their loyalty to the state- if anything close to that comes to pass, it would be a blow to the heart of Israeli democracy itself. For sixty years, Israel has had a robust and proud democratic tradition and when you start singling out your own citizens because of their religious or ethnic background it represents a clear and present danger to democracy itself, wherever you are.
I can understand and respect the fact that Israelis might feel besieged and encircled, given the depredations of Hamas and the lopsided results of Israel's war in Lebanon- however, if Israeli democracy isn't strong, how can Israel expect to survive in the long term. A YB-Likud-Shas Government would be the worst of all possible combinations for Israel and anyone concerned with the future of the Middle East Peace Process.
The reason the process is so stalled is because there is no leader with the chops to do what needs to be done- on either side. The Palestinians have to face up to the fact that they're not getting an unlimited right of return, all the settlements probably aren't going away and they might have to give up on East Jerusalem- and control Hamas somehow. The Israelis, for their part, are going to have to leave the West Bank- and that, like the evacuations from the Sinai and Gaza will be nationally traumatic moments that Israel will have to face- and they might have to give up parts of East Jerusalem. Until there are leaders with the political capitol to carry through with these tough decisions, I don't think the peace process is going anywhere.
And if Israel tilts right, then if Hamas twitches the wrong way, they'll get steamrolled right out of Gaza, international opinion be damned. If Iran twitches the wrong way, they can kiss their nuclear program goodbye, courtesy of the IAF. If what I'm hearing about former President Khatami running are true, then conciliation and quiet diplomacy could avoid a disaster with regards to the Iranian question.
Whatever your opinions about the Middle East, it is ironic in an election where everyone claimed victory, everyone might end up losing.
New Job Chronicles Day 2
Today, push-ups begin to concern me a little bit. The push-up is something that I have never bothered to master, having settled for the lame, easy way out in most of my high school gym classes and doing about thirty awesome push-ups from the knees. (It also helped that Coach Brown counted them off at about 60 miles per hour, so by the time he reached five, you could only be on about your third one.)
But now, I want to be a police officer. Again, that's one of the oddest things in the world to me, because never in my life would I have expected to have such an interest in pursuing law enforcement as a career. Five years ago, if you would have told me that I'd be getting serious about being a police officer, I would have told you that you were smoking some seriously good stuff.
As I began grasping at the straws for something meaningful to do with my life, a combination of things happened: I was rejected for a Dispatcher's position at the University of Iowa Police Department and I found my ambition. (Or at least the first faint hints of it. It's still sprouting.) My interview for the dispatching position went well, but it became clear that they already had someone in mind for the job. However, I was taken on a tour and asked probing questions about whether or not I had considered becoming an officer. Having seen the shiny, new department that the University has, I began thinking about it.
The more I thought about it and the more I tried the notion on for size in my head, the more it made sense- and crazily enough, it didn't scare me or make me want to run away.
Some law enforcement experience could be parlayed into moving up the ladder to federal law enforcement or at least have a steady job while Ali gets her dreams locked into place. After that, I could keep at it, move up the ladder a little bit or even step sideways to get a PHD or teaching certification and do some teaching and research. (And maybe, after that, I can go for my MFA in Creative Writing and spend my twilight years surrounded by hordes of grandchildren and retire to Arizona where I'll write book after book after book until I drop dead at the ripe old age of 150. Or something like that.)
All of this brings us back to the matter of push-ups. The Iowa Law Enforcement Academy mandates that all their candidates past what's called a POST Test before they advance on in the interview process- 29 push-ups and 38 sit ups in one minute, a 16.5 inch sit and reach and a mile and a half run in 12 minutes and 51 seconds. The sit-ups I could probably handle and with some judicious dieting combined with running on the treadmill every day I hope to get down to the 12 minutes and 51 seconds.
But push-ups, well... they're coming along- and I can actually physically bend my arms in the proper push-up positions which is a massive achievement for me- but now, apparently I have to get my chest down to the height of a fist (which is going to be placed under my chest while doing push-ups.)
Uh-oh. They are coming along, but this is a new twist and a new challenge. But all this testing should be good practice- and maybe I'll start passing some of these tests and maybe get a job other than TLCA. (Plus, I pretty much have ever other Friday off for a month. Maybe more if I'm lucky.)
Slowly but surely, I'll get there and soon I'll be doing the perfect push-ups.
But now, I want to be a police officer. Again, that's one of the oddest things in the world to me, because never in my life would I have expected to have such an interest in pursuing law enforcement as a career. Five years ago, if you would have told me that I'd be getting serious about being a police officer, I would have told you that you were smoking some seriously good stuff.
As I began grasping at the straws for something meaningful to do with my life, a combination of things happened: I was rejected for a Dispatcher's position at the University of Iowa Police Department and I found my ambition. (Or at least the first faint hints of it. It's still sprouting.) My interview for the dispatching position went well, but it became clear that they already had someone in mind for the job. However, I was taken on a tour and asked probing questions about whether or not I had considered becoming an officer. Having seen the shiny, new department that the University has, I began thinking about it.
The more I thought about it and the more I tried the notion on for size in my head, the more it made sense- and crazily enough, it didn't scare me or make me want to run away.
Some law enforcement experience could be parlayed into moving up the ladder to federal law enforcement or at least have a steady job while Ali gets her dreams locked into place. After that, I could keep at it, move up the ladder a little bit or even step sideways to get a PHD or teaching certification and do some teaching and research. (And maybe, after that, I can go for my MFA in Creative Writing and spend my twilight years surrounded by hordes of grandchildren and retire to Arizona where I'll write book after book after book until I drop dead at the ripe old age of 150. Or something like that.)
All of this brings us back to the matter of push-ups. The Iowa Law Enforcement Academy mandates that all their candidates past what's called a POST Test before they advance on in the interview process- 29 push-ups and 38 sit ups in one minute, a 16.5 inch sit and reach and a mile and a half run in 12 minutes and 51 seconds. The sit-ups I could probably handle and with some judicious dieting combined with running on the treadmill every day I hope to get down to the 12 minutes and 51 seconds.
But push-ups, well... they're coming along- and I can actually physically bend my arms in the proper push-up positions which is a massive achievement for me- but now, apparently I have to get my chest down to the height of a fist (which is going to be placed under my chest while doing push-ups.)
Uh-oh. They are coming along, but this is a new twist and a new challenge. But all this testing should be good practice- and maybe I'll start passing some of these tests and maybe get a job other than TLCA. (Plus, I pretty much have ever other Friday off for a month. Maybe more if I'm lucky.)
Slowly but surely, I'll get there and soon I'll be doing the perfect push-ups.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Staying Power
Of all the many television shows I've gotten sucked into over the years, ABC Family's Greek is probably the strangest of them all. On the face of it, it should have bored me. It was a typical soap opera with young people dropped in college and working all the cliches that go along with fraternities and sororities alike. Yet it's a mild guilty pleasure of the most pleasurable kind. It's not the George Michael LP you have to hide under your bed, it's more like the cool, creamy and totally unhealthy drink you get from Caribou Coffee, feeling guilty about both the sugar content and the price as you purchase it.
I think the first thing that drew me was the fact that Greek is on ABC Family. You think of ABC Family in the same breath as reruns of Seventh Heaven and other, well, vanilla shows of the most non-threatening variety. And here's this show about college, fraternities, sororities and all the booze and alcohol that goes along with it- that made me sit up and take notice. But then the story lines emerge and the characters defy cliche (African-American and gay in a frat? Could be a total mess, but it's not...) and the actors are young, fresh and able (including Kelsey Grammar's daughter, Spencer.)
And most importantly of all- it has staying power.
That to me is a true test of a television show. Can you watch it over and over again and get the same level of enjoyment out of it every single time? With Greek, happily, you can. But it's not so with every show. Gilmore Girls faded for me. CSI could never hold me (too procedural) and NCIS and JAG have real potential for becoming new favorite must-haves for me. (Actually, I take that back about Gilmore Girls. The first four seasons were some of the best damn stuff of television. It does start to fade after that and petered out entirely to me after Rory met that blond tool of a frat boy, Logan and I just stopped caring after that.) Battlestar Galactica is going to be the bast damn thing on television EVER and I am going to Netflix every last episode of it! Firefly died too soon and Alias went all trippy in a hurry (but it stands as one of the most outrageous robbings in Emmy history that Lena Olin lost out to Tyne Daly for Season 2 of that show- because she was INCREDIBLE.)
Ok. Television love fest OVER...
Back to Greek. And all I'm saying is that with television, it's all about that magic thing--- staying power.
I think the first thing that drew me was the fact that Greek is on ABC Family. You think of ABC Family in the same breath as reruns of Seventh Heaven and other, well, vanilla shows of the most non-threatening variety. And here's this show about college, fraternities, sororities and all the booze and alcohol that goes along with it- that made me sit up and take notice. But then the story lines emerge and the characters defy cliche (African-American and gay in a frat? Could be a total mess, but it's not...) and the actors are young, fresh and able (including Kelsey Grammar's daughter, Spencer.)
And most importantly of all- it has staying power.
That to me is a true test of a television show. Can you watch it over and over again and get the same level of enjoyment out of it every single time? With Greek, happily, you can. But it's not so with every show. Gilmore Girls faded for me. CSI could never hold me (too procedural) and NCIS and JAG have real potential for becoming new favorite must-haves for me. (Actually, I take that back about Gilmore Girls. The first four seasons were some of the best damn stuff of television. It does start to fade after that and petered out entirely to me after Rory met that blond tool of a frat boy, Logan and I just stopped caring after that.) Battlestar Galactica is going to be the bast damn thing on television EVER and I am going to Netflix every last episode of it! Firefly died too soon and Alias went all trippy in a hurry (but it stands as one of the most outrageous robbings in Emmy history that Lena Olin lost out to Tyne Daly for Season 2 of that show- because she was INCREDIBLE.)
Ok. Television love fest OVER...
Back to Greek. And all I'm saying is that with television, it's all about that magic thing--- staying power.
The Good Old Days
Ah, the good old days.
I miss journalism. It's strange to say that, but I shyed away from it because I didn't like the idea of constantly writing under a deadline. It's sharp, tight writing is journalism and I wanted room to 'stretch my legs' so to speak and really do some hardcore writing.
Seven years or so later, I begin to wonder if I shouldn't have given journalism a harder look. I am happiest when I'm writing and a job that helps me to do that would have been awesome- yet an ad I found online for the Ottumwa Courier for a reporter I saw that it only paid 20-25,000 a year. Hmmm, I'm thinking that it might not pay that well in the long run. But I miss it. The thrill of the chase, the pursuit of the story- the long nights in Newslab putting together the paper, eating junk food, pizza, diet coke and altoids and then walking home through the jock lot, illuminated perfectly in the lights of the lot. So many perfect memories have stayed with me from those walks home. The silence as snow fell through the lights, covering the parking lot- it was so quiet you could hear everything across the city, and see the lights of downtown as you walked out of the front doors and took it all in.
I miss it. Maybe someday I'll get back to it.
I miss journalism. It's strange to say that, but I shyed away from it because I didn't like the idea of constantly writing under a deadline. It's sharp, tight writing is journalism and I wanted room to 'stretch my legs' so to speak and really do some hardcore writing.
Seven years or so later, I begin to wonder if I shouldn't have given journalism a harder look. I am happiest when I'm writing and a job that helps me to do that would have been awesome- yet an ad I found online for the Ottumwa Courier for a reporter I saw that it only paid 20-25,000 a year. Hmmm, I'm thinking that it might not pay that well in the long run. But I miss it. The thrill of the chase, the pursuit of the story- the long nights in Newslab putting together the paper, eating junk food, pizza, diet coke and altoids and then walking home through the jock lot, illuminated perfectly in the lights of the lot. So many perfect memories have stayed with me from those walks home. The silence as snow fell through the lights, covering the parking lot- it was so quiet you could hear everything across the city, and see the lights of downtown as you walked out of the front doors and took it all in.
I miss it. Maybe someday I'll get back to it.
My Letter to Senator McCoy
**Recently, Senator McCoy of the Iowa State Legislature suggested that the University of Iowa sell their Pollock Mural to help keep the cost of tuition low for students in these tough economic times, especially given the devastating flood of last summer. This was my response to him.
Dear Senator McCoy,
I was disappointed to read your comments in the Iowa City Press-Citizen yesterday suggesting once again that selling Jackson Pollock's famed Mural would be an idea worth considering in order to help defray the massive costs of flood recovery here in Eastern Iowa. Nothing could be further from the truth- in fact, such an idea would be a fiscal catastrophe for both Eastern Iowa and the state of Iowa as a whole.
Now is not the time to be selling off one of this state's most precious and valuable assets and one of the greatest paintings in the history of American art. In fact, it may seem contradictory in the face of such bleak economic times for Iowa and for the country as a whole, but this is in fact the time to invest more money into not only this magnificent painting, but into Eastern Iowa as a whole. As a security guard working at the University of Iowa Museum of Art during my time as an undergraduate there (2001-2006) I was fortunate to learn so much about this painting and about the University's collection as a whole and I can assure you Senator, that the incredible collection of the University of Iowa is one of the best kept secrets in the entire state- and it is incredible that the Board of Regents kept the Museum in the building it was in for nearly three decades instead of investing in a new facility which could have helped bring people from all across the country to Iowa and help the University of Iowa attract more students.
This is perhaps the most important thing of all! With the art programs currently housed in temporary facilities, we are at risk of seeing one of the proudest and most illustrious programs at the University of Iowa suffer real damage to its prestige. And the loss of Mural would only accelerate that. Selling it is not something that should be done lightly, for once it is sold- if we could even achieve an estimated $200 million value in market times so bleak as these- it would be gone forever and the Art Program at the University, the University of Iowa and indeed the state of Iowa would suffer as a result.
It may be difficult to see how the state could suffer if we sell what to many would only be seen as a painting- but Mural is the crown jewel of an incredible collection at the University of Iowa that needs to be better introduced to the state of Iowa as a whole. Far too few people (in Iowa and across the country) realize just what an incredible collection the University has! Not only do we have Mural, we have one of the best collections of African Art in the entire country- right here in Iowa. We have paintings by such masters as Grant Wood, Henri Matisse and many others. And we have a proud legacy for the entire state of Iowa in the art programs at the University of Iowa that should be celebrated, not auctioned off to the highest bidder! Mauricio Lasansky helped to pioneer advances in the medium of print-making that changed it forever- he could have gone anywhere in the world, but he came to Iowa. Virginia Meyers, another noted professor of the art program, actually championed an entirely new medium of foil printing- inventing new technologies that I believe the University still holds the patents for to this day. One of the University's first advanced degrees was awarded to Eve Drewelowe in the field of studio arts!
As you can see, this is a renowned art program with an incredible collection of art that deserves to be protected and invested in as a part of any long term strategies towards flood recovery in Eastern Iowa. We need something to help bring people to these communities that have been devastated by floods. Instead of pursuing things like an indoor rainforest in Coralville we should instead invest in a world class facility to help showcase the world class programs and collections here at the University of Iowa. I firmly believe that the right facility in the right place to showcase Mural and the collection would bring more people to Eastern Iowa than would come if we sold the painting for some short term monetary gains at the expense of some very long term pain.
The people of Iowa deserve a place to see this incredible painting and discover the best kept secret of this entire state! That we, the people of Iowa have tucked away in Iowa City an excellent collection of art that every Iowan should get to see.
Selling Mural would deny people that chance- and cost Eastern Iowa more money in the long term that it would seem to save in the short term.
I hope you have the opportunity to view this incredible collection and realize how important an asset it could be for this state and why it deserves to be respected and protected.
yours,
Tom Nixon
Dear Senator McCoy,
I was disappointed to read your comments in the Iowa City Press-Citizen yesterday suggesting once again that selling Jackson Pollock's famed Mural would be an idea worth considering in order to help defray the massive costs of flood recovery here in Eastern Iowa. Nothing could be further from the truth- in fact, such an idea would be a fiscal catastrophe for both Eastern Iowa and the state of Iowa as a whole.
Now is not the time to be selling off one of this state's most precious and valuable assets and one of the greatest paintings in the history of American art. In fact, it may seem contradictory in the face of such bleak economic times for Iowa and for the country as a whole, but this is in fact the time to invest more money into not only this magnificent painting, but into Eastern Iowa as a whole. As a security guard working at the University of Iowa Museum of Art during my time as an undergraduate there (2001-2006) I was fortunate to learn so much about this painting and about the University's collection as a whole and I can assure you Senator, that the incredible collection of the University of Iowa is one of the best kept secrets in the entire state- and it is incredible that the Board of Regents kept the Museum in the building it was in for nearly three decades instead of investing in a new facility which could have helped bring people from all across the country to Iowa and help the University of Iowa attract more students.
This is perhaps the most important thing of all! With the art programs currently housed in temporary facilities, we are at risk of seeing one of the proudest and most illustrious programs at the University of Iowa suffer real damage to its prestige. And the loss of Mural would only accelerate that. Selling it is not something that should be done lightly, for once it is sold- if we could even achieve an estimated $200 million value in market times so bleak as these- it would be gone forever and the Art Program at the University, the University of Iowa and indeed the state of Iowa would suffer as a result.
It may be difficult to see how the state could suffer if we sell what to many would only be seen as a painting- but Mural is the crown jewel of an incredible collection at the University of Iowa that needs to be better introduced to the state of Iowa as a whole. Far too few people (in Iowa and across the country) realize just what an incredible collection the University has! Not only do we have Mural, we have one of the best collections of African Art in the entire country- right here in Iowa. We have paintings by such masters as Grant Wood, Henri Matisse and many others. And we have a proud legacy for the entire state of Iowa in the art programs at the University of Iowa that should be celebrated, not auctioned off to the highest bidder! Mauricio Lasansky helped to pioneer advances in the medium of print-making that changed it forever- he could have gone anywhere in the world, but he came to Iowa. Virginia Meyers, another noted professor of the art program, actually championed an entirely new medium of foil printing- inventing new technologies that I believe the University still holds the patents for to this day. One of the University's first advanced degrees was awarded to Eve Drewelowe in the field of studio arts!
As you can see, this is a renowned art program with an incredible collection of art that deserves to be protected and invested in as a part of any long term strategies towards flood recovery in Eastern Iowa. We need something to help bring people to these communities that have been devastated by floods. Instead of pursuing things like an indoor rainforest in Coralville we should instead invest in a world class facility to help showcase the world class programs and collections here at the University of Iowa. I firmly believe that the right facility in the right place to showcase Mural and the collection would bring more people to Eastern Iowa than would come if we sold the painting for some short term monetary gains at the expense of some very long term pain.
The people of Iowa deserve a place to see this incredible painting and discover the best kept secret of this entire state! That we, the people of Iowa have tucked away in Iowa City an excellent collection of art that every Iowan should get to see.
Selling Mural would deny people that chance- and cost Eastern Iowa more money in the long term that it would seem to save in the short term.
I hope you have the opportunity to view this incredible collection and realize how important an asset it could be for this state and why it deserves to be respected and protected.
yours,
Tom Nixon
New Job Chronicles: Day 1
Life is transitory. What seems like an eternity when you're 25 is going to seem like a drop in the bucket of your life when you get right down to it. Other than the deadline of debt in June, really and truly there is no hurry to finding the right career path for myself and getting a new job.
And it's not that my current job is bad, per say. It seems like every single morning, I go through this moment of schizo-insanity when I almost have a panic attack and feel like shit about my life and my job and get really bleak about the prospects for the future. Why that is, I'm not entirely sure. It's about 9.15 now- so I'm going to finish this, get my laundry, sort it, maybe poke around for a job or two, work out, shower and then make my way to work. Just like I did for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week- and I'm still here.
It's not a bad job. It just doesn't feel like a secure job. Telemarketing is something that you either get good at, or you suck at- and at this point in my job I'm not entirely sure where I stand. People on the other side of the building at TLCA get canned daily. If you work the J. Crew account and use more than two filler words (um, uh, etc.) per call, you are terminated on the spot. And if Kaplan wants me gone for whatever reason, all they have to do is email TLCA and I'll be gone. Just like that.
Hence my apparent distaste for the job. It's not bad- it's just totally insecure- and in this economy, I think I'd feel a lot better if I had a job- even a shit one like TLCA, that was a little more secure. I also miss dealing with people- and moving around. I have a new appreciation for face-to-face interaction and give and take with people that is currently lacking at TLCA. I don't get to meet people. I don't get to move around. It's just sitting in that chair in front of the computer and dealing with phone call after phone call after phone call. I can rationalize it by saying that after all, I am helping people with their financial aid and that notion does help me when things are really bad, but when you're on a frozen lake with cracks running through it, you can't help be a bit distressed now and again.
The big ugly problem looming over all this, however, is what to do with myself. I don't want to go back to school- that would be counter-productive at this point, even if the logic of getting back into a school until the economy improves might start to gain some appeal as time goes by. But here's the little secret: I've never known what to do with myself. I am happiest with I'm writing, but writing don't pay the electric bills. And I've always been envious of people who've been able to have a good idea of where they were going and what they were going to do with themselves. Plans, five years ago when I was an undergraduate, would have been good things to have.
So, the cop thing or the Washington thing. Government jobs or police jobs. Never in my life would I have expected that 'police officer' was something that I could imagine myself doing. But now I can. With training and a little bit of good luck and hard work I can literally run my way right out of TLCA and into a job that'll pay my bills and let Ali and I start a life somewhere. That's what I want more than anything. The water is right up to my head at this point and I just want something small (I'm not greedy) that'll let me keep my head above the water and actually start something for once.
And if the Washington thing comes through, then way-hey-hey! Off to the East Coast and some public service. Public service never hurt anyone (too much) and it'd be nice to have an East Coast adventure for awhile.
But at the end of the day, life is transitory. And 60 work days at TLCA (not weekends, thank God) puts me at May 1st. I can do this job for 60 days and if I can't, well then, what hope is there for me?
In about twelve hours, I'll be home from work- and one more day will be done. 59 days will be left.
And it's not that my current job is bad, per say. It seems like every single morning, I go through this moment of schizo-insanity when I almost have a panic attack and feel like shit about my life and my job and get really bleak about the prospects for the future. Why that is, I'm not entirely sure. It's about 9.15 now- so I'm going to finish this, get my laundry, sort it, maybe poke around for a job or two, work out, shower and then make my way to work. Just like I did for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week- and I'm still here.
It's not a bad job. It just doesn't feel like a secure job. Telemarketing is something that you either get good at, or you suck at- and at this point in my job I'm not entirely sure where I stand. People on the other side of the building at TLCA get canned daily. If you work the J. Crew account and use more than two filler words (um, uh, etc.) per call, you are terminated on the spot. And if Kaplan wants me gone for whatever reason, all they have to do is email TLCA and I'll be gone. Just like that.
Hence my apparent distaste for the job. It's not bad- it's just totally insecure- and in this economy, I think I'd feel a lot better if I had a job- even a shit one like TLCA, that was a little more secure. I also miss dealing with people- and moving around. I have a new appreciation for face-to-face interaction and give and take with people that is currently lacking at TLCA. I don't get to meet people. I don't get to move around. It's just sitting in that chair in front of the computer and dealing with phone call after phone call after phone call. I can rationalize it by saying that after all, I am helping people with their financial aid and that notion does help me when things are really bad, but when you're on a frozen lake with cracks running through it, you can't help be a bit distressed now and again.
The big ugly problem looming over all this, however, is what to do with myself. I don't want to go back to school- that would be counter-productive at this point, even if the logic of getting back into a school until the economy improves might start to gain some appeal as time goes by. But here's the little secret: I've never known what to do with myself. I am happiest with I'm writing, but writing don't pay the electric bills. And I've always been envious of people who've been able to have a good idea of where they were going and what they were going to do with themselves. Plans, five years ago when I was an undergraduate, would have been good things to have.
So, the cop thing or the Washington thing. Government jobs or police jobs. Never in my life would I have expected that 'police officer' was something that I could imagine myself doing. But now I can. With training and a little bit of good luck and hard work I can literally run my way right out of TLCA and into a job that'll pay my bills and let Ali and I start a life somewhere. That's what I want more than anything. The water is right up to my head at this point and I just want something small (I'm not greedy) that'll let me keep my head above the water and actually start something for once.
And if the Washington thing comes through, then way-hey-hey! Off to the East Coast and some public service. Public service never hurt anyone (too much) and it'd be nice to have an East Coast adventure for awhile.
But at the end of the day, life is transitory. And 60 work days at TLCA (not weekends, thank God) puts me at May 1st. I can do this job for 60 days and if I can't, well then, what hope is there for me?
In about twelve hours, I'll be home from work- and one more day will be done. 59 days will be left.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Don't Sell The MURAL!
This idea won't die: a state Senator Matt McCoy, suggested selling Mural the famed Jackson Pollock painting at the University of Iowa to once again defray the costs of these tough economic times. (Specifically, McCoy wanted to 'keep student tuition low' which is stupider than selling the painting to pay for flood recovery costs.)
Happily, the Governor said NO! (To that idea... hooray!)
But if you want to email Senator McCoy and tell him that student tuition was going up anyway and it's still going to go up because we don't fund education properly in this country- and be sure to mention that selling Mural is to help cover that is spectacularly dumb because $200 million (if we could get that) will keep tuition low for about ten seconds or so and then it'll go right back up again.
So yeah, if you want to tell him what an idiot he is, email him here.
Happily, the Governor said NO! (To that idea... hooray!)
But if you want to email Senator McCoy and tell him that student tuition was going up anyway and it's still going to go up because we don't fund education properly in this country- and be sure to mention that selling Mural is to help cover that is spectacularly dumb because $200 million (if we could get that) will keep tuition low for about ten seconds or so and then it'll go right back up again.
So yeah, if you want to tell him what an idiot he is, email him here.
Whiny Bankers
So there's this on DailyKos which is apparently running in the NY Times tomorrow about how bankers are going to have it so hard with this $500,000 salary cap that Obama is proposing under the TARP plan.
This seriously pisses me off. These companies have come running to the Government, sniveling and crying and asking for money. They need help because they managed to run themselves onto a reef and totally SCREW THINGS UP! Yes, that's right, they think they deserve larger bonuses because THEY SCREWED UP!
How does that work? How can that possibly be justified? If it were me, I'd take away bonuses all together. They screw things up this bad, they can just have a salary like the rest of us.
This seriously pisses me off. These companies have come running to the Government, sniveling and crying and asking for money. They need help because they managed to run themselves onto a reef and totally SCREW THINGS UP! Yes, that's right, they think they deserve larger bonuses because THEY SCREWED UP!
How does that work? How can that possibly be justified? If it were me, I'd take away bonuses all together. They screw things up this bad, they can just have a salary like the rest of us.
Look What I Did!
I am special. And I forgot to turn my steering wheel and the car ended up thusly...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Glenn Beck Can Suck It
Why is it whenever we elect a President, someone always loses their mind? When we elected Bush, Michael Moore became an unhinged idiot- and now that we've elected Obama, Glenn Beck has apparently become unhinged, evidenced by the following:
He's out of whack on point #1. If I'm funding a bank- and more to the point if there's a bank that needs government help, someone ain't doin' something right up at the top. I don't think we should limit executive compensation for the idiots who run their banks into the ground and then have to take our money and throw massive Super Bowl parties (that's right, Bank of America. WE KNOW ABOUT THAT!) Personally, I think we should fire 'em all and start over. Or make government aid conditional on getting rid of the damn fool CEOs that got these banks into the position their in to begin with. It PISSES me off hearing about all these CEOs whining about limited executive compensation. YOU F-----D UP, BUB! Why do you deserve that bonus?
Point #2 about the Employee Free Choice Act- I don't think we should get rid of secret ballot elections and I have a sneaking suspicion that the EFCA's attempt to implement card check elections to organize unions is about making union bosses more powerful that helping workers.
On S-Chip, well, yeah- I think the bill probably got a little idiotic at some point, but it's Congress we're talking about here. Obama should grow a pair, send it back and tell 'em to send him something that actually helps kids not all and sundry, you know? Then I'd be fine with S-Chip. I just hate it when good ideas become Christmas trees for every fool we elect and send to Washington.
But, making all of these not entirely unreasonable points into 'a COMRADE UPDATE' and equating it to 'SOCIALISM'? Hmmmm... someone left a few train cars behind at the station is all I'm saying. And Socialism DOES NOT EQUAL communism!!!! I don't know why people in this country can't get that idea through their heads. Not that I'm an especially big fan of socialism, but ignorance bothers me.
And finally, don't give me all this crap about how 'our country is at stake' and it's times like theses 'in emergencies' when leaders can 'ram down a radical agenda on us all and turn us into good little commies.' No less a President that George W. Bush took advantage of another such emergency (9-11) to launch 8 years of fiscal irresponsibility, the largest expansion of government since the end of World War II and started not one, but two wars.
Suddenly, a typically bloated bill that provides insurance to kids doesn't seem like that radical of an agenda after all, does it?
In short, Glenn Beck, you can suck it!
He's out of whack on point #1. If I'm funding a bank- and more to the point if there's a bank that needs government help, someone ain't doin' something right up at the top. I don't think we should limit executive compensation for the idiots who run their banks into the ground and then have to take our money and throw massive Super Bowl parties (that's right, Bank of America. WE KNOW ABOUT THAT!) Personally, I think we should fire 'em all and start over. Or make government aid conditional on getting rid of the damn fool CEOs that got these banks into the position their in to begin with. It PISSES me off hearing about all these CEOs whining about limited executive compensation. YOU F-----D UP, BUB! Why do you deserve that bonus?
Point #2 about the Employee Free Choice Act- I don't think we should get rid of secret ballot elections and I have a sneaking suspicion that the EFCA's attempt to implement card check elections to organize unions is about making union bosses more powerful that helping workers.
On S-Chip, well, yeah- I think the bill probably got a little idiotic at some point, but it's Congress we're talking about here. Obama should grow a pair, send it back and tell 'em to send him something that actually helps kids not all and sundry, you know? Then I'd be fine with S-Chip. I just hate it when good ideas become Christmas trees for every fool we elect and send to Washington.
But, making all of these not entirely unreasonable points into 'a COMRADE UPDATE' and equating it to 'SOCIALISM'? Hmmmm... someone left a few train cars behind at the station is all I'm saying. And Socialism DOES NOT EQUAL communism!!!! I don't know why people in this country can't get that idea through their heads. Not that I'm an especially big fan of socialism, but ignorance bothers me.
And finally, don't give me all this crap about how 'our country is at stake' and it's times like theses 'in emergencies' when leaders can 'ram down a radical agenda on us all and turn us into good little commies.' No less a President that George W. Bush took advantage of another such emergency (9-11) to launch 8 years of fiscal irresponsibility, the largest expansion of government since the end of World War II and started not one, but two wars.
Suddenly, a typically bloated bill that provides insurance to kids doesn't seem like that radical of an agenda after all, does it?
In short, Glenn Beck, you can suck it!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
No More Q****age!
Well, it was brought to my attention this morning that I was being a total qu**f about life and after a certain amount of deliberation on my part, I experienced what psychologists and therapists tend to term 'a break through' moment.
I was being a q***f. A total q***f. The biggest damn q***f in the whole wide q***fin' world. I have a job, a roof over my head and a woman who love me. Incidentally, I also have the cutest dog in the world and two crazy cats who are just awesome! But in other words, the vaseline was applied and with the help of a hefty crowbar (I have a REALLY big head) my head was safely removed from my sphincter.
1. I am smart.
2. I am qualified.
3. If this crappy place can hire me, anyone can hire me.
4. Schwan's tried to get ahold of me. The Cedar Rapids Police Department wants to give me a try and see if I'm good enough to be a policeman in the City of Five Seasons. (This means I have a week to do 29 real life honest-to-god push-ups in a minute or less. Good luck with that! But either way, I take heart from the fact they are willing to test my ass. That's a good sign.)
5. I am going places with my hot wife. That's all there is too it.
6. After placing my first calls on the call floor today at TLCA, I've decided that I am going to prod behind and take names. (Cussing isn't aloud on the call floor. Sorry.)
So the deal is this: I'm not allowed to be a q***f about my current job until March 1st. And then only in small, limited quantities.
But that's not going to be a problem, because I know, I know that someone better is going to hire me before then. It's a fact. I can feel it.
(Oh and for the record- my little breakthrough this morning: basically, I have this irrational and not all together unreasonable fear that no one will hire me and I'm totally unqualified and all our student loans are going to be come due at once and I'll have this 10 dollar an hour job that's totally unable to cover any of my bills and we'll be forced to go bankrupt and live in a van down by the river with Chris Farley. It sounds well, I don't want to be insensitive, but what the hell- it sounds retarded when I write it down, but at the time it made perfect sense and it kind of still does. The problem is that I just need to have a little more faith in myself and my abilities and think big.)
I was being a q***f. A total q***f. The biggest damn q***f in the whole wide q***fin' world. I have a job, a roof over my head and a woman who love me. Incidentally, I also have the cutest dog in the world and two crazy cats who are just awesome! But in other words, the vaseline was applied and with the help of a hefty crowbar (I have a REALLY big head) my head was safely removed from my sphincter.
1. I am smart.
2. I am qualified.
3. If this crappy place can hire me, anyone can hire me.
4. Schwan's tried to get ahold of me. The Cedar Rapids Police Department wants to give me a try and see if I'm good enough to be a policeman in the City of Five Seasons. (This means I have a week to do 29 real life honest-to-god push-ups in a minute or less. Good luck with that! But either way, I take heart from the fact they are willing to test my ass. That's a good sign.)
5. I am going places with my hot wife. That's all there is too it.
6. After placing my first calls on the call floor today at TLCA, I've decided that I am going to prod behind and take names. (Cussing isn't aloud on the call floor. Sorry.)
So the deal is this: I'm not allowed to be a q***f about my current job until March 1st. And then only in small, limited quantities.
But that's not going to be a problem, because I know, I know that someone better is going to hire me before then. It's a fact. I can feel it.
(Oh and for the record- my little breakthrough this morning: basically, I have this irrational and not all together unreasonable fear that no one will hire me and I'm totally unqualified and all our student loans are going to be come due at once and I'll have this 10 dollar an hour job that's totally unable to cover any of my bills and we'll be forced to go bankrupt and live in a van down by the river with Chris Farley. It sounds well, I don't want to be insensitive, but what the hell- it sounds retarded when I write it down, but at the time it made perfect sense and it kind of still does. The problem is that I just need to have a little more faith in myself and my abilities and think big.)
The Wrench In The Monkey Suit
The Missus is working out right now, so I have to wait my turn and go through my morning schizo mood swings about working at TLCA. This morning was awesome. I got to sleep in, see the love of my life for more than like a minute before I dropped her off at work and now I get to work out and hopefully set up two lifeboats so I can float on out of TLCA once and for all.
It's not that I think it's a bad job. I think once I take a few calls and do the whole Financial Aid schpeel, I will get it down pat and probably do OK at it. It's just that I hate the hours (again, the whole not seeing the woman I love thing on a decent basis makes me cranky. I'm not asking for much- but dinner would be nice at the very least.) and I hate the attendance bonus (that's right. Don't believe their bullshit about $10 an hour- that's only if you show up Monday thru Friday. I really only get paid $7.50 an hour. The extra $2.50 is supposed to give me incentive to show up. If I get sick or have a legitimate excuse, I lose a quarter of my check for the week. That, to me is total bullshit. I understand that they need people to work the phones, but if you treat your employees like shit then they won't want to work for you. This attendance bonus is reason enough for me to get the hell out of dodge as fast as possible. And that's what I have to tell myself every. single. day. 'I'm not staying here long.')
That's my mantra. I have to believe it, because if I don't, then work just becomes 8 hours of hell that toils away and eats your soul alive. So I am getting out of there. ASAP. That's my promise to me.
Thing #3 to be schizo about today: professional dress day. Apparently, it's not enough for the corporate types to entertain the corporate types and have a big monkey suit convention of their own, but we all have to do it so we can impress the client and land TLCA another big account which they can then use as an excuse to screw people with their retarded attendance bonus thing. As an outsourced company, we have no rights to begin with- but as an outsourced company, the higher-ups need to land more accounts. So we get treated like shit, even though we're just as good as internal folks sometimes and we have to entertain these people who view us as little more than expendable.
That doesn't sit well with me. I mean, I know business dress is an inevitability at some point in my work life, but really- I don't like putting on a show for people who will happily fire my ass if they don't like something. Anything. Or if I smell bad. You know? It grates at me a little bit. I like give and take, personally. I work my butt off for you- I'll wear a monkey suit (complete with tie) and you better appreciate my hard work, you know? I mean, without grunts, there's no company. And if you can't retain good grunts, then you're just going to have revolving door of crap people and that doesn't do you any good either, you know?
Whining over. Last day of training today though. Tomorrow... phones!
Chins up, shoulders back, stiff upper lips!
WE WILL PERSEVERE!
It's not that I think it's a bad job. I think once I take a few calls and do the whole Financial Aid schpeel, I will get it down pat and probably do OK at it. It's just that I hate the hours (again, the whole not seeing the woman I love thing on a decent basis makes me cranky. I'm not asking for much- but dinner would be nice at the very least.) and I hate the attendance bonus (that's right. Don't believe their bullshit about $10 an hour- that's only if you show up Monday thru Friday. I really only get paid $7.50 an hour. The extra $2.50 is supposed to give me incentive to show up. If I get sick or have a legitimate excuse, I lose a quarter of my check for the week. That, to me is total bullshit. I understand that they need people to work the phones, but if you treat your employees like shit then they won't want to work for you. This attendance bonus is reason enough for me to get the hell out of dodge as fast as possible. And that's what I have to tell myself every. single. day. 'I'm not staying here long.')
That's my mantra. I have to believe it, because if I don't, then work just becomes 8 hours of hell that toils away and eats your soul alive. So I am getting out of there. ASAP. That's my promise to me.
Thing #3 to be schizo about today: professional dress day. Apparently, it's not enough for the corporate types to entertain the corporate types and have a big monkey suit convention of their own, but we all have to do it so we can impress the client and land TLCA another big account which they can then use as an excuse to screw people with their retarded attendance bonus thing. As an outsourced company, we have no rights to begin with- but as an outsourced company, the higher-ups need to land more accounts. So we get treated like shit, even though we're just as good as internal folks sometimes and we have to entertain these people who view us as little more than expendable.
That doesn't sit well with me. I mean, I know business dress is an inevitability at some point in my work life, but really- I don't like putting on a show for people who will happily fire my ass if they don't like something. Anything. Or if I smell bad. You know? It grates at me a little bit. I like give and take, personally. I work my butt off for you- I'll wear a monkey suit (complete with tie) and you better appreciate my hard work, you know? I mean, without grunts, there's no company. And if you can't retain good grunts, then you're just going to have revolving door of crap people and that doesn't do you any good either, you know?
Whining over. Last day of training today though. Tomorrow... phones!
Chins up, shoulders back, stiff upper lips!
WE WILL PERSEVERE!
Crumb!
God willing and the creek don't rise I can hopefully get ahold of a Schwan's Food Company recruiter (I could be a delivery driver. How much would that rock the nostalgia train? A LOT!) before I go to work and do a pre-screening interview with him. And hopefully he likes my answers enough to forward me onto the people who actually set up the interviews.
Please, please, please-- wish me luck!
Please, please, please-- wish me luck!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Bucket List
As a disclaimer: I'm already married, planning to have kids, be a father and have a successful career of some kind. This is a bucket list- and the above four things are gonna happen anyway- and they're way to important for a list like this.
1. Run with the bulls in Pamplona
2. See the thing in Siena- the Palio! (Or the big horse race you see at the start of 'Quantam of Solace'
3. Go to the tomato festival in Spain
4. Go see the sun rise on April 19th in Brasilia- and I just want to go to see the place. It sounds awesome- and it's shaped like a bird from the air.
5. Go to Brazil
6. Visit Hawaii
7. Go sky diving
8. Go bungee jumping
9. Master roller coasters and learn to enjoy them
10. Learn How to Surf
11. Learn How to Cook
12. Write A Novel
13. Publish A Novel
14. Open a bar/restaurant
15. Become fluent in Hindi and Swahili
16. Brush up my Spanish, French and Portuguese
17. Become a successful blogger
18. Run for elected office
19. Win elected office
20. Learn an instrument- (didjeridoo, bass guitar or something like the eukalaili or balalaika)
21. Go to India (Jaipur, Taj Mahal, Delhi, Calcutta)
22. See Everest? Don't think I could climb it.
23. Go to Africa- climb Kilimanjaro and go on a safari.
24. Live in a foreign country- probably the UK.
25. Go to Cyprus and Istanbul and probably most of Turkey. (I have this fascination with Byzantium and now I'm reading a history of the Crusades so it's even more fascinating. Hell, add Lebanon and Israel to that list as well.) But Cyprus- I want to see the last divided capitol in Europe (true!) and the Ghost Cities (cities abandoned during the war in 1974).
1. Run with the bulls in Pamplona
2. See the thing in Siena- the Palio! (Or the big horse race you see at the start of 'Quantam of Solace'
3. Go to the tomato festival in Spain
4. Go see the sun rise on April 19th in Brasilia- and I just want to go to see the place. It sounds awesome- and it's shaped like a bird from the air.
5. Go to Brazil
6. Visit Hawaii
7. Go sky diving
8. Go bungee jumping
9. Master roller coasters and learn to enjoy them
10. Learn How to Surf
11. Learn How to Cook
12. Write A Novel
13. Publish A Novel
14. Open a bar/restaurant
15. Become fluent in Hindi and Swahili
16. Brush up my Spanish, French and Portuguese
17. Become a successful blogger
18. Run for elected office
19. Win elected office
20. Learn an instrument- (didjeridoo, bass guitar or something like the eukalaili or balalaika)
21. Go to India (Jaipur, Taj Mahal, Delhi, Calcutta)
22. See Everest? Don't think I could climb it.
23. Go to Africa- climb Kilimanjaro and go on a safari.
24. Live in a foreign country- probably the UK.
25. Go to Cyprus and Istanbul and probably most of Turkey. (I have this fascination with Byzantium and now I'm reading a history of the Crusades so it's even more fascinating. Hell, add Lebanon and Israel to that list as well.) But Cyprus- I want to see the last divided capitol in Europe (true!) and the Ghost Cities (cities abandoned during the war in 1974).
So What's Up With My URL?
zigzagsolonthebrain.blogspot.com
That's my URL- and it comes from this:
Asquith once quoted Edward Grey's description of genius when trying to describe Churchill: 'a zig-zag streak of lightening through the brain.'
I've seen it written as 'on the brain' but, basically: zigzagsol (s.o.l.=streak of lightening) and then onthebrain.
Voila.
That's my URL- and it comes from this:
Asquith once quoted Edward Grey's description of genius when trying to describe Churchill: 'a zig-zag streak of lightening through the brain.'
I've seen it written as 'on the brain' but, basically: zigzagsol (s.o.l.=streak of lightening) and then onthebrain.
Voila.
Frustration
I feel like a complete and total failure. I know I need to get some perspective, because I've only been at this whole 'looking for a real job' thing for about a month and there are people who've been at it a lot longer than that, but come on now! How can you not feel like a complete and total failure?
I consider it a mark of the potential of the Iowa City area that it took me three weeks to go from 7.85 an hour to 10 an hour- but now that I have ten dollars an hour, I suddenly look around and realize what an incredible stupid decision it was to leave Wal-Mart to begin with. I'm trying not to make my head explode from writing those previous words down, but it's true. And it's dumb. And I think it's just tied up to the general feeling I have that I'm just not getting anywhere fast.
And maybe you're not supposed too- I mean, perspective here: it's been a month. Flowers take longer to sprout and grow a pretty petal or two. But my mind seems to be making me thinking that I am forever doomed to crappy, menial hourly jobs. And my mind doesn't like that. It doesn't like the hours I keep either- though if today goes as quickly as yesterday did and that trend continues, I might not mind it that much. (And by 'I' I mean 'my mind') Generally speaking I need to pull my head out of my ass, take a deep breath and recognize this for what it is: the character building part of my existence. Someday, when the Missus and I have a nice house and kiddiewinks running through the yard, I'll look back on this and laugh my ass off. But for right now, its hard to see the humor in it, which is probably why I end up spending 8 hours resenting the hell out of a job that loads me down with paper, rules, scripts, things to do, things not to do and- to top it all off, keeps me from having anything resembling a life with the woman I love from Monday to Friday.
And that lies at the heart of my resentment for this call center job. It keeps me away from her. I'm a newly wed- I still have that fresh Husband smell on me and I like seeing my wife. I like spending time with her. She called me a puppy dog last night when I expressed this sentiment, but it's sort of true. But then I remember all those nights she had to work late and she came home to me without a complaint, just because she was so damn happy to see me. And I remember that not everyone ahs someone as awesome as she is and at least I get to sleep with someone in my bed.
Then she wakes up slightly and smiles at me. And everything goes away.
I don't want much right now. Just a little, tiny crumb. Some signal, even if it is a job interview for an actual real-live job- that I'm on the right track and that something can be constructed to actually make sense and make me happy and let me get a life going. Just a little tiny smoke signal would be nice. Some hope that the Hurricane Katrina of Student Loans that's creeping towards me (landfall is set for June) can be ridden out or at the very least ameliorated.
It's frustrating. I don't want it all to land on my lap (because life doesn't work that way) but I'd sure like just a little hint that I'm at least on to something, you know. That little crumb of hope would do me the world of good, me thinks.
Chins up, shoulders back, stiff upper lips.
We will PERSEVERE!
I consider it a mark of the potential of the Iowa City area that it took me three weeks to go from 7.85 an hour to 10 an hour- but now that I have ten dollars an hour, I suddenly look around and realize what an incredible stupid decision it was to leave Wal-Mart to begin with. I'm trying not to make my head explode from writing those previous words down, but it's true. And it's dumb. And I think it's just tied up to the general feeling I have that I'm just not getting anywhere fast.
And maybe you're not supposed too- I mean, perspective here: it's been a month. Flowers take longer to sprout and grow a pretty petal or two. But my mind seems to be making me thinking that I am forever doomed to crappy, menial hourly jobs. And my mind doesn't like that. It doesn't like the hours I keep either- though if today goes as quickly as yesterday did and that trend continues, I might not mind it that much. (And by 'I' I mean 'my mind') Generally speaking I need to pull my head out of my ass, take a deep breath and recognize this for what it is: the character building part of my existence. Someday, when the Missus and I have a nice house and kiddiewinks running through the yard, I'll look back on this and laugh my ass off. But for right now, its hard to see the humor in it, which is probably why I end up spending 8 hours resenting the hell out of a job that loads me down with paper, rules, scripts, things to do, things not to do and- to top it all off, keeps me from having anything resembling a life with the woman I love from Monday to Friday.
And that lies at the heart of my resentment for this call center job. It keeps me away from her. I'm a newly wed- I still have that fresh Husband smell on me and I like seeing my wife. I like spending time with her. She called me a puppy dog last night when I expressed this sentiment, but it's sort of true. But then I remember all those nights she had to work late and she came home to me without a complaint, just because she was so damn happy to see me. And I remember that not everyone ahs someone as awesome as she is and at least I get to sleep with someone in my bed.
Then she wakes up slightly and smiles at me. And everything goes away.
I don't want much right now. Just a little, tiny crumb. Some signal, even if it is a job interview for an actual real-live job- that I'm on the right track and that something can be constructed to actually make sense and make me happy and let me get a life going. Just a little tiny smoke signal would be nice. Some hope that the Hurricane Katrina of Student Loans that's creeping towards me (landfall is set for June) can be ridden out or at the very least ameliorated.
It's frustrating. I don't want it all to land on my lap (because life doesn't work that way) but I'd sure like just a little hint that I'm at least on to something, you know. That little crumb of hope would do me the world of good, me thinks.
Chins up, shoulders back, stiff upper lips.
We will PERSEVERE!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Your Moment of Zen
A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Winston Churchill
Don't Know Much About the Economy
The news is depressing me these days. Every single day, whenever I drive Ali to work, NPR brings me more news about the economy slowly making its way down to the bottom of the toilet bowl of recession or possibly depression. It's sort of soul-crushing and it eats away at you slowly. I go to work at a job that could be worse, but a job I nevertheless absolutely detest. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, other than the fact that a 3 dollar pay raise seemed like a good idea at the time and I was desperate to get away from Wal-Mart.
Now, oddly enough, I almost miss Wal-Mart. Almost. I think I tend to do better in jobs that keep me moving, walking around, busy, and interacting with people face to face. This telemarketing thing I think is just going to slowly eat away my brain and make me want to drive my car into a pylon or something. To be totally fair to Thomas L. Cardella and Associates, I haven't even been there a week, so I don't know everything there is to know yet, but I'm an impatient fool. I want an island in the midst of this economic hurricane and TLCA is better, but it's not that island.
But the economy, the economy. Times like this, I wish I knew a little more about economics- but it seems to me that no ones knows what to do and the proposed solutions are probably just going to make it worse. The Government is useless. Bless Obama for at least reaching out to the Republicans, but at the end of the day, he's not in charge down there, Pelosi, Reid and Company are. And we need a solid stimulus bill not a Christmas tree full of crap. Make it solid- infrastructure spending, tax cuts and precious little else. I think national sales tax holidays periodically throughout the coming year are a good idea. I think that payroll tax holidays are an even better idea because it'd get money to people right now- and you could structure them to phase them back in overtime as the economy gets better.
I despair that sanity can emerge from this. I hope and pray the news will turn around and the economy will pick up again and we won't have this cloud hanging above our heads anymore. Because it is a cloud, a dark one, it permeates the news and every little story trumpeted by the media causes ripples effects in the stock market and the economy gets worse. I think we need to all step back and start making lemonade out of lemons.
Now, oddly enough, I almost miss Wal-Mart. Almost. I think I tend to do better in jobs that keep me moving, walking around, busy, and interacting with people face to face. This telemarketing thing I think is just going to slowly eat away my brain and make me want to drive my car into a pylon or something. To be totally fair to Thomas L. Cardella and Associates, I haven't even been there a week, so I don't know everything there is to know yet, but I'm an impatient fool. I want an island in the midst of this economic hurricane and TLCA is better, but it's not that island.
But the economy, the economy. Times like this, I wish I knew a little more about economics- but it seems to me that no ones knows what to do and the proposed solutions are probably just going to make it worse. The Government is useless. Bless Obama for at least reaching out to the Republicans, but at the end of the day, he's not in charge down there, Pelosi, Reid and Company are. And we need a solid stimulus bill not a Christmas tree full of crap. Make it solid- infrastructure spending, tax cuts and precious little else. I think national sales tax holidays periodically throughout the coming year are a good idea. I think that payroll tax holidays are an even better idea because it'd get money to people right now- and you could structure them to phase them back in overtime as the economy gets better.
I despair that sanity can emerge from this. I hope and pray the news will turn around and the economy will pick up again and we won't have this cloud hanging above our heads anymore. Because it is a cloud, a dark one, it permeates the news and every little story trumpeted by the media causes ripples effects in the stock market and the economy gets worse. I think we need to all step back and start making lemonade out of lemons.
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