Soooo yeah this is what I should probably be doing. Note I did this in like 4 hours so there are no formulas and it's really rough. This is basically a list of everything I could think of the blog needs. Also it looks better in excel.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Da Biz Strikes Back: Segregating Living and Business Expenses
So I don't know if you're getting this but that thing was a pseudo-business plan. Telling people exactly what you would do with money makes it all the more likely that they'll just give you the money if they want that stuff done. That's more or less the entire point of Kickstarter. I want to make this thing. You want this thing made. Let's do lunch.
As I already hinted at one of the main reasons why I just don't do that is that segregating the business from myself would be hard for a number of reasons.
Computers
So for almost as long as I can remember I've had a computer in my work space. As a kid it was neccisary for homework so there you go. I've never had a large place to live so my computer went in whichever room I spent the most time in, causing a chicken and egg philosophy question. Do I spend the most time there because that's where my computer is or is that where my computer is because that's where I spend the most time. I dunno.
All the same "work" i.e. most productive tasks would require a computer. A pretty sizable investment, especially considering a lot of the software is the same sort of stuff I would buy no matter what. Photoshop, Microsoft Office, you get the drill.
This would be all the more trouble later in life when when I might have multiple businesses operating out of the home. Do I really buy a web development computer, a fun computer, and a studio computer, all with common apps and software.
The same could be said for tablets and cell phones and all that good stuff.
Furniture
So I've never been a laptop guy. Sure if I had the money to buy whatever I want I would get a laptop and a desktop and a tablet oh my but in order to get a laptop to work the way I want I would have to stick a bunch of stuff to it that would eventually turn it into a desktop making the mobile point moot. Mouse, keyboard, microphone, external hard drive, camera, printer, scanner, heck maybe even a larger monitor. Disconnecting all that stuff would be a nightmare and a tower is just cheaper anyway.
But you can't have a desktop without a desktop. So there's that and all the stuff that goes with it.
And while I'm at it a bookcase for technical books and a file cabinet would be nice.
A TV
Yeah I know this might be controversial, but part of what I want to do is observe and write about culture so that's necessary and even if I were doing straight reporting I would want to keep an eye on news, and be able to watch important YouTube videos and streaming events on a second... well third screen.
So with that all the stuff connected to comes into play, a set top box or two and maybe a cable hookup for C-Span (and let's be honest and Comedy Central).
Couch
It would be a place for people visiting the office to have a seat and a place for me to lay down when I want to think or am pulling an all nighter.
Food Corner
What it sounds like a minifridge maybe microwave and storage for snacks, soda, coffee and stuff like that.
Apartment
This starts getting really nutty considering I would still like to work from home. I would in essence have two rooms that are clones of each other for the sole purpose of an abstract concept and maybe a tax write-off.
By the way probably for budgetary reasons calculate the expense of the work area as a proportion of floor space of the apartment and rent.
Accountability
All the same I really would want to be able to show investors and donors an itemized spreadsheet of what exactly their money bought through the quarter and year placed publicly and prominently on any website I maintained. In my head segregating living and business expenses is just kind of what makes a business a business but damn is it wasteful.
As I already hinted at one of the main reasons why I just don't do that is that segregating the business from myself would be hard for a number of reasons.
- A lot of the accounts I use for this blog are personal. YouTube in particular would be rough to migrate meaning probably a hundred or so man hours of downloading and re-uploading videos.
- Opening up the type of bank accounts I would need to just get going would take more money than I have.
- And the one I want to talk about now is that due to the fact that my ideal work space looks a lot like my ideal living space segregating the expenses would in essence mean buying two of everything and being the broke bastard I am that's really hard to justify
Computers
So for almost as long as I can remember I've had a computer in my work space. As a kid it was neccisary for homework so there you go. I've never had a large place to live so my computer went in whichever room I spent the most time in, causing a chicken and egg philosophy question. Do I spend the most time there because that's where my computer is or is that where my computer is because that's where I spend the most time. I dunno.
All the same "work" i.e. most productive tasks would require a computer. A pretty sizable investment, especially considering a lot of the software is the same sort of stuff I would buy no matter what. Photoshop, Microsoft Office, you get the drill.
This would be all the more trouble later in life when when I might have multiple businesses operating out of the home. Do I really buy a web development computer, a fun computer, and a studio computer, all with common apps and software.
The same could be said for tablets and cell phones and all that good stuff.
Furniture
So I've never been a laptop guy. Sure if I had the money to buy whatever I want I would get a laptop and a desktop and a tablet oh my but in order to get a laptop to work the way I want I would have to stick a bunch of stuff to it that would eventually turn it into a desktop making the mobile point moot. Mouse, keyboard, microphone, external hard drive, camera, printer, scanner, heck maybe even a larger monitor. Disconnecting all that stuff would be a nightmare and a tower is just cheaper anyway.
But you can't have a desktop without a desktop. So there's that and all the stuff that goes with it.
And while I'm at it a bookcase for technical books and a file cabinet would be nice.
A TV
Yeah I know this might be controversial, but part of what I want to do is observe and write about culture so that's necessary and even if I were doing straight reporting I would want to keep an eye on news, and be able to watch important YouTube videos and streaming events on a second... well third screen.
So with that all the stuff connected to comes into play, a set top box or two and maybe a cable hookup for C-Span (and let's be honest and Comedy Central).
Couch
It would be a place for people visiting the office to have a seat and a place for me to lay down when I want to think or am pulling an all nighter.
Food Corner
What it sounds like a minifridge maybe microwave and storage for snacks, soda, coffee and stuff like that.
Apartment
This starts getting really nutty considering I would still like to work from home. I would in essence have two rooms that are clones of each other for the sole purpose of an abstract concept and maybe a tax write-off.
By the way probably for budgetary reasons calculate the expense of the work area as a proportion of floor space of the apartment and rent.
Accountability
All the same I really would want to be able to show investors and donors an itemized spreadsheet of what exactly their money bought through the quarter and year placed publicly and prominently on any website I maintained. In my head segregating living and business expenses is just kind of what makes a business a business but damn is it wasteful.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
If I Were A Rich Man: Playing With Money 2: Da Biz
So last time I just kind of said business accounts and left it at that. What I didn't say is if I had those business accounts I would do the same things I would do with my personal accounts so lets do this.
Business Income Accounts
I have a couple ideas. I would like to have one overall grouping that I'll just for now collectively call enterprises split into multiple projects. Each project would have it's own set of accounts and all of them would include an income account. Again this would help keep track of how much money is actually rolling in. And provide a broad picture of how much is running out.
As for the blog if I had some straight up capital I would try to monetize in a couple of ways. Upgrading the website would make advertising a little easier so that's the obvious. Next up having actual bank accounts would allow for Kickstarter and donations. Beyond that I could also merchandise. I actually do have a logo and branding. Slap that on a t-shirt and sell it. Free marketing baby.
Furthermore if I had the money to do things in a more polished way I could do what everybody else does. Find some endorsements. Then of course I could also try a fundraising bash at the end of the year.
Go go Gatsby.
Like the personal accounts money would flow from the income account into expenditure accounts.
Fixed Cost Expenditure Account
Right now I cut a lot of corners to do this thing on the cheap cheap. But if I were doing this professionally there would be some costs. Web hosting being the most obvious. The primary reason I stick with blogger is because it's free. But it has a ton of problems. And I'm getting sick of it. But right now hosting and designing a new page is a hypothetical so I just sit on it.
Improvement Expenditure Account
This account would be for getting getting better equipment. And things that improve the blog overall. Better computers, software, recording equipment. Maybe even a studio.
Story Expenditure Account
So right now I'm going for low hanging fruit. But man I would like to earn my name. I would like to take on bigger stories and doing that would require budgeting. Realistic sitting down and before hand and going, how much do tickets cost, would staying in a hotel be practical, would travel be necessary, would I need to pay FOIA fees. Just map that stuff out and budget a certain number of "big" stories through the year with room for a couple unexpected ones and maybe some room for overage.
While I'm at it budgeting for copyright in this spot might be good too. Since I don't make money at this I'm kind of loosey goosey about it though I do have a framework that might make a good post in its own right. Still I ought to pay people.
Payroll Expenditure Account
Name on the tin. I make so little money that when I do an odd job here or there I don't feel particularly guilty putting the money in my pocket. Give me a bag of Doritos and 20 bucks. Doing things that way is starting to annoy me. I do stuff that I know for a fact other people make a living off of but the people around me act like I don't do squat.
No. No. No. No. No. No.
Here's an invoice. Pay the account. Later I get my cut out of a salary I pay myself.
BOOM!
And if I want to pay an artist for a photo or commission some art, or pay a writer that's cool too.
Tax Account
Guess what this pays.
Legal War Chest
The days of Calvary and swords are long past. To defend what is yours in this age ... you need a lawyer. And maybe an accountant.
Segregation of Operations
One thing keep all of this from happening is that some of my blog stuff stuff connected to my personal accounts. Blogger itself is easy enough to segregate and I would want regular webhosting eventually anyway but I might need to migrate all the YouTube stuff and that would be a chore.
If I Were A Rich Man: Playing With Money
So despite all my moaning about being broke what "bugs" me the most about it is being broke is inefficient and inefficiency bugs me on a fundamental level. See since I don't have a lot of money I often have to cut corners to prevent not being able to pay things at all and this creates a scenario where it's hard for me to know how much I money actually spend, owe, need and have.
For instance I would like to make regular amount payments on my credit card over the minimum and when I have the money I do. But when things get tight how much I actually pay is based on weird mental calculations and guesses. Making it hard to budget out other expenses.
So I spend a lot of time thinking to myself. You know if I had an extra grand or two the first thing I would do is set things up the way I want.
So let's go.
Business Accounts
The biggest thing keeping this from being an actual business is that I don't have enough money to truly segregate the expenses. If there is some event coming up that I think would make an interesting post, or FOIA fees I either use my credit card or shill to my parents.
In a perfect world I would have a bank account as a sole proprietor, would pay myself a salary from it as well as use it for expenses for the blog. Travel and event expenses, FOIA and document fees, equipment and software, web hosting, maybe even paying freelancers.
And it would give me a way to use Kickstarter.
That said the main reason why I would want to set up "my system" is that it allows "money to flow" as it must.
And for hard budgetary limits to be set based on income to the accounts that can be verified by a bank. So if I ever did have a successful profitable business I would be able to make a responsible call as to how much money should go to me (regular salary) and how much should stay with the business, and how much should go to Uncle Sam..
As it is right now Google owes me 10 bucks and let's just say I owe my mom for some FOIAs.
Tax Accounts
If I ever did start making money at this taxes would get a little complicated. Since I owe almost everybody at least with this blog I don't worry about taxes so much. Heck even with my regular gigs most of it comes back in a refund.
That said I would want to have an account to regularly put payments into so at the end of the quarter I'm cool. Since freelancers and sole proprietors have to pay quarterly taxes I'm not so much worried about letting it sit in a bank account as much as missing a deadline. And that's what most of these accounts are about actually having a place to put money with the expressed purpose of paying certain types of expenses by a deadline and taxes are one of those.
The Personal Income Checking Account or Da Pot
Like I said earlier I want to be able to set hard budgetary limits based on my income and this is tool to do it. All this account would do is be a place to bring in direct deposits, paypal transfers, and cash over let's say 50 bucks.
Oh and for the record I'm making up names out of my head so if there is some thing that's called that I'm sorry.
Since the account would only pay out to other accounts it would help me conceptualize where I get money and how I spend money. And sending automatic payments to other accounts would help keep me from just "spending the money" without concern of other priorities.
Every three months I would check in and move any surplus over a certain amount into other long term accounts that I will get to in a bit.
Necessary Expenditure Checking Account
At the end of each month this would pull money from the pot and then via automatic payment systems pay bill collectors. There would be two accounts like this but this one is for stuff I have to pay or bad times. Rent, utilities, insurance stuff like that. It would also be used to pay for groceries and transportation though those aren't regular reoccurring expenses
The account mostly serves as a way of committing the money. Once it's in the account it's not going to spent for anything else until or unless I do a quarterly check in and find I have a ridiculous surplus, at which that money will be transferred somewhere else.
Recurring Luxury Checking Account
Same basic thing as the necessary expenditure account except with stuff that let's be honest I could do without. Still I wouldn't like to continuously cancel and uncancel services because I spent the money first on something stupid. Like a $70 bomber hat.
Rainy Day Savings Account
It is what it sounds like, every month I would send a percentage of my monthly income from my income account to a savings account with a few stipulations. I don't want the account to get too big. Savings accounts tend to have a very low return on investment. So every ahh let's just go with quarter, I would check to see if if it reached pass a cap. If it did I would send the surplus money to.
Investment Capital Checking Account
This is just a pool of money I would have to invest at any given time. I might invest it in some type of retirement fund, or the stock market, or real estate or put it back into a business account. But it's all money I would expect some type of later return on.
I might also move from the Rainy Day Account to the
Upgrades, Maintenance and Repairs Saving (Or Checking I Haven't Made Up My Mind) Account
Stuff breaks. And when getting new I always want to get something that will be an improvement on my last experience. I don't like moving sideways on computers, electronics, furnaces, roofs, cars, apartments and other major expenses. You know that stuff won't last forever and might as well be prepared for the inevitable than scrambling from a "surprise".
At the beginning of each year I would take an inventory. List how long I've had major stuff and figure out what type of repairs and replacements are needed or will be needed and try to budget it out. Computers last 4 years Tv's last about the same. Cars go bust after about 10 and furnaces at about the same. Roof's about 5. And you want to hire an electrician regularly just to make sure everything is on the up and up.
And since I view the human body as a piece of hardware healthcare stuff will get thrown in there to. Eh doctor's visits and surgery fit the repair and maintain paradigm.
Liquid Money Checking Account
So after all that stuff is committed this is an account that represents money I have free to spend. I want slice. Catch a flick. This is what I have to work with. Again I would probably check in quarterly to make sure it's not getting too big.
The Reserve Checking Account
So to keep the income account the income account this would probably a good place to put surplus money that went through the system and then hit the cap somewhere. It's not exactly free in the same way the liquid account is but it's money I should probably do something with. So it would probably go into one of the savings accounts or the Capital account.
The Issue of Fees
I really want to make this system work and if I ever did have money setting this up would be the first thing I did. But I'm also concerned about bank fees. Right now my checking account has no minimum balance and no monthly fee but I know that might not be the case if I opened up new accounts. You'd think they would allow envelope accounting. That's an issue deserving research but right now this is all hypothetical in my head. So screw it.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Southfield Board of Education Meeting June 10, 2014
Southfield Public School District Board of Education Meeting Held on June 10, 2014
Topics Discussed Include
- Various Scholarships
- K-5 Mathematics Instructional Materials
An agenda and related documents can be found here.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
TV Review: Freaks and Geeks Part One
Eghhh so I have to talk. YAAAAAY.
I am angry angry bitter man.
My life isn't going the way I hoped. I'm 26 and I still live with my parents. I do all sorts of stuff but most of it doesn't pay or at the very least pay well.
To function and not blame people's who's faults it's not I tend to bury that shit deeper than a septic tank.
It's frustrating but who the hell in my generation is workin' the job or getting the pay they thought they'd have 10 years ago. And to be honest there are things I've done to sabotage myself. Still there isn't some magic solution to make my life better.
My problem is and always has been I'm afraid of being morally wrong. I don't want to be the ass. As the beat goes on I'm slowly getting over that but all the same. I'm 26 and living with my parents and getting major expenses paid by them. I know how lucky I am to be able to do that and how not fair it is to them that I am.
I know how grateful I should be.
All the same it's enraging to have to listen to them when they going on about exactly what mistakes I've made, or exactly what I should be doing with my life. And what I am or am not doing with my life. I'm just plain tired.
Especially my Dad who's life experiences and personality are so dramatically different than mine. The greatest tool and hope of my life is a rock to him. So there's all the more anger and guilt and anger, as I'm just trying to make my next day a little better than my last and despite what he thinks ever so slightly succeeding at that. I'm still shit broke but I'm slightly less shit broke than I usually am at the moment. And that's a victory for me. God knows I need one. I refuse to let him take it away from me.
The biggest shot to his authority in the advice giving game is my own reflections on my past realizing that he's given me some really shitty advice in the past. And he still doesn't realize it. Father doesn't always know best.
It's not because he didn't mean well but because he grew up in a different time and place than I did. The problems I had and still have aren't necessarily the same ones he did with the same solutions.
Donald Glover speaks to me.
My dad is not nor did he ever grow up with the experience of being a nerd. He had a three brother and one sister posse along with a cadre of neighborhood friends. Me I was a socially awkward only child who had trouble making friends. I didn't grow up in a sandlot. Heck by the time high school rolled around half the kids on my block had already moved away and even now almost every friend I had from both high school or college has left the state. The ones that didn't I haven't talked to in years. I do not feel like having the "what you been up to" conversation or the "it's been too long" conversation.
That's just not me. I'll save that drama for the reunion...that I'll probably skip.
Also here's something to think about. I don't hate sports half as much as I pretend to but I find watching them to be completely boring. I never really had enough dudes around to reliably set up a pickup game when I had an hour. I grew up in an age when video games were a pretty easy work around for that. Video games are my sport. I'm into RTS's because I had a blast playing against my friend Marcus in Warcraft.
You don't always take stuff like that take that into account as a kid. Your parents are your parents. Or at least mine were. For what it's worth they did and are still doin' right by me. But when all you say to them is "I'm fine" and "Nothing happened at school" you're kind of left on your own. And to a point that is how I liked it and still do.
Let's do this.
Lindsay vs Sam
What feels like the most honest media depiction of what my life was actually like growing up and really what it was like well into my early 20's, which I'm not quite all that far removed from is Freaks and Geeks.
I've said it in other places but in middle and high school I was a geek and in college I was a freak or at least Lindsay's nerdified version of one.
The show follows a brother and their sister in their duel character arcs. Sam Weir and his group of friends are dealing with the problems of being fairly geeky, nerdy guys in school. His and his friends experiences speak to exactly what was happening in my life 15 years ago.
Part of me is afraid to right my biography because this show would be more or less the first half of it.
Though the jocks were actually pretty nice to me in high school. With the exception of a few friends it was everybody else that made me miserable.
These guys just want to survive the school day with limb intact and maybe just a little bit of dignity.
Let's just say I've had my moments being placed in the waaaaaaaaaaay outfield because the team doesn't want to deal with you. BY MY KIN! Game ended two hours ago and I'm still out there waiting for the end of the inning.
What's also interesting is I'm still kind of living Lindsay's arc of learning that while she does have her problems she's also had a ton of advantages in her life that make her "future" a lot more secure than her new found friends, "the freaks" and that she should appreciate and take advantage of them.
She's relatively smart, and smart in a way that her environment rewards. Despite her parents' cluelessness they actually do care about her, and her family has the resources to provide for her in way a lot of the freaks wish they had. And most importantly the world including her parents doesn't view her as a problem to be solved.
Her problems are one of identity and moral complexity. The death of her grandmother and her aloneness in that moment pointed to her the fallibility of her parents' paradigm. Sometimes despite best intentions things just don't work out. And it's nobody's fault.
All of the "stuff" that went into her upbringing was in the hope that her life would turnout alright. Do well in school so you can go to college and get a good job. But the reality is the world doesn't work like that. There are no guarantees and no promises no matter what you do. Hard work doesn't always get rewarded and deserve ain't got nothing to do with it. Nobody deserves to die.
That's a truth most adults can't handle let alone a kid. Her story is learning how to deal with that and still... live. To try to make a life for herself know things still might not work out as well as trying to appreciate some of the stuff she does have that she took for granted and make use of it.
Her solution is to make a clean break from her old identity but she can't quite stick the landing. She is who she is. And despite her new friends thinking of her as a bit of a corny goody-two-shoes geek herself they also wish they had what she does. Of course they aren't going to tell that to her.
And I've got stuff to do. I want to watch the whole show and talk about it but I've only made it few a few episodes, at least of this go round and need to take care of some stuff. So later days.
I am angry angry bitter man.
My life isn't going the way I hoped. I'm 26 and I still live with my parents. I do all sorts of stuff but most of it doesn't pay or at the very least pay well.
To function and not blame people's who's faults it's not I tend to bury that shit deeper than a septic tank.
It's frustrating but who the hell in my generation is workin' the job or getting the pay they thought they'd have 10 years ago. And to be honest there are things I've done to sabotage myself. Still there isn't some magic solution to make my life better.
My problem is and always has been I'm afraid of being morally wrong. I don't want to be the ass. As the beat goes on I'm slowly getting over that but all the same. I'm 26 and living with my parents and getting major expenses paid by them. I know how lucky I am to be able to do that and how not fair it is to them that I am.
I know how grateful I should be.
All the same it's enraging to have to listen to them when they going on about exactly what mistakes I've made, or exactly what I should be doing with my life. And what I am or am not doing with my life. I'm just plain tired.
Especially my Dad who's life experiences and personality are so dramatically different than mine. The greatest tool and hope of my life is a rock to him. So there's all the more anger and guilt and anger, as I'm just trying to make my next day a little better than my last and despite what he thinks ever so slightly succeeding at that. I'm still shit broke but I'm slightly less shit broke than I usually am at the moment. And that's a victory for me. God knows I need one. I refuse to let him take it away from me.
The biggest shot to his authority in the advice giving game is my own reflections on my past realizing that he's given me some really shitty advice in the past. And he still doesn't realize it. Father doesn't always know best.
It's not because he didn't mean well but because he grew up in a different time and place than I did. The problems I had and still have aren't necessarily the same ones he did with the same solutions.
Donald Glover speaks to me.
My dad is not nor did he ever grow up with the experience of being a nerd. He had a three brother and one sister posse along with a cadre of neighborhood friends. Me I was a socially awkward only child who had trouble making friends. I didn't grow up in a sandlot. Heck by the time high school rolled around half the kids on my block had already moved away and even now almost every friend I had from both high school or college has left the state. The ones that didn't I haven't talked to in years. I do not feel like having the "what you been up to" conversation or the "it's been too long" conversation.
That's just not me. I'll save that drama for the reunion...that I'll probably skip.
Also here's something to think about. I don't hate sports half as much as I pretend to but I find watching them to be completely boring. I never really had enough dudes around to reliably set up a pickup game when I had an hour. I grew up in an age when video games were a pretty easy work around for that. Video games are my sport. I'm into RTS's because I had a blast playing against my friend Marcus in Warcraft.
You don't always take stuff like that take that into account as a kid. Your parents are your parents. Or at least mine were. For what it's worth they did and are still doin' right by me. But when all you say to them is "I'm fine" and "Nothing happened at school" you're kind of left on your own. And to a point that is how I liked it and still do.
Let's do this.
Lindsay vs Sam
What feels like the most honest media depiction of what my life was actually like growing up and really what it was like well into my early 20's, which I'm not quite all that far removed from is Freaks and Geeks.
I've said it in other places but in middle and high school I was a geek and in college I was a freak or at least Lindsay's nerdified version of one.
The show follows a brother and their sister in their duel character arcs. Sam Weir and his group of friends are dealing with the problems of being fairly geeky, nerdy guys in school. His and his friends experiences speak to exactly what was happening in my life 15 years ago.
Part of me is afraid to right my biography because this show would be more or less the first half of it.
Though the jocks were actually pretty nice to me in high school. With the exception of a few friends it was everybody else that made me miserable.
These guys just want to survive the school day with limb intact and maybe just a little bit of dignity.
Let's just say I've had my moments being placed in the waaaaaaaaaaay outfield because the team doesn't want to deal with you. BY MY KIN! Game ended two hours ago and I'm still out there waiting for the end of the inning.
What's also interesting is I'm still kind of living Lindsay's arc of learning that while she does have her problems she's also had a ton of advantages in her life that make her "future" a lot more secure than her new found friends, "the freaks" and that she should appreciate and take advantage of them.
She's relatively smart, and smart in a way that her environment rewards. Despite her parents' cluelessness they actually do care about her, and her family has the resources to provide for her in way a lot of the freaks wish they had. And most importantly the world including her parents doesn't view her as a problem to be solved.
Her problems are one of identity and moral complexity. The death of her grandmother and her aloneness in that moment pointed to her the fallibility of her parents' paradigm. Sometimes despite best intentions things just don't work out. And it's nobody's fault.
All of the "stuff" that went into her upbringing was in the hope that her life would turnout alright. Do well in school so you can go to college and get a good job. But the reality is the world doesn't work like that. There are no guarantees and no promises no matter what you do. Hard work doesn't always get rewarded and deserve ain't got nothing to do with it. Nobody deserves to die.
That's a truth most adults can't handle let alone a kid. Her story is learning how to deal with that and still... live. To try to make a life for herself know things still might not work out as well as trying to appreciate some of the stuff she does have that she took for granted and make use of it.
Her solution is to make a clean break from her old identity but she can't quite stick the landing. She is who she is. And despite her new friends thinking of her as a bit of a corny goody-two-shoes geek herself they also wish they had what she does. Of course they aren't going to tell that to her.
And I've got stuff to do. I want to watch the whole show and talk about it but I've only made it few a few episodes, at least of this go round and need to take care of some stuff. So later days.
Southfield City Council Meeting June 9, 2014
Southfield City Council Meeting Held June 9, 2014
Topics Include
- A Discussion Regarding Creating A Public Art Commission
- Moving Forward To The Planning Department A Miracle League Concession Building
- Historic Designation for the Reynolds Aluminum Building
- A Discussion of Restructuring City Departments in the Wake of Potentially Naming Fred Zorn, Currently Deputy City Administrator, to the Role of City Administrator and Setting The Date of June 16 at 5:00 pm to Review a Potential Hiring Contract
- A presentation by U.S. Congressional Candidate Hansen Clarke Regarding Transportation Funding on the Federal Level
An agenda and related documents can be found here Note: This recording is interrupted by a brief closed session to review the performance of the Deputy Administrator at roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Movie Review: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
I AM CAMERON.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay I have to write something. Here goes. You know part of the reason I write this blog is in small way it lets me be the guy I want to be divorced from all my self imposed limitations. It allows me to get over whatever guilt I happen to be feeling about my emotions, opinions, identity, whatever.
Here I am the guy I wish I was. Closest thing to a digital Shaft I'll ever be. Oh who am I kidding Seamus Harper is the actual template.
In real life...
I AM CAMERON.
...Who despite the title is arguably the main character, Will Turner to Ferris' Jack Sparrow. But the movie is what? 30 years old and firmly lodged in the John Hughs cannon. You've seen it and chances are you like it.
No I'm writing this one for me. When Greg was in Egypt land let my Greg go.
Here is a not so secret secret I use movies and the writing about there of to give myself enough emotional distance to publicly discuss whatever personal issues I'm going through. Though sometimes I do indeed just want to catch a flick. If you pay attention you can see my frustrations, joys, sorrows, curiosities ect. slipping through the cracks.
One of the reasons why it took me so long to get through Hatchin and Michiko was because my original draft started as a 5 paragraph rant about bullying, dignity, mental freedom, and self worth when the first episode hit too close to home. A good chunk of the show is about Hana learning how to call people on it when she feels their taking advantage of her. I've stood in mirrors and given the "You are a jerk!" speech too late to make a difference and still do.
After watching the show for a third time I realized the Michiko-Hatchin dynamic is more or less the same as the Bueller Cameron dynamic and the same rules apply.
As in there is a lot of credibility to the theory that Bueller/Michiko/The Cyphered Wolf) is a constructed coping mechanism built to help Cameron/Hana/Me deal with his shitty shitty life. His uncertainty about his future, his emotionally distant father, his non-existent love life, his social anxiety, as well guilt and denial about all of the above.
So.
I AM CAMERON!
And this is going to be one of those.
On the other hand I do substitute teach on the side so apart from my neurosis and dad issues there is that angle on the film. As a quasi-teacher how do I feel. But you know what despite myself I'm in a half decent mood and am taking the giant stick out of my butt. There I have to be "responsible" or "you might put an eye out".
Here. It's just me ... well me and an internet audience so me and everybody. I've never felt comfortable being that guy. I may be a hapless nerd but I do have a sense of fun and when possible fair play. I don't like being the "stop having fun guy". Of course you get over it pretty quick when you see someone playing the pencil game, or knocking over chairs, or getting into stupid fights, or throwing paper you know you'll have to clean up later AT YOU ...when you're the impotent sane man in the room and "please have a seat" doesn't work.
Maybe that's why I tend slip into the Ben Stein voice when annoyed. Nobody ever listens to a thing I have to say, in any facet of my life except this one. Anyone. Anyone. Okay then.
I don't want to hate kids. I know what it's like to have everybody around you think they know what's best when they don't have a clue what your life is. I know that's the last thing anybody needs. Somebody else telling you who you are, and how you've screwed up every goddamn day of your life. I have a pathological hatred of the concept of advice. There is no silver bullet for life. You just do the best you can.
Anyway ...the thing about the movie that again everybody knows is that Bueller is a complete tool. What makes the film interesting is how his antics force everybody around him to react.
I AM CAMERON.
"He'll make me feel guilty. This is ridiculous. I'll go I'll go I'll go. God damn it!"
From the first time I saw this movie I related to Cameron. Don't worry I'm not going to say it again. But as I'm watching it I also find myself relating to Jeanie who's pissed that Bueller can get away with stuff she couldn't dream with. I've felt that, especially as a kid in school. Hell I still feel that watching this movie.
I'm not being so subtle in the fact that I want to punch Bueller in the face. "What makes him so goddamned special" Especially as he drags Cameron who doesn't want any trouble kicking and screaming along for the ride. All the while making arrogant assumptions comments about him.
It always pissed me off when I got pulled into a "You're going to have fun and like it damn it"scenario. Can't I just rent a movie that could be fun. No! That is fun for me. I'm not the sad sack everybody thinks I am.
Aaannd there go my "junior" issues.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay I have to write something. Here goes. You know part of the reason I write this blog is in small way it lets me be the guy I want to be divorced from all my self imposed limitations. It allows me to get over whatever guilt I happen to be feeling about my emotions, opinions, identity, whatever.
Here I am the guy I wish I was. Closest thing to a digital Shaft I'll ever be. Oh who am I kidding Seamus Harper is the actual template.
In real life...
I AM CAMERON.
...Who despite the title is arguably the main character, Will Turner to Ferris' Jack Sparrow. But the movie is what? 30 years old and firmly lodged in the John Hughs cannon. You've seen it and chances are you like it.
No I'm writing this one for me. When Greg was in Egypt land let my Greg go.
Here is a not so secret secret I use movies and the writing about there of to give myself enough emotional distance to publicly discuss whatever personal issues I'm going through. Though sometimes I do indeed just want to catch a flick. If you pay attention you can see my frustrations, joys, sorrows, curiosities ect. slipping through the cracks.
One of the reasons why it took me so long to get through Hatchin and Michiko was because my original draft started as a 5 paragraph rant about bullying, dignity, mental freedom, and self worth when the first episode hit too close to home. A good chunk of the show is about Hana learning how to call people on it when she feels their taking advantage of her. I've stood in mirrors and given the "You are a jerk!" speech too late to make a difference and still do.
After watching the show for a third time I realized the Michiko-Hatchin dynamic is more or less the same as the Bueller Cameron dynamic and the same rules apply.
As in there is a lot of credibility to the theory that Bueller/Michiko/The Cyphered Wolf) is a constructed coping mechanism built to help Cameron/Hana/Me deal with his shitty shitty life. His uncertainty about his future, his emotionally distant father, his non-existent love life, his social anxiety, as well guilt and denial about all of the above.
So.
I AM CAMERON!
And this is going to be one of those.
On the other hand I do substitute teach on the side so apart from my neurosis and dad issues there is that angle on the film. As a quasi-teacher how do I feel. But you know what despite myself I'm in a half decent mood and am taking the giant stick out of my butt. There I have to be "responsible" or "you might put an eye out".
Here. It's just me ... well me and an internet audience so me and everybody. I've never felt comfortable being that guy. I may be a hapless nerd but I do have a sense of fun and when possible fair play. I don't like being the "stop having fun guy". Of course you get over it pretty quick when you see someone playing the pencil game, or knocking over chairs, or getting into stupid fights, or throwing paper you know you'll have to clean up later AT YOU ...when you're the impotent sane man in the room and "please have a seat" doesn't work.
Maybe that's why I tend slip into the Ben Stein voice when annoyed. Nobody ever listens to a thing I have to say, in any facet of my life except this one. Anyone. Anyone. Okay then.
I don't want to hate kids. I know what it's like to have everybody around you think they know what's best when they don't have a clue what your life is. I know that's the last thing anybody needs. Somebody else telling you who you are, and how you've screwed up every goddamn day of your life. I have a pathological hatred of the concept of advice. There is no silver bullet for life. You just do the best you can.
Anyway ...the thing about the movie that again everybody knows is that Bueller is a complete tool. What makes the film interesting is how his antics force everybody around him to react.
I AM CAMERON.
"He'll make me feel guilty. This is ridiculous. I'll go I'll go I'll go. God damn it!"
From the first time I saw this movie I related to Cameron. Don't worry I'm not going to say it again. But as I'm watching it I also find myself relating to Jeanie who's pissed that Bueller can get away with stuff she couldn't dream with. I've felt that, especially as a kid in school. Hell I still feel that watching this movie.
I'm not being so subtle in the fact that I want to punch Bueller in the face. "What makes him so goddamned special" Especially as he drags Cameron who doesn't want any trouble kicking and screaming along for the ride. All the while making arrogant assumptions comments about him.
It always pissed me off when I got pulled into a "You're going to have fun and like it damn it"scenario. Can't I just rent a movie that could be fun. No! That is fun for me. I'm not the sad sack everybody thinks I am.
Aaannd there go my "junior" issues.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
I Ought To Watch Monster
You know what my brain did a bit of hop. I was going to talk about Michiko next but. Yeah.
So Thelma and Louise is legendary as a feminist film and I don't like it. Mostly for two reasons. The least complicated is the Roots effect. Let's rewind. I ha...dislike Roots at least the miniseries and since it's more about the Black experience I feel a bit freer to talk about it than Louise though almost everything I say is the same.
The more serious your message the more subtle and nuanced your execution has to be because otherwise your audience won't feel a connection to the problem. In its depiction of slavery Roots has a lot of telegraphing. Who's a good guy? Who's a bad guy? What specific action made them a bad guy? All of this reveals the artifice of it all. Making the audience feel more comfortable blowing it off as a mere story. A fiction.
Screw that!
When talking about slavery (or rape) I want to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. (Twelve Years a Slave is on my list) I want the camera pointed at them and for them feel is if they are in some way complicit. You know I should watch Gunslinger Girl. That show is basically 6 hours of the screen looking into your soul and saying, "Happy asshole! Is this what you wanted to see you sick bastard? IS IT!"
That show largely does it by humanizing they guys who are participating in child exploitation and in sympathizing with them it makes the audience question their own morality. They see the harm their doing feel bad about it but keep on doing it because they don't have an easy out. What the hell would you do!? What the hell are you doing!?
Anyway that's a tangent. My big problem is that the central conceit of Thelma and Louise is that the two leads have such little faith in the justice system doing right by them that they are forced to spend the rest of the film outside of the law. "On a whirlwind buddy adventure" For the two leads that seemed like an exaggeration for the benefit of the (middle class) audience as they yuck it up vicariously but there are women in the world where that is the reality.
So Thelma and Louise is legendary as a feminist film and I don't like it. Mostly for two reasons. The least complicated is the Roots effect. Let's rewind. I ha...dislike Roots at least the miniseries and since it's more about the Black experience I feel a bit freer to talk about it than Louise though almost everything I say is the same.
The more serious your message the more subtle and nuanced your execution has to be because otherwise your audience won't feel a connection to the problem. In its depiction of slavery Roots has a lot of telegraphing. Who's a good guy? Who's a bad guy? What specific action made them a bad guy? All of this reveals the artifice of it all. Making the audience feel more comfortable blowing it off as a mere story. A fiction.
Screw that!
When talking about slavery (or rape) I want to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. (Twelve Years a Slave is on my list) I want the camera pointed at them and for them feel is if they are in some way complicit. You know I should watch Gunslinger Girl. That show is basically 6 hours of the screen looking into your soul and saying, "Happy asshole! Is this what you wanted to see you sick bastard? IS IT!"
That show largely does it by humanizing they guys who are participating in child exploitation and in sympathizing with them it makes the audience question their own morality. They see the harm their doing feel bad about it but keep on doing it because they don't have an easy out. What the hell would you do!? What the hell are you doing!?
Anyway that's a tangent. My big problem is that the central conceit of Thelma and Louise is that the two leads have such little faith in the justice system doing right by them that they are forced to spend the rest of the film outside of the law. "On a whirlwind buddy adventure" For the two leads that seemed like an exaggeration for the benefit of the (middle class) audience as they yuck it up vicariously but there are women in the world where that is the reality.
Movie Review: Thelma and Louise
So not unlike Fujiko Mine I had trouble connecting Michiko with themes especially in contrast with Fujiko which despite my original idiocy screams "I am woman hear me roar!". While Michiko & Hatchin has themes the purpose of the story itself seems to be more about being a fun ride rather than making the audience think about stuff. Of course there is stuff to think about but with a few exceptions the show itself doesn't dwell on them.
I had to take a long think. Trying to figure out in light of my feminism revelations on The Woman Called Fujiko Mine what exactly Michiko & Hatchin was trying to say if anything about feminism. There are a few scenes in that show that make it clear yes it does in deed have something to say but I was struggling to get a consistent treatise the same way I did with Fujiko.
And then it hit me. The show is more or less a whole plot reference to a film (well two films) I had yet to see. A movie that has become the codifier of the female revenge flick.
Heck the more I think about it in lot of ways Hatchin, Michiko's 10-year old daughter and the load's, very existence is to deconstruct this movie. A walking reminder of why the whoooo outlaw4life attitude of Thelma and Louise is kind of stupid especially as a mechanism societal rebellion. I ... have a couple of problems with Thelma and Louise. And in a lot ways Michiko fixes some of them so that's something I'll get into later when I actually talk about that show.
You know what screw it. The movie's dramatic parts are over-dramatic and unravel the artifice of film, revealing itself to be a fantasy. That might be the point with the ending but in a weird way Michiko is the opposite. Don't get me wrong the show can be incredibly over the top. It markets itself as Brazilian exploitation anime after all but when it wants you to feel, when it wants to be serious, it's less cartoony than its live action counterpart.
Now that I think about it most of the craziness is segregated to the show's many many action beats.
Also and this is kind of harsh to say on my part but both of the leads in this movie at least start it as relatively privileged. It's not the same thing but as a young black guy I live with the fear that if I get into some serious shit and have to call the cops they might not believe my story. That's a real fear I have and is one of the reasons I try to keep my nose clean. I can't afford bail and the best I can hope for is an overworked underpaid public attorney. That said even I'm privileged enough so that I can more or less avoid the type of "shit" I'm talking about. The they're armed and have vajayjays mania especially from the middle of the movie on just seems nutty. On the other hand the they're armed and black mania ehhhhhhh.
I'm probably off base here but the idea that 1990's Geena Davis couldn't gain the ear of a sympathetic cop or is even in a position to distrust the system that much just doesn't hold up for me. That's probably my own sexism talking as I know that is a problem in rape cases. And the fear of not being taken seriously with an allegation of rape because of intoxication is completely legit, all the same I can't help but think about what if this movie was about Precious instead who probably wouldn't have even thought about calling cops let alone rationalized reasons not to.
That would be a different movie.
It makes a lot of their rebellion for rebellion sake in the second act seem less like a reaction against an overbearing patriarchy and more like whinny indulgence to make the middle class audience feel good. Michiko & Hatchin on the other hand talks directly to poverty, child slavery, gang warfare, objectification and prostitution.
That along with the point about being over dramatic makes its point about female impotence against the patriarchy hard to take seriously. It's as though every dude was written solely to screw over the ladies so the audience can vicariously empathize. Michiko on the other hand is more along the lines of, "Hey this is tough world and shit rolls down hill. Kids get it because they're weak and women get it because (at least according to the show) they have to look after the kids. Damn biology."
Of course again that's more about the show than the movie.
You know the more I think about it the less I think of this movie being a reaction against the patriarchy and more Regan era conformity/conservatism as a whole. And my difficulty in getting into the movie is more because I'm of different denomination than its choir. When I'm thinking about such conservatism allows for infringement of rights in the name of snuffing out divination from societal norms I'm think more along the lines of poverty due to unfair resource allocation, social discrimination, police beatings and good old fashioned lynch mobs.
Getting bummed because an old lady is scowling from a diner window just seems silly. I'm sorry but at the end of the day this feels a lot like one of those made for TV Lifetime dealies and I can't stand those for all the reasons I already outlined.
Then again Django Unchained aka Die Honkey Die is on my list so who am I to talk about revenge fantasy movies.
P.S. By the way, this movie features the most polite armed robbery and car jacking I've seen put to film. It made me want to go "so that's how a middle class white Texas house wife robs a liquor store. Awww look she think she's a hardened crook now. Ain't that just precious." That might what be what broke the movie for me.
I had to take a long think. Trying to figure out in light of my feminism revelations on The Woman Called Fujiko Mine what exactly Michiko & Hatchin was trying to say if anything about feminism. There are a few scenes in that show that make it clear yes it does in deed have something to say but I was struggling to get a consistent treatise the same way I did with Fujiko.
And then it hit me. The show is more or less a whole plot reference to a film (well two films) I had yet to see. A movie that has become the codifier of the female revenge flick.
Heck the more I think about it in lot of ways Hatchin, Michiko's 10-year old daughter and the load's, very existence is to deconstruct this movie. A walking reminder of why the whoooo outlaw4life attitude of Thelma and Louise is kind of stupid especially as a mechanism societal rebellion. I ... have a couple of problems with Thelma and Louise. And in a lot ways Michiko fixes some of them so that's something I'll get into later when I actually talk about that show.
You know what screw it. The movie's dramatic parts are over-dramatic and unravel the artifice of film, revealing itself to be a fantasy. That might be the point with the ending but in a weird way Michiko is the opposite. Don't get me wrong the show can be incredibly over the top. It markets itself as Brazilian exploitation anime after all but when it wants you to feel, when it wants to be serious, it's less cartoony than its live action counterpart.
Now that I think about it most of the craziness is segregated to the show's many many action beats.
Also and this is kind of harsh to say on my part but both of the leads in this movie at least start it as relatively privileged. It's not the same thing but as a young black guy I live with the fear that if I get into some serious shit and have to call the cops they might not believe my story. That's a real fear I have and is one of the reasons I try to keep my nose clean. I can't afford bail and the best I can hope for is an overworked underpaid public attorney. That said even I'm privileged enough so that I can more or less avoid the type of "shit" I'm talking about. The they're armed and have vajayjays mania especially from the middle of the movie on just seems nutty. On the other hand the they're armed and black mania ehhhhhhh.
I'm probably off base here but the idea that 1990's Geena Davis couldn't gain the ear of a sympathetic cop or is even in a position to distrust the system that much just doesn't hold up for me. That's probably my own sexism talking as I know that is a problem in rape cases. And the fear of not being taken seriously with an allegation of rape because of intoxication is completely legit, all the same I can't help but think about what if this movie was about Precious instead who probably wouldn't have even thought about calling cops let alone rationalized reasons not to.
That would be a different movie.
It makes a lot of their rebellion for rebellion sake in the second act seem less like a reaction against an overbearing patriarchy and more like whinny indulgence to make the middle class audience feel good. Michiko & Hatchin on the other hand talks directly to poverty, child slavery, gang warfare, objectification and prostitution.
That along with the point about being over dramatic makes its point about female impotence against the patriarchy hard to take seriously. It's as though every dude was written solely to screw over the ladies so the audience can vicariously empathize. Michiko on the other hand is more along the lines of, "Hey this is tough world and shit rolls down hill. Kids get it because they're weak and women get it because (at least according to the show) they have to look after the kids. Damn biology."
Of course again that's more about the show than the movie.
You know the more I think about it the less I think of this movie being a reaction against the patriarchy and more Regan era conformity/conservatism as a whole. And my difficulty in getting into the movie is more because I'm of different denomination than its choir. When I'm thinking about such conservatism allows for infringement of rights in the name of snuffing out divination from societal norms I'm think more along the lines of poverty due to unfair resource allocation, social discrimination, police beatings and good old fashioned lynch mobs.
Getting bummed because an old lady is scowling from a diner window just seems silly. I'm sorry but at the end of the day this feels a lot like one of those made for TV Lifetime dealies and I can't stand those for all the reasons I already outlined.
Then again Django Unchained aka Die Honkey Die is on my list so who am I to talk about revenge fantasy movies.
P.S. By the way, this movie features the most polite armed robbery and car jacking I've seen put to film. It made me want to go "so that's how a middle class white Texas house wife robs a liquor store. Awww look she think she's a hardened crook now. Ain't that just precious." That might what be what broke the movie for me.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Movie Review: City of God
Okay so I've basically hit a bit of a reviewer's wall. There's lots of stuff I've seen over the past few weeks but for various reasons I've been having trouble talking about it but even I'm starting to feel bad about how sparse this blog is getting so let's get the queue moving.
After Lupin the Third The Woman Called Fujiko Mine I've been meaning to talk about Michiko & Hatchin from the same director for a while but before I do I feel I need to talk about that show's two major influences. City of God and Thelma and Louise. That show is more or less the later with the setting of the former along with its characters and plot as back story. Satoshi is basically Lil Ze with sunglasses
So let's do this.
The movie is basically the testimonial of Rio De Jineiro's slum of the same name and crime there in through the eyes of Rocket our narrator. There are a couple of things that make the film interesting but the best I woud say is Rocket's voice. When context for a place or person is needed it tells the audience the audience the story of things came to be. Point of fact the entire movie is framed this way as its mostly a series of recursive flashbacks.
The movie is hard to talk about because while there are central characters that go through arcs that's not the point. The movie is seeking to tell the story of a place and imbue it with a history pulled by its characters. And it succeeds. Largely though its style and fable tinged narration by Rocket.
To me Rocket's narration really is what makes the film as he has this sort of dead pan matter of fact way of describing really extraordinary events which juxtaposes to the film's flamboyant visual style.
That dissonance lends to the audience a feeling that we are continually in the past dealing with events that have already played out in this place. Eh that thing happened but now I got to deal with this other thing that's kind of related. Speaking of which, that is more or less how the film deals with transitions since Rocket is continually telling the audience this history as a context for whatever he currently is describing. For instance the entire film is a framing story explaining how Rocket found himself between lines when the cops and a bunch gangsters meet each other around a corner.
I would feel guilty about spoiling the end of the movie and sort of the big finish except that last bit is an extended version of the open which starts in media res and as stated the movie is mostly about how really everybody got there. The story of Lil Ze, Rocket, Knockout Ned. Heck even Tiago, the guy the narrator hates...well dislikes, gets a back story explaining how he wound up there.
After Lupin the Third The Woman Called Fujiko Mine I've been meaning to talk about Michiko & Hatchin from the same director for a while but before I do I feel I need to talk about that show's two major influences. City of God and Thelma and Louise. That show is more or less the later with the setting of the former along with its characters and plot as back story. Satoshi is basically Lil Ze with sunglasses
So let's do this.
The movie is basically the testimonial of Rio De Jineiro's slum of the same name and crime there in through the eyes of Rocket our narrator. There are a couple of things that make the film interesting but the best I woud say is Rocket's voice. When context for a place or person is needed it tells the audience the audience the story of things came to be. Point of fact the entire movie is framed this way as its mostly a series of recursive flashbacks.
The movie is hard to talk about because while there are central characters that go through arcs that's not the point. The movie is seeking to tell the story of a place and imbue it with a history pulled by its characters. And it succeeds. Largely though its style and fable tinged narration by Rocket.
To me Rocket's narration really is what makes the film as he has this sort of dead pan matter of fact way of describing really extraordinary events which juxtaposes to the film's flamboyant visual style.
That dissonance lends to the audience a feeling that we are continually in the past dealing with events that have already played out in this place. Eh that thing happened but now I got to deal with this other thing that's kind of related. Speaking of which, that is more or less how the film deals with transitions since Rocket is continually telling the audience this history as a context for whatever he currently is describing. For instance the entire film is a framing story explaining how Rocket found himself between lines when the cops and a bunch gangsters meet each other around a corner.
I would feel guilty about spoiling the end of the movie and sort of the big finish except that last bit is an extended version of the open which starts in media res and as stated the movie is mostly about how really everybody got there. The story of Lil Ze, Rocket, Knockout Ned. Heck even Tiago, the guy the narrator hates...well dislikes, gets a back story explaining how he wound up there.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
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