Author: Matthew Groff

  • Work Clothes

    Things have picked up for me on the job front. I’m starting to get interviews now, which is a relief, and hopefully, I will be gainfully employed by the end of the month. (I’m still working on writing professionally, but that nut will take a little time to crack, and I have bills that need to be paid.)

    As I gear up for these interviews, and also to getting back into the workforce, I have been dusting off my work clothes, so I can start looking professional and put together again. (Being unemployed does lends itself to leisurewear rather easily.) I have been working in the arts for the past 10 years, and it is an industry that, I would say, prides itself on casual work clothes, rather than formal. It is the arts after all, and the emphasis is being an individual, while the business world is about uniformity; being predictable.

    I have found that in my roles for arts management jobs, I needed to wear a shirt and tie to feel comfortable. I am not a formal clothing person in my day to day, or creative life (Please refer to the leisurewear statement above,) but what I found out was that it was easier for me to do these art administration jobs if, in a sense, I put on a “costume” to do them. Such as, playing a character. Then, when I got home, I would take the “costume” off and separate myself from that work. Not that it always happened, but I knew when I got out of those clothes, the job was done for the day.

  • New Year Admission

    I had taken the past two weeks off to just focus on my family, and especially my kid, over the Holiday Season. With all the changes that have happened to us, I wanted to make sure she felt like she had my complete focus.

    When I did have time for myself, I read. This year for Christmas, my wife got me the novel “Transit” by Rachel Cusk. I have wanted this book for some time and placed it on list of books I would like. In all honesty, I think it was near the bottom of the list, but I was thrilled to receive it as a gift. I read the book in four days; that’s how much I enjoyed.

    But I am not here today to talk about that novel, or my opinion of it.

    I am here to admit that in 2018, I only read two books; “Transit,” and “Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana.” I started reading half a dozen books this past year, but I only completed reading two.

    It’s a little shameful to admit that, but as we enter a new year, I think honesty is of the top order.

    I made this self-discovery as soon as I finished “Transit.” As I closed that volume, I thought about what I should read next… and that’s when I remembered about the box, which I still haven’t unpacked, that contains all the books that were sitting on my old desk I NYC, that I planned on finishing.

    And that’s the key; planned on, but never did. The scary thing is that I think this has been a trend for the past few years.

    As I start this new year, not that I really consider this a resolution, I need to read more than two books.

    Let’s see if I can do three.

  • Trotsky on Netflix

    I stumbled onto a new show that Netflix seems to be very desperate for me to watch. It’s called, “Trotsky,” and it’s about Leon Trotsky. Not the most original title for a show about Trotsky. Complete disclosure; I’m only two episodes in, so I can’t give a review of the show. Maybe at a later point. What I want to discuss is why Netflix thinks I need to see this show, and being that this show was produced in Russia, what does it say about how Russians view their own history.

    First, Netflix. So, if I watch “Civilizations” and “Empire Games,” they must think that I will love a miniseries on a Soviet revolutionary. I guess this is how it works. I mean, they aren’t wrong, I just would like to know if that was all it took. Is this the action of a Russian troll who is trying to get me to be more sympathetic to Russia?

    Second, is this how Russians view themselves, and what the Soviet Revolutions was? I don’t know that much about Trotsky. I know he was one of the big Soviet three, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. I know he ran the military in the Revolution. I know he killed lots of people, and after Lenin died, lost the fight to take over leadership to Stalin. And then Stalin had him killed while he lived in exile in Mexico City. I also know that Stalin tried to have Trotsky completely removed from the history of the revolution and the foundation of the USSR. I even hear that Stalin is still regarded as a hero in Russia to this day.

    So… Does this mean that Trotsky is now considered a hero in Russia? Is this a romanization of that period in Russian history? Is this miniseries indicative of anything culturally over there?

    I’ll finish the show, and then see if there are any insights.

  • More FaceBook Thoughts

    I am still thinking about the FaceBook NYTimes article that came out yesterday. What has stuck with me, or what I keep turning over in my head is what protections do we have from corporations when we seem to be living in a time where an individual seems to have less and less power to stand up to them.

    “Seem” is the word I am using as I am not sure if that statement is true. It sure does feel that way, but is that the reality?

    If I try to be objective when it comes to the formation of my opinions, there are two major camps. The first is from my Grandpa Lawrence, who was a union man, a Democrat, and who said that if there wasn’t a check on corporations, then they would run amuck and destroy everyone and everything to make a profit. The other thought camp is my Grandpa Delmore who was the manager of a quarry, was pro-business, believed that individual liberty was key to being an America, and was a Republican.

    These are the two voices that debate in my mind when issues like this come up. Delmore would say that you don’t need FaceBook to live and work, so don’t sign the agreement and you won’t lose any of your data. Lawrence would say that unregulated corporations lead to corruption and destructive behavior.

    In this situation, I see myself siding with Lawrence on this issue, but how do I want government to weigh in on this? If I want to use an internet service, and it is being offered for free, does that mean I have to surrender my personal info to use it? IS there another business model that will work? Or is this just a matter of we have to start paying for what was once free.

  • FaceBook, Same as the Old Boss

    I just read the new article in the NY Times that details how FaceBook put up privacy walls for users, but then turned around and created partnerships with other tech companies and gave them the private data.

    For one, 2018 has been an awful year for FaceBook.

    And for two, why am I still on FaceBook and Instagram?

    There’s lots of ground covered in the article, and Facebook isn’t the only guilty party in this story either, but are any of us really surprised that a corporation was greedy, and put profit over the well-being of their customers? Even lied to their customers, so they could keep making more money, and to make the shareholders happy. (Even Google has stopped using it’s, “Don’t Be Evil,” moto. That can’t be a good sign for a corporation.)

    I’m not naïve enough to believe that there was ever a “good era” for corporations; such as, corporations were acting in the best interest of their customers and society in general. Their job is to make as much money as possible, and I don’t think that will ever change. What I do have a problem with is that there seems to be no repercussion for a corporation when they get caught telling outright lies to their customers and the country. What are you going to do?

    We could sue them?

    Nope, we all signed agreements that allow FaceBook to do this. And even if we wanted to sue them, we couldn’t because we agreed to settle any disputes in arbitration, and not a court.

    Yes, I am seriously thinking about deleting all of my social accounts.

    But is it even possible anymore to go anonymous on the internet?