Okay, currently being unemployed and out of school I have no excuse not to write. None at all. I'm sick so I don't want to lay boot to pavement quite yet and also I want to enjoy the next few days but life's turns outpace me. (Did that sound snooty, damn you Deadwood.) In two days my insurance runs out, so here's hoping I don't die anytime soon. Me and my folks are trying to fix it, but that's life. Part of me wants to write about that but ehh.
Mostly I want to get back to my stories and well this blog, and finding a job, and maybe freelancing a bit.
Christmas was nice.
P.S. I should have been a business major. I will talk on that later.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
I look like the smarmiest bastard
So my next big project is to create a website to market myself with. A place to put writing samples from school and my internship,as well as my resume. My dad and I had previously argued about the picture of myself I was planning to use for stupid idiotic reasons, another rant for another time.
But the more I think about it the more I hate it. I think I look like the smarmiest bastard alive in a suit. Hell, I wouldn't trust me with 2 bucks to buy myself a sandwich. I've never felt comfortable in one and only wear them when I want to "make a good impression." But now I think about it I think that's part of the problem. I'm worrying too much about the impression and not about proving I can do the job. I think I would rather have a picture where I'm in my "getting shit done" clothes rather than my "if I do what I have to do to get shit done there goes $150" clothes .
It all comes down to professionalism. Professionalism isn't about looking snazzy. It's about coming to work, doing the job right, and getting better at doing the job right. I want to believe that most of the bosses in the world realize that, but I know they don't and I am going to have to play their games. Alright, smarmy looking bastard it is then.
But the more I think about it the more I hate it. I think I look like the smarmiest bastard alive in a suit. Hell, I wouldn't trust me with 2 bucks to buy myself a sandwich. I've never felt comfortable in one and only wear them when I want to "make a good impression." But now I think about it I think that's part of the problem. I'm worrying too much about the impression and not about proving I can do the job. I think I would rather have a picture where I'm in my "getting shit done" clothes rather than my "if I do what I have to do to get shit done there goes $150" clothes .
It all comes down to professionalism. Professionalism isn't about looking snazzy. It's about coming to work, doing the job right, and getting better at doing the job right. I want to believe that most of the bosses in the world realize that, but I know they don't and I am going to have to play their games. Alright, smarmy looking bastard it is then.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Things to Remember aka stuff I can steal from myself later when I want to sound clever (Christmas Style)
There was a time where everything I possessed I owed to the generosity to others.
Getting old means changing who you are, but doesn't mean you cease to be who you were when you were young. Don't run from that small boy who made 20ft long paper garlands and paper snowflakes.
Alright Mr. Spock, stoicism and all is good, sometimes damn it show a bit of heart.
The Big Bang Addendum
If I were ever to time travel to the past the first place I will go will be on December 25, 2010 AD at 10: 09 pm.
Getting old means changing who you are, but doesn't mean you cease to be who you were when you were young. Don't run from that small boy who made 20ft long paper garlands and paper snowflakes.
Alright Mr. Spock, stoicism and all is good, sometimes damn it show a bit of heart.
The Big Bang Addendum
If I were ever to time travel to the past the first place I will go will be on December 25, 2010 AD at 10: 09 pm.
What's Next
So I just graduated, and am sitting on a decent chunk of graduation change but the question stands what now. Way I figure it, if I sit on my ass I have enough money to last me at least 2 months, but neither me or my folks would stand for that. The hope is I could get a job in New York. The problem is I have no connections there and New York is damned expensive. Where the hell am I suppose to work? Where the hell am I suppose to live?
I still want it, but if I'm going to do this I need to do it smart. I figure that I would need to spend at least two weeks up there trying to find an apartment and a job. Almost like a vacation, but not. I would shack up in a hotel and hit pavement. If I didn't find anything that time I could come home save up and try it again another time.
I figure I would need living expenses for the two weeks in the hotel and maybe a the first month in the apartment. I figure that's probably a grand total of 5 to 8 grand. Right now I don't have near that much cash so it's time I got to work.
I still want it, but if I'm going to do this I need to do it smart. I figure that I would need to spend at least two weeks up there trying to find an apartment and a job. Almost like a vacation, but not. I would shack up in a hotel and hit pavement. If I didn't find anything that time I could come home save up and try it again another time.
I figure I would need living expenses for the two weeks in the hotel and maybe a the first month in the apartment. I figure that's probably a grand total of 5 to 8 grand. Right now I don't have near that much cash so it's time I got to work.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I am my sword
I am my sword. I shall sharpen my sword as I sharpen myself.
I am my shield. I shall forge my shield as I forge myself.
I am my armor. I shall protect my armor as my armor protects me.
The best steel comes from the hottest furnace.
I am my shield. I shall forge my shield as I forge myself.
I am my armor. I shall protect my armor as my armor protects me.
The best steel comes from the hottest furnace.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Broken Newsroom and Graduation
You know how I've been going on and on about how I've been busy lately. Part of the reason is that me and some friends of mine have been working on a website and mini-documentary for class. Here it is.
Oh yeah and I just got out of my graduation ceremony, though I still have stuff to do for finals week.
Oh yeah and I just got out of my graduation ceremony, though I still have stuff to do for finals week.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
War World (Draft 1 of Chapter 1)
“Kale I’m tired take the stick”
“You know Ariel, we could always just drift”
“What happens if we enter a debris field? You know the rocks out here go way too fast. We need someone to steer and keep this ship hole free.”
Ariel had known Kale since they were small. They had come up together on one of the many space stations rooming the galaxy. They had grown up at the port of the Aries watching the traders, scouts and salvagers come and go. There wasn’t much on the station itself and so the port was busy.
The scouts would bring news, mostly of what was around them They would be the first to know if another station was approaching or some moon or planet had something salvageable. The scouts would then sell that information to salvagers. Salvaging was a dangerous job. The information the scouts would give was almost never complete. Scouts seldom went planet side preferring to just point the way. Salvagers did the real work of exploring planets and telling who ever was in charge of the stations if it was worth sending an expedition, it was the salvagers who would take samples. Ariel and Kale were salvagers.
“Alright, Alright I’ll steer who knows maybe I’ll be known as the guy who was flying the ship that found Eden”
“Shut up and just steer. Eden my ass.”
“What’s that yellow dot, maybe I can get out of my night of duty”
“The sensors say there’s quite a bit of sulfur in atmo but for a quick nights rest with the suits we should be okay. Alright take her down”
As the two lower the rust bucket a silent explosion shakes the ship. Both turn their heads and realize that air is escaping through a giant hole in the hull. Both also realize that the controls are shot.
“Fuck, Fuck I don’t want to steer tonight you say. What’s that yellow dot you say”
“Just grab the emergency packs. We’re close enough to the surface so that we can use the chutes”
They jump, leaving home. The only place they had.
As Kale falls he realizes that he is not slowing down as quickly as he should. The cloth parachute is being eaten by chemicals in the air. He and Ariel hit the ground harder than they have ever from any airdrop.
Rubbing a bruised shoulder Ariel says, “So what do we do now without a ship or a way back to Canaan.”
“I’m thinking. We don’t know where we are. We don’t have much equipment and to top things off we know for a fact that this place is toxic if we stay here too long.”
Just then a red light shone from the horizon. The brief light in the night revealed an oddity about the earth Kale and Ariel were standing on.
As Ariel knelt she said, “Hey I can see myself in the ground.”
“Huh”
“It’s glass. The ground is glass.”
Kale knelt and rubbed his hand on the ground. “Fuck your right. We got to get out of this place.”
Another explosion went of and the two decided to walk towards it. Even if it was dangerous there was the possibility that people would be there. Maybe someone who could answer questions or even better help them get off this rock.
They walk for hours towards the flashing lights and booming noise, until finally from a ridge they see it more clearly. War. Violence but in the chaos they could not make out an army. It was just destruction. Then finally they realized that the warriors were not men but machines. Large slow ones with cannons on their backs fired into the field of glass which was now a field jagged with holes filled with sand. . Faster ones with smaller guns on their backs rocketed through the simultaneously shooing and bludgeoning anything near them.
Despite all of this violence not every machine was blasting what it could. There were smaller ones who while being ignored by the larger ones were picking up debris and cleaning the battlefield. They would determine if broken machines were still functional and if not would dismantle, store and transport what could be salvaged.
Ariel and Kale stood and watched as bombs and guns ripped holes into metal, could they even be called bodies? Most looked nothing like humans or even animals. They were machines.
“So where do we go from here,” Ariel said
“What?” said Kale as an explosion went off a half a mile from his ear.
“What’s the plan? I mean we decided to go towards the battle in hope of finding people but it looks like there are just machines down there”
Kale looked hard at the field. Thinking, he noticed something. “Every so often one of the smaller ones gets full and heads off somewhere. I guess we could follow
“You know Ariel, we could always just drift”
“What happens if we enter a debris field? You know the rocks out here go way too fast. We need someone to steer and keep this ship hole free.”
Ariel had known Kale since they were small. They had come up together on one of the many space stations rooming the galaxy. They had grown up at the port of the Aries watching the traders, scouts and salvagers come and go. There wasn’t much on the station itself and so the port was busy.
The scouts would bring news, mostly of what was around them They would be the first to know if another station was approaching or some moon or planet had something salvageable. The scouts would then sell that information to salvagers. Salvaging was a dangerous job. The information the scouts would give was almost never complete. Scouts seldom went planet side preferring to just point the way. Salvagers did the real work of exploring planets and telling who ever was in charge of the stations if it was worth sending an expedition, it was the salvagers who would take samples. Ariel and Kale were salvagers.
“Alright, Alright I’ll steer who knows maybe I’ll be known as the guy who was flying the ship that found Eden”
“Shut up and just steer. Eden my ass.”
“What’s that yellow dot, maybe I can get out of my night of duty”
“The sensors say there’s quite a bit of sulfur in atmo but for a quick nights rest with the suits we should be okay. Alright take her down”
As the two lower the rust bucket a silent explosion shakes the ship. Both turn their heads and realize that air is escaping through a giant hole in the hull. Both also realize that the controls are shot.
“Fuck, Fuck I don’t want to steer tonight you say. What’s that yellow dot you say”
“Just grab the emergency packs. We’re close enough to the surface so that we can use the chutes”
They jump, leaving home. The only place they had.
As Kale falls he realizes that he is not slowing down as quickly as he should. The cloth parachute is being eaten by chemicals in the air. He and Ariel hit the ground harder than they have ever from any airdrop.
Rubbing a bruised shoulder Ariel says, “So what do we do now without a ship or a way back to Canaan.”
“I’m thinking. We don’t know where we are. We don’t have much equipment and to top things off we know for a fact that this place is toxic if we stay here too long.”
Just then a red light shone from the horizon. The brief light in the night revealed an oddity about the earth Kale and Ariel were standing on.
As Ariel knelt she said, “Hey I can see myself in the ground.”
“Huh”
“It’s glass. The ground is glass.”
Kale knelt and rubbed his hand on the ground. “Fuck your right. We got to get out of this place.”
Another explosion went of and the two decided to walk towards it. Even if it was dangerous there was the possibility that people would be there. Maybe someone who could answer questions or even better help them get off this rock.
They walk for hours towards the flashing lights and booming noise, until finally from a ridge they see it more clearly. War. Violence but in the chaos they could not make out an army. It was just destruction. Then finally they realized that the warriors were not men but machines. Large slow ones with cannons on their backs fired into the field of glass which was now a field jagged with holes filled with sand. . Faster ones with smaller guns on their backs rocketed through the simultaneously shooing and bludgeoning anything near them.
Despite all of this violence not every machine was blasting what it could. There were smaller ones who while being ignored by the larger ones were picking up debris and cleaning the battlefield. They would determine if broken machines were still functional and if not would dismantle, store and transport what could be salvaged.
Ariel and Kale stood and watched as bombs and guns ripped holes into metal, could they even be called bodies? Most looked nothing like humans or even animals. They were machines.
“So where do we go from here,” Ariel said
“What?” said Kale as an explosion went off a half a mile from his ear.
“What’s the plan? I mean we decided to go towards the battle in hope of finding people but it looks like there are just machines down there”
Kale looked hard at the field. Thinking, he noticed something. “Every so often one of the smaller ones gets full and heads off somewhere. I guess we could follow
Robin the Hood (Draft 1 of Chapter 1)
It’s a day that makes any man think. Malik Locksley was soon to be a father. He had sworn to himself he would only marry after e had made something of himself. And through hard work
He had grown up in the eastern slum of the city. For most of his life he had no hope. He still did not know how he had done it. He scrapped and saved and begged. Then the banked loaned him the money, he needed to start the store. It was dangerous to keep it open but people need a place to buy the goods they needed. Too many good grocers had left the city. He stayed and the people thanked him with their business. Sure the young ones thought him an easy mark, but he knew everyone within five miles of that store, and when someone stole from him he would call one of the theifs relations, one they dared not cross. A mother, a father, an aunt. Malik was not rich, but he had enough to know his younger days of struggle were behind him.
People respected the man. He was generous rather than greedy, knowing how much luck played in his rise as work. He did not mind people owing him, even if it wsa not for the store. Most knew him as a man they could come to if they needed help paying a bill or feeding a child.
That is how he met is wife Sharri. Sharri’s sister was a single mother and Sharri asked him for help. At the time she was trying to become a teacher. They both talked about politics, and how things in the city needed to change. The ones with money stloe from the ones with the least of it to lose, and those just struggled on.
They saw themselves of like mind and became partners in everyway. Now she was giving birth to their first child.
“Have you thought of a name” The doctor asked.
They had not known if the child would be a boy or a girls so they both agreed on the name Robin.
“Robin Locksley” They said in unison
.
“Again.” Millerson thought “Every weekend. Why am I still friends with this guy. Miller was seventeen but looked thirteen. If that were not enough to get him picked on he was also a nerd. There was a time in his life when he denied that fact, but each attempt to be cool was more laughable than the last. Eventually he gave up and just ran with it. That’s when the beatings started, Every god damned day he would be tripped or punched, or stolen from. There was only one kid who had the decency to stand up for and that was Robin.
It was not a rock solid friendship though. The two were as different from each other as a stone is from a feather. Every weekend Robin would find some party or concert to go to and would drag Millerson with him. Things would be fine for a while the two would joke but before long a pretty girl would come along and Robin would follow her. Miller who would much rather be at home watching the latest stargate, would be left twiddling his thumbs.
“Hey Millerson” It was Marry.
“He does it every gd time.”
“Yeah I’m sorry for the time it was me.”
“Not your fault, its just I know it's going to happen so why do I keep letting him talk me into being a third wheel.”
“Mind if I keep you company”
“Better than drinking twenty cokes by my self. I know this pisses you off too.”
“ What d you mean”
“Its obvious to everyone you still like him”
“Everyone but him you mean. Eh Forget it.”
“You’re right it’s none of my business. So while MR. Mac Daddy over there gets his game going’ what are you going to do.”
“I was going to go home and get some sleep there’s a track meet in the morning. There is going to be some Canadian team from across the river there.”
“Good luck and kick there ass for me.”
“Will do see you round.”
He had grown up in the eastern slum of the city. For most of his life he had no hope. He still did not know how he had done it. He scrapped and saved and begged. Then the banked loaned him the money, he needed to start the store. It was dangerous to keep it open but people need a place to buy the goods they needed. Too many good grocers had left the city. He stayed and the people thanked him with their business. Sure the young ones thought him an easy mark, but he knew everyone within five miles of that store, and when someone stole from him he would call one of the theifs relations, one they dared not cross. A mother, a father, an aunt. Malik was not rich, but he had enough to know his younger days of struggle were behind him.
People respected the man. He was generous rather than greedy, knowing how much luck played in his rise as work. He did not mind people owing him, even if it wsa not for the store. Most knew him as a man they could come to if they needed help paying a bill or feeding a child.
That is how he met is wife Sharri. Sharri’s sister was a single mother and Sharri asked him for help. At the time she was trying to become a teacher. They both talked about politics, and how things in the city needed to change. The ones with money stloe from the ones with the least of it to lose, and those just struggled on.
They saw themselves of like mind and became partners in everyway. Now she was giving birth to their first child.
“Have you thought of a name” The doctor asked.
They had not known if the child would be a boy or a girls so they both agreed on the name Robin.
“Robin Locksley” They said in unison
.
“Again.” Millerson thought “Every weekend. Why am I still friends with this guy. Miller was seventeen but looked thirteen. If that were not enough to get him picked on he was also a nerd. There was a time in his life when he denied that fact, but each attempt to be cool was more laughable than the last. Eventually he gave up and just ran with it. That’s when the beatings started, Every god damned day he would be tripped or punched, or stolen from. There was only one kid who had the decency to stand up for and that was Robin.
It was not a rock solid friendship though. The two were as different from each other as a stone is from a feather. Every weekend Robin would find some party or concert to go to and would drag Millerson with him. Things would be fine for a while the two would joke but before long a pretty girl would come along and Robin would follow her. Miller who would much rather be at home watching the latest stargate, would be left twiddling his thumbs.
“Hey Millerson” It was Marry.
“He does it every gd time.”
“Yeah I’m sorry for the time it was me.”
“Not your fault, its just I know it's going to happen so why do I keep letting him talk me into being a third wheel.”
“Mind if I keep you company”
“Better than drinking twenty cokes by my self. I know this pisses you off too.”
“ What d you mean”
“Its obvious to everyone you still like him”
“Everyone but him you mean. Eh Forget it.”
“You’re right it’s none of my business. So while MR. Mac Daddy over there gets his game going’ what are you going to do.”
“I was going to go home and get some sleep there’s a track meet in the morning. There is going to be some Canadian team from across the river there.”
“Good luck and kick there ass for me.”
“Will do see you round.”
Me Attempting to break my God Damn writer's block.
It's all cyclical isn't it. For weeks I've felt out of it because I haven't had the time to write something to my liking and now that I have a spare moment or two my mind is blank. As I think on the matter I realize that this is not the first time it has happened. It always takes me months to get back on the creative streak I found my self in previously, but I don't have months. If I want this grand digital experiment to continue I need to find some damn thing to write about- the election eh I already gave my thoughts on that damn thing, school - what's to say. I wake up go to class work on some group stuff, work on some projects. That's my life. Politics, the truth of the matter is that the current scene is in a state of flux and I want to give this new congress a chance to fuck up before I rip them a part. Or a little more honestly, I currently have no political opinions I feel strongly enough about to write on. The twenty-third anniversary of my birth. I feel old but I felt that way before Thursday. Nope.
In short. I am in a good mood. Damn, it's hard to write when I'm not pissed. I could get back to writing Seven Ladies, Orientation, Game, or Robin the Hood, War World, Reflections or a half-dozen other stories, but I don't remember where I wanted take them at the moment and it would take too long at to recollect my thoughts on those. Maybe if I had a week with nothing to do but sit on my ass but now I've got about an hour. By the time I figured out what I wanted to write on those again it would be time for my life to speed up again.
I got nothin'.
I could write on health care, but there is that time issue. Maybe a thesis on why Terry Goodkind's opinions on the issues of the death penalty, affirmative action, and economic regulation are wrong, if not crazy. Maybe later
In short. I am in a good mood. Damn, it's hard to write when I'm not pissed. I could get back to writing Seven Ladies, Orientation, Game, or Robin the Hood, War World, Reflections or a half-dozen other stories, but I don't remember where I wanted take them at the moment and it would take too long at to recollect my thoughts on those. Maybe if I had a week with nothing to do but sit on my ass but now I've got about an hour. By the time I figured out what I wanted to write on those again it would be time for my life to speed up again.
I got nothin'.
I could write on health care, but there is that time issue. Maybe a thesis on why Terry Goodkind's opinions on the issues of the death penalty, affirmative action, and economic regulation are wrong, if not crazy. Maybe later
Monday, November 8, 2010
Should I get personal?
I find myself in a moral dilemma I haven't been writing "me stuff" for a while because I've been busy but my mind keeps wandering to it. A while ago I started writing my autobiography, but then over the summer someone close to me died. I feel as though if I leave that part of my story out of the tale it does a disservice to her death by saying it was not important. At the same time my story is not only my story. If I tell it truthfully it would show those close to me in a moment of weakness, furthermore if I wrote the story and I liked how it turned out it would seem to me as almost profiting from her death. If I write about it honestly it could help others who have suffered feel as though they are not alone. Right now it doesn't matter all my personal writing is on hold anyway and even if it were not I am writing my autobiography in roughly chronological order so I have a long way until I get to that part of it.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A shameless plug for my other stuff
Okay, so I do stuff for other sites, I have a youtube and a devart account so here are some things from them. You can get to them by clicking the links link, note to self rename that.
Based selfesteemboostfailure2 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Life At-10:15 9-8-2010 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Out Back by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Erykah Badu by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
What I do When I'm bored 1 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Based selfesteemboostfailure2 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Life At-10:15 9-8-2010 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Out Back by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Erykah Badu by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
What I do When I'm bored 1 by ~cypheredwolf on deviantART
Monday, October 18, 2010
My World of Cardboard Speech
For the past few years I've been a bit down on my self, for all sorts of reasons, but over the summer I had a series of epiphanies. And so now I will write my world of cardboard speech.
Not Knowing What I Want To do Is Okay
I know some people who know exactly where they want to be in 10 years and are working really hard to get there. And you know what. I am jealous. They have things figured out, but after doing some thinking I figured something out. If there is something you want to do with your life, get on with it. Work towards it, but some folks like yours truly don't have some grand ambition and you know what? Under certain conditions which will be pointed out later that's okay.
The Golden Dream Is For Me To Get Paid To Do What I Would Probably Do For Free
I will be the first to admit I haven't got a clue as to what the heck I want to do with my life, and then it hit me. There are lots of things I want to do, but none of them could be called a job or a career. They're all just projects and I can rattle off a dozen of them. Anything else I do is just what I do to pay the bills, and you know what? That's okay.
If You Want To Get Paid To Do What You Would Probably Do For Free, You Have To Be Willing To Do It For Free
With the advent of the internet fewer and fewer advertisers, employers and investors are looking at resumes. They're looking for the stuff you already did so they can profit off of letting the dog chase the bone. This means that I have to be prepared to do the stuff I want to get paid for on my own dime for at least a while.
It's Okay If You Don't Know What You Want To Do As Long As You Don't Let It Be an Excuse For You To Sit On Your Ass All Day Watching Cartoons And Eating Frosted Flakes
The culmination of it all. As long as I am doing something I should not feel guilty for not knowing the future.
Do What Makes Sense Now
Being a student writing this blog, taking the internship I took over the summer, I don't know if those things are going to lead me somewhere or not. They are just what made sense to do at the moment. Figuring out what I want in the next 5 weeks is easier than figuring out what I want in the next 5 years and in a weird way more important. Oddly enough I owe this one to Spoony and his review of Scott Pilgrim.
In short if you want to be a writer, write damn it.
"A World of Cardboard speech is where the hero acknowledges that this mental block has been limiting them. And because of a recent personal revelation about themselves and/or their situation they have found a way to excel past their previous limits."
Not Knowing What I Want To do Is Okay
I know some people who know exactly where they want to be in 10 years and are working really hard to get there. And you know what. I am jealous. They have things figured out, but after doing some thinking I figured something out. If there is something you want to do with your life, get on with it. Work towards it, but some folks like yours truly don't have some grand ambition and you know what? Under certain conditions which will be pointed out later that's okay.
The Golden Dream Is For Me To Get Paid To Do What I Would Probably Do For Free
I will be the first to admit I haven't got a clue as to what the heck I want to do with my life, and then it hit me. There are lots of things I want to do, but none of them could be called a job or a career. They're all just projects and I can rattle off a dozen of them. Anything else I do is just what I do to pay the bills, and you know what? That's okay.
If You Want To Get Paid To Do What You Would Probably Do For Free, You Have To Be Willing To Do It For Free
With the advent of the internet fewer and fewer advertisers, employers and investors are looking at resumes. They're looking for the stuff you already did so they can profit off of letting the dog chase the bone. This means that I have to be prepared to do the stuff I want to get paid for on my own dime for at least a while.
It's Okay If You Don't Know What You Want To Do As Long As You Don't Let It Be an Excuse For You To Sit On Your Ass All Day Watching Cartoons And Eating Frosted Flakes
The culmination of it all. As long as I am doing something I should not feel guilty for not knowing the future.
Do What Makes Sense Now
Being a student writing this blog, taking the internship I took over the summer, I don't know if those things are going to lead me somewhere or not. They are just what made sense to do at the moment. Figuring out what I want in the next 5 weeks is easier than figuring out what I want in the next 5 years and in a weird way more important. Oddly enough I owe this one to Spoony and his review of Scott Pilgrim.
In short if you want to be a writer, write damn it.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Why I think that it is going to be a little tougher than people think for the GOP to win Congress
As the election comes closer and closer I hear a lot of whispering on the wind about why it's likely the GOP will retake congress this election. Honestly I think it's bunk. I'm not saying the Dems are going to win, but the GOP isn't as in a good position as they want people to think.
Is not losing the same as winning
Most of the political commentators I respect say that the primary reason for the republican advantage is America's general dissatisfaction at the government. That dissatisfaction is not just aimed at the democrats but the republicans as well. Even if they win there is almost no way the electorate in the current political climate will stick with them. Within months the same people who elected them will be just as angry at those who deposed the incumbents. Put simply the dissatisfaction is bipartisan. Even if they won it wouldn't be as if they had a carte blanch mandate and to be clear it would be that way regardless of who won.
No matter who wins America is disgusted by the politics of Washington.
Politics is the art of exchanging favor for benefit it has nothing to do with government. Time and time again senators and representatives block legislation or put forth legislation not because it lines up with their beliefs, not because they think its what is right for the country , but because when election day comes they either want to be able to say, "see they wanted to do [X] and I stopped it. They want the animosity to continue because that is the platform of both parties. That's how both parties win elections, drumming up hatred of the rival party. And they both do that by trying to keep themselves politically opposed to each other so that they can later point out their differences
Last year both John McCain and Obama supported the bailout bill. I was taking an economics class at the time. The newspapers, and my professor were saying that if congress didn't do something demon days would soon be here. In retrospect it might have all been hyperbolic but there was a serious risk of a run on the banks. Banks are this country's economic backbone. For the last year we've been learning the hard way that what affects the banks affects everything else. Another professor told me that he lost, I might be remembering this wrong, about 40 percent of his 401 K. Everyone was calling for congressional action to boost up the banks. Despite all of this the republicans want to shift all the anger regarding the bailout bill towards the Dems rather than doing the honest thing and saying, "Look we here in Washington may have acted rashly, but something needed to be done. It was an emergency that could have collapsed the entire economy. We don't mean a few lost jobs we mean the entire economic system of the United States gone. The free market would have been lost to antiquity to be only studied by children in grade school classes "
On a side note: Bank runs are arguably what triggered the Great Depression. A bank run is when people lose confidence in a bank and try to get all their money out. See banks don't keep your money. They loan it out with the understanding that normally they don't have to have all the money in some giant vault because generally people are fine with letting their money sit in the bank. Think about you aren't going to stuff your retirement fund under the mattresses. That's how they make their money. They in essence borrow your money and pay you interest on a savings account so they can loan it out and get their interest on say mortgages. The bank only generally keeps about 10 to 20 percent of all of the money people give it. Normally that's okay because again nobody cares. Banks have enough to pay out what people typically want to take out, but when a run happens the banks don't have enough to pay everyone and when they're out the money is just gone.
Now a days there are some protections against bank runs like FDIC insurance which pays people back up to a certain amount but the system wasn't prepared to handle something of the scale of the '08 crash. Okay back to the election
We're talking about swinging control by only a hair
Not every district in every state is having congressional elections. What nobody is say is that really this election is about political games. Again no mater who has the majority it's not going to be enough to be considered a people's mandate. The country will still be just as divided as ever especially considering the Tea Party republican platform of, "I'm pissed as hell at the government and I ain't standing for it anymore." A new congress is not going to change that sentiment.
The Tea Party
While I where my left wing hippiness of my sleeve, I can agree with a lot of the mainstream republican platform. While I think it's necessary right now I do believe that eventually we are going to need to scale back government spending. Okay, well that's mostly it, but I don't view most republicans as crazy. Now tea parties especially on the news those guys are crazy. A lot of at least what I've seen on television is based on false premises and on occasion racism.
Even if I ignore the chicanery of the guys at the rallys which it is really hard to do. The tea party doesn't seem to have a practical platform. Aspects of it seem contradictory and impractical . The governments in debt. The tea party decries the government debt but abhors the idea of raising taxes. They want the government to write which part of the constitution allows it to act, but sometimes it's not what the constitution allows but what it doesn't forbid. Heck otherwise one third of the country wouldn't even be the country.
Most judges for good reason don't believe strict construction. We live in complicated times. For example I think the FCC should get of it's tukus and do something about this net neutrality hubub. Strictly speaking the constitution gives not only the FCC but congress no such power, not because it's a bad idea but because the founding fathers didn't even had mechanical adding machines let alone networked computing! Also trust me make the entire federal government have to operate on a balanced budget is a bad idea. Every few years we here in Michigan have a constitutional crisis because the government is forbidden to do much of anything until the budget is balanced.
I wanted to include this but I couldn't make it fit so screw it.
Is not losing the same as winning
Most of the political commentators I respect say that the primary reason for the republican advantage is America's general dissatisfaction at the government. That dissatisfaction is not just aimed at the democrats but the republicans as well. Even if they win there is almost no way the electorate in the current political climate will stick with them. Within months the same people who elected them will be just as angry at those who deposed the incumbents. Put simply the dissatisfaction is bipartisan. Even if they won it wouldn't be as if they had a carte blanch mandate and to be clear it would be that way regardless of who won.
No matter who wins America is disgusted by the politics of Washington.
Politics is the art of exchanging favor for benefit it has nothing to do with government. Time and time again senators and representatives block legislation or put forth legislation not because it lines up with their beliefs, not because they think its what is right for the country , but because when election day comes they either want to be able to say, "see they wanted to do [X] and I stopped it. They want the animosity to continue because that is the platform of both parties. That's how both parties win elections, drumming up hatred of the rival party. And they both do that by trying to keep themselves politically opposed to each other so that they can later point out their differences
Last year both John McCain and Obama supported the bailout bill. I was taking an economics class at the time. The newspapers, and my professor were saying that if congress didn't do something demon days would soon be here. In retrospect it might have all been hyperbolic but there was a serious risk of a run on the banks. Banks are this country's economic backbone. For the last year we've been learning the hard way that what affects the banks affects everything else. Another professor told me that he lost, I might be remembering this wrong, about 40 percent of his 401 K. Everyone was calling for congressional action to boost up the banks. Despite all of this the republicans want to shift all the anger regarding the bailout bill towards the Dems rather than doing the honest thing and saying, "Look we here in Washington may have acted rashly, but something needed to be done. It was an emergency that could have collapsed the entire economy. We don't mean a few lost jobs we mean the entire economic system of the United States gone. The free market would have been lost to antiquity to be only studied by children in grade school classes "
On a side note: Bank runs are arguably what triggered the Great Depression. A bank run is when people lose confidence in a bank and try to get all their money out. See banks don't keep your money. They loan it out with the understanding that normally they don't have to have all the money in some giant vault because generally people are fine with letting their money sit in the bank. Think about you aren't going to stuff your retirement fund under the mattresses. That's how they make their money. They in essence borrow your money and pay you interest on a savings account so they can loan it out and get their interest on say mortgages. The bank only generally keeps about 10 to 20 percent of all of the money people give it. Normally that's okay because again nobody cares. Banks have enough to pay out what people typically want to take out, but when a run happens the banks don't have enough to pay everyone and when they're out the money is just gone.
Now a days there are some protections against bank runs like FDIC insurance which pays people back up to a certain amount but the system wasn't prepared to handle something of the scale of the '08 crash. Okay back to the election
We're talking about swinging control by only a hair
Not every district in every state is having congressional elections. What nobody is say is that really this election is about political games. Again no mater who has the majority it's not going to be enough to be considered a people's mandate. The country will still be just as divided as ever especially considering the Tea Party republican platform of, "I'm pissed as hell at the government and I ain't standing for it anymore." A new congress is not going to change that sentiment.
The Tea Party
While I where my left wing hippiness of my sleeve, I can agree with a lot of the mainstream republican platform. While I think it's necessary right now I do believe that eventually we are going to need to scale back government spending. Okay, well that's mostly it, but I don't view most republicans as crazy. Now tea parties especially on the news those guys are crazy. A lot of at least what I've seen on television is based on false premises and on occasion racism.
Even if I ignore the chicanery of the guys at the rallys which it is really hard to do. The tea party doesn't seem to have a practical platform. Aspects of it seem contradictory and impractical . The governments in debt. The tea party decries the government debt but abhors the idea of raising taxes. They want the government to write which part of the constitution allows it to act, but sometimes it's not what the constitution allows but what it doesn't forbid. Heck otherwise one third of the country wouldn't even be the country.
Most judges for good reason don't believe strict construction. We live in complicated times. For example I think the FCC should get of it's tukus and do something about this net neutrality hubub. Strictly speaking the constitution gives not only the FCC but congress no such power, not because it's a bad idea but because the founding fathers didn't even had mechanical adding machines let alone networked computing! Also trust me make the entire federal government have to operate on a balanced budget is a bad idea. Every few years we here in Michigan have a constitutional crisis because the government is forbidden to do much of anything until the budget is balanced.
I wanted to include this but I couldn't make it fit so screw it.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
We're better than this
This weekend I find myself in a strange position. I am angry. Really angry. Why? Because I can never look at the sitcom the same way again.
I love a good sitcom. I rediscovered that fact this weekend. Why? Because there are very few left and there is only really one traditional family sitcom (not counting its spin off) holding the line. And, it is God awful.
I am talking about Tyler Perry's House of Payne. It ticks me off for a few reasons
We are better than this!
Right now I can name only about ten shows on the air that could call themselves sitcoms and that's stretching it. And most of them are not the traditional domesticated comedies. You know dad wife kids ect. Right now House of Payne is by default the best of the bunch. Let me say that again because you can't see my face right now.Right now House of Payne is the best live action domestic comedy on U.S .television by default.
Note: I forgot about Two and a Half Men when I wrote this but honestly I don't like it much better.
What happened to shows like Malcolm in the Middle?
There is a grand sitcom tradition out there.
Really we're better than this!
Whenever I go to a review or a forum where someone talks about how much the show sucks I always hear the same response. "Quit trying to bring the black man down." Again the show sucks I will get to why in a moment but right now, let's get dirty with the history. Black sitcoms have been around for a while and a lot of them are great. Just because it's one of the few predominately black shows on the air is no reason for it to suck. Just look at The Wire.
The Wire shows Hollywood what black actors can really do. But enough of me gushing about The Wire, my point is that it's wrong to let the show off easy just because it's black. There have been tons of really great black sitcoms.
The point of all of that was to prove simply that just because a sitcom is black is no excuse for it to be bad. All those shows made me laugh. And they all now make me think how did we go from that to House of Payne.
It gets worse
Like I said I love sitcoms. However, now I can't look at a really good one like The Big Bang Theory without it making me think, "See. This is how it's done" then getting pissed off because a show like House of Payne is going to be put in my top ten sitcoms of the year list by default.
How far we've fallen
Sitcoms have evolved. When I look at most of the sitcoms I like I see how they borrowed what was good from older sitcoms and adapted it to the current culture and technology.
Both the Everyone Hates Chris builds on The Wonder Year's narrator idea.
Unhappily Ever After takes Al Bundy to his logical extreme.
At the end of the day one of the main problems I have with House of Payne is that it takes all of that progress and throws it all out the window. Everything in it is badly done and every time I look at it I can name a sitcom that did it better. Heck almost every sitcom I can think of, and there are a lot, had better writing, better acting, better shooting, and better editing. Again I look at them and think how far we have fallen. Part of me wants to say its production values but heck, even that's no excuse.
Why It makes me mad.
By their very nature sitcoms have to flirt with the fourth wall, but despite this almost every sitcom I watch feels organic. The characters may do ridiculous things but they do them because it's their nature.
(This is one of the reasons Malcolm in the Middle is so funny .There are several episodes where the characters are aware that their nature is detrimental to their well being yet they can't change it such as Reese in the "The Bully" or Malcolm in "Malcolm holds his Tongue")
House of Payne does not feel organic. The characters are ill defined at best. They do what they do not because its in their nature, but because the writers feel its what's needed to garner appropriate audience reaction,which by the way it doesn't. When I watched I feel annoyed not amused.
Whats worse is that people are championing this as great black television despite the fact that all the characters are one dimensional. I am not one of those positive portrayal nuts. A character is a character and not all characters are nice,but society has made real headway over the last 20 years in creating complex black characters and House of Payne shoots that all to hell.
Why it makes me sad.
Ultimately House of Payne is a symbol for how far American Television has fallen.
When I was a kid I had the TV on 24/7. There was almost always some thing on that I wanted to watch. Now I turn on my Tv may be only once or twice a week. Part of that is the lack of sitcoms on television right now. A lot of the really great TV writers out there think that it doesn't take skill to write funny but they are wrong.
The way it used to work is a show would be on the national networks or on premium channels and the cable networks would syndicate it, but now it seems they are syndicating few and fewer shows. If you don't like Family Guy or Law and Order you are out of luck.
So overall there is less variety.
There was a time when they had the time and money to not only syndicate shows but put a lot of effort into creating quality original programing, but their budgets are shrinking and House of Payne shows it.
I remember the days of The Famous Jett Jackson
I love a good sitcom. I rediscovered that fact this weekend. Why? Because there are very few left and there is only really one traditional family sitcom (not counting its spin off) holding the line. And, it is God awful.
I am talking about Tyler Perry's House of Payne. It ticks me off for a few reasons
We are better than this!
Right now I can name only about ten shows on the air that could call themselves sitcoms and that's stretching it. And most of them are not the traditional domesticated comedies. You know dad wife kids ect. Right now House of Payne is by default the best of the bunch. Let me say that again because you can't see my face right now.Right now House of Payne is the best live action domestic comedy on U.S .television by default.
Note: I forgot about Two and a Half Men when I wrote this but honestly I don't like it much better.
What happened to shows like Malcolm in the Middle?
There is a grand sitcom tradition out there.
Really we're better than this!
Whenever I go to a review or a forum where someone talks about how much the show sucks I always hear the same response. "Quit trying to bring the black man down." Again the show sucks I will get to why in a moment but right now, let's get dirty with the history. Black sitcoms have been around for a while and a lot of them are great. Just because it's one of the few predominately black shows on the air is no reason for it to suck. Just look at The Wire.
The Wire shows Hollywood what black actors can really do. But enough of me gushing about The Wire, my point is that it's wrong to let the show off easy just because it's black. There have been tons of really great black sitcoms.
The point of all of that was to prove simply that just because a sitcom is black is no excuse for it to be bad. All those shows made me laugh. And they all now make me think how did we go from that to House of Payne.
It gets worse
Like I said I love sitcoms. However, now I can't look at a really good one like The Big Bang Theory without it making me think, "See. This is how it's done" then getting pissed off because a show like House of Payne is going to be put in my top ten sitcoms of the year list by default.
How far we've fallen
Sitcoms have evolved. When I look at most of the sitcoms I like I see how they borrowed what was good from older sitcoms and adapted it to the current culture and technology.
Both the Everyone Hates Chris builds on The Wonder Year's narrator idea.
Unhappily Ever After takes Al Bundy to his logical extreme.
At the end of the day one of the main problems I have with House of Payne is that it takes all of that progress and throws it all out the window. Everything in it is badly done and every time I look at it I can name a sitcom that did it better. Heck almost every sitcom I can think of, and there are a lot, had better writing, better acting, better shooting, and better editing. Again I look at them and think how far we have fallen. Part of me wants to say its production values but heck, even that's no excuse.
Why It makes me mad.
By their very nature sitcoms have to flirt with the fourth wall, but despite this almost every sitcom I watch feels organic. The characters may do ridiculous things but they do them because it's their nature.
(This is one of the reasons Malcolm in the Middle is so funny .There are several episodes where the characters are aware that their nature is detrimental to their well being yet they can't change it such as Reese in the "The Bully" or Malcolm in "Malcolm holds his Tongue")
House of Payne does not feel organic. The characters are ill defined at best. They do what they do not because its in their nature, but because the writers feel its what's needed to garner appropriate audience reaction,which by the way it doesn't. When I watched I feel annoyed not amused.
Whats worse is that people are championing this as great black television despite the fact that all the characters are one dimensional. I am not one of those positive portrayal nuts. A character is a character and not all characters are nice,but society has made real headway over the last 20 years in creating complex black characters and House of Payne shoots that all to hell.
Why it makes me sad.
Ultimately House of Payne is a symbol for how far American Television has fallen.
When I was a kid I had the TV on 24/7. There was almost always some thing on that I wanted to watch. Now I turn on my Tv may be only once or twice a week. Part of that is the lack of sitcoms on television right now. A lot of the really great TV writers out there think that it doesn't take skill to write funny but they are wrong.
The way it used to work is a show would be on the national networks or on premium channels and the cable networks would syndicate it, but now it seems they are syndicating few and fewer shows. If you don't like Family Guy or Law and Order you are out of luck.
So overall there is less variety.
There was a time when they had the time and money to not only syndicate shows but put a lot of effort into creating quality original programing, but their budgets are shrinking and House of Payne shows it.
I remember the days of The Famous Jett Jackson
Friday, September 3, 2010
Back in the tiny white box... and loving every second of it
I'm glad to be back. Being home is alright but it feels good to be back. Being at home is less normal than being here and there are certain things I missed about being here.
Pedestrian friendliness
That's the best part of living in a college town. At least from my experience they are extremely pedestrian friendly. My parents always look at me funny when I say that I am not going out because it would take longer to get to where I am going than I actually plan to spend there. I don't understand how that became the norm and it seriously erks me.
People
I got to be honest. I'm not a people person, but the burbs always seemed dead. I like being able to look out my window and see people walking around. I like being able to see at least 10 to 20 people walking around when I go outside. It just seems weird otherwise.
Pedestrian friendliness
That's the best part of living in a college town. At least from my experience they are extremely pedestrian friendly. My parents always look at me funny when I say that I am not going out because it would take longer to get to where I am going than I actually plan to spend there. I don't understand how that became the norm and it seriously erks me.
People
I got to be honest. I'm not a people person, but the burbs always seemed dead. I like being able to look out my window and see people walking around. I like being able to see at least 10 to 20 people walking around when I go outside. It just seems weird otherwise.
Lack of (well less of) parental politics
I love the folks. I really do, but sometimes what's a big deal to them really isn't. I like the fact that I can save time and effort by not getting into pointless arguments about whether my shirt is ironed, or about which hat I choose to wear.
Broken Schedule
With or without a job chances are in the summer that I would spend majority of the day in one spot, but here I am probably going to be all over the place. Like I said its easier to go out here so if I want to grab a slice on my way home from class its only about an extra 10 minutes in travel time and 15 in eating time. Not only that but I have classes in different places so I am not in my cube all day. I like that.
This is my space
Okay its really not but my dorm just feels like its more mine than my folks and that counts for a lot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)