"i wonder if being an adult is just getting more and more and more and more things that you don't want to do, until you never have any fun any more."
30 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO
what's even better than mac and cheese in the early morning? mac and cheese AND tomato curry. thanks to my sister, tomato curry and about a zillion other delicious curries (including, of course, curried mac and cheese) are possible!
there are no words for how excited i am for re-learning basic math skills. so far, i've got some mad number properties down. i can average a closed set of evenly spaced integers like a mofo. soon, i'll re-learn how to find the area of various shapes, names of which i don't even know yet.
"it's free, but you have to pay to get like, cool hats and stuff" - i wanna play second life. i am now playing second life. but you don't get a home unless you pay money!! oh no! capitalism gone crazy! but i want a house for nothing! i wonder if squatters rights apply in second life. i guess i'll see later.
imma be a college professor! "the only thing students will think critically about is how to lie to you about why they didn't complete their papers on time for your class." and death. with such helpful and non-offensive commentary from youtube users as: "Wow that was a good one. It reminds me of my dumb ass ex girlfriend in college." and "don't listen to that jaded pixellated old dyke little virtual girl, you follow your electric dreams, as upliftingly as the guitar solo in said song."
on somewhat similar, but not quite related, lines, here's the 'IT GETS WORSE' project.
anton told me about this: adrienne rich died on tuesday. back in high school debate, we used evidence quoting her. beautiful writing, and sad news.
have YOU heard about the japan-korean consortium iron ore deal in australian news? i mean, everyone's heard of it, right? railroads and steel and whatnot? anderson cooper? hmm. i had no idea the vanderbilts created a city called vanderbilt, michigan, though i suspect from its location officemate in fact knows every single person in the town. village. AND winston churchill's his uncle too!
HOLY CRAP I JUST FOUND OUT LIFE CHANGING NEWS. TUVALU HAS A FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP AVAILABLE. AND KIRBATI! HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP. though, to be honest, i do like to joke about tuvalu, not so sure i'd like to be stranded on a polynesian atoll. but loooooooooooooooooook.
there are no words for how excited i am for re-learning basic math skills. so far, i've got some mad number properties down. i can average a closed set of evenly spaced integers like a mofo. soon, i'll re-learn how to find the area of various shapes, names of which i don't even know yet.
"it's free, but you have to pay to get like, cool hats and stuff" - i wanna play second life. i am now playing second life. but you don't get a home unless you pay money!! oh no! capitalism gone crazy! but i want a house for nothing! i wonder if squatters rights apply in second life. i guess i'll see later.
imma be a college professor! "the only thing students will think critically about is how to lie to you about why they didn't complete their papers on time for your class." and death. with such helpful and non-offensive commentary from youtube users as: "Wow that was a good one. It reminds me of my dumb ass ex girlfriend in college." and "don't listen to that jaded pixellated old dyke little virtual girl, you follow your electric dreams, as upliftingly as the guitar solo in said song."
on somewhat similar, but not quite related, lines, here's the 'IT GETS WORSE' project.
anton told me about this: adrienne rich died on tuesday. back in high school debate, we used evidence quoting her. beautiful writing, and sad news.
have YOU heard about the japan-korean consortium iron ore deal in australian news? i mean, everyone's heard of it, right? railroads and steel and whatnot? anderson cooper? hmm. i had no idea the vanderbilts created a city called vanderbilt, michigan, though i suspect from its location officemate in fact knows every single person in the town. village. AND winston churchill's his uncle too!
HOLY CRAP I JUST FOUND OUT LIFE CHANGING NEWS. TUVALU HAS A FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP AVAILABLE. AND KIRBATI! HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP. though, to be honest, i do like to joke about tuvalu, not so sure i'd like to be stranded on a polynesian atoll. but loooooooooooooooooook.
29 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE
this is a post that's going out to the hardiness of good ole american viruses, the simple rhinovirus. so simple, so cunning. it can make some fiery with fever, full of horrible nightmares (none about wild cats attacking an airplane, though some were about murderous pharmacists and car crashes and social ostracizations) while others can be chilled to the very core. and, though it heated me beyond belief for the last few days, i am now an ice cube. now a fireball! yay fevers.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE
Well, I received my Spanish books a mere 12 weeks after ordering them. Good news is they did arrive safe and sound, albeit without the CD that was supposed to accompany the book. The plot line? "An old man has retired to his hacienda outside a small town close to Mexico City. With the wealth he has accumulated since leaving Spain at the end of its bloody Civil War, he is restoring the hacienda... If this all sounds like a Friday night television show, you are only half right! [Note: I love that they need to keep contractions out, but exclamation points are ok.] ...Distinos is a television and video course ... following a compelling story full of human emotions, the surprises that real life often offers, and the force of the human spirit."
Oh, Destinos, no puedo que esperar por tu alegria. De veras, creo qu mi libro es un poco facil por mi nivel, pero no es importante. I miss spanish!
If you want to read something that will make you cry, read The Last Post.
Where else could a red-blooded American boy lie, kill and cheat, steal, deceive, rape and pillage with the sanction and blessing of the All-Highest? Pretty Good Stuff, Brudder!
Oh, Destinos, no puedo que esperar por tu alegria. De veras, creo qu mi libro es un poco facil por mi nivel, pero no es importante. I miss spanish!
If you want to read something that will make you cry, read The Last Post.
Where else could a red-blooded American boy lie, kill and cheat, steal, deceive, rape and pillage with the sanction and blessing of the All-Highest? Pretty Good Stuff, Brudder!
23 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY
A right circular cone is inscribed in a hemisphere so the base of the cone coincides w the base of the hemisphere. What is the ratio of the height of the cone to the radius of the hemisphere?
GMATs would have been a lot easier right after high school, i think. and that's one of the questions i got correct. eep.
My brain hurts so much from these questions that I just forgot how to do simple subtraction.
libyan protesters all up in arms and screaming right outside my window, along with press and police and ample tear gas. not an ideal work environment, nor is the 'solution', covering my windows so i can still hear them yelling.
GMATs would have been a lot easier right after high school, i think. and that's one of the questions i got correct. eep.
My brain hurts so much from these questions that I just forgot how to do simple subtraction.
libyan protesters all up in arms and screaming right outside my window, along with press and police and ample tear gas. not an ideal work environment, nor is the 'solution', covering my windows so i can still hear them yelling.
22 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN POST TWO
i've gotten super excited about this MBA thing. if you know anyone who got their MBA from the following programs: harvard, stanford, columbia, chicago, northwestern can you let me know (or ppl involved with energy initiatives there)? or a masters in management from LSE? i'm trying to tailor my target field - energy turkic countries. the places i think i'd like best (berkeley, umich) are kinda hippie, focus a lot on renewable energy versus fossil fuels (turkic countries heavy into fossil fuels, with some hydro and teensy nuclear, though obviously at some point that will have to change; the cases i spent the most time on were about hydro, tho i know much more abt the turkish coal market and fields outside production like distribution), so still trying to work those things out. super excited! many emails sent today to ask people things - please send me your contacts if you have any! or if you know folks who worked/work at mckinsey or deloitte!
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN
Lani and Dayna told me about a documentary they watched two days ago about the Westboro Baptist Church. The church is absolutely despicable, but one thing that I think is kinda sweet coming out of them is the patriot guard riders. if i - one of the least jingoistic people out there - thinks a patriotic motorcycle group is cool, they're really cool.
the westoboro church first came to fame protesting at the funeral of matthew shepard - a young guy who was tortured and killed by men who later asserted the gay panic defense, something that is about as abhorrent as lesbian baiting back in the good ole don't ask don't tell days. Hate crime legislation was proposed nationally but only came into law in 2009, 11 years afterward. and wow, this turned into a kinda depressing aside, so back to the patriot guard riders:
an article,
an article and
another article.
investment claims swag is weird - have you ever thought about having about 40 coasters with 'investment claims' written on it?! soon to go to my sister's husband.
i got my gmat study books and am excited to geek out and re-learn basic math skills that have gone unused since that time after law school when i decided a career change was in the works and took a chem class in preparation to apply for nursing or med school.
craptastic news from my sister -- my dank socks didn't get delivered to her house in time to bring them to me :( i was so excited for really, really nice socks :(
the westoboro church first came to fame protesting at the funeral of matthew shepard - a young guy who was tortured and killed by men who later asserted the gay panic defense, something that is about as abhorrent as lesbian baiting back in the good ole don't ask don't tell days. Hate crime legislation was proposed nationally but only came into law in 2009, 11 years afterward. and wow, this turned into a kinda depressing aside, so back to the patriot guard riders:
an article,
an article and
another article.
investment claims swag is weird - have you ever thought about having about 40 coasters with 'investment claims' written on it?! soon to go to my sister's husband.
i got my gmat study books and am excited to geek out and re-learn basic math skills that have gone unused since that time after law school when i decided a career change was in the works and took a chem class in preparation to apply for nursing or med school.
craptastic news from my sister -- my dank socks didn't get delivered to her house in time to bring them to me :( i was so excited for really, really nice socks :(
21 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN
i wanna learn how to dance like all the tecktonik dancers. too bad so many parties in detroit were no glow, since that would have helped me a lot with my poi and awesome dance skills. new project for kim and me, after learning belly dancing?
officemate leaves for a week soon and it will be the most boringest of longest weeks ever. i bet there will be a lot of pining, pained looks at the empty and boring spot where she should be sitting.
last night liz's mom made a reference to the 's' word. she meant sex. it was really funny. i wonder if she has ever seen celebrity jeopardy on snl. liz is right now trying to determine whether or not her mom has ever used the word 'sex' around her, and cannot come up with an example.
lots of stories, more and more and more, in the news of truth and fiction. three cups of tea, npr etc etc. i wanna read them all and write and think about them but instead i think i'll read a harrowing tale of a cypriot company investing in bulgaria with its energy assets rendered worthless by the acts of government, a bilateral investment treaty, the energy charter treaty, and a panel of three - and only three - arbitrators, upon whose backs a difficult and world-(bank) changing decision must lie. What happens to the most favored nation clause? Remember the good ole teamster and turtles days? What is the likelihood of me eventually working for the WTO? Will my soul have completely imploded by that point? These questions and more will maybe be explored in the "fact" portion of "fiction as fact", a long post that i'll eventually get around to encompassing all that i've read.
also, where the hell is the treatise (trans)portation: an examination of (s)pace and place?
officemate leaves for a week soon and it will be the most boringest of longest weeks ever. i bet there will be a lot of pining, pained looks at the empty and boring spot where she should be sitting.
last night liz's mom made a reference to the 's' word. she meant sex. it was really funny. i wonder if she has ever seen celebrity jeopardy on snl. liz is right now trying to determine whether or not her mom has ever used the word 'sex' around her, and cannot come up with an example.
lots of stories, more and more and more, in the news of truth and fiction. three cups of tea, npr etc etc. i wanna read them all and write and think about them but instead i think i'll read a harrowing tale of a cypriot company investing in bulgaria with its energy assets rendered worthless by the acts of government, a bilateral investment treaty, the energy charter treaty, and a panel of three - and only three - arbitrators, upon whose backs a difficult and world-(bank) changing decision must lie. What happens to the most favored nation clause? Remember the good ole teamster and turtles days? What is the likelihood of me eventually working for the WTO? Will my soul have completely imploded by that point? These questions and more will maybe be explored in the "fact" portion of "fiction as fact", a long post that i'll eventually get around to encompassing all that i've read.
also, where the hell is the treatise (trans)portation: an examination of (s)pace and place?
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN POST TWO
I wanna see this film. paperclips! paperclips! one huge bonus of upgrading to the decade-old version of windows versus the decade and a half old version of windows is that there's no clippy clippin around on word any more.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN
The year of herkes on top (HOT) was very much at a stand-still there, but is back on track! Sort of. I still have to get that violin.
I'm also not sure how well rounded it is for me to just listen to Gotye on repeat, over and over and over and over and over, but the song is just SO GOOD!! I'm going to see what Ira Glass and This American Life have to say about it (well, not it, but other songs). I wonder if they think the Adele theory that I blogged about is true. There's a lot of Phil Collins - INCLUDING AN ACTUAL INTERVIEW! - which is kind of completely awesome, but a lot of wallowing in pity, which is actually kind of annoying to listen to.
Today would be a PERFECT day to sit around in a patio, hanging out, drinking oberon except unfortunately the only one close enough is currently occupied by a lot of sewage. and there's no oberon here.
i'm really craving me some Nietzche and Kundera and now slaughterhouse five and reading about fatalism and eternal return and unbearable lightness.
"What if a demon crept after you one day or night in your loneliest solitude and said to you: ‘This life, as you live it now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number, and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and all unspeakably small and great in your life must return to you, and everything in the same series and sequence—and in the same way this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and in the same way this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence will be turned again and again—and you with it, you dust grain of dust!"
" All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is."
“The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground...The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?”
"People are always shouting they want to create a better future. It's not true. The future is an apathetic void of no interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past."
and i kinda want to read some zizek just to make fun of it. rahr psychoanalysis. RAHR!
I'm also not sure how well rounded it is for me to just listen to Gotye on repeat, over and over and over and over and over, but the song is just SO GOOD!! I'm going to see what Ira Glass and This American Life have to say about it (well, not it, but other songs). I wonder if they think the Adele theory that I blogged about is true. There's a lot of Phil Collins - INCLUDING AN ACTUAL INTERVIEW! - which is kind of completely awesome, but a lot of wallowing in pity, which is actually kind of annoying to listen to.
Today would be a PERFECT day to sit around in a patio, hanging out, drinking oberon except unfortunately the only one close enough is currently occupied by a lot of sewage. and there's no oberon here.
i'm really craving me some Nietzche and Kundera and now slaughterhouse five and reading about fatalism and eternal return and unbearable lightness.
"What if a demon crept after you one day or night in your loneliest solitude and said to you: ‘This life, as you live it now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number, and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and all unspeakably small and great in your life must return to you, and everything in the same series and sequence—and in the same way this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and in the same way this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence will be turned again and again—and you with it, you dust grain of dust!"
" All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is."
“The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground...The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?”
"People are always shouting they want to create a better future. It's not true. The future is an apathetic void of no interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past."
and i kinda want to read some zizek just to make fun of it. rahr psychoanalysis. RAHR!
20 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN
Samuel B. Fay invented the paper clip in 1867, or at least patented it, though the most popular one - what we think of as a paperclip - is called a gem and was never patented. Apparently the dude who coined the phrase 'survival of the fittest' also was involved with paper clips (OR WAS HE??).
19 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN POST THREE
phishheads are too freaking annoying and have about a kazillion posts about the band who unfortunately just also played some more nye concerts in ny, so i'll never be able to find the story about the couple who snuck on stage and danced and twirled around the stage, unless it's on the rest of the podcast, which i think it's not.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN POST TWO
more posts on journalism and fact and fiction. one day soon, i'll write up an actual post on it, rather than just putting links for you to connect the dots. Til then, listen to sedaris! (also frequently featured on this american life. and, as an aside, i am in love with ira glass. seriously, seriously and deeply in love.)
things i'm going to listen to today, and if you haven't, you should:
my experimental phase, which has a clip about curly oxide, a hasidic jew who became a punk rocker with vic thrill. if i remember correctly, sasha baron cohen is going to depict him in a movie coming out relatively soon. unlike matisyahu (who religious leaders had told to go out and make music - from what i remember, the only hasid directed to do so), curly oxide was very much going against his religion in partaking in the band and lifestyle and almost *never* gives interviews and stuff, so it's fascinating to listen to. also unlike matisyahu, he kinda gave up hasidisim, sorta, but is now uber practicing. matisyahu gave up hasidism recently, methinks.
first day - one of my favorite, favorite, favorite of all time. especially the squirrel story. i dare you to listen to it and not laugh.
bobby dunbar's kidnapping.
somewhere, there's a beautiful story of a couple that was taking dancing lessons and got onto stage at a new years eve phish show at madison square gardens. it's possible it's in 20 acts in 60 minutes, but if not, i will find it for sure.
things i'm going to listen to today, and if you haven't, you should:
my experimental phase, which has a clip about curly oxide, a hasidic jew who became a punk rocker with vic thrill. if i remember correctly, sasha baron cohen is going to depict him in a movie coming out relatively soon. unlike matisyahu (who religious leaders had told to go out and make music - from what i remember, the only hasid directed to do so), curly oxide was very much going against his religion in partaking in the band and lifestyle and almost *never* gives interviews and stuff, so it's fascinating to listen to. also unlike matisyahu, he kinda gave up hasidisim, sorta, but is now uber practicing. matisyahu gave up hasidism recently, methinks.
first day - one of my favorite, favorite, favorite of all time. especially the squirrel story. i dare you to listen to it and not laugh.
bobby dunbar's kidnapping.
somewhere, there's a beautiful story of a couple that was taking dancing lessons and got onto stage at a new years eve phish show at madison square gardens. it's possible it's in 20 acts in 60 minutes, but if not, i will find it for sure.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
very busy busy as a bee day with my sister and her husband coming to town, so i'm just going to put one longform article up for now:
David Sedaris, one of my favorite essayists in the world, subject of this author's investigation into truth or fiction. Even if he may exaggerate the truth, Twelve Moments in the Life of an Artist remains amazing, as do almost all of his stories. Some of them are available here.
Another fiction portrayed as non: a tour through foxconn by mike daisey.
David Sedaris, one of my favorite essayists in the world, subject of this author's investigation into truth or fiction. Even if he may exaggerate the truth, Twelve Moments in the Life of an Artist remains amazing, as do almost all of his stories. Some of them are available here.
Another fiction portrayed as non: a tour through foxconn by mike daisey.
16 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN
i apologize for the craptastic nature of my previous blog post. our office spirits were at an all time low when i blearily looked out the one non-pinkeye-infected eye to realize both officemate and i were in rough shape. it's really hard to work when the thing i desire most is an eye patch.
two updates:
first, is this best of craigslist ad, from grand riggidy rapids no less! woodchucks are really freaking cute, though this one's a pest eating all their organic veggies.
second is a shoutout to my dad <3, who i hope is speedily recovering in the hospital. we all love you and hope you're feeling better, and don't do anything with the move-out process, because that sounds like it'd suck, and i can't believe we're going to be hicks now (cows for neighbors makes us hicks, right?)!
two updates:
first, is this best of craigslist ad, from grand riggidy rapids no less! woodchucks are really freaking cute, though this one's a pest eating all their organic veggies.
second is a shoutout to my dad <3, who i hope is speedily recovering in the hospital. we all love you and hope you're feeling better, and don't do anything with the move-out process, because that sounds like it'd suck, and i can't believe we're going to be hicks now (cows for neighbors makes us hicks, right?)!
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN
the blog is going to suck today until i get my veggie and camembert burger.
me: i[{{{ï ï ¨ ë ¨ö¨ü¨şä¨y
Sent at 11:57 AM on Friday
me: ã~e~i~ıõ~u~y~w~rñ
àèìòùéáéíó´ú
burger gotten. blog will still suck. but this goes out for amanda!
more criminal law! new standards for discovery proposed - good.
two lunch day!
me: i[{{{ï ï ¨ ë ¨ö¨ü¨şä¨y
Sent at 11:57 AM on Friday
me: ã~e~i~ıõ~u~y~w~rñ
àèìòùéáéíó´ú
burger gotten. blog will still suck. but this goes out for amanda!
more criminal law! new standards for discovery proposed - good.
two lunch day!
15 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POST THREE
highlight of almost every day at my work is when officemate drops her keyboard on the ground. a few days ago the IT guy did it and it was even better. earlier, i was listening to a song aloud (quietly aloud, but aloud) because officemate was listening to music loud enough on her headphones she couldn't tell what i was listening to. she gets mad at noise pollution, even though her keyboard has to be the overall highest decibel noise pollutant in the office overall given all the falling down. she took off her headphones and started frantically looking around the office, then figured out that we had independently been listening to the same song. but on different websites. weird. also several times yesterday officemate and i read each other's minds. it was creepy. for instance i can tell now she's thinking about graduate school. in fact, i have decided to count myself as the best mindreader of all time! it's like i'm ceaser's soothsayer: BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH. but instead of reading the future, i read MINDS. BAM. and seriously, grad school sux.
my sister caitybeth and her husband come on monday and i am TERRIBLY excited. i ordered about a zillion curries, a keyboard tray so that my shoulder stops killing me every day, and a bunch of other stuff. IT IS SO EXCITING!
my sister caitybeth and her husband come on monday and i am TERRIBLY excited. i ordered about a zillion curries, a keyboard tray so that my shoulder stops killing me every day, and a bunch of other stuff. IT IS SO EXCITING!
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POST TWO
Criminal law continues to be one thing I love to read about. For instance, this story about William Heirens, written in 1989, blows the mind: so, so many injustices allowed to stand, all because "it's really the publicity surrounding the case..." Sadly, the Lipstick killer died in prison at the age of 83 as possibly the world's longest serving prisoner.
During his time in prison, Heirens became the first Illinois prisoner to earn a college degree behind bars (he had been attending the soul-crushing University of Chicago prior to his 'conviction'), earned a certificate in electronics and then taught TV repair to other inmates, managed 350 inmates at a prison garment factor, organized classes for inmates, set up an educational program and advised prisoners on education and law, taught art to inmates after becoming a watercolor artist and calligrapher, and founded a self-help group in prison. He received glowing reviews from all who came into contact with him - despite this, he was denied parole over 30 times.
It really says something when even the sensationalist trutv.com - which has retold stories of serial killers that in actuality have little to no evidence in a highly sensationalized manner(toy box killer) - retells the conviction and trial in a fashion to demonstrate the utter unfairness and pre-determined outcome of the case.
UPDATE
Also, forgot to note - but he finished serving time for his sentences in 1983: retributive justice, and one of the reasons the post the other day about the society of friends/rehabilitation would be a better standard (here, using the counterfactual that Heirens were actually guilty). sad yall.
During his time in prison, Heirens became the first Illinois prisoner to earn a college degree behind bars (he had been attending the soul-crushing University of Chicago prior to his 'conviction'), earned a certificate in electronics and then taught TV repair to other inmates, managed 350 inmates at a prison garment factor, organized classes for inmates, set up an educational program and advised prisoners on education and law, taught art to inmates after becoming a watercolor artist and calligrapher, and founded a self-help group in prison. He received glowing reviews from all who came into contact with him - despite this, he was denied parole over 30 times.
It really says something when even the sensationalist trutv.com - which has retold stories of serial killers that in actuality have little to no evidence in a highly sensationalized manner(toy box killer) - retells the conviction and trial in a fashion to demonstrate the utter unfairness and pre-determined outcome of the case.
UPDATE
Also, forgot to note - but he finished serving time for his sentences in 1983: retributive justice, and one of the reasons the post the other day about the society of friends/rehabilitation would be a better standard (here, using the counterfactual that Heirens were actually guilty). sad yall.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN
An article about the creation of Grand Theft Auto. I've never really played it - instead mostly played crazy taxi - but the development process is a cool read.
I want to watch this movie. I know it's gotten some poor reviews, but the two write ups I read are designed to catch the attention of film geeks:
nytimes:
n+1
both articles are great to read together - the n+1 one realllllllly does not like the focus that other newspapers like the times have put into the appearance of the young woman:
amen to that, n+1, one of my recent fav magazines.
I want to watch this movie. I know it's gotten some poor reviews, but the two write ups I read are designed to catch the attention of film geeks:
nytimes:
One of the knots that Ms. Dunham requires you to untie while you’re watching “Tiny Furniture” is the extent to which she is playing with ideas about fiction and the real, originals and copies... One hint, though, might be the character’s unusual first name, which suggests that Ms. Dunham, at the age of 24 and herself a recent graduate, has read the social theorist Walter Benjamin’s 1930s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility,” one of the most influential (and commonly classroom-assigned) inquiries into aesthetic production and the mass reproduction of art...Cinema, in other words, might spark critical thinking.
Certainly the character of Aura encourages critical thinking about female representations. American movies are filled with cruelly unlovable, unloved women, usually ugly caricatures. For her part, Aura can be a drag, self-indulgent, whiny and passively, aggressively irritating. But it is Ms. Dunham’s refusal to put on a pretty show, to doll herself up, that is the movie’s boldest stroke. In her rejection of visual pleasure (the unlovely, unadorned, badly lighted digital images add to the anti-aesthetic) you can see a feminist argument about narrative cinema in bold action. Classical Hollywood films, this argument goes, turn desirable female images into fetish objects for male pleasure, which among other things tames women. Female stars are created to be looked at; Aura invites your gaze, and troubles it.
n+1
In The Art of Fiction, Henry James explains that in the English novel “there is a traditional difference between that which people know and that which they agree to admit that they know, that which they see and that which they speak of, that which they feel to be a part of life and that which they allow to enter into literature.” The same applies to film today, here, in America. Because we speak about “body issues,” Dunham was made to speak about them, too. But what actually makes Tiny Furniture a daring film is that it talks about class and privilege. What makes this boldness radical is that it treats privilege positively: instead of implying privilege’s existence via its absence, Dunham makes it present, as a material experience that offers specific pleasures and advantages. She doesn’t speak truth to power, but from it, which these days is as rare, and as necessary.
both articles are great to read together - the n+1 one realllllllly does not like the focus that other newspapers like the times have put into the appearance of the young woman:
Even positive reviews noted Dunham’s appearance—a fact over which she has slightly more control than who her parents are, but less, say, than the actual content of her film. Fans praised Dunham’s radical frankness, her fearless telling of the truth...In the New York Times, Manohla Dargis classified Dunham as a “body-based artist”... That leaves Dunham with very little time to say anything else. Taken together, the responses to Tiny Furniture spelled out a single message: if a young woman wants to talk about her life, she better be talking about her looks. Having a body is the only experience she is allowed to take seriously.
amen to that, n+1, one of my recent fav magazines.
14 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN
A horribly depressing, but truly fantastically written story about a boy named Lance Butterfield, a football career, and an abusive home life. And can I say that I seriously hope that the prosecutors have evolved a bit more in their beliefs regarding domestic violence and defenses for survivors. Here's another story with a few additional details, including more about the entire family and community supporting Lance.
The tale of a Sotheby's girl. Insight into the art world - galleries against auction houses, strategies for selling art, objectification and a confusing refusal by the company to meet with labor demands. From the article:
The tale of a Sotheby's girl. Insight into the art world - galleries against auction houses, strategies for selling art, objectification and a confusing refusal by the company to meet with labor demands. From the article:
In my interview, I told my future boss that I had never been able to imagine an idea that could be best expressed by painting it. “But,” I added, making exaggerated eye contact, “appreciating art doesn’t mean you can send effective emails. I can write. I can make your job easier for you.” This is the best thing to say in an interview if you are young and unqualified to do anything other than maintain a personal blog. I started three weeks later...As far as I can tell, here's a cached image of that shoot.
“Oh, good. She’s blonde,” said the photographer. I made a face at him. “For the contrast.” He sighed. “You’ll stand out against the purple.” I followed his instructions and approached the painting, gazing up at it from a few feet away at a quarter-angle to the camera. I shifted my weight subtly from one hip to the other and pretended to see things on the canvas that I hadn’t before. Standing next to the painting, I was a live specimen of powerlessness: in service of sums of money too great and too senseless for me to comprehend. “Back up a little,” the photographer instructed. “No, that’s too much. Yeah, stay right there. I need you to look diminutive.”
13 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE
bizarro world: the tale of a man doing an interview with video game nerds who discovers his wife may be able to beat the world record in tetris.
i was going to write about the java programming language, since i've started using it this year, but it actually seems like it may be boring for other people. instead, a case of mass hysteria. and another, which i read about long ago, but this one involving laughing.
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and ends. A Janus word or autoantonym is a word that has two opposite meanings at once. A prime example is the word dust, which can mean both to remove something and to sprinkle it on. Another hotly contested example is the term literally, which may mean both in reality, actually or metaphorically or figuratively.
There's been a lot of press about solitary confinement lately. Hopefully this is a larger part of reforming US criminal justice systems - the stories contained within are truly terrible. Interesting facts I didn't know relate to my absolute favorite religious group.
Solitary confinement began as a social experiment from a Quaker-inspired philosophy offering an alternative for more severe forms of punishment (cutting off limbs, death penalty). Beginning in the 1790s, society began to regard some criminals as rehabitable; prisons built from that social perspective began to encompass more than just punishment as their goal. One strategy was particularly revolutionary: solitary confinement. For instance, in 1829, the first prison was built containing cells built for solitary confinement. However, it was discontinued after a number of prisoners committed suicide, went insane, or were no longer functional in society. It started to gain traction in California in the 1930s, memorably shown in The Birdman of Alcatraz, a film that took great poetic license with its subject.
Twenty nine years ago, in 1983, a prison first used the modern 23 hour lockdown in Marion, Illinois. Six years later, California built the first Supermax prison. Now, over 25,000 prisoners are in solitary confinement in the United States, with possibly 80,000 more in restrictive confinement, and not all are crazed individuals unable to socialize with any one else (and, indeed, the Dart Society Reports article identifies some additional human desires, such as reading materials, that may be denied to such inmates). In addition to - like a lot of the criminal justice system - being ineffective and a waste of resources, many question whether isolation should be classified as torture.
And, in a twist that shows why i love me some Society of Friends, the American Friends Service Committee continues to work for prisoner rights, including to limit the use of solitary confinement.
**Update**
It would appear the reason for the rise in publicity was because of a UN report on Monday. From the Times article:
And here's a quote to get you to hopefully explore all of the above articles, from the Dart Society Report's article:
And finally, some of the article ties into one of my favorite social movements, prison rebellions and strikes.
i was going to write about the java programming language, since i've started using it this year, but it actually seems like it may be boring for other people. instead, a case of mass hysteria. and another, which i read about long ago, but this one involving laughing.
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and ends. A Janus word or autoantonym is a word that has two opposite meanings at once. A prime example is the word dust, which can mean both to remove something and to sprinkle it on. Another hotly contested example is the term literally, which may mean both in reality, actually or metaphorically or figuratively.
There's been a lot of press about solitary confinement lately. Hopefully this is a larger part of reforming US criminal justice systems - the stories contained within are truly terrible. Interesting facts I didn't know relate to my absolute favorite religious group.
Solitary confinement began as a social experiment from a Quaker-inspired philosophy offering an alternative for more severe forms of punishment (cutting off limbs, death penalty). Beginning in the 1790s, society began to regard some criminals as rehabitable; prisons built from that social perspective began to encompass more than just punishment as their goal. One strategy was particularly revolutionary: solitary confinement. For instance, in 1829, the first prison was built containing cells built for solitary confinement. However, it was discontinued after a number of prisoners committed suicide, went insane, or were no longer functional in society. It started to gain traction in California in the 1930s, memorably shown in The Birdman of Alcatraz, a film that took great poetic license with its subject.
Twenty nine years ago, in 1983, a prison first used the modern 23 hour lockdown in Marion, Illinois. Six years later, California built the first Supermax prison. Now, over 25,000 prisoners are in solitary confinement in the United States, with possibly 80,000 more in restrictive confinement, and not all are crazed individuals unable to socialize with any one else (and, indeed, the Dart Society Reports article identifies some additional human desires, such as reading materials, that may be denied to such inmates). In addition to - like a lot of the criminal justice system - being ineffective and a waste of resources, many question whether isolation should be classified as torture.
And, in a twist that shows why i love me some Society of Friends, the American Friends Service Committee continues to work for prisoner rights, including to limit the use of solitary confinement.
**Update**
It would appear the reason for the rise in publicity was because of a UN report on Monday. From the Times article:
In a report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Juan E. Méndez, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on torture and other abuse, called for a ban on solitary confinement except in limited situations and singled out the United States for its reliance on the method.
And here's a quote to get you to hopefully explore all of the above articles, from the Dart Society Report's article:
Prisoners strike up relationships with the critters that crawl in through their air vents. One man used his own hairs to try to repair a moth’s injured wing in hopes of facilitating its escape. Mohammed Saleh — convicted of having co-conspired in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — lost his daily hour of outdoor recreation for three months at ADX because he saved bread crumbs to feed blackbirds in his exercise pen.
And finally, some of the article ties into one of my favorite social movements, prison rebellions and strikes.
12 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN POST TWO
This is a simple answer to a complex question: Should I go to grad school?
This, however, is a little more complicated, with checklists and whatnot.
And finally, this is the most complex of all, and is my current favorite read.
This, however, is a little more complicated, with checklists and whatnot.
And finally, this is the most complex of all, and is my current favorite read.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
adventures of a teenage polyglot. this article was fascinating - and i was reading it aloud to officemate - and then it became even cooler when it name dropped someone i met in istanbul (video includes my second favorite time dancing in taksim square).
yesterday was a very sad day, but the upside is that i now have a full suitcase - literally - of very nice clothes and somewhat surprising fond memories of sbarro pizza.
t minus 6 days until my sister and her husband come, and i'm so beyond excited! curry and curry and curry and maybe even mr. turkey! and curry! and hot peppers! and spices!
Fake meat: I'm not a big fan. I guess it's fine for those who like meat, but for me, I just get so grossed out by it.
one of my favs from last weekend: "can you start talking to him again? when you don't talk to him, he stands staring."
yesterday was a very sad day, but the upside is that i now have a full suitcase - literally - of very nice clothes and somewhat surprising fond memories of sbarro pizza.
t minus 6 days until my sister and her husband come, and i'm so beyond excited! curry and curry and curry and maybe even mr. turkey! and curry! and hot peppers! and spices!
Fake meat: I'm not a big fan. I guess it's fine for those who like meat, but for me, I just get so grossed out by it.
one of my favs from last weekend: "can you start talking to him again? when you don't talk to him, he stands staring."
09 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POST TWO
Models Wanted! (Nişantaşı, Istanbul)
Date: 2012-03-07, 11:10AM EET
Reply to: xrdsh-2888969814@job.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
We are an online fashion retail company looking for male and female models of all shapes and sizes.
If you are interested please send us a full-length photograph, a facial shot and for females please send a picture of your feet wearing open toed shoes if possible, not a necessity. Please also include your dress and shoe sizes.
When replying with the attached required pictures please also include what available hours you can work to and from, as well as your contact information.
Per days' work we will be paying 60TL.
Date: 2012-03-07, 11:10AM EET
Reply to: xrdsh-2888969814@job.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
We are an online fashion retail company looking for male and female models of all shapes and sizes.
If you are interested please send us a full-length photograph, a facial shot and for females please send a picture of your feet wearing open toed shoes if possible, not a necessity. Please also include your dress and shoe sizes.
When replying with the attached required pictures please also include what available hours you can work to and from, as well as your contact information.
Per days' work we will be paying 60TL.
08 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND NINE
slate.com is coming through with some amazing stories. here's one about sugar daddies and sugar babies... really interesting.
another interesting one is this, about the pro-choice re-awakening. it's a really well-written piece on the hypocrisy, double standards and paternalism rampant through society regarding women. From the article, which I highly recommend you read:
never thought i would miss being part of msu's womyn's council, but there it is.
another interesting one is this, about the pro-choice re-awakening. it's a really well-written piece on the hypocrisy, double standards and paternalism rampant through society regarding women. From the article, which I highly recommend you read:
But when those officials, and the mouthpieces of their movement, make plain their belief that you are a dumb slut without the right to bodily autonomy, simply for being female, women can connect the dots...
The Rush Limbaughs of the world don’t get to define the boundaries of appropriate sexual or moral behavior. But something is happening: Women are defining those boundaries for themselves, with many men alongside them, and they’re being reminded that there’s a concerted movement to take that right of self-definition away. And we’re mad.
never thought i would miss being part of msu's womyn's council, but there it is.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND NINE
THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE VIDEO AND SONG EVER AND I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. i listened to it 8 times yesterday, which is less than gotye, but still an impressive showing for one day.
i've decided what to do with my life, which is a relief. m-b-a all the way!
this is the group that everyone loves to hate. in fact, after my grand showing last night, i've been invited to join the haters club tonight. haters gotta hate! officemate has loved to hate them for a while. it's kinda like peta, in that it uses horrible media tactics to raise awareness, but a little less like peta in that it's in ukraine and god the world sucks for those poor women, more than it even does living in a country like turkey. so women have to try out to be in this protest group, and are picked based on their beauty alone. horrible, no? well, here they are, protesting in a very strange way. makes me laugh quite a bit.
uzbekistan banned wiki, as noted in this very funny article. also, nightwish is *not* a good band.
this is how i feel about living here most of the time.
have you made it happen yet? watch the inspirational video here.
i've decided what to do with my life, which is a relief. m-b-a all the way!
this is the group that everyone loves to hate. in fact, after my grand showing last night, i've been invited to join the haters club tonight. haters gotta hate! officemate has loved to hate them for a while. it's kinda like peta, in that it uses horrible media tactics to raise awareness, but a little less like peta in that it's in ukraine and god the world sucks for those poor women, more than it even does living in a country like turkey. so women have to try out to be in this protest group, and are picked based on their beauty alone. horrible, no? well, here they are, protesting in a very strange way. makes me laugh quite a bit.
uzbekistan banned wiki, as noted in this very funny article. also, nightwish is *not* a good band.
this is how i feel about living here most of the time.
have you made it happen yet? watch the inspirational video here.
07 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
officemate is ill today so the first part of the day is really boring and filled with silence and longing looks at her desk, wishing someone were here. but then she came!!
look who made it into turkish newspapers!
i think this guy is a moron. i mean, what an idiot. i know someone who'd get along with him, though, perhaps arguing that because rape fantasies exist, that means rape culture ok!
one of my favorite short vegans got voted out of office after redistricting :(
look who made it into turkish newspapers!
i think this guy is a moron. i mean, what an idiot. i know someone who'd get along with him, though, perhaps arguing that because rape fantasies exist, that means rape culture ok!
one of my favorite short vegans got voted out of office after redistricting :(
06 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN
"I wonder how many women in the world he could make happy. I mean, the world's a big place, so it's going to be a large number, but comparatively? I mean comparatively?" - words of wisdom from a disgruntled friend
Beginning in the early 1900s, the US government minted $20 gold coins designed by Saint-Gaudens. They were never released, and by the Great Depression, Americans were hoarding their gold coins and depleting all gold stocks, fearful the dollar would crash. The US government issued a directive disallowing such hoarding and demanding citizens return such gold. The $20 coins, which had never been released, were to be melted down and stored in Fort Knox. However, not all of them were returned: several went to private buyers, including one to King Farouk of Egypt. That coin was eventually auctioned off for US $7.6 million. Ten more were found a decade ago. This is the story of those coins and the extreme measures the government has taken to recover them.
Lawrence v. Texas overturned Bowers v. Hardwick, coming on the heels of Romer v. Evans. All great cases to know the history of, and to harshly judge Scalia by, but the New Yorker history of Lawrence contains all sorts of facts that I never knew, like that Lawrence and Garner weren't even a couple. Some of the better quotes from it:
And here's another article about Bob Kerrey, the senator from Nebraska who was one of the sole senators - from a very unusual state - to oppose the DOMA. It looks like he participated in the slaughter of women and children back in Vietnam. For some more light reading, read about the My Lai Massacre.
Beginning in the early 1900s, the US government minted $20 gold coins designed by Saint-Gaudens. They were never released, and by the Great Depression, Americans were hoarding their gold coins and depleting all gold stocks, fearful the dollar would crash. The US government issued a directive disallowing such hoarding and demanding citizens return such gold. The $20 coins, which had never been released, were to be melted down and stored in Fort Knox. However, not all of them were returned: several went to private buyers, including one to King Farouk of Egypt. That coin was eventually auctioned off for US $7.6 million. Ten more were found a decade ago. This is the story of those coins and the extreme measures the government has taken to recover them.
Lawrence v. Texas overturned Bowers v. Hardwick, coming on the heels of Romer v. Evans. All great cases to know the history of, and to harshly judge Scalia by, but the New Yorker history of Lawrence contains all sorts of facts that I never knew, like that Lawrence and Garner weren't even a couple. Some of the better quotes from it:
Does it matter that, in Justice Kennedy’s stirring meditation on privacy and dignity and the “manifold possibilities” of liberty, the truth of the non-relationship between the non-lovers John Lawrence and Tyron Garner was lost? Does it matter that our collective memory locks the two men together in a mythic embrace? The plaintiffs who seek redress at the Supreme Court are rarely as polished as the movie versions that the Court can bring itself to love. But it’s rare that they disappear altogether, the way Lawrence and Garner did.
“Sodomy” was, for centuries, a crime defined by its unspeakable nature. The eighteenth-century British legal commentator William Blackstone called it a crime “not fit to be named,” which takes you only so far when it comes to drafting a ban.
Justice Lewis Powell, Jr., the swing vote in the 1986 Bowers decision, was seventy-eight when the case reached the high court. Baffled, he told his clerk, “I don’t believe I’ve ever met a homosexual.” That clerk, as it turns out, was gay.And the argument officemate beat me on (or picked up at least one ballot - can't remember) when my teammate and I were arguing to repeal DADT back in the day:
Already there is enormous anxiety among gay-rights activists over which vehicle is better, whether the Court is ready to make this profound change in the definition of marriage, and whether, even if the Court allows gay marriage, it will launch a national backlash that will end up curbing gay progress in America in the long run.
And here's another article about Bob Kerrey, the senator from Nebraska who was one of the sole senators - from a very unusual state - to oppose the DOMA. It looks like he participated in the slaughter of women and children back in Vietnam. For some more light reading, read about the My Lai Massacre.
05 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIX
it's weird that this article depicts cuidad juarez as a safe city until 2008 given the really high murder rate of maquiladora workers happening years before this.
this is hideous, from the turkish groupon.
d.b. cooper, the hijacker who got away. i didn't know anything about it!
and finally, another interesting piece. it's weird how much i've been reading about sports lately. and onto espn's 52 best articles.
this is hideous, from the turkish groupon.
d.b. cooper, the hijacker who got away. i didn't know anything about it!
and finally, another interesting piece. it's weird how much i've been reading about sports lately. and onto espn's 52 best articles.
03 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE
malice at the palace. an amazing oral history of one of my favorite sports games ever.
02 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR POST THREE
i just figured out that d-bag central from the previous post is a graduate school at a school with an awesome debater and involved in the best remake of the lord of the rings ever created, ever. i may email him asking for a guest review of whether once a douche always a douche remains true.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
this song is dedicated to rachael since it's totally her. i am kind of in love with them. especially because of this song, which makes me want to learn it on violin.
I read a very depressing tale of mob violence in South Africa. It's sad. I wouldn't read it if I were you, but if you want to be kinda down for a while, go for it.
tornadoes scare me almost as much as umbrellas.
WE HAVE A ROOM AVAILABLE PLEASE FIND US A ROOMMATE! This post is nowhere near as good as the one we posted when we needed a new roommate but instead got our hotel guest, polly, who then skipped out on her bills while calling me a liar because she was too cheap and bratty to pay for heating (and also called herself 'from new york city' and when asked 'what area' she lived in replied 'new york city', to which i confusedly looked at her and asked what part specifically of the city, to which she replied.... connecticut). i wish i had the text to reuse but they apparently don't keep forever like twinkies.
RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE
i'm glad officemate and i are so united on hatred of those who love zizek except that one professor at msu who wanted to do the critical theory/judo club. she was cool. for instance, that douchey guy who went to madison who used to do debate who was really sexist and got in trouble for having pornographic images of women on his folders, obviously creating a rather hostile environment for the teenage girls competing against him, who presented a paper at a conference (edited for spelling so any google alerts hopefully don't come up, all words were originally as they would be normally fully spelled:) Fuc- Your G-- in the Disco: Torshure, Muzik, and the Deevine in Guan tanimo. Officemate's college roommate offers this gem: "hung like a horse, but he doesn't know how to use it." This revelation from a girl he cheated with perhaps explains a bit more about why his hot girlfriend who went to an ivy dumped him so many times, as explained by his very cool bffer. but bffer and i digress by looking up our unrequited loves on facebook now. back to the example zizek lover:
this asshole was such a jerk to people in debate. he came from a school known, fittingly for his binders, PorNo. he thought he was the shit. he was not. he wasn't that good and he lost against my partner and me all the time, but he thought by being very, very rude and condescending he could somehow prevail or seem like we perceptually lost. he was very, very rude to both of us, although i remember that socially he was ok to me.
cut away to college. three years later, i'm in an honors option, extra classes taken to get H credit required by the honors college. We're reading Welcome to the Desert of the Real, and d-bag central is trying to explain his reading of the post-September 11th world as described in the book (along with lots of references to the matrix). He starts spouting off stuff about psychoanalytics - a subject I am fairly strong in given my intense hatred of the origins of the field (penis envy what!?) - and begins discussing how after September 11th we achieved the real. HA. HAHAHA! This is only funny for the probably like two people ever who will read this blog and know about Zizek, psychoanalytics, or Lacanian theory, but the real is - as a FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE of psychoanalysis - an impossibility. I mean, even the Wikipedia article says that. Duh!
Anyway, he would lecture us all like we were idiots about stuff that was FUNDAMENTALLY INACCURATE but was banking on the fact that nobody else in the class had any knowledge, whatsoever, of the fundamental basics of philosophy, a foolhardy error given that we had to understand it moderately well for college debate. THEN, in the next breath, he proceeded to explain how he had never really understood psychoanalytics until he had done a bunch of shrooms and read some of the more well known works. He said this to two professors. Newsflash d-bag - shrooms certainly did not help your understanding of some of the most FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS of zizek's works. THIS is the level of knowledge of the typical zizek fan.
Quotes from facebook: "I totally forgot that Zizek spends the first few pages of the Plague of Fantasies theorizing the differences between how Germans, French, and Anglo-Saxons "shit" and how this reflects their national ideologies and predilections. And he's been accused of being too esoteric .... hmph."
Quotes from gchat:
From a 27 year old friend: "yyyy: what does your 20 year old girlfriend think of zizek
do you use zizek to get laid
xxxx: Ummmmmmmmm
She is a virgin.
yyyy: you're avoiding the question
xxxx: Also she thinks it is cute when I talk about him.
yyyy: right"
school flashbacks:
"dont skip, go
just talk abotu agamben
and zizek
it will all be good
i had to listen to a speech today
abt agamben
and zizek
and derrida
and how they releate to shakespears abrahamic traditions
it was like
ewwwww"
"me: YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!
in teh future
jimotron: the first prospectus i submitted!
me: people will be like
jimotron: and they accepted it!
me: jimotron fans
rather than like zizek freaks" - GOD WILLING
regarding when lee and i first met, with our first big argument:
"jimotron: mags i hate zizek
me: i know i do too
he got offended when i said he was the like
beatles/elvis of theory
which is like there is absolutely no contnetion about htat
jimotron: yah"
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:25 PM, UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE wrote:
of course the cute indian boy in teh reading room would be reading zizek
me: hahaha
[Epilogue: AND LIKE THAT, HE WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO BE CONSIDERED AS ANYTHING BUT A TOOL.]
And I leave with some links, on either side of the debate, and a HOME RUN for my argument with lee.
Why he's an idiot.
An interview with him on al jazeera (confusing why he's chosen), where he is identified as "known as the elvis of cultural theory." Although the overall tenor of his speech is great, there's some completely idiotic essentializations of all muslim protestors as a kind of noble savage.
And finally, an interview with the Guardian.
Now, I know there are a number of folks out there who like Zizek. I'm friends with at least two, one of whom may know more about the above quote.
I read a very depressing tale of mob violence in South Africa. It's sad. I wouldn't read it if I were you, but if you want to be kinda down for a while, go for it.
tornadoes scare me almost as much as umbrellas.
WE HAVE A ROOM AVAILABLE PLEASE FIND US A ROOMMATE! This post is nowhere near as good as the one we posted when we needed a new roommate but instead got our hotel guest, polly, who then skipped out on her bills while calling me a liar because she was too cheap and bratty to pay for heating (and also called herself 'from new york city' and when asked 'what area' she lived in replied 'new york city', to which i confusedly looked at her and asked what part specifically of the city, to which she replied.... connecticut). i wish i had the text to reuse but they apparently don't keep forever like twinkies.
RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE RANT O HATE
i'm glad officemate and i are so united on hatred of those who love zizek except that one professor at msu who wanted to do the critical theory/judo club. she was cool. for instance, that douchey guy who went to madison who used to do debate who was really sexist and got in trouble for having pornographic images of women on his folders, obviously creating a rather hostile environment for the teenage girls competing against him, who presented a paper at a conference (edited for spelling so any google alerts hopefully don't come up, all words were originally as they would be normally fully spelled:) Fuc- Your G-- in the Disco: Torshure, Muzik, and the Deevine in Guan tanimo. Officemate's college roommate offers this gem: "hung like a horse, but he doesn't know how to use it." This revelation from a girl he cheated with perhaps explains a bit more about why his hot girlfriend who went to an ivy dumped him so many times, as explained by his very cool bffer. but bffer and i digress by looking up our unrequited loves on facebook now. back to the example zizek lover:
this asshole was such a jerk to people in debate. he came from a school known, fittingly for his binders, PorNo. he thought he was the shit. he was not. he wasn't that good and he lost against my partner and me all the time, but he thought by being very, very rude and condescending he could somehow prevail or seem like we perceptually lost. he was very, very rude to both of us, although i remember that socially he was ok to me.
cut away to college. three years later, i'm in an honors option, extra classes taken to get H credit required by the honors college. We're reading Welcome to the Desert of the Real, and d-bag central is trying to explain his reading of the post-September 11th world as described in the book (along with lots of references to the matrix). He starts spouting off stuff about psychoanalytics - a subject I am fairly strong in given my intense hatred of the origins of the field (penis envy what!?) - and begins discussing how after September 11th we achieved the real. HA. HAHAHA! This is only funny for the probably like two people ever who will read this blog and know about Zizek, psychoanalytics, or Lacanian theory, but the real is - as a FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE of psychoanalysis - an impossibility. I mean, even the Wikipedia article says that. Duh!
Anyway, he would lecture us all like we were idiots about stuff that was FUNDAMENTALLY INACCURATE but was banking on the fact that nobody else in the class had any knowledge, whatsoever, of the fundamental basics of philosophy, a foolhardy error given that we had to understand it moderately well for college debate. THEN, in the next breath, he proceeded to explain how he had never really understood psychoanalytics until he had done a bunch of shrooms and read some of the more well known works. He said this to two professors. Newsflash d-bag - shrooms certainly did not help your understanding of some of the most FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS of zizek's works. THIS is the level of knowledge of the typical zizek fan.
Quotes from facebook: "I totally forgot that Zizek spends the first few pages of the Plague of Fantasies theorizing the differences between how Germans, French, and Anglo-Saxons "shit" and how this reflects their national ideologies and predilections. And he's been accused of being too esoteric .... hmph."
Quotes from gchat:
From a 27 year old friend: "yyyy: what does your 20 year old girlfriend think of zizek
do you use zizek to get laid
xxxx: Ummmmmmmmm
She is a virgin.
yyyy: you're avoiding the question
xxxx: Also she thinks it is cute when I talk about him.
yyyy: right"
school flashbacks:
"dont skip, go
just talk abotu agamben
and zizek
it will all be good
i had to listen to a speech today
abt agamben
and zizek
and derrida
and how they releate to shakespears abrahamic traditions
it was like
ewwwww"
"me: YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!
in teh future
jimotron: the first prospectus i submitted!
me: people will be like
jimotron: and they accepted it!
me: jimotron fans
rather than like zizek freaks" - GOD WILLING
regarding when lee and i first met, with our first big argument:
"jimotron: mags i hate zizek
me: i know i do too
he got offended when i said he was the like
beatles/elvis of theory
which is like there is absolutely no contnetion about htat
jimotron: yah"
On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:25 PM, UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE wrote:
of course the cute indian boy in teh reading room would be reading zizek
me: hahaha
[Epilogue: AND LIKE THAT, HE WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO BE CONSIDERED AS ANYTHING BUT A TOOL.]
And I leave with some links, on either side of the debate, and a HOME RUN for my argument with lee.
Why he's an idiot.
An interview with him on al jazeera (confusing why he's chosen), where he is identified as "known as the elvis of cultural theory." Although the overall tenor of his speech is great, there's some completely idiotic essentializations of all muslim protestors as a kind of noble savage.
And finally, an interview with the Guardian.
What is the worst job you've done?
Teaching. I hate students, they are (as all people) mostly stupid and boring.
Now, I know there are a number of folks out there who like Zizek. I'm friends with at least two, one of whom may know more about the above quote.
01 March 2012
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THREE POST FOUR
this is a fascinating and account of conjoined twins who may well share thoughts and process each others' external stimuli. i love the picture of the girls getting a medical procedure done where they're holding hands.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THREE POST THREE
"lucky for you jim is not online" says officemate threateningly. I ALREADY GET THE BLINK ITERATION!
i'm dropping this here because i think bffer will want to blog accordingly. you read the reference here first, folks.
i'm dropping this here because i think bffer will want to blog accordingly. you read the reference here first, folks.
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THREE POST TWO
time for it again: zany stuff found on etsy. first is a lovely set of photographs of animals just being themselves!!
so pretty - what excellent wedding shoes with bling! the pink, the purple! and these white glittery fashion statements of the year go for a cool $420 only!
so pretty - what excellent wedding shoes with bling! the pink, the purple! and these white glittery fashion statements of the year go for a cool $420 only!
DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THREE
tales from a way worse kind of trenches: warehouse duty. reminds me of working 3rd shift target back in the day, when they'd lock us inside for the 8+ hour shifts, a policy that was later rescinded after a few people died in a fire in a different target, or so the rumor went. when i quit that job to go to college - something i had repeatedly mentioned would happen - they threatened that i would never be hired to work at a target or subsidiary company again. bold threat, and one i hoped and predicted would be accurate (thus far, at least). they seemed hurt that i wasn't more upset about that. it really enforced the importance of education and gave personal context to ehrenreich's nickle and dimed. apparently, poverty voyeurism is still a popular sport amongst over-educated socially-minded investigative journalists and uppity college-bound overachievers! at least mac understands what's really at stake:
i do not understand how these people act as if their obvious and ingrained privilege somehow goes away just by pretending they have not gone to college. it's an incoherent social statement - yes, adam shepard, you made money and did okay after pretending not to have graduated from a school that costs $45,000 per year (basketball scholarship or no) - but its so disingenuine to, as an over-educated, middle to upper class white man or woman, play at poverty only to return to a cushy lifestyle and somehow attempt to speak for the poor in doing so. looks like other discussion boards discuss this further.
it has come to my attention that i am one of the sole users of the verb devegan, as in "after i deveganed", or "after deveganing". yay!
I probably look happier than I should because I have the extreme luxury of not giving a shit about keeping this job.and i love this:
I feel genuinely sorry for any child I might have who ever asks me for anything for Christmas, only to be informed that every time a "Place Order" button rings, a poor person takes four Advil and gets told they suck at their job.
i do not understand how these people act as if their obvious and ingrained privilege somehow goes away just by pretending they have not gone to college. it's an incoherent social statement - yes, adam shepard, you made money and did okay after pretending not to have graduated from a school that costs $45,000 per year (basketball scholarship or no) - but its so disingenuine to, as an over-educated, middle to upper class white man or woman, play at poverty only to return to a cushy lifestyle and somehow attempt to speak for the poor in doing so. looks like other discussion boards discuss this further.
it has come to my attention that i am one of the sole users of the verb devegan, as in "after i deveganed", or "after deveganing". yay!
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