Before flying to Vegas tonight, I decided for no particular reason to attempt to set up my Mac "Entourage" system. I need the contact part of it, which was obviously straightforward and which I figured out how to use in less than a second, but for some reason I decided to try and figure out how to have my email sent from my Gmail to my Entourage. (I sort-of understand why it's called Entourage, and I get that it's cute because there's a vaguely misogynistic and homo-erotic HBO show that shares the name, but it kind of annoys me, especially now that I've written the word Entourage about 12 times in two minutes.
Therefore, I will stop writing it and refer to this new system as something else. How bout E. I'm creative, yes I know.
Anyway, the point of this little diatribe is that since I have no idea what I'm doing, the E is currently downloading ALL of my email from my Gmail inbox into its system. I have 4,648 emails in my Gmail inbox. This is not the best use of my time, especially since I'm one of those people who finds it fascinating to read emails that I sent about a year ago (or more). I'm also one of those people who looks at the photo albums of old high school friends and acquaintances on facebook (don't worry Janet you are not alone, although you already knew this).
So I've been reading tons of old emails. For no particular reason other than I wish I was already on my plane, and I like wasting time that I shouldn't be wasting. It's some what depressing, pretty hilarious, and more than a little bit gratifying, since as I'm looking back on emails from a specific person who I don't speak to anymore and who shall remain nameless, I see how much that relationship was draining me and how much better off I am without them. And, it's a little sad, because I see one friendship that has ended that had gone on for years, but in the end just wasn't worth my time and energy, and I realize that I still miss her.
I also see how much lonelier I used to be. How much I've grown. It's kind of awesome.
(Updated, in case anyone care, which they probably don't, but I do, so I'm writing this: I just realized that my email is also sending all my SENT messages to the E. There are 4012 sent messages in my Gmail account. This is insanity.)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Poli-ticks and other frustrations
I'm back. Yeah, not every day, but I'm trying. I really am. However, after my bizarre post the other day about meteorology, I decided to encourage myself to post when I had something interesting to say, rather than force myself to write every day and come up with inane garbage.
That being said, today I have something to say. Prompted in part by my drive back to DC today from my parents house which got me thinking about things, which of course resulted me in getting annoyed at the world at large (or more specifically at the political system that we have going on this country).
Election '08. Yeah. We know it's happening because, well, because the lovely 24-hour media began to blather about it back in March. Really. Is it necessary to begin to obsess about the election a year and a half before it will actually occur? Apparently so.
At first, initially, I was somewhat excited about this go around. I mean, anything would be better than the last two elections - with Gore/Bush and freaking John Kerry/Bushie as the "choices" (great "democratic" system we're kept up here, but I'll complain about that more later, don't you worry). Where could we go but up from '00 and '04, one might think?
And one did. I did. I thought, well golly gee it couldn't get annnnny worse! There's no way that this go-round we'd be subjected to even crappier choices!
Oh. But there is.
Because right now it looks like the American voters will be in the unenviable position of choosing between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in Election '08. That's right. We get the choice of the government controlling everything, or Giuliani womanizing and 9-elevening his way into office. Yes, we understand that you were the mayor of NYC during 9-11. Seriously. We do.
But we also understand...well...stuff like this: Charles Hill to serve as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor; Norman Podhoretz joins as a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor. And lovely video:
Which is entitled "The Case for Bombing Iran"
We also understand that health care is a BIG BIG problem in the United States right now. Seriously. It is. And I think that both sides get this, but as usual, have no idea how to approach the problem in a reasonable way.
For instance: "Currently, the big companies that don't offer health insurance to their employees tend to be retailers and banks. Herzlinger points out that if they are required to pay an additional $5,000 for health insurance for a clerk earning $22,000, the companies will immediately start substituting capital for labor. In other words, economically vulnerable clerks would be fired and replaced by automated systems or by offshore workers. Instead of just lacking health insurance they would now be out of a job." Harvard business school professor Regina Herzlinger
So basically, instead of having a job and having the opportunity to get a promotion and then get health insurance, as the current situation goes, (which granted is far less than ideal), instead (COOL!) the clerk will just simply lose their job. But, under HillaryCare, at least they'd still have health insurance, right??
Riiiiight: "Under Clinton's plan if you're uninsured you're going to go to one store, the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program," says Herzlinger. The problem, as Herzlinger sees it, is that this one store offers products designed by federal bureaucrats. She likens FEHBP insurance policies to going to buy a car and finding that only two-door subcompacts by various manufacturers are available. The cars offer different colors and hubcaps, but they are all two-door subcompacts. In other words, there is little consumer choice. The situation is even worse for the Medicare option."
My problem, in simple terms is this: the Government thinks You're Stupid. That's right.
The Government. Thinks. You're. Stupid.
The Republicans want to take away all your social choice - your right to choose, your right to smoke drugs, your right to marry who you want to marry, in essence, your right to social freedom and liberty.
And guess what?
The Democrats think your dumb too!! They want to give gay people "civil unions" because god knows that that's just EQUAL to marriage (no, actually it's not). They want to regulate what you can do (employment), and where you can do it. They want to control where you get your health care, and your economic freedom. And guess what? Normally, it's the Democrats in office that are for things like eminent domain! Yup, those Dems that allegedly stick up for the "little people"?? Well, if that person's land and home is in the way of a subcontractor's dream building, or happens to be on a piece of land that the government wants to develop then, sorry dude! You and your family history is g-o-n-e gone.
It's awesome. I love our two party system of "choice." And I love our media that boils everything down to catchphrases and simplistic, biased thinking, instead of providing the entire story up front. And I particularly love this bizarre thing that seems to have happened over the past 5 years, this idea that has seeped into our culture, and made it "cool" to think one way, straight lined.
I'd love it if we could actually get back to the roots of the counter-culture, that doesn't love the government and embrace it as a BFF AEAE, but instead yells at it, combats it and says things like "Think for yourself. Question Authority." And the most obvious: "Damn the Man. Fight the Power."
That being said, today I have something to say. Prompted in part by my drive back to DC today from my parents house which got me thinking about things, which of course resulted me in getting annoyed at the world at large (or more specifically at the political system that we have going on this country).
Election '08. Yeah. We know it's happening because, well, because the lovely 24-hour media began to blather about it back in March. Really. Is it necessary to begin to obsess about the election a year and a half before it will actually occur? Apparently so.
At first, initially, I was somewhat excited about this go around. I mean, anything would be better than the last two elections - with Gore/Bush and freaking John Kerry/Bushie as the "choices" (great "democratic" system we're kept up here, but I'll complain about that more later, don't you worry). Where could we go but up from '00 and '04, one might think?
And one did. I did. I thought, well golly gee it couldn't get annnnny worse! There's no way that this go-round we'd be subjected to even crappier choices!
Oh. But there is.
Because right now it looks like the American voters will be in the unenviable position of choosing between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in Election '08. That's right. We get the choice of the government controlling everything, or Giuliani womanizing and 9-elevening his way into office. Yes, we understand that you were the mayor of NYC during 9-11. Seriously. We do.
But we also understand...well...stuff like this: Charles Hill to serve as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor; Norman Podhoretz joins as a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor. And lovely video:
Which is entitled "The Case for Bombing Iran"
We also understand that health care is a BIG BIG problem in the United States right now. Seriously. It is. And I think that both sides get this, but as usual, have no idea how to approach the problem in a reasonable way.
For instance: "Currently, the big companies that don't offer health insurance to their employees tend to be retailers and banks. Herzlinger points out that if they are required to pay an additional $5,000 for health insurance for a clerk earning $22,000, the companies will immediately start substituting capital for labor. In other words, economically vulnerable clerks would be fired and replaced by automated systems or by offshore workers. Instead of just lacking health insurance they would now be out of a job." Harvard business school professor Regina Herzlinger
So basically, instead of having a job and having the opportunity to get a promotion and then get health insurance, as the current situation goes, (which granted is far less than ideal), instead (COOL!) the clerk will just simply lose their job. But, under HillaryCare, at least they'd still have health insurance, right??
Riiiiight: "Under Clinton's plan if you're uninsured you're going to go to one store, the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program," says Herzlinger. The problem, as Herzlinger sees it, is that this one store offers products designed by federal bureaucrats. She likens FEHBP insurance policies to going to buy a car and finding that only two-door subcompacts by various manufacturers are available. The cars offer different colors and hubcaps, but they are all two-door subcompacts. In other words, there is little consumer choice. The situation is even worse for the Medicare option."
My problem, in simple terms is this: the Government thinks You're Stupid. That's right.
The Government. Thinks. You're. Stupid.
The Republicans want to take away all your social choice - your right to choose, your right to smoke drugs, your right to marry who you want to marry, in essence, your right to social freedom and liberty.
And guess what?
The Democrats think your dumb too!! They want to give gay people "civil unions" because god knows that that's just EQUAL to marriage (no, actually it's not). They want to regulate what you can do (employment), and where you can do it. They want to control where you get your health care, and your economic freedom. And guess what? Normally, it's the Democrats in office that are for things like eminent domain! Yup, those Dems that allegedly stick up for the "little people"?? Well, if that person's land and home is in the way of a subcontractor's dream building, or happens to be on a piece of land that the government wants to develop then, sorry dude! You and your family history is g-o-n-e gone.
It's awesome. I love our two party system of "choice." And I love our media that boils everything down to catchphrases and simplistic, biased thinking, instead of providing the entire story up front. And I particularly love this bizarre thing that seems to have happened over the past 5 years, this idea that has seeped into our culture, and made it "cool" to think one way, straight lined.
I'd love it if we could actually get back to the roots of the counter-culture, that doesn't love the government and embrace it as a BFF AEAE, but instead yells at it, combats it and says things like "Think for yourself. Question Authority." And the most obvious: "Damn the Man. Fight the Power."
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Dogs On Acid - Only in a Parallel Universe
When I was younger, I really wanted to be a meteorologist (which interestingly enough, according to the blogger spellcheck, I can't even spell). Not one of those weather women you see on TV that have Vaseline coated on their teeth - a real weather person, who tracks things like hurricanes. I thought it would be really cool to move to Antarctica, spend my days wearing a jacket that looks like this:
and maybe own a pack of dogs like the ones in Jack London's The Call of the Wild.
Then I discovered that I was bad at science (possibly caused by an undiagnosed case of ADD), and that dream fell flat on its face. However, this might not have been too much of a tragedy, since I dislike camping, and I can only imagine that living in the tundra is much like camping, only with more clothes, less marshmallows, and more scary snow animals that might eat you in the night.
(Okay seriously, why did this image come up when I typed "scary snow animal" into Google image search? Google, this is the first time that you have failed me. How could you?!?)
and maybe own a pack of dogs like the ones in Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Then I discovered that I was bad at science (possibly caused by an undiagnosed case of ADD), and that dream fell flat on its face. However, this might not have been too much of a tragedy, since I dislike camping, and I can only imagine that living in the tundra is much like camping, only with more clothes, less marshmallows, and more scary snow animals that might eat you in the night.
(Okay seriously, why did this image come up when I typed "scary snow animal" into Google image search? Google, this is the first time that you have failed me. How could you?!?)
I went to see the Dalai Lama speak yesterday
This man is amazing. Not only is he a fan of modern technological advances, interested in psychotherapy, and an advocate of non-violence - he's also hilarious. Really - those photos of the Dalai Lama that you may have seen on the internet - where he's making faces, having fun - they actually weren't photoshopped! (I always thought they were.)
Dalai Lama for president! OF THE WORLD!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
To me, every day means...umm...
Yeah. So my grand idea of writing "every day" on this didn't quite come to fruition. Regardless of that false start, I'll try again. Here and now.
My last day of my last job was Friday. This job I had for a grand total of 3 months and 2 weeks. Almost a record for me. (Sadly, it actually is in fact almost a record for me.) I'm getting fairly desperate at this point to figure out what I want to do with my life, because not only am I convinced that other people have begun to look at me and think "well there's Liz. That sad and lonely 27 year old girl who will never make much of her life," but I have begun to think of myself like that as well. (And most likely my thoughts are the cause of my belief that other people think the same way. Projection is a serious problem for most people, and I'm absolutely the President of the Projection Club. Even though I want to kill projection a lot of the time.)
Now I have time again. I'm not so good with time again, but I'm desperate to be at least better at it this time around. I feel like I should rent an office space so I feel like I'm actually going to work in the mornings, since that might cause my brain to believe that I'm a real, productive person, instead of melting into my couch as it tends to do.
in essence: I am scared. I am scared of free time, I am scared of myself not trying, I am scared that I'll end up at my high school reunion in a year (if I actually end up at the reunion in the first place, which is most definitely debatable), and have to say to people, "Well, I've lived in six different cities since graduation, and had many more jobs than that, but as for me...? Oh, well here's my boyfriend and he works for Dallas Austin."
Yeah that'd be awesome.
I have a year. One year. (It's good to set time limits (right?), and maybe I can scare myself into actually not being scared of life. Which, in essence, is a lot like people who beat their animals in the hopes that the punishment will make them behave. Super positive and realllllly healthy philosophy behind this thinking. Agh. At least I recognize it thought...right?? Ummm...)
My last day of my last job was Friday. This job I had for a grand total of 3 months and 2 weeks. Almost a record for me. (Sadly, it actually is in fact almost a record for me.) I'm getting fairly desperate at this point to figure out what I want to do with my life, because not only am I convinced that other people have begun to look at me and think "well there's Liz. That sad and lonely 27 year old girl who will never make much of her life," but I have begun to think of myself like that as well. (And most likely my thoughts are the cause of my belief that other people think the same way. Projection is a serious problem for most people, and I'm absolutely the President of the Projection Club. Even though I want to kill projection a lot of the time.)
Now I have time again. I'm not so good with time again, but I'm desperate to be at least better at it this time around. I feel like I should rent an office space so I feel like I'm actually going to work in the mornings, since that might cause my brain to believe that I'm a real, productive person, instead of melting into my couch as it tends to do.
in essence: I am scared. I am scared of free time, I am scared of myself not trying, I am scared that I'll end up at my high school reunion in a year (if I actually end up at the reunion in the first place, which is most definitely debatable), and have to say to people, "Well, I've lived in six different cities since graduation, and had many more jobs than that, but as for me...? Oh, well here's my boyfriend and he works for Dallas Austin."
Yeah that'd be awesome.
I have a year. One year. (It's good to set time limits (right?), and maybe I can scare myself into actually not being scared of life. Which, in essence, is a lot like people who beat their animals in the hopes that the punishment will make them behave. Super positive and realllllly healthy philosophy behind this thinking. Agh. At least I recognize it thought...right?? Ummm...)
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