I've had a somewhat hilarious week. I'll see if I can relate everything in order:
What was your worst hairstyle decision ever?
Hmmm...you know, I've done almost everything to my hair, and I've never actually disliked anything I did. Hair's just hair, after all.
This is probably the worst my hair ever looked--center part when you dye over your premature grays only once every couple months is a BAD, BAD idea. Also, you can't tell, but this also features what everyone I went to school with called the Old Maid Bun. Last, but not least, my hair becomes a nightmare when it grows over my collar--it pretty much always looks stringy, or dirty (I used to wash it twice a day in high school and kids would still say it was greasy-looking), or frizzy. I cut it all off, and all of a sudden people started complimenting my appearance for the first time in, um, ever.
Also, that shirt is so awesome Snoop Dogg wore it in a music video. No lie.
Nothing important, so those of you who read my blog for important, um, things, might as well skip on by.
Mike Gravel finally decided to explain his ad campaign (which also includes a 7 minute video of burning twigs), which I like to call "WTF?" Here's what he told MSNBC:
“What people like you don’t understand — which I think is hilarious — is this is a metaphor,” Gravel said Monday, lecturing guest host David Shuster during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Tucker.”
Um, actually Mike (I can call you Mike, right?), I do understand it's supposed to be a metaphor. The difficulty you've run into is that none of us can figure out what it's a metaphor for. And, honestly, if no one can figure out the metaphor, then it fails because your people executed it poorly--not because your potential voters are too stupid to get it. Golly gee whiz, that one's pretty easy to figure out, dontcha think?
I've been sort of drifting the last couple days--Wes is gone on his trip, and so I have about three weeks on my own. I intend to actually do some serious house work (especially in the kitchen), but between starting my actual job and a general feeling of lethargy, I've mostly been a lazy ass.
Today I went to Makaha beach for most of the day. Don't let the picture fool you, it was actually a lot less crowded
than this today--the nearest people to me were about 300 feet over. Of course, part of that might be that I was smack in the middle of a section that's notorious for forming rip currents when the surf's up, but come on, it's summer--the biggest waves breaking on the surf were maybe 2 feet. And hell, I'll take my chances with rip currents if it means I get my own private beach.Ironically, I have a sunburn, but earned the majority of it while being productive and running errands Friday and yesterday. Moral of the story--I'm spending more time on the beach.
Also, I'm watching the Daily Show right now, and I am wholly in favor of a Produce Pete-inspired movie. Produce Pete rocks, and I'm a little sad that Steve Carrell didn't reprise his role for posterity when he was on tonight. I miss Steve Carrell, although I'll be honest and admit that I had a thing for Stephen Colbert since his days on Strangers with Candy. Even Stephen cracked my shit up (especially the one where they did a binge drinking episode for Spring Breakers and got Carrell totally "trashed").
Sigh. I'm going to drift my way towards bed, I think.
For those who might be behind the times, Mike Gravel is an also-ran for President on the Dems side--sort of like an angrier Kucinich, with approximately .005% of potential votes in the polls. So, if you're that far away from winning, why waste your precious ad money on "explaining your stance on issues" or "currying favor with certain demographics" when you can just hire an aspiring avant-garde director to film you?
Usually, if an old man comes up to me and stares at me like that, I'll tell them "no cash, sorry" and back the fuck away. Of course, even if I knew that old man was Mike Gravel, presidential candidate, I'd probably still do exactly that. I mean, that jacket looks pretty cheap, and he doesn't seem above panhandling. And really, would you be surprised if you pulled up to an intersection one day and Mike Gravel began washing your car windows to pick up some extra cash?
And then, there's the rock throwing. This might be the greatest piece of deep conditioning political advertising since "Morning in America," and the rock symbolizes American economic interests, while the water represents the world's resentment to our excesses (or maybe the rock is our presence in Iraq, and the water is terrorism...or the rock is HATE, and the water is LOVE, and the message is that love will conquer all...). It's so deep, I don't even get what the hell the message may be.
I would suggest for Mike Gravel's next ad, he film a worn down armchair left by the street for 5 minutes, then dump a bucket of water on it while a vinyl of Sonic Nurse plays from a nearby open window. I think it would be a great meditation on immigration reform policy.
Hurray for updated software.
Omaha=fun but tiring. It's also managed to sap all my motivation.
I (mostly) have a job. I can't tell you all where, because it's a notoriously secretive company which monitors the internet postings of its' employees, and I don't want to blow it.
I went to my husband's promotion ceremony today--he's now a Second Class Petty Officer, so go him. I'd tell you about it, but I can't because, well, his obligations to be discreet pale in comparison to any of the NDAs I might have to sign to work for an unnamed tech company.
We live a life of secrets.
I've been thinking a bit about two things. First, I'm pondering the popularity of "stream of consciousness" (or as I think is more accurate, navel-gazing) blog-ish sites like Twitter and Jaiku. What I find weird is how many people start talking about Twitter by saying "Well, I don't care for it, but I use it because __________." So, why are you using it if you're not that enthusiastic about it? I mean, I get the urge to share with everyone every thought which pops into your head (I run two blogs and co-host a podcast, so I really do GET it), but I can't quite get the distinction between posting a Twitter note (tweet? twit? twa...okay, fine) and your friends maybe/maybe not caring that you got coffee at Starbucks or you're digging the new Wilco album, and posting an away message on an IM account and getting the EXACT SAME REACTIONS. How thrilling.
The second thing I've been thinking about is why digg users appear to be, well, psycho. I mean, I read plenty of websites which thrive on insults and ridicule, but at least Farkers are funny, and slashdotters are half-intelligent (as in, 50% of them know what they're talking about, which is a higher percentage than most geeky sites). Digg users are just plain meanspirited, not to mention racist, bigoted, and all-around assholes. I've been tempted to post an article from Cute Overload just to read the comments about how puppies suck and only queers would ever read CO. What the hell is in the water over there? It's particularly bizzarre because there's an astonishing amount of community overlap, but somewhere between Engadget and Digg a reader gets rabies. I don't get why one community seems to foster so much abuse and ignorance. I don't mean to say "digg users are all assholes," because that's not true--I've read a fair amount of smart posts which get dugg down, or ignored. However, I think even most rational digg users realize their community is made up of internet bullies. How could you argue otherwise, with the evidence at hand?
The article I picked is today's most popular, but feel free to browse any article for insightful comments...like this thread about the Sudan. If anything, Digg justifies to me the American Founders' fears about the public--factions, mob rule, the collapse of civility. And me, I want no part of it.
