hi kids.
haven’t really felt like ranting lately–not that there’s any lack of topics to rant about:
- medicare part d debacle–let alone the whole “we’re not gonna negotiate good prices” giveaway at the creation of the plan, folks of a certain age who actually researched the crazy thing, signed on and are trying to use it are still getting the raw end of the deal.
- lack of winter–even in places where there’s supposed to be cold weather this time of year (it’s january for heaven’s sake!) it feels like the earth’s playing wide on its wobble through space. sam kass has a unique analysis of the temperate zone’s weather pattern based on dithering.
- another coal mine disaster–in last year’s state of the union address, mr. bush was chatting up burning “clean coal” as the wonder-twin of nuclear power, the near-miraculous, clean-because-i-said-so, energy sources of the future:
To keep our economy growing, we also need reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy. Nearly four years ago, I submitted a comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation, alternative sources, a modernized electricity grid, and more production here at home, including safe, clean nuclear energy.
My Clear Skies legislation will cut power plant pollution and improve the health of our citizens. And my budget provides strong funding for leading-edge technology - from hydrogen-fuelled cars, to clean coal, to renewable sources such as ethanol. Four years of debate is enough - I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy.
now with sago, (nevermind the crazy twists and turns in that story), and the millville mine fire, there has to be a better way to simulate the sauna in our homes in the dead of winter.
- jack abramoff– i’m not touching it. (apparently, anyone else who had isn’t admitting to touching it either.)
- presidential power grab–warrantless wiretapping, demanding records from internet search engines, children on “no fly” lists, infiltrating environmental organisations and equating them with 9/11-style terrorists. . . . does anyone smell mccarthyism?
you go ahead and take your pick. i said i’m not going to rant.
i’m feeling a particular wintery (for what it is) ennui that comes about as i approach a near-milestone birthday (29), and find myself doing almost the same thing for the last five years.
i’m reminded of a chat i had with a college chum (JR) about a journal article positing that our accellerated modern lives are prompting us to perceive the arrival of lifetime milestones sooner than in generations prior. [cue john mayer’s “quarter-life crisis” and ignore the receding hairline.]
i decide that it’s time to take stock and update my resume. i pulled out all of my reference material, the last document on file that survived all sorts of computer meltdowns, called upon the support of MB—my goto pal for matters such as these—and get started. it’s just something that needs to be done.
i’ve been dreading doing it for months, mostly because the work i do doesn’t have a formal job description, at least none to which i’ve been privy, and i didn’t want to get it wrong.
well, i went ahead and did it. what liberating joy! i looked back on what i’ve done over the last ten-odd years as a working stiff, and a bleeding-heart volunteer, and i feel pretty good about myself.
i may not have the cash or fancy possessions to show for it, but, (cue the swelling, cheesy music) i think i have just enough.
now hurry, go away, i might change my mind.
but, if you decide to stick around, here’s a statement i found by accident while doing some research about my job:
A few years back, when I’d just begun to post things on the web, an old friend of mine suggested that I was running a risk putting anything about myself up in public. He felt it made you vulnerable. Well, I’m not stupid. The juicy bits simply are not here. I have no desire to invite any more hassle into my life than the relatively benign material that is here has already generated. I very much doubt that I will ever be inclined to start blogging for that very reason. For some folks the conflict level seems to escalate to the point where it takes over their lives, and I have better things to do than respond to attacks.
i couldn’t have said it better myself.
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