Dan'l's Multiapostrophic LiveJournal

8:26am: The downside of having a job
It is an absolutely perfect morning out. The air is crisp and clear, the light is of nearly Florentine quality, and the birds are making bird noises. And I'm in a classroom with tiny windows behind me.

Not that I'm complaining. The upside way outbids the downside.

8:16pm: A Minor Dilemma
There is this musician. I won't give the name here for reasons that will become obvious. You have probably never heard of this artist anyway: the music is pretty damn obscure, at least in this country.

For the better part of the last decade I have been all but enraptured by this artist's music. It produces in me a state not unlike what some people claim they get from various illegal chemicals. A trancelike state of bliss and joy. You get the idea.

Well, anyway. I don't know much about the artist's personal life, but I recently came across information that suggests that this person is of a political persuasion that I find utterly abhorrent. If the source is correct and truthful, "Cryptofacist" would be the very kindest word I could use; "neo-Nazi" would probably be closer to the described views.

As to the quality of the information: the source is an ex-member of the artist's band. Thus the source may well be well-informed, but there is cause to think that the source may also be nursing a grudge against the artist.

What, I ask, do you think I should do? There is no way for me to check further on the veracity of the information (unless the artist chooses to make a clear statement on the subject, and then I have to ask myself about the veracity of that source). I know one person who is selling off his complete collection of the artist's records, on the grounds that he doesn't want Nazi-inspired music in his house. I know others who are saying, "It doesn't matter, the music is all that matters."

Am I obliged to take any kind of stand in the matter at all? Perhaps simply refuse to buy any further music by the artist until s/he makes his/her positions clear? Or, perhaps, is the music all that really matters?

8:43am: Hunh
After a week I find that I was looking forward to Monday. That's surprising and pleasant.

5:42pm: Survived First Week
...which really isn't surprising, as it was mostly makework to keep me busy until next week when marathon training begins for the rest of the month. I expect that to be something of a meatgrinder.

One interesting detail - this company gives all new hires a copy of a book called "The Happiness Hypothesis," by Jonathan Haidt. I'm about 80% through it now and it's pretty good. It isn't a business book, nor a culty sort of thing, but a psychological view of what makes people happy.

5:58pm: Damn, those anthropologists live to a ripe old age
RIP Claude Levi-Strauss. I was surprised to learn that he was actually still alive enough to die.

8:18am: First Day
It was pretty good. Spent some time doing HR stuff, but I actually managed to make some small contributions on my first day. Like my coworkers, so that's good. I think I'll be happy here.

11:47am: Seen: Miracle at St Anna
Spike Lee is turning out to be one of the finest directors in America. From "She's Gotta Have It," to "Inside Man" he's put out some grand films. We didn't know this was a Spike Lee film (or "joint") when we ordered it from Netflix, but that was good news when the opening credits rolled.

In the first five minutes the following happens: An older black man is watching television, an old John Wayne war film. He makes a cynical (but accurate) comment about it. We switch to him at work at the Post Office, where he sells stamps to a series of customers. Then when one man appears at the counter, he pulls a Luger and shoots the man dead.

The rest of the film is about why he did it. Most of it is a flashback to his time in the Buffalo Soldiers in WWII. Some of the battle scenes here are among the best I've ever seen, affecting me more powerfully than (say) those in "Saving Private Ryan." A small group of the Buffalo Soldiers gets isolated behind enemy lines. One of them, Sam Train (extraordinarily well played by Omar Benson Miller) picks up a young Italian boy who seems to be without a family. They make their way to a village where they are taken in by a complex family, whose paterfamilias is a card-carrying facist.

What follows is a story of love, brutality, and betrayal that more than pays off the setup. It would be grotesque to reveal what the "miracle" of the title is, but it has the proper awe that a miracle should have - and the sense of "what just happened here?" that is too often lacking in portrayals of miracles.

I recommend it highly.

12:45pm: Stupidity Involving Animals
Is that a gecko in your pants, or are you just happy to be in Norway?

On the altar of sport

9:56am: Unemployment Journal: Week 41 and last!
Spent the weekend celebrating with good meals and a trip to the Other Change of Hobbit in Berkeley. Will spend this week making sure my wardrobe is in order and that I am otherwise ready to start on Monday next, and getting some relaxing done.

Thanks to all who didn't unfriend me during this long and boring period of my journal.

1:13pm: Blaspheming Gophers
UMinn has apologized because its mascot poked (rather gentle) fun at an opposing player who knelt in prayer in the end zone.

Minnesota spokesman Dan Wolter says the stunt was "plainly a mistake" and the mascot didn't intend to offend anyone or trivialize religion.

It seems to me that if anybody trivialized religion, it was the player in question, who seems to believe that God actually favors one team over another.

5:43pm: Will the Republicans acknowledge this?
Obama policy a radical affirmation of states' rights.

10:59am: I can has job now plz?
Shortly after I posted Unemployment Journal entry #40, I received The Call. I start on November 2 at a not-yet-public but already profitable company in San Mateo. Excellent pay plus a decent selection of shares.

My cup runneth over. Rejoice for me, friends!

10:20am: The Faces
Occasionally when looking at inanimate objects he would see faces.
Once seen, he could not unsee them.
The real problem was this:
he was seeing them more and more.

He lived in terror of the day when one of them would speak to him,
for then he would know that he had gone from overimaginative to insane.

10:20am: Unemployment Journal: Week 40
Still no movement. Waiting on tenterhooks.

10:19am: We have to wonder.
Did Glen Beck or didn't he? And why won't he deny it?

12:16pm: American Idiot
Yesterday for A's birthday we saw the "American Idiot" show at the Berkeley Rep. An absolutely amazing show, technically quite impressive, great dancing, good songs (though you have to like that style of music - melodic neopunk) and a powerful, though depressing story. Basically it tells the story of three friends from the suburbs and the different paths their lives take: one stays home with the girl he's knocked up -- is that politically incorrect to say? -- while the other two go off to the city, where one gets strung out and the other joins the army and gets wounded. It ends with them all coming together again in their home town, still friends, so it's not a complete downer.

The show is filled with projections, tv screens, flashing lights, mobile set units, and in general is quite imaginative.

I say if you're in the area and not allergic to punk music, check it out.

10:51am: Wild Things, you make my heart sting - no spoilage
Saw it. It was good. The Wild Things look fabulous, and they get real emotions out of the body language and facial expressions. Max-who-is-Max is the best child actor in a couple of years. They built out the story without ruining it. That is all.

12:23pm: Hooda thunkit?
Following in the feetstep of amydmartin

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

2:16pm: Gnazis

Apparently a protest against the continued presence of facism in German life.

11:08am: Unemployment Journal: Week 39
A glimmer of hope.

Thursday I had a grueling series of interviews with a company (who are located, ironically, in the old Siebel world hq in San Mateo). That evening they called to ask me for my references. That has to be a good sign, right?

Also had a phone interview with another company on Wednesday.

I quiver with antici

10:14am: Bill Frist...
...experiences an episode of sanity and comes out in favor of a triggered public option.

2:48pm: Unemployment Journal, week 38
How the time does fly when you're having fun. Or not. Perhaps it's just a sign of getting older.

At any rate, it's been nine months to the day since my job and I lost each other, and I'm no closer to a new one than I was then. A baby conceived at the moment I walked out of that door might well be born by now.

And what have I to show for it? Well, 40% of a top secret writing project that I started in June, which isn't totally peanuts. My family still support me (I mean emotionally), which is superb.

No, life doesn't suck. But sometimes it sips.

1:15pm: Absolutely incredible
It's a poorly shot video of a girls' jumprope team, apparently doing a half-time show at the US Naval Academy basketball court. At a guess these girls are ten to fourteen years old and what they do is just amazing. It starts a little slow but about halfway through you'll be going "You can't do that with a jumprope!" This is up with some of the acts I've seen at e.g. Cirque du Soleil.

1:35pm: Just to say
Happy Michaelmas, one and all.

12:34pm: Unemployment Journal, Week 37
A week of no movement. Several things are hanging over the fire but nothing happened with any of them.