Rest of My Life Without Dad

John Wooden is Gone

2010-06-04T22:43:00.002-04:00

You can say he lived a long and wonderful life, but it still is hard to lose the heart and soul of our team.

From the LA Times.

John Wooden, the UCLA basketball coach who became an icon of American sports while guiding the Bruins to an unprecedented 10 national championships in the 1960s and '70s and remained in the spotlight during retirement with his "Pyramid of Success" motivational program, has died. He was 99.

Though his fame extended beyond the sports world, it was Wooden's achievements during 27 seasons at UCLA that put him in the company of such legendary coaches as the Green Bay Packers' Vince Lombardi and Notre Dame's Knute Rockne.

Wooden's string of championships began with back-to-back victories in 1964 and '65. Starting in 1967, his team ran off seven consecutive NCAA titles -- going 38 tournament games without a loss -- a feat unmatched before or since in men's college basketball.

What I'll Miss in DC: Ben's Chili Bowl

2010-03-07T16:32:00.006-05:00

I will be moving back to Los Angeles this month. While I'm looking forward to it for so many reasons, many involving live UCLA sports, I am sad to say goodbye to my favorite food spots in Washington, DC.

Any person who lives in DC for a few months is nearly guaranteed to hear of Ben's Chili Bowl, an institution in our fair city. In my nearly nine years in DC, I have probably an average of a chili dog a month. It's heaven on a plate.

Yesterday I was at Ben's Next Door, the upscale restaurant and bar cousin restaurant where any Ben's lover goes when the line at Ben's is too long. Since President Obama visited Ben's in the week before his inauguration, Ben's Next Door is pretty much the only place to go if you want a quick chili dog and don't mind paying a buck or two more.

While in the restaurant, I spoke to one of the owners, Ben's son Nizam Ali. He told me so many insanely interesting things about BCB that I wanted to share with other rabid fans.

1. Mail order chili dogs: 18 dogs for about $40 via benschilibowl.com
2. Tomato paste in the chili recipe: Why would anyone care about this? They probably don't, it's pretty obvious there is tomato paste given the orange color of the chili. I'm allergic to tomatoes, but apparently not tomato paste. I say this because I've had hundreds of chili dogs at Ben's and never suffered any tomato allergy repercussions. Thinking of eating a pizza next!
3. Ben's Visitor Center: Second floor of Ben's Next Door has a hall of historical pictures.
4. Chicken and waffles: On the menu at Ben's Next Door. Yeah, you heard that right! It will be hard to go to Ben's and not get a chili dog, but I'm all over at least one meal of chicken and waffles.

I am definitely going to need to get a BCB t-shirt before I leave DC. Nizam and I also discussed losing our fathers and his increasing use of social media. Really good guy.

Top 5 Social Media Moments of 2009

2009-12-26T20:35:00.007-05:00

Surprise, surprise, my list is heavily tilted toward political uses of social media.

1. Inauguration attendees blanket Facebook with pictures on the ground, including the purple tunnel of doom.
2. Facebook covers Michael Jackson funeral, allows those watching to view each others' comments.
3. Food trucks on Twitter.
4. Elected officials on Twitter, esp. Senator John McCaine and Senator Claire McCaskill -- for better or worse.
5. Twitter coupons and special Twitter-only deals.

Worst of 2009 -- Losing People

2009-12-26T19:39:00.008-05:00

This is not a happy post. I just read Newsweek and saw their list of people who we lost this year. I have my own list, two I never met, and one who meant the world to me.

1. My nephew. January 11, 2009. A car accident took his life. Make sure your car has airbags. He was only 22, in the prime of his life, and happy. There are some things that you never get over. We go on, we remember him, but we can't forget. RFK once misquoted Aeschylus as such:

"In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

2. Senator Edward Kennedy. August 25, 2009. My Irish grandfather. He taught us that politics is primarily to help people. His epic quote:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

3. Frank McCourt. July 19, 2009. My other Irish grandfather. He taught me what it meant to be Irish; he taught me just how Irish I had been and would always be. It is because of him, for instance, I describe my Irish luck and my Irish soul. McCourt once gave a graduation speech at UCLA, in 1998, that I attended. It was the humanities graduation, I believe. I wish I had gone home and written out his entire speech, it was simply marvelous. Without YouTube in those days, it appears to be lost for the ages/not Google-able. I remember he said that it wasn't about the title or the paycheck, but to feel like you'd done good in the world everyday that made a job worth doing.

Without these three Irish men, the world is a darker place for me.

Lessons Learned During the Aughts

2009-12-25T20:31:00.014-05:00

These are the years you learn a lot -- college graduation to home-owning, pet parenting adult. Can only imagine what comes when you add kids. In random order, top lessons I've learned:

1. The choice is yours: be positive and hope for the best, and you shall be happy. You don't escape the knocks, but you bounce back better, and with more gratitude for what you do have.

2. Negative energy is contagious, avoid it. We all know those people who have nothing good to say. You can try to turn things towards the positive, they refuse to see it. So don't be around them. They suck all the energy and light out of you.

3. Don't go looking for trouble. You'll always find it. Nuff said.

4. Have friends of character. Who you surround yourself with is who you become. If you have friends who lie, cheat, and steal, it is at best just a negative influence on you. Find those people who help you become a happy and positive person, and back away slowly from those who don't.

5. It's okay to fail big. I've done it in every way possible -- with love, with jobs, with sports. You live, you learn. Don't be so afraid to fail that you never try.

6. If you can't control your temper by age 30, you never will. It should go without saying that these folks should be avoided at all costs. Nothing good comes from a short fuse and uncontrollable anger.

7. Always put your health first. Sure, you partied in your 20's. But there comes a time in every person's life where he must think about how he'd like to spend his older days. And if it's walking around and being with family, exercise and healthy eating are a must.

8. Learn to cook. The metaphor is here as well, but really -- learn to cook what you love to eat and you'll always be eating well.

9. Work hard, but stop when you get where you're going. No job is worth exhausting yourself and preventing you from caring for yourself and spending time with family and friends. Don't let guilt or ambition make your job more important than all else in your life.

10. Pets are like free happiness pills. I wouldn't know, but I bet they're better than Prozac.

11. It's never too late to make your life what you'd like it to be.

12. Reflect often on who you are and what you're prioritizing in life. Make sure it is the things that matter.

14. What you think is what you become. Don't waste your time worrying and instead spend your time improving you.

15. When it's right, you'll know. Houses, relationships, jobs...they almost all work like this. When all else fails, you can at least follow the "not no" rule that if the answer isn't "this isn't right," then you continue. I would argue, however, that you always know deep inside in a short time whether something is right. Listen to yourself.

16. Be your own best friend. Don't be afraid to do the things only you want to do on your own. Be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up.

17. Always be kind. Pay attention to those who aren't kind, and avoid them.

18. No one can truly stand in another's shoes. So don't go telling someone how to live his life, and don't let people try to tell you what's up.

19. Endeavor to find the silver lining in your tragedies. If you can find meaning in your suffering, if you can make the best of an awful situation, you will go far in this life. RIP Ted Kennedy, who taught us all this important lesson.

20. Don't take it personally. This is pretty much my life motto. It is almost never about you. And when it really and truly is about you, you have so much to learn. Listen and don't blow your stack.

21. It's not about you. And if you make everything about you, no one is going to want to be around you. I know I won't.

22. Find your passion. Mine is UCLA basketball. My life is infinitely better because of it, I obsess over it and let everyone know it is the number one thing that gives me pure joy.

23. Let people be who they want to be. Don't try to control people or make them change. They have to want it. If you don't like it, don't be a part of their life.

24. Be the light. Put out what you want to receive, and you'll get it in return.

25. Don't waste your time with folks to whom you can't talk. Doesn't matter if it's your issue or theirs, point is if you can't talk to someone, there's nothing there worth not being able to communicate openly.

26. Be grateful. Nothing contributes more to happiness. When I think of my dad or my nephew, gone forever, I make an effort to be thankful for the days I do have.

27. Don't make emotional decisions. But bruinmccon, some decisions are by nature emotional. Yes, sure. But many people confuse rash, emotional decisions for their gut. And I'm telling you, it's not. You may have to make quick decisions, but you owe yourself time to think it over once you've noted your "gut" feeling. I had a significant other who made horrible life decisions this way. I couldn't get away from that person fast enough. Who wants to be around someone so unpredictable.

28. Skip the drama. Really, life does not need to be that hard. If you don't get along with someone, stop spending time with that person. If you get upset about traffic, readjust your expectations and find something productive to do while you drive.

Rotation Chatter

2009-12-25T19:20:00.004-05:00

I read a post about UCLA Basketball coach Ben Howland's rotation choices a week ago, and wanted to post some of what was said on bruinsnation.com here:

The main thing holding this team back is 1) solid offensive play, and 2) rebounding.

The wonderful thing is that the solution for both is the same: start TH in place of JA. ML goes for 29, MR goes for 19, and what does JA have, 1 point on 0-2 (including an airball by five feet) and 1-2 free throws. Hmm, which one doesn’t belong. Conversely, TH is a prototypical small forward who is a great rebounder. Remember, he played center in high school which shows with his craftiness around the rim. TH is also the perfect compliment to RN in that as much of a workhorse RN is, he is undersized. But with TH playing in the frontcourt alongside RN and ND, we suddenly become much longer and athletic. Plus, this will help out MR so he won’t be guarding someone much larger than him....

I just want to zero in on point number 1 for now. I really think Coach Ben Howland owes more than a standard coachspeak explanation to the UCLA basketball community about his inexplicable but predictable rotation at this point of the season.

Only problem is Honeycutt has just not been playing well. It has been difficult for our team to find a rhythm though, and no word from my news sources on whether Honeycutt was indeed playing forward, or if he was stuck at point guard, for our last game. Apparently it was only available on some sort of Internet feed, which I completely missed.

Of course when the team is bad, the coach gets second guessed every which way. I don't want to do that. But I do find is conspicuous, if nothing else, that Howland, a God to UCLA fans, is getting called out like this. I don't know if there is a solution. The guys are getting better, Reeves Nelson is a standout player at this point. Other than that, we don't really have talent.

My more important question to Howland is not to second guess his coaching decisions (except really, can UCLA figure out how to play O against 1-3-1 zone defense?!), but to say what is going on with recruiting that you misread the possible talent of so many players?

Comcast Streaming Pro Games

2009-12-21T13:30:00.005-05:00

File under best news of 2009, Comcast is now allowing local fans to view local games over the Internet (via Business Week):

Basketball fans in Philadelphia can now go to the Web site of Comcast's regional sports network and, for a subscription fee, view Philadelphia 76ers professional basketball games streamed live.

The article goes on to say that Philadelphia is a unique situation where Comcast owned all the necessary components to make this work in their favor. The Portland Trailblazers have also sold their local NBA rights.

There are some obvious steps needed to get to my dream of being able to watch UCLA on my computer from the East Coast. One big one would be cables to hook up my computer to my TV. That said, slowly we begin to see cable companies recognizing the dollar signs that online sports can mean.

Image by flickr user MOmilkman, used through Creative Commons.

Top UCLA Sports Moments of the Decade

2009-12-14T21:54:00.000-05:00

11. October 2005 -- Cardiac Bruins, as the football team came to be called on bruinsnation.com, has four come from behind victories in the fourth quarter out of five October weekends. I lose years off my life and the infamous Penn State screamfest occurs.

10. September 1, 2008 -- UCLA football's first game with Rick Neuheisal as coach turns out to be an overtime win. I stay up until 1 am watching it on a Monday night.

9. March 17, 2003 -- Steve Lavin's reign of mediocrity ends.

8. January 24, 2008 -- Kevin Love goes home to face Oregon during his one season as a Bruin. Viciously abused by the Oregon students' section, Love leads UCLA to an 80-75 victory.

7. May 13, 2007 -- UCLA becomes the first university to achieve 100 titles.

6. April 5, 2008 -- UCLA plays in its third Final Four in three years. I nearly get in a fist fight during the game with a Memphis fan, but decide being a poor loser is not very UCLA of me.

5. March 24, 2007 -- UCLA defeats the University of Kansas in the Elite Eight. It is the last game I watch with my father.

4. December 2, 2006 -- UCLA 13, USC 9 as the Bruins ruin USC's season and prevent them from getting to the BCS championship. I lose my voice.

3. April 3, 2006 -- UCLA plays for its 12th basketball title and gets creamed by University of Florida.

2. March 31, 2007 -- I travel to Atlanta to watch UCLA lose to Florida in the Final Four. I end up seated in a Florida section.

1. March 23, 2006 -- UCLA comes from a 17 point deficit to beat Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen, causing Adam Morrison to weep on the court before the game was even over.

My Top Albums of the Aughts

2009-12-13T12:34:00.001-05:00

Inspired by Bigelow's post to his blog over the weekend, the following are my favorite albums from the 00's:

a. Death Cab for Cutie -- Transatlanticism
b. Death Cab for Cutie -- Plans
c. Weezer -- The Blue Album
d. Imogen Heap -- Speak for Yourself
e. Alicia Keys -- Songs in A Minor
f. Arcade Fire -- Funeral
g. Stars -- Heart
h. Smashing Pumpkins -- Machina/The Machines of God
i. Cat Power -- The Greatest
j. Frou Frou -- Details
k. My Chemical Romance -- The Black Parade

What's up with Dragovic?

2009-11-23T20:00:00.003-05:00

Have not been a fan of UCLA basketball starter/thug Nikola Dragovic ever since his girlfriend accused him of assault last year. The charges were dropped, as they often are when a woman is being abused, and Dragovic was allowed back on the court.

Now he's in jail for assaulting a man and pushing him into a glass case, after which Dragovic's friend proceeded to pummel the guy until bystanders broke up the fight.

From the LA Times:

According to prosecutors, Stanisic began arguing with another man and his girlfriend during the concert by Daniel Johnston. Afterward, Dragovic allegedly rushed the victim and pushed him into the case, prosecutors said. As the two men were on the ground, Stanisic allegedly began punching the victim until security and bystanders broke up the fight, prosecutors said.

Dragovic reported the incident to campus police and team officials shortly after it occurred. As soon as charges were filed, Dragovic -- accompanied by Coach Ben Howland -- surrendered to Hollywood detectives. He later was released on bail.

I want to win as much as the next fan, but really? Our coach has to accompany players to jail when they turn themselves in? I agree that he is innocent until proven guilty, but it's a little suspicious that anger issues keep coming up off the court.

East Coast Bias Actually Pans Out for Once, Slingbox Update

2009-11-23T19:30:00.006-05:00

I was going to write a long diatribe about the ridiculous pre-season college basketball polls that omitted UCLA in the top 25, but after our loss Cal State Fullerton, I see their point.

I think we will do far better than our football team did this season. Just sayin'.

We always start out slow. Two seasons ago, Kevin Love peaked in March. In February, there was still talk he was not going to enter the draft because he was still working on his fundamentals. He was, but he got it together quickly and ended up going fifth in the draft, third Pac-10 player in the first five selected, second Bruin. What's up.

With that said, my life is again centering on watching as many UCLA basketball games as I can. With DVR, this isn't very difficult to do at some point. I used to dream of setting up Slingbox on my Blackberry and watching the games on my phone. That was before I got cable with the sports package and realized every game could be recorded. No, my body, now over 30 years old now has a problem staying up for the games.

Obviously I cannot resist looking up the score of a game the morning after, to make sure my guys pulled out a win. The games usually start recording at 10:30 at night and end well after midnight. On a school night, that's rough. However, if I have plans after work, I can often go several days without watching the game. So my focus is now on how to watch the games as quickly as possible after I wake up.

Comcast has recently unveiled TV Everywhere which in theory could allow you to watch anything in your DVR via the interwebs. IN THEORY. In reality, it's probably not going to have that functionality, at least not from what info is on the web. I wish I could download the game to my iPod and watch it on the way to work, but that's not even close to possible.

Slingbox still looks like the best option to watch games on the go but...

1. It is not yet available on my Blackberry model.
2. Can the Verizon network support video? I can't even get to my Google Reader in less than ten minutes on my mobile browser on most mornings.

The search continues...

A Great Flash Add-On for Pets (and People) - Gadgetwise Blog

2009-11-23T18:28:00.001-05:00

Every time I use flash to snap an indoor photo of my dog Patti, her eyes are transformed into fluorescent turquoise headlights. It’s not a good look for a dachshund.

I finally found a way to avoid that: Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop is a $35 add-on that snaps into your D.S.L.R.’s flash hot shoe and bounces the light from the pop-up flash off walls and ceilings. This creates softer, more even lighting for snapshots of babies, adults, and pets. No more bleached-out faces, harsh shadows, or devilishly tinted eyes.

It’s all remarkably low tech. Simply pop up your flash unit, then slide the Lightscoop into the flash hot shoe. The Lightscoop places a mirror directly into the path of the pop-up flash to bounce the light off the ceiling (or walls if you hold the camera in a vertical position). The Lightscoop requires a surface to bounce light, which is why it won’t work outdoors.

The Lightscoop comes with instructions for suggested manual settings. I tried it using full manual mode with a +1 flash compensation (the most my camera offers). It worked great, as you can see in the photo of the dark-eyed dog above. I also tried the Lightscoop in Auto mode, which doesn’t allow you to set the flash compensation. Depending on the lighting and walls in your shooting location, this may work, too.

One nice thing about the Lightscoop is that it doesn’t draw any battery power. It’s also very lightweight. On the downside, it only works with D.S.L.R. cameras.

The Lightscoop is available in a standard light and a warming light version. It fits hot shoes on Canon, Nikon, Fujufilm, Olympus, Pentax, and Sigma cameras (check here to see specific models). The company will release a new version for Sony D.S.L.R.s in early December.

The holidays are bearing down on us, and chances are you’ll be snapping a lot of indoor shots of your friends and family, not to mention the dogs and cats decked out in Santa hats, festive little sweaters, and reindeer antlers. The Lightscoop is a great little gadget for improving these indoor shots.

via gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com

If I get a DSLR camera, so getting this.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

On Demand Online by Comcast | Premium Programming Online Anytime | Beta

2009-11-13T17:17:00.001-05:00

See Comcast On Demand in a whole new way—online.

We've got an exciting new product, and we want you to be one of the first to try it. Test-drive our new Comcast On Demand Online (Beta) and get anytime, in-home access to the Comcast digital universe of entertainment—right from your computer.

Watch the On Demand programs you love, all with blazing-fast speed over Comcast's advanced fiber-optic network. It's Comcast On Demand the way you want it—on TV and online.

Here's all you need:

Comcast High-Speed Internet

Comcast Digital Cable

Your Comcast.net email address

Forgot your Comcast.net email address?

Ready to try Comcast On Demand Online (Beta)?

You're enjoying Comcast On Demand Online (Beta).

We hope you're thrilled with this exciting new way to catch the TV shows & movies you love—all with blazing-fast speed over our advanced fiber-optic network.

Thanks again for trying Comcast On Demand Online (Beta).

Ready to resume your trial?

Sign In to Participate

Questions or Feedback?

Join the discussion in the On Demand Online (Beta) Forum.

Additional questions? Please see Fancast FAQs.

Get excited!

Your request to test-drive Comcast On Demand Online (Beta) is being processed.

We're as thrilled as you are about Comcast On Demand Online.
Participation in this trial is limited. Once your request has been processed, we'll send you an email within 24 hours to let you know if you're eligible to participate.

In the meantime, check out Fancast for the hottest TV experience online. It's free. Watch Now >

Uh oh, we encountered an error while processing your sign-up request. Please try again shortly.

via comcast.net

Finally!!!!!!! Best news evah.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

iTunes Public Service Announcement

2009-10-31T18:34:00.003-04:00

Back in April, my laptop seemed to be on its last legs. I made an emergency purchase of a new netbook, 10" laptop for $400 and set about doing what I thought would be simple -- transferring my iTunes collection from my old computer to my new computer. Neither of my iPods were big enough to do the transfer, and I was unable to follow the instructions in the Apple support store or other online help to the point where my old playlists were in my new iTunes.

I could go through everything I tried that did not work, but suffice to say for the past six months I had all the songs in my new computer, and I bought all my music on the new computer, but I charged my iPod on my old computer because I wanted access to my playlists and play counts. I would manually transfer the songs back to my old computer, and I sat on a huge external hard drive that didn't seem to be able to handle this simple transfer of digital songs.

Yesterday I was told I needed to copy the entire "My Music" playlist from my old PC to my new PC. I tried that, but kept ending up adding a new folder to My Music called My Music. Finally I was able to move folder to folder, and the play counts are there. Big props to Rob Peroraro at the Wa Post for making it happen.

Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted all the new music I bought. Stay tuned...

2 Ways You Think Yourself Unhappy (and 10 Things to Do About It) « tinybuddha.com

2009-10-14T11:51:00.001-04:00

by Lori Deschene, SeeingGood.com

I’ve been reading the Do Happy tips, and I’ve found them very insightful. Simple. Action-oriented. Effective in improving my mood. It’s true that a simple change in behavior can create a significant shift in thinking and feeling.

But I’ve noticed I run into problems when I slip back into my old ways or doing or thinking.

It all starts so innocently. I get outside and hop on a swing—spend a good 20 minutes acting my shoe size. Then BAM. I fall out of the present moment and start worrying about the work I have to do when I get home.

Or I decide to un-strange a stranger—really open up to someone new, and take the risk of being rejected. Then BAM. I start thinking about that friendship that ended in drama, and retreat back into my shell.

I decided today that doing happy is actually two-fold: it’s about doing things that will bring you joy, and not doing things that sap it up. I’ve identified a long list of these things–so long it will take me at least 5 posts to explore it all. I’m honored to share this series here over the next several weeks.

Today I’ll start with two types of thinking the get in the way of happiness:

1. Dwelling on things that happened in the past.

You’re eating dinner with friends, enjoying your favorite meal, two sips into your first drink of the night. BAM. Your mind wanders. I shouldn’t have said those things to my mother. That look on her face—I’ll never forget it. What I should have done was… Like rehashing the past will somehow change the way you feel about it. Maybe even change what happened.

2. Obsessing over things that might happen in the future.

You’re watching a movie, cuddling close to the person you love. You feel warm under a blanket. Your popcorn has just the right amount of salt and butter. BAM. Your mind wanders. I hope I do well in that interview on Monday. I really need to make more money. If I don’t get that job… As if you could find a way to shape the future by thinking really hard right now.

If you can relate to either of these, the good news is you’re human. Everyone thinks about the past and the future at some point. Even the most enlightened person reflects and imagines on occasion.

Since I’m not willing to spring for that lobotomy, I’ve accepted that part of life is learning how to use my mind well.

Which means learning to let go. To release the past once it’s over. To do all you can to shape your future, and then accept that on some level the future will always be unknown. To open your eyes to what’s right in front of you, and allow yourself to fully experience it.

I’ve found these 10 steps helpful in keeping me in the now:

1. Schedule time to dwell or worry. Give yourself specific windows of time when it’s perfectly OK to worry about the past or stress about the future–a half-hour in the afternoon for example. If you start doing it at another time, write down the thought and put it away for later. This won’t be easy at first–but even a little time gained makes the practice worthwhile.

2. Replace your thoughts. Get in the habit of observing the way you think. When you start dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, change your thought to something helpful. As soon as you think, I shouldn’t have said that… think, Stop. I said what I said. From this experience I learned…In the future I will…. I’ve written change that thought on a rubber band that I wear on my wrist when I’m having a hard time being present. Seeing the reminder helps. Seriously.

3. Focus on what’s in front of you. I have a mantra I tell myself when I start slipping away from now: “All that exists is what I can see.” Of course this isn’t true, but it heightens my sense of awareness within the present. The flowers look brighter. The birds sound prettier. My breakfast tastes sweeter. Then I remember nothing’s certain but this moment. Everything can change in an instant.

4. Bring it all back to you–and right now. Most of the time when we’re living in the past or future, it has to do with other people. What they said or did, what they may say or do. Personal responsibility roots you in the present. If you didn’t get a promotion and start blaming your boss, think, I’ll get the next one if I improve my communication skills. I can work on that today by…

5. Ask yourself What can I control right now? Not only is it draining and potentially depressing, it’s an unproductive use of time to dwell on things you can’t do anything about. Focus on things you can control, and back them up with actions right now. I wrote a list of 50 things you can control for my own blog if you need some ideas.

6. Forgive. Most of the time, when we’re clinging to the past, we’re holding onto anger or bitterness. You see how much better things could be if only he did this, or she didn’t do that. But he didn’t. Or she did. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. Sometimes without remorse. Holding onto anger doesn’t punish the person who hurt you. It just prolongs your pain. Let go of that pain.

7. Appreciate. When we pin our happiness to future gains it’s often because we feel we don’t have enough. So maybe things would be easier if you had a more reliable car or a home that didn’t need any work. But you have a car and don’t have to wait for the bus—woohoo! You have a home and don’t need to crash with your parents—woohoo! It feels good to look around and notice things you take for granted.

8. Focus on your breathing. The best way to get out of your head is to focus on your breathing and ground yourself back in your body. A simple method is to count breaths. As you inhale and exhale, think and one, then on your second breath think and two. Breathe in—and—breathe out—one. Breathe in—and—breathe out—two. The goal is to get through a set without letting your thoughts wander. Work in sets of 4, 6, 8, or even 10 if you’re able.

9. Get in the zone. Meditation doesn’t have to involve sitting Indian style, chanting or anything like that. You just need to get in the zone, at least once a day for a half-hour. Read a book. Play an instrument. Get on the elliptical machine. Allow your mind to focus completely on one thing for at least a half-hour a day and your thoughts will start to slow down.

10. Override your thoughts with action. It all started with the Do Happy ideas, so it feels appropriate to end this way. It’s hard to do things in the past or the future. Go ahead and try it. Can you hug your kids in 1998? Ride your bike in 2015? OK, that one’s a little more doable—but it’s a long way off! If you get caught up in your thinking, stop. Tell your thoughts you’ll get back to them later. And do something that makes you feel good. Like tinybuddha says: Do happy. It’s something you’re due.

We’re pleased to welcome Lori Deschene as a weekly contributor, and to support her in the “Good Mood” blogger contest. If you’ve enjoyed her contributions, vote here in one click. Follow her on Twitter @lori_deschene or @goodmoodblogger.

Other posts by Lori Deschene:

Worry Serves No Useful Purpose

10 Ways I Know There’s Nothing Wrong with You (or Me)

Photos by srboisvert, kelvin255

via tinybuddha.com

This is an incredibly useful article. Some of these tips I already use in my daily life, but the ones I don't will make an enormous difference in my life.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Tellem Discussing Stepping Down At CBS; How Will Les Cope? – Deadline.com

2009-10-06T15:17:00.001-04:00

My sources are telling me that Nancy Tellem has gone to her boss Les Moonves to discuss stepping down from her longtime post at CBS as Les' right hand exec. "No final decision will be made until she returns from MIPCom in Europe," an insider informs me. But I'm told what's contemplated by the 55-year-old president of the CBS Television Studios Entertainment Group is to move into a consultancy role sometime within the next 3 weeks. Nobody would take her place, but president of CBS Entertainment Nina Tassler would take on more responsibilities. About why Tellem wants out, I'm told: "She's just done. She's thinking about what the next chapter is for her life." If she's not replaced, then this leaves questions about succession for the 60-year-old Moonves because Wall Street doesn't like for its publicly traded corporations to not have an heir apparent in place.

Along with ABC's Anne Sweeney, Tellem has long been at the top among female executives in the television community and one of the best. And throughout her more than 25 years in the small screen biz, she has worked with Les Moonves and now reports to him directly. Relationships like that just don't happen very often in Hollywood. Moonves and Tellem may talk by phone two or three times a day, and after so many years together, they don't hold back. "We yell and we scream at each other, but when that's over, she's family," Moonves once told BusinessWeek.

via deadline.com

Unexpected turn of events.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

A Winter Jacket That Charges Your Gadgets - Gadgetwise Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-10-05T11:51:00.001-04:00

A Winter Jacket That Charges Your Gadgets

By Rik Fairlie

Mountain Hardware has developed a winter jacket with a heating element that will keep you toasty while it charges your gadgets.

Yep, that’s right. Reach into the front left pocket and you’ll find a power adapter that enables you to charge your iPod, digital camera, GPS device, or cell phone—no matter if you’re riding a mountain bike or roaming snowy city streets. The heating and power capabilities are made possible by the addition of rechargeable lithium-ion battery and heating system developed by Ardica Technology.

The $240 jackets, branded Refugium for men and Radiance for women, are sold separately. You can add Ardica’s Moshi heating system for $145; the tech connector kit will set you back another $50.

The Moshi system comprises three heating elements–one in the mid-back and two one the front midsection of the jacket—that together weigh less than one pound. Users can adjust the temperature setting via a toggle switch on the left breast of the jacket to deliver up to 100-degree heat. The heating elements can be fully charged in less than three hours, and a charge should last up to eight hours on the lowest heat setting, according to Mountain Hardware spokeswoman Paige Boucher.

I tried on the men’s jacket with the heating element recently. I could feel the heating elements but they’re constructed in a flexible, modular block and covered with neoprene, so they’re pretty soft. (As a not-so-graceful skier, I do wonder how soft the heating elements would feel if I fell on them.) They produced quite noticeable heat that felt concentrated in the areas where the heating elements are located. I mentioned this to Ms. Boucher, and she said your body would evenly distribute the heat when you’re out and about in cold weather.

The thermic micro-insulated jackets are designed as a mid-layer coat, to be worn under a ski jacket or alone in warmer climes. While they are for outdoor sports enthusiasts, the jackets are also nice looking for city wear, thanks to a slim profile that lacks the puffiness of down jackets.

The jackets and Moshi heating/power system will be available Oct. 15.

via gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com

This is kind of a funny idea. Is there a big demand for a jacket that can charge your gadgets?

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

October 1, 2009 « tinybuddha.com

2009-10-02T10:10:00.001-04:00

“Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.” -Buddha

Take Action:

When someone hurts you, you may feel obligated to hold onto the pain. As if revisiting the event and going over your feelings about it will somehow change what happened.

This actually creates more pain for you.

Imagine it like this: you’re walking on a hike, and you trip over a heavy rock, so you pick it up and put it in your backpack. You’re not spiting the rock; you’re just sapping your energy, making you more vulnerable when you encounter the next one.

Whatever wrong you’re carrying around–whether it’s something another person did, or even something you did that you’re ashamed of–let it go. Once you’ve learned what you can from the experience it doesn’t serve you anymore.

Read a similar quote about forgiveness.

via tinybuddha.com

Picking up the rock and carrying it around is an apt metaphor for holding on to mistakes of the past.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Eating Candy in Childhood Linked to Adult Crime - TIME

2009-10-02T10:08:00.001-04:00

In other words, regardless of other environmental and lifestyle factors, like family-income level, parenting style or children's level of education, the data suggested it was only the frequency of confectionery consumption in childhood that strongly predicted adult violence. "The key message is that this study really raises more questions than answers," says Moore.

via time.com

Eating a lot of candy = eating candy everyday. Diet affects everything, but this is crazy.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

October 1 Tweets

2009-10-02T10:04:00.001-04:00

Ken Burns Natl Park special just mentioned the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which I saw this summer in #WY Beautiful hikeabout 14 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Gephardt sucks, still: http://bit.ly/2574N7 #politicsabout 14 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Loser #dc gunners next to me on #circulator trying to quietly rant about work. They work at the Gates Foundation and SUCK.about 14 hours ago from TwitterBerry

I really wish there was a mobile app where I could put in my location, where I'm going, and #wmata could tell me the fastest way home. #dcabout 14 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Really should not have looked at @teampurplehouse's twitpic of dinner while I'm starving & waiting for the bus. Esp bc my dinner is oatmealabout 15 hours ago from TwitterBerry

WH blogs the days talking points: http://tinyurl.com/ydl5ngh Dems being Dems, it's a lot of text. Hope they have secret bite size quotesabout 17 hours ago from web

RT @GoogleWaveNow Invites R going super fast! @GoogleWaveNow ! RT & Follow! Last invites 2be randomly given to followers. #googlewave #waveabout 18 hours ago from web

RT @katie_thomas RT @HowardBeck NYT All 62 replacement referees R men. The NBA has not hired a female ref since 1997-98 (Kanter and Palmer)about 18 hours ago from web

Let's do this: RT @FakeHowardDean Hell Yes http://bit.ly/2hgI8z There's no point in having 60 democrats if they rn't going2lead as such. #p2about 18 hours ago from web

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart|Democratic Super Majority http://bit.ly/5EuAX8:52 AM Oct 1st from web

"2 live on in the hearts of those we leave behind is not2 die" -- on what would've been ur 23rd bday, Adam, 143 always. #heliveson8:29 AM Oct 1st from TwitterBerry

via twitter.com

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

The Happiness Project: Eighteen Tips that Aren't, It Turns Out, From a Churchyard.

2009-10-02T10:02:00.001-04:00

I always thought Desiderata was an inscription in an old churchyard, but it was actually written by Max Ehrmann in 1927. This bit of information detracts from its mystique somewhat, but it's still an interesting list.

1. Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.
2. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
3. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
4. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; for they are vexations to the spirit.
5. If you compare yourself with others you may become bitter or vain, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
6. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
7. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
8. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery; but let this not blind you to what virtue there is.
9. Be yourself. [There it is, yet again, my First Commandment: Be Gretchen]
10. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
11. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
12. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune, but do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
13. Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself.
14. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here, and whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
15. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
16. And whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, be at peace with your soul. With all its shame, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
17. Be cheerful.
18. Strive to be happy.

via happiness-project.com

Reading something like this reminds you that the same problems and doubts plague man no matter when he is born.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

September 11-13 Weekend Tweets

2009-10-01T09:16:00.001-04:00

Great Sunday night at Ben's Chili Bowl after Sunday football with @teampurplehouse and their third spouse. #dc7:39 PM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry

Wtf #suc seriously!? This is not a strong Ohio St team. #pac10 #stopmakingamockeryofourconference10:22 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

As I'm talking to people in #dc and seeing pictures supposedly from today's tea party, its clear the tea baggers are lying about turnout.9:07 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Looks like all my trash talking about SC killing Ohio St was... A little premature. Go #Pac108:54 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Being tortured by talk of how great #usc is..SUC SUC SUC #pac108:21 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

I just did an eight clap by myself. Go Bruins!!! #ucla7:24 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

We won on the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!7:21 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Notre Dame out of top 25? I'm sweating #ucla still. Not over until clock expires. #cfb7:20 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

@gaysergio has convinced me I wanted us to have them tackle our qb in the endzone and score a safety. Boooooooooooooo. #ucla #cfb7:12 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Finally back in #ventnor. The patio is awesome. #dc6:56 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

To all the people who told me I should be happy with a tie at half: this is where #ucla falls apart. 4th quarter. #cfb6:51 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

This is what I hoped would not happen #ucla #fumble4:38 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Go blue. Fuuuuggggg Notre Dame. #cfb3:36 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Wow, Wisconsin actually pulled that out. #ucla lost to Fresno St last year in a horrible fumble craptacular. #cfb3:34 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Love this bar. #ventnor is the best. #dc3:31 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Teabaggers were hiding their signs on the Metro and refused to talk to outsiders. However, just heard a "everybody tea bag" cheer. #dc #dumb2:56 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Surrounded by teabaggers. Clearly I'm dying for one of them to sense by Dem-ness and insult me so I can tell them to go tea bag someone. #dc2:48 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Sitting in the Metro station, minus data abt when trains R coming online &in station. Oh & I just missed my train. Guess I'm waiting? #wmata2:09 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

#espn just said #ucla is going down, hard, today. Hope we beat that expectation.11:18 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Love that #espn is already debating #byu and why they won't make the national title game. This is why ppl watch Game Day, but still. #cfb10:55 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Glad the teabaggers got 12 racists 2come2 #dc and show pictures of our President depicted as an African tribesman. Consider them done. #over10:36 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

USC is going to beat Ohio State. Why are we even pretending the game will be close? #cfb10:26 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

Does anyone else ever have a moment of panic when imagining a friend who doesn't like football watching a game with u? Go Bruins!! #ucla10:24 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry

I'm not going to lie. I've had more than a few goodnight kisses in front of my building. Always by the door. Why kiss in middle of sidewalk?9:30 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

So we waited over an hour for our food and it sucked. Boycott Havana Village! #progressivesfortimelyfood #dc9:15 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

@gaysergio thinks he'd rather the US host the World Cup than the Olympics. I just want food. #dc8:42 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

Havana Village in Adams Morgan has made us wait an hour for our food. Starving!!! #saveme #dc8:37 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

Everyone in the world should buy Leopold's Peach Whiskey. Everyone. #dc6:11 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

At tasting given by @spitelin. Random person in crowd: "I've never seen so many people at a tasting." Obviously doesn't kno Lindsey. #dc6:09 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry

via twitter.com

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

September 5 College Football Kick Off Tweets

2009-10-01T09:13:00.001-04:00

Really glad #ucla pulled out the win today. Was nervous in the first half. Always good to see coaches making in game adjustments. #cfb11:24 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

I'm too old to be out this late. And I'm not old and its not that late, but darn west coast football games on east coast time. #ucla in #dc11:20 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Does #ucla's O line make our QBs throw up so many interceptions with its utter uselessness? Or do we recruit QBs prone to be picked off?10:36 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

First pass TD #ucla9:09 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Looking like I might lose my voice by the end of the game. Go Bruins!!! #ucla9:00 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

I managed to not pound the bar on that SDSU fumble recovery. Frikkin #ucla #cfb8:52 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Champion just ran a commercial during #ucla game with our old coach running out with the team. Nice work. #fools8:34 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

This 3-3-5 defense is going to be the death of me. And Prince, the QB, is going to get roughed up too much. #ucla8:14 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Prince is really good -- too bad our O line doesn't give him a chance to get off a pass. #ucla8:06 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Randyisms: after Auburn scores "yeah, we're going to the Toilet Bowl!!!" #cfb7:39 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Surrounded by usc fans...gross. #cfb6:25 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Serious fail on the part of #va bus system. Randy and I are walking 10+ blocks to the sports bar bc the road was randomly closed, bus no go.6:18 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Hard Times Cafe in Clarendon got fancy all of a sudden. Still the perfect place to pre-game. #ucla4:41 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

And what do u know, old dude on bus coughing on me. #getaway This is how the swine flu spreads.4:18 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

2000 students at #wsu have swine flu??!! They've been back in school a week. #cantgetvaccinesooneenuf4:14 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

#minn is reminding me of the time stupid Brady Quinn came back with one minute left to beat #ucla -- let's see if #syracuse can score #cfb3:29 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

What is going on with 'cuse v #minn?? #cfb3:22 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

Just sat down to mindlessly watch college football for hours on end. Hoping that #ucla is ready to win tonight. #gobruins1:54 PM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

I can't believe the #GOP wants kids to drop out of school. They really are crazy. #politics #p211:32 AM Sep 5th from TwitterBerry

via twitter.com

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Capitol Police Officer Passes Out in Stranger's Bed in Va. - washingtonpost.com

2009-10-01T09:06:00.001-04:00

By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 1, 2009

A U.S. Capitol Police officer was arrested Sunday morning in Arlington County when a woman came home and found him passed out drunk in her bed, police said. The two had never met.

The officer, Thomas Patrick McMahon, 34, was charged with unlawful entry. Police say they are perplexed as to why McMahon picked the apartment, in the 1000 block of North Randolph Street, to sleep. He lives in Reston.

"I don't know if it looks similar to his apartment in Reston or what," said Arlington police spokeswoman Crystal Nosal. "Thankfully, nobody was hurt."

When officers arrived at 1 a.m., McMahon was still sleeping, Nosal said. Police think he walked into the apartment through the front door.

McMahon, a Capitol Police officer since 1998, is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal charges, said Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman. Schneider said the agency will also conduct an investigation.

via washingtonpost.com

I can think of two possibilities - 1. He used to live in that apartment or 2. He used to date someone who lived in that apartment. WaPo needs to give more detail on these important stories.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Principals Mum About Report of Comcast Deal to Buy NBC Universal - washingtonpost.com

2009-10-01T09:02:00.001-04:00

NBC Universal executives declined to deny a report Wednesday night that Comcast, the cable giant, is in talks to buy the television and movie company from General Electric.

Comcast also did not deny the report that bankers for the two sides discussed a possible deal Tuesday in New York.

Such talks often lead nowhere, but rumors have circulated for months that GE might be looking to unload the news and entertainment company. NBC is stuck in fourth place among broadcast networks, and Universal Studios is enduring a rough movie season.

"We have no comment," NBC Executive Vice President Allison Gollust said.

Comcast spokeswoman D'Arcy Rudnay also would not address the reported talks. "While we don't comment on M&A [mergers and acquisitions] rumors, the report that Comcast has a deal to purchase NBC Universal is inaccurate," Rudnay told Bloomberg News.

That, however, was not what was reported by TheWrap.com, a Hollywood-based Web site founded by former Washington Post and New York Times reporter Sharon Waxman. That account cited sources who have knowledge of the talks.

Waxman noted that Comcast has a greater market value, at $48.4 billion, than NBC Universal, which has fallen to an estimated $35 billion in value, from about $55 billion a year ago. Comcast also held nearly $4 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter.

Recent reports indicate that Vivendi, a minority stakeholder in NBC, is preparing to sell its 20 percent share of the company, which would make it easier for GE to sell the network.

via washingtonpost.com

Very interesting. Wonder how long it will take for this to become a reality.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Vital Signs - Study Finds Women Wear Shoes That Cause Pain - NYTimes.com

2009-09-30T11:17:00.001-04:00

That is the conclusion of a new study that looks at the link between shoe choices and chronic foot pain. It was based on foot exams of 3,378 men and women from Framingham, Mass., who were questioned about the type of shoes they wore in the past as well as in the present. Their average age was 66.
The researchers found that smart shoe choices paid off in the long term: women who had mainly worn supportive footwear like sneakers or athletic shoes in their younger years cut their risk of common foot pain later in life by more than half, compared with women who had worn shoes that gave average support, like hard-soled or rubber-soled ones.
But both of those groups were in a minority. More than 60 percent of women said that in the past they generally wore high heels, pumps, sandals and slippers, all of which researchers rated as higher risk.
Women who wore heels, sandals and slippers were at greatest risk of the most common pain linked to poor choices in shoes, the study found: pain in the hind foot and around the ankle and the Achilles’ tendon.
The study, sponsored by the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston, is being published in the October issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
“I think women need to really pay attention to how a shoe fits, and realize that what you’re buying could have potential effects on your feet for the rest of your life,” said the paper’s lead author, Alyssa B. Dufour, a doctoral student in biostatistics at Boston University. “It’s important to pay attention to size and width, and not just buy it because it’s cute.”
When it comes to shoes, men make much better choices, the study found; fewer than 2 percent wore bad shoes.

via nytimes.com

This is the story of my past few months. When you hit your thirties, you hope you aren't too late to save your feet for the remainder of your life.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Great News For (Famous) People Who Rape Children! - LAist

2009-09-30T09:41:00.001-04:00

Roman Polanski Drugged And Raped A 13 Year Old Girl.
My apologies if saying this in plain terms offends the delicate feelings of those of you who apparently believe that his career of mostly mediocre films makes him some kind of irreplaceable genius. My further apologies if, by using the accurate terminology to describe what happened, I have caused anyone to run for the fainting couch. I hope you understand how deeply and sincerely sorry I am for my rudeness. By way of apology, let me just say that Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 13 year old girl, and anyone arguing that he should not see justice, that justice has already been served, that somehow this wasn't a big deal, or that he has already paid some kind of karmic debt, is a creepy rape apologist who ought to be ashamed.
Ha ha, of course I'm joking!

Obviously, the public outcry against Polanski for the "crime" that he "committed", and the expressed desire to see him "punished" for it, are patently wrong on numerous levels. Why? I'm glad you asked! Allow us to explain!

1) Look, it's been what, like 30ish years? That's a long ass time people. Why, the alleged "victim" isn't even 13 anymore! How can you punish Polanski for something he did to a 13 year old who has shamelessly, and I might add, dishonestly transformed herself into a 40-something woman?
2) Let's all stop selfishly obsessing over this wanton slut's accurate, undisputed, and admitted-to-under-oath "accusations", and think for a moment about what poor Polanski has been through since then: over 30 years of horrendous exile in France. FRANCE, PEOPLE! Forced, forced I say, to subsist on nothing but a diet of delicious French food, amazing French wine, surrounded by disgustingly beautiful French women, unable to see except by the light that shines off his Oscar. Why, he's even had to endure the sick, immoral, do-gooder socialism of that sinful nation's free and highly renowned health care system. His only friends are the numerous actors, producers, highly ranked government officials and socialites who adore him and have done everything possible to pretend he didn't drug and rape a 13 year old girl, and have used all their power and influence to shield him from punishment. Can you look at yourself in the mirror and honestly think that you wouldn't crack under such torture? I think not.
3) As has been pointed out by numerous fiscal scolds, this is simply a waste of taxpayer money. After all, since when has it been the job of our government to make sure that "the law" is equally and fairly applied to all people? That's commie talk. No, wait, that's homosexual commie talk. No, wait, that's homosexual, commie, bigoted against-rapists talk, and anyone even thinking along these lines can go back to Russia. No sir, the job of our government is to funnel millions of dollars into the coffers of major corporations, slash taxes on the wealthy, and make absolutely certain that public universities are unaffordable to anyone but the rich. You know the expression: "Justice delayed is too big of a hassle to follow through with". I think we can all agree it applies here. IN SPADES! Meanwhile, we could use that money to start another illegal war, this time with Iran, right?
4) She's forgiven him! And we all know that the law works just like Facebook: once you decide to re-friend someone, it's all good¹. Oh sure, this forgiveness came at the cost of decades of therapy, not to mention a hefty settlement paid to her by Polanski. And sure, most rape victims - sorry, "victims" - typically find themselves subject to completely fair and totally relevant invasions of their private lives (because seriously, once your privates have been invaded, it's only fair and symmetrical for your private life to follow), completely true accusations that they secretly wanted it, and of course the delightfully terrifying harassment from supporters of the so-called rapist. This doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on their desire to have the whole thing to just kind of go away, and you're an art hating, victim-loving asshole for thinking otherwise.
5) How dare you! Don't you know that his wife was killed! By evil Hippies! Sure, many years before, and sure, no one is quite sure how they're related, but you know how they say two wrongs always make a right? Never more true than here.
6) Hitler. Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler Holocaust Hitler. Oh, and Hitler, you anti-Semitic fuck. Hitler. After all, anyone who survived WWII and narrowly avoided the Holocaust is automatically given a blank check to be as terrible a human being as they want. Just ask Magneto!
These are all very excellent reasons for not punishing Polanski for the very forgivable crime of having consensual rape-sex with a 13 year old². However, the debate over the Polanski situation has revealed some compelling fissures that exist in our legal system, chief among them the issue of figuring out whether or not an artist or particular celebrity can, or should, be forgiven for a given crime they may have committed. This is both a logistic and jurisdictional issue. After all, it's well known that California law stipulates, except in rare circumstances, that celebrity status alone is itself an acceptable alibi³. But the outcries for Polanski's forgiveness are from millions who live outside of the reach of California law⁴. How then do we accommodate their concerns in this process?

via laist.com

This is such an awful story. The law is the law, no matter who you are.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Saturday Night Live: Digital Short: Like A Boss

2009-09-30T09:17:00.001-04:00

via hulu.com

This is the crown jewel in the SNL collection of music videos.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Nevermind: Barack Obama does wear shorts - The Dagger - NCAAB - Yahoo! Sports

2009-09-29T16:03:00.001-04:00

via rivals.yahoo.com

Seriously, finally.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Novice Authors Must Promote Themselves, Since Publishers Won't

2009-09-29T15:38:00.001-04:00

What was a newbie author to do?

She cobbled together a trailer for her book on her home computer, using iMovie software, downloading a free tune off the Web for background music, and stuck it on her Web site. Her agent helped get her on one network television morning show. About 20 friends hosted book parties, which she hit on a self-funded three-week blitz, selling books out of the trunk of her car. A guy shot video of her reading an essay at one of these parties, and she posted it on YouTube when the paperback came out.

A year later, the book has sold about 80,000 copies in hardcover and another 260,000 in paperback, according to Nielsen BookScan data. It sat on the New York Times bestseller list for 20 weeks, peaking at No. 2. That homemade trailer has been viewed more than 100,000 times. The video of her reading has drawn 4.5 million hits. She's in Washington on Thursday, speaking at the Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Award luncheon. Then she will plow into more than a dozen paid speaking gigs across the country in the next six weeks.

"I hand-sold at least 2,000 to 3,000 copies," the 42-year-old said in an interview this week from her home in Oakland. "And while the hardcover was doing well, everything changed with that video from the reading."

Corrigan, spending $3,700 for the Web site and her tour, figured out a path through the weird new-media maze of authors overseeing their own marketing and promotion, using the Internet and networks of friends to get their little-known works off the ground.

Book publishers actively market and promote authors, of course, particularly the big names, but for thousands of writers it's a figure-it-out-yourself world of creating book trailers, Web sites and blogs, social networking and crashing on friends' couches during a tour you arrange.

"Being an author has become much more of an ongoing relationship with your audience through the Web, rather than just writing a book and disappearing while you write the next one," says Liate Stehlik, publisher of William Morrow and Avon Books. "You have to be out there in the online world, talking and participating."

Authors are expected to behave like mini-entrepreneurs, says Kamy Wicoff, founder and CEO of She Writes, a Web site devoted to helping women writers promote their books. She started the site in June. More than 4,000 writers have joined.

"The landscape has altered so fundamentally and irrevocably that almost no one is immune from finding ways to participate in the promotion of their books," Wicoff says. "Writers with small advances and limited resources are expected to treat their book as a new company, with marketing and promotion and PR."

This trend is driven by the availability and ease of Internet marketing, the expense (and diminishing use) of author tours and the need to keep up with the competition. More than 560,000 books were published in the United States last year, a $25 billion pie of which everyone wants a slice.

"The fragmentation of the market is staggering," says Peter Hildick-Smith, president of the Codex Group, a book audience research firm in New York. "Authors walk into bookstores and think they're cluttered, and wonder how browsers could find their book in there. The problem is, the Web is giga-cluttered by comparison."

via washingtonpost.com

This woman used new media to sell her book...but she had an agent who helped too.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Psychiatrist Offers Simple Steps for Coping With Uncertainty

2009-09-29T14:53:00.001-04:00

A middle-aged, working-class woman recently came to my medical office complaining that her back had "seized up." Her husband had lost both his jobs and was feeling quite disheartened; not long after, her blood pressure had "jumped though the ceiling" and she began sleeping poorly.

Another patient came to see me suffering from crippling anxiety attacks. He had lost the better part of his considerable fortune in the economic collapse. Now he was waking in the middle of each night feeling his chest crushed, unable to breathe, half fearing and half wishing he would die.

I have been practicing psychiatry for 40 years, but I've never seen this much stress and worry about economic well-being and the future. There is a sense that the ground is no longer solid, that a system we all thought would sustain us no longer works as we were told it would. In the past, when patients reported job-related stress, it was from unfulfilling work and the anxiety of making choices. "Should I stay in this job that I can't stand and keep feeling so unhappy?" they would say. Now, I hear about unmeetable mortgages, months without work, fears of ending life in a low-paying, entry-level job. "What went wrong?" my patients say. "What could I have done?" "How can I manage?"

In this uncertain time, symptoms of chronic illnesses -- hypertension, back pain, diabetes -- that were controlled or dormant are erupting. Low-level depression, whose hallmarks are feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, is endemic.

Large numbers of people across the country are trying to quiet their apprehension with drugs or drink, or have turned to antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications and sleeping pills. But after decades working not only in Washington but also with war-traumatized populations overseas, I've found there are simple strategies for helping people cope that are easy to learn, practice at home and, in these stressful times, free.

1.Begin a simple meditation practice. Loss -- of jobs or economic security, as well as of a beloved person -- is perhaps the greatest and most common of stressors, and the most frequent cause of anxiety and depression. Slow, deep breathing -- in through the nose, out through the mouth, with the belly relaxed and soft, and the eyes closed -- is a sure "evidence-based" antidote to the stress response that uncertainty provokes. Practicing this "soft belly" technique several times a day for several minutes each time quiets the "fight-or-flight" response that makes people anxious and agitated, and brings us what cardiologist Herbert Benson famously called "the relaxation response." Financial advisers, child-care workers and soldiers back from a second tour in Iraq with whom I've worked have all found, in this simple practice, a source of calm.

2.Move your body. With the possible exception of talking with a sympathetic, skilled human being, physical exercise may be the single best therapy for depression. It's very good for anxiety as well. Exercise has been shown in animal studies to increase cells in the hippocampus, a region of the brain concerned with memory and emotion, which can be depleted by significant psychological trauma (and financial stress is one of the most significant traumas) or chronic depression. Exercise increases mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in our brains, and decreases the levels of stress hormones that exacerbate chronic illness.

It may not be easy to get moving when you're feeling defeated, but every step you take, literally as well as figuratively, will encourage you to take the next one. Make sure you do something physical that you enjoy or once did enjoy. Aerobics or yoga classes may feel overwhelming or too expensive. Don't worry: Dancing at home by yourself works just as well, and so does walking. Exercise is often the first item on my prescription pad.

3.Reach out to others. Human connection -- to family, friends, co-workers in the same boat -- is an antidote to the sense of aimlessness and isolation that may come from job loss or unexpected economic insecurity. Social connection also helps prevent the chronic illness that can often follow prolonged stress. I see the healing power of group membership every day in mind-body skills groups that colleagues and I organize, when a group member, demoralized and humiliated by job loss, realizes he or she is not the only one. Acknowledging and sharing (but not indulging) this sense of grief and pain is a remarkable source of strength for many people.

4.Find someone who will listen and help you take a realistic look at your situation. When the middle-aged woman with the "seized-up" back came to see me, we discussed her finances as well as her feelings. Although her husband had lost his jobs, her own job, in the health-care industry, was still secure. She and her husband would have to give up some of the "little luxuries" to which they'd been accustomed, but it was clear they could still manage. She needed to relax (using the soft-belly technique), recognize what she could and couldn't do, give her husband a fair share of the household chores while he looked for another job, and generally unburden her mind, body and spirit. This simple exploratory conversation -- and a subsequent heart-to-heart with her husband -- allowed her to turn aside the cascade of anxious emotions. Her body began to repair itself.

5.Let your imagination help you find healing -- and new meaning and purpose. The wealthy man who came to see me last winter paralyzed by anxiety attacks after losing much of his fortune was able to put his own trauma in perspective by using his imagination.

Though he still was, by most standards, wealthy, his sense of himself as a wise, sure-footed investor had been shattered. He did soft belly breathing to relax and began to cut out and copy pictures from magazines that seemed to him somehow hopeful. He spent days, he told me, copying a photo of a man his age, a grandfather apparently, standing with his arm around a young boy on the verge of the hole where the World Trade Center had been. "The tragedy in the picture is so much greater than my own," he said, "and I realized that what's really important is the connection between this man and boy, the hope for the future. I drew it, and I really started looking for this connection in my own life -- a connection with meaning now, not money."

Other patients find relief and assistance from imagining themselves in a safe place and consulting their inner "wise guide" to help them find peace, direction and meaning. This may seem kind of strange at first, but it's an ancient process used in many indigenous cultures and is actually pretty easy.

First, after breathing deeply and relaxing, imagine someplace safe and comfortable, one you know or one that just arises at the moment in your imagination. As you sit there, you allow your "guide" to appear. Accept whatever image appears -- a wise old man or woman, a relative, a figure from scripture or literature, or even an animal. Mentally introduce yourself, and ask this guide a question about what's troubling you, and then "listen" to the response that comes into your mind. Let the dialogue with you and this guide continue. Often helpful guidance will emerge from your own intuitive understanding.

6.Speak and act on your own behalf. Sometimes this produces rapid and even material benefits: One patient, a financial analyst, talked to her colleague about impending cutbacks; they forestalled a layoff by offering their supervisor a job-share alternative. Often speaking up for yourself produces valuable information and greater peace of mind and clarity: An anxious nanny finally asked her employer, who was herself experiencing a significant decrease in income, if her own job was secure and discovered it was; an IT consultant, asking his boss for a straightforward response, discovered his job was likely to be eliminated and began the search for another job, early, unsurprised and still employed.

There are two common denominators to these six strategies for dealing with and healing from financial setbacks and the unnerving feeling that the ground has shifted. All of them remind us, in times when the economy has made us feel powerless, that there are things we can do to help ourselves. And none of them costs money.

James S. Gordon, author of "Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey out of Depression," is a clinical professor of psychiatry and family medicine at Georgetown Medical School and director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in the District. Comments: health@washpost.com.

via washingtonpost.com

It's interesting how intense stress mirrors the symptoms of and cures for grief.

Posted via web from bruinmccon's posterous

Airport Blogging: Two Years...and Jrue

2009-06-14T13:45:00.001-04:00

I'm trapped at DFW airport until my airplane is okay to fly, which is one million times better than being in a plane crash, but still annoying.

Returning from California where I was to commemorate the second anniversary of my father's death. It's funny how you can go from being unbearably sad one year to dealing with the sadness productively the next. One of my death of a parent books said two to five years was the initial grief period. I think I am through that. You never really get over it, but you get used to the new normal without your loved one.

This anniversary in particular I started thinking about the appropriate way to remember him on this day. I wanted to go to a baseball game, but my mom vetoed. I guess I just wanted to do something that he and I used to enjoy doing together. Not sure that baseball was it past the Bash Brothers of the late 80's/early 90's.

On his birthday, I eat a piece of his favorite cake, and that's appropriate to celebrate his life. It's hard to figure out what is a positive way to remember someone you've loved and lost, especially on the anniversary of his death. Maybe wearing all black and just remembering is the right thing.

One thing I wish he was here for would be to discuss the Jrue Holiday situation. Jrue was a star recruit last season at UCLA, but he never lived up to the hype. He entered the draft but didn't hire an agent, at first. He had a press conference like he was the brightest star in all of Westwood and sort of acted like a jerk. Then, the fans waited, though we all knew he would leave. So last week he calls a press conference to announce he's hired an agent and is going in the draft. Except he hadn't even told Coach Howland ahead of time. In one sense its like a bad relationship -- if he doesn't want to be at UCLA, just go. On the other hand, he acted like a total ego maniac. Are you serious Jrue? Best of luck, and glad your negative energy and selfish attitude are gone. I saw the promise of something better with him, but I can also see him never being all that. Sad sad sad. How do you turn fans into haters? This is one way.

Go BRUINS!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Couch Blogging: Neighborhood Pick Up Line of the Day

2009-05-17T14:06:00.000-04:00

Vanilla Ice Junior: You look tired.
Bruinmccon: Migraine.

Seriously weak. He ran across the street after I dropped the brush off of the day.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Webb Trainwrecks His Appearance on Meet The Press

2009-05-17T12:11:00.005-04:00

He's not a train wreck, but he looked like one next to RNC chair Michael Steele. Granted, Steele looked very well rehearsed and ready for hard questions, and for turning a tough question into an answer about something else. He hit it out of the park, though I still don't agree with any of his policy choices. But DNC Chair (and VA Governor) Tim Kaine? Ugh.

From Crooks and Liars:

And curses to any and all of the Democratic Party insiders who thought that the best way for Tim Kaine to serve his party was as the Chairman of the DNC. What a pathetically milquetoast weasel. Here we sit, with perfect potential for moral high ground, the likes of which hasn't been seen since WWII, and what we get is this weak tea, sitting-on-his-hands shadow of a Democrat simpering that isn't a good thing we all agree that we don't do torture? Dagnabit, Democrats. How hard is it to even getting half-way decent talking head? Way to represent, Kaine.

For me, the worst was when Steele said he and Kaine agreed on many issues, and made it a point to note Kaine is pro-life. There were too many points to refute each individually, but Kaine seemed caught in a Steele's trap -- his only response could've been that the Democrats are the inclusive party, but after Steele had already made that his mantra in the debate about the Republican Party, had Kaine said it, would've sounded more like "me too."

Stages of Insomnia

2009-05-12T21:02:00.004-04:00

When you initially start to suffer from insomnia, you try the first line of cures: Tylenol PM, hot tea or milk, over-the-counter sleeping pills, and melatonin. Maybe you try one at a time, maybe you do them all, but if things don't get better, those "cures" start to seem useless.

I'm to the point where hypnosis starts to sound like a possible solution. Probably that's nearly four and a half years of insomnia talking. Tonight I went down the road of reducing light for the hour before bed. I went to the local Target and spent well over an hour in the lamp section.

I may be a child of the 80's, but they don't sell halogen lamps anymore? I wanted a dimmer switch that apparently no longer exists. I started to feel ancient when I asked the sales people where it was. So these days, apparently people use "3 way" lights. Nice name, I really have to say. They're just three different light levels, and use a Type A (again, are these names the best they could come up with...) light bulb. That took about 15 minutes to find the lowest 3 way bulb wattage, and then one with soft white light instead of hard core bright light. I then returned to the lamp post and lamp shade section and spent probably a good 45-50 minutes mixing and matching options until I found two that didn't look totally cheap.

I'm sitting in my condo with all the lights off, and my two new Target lamps at their lowest, 30 watt level. I'm not really feeling as sleepy as I hoped, but I wonder if some of these tips are for people who have a hard time falling asleep. At this point though, I think it makes sense to pretty much try everything.

I've been taking melatonin on and off. It helps me sleep, but I have intense nightmares, a common side effect. I also wake up feeling extremely groggy. Insomnia blog had some additional information on why that might be:

As melatonin levels in the blood rise, you begin to feel less alert and sleep becomes more inviting. Melatonin levels stay elevated for about 12 hours, falling back to low daytime levels by about 9 a.m.

Twelve hours? The blog goes on to say that melatonin supplements provide several times the amount of melatonin produced in the body. In effect then, depending on when you take it, grogginess could be a significant factor if your triple shot of melatonin hasn't cleared your body by the time you need to wake up.

My next step is to buy a new bed. I think this is the final stage of insomnia before you take a second job during the time you can't sleep and give up.

Train Station Blogging: Go Safely

2009-01-16T23:02:00.000-05:00

I am waiting for my train back home tonight after an unexpected death in the family. My 22 year old nephew, young, kind, funny, and finally happy with his life was killed in a car accident on Sunday.

His car didn't have air bags, and instead of walking away with scratches from the accident, he is gone.

As I attended his funeral and burial, I tried to focus on acceptance and I avoided questioning and bemoaning the unfairness of the situation. I'm certainly not a psychologist, but those are the things that took me some time to get over when it came to grieving for my dad. They seemed like appropriate goals for the initial process of saying goodbye.

The next few weeks will determine whether the following hypothesis is true, but I think I'm entering the shock gap. This is the time after the funeral and your initial grieving where you return home, get back into your routines, and the familiarity hides the loss. Adam wasn't part of my daily life. Every few weeks I would see he had updated his Facebook status or put up new pictures, and I would check on him. I think there may be a period of a few weeks where I forget the loss. Then, out of the blue, something will remind me, and the grief will come back.

The loss of someone so young, with a full life ahead of him, is hard. I was reflecting on the situation yesterday and realized I expected to be dancing the Irish jig at his wedding in a few years. The period of shock in losing someone so young could last for longer than I anticipate.

Airbags save lives.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Metrolink Blogging: The Nature of Suffering

2008-12-26T20:06:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting on the Metrolink, on my way to LA, reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. So much could be said and written about many different ideas expressed in this book. I'm going to focus on one small point related to suffering after the death of a loved one.

The book's author interviews the DL and recounts his exact words as well as expands on the opinions the DL expresses. In a chapter on suffering, the author asks the Dalai Lama how he dealt with the death of his brother. The DL recounts his feelings of sadness and guilt for not having been there, feelings I can definitely understand. He goes on to say that after a few weeks of suffering through his grief, he learned to focus he thoughts on his brother's wishes, which would certainly not have been for the DL to feel sadness and regret. The DL resolved to remember his brother by honoring his wish for the DL to carry out his (the brother's) wishes. This really spoke to me. I think I turned a huge corner in my grief when I learned to think of how upset my dad would've been about my grief for him. I sat and wrote out what he would've wanted for my life -- the big things like a life partner and a healthy lifestyle -- and I go back to that when I miss him and his counsel.

The DL went on to say folks shouldn't try to blame anyone, others, the dead, or themselves, for how they fee in their griefl. That was harder for me to accept, because it meant I had to forgive people who had said unintentionally cruel things in the wake of my dad's death. It is not their fault they hurt me with their thoughtless comments, and it is important for my emotional health that I get to a place where I can feel compassion for them again. In some respects I have done this on an aggregate basis, but it probably makes a lot of sense to focus on forgiving specific people for specific remarks. My dad certainly wouldn't want me to hold onto it anymore.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Melatonin Results

2008-12-26T00:25:00.005-05:00

I've been taking melatonin this week to try to "stay asleep", which is what my version of insomnia chiefly prevents. So far, I've just had more nightmares than usual. When I purchased the melatonin, this was mentioned as a side effect. I scoffed at it because I have nightmares frequently, probably about two times a week.

It was no joke though. I've had nightmares all week, the first one being so freaky that even when I woke up it took several minutes to believe I was awake and that the dream wasn't in fact real.

I did a little digging on the Internet to uncover just how frequently this is listed as a side effect. This is what I found:

1. Google Answers: Long term side effects unknown, short term seem to be headaches, sleepy fog all day, and other various things that all suggest insomnia.

2. Mayo Clinic: Minimally effective for insomnia, better for jet lag.

3. Herbal Supplement Guide: Side effects can include headaches, nausea, nightmares, and dizziness.

4. Medicine Net seems to suggest I should give it at least another night as it is usually not effective for the first few days.

Honestly, it worked like a dream the first night I took it, when I took it right before bed. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to do anything for me. I think it is not the right solution for me. Perhaps it worked the first night because I had jet lag from the flight out to Cali from the east coast. To give it a full trial, I will take it again tonight and consider taking it through until I'm back on east coast time. At least that will give it a full week trial and test it on both jet lag and insomnia. If it works for jet lag, why not take it for that?!

Photo taken by flickr user size8jeans.

My 2008 Lessons Learned Suck

2008-12-25T00:04:00.005-05:00

What I'm taking away from this year will probably be refined and revisited many times, not just in 2009, but for years to come. I wish these could be more positive, but it is amazing how much easier it has been for me to move through life knowing the following.

1. Friendship doesn't mean drama. I wish I'd learned this in 2003, but better now than later. I lost some good friends this year, and I miss them. But the truth is, they brought the drama. All the time. Needlessly. Drama is stressful. I now seek out friends who go with the ebb and flow of life. Not those who decide they don't like someone based on one meeting and three throwaway comments. Or people that diss on my good friends and can't keep it to themselves.

2. Relationships don't have to mean drama. The line between relationship conversation and drama is thin, thin, thin, but based on a boy I knew this year, I think I have a better idea where that line should be. Relationships aren't easy, and certainly there is work involved. But when every time you see someone, they pick fights and cause problems, that's not putting in the work. That's a drama queen. And I'm no longer dating those sorts of men.

3. Overly defensive people suck. Yup, I'm thinking of a few friends in particular. I'm not perfect, I get defensive. But I certainly try to notice when I am being that way. Some of the best feedback I've received in my life has come when I've dropped the defensive bit. Unfortunately, some of the stupidest, most immature feedback I've received this year has come from people who are being overly defensive. It gets really old, and inspires me to change as well as to reconsider friendships.

4. People don't change. I don't mean this in some cheesy failed love affair way. Unless there is a major life event, most people shift slightly but don't make radical changes. Sadly that means there are a lot of immature people out there.

5. Always put yourself first. This could mean so many things. It has come to my attention that my darkest hour so far in life, my father's death, was a period that I got through solely on my own. Friends pushed me to talk to them more, or to a therapist, and just could not take the hint that they were doing the opposite of helping me. Others disappeared. Others pushed their own (often religious) agenda. I have never felt more alone. The end of 2008 saw me putting this idea of me first into practice. I still care about my friends and am happy to be there, but there is a limit. I wouldn't classify myself as a pushover, but I am limiting what I give now.

6. Liberal guilt is bullsh*t. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I'm not saying I don't feel it every now and again. But the truth is, it doesn't help. I try now to take what I can from it, and to remember that just because I feel guilty, it doesn't mean I did something wrong.

7. Family is joy. There, I said it. My mom, brothers and sisters, their kids, spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends make my life a happier thing.

8. Everything is better with Obama as President.

9. Even with everything being perfect, I still can't sleep. I have chronic insomnia. Not the sort where I can't fall asleep. No no no, the sort where I wake up after five hours of sleep. This is not healthy, and contributes to all sorts of manifestations of bad health, from migraines to attention issues. Because most insomniacs can't fall asleep, there really isn't a lot of research put in to how to stay asleep. I'm doing that research alone, and planning to report on it on my blog in 2009.

December Music Review

2008-12-24T14:33:00.013-05:00

UCLA absolutely pulverized Wyoming yesterday, breaking the record for most points scored under Coach Ben Howland by 17! Instead of analyzing a game that is obviously somewhat of an outlier (though it is useful in preparing UCLA for uptempo teams), I decided to write a post about all the music I purchased in December. Most of it is older music that just recently piqued my interest.

1. Chasing Cars single -- Snow Patrol. Why in the world did I buy this song? After about 1.5 listens, I remembered why I didn't buy it when it initially came out -- the song is lyrically weak, and musically unremarkable. Waste of 99 cents plus the new iTunes tax.

2. Several songs by Memphis. I fell in love with I Dreamt We Fell Apart over the Thanksgiving vacation. On the strength of that single, I went ahead and downloaded Incredibly Drunk on Whiskey, Into the Wild, In the Cinema Alone, The Night Watchman, and Time Away. The whiskey song is a playful song written about a drunken high school era night. The rest are pensive, melancholic songs. The Night Watchman pulls a Stars and stops for a good ten seconds before starting a completely different song after a long period of silence. All in all, I have become a fan of this band, but not to the point where I would purchase an entire album.

3. Get Up and Please, Please, Please by James Brown. Get Up is a classic James Brown, and the other I have not been able to get through once yet. It was on my iTunes wish list, probably by mistake.

4. Suspension by Mae. I really like this song, but it is cheesy. It starts off really weak, the first chorus just doesn't flow as it should. From there, the song greatly improves and becomes a perfect emo pop anthem, with a twist -- it's a happy love song.

5. Let Me In and No, Not Now by Hot Hot Heat. These two songs are from two different albums, and very different from the other songs I own off of the Make Up the Breakdown album -- specifically Bandages and Naked in the City. This is odd because NNN is from that same album. Hot Hot Heat hasn't been entirely consistent -- an optimist would say their sound is evolving, a pessimist that they are trying to create a sound that sells. I haven't figured out which it is yet, but for a band with several albums, I only like a limited few songs.

6. Cause=Time by Broken Social Scene. I have listened to this song three times since purchasing it a week ago. I like the lyrics, but I just don't feel this song. It almost sounds like a Weezer song rejected from the Make Believe album. Except the lyrics are too clever for that. I don't know what to do with this song.

7. Wordless Chorus by My Morning Jacket. This song is so chill, and very unlike most of MMJ's other work. I haven't figured out the perfect time to listen to this song yet, it feels like a lazy morning song, but it is so relaxed it might be better for a pre-nap Sunday afternoon.

To be continued...

Blackberry Coveroo

2008-12-23T22:15:00.003-05:00

I admit that my Blackberry addiction is a problem, but only when I'm not on vacation. I have over 300 unread messages on that sucker as of right now, and I'm not planning to go through them until I return to DC in a few days. Crackberry.com has a contest where folks can win a Coveroo case for their Blackberries. Never one to bother with contests or raffles, I just impulsively bought a BB Curve back cover featuring UCLA's mascot, Joe Bruin, dunking a basketball. Any other big Blackberry losers might want to check out coveroo.com. Here is the case I will have in a few days.

Cali Blogging: Thoughts on UCLA Basketball

2008-12-21T14:01:00.006-05:00

It's been a strange year so far in UCLA basketball. It's always hard to watch in the beginning of the year when the team looks unrefined, and trust that Coach Ben Howland knows what he is doing and will have the team in considerably better shape in 2 months.

Alfred Aboya is playing center. I like Aboya, and he's improved about 500% since he first came on the scene. He reminds me a bit of Lorenzo Mata, but with half the heart. Which is not to say that Aboya doesn't care, and more to say that Mata had a ton of heart. But it is also because at times Mata would gleam with promise, but in the tough games late in the tournament, unfortunately Mata was just never enough. He tried so hard, but he just wasn't big enough. He couldn't always get key offensive and defensive boards. And that is the problem with Aboya -- he's thicker than Mata, but shorter. I can see already that unless J'Mison "BoBo" Morgan gets it together soon, it's going to be a glaring problem down the road.

Morgan played 13 minutes in the UCLA game against LMU that I unfortunately missed. He has looked really rough every other time I've seen him play. Then again, Kevin Love looked lumbering and slow in some games in February of last season, and he still managed to get it together and rock the tournament. I am confident Howland can work some of the same magic on Bobo. The thing is, he's good, but Kevin Love is a once in a lifetime talent and I don't have any illusions that Morgan will become the next Love. I just want him to get to a point where we can count on him in the big games. Otherwise, we're going to be in trouble.

GO Bruins!

Couch Blog: Wine and Cheese

2008-11-19T20:13:00.001-05:00

Tonight I walked through a wine and cheese party in the lobby of my building. I didn't stop because I'm allergic to wine and to dairy. I get a rash when I consume either of these party staples. Why do people think a bottle of wine and a hunk of cheese constitute a good time? I would love to discover the next big thing in party planning. I think I'd go with some sort of dessert that also contained a small amount of alcohol. Of a booze filled burger. Either would obviously be the best thing ever.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

GOTV Blogging

2008-11-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm in Richmond, VA doing get out the vote work. The first day I was convinced Obama would win in a land slide, but yesterday we went to a more conservative area and I'm singing a different tune. I don't feel confident Obama can win here.

Jim Webb won here in 2006, so theoretically, with tens of thousands of new registered voters, it must be possible. And do I ever hope it happens. But I certainly don't think it is a given.
Here's hopin...

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Taxi Blogging

2008-10-23T22:20:00.000-04:00

I am on my way to the airport. At the hotel, they asked if I would like to take a limo for a flat rate that was maybe $10 more than the cab price. I refused out of instinct, and now that I'm in the cab driving to the airport, I'm glad. How in the world would I have filled out my expense report with a limo ride!! Plus my taxi cab liberal nonsense can continue.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Airport Blogging: Thoughts on Being a Taxi Cab Liberal

2008-10-21T15:38:00.002-04:00

For a few months now, I've been telling other liberals that I'm a "taxi cab liberal". They've laughed, but I'm not sure what I said made sense.

When I moved to DC in 2001, it was popular to refer to rich liberals (who sometimes put their monetary interests ahead of their politics) as a "limosine liberal". This was a common slur in my graduate school, though that was ridiculous because most of us were broke. That was what made it offensive. Who wants to be thought of as a sell out when she's walking miles a day because she can't afford to take taxis? Who wants to be called rich when her daily food budget is ten bucks? Not me. It is part of liberal guilt -- we think we understand what it's like to be poor because for a few years we had a rough budget. Looking back, it's totally ridiculous. My parents would've sent me money in an instant if they'd known I was walking by myself all over DC and eating off the McDonald's value menu. That said, it was a matter of character to me -- I was paying my own way, and that was final.

Fast forward to the present. I am a grown up. Thanks to what I learned while in grad school, I know how to budget and to save. I own my own place. A few weeks ago, a DC based website posted about liberal tendencies in terms of lifestyle choices, and it had my name written all over it. One key qualification was living in a gentrifying area like Columbia Heights or U Street. Check.

I've lived in my borderline neighborhood for over a year. In that time, a woman has been raped in my condo building, I've been harassed by kids in the neighborhood on a near daily basis, including having things thrown at me or my head, I've been hit by a homeless man, a person has been stabbed multiple times on my block, and two teenage girls beat up a woman at 5 30 at night for no apparent reason. That's just in the 2 block vicinity of my building and doesn't include drive by's and riots against police that have happened within 6 blocks of my house, and the constant muggings.

It wasn't like this when I first moved in, but now it is bad. And so, I've adjusted my behavior. No longer feeling safe walking around my neighborhood, I take cabs home nearly every night. I have tremendous liberal guilt about opting out of the community, about giving up on it. And about wasting so much money on cabs when the metro is a block away. But no way am I risking it.

When I call myself a "taxi cab liberal", I mean that I don't want to be an example of the bad things that happen to white women in my neighborhood. I feel guilty about giving up the liberal plan of everyone getting along, of living together as a community. But I have to put my safety first.

I think this is going to become a major issue in DC. Already vigilante middle aged folks are trying to organize neighborhood watch groups. It is becoming a problem in many areas in DC beyond just U Street and Columbia Heights -- Adams Morgan, Logan Circle, and even Kalorama, to name a few. Liberals will say we need after school programs and conservatives will say we should lock every urban kid up. There is no solution without fundamental change, and one can hope that change will be a President Obama. But with the Election Day two weeks away, and with so many other problems, I have no hope this will get better anytime soon, even if Obama is elected. Mayor Fenty can't even fix this.

We've been told we should be more friendly with neighborhood teens, and say hello to them. That has got to be the most Pollyanna non solution I've ever heard.

So for now I take taxis home and avoid any interaction with people outside of my building.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Top 5 Stupid Things Men Say to Women at a Sports Bar

2008-09-28T13:39:00.005-04:00

I realize that men say stupid things to other men at sports bars as well. These are football specific.

1. Have you watched all the Auburn games this year?
Actually, I'm just at the bar with my Auburn friend. He's wearing a white shirt, not indicative of his allegiance. Meanwhile, I'm wearing a UCLA blue shirt, and a UCLA yellow hoodie. It's apparently okay to skip wearing a college t-shirt if you're a man, but if you're a woman, you should probably be wearing a team sweatshirt, hat, and watch. Otherwise you're just here because your guy friend is here.

2. I don't really watch Pac 10 games, they come on too late.
Okay, so you also don't read any sports periodicals, the Coaches' Poll, or any blogs or ESPN online, and have no clue that our teams are good? Didn't hear about the USC-Oregon State game from Thursday? I don't tend to focus on games other than mine and the game of the week, but... I definitely know how to read, and thus I see the other scores scrolling beneath my game every week at the very least.

3. It's a rebuilding year; it was a moral victory you lost by only five points.
Look, of course we're not going to be good this year, I get that. However, I completely reject the notion of moral victories. My team lost and it's okay for me to be disappointed when they do. For some of us, Satuday's game is what we look forward to all week. You're telling me no male ever gets pissed when his team loses a winnable game? Fumbling on the Fresno State 10 with about 4 minutes left and blowing a chance to win SUCKS.

4. You guys are a basketball school, why do you even care about football?
Yes, we've been to the final four the last three years, we are a top basketball school. Got it. I also enjoy watching college football, and expect my team to emerge as a dominant Pac 10 football presence in the next few years. UCLA can and will be good in both. Even if we went out there and got blown out every Saturday, you can bet I'd watch it. Being good at basketball doesn't preclude me from cheering for our football team.

5. I will get out of your seat when you ask politely.
You have got to be kidding me. You're telling me when you sit in a dude's seat at the bar and he comes back and asks you to move, it's okay, but a woman needs to polite it up with please, thank you, and sir? Get out of the bar, remove whatever is up your butt, and act like a normal person. No reason for you to feel threatened by a woman in a sports bar and try to revert to the patriarchy.

Airport Blogging: McCain is a Pathological Liar

2008-09-19T15:04:00.001-04:00

No longer just the opinion of bloggers, seems like everyday McCain or his staff tells another whopper. Who is running the show there? He has gone from fiercely against regulation to a fan of stronger regulation in the course of two days! This man will say anything to win. I hope that voters can see this, can see through his lies. We are doomed if he is elected our President.

My guess is a man doesn't change his stripes like this, at his age, unless something is going on upstairs. I fear the man is in early stages of dementia. It is preposterous that he hasn't released a psychological evaluation. Am I the only one who seems the symptoms? The easily riled up anger? The changing of stories and covering up of gaffes related first to his memory and then to his short term memory. The confusion and the rash, uncharacteristic decisions made. Get the man medical attention. It's clear his campaign will do anything to avoid that, but doesn't Cindy McCain care about the health of her husband?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Metro Blogging; Economy Collapses and Conservatives Donate to California Proposition Battle

2008-09-19T14:20:00.001-04:00

The Secretary of the Treasury, Federal Reserve Chair, and head of the Federal Reserve in NY are taking this weekend to plot out a way to save our economy (and likely the global economy) from collapse. Hoping investor confidence alone will do it, they're going to bet the farm on a series of moves that are questionable at best. The more details that emerge, the more outrageous the plan seems. I'm happy to pay taxes that pay for universal healthcare or Social Security for elder Americans. Why my taxes will instead be used to bail out companies who weren't properly regulated and auto companies whose executives deny the existence of global warming is unclear. This is a screw up of the highest order. And it's only getting worse.

On the other side of the country, polling on the proposition that would reverse the right for gays to marry in Cali has been positive for the side that doesn't tell others how to live. So conservatives, primarily the Mormon church, are sending in money by the boatload to support the measure. With so few weeks left until the election, this is a crucial campaign issue to watch.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Metro Blogging: Depression?

2008-09-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

Just got a NY Times news alert that the government is buying an 80% stake in AIG and giving it $85 million. Will this be the last wave of bad news? I doubt it.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Doctor's Office Blogging: McCain is a Liar

2008-09-10T17:26:00.000-04:00

McCain's latest ad -- an absolutely absurd piece that claims Obama funded sex ed for kids in kindergarden -- is so packed full of lies that I wonder if there is one person in America for whom this ad passes the smell test. Like the father of two young girls would do that. Makes me think he had absolutely no hand in raising his own kids if he thinks parents would let that fly. No wonder he can't define honor. Every word out of his mouth is a lie.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

East Coast Blogging: Sports

2008-09-07T17:37:00.005-04:00

There is something very important I want to address: being an East Coast fan of West Coast sports teams.

My life is constantly interrupted by my love of sports. I just received a text message that the 49ers have tied up their football game at 10 all with 1:56 left in the second quarter.

There are two main problems with living on the East Coast during football and basketball season (pro and college):

1. Games start so late during the week
2. Access to games is minimal

The first problem I'd like to gripe about is watching games, period. If a UCLA basketball game starts at 7:30 PST, I'm looking at a 12:30 EST or later bed time on the East Coast. I could swing that when I was 25, but I have a real job now, and it's a bit of a problem. See below for more on being able to watch the game at home, but many of those games are not televised on a channel I can watch at home so...off to the bar. Nothing like staying out drinking until 12:30 for an early January game on a Thursday night.

Last Monday, I stayed up until midnight watching UCLA's unbelievable overtime victory over Tennessee. It was fantastic. However, pretty much the next day I managed to get some sort of summer flu, and I missed several days of work. Hmm...think getting sick had anything to do with staying up late? You bet.

During the college basketball tournament, this becomes a huge problem. Games run late and before you know it, it's midnight, your game is at half time, and you're so amped up that even when you do get to bed, you can't fall asleep for hours from all the adrenaline.

For a while, I tried going to bed early and waking up early to watch my game. Please. I never managed once to get up. I can watch a game if I already know what happens, but being a sports fan, why would I want to unless it was absolutely necessary?

And access to these games is even more miserable.

For NFL games, one can purchase a DirecTV package to follow one team. I suppose if I wanted to follow two teams, I could buy two. For college sports however, the best this UCLA fan can do is buy access to the radio commentary of games, and hope the games are broadcast on the bar sports package plan every week. There is some law against colleges broadcasting all their games online (something with amateur athletes not being able to make a profit), and lord knows the Pac-10 television sports contract with Fox Sports doesn't do a thing to fill in all the gaps. If I get lucky and a game is on CBS, I can buy the right to watch it online for 10 bucks. Those games are few and far between.

Once when UCLA was in the top 10 in college football, I had to listen to the game at home on Internet radio (the aforementioned UCLA CSTV school sports plan). Wasn't a big game nationally, even though they were top ten. Game wasn't shown on FSP.

I'm not going to give up on sports, and I don't think I'll be leaving the East Coast for a while, so I've had to get used to it. I just find myself in complete envy of fans of East Coast teams. They have it so good.

Palin Blogging: Campaigning Basics

2008-09-07T17:23:00.004-04:00

The fuss about Governor Palin not speaking with the media is really irritating. Jill Miller Zimon nails this subject in her post "FRAGILE! McCain campaign handles Palin's exposure with care...and sexism":

The McCain campaign is so afraid that she might make a mistake that they’ll keep her out of the voters’ view for at least fourteen days - when there’s only 60 days left for voters to choose.

She goes on to quote various sources who all point to sexism -- the McCain campaign doesn't think Palin is ready to face questioning, so they're ducking behind the idea that the media isn't being respectful, and sending her up to Alaska to study for her first interview with ABC's Charles Gibson. They make frequent reference to her learning at the feet of a foreign policy expert, and John McCain tries to tell the media in his interviews that she is qualified on that front because she commanded the Alaska National Guard.

Call a spade a spade. She knows nothing about foreign policy and she is going to be learning it this week. I have no doubt she will come out swinging, as much as I disagree with pretty much all of her views, she'll probably have several one liners about her views, with the talking points to back them up.

It's just sad. Again, I won't agree with one thing she says, but is she really a fool like Dan Quayle was perceived -- no. It's as if McCain is her dad. He's acting like he needs to protect her from the big bad wolves when the woman can take care of herself. His staff is becoming defensive when asked about it, lashing out and making excuses for a woman who doesn't need them.

Regardless, when she is finally allowed to do an interview and air her newly formed views, I look forward to picking each one apart.

Lunch Blogging: Unrest

2008-09-05T12:19:00.002-04:00

Over the past few days I have noticed my progressive friends going out of their minds regarding Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP nominee for vice president. I've tried to remain calm. Moms I know keep saying she's a bad mother. Republicans I know keep calling her "hawt".

In times like these, it's important to stay away from sweeping generalizations. She has been a part of or responsible for a lot of bad policies or laws. Not everything she touches is going to be anti-woman or anti-polar bear. There are no absolutes. I am convinced after looking at her record that she's not getting my vote, but some people don't know enough about her yet to make that decision. Just because your cousin's wife's friend who is a lifelong Dem thinks she's great, that doesn't mean she'll vote GOP come November.

Let's just take a step back and focus on what she's done. The media would have you believe her nomination means a lot of things are inevitable, but it's not true. Women will find out she is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest. People will hear how she sued so that she wouldn't have to protect polar bears. Let's pull back on the personal attacks and focus on all the real reasons she wouldn't be a good VP.

Things are not as dire as the media would have you believe.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

McCain's Foreign Policy Isn't Stellar

2008-09-05T07:33:00.012-04:00

Senator John McCain has promoted himself as a foreign policy genius. However, a quick perusal of his record suggests he is lacking in some essential qualities necessary for an international leader. In fact, he's erratic and doesn't appear to consider much other than his gut feeling on matters that require a great deal of understanding and caution. Some examples:

1. Iraq: In the aftermath of 9/11, McCain was focused on Iraq. This is in line with Bush Administration thinking, but McCain claims to be a "maverick". Many on the left cried foul when the pursuit of Osama Bin Laden led to a war against Al Qaeda in Iraq, primarily because it was never established there was a strong AQ presence in the country.

2. Georgia: A person with foreign policy knowledge could have easily predicted a military confrontation was brewing between Russia and Georgia ahead of time, and distanced himself from Georgia before it got the idea the US would be its protector. Senator McCain, however, signaled to Georgia that our fortunes were linked to theirs, when even President Bush was silent. McCain gave a speech saying "We are all Georgians". This was such a gross overreaction to the situation, a heightening of hostilities in a battle we shouldn't have been involved in, that most called it what it was: hysterical. A hysterical reaction.

3. The Czech Republic & Slovakia: Earlier this summer, Senator McCain twice referred to 15 years gone Czechoslovakia in speeches. A sign, perhaps, that McCain is still living in a Cold War kind of world?

4. North Korea: McCain called North Korea "the greatest challenge to U.S. security and world stability today". His views toward them don't seem to have changed over the past 14 years since his 1994 declaration that war with North Korea was inevitable. The New Republic argued in May of this year that McCain's "saber rattling" was doing nothing but aggravating important relationships the US has with countries involved in the North Korea nuclear talks such as China.

Senator McCain always wants to take it up a notch, is hysterical when conflict arises, and makes most of his decisions from "his gut". If there was evidence McCain had a good grasp of the foreign policy implications of US actions, or evidence McCain understood the situations and could make a rational decision from his gut, that would be fine. However, McCain repeatedly demonstrates he is more interested in being decisive than being rational. The last thing the US needs is another cowboy getting us involved in battles where we don't belong. Having experience doesn't mean much if it means you make bad decisions. I would take experts and an informed reaction over obviously flawed experience any day.

Grief and Transactional Memory, Courtesy of The Tipping Point

2008-09-04T21:36:00.005-04:00

I find that I read things with new eyes now that my dad is gone. A book that I am reading again for new information is Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. This book is not about grief, but it does touch on grief felt in divorces or at the loss of a family member in its fifth chapter on the power of context. In it, Gladwell explores the term "transactive memory". He notes that much of what we remember isn't actual numbers or specific details, but where to find that information when we need it (such as email addresses in our contact list at work, or our atlas for the capital of Puerto Rico). This information isn't just stored in books and computers, it is also stored in people.

Transactive memory is part of what intimacy means. In fact, Wegner argues, it is the loss of the kind of joint intimacy that helps to make divorce so painful. "Divorced people who suffer depression and complain of cognitive dysfunction may be expressing the loss of their external memory systems," he writes. "They once were able to discuss their experiences to reach a shared understanding...They could once count on access to a wide range of storage in their partner, and this, too, is gone...The loss of transactive memory feels like losing a part of one's own mind."

In a family, this process of memory sharing is more pronounced.

My dad was my go-to guy when it came to sports facts. I remember talking to him about UCLA's quarterback Cade McNown, and my father pulling out a random fact about former UCLA QB Troy Aikman that completely set my mind at ease. That is one thing I now find myself seeking out in others.

It's not just sports facts though, it is business acumen, stock trading, financial planning, communication tactics, and a whole host of other things that I run into every single day.

Transactive memory explains the loss perfectly.

Palin Blogging: Creationism

2008-09-04T21:13:00.005-04:00

Let's talk politics. There are so many policies that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has espoused that are fundamentally flawed, it's almost too hard to start writing about them. However, they need to be written about because they are the reasons why American women shouldn't vote for her.

A more comprehensive list is here.

Creationism, and its cousin Intelligent Design, are two dicey subjects that most people won't touch for fear of causing offense. I will tread lightly, but talking these subjects out is the only way we'll ever reach a resolution.

I actually think there is a place for creationism to be taught in schools -- in history classes. I learned about several different major religions in my freshman history class, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. I do not, however, think it belongs in science class. It's not science.

Christianity (and thus Creationism) is a major, major part of Western civilization. I learned about it in political theory classes in college, in history classes in high school, and probably in many other places outside of school. It can and should be discussed when talking about the American revolution, when talking about philosophy, and even when talking about literature.

Science and religious views can co-exist pretty happily in America. Why push something into a science class when there is as of yet no proof it is true? Why politicize our kids' science classes? It's unnecessary, too. If parents have educated their kids according to their religious views, then the child, upon hearing of evolution, will just assume that was how (G)god planned it. The kids who aren't Christian, or who believe in other religions, won't take it as proof there isn't a Christian god. Why the story of Adam and Eve should be discussed alongside Darwin's theory of evolution is beyond me. Keep them separate and have parents teach their kids what they want them to know. It's crazy to have one religious group deciding it in one town, another in a different town, so kids all know something different.

Separation of church and state should apply to public schools too. Our country was founded on that principle. Many of the men were Christians of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, and they had a good reason for cutting religion out of public life.

Their reason was they didn't want any one religion foisted on Americans, as many of them had escaped religious persecution in their home countries. It's important that we don't lose sight of that truth as we struggle to find our own truth. Framing public school curriculum in religion goes against what our founders wanted. They knew better than to involve religious views in the public sector because it can too easily be abused.

How?

Below are a few religious views I think would make most folks nervous about what their kids were learning. Beliefs that are not universal:

1. Reincarnation, a core belief of many Buddhists and in Hinduism
2. Allah created man from a clot of blood, a belief of Islam
3. Birth and death are illusions, and sickness results from fear, illness, or sin ( From Christian Scientists, Not Scientology)

In essence, I'm saying you never know what can be inserted as "fact" and called "religion" in the future. I don't mean to pick on any specific religions, you could find questionable beliefs in nearly any religion that wasn't your own. Clearly people should be allowed to believe and worship as they please, as long as they don't harm others or interfere in non-believers lives. But children in our publicly-funded schools should be taught facts.

Arcade Fire -- Funeral vs. Neon Bible

2008-09-04T20:33:00.005-04:00

Arcade actually has an EP that came out before either of their two critically acclaimed albums, but it has few songs that aren't available on other albums. One that is unique is "My Heart is An Apple" -- weird, but great song. Cold Wind is my favorite Arcade Fire song.

I haven't been able to make up my mind about which of the last two albums I prefer. Funeral is so good to listen to in one sitting, whereas Neon Bible I have songs I love to death, but others I routinely skip. Which is more important -- passionate love for a few songs, or a high opinion of the whole album?

Many call Funeral a masterpiece. It's hard to disagree, almost every song is fantastic: Neighborhood #1, Neighborhood #2, Neighborhood #3, Une Annee Sans Lumiere, Crown of Love, Wake Up, and Rebellion (Lies). Neon Bible's stand outs aren't as numerous: Keep the Car Running, Intervention, Ocean of Noise, The Well and the Lighthouse, and No Cars Go.

Maybe it's not possible to choose based on just number alone. Funeral also has a storyline, at least for the first half of the album. And it truly is an album I could listen to over and over. I get Arcade Fire'd out repeating Neon Bible in the same manner. I find myself skipping songs and repeating the songs I like a lot.

Sick blogging: Governor Palin is a great woman, but I'm still not going to vote for her

2008-09-04T08:16:00.003-04:00

Having dreamed of being old enough to vote for a woman on a Presidential ticket for decades, I really never dreamed it would go down quite like this.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is on the Republican ticket as the VP nominee. Is she a bad person? Absolutely not. There is plenty I admire in Governor Palin. First of all, she's a working mother. It's hard enough to do that with one kid or two, let alone five as she has. She went back to work three days after having her fifth. Some people use that as ammunition against her, but I don't. I think it's really something that she is that dedicated to her job. After all, being the Governor is an enormous responsibility.

Second, I really identify with her feisty, one of the boys attitude. I've been "that girl" my whole life as well. I can picture her at her kid's sports matches, cheering, as well as out hunting. It's not just for men, and she's now shown a new generation of young women that it's not even hanging with the boys anymore, it's normal. Moms care about their kids' grades and sports aptitude. She used to be a sports reporter! How cool is that?

These two things really made me like Governor Palin. I am a Democrat and knew that I didn't agree with her on policy matters, but was still curious about her background.

She served on a small city council for four years, and then was mayor of that town for six additional years. Then she was appointed to an oil and gas commission and went on to serve two years as governor of Alaska.

I understood that Wasilla was small because of its population -- now below 10,000 -- but apparently it is the fourth largest city in Alaska. There are five city council members, a deputy mayor, and mayor. The Alaska Oil and Gas Commission position sends up some red flags for me. It is responsible for managing all of Alaska's private and state-owned oil and gas, as the name implies. It is a three member panel, and Palin was appointed to represent the Public.

She attended the University of Idaho (woo hoo!) and graduated with a major in Communications-Journalism, and a minor in political science.

There are several years missing in there, where I guess she was a sports reporter. It's not really clear at this point.

Many folks have said Governor Palin is not qualified to be Vice President of the United States. I would have to agree. Her resume is pretty thin. By contrast, Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for President, has 8 years experience as a State Legislator, two in the U.S. Senate, three years experience community organizing, a law degree which took three years, 11 years with a civil rights law firm, and he's authored two books. The Democratic VP nominee has served in the US Senate since 1972 (!!!!). And John McCain is as old as Moses and has possibly been in the Senate since The Great Compromise of 1787, though he doesn't have any executive experience.

I assume the time unaccounted for could be the time she spent raising her kids. And that's fair, and it's unfair for anyone to say that the time she spent doing that doesn't count for anything. It certainly adds to her perspective in a unique and valuable way. I've heard rumblings that she was on the PTA. From what I know of the PTA, cutting your chops there does give you an edge in battling city councils and other governing board. But I don't think it's enough, as much as I want it to be. And it irks me that Governor Palin, who I want to like, was put up for this post too early. In four years she could've really accomplished some things as Governor. She could run for Senate or do other things to give her the necessary experience for this position.

I think she's a good person. I don't agree with anything she stands for, pretty much, but I can respect that she has her opinions and views and has stuck to them. I can't help but wonder why Senator McCain would've nominated her. I suspect it was because she was a woman. I hate to be a token, and I hate to see a woman like Governor Palin be a token. There are plenty of women with extensive experience McCain could've gone to, had he wanted to put up a realistic choice for VP - Senator Hutchinson of Texas, Senator Dole of North Carolina, Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine. That list could go on, these woman would be well-qualified for the VP spot.

McCain/Token '08 is step back for women like me, who want to support our sisters but won't support someone solely because she is a woman.

For more information on the policy reasons to oppose McCain/Palin, click here.

"Do You Know What School I Went To??"

2008-08-31T12:07:00.001-04:00

It is a waste of time and energy to recount what happened last night to lead some strange woman to shout at my friends "do you know what school I went to?" after she had already called me stupid. It is interesting to think about why someone would say something like this:

1. Because (s)he is immature -- maybe at age 22, this is still a factor in someone's life
2. Because (s)he is losing an argument -- not sure where this would ever work, but maybe it has before
3. Because (s)he went to some place other than Harvard (I'm relatively certain that most people who went to Harvard don't run around shouting it to win arguments, based on the people I do know who went there) and (s)he has some sort of complex
4. Because (s)he is an idiot and thinks this proves (s)he is not

I have to say, now in my early 30's, this declaration/question/statement didn't have much of a positive effect on what I thought of her. In fact, after the drama was over and my friend and I were in a cab on the way home, we laughed and mocked this girl over and over for saying such an inane thing because she didn't get her way. I'm hoping she is young and will learn to not say this again, but...not holding my breath.

My cat went to Princeton.

Lunch blogging -- I won't vote for McCain just because his VP is a Woman

2008-08-29T12:13:00.006-04:00

Republicans must think women are stupid. How else to explain that they just nominated Alaska governor Sarah Palin as VP despite her questionable views on just about every issue most American women find important.

We already went over this -- we don't just vote based on gender. Remember all the female Obama voters during the primary season?

First and foremost she's rabidly anti-choice. Right there 50% of women don't agree with her, if not more.

Then there is the issue of her odd hatred for the polar bear (more on her haterness). She supports off shore drilling and drilling in ANWR.

Anti-choice, anti-environment, pro-oil...

In spite of all these patently offensive positions, the GOP still thinks my only criterion (single, plural is criteria) is her gender.

We all knew the GOP was out of touch but this is just ridiculous. McCain is against equal pay for women. No chance women will be fooled because he picked a woman as his VP.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Other Bloggers Comment on a Death of a Parent

2008-08-27T21:00:00.002-04:00

One reason I've started writing about my dad's death, other than it being relatively recent, is to connect with others who have experienced the same thing. It's hard to find it at my age. The Internet makes it possible. Today I was doing some browsing and found this posting, from earlier this week:

I think of him, his gift of life, his jokes and sayings, and our treasure of his fatherhood. This has been a good year—he would want us to: celebrate–enjoy life–take care of one another and not be sad—and let our hearts remember and retain his humor, his light, his devotion and generosity.

The author is an author by trade, and writes poetry. I kept searching and found a woman who lost her father when she was 27, is now in her 30's and rescues dogs. For whatever reason, this bit of community reminded me that while day-to-day living is not in itself bad, it is possible to do great things with your life after losing your father.

Lunch line Blogging -- Public Service Announcement on Behalf of People Who Have Lost a Parent

2008-08-27T12:17:00.002-04:00

I would never presume to understand what it is like for a teenager, child, or middle aged person to lose his/her father. However, I do have some insight into a person in his/her 30's. This message goes out to all those people who have a friend in this situation and don't know what to say. Please just say "I'm sorry for your loss". It is hurtful to compare the loss to your dog's or grandma's death. I've lost both plus my father, and it is completely different than the enormous loss of a parent. I know you don't know what to say, but saying nothing is better than acting like you can understand. You can't.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Nightmares about a Dead Parent

2008-08-26T19:28:00.004-04:00

I had another dream starring my dad, and again, in the dream I knew he was dead and questioned others about how he could be speaking with us. Kind of a sad dream, but I'm not alone. For 64 weeks, I've wanted to see him again. This New York Times article from last year has been on my mind:

Grief itself is transformative. It is a process of disassembly. The bereaved must let go of the selves they were, as well as the loved ones they have lost. The dreams we have while grieving are an important part of that process.
“Our dreams have to do with how we internalize the people we love,” said Pamela McCarthy, director of counseling services at Smith College. “You learn to look within for the loved one and the particular function that person played in your life, such as caretaking or guidance in the case of a parent. This becomes part of a function that you can provide for yourself.”
Cultural narratives in regions like Vietnam and North and South America assign special importance to such dreams and consider them actual encounters with the spirits of lost loved ones.

Is it his spirit? Only in that it is him living on in his child. The learning to do for myself what he used to do for me is more complicated. After a loved one is gone, the tendency is to idealize everything about the person. The question I ask myself is, what did he do for me, and what do I need to learn to do for myself. I know his hopes for me, but I'm still working out how to be for myself what he was for me. It's a process, and even though these dreams aren't easy to digest, I think going through them may in the end help me figure out where I go from here.

Lunch blog 2 -- Michelle Obama's Speech

2008-08-26T12:20:00.004-04:00

Much has already been said about the speech. I won't rehash it here, other than to say that I hear women upset because they think she had to be almost a caricature of a traditional woman. Men focus more on her excellent execution of strategy -- not being an angry woman as she's been portayed. I am sympathetic to both sides' arguments, but...

I think is in unfair to assume she held something back. The point is we don't know her. We can't assume she is angry, or she is outspoken, or that if she had her way she would've given a different speech. She gave her speech with specific tactics in mind. On that measure, she was wildly successful. Even better, she allowed those at home watching to identify with her. Thst may not have been the campaign's target, but in that I think she was the most brilliant. Goodbye ridiculous elitist label.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Watching TV on my cell phone

2008-08-26T11:58:00.002-04:00

During the NCAA tourney this year, there were a few folks bragging about watching the games on their mobile phones. I was extraordinarily jealous and it fed into my desire to watch UCLA on my phone. I could not understand why people in Japan could watch TV on their phones and we in America can't. Turns out our mobile network just isn't fast enough for that sort of bandwidth-suck yet. The good news is Japan has decided to market their cell network abroad. Here's hoping they can help the US.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Convention

2008-08-26T07:21:00.002-04:00

As usual, the convention is primarily hype. As such, am looking forward to the ultimate buzz -- Obama's Thursday night acceptance speech.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2008-08-25T22:13:00.002-04:00

Will be mobile blogging for the next few weeks, probably during my lunch break. These posts will be easy to find, as they'll say "Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry" at the end of each one. Classy.

McCain and His Houses

2008-08-21T22:06:00.006-04:00

A lot has been made of John McCain's inability to remember how many houses he and his wife own. Some have said it shows he is an elitist. Others have said it proves he is senile. Most agree it proves one or the other. (Favorite)

Let me be the first to argue it is both.

He is clearly an elitist if he doesn't know how many houses he has, come on. Even putting him in the class of people who have two homes is at least upper middle class. It's when you get above that level that you would want to hide it by pretending you can't recall how many you have total. McCain is not doing that. He can't remember because he and his wife keep buying homes they don't need. Seriously. Newsweek said seven residences earlier, Politico confirmed eight today. Apparently they have two condos in the same building. I'm not even going to try to pretend I know what rich people think and thus can fathom a guess as to why you'd want two condos in a single building.

Second, even an elitist would probably know how many houses he or she had because they were selected for a reason. They needed one home near to DC, one in Arizona, a cabin for vacation, etc. For most of us, one is probably the best we can hope for, near work, but... McCain couldn't remember, so he guessed four. I say "guess" because I don't think he could remember. Maybe he went back to a time when they did have four. One thing that happens when dementia starts to set in is the loss of short term memory (c.f. McCain referring to "Czechoslovakia"). One remembers things from 15 years ago in dramatic detail, but not what happened five minutes prior to the present. It now turns out four is half of the real total. There may be more to come. It's a senior moment. It shows he isn't dealing with the problems of average Americans. Let's call it what it is: both elitism and dementia.

Confirmation of Pests, and an Outrageous Insult

2008-08-11T20:53:00.004-04:00

First, spoke with a classmate today, and he confirmed that two of our classmates completely dominate the class and ruin it for everyone else. Today I had a question and a fellow classmate who can't learn shouted until I could ask my question. Very nice.

I tried to find an online resource to guide me in dealing with this scourge on our Japanese class, but none exist.

Second, I took a cab back from class to save time. Total cost was $7.50 after the outrageous dollar gas tax for a ride that was...3.5 miles. I gave the taxi driver 50 cents tip. Apparently that was an egregious insult and he refused to take the money. He said "you keep it, I don't need it." As it turns out, that's the cost of my morning Pepsi. I took it with pleasure. Jerk.

John McCain's Current Stump Speech

2008-08-07T07:44:00.002-04:00

If you've managed to stay awake for more than 10 seconds while listening to Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, it's pretty obvious that he's got a great speech writer. A speech writer with whom I don't agree on pretty much anything, but one who can certainly work those talking points. Too bad McCain delivers it with the same gusto I use when describing dental appointments.

I've heard bits and pieces of it over the last two days. One, he says that we absolutely must drill into every extra bit of untouched land in the United States if we want gas for less than $20 a gallon. I'm not even going to bother disproving this, because it is asinine and others before me have explored the subject in great detail. Rather, I am more focused on what he continues to say after this: "anyone who tells you any differently is either inexperienced and doesn't understand the current situation, or is lying to you."

This is basically the playground equivalent of calling Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama a "poopy head", and when Obama responds, saying "I know you are but what am I?"

I know that standards of political campaigning aren't particularly high these days, but this line of attack strikes me as particularly desperate. Does McCain really think he's going to be able to dispute every point Obama makes in each of their three debates with this little ditty? It is a weak, weak debate tactic.

I'm going to hope that McCain's campaign team are smart enough to realize in a debate, this is going to look like what it is -- a dodge of the issue. Of every single issue. But will the scripted responses be any better? What if an issue comes up and McCain has to go off the cuff?

I'm going to bet the McCain team is already dreading the debates.

Every time I hear McCain speak, I wonder what happened to the maverick he supposedly used to be.

Why Young Adults Who Lose a Dad May Not Go on a Bender

2008-08-06T08:03:00.005-04:00

I continue to read Death of a Parent by Debra Umberson. My last post about the book mentioned her research pointed to grieving adult children of recently deceased fathers increasing their alcohol consumption. I felt this must be oversimplified because I hadn't found that it applied to me or any of the others I've known who've lost their dads.

As I continued in the book, she qualified her statement to say the exception to that rule were married folks or adult children age 46 or younger. Light bulb. Okay.

Her reasoning is that us young folks (I am unmarried) perceive the death as a warning sign that our actions today could negatively impact our health as it did our dad. This resonated with me. When my father took a turn for the worst, I did in fact immediately alter my eating and drinking habits. A friend whose dad passed away a few years before me started exercising more. Anecdotal, but telling.

However, Umberson's justification for this change was our fathers died young. I think my dad died young, but objectively, he was three weeks away from age 70. That's not really young. I find myself coming back to this point again and again, and I'll be curious to see if it is addressed in the book. While I am young, my father did not die at an unusually (or statistically) young age.

Over the last year as I've grieved his death and come to terms with it, I have considered the issue of older men fathering children. Studies are now coming out saying an older father can increase the risk of children having autism. Expect to see additional scientific research that shows the negative effects increased paternal age can have on offspring, but don't expect anyone to consider the fate of a child whose parents die when they are young. Our numbers will increase as women and men continue to start families at later ages. The battle will come down to the immediate and obvious effects such as the increased likelihood of Down's syndrome. I certainly don't think couples shouldn't be allowed to have kids if one or both breeders are above a certain age. But I will watch this ongoing dialogue with a decidedly different point of view.

New Conor Oberst Album Out

2008-08-05T19:56:00.003-04:00

Yes, I already have it. Some reviews have said that he's trying too hard to define himself by this album, given his name is the title. Some have even gone as far as to say he sounds like he's imitating artists he wants to be like. (That was in the Washington Post Express today, but can't find the article online. Grr.)

It's true. In some songs he sounds like Tom Petty, one Bob Dylan, one a country My Chemical Romance. For the most part though, he sounds like Bright Eyes, so himself.

It's a weird album, but I have a penchant for his more acoustic work. My opinions may change over the next few listens, but for now, my favorites are:

1. I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital)
2. Moab
3. Souled Out!!
4. Milk Thistle
5. Lenders in the Temple

My for-fun language class is turning into a nightmare

2008-08-04T22:00:00.003-04:00

I've been taking a Japanese language class for fun to keep my mind occupied until college football starts. However, this freakish gunner in my class is ruining it for me.

Let me back up. The class is an adult learning class offered through a Japanese American society. Most people in the class are taking it because they read a lot of manga or watch a lot of anime. This is not a high intensity thing, but... for some reason my class has been invaded by this "woman" who insists on shouting out the answer to every question.

She isn't a native English speaker, and even I can tell her Japanese accent is off. So not only does she scream out sentences while the rest of the class is trying to repeat them, she throw us all off with her messed up accent.

Today, a true gunner, a guy who wants the language class on his application for law school, tried to shout over her. She looked really stupid. But she didn't seem to realize it. She continued to try to impress the teacher and the class with her great knowledge of Japanese.

Not sure why anyone would think the folks in our class are going to be impressed, but I'm relatively certain my classmates would agree with me that she is annoying, but also so desperate for attention that she dominates this class.

At this point I do most of my learning outside of class. We had a substitute teacher the past few sessions, and she managed to control the gunner by going through exercises and having us individually answer.

Going Deep into Virginia for a Memorial Service

2008-08-01T11:01:00.002-04:00

As if I needed any additional reasons to love my boss, when I told him I needed a day off to travel into Virginia for my half sibling's mother's memorial service and scattering of ashes, he immediately said "Of course. Family first." Family first, indeed.

Decades ago, both of my parents divorced their first spouses. My dad's ex wife moved my older sister and brother to Texas from Chicago. My mom says that my dad cried many a night because he missed his kids so much. My dad was such a softie. My parents later married and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. As a child, I just knew that my dad hated every single Texas sports team, without fail. I wasn't exactly briefed on the particulars.

I didn't really get to know my older sister and brother (technically half brother and sister, though I never call them that) until I was older. By then they had families and lives in different states, but they were always great to me, despite all they had to do. Over the past few years as our dad died, we saw each other more. I came to really depend on their good natures as things were tough, they made me smile where I otherwise would've cried.

The day after the year anniversary of dad's death, my older brother and sister's mother died. There were four sisters in her family, one died many years ago of cancer. She had her ashes spread near her childhood home, deep in Virginia near the Appalachian Trail (and probably the Smokies too). This is where my siblings' mom wanted her ashes spread. So, despite what happened in the past, my siblings invited me to meet them down there for the memorial, so that we could see each other. I am going. In some way, I think it will help in my grief process for my dad.

John McCain and Elder Discrimination

2008-07-31T07:59:00.001-04:00

John McCain has come under minimal attack recently for having "senior moments". From referring to the Czech Republic or Slovakia by their name from over 15 years ago, "Czechoslovakia" twice in two days to flipping out on reporters routinely, the man is what those of us who have known elders would call "slipping". This is not a gradual decline.

In the PC primary season, it was said that those of us who spoke the obvious, that he's too frikkin old to be President, were discriminating against him because of his age. He's a war hero!

Yes, it is sad to see someone who was once quite sharp fade into the oblivion of old age. He's not going to be wandering the halls of his hometown tomorrow unsure of his name. He's got some time. But he's way past the age where he can be relied upon to consistently be himself.

I shudder to think of him in a high level diplomatic meeting, flipping out as crotchety old people sometimes do, on a head of state. I imagine him in a Cabinet meeting frustrated because he can't remember a word or a new capital city.

There are plenty of policy reasons not to vote for the guy, but I think his age alone should disqualify him. No, we probably shouldn't mandate a maximum age for Presidential campaigns, of course not. But we should judge on a case to case basis, and in this case, the McCain is too old.

UCLA Football This Season

2008-07-30T07:36:00.000-04:00

This is the post I haven't wanted to write. I'm not a football expert, though I have lost my voice plenty of times as a result of a UCLA football game. This will be the first season for UCLA's new coach, Rick Neuheisel. We retained defensive coach DeWayne Walker and added Norm Chow for offense. But we don't have a lot to work with on the field. Our two quarterbacks are injured. We lost a few other players due to injury, a few to other schools, and a few to graduation.

During the Pac 10's media day last week, UCLA was projected to take fifth in the Pac 10 after all is said and done. Don't know that I believe we'll do that well.

In the end, the wins and losses don't really matter this season. There is no magic number of wins that will make me feel that this season was a success. More important is how we play the games. And that will reflect how Neuheisel and his staff do in practice. Already there have been some good signs that the coaches are forward thinking, not just thinking of our season opener against Tennessee (where we will likely be beaten badly) but of the long term. For instance, bruinsnation has a great article about (injured) QB Ben Olson's intense workouts. Neuheisel didn't praise him for those workouts, said they would definitely help him prevent more injuries, but what really matters is going to be how he steps up in the games when the stakes are high. This should be shouted from the rooftops. Practice obviously is important, but all the practice in the world matters little if you choke during the games. If we lose and the other team is just better, fine. But I cannot take too many more awful losses to worse teams (last year's Utah and Notre Dame games, for instance).

My expectations are not for a perfect season. But I will judge this year's season by how we play our games. How the players handle themselves. So far, so very, very good. There hasn't been weird bragging and bravado on the part of the players, and Neuheisel has sounded like the wise coach we all dream of...but I will wait until the season is over to make my judgment.

Bright Eyes, MGMT and Chris Walla

2008-07-29T07:45:00.001-04:00

My obsession with Bright Eyes continues, but not unabated. It seems that other than "Lover, I Don't Have to Love", I am only a fan of Bright Eyes when he goes acoustic. This week I have found another non-acoustic masterpiece: "Take it Easy (Love Nothing)". I also bought Home -- Volume 4 this week where Bright Eyes sings with Britt Daniels and Spoon. Big fan of "You Get Yours" (can't find on youtube).

A few weeks ago I bought the whole MGMT album Oracular Spectacular on the strength of "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel". There are at least three other songs on the album that I love, but the album does sound oddly similar to the Trainspotting Soundtrack in some parts. The lyrics are poetic yet bitter and almost too simple on most of the songs, but the real joy of the album is the music, not the singing.

Chris Walla of Death Cab's solo album is tempting me lately. I worship "Sing Again" and have been leaning towards buying the whole album. He apparently has produced albums for other big acts such as Tegan and Sara, in addition to producing the Death Cab albums.

Grieving for the Death of a Parent and Friend

2008-07-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

My dad died 13 months ago. I am still dealing with it, and one thing that has really helped me is reading up on the specific process of grief that goes along with the death of a parent.

There is a surprising amount of literature about this (five whole books) given that my dad did not die in my childhood. For all intents and purposes, I was an adult when he died (I was 30). Yet, because I do not have a family of my own, I feel as though he died young.

Another thing that has made it hard is our family's lack of religion. There is no comfort of a ritual after death, other than the funeral. I have thus tried to make a ritual for tough days like his birthday and father's day. I eat his favorite cake or meal and focus on the good times.

I am currently reading the book Death of a Parent by Debra Umberson. This book is unique in that it discusses more than just the grieving process. It talks about the transition to a new identity after the death. I am only 30 pages in, but about to learn the different ways the gender of the deceased and the adult child influences the grief after the death.

One thing that has already been said is that for the death of a father, because the relationship was more action oriented (such as my dad and I watching sports games) as opposed to emotionally based, many deal with the death by drinking.

I don't know what I think about this. I don't think that my drinking has increased since the death, in fact I actually have tried to drink less because drinking while sad is usually a recipe for trouble. But my sports watching has definitely gone up, while it was pretty high to begin with... My guess is the author uses drinking as a stand in for action, assuming most people will drink more. While I think the theory of action-related distractions is a good one, I find the supposition that grieving adult children are out on benders to be a strange one. However, overall, I have high hopes for this book and will continue to discuss what I learn.

The Text Message Generation

2008-07-27T18:34:00.006-04:00

There is this silly shorthand that has taken hold of older writers who want to describe Generation Y. I missed Generation Y by only a few years. So perhaps I am just the right age to tell the world: I'm an early adapter of text messaging. I started texting in 2003. Even if you could argue that maybe texting started a year or two earlier, that still leaves quite a few formative teenage years for kids who are now graduating from college to have gone without texting.

As such, articles that contain sentences like the following really get to me:

For a generation that came of age texting and instant-messaging, driving two hours to sit at a cubicle outside the boss's office doesn't make sense if there's an office down the street.

A kid who graduated from college in 2008 would've been at the tail end of high school when texting started. Instant messaging did start much earlier, but that's half of the sentence that is incorrect. I would prefer some precision when I'm reading an article about trends for the future. If you can't get the basic facts right, am I really going to be able to count on your analysis and predictions?

Photo by: ee seuu via flickr page, used through Creative Commons.

My First Migraine

2008-07-27T10:25:00.001-04:00

Friday night, during my friend's 30th birthday celebration, I had four beers. Nothing particularly out of control about that, had them at the rate of one beer an hour. Three Pacifico's (three stars out of five, very watery and very little flavor) and one Hoegaarden (maybe three and a half stars, although I used to like this beer much more) I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I'd been hit in the head with a sledge hammer. This I am used to, I have about 20 god awful sinus infections a year, so I'm familiar with it. I decided not to take the Excedrin Migraine medicine I usually take when I feel these monster headaches coming on because I planned to meet my friend Caroline on the mall for the OUOCS event later that day, where I would want to drink. I had a lot of water and some caffeine.

By the time I got back from Dim Sum with my college friend Todd, I was feeling nauseous. This is a symptom I never get, but I thought maybe I was hungover.

After several hours on the couch, I realized I was not getting off that couch for quite some time. I reviewed the symptoms for a migraine in my head (via WebMD):

* Throbbing or pulsating headache on one side of your head.
* Moderate to severe headache intensity.
* Your headache getting worse with routine physical activity.
* Nausea, vomiting, or both.
* Sensitivity to light and noise, and sometimes smells.

Definitely had the headache, it was getting worse, I'd closed all the blinds and turned off all the lights, could smell everything within 20 miles, and the nausea was intense.

I've always known that migraines were no joke, and that my father and sister had gotten them. But I thought with the sinus headaches, maybe I'd be spared the migraines too. Of course not. I woke up this morning with the headache still there, and took an Excedrin Migraine again, just in case.

Bad News: The Samsung Blackjack

2008-07-23T21:27:00.000-04:00

Today at work I received some bad news: the Samsung Blackjack that I brought to BlogHer for the weekend is now...mine forevermore. I'm not what you would call a fan of the phone.

For the past seven years I have managed to avoid any sort of Blackberry-type device, and with one unfortunate request to borrow one for a conference, now I'm stuck with it. I don't really have anything to compare it with, but I don't like it.

I'm hoping to get an iPhone this week, which I'm sure will blow the Blackjack completely out of the water.

NBA Draft and the iPhone

2008-06-26T21:44:00.001-04:00

First of all, Russell Westbrook went fourth and Kevin Love fifth in the NBA draft tonight.

Second, a few weeks ago Slingbox announced they were making an iPhone compatible version of their mobile product, making my dream a soon-to-be reality. Just a matter of getting a phone as soon after its release date of July 11 as I can. Oh, and Slingbox doing their part.

Third, I bought the iPod Touch, and it is totally useless unless you can get wi-fi coverage, which isn't too easy in DC. I'm using it to back up my photos and iTunes content.

Go BRUINS!!

iPhone vs. Mobile UCLA games

2008-04-22T07:13:00.000-04:00

Apple is about to come out with a new version of the iPhone (should be late June), and my resolve is weakening. My only reason to not get the iPhone was that it brings me no closer to watching UCLA games on my mobile phone. I'm starting to feel like it will be at least a year until I can, so maybe I should have an otherwise useful and awesome phone in the meantime. You would think the makers of slingbox would build out a version of their product that would work with an iPhone.

The status of my search

2008-04-20T11:10:00.000-04:00

For the past three years, I've been trying to get UCLA games on my mobile phone. For some reason, this is a Herculean task. Part of the problem is my residence on the East Coast. The rest is some combination of UCLA's inability to take advantage of the thousands of alumni who would pay for this service and the lack of options available to the biggest technology nerds. My options, as they now appear to stand:

1. Slingbox -- If you want to watch TV on the Internet, this is your service. I live outside of the local LA area, so to really have access to all the games, I would have to set up Slingbox on the cable box of a friend. More than likely it would have to be a second cable box, and then I'd need a smart phone to be able to watch it on my phone. However, the list of phones that really work with Slingbox are...very few. (More info here) Soon we should be able to watch on Blackberries, which means that this may become the most viable option.

2. CSTV.com: I'm not paying 8 bucks a month to listen to the UCLA games on the Internet.

3. Buying the games when they are shown on CBS. Ahhh CBS, how I love your free streaming video of the NCAA tourney. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of games shown on CBS for my team. Which means this is the best option on some days, but usually UCLA fans are S.O.L. for this option.

4. Sprint sports TV on your mobile. This is actually the worst option because it's a fake one. ESPN does not equal UCLA games on my mobile phone.

5. I'm probably missing other options, and...I will be researching those in the coming months, so that I will be set up in time for college football season.

Bad News

2007-12-21T15:21:00.002-05:00

Bellotti is staying at Oregon, according to sources. Boo!

UCLA Head Coach Search Nears its Conclusion

2007-12-21T10:59:00.001-05:00

I've been having a hard time concentrating on anything else but this search, and now this: we may steal the University of Oregon's head coach, Mike Bellotti. This would be a dream come true. From the LA Times this morning:

A question that has quietly plagued Bruins football followers for decades -- does our school really care about our sport? -- finally has an answer.

His name is Mike Bellotti.

He is one of the best offensive minds in the country, probably the toughest coach in the Pacific 10 Conference and, by many accounts, a builder of teams that I believe were good enough to win two national titles in the last seven years.

Bruin nation is collectively holding its breath.

UCLA is Also Awesome

2007-02-06T17:30:00.000-05:00

UCLA is back up to number 2 in the polls, right below Florida. Ugh.

I am extremely concerned that our star this year is Arron Afflalo, the one who...lost the title game for us last year. Jordan Farmar came to play. Too bad Afflalo freaked out and failed to be the outside presence we needed.

It will happen again. I don't want it to, but it will. Mark my words.