I am by no means a supporter of conspicuous consumption - a term coined in the "gilded age" of the 20's when people were spending money like it was going out of style - but it is clearly a large part of our culture. Walking down the street you can spot tons of signs of perceived quality: the fancy European cars, the carefully manicures lawns behind finely pointed edifices, and even the chic clothing people wear when they go out. Even though I don't really like the idea of people wasting money on items that only serve the purpose of proclaiming their status to the world, I have to admit there is a certain draw to having nice things, dropping wads of cash and living the fast life.
Without any money of my own to disseminate on fancy dinners and shiny things I prefer to live the good life vicariously through movies and online espionage. Namely some of the following websites which let me gawk dream and not spend a thing!
http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/expensive.html
http://www.hammacher.com/?source=catalogs.com&cm_ven=Catalog&cm_cat=Catalog&cm_pla=Catalogs.com&cm_ite=Catalogs.com
And if you're after a movie that makes you realize just how impoverished (but sustainable) a life you are living then I suggest the two newest bond films: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Bond knows how to treat himself well!
And if there is something out there that you spend a lot of your time on be it music, model airplanes, gardening or cooking then it might just pay to buy the best tools and enjoy them.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
A cool game to rot your brain
Playing games online is great because a) it's free b) you don't feel obligated to "beat the game" and c) you feel less guilty procrastinating with your work when you keep your half-written paper in a tab at the bottom of your screen while playing.
Without further ado...
Dogfight 2
Without further ado...
Dogfight 2Thursday, April 2, 2009
Legalized Weed and Animal Feed
FACT: Many people are in favor of the legalization of Marijuana.
OPINION: That makes sense.
Recently at President Obama's "public" Town Hall meeting it was touted by the press that the people could ask any questions they wanted and the most popular ones would be addressed by Obama himself. Now let's assume (and I actually don't) that the people who received all of these questions, "the gatekeepers", actually allowed all of the controversial questions through. One of the most supported questions was on whether the Prez is considering legalizing marijuana.
He laughed it off.
Why would Obama shrug off a question that had so much of the populace behind it? I don't think it's too far from the truth to say that half of American citizens would be in favor of, or at least not opposed to, the legalization of weed. It would make sense to build large amounts of revenue through taxes (the reason cigarettes are supported by the gov't). It would stem the flow of crime in Mexico - a problem that is quickly growing and should be the cause of a lot of concern.
Nope, I guess no administration is ever going to get it. But I know there are some downsides as well.
OPINION: That makes sense.
Recently at President Obama's "public" Town Hall meeting it was touted by the press that the people could ask any questions they wanted and the most popular ones would be addressed by Obama himself. Now let's assume (and I actually don't) that the people who received all of these questions, "the gatekeepers", actually allowed all of the controversial questions through. One of the most supported questions was on whether the Prez is considering legalizing marijuana.
He laughed it off.
Why would Obama shrug off a question that had so much of the populace behind it? I don't think it's too far from the truth to say that half of American citizens would be in favor of, or at least not opposed to, the legalization of weed. It would make sense to build large amounts of revenue through taxes (the reason cigarettes are supported by the gov't). It would stem the flow of crime in Mexico - a problem that is quickly growing and should be the cause of a lot of concern.
Nope, I guess no administration is ever going to get it. But I know there are some downsides as well.
Sighmething for the twenty-somethings
Employment. Career. Job. Occupation. Profession. Livelihood. Vocation. Calling.
Those are the synonymous words I came up for when thinking about the idea of having steady work. I preceded to arrange them in order from the most chillingly analytic terms to the softest and most inspiring expressions.
Because that's the idea, right?
We're all trying to find our calling; to practice our vocation; to expound on our livelihood; to impress in our profession.
What we aren't looking forward to is being placed in an occupation; or getting up to go to a job; or deciphering the most prudent career path; and certainly not landing gracelessly in an unfortunate position of employment.
They have career services designed just for this purpose. There are career tests. Career psychiatrists that are licensed to give out slips of paper telling us what we are suited for (along with their usual slips of paper to tell us what drugs will make us less likely to complain about these new jobs.)
There seem to be so few interesting job titles out there. I think that's the reason every other person you ask is studying to be a lawyer or a doctor or a business-person. Good luck with that, by the way. But no one ever says they want to be... oh, i don't know, a catcher in the rye!
Now that was a cool job. Hang out on a hill watch some kids playing baseball and occasional intervene to protect them from their own adorable yet untimely demise.
Just the other day I thought to myself how i would like to be a sneaker designer. Now as you all know from previous posts of my artwork I'm not exactly fully qualified to hold a paintbrush in my hand for a 9 to 5 kind of thing. And yet, there is something a lot more realistically exciting about a designer of graphic footwear then a dulcet accountant.
Keeping with the shoe theme: what if it was someone's job to write out tiny scrolls of information about exotic animals and then roll those tiny scrolls up and stick them in the hard tips of shoelaces (also known as Aglets).
I would like to be employed as the guy who brushes the teeth of all four presidents on mount rushmore. It would probably attract enough tourists to get me a salary and it would be a great conversation starter.
I could run an agency that hires the guys who run out onto sports fields naked and tattoo advertising onto their backs. That is an untapped industry.
Maybe President Obama should hire me to create jobs. My official title would be Head Stimulator. Well there you go - I made a funny.
Those are the synonymous words I came up for when thinking about the idea of having steady work. I preceded to arrange them in order from the most chillingly analytic terms to the softest and most inspiring expressions.
Because that's the idea, right?
We're all trying to find our calling; to practice our vocation; to expound on our livelihood; to impress in our profession.
What we aren't looking forward to is being placed in an occupation; or getting up to go to a job; or deciphering the most prudent career path; and certainly not landing gracelessly in an unfortunate position of employment.
They have career services designed just for this purpose. There are career tests. Career psychiatrists that are licensed to give out slips of paper telling us what we are suited for (along with their usual slips of paper to tell us what drugs will make us less likely to complain about these new jobs.)
There seem to be so few interesting job titles out there. I think that's the reason every other person you ask is studying to be a lawyer or a doctor or a business-person. Good luck with that, by the way. But no one ever says they want to be... oh, i don't know, a catcher in the rye!
Now that was a cool job. Hang out on a hill watch some kids playing baseball and occasional intervene to protect them from their own adorable yet untimely demise.
Just the other day I thought to myself how i would like to be a sneaker designer. Now as you all know from previous posts of my artwork I'm not exactly fully qualified to hold a paintbrush in my hand for a 9 to 5 kind of thing. And yet, there is something a lot more realistically exciting about a designer of graphic footwear then a dulcet accountant.
Keeping with the shoe theme: what if it was someone's job to write out tiny scrolls of information about exotic animals and then roll those tiny scrolls up and stick them in the hard tips of shoelaces (also known as Aglets).
I would like to be employed as the guy who brushes the teeth of all four presidents on mount rushmore. It would probably attract enough tourists to get me a salary and it would be a great conversation starter.
I could run an agency that hires the guys who run out onto sports fields naked and tattoo advertising onto their backs. That is an untapped industry.
Maybe President Obama should hire me to create jobs. My official title would be Head Stimulator. Well there you go - I made a funny.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
interns unite!
It's getting closer to the summer and every diligent college student knows that means its time for internship searches. And there are a lot of them out there too! Every business seems to make room for a student to do busy work for no pay.
Hmm I wonder why...
Is it just me or is the use of unpaid internships turning into an abuse of uncertain college students?
Here are the facts. Internships have been around for a long time in certain fields like journalism and medicine. It makes sense to put someone onto the floor as a worker-in-practice if their job requires knowledge that can't be attained anywhere other than in the workplace. Before there were interns there were apprentices (a point that a friend reminded me of). In the days when a cobbler wasn't just a delicious pastry it also made sense to take someone under your wing and teach them a trade that couldn't be picked up through general schooling. I might also mention that apprentices usually got to live under the roof of their teacher. But I do grant that internships have their place in society.
Fast-forward to the 21st century. The majority of jobs require only a few things: computer skills; common sense; and the ability to read, write and think at a respectable level. Now i could swear that I had already picked up all of these skills in my 15 years of attending school. So why am I still being offered an internship to move numbers from one computer chart to another for no money?
The way I see it the employers have gotten savvy to the fact that college students are a bunch of insecure, uncertain over-achievers who are willing to do anything to add a couple of words to their resume. What I want to know is where will it stop? Will we eventually be asked to intern for a minimum of 3 years to get credit for it? or maybe you will have to attend a paid training seminar to be considered for an internship? Both of those things might sound crazy but I certainly know a few people who would do it.
This kind of backwards progress is what marked the early stages of capitalism with unfair wages and a complete lack of security on the part of the worker. That is, until the concept of a Union was conceived!
So I suggest we interns unite under a union that guarantees us what we so sorely deserve and so infrequently receive: real job training, a stipend large enough to at least cover transportation and a nice lunch on days we work and some assurance that if we do well we can move up the ranks of the company we devoted so much time to.
Until college students start to band together on issues of importance to us we will always be used. What are we working so hard for - memorizing mathematical theorems and painstakingly pouring over passages of literature - if the end result is being denigrated to office barista while the guys in the corner office laugh it up over our carefully brewed Caffe Americano.
Hmm I wonder why...
Is it just me or is the use of unpaid internships turning into an abuse of uncertain college students?
Here are the facts. Internships have been around for a long time in certain fields like journalism and medicine. It makes sense to put someone onto the floor as a worker-in-practice if their job requires knowledge that can't be attained anywhere other than in the workplace. Before there were interns there were apprentices (a point that a friend reminded me of). In the days when a cobbler wasn't just a delicious pastry it also made sense to take someone under your wing and teach them a trade that couldn't be picked up through general schooling. I might also mention that apprentices usually got to live under the roof of their teacher. But I do grant that internships have their place in society.
Fast-forward to the 21st century. The majority of jobs require only a few things: computer skills; common sense; and the ability to read, write and think at a respectable level. Now i could swear that I had already picked up all of these skills in my 15 years of attending school. So why am I still being offered an internship to move numbers from one computer chart to another for no money?
The way I see it the employers have gotten savvy to the fact that college students are a bunch of insecure, uncertain over-achievers who are willing to do anything to add a couple of words to their resume. What I want to know is where will it stop? Will we eventually be asked to intern for a minimum of 3 years to get credit for it? or maybe you will have to attend a paid training seminar to be considered for an internship? Both of those things might sound crazy but I certainly know a few people who would do it.
This kind of backwards progress is what marked the early stages of capitalism with unfair wages and a complete lack of security on the part of the worker. That is, until the concept of a Union was conceived!
So I suggest we interns unite under a union that guarantees us what we so sorely deserve and so infrequently receive: real job training, a stipend large enough to at least cover transportation and a nice lunch on days we work and some assurance that if we do well we can move up the ranks of the company we devoted so much time to.
Until college students start to band together on issues of importance to us we will always be used. What are we working so hard for - memorizing mathematical theorems and painstakingly pouring over passages of literature - if the end result is being denigrated to office barista while the guys in the corner office laugh it up over our carefully brewed Caffe Americano.
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