13.4.05
This is literally the saddest
thing that I think I've ever seen, and it does much to confirm my opinion that there is absolutely nothing redeeming about organised religion.
12.4.05
"The American Dream
is that an individual in this country should have every opportunity to go from the guttermost to the uppermost."
-George W. Bush, March 2005
I cannot describe the physical sensation of Deep Hurting that this caused me. Every day, it seems, I am confronted with some jewel of Cross-Eyed Badger Spit Lunacy that confirms all my worst fears about the future of human kind. We're thoroughly doomed, kids, it ain't even funny, if this AWFUL JACKASS could wriggle into the Presidency for eight solid years of pain.
I dunno how long this article will be up, but it made me think a bit. Actually, it just sort of reaffirmed not a few of my own suspicions. I can't argue for the accuracy of some of the predictions that this man makes, but the underlying facts seem solid. So draw your own conclusions.
-George W. Bush, March 2005
I cannot describe the physical sensation of Deep Hurting that this caused me. Every day, it seems, I am confronted with some jewel of Cross-Eyed Badger Spit Lunacy that confirms all my worst fears about the future of human kind. We're thoroughly doomed, kids, it ain't even funny, if this AWFUL JACKASS could wriggle into the Presidency for eight solid years of pain.
I dunno how long this article will be up, but it made me think a bit. Actually, it just sort of reaffirmed not a few of my own suspicions. I can't argue for the accuracy of some of the predictions that this man makes, but the underlying facts seem solid. So draw your own conclusions.
11.4.05
I was bored, so
last night I rented The Incredibles and Outfoxed, being respectibly curious about both. The first was a high-energy and heart felt action romp, entertaining on many levels and generally the kind of quality cinema that so rarely makes it's way from the California coast into national theaters.
The second, which had been shown here at Pitt in the past, was incredibly disappointing. As a documentary, the production values are so cheap and rediculous that I had a hard time sitting through it, possessed of the tingling knowledge that I could have put together a superior product with my PowerBook Pallas.
I am not even making that up. The cue-card cut scenes, "animated" graphics, and boorish use of splicing styles are painful for a man in 2005 who, six years ago, produced a video of similar, even slightly superior quality in a high school media class.
Having said that, the footage that the producer garnered from Fox News is absolutely chilling. As article after article demonstrates, these people literally inhabit a completely different world than the rest of us, which totally precludes rational argument. You cannot make a case against their world view because, simply put, the facts which govern your own are not present or so deeply twisted in theirs that they might as well not exist. Fact is wholly subordinant to ideology, and thus reality is subordinant to religious phant'sies.
It's not an isolated bastion, or even an occasional gathering of like-minded Bat Shit Crazies. It's an entire cable news channel, with the money and resources of the second richest man in the world, and it's on 24 hours of every one of your days. Sometimes, imbicillity really does seem like the only realm that happiness could be found in, for anyone ignorant of such monstrosities would be much happier.
The second, which had been shown here at Pitt in the past, was incredibly disappointing. As a documentary, the production values are so cheap and rediculous that I had a hard time sitting through it, possessed of the tingling knowledge that I could have put together a superior product with my PowerBook Pallas.
I am not even making that up. The cue-card cut scenes, "animated" graphics, and boorish use of splicing styles are painful for a man in 2005 who, six years ago, produced a video of similar, even slightly superior quality in a high school media class.
Having said that, the footage that the producer garnered from Fox News is absolutely chilling. As article after article demonstrates, these people literally inhabit a completely different world than the rest of us, which totally precludes rational argument. You cannot make a case against their world view because, simply put, the facts which govern your own are not present or so deeply twisted in theirs that they might as well not exist. Fact is wholly subordinant to ideology, and thus reality is subordinant to religious phant'sies.
It's not an isolated bastion, or even an occasional gathering of like-minded Bat Shit Crazies. It's an entire cable news channel, with the money and resources of the second richest man in the world, and it's on 24 hours of every one of your days. Sometimes, imbicillity really does seem like the only realm that happiness could be found in, for anyone ignorant of such monstrosities would be much happier.
"The English have devised...
an extraordinary scheme for the military defense of their homeland, which is that they have no money." - Monsieur le comte de Pontchartrain, The Confusion, 2004 by Neal Stephenson
Had I been sipping a favoured beverage at the time of my reading these lines, I am certain that a not-insignificant amount would have burst through my nasal cavity and onto the unfortunate book from which they were gleaned. For if one were to make a minor substitution, replacing "The English" with "The Americans," one would have a Jan van der Meer-esque rendering of our current fiscal reality.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the definition of debt is when you (or an organisation) have made expenditures for which you lack the specie to render payment. In other words, you spend money that you do not have.
We do not have any money. In fact, we may be said to possess negative amounts of money. That's what "red ink" is. And yet, the government continues to spend as though the consequences of such policy belonged to the past, and not the future. This is fascinating, in the way that a flash food might be to a valley farmer - all is abstract beauty until that wall of water erases your pasture and home and life.
Had I been sipping a favoured beverage at the time of my reading these lines, I am certain that a not-insignificant amount would have burst through my nasal cavity and onto the unfortunate book from which they were gleaned. For if one were to make a minor substitution, replacing "The English" with "The Americans," one would have a Jan van der Meer-esque rendering of our current fiscal reality.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the definition of debt is when you (or an organisation) have made expenditures for which you lack the specie to render payment. In other words, you spend money that you do not have.
We do not have any money. In fact, we may be said to possess negative amounts of money. That's what "red ink" is. And yet, the government continues to spend as though the consequences of such policy belonged to the past, and not the future. This is fascinating, in the way that a flash food might be to a valley farmer - all is abstract beauty until that wall of water erases your pasture and home and life.
9.4.05
Today I saw...
1. A shop's busted window sign that read "Good Luck Harms."
2. A man on the bus holding a telephone conversation with a calculator.
3. A Renaissance reenactment troupe on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning.
4. A magnetic disco dance number.
My shopping trip was otherwise a failure, as it seems the premium price for a pair of Chuck Taylors is now about $40. That's $15 higher than the last time I bought a pair, which was around high school. They can't be that popular.
2. A man on the bus holding a telephone conversation with a calculator.
3. A Renaissance reenactment troupe on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning.
4. A magnetic disco dance number.
My shopping trip was otherwise a failure, as it seems the premium price for a pair of Chuck Taylors is now about $40. That's $15 higher than the last time I bought a pair, which was around high school. They can't be that popular.
This is why I will...
forever be loyal to Apple. A week or so after I bought my iPod Shuffle, I noticed that static would creep into the left earbud at random intervals for irregular spans of time. Sometimes it was all day, sometimes it was never, but when it did my music listening experience suffered. And I know we all hate to suffer unnecessarily.
So I walked into the Apple Store this fine afternoon, and let the dude at the Genius Bar know what the problem was. I'd been using the buds for about an hour already in an attempt to duplicate the problem, but as is the natural course with such things my equipment operated perfectly. This I relayed as well, after the dude attempted to discern for himself the conundrum. I couldn't tell by the look on his face if I was successful, but he went into the back for one point two minutes, then emerged with a brand new plastic packaged set.
"Here you go."
"What, really? You don't need my receipt or anything?"
"Nope."
"That's outstanding. Thank you."
It seems unreasonable, somehow, to expect this level of service. Their profit margine on something like earbuds is thin enough, never mind giving away a new set any time someone complains of a problem. But they do, with a grace and efficiency that borders on ephemeral. No other earthly institution is so fantastically agreeable to deal with, at least not in my experience.
So I walked into the Apple Store this fine afternoon, and let the dude at the Genius Bar know what the problem was. I'd been using the buds for about an hour already in an attempt to duplicate the problem, but as is the natural course with such things my equipment operated perfectly. This I relayed as well, after the dude attempted to discern for himself the conundrum. I couldn't tell by the look on his face if I was successful, but he went into the back for one point two minutes, then emerged with a brand new plastic packaged set.
"Here you go."
"What, really? You don't need my receipt or anything?"
"Nope."
"That's outstanding. Thank you."
It seems unreasonable, somehow, to expect this level of service. Their profit margine on something like earbuds is thin enough, never mind giving away a new set any time someone complains of a problem. But they do, with a grace and efficiency that borders on ephemeral. No other earthly institution is so fantastically agreeable to deal with, at least not in my experience.
3.4.05
Much postage today...
but I thought this was funny when, the other night, I attempted to obtain a file via a groovy program which shows you where the file is coming from.
Peace!
Peace!
Too Freakin
Weird. I'm listening to Missing, from Beck's latest brilliance, and all of a sudden I find the clouds and snow outside the window of the cafe have disappeared. Curious, I seek a map of the current cloud cover for America, and on one site I am treated to a dancing ear of corn, kernels labeled with the two-letter abbreviations for all the states of the union. It jiggles itself from left to right, shakes off invisible dirt, allows butter patties to carress it, all in time to this strange strange song.
For a time, this is real entertainment.
For a time, this is real entertainment.
For yr. amazement....
and general edification, herein I shall present a list of Logical Fallacies, straight from my freshmen year in college, which you may use to deconstruct or destruct any argument yr. favorite Pundit or Dumbass Colleague may attempt to use against you.
Appeal To Force We are riteous because our Army kicks Major Ass!
Appeal To Pity Conservatives are under attack because the Liberals hate us!
Appeal To The People Hey, everybody else is accepting Jesus. Shouldn't you, too?
Ad Hominem Liberals are wrong because they're stupid.
Enclosed: Two Quoque Don't tell me I'm immoral, look at you and your immoralality!
Accident Surgeons are responsible for thousands of stabbings. Arrest them before they stab any more innocents!
Straw Man I may oppose gun control, but you're pro-abortion, so you're for more killing!
Missing The Point It's snowing in the north-east, so God must hate you liberal heathens.
Red Herring The Republicans have ideas on taxes, therefore, we must generate similar ideas on taxes, since the public wants us to be tough-minded about taxes.
Appeal To Authority If Jerry Falwell says that God hates all gays, then God must hate all gays, because Jerry Falwell sure knows God.
Appeal To Ignorance Since you DON'T know God, you heathen, then everything Jerry Falwell says about God is right and true.
Hasty Generalisation That Liberal is a Communist, therefore, all Liberals must be Communists!
False Cause The President lost the debates whenever he wore a red tie. No more red ties, and he'll always win!
Slippery Slope If we start letting gays marry, then all our children will grow up gay and no more children will ever be born!
Weak Analogy My tax plan is big and full of loopholes for major corporations. Therefore, if your tax plan is big, it must also be full of loopholes for major corporations.
Begging The Question Snowflakes are so complex that only God could make them.
Complex Question Why do Liberals hate God and America?
False Dichotomy Either the President is wrong or the Liberals are wrong, and since the President can't be wrong, then the Liberals must be wrong.
Supressed Evidence Most Americans worship God, so if you see an American, go ahead and pray with them.
Equivocation Any theory can be proven wrong. Gravity is just a theory. Therefore, gravity can be proven wrong.
Seen or heard any arguments like these? I know I have, and it drive me INSANE. Don't fall into the trap of using these when it suits yr. ends! Keep that Logic clean!
Appeal To Force We are riteous because our Army kicks Major Ass!
Appeal To Pity Conservatives are under attack because the Liberals hate us!
Appeal To The People Hey, everybody else is accepting Jesus. Shouldn't you, too?
Ad Hominem Liberals are wrong because they're stupid.
Enclosed: Two Quoque Don't tell me I'm immoral, look at you and your immoralality!
Accident Surgeons are responsible for thousands of stabbings. Arrest them before they stab any more innocents!
Straw Man I may oppose gun control, but you're pro-abortion, so you're for more killing!
Missing The Point It's snowing in the north-east, so God must hate you liberal heathens.
Red Herring The Republicans have ideas on taxes, therefore, we must generate similar ideas on taxes, since the public wants us to be tough-minded about taxes.
Appeal To Authority If Jerry Falwell says that God hates all gays, then God must hate all gays, because Jerry Falwell sure knows God.
Appeal To Ignorance Since you DON'T know God, you heathen, then everything Jerry Falwell says about God is right and true.
Hasty Generalisation That Liberal is a Communist, therefore, all Liberals must be Communists!
False Cause The President lost the debates whenever he wore a red tie. No more red ties, and he'll always win!
Slippery Slope If we start letting gays marry, then all our children will grow up gay and no more children will ever be born!
Weak Analogy My tax plan is big and full of loopholes for major corporations. Therefore, if your tax plan is big, it must also be full of loopholes for major corporations.
Begging The Question Snowflakes are so complex that only God could make them.
Complex Question Why do Liberals hate God and America?
False Dichotomy Either the President is wrong or the Liberals are wrong, and since the President can't be wrong, then the Liberals must be wrong.
Supressed Evidence Most Americans worship God, so if you see an American, go ahead and pray with them.
Equivocation Any theory can be proven wrong. Gravity is just a theory. Therefore, gravity can be proven wrong.
Seen or heard any arguments like these? I know I have, and it drive me INSANE. Don't fall into the trap of using these when it suits yr. ends! Keep that Logic clean!
1.4.05
Kinda scary...
but perhaps more honest. My "wu name" is Arrogant Killer. I certainly have a reputation for being arrogant at times, and perhaps this refers to my ability to kill men's souls by flaying them with icy shards of truth. I dunno.
I feel terrible, but the fact that Spinsanity.org has been closed up for months completely escaped my attention. They did good work, and I proudly own and display for my conservative family members All the President's Spin. So today I'm replacing it with an entertaining blog I found via Tom Tomorrow's site. Say hello to Pandagon.net. Good Stuff.
I feel terrible, but the fact that Spinsanity.org has been closed up for months completely escaped my attention. They did good work, and I proudly own and display for my conservative family members All the President's Spin. So today I'm replacing it with an entertaining blog I found via Tom Tomorrow's site. Say hello to Pandagon.net. Good Stuff.
30.3.05
Well Thank Jeebus...
something is finally going right.
"You won't be bored for long! New adventures are on their way."
Thus opined my lunch special fortune cookie. It is different from the more typical prognosticating foreign pasteries in that the English is decent, and the text is blue not red. In this it is slightly disappointing, because half the fun of these magic slips of paper was trying to interpret their obscure yet strangely confident verbiage.
Some of the best reside here. Some are truly as mystical as a Zen koan, and some are obviously the unfortunate result of trying to espouse profound universal truths in a language you barely understand.
In other news, the sun shines today. Do whatever you can to bask in it. Now!
"You won't be bored for long! New adventures are on their way."
Thus opined my lunch special fortune cookie. It is different from the more typical prognosticating foreign pasteries in that the English is decent, and the text is blue not red. In this it is slightly disappointing, because half the fun of these magic slips of paper was trying to interpret their obscure yet strangely confident verbiage.
Some of the best reside here. Some are truly as mystical as a Zen koan, and some are obviously the unfortunate result of trying to espouse profound universal truths in a language you barely understand.
In other news, the sun shines today. Do whatever you can to bask in it. Now!
22.3.05
The Awe-Inspiring
Time Waster. I have 7 and a half pages of an 8 page paper to write, due tomorrow, I've been here at school for two hours now, and have yet to add a single word to it. Reminds me of the time I was editing a multimedia presentation for Government and Law class right up to the time we presented it - my skill at procrastination is surpassed only by the intensity of my apparent academic deathwish.
Time to calm down. Focus. You can do this.
...Bathroom break!
Time to calm down. Focus. You can do this.
...Bathroom break!
18.3.05
Three Steps To...
Dealing With Rejection:
Actually, I don't have a plan of any kind. The most common response when one is not hired for a highly desired job is to soak the inside of the head with a favoured liquor, and thus obliviate yr. knowledge of any form of existance outside of the bar. If one is confident enough, and skilled enough, one can simply move on to kick some ass in say, HALO or CoH. That is guaranteed to Restore Confidence. Find something you can do better than anyone else... indeed. That is the key to survival in all circumstances.
So FUCK YOU APPLE STORE SHADYSIDE. I may not have been the loudest person at that Hiring Event, but my understanding of the product and the philosophy is pure and highly contagious. Whorefaces! I sell more product without even working there than ten of yr. best men. SHIT, now I shall have to return to the coffee industry for money.
Or maybe not. My Writing Professor insists that I should be making a living writing columns for many different Big Time Publications, which was a wet dream for a long time when I was young and thought that Journallism would be the key to my future. And she is a published Author, with books and many other peices living under her byline. Shit! I should be that lucky, put into exactly the right place & time with the skills developed here, in this worthless rantage space. Why not? Ride whatever comes along.
Actually, I don't have a plan of any kind. The most common response when one is not hired for a highly desired job is to soak the inside of the head with a favoured liquor, and thus obliviate yr. knowledge of any form of existance outside of the bar. If one is confident enough, and skilled enough, one can simply move on to kick some ass in say, HALO or CoH. That is guaranteed to Restore Confidence. Find something you can do better than anyone else... indeed. That is the key to survival in all circumstances.
So FUCK YOU APPLE STORE SHADYSIDE. I may not have been the loudest person at that Hiring Event, but my understanding of the product and the philosophy is pure and highly contagious. Whorefaces! I sell more product without even working there than ten of yr. best men. SHIT, now I shall have to return to the coffee industry for money.
Or maybe not. My Writing Professor insists that I should be making a living writing columns for many different Big Time Publications, which was a wet dream for a long time when I was young and thought that Journallism would be the key to my future. And she is a published Author, with books and many other peices living under her byline. Shit! I should be that lucky, put into exactly the right place & time with the skills developed here, in this worthless rantage space. Why not? Ride whatever comes along.
10.3.05
Oh, and this...
There just aren't enough words in the language. I know that some people think there are too many, but there aren't.
The raping and pillaging continues. And the one magic word that describes it all?
Fuck.
The raping and pillaging continues. And the one magic word that describes it all?
Fuck.
God Fucking Dammit...
Just when you thought it was okay to believe in a politician, any politician, they go and do something like this. The consensus seems to be that this legislation is built to please the Mega Rich and the credit companies who use small print and legal trickery to suck money and life directly from their customers, like the Christopher Reeve in South Park, snapping the spines of the weak and drinking their life-giving fluids like nectar.
Yes, Mr. Barak I Believe In America Obama. How is voting for this bill taking a stand against the financial rape of the middle and lower class? It's not!
Just when you thought it was safe to start paying attention to politics again, when it seemed that there might be one or two days of the week when you wouldn't feel like slaughtering the guilty in an endless stream of blood and broken bodies. Something happens, always, to confirm your suspicion that where the world to end today in a firey cataclysm, the rest of the universe would be much better off.
Yes, Mr. Barak I Believe In America Obama. How is voting for this bill taking a stand against the financial rape of the middle and lower class? It's not!
Just when you thought it was safe to start paying attention to politics again, when it seemed that there might be one or two days of the week when you wouldn't feel like slaughtering the guilty in an endless stream of blood and broken bodies. Something happens, always, to confirm your suspicion that where the world to end today in a firey cataclysm, the rest of the universe would be much better off.
9.3.05
I've read a bunch of posts...
on the problems that we Athiests have in relating to Religious folk. Many people argue that lefties operate under a severe handicap when we display an unwillingness to engage in religious debate on religious terms. But if it's true that the Antichrist is supposed to be good at quoting scripture, where exactly does such a debate get us? I don't think it can really go anywhere, because honest debate relies on having a set of agreed upon facts to work from, and religion by it's very definition eschews facts in favour of faith. In other words, it is impossible to reason with someone who is, in the purest sense of the word, unreasonable. "Faith defies Reason, and without Faith I am nothing..." I might have butchered that a bit, but Douglas Adams was straight on. Forgive me, then, if I display little interest in fighting about whether or not God exists, or if America was founded on religious principles.
It was, BTW, but only because we wanted to escape a world in which Religion ruled public life. I think most NeoCons choose to forget that little, monumental detail.
It was, BTW, but only because we wanted to escape a world in which Religion ruled public life. I think most NeoCons choose to forget that little, monumental detail.
8.3.05
The Rude Fat Man
At the Internet Cafe who did not even purchase food or drink from the cafe and instead waltzed (waddled) in with a Wendy's cup a dirty three-day near-beard B.O. and a wheeled cart packed with wires and cheap or free computing devices looking for a power outlet since his circa-1995 laptop had no battery power and he wanted free web access.
Breath. I was sympathetic until he made a big show of unpacking said wires in an attempt to find his AC adapter. He placed his laptop on another table across from a girl who not long after asked him to leave her alone. I had nabbed the last free outlet in the place, and when he said he had a three-way adapter I gladly agreed to share.
My sympathy evaporated pretty quickly when I realised that he hadn't actually bought anything. This is the WiFi equivalent of running into a restaraunt, pissing on the toilet seat, then running back out. I rarely make assumptions about a person's hygenic habits, since some folk are just born dirty, but this man clearly did not take care of himself and didn't particularly care. As he swung his substantial gut around to take a seat I noticed that his belt buckle was straining and nearly failing to keep that gut in check.
His cell phone would ring, and upon every call he would peer down his nose at it's screen as though deciding whether the caller merited a slice of his invaluable time.
Then he leered at a young girl that walked past him to use the restroom, and that did it. My loathing became honest and complete, and I know that in a way that's bad for me. It's okay to say someone's behaviour is outside accepted social norms, but it's another to actively despise said person. That takes energy and produces no results other than self-riteous satisfaction, and Damn Me, that feels pretty good right now. I think I'll pick up something at the liquor store on my way home tonight.
Breath. I was sympathetic until he made a big show of unpacking said wires in an attempt to find his AC adapter. He placed his laptop on another table across from a girl who not long after asked him to leave her alone. I had nabbed the last free outlet in the place, and when he said he had a three-way adapter I gladly agreed to share.
My sympathy evaporated pretty quickly when I realised that he hadn't actually bought anything. This is the WiFi equivalent of running into a restaraunt, pissing on the toilet seat, then running back out. I rarely make assumptions about a person's hygenic habits, since some folk are just born dirty, but this man clearly did not take care of himself and didn't particularly care. As he swung his substantial gut around to take a seat I noticed that his belt buckle was straining and nearly failing to keep that gut in check.
His cell phone would ring, and upon every call he would peer down his nose at it's screen as though deciding whether the caller merited a slice of his invaluable time.
Then he leered at a young girl that walked past him to use the restroom, and that did it. My loathing became honest and complete, and I know that in a way that's bad for me. It's okay to say someone's behaviour is outside accepted social norms, but it's another to actively despise said person. That takes energy and produces no results other than self-riteous satisfaction, and Damn Me, that feels pretty good right now. I think I'll pick up something at the liquor store on my way home tonight.
23.2.05
God Damn It.
The Great Savage Beast has stepped off this landscape. Hunter S. Thompson could feel the warning signs in his bones, the sudden drop in pressure that foretells a gathering Shit Storm, and he was not prepared to watch the dying of the light again after all his insane efforts to warn and educate and ready us. He railed against the Dumbness of America in a time when no one else seemed to get away with it, and he was always painfully right, at least in some way.
I will not miss the writing so much as the idea of the man, which is what I think we all fell in love with. The thought that a stone-crazy shotgun-wielding peacock-owning Flower Child could still be alive in this age of Terror and Riteous Fighting in the name of Jesus was strangely healing. No matter how we despaired when debating our Republican office colleagues, or how out of touch we felt when the President told us that he could balance the budget by making 2+2=5, we knew that somewhere far away, even from the top of a mountain in Colorado, another man would back us up with a ferocity and honesty few could match. He was a sharp reflection of just how crazy one has to be in order to stay sane.
Did he really mean to emulate Hemmingway, a fellow in the realm of tortured intellects? Who knows. If the movies are right and you really do get to float up above your body before your spirit leaves the earth, I'm pretty sure I know what he'd have said.
Holy Fuck, look at that goddamn mess.
And now the Great Scorer will have to write against his name. For an unmatched honesty and purity of spirit, no matter how twisted it's manifestation, he deserves at least a council, a chance to speak for himself and his time. He will do well, and will laugh at his enemies in Hell through a tall glass of tea & Wild Turkey.
I will not miss the writing so much as the idea of the man, which is what I think we all fell in love with. The thought that a stone-crazy shotgun-wielding peacock-owning Flower Child could still be alive in this age of Terror and Riteous Fighting in the name of Jesus was strangely healing. No matter how we despaired when debating our Republican office colleagues, or how out of touch we felt when the President told us that he could balance the budget by making 2+2=5, we knew that somewhere far away, even from the top of a mountain in Colorado, another man would back us up with a ferocity and honesty few could match. He was a sharp reflection of just how crazy one has to be in order to stay sane.
Did he really mean to emulate Hemmingway, a fellow in the realm of tortured intellects? Who knows. If the movies are right and you really do get to float up above your body before your spirit leaves the earth, I'm pretty sure I know what he'd have said.
Holy Fuck, look at that goddamn mess.
And now the Great Scorer will have to write against his name. For an unmatched honesty and purity of spirit, no matter how twisted it's manifestation, he deserves at least a council, a chance to speak for himself and his time. He will do well, and will laugh at his enemies in Hell through a tall glass of tea & Wild Turkey.
13.2.05
Darkness worshed over...
the Dude, darker than a black steer's tuckus on a moonless praerie night." Hey, I spat that right off the top of my head. Pretty good, no? Of course, that's a fairly accurate description of my mood. I used to write for fun, and because I believed that I was more than halfway decent at it. The sheer joy of the excersize was at one point worth it, but now I find myself applying this gift to meeting deadlines once again, and it's just as unappealing as it was when journalism was my profession of choice. I still hate being ordered to write things I have no desire or interest in.
Dealing with medical bills and taxes and my total lack of monetary income is another factor, of course. Nothing could be better calculated to make you feel like a victim than having expenses that are absolutely necessary outweigh your ability to earn the dollars to cover them. It is not, according to some recent research by Time, entirely our fault. I suppose that one major factor in my current ennui is that professional adults have finally admitted in plain language that our generation will be the first in the history of human advancement to experience a lower standard of living than our parents.
Goddam retards! The Sonic Wall Content Filtering Service has prevented me from accessing the online manual for a program I recently downloaded, apparently with the blessing of the same said service. Who designs this shit?
Anyroad, I've also got so many freakin' passwords and email accounts and whatnot that even forgetting one of them creates major headaches. I'm told the new Beck Hell Yes EP is fully worth downloading, but my iTunes store ID? What's your password, fucker? HA! NO MUSIC FOR YOU! Oh, and here's a few hundred spam emails. Enjoy! On the plus side, I found a Bittorrent client that gives you a neato 3D live picture of the swarm network you're sharing with. Bits of data that leave my powerbook appear as tiny red cars on a red beam of delicious freed information. It's priceless, especially when you have the bandwidth for some fast freaking connections.
Dealing with medical bills and taxes and my total lack of monetary income is another factor, of course. Nothing could be better calculated to make you feel like a victim than having expenses that are absolutely necessary outweigh your ability to earn the dollars to cover them. It is not, according to some recent research by Time, entirely our fault. I suppose that one major factor in my current ennui is that professional adults have finally admitted in plain language that our generation will be the first in the history of human advancement to experience a lower standard of living than our parents.
Goddam retards! The Sonic Wall Content Filtering Service has prevented me from accessing the online manual for a program I recently downloaded, apparently with the blessing of the same said service. Who designs this shit?
Anyroad, I've also got so many freakin' passwords and email accounts and whatnot that even forgetting one of them creates major headaches. I'm told the new Beck Hell Yes EP is fully worth downloading, but my iTunes store ID? What's your password, fucker? HA! NO MUSIC FOR YOU! Oh, and here's a few hundred spam emails. Enjoy! On the plus side, I found a Bittorrent client that gives you a neato 3D live picture of the swarm network you're sharing with. Bits of data that leave my powerbook appear as tiny red cars on a red beam of delicious freed information. It's priceless, especially when you have the bandwidth for some fast freaking connections.
7.2.05
Last week I finally accepted...
the truth that I'm not really paying to attend any of my classes. So long as I get a passing grade my attendance, and by extension anything I might otherwise have learned, means nothing. No employer with a sliver of working grey matter will ever care whether you earned an A+ or a B or a C- in your psyche class sophomore year (which for me actually was a rare A). They will care if you have a degree that's appropriate to the position you want, and they will want to hear stories about how life has prepared you for this and what an excellent employee you've been to others.
I'm paying Pitt for a diploma, and perhaps some neat experiences, but precious, precious few of my classes are actually worth attending regularly, and it's an equally rare prize when I end up learning something worthwhile in a lecture. Hey, for fun let's make a list of Good Classes I've Had:
Biology for Non-Majors: Taught by a hilarious Scotsman, this class is thoughtfully structured in a way that assumes that you don't already know everything about biology. The reading follows right along with the lectures, and is available as a cheap Xerox from the bookstore. Sadly, the site of my sole falling-asleep-and-drooling incident.
The American Way of War: Professor Goldstien ("Goldy") is priceless. Hilarious and serious, well-read and experienced, he'll tell you about life in post-WWII Air Force and actually fucking know what he's talking about. Well structured class means that you rarely leave without being enlightened in some way.
Introduction to Art: Fucking hard, basically a memorisation course, but it literally gave me an entirely new appreciation for the "art world." Plus the Prof (Gretchen Bender) was way, way cute. Sounds a tad immature, but dammit, it's true.
Explanations of Humans and Society: This sounds like one of those throw-aways, and in a way it was. The lectures were generally interesting but damned difficult to stay awake through. The recitations shined, though, and apparently, magically, somehow I convinced everyone that I knew the subject matter. Well enough to "A"ce a few papers, anyroad. And, Freud fucking rules!
So, four for fifteen so far. Actually, five, 'cause this Creative Non-Fiction is becoming enjoyable. Other profs have tried, many have not, but if only one in every three of yr. classes is anything but a bore and a hassle, something isn't jiving. My poor attitude towards academia in general, coupled with traditionally non-existent study habits, might have something to do with this opinion. And of course there are kids in any class who do well and even seem to enjoy it, but thanks to my Inner Rebel I have never ever been one of those. The classes I am interestsed in I have already studied for and quite likely know as much as the teacher does, and the ones I don't care about I cannot bear to expend effort upon. I just want my degree, please, and there's no need for it to be painful for either of us.
I'm paying Pitt for a diploma, and perhaps some neat experiences, but precious, precious few of my classes are actually worth attending regularly, and it's an equally rare prize when I end up learning something worthwhile in a lecture. Hey, for fun let's make a list of Good Classes I've Had:
Biology for Non-Majors: Taught by a hilarious Scotsman, this class is thoughtfully structured in a way that assumes that you don't already know everything about biology. The reading follows right along with the lectures, and is available as a cheap Xerox from the bookstore. Sadly, the site of my sole falling-asleep-and-drooling incident.
The American Way of War: Professor Goldstien ("Goldy") is priceless. Hilarious and serious, well-read and experienced, he'll tell you about life in post-WWII Air Force and actually fucking know what he's talking about. Well structured class means that you rarely leave without being enlightened in some way.
Introduction to Art: Fucking hard, basically a memorisation course, but it literally gave me an entirely new appreciation for the "art world." Plus the Prof (Gretchen Bender) was way, way cute. Sounds a tad immature, but dammit, it's true.
Explanations of Humans and Society: This sounds like one of those throw-aways, and in a way it was. The lectures were generally interesting but damned difficult to stay awake through. The recitations shined, though, and apparently, magically, somehow I convinced everyone that I knew the subject matter. Well enough to "A"ce a few papers, anyroad. And, Freud fucking rules!
So, four for fifteen so far. Actually, five, 'cause this Creative Non-Fiction is becoming enjoyable. Other profs have tried, many have not, but if only one in every three of yr. classes is anything but a bore and a hassle, something isn't jiving. My poor attitude towards academia in general, coupled with traditionally non-existent study habits, might have something to do with this opinion. And of course there are kids in any class who do well and even seem to enjoy it, but thanks to my Inner Rebel I have never ever been one of those. The classes I am interestsed in I have already studied for and quite likely know as much as the teacher does, and the ones I don't care about I cannot bear to expend effort upon. I just want my degree, please, and there's no need for it to be painful for either of us.