blogging

blogging / technology — 3 Comments
6
Jul 10

I Have My Life Back

I have my life back… in the digital sense, that is.

For almost 3/4 of a year, I’ve been without a computer of my own. As mentioned in a previous post, I lost my MacBook in a public library and I’ve borrowed a couple of computers since then. As much as those computers saved my life at times, it wasn’t quite the same. I couldn’t truly use them for photos, for music, or even looking at porn. Well, I really don’t use porn (even if one of the owners wouldn’t have minded), and whether you believe me or not on this issue is up to you. Given that, it is nice to have a personal computer where I can do a lot of private things, unfortunately some of them pretty banal things such as paying bills or looking at bank statements.

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blogging / college / friends / The Recession — No Comments
23
Feb 10

Lessons in Impermanence, Part II


“Strangers When We Meet” is how I have felt about some people I’ve known in the past.

The jobs were one lesson in impermanence since they were all short-term. Unlike the grocery store, where I stayed on for one reason or another even though I hated it, I didn’t have to stick around if I didn’t want to. I could always move on to something else, provided I found something. At the same time, I found my relationships with people weren’t always permanent, whether I had control or not.
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blogging / photography — 1 Comment
22
Feb 10

Check out Khowaga’s 365 Project

Chris, my blogger friend out in Austin, TX, has been doing a photo a day project, or Khowaga’s 365 Project. This is his 50th photo, a milestone in a yearlong project. It’s a great portfolio so far and it’s not too hard to get through at 50.* No doubt more fantastic photos will be shot and posted. Bookmark and stay posted.

*51 as of this posting

blogging / career / technology / The Recession — No Comments
22
Feb 10

Lessons in Impermanence, Part 1


David Bowie singing his signature anthem of impermanence, “Changes.”

If there’s anything to learn from this recession is that nothing is permanent. Way before our economy tanked to where it is now, corporations adopted the layoff as a quick road to profits during the Clinton years. Downsizing, reducing redundancies, etc – it became the popular way for companies to slim down their expensive American workforce and seek cheaper labor abroad. Even when times appeared to be prosperous, such as the late Clinton years or the middle Bush years, the stable job was not as easily obtainable as it once was.

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blogging / current events / The Recession — 3 Comments
21
Feb 10

The Newly Jobless, including One who took Drastic Action

With the Beatles‘ recent popularity with generations who weren’t even around the first time around, you’d think that love is all you need. However, we live in times where even that sentiment, as lovely as it is, is not enough to counter the malaise of this recession. One of the feature stories in this month’s Atlantic Monthly, “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America,” paints a grim future for the American job market in the next few years. The New York Times, not to be beat, is doing a series about “The New Poor” (coming off an era with the new rich) with a similar article: ” Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs.” The Atlantic Monthly makes predictions about the cultural changes to come while the NY Times takes a closer look at the systems in place to deal with unemployment and how they’re ill-prepared for this crisis. With the grimness pointed out by both sources, why not laugh at the futility of paying off credit cards on Cracked.Com.

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blogging / books / current events / News / religion / The Recession — No Comments
20
Feb 10

The Doctor, Amazon.Com, Healthcare FAIL, etc


The new trailer for the upcoming Dr. Who with the newly regenerated 11th Doctor and new companion Amy Pond.

With the Christmas and New Year Specials giving David Tennant’s 10th Doctor a proper send-off and effectively ending the Russell T Davies’ era of Doctor Who, this trailer helps whet our appetites for the coming season with Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor and Steven Moffat, who wrote some brilliant episodes in the past such as “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Blink” among others, taking the helm as executive producer. The trailer above, recently posted to BBC America‘s Doctor Who site, definitely promises the season to be a good one. The previous trailer gives more of a dramatic sense with actual scenes, whereas this one simply sells it. Best Doctor Who teaser since Christopher Eccleston’s offer of a “trip of a lifetime.”

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blogging / communication styles / teaching / The Recession — No Comments
17
Feb 10

He’s certainly got Cloutier

For some odd reason yesterday, I found myself in the business section of NY Time‘s website when I came across this interview with George Cloutier, an entrepreneur who gets small businesses out of the holes they dig themselves into. He was full of all kinds of glib, but hard-won business wisdom such as “Fire Your Relatives. Scare Your Employees. And Stop Whining.” He also had a tough style of speaking, which fascinated me. Then I realized who he reminded me of: Gordon Ramsay. Clearly, Ramsay and/or his producers must have been aware of Cloutier’s business and his approach to rescuing businesses and realized they could make good TV out of it. With Gordon’s speech resembling a heart monitor and doing the fixer-uppers for ailing restaurants, he had channeled Cloutier without giving props to the man.

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blogging / humor / News — No Comments
15
Feb 10

Some Links brought to you by Friendster, I mean Facebook

I’m always posting some interesting links up on my FB profile. I used to be one of those annoying people who linked their Twitter account to Facebook, thus all my friends then get the impression I’m a serious alcoholic or an out-and-about partyer. Then I used Selective Twitter, so no one sees every single tweet, which is now moot since I haven’t tweeted much lately. Getting back to the good ol’ FB profile, I now post a lot of links to express myself instead of giving every little bit of mundane piece of information. However, the links anyone chooses to post can say quite a bit about themselves. In my case, the most of the recent articles shared from the Chronicles of Higher Education point to my malaise about having gone through grad school, adjuncting, and the now anorexic amount of job opportunities (especially for higher degree holders). Also, here and there, there’s a shiny bit of news that catches my attention and I have to share those with everyone too.

So here are some interesting links from the past few days:

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blogging / college / scams / teaching — 2 Comments
12
Feb 10

Yes, I Burned My Hand on the Stove

Usually, I don’t need articles on some journal website to tell me what to think. However, they can confirm thoughts and feelings I have, like some of Thomas Benton’s articles on the Chronicles of Higher Education, especially “The Big Lie About the ‘Life of the Mind,” “Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don’t Go,” and “If You Must Go To Grad School.” Perhaps if I read these articles before ever throwing together a portfolio to apply to a graduate creative writing program, I would not have applied at all. Actually, I’m more stubborn than that. I’m the type who has to put my hand on the stove and get burned instead of listening to someone who tells me that it’s hot. Continue reading →

blogging / career — 2 Comments
10
Feb 10

2009, 2010, you’ve taken my voice away. Now go frak yourselves!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Considering that everyone’s been affected by this economy, I’m no exception. After getting laid off last semester from the adjuncting, I felt a variety of emotions, ranging from relief that perhaps I wouldn’t have to do this anymore to anxiety about where my next dollar was going to come from. Apart from that, I couldn’t break into the library field with the city in hiring freeze and other places perhaps putting my resumes in the digital bin. To add to those injuries, I lost my MacBook during last autumn and that also knocked the virtual wind out of me. Long story short, it has been an extremely painful and disappointing year and I retreated into silence on this blog. On some level, I might have done myself good by not posting my anger about the situation. I let these situations take away my voice. I don’t want them to continue to do so.

Recently, I have been more active on my Facebook and Twitter accounts, but neither is any substitute for blogging. On Facebook, I have expressed myself more through posting interesting links (at least interesting to me) and some of those can be interesting jumping points for topics. I’ve tried to keep the twittering up, though it’s not something I do every day now. Last week, I recently jumped off the iPhone train, so I’m not going to post lunches or anything else as frequently. Unfortunately, my fingers still itch to touch a glass screen and text updates. I feel like I’ve given up cigarettes.

On the plus side, a friend loaned me one of her Macs, a PowerBook. It does the job, but I’ll be happy to have my own computer again, especially one more “modern.” I’m also working (which I won’t discuss*) and I’m teaching a night course (which also won’t be discussed*). And, I have a few good friends, a valuable resource in hard times.

I’ve been reading plenty and I’ve been working on some fiction. But, I want to get the momentum back in writing, which the posts should help. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, no flight plan, no problem. All I need to do is fly.

*not to be discussed at this time. I know, it limits my topics, but CYA.

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