current listening

Self - Gizmodgery

Too good.

says my co-worker

"I'm glad I don't have children. My cats are just so much easier to influence."

...

"All the damn fools in the world believe they are actually doing what they think they are doing."

F.M. Alexander

Re: snow and frigid cold

No thanks.

ambiguity

...simultaneously excites me and frustrates the hell out of me.

"He is very professional"

I know this is generally meant as a compliment, but I hate hearing it. I know why people say it, but this is (to me) one of the strongest criticisms a person can levy against another. Implied in this statement is a faith in management techniques and established, systematized hierarchies. Whenever anyone refers to me as "professional", I feel slighted, as if I have officially become a cog in the machine, part of a world where bureaucratic behavior, outward appearances, and disingenuous collegiality are privileged over independent thought.

OK, so maybe I'm overreacting. I know what the word "professional" means, and I realize I'm inferring an awful lot here. Most people hold professionalism in high esteem. This is part of the problem. As it is widely assumed to be obviously and indisputably good for society, we may feel hard-pressed to conceive of its alternative. Amateurs? What could they possibly accomplish? Get me a professional! When we distinguish between professionals and amateurs, we draw a line between those "in the know" (i.e. those who adhere to the prevailing paradigm and obey its prescribed rules) and ousiders. The problem is that professionals can become so immersed in a "profession" that they have difficulty challenging or even identifying the tacit assumptions associated within its framework. This doesn't leave much room for creativity or intellectual curiosity. It's not professional to question authority. It's not professional to critically examine beliefs, or to criticize others in your profession (no matter how useless and misguided they are). It's not professional for reporters to editorialize, even though we all know they have a fucking opinion! To be professional, one must suppress certain human qualities - feelings, subjective opinions, and emotions - in the name of conformity and subjugation. In fact, medical/nursing schools often debate (in published articles, no less) whether doctors/nurses ought to be "professional or human" - as if the two were mutually exclusive.

So...to be a professional is to declare a belief in and obey the rules of a particular paradigm, and there's nothing wrong with that...if you prefer to live in a world of networks rather than communities.

Personally, I choose to remain on the fringe with my gloriously amateurish brethren.

...

I should really start bringing my sense of humor with me every time I leave the house.

I don't understand...

...the prioritization of one state over another in the election primary process.

My friends will be voting in Michigan tomorrow (actually, knowing them, this is unlikely), but thanks to this, Michiganders who vote Democratic won't have much of a choice...and their vote might not matter, anyway.

I understand that MI and FL violated party rules, and maybe it was a power grab. What I don't understand is why it's so imperative that Iowa and New Hampshire always go first. I've never heard a convincing argument in favor of this. I think I'd rather see the candidates run a national campaign instead of spending the majority of their time in two small states engaged in pandering coffee klatsch nostalgia.

Anyone want to convince me that this is a good idea?

...

Sometimes, I feel like my life is just a series of thoughts at night.

...

I want to look beyond my periphery and actually have something to see.

?

A large coffee with four milks and five sugars.

This is what the guy in front of me at Tim Horton's ordered today. I haven't even begun to wrap my head around all these double-doubles and triple-triples...but a quadruple-quintuple?

Do you people even like coffee?