pickyourcloud

Hot, Flat and Crowded

2009-08-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a new book, a departure from the many young-adult books I've read of late... Hot Flat and Crowded, by Thomas L. Friedman. I'm only two chapters in, but it's enough to know that EVERYBODY needs to read this book - or at least talk about it. What are we gonna do, people? We are pretty well F'd if we don't come up with something VERY clever, VERY soon. The book calls for a serious green revolution, to face the impending, disastrous effects of Climate Change, Overpopulation and Energy Famine. That's right, guys... we can't ignore the math any longer. Right now there's something like six or seven billion people on the planet. In the 50's it was three or four billion. In less than fifty years we'll have nine or ten billion people. What the heck are we gonna do with that? You think we have problems now, just wait.

Friedman points out a couple of trends that make our situation even scarier. First, we are still in the midst of the great flattening that he described in his last book, The World is Flat - the premise here is that the world is becoming more and more middle class all the time, and more and more connected globally. Increasingly more third-world populations are moving toward a more "American" way of life. Cell phones, cars, tv, etc... You, know, rampant consumerism. Gone are the days of quiet, rural ways of life for many many many peoples. Well, what's wrong with more middle-class people, you ask? As this transition continues and increasingly more people demand the "American" way of life, the resource-demand will spiral out of control. We already are looking at water shortages in many parts of the world. Do you know how much water it takes to make a pair of blue jeans? Computer chips? and these next three or so billion inhabitants of earth will be born into this culture right away. They will demand this lifestyle as a matter of course. So we cannot simply scale things up based on simple population increases over the next fifty years; we have to consider the increasing demands of our current population, and the fact that the next generations are going to want even more than that, purely as a matter of generational one upsmanship.

Btw, did you know that there are finite amounts of phosphorous on the planet? Just like peak oil, now we have to deal with peak fertilizer. Of course, there is some natural recycling of nutrients in the natural cycle of life, but we don't really have the natural cycles of anything anymore, do we? ...so we are going to run out of phosphorous, an essential nutrient in food production... in probably fifty years or so. YAY! We will have another three or four billion young people in the next fifty years, really pissed off that we have handed them such a shitty place. They'll be starving, and thirsty... and they will rightly kick our asses if we don't do something about it before then. You know how cutthroat bargain shoppers can be, on a big sale day? Imagine if we're all fighting for the same glass of water and piece of bread. Not a happy picture, my friends. Let's save our asses!

http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/hot-flat-and-crowded

Minneth and Besyss

2009-08-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

My little girl is so funny. She renamed herself, (she takes after her parents, of course!). She now demands that we call her Besyss (pronounced buh siss), and she has also renamed her favorite little doll, Minneth (nee mimi). Where does she get these unusual names? A past life? Minneth sounds sort of Welsh or something to me. Besyss brings to mind Egypt, or Arabia.

Lila has an active imagination, to be sure. One of her favorite things to do is play "class time." She becomes Miss Coulter (I have to call her that during this game), and I become Miss Bryce, (her day-school teachers). We lay blankets down in her playroom, the "cots" for all her stuffed animals and dolls to lie down on (her "friends"). She even has blankies to cover each friend - and each friend has a particular cot and blankie, not to be mixed up! To tell you the truth, I don't mind her calling me Miss Bryce because this game is a pretty good deal for daddy. I get a cot too, and I basically get to lie down for a while and pretend to sleep. She comes around and pats everyone on the back, whispering, "keep your body still." It's pretty darn cute!

God the Universe and Everything

2009-07-31T16:15:00.001-07:00

I've managed to stay out of it for the most part, until now. A couple kids at work have known that I was not a believer (only those who were somewhat more open-minded), but until now I have mostly avoided the entire subject, being surrounded by God-fearing types. anyway, one kid asked me if I believed in God, and I told him No, not the God in the bible. He told me that another staff had been talking to him about it... I asked him if he believed in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. I asked him if he understood the concept of faith, central to Xianity - the unfounded belief in something inherently unprovable. I told him I couldn't conscience believing something that was by its very nature unbelievable, ridiculous - supernatural. the whole idea is, the more you believe in something that is less and less likely, the bigger your faith. if you know for certain, it doesn't take any balls to believe in it. can you imagine "believing in" gravity? there's no "point" to the idea of faith unless the faith is in something RIDICULOUS, PATENTLY ABSURD, CRAZY. your faith is bigger in direct relation to its unlikelihood.

and the creation story. it's just too neat, too simple. of course we imagine a being that is responsible for creating the universe. we can't bear the alternative, the totally infinitely flabbergastingly scary alternative that we just can't ever possibly know (or even begin to comprehend what it is we don't know).

if God did create the universe, where was he when he did so? another universe? the "God-universe?" well who created that one?

what was there before before? what does it mean, the beginning of time? what happened before that? and why is there anything at all? I have a sneaking suspicion there is only anything because otherwise there would be NOTHING, and that really and truly makes no sense. much less sense than "why something?"

it is hard to wrap your head around it, and very difficult to explain (probably the origin of the word ineffable!) but I lean toward there is something because otherwise there would be nothing, and that little loop, that existential tensegrity is the so-called big-bang which brought us all into being. nothing only makes sense compared to something, there is no long without short, no deep without shallow, etc... are you getting me?

it is kind of uncomfortable, right? the interplay between meaning and meaninglessness, flirting with nihilism. most people would simply rather not think about it. it's easier to accept a pat explanation, shared by the masses, carried down from our forefathers. it's always so much easier not to think for ourselves. so why not just believe what they say, God created the world, us, the universe, everything... why not?!

Twilight and Borders scamming

2009-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

I held out so long, but I finally jumped into the Twilight saga - and finished the thing in record time, of course. I got the first book and read it on the flight(s) home from Philadelphia. I was finished the next day, and returned it at the local Borders for the second book, New Moon. I told them I got the wrong book, it was a present for my "little sister!" I read that one in about the same span of time, and returned New Moon for Eclipse. I managed to do that in two separate transactions, with two different cashiers. When I came back for Breaking Dawn, I sat Lila on the counter and smiled really big. The lady didn't say anything as I made my last exchange. FYI, in case you ever want to read a book that you can't find at the library, as long as you take good care of the thing, they'll take it back with receipt before 30 days.

anyway, I devoured the books in a marathon reading session until I got to Breaking Dawn, the last one. I slowed down for a day or two then, trying to put off the sadness that always comes when I finish books that I really dig. but it was too hard to stay away! I have always been in awe (perhaps astonishment is a better word) of my friend Caroline who made the decision NOT to finish the epic, wonderful, 100 Years of Solitude, so that she could forestall that feeling indefinitely. To my knowledge, she has still never gone back and finished the book. I hope I'm wrong! girl, by now you could have forgotten much of it and read it over again at least 3 or 4 times!!

Incidentally, Caroline is a major inspiration for my foray into the blogosphere (check hers, if you don't already). I remember at one point she posted her review of Twilight the movie, (which I just looked at last night, and found to be as horrifying as most movies of books I loved unavoidably are). She didn't like it either, and since I pretty much trust her opinion across the board, I had crossed the Twilight phenomenon off my list. Plus, last Christmas my mom got the books for her boyfriend's teenage daughter, and I simply couldn't imagine being interested in the same kind of thing. well, thanks to Caroline's later posts, revealing her unabashed obsession with the books, I ended up buying the first one at the airport. I was immediately hooked. so what, if it's a ROMANCE! for teenage girls! if you like to read; especially if you liked Harry Potter, I promise you the Twilight books are worth reading. thanks codface!

new on youtube!

2009-07-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Check this video of Lila reading!

btw

2009-07-14T20:42:00.001-07:00

if you haven't noticed,

check out "do yourself a favor,"

on the right, there, under the video bar.

do it.

now!

Dumbledore is GAY!

2009-07-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

wow...

I didn't pick up on that one, but I guess it makes sense.

am I slow or are you just as surprised as me?!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/50787

sarah impaling

2009-07-10T18:45:00.001-07:00

I know very little about Sarah Palin, so at best what I write here should be considered uninformed... and in the spirit of full disclosure, I should also say that I really don't like her. I formed an immediate, gut-level opinion of her when she burst on to the national spotlight with McLame. I think it had something to do with her annoying accent and her soccer mom pretensions. Whatever, b!#@%! She is so far removed from soccer-mom innocence it isn't funny. She resembles nothing more than a twisted soap-opera matriarch cum cabinet dominatrix. she's the halliburton of milfs.

but that's just my opinion.

anyway, I find it very revealing that she has stepped down from her position as governor. hmmm... While she is probably doing everybody a favor by relinquishing the post to somebody more qualified, it is certainly not out of a sense of responsibility to the people of Alaska, stepping aside so that somebody with intelligence and "real" sense can take over. She is either doing it to make some room in her life to capitalize on various lucrative possibilities as a professional celebrity, or she is doing it to begin preparations for her next attempt to get into the white house. While she claims she is quitting to save Alaska money, as she has been bombarded with costly ethics complaints - that she is basically tired of being the target of political intrigue - I don't buy it. There's probably an outside chance she is dealing with some unknown tragedy or preempting a career-breaking scandal that has yet to surface, but the idea that she is simply sacrificing herself to put an end to political machinations... My feeling is it is purely blind ambition - of the dumbest variety. Why don't we just put her and Hillary in a mud-wrestling cagefight and watch the pay-per-view dollars pile up...

here's a guy who can write better than I can and pretty much did a better job all around, if you are feeling the Palin-bashing thing...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6688848.ece?openComment=true

yo gabba gabba

2009-07-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

if you have friends with little kids, you should tell them about yo gabba gabba. it's one of Lila's favorite shows...

http://yogabbagabba.com/#/iliketodance

http://yogabbagabba.com/#/biz-video-1

http://yogabbagabba.com/#/party-in-my-tummy

I hate my job.

2009-06-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

if you didn't already know, I work for the County Juvenile Bureau, at a residential facility for delinquent boys and girls. I am the guy who holds them the most accountable - the strictest one. and I will admit I do gain some pleasure from getting them in trouble. not a sadistic kind of thing, necessarily; call it job satisfaction. I enjoy making the catch. You know, the thrill of the hunt. I'm smarter, and often an awful lot more attuned to their hijinks than they realize - having gone through a lot of their issues myself and having made a much better show of it, thank you very much. I never got busted, you know. anyway, the point is they can't pull a fast one on ol' Jeremiah, I am two steps ahead of 'em. I invented this (expletive deleted). know what I mean?

anyway, I tend to get a lot of abuse at this place, and being in podunk (expletive deleted)land, my coworkers and superiors are woefully inadequate to say the least. They fail to support me in many ways, and some of these bastards are openly plotting against me. yesterday, the newest, wildest, most incorrigible kid in the place threw my phone against the wall and broke it. he was upset at me because I took him out of a basketball game we were playing because he was playing football, and I was the target of his aggression. He threatened to knock me out the day before, and he had been placed on "total restrictions," what we call "the board." this is the most extreme stage of consequences at our place and let me tell you now, it is almost meaningless.

anyway, the kid was mad at me - for getting on the board and especially because I won. you see, the kids and I are basically fighting a series of pitched battles in a great war. it's us versus them, you know. the trouble is, it feels like it's me versus everyone else some days. at any rate, the kids are usually trying to get me fired some way or another, or if possible render me mostly powerless and walk all over me, but I can't let them. I mete out consequences, and they squirm around and try to make it look like I am picking on them. this particular kid, Dijon (really) had gone so far as spreading lies about me, that I had been constantly making rude comments to him, for instance, playing psychological games, trying to make him run away (it's not a lockdown facility). at any rate, none of his tricks worked, and he ended up getting in trouble instead. so he was pissed, and he vented his anger on my phone.

well, do you think my work is going to replace the thing? of course not. they are not liable. I shouldn't have set it down (we were playing basketball, and all the staff put their stuff down on this window ledge in the gym where we play, in plain sight of everyone). one of the staff I was working with, with whom I do not get along, undermined my story, claiming he didn't think the kid had done anything that wrong that I should have taken him out of the game. what the (expletive deleted) does that have to do with it anyway? is it supposed to be some kind of excuse? the same idiot had taken Dijon out of the previous game for jawing at another kid, B.J. Now B.J. was involved in a fight with some other kids a couple months back, when they started jawing at each other during a basketball game. Since then, we have been doing our best to keep the guys in check on the court.

so. whether I was right to take the kid out of the game or not, Dijon was certainly wrong for destroying my phone. and how can this (expletive deleted) staff feel that he can remove the kid from the game, but I can't? this guy has tattoos on his neck and cracks jokes in staff meetings about mexican immigrants. this is the kind of place I work.

btw, the conference room where we hold these weekly staff meetings is the same place where these kids attend a sunday church service by the Gideon's - you know, those guys who put bibles in hotels? whatever happened to separation of church and state? one of the public school teachers on our campus announced to the class that darwinian evolution was wrong -"the idea, that we are related to monkeys!" the other teacher once defined "pagan" as 'anyone that didn't accept the truth of the Lord God our Saviour.' can you believe that?!!

this is the kind of (expletive deleted) place I work.

bloggadocious

2009-06-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

my fans have long been desperate for me to try my hand at this modern enterprise of blogging, and having waited sufficiently long enough to appear fashionably late to the scene, as it were, I have finally relented. Welcome to my first official post! It is wildly entertaining for me as well, you can be sure. Sarcasm and whatnot aside, I have to admit I don't really know what to say. I have always had a problem with journalling for much the same reason - or, more precisely, I always struggled with the fear that I would write a lot of nonsense and self-conscious drivel, and somebody might read it and think I'm a complete idiot. So I just didn't risk it. In those neurotic hypotheticals, I suppose I thought somebody would be rooting through my stuff, no doubt trying to find scandalous or otherwise incriminating information - or perhaps my writings would be collected for a posthumous memoir. Being such an important personage and all. Of course, in reality, my personal diaries would probably rather be collecting dust in a box in the attic, and I have merely cheated my self out of what surely would have been a rewarding survey of my past misadventures, musings, etcetera. Anyway, the funny thing is, as I have now decided to PUBLISH my drivel online, I can be sure that untold millions will have the opportunity to think I am a complete idiot. Happy reading!