IPOD
RADIO
Kinda sad. It looks like I'm one of a dying breed. Sort of. I'm probably more moderate than I think I am. I just try to be a radical liberal to be cool 
I am so fucking sick of this. I write a story today (actually write a fucking story) about how some religious folks are coming around to a logical, progressive way of thinking, and nobody even looks at it.
Some troll writes how his new boner-maker is some asshat in Texas who shoots people in the back, and I get in trouble for flagging him for being an asshole.
Nice. Very nice. And I bet I have 20 people who skip over the part where I apologize to the moderators and jump down my fucking throat.
Some troll writes how his new boner-maker is some asshat in Texas who shoots people in the back, and I get in trouble for flagging him for being an asshole.
Nice. Very nice. And I bet I have 20 people who skip over the part where I apologize to the moderators and jump down my fucking throat.
I think it is time to normalize the responces to certain sorts of posts on the SG boards. Youtube can provide us with many wonderful, and short, responces to show general disdain.
For anyone supporting Ron Paul in a serious manner:
For anyone who does a copy/paste job instead of posting an actual article:
For trolls:
For strawman arguments:
For thread hijackers:
For anyone bringing a dead thread back to the top:
Please use as you see fit
For anyone supporting Ron Paul in a serious manner:
For anyone who does a copy/paste job instead of posting an actual article:
For trolls:
For strawman arguments:
For thread hijackers:
For anyone bringing a dead thread back to the top:
Please use as you see fit
I could have gone to a jazz concert tonight. It is just across the street from my apartment, and free, but then I saw who was walking in the door of the place.
Group 1: WASPy muthafuckas. They want to be New England style WASPs, but don't really know how, so they just go to the closest thing we have to a trendy restaurant (which is also where I go for coffee) and hold these really loud, long, boring conversations, punctuated with frequent cell phone calls. They are known to wait until their call is over before leaving, even if their to-go stuff has been sitting on their table for 5 minutes. I saw a herd of these heading in, so that was my first warning.
Group 2: Dressed up hicks. It's sad when some people think that dressing up consists of putting on their "good" Husker shirt (tucked under a massive beer belly) and slicking down their hair before putting on their "goin to church" cap.
Group 3: Young couples with babies . . . seriously, you really brought your 6 month old to a live jazz concert?
So I stayed in.
I stay in too much. Someone come take me out
Group 1: WASPy muthafuckas. They want to be New England style WASPs, but don't really know how, so they just go to the closest thing we have to a trendy restaurant (which is also where I go for coffee) and hold these really loud, long, boring conversations, punctuated with frequent cell phone calls. They are known to wait until their call is over before leaving, even if their to-go stuff has been sitting on their table for 5 minutes. I saw a herd of these heading in, so that was my first warning.
Group 2: Dressed up hicks. It's sad when some people think that dressing up consists of putting on their "good" Husker shirt (tucked under a massive beer belly) and slicking down their hair before putting on their "goin to church" cap.
Group 3: Young couples with babies . . . seriously, you really brought your 6 month old to a live jazz concert?
So I stayed in.
I stay in too much. Someone come take me out
I just cut about 20 people from my friends list. They were people I hadn't heard from, or who have left the site. If I cut anyone by accident who I shouldn't have, feel free to refriend me.
I've been advised I need to take a weekend's vacation sometime this summer. I've never just gone somewhere on my own. I'm not sure where I would go or what I would do. This would be much easier if I had a lady to go with. Hotel rooms are more fun as a pair than alone.
Hello. I'm Mike and I'm an anti-tech.
(Hi, Mike)
I do realize the irony of typing this on a laptop that is less than 6 months old.
I really don't get the obsession with all things electronic. Cell-phones, blackberries, video game systems, WoW type games, digital cameras . . . I have very little use for any of them. Well, maybe a digital camera, but even then it is a limited use.
Cell phones drive me nuts. They are so fucking intrusive. Restaurants, movie theaters, classrooms, everywhere, and usually with the most annoying method of letting their presence be known. And they create rudeness. I don't even want to think about the number of times I have been talking with someone, only to be pushed aside because of a call. No matter what anybody is saying, whoever is calling automatically has something more important to say. I once went to a bar with a few friends after one of them graduated. We were doing a bit of a bar crawl. At every bar we hit, they would all get on their phones and call whichever of their friends WEREN'T there to tell them where we were. They'd have a couple of drinks while this was going on, but basically ignored everyone who was sitting with them. Then, at the next bar, it would start all over, telling them where we were NOW. One of them even had a list of people she had promised to drunk dial at different times of the night. I got so fed up with it that I just left them and walked home.
And texting isn't any better. I have a cousin who can't seem to go 5 minutes without texting her entire phone-book. Doesn't matter if it's a family dinner, a night at the movies, or her sister's wedding, she has to have that little piece of shit out and be typing away at it.
My uncle who is an artist put it best: I have no desire to have my life run on someone else's schedule. And that is what all that instant communication does; makes you instantly available according to the whims of other people. Sure, you don't have to answer the phone, but how often does that happen?
As for video games and home electronics, that comes from the way I was raised. We were the last people I knew to get a TV with a remote control, and that was only because one of my uncles dropped the old set when we were moving. We did have a VCR with a remote that could change the channels, but there were about 5 steps to get all that to work. We never had cable until I was about 14 years old, and even then it was just for a year. I had it again in college, but there wasn't anything on. I still have rabbit ears, and when the digital change comes next year I might just toss the whole thing out. I have DVDs, but I can watch them on my computer.
I never had a game system while growing up. Didn't need one. I had imagination enough that I never really felt the loss. Sure, I tried to play on the ones my cousins had, but I don't really ever remember wanting one. Even now, I just don't have the desire. I've played a few, but they just weren't fun. I do like the Wii system, but I am content to play someone else's when I can. Don't need my own.
I like books. I like to write with a fountain pen. My computer is a glorified typewriter with internet capabilities. I have about 20 sites that I visit on a regular basis, and most of those are webcomics.
I guess I'm just a simple man.
(Hi, Mike)
I do realize the irony of typing this on a laptop that is less than 6 months old.
I really don't get the obsession with all things electronic. Cell-phones, blackberries, video game systems, WoW type games, digital cameras . . . I have very little use for any of them. Well, maybe a digital camera, but even then it is a limited use.
Cell phones drive me nuts. They are so fucking intrusive. Restaurants, movie theaters, classrooms, everywhere, and usually with the most annoying method of letting their presence be known. And they create rudeness. I don't even want to think about the number of times I have been talking with someone, only to be pushed aside because of a call. No matter what anybody is saying, whoever is calling automatically has something more important to say. I once went to a bar with a few friends after one of them graduated. We were doing a bit of a bar crawl. At every bar we hit, they would all get on their phones and call whichever of their friends WEREN'T there to tell them where we were. They'd have a couple of drinks while this was going on, but basically ignored everyone who was sitting with them. Then, at the next bar, it would start all over, telling them where we were NOW. One of them even had a list of people she had promised to drunk dial at different times of the night. I got so fed up with it that I just left them and walked home.
And texting isn't any better. I have a cousin who can't seem to go 5 minutes without texting her entire phone-book. Doesn't matter if it's a family dinner, a night at the movies, or her sister's wedding, she has to have that little piece of shit out and be typing away at it.
My uncle who is an artist put it best: I have no desire to have my life run on someone else's schedule. And that is what all that instant communication does; makes you instantly available according to the whims of other people. Sure, you don't have to answer the phone, but how often does that happen?
As for video games and home electronics, that comes from the way I was raised. We were the last people I knew to get a TV with a remote control, and that was only because one of my uncles dropped the old set when we were moving. We did have a VCR with a remote that could change the channels, but there were about 5 steps to get all that to work. We never had cable until I was about 14 years old, and even then it was just for a year. I had it again in college, but there wasn't anything on. I still have rabbit ears, and when the digital change comes next year I might just toss the whole thing out. I have DVDs, but I can watch them on my computer.
I never had a game system while growing up. Didn't need one. I had imagination enough that I never really felt the loss. Sure, I tried to play on the ones my cousins had, but I don't really ever remember wanting one. Even now, I just don't have the desire. I've played a few, but they just weren't fun. I do like the Wii system, but I am content to play someone else's when I can. Don't need my own.
I like books. I like to write with a fountain pen. My computer is a glorified typewriter with internet capabilities. I have about 20 sites that I visit on a regular basis, and most of those are webcomics.
I guess I'm just a simple man.
Done with the students for the summer. Now I just have to:
1. Edit the novel I wrote and start sending it out again;
2. Prep for a class on the Harlem Renaissance;
3. Prep for 2 more classes (without knowing what they are yet);
4. Possibly move from one office to another;
5. Start exercising
6. Maybe help my uncle with cattle (I hate branding
)
7. Make the 1/2 tank of gas I have last into July
8. Read as many books as I can
9. Drink the last beer in my fridge
10: Attend a wedding (and I'm finally not in the wedding party
)
1. Edit the novel I wrote and start sending it out again;
2. Prep for a class on the Harlem Renaissance;
3. Prep for 2 more classes (without knowing what they are yet);
4. Possibly move from one office to another;
5. Start exercising
6. Maybe help my uncle with cattle (I hate branding
)7. Make the 1/2 tank of gas I have last into July
8. Read as many books as I can
9. Drink the last beer in my fridge
10: Attend a wedding (and I'm finally not in the wedding party
)
I'm sitting here, waiting for students who I know won't be coming to show up. Their papers are due today, but they have the option of emailing them to me by 5:00 PM today. I'm nice that way.
I'm thinking about what we talked about in class yesterday. It was a rather pointless class, since nothing I told them would make much difference in their papers, and they were mostly just filling in the last participation grade. But we got to talking about Critical Thinking.
This is something rapidly disappearing. Several of them had never heard of what critical thinking is, or how it could apply to their lives, until I started pointing out the people who profit from the severe lack of critical thought. The Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the CNN talking heads, the entire Faux Newz Network . . . all rely on people not questioning the world around them.
People are so used to taking things at face value, as they're presented by people who have only their own best interest at heart. We think "gee, she said that on TV, it must be true" or "he's on the radio, it must be true" or even "they printed that in the newspaper, it must be true." Thankfully, most people are smart enough to remember that the Internet is usually NOT a reliable source for truth and fact, but some do.
I asked my students why they thought it was, people no longer being skeptical of the world as presented by the news. At least they got that part right: it's too hard.
It's too hard to bother checking up on the news.
It's too hard to get a second angle.
It's too hard to check up on the character and reliability of the people giving their opinions.
It's too hard to come up with opinions, when someone else's will do just fine.
Fucking pathetic
I'm thinking about what we talked about in class yesterday. It was a rather pointless class, since nothing I told them would make much difference in their papers, and they were mostly just filling in the last participation grade. But we got to talking about Critical Thinking.
This is something rapidly disappearing. Several of them had never heard of what critical thinking is, or how it could apply to their lives, until I started pointing out the people who profit from the severe lack of critical thought. The Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the CNN talking heads, the entire Faux Newz Network . . . all rely on people not questioning the world around them.
People are so used to taking things at face value, as they're presented by people who have only their own best interest at heart. We think "gee, she said that on TV, it must be true" or "he's on the radio, it must be true" or even "they printed that in the newspaper, it must be true." Thankfully, most people are smart enough to remember that the Internet is usually NOT a reliable source for truth and fact, but some do.
I asked my students why they thought it was, people no longer being skeptical of the world as presented by the news. At least they got that part right: it's too hard.
It's too hard to bother checking up on the news.
It's too hard to get a second angle.
It's too hard to check up on the character and reliability of the people giving their opinions.
It's too hard to come up with opinions, when someone else's will do just fine.
Fucking pathetic
Tornado hits my home town: Idiots with cameras go look at damage.
No, I didn't take the video. I don't even have a decent digital camera. But some cute girl with a bunch of piercings and a caveman looking boyfriend might have taken my picture as I walked around with a cigar
Updated Edit:
It is confirmed that there were no deaths and no serious injuries.
Takes more than a gust of wind to take us out.
No, I didn't take the video. I don't even have a decent digital camera. But some cute girl with a bunch of piercings and a caveman looking boyfriend might have taken my picture as I walked around with a cigar
Updated Edit:
It is confirmed that there were no deaths and no serious injuries.
Takes more than a gust of wind to take us out.
JULY 2008