Blog

  • Just a Thought

    I wonder if my liberalism has cornered me into not being able to compromise and get things done?

    This is a thought that has been bouncing around my head of late, which also makes me think that I have become part of the problem instead of the solution. What I feel is important politically keeps becoming more and more redline, and unyielding, and my gut reaction is that I am being pushed this direction by the opposition, not that I want to go there.

    Let’s use climate change as an example. An enormous issue that I feel demands immediate action, and if nothing else, we should make moves to stop making it worse. The conservative viewpoint is that it doesn’t exist… and this is where I say that I feel cornered, because where do I go? If the other side refuses to believe that the issue exists, how do I make progress? Thusly, in turn, I feel that I have to do more and be louder to make the issue be addressed, which in turn makes me less likely to engage with the other side. Wait… I think I just became a victim of my own issue…

    Let me try this another way…

    There is part of me that knows to get things done, I have work with different people who hold different viewpoints, and find common ground and consensus. Then at the same time, I want to give up and say that the other side will never agree with me, so I might as well go full blow for all of my convictions. At the end of the day, nothing gets done.

  • The Tax Overhaul

    I have never understood people that vote against their own self-interest, and I believe that is what people are doing that vote Republican. I try to circle that square, as how someone who is working or middle class, would vote Republican, and then celebrate when that party gives huge tax breaks to the rich and corporations. It is another form of redistribution of wealth, going from the poor to the rich. Yet, Republican voters cannot stand when the redistribution of wealth goes the other way, in their favor.

    Having said that, I do also believe what LBJ said about politics, and I know that I’m paraphrasing here, but it’s all about power; those that want it, and those that don’t want to give it up. It’s a very base and cynical way of looking at things, but in that prism, politics does make more sense to me.

    The tax over haul; nothing but power. It is ensuring that one group get a leg up over the other one. This is an action to dismantle the New Deal and Great Society. Thoes orginal programs were nothing but a shift in power in their own rights. It took the money from the very wealthy and the very few, and gave it to everyone else. It was a power shift that clearly said who was most important to the government.

  • Old v New Nerds

    The first movie I ever saw in the theatre was “Empire Strikes Back.” I was four, and the experience was life changing. The excitement of going to a movie, sitting in a theatre, and sharing the moment in a communal setting. Then there was the movie, which set my imagination free in a million different directions. I remember my father and brother trying to explain “Star Wars” to me so I would understand what was happening. What I remember most was the importance of friendship, and having the courage to face your fears.

    And then I didn’t see that movie again for nearly 5 years, but it was a very important part of my like. I had “Star Wars” toys, and books, and talked about it incessantly with friends. I remember once being at a friend’s house, and all of us guys discovered that in this house, they had a copy of “Empire” and we stopped everything to watch it. (That was back when a VHS of a popular movie could cost $90.) To be a fanatic with the source material was difficult. It relied on memory and debate.

    Now, I have a kid, who loves “Star Wars,” and she can watch Empire anytime she wants. Her fanatic desire to see the source can be met anytime she wants. Having noticed this, I wonder what affect this instant access to source material has had on fandom. Clearly it has exploded in the last 15 years, and did home video have anything to do with it?

  • The Holiday Season

    For me, the whole “Holiday Season” starts with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and ends with New Years. The big four, and now with a kid, they take on a different meaning and purpose.

    But there are the old annoyances, and that would be the car commercials. And I’m talking about the higher end car commercials. With the people waking up Christmas morning with a silver (and they are all silver or white) car parked in the drive way, and being so over whelmed and amazed at this gift. And there is a big red bow on top of the car.

    The two things that annoy me about the commercials, other than the fact that I will never own a luxury car, is how is the car delivered in the driveway whereas the gifted car recipient is unaware that it is there, and two, where do they get the big red bows? Does the car dealership give them out complementary along with the purchase of the car? The dipping sauce to the car’s chicken nugget, so to speak.

    In my mind, I see the story of the wife being confounded, after having purchased the Lexus December to Remember sedan, as she is unable to secure the perfect red bow for the car. “It’s the bow that will tie the gift together for Kevin,” I hear her confessing to her friend on Facetime as she races to another Party City, hoping that they are not sold out of bows.

    But having now done a google search for “big red bow car commercial” I have discovered this site. At least they are made in the USA.

  • No Headphones and Other Thoughts

    I didn’t think I left this morning in a hurry, but clearly, I did. I left so fast that I forgot my headphones. I was forced to not listen to music, but read the news off my phone. I felt defenseless and vulnerable. On my subway ride to work, I had to hope that someone wouldn’t discover my state, and then think that I was a person who was willing to engage in a conversation, or worse share a glance of recognition.

    My headphones allow me to be and not be present at the same time; open for business but the door is locked. I cannot deal with human contact that early in the morning, and I am an expert of being on a crowed train and not touching another person. I live in the most densely packed city in America, existing in tight spaces, but nothing is worse than accidently touching a stranger on public transit.

    This is me is the great paradox of living in NYC; actual contact with other people. The fact that I choose to live here to me is a statement that I like people and I accept diversity, but at the same time, if I don’t know you, don’t touch or bother me. I wouldn’t be the first person to write about living in this City, and there are still times that I feel like that no one has touched on the modern elements of living here. It’s not the same City that I moved into 11 years ago, but somehow still the same.

    Bottom line; don’t forget your headphones.