****2003 Wrap-Up
I thought about writing some kind of summary for 2003, or sharing an experience that happened this year that could sum it all up... but it seems silly to indulge in such narcissistic nostalgia.
Instead, read these 2003 themed things...
****Search and Destroy
One of my favorite songs is Iggy Pop's Search and Destroy. On a whim, I typed Search and Destroy into Google and here's what came up...
****Dynamite
At work today during the lunch hour, I tuned my walkman to 104.1 WBCN's Old School Lunch, the finest hour of non-college radio in Boston. I always hear 5-6 songs that I adore. Good music on the radio gets me riled up... definately too riled up for today, when hardly anyone else is in the office and I am besought with urges to flee and begin my staggering 5-day vacation. (!)
Then, it happened. Nothing inspires rebellion and internal mayhem quite like AC/DC's "TNT". The opening riff just snakes through my brain, causing crazy thoughts and a hunger to run topless through the streets. My eyes darted around my cubicle, weighing escape strategies. Without even thinking, I started closing applications on my computer and gathering papers. I think I was snarling.
Suddenly "TNT" ended and it was 1pm. Old School Lunch was over. The horribly annoying crone of Dave Matthews brought me crashing back to reason. Sit tight, smile, work on the documentation. Freedom comes soon enough.
****Obvious Science
The other day, while preparing dinner, I put eight raw chicken drummers in the salad bowl with the lettuce instead of in the roasting pan. One after another, like a crazy person. I didn't realize my stupidity until I started to put the empty roasting pan in the oven. Why, what happened to the drummers?
Also recently, while getting ready for bed with my nightly routine, I took out my contact lenses and brushed my teeth. I then put my contact lenses back in my eyes and headed for bed, not realizing until I was under the covers that I had finished my nightly routine with a morning routine.
Ah, brain failure: Mistakes made while completing the mundane routines that punctuate daily life (or while working at Chernobyl). According to this study, you are more prone to make mistakes like this when you are tired or sleep-deprived. Um, sorry science people, I know you love having scientific data to back up everything, but DUH.
****Interesting Science
The Boston Globe has an article about new theories regarding anorexia. Anorexia has always been considered a psychological illness brought about by cultural pressures and control issues. But psychologist Shan Guisinger contends that anorexia is biological, and it may be caused by a 11,000 year-old genetic adaptation that suppresses hunger and allows a person to exercise (or "move quickly and tirelessly in search of food") despite that fact the person is starving. Anorexics have chronically high levels of cholecystokinin, serotonin, and dopamine, chemicals that signal satiety in the brain. They also have low levels of appetite promoters, such as galanin and norepinephrine.
The article raises some interesting points, but by saying anorexia has a biological basis, one cannot exonerate cultural triggers. Why are women ten times more likely to develop anorexia? I doubt it's because they are ten times more likely to carry this gene. It's more like women are ten times more likely to want to look like Paris Hilton.
****I'm Back
Back at work today. Right after the last update on Dec 24, my office had a pizza party with beer, wine, eggnog and homemade cherry schnapps. Then I ran around in the pouring rain sans umbrella with my rolling suitcase. I got soaked. Went to Pennsylvania and celebrated Christmas, and returned to Boston Saturday night.
I've been gone for so long that I don't know what to write about. Santa was good to me this year, as always. I am optimistic about 2004, both on a personal level and a national level. And I would like to commend Delta Airlines for superb, timely air transportation to and from Philadelphia. I've never had such a positive flying experience during the holidays.
****Movie Review: Cold Mountain
A former colleague of mine used to develop demography software that helped retail companies pick the location of their next retail store. It utilized about 500 pieces of demographic data to characterize residents in a community, (like their income, their car, how many pairs of shoes they bought every year, how many years of school they had, how far they would drive to buy something) ... and then, based on this composite, it analyzed the companies' shot at success in the area. Like a golfing supply store would do better in Brookline than in Roxbury. Stores could also use the software to boost sales by pinpointing which products would sell well in the community. Like a supermarket near a college might stock more convenience foods.
Well, I suspect Cold Mountain is a product of similar software that took all of the criteria necessary for a movie to win an Oscar and make mega cash, then wrote actually the screenplay and directed it.
Read my review of Cold Mountain here.
****Pointless Sociology
It turns out attitudes about driving can be correlated with astrological signs, it says here. Aquarians are the most cautious, while Sagittarians and Scorpios are more likely to speed.
****Irksome Jiggle: 800-588-2-300 Empire (Today)
I can't stand that Empire Carpet jingle. It is now the most annoying jingle EVER (replacing Giant Glass... "1-800-54-Giant, who do you call when your windshield's busted").
It's such a cheesy jingle with such low-production commercials that I assumed Empire Carpet was a local New England company, but I heard the jingle in Pennsylvania EVERYWHERE. It even plays when you go to their web site, which is here.
****Yeah, but was it any good?
Malaysian DJ Maverick Teh collapsed while setting the official world record for nonstop DJ-ing, but fell short of DJ Buddy Love's unofficial 80-hour world record.
****So this is Christmas
Today I had my review at work. It went pretty well, I think. It's a weird day to get a review. It just contributed to this feeling that it isn't really Christmas. For one thing, it's 55 degrees out. I was bummed because I bought a new sweater with the intent of making it my Christmas sweater (even though it's gray). I wore it anyway and when I walked to the office I was baking like a Christmas ham.
This may be my last post until Sunday, unless I have the opportunity to update and FTP my site in Pennsylvania. In any case, Merry Christmas...
****The night before the night before Christmas
Work is getting painful. Just knowing that hardly anyone else in the country is working (or, if they're at work, they're not doing work) makes sitting in the office and typing dutifully away at the documentation very painful. Everyone around me seems to be hard at work... but are they really?
Yeah, probably. That's the kind of people we are. A semi-technology company that struggles its way to unbelievable growth and meager profitably during a recession isn't staffed by people who slack off just because Christmas is two days away.
I got distracted by the dozens upon dozens of HUGE bagels that our VP brought in this morning (to complement the smoked salmon sent by a corporate client who, apparently, wants to pay us for software in gourmet foodstuffs). I don't normally go for bagels, as they have no redeeming nutritional value whatsoever and don't fill me up, but why resist free doughy bagelly goodness? It's the holidays. I threw out my oatmeal and dug into a bagel. Then, for lunch, I left my sandwich to languish in the fridge and instead took a bagel. Then another half of one. Then the other half. Today's Bagel Total: Three. All day I thought about bagels.
How sad is it that my concentration can be decimated by bagels?
Tomorrow I have to work also. Not going to be a toughie, though I have my annual review in the morning. Two years at the same company... incredible. It's a good sign that it's on Christmas Eve... if my manager had bad stuff to say about me, I doubt he'd do it on Christmas Eve. Then we're having a "You're working on Christmas Eve so have some" pizza party, then I head off to the airport. I heard it takes two hours to go through security at Logan.
****Bored?
American Brandstand discusses how brand names are used in music (mainly hip hop and R&B). Like "Let me show you what I'm all about / How I make a Sprite can disappear in my mouth" (Lil' Kim - The Jump Off). Most of the brands mentioned are luxury brands like Mercedes Benz, Prada and Gucci, though KMart, Burger King and Tampax also rated highly.
****XMas Celebratin'
Yesterday en and I celebrated Christmas together. We put on Christmas music, lit our XMas candle, and ate dinner in front of the lone poinsettia. I made BBQ chicken kebabs and pumpkin bread.
We previously agreed on a $40 price cap on presents (we'd rather spend money on a vacation together). The price cap made shopping difficult. I got him black suede slippers and Total Recall on DVD (one of the few $10 DVDs we'd actually watch.) He got me a bath gift set (with an inflatable pillow!) and some fancy "clothes" from a "clothing" store called Victoria's Secret. (He admitted spending more than $40, but justified it by saying that the "clothes" were actually for him. "Oh, so you're going to wear this?" I asked, slightly disturbed. But they're in my size.)
It was festive for everyone, especially the cat, who was in heaven with all the paper and ribbon on the floor. That's all she got for Christmas, but it's enough.
****Meditation on Stress Relief
In college I took a Public Health class elective about Stress and Society. I liked the first two weeks of class because we learned about the "evolution" of stress. Our cavemen ancestors stressed over things like "Oh no, this tiger is going to eat me." Modern-day Americans sweat over comparatively ridiculous things (traffic, long line, crowded/late subways, work deadlines, layoffs, relationships, whatever). Yet our bodies react the same, pumping stress hormones that are meant to prepare us for a life-and-death struggle instead of 20 minutes in stopped traffic.
Interesting stuff. But the class took a mundane turn, and the professor and TAs started using class time to talk about how we the students could effectively deal with stress. Suddenly I was trapped in a middle-school health class.
One stress management technique I'll never forget: Talking through your problems by writing an advice column-style letter... to yourself. I think my TA invented that one. She suggested that when we're mulling over a particularly stressful situation that we write down the problem in that form of a Dear Abby letter, then craft an appropriate response in order to clarify the situation and form a plan of action. Like:
Dear Me,
My roommate's driving me crazy! Her 6'7" UMASS basketball-playing boyfriend comes over at night when I'm sleeping and they have sex right in front of me! What should I do? From, Me
Dear Me,
Rather than cause even more stress by confronting her about it, take passive-aggressive action by making her daily life miserable. Break out the Filth CD. Allow your friends to smoke cigarettes on her bed. Set your alarm for 5am then go spend the night at Aubrey's. From, Me
(Yeah, that was a real problem, and my actual solution.) See, it doesn't work if you are honest with yourself about a plan of action. Advice columnists are supposed to tell you what you don't want to hear.
I thought of this stress-management exercise today when, for the first time in my life, I contemplated writing a letter to an advice columnist. But instead, I decided to address it to myself. Hey, I'm mature, well-mannered and versed in pop psychology.
Dear Me,
My only female contemporary at my company is brash and loud, and she manages to curse every time I see her. Like today, I asked her how she was doing. "FREEZING MY A** OFF!" she shrieked. Then later, she came up to my desk and asked if I had a three-hole punch, because hers "ISN"T PUNCHING OUT SH*T!" While I am not adverse to some cursing, this type of behavior is extremely annoying and disturbing to me. How can I tell her this in a tactful way that won't hurt her feelings and won't make me look like a goody-two shoes? From, Me
Dear Me,
Next time she opens her foul mouth in front of you, you could explain to her in a gentle and friendly way that you don't think it's necessary to use that type of language. Then tell her to F*ck Off. From, Me
****Purifying the Toilet
I'm reading Geisha: A Life, a translated autobiography by Mineko Iwasaki, a prominent geisha (or geiko, literally a woman of art) in the 1960s and 70s. I am enjoying it because it offers insight into Japanese society.
Mineko began her official training at the age of six, a much-anticipated day that held great significance to her and everyone in her house (okiya). The first thing they showed her how to do was clean the toilet, which she relished in doing:
Cleaning is considered a vital part of the training process in all traditional Japanese disciplines and is required practice for any novice. It is accorded spiritual significance. Purifying an unclean place is believed to purify the mind.
The focus is not on the merits of living in a clean house, but on the actual act of cleaning. In present-day America, while cleanliness is a virtue, the act of cleaning is not accorded the same respect. It's a chore, it's woman's work and we're too busy.
Most of my life, I detested cleaning. To say that I used to be a slob is somewhat of an understatement. There are MANY people who could attest to my disregard for cleaning, being clean and clean things.
But for awhile now, I've taken to cleaning. Even if I'm too busy to do it as much as I should, I look forward to the time I can devote to it. I always have good ideas while I'm cleaning, and I feel relaxed.
Wanna see something horrifying? My bedroom between the ages of 14-18 was a horrifying place. Here's a picture, and here's another.
****Gay Marriage Poll
A friend sent me an email about how the American Family Association (a conservative non-profit that "represents and stands for traditional family values, focusing primarily on the influence of television and other media – including pornography – on our society") is conducting a poll on Gay Marriage with the intent of proving and presenting to Congress that Americans are against legalizing gay marriage.
The people who normally frequent the AFA web site are probably against giving gay people this freedom. But sneaky pro-gay marriage forces infiltrated the site and started a grassroots effort to get people to go to the site and select the second choice, "I favor legalization of homosexual marriage." So if you haven't already, go to this site and vote on gay marriage.
To digress for a second, I consider myself a logical, fair person who often sees valid points in the arguments of opposing ideological sides. Like capital punishment... I'm very much undecided on whether I'm for or against the death penalty. I think it's overused and used incorrectly. I don't think it's a deterrent and I'm uncomfortable with the idea of using death as retribution. But then I hear about people like this male nurse Charles Cullen, who wanted to play god and killed at least 30-40 patients over a 16 year period. My first instinct is to say "This man does not deserve to live."
So while controversial issues often have me conflicted... I have not heard one argument against the legalization of gay marriage that makes sense to me. Like, one column somewhere (can't remember the link) basically said gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry because they cannot reproduce. So by that argument, we should start doing fertility tests as a prerequisite for marriage licenses. That sounds downright Fascist to me.
****AFA to Target: FCUK Off
By the way, the American Family Association is hilarious. I almost died when I read about this: Target store chain void of common decency because they sell a fragrance called "FCUK." Target must consider parents really naive to not know exactly what type of message they are "targeting" to our kids.
Obviously there are no fashion mavens at the AFA who know that FCUK stands for French Connection UK. Yeah, sure, I'm sure the French Connection people love the double entendre ... but why is the AFA targeting Target? Many department stores carry French Connection. I was in Macy's yesterday and saw French Connection and FCUK all over the place.
****Big Dig: The End in Sight
The big news in Boston today is a dozy of a Big Dig milestone: The new southbound I-93 tunnel opens to cars. Rather than take the old elevated Central Artery through Boston, cars now cross the Zakim bridge (click here to see my photos of the bridge), then descend into the tunnel and go under the city (click here to see the Big Dig's photos of tunnel). The descent into the tunnel is apparently quite steep, which is raising concerns.
As usual, nothing happens in Boston without politicians (in this case, Gov. Mitt Romney) making a ruckus to get their names in the paper. Big Dig officials had originally planned a Boston Pops concert to kick off the opening of the tunnel, only the use of public money to fund the event became an issue. Yeah, because in Massachusetts, our tax money is never wasted on excessive public displays of jubilation.
They should've gotten the homeless man who plays the recorder in Park Street Station to perform at the ceremony. He'd probably do it for $20, and I swear one day he played a Glenn Miller song... whether he realized it or not...
It's about 8am and I can hear a lot of helicopters outside; since I'm less than a mile from the new tunnel, I'm sure it's related to this. Sorry I can't give more exciting news coverage on this event: Yeah, there's helicopters.
****Joan Rivers: Enigma
Is my hatred of Joan Rivers based on just the fact that she is incredibly offensive and not very funny, or is it that her humor is not the typical "female" humor? If Joan were a man, would I be more accepting of her outrageous brand of comedy that relies heavily upon insult and ignorance (here's one of her more tasteless moments ... she gave Mariah Carey anorexia... here's Joan Rivers making stupid comments about PETA, vegan food, and fur)?
And here's her line of Beauty products that she sells on the QVC. Yeah, as if Joan looks like that at the age of 70 because she uses those products. Where's the Joan Rivers Daily Botox Injection Kit? (Joan Rivers quote: I wish I had a twin so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery.) I'll tell you what you'd look like: YOU'D LOOK LIKE A 70 YEAR OLD WOMAN! With wrinkles, and spots, and bad hair, and sagginess.
****There's No Makeup Artists in Jail
Celebrity mugshots are fun to look at.
My favorites: Yasmin Bleeth, Noelle Bush, D'Angelo (looks more like a smugshot! har har!), Allen Iverson, Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, and the classic disoriented Nick Nolte.
****Libya could be Our Next Best Friend
Libya, having witnessed what happens to countries and their leaders that eff with the US, has decided to abandon their program to develop Weapons of Mass Destruction.
****A Little Too "Festive"
Last night was en's company party, at the uberswank Saint ("a boutique nitery") in Copley Square.
Ah, the perils of eating hors d’oeuvres for dinner and an open bar...
My company's Holiday party is, once again, in February. They say it's because this time of year is "crazy for everyone," but I suspect it's just cheaper.
Today my department is having our annual Holiday Friday lunch meeting... We have a lunch meeting every Friday, but only the Friday before Christmas do we order something other than pizza or sandwiches.
This year we're having Turkish food brought in. I lobbied for Indian, but we had that last year and some people thought it was too spicy (which greatly amused the Indian programmers, whose brown-bag lunches are so spicy that it hurts to look directly at them). I'm okay with Turkish food, though it can be bland. All that lemon can get pretty boring.
Turkish food provides the Exuberant Foodies in my department an opportunity to show off their exotic food knowledge, like "That's bulgar in the tabouli" or "Baba ganoush has eggplant in it." I get the feeling the Exuberant Foodies think we all eat nothing but mac 'n cheese and hamburgers.
****Segway Faces Difficulty in Europe
This article highlights the legal reasons why Europeans won't be whipping down the streets on the much-hyped Segway scooters anytime soon. New type of vehicle on streets and sidewalk... against regulations... slow-moving European bureaucracy... blah blah blah. The real reason is because people just look ridiculous riding them, and Europeans are far too image-conscious to even want to suffer the embarrassment of watching other people ride them. The Vespa is one thing; who doesn't look absolutely fabulous perched atop a Vespa? And bicycles define sexy. These Segways though... nothing cool about them.
****Boycott TurboTax
Two years ago, faced with
the task of doing my own taxes and having to deal with capital gains, layoff
pay, unemployment pay, and two different employers... I decided to get the TurboTax
software. Admittedly, it was a big help that year. But last year, my employment
situation calmed down and it took about 20 minutes to plough through them myself.
I still got spam and offers from Intuit, the jerks who make TurboTax. About
two weeks ago, I got an email that I didn't even bother to read. Imagine my
surprise when Intuit ships me a $40 TurboTax software package and bills me for
it... COMPLETELY without my permission. (They used my credit card number from
two years ago.) Apparently, without even realizing it, I signed up for the "Automatic
Purchase plan". Dealing with Intuit has been a nightmare. I can't believe the
company has the gall to send me a $40 product without being able to prove that
I ever ordered it.
Anyone who wants to buy TurboTax should not provide the company with their credit
card number. In fact, I suggest that anyone who wants to buy TurboTax... shouldn't.
****Homecoming for Antoine Walker
Tonight, my favorite former Celtic Antoine Walker returns to the FleetCenter with the Dallas Mavericks. Danny Ainge traded 'Toine to the Mavericks for a bag of beans that are not proving to be magical.
Ainge is the most retarded man EVER. Just yesterday, he traded Tony Battie and Eric Williams, leaving only four players on the team who played last year: Prestigious pinup-boy Paul Pierce, problem-plagued Vin Baker, utterly useless Mark Blount, and plodding clownish Walter McCarty, who is pretty awesome to watch play and who started the I Love Music Foundation. Waltah from the cornah! He just released an album called Moment For Love and is appearing in Bernie and Phyls furniture commercials, which means he has achieved local icon status.
I wish I could go see Antoine but there's a Christmas get-together tonight that I should go to. Antoine talks about the homecoming here. No one can trash talk quite like 'Toine.
****More Holiday Food
Today at work we received another huge gift basket from the same corporate client as yesterday. (I suspect this gift basket was actually for the CEO, but he probably gets enough of these things.) It had caviar and Godiva chocolates in it. Chocolates! Caviar! The last thing I thought I'd do today at work was eat caviar. I never had straight caviar-on-a-cracker before... extremely unimpressive. It was salty and mushy, and looked like insect larvae. Co-workers advised me it's superb with a champagne chaser. But then again, what isn't more pleasant with a champagne chaser?
****It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Work is a little more calm this week. Thank goodness. Today a large corporate customer sent our company a food gift package the size of a Chevy Tahoe. I had a very large, perfectly-ripe pear, which came nestled singly in excessive foam to ensure no bruising. I also had a tasty piece of fudge.
For my office, this was all very festive. I mean, gift fudge? Party! This put me in a holiday mood so I purchased a poinsettia for $5 at the T stop. Then, walking home with my new plant, I felt guilty about spending $5 on a stupid plant when, just yesterday, I walked past about a dozen Salvation Army collectors and failed to give a penny.
All this after reading an inspiring Katha Pollit column (Who Needs Christmas? They do!) in The Nation this week, in which she suggests that rather than engage in patriotic but frivolous consumer spending during the holiday season, we instead channel our money directly to the worthy causes that a sound economy would benefit. In other words, instead of doing your bit to help the economy by buying a $5 plant, just give the $5 to the poor and save yourself the grief of having to throw away the poor poinsettia when it dies.
By the way, click here to see our Christmas portrait.
****In the News: Jack White, Crazy Man
Jack White, singer/guitarist for the White Stripes, reportedly attacked the singer of my beloved Von Bondies, Jason Stollsteimer, after Stollsteimer refused to speak to him. Read about it here, courtesy of MTV news.
Wow, MTV news certainly tackles the hard stuff. Headline: Kelly Clarkson Says You'll Hear A Lot More Passion On Next LP . "I'm very passionate about writing," says Clarkson. Obviously! I mean, check out the passion emanating from her song "Thankful"...
You, you’re some
kind of miracle
You are, you’re a miracle, a miracle to me
Baby you are, a miracle to me (courtesy of Leo's
Lyrics)
Can she get any more passionate than that? Is it possible? Is it advisable?
****Deep Thoughts
What are you trying to say, I'm crazy? When I went to your schools, I went to your churches, I went to your institutional learning facilities?! So how can you say I'm crazy.
--Suicidal Tendencies, "Institutionalized" (courtesy of DarkLyrics.com which I highly recommend for metal fans who always wanted to know just Tom Araya was singing)
On the subway today, I idly struggled with the question: Does society shape people, or are some people just born to be bad? I know society and upbringing shapes a person to some degree, but what if we are hard-wired to do certain things like steal, lie, philander, be an artist, yell, be unhappy, be happy, murder... and society actually has little effect on these tendencies?
Then the above song came on a mix I was listening to, as if the band Suicidal Tendencies suddenly piped up to enter this debate I was having in my head. I turned it up loud enough that the guy sitting next me looked at me; he could probably hear loud heavy metal coming out of my earphones. In my work clothes, I look like more the U2 or Tori Amos type.
That lyric always struck a chord in me. Not because I relate to it or anything, but because it always seemed like such a profound statement for a metal song. I mean, it's a valid point.
****Saddam Hussein Caught
Saddam Hussein has been caught. Read about the capture here, or here, or here.
Since Saddam ceased being a threat to his people when his regime fell, and because he has no connection to the 9/11 terrorism, the capture of Saddam is mainly a psychological boast both to the Americans and Allies who pursued him, and to the Iraqis, who no doubt remember the deadly repercussions of the uprisings after the Gulf War in 1991 and can hopefully be more at ease.
I know left-leaning people like myself are supposed to oppose the war in Iraq, and while I doubt Bush's declared intentions and feel critical of the way he waged war, I always felt removing Saddam Hussein from power was an end that justified questionable means.
Read Tales of the Tyrant in the Atlantic Monthly in 2002 for a glimpse into the daily life of the Anointed One, Glorious Leader, Direct Descendant of the Prophet, President of Iraq, Chairman of its Revolutionary Command Council, field marshal of its armies, doctor of its laws, and Great Uncle to all its peoples.
****Football in the Snow
Another Nor'easter is bearing down on New England. It's currently snowing heavily in Foxboro for the Patriots/Jacksonville showdown. [...Which they won. 10 in an effing row...] I love watching football in the snow. And I'm hardly the only one (read here.)
****An interesting juxtaposition
This week's Boston Globe magazine has an article about Boston's future in Biotech and about saving the New England family farm's future with organic farming. Thank goodness it wasn't about Boston's future in organic farming or, even worse, the farmer's future with biotech.
****Pet Peeve
That Outkast song is driving me crazy. I hear it everywhere. The first two times I heard it, I liked it... but now it's inducing severe irritation.
****Columbine Paintball
Can a web site go too far?
Yes. This one has. I hesitate putting the link up because it's such a vile site. I know it's a joke but it's really not funny.
****Sweet Jesus!
After posting the above link, I feel a need to atone...
Check out Jesus of the Week. I like the Ho Ho Huh? Jesus. Hello Dolly Jesus is just wrong. And look... Jumpin' Jesus on a Pogo Stick!
****Today's Favorite
Bad Jocks: Where COPS meets Sportscenter.
Very thorough. There's a lot of Bad Jocks on that site!
****Axed in My Sleep
I had a dream last night that I got laid off. It involved me witnessing co-workers being told to go to the conference room and it dawning on me that they were being laid off. The CEO came to my desk and told me to follow them. In the conference room, which had expanded greatly in size, people waited in long lines to sign paper work. It was a good dream to wake up from.
I know why I dreamed about this too. Last night we ran into a friend who was laid off this past week. I was probably more uncomfortable about it than he was, because I recall vividly both of the times I was laid off, and how disorientating it can be the first week. It's jolting (in good and bad ways) to be reminded that your existence revolves around your job.
****Don't Panic
A co-worker inquired if I have done all my XMas shopping, or if I have some "last minute" shopping to "finish up." What?!? Since when is December 12 "last minute"? That's Christmas Eve at 4pm.
I'm seen this in commercials too, this reference to "last minute" shopping sales. It's all sneaky marketing psychology to get you into the stores, because the sooner one starts shopping, the more one can buy. The stores don't want people waiting until Christmas Eve, so they whip up panic: HURRY UP! LAST MINUTE! XMAS HAS STARTED! COME BUY SWEATERS AND DVDs!
****Trend Alert: Squash
It doesn't feel like XMas in my office. My department especially is made up of many non-Christians (cerebral types, or Indian) and the only decoration is a poinsettia on the secretary's desk. I think I'll bring in XMAS-shaped sugar cookies. Last Monday I brought in Squash bread for my department. Then, on Thursday, a guy upstairs (who I used to be friends with when I was in his department) brought in Squash soup. I don't think he knew I brought in Squash bread a few days prior. so that's pretty weird. An IT guy remarked that never in his life has he eaten Squash twice in the same week, or even year.
Will squash be the next trendy vegetable, following in the humble footsteps of bok choy, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and kale?
****Spreading XMAS Cheer
I got creative this year
and sent out musical Christmas cards (a CD with a wide variety of Christmas
music and our Christmas pic -- en, my cat and me-- on the cover). Of course
I never could have done it without en,
so all the people who are thanking me... it's all en.
I picked the songs and packaged everything, but he designed the cover (and airbrushed
five years off my face), and provided the means to download and burn the songs.
I sent one to just about everyone I have a current address for... but if I didn't
send one to you, and you like Christmas music, and if I know you, hurry up and
email me your street address. I'm out to spread Christmas cheer to everyone!
A recipient asked which was my favorite Christmas song on the CD. I really like
the Dickies "Silent Night," and the Pogues "Christmas in the Drunk Tank." Harry
Connick Jr's "Sleigh Ride" is also a hoot. I like all Christmas music though.
I think it's one of the best things about Christmas, is we have these songs
that we all know and love, even if they come in different genres.
****Dow 10,000?!$!?
Woah. Come on people, let's not get nuts. It feels good to blow a bubble, but if you blow it too fast, it could burst.
And Nasdaq's inching it's way to 2,000...
Yes, retail sales are strong, but aren't jobless claims up? Aren't 3.346 million people out of work? Aren't record number of American's poor? (34.6 million Americans are living in poverty—1.7 million more than last year.)
Must be the rich people are buying stuff. And why not? George Bush is in office! Mo'Money, baby. The Rich are getting richer, and buying stuff made in other countries. By non-Americans. Cause it's cheaper. Mo'Money!
Luckily, the Food Service and Big Box Store industries will stay in this country indefinitely. So at least the poor can spend their lives slaving away at a KFC or Loews-- Which I'm sure is HELL -- so they can continue to live in poverty, and spend a significant amount of time worrying and fighting and thinking about money. Sounds like a great life. I'm sure they're ecstatic about Dow 10,000.
****I Knew a Poor Person Once
Whenever I think about the working poor, I remember this Polish woman that I worked with at Cumberland Farms in college. She was a 30ish local who married a man she hated when she got pregnant in high school, and lived with him and two kids. Six nights a week she would put the kids to bed, walk over to Cumbys, and work the 9PM to 7AM shift because they couldn't afford day care. She made about $300 a week, and the husband made slightly less than that as a laborer. After paying for the rent, the kids, the medical insurance, and the car, she had just enough to pay for cigarettes, which she chain smoked.
I saw her mostly for a few hours at night, or all night when I did the occasional 3rd shift. Sometimes, she complained bitterly to me about her life. I felt so bad for her. She was totally trapped, and all her problems really did involve money. She couldn't afford a divorce. She couldn't afford child care. She was chained to her youngest child during the day. She didn't have her high school diploma and couldn't read English too well.
I also think she was having an affair with the guy who delivered the Springfield MA newspapers. That may have been the one bright spot in her life, though I think the guy did crack.
Anyway, I guess I've known lots of poor people, but she's always the person I think of when I think about the working poor.
****Reality Will Not Be Televised
I can't understand why the American public is so bent on protecting the so-called Institution of Marriage by not allowing Joe and Bob to get married, but is A-okay with the idea of a man and a woman meeting and marrying on TV for $1 million. The whole affair makes a mockery of marriage ... but it's alright, cause it's a man and a woman.
The whole "Bachelor/Bachelorette" thing completely passed me by. Besides the fact that everyone involved is phony and narcissistic, I just don't understand the appeal. Why is this entertainment? True love can't be found in the realm of "reality" created by this TV show. It's not based on reality. It's more of a game show.
Not that I'm immune to the mindless TV entertainment. I’ve watched the second and third episodes of the Simple Life. Such a delicious premise, but I’m kinda disappointed.
I would be entertained (as would other viewers who are tuning in for reasons other than to gawk at the lovely bag of bones named Paris Hilton) if the Rich Girls actually tried to fit in, do their menial work, and acclimate to the so-called Simple Life… and then failed spectacularly.
But Paris and Nicole are so bored with their jobs and activities that they either make fun of it or just refuse to even try. Instead of Simple Folk like me getting to laugh at these socialites, I just feel angered by them and their refusals to take their tasks seriously and to contemplate that this could’ve been their lives had they not been born into unimaginable wealth.
****Movie Review: The Station Agent
The Station Agent is about a Little Person named Fin, and the people he meets when Fin inherits a train depot in Newfoundland, NJ from a fellow train nut. Having a surface appreciation for trains and the awe trains can inspire, I liked this movie, even though it dragged a bit in the middle. It had moments of hilarity, sadness, comfort, and pain. Even better, I had no idea what was going to happen at the end.
The characters' circumstances are a bit extraordinary, but the movie takes time to dwell on the ordinary as well (having a coffee, reading, walking, and sitting on a bench waiting for a train to go by.)
Soothing and honest; recommended for people who want a break from blockbusters and other movies that want to shock your senses, and for people who would enjoy seeing a Little Person in a dignified, non-Elf role (link to Little People of America).
****Same old Story
Trouble is stirring in Texas because speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom Craddick decorated the State House with a 15-foot, $3,400 plastic tree that was Made in China.
****'Tis the Season to Rake Up Massive Consumer Debt in the name of Jesus Christ ... Fa La La La La ...
Who's to blame for my generation's willingness to live in massive consumer debt? (1.6 million Americans file for personal bankruptcy in 12 months; Young and in debt, new consumers embrace, use credit like no generation before).
Is it the credit cards companies, for giving overextending our credit, knowing that we will use what we're given? (Net Gamblers Sue Credit Card Companies)
Is it the advertisers,
for enticing us and making us believe we're not worth anything unless we wear
Armani
and Bebe? (Major
U.S. advertisers going forward with marketing blitzes and new product launches
amid war).
Is it our parents, for indulging our every whim and not teaching us that financial decisions can have dire consequences?
Is it the schools, for not teaching us real-life mathematics?
Or is it just that we're
just spoiled-rotten-to-the-core, gimme-gimmes with underdeveloped frontal
cortex
who assume soon we'll be rich enough to afford the lavish lifestyle that Hollywood
has made seem normal?
I think it's all of the above. But above all other culprits, I blame the people who get themselves into debt by buying crap that they really don't need, like expensive clothes, shoes, purses, and assorted appliances. Someone weak and self-important who values material goods above all else allows this to happen.
By the way, I have no
credit-card debt and I credit my parents (for teaching me about credit cards
and the
importance of thrift) and myself (for living frugally most of the time so I
can splurge when I need to).
****Pretty Ugly Out There
Oh, not the snow! The snow is beautiful! It's the people that are getting ugly. The snow is causing many a temper to flare. I walked to the grocery store for some fruit and observed the following ugly episodes on such a day of natural beauty:
1. On a side street, two woman (apparently related) screamed at each other about who should shovel a path to the driveway :" I was out here all morning! You have to do your share!""Don't yell at me. I'm helping you!" "All morning I'm out here while you watched the (effing) television!"
2. Further down, a pretty woman. In one hand: A little bitty ice scraper with a brush on the other end that she used to push snow off a car about 1% dug out of five feet of snow. In the other: A cell phone that she screamed into: Where are you, I need your help, I can't do this, what am I going to do, where the HELL are you, get down here NOW.
3. In the store: With only one lane open, the line was long. The couple behind me ranted: You gotta be sh**ting me! You gotta be kidding! They only have one lane open? Very angry, especially the man. I was scared. Obviously they were not impressed by the fact this large supermarket was open despite the two feet of snow.
4. In front of me in line: A woman and her son, buying all the fixings for a baked ziti and jello party. "I'm spending money I don't want to spend!" the mother kept hissing to her obese teenaged son. "If I start preparing everything at one maybe it will be ready at seven! This is costing us money we can't afford to spend!" The son appeared to be having a party, and the mother didn't want to cook for it. For ten minutes I listened to her rave, and the son didn't say a word the whole time. Oh, and the cashier, a sixty-year old woman, bagged all the groceries. She lifted 2-liter bottles of soda and heaved them into their cart, and they didn't help her one bit.
****Still Snowing
This morning there's about 21 inches in Cambridge (according to the news).
Everyone is out on the streets shoveling their cars out of the snow. The sidewalks are a secondary concern, so I walked around on the streets. People are venturing out onto the roads. Morons. I heard one man in a just-freed car asking his friend exactly what he wanted from Dunkin Donuts. I saw one Hispanic teenaged girl flying down the road in a tiny sedan, fish-tailing all over the place. It is silly to drive on the secondary roads, as there is at least six inches on some.
The snow is tapering off. I hope it is still snowing in Foxboro today at 4pm when the Patriots play the Dolphins.
Last night it was quite fierce out and we stayed in. Watched Six Feet Under on HBO, then flipped around the channels until we found Night of the Living Dead on Telemundo. en speaks no Spanish and I can grasp rudimentary tourist Spanish, so luckily it's not a movie too dependant on dialogue.
****Darling Clementine
In Salem Mass., some homeowners decided to paint their house clementine, which is"a vivid, reddish-orange that lit up the street like a campfire against the shadows". Of course the neighbors complained, but clementine is one of 149 colors "developed by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, which notes that new research and scientific techniques have revealed some surprisingly flamboyant colors in centuries past".
Apparently, people associate old and historic houses with muted colors like gray and white because... paint fades.
For the record, I want my future house to be the color of the Green Goblin's face.
****My Nor'easter So Far: 1PM
Last night en and I walked through about 1/2 inch at midnight to get home, about two hours after the snow started. This morning, I walked to the gym in about 6 inches of the fluffy, heavy stuff (it's a five minute walk normally, but today took 12 minutes). Three other people were in my step-aerobics class, including the instructor. Went to grocery store next to the gym. Snow drifts and near blizzard conditions stranded a lot of people in the parking lot. The store was packed with people buying groceries, rock salt and shovels. (How long have they lived in New England?) Walked home. Saw a neighbor pulling his son along the street on a sled. Too many people are driving; it's windy and visibility is poor.
Now, I'm doing some cleaning and playing with the cat.
Later, en and I might walk to the mall, which should be pretty deserted. A good time to prowl for Christmas presents.
****In the News: Crazy Women
****In the News: Crazy Republicans
Reublicans want to take FDR off the dime. And who do they think deserves to be there instead: Ronald Reagan. Even Nancy Reagan thinks that's crazy: "it would be wrong to remove [FDR] and replace him with [Reagan]".
****Blizzard
People at work were all a-flutter about the snow, which starts tonight and continues into Sunday. One man in the elevator asked if I looked forward to the snow. "Oh, yes!" I declared as if he just offered me cookies and candy. "Oh, so you ski?" he asked. "No, no skiing... I'm not really into winter sports." "But you like the snow?" "Very much!"
This is standard adult-think; my love of the snow for the sake of snow is very child-like. To most adults, snow is a dangerous nuisance. The only reason a sane person eagerly awaits snow is because they enjoy an activity that requires snow. And I think snow is a nuisance as well (see December 2).
But for all the trouble a harsh New England winter causes, snow is a truly beautiful phenomenon. Snow hushes the world. Watching snow descend is calming; the world is suddenly covered in fluffy whiteness, as it has done for millions of years.
****And Don't Forget What You Did to the Environment
Read An Apology to Younger Americans by Sam Smith.
****Moral Dilemma
Is it wrong for a woman to abort a fetus because it has a cleft palate?
****Tale from the T
Today I ran -- no, sprinted -- down the stairs at South Station to catch a Red Line train, barely keeping up with a regal-looking older woman in an ankle-length brown mink coat. I've never seen a woman in a fur coat move so fast... as if the spirit of the mink inhabited her. I wanted to give her a high-five after we both slid through the doors at the last second.
Speaking of fur coats, if anyone needs gift idea for their dog or cat...
Nothing undermines the master/pet relationship quite like a faux fur coat.
****Ka-Ching!
I'm one of the 3.5 million people who signed onto the CD antitrust lawsuit, which has been settled for $143 million dollars. I get $12.60!
My first lawsuit payout! Today, I am truly an American.
****As if the $12.60 wasn't enough...
Today I saw my Online Help files in action: One of the largest government agencies now uses an application that uses my Online Help (in addition to several branches of the military). Amazing. I could retire now and be happy. Poor and pitied, but happy.
****Movie Review: A Mighty Wind
Yeah, I know this movie
came out months ago. We were going to see Master and Commander last night, but
I demurred, citing the frigid weather and a day filled with havoc and intense
brain activity. So we stayed in and watched A Mighty Wind via HBO On-Demand.
A Mighty Wind was mighty bad.
I loved Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman. (Best in Show was okay.) In Guffman
the characters (with the allowable exception of Corky St. Clair) came off as
normal Middle-America people with subtle quirks that gradually surfaced. The
characters in A Mighty Wind were too over-the-top. Everyone in the cast wanted
to be outrageous and funny as possible. Mitch (played by the rarely-funny Eugene
Levy) was the worst. Why did he talk like that?
Movies filmed documentary-style ("mockumentary") need to be subtle. Spinal Tap
is extremely subtle; it shows rather than tells. The humor in this movie is
too forced, like the color worshippers, or New Main Street Singers crazy manager's
wacky ideas, or the sex-change at the end of the movie. Everyone tried to be
funny, which made them not funny at all and the movie not entertaining.
I'm not even going to complain about the folk music. Some of it was funny, most
of it wasn't. If the rest of the movie was stronger, it would be a blight, but
as it is, it just blended into the general boredom.
****Counterfeit Purses
You mean those purses they sell in Chinatown are fake? No way!
Next thing you know, they'll be selling boot-legged music and movies.
****Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
Boston saw its first sticking
snow early this morning. I had gone to the gym to walk on the treadmill because
of the freezing weather, and when I emerged, picturesque snow wafted down from
the sky, surprising me. As I walked home, I felt a baseless excitement reminiscent
of childhood. Winter is truly here! I thought, delighting in the tiny snowflakes
that stuck doggedly to my clothes.
Then later, as I walked to the Kendall Square Redline stop, reality set in.
I experienced virtually all of the pitfalls of being a Pedestrian during a Boston
snow:
****Ikea in MA: Some Assembly Required
I love Ikea. My boyfriend loves Ikea. Unfortunately, the closest location of this mutual love is in New Jersey. One of our first dates involved driving to New Jersey in a rented SUV to go shopping at Ikea with his then-roommate.****Kids Today
College kids are progressively inching closer and closer to downright depravity in torrid quests for new thrills. For example, in my time we had ecstasy-taking four-year lesbians dropping out of school to go on tour with Phish.
Those were truly innocent times. College kids today form God Squad cliques, gather in churches to worship their Christian god, and abstain from sex. (Read the Boston Globe magazine article.)
And somewhere along the way, evangelical Christianity ...became not just tolerated but cool... the SRO crowd is made up of well-built athletes, attractive faces, even artsy types with chin hair and trendy black glasses
It's not that cool kids are getting into religion, it's that dorks are getting into looking what they imagine to be cool. Chin hair and black glasses stopped being trendy about five years ago. Stop defaming cool.
This God Squad/College kid stuff is part media-hype, part backlash against the wildness of my generation. I remember the Campus Crusade for Christ at UMass. The student newspaper reported that they used cult-like tactics to recruit and retain impressionable, often lonely college kids. It was a standard campus joke how if you'd be sitting in the Campus Center, inevitably a Campus Crusade for Christ person would approach you, awkwardly start a conversation, then casually mention a church they'd like you to come visit. I worked in the Campus Center coffee shop and it happened to me sometimes twice a day.
Hey, I've got no problem with religious people. I like the ceremony of religion myself, it can be moving. I don't care for the negative aspects, like original sin and Hell, and I'll never believe the Bible is more than a collection of myths. Some people need religion in their lives in order to validate their existence. We all have crutches that serve this purpose.