Place Your Bets

For today's post, I do not need to offer any additional sly commentary on my topic. The facts speak for themselves. See if you can guess which of the following are actual bets that are being accepted at actual sportsbooks across the country, and which ones I just made up. Post your guesses for which ones are fake in the comments, and I'll chime in later to tell you the answers.

A. Which team will win the coin flip?
B. Which side of the 50-yard line will the coin land on?
C. Will the coin flip come up heads or tails?
D. Which team will throw the first Coaches Challenge flag?
E. Which team will use the first timeout in the game?
F. Which team will have a player injury timeout first in the game?
G. Which team will use the most timeouts in the game?
H. Will there be a safety in the game?
I. Will there be a field goal hit the goalposts in the game?
J. Will there be a 2-point conversion in the game?
K. Will the SuperBowl halftime show last shorter or longer than fifty-five minutes?
L. Will the national anthem take shorter or longer than a minute and forty-two seconds?
M. How many times will Jeanne Zelasko (sideline reporter) appear on camera? (over/under 5.5)
N. How many times will Joe Buck (broadcaster) mention Peyton Manning's name (over/under 5.5)
O. If the Patriots win, will Bob Kraft mention the 72 Dolphins during the trophy presentation?
P. Will the entire Fox pre-game team pick the Patriots to win the game?
R. Which Super Bowl commercial will have a higher rating on USA Today's annual Ad Meter?

recent media intake

Where do I start? Obviously I must comment on Cloverfield. I admit that the trailer did intrigue me, and if the start time hadn’t been past my bedtime when the group went, I probably would have gone. Even after the reviews/spoilers, I was like OK, DVD. But then I saw the movie poster with that absolutely stupid looking quasi-baby dinosaur alien thing, and I was done. That’s the threat to human existence? Please Cloverfield people, clarify exactly what that is.

Other than that, I am in the middle of several shows.

Rescue Me, Season One. I had heard a lot of good buzz and I’m a huge Denis Leary fan, so I was looking forward to this one. INTENSE. Taking the anti-hero to a whole other level. I know I really shouldn’t like “Tommy”, but I can’t help it. Moments of clarity followed by excessive binges of sex and drinking and cruelty. The end of season was phenomenal and I can’t wait for more.

4400, Season Three. I started that Sunday night. Very interesting season premiere that sets up the future of the show. One thing that the show constantly hits is that no one, 4400 or not, is what they seem. I can’t wait for Jordan to come back. I felt the interaction between Isabel and Sean was a little forced and contrived, but based on other comments, it will be crucial to latter story lines. I’m also waiting for Richard to step forward, show his power, do something. And finally I know the show is called 4400 but how many of them are actually left? It seems that at least one dies a show now, plus the infection killed at least 28 of them. They could do a BSG rip off and have the number count down.

Studio 60, halfway through Season One. The tension between Matt and Harriet is great, I do enjoy that part of the show. The Jordan/Danny romance is sort of inserted into the show. There are a several story lines going on at the same time and they have to throw this in there. I could see that being a thread later, but maybe they knew they were getting cancelled and wanted to get in there. One thing that I can’t decide if I like is the treatment of Jack and Jordan. These are major leaders, with power and connections and pull and they are put in the most ridiculous situations. Don’t they have minions to do such things? Maybe it is showing their humanity and putting them in touch with humanity or something, but seeing Jordan shoving a sandwich in her mouth while having lunch on set or seeing Jack sober up the daughter of an important deal maker seems weird somehow. Oh well, in a couple of weeks, it won’t matter. The show has these moments of absolute brilliance (inserting the fragility of the Romanian currency into a scene as an example) and I wonder how a person/people can come up with it. I guess that’s what they get paid to do.

Finally, my guilty pleasure of the weekend was Reno 911: Miami. Completely inappropriate, but funny. Reminded me of the Police Academy movies at certain points. The group from Reno 911 is so great. If I could ever find the episodes of The State, I would be willing to pay a pretty penny for them. Maybe that’s what I’ll do today at work. It’s good to have goals.

One final note, I have a Facebook account. I set it up months ago and didn’t do anything with it. I still haven’t done much because a) time, b) ignorance, and c) I really do have more important things to do. But if you have time, write on my wall or send me a fun test.

Ta Ta for now.

The Unhappy Existence of Emery Hemersbach - Part 1 - A Review

The following is a short story written by local author Crystal Brown. I have taken it upon myself to review said story. But first, so you'll know what i'm talking about... here is that story:

Emery Hemersbach was born the seventh son of a dirt farmer in Hennepin County, Missouri. After a three year stint in the navy, Mr. Hemerbach bought a plot and married the youngest daughter of the nearest neighbor. They farmed 40 acres on the back side of a swamp, and bred six strapping healthy boys.
The seventh, a small, weak, mewling baby with a tuft of pure white hair atop his head. At seeing his seventh son, Mr. Hemersbach shrugged his shoulders, spit on the floor, and went out to til another 15 acres.
Mrs. Hemersbach, upon seeing her son, mentioned to her midwife she was "mighty chilled" then closed her eyes and died.
The midwife, a negro woman from two towns over, and the only midwife Mr. Hemersbach could afford, had no idea what to do with the unwanted and now motherless child, dropped him at the door of the Hennepin County Orphanage on the way back to town with a note pinned to his blanket that simply stated "Emery."
Emery Hemersbach spent the entire 16 years of his childhood at the orphanage before shipping off to do his own 3 year stint in the navy much like his unknown father. While in the navy, Emery had the unfortunate duty to clean the bandages in the infirmary. while boiling a pot of them, Emery happened to sneeze, wiped his nose on his sleeve, and continued his duty. Later, a young sailor was treated for minor scrapes from a kitchen accident when he took ill from contaminated bandages and died. Aaron Bailey Hemersbachs' body was shipped back to his father, a farmer in Hennepin County, Missouri.
This was the beginning of a series of unfortunate circumstances that would see Emery Hemersbach being the unwilling tool in the deaths of all his brothers.
-------------
Wow! All I can say is wow! I mean WOW!
Intriguing? Definitely! A succinct background story leads right into the beginnings of the next Great American Novel, wherein our protaganist lives out his life, unknowningly avenging his miserable existence by wiping out his father's heirs. I personally can't wait to find out more about young Emery "Hemersbach." So he was the runt of the family litter when he was born, but what now? Is he an ugly duckling in the making, to become not only a device of "murder" but also an intimidating presence? Or is he woodyallenesque. Based on the bumble that lead to contaminated bandages and therefore the death of one of his six brothers, I'd say the latter. Not sure what year this story takes place in, but I'm not sure it matters. This could easily be the kind of timeless tale that will speak true for generations to come. And what of the fate of Emery's remaining 5 brothers? And is there love in the air for young Emery? And what part will he play in the service of his country? Or is the navy merely a stepping stone in a drama that may well play out through his entire life?
Certainly this story raises many questions, but right out of the gate it pleases it's audience with the sweet innocense that you only get in really good stories about orphans.
With any luck, Ms. Brown will complete the remaining chapters of this yarn soon, so that all the above questions may be answered, and my curiousity satisfied.

Bootleg, Monsters, and Stereotypical New Yorkers

No! Not another blog about Cloverfield! This would be #3! No, I won't blog about Cloverfield, I went to see a movie with my friends on my birthday last saturday called...uh...Alfalfa Pasture...yeah...well anyway...

I enjoyed this movie, I would have enjoyed it more with some little changes, but nothing huge. I try not to fall into anyone else's hype because that usually ruins a movie for me. There's something to be said about being a pessimist, I'm never disappointed. Yes, I do plan on dissecting the movie so their will be "spoilers" if you can call them that. It's a monster movie, there is running and screaming and dying so I don't really know how you can "spoil" it.

The Characters: I could have done without the entire "party" part of the movie, 20 minutes just to introduce the characters and give them 'depth', as much depth as 20 something single New Yorkers can have anyway. I didn't find them entertaining, intriguing, or interesting at all. I have t-shirts that are more witty than these characters. In fact, I finally turned to my husband and said, "If someone doesn't die soon I'm leaving". The more they talked, the less I cared when they finally bit it.

Death and Destructions: Awesome. I think this was pretty close to how it would go down should anything like this actually happen. I feel like JJ Abrams did a really good job translating basic human reaction into a feature film. But I think some of the acting needed a little help. Obviously not everything translates into a film. You can't have a bunch of people talking over each other and no one is THAT good with a camera in that kind of situation. Speaking of which.

The Camera: This was some sort of superman swiss army knife camera. It's got lights and night vision and can survive pretty much everything including helicopter crashes. That thing has got to be covered in Nerf.

Gore: Pretty minimal for this kind of movie. Yeah sure, someone gets carried by with a chunk of his stomach part missing but other than that it was really not awful at all. Almost unrealistically clean. They run by an ambulance packing up some victims and the camera man is too busy looking at his running mates (Yeah right!) everyone stops and stares at accidents. And at one point they pull a girl off a piece of rebar stuck in her shoulder, they put the camera down (so he could help) at such an angle that you can't see anything. I doubt this one done to keep the gore down so much as how do you fake ripping a piece of rebar out of a chuck of flesh. You don't. Then the cameraman gets eaten and you don't really see anything other than the camera flailing around and you end up looking at him laying on the ground, you can only assume that he's in pieces.

Acting: If you are going to add some acting in between the running, it should be realistic. Everyone thinks its so easy to act scared but really it's not all screaming and crying, I think there'd be a lot more crapping of pants, swearing, and making deals with God.
And romance? Give me a break, who cares? I don't have time to care, I'm trying to see a monster! Crying about your dead brother? Is that really how you would tell your mom over the phone? Uh uh, nope. They flew through the 7 steps of grief pretty dang quick.

Comic Relief: Good job to the cameraman who's name I don't remember because it doesn't really matter. He really should've gotten more camera time, but I guess that's a little hard when you're the one filming. He had some good lines, which I also don't remember right now. ..but they were good.

So anyway, I was pleased by the movie over all. I've heard talk that there will be a sequel which I would see if it happened but I wouldn't be heartbroken if it didn't. I will be working with Tom to post a piece of bootleg film that we got so be watching for that in the next couple of days. It's probably the best 30 seconds in the whole movie.

Calamity

A tape that was leaked to many world media outlets today is causing a great stir among America's enemies.

Apparently a classified Department of Defense recording somehow escaped the confines of the Pentagon's network and has now become front page news all over the world. The recording captures a civilian's sighting of an apparent attack on New York last weekend by an unknown threat called "Cloverfield". The United States had hoped to deal with the matter internally, but is now forced to acknowledge the calamity.

Al Qaeda leaders quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, proclaiming this their next great victory in the West as the tape depicts the destruction of most of Manhattan. Osama Bin Laden released a new tape to his followers in the Arab world today, taking full credit for the creation of the beast and his eventual launch into the Upper Bay where the Statue of Liberty stands. Bin Laden promised more of the same if the US did not cease its "global oppresssion", claiming to be in development of a new liquid metal Terminator.

In Korea, Kim Jong Il offered praise of the monstrosity that razed most of Midtown, and offered congratulations on its "destruction of the economic center of the evil American empire". The North Korean leader publicly offered sanctuary to the creature, on the condition that it did not produce any more of its flesh-eating spawn within his palace (he did allow a concession for the baby monsters to roam among the poorer neighborhoods in Korea). It is not known if the monster has survived, although distorted voices at the end of the tape gave terrorist leaders hope that there would be what they called a "sequel".

In China, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao offered condolences to the United States while offering to increase his trade surplus with the US, seeking to ship building materials and lead-based paint to local NY authorities to aid in rebuilding Manhattan. The aid would be distributed to workers through Wal-Mart.

UPDATE: Upon learning that the tape was actually a fictional account produced for the American entertainment industry, all three leaders were overhead to exclaim some translation of "Aw, &$%@!!!!"

sleep tight

I hate my mind. I won’t go into all of the reasons, I’ll just give an example. I was sick last week and wanted to get some sleep, so I fix myself a cocktail of Big Blue, 800 mg of Motrin, and Tylenol PM. I felt great. And by feeling great, I mean I can’t feel anything. So I crawled into bed and peeked out the window and noticed the couple of inches of snow that had fallen. Then I checked the clock and noticed that it was about an hour after Erin should have been home. And my mind began to race. Is she ok? Is she in a ditch? What hasn’t she called? What would happen if she was hurt? What would happen if she was dead? And so on and so on until my buzz was wrecked and I was wide awake again. GRRR.

Once my mind locks onto something, forget about it. Stream of consciousness takes over and hours pass. No sleep and I that that more than anything. If it was up to me, I would sleep all the time. My sleeping reality is so much more interesting than my awake reality. In my dreams, I’ve played with FC Barcelona, been a secret agent, died, slept with beautiful women, had outrageous situations, said all the things I wish I could say while I was awake.

If I don’t get sleep, I get really pissed. A couple of weeks ago, I punched the bathroom wall and put a crap in the dry wall because Larry was whining and wouldn’t go to bed at 2am. I have been tempted to get some sort of prescription, Ambien or something like that, but I start thinking about the expense, the possibility of addiction, and then I’m like, no I can do this. Until 4am the next morning when I still haven’t fallen asleep. I checked webmd about insomnia, and based on their medically factual, peer edited page, I have it. Great. Sweet dreams.

Abbott & Costello Meet The Blair Witch

Well, we all went to see Cloverfield a few days ago for Bristol's birthday, and boy!... ummm...well, it was interesting. As some of you may know, I do not have cable TV, and apparently any broadcast signal in the area does not know where my set is located, so I don't watch TV (I didn't want to just say, "I don't watch TV" cause I don't want to be one of those guys... I'm merely a victim of circumstance). Also, I'm waaay too lazy to read the newspaper or any form of serious/informative print/web news. I also don't listen to the radio these days because I'm catching up on the music that I was missing when I gave up on music and switched to audiobooks.
Now, I mention these things because before the day that I was invited to see the movie, I had never heard of it or anything about it. I'm told that the buzz leading up to this film's release was HUGE and many people are shocked that I knew nothing about it. I didn't even know it was supposed to be some sort of monster movie.
I think this worked out better for me, because, judging from many of the reactions I heard from people leaving the theatre, expectations may have been the ruin of this film.
Before I go on, I would like to just say that if you have not seen this, but you plan to, read no further! I will give things away, believe me!
So, the movie was pretty interesting, tho. Buncha kids throwing a going away party, and hints of a love story throughout. This type of movie is limited in many ways, but I was impressed with the use of "previous footage" shot on the tape that gave insights into the story of the main character. I was also impressed by the special effects (impressed because I would think it would be difficult to make the explosions, building damage, and the carnage look so realistic with the camera jumping around every frame of every second of the entire FREAKING MOVIE!!!!... ). And the monster! Wow, talk about creepy... just look at it:

I wouldn't want to be caught out on the streets of midtown up against that thing with nothing but a video camera in my hand. Although, as cameras go, the one these guys were using could probably suffice as the blunt instrument of death necessary to bash in some heads and then continue to shoot another hour of footage. It did survive being thrown across a park and being buried in rubble after all.
So, anyway, overall I really enjoyed the movie, despite the little bit of a headache it gave me from watching it. It was fun trying to figure out what the heck was happening and looking for clues whenever possible. And although I heard many people saying they hated the ending, well... what did they expect from this kind of movie? A big scene where the they kill the monster and then some government official explains everything that happened to the civilian with a video camera?? Nope! It ended in one of only 2 possible endings. Everybody dies or somebody lives, but either way it would end suddenly and with no good explanation of what happened, because if you're trying to suggest that this is a video of actual events and presenting it that way, then you can't suddenly switch to normal movie mode where they would be allowed to tell you stuff.
Only thing that really bugs me though is this: This is the kind of movie that generates endless conversations about what various things meant and wow, what the heck was that thing, and where did it come from, and did bleeding-eyes chick throw up blood on that shower curtain, or did her head explode, or did they shoot her or what, and did the government know this was gonna happen, and was this thing coming here in peace, and (and this is a question a friend of mine actually posed) what if this was God sending an emissary from the planet He lives on in order to create more forms of life on earth (suggesting that this was how He originally created man (don't ask me, I don't know how he got there in his head either))?????
The reason this bugs me is because we will NEVER EVER EVER know any answers, so it's pretty pointless to discuss it. If they ever gave us the answers the point of the movie would be ruined because, in my opinion, this movie was created almost solely to raise questions and spark debate. I don't think they ever should give any answers either, unless they wanted to make another movie that wasn't from a video camera perspective, but they should have done that the first time and not bothered with this one if that's what they were going for.
But, yeah, pretty enjoyable movie. Don't think I'll ever watch it again.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

There are plenty of things about America I could do without, most of you know I am not shy to discuss what they are. So it may surprise some of you that I truly do think we live in one of the best countries in the world. And there are a couple things I definatly LOVE about living in America.
Such as:

-FOOD! America, being the bastard child of so many other countries, is blessed by diversity in the food we get to experience. Currently living in Delta Township I can tell you that if I want some chinese, mexican, fried chicken, fake tacos, sushi, a burger, pizza, ravioli, or a plethora of exotic drinks they are all within a 2-3 mile radius of my house! Considering that food is a major source of comfort and stress relief in my life, this is a huge plus!
Sure, there's plenty of people who come back from other countries and rave about the food. "You can't get food like that in America!". Yeah, I bet you can, you just haven't looked hard enough. If you seriously can't find it in America, then it probably sucks!

Not to mention the Meijer a half mile down the road that's open 24/7 for all those early morning cravings (or those early morning toilet paper runs).

-Technology. Of course, technology has lead to most of the global warming that we know of. We still love our cars. Americans also developed electric lighting, tv, ipods, laptops, and bascially all the good stuff. (no, we did not develope the Wii or most other really awesome video games, so we really need to work on that).

-Sanitation and hygiene. I'm putting these two together because one tends to affect the other. The better public sanitation we have, the less reason anyone has to walk around smelling like they haven't had a bath in the current month or like they just messed their pants, or to have nasty yellow teeth. Government makes sure we have clean water running to our house, and that garbage doesn't need to pile up in our front yard. Love it!

So those are my top three reasons for living in America. And as much as I want to be flexible for where ever Ben gets a job, I'm not willing to transfer to most countries (excluding: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia). There are a lot of jobs doing things similar to what Ben what's to do in India (NO WAY JOSE!) I'm willing to visit a lot of places, and I know that if I was really pushed I could do without all the fast food etc. I did grow up in the country, alienated from most of civilization. I'd just rather never do that ever again if I don't have to

Lassie

Quentin Tarantino has always gone his own way. You've gotta appreciate the way he pretty much just makes movies for his own amusement, and then hopes that the American public will follow along. And if you wind up with a box office trainwreck like "Grindhouse", he'll just shrug it off because it was his masterpiece, and if the rest of us didn't like it, well, we just didn't get it.

Besides, "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" will cover a multitude of sins for a good long time, and most of the film industry still thinks he's a genius, so he's going to be in business for a good long time. But whenever you read a story like this one, it makes you wonder if he isn't speeding toward his decline just a little too quickly.

That's right fans, Brittany Spears may be coming to a theatre near you as a feature actress in Tarantino's latest Hollywood remake. Remaking a movie? Well, yes, but possibly making over your favorite starlet-turned-punchline into more than just an easy target for E! headlines. So just how much do you trust your favorite noir director now?

Can it get any better? Of course it can! It's time for a feel-good remake of the classic Lassie, I'm thinking starring Michael Vick. Or a touchy-feely movie about building lasting family relationships... I'd wanna cast Liza Minelli and Lou Diamond Phillips for this one. And finally, a firm message movie about the dangers of substance abuse, with Lindsay Lohan and Owen Wilson.

Don't forget a public service ad for traffic safety.... Paris Hilton will be perfect!!

see this blog? learn it. know it. live it.

Basically besides working, I’ve been doing two things—watching movies/TV shows and playing FIFA ’07.

Just before Christmas, I finished the final season of Sopranos. Gut wretching. It was hard to watch these characters lives unravel, but it makes sense. When people make poor decisions, that’s what happens. And Tony? Wow. All of his problems were self-created because of his poor leadership. In the end he is the head of a worthless, piece of crap “family”. John Gotti he is not. As for the final scene, what does it mean? Who knows? That was fine. Fine as long as there is no reunion show/movie/mini-series. Do you hear me?

Finished second season of the 4400. Very interesting. The season finale was a total mind job. They can go in so many directions. What I like about this show is that each episode is relatively self contained. A 4400 develops a power which causes success/disaster/ripple and by the end there is resolution. That’s what drove me nuts about BSG. It would start a thread and just drop it. Annoying for those who like closure. One minor complaint about the show it is very Ameri-centric. It would be interesting to see how the 4400 affect Europe, Asia, S. America and Africa. But what are you going to do?

This weekend I went in the way back machine and watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High and This is Spinal Tap. Fast Times is 25 years old and yet people are dealing with the same issues today. Amazing. As for Spinal Tap, never has pathetic been so funny. And yet all of these real bands from the ‘80’s are living the movie. 40 to 50 year old plus has beens playing anywhere that will have them. Life imitating art? My two favorites quotes:
“I’m working on something between Mozart and Bach. I call it Mach.”
“St. Hubbins, patron saint of quality footwear.”

As for FIFA, currently I’m the manager for Juventus. I brought them up from the Serie B and am now trying to compete in Serie A. The game combines the somewhat realistic play of the previous versions with the addicting aspects of Championship Manager. A beautiful fusion. I’ve made it up to World Class and hope to win the Champions League within a couple of season with the biaconeri. We shall see.

I'm back, baby!

So... here I am, on Monday, my previously appointed day of the week, and boy, oh boy, are we gonna have BIG fun today!

I recently downloaded this application called Metacafe. It (seemingly) randomly locates games and videos from around the world wide web and presents them to you for your perusal. The games are like flash games like a snowball fight or punch a monkey or something. The video section is okay so far. The random thing I mentioned a moment ago has offered me such treats as a slide show of pictures of some couple's adorable new kitten, a video of these guys driving like lunatics on public streets, classic scenes like foot to nuts, instructional videos describing how one would basically steal flash videos/games from the internet, and the one I'm about to tell you about.

This appeared to be an anti-internet porn video. It came from a website called http://www.goodmagazine.com/ whose whole reason for existing, according to them, is "...to add value. Through a print magazine, feature and documentary films, original multimedia content and local events, GOOD is providing a platform for the ideas, people, and businesses that are driving change in the world." Oh, and they also do this because they "give a damn."

Now, you noticed I said that it "appeared" to be an anti-porn video.... well, just watch.... the ending kind of blows the credibility of the message for the rest of the video. Love the music, though....
(DISCLAIMER: this video is a little bit sexual, so you may not want to watch it, but it is youtube appropriate, so if that's good enough for you, then carry on)


So i guess my questions are:
Is that educational or is it also basically just porn?
Was that an effective way to express the gravity of the porn situation in the U.S.?
Where can I download that song?
And are they making a mockery of what they seemed to be saying throughout most of the video by also advertising for a porn site? (I assumed at first that the girl in the video was NOT a pornstar until the end.... or was that a joke too? (ok.... nevermind, checked the address and it exists... do yourself a favor and don't bother investigating that....))

Anyway... I thought it was a pretty clever way to get a point across, but now I feel a bit disillusioned. What could their motivation have been?

Is This Really My LIfe?

Where as the other contributers to this blog are keeping up with current events and issues that effect us all, I feel like my life has been put in a blender and it's all I can do to keep up with the blades. Let's recap shall we?

Work is completely insane. I am currently supposed to be doing an inventory of my entire library. This requires me to weed each collection before doing the inventory. This is fine except that I have the largest reference collection in the entire system and the reference librarian in my library has been there 35 years and doesn't feel the need to change anything (this is also the answer to the age old question, "Why are all the books in the reference collection from 1964?")

So for the past week I have been diligently weeding reference while the other librarian is not in. And after having a surprisingly easy conversation about the reference collection, we able to cancel certain standing orders that are now on databases so that we can use that money to update other parts of the collection. $5,000 total!

I'm also in charge of supervising 7 pages in the library. Last week a page and a Library Assistant got into it in front of the patrons because the LA told the page to get back to work and he took offense to this. After going back and forth a little bit a patron came up and asked the LA if he was racist and wanted the phone number to the executive director so she could complain. UGH! To my eternal surprise, my boss decided that I would handle the situation "in house" meaning without administration taking control. I was able to have a very good and open conversation with the page. Turns out he was mostly offended by how it was said, not what was said and this was aggravated by small things going on that he wasn't telling me about. So the LA apologized for his rudeness and the page is getting a verbal warning for not following the guidelines set up in the page manual regarding such situations. All's well right?

No, of course not. Another page, who likes to stir things up. Jumps on the band wagon and whats to have a "group meeting" with me about everything I'm doing wrong. She's the manipulative one. So she got her sit down but it was one on one because I don't like to be ganged up on and at the end she got a a written evaluation saying she's got 6 weeks to act more professional or she's going to be terminated. So take that!

Is that all? No, not by half! This week I found out another page has been renewing her own materials (17 times!). Materials should only be renewed once. This is called manipulation of the database and is a big BIG no no! So guess what I get to deal with next week? (and that's assuming Admin isn't going to step in and make me completely powerless).

Enough about work, in fact, that's more than enough. What else is going on? Oh, not much. We're just trying to get our house ready to sell. We currently have a list taped up on the wall of every room with a list of things that need to be done, from cleaning to repainting to steam cleaning the carpet. Then we need to decided when we're going to try to sell. Do we put it up for sale before Ben has a job? Wait til after he's got a job and then feel pressured to sell as quickly as possible? Should we paint over colors we like because someone else might not like them? Can we even sell considering the housing market right now?

And the number one thing that takes up most of my thoughts every day, is Ben getting a job. A job for Ben clears up a lot of problems for me. It means I get a new job and don't have to work at such a mismanaged library any more. But it's not totally selfish. I know what it's like to be looking for a job and the low self esteem and sense of despair that comes from extended job searches. He did get a call from IBM asking to set up an interview with him in North Carolina, however that was last week and we haven't heard from them since even though Ben has emailed them and asked for an update. He also got an email from another company today asking to set up a phone interview. So at least we are getting nibbles but it's certainly not moving as fast as we would like it to. We picked up a new suit for him today so he's all set for those ever important first impressions, now if they'd just meet him!

And so, with all this in mind, I ask myself this question, "Is this really my life?" My life is for the most part based on what will happen in the future. And for the most part it does make sense, this is a time of transition. On the other hand, isn't it a really backwards way to live? I don't live in the past because that would be stupid, but it also can't be completely healthy to live in the future. I feel stressed, I feel overly busy, I feel worried, I feel like I'm just biding my time. I don't feel peaceful like I want to, I don't feel confident, I don't feel in control...

And now I want ice cream.

Prioritizing

Rising energy prices. Public education. Slowly decaying infrastructure. These are all things that receive a limited piece of the pie when it comes to our government's budget, probably not as much as is needed, but at least they get merit a line item. What a relief, then, to know that our public officials are devoting at least $890 million dollars to one of the most dire situations since 9/11 - making sure our TV's work.

You see, by February 2009, over-the-air broadcasts of television signals will be a think of the past, and digital transmission will be the public's only means of watching TV. So if you don't have a digital television, you'll be out of luck. But the federal government is riding to your rescue, providing vouchers for you to use in your purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. In this way you'll be able to continue to enjoy the free broadcast channels that you currently do, with your same tired cheap-ass TV.

And the $890 million could be just the tip of the iceberg. The government has authorized an additional $450 million if needed, and many critics say that a much heavier investment is needed, that the government is not doing enough to help our brethren in danger of missing Everybody Loves Raymond syndication.

It's high time that our public servants take into account what their constituency is truly demanding. Not better emissions standards, and not improved homeland security. American Gladiators is free programming, dammit, and it better stay free! Otherwise we might all just pick up and move to Mexico... after all, they're not using our tax dollars to finish the border wall.

odds and ends

A couple of random thoughts as we enter the New Year.

Boy, is the new Rambo getting some huge hype. Commercials all over TV. Drop down ads on the internet. You would think this would be the first action blockbuster of 2008. Now I missed the whole Rambo brouhaha the first time around so this splash of nostalgia is not connecting with me, but I gotta think that after the steroids and the special effects, is there any money for a script? You would think Stallone and Norris would pool their resources and do a MIA vs. Rambo super retro action epic.

During the Emerald Bowl (don’t even remember where the game was or who was in it) they played these wacked out ads. I think the premise was about the peanuts making you smarter with all natural ingredients or something, but I couldn’t tell if the normal people were supposed to be getting smarter or the weird inserted people (Swiss Family Robinson and the chics from Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love). Whatever.


Here’s a little holiday recap.


Food poisoning, truly, truly horrible. Great gifts. Polaris. What is Polaris, you ask? It is a merchandising city of every possible service and product. Imagine your mall. Now imagine your mall, my mall and your best friend’s mall all in one location. Then you might be close. College football, and lots of it. I was tired of it by the end. Family. We did three Christmas celebrations. Whoa.


Currently listening to:
Taj Mahal
The Band
Miles Davis
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
LCD Soundsystem

The Bane of My Existence...

I'm not sure where this pet peeve came from or where it started but I have absolutely no patience with manipulative people. Like the worse kind of poison ivy, they get under my skin like nothing else. I am not exaggerating when I say I have had more than one nightmare about people being manipulated or manipulating and I'm the only one that sees it. I try to explain, to show people the truth but they won't listen, then I scream and yell trying to be heard but people are deaf to all but the lies in their ears.

As much as I may complain about my family, at least I can say we are incredibly honest people, so I suppose that moral was instilled in me from a very young age. One of the best compliments I ever received was that people trust me when I give a compliment because they know I'd never falsely flatter people.

My feeling is that manipulation is a way of taking away free will by twisting the truth. It blinds people and takes away their ability to choose freely. People do it almost without thinking, no one says, "I'm going to manipulate that person to get my way". They think that they're just really good at persuasion, and I've never known a person who practices manipulation to actually admit it and want to change. You can never convince someone to change when it is so easy for them to simply twist what you're saying against you.

I work with one of them. She exhausts me. Not only do I have to listen and reply to what she's saying, I must also be wary of what she is not saying and try to see what she's really getting at. I'm constantly asking myself why she is saying something and what her goal is in saying it. It is always ALWAYS a selfish goal. Today I had to give her an evaluation. It was a pretty bad evaluation. This requires her arguing with me about every sentence in the evaluation...for almost 2 hours. Looking back I cannot even tell you what her issues were, she was so convoluted and confusing, most the time I didn't even know what she was saying but her point was to make me feel like I had to defend what was written in the evaluation.

I am exhausted, I feel like I just battled a bloodsucking little fiend that wanted a pound of my flesh (yeah, that's about what happened). If I had to do it all over again I think I would have just told her, "It's my prerogative, I get to run the library, so just deal with it". It's not like she's ever recieved a bad evaluation before but she made is sound like all of the pages had the same issues with how I ran things.

That's another way to manipulate, make it seem like it's not just about her. These people are wasting a gift on selfish goals and desires, think what they could do if they used their powers for good, convincing people to give to the poor, save the whales, stop buying SUV's.

Those who have ears let them hear: I'd rather hear the blunt naked brutall truth than a bunch of convoluted manipulation anyday.

what the hell is Auld Lang Syne?

here's a couple of images to help you have a laugh as you enter 2008. hopefully it can only get better from here.


i will remember this guy this summer during euro 2008.

the american spirit at work.

this fine example of an expecting mother shows that the present and future of this country is in great hands. by the way is her name mellisa (said mell-i-sa?) or melissa?

thanks to cousin Kevin for these great pics.