Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh: I’m 16 again in the gymnasium of Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic church, waiting for my friends to open up their set, talking to Alison Gabel (then, Brown) listening to Every Damn Day.
Here’s to local bands that never die.
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Read Getting Things Done by the prolific ??David Allen?? and, for all the productivity enhancements, you begin to think of your life as a series of queues. The pile of papers on your desk, the line of voicemails you’ve been receiving, the number of emails in your Inbox. Like the email from your dear pastor with even more praise about the church website. Or the one from your old friend Caryn, whose friendship you want so much to maintain, but just can’t seem to make the time. Or the neverending get rich quick schemes, which your spam filter astonishingly still thinks are legitimate. Each of these, says Allen, must be periodically reviewed, purged, and reshuffled into another series of queues: the garbage can, a filing cabinet, or a calendar.
This reminds me of “BullFighter”:http://www.fightthebull.com/bullfighter.asp, a product designed by the folks at Deloitte & Touche to combat the rising tide of BS words in business documentation. They had a “screensaver”:http://web.archive.org/web/20040109230106/www.deloitte.com/dtt/section_node/0,2332,sid=27378,00.html, which acted as a running commentary on the latest consulting clichés. One of my favorite commentaries was on the word “bandwidth,” which is still often used to describe one’s limited amount of time in a given day, as in “I’d love to do that task for you, but I haven’t had the bandwidth lately, given my other projects.” The commentary was something to the effect of, “Is this what our lives have come to? We have become nothing more than a passive conduit for the transmission of data.”
Yes, sometimes, it is very much like that.
Yeah, so the blog really sucks lately. Honda totally did not deserve that free, what?, month of advertising. The Of Interest linky thing is getting a little tired. You know, perpetuating that whole “echo chamber”:http://diveintomark.org/archives/2004/02/23/echo effect of blogging.
“Michael”:http://oblivio.com/archives/05091601.html decided back in September that he would write 100 stories in 100 days. Doubtless a masochistic undertaking, but admirable nonetheless. Some of what he produced during that time was often revised, though — in some cases he’d revisit a blog 2 or 3 times with major changes to the content.
That, I think, is where I go wrong. Not content to put something out there that might include a typo or an unfinished idea, I’ve avoided saying anything for fear of setting aside a 2 to 3 hour block of time — which I almost never have. But, taking 15 minutes to slap an unfinished idea online, that might be worth it. I can always go back and edit, or let you all use the comments section to help me write it better.
I told “Alissa”:http://alissaclark.com/ recently that I’d really like to work on my writing and editorial cred. Tom “notes the only real thing”:http://canaanbound.blogspot.com/2005/09/long-preparing.html that defines a writer is whether he or she has written anything today.
Here’s a hypothetical question for you: would you take a job that you could possibly really enjoy for less money, or keep a job that you have no passion for at all, but are making a good living doing?
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Conan O’Brien:
The federal government asked people not to return to New Orleans because it’s still not safe. Then the federal government said the same thing to the people of Detroit, Cleveland, and Newark.
— New York Magazine
George brought up this quote during Bible study last night. Too funny. 
Turns out he’s also doing PR for the firm that’s doing some major building along the Passaic waterfront, too (right about here).
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To the Editor at ??The Village Voice??:
I’m not quite sure what David Shaftel was hoping to accomplish in his front page article “”Jaws: The Making of a Vicious Pit Bull”:http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0534,shaftel,67093,5.html”, but it would have been more accurate to title it “Ignorance and the Perpetuation of a Stereotype”
While I found the story about irresponsible breeder Tyler Eison interesting, I was disturbed by the implicit characterization of all pitbulls as monsters. The animals that Eison produces are mixed breed machines, relegated to chains outdoors, ruthlessly agitated and goaded into service to please their master by killing when he wills. Eison defends his actions by saying that his dogs are “his pistols,” and “essential protection.” This is a pretty weak argument given that the mere presence of any large dog at all has been shown to prevent attacks and robberies. Having a weapon to protect you is different than having a 9mm loaded, cocked, and pointed at anyone that approaches you.
Shaftel seems bent on highlighting false ideas about the violence of pits, and seems to glorify their use as a weapon. Statements like, “these dogs were born to fight” and “they will fight to the death just to please you” lead most readers to believe that pits have a natural aggression towards humans. However, solid research into the history of pits will uncover that they were never bred to be aggressive to humans, and were instead developed for an intense prey drive and dog aggression, while maintaining one of the most stable temperaments of any dog around humans. There is a critical distinction between human aggression and animal aggression (which all dogs have in varying degrees). Yet, Shaftel never takes the trouble to note the difference between the pitbulls bred with human aggressive dogs and raised in fear, and the majority of pitbulls that are nothing short of wonderful dogs and trustworthy companions.
This article seemed only to paint a sadly accurate picture of how certain sick people exploit the natural strength and athleticism of pitbulls, just as they have with other breeds such as Rottweilers and Dobermans. And just as the inflammatory picture on the cover made me dread reading the article, the close of the article left a bad taste in my mouth, insinuating that a man-killer is a good example of the breed, and a product of the best bloodlines. Shaftel rides the negative media attention surrounding pits, appealing to the dark part in all of us that craves the thrill of a witch hunt, and allows us to envision all pitbulls as “bloodthirsty killers”:http://www.kennsarah.net/photos/dina-weena/dsc01647.jpg.html. Thank you for adding to the irrational public fear that already surrounds this breed.
What is it about the creative process that requires apart-ness from the day-to-day hum-drum reality of existence? This morning at 10 AM, coffee in hand, I was pounding my head against the keyboard trying to “reproduce this”:http://www.villagechurchnyc.com/events/ in WordPress. Many hours (and malt beverages) later, with the “new Nickel Creek”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009ML2BU/qid=1123646806/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2872452-4177552?v=glance&s=music&n=507846 cranking on my iPod, and perched in the “Ship’s Lookout” loft of our beach house (where our pirated WiFi signal is strongest!), the code is practically *flowing*.
Of course, the latest NC album leaves it hard for anyone to be unchanged even with a passing listen. This trio of prodigious artists put such vibrant, brilliant energy into each cut. I used to sort of apologize for listening to the “bluegrass” that comes out of Nickel Creek. Now it’s more like, “Ew, you listen to bluegrass–” “Dude, you don’t know *how good* this stuff is.”
What do you do to bootstrap those creative brain cells?
Not for nothing, but the coffee’s much better here.
For your consideration, an unordered list:
* Last day at previous job: 3/14/05
* Professional associations joined: 1
* Résumés sent: dozens
* Job-related emails received: 197
* Dollars spent on interview clothing: $900
* Number of companies seriously considered: 42
* Number of resulting opportunities: 33
* Jobs for which I applied: 11
* Interviews: 8
* Offers: 2
* Date on which I accepted an offer: 3/31/05
* Weeks required for search: 7
* People I’ve met along the way: 33
* Start date for the new job: 4/11/05
* Weeks of severance left: 11 (woot!)
* Difference in the commute in miles: +1, in minutes: -3
* Thankful members of the Walker household: 2 people + 1 dog
It’s been like this.
I crash through the revolving door of a certain prestigious financial institution and head north on Greenwich Street. Propelled by thoughts of uncertainty and their necessary resolution in Providence, I give chase to clarity for about 30 blocks. I wouldn’t quite have planned it this way, but events of the last 24 hours have landed yet another potential opportunity; and they’re moving on it fast, fast. My feet are screaming and my head is spinning as I wrestle with the question: is this the one?
First Starbucks, then a phone call, I think, nearing 11th Street. A glance at the time means coffee will have to wait, and I set up shop on the front stoop of a nearby brownstone. A quick phone conversation sends me another twelve blocks north and three blocks east to a sign: “We’ve moved!”—far, far away from here. Two more blocks at an aerobic pace to the 4 5 6 train and I pause outside the station. More phone calls (to the repair shop and then the rental agency) bring about the realization that being at midtown at 4:30 PM and Morris County at 5:30 PM will require nothing short of a helicopter.
Leaning against a building, Palm open in one hand, and cell phone pressed under my chin in the other, I stare at the sidewalk and wait for an answer. A woman in her 30s walks by and smiles. “A penny for your thoughts,” she says. I laugh—but, really, I wouldn’t know where to start.
