Chipping Away at Idealism
I recently read an article that posited that it is our expectations that often have more to do with the results of our lives than the strategies we employ to get those results.
In other words, according to this particular psychological journal, if we expect good results we are more likely to achieve good results. It is perilously close to the ridiculous concept behind The Secret - wish real hard for money or a blow job or tickets to a sold out concert and it will magically happen for you.
The Value is in Time and Experiences
Farewell to the Public Radio Mines
The trend was set. Get hired by a rule-bender looking for creative risk. New boss wants control rather than creativity. Fight the Machine for a bit. Get outta Dodge.
What Do You Value? (and how the answer determines your path...)
On occasion, I've either had to hire people or been on hiring committees in my (former) workplace. If you've ever been on a job interview, you know there are a host of pointless questions and lots of meaningless bullshit to wade through. I hate meetings as a rule and I REALLY hate the interview process as it relates to getting hired.
So I almost always only ask one question.
"In seeking out a gig, which has the highest value to you: Autonomy, Recognition, or Compensation?"
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
A Why Not Life
The Search for Tight Post-Racial Abs
Jack realized he had, as all humans tend to, gotten older and had gotten fat. Not 'sack of lard' fat, not 'needing a scooter to get around' fat, but there was more weight on him than he preferred.
Jack joined a gym.
I Broke His Plastic Lightsaber
The point is that the quest for vengeance is a WASTE. OF. TIME.
Our American Deity
...our God is merciless and ruthless and brings out the worst, most heinous parts of who we are all capable of being.
Killing the NEA isn't the Same Thing as Killing Support for the Arts
NOTE: This was written in 2011. Since then, the NEA has changed some of their financial terminology but the facts on the ground are that the various grants given specifically by the NEA (as opposed to the NEH and other federal granters) cover arts policy and education organizations, associations and administration, fundraising and management with artist services on the bottom of the pile. Nearly all NEA grants are earmarked as “General Operational Budget” which pretty much covers anything the receiving organization wants to spend it on. Just to clarify.
All of a sudden, it's relevant again. Ah, the pendulum, she swings...
Taking Offense (and Shoving It Up Your Ass)
In effect, taking offense is a self-inflicted wound.
Like Crumbs of Fried Dough
It was the most improbable Homecoming Court in the history of the tiny Kansas high school and the outrage was high.
Standing on the 50-yard line were two couples nominated for King and Queen that fit the paradigm: a male football player with a female cheerleader. You know, the way things are supposed to be. And next to them, on the left of these two couples were Jean and I. She was a butch tennis player (the athlete of our pair) and I was the speech and drama kid.
Jean and I were not supposed to be up there. The social order of things did not support the nomination of such an unlikely pair and leading up to this moment the jocks and cheerleaders made it abundantly clear that they would not accept this high school equivalent of a mutated two-headed Korgi soiling their class identity.
Time to Purge Your Hoarder Palace
You All Need to Go On a Vacation
There are many lessons that getting the hell outta Dodge for a week provide. I'm certain I'll be parsing them out over the next few weeks but as I sit here on the terrace of our resort room 2,104 miles away from home, the most important one is that distance from your specific routine offers perspective on your world.
And perspective changes attitude.
Confronting the Undiverse Stage Poorly
The question I'm struggling with is this: is diversity of ethnicity always the best course of action?
Expanding Upon the Notion of 'Grit'
Tyrants R Us
Once the tantrum thrower gains from the tantrum, it is twice as hard to dissuade him from employing the self same tactic for everything.
All Sandwiches Matter
It was the worst sandwich I've ever eaten but, in its odd way and in the context of the dining companion I was with, it was also the best one.
The Power Contract: Redefining Reaction
“I have no power over you that you don’t give me, and you have no power over me that I don’t give you. …” – Vi Hart
Bring Back Breakfast
I joined the club because it was comprised of some intelligent and sober folks - we all had in common a simple belief that pancakes, eggs and bacon were just about the best meal any time of day.
...that, at a certain age, a birthday is no longer a celebration of your existence but another notch in the ‘Fuck off, Death’ belt.