Two New Employees

The kids love to get my Apple badge, walk around the house, and say 'I go to work. I go to Apple'. Then, of course, comes the battle to get the badge BACK :-). So, A quick stop at badging for a couple of clips and holders, a scan of my own badge, some photoshop work, printing and trimming... Problem Solved. And I took them to the campus today to try them out... wearing the appropriate t-shirts, of course.

I Hate People

I hate people. I do, really. I know it's not a 'popular' thing to admit in today's society, but if I am going to be honest, there's no other way to say it. I Hate People. Words I'd use to describe people would include 'shallow', 'ignorant', 'vain', 'mindless'.... and that's just scratching the surface. I've plenty more and rest assured, none are flattering or positive in any way. This impacts my every day, because almost everywhere I go, I end up seeing people. And far worse then having to encounter People in my travels outside the home is the extreme distain I have when I come home and find people in my house. I've tried to explain to my wife how strongly I feel about it, but she's her own person, has her own interests, and feels differently about people then I do. She enjoys their annoying and insignificant stories and vacuous chatter. I've even asked that if she must have any contact with People she do so outside the house, but that line gets crossed occasionally and it always turns my stomach.



How can ANYBODY find anything of value in such a piece of crap trash-rag as People magazine? I can't believe how obsessed our nation is with the lives of celebrities. It's nauseating. It's all pure fluff, and the masses gobble it up, along with dozens of other gossip rags as well as TV shows. There's billions being made in this 'journalistic' domain, and there's nothing coming out of it beside the continued setting of unrealistic expectations, glamorization of myths, and the continued numbing of our society on the whole.



Can you imagine, just imagine, how much better our lives and our world would be if the space on magazine racks were devoted to topics that people's awareness of might actually improve our world? What could be accomplished if 1 year alone of 'Entertainment Tonight" and "Acess Hollywood" were replaced with "National Issues you can help address" and "Local efforts to bring back a sense of Community". Sadly, nobody would watch, and thus, no companies would buy ad time, and thus, the show's would be cancelled because there wasn't a buck to be made. God bless capitalism, eh?



If you're like me, you might frequently encounter difficulty locating the content listing in a magazine, or notice that every page of text is opposite a full page ad, or that the ads take up more space then the article. I can deal with that to a point, because i recognize that the costs of doing business and running a publication are covered not by subscriptions but by ad revenue. It's the same model as a TV show goes; get the numbers up in views/readers and you can charge proportionally when they come to you with fodder for the 70% vacant pages each month. That's all well and good when the 30% is actually something worth reading. But People? What exactly is worth reading in People?



There are so many more important things going on in our world, demanding our attention, that could reward us in so many more substantial ways then being distracted by superficial glitz and glamor. We could read something we'd learn from or that increases our understanding of the world around us, our careers, hobbies, or our families. We could be increasing our job skills. Gardening. Exercising. Exchanging stories and ideas with friends. Taking baby steps towards home or self improvement. Venturing out into the world to have the life experiences we otherwise numbly observe other's having from the comfort of our couch.



I'm not saying that a little down time is unreasonable, or that an occasional recognition of some moderate celebrity accomplishment does not merit consideration, but certainly not an industry, and certainly not daily programming.



Oh, but wait. Angelina's having Brad's baby? Gee.. that's so much more important then anything that going on in my life, or that I can do with my time. Tell me more, ET. Tell me more.

The Northern Lights

 Having just watched 'March of the Penguins', one particular moment cause me to reflect on a visit I once made in the late 80's to Edmonton, Canada, and how amazing it was to see the Northern Lights. My friends Karen and Dean were working and living in Northern Canada and my visit was at a time during which these were visible, something not terribly common for their area if I recall correctly. They had me go outside with them in the evening and we stood beneath the sky as green lights danced overhead. I have photos I took that night buried in some obscure box, but they could not come close to doing the actual experience justice. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, seeing them on video is a pretty reasonable compromise, and you can do so by clicking here or on the image shown above.

The layman's summation of this 'Aurora' is that the collision of solar winds with electro magnetic fields of the earth polor regions cause a reaction resulting in this phenomenon. Again, that's a relatively ignorant laymen's generalization. There's Plenty to read about this at Wikipedia.com. However it comes to be, seeing it was breathtaking and I'd recommend making an effort to do so as well, should you ever have the opportunity.

Too Many Gassholes in Our Political Process

I want, so badly, to believe that we have advocates for our rights and protection from monolithic corporations. I really wish I had even the slightest bit of hope and optimism that the public could have some control or say in our collective destiny. But the cynic in me is far too jaded, and situations like the current gas prices going up while the top three oil companies are making close to 16 billion dollars in profits in a mere six months only confirm my suspicions and underscore my underlying despair. We’re screwed. There’s nobody in the controlling factions of our government, on either side, that is not a paid representative of the money making machinery driving special interests.

Who are we trying to kid? Even the most idealistic political cog is overshadowed by the momentum of the gears and quickly becomes another spoke in the wheel. Look at the healthcare industry. The oil industry. Even the food industries make every effort to ensure their own needs are protected by the so-called ‘representation of the people’ when it comes to how the food we consume is manufactured. What a fucking crock. I’ve read articles for decades about the oil crisis, solutions, urgency, yadda yadda yadda, and what gets done? Absolutely nothing. You’d think, after the big crisis in ’79, we’d have been able to rectify the situation and remove the dependency on oil. Jesus, the internet came about in less time, but where’s our reform on energy? Healthcare? Homelessness? Unemployment? All of these are within easy reach of a collective and concerted effort, but they don’t benefit the people pulling the strings and with their hands up the asses of our political puppet system, so instead, we get George Bush as ‘Punch’, and our future as ‘Judy’.

What’s worse is that there’s absolutely nothing we can do but continue to take it up the ass. Yeah, I’m pissed off alright. As a family friend once quipped, ‘We threw tea in the harbor 200 years ago over far less than we blindly tolerate today’. We’re just a herd of sheep, lulled into complacency by People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight and American Idle. (Yes, that was intentional). I guess ignorance is bliss because even thinking for a moment about how colossally used and manipulated we are is beyond bearable.