I love this moment.

"The Office" doin' what it do.

Appreciation

I haven't done an appreciation post in a while.  In this post, I would like to express my appreciation for my best buddy, Katie Byrnes.  Katie and I met in AP Chemistry my junior year of high school.  We almost never became friends because chemistry was not my strong suit and I was a horrible lab partner.  But magically, we did, and it's been a great time ever since. 

Katie and I have been friends for long enough that we don't know who came up with some of our inside jokes.  We have also been friends long enough that we've been able to watch each other mature and evolve.  We've been friends through romances, opinions, and haircuts good and bad (at least on my end) and I daresay we're better off for each other's friendship.  I'm certainly better off because of hers.

Through her I have also been privileged to become friends with the fabulous Mrs. Byrnes, the dashing Mr. Byrnes, the mysterious duo of Molly Byrnes Fridley and Jared Fridley, the intellectual giant Samuel Brian "Schmooze" Byrnes, and some asshole hairless cat.  For those introductions I am grateful.

Thanks, Katie, for never leaving me stuck holding the coconut!

Personal Update

I go to orientation for my accounting program tomorrow -- sweet.  I'm also temping right now at a place that with any luck might give me work periodically for the foreseeable future.  I'll probably be playing in a women's rec basketball league within the next couple of weeks (if I can come up with 85 bucks, that is) so I've been working on my skills.  Feeling pretty badass. And college football begins this weekend -- Northwestern beats Boston College this Saturday, and the Mrs. and I are going to be there to see it!

I'm still broke as hell, but I'm living my old man life and having a good time.  Spending time with the lady, seeing the friends, playing sports, watching sports, cooking, eating, watching The Office and The West Wing -- doesn't get much better than that.  Look out for more regular posting in the future.

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #1

This is it.  This is the end.  My #1 favorite song of all time, people.  Thank you all for reading this far.

1. Don't worry baby -- The Beach Boys

"Well, it's been building up inside of me for oh, I don't know how long.
I don't know why, but I keep thinking something's bound to go wrong.
But she looks in my eyes, and makes me realize when she says, 'Don't worry baby...'"

This is my song.  If I had to choose a song to marry, it'd be this one.  It's the one.  I just love this song. 

Claire does a mean ukulele version, and Ruth and I do a very sweet duet. 

(Note: This performance is obviously eminently weird, but it's the only one I could find on youtube that isn't from the 80's.  Hope you enjoyed it.)


Well, there they are! My Top 100 songs of all time!  Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #2

2. Tired of being alone -- Al Green

Al Green-- a really damn cool dude who understand the value of good backup vocals.  His R&B is better than his gospel but people sell the gospel a bit short sometimes. 

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #3

3. Desperado -- Linda Ronstadt

As I have said before, Linda's should be the canonical version of this song.  There's nothing good about The Eagles' version, though you of course have to give them credit for writing it.  This is a gay cowboy song. Or something.  Whatever it is, it's heartbreaking and smart and silly and fun and great for singing in the shower.  The final video is the Northwestern a cappella group, Purple Haze, singing Desperado.  The lead singer is Harris, who apparently once saved my girlfriend's life, and the tall blond man in the back left is my buddy Eric.  Shucks, sometimes I wish I was still in college.

Also, while on youtube, I just discovered that the Carpenters did their own version of Desperado? Why god, why? Who is the sicko who let Karen Carpenter anywhere near Desperado? SOME THINGS ARE JUST TOO SAD AND YOU CAN'T ALLOW THEM TO HAPPEN BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO SAD.

Best line: "And freedom, oh freedom, that's just some people talkin'.  Your prison is walking through this world all alone."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #4

4. Baby I need your lovin' -- The Four Tops

IT'S THE VOCALS, STUPID.  NO REALLY, THE FOUR TOPS COULD SING. 

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #5

5. Can't take my eyes off you -- Frankie Valli

There is absolutely nothing about Frankie Valli himself that is cool or charming, at all. I actually have no idea how he was ever famous.  But this song rocks hard. 

Best line: "Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray.  Oh pretty baby, now that I found you stay and let me love you baby, let me love you."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #6

6.  I say a little prayer -- Aretha Franklin

A Burt Bacharach song originally done by Dionne Warwick (Whitney Houston's aunt).  Warwick's version was too fast, so Aretha slowed it down.  Amazing. 

Best line: It's all amazing.

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #7

7. Wouldn't it be nice -- The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys always seem more recent to me then the Beatles -- why? I dunno.  They're just so cool, and hipsters try to be them. The first video is actually audio of the Beach Boys in the recording studio doing this song.  Brian Wilson is a really interesting guy -- it's fun to listen to him take control of the creative process.

Best line: "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long.  And wouldn't it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we'd belong?"

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #8

8. Moon river -- Henry Mancini

This was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing in Breakfast At Tiffany's, because the song is moving without requiring a singer with much range.

Best line: "Oh dream maker, you heartbreaker, wherever you're going I'm going your way."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #9

9. Be my baby -- The Ronettes

This song is really in vogue right now.  It has every quality that attracts me to a song -- what the fuck?! vocals, words about love, great backup vocals, and even the influence of Phil Spector.

Oh, Phil Spector.  I love his musical contributions.  He did amazing things with girl groups (he was married to a Ronnette), The Beatles, etc. and he heavily influenced tons of artists (the Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen).  This guy is such an important figure in popular musical history.

But Jesus Christ, he's a maniac.  In an industry full of terrible people, he stands out.  I mean, look at him!

I guess looking like a criminal doesn't mean you're a crimial, but in Phil Spector's case it does.  Long story short, the man loves guns a lot and that stopped working for him eventually. Phil Spector scares the shit out of me, and I'm thrilled he's in prison rather than walking the streets right now. 

Either way, this is my 9th favorite song.

Best line: "For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #10

10. Abbey Road medley -- The Beatles

That's cheating, you say? I disagree.  This is justifiably "one" song for the purpose of this list.  I don't need to tell you how incredible this medley is, and I can't actually say anything interesting about it.  Abbey Road is my father's favorite album, and as such I heard this a lot growing up.

Have a listen while you're here -- You Never Give Me Your Money/Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through the Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End. 

Best line: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." How could it be anything else?

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 Songs #20-11

20. Cruel to be kind -- Nick Lowe

This video is hilariously lame, but I love Nick Lowe. And remember this great scene from 10 Things I Hate About You?

Best line: Some songs don't have best lines.  I'm starting to wish I hadn't included this question. Sigh.

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 Songs #30-21

30. This year -- The Mountain Goats

This is a song about triumph! And about being strong in the face of adversity! And about defiance! Yeah!

Best line: "I am gonna make it though this year if it kills me! I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me!"

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 Songs #40-31

40. Asleep and dreaming -- The Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt has a gift for using classic/cliched imagery in a way that's moving and fresh.  His songs talk about butterflies, trains and ships, soldiers at war, roses, etc. etc. but it's never silly -- or at least, it's never silly in a way that's a problem.

This song also happens to contain one of the sweeter sentiments about love I've ever heard.

Best line: "I've seen you laugh at nothing at all, I've seen you sadly weeping.  The sweetest thing I ever saw was you asleep and dreaming.  I've seen you when your ship came in and when your train was leaving.  The sweetest thing I ever saw was you asleep and dreaming.  Oh, you may not be beautiful, but it's not for me to judge.  I don't know if you're beautiful because I love you too much."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 Songs #50-41

50. Bad reputation – Joan Jett

One of the classic rebellion songs.  I developed an affinity for this one when I became a “Freaks and Geeks” fan.  I’m pretty sure it’s also in 10 Things I Hate About You. 

Best line: “I don’t give a damn about my reputation.  You’re living in the past it’s a new generation.”

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #60-51

60. Coming home -- John Legend

It's moving and the vocals are incredible, especially at the end.

Best line: "I'll make it home again, I pray you fall in love again."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #70-61

70. Such great heights -- The Postal Service

I normally wouldn't like this kind of song (I don't like anything else from this band) but this song is just so charming.  I dislike the Iron & Wine version and refuse to link to it. 

Best line: "And I'm think it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned. And I have to speculate that God himself did make us into corresponsding shapes, like puzzle pieces from the clay."

POOLEYBLOG'S Top 100 Songs #80-71

80. Born on a train -- The Magnetic Fields

So, this is one of my favorite Magnetic Fields songs, and I thought it was just me because it's not one of the famous ones.  But lo and behold, when I was looking for a youtube link to the song, I discovered this FUCKING AWESOME cover of the song by none other than Arcade Fire.  Win Butler apparently likes the song too.  Could my life be any better?

Best line: "Well I've been making promises I know I'll never keep.  One of these days I'm gonna leave you in your sleep."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #90-81

90. If I ain't got you -- Alicia Keys

Good solid R&B. 

Best line: "Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all if it ain't you."

POOLEYBLOG's Top 100 songs #s100-91

Today is the first installment of my 100 favorite songs.  Now, these are favorite songs, not best songs -- I am in no way trying to argue here that some song from "That Thing You Do!" is better than "A Change is Gonna Come." This is about love, not objective appreciation.  So let's go!

100. Home -- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Just cracking the top hundred for me is this wonderful little song -- whistling, sentimentality, that happy feeling -- what more could I want?

Best line: "Home, let me go home.  Home is wherever I'm with you!"

Anonymous commenting

is now possible.  I didn't actually realize it wasn't until today. 

Let's hope this goes better than anonymous commenting on my LiveJournal in 8th grade did, when someone commented on the journal and called me an "ugly lesbian bitch" or something like that.  Which caused a bunch of my friends to reply back to the commenter saying, "Amy's not a lesbian! You're the bitch!" Middle school is a blast, guys, I don't know if you remember.

You really can call me an ugly lesbian bitch though, if you want. :) Let it out, let it out.

Another Top 10 List

So, I love well-written sad songs, especially ones about love. I loved them when I was an overemotional teenager and I love them now as a stable and happy young adult. So here are my top ten sad songs about love.

My Top 10 Favorite Sad Songs About Love
10. I Know It’s Over by The Smiths
The Smiths are one of those bands that you just don’t like as much when you’re happy. This is still a good one though, classically and comically morose the way a Morrissey song should be.
Heartwrenchingest line: “And as I climb into an empty bed…oh well, enough said. I know it’s over, but still I cling. I don’t know where else I can go. Over, over, over, over, over…”

9. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac/The Dixie Chicks
My god. I submit that one cannot listen to this song two times in a row with dissolving into either tears or giggles. Listening to this song is like having an emotional brick getting thrown at your head.
Heartwrenchingest line: “Oh, I’ve been afraid of changing ‘cause I’ve built my life around you. But time’s getting colder, children get older and I’m getting older too.”

8. Someone Great by LCD Soundsystem
It took me a very long time to warm to LCD Soundsystem, but at some point I’d been to enough hipster parties where the only music welcome is MIA or LCD Soundsystem that I kind of warmed to them. And this is a really striking song, admittedly, with its robotic quality and lyrics that are at once deadpan and very sad. It’s about a break-up or a death or both – I’m not really sure.
Heartwrenchingest lines: “I wish that we could talk about it…but then, that’s the problem.” “The worst is all the lovely weather. I'm sad it's not raining. The coffee isn't even bitter. Because what's the difference?”

7. I Felt Your Shape by The Microphones
Yeah, it’s another really good and really sad song.
Heartwrenchingest line: “But I don’t know, the nights are cold, and I remember warmth. I could’ve sworn I wasn’t alone.”

6. Night Windows by The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans are a not-so –great little band that I have nevertheless loved very dearly since early high school. They basically made the same album three times in a row, and this is a gem from a recent one.
Heartwrenchingest line: “But you're not coming home again, and I won't ever get to say:
Remember how I'm sorry that I miss the way it could be.”

5. Overs by Simon and Garfunkel
There might not have been anything revolutionary about this song, but it’s so well written and the timing within it is incredible. The song itself sounds like it might shatter along with the rattling teacups.
Heart-wrenchingest line: “We might as well be apart. It hardly matters, we sleep separately, and drop a smile passing in the hall. But there’s no laughs left, ‘cause we laughed them all. And we laughed them all in a very short time.”

4. Galveston by Glen Campbell
The writer of this song claimed it was about the Spanish-American War, not Vietnam. Strange.
Heartwrenchingest line: “Galveston, oh Galveston. I am so afraid of dying before I’ve dried the tears she’s crying.”

3. Desperado by Linda Ronstadt
I know The Eagles did the famous version of this song, but The Eagles can suck it, because that’s a travesty of justice. Linda Ronstadt has pipes and her version should be the canonical one.
Heartwrenchingest line: “And freedom, oh freedom, well that’s just some people talkin’. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.”

2. I’m going to cheat here and do six-for-one. There are six, great, sad Magnetic Fields songs here, as I didn’t want to waste six spots on them but couldn’t bear to drop any of these. Stephen Merritt is just a downright gloomy person, but it works out well for his songwriting.

Deep Sea Diving Suit (apparently it's not available on youtube)
Heartwrenchingest line: “I never thought you’d turn on me ‘cause you’re my best friend. You say I never offered you a thing in the end. And now you wouldn’t trust me with a grain of sand. And I’m sorry, but how can I get to you, stuck in my 50-pound lead boots, stuck in my deep sea diving suit?”

When You're Old and Lonely Heartwrenchingest line: “When you’re old and lonely you will wish you’d married me. I could build a fire for you and bring you cakes and tea. When you’re cold and lonely I’ll be waiting by the phone. You can call me up and tell me how you’re all alone, all alone.”

Grand Canyon Heartwrenchingest line: “If I was the Grand Canyon, I’d echo everything you say. But I’m just me, I’m only me, and you used to love me that way, so you know how to love me that way.”

No One Will Ever Love You Heartwrenchingest line: “If you don’t mind, why don’t you mind? Where is your sense of indignation? You are too kind – much too kind. Where is the madness that you promised me?”

The Saddest Story Ever Told Heartwrenchingest line: “We used to go out on the summer nights and dance in the neon rain. We used to hold hands at the movie show but we’ll never hold hands again. Those days are gone, you and I were young those summer nights. You’ll see the world, dying for a girl you’ll never find. And then we’ll quietly grow old, the saddest story ever told.”

I Don’t Really Love You Anymore Heartwrenchingest line: “I don’t have to love you now if I don’t wish to. I won’t see you anyhow if that’s an issue. Because I am a gentleman – think of me of just your fan, who remembers every dress you ever wore. Just a bad comedian your new boyfriend’s better than, ‘cause I don’t really love you anymore.”

1. Good Year For the Roses by Elvis Costello/George Jones
Once a month or so for several years now, this song will pop into my mind (or sometimes Ruth’s mind) and we’ll sing it and then discuss its greatness for the next ten minutes or so, and then we'll tell someone else about its greatness. I love this song. I sing it in the shower. I sing it when I’m feeling bored or thoughtful. It just hits me right in the heart in the best way possible, and it never gets old to me.
Heartwrenchingest line: “I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes there in the ash, tray, lying cold the way you left them, but at least your lips caressed them while you packed. Or the lip ring on the half-filled cup of coffee that you bought and didn’t drink. But at least you thought you wanted it – that’s so much more than I can say for me.”

Honorable mention: Superstar by The Carpenters.

I'm proud to add my name to the roster

of bandwagon fans of the USA Women's World Cup team.

Now, I'm the first to admit I'm not a soccer fan -- basketball and American football are my sports of choice. But I just watched the replay of the US v. Brazil over at espn3, and it was nothing short of inspiring. All of those great themes of sports -- perseverance in spite of adversity, trust in yourself and in your team, justice, fair play -- all of those were played out beautifully in that win. What a great game that was to watch.

As silly as it might sounds, female athletes make me feel proud to be a woman. I think it might actually be harder to feel confident as a strong woman than it was 10 or 15 years ago. The 3rd wave feminist push to send a message that "strong women can be sexy" has resulted in a media culture that thinks its feminist to celebrate Rihanna as an empowered woman. Well, that's bullshit, I say. I declare today that singing about sex on the radio does not an empowered woman make. But I digress.

The women's World Cup team played with incredible toughness yesterday, and made me excited to be a woman and an American.

Let's hope these ladies keep it up Wednesday and Sunday. Go USA!

Appreciation

I think I have a habit of not being sufficiently expressive of my appreciation for those around me. I'd like to stop doing that, so periodically I'm going to start writing short posts about the people I appreciate (even if I don't think they read this blog.)

I'll start with Mrs. Greene, my 6th grade teacher. We've kept in touch since I was in the 6th grade and she has been an incredibly important mentor to me. Thanks Mrs. Greene for being there for me as I've grown up and always being happy to sit down for a chat to catch each other up on our lives.

Peace out,
Amy

Top 10 reasons I'm excited for NU Men's Basketball 2011-2012

More basketball.

10. No more Kevin Coble talk. That ship has sailed. Seems like a good guy though.

9. The freshmen. The guards, Sobolewski and Demps, get all the conversation, but I'm excited to see what Mike Turner has to offer too.

8. A better non-conference schedule. We're supposed to play Georgia Tech and Creighton on the road, Baylor at home, and we're in the Charleston Classic. Big improvement over last year's abysmal non-con.

7. Luka's last year. My world will become much less Serbian when he is gone. And that is a major loss. Also, from all accounts, Luka is a very nice person and a classy guy, not to mention the best center of the Carmody era.

6. The emergence of Alex Marcotullio. He's a solid defender, a great shooter, he makes all the effort plays, and he's got a ton of heart. He'll be an important leader on this year's team, and at the end of last season he showed himself as a guy who can make big plays at big moments.

5. The chance to see Drew Crawford become a more consistent player. He's great when he's on, but sometimes he seems like he's not there. Let's see if he can fix that.

4. The chance to see a healthy Jershon Cobb play. He made some amazing plays last year (especially against Illinois - whew!), and he'll hopefully be even better this year. I would LOVE to see him play point guard -- a lot of good things happened last year when he brought the ball up the court.

3. The chance to see a healthy John Shurna play. That man is a beast when he's healthy. If you talk to me in person sometime I'll tell you the story of when I ran into him on Sheridan Road and embarrased myself with my starstruckness/crazy fandom.

2. Did I mention I love John Shurna? How could you not love that face? And this adorable shyness? And these dunking skills? There's a video somewhere on the internet that I can't find featuring John showing the Big Ten Network around his house in the 'burbs, and in the video he's wearing pink, purple, red and green mittens. Mittens! John Shurna makes me believe.

1. Another shot at the Tournament and beyond.

Go 'Cats!

Northwestern basketball -- July thoughts

So, everyone who's talked to me for five minutes knows I'm obsessed with Northwestern basketball -- mostly men's, but I like the women's team too. July is kind of an exciting month, because in a couple of weeks we'll hit the point of being 50% through the offseason. And September-November of the offseason will be extremely tolerable because we'll have NU football to watch. March though early June wasn't so bad because we had the NBA to watch. But right now, there is a very terrible sports void to fill with useless daydreaming about the upcoming season and re-watching old game highlights at northwesternhighlights.com

So, the men's team. The odds are we'll have a season similar to the last three -- very strong by NU historical standards, but still missing the big goal of an NCAA Tournament bid. Seemingly every article about NU basketball contains the sad piece of trivia that NU is the only BCS team to have never received a tourney bid, even though the first tournament was hosted in our own gym. Like the football bowl win drought, NU basketball will never see its reputation change until we break the tourney barrier.

I'm starting to worry though, that making the tournament is becoming a distraction for Carmody's teams. The worst thing would be for Carmody and the players to start thinking in terms of "Well, if we beat Indiana and Iowa twice, and Minnesota, Penn State, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska once, then we'll go 9-9 in the Big Ten and make the Tournament." That's the way fans and journalists think -- the team can't think like that.

I have no idea if they do, but I was just watching old 2008-2009 highlights from NU's upsets over Michigan St. and Ohio St. The defining trait you see from those teams that you didn't see from last year's 'Cats team (that had no upsets) is a fierce underdog mentality. The team looked like guys with an edge, with an us-against-the world attitude. I think last year's team lacked that -- they looked like guys trying not to lose, rather than like guys trying to beat the odds to win.

(Obviously this is all sports cliche. But basically ALL discussion of sports is make up of strings of cliches, and people still seem to think there's some truth to these cliched storylines. So I'ma go with it.)

This team need to play with an edge.

They also need to play defense.

This is obvious. The team's terrible defense the last couple of years has been discussed far and wide in the NU sports world, and the culprit is unclear. Theories include Carmody's coaching, the demanding nature of the offense and a short bench combining to result in tired players who just don't have enough in the tank to play good defense, NU's inferior athleticism in comparison to opponents, the 'Cats' defensive schemes, and lack of effort/toughness.

I'm inclined to think it's a combination of several of these, namely player tiredness, the frequently changing defensive schemes, and lack of focus/toughness. I think the team is certainly athletic enough to effectively guard other Big Ten teams -- hell, they were better at it several years ago when the team was filled with guys like Tim Doyle. That doesn't seem to be the issue.

I think the team has to settle on two defensive schemes and spend an incredible amount of time in their pre-season practices running the hell out of those defenses. And Carmody also has to start playing 9 guys every game rather than the 6 or 7 he used much of the time last year. I think Fruendt, at least, should play 10 minutes a game this year backing up Drew, and the freshmen guards so play at least that many even if they don't start. And Shurna shouldn't have to play 38 minutes a game.

So I hope that happens. I'm also interested to see if Cobb will start at the point next year. It would depend on how consistent his three-point shot and his ball-handling become, but I think that setup would have a lot of potential to create points early in the shot clock with a major driving threat. That could potentially make our offense even more ridiculous, and even take a bit of pressure off the three-point shot with the ball in Cobb's hands more (though, as I mentioned, he still has to make them more than 30% of the time.)

Either way, I'm so excited. I'm hoping for Shurna to have a standout season and work his way up in the NBA draft, and I'm hoping for wins, wins, wins -- we'll worry about certain post-season tournaments once the W's come in.

And the women's team. Amy Jaeschke is gone (and sadly was dropped from the roster after being drafted by the Chicago sky). And Beth Marshall is gone too. The women's team is going to have to reinvent themselves this year, but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing -- the turnovers, especially, became a huge liability for this team by the end of the year. But they've got some promising freshmen (including a McDonald's All-American guard) and several starters returning (including rebounding machine and all-around tough player Brittany Orban and a solid contributor in Kendall Hackney.) My guess is that Kentucky transfer Anna Cole, who sat out last season, will be taking over Amy Jaescke's minutes at center. Girl's listed at 6-7. Dang.

I'm excited people. Go 'Cats and God Bless America.

Big Guy aka BG aka Biggie Smalls

I had a lot of time to kill the other day, and nothing to do. So I used paint to create a portrait of BG the rabbit.

Here are some real pictures of him so you can admire the resemblance.

Introducing: The LAD Awards

POOLEYBLOG would like to introduce the LAD Awards, which will be given out periodically on this blog to individuals that Ruth and I deem worthy of the accolade. A LAD Award -- that is, a Lesbian Ambassador of the Day Award -- will be granted to men who use their privilege to speak up on behalf of LGBT people or women. That man is a wonderful LAD, we say.

Today's LAD Award goes out to Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns. He was recently featured in a GLAAD PSA telling kids that using "gay" as a derogatory term is ignorant and offensive, "and you're better than that!" I love this. He's telling kids not to be jerks to other kids without attacking anyone's value as a person. I also watched a recent interview Grant Hill gave where he politely dodged a WNBA-baiting question to state his support for the league and admiration for the women who play in it. Grant Hill is definitely quite the lovely LAD.

So there you have it! Grant Hill wins the 1st LAD Award.

Unemployment blues

I'm only working sporadically right now, doing temp work, cleaning, and the like. It's tough to be on the bottom half of the labor market right now, because even bad jobs are hard to get. There's a light at the end of the tunnel for me as I'll start my accounting program in September and should be able to live off of my loans. Still, though, I had envisioned financial independence immediately out of college, so I'm feeling pretty bad about myself right now. I'm fully aware of how lucky I am though to have the support of my parents, who are loaning me money so that I can make ends meet.

I am SO EXCITED to end up in a year and a half with a degree and certification that'll get me some real money and that even fits in with my long-term career hopes and dreams. It's incredibly exciting.

Over the last month, I've done a temp job that split 9 hours of work over two days, from which it took me three hours to get home each day. In addition to that, they sent us home early (after we worked really quickly and fishished the job they had given us) and we thus didn't get paid for the final 3.5 hours we had been promised. And they made us use adding machines instead of computers. Not cool.

I also cleaned out a very lonely woman's vacuum with a toothbrush and spoon-fed her dog breakfast, two kibbles at a time. I think you'll understand why that wasn't a job built to last.

I also was rejected for a nine-day sleep study that would have paid me $2,300 in exchange for living in a lab 24/7 and, on two occasions, staying awawake for 20-70 hour stretches while lying in bed and letting them take my blood and monitor my brain waves. I really wanted that sleep study -- that would have been $11 bucks an hour, 24 hours a day, for 9 days! I'd be rich!

So life is hard, I'm learning. I'm also learning how amazingly lucky I am to have a clear-cut way out of this mess and friends and family who are helping me get through the tough times.

And I'm signing up for fall classes as we speak! Over and out.

New York and a pet peeve of mine

So, because same-sex marriage was just legalized in New York, the super-duper-special queer crowd is whining about how they don't feel edgy anymore. At least according to one insufferable New Yorker twit, he always suspected that the equal rights advocates really wanted all along to be super lame and live in the suburbs with their spouses and children and social approval and total lack of edginess (and hence, total lack of value). As he says, "But why would they hope for that?"

Ooh! I have an idea! Maybe...maybe -- wait for it! -- it's because not all gay people are the same! Not all of us are particularly edgy even! Some of us aren't superqueer Guggenheim-recipient theatre critics living in New York. Some of us admire our parents and our friends' parents with their stable, "boring" lives a lot more than we admire 50-year-olds who act like they're 20. Some of us think gay men have been talking over lesbians for years, ensuring that they're the ones who get to tell the rest of the world what gay people are like. Some of us don't care if our opinions guarantee we'd never get an A in a Gender Studies class. And some of us are really fucking sick of this conversation altogether.

Because, seriously -- even with same-sex marriage being legal, I can be all married and traditional and shit and you can still be super edgy. But if you, New Yorker twit, were to succeed in convincing everyone (wrongfully) that being gay is somehow inherently different from being straight, then we all have to be super fucking edgy, you see? And funnily enough, that's how it was for...most of history! Why is that fair?

I'm happy to say that your side is losing, New Yorker twit. I hope you can continue being way cooler than everyone else in the world, and I'll continue ruining your street cred by reading wedding blogs. If I earn any pomo merit badges someday from some poor unenlighted soul who doesn't realize that getting gay married is played out, I'll make sure to regift them to you.

On personal finance and capitalism

As someone who spends a lot of time reading about personal finance, one of the most interesting things to me about the personal finance world is the relationship of personal finance to capitalism. (I know, heavy shit.) Honestly, personal finance is a hobby of a diverse set of people with fundamentally different worldviews -- thrifty, traditionalist Christians and Mormons, scary BIG CAPITALISM businessmen, saavy Stanford-graduate Google-generation businessmen, lefty Portland residents who grow their own food, and even hippies who want to tune in, turn on, and drop out. About the only thing they share is the desire for people (or at least some people) to achieve financial security and independence. Everything else -- motivations for doing so, political views, etc. -- is up in the air.

I've noticed that a lot of personal finance writing actually undermines traditional economic thinking. The authors of Your Money or Your Life suggest that you work until you have the money you need to maintain your (extremely frugal) lifestyle permanently, and then cease to work for pay. That may sound like "retirement", but they envision you doing this at 35 or 45, not 65. They ask you to calculate things like your "real hourly wage" -- the wage you make after you account for all the money you spend to be able to work -- and make a case for why volunteerism is superior to paid work. This is not traditional economic GDP-maximizing thinking. It's similar to feminist and leftist economic criticisms in that it points to other values and kinds of work that get left behind in the quest for constant economic growth. But it does this in the language of self-help. I find that fascinating.

I think a lot of current national trends -- DIY, urban farming, local food, knitting, Zipcar, the list goes on -- are reflective of this kind of reluctance to view economic growth as indicative of growth overall. And I think that's a great sign for the spirit and health of this country and the world -- because the voices of the libertarian economists have been drowning out those of everyone else for too long.

Talkin' transportation politics

I've spent some time in the last couple of days reading online debates between two general groups of people: urban, lefty west- and east-coasters who commute mainly through walking, biking, or taking public transit, and suburban or rural folks from the rest of the country who drive cars. There are A LOT of things going on in these discussions that have less to do with transportation than with larger conceptions of how an individual should live and relate to society and what kind of country this should be. Here are the main arguments (with maybe a bit of editorializing from me):

Urban Ursula: I ride my bike to work every day and take public transit if the roads are icy. I don't need or want a car and I love it! I feel connected to the other people in my city, I save money, it's better for the environment, and I get exercise! Suburban America is filled with fat, lazy, indebted slobs who are too ignorant to see that their car-commuting lifestyle is destroying the environment, ruining their health, and filling the country with culture-less towns that have no sense of community.

Suburban Sam: I live 40 miles away from my job in the city, and the only way to get there is to drive. I like my car, even though it's expensive, and I even like my commute sometimes. I hate being in the city -- there are too many people (including lots of weirdos), I hate having to jump through hoops to get around without a vehicle, and it's too expensive to live there. And I know my car is bad for the environment (and international politics), but I'm just one person, and maybe they'll even come out with an electric or solar-powered car one of these days.

Now, these are online discussions, so there are a lot of wingnuts dominating the debates (particularly on the biking/public transit side). I actually had no idea the politics of this had become so contentious. It seems to me that there are a lot of reasons to split the difference here:

As the Times article above alludes to, the US and the EU are really different -- shocking! -- and decentivizing vehicles makes a lot of sense there. They have more people in less space. The EU has a population density of 300 people per square mile, while US population density is just 87.4. Even though a lot of that low population density is accounted for by almostly-empty horror-movie states like Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana, the rest of the US is stil much less dense than Europe, even in major cities -- Los Angeles (pop. 3.8 million/), for example, is less than two-thirds as dense as Madrid (3.2 million) and more than twice its size. That's not even getting into the sprawling suburbs outside of cities like Los Angeles. Everything is more spread out here.

You might say: "But that's the problem! The car idealists took over the country, and that's why we have all of these highways and suburbs now!" True. A lot of what are now highways could have been trains. But surely not all of it. And to quote a wise thinker close to me, that ship has sailed. We live in a big-ass country with low population density in comparison to Europe and much of Asia. And we have lots of cars and highways and towns and cities that have been built around those things.

Which is where we come to a fundamental question: Would this setup -- the United States we have -- be okay to the bike advocates IF cars became much more sustainable in the next 20 years? If car technology advanced to the extent that cars were not the environmental problem they are now? I don't know enough about this kind of technology to know how likely this scenario is, but what if? Because while the environmental impact of cars is easy for Urban Ursula to point out as the reason not to drive cars, I suspect the other reasons might be even more important to her.

Fundamentally, Urban Ursula enjoys urban living, enjoys that it feels diverse and gritty and sophisticated to live in the city around people who share her values, and enjoys living what she sees as an inherently more authentic and enlightened and interconnected lifestyle.

Similarly, Suburban Sam likes HIS life -- the feeling of being around people who share his (more traditional) values, who he believes aren't snobbish or entitled, who he believes are educated but also practical and grounded. He doesn't like feeling crowded or slowed down by the chaos around him. And he wants convenience and familiarly more than he wants an urban adventure.

Ideally, I don't think either person should have to change their fundamental character. And frankly, I think most people (meaning, people not on the Internet) really are willing to split the difference here. Some combination of improving vehicle fuel efficiecy and technology, reducing driving, increasing options for public transit, walking, and biking -- all of those things are good things to do. It doesn't just have to be one or two of them. But fundamentally, a lot of the discussion isn't about the costs and benefits of various transportation policy options, but about what people and cities and this country should be like. I don't think it'd be fair for either side to lose that debate.

Because the real enemies are the oil companies and CHINA!!!!!???!!!, right?

9 books, 4 films, and 1 documentary

9=3^2; 4=2^2; 1=1^2

WHOA. That was unintentional.

9 Books to Better Understand American Politics and Political History

Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman
Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein
Truman by David McCullough
1912 by James Chace
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer
The Brethren by Woodward and Armstrong
What Government Can Do by Page and Simmons

4 Films and a Documentary
Frost/Nixon (and the Frost/Nixon interviews)
Dr. Strangelove
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Do the Right Thing
Eyes on the Prize

Goal: Read/watch these by December 31st.