Journals : 2005 : September
2 September 2005 | Link this
The armchair quarterbacking on CNN's coverage of the nightmare in New Orleans is getting to be a bit much...
It's apparent that there have been significant planning and commmunication breakdowns and that the government response has been somewhat less than adequate, and I have no problem with the focus on victims who have some very pointed comments on the subject. These people are newsworthy and I care what they have to say...
However, this is neither the time nor the place for the sort of verbal abuse that CNN's own reporters are heaping upon every politician they interview. It's unprofessional and inappropriate; these people frankly have enough to do right now without having to subject themselves to constant browbeating and derision from reporters who seem to have missed neither meals nor hair care opportunities this week...
The first interviewee, regardless of party, who has the balls to tell Miles O'Brien to "shut the fuck up and let me finish my sentence" -- or even better, who merely stops talking entirely or just walks away -- gets a big campaign donation from me...
4 September 2005 | Link this
New additions to the Charlotte photo section. Enjoy. Or don't...
5 September 2005 | Link this
Methinks someone at the Journal may have had one too many at the cookout yesterday...
6 September 2005 | Link this
I'd always heard that people need less sleep as they get older. I don't find that to be the case for me. When I was 25 or so, I could function just fine on five or six hours sleep, although not for days at a time. I could even do so hung over, although it might have been a little less comfortable...
Nowadays, I feel like crap if I don't get enough sleep. And "enough" means at least seven hours. And it's not even a case of my aging body revolting against various abuses, since I don't even drink or smoke anymore...
But the really sucky thing is that it's also harder for me to GET that required sleep these days, since I can't seem to keep my eyes closed past seven or eight in the morning anymore...
Yawn...
6 September 2005 Later | Link this
Farewell, little buddy...
7 September 2005 | Link this
Just got home from the Charlotte Observer Cattle Call
Career Fair downtown. For those of you who have never attended one of
these shindigs, it's an event where several thousand unemployed people
wait in a long line to get into a big room where they then wait in multiple
smaller lines so that prospective employers can tell them they need
to apply online rather than there in person...
Which, of course, may make you wonder why thousands of people show up at these things when they could just as easily have stayed home in front of their computers rather than putting on suits and ties and paying two bucks for parking. Me too...
I did, however, land an interview with a pimp temp
agency next week...
9 September 2005 | Link this
10 September 2005 | Link this
A lot of people who have never lived in California don't quite understand the system of ballot initiatives used there, not to mention in numerous other western states. An important aspect of this system is the provision that laws passed through inititiatives (e.g. Proposition 22) cannot be rescinded by legislative action, and may be repealed only through a subsequent ballot initiative or a judicial ruling...
Thus, the Governator -- of whom I am most decidedly not a fan -- was absolutely correct in his assertion that the recent marriage bill passed in California is unconstitutional. ANY legislative action which would overturn a ballot initiative is, by definition, unconstitutional in California, even though the original initiative itself may ALSO be unconstitutional. It was not an arbitrary decision in this case, although it may seem ironic to some to have a conservative argue that "juducial activism" IS one of the only appropriate paths to same-sex marriage...
Granted, he might have pursued other alternatives, but his basic (stated) premise was sound. However, the courts have yet to rule on whether Proposition 22 itself is unconstitutional. I believe they will find that it is, which is the only way it will be legally overturned anytime soon...
Sorry. I'm as big a proponent of same-sex marriage as anyone, but it annoys me (and does "the cause" no good whatsoever) when uninformed people start making invalid and irrelevlant arguments about a process they don't understand...
10 September 2005 Later | Link this
This may or may not be the last update ever at Planet SOMA...
13 September 2005 | Link this
Gosh. Is there ANYTHING you can't buy on eBay?
13 Spetmber 2005 Later | Link this
I've just returned from my temp agency interview and assorted tests. Oddly enough, the whole process proved rather beneficial to my recently-plummeting self-esteem...
I wasn't too surprised to find that I scored quite highly on the Excel test, because I actually like using Excel and think it's pretty much the only software Microsoft has gotten right in the past fifteen years. I WAS surprised, though, that I scored even higher on Word, which I hate and only use under duress...
And I was abolsutely stunnned that, even though I am a two-finger typist who wouldn't be able to learn touch typing now if my life depended on it, I somehow manage to plug along at forty words per minute with 98 per cent accuracy. Who knew?
Whether or not any of this will land me a job remains anyone's guess, but I'm a little more optmistic than I was this morning, anyhow...
16 September 2005 | Link this
OK, so this is the creepiest dream ever:
I'm sitting in a very nice restaurant with close relatives and maybe a friend or two (although I don't remember WHO). We're all about to have dinner, and I'm a little peeved that one of my friends and I will be supplying the random organ meat which will be the appetizer. From our own bodies. It apparently isn't going to kill us or cause us big health problems, but will just be something of an inconvenience...
No wonder I'm a little pissed off, huh?
So I get all passive-aggressive and leave the table, asking (a bit sacrcastically) whether anyone minds if -- seeing as how I'm going to BE dinner rather than be SERVED dinner -- I run down to Burger King and get a snack, so I can have something to eat too...
As I walk down the street toward the Burger King, which seems to be a mile or so away, they keep calling after me. Which apparently wakes me up...
In retrospect, two things worry me about this dream:
- Why was I pissed off enough to do the whole passive-agrgressive thing, but not pissed off enough just to say "No, you're NOT eating my spleen for dinner, goddammit!"?
- If they were going to eat my body parts, couldn't they at least have had the common courtesy to FEED me first? How rude...
19 September 2005 | Link this
A few overdue photos:
One month ago: Visit from Dan, which ended in dinner at Gus' Sir Beef...
Two weeks ago: Visit from Duncan, which ended in dinner at the K&W...
Ten days ago: Visit from Rick, which also ended in dinner at the K&W, but it was cooler 'cuz it was the one in Wilmington. As an aside, Rick also received the honor of being the first overnight guest in our new abode...
And yes, I now rate all my friends based on where they agree to eat with me...
21 September 2005 | Link this
I'm happy to report that I've found my new favorite pizza place in Charlotte. The hands down winner is Mellow Mushroom, which is a small regional chain based in Atlanta. The pizza is quite good, but I'd still go there even if it tasted like baked cereal boxes topped with shredded newspapers. Whycome? Because of the salads. They're absolutely amazing. As the hubby said last night, "They must top them with opium or something"...
Me like. Thanks to Joseph for pointing this one out...
And on the subjesct of food, remind me never again to make the near-fatal mistake of visiting a Shoney's breakfast buffet on a Sunday morning. Blecch. Nothing like clawing your way through a long line of ill-mannered rugrats only to wind up with a half-empty plate of severely nasty food. God, what was I thinking?
23 Sepetmber 2005 | Link this
It's not really unusual for me to hear the occasional train whistle here, although it's also not really a daiily occurence. But this morning, I've been hearing them almost contsantly for the past hour or so. Either it's the world's longest train or there's a major railroad traffic jam in downtown Matthews...
23 September 2005 Later | Link this
I've just submitted my first article for paid print publication. So am I officially a professional writer now or do I have to wait for the check to arrive before I can make that claim?