Resonance

25 Things

Seems that on Facebook, there has been this little phenom (meme, I suppose) called "25 Things". The premise is simple, write a list of 25 things that people might not know about yourself, tag some other friends in the note, and see how many others end up posting their own list of items. I have avoided answering these call-outs. Mainly because I am a kinda' private person. Then, I realized that I have this here blog and if i'm really all that private, why would I have this? So, to that end, here is my list of 25 things that people may or may not know about me.

1- I was voted Class Clown in high school by the senior class my junior year.

2- My dad taught my brother to golf but didn't teach me because I was a girl. He did teach me how to do everything up to changing the brakes on a car, which he didn't teach my brother.

3- I have a fair poker face, but I am really a softie. Watching "Milk" made me cry. Even though I knew how it was going to end.

4- I once sang in front of my entire high school (San Pedro in LA) "Saving All My Love For You" after one day's practice because my drama teacher heard me singing a part of it in class the day before and needed a female vocalist for this concert.

5- I can't read music, but played clarinet and bass clarinet in school all through high school until I had to sight read for a test. Then, I was moved to drums.

6- I really don't like to talk about anything in my life that concerns money.

7- I once had a poem published.

8- I didn't know how to cook until I got out of the Army and became involved in the restaurant industry.

9- While in the Army, I was busted to Private and had to climb my way back up the ranks.

10- I once scored a perfect 300 on my PT test while in the Army.

11- I also scored a 40 out of 40 on the firing range, making me a Hawkeye.

12- My father and I never really got along. He always picked arguments with me because my politics were liberal and didn't like the fact that I am gay. The last time I saw him alive was the best time I had with him as an adult. And if I hadn't left when I did, I think that it would have gone downhill.

13- I have part of my father (he was cremated, interestingly, cremated remains sound more like a shaker than anything else when shaken) in a drawer at home. I have no idea what to do with it. When I see the jar, I always say "Hi, dad."

14-I have a paranoid streak that really makes it hard, sometimes, to not suffer from mild panic attacks.

15- I am mildly dyslexic, but it only really shows when i'm dealing with numbers.

16- Once, when I was a kid, my brother and I used some coins in a jar that our dad so we could buy ice cream. Ended up, they were valuable Liberty Dollars.

17- I have a hard time spending change. Related to #16? I don't know.

18- I am deathly afraid of flying. There have been times when I have almost not gotten on planes, or wanted to scream to get off of one before take off. However, I really love the take-off and landing.

19- When I was in high school in North Carolina, mom and dad trusted me to take care of the house and they would go away for a night or two. When they did, I would sometimes invite my friends over after seeing "Rocky Horror' and we would have a fairly tame party that usually included frozen pizzas and watching my dad's porn on fast-forward.

20- I was never really much of a hell-raiser as a kid.

21- If I start watching a television series and miss some of it (like a season or two) for one reason or another, I can't pick it up until I have caught up on the episodes I have missed. This tends to mean a marathon of dvd's over the course of a day or two off.

22- If my fingernails are dirty or too long, I feel dirty and distracted. This really sucks when i'm camping.

23- I can wear my grandfather's dress uniform from WWII. With the exception of it being a little too long in the arms, it's almost a perfect fit. He was also in the Army.

24- I once lived in an apartment with so many other people that my room was the dining room. It didn't have a door.

25- I was once in an audience for a taping of "Jeopardy". We had to sign an agreement stating that we wouldn't shout out any answers, we weren't allowed to leave the building until they gave us a break, they taped almost an entire week's worth of shows and it was UNBELIEVABLY boring. We didn't stay after the break.

PETA

I am not pro animal cruelty. I think that the people who hurt animals are only marginally higher in the "what a fucking waste of natural resources" scale than people who hurt children. And yeah, I love meat. I admit it. I also know how to kill and clean what I want to eat. I appreciate where my food comes from. I am fully aware of what it means to eat flesh and I understand that to eat meat means to fully accept one's placement at the top of the food chain.

It also means that I am obligated to be as socially and environmentally aware of my foodstuffs and make an effort to ensure that what I eat is produced in the most humane way possible. Free-range, no hormones, organic, local; all these things make a difference in my eating habits.

To that end, I am against useless and inhumane methods of manufacturing what I eat. I have actually contacted purveyors to discuss the means that they use to raise and get to market the food that I might eat. I have ceased purchasing anything that I have not felt was treated with the respect due the creature that I wish to dine upon. I don't eat foie gras, as much as I love it. Even though I am promised that the geese don't feel pain. These are personal choices. I don't expect others to make these choices, as I am not the keeper of the world's conscience.

What bothers me, to no end, are those who pretend to be that, the keepers of other's conscience.

Enter PETA.

These people use methods that are confrontational at best to attempt to force others to adhere to beliefs that aren't universal. Fur; I don't like it. I won't wear it. Leather; I see it as a use of a creature that we do eat and have no qualms about wearing. I am, in many respects, pragmatic in that regard. If it's something that i'm going to have for dinner, i'll respect it enough to use all of it for whatever purpose I can find. Better that than eating the flesh and trashing the rest.

PETA makes an argument that we don't have the right to use animals in any way. That fails to call into account that in the animal kingdom, animals use and eat others to live and grow. Whatever, that's an easy argument to make. Any person who thinks can make that one. If it happens in nature, why are we supposed to be better than that?

What is really bothering me about PETA is that they seem to be in the habit of destroying animals that they can't manage to find alternate homes for. In some ways, that, if true, makes them worse than me. At least I know what i'm in for. I understand that my dining habits might make some people upset. However, I am an animal lover and if what I have read is even in some small way true, PETA is even worse than I thought. I rescued a cat. I love her. She's hanging out next to me as I type. I would never kill her. I kept her from being killed by adopting her. PETA, if this is accurate, would rather toss her in the back of a van and euthanize her.

PETA, maybe, doesn't feel the same way. If they "rescue" animals that need to be saved, maybe they need to reconsider what it means to rescue animals. Maybe I, the omnivore, have a better understanding of the meaning of what I do than these people. Perhaps I understand what it means to be appreciative of what it means to be human. More so than these people.

Perhaps, just perhaps, PETA isn't what it seems to be. Maybe PETA is only a means to an end. What if that is only to make money? What if animal rights aren't what they care about? What if I, a omnivore, care more about animals than these people?

What then?

Been A While

Hasn't it? Yeah, well, I have to apologize first and foremost. No excuses. I can find ten-twenty-thirty-sixty minutes a day to dedicate to keeping the part of the world interested in what I have to say abreast of what's happening in my head. So, here we go!

Whoever hasn't been following the political quagmire that is the Republican and Democratic run to the presidency probably should continue not paying attention. I am, at some level, envious of those who don't deign to care. No one seems to be a great choice in either party. Again, we, the people, are forced to choose from a group of people who couldn't get a job in a sane world as burger-flippers. Yet, somehow, as if by magic, they are all vying for the highest elected office in the country. Makes me feel proud to be an American who served in the Army and really believes in the Constitution.

Romney: Aside from the obvious flip-flopping on issues such as gay rights (he's now against gay marriage) and abortion (see the video),
he's now in the habit of playing the game of semantics with the public and the press. Explaining that having lobbyists around him on the campaign trail, is not the same as actually consorting with them. "My campaign is not based on Washington lobbyists," Romney said. "I haven't been in Washington. I don't have lobbyists at my elbow that are arguing for one industry or another industry and I do not have favors I have to repay to people who have been in Washington for years."

So, here are the numbers for who has what as a lobbyist/fundraiser:

Federal Lobbyists Listed as Fundraisers for the 2008 Presidential Candidates

Lobbyist	State	Candidate
Scott Baugh	CA	Mitt Romney
Wayne Berman	DC	John McCain
Matthew Bernstein	DC	Hillary Clinton
Charlie Black	DC	John McCain
Judy Black	DC	John McCain
Kirk Blalock	VA	John McCain
James J. Blanchard	MI	Hillary Clinton
Norman Brownstein	CO	Bill Richardson
Gregory B. Butler Sr.	CT	Mitt Romney
Kerry Cammack	TX	John McCain
Alberto R. Cardenas	FL	Mitt Romney
Susan Charlton	AZ	John McCain
Ellen Chesler	NY	Hillary Clinton
Timothy A. Chorba	DC	Hillary Clinton
Frank Clark	IL	Barack Obama
John Clerici	VA	John McCain
James Courter	NJ	John McCain
Kurt Davis	AZ	John McCain
Lanny Davis	MD	Hillary Clinton
Daniel Dumezich	IN	Mitt Romney
Kevin Fay	VA	John McCain
Geraldine A. Ferraro	NY	Hillary Clinton
Chris Fidler	WA	John McCain
Thomas Fiorentino Jr.	FL	John McCain
Laurance Gay	CT	John McCain
Jack Gerard	VA	Mitt Romney
Gordon D. Giffin	GA	Hillary Clinton
David Girard-diCarlo	PA	John McCain
Michael Glassner	NJ	John McCain
Matthew A. Gorman	MD	Hillary Clinton
Michael Govan	VA	Rudy Giuliani
Phil Gramm	TX	John McCain
Robert T. Grand	IN	Mitt Romney
Lanny Griffith	DC	Rudy Giuliani
Kent Hance	TX	John McCain
Scott Harris	DC	Barack Obama
William G. Harrison Jr.	FL	Mitt Romney
Yashar Hedayat	CA	Hillary Clinton
Rachel Jones Hensler	VA	Fred Thompson
William V. Hilleary	TN	Fred Thompson
Richard Hohlt	VA	Fred Thompson & John McCain
Gaylord T. Hughey Jr.	TX	John McCain
Peter Huntsman	TX	John McCain
Mickey Ibarra	MD	Bill Richardson
W. James Jonas III	TX	Rudy Giuliani
Ronald C. Kaufman	DC	Mitt Romney
Michael Kempner	NJ	Hillary Clinton
William Kilberg	VA	John McCain
Steve Kuykendall	CA	John McCain
Rick A. Lazio	NY	Mitt Romney
Reta Jo Lewis	DC	Hillary Clinton
Jack Lichtenstein	VA	John McCain
Robert S. Litt	MD	Barack Obama
Robert L. Livingston	DC	Fred Thompson
W. Timothy Locke	VA	Fred Thompson
Thomas G. Loeffler	TX	John McCain
Patricia L. Lynch	NY	Hillary Clinton
Milam Mabry	VA	Rudy Giuliani
Mack F. Mattingly	GA	Fred Thompson
Garry  Mauro	TX	Hillary Clinton
Linda Maynor	AL	Rudy Giuliani
Mike McKay	WA	John McCain
John Merrigan	DC	Hillary Clinton
David A. Metzner	VA	John McCain
John Munger	AZ	John McCain
Terry Neese	OK	Rudy Giuliani
Christopher O'Neill	DC	Chris Dodd
Craig Pattee	VA	Mitt Romney
Stephen P. Payne	TX	Rudy Giuliani
Thomas J. Perrelli	VA	Barack Obama
Heather Miller Podesta	VA	Hillary Clinton
Peter J. Powers	NY	Rudy Giuliani
Michael Racy	AZ	John McCain
David A. Rancourt	FL	Mitt Romney
Thomas A. Reed	VA	Barack Obama
Steve Ricchetti	DC	Hillary Clinton
Raul Romero	VA	Rudy Giuliani
Thomas L. Siebert	MD	Hillary Clinton
Alan Solomont	MA	Barack Obama
Michael J. Stratton	CO	Bill Richardson
Richard Sullivan	DC	Hillary Clinton
Fife Symington	AZ	John McCain
Eric Tanenblatt	GA	Mitt Romney
Peter Terpeluk Jr.	MD	Rudy Giuliani
John Thrasher	FL	Mitt Romney
Scott Patton Tyre	WI	John Edwards
Dirk W. Van Dongen	DC	Rudy Giuliani
Raymond T. Wagner Jr.	MO	John McCain
Tom E. Wheeler	DC	Barack Obama
Tony Williams	WA	John McCain
Michael J. Zarrelli	MD	Rudy Giuliani
Fred Zeidman	TX	John McCain

 

Unless I miscounted, there were 13 lobbyists who are registered as fundraisers for the Romney campaign. I'm pretty sure i'm right in the count, I did use my find feature to catch all the Romney mentions. The cool thing about this chart is that is shows us all how many lobbyists are registered to each politician. No one is clean. Sure, Edwards and Dodd each have one, making them, ostensibly, the lowest on the scale. However, neither of those candidates really play out in the entire primary process. So, Mitt, seriously, before you claim to have no truck with lobbyists, pull your ass out of their pockets.

So, a quick run-down of the total:

Candidate	Number of Lobbyists
John McCain	32
Hillary Clinton	18
Mitt Romney	13
Rudy Giuliani	12
Barack Obama	7
Fred Thompson	6
Bill Richardson	3
Chris Dodd	1
John Edwards	1

Puts McCain in the lead, followed by Clinton, Romney and Guiliani. No matter who wins, someone else might help to make sure we, the public, pay. I guess what really matters is which lobbyists win, not which candidate. I'll try to find out who these people work for an report back.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, I have to get back to other things. I'm in the process of trying to learn to teach people how to use their Macs and that requires a little homework.

Mundane Sex Toy?

I hit this link for something called a "Cone" when I was wandering the web. It piqued my curiosity primarily because I was wondering how something like this would work. Ends up, there are several ways to use it. And, there are even wonderful silhouettes for those who care. One thing, though, and that is the reason that i'm posting this here...

How come they are all reading while engaged in sexual stimulation? If the end users of this product are so bored that they want to check out the headlines of the "Times", they might have other problems that should be addressed.

I am also feeling the need to post this because of the earlier "Godtube" thing. I didn't want anyone thinking that i'm all about the Xian music videos. I'm deeper than that. (Hahah! Deeper!)

Damn, I love clicking on random sidebars...

Grey

Funny thing, going grey. It's something that women seem to tend to dread. Most likely because it appears to signify the whole "Oh my God, i'm getting older" thing. I can understand that. Getting older isn't the coolest thing that a person tends to get to have happen. However, as I have been known to joke, it sure as Hell beats the alternative.

I have had a little bit of grey since I was in my early twenties. As such, I never really gave it much thought. It was there, it was mine, whatever. I actually thought that it was kind of cool to have a little grey. It popped up around the temples, and only people who were pretty close to me could even see it.

From there, for the good majority of my twenties and even into my thirties, the amount of grey has stayed pretty consistent. However, i've noticed that it's started to become more pronounced recently. And that got me thinking about how we age and what it means to confront changes in life after the mandated time to screw everything up and start over has passed.

At this point, I am supposed to be settled down. I should have already decided on a career path, maxed out whatever education I wanted to get and be calmer. I haven't. I am, if anything, in the middle of something of a major shift. And, to be honest, i'm pretty excited about it.

I have spent the majority of my working life in the restaurant industry at this point. Although I have had jobs ranging from being in the Army (hence, the nickname Sarge. It was my rank) to delivering singing telegrams. All of these things, in one way or another, has impacted my life and subsequent decisions regarding my future. As they do for most people. At one point, not too long ago, I gave up on my dream of owning my own restaurant after all the terrible experiences I had managing them. I decided that it just wasn't worth all the heartache and headache that would be required to start one up. I'm too old and no longer have the same patience for bullshit from people I don't even know that I used to. It's also the reason i'm moving out of the industry again. Hopefully for the last time.

I am, instead, testing my aptitude in the technology sector. I have been pushing for a full-time gig at Apple pretty much since I transitioned out of seasonal and into permanent. For one reason or another, it hasn't yet panned out. (Ha! Mining terminology makes me smile) I'm still keeping the dream alive, though. I am also working as a contractor for a Device Control Solution company, banging on things and finding out fun ways to break stuff. It's challenging and I like that I am becoming more savvy regarding technology. Even if it is Windows... Funny thing about that is this experience actually helps me at Apple. I can speak with more authority about Windows software and the ease of use of the Mac UI vs. the Windows one. And i've also realized why certain people will never leave Windows, regardless of how unsafe and buggy it can be. Once they've learned it's tricks, they are scared to have to relearn all that. It's like a bad marriage that one stays in because it's a big, bad world out there and learning to date again is a tricky task.

I'm not certain where this will lead, outside of some sort of additional education that will be focused on this new thing I am doing. I like it. It's challenging and there isn't so much interaction with people. I actually enjoy the fact that I can spend almost an entire day at work and not have to talk to anyone. I can sit here with my thoughts, focus on a task that forces me to start using my brain and leave all this in my cubicle when I am finished. I also REALLY like that I can leave here and still have time left in the day to do something that doesn't have to include staying up until 2 am. Unless I want it to, of course. And in that case, I can take a nap or sleep in.

I see now why people like this course of work... I would say that it's a shame I didn't find it earlier, but I hope that I found it exactly when I was supposed to.

It's Not Cute

It's downright scary! People think that polydactyl cats are really adorable, but I think that it's some plot to evolve opposable thumbs and take over the world. Not that they'd do a worse job of it at the moment, but i'm just saying, be on your toes. As soon as they learn how to open doors and cans of cat food on their own, there isn't going to be much left for us to do for them and then we'll find out what all that purring really meant. I'm keeping an eye on my cat in case she finds a way to modify herself. And i'm not talking about botox or a nose job.

NOLA Green Project and Old School Building

In response to the monumental failure of our government in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the sheer magnitude of destruction in one of our most historic and important American cities, a group of fine people have created the NOLA Green Project as a means of helping people with limited resources rebuild. A friend of mine, someone who has had an enormous impact on me and remains one of the most important people in my life, has a sister site on Chipin.com (a site that allows community-minded people to help out by creating personalized fund-raising sites for causes of choice) that is doing two things; one of which is actually helping the project raise money, but also allowing people the chance to win gifts that can help others live greener lives. People tend to laugh about living green, but the reality is that going green isn't about earth shoes, hemp and patchouli. It's about creating a space where one can find a cleaner way of co-existing in a world where we are quickly depleting natural resources. It only makes sense.

Back to the topic at hand, the Green Project. People in New Orleans, natives, transplants and those who are there to help them rebuild, are being given an opportunity that should, in a better world, create a new means of using building materials. Because of the scope of the destruction in New Orleans, many buildings were damaged to the point that they were lost to those who used them. All the material that went into making them, however, wasn't lost to the public. The Green Project runs what is essentially a salvage yard that allows people to make use of salvaged and reclaimed materials when rebuilding homes.

It really makes sense, when one stops to think about it. People tend to want to use only the best and newest when building out but at the same time, there is a huge movement toward vintage and period pieces in construction. We are all victims of this dichotomy when we try to build, remodel or just update a home. We want to maintain the original structural integrity of something while still making use of better materials. The funny thing is, most of the time, the original material is the better product.  Before pre-fabs, the sudden shift in the seventies toward concrete and steel and the introduction of space-age material, homes were built to last forever. Builders were the ones who really wanted a homestead, not just a home. I had a friend who was studying to be an architect and she would get so amazingly excited when talking about her personal vision regarding structures. She viewed the old style, pre-Antebellum Southern homes as being the apex of American architecture. The use of natural material, space and design to take full advantage of the local environment to create cool and fluid houses were, in her mind, and I tend to agree, the real genius of the period. And with the advent of mechanical means of ambient temperature control, as well as newer, artificial materials, these lessons were lost.

These days, we would rather use central air and heat and formica instead of having a well thought-out design using readily available material when building a home. Open spaces in modern homes aren't planned to best use the native environment, they are planned for nothing more than impact and entertainment value. Maybe i'm lost in the romance of the period (which is really bullshit, as I don't think that slavery, indentured servitude and the erotic connotations of the "other" during this period is particularly attractive), but I think that we really lost our way when we thought that homes didn't need to be fluid and natural to be nice.

To this end, the NOLA Green Project is giving those who are choosing to rebuild in a city whose romance is not undeserved the chance to really make good on the original promise of the architects of the time. These visionaries wanted the best available materials at the time, which tend to be better than anything available currently because back then, the forests were virgin and solid, the artisans talented and invested, and the builders did a good job not because they were worried about a license, they were concerned about their neighbors. In so doing, they are also allowing us to reclaim that part of our American history that we tend to toss aside. One of the primary problems with being contemporary Americans, we like to look ahead. Except when to do so requires that we look to the past.

In short, the project is a great one, it deserves our respect and our support. Anything that allows people to not create more waste while rebuilding lives is more than worthy in my book. And, although it seems a small thing, it makes a positive impact on those it touches. The NOLA Green Project is like that friend who's always doing the right thing and we are silently proud to know. Even if we don't know how to thank them because doing so seems somehow to lessen the impact of what they do. In this instance, however, thanking them can be a silent, and appreciated effort. All it takes is a small donation. Or a large one, if the resources are there.

Moments That Matter

It was one of those days. The one where things seem fine at the very start, then fall apart in a way that one would never expect. It all happened because of the day job, which I do love. However, had I not been at the Galleria, today would have been ordinary in all respects.

This morning, pretty much after we opened, as I was talking to a few of my fellow workers, there was the sickening thud of something human hitting the parquet. Hard. I looked outside and saw a man lying on his side, immobile, in front of the store across from mine. I couldn't tell if he was moving, so I walked in for a closer inspection. I was hoping that it was something less than it ended up being. His breath was shallow and his eyes had rolled back in his head. Above, on the third floor, a hanging plant holder was swinging slowly back and forth. He had fallen from the highest point in the mall.

I called 911. People were already starting to converge on the area. Answering the all too human call of observing other people's tragedy. Some said to not move him. Others said to make him more comfortable. The man had fallen 30 feet, making him comfortable was not possible. Blood started to leak slowly from his nose. A sign of serious internal injury.

The operator, a Statie as I had called from my cell phone, connected me to the locals. Giving second by second updates, I was drawn into the drama as a narrator. Eventually, a woman who had been in the store regarding her iPod came out. She was an EMT, so I gave her the reigns and my phone and resumed my place on the outskirts.

The man, before the authorities arrived, managed to pick himself up for a moment. For him, a second of clarity to let others know that he wasn't, hopefully, completely broken. For me, a moment to think about how utterly resilient we are. Not our bodies, they are subject to the whims of nature and an internal skeleton, but our hearts and minds. How, when every single event falls in such a way that we should be finished, we still try to hold our own. And make our voices heard.

People always write about that moment of clarity, some epiphinous moment when all things finally make sense. I'd like to think that it's some all-encompassing moment, but I feel that it's more a series of minor events that eventually culminate and force one's hand.

Today, my minor moment was about moving through life taking the path of least resistance. I try to let things take their own course, wanting more but not taking the chance to make it happen. Unwilling to risk the possibility of failure by choosing not to take a chance on anything that I might fail at.

I don't know how it will impact me tomorrow, but for today, I want to think about how i've been in the past. Truth be told, I don't want to be that guy. At least, that guy as I see myself.

I think I might have a fighting chance. I hope that he does.

Really?

I don't really know what to say about this. Sure, there are more important things I could be doing with my time and blogging, but while sifting through the postings on Craigslist, I came across this post. I could add commentary of my own, but really, why bother? I can pretty much let this speak for itself. However, I never knew that there was a club in the city that had a need for this particular type of employee. Now, I know.

Weekly World News

I was shopping for some foodstuffs yesterday because I am beginning a detoxification regimen that has rather strict dietary guidelines. While there, I saw this copy of the Weekly World News. I snapped a quick shot with my cellphone and sent it to several friends, because, to be honest, photos of Heaven and a baby made with spare parts fascinates me. So, here's the cover shot, taken with my Motorola RAZR. I think that I have also found the theme for my next party. I'm going to call it the "If I'm Not Going To Heaven, At Least I Have The Tee-Shirt" Party. I'm going to make some tees of the shots and give them out as gifts. Hooray for Cafe Press!