Mike Seese

The Journey Begins...

2010-04-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

This post marks the rebirth of my blog. For those of you who don't know, I was recently accepted to a graduate program, a MA in Political Science, at SDSU. I'll be studying Comparative Government and International Relations, with a particular focus on African Politics and Conflict Theory. Stay tuned for updates!!!

Free and Easy Down the Road I Go...

2009-01-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I decided to abandon all of the shit I have on my plate right now and just take off on a road trip. Gas prices are still pretty low, and I wanted to see the upcountry before all the snow had melted off, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of town. I started by driving out the 60 toward Wickenburg, then cutting up through the mountains through the towns of Congress and Yarnell on my way to Prescott. From Prescott, I drove one of my favorite stretches of road in Arizona, the 89A up over Mingus Mountain and down through the town of Jerome (the same town where KJ's cousin and her other half went to "just live man, just live"). I then cut across the Verde Valley, and made my way over to Pine, Payson and the Rim lakes (which were still closed for the season). It was quite a trip--sometimes it's nice to just get in the car, listen to some tunes and burn some gas, even if I have no real destination in mind. Below are a couple of the pictures I took along the way...

Hawai'i

2008-12-07T22:39:00.001-08:00

So it has been seven months since I last posted. Damn. Well, a lot as happened in that time, we got a new president... umm, well, maybe there hasn't been a lot that's happened in that time, especially to me. But I'm back from my blogging hiatus... just in time for the holidays.

I'm back in the Hawai'i right now, spending time with the family. It's always hard for me to come back to the islands. Even though I grew up here, I still struggle with understanding the culture. I'm definitely a Haole in more ways than one. This is my home though, and I still know this island better than any other city I've ever lived in. So it's been great seeing family, eating good food, and being back in a place where rain isn't an uncommon thing. Thats one of the things I hate the most about the places I've lived since I moved away... it doesn't rain the way it rains in Hawai'i.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you all the update that I'm back to blogging and back to the islands. It's late and I'm tired, so I'll write more later. Until then, Peace.

Blog

2008-06-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

So, yeah, I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've been focusing all of my energy on the job hunt. If you have a job for me, let me know, because I wants it! Once I get that part of my life dealt with, I'll start posting regularly again. I promise.

Another post for JJ

2008-06-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

Umm, I'll tell you what, you get me into U-Texas for grad school, and I'll take the 26 hour detour to Austin to see you =).

In other news, I've become aggravated by the TV shows that I illegally watch on the internet. I use this one site, STF, that used to be cool, but the other day it was re-designed. An effort to improve the site's functionality no doubt, but all it accomplished is making TV shows slower to load. Fucking annoying. I mean dammit, if I'm going to engage in criminal activity, I wanna be efficient about it. Plus, when I click on a link, I wanna see my Korean subtitled American TV shows pop up immediately. As I'm writing this post, I'm waiting for a couple of episodes of Star Trek, TNG to buffer. Yes, I'm a trekkie. Go ahead, mock me. Scott did earlier tonight when I inadvertently revealed to him that I actually knew what species Guinan is.

Annoying websites aside, I'm surprised that I'm unable to get in touch with my parents. They're on a two week cruise to Alaska, which is fine, but they have no goddam cell phone reception up there. I mean for crissakes, they're in fucking Alaska and British Columbia, not Namibia or Peru or some other technology forsaken locale. Their cell phones should goddam work.

6.4.14.27

2008-06-03T19:48:00.001-07:00

Hmm, so it looks like hill-dawg is gonna loose. Woe is me. I was kinda rooting for the skank. Oh well, as long as there's a Dem in office next term, I'll be ok. In other news, I'll be moving to SD in 6 days, 4 hours, 14 minutes and 27 seconds (according to my countdown widget). Yay!

Plastic

2008-05-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

So, I just had a bizarre experience with American Express. I still haven't received my replacement card (my old card expired last month), so today I called to see where the hell it was. The only problem is, the customer service people wouldn't tell me anything because I couldn't remember my "service password," some random password that I created years ago when I first applied for the card. So, the Indian skank I was talking to (because of course they outsource their CS) got someone from special services on the line, who asked me to detail my addresses over the past 5 years. Now like any young adult that went to college, I've lived in like 10 places over the past 5 years...new addresses each school year, Boston, Phoenix, Kailua, etc.. So, of course I couldn't remember my addresses exactly. This of course prompted the woman to think I was trying to commit identity theft or something. To rectify this situation, I was asked to give all kinds of random personal information. You know, blood type, last person I slept with, party affiliation, etc. By the end of the call, I still don't think she believed that I was really me, but at least she relented and had a replacement replacement card sent. Phew. Thankfully that's dealt with now, so that at least someone else can't steal my identity.

In other financial news, I'm so sick of this BS with the fucking economy. If you pay attention to the news media, the messages about the economy have been weirdly mixed. "We're in dire straits" they say, but two minutes later they report that the economy is not as bad as they expected. The growth rate isn't as low as they thought, and the job market isn't as bad as they originally forecasted. What the fuck people. Give me the bottom line here, I need to know what I'm up against as I'm job searching in SD.

A Post for JJ

2008-05-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Recent Comment from JJ:

"I need help with header on my blog. I am OK that picture doesn't go all the way across the screen but I would like to be able to put some writing in the blank space on the right. If you get bored and think you can figure this out, let me know. I am using one of bloggers templates."

Well, I got bored. So yeah, about your header, here are a couple of answers that may help you out:

Part 1: The Cheat Way

Since I'm obviously not as technically adept as Scottie is, I've had to get creative when finding solutions to technology problems such as this. The easiest way to get the header to look like you want it to is to simply disregard the system. Sounds weird, but let me explain--the HTML style sheets and such are features designed to help you personalize your blog. Unfortunately, if you aren't very proficient with web-ish things, these features are basically no help, as it'll take you a long ass time to figure them out. So, instead, we bastardize technology like so (keep in mind that these instructions are a little easier to follow on a Mac):

First, we open a word document and create a 1x2 table, like so:

Then, make the borders invisible. After you've done that, copy/paste your coconut into the first cell, and readjust the margins of the first cell:

Then, type in your text in the second cell. Format font, alignment, etc. as desired:

Then, in print preview, take a screen shot of your image. If you're using an Apple (as you should be), press Shift++4. On a PC, I think it's Shift+Print Screen. You should end up with the following image:
Then, simply upload the image as your header in blogger (Layout -> Page Elements -> Edit (under Header)). Be sure to check off the option for "Instead of title and description."

Once that's done, your blog should look like this:

Obviously, you'll have to tweak it a bit to get the proportions right, but the above image gives you the general idea of how it should look.

Part 2: The Way You're Technically Supposed To Do It

If you wanna do this the right way, it gets a little more complicated.

First, go to the Layout page and click on "Edit HTML." You should have something that looks like this:

Scroll down until you get to the Header section (as above), and make sure that it has the following two phrases:

1) "text-align: right;" and
2) "background-position: left;"

Once that's done, go back to the "Configure Header" window, upload your image, type in your text, and you should be all set:

You'll obviously be able to adjust the text and such under the "Fonts and Colors" tab. Keep in mind that it may take some tweaking to all of these steps to get it exactly the way you want it.

Hopefully that helped. Let me know if you have additional questions. If I can't answer them, I'm sure that Scott can.

New Header

2008-05-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hmm, so what do you think of the new picture in my header? It's a famous woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai. I edited the picture using a web-based photo editing software called Picnik. This is an amazingly easy to use program, and you don't actually need to sign up for it (which is a definite plus in my book). I think that the program is also integrated with Flickr, a useful feature for all you people that love your online photo albums. I think this picture is still kind of Asian-y, but less Asian woman-y than my last header image.

I came across Picnik in the past few days during a personal period of internet re-education. I've decided that I've become too complacent with my techno-skills, and that my internet usage has become somewhat redundant as of late. I've noticed that, like most Americans, I tend to visit a limited number of sites (I almost exclusively visit the websites in my bookmarks bar). To rectify this rather unadventurous trend, I decided to get out and explore some of the new shit that the web has to offer. I began with Google--I've known for a while that Google offers a multitude of free services, but I rarely use any of these services other than search, Earth/maps, blogger and Gmail. So, to stir things up a bit, I started using Reader (rss feeds), and I've even contemplated crafting a website using Page Maker. I don't actually think I'll put a website together, becasue, to be perfect honest, I have nothing to put on a website that isn't already on this blog. But who knows, I may end up putting together an employment page or something. Anyway, perhaps the most exciting (and useful) discoveries I've made in Google's vast network of programs have been the two Google widgets I downloaded--one for blogger and one for Gmail. Check them out on my dashboard:

Internet re-education aside, I haven't been up to too much else lately, other than continuing my rather depressing job search. I'm hoping to make some headway before I actually get to San Diego, but to date, I haven't been too successful. I did, however, give my resume a make over. Check it out here and let me know what you think. I've made some minor edits to it since I uploaded this version, but they're relatively minor ones. Also, I've made contact with this woman Kate from the International Surfing Association about this job I applied for there. This job (seems to) fucking rock, so wish me luck in getting it! I'll need all the positive vibes you can send me.

Job Hunting

2008-05-27T12:44:00.001-07:00

Here's a recent blurb from a San Diego "job expert:"

Stop expecting callbacks. Human resource departments are slimming down as they experience budget cuts like any so-called overhead department. Instead, become a follow-up queen: Keep reaching out until you're threatened with arrest for stalking.

End your initial letter with a declaration that you'll call at a specific time, and then do it. If you butt heads with voicemail, which is likely, leave a message saying when you'll reach out again. Call every few days. Continue this pattern until you connect with the live person you want to talk with. Make excuses for why a person isn't responding to you -- "I know how busy you are, so I'll take responsibility for trying to contact you." Think of yourself not as a pest, but as a person fulfilling a commitment you made -- "I promise, I deliver."

I find this advice absolutely ridiculous--annoying the shit out of someone until s/he finally gives in and give you an interview is fucking absurd. I don't believe that this is the way to get a job. And even if you do get a job by this stalker-ish method, you need to resign yourself to the fact that you were hired not based on your qualifications, but based on the fact that you're an asshole.

And here's the one that ran.

2008-05-26T12:20:00.001-07:00

Regarding the article “Two SDSU Frats are Ousted for Violations,” by Sherry Saavedra, 23 May 2008.
(http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080523-9999-1m23frats.html)

Dear Editor,

I’m a graduate of SDSU and a member of Lamba Chi Alpha, one of the two fraternities that that were recently expelled from Campus. As an alumnus of this house, I’m both shocked and hurt by the events that led to my chapter’s expulsion. The actions of my brothers are absolutely inexcusable, as they run contrary to the basic values of the Greek System: hard work, honest play, academic achievement and moral development.

Given the current stigma surrounding the Greek Community, I think that it’s important to remind the public that, despite their shortcomings, fraternities are an invaluable part of American higher education. These organizations encourage academic and personal development, and foster a profound sense of camaraderie among members. I cherish my experience with Lambda Chi; this brotherhood allowed me to befriend some of the most upstanding, decent men that I’ve ever met, and to this day, I’m proud to call them friends and brothers. In spite of these recent events, I would still encourage any interested young man (or woman) to involve himself in a Greek organization. The experience you’ll have and friends you’ll make are worth it.

Michael F. Seese
San Diego State University, c/o 2005
Lambda Chi Alpha, Zeta Pi 1320

Letter to the Editor

2008-05-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

This is my recent letter to the editor of the San Diego Union Tribune.

Regarding the article “Two SDSU Frats are Ousted for Violations,” by Sherry Saavedra, 23 May 2008.
(http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080523-9999-1m23frats.html)

Dear Editor,

I’m a graduate of SDSU and a member of Lamba Chi Alpha, one of the two fraternities that that were recently expelled from Campus. There was once a time when the title of this article would have offended me—I’ve always taken an aversion to the term “frat,” because it connotes a group of juvenile boys, coasting through college, intent on leisurely rather than academic pursuits. As an undergraduate, I prided myself on being a “fraternity man,” a member of a tightly knit brotherhood that valued hard work, honest play, academic achievement and moral development. Unfortunately, it seems that that in the years since I graduated, my house has devolved into one of the stereotypical fraternities portrayed in movies like Animal House and Old School. In light of these recent events, the term “frat” seems to aptly capture the current state of my fraternity chapter.

The actions of my brothers that led to the house’s expulsion are absolutely inexcusable—there is no place in the Greek System for hazing or substance abuse. And given the overall negative sentiment towards the Greek Community in the wake of Operation Sudden Fall, the decision to violate the terms of their suspension was downright idiotic. What is most disappointing about the situation, however, was the obvious lack of foresight demonstrated by my brothers. When these men took it upon themselves to disregard university policy, they failed to recognize that their actions would have repercussions beyond expulsion; that these actions affect not only the reputation of the chapter, but of Lambda Chi Alpha in general, the entire Greek System, and even of the alumni that proudly identify as fraternity men.

While these two expulsions and the events of Operation Sudden Fall have more than sullied the reputation of the Greek Community, it’s important for the public, and especially for college students (and future college students) and their parents, to remember that fraternities and sororities are an invaluable part of America’s system of higher education. Greek Life can be a very rewarding experience for those who believe in the camaraderie that these organizations promote. As a fraternity alumnus, I wouldn’t trade my experiences with Greek Life for anything. I’m unashamed to say that I’m a better person because of Lambda Chi Alpha. This organization fostered my desire to further myself both academically and personally, and I’ve become a more confident, well-rounded person as a result. Most notably, however, Lambda Chi Alpha introduced me to some of the most upstanding, decent men that I’ve ever met. To this day, I’m proud to call these men friends and brothers. Despite the current stigma attached to SDSU’s fraternities, I would still encourage any interested young man (or woman) to involve himself in a Greek organization. The experience you’ll have and friends you’ll make are worth it.

Michael F. Seese
San Diego State University, c/o 2005
Lambda Chi Alpha, Zeta Pi 1320

hmmm

2008-05-23T09:21:00.001-07:00

So I've created a new rule for myself. Either I become a vegetarian, or I stop looking up things that I eat on Wikipedia.

OMFG

2008-05-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

So, I'm definitely going to be getting a bike this summer when I move back to SD. This picture was on CNN iReport, taken in Shasta. If gas prices are that high in Nor-Cal, they'll sure as hell be that high in SD soon enough.

OMG It's happening again.

2008-05-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yet again, I have a blog that I'm neglecting. I think about writing every day (I swear I do), I just don't. I promise to be more diligent--not for your benefit (because, after all, there's no one out there actually reading these posts) but for my own, just to prove to myself that I can stick with something like this. So yeah, couple of updates. First, I'm still waiting for a last letter of recommendation for my PC application. Yeah, I know. I was hoping this shit would have been done by now, but yeah. It's not. I guess you can't control everything. Also, Scott made me set up a FaceBook account this past week. I'm not exactly addicted, but I can definitely see why so many people love this site. Also, I now see the full extent to which MySpace sucks monkey balls. Lastly, and most likely the biggest news of the last week: I'm moving to San Diego!!! I'm sub-letting a room in Scott's place in North Park, and I'll be there for at least a month, and most likely the entire summer. The trick is that I need to find a job out in Cali...and not just a McJob, but something substantial, and something that I don't hate. I've started to apply to positions out there this week, but no word yet. Hopefully soon though. I applied to this one job at a non-profit up in La Jolla / Carlsbad area that I hope hope hope I get, but it's been a week and still no word. I wonder if that's a good thing or bad thing? Hopefully good. So yeah, if there's anyone out there reading this, think good thoughts for me and send me some positive vibes. I'm gonna need all the good vibes I can get in the coming weeks.

...and I'm back!

2008-05-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but it's been a craaaaaazy week. I've been sort of working on my final paper for my American Government seminar, and that was a stressful situation to say the least. And to top it all off, I had an interview with my Peace Corps recruiter woman on Monday. Throw in some cat drama, and it was pretty much off to the races for me. I don't think I used to phrase correctly, but it'll have to do, since I can't think of anything wittier to insert there.

As I mentioned earlier, I had my interview with the Peace Corps recruiter. She's pretty excited about my skill set, and she thinks there's a definite place for me in the Peace Corps. The problem is, I need to submit one more letter of recommendation before she can extend the initial invitation. So I've spent the week trying to figure out that recommendation, and hopefully one will be sorted out by early next week. Although there's no deadline for me to come up with a recommender, I'd like to get it done as soon as possible, because an invitation to the peace corps would be a significant step in figuring out what the next couple of months will hold for me.

I did want to draw your attention to two hilarious articles on the BBC this week:
These pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but in the words of Scottie: "Paging an editor, is there an editor here?" I'll update this post a little later, but right now I need to go in search of food...

Personal Log, Stardate 42008.28

2008-04-28T00:41:00.001-07:00

I'm beginning to feel the effects of my long term isolation here in Phoenix. It strikes me that, over the past 6 months, the only social interactions that I've had have either been with my classmates (which has now come to an end since the semester is over); my family by phone; Scott, Swarty and KJ by phone/im; and people working at the stores and quick serve restaurants that I frequent. It's become clear to me that this isolation is taking it's toll. I'm stuck in this weird cycle, wherein I resolve to better my circumstances, but am unable to. So, I'm thinking that the only course of action I have left is to return to Hawaii, at least until something happens with the Peace Corps, or until I find other employment either in Hawaii, California, Arizona or the Boston/NYC. I'm obviously hoping the the an opportunity in the Peace Corps presents itself soon. Below is an updated timeline of my application process so far:

LMAO. "Penis Patrol" Takes on a whole new meaning.

2008-04-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Funniest. Shit. Ever.

My auto-mah-car is broken again

2008-04-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Fucking A. More car trouble. It looks that all that reading I did for tonight's class is in vain, since I don't think I'm going to be able to get down to ASU. And, to make matters worse, there's a weird crackling sound coming from my laptop. Fuck it, I give up. I'm going to finish this last paper for the class, turn it in next week and then head back to Hawaii. Oh, and in other news, I started smoking again. It's been so long since I bought a pack of cigarettes, I almost didn't recognize my brand (Camels) because they changed the label. Although, it's nice to know that Phoenix seems to carry 99s, whereas I could never find them in SD.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy Earth Day !!! Wow, all these liberal holidays lately! Actually, the main thing I'll be celebrating today is Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania! Hopefully this will help to solidify her chances of receiving the nomination.

Anyway, I don't really have the time to continue this post... I've got a lot of reading to do. I may edit this post a little later if I have the time / inclination.

Happy 420!!! Feliz Dia de Santa Maria Juanna!!!

2008-04-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today, Generation Y, the "millenials," celebrate one of our greatest holidays: April 20, colloquially known as "420." This day commemorates a group of brave students at San Rafael High School in NorCal, who used to gather after school and smoke pot around a statue of Louis Pasteur. People all over the world celebrate this day by lighting up their bongs, breaking out their Almond Brothers records and eating copious amounts of Mexican food. I myself celebrated this day by stopping by my favorite smoke shop here in Phoenix to take advantage of their big 420 sale. I then sat here and smoked hookah for most of the day (not much of a surprise, considering I spend most of my days smoking hookah). I've never been a huge fan of weed, so today didn't mean as much to me as it did to some of my friends. Nevertheless, I support people's rights to smoke weed if they like--within reason of course. A couple of my thoughts on this particular debate: People 18 years and older should be allowed to buy weed legally. It should be made available by prescription (and thus covered by insurance) to people needing it for medical reasons. You should NOT be able to smoke weed and then drive a car. And, people who use weed for recreational purposes should be encouraged to have a DD or a designated sober person to insure that no one gets into (too much) trouble.

Given today's relevance to Generation Y-ers, it's sort of absurd that none of the major news outlets carried any significant stories about the 420 holiday. They did, however, continue coverage of two very interesting news stories. First, the Pope and his visit to the States, and second, this bit with China, the Olympic Games and Tibet. There's not really a whole lot to say about the Pope, other than I appreciate some of the sentiments he expressed in his numerous speeches in DC and New York. Those who know me know that I am not a huge fan of the Catholic church, and I was even less of a fan of this new Pope. I remember sitting in the Lambda Chi house during my senior year of school, watching coverage on the conclave, and watching him get announced as Catholic king. I really didn't appreciate his ultra-conservative background, and thought that the Church could have benefited from a more progressive pontiff. While I still hold this view, I think more of him now that he's spoken out against the "war" in Iraq and the sex abuse bs that's been plaguing the American Church. So yeah, go Pope!

The other story that's been developing as of late is the Olympic torch, the protests and China's response to the protests. COME THE FUCK ON people. I mean seriously, protesting the Olympic torch and disrupting the relay is the biggest crock of BS I've ever heard. First, disrupting the torch relay is not a protest against, China, it's a protest against the Olympic Games and the international unity and cooperation that these games embody. Second, every country has its demons. I'm thinking of a great dialogue (hmm, FireFox spell checker for some reason doesn't recognize the word "dialogue," and I'm pretty sure I spelled it correctly.) from the Wes Wing between Lord John Marburry and Toby. Lord John commented that every country had its "original sin," for the English it was the Irish, and for the Americans, it was the way she treated the "aborigines." Well for the Chinese, the original sin was the Tibetans. You can't erase the past, and while it's important to advocate on behalf of Tibet (I feel just as strongly about Tibet's freedom as any other limousine liberal), the Olympic Games is not the appropriate venue for airing grievances.

Before I end this posting, I wanna (this spell check recognizes "wanna" but not "dialogue?" WTF?!) give an update on the PC application process. I received my legal packet in the mail, so tomorrow AM I have to drive downtown to have my finger prints taken. Still waiting for two of my LORs, but hopefully they come in this week. If all goes well, I should be able to schedule an interview with my recruiter next week some time. Anyway, I'll leave it at that right now. I've discovered Star Trek: Voyager on Surf the Channel, so I'll be watching episodes of that and smoking (hookah) before I go to bed. So yeah, I wish you "sweet dreams;" be well, do good works, and keep in touch.

Peace Corps Updates

2008-04-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a couple of days...I know, I'm slacking. Here are a couple of life updates. First, I finally had my first human contact with the Peace Corps. I got an email from the recruiter in charge of my application, and had the opportunity to ask her a couple of questions about the application process and such. Right now, all I'm waiting for are Deb and KJ's letters of recommendation and then some legal forms that I'll be getting in the mail (hopefully today or tomorrow). Once all that is in, I'll be able to have a "formal" interview with my recruiter. Below is an up to date time line of my Peace Corps experience thus far.

If these last two LORs get in, I should have an interesting Peace Corps filled week next week. A couple of notes, If things go well, there's a distinct possibility that I could be living in a different country as early as January. Apparently, ball park time frame for this whole process is about 6 months.

Daily Reflections & Peace Corps Updates

2008-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

So the US Air Force is apparently advertising on the Washington Post these days.

Either they missed the concept of "targeted advertising" in business school, or they're über-eager to prove to their congressional overlords that they're making good use of their advertising budgets. Either way, they're failing miserably.

For those of you that haven't heard, I had quite a car fiasco yesterday. Apparently, my radiator cap fell apart, which caused the cap to melt to radiator, which caused a series of bizarre chain reactions to take place in my cooling system. It took $500 bucks (whoever thinks that foreign cars are cheaper to run than domestics cars are on crack) and 5 years off my life, but I'm finally able to drive around again. Praise (insert name of your god here) that that I wasn't driving out to Cali at the time, because I would have been fucked royally. This whole experience kinda made me realize the value Triple A.

So yeah, I've been toddling along with this whole peace corps process. My recommendations still haven't come in yet (dammit you three, get on the ball). But this am I did get some additional paperwork to fill out. Aside from some financial forms, and some forms that don't apply to me, I got an interesting document about vegetarianism. I'm no longer a veg, so this form isn't really relevant to my application, but it was interesting nonetheless. For one, it basically makes you promise to eat meat if your host family or your village slaughters some poor animal in your honor. It also listed a host of other circumstances, and asked how you would deal with eating meat in those circumstances. For those of you who don't know, if you've been a vegetarian for a while and one day you eat even a little bit of meat (especially red meat), your stomach will revolt against you. And I'm not talking just diarrhea (cha cha cha). I'm talking wrath of god, youre probably better off carving your stomach out with a dull knife, kinda pain. So I definitely pity these poor vegetarian fucks that not only need to combat the weird micro-critters they pick up in the field, but have to contend with eating meat for the first time as well. On the other hand, it'll probably be the best diet they've ever gone on.

I really need to push on my references to to get cracking on their letters, because I'd like to speed my application process up a bit. I'm still not sure whether I'll accept an invitation if I get one, but I'd love to be in the situation where I'm deciding whether or not to go. I still have yet to hear from a recruiter about an interview, but I imagine that's coming fairly soon. If you're a returned volunteer, reading this, hit me up, because I could certainly benefit from your experience.

Oh, and I thought I'd give you all a taste of some of the shit I'm reading for my American politics class:

and...
If you think you can translate some of this stuff into "stupid" for me, give me a hollah, cuz god know's I'm only going to understand about 5% of this article. WTF? I thought political science was a discipline where you sat under and oak tree, sipped lattes and discussed the intangible ideas of dead people. Shows you just how naïve I was...

The New American Clickocracy

2008-04-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

So today I'm writing about some recent material I read on the subject of broadcast news for my American politics seminar (man that was an awkward sentence... gimme a break, I'm tired). Most of this is a discussion of Markus Prior's recent book, Post-Broadcast Democracy (check out this Washington Post article written by Prior for a summary of his arguments). I apologize that this post is somewhat disorganized, but it’s late and I had a long day.

I wanna start this baby off with a quote from Agustus Hill, the narrator of my favorite tv show, Oz. This quote has has almost nothing to do with Prior’s book or with anything I've written in this post, so don’t expect it to relate to anything below. It is a good quote though, and it is about tv news, so I suppose it kinda fits in with my discussion. Sorta.

"Television is a medium rarely well done. My uncle Bilbo said that. Okay, somebody said it first, but my uncle Bilbo was the first one to say it to me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love watching the news on tv, Dan and Tom and Peter and maybe a little Jim Lehrer if I'm feeling brainy. I flip back and forth between news shows in hopes of catching the same story, 'cause each news show tells a story a different way. ABC leaves out a fact that CBS makes a big deal of. CBS interviews its expert, who totally disagrees with NBC's expert. NBC goes in depth, while ABC gives the same story five seconds air time. You see, I figure if I catch all three versions, maybe, combined, I'll get a little taste of the truth."

So yeah, on to my post…

I propose that we rename our planet. Instead of Earth, it should be called "The Technosphere," because let's face it, in today's society we are inundated with technology. And not just any kind of technology: communications technology. Sure there are other kinds of technology out there--like espresso machines and Power Tools and the like, but none of us carry around our coffee grinders or cordless drills. But we all carry around our cell phones and notebook computers, and some of us even carry around our tvs (we've all seen those assholes rolling around in their Hummers watching the Suns game on their dashboard).

Technology allows us greater freedom, and in America, greater freedom means greater choice. We choose whom we communicate with, and how we communicate them. We also choose who communicates us. And I'm not just talking about how we all ignore calls from telemarketers and creditors and such. I'm talking about the news and entertainment medias as well. As Markus Prior points out, technology allows us to choose the methods by which the media reaches us, and to choose which media we wish to consume--for example, we can choose to consume Family Guy instead of CNN, or Oz instead of Bill O'Reilly. In a very economic-ish model, Prior explains that that people, when making media choices such as Family Guy vs. CNN, attempt to maximize their entertainment utility. In other words, they choose the shows they like the most (duh). This tendency, according to Prior, has some fairly serious implications for the dissemination of political knowledge and aggregate voting behavior (see page 52).

When I first picked this book up, I genuinely thought that it would be filled with insights on technology and politics that I, as a technophile, agreed with. But this turned out not to be the case. In reality, this is a pretty controversial book. Most of Prior's assertions seem to hang out there on a lonely limb on the tree of political science—many of his arguments, whether directly or indirectly, contradict some of the fundamental theories that political scientists in the Americanist sub-discipline hold pretty dear. I don’t wanna go into too much detail here because I’m writing a paper on this right now and I'll be yakking about these points all night on Wednesday. If you’re really interested, come to my class.

I do want to talk about the dissemination of political knowledge though. As I already mentioned, Prior argues the following point: when people are offered a choice in media programming, they attempt to maximize their entertainment utility. Thus, people usually choose to watch entertainment shows instead of news programs. In doing so, they’re being exposed to less and less political information and essentially becoming dumber as a result. A society of political retards.

I agree with this observation to some extent. I mean, it's not just more fun to watch mindless television than to watch something educational on Nova, but it's also less work. Let's face it, learning requires work. More work than most of us (including myself at times) are willing to put out. Not only does it take work to find out political information (accessing a website, reading a book), but it also takes a substantial amount of brain juice just to understand that knowledge (Take me for example. I consider myself reasonably intelligent, but I’ve had to consult Wikipedia constantly just to get through the statistical balderdash in half the shit I’ve read for this class).

So yeah, his argument stands to reason in a rational choice-ish framework. But let’s think about this for a minute. Is it really appropriate to say that numerous choices in the media market are leading people down the road to political retardation? Ok yeah, over-simplification, I know. But c'mon. Empirical evidence may not be on my side, but it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that greater media choices, or to phrase it slightly differently: a larger media market, would encourage increased dissemination of political information.

Let’s think about today’s media market. It’s huge! Ginormous even. I mean, it’s kinda like the sun: so big that everything else revolves around it. In other words, today’s political structure revolves around information, technology and the media. For better or worse, and whether you like it or not, we live in a Clickocracy. Our lives, our society and our government all revolve around—and function because of—that ugly black box you have sitting in your den (or for you Apple users, that sexy white/silver box sitting on your lap right now). Think differently? Well consider this: What do you think your chances are of getting a job if you write on your resume: “I don’t know how to turn on a computer.”

I know I keep repeating myself but once again: technology, and the information that goes with it, is everywhere. We’ve decided to rename the planet "The Technosphere" for chrissakes. Information on anything is available to anyone, anywhere. It takes almost no effort at all to get all the political information you want. That information is not just there for us to grab at, but it’s basically being shoved down our throats through advertisements, tidbits we catch on the radio or even in the content of those entertainment shows we like so much (this is a point I’ll address later if I have time). I mean, this is basically a law of large numbers kinda of thing. The sheer volume of information and technology in the world pretty much ensures that even people that live ascetic, hermit-ish lifestyles are getting spoon-fed vast quantities of information. This is probably a good time to point out Moore's Law, which basically states that every 18 months, technology doubles. On could probably write a corollary to Moore’s law that states that the amount of information out there probably triples every 18 months. Moore’s law and my made-up corollary suggest mind-boggling amounts of information and technology are available at the tip of your fingers. With this in mind, it seems perfectly reasonable to argue that avoiding this information and technology takes more work than passively receiving the information out there.

I wanted to talk about this idea of accidental learning, which I think is an important point that Prior somewhat misses in his book. But this is getting hella long, so I’m gonna sum up by singling out a point that came out in Prior’s book that I thought was especially interesting. That is that people who rely on news from other states/geographic regions tend to know less about what is going on politically in their own state. This is obviously a very simple deduction, but it has very strong implications. Take me for instance--this statistic definitely applies to me. I get almost all of my news from the web (with the exception of NPR when I'm driving), and my primary news sources are the BBC and Le Monde. The truth is that I know exponentially more about British, French, African and US Federal politics than I know about what's going on in AZ. It's shameful the lack of Arizona-ish political knowledge I have--for example, I can only name two elected officials from this state...Janet Napolitano (because she's occasionally on NPR in the am) and John McCain, because, well, he's running president. This lack of political knowledge will definitely impact my vote, since between now and November I really have no intention of learning anything useful about Arizona politics (Allah/Buddah/Jesus save me if I'm still living here in November).

think different 

2008-04-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

...and yet another reason to choose apple.

Hub of the Solar System

2008-04-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

So apparently this girl that works for my sister is moving to Boston, and thought I might have some advice on living in beantown...so, girl that I've met once but whose name I forgot, this post is for you.

The most important thing about moving to Boston (and any city in the northeast for that matter) is the importance of dressing appropriately. Coming from Hawaii, and from Hilo in particular, you get pretty used to slumming around in flip flops (slippers for all of you in the 808 state) and a ratty old t-shirt. That doesn't cut it in New England. I'm not saying you need nice clothes and such, because Boston is definitely not as style-forward as NYC. What I am saying is that you need to have clothes for any weather (because Boston weather is weird as shit) and you need to master the art of layering.

Couple of key tips when it comes to wardrobe. Duh you need a winter coat. But you also need a spring coat as well. Believe me, there's a difference. Also, invest in appropriate footwear. They have these snow boot things that have waterproof lower halves (usually with high traction soles). Buy a pair. Seriously. Snow falling over the city and the commons is a beautiful thing, but no one mentions the disgusting cesspools of filth that streets become in the morning after they've been plowed. This is of course exacerbated by the fact that Boston sands their streets instead of salting them. Believe me, you'll be thankful for the waterproof snow boots. You might also want to invest in a pair of galoshes. They look stupid, but there's a really good reason why they exist. Lastly, buy a North Face parka. Yeah they're expensive, but take my advice and just buy one. Unless your job mandates formal/business attire, guaranteed you'll wear that parka every day. $250 for a coat that'll last you all season is totally worth it.

Next, transport. You can totally get around the most relevant parts of Boston solely by walking or riding the T. And if you live right in town, like in the north end or in back bay or something, everything is literally right at your doorstep. You definitely don't need a car. And in fact, a car is basically a pain in the ass to have if you live in Boston proper (and even if you live in some of the outlying 'burbs). I mean, parking sucks, and even when it's available, you need a neighborhood sticker to actually park on the street. I'd totally recommend ZipCars . They come in handy for those necessary trips to Costco and such, or when you realize that you have something big and bulky to buy that you don't want to lug around on the T. Also something to note on transportation, DO NOT LIVE ON THE GREEN LINE. I don't care if you found the apartment of your dreams, it's not fucking worth it. This is because everything in Boston is on the green line. If you've ever been to Park St. Station on an Tuesday afternoon during evening commute, been anywhere around BU, or been around Kennmore after a Red Sox game, you'd know what I'm talking about. Another note with the T, get a monthly pass if it's your primary mode of transportation. If you have a job, most likely they'll pay for it. Last bit of advice for the T, get yourself an iPod if you don't have one already. You'll understand why pretty quickly. Oh, and the Metro is free, and that's why everyone has a copy. That might seem obvious, but it literally took me months to figure out.

Some shopping tips: You can find most things you need in downtown crossing (clothing wise anyway, but there's also a big Macys). Downtown crossing is hella ghetto though. For the mall, Cambridgeside Galleria is right off the green line (Lechmere stop), or for high-ish end stuff there's Copley/Prudential in Back Bay. Every other mall is car-accessable only (well, if you had all day and the patience of a nun, you could probably get to some of the malls by bus, but to tell you the truth it's literally easier to go shopping in New York than it is to get to the mall at Framingham if you don't have a car). Most everything else you need is available at CVS, which is ubiquitous in the city. There are basically 3 grocery stores in boston. No, I'm not kidding. There's a Whole Foods near Charles MGH, There's a grocery store in Copley/Prudential (Vons or something), and then another grocery store in the Fenway. There are also a couple of Trader Joes around...the closest one Boston Proper being the one in Back Bay. There are also a number of bodega/delis around, but they're much more expensive for the most part (but a great place to meet eligible singles--the Golden Goose in the North End especially). So basically, unless you intend to eat every meal out (like I did), you'll need to Zip Car.

Eats and Entertainment. Boston has some pretty good food, but a lot of it is expensive. If you're on a shoestring budget, try geting Banh Mi in chinatown. $2 sandwiches are fucking amazing. Chinatown also has a lot of good restaurants--lots of veggie options. Other cheap eats can be found everywhere around Northeastern and BU. Check out coolidge corner especially. For causal type meals, check out the theatre district or South End. Atmosphere is a little gay, but hell, the gays have the best food right? Boston's North End (where I lived) is filled with amazing food as well. Try Mike's, but go early or during the day. Their cannoli is totally worth it. I surived on Bova's calzones for much of my time in Boston. And they're great because you can buy a big one, cut it up and warm it up to eat later. In terms of cheap kick, walking in the garden/commons is always fun, or go jogging along the esplanade. The Aquarium is also worth checking out, as is the MOMA. In terms of shows, Boston is usually the first stop for most touring broadway shows, so check those out too. And definitely see Shear Madness. Great show to see more than once, because it changes based on the audience.

Also worth noting, it's only like 15 or 20 bucks to get to NYC (each way, Greyhound from South Station). It's totally worth going all the time, the bus drops you right off in port authority, and New York is soooo much better than Boston in every way imaginable.

A couple of good links:
WikiTravel Article on Boston
Wikipedia Article on Boston
The T
Dunks

So girl whose name I forget, hopefully this gives you a couple of things to think about. Hit me up if you have any other questions, or if you wanna know something specific. I know when I moved there, it really helped having someone who knew the city to help me get my bearings. But hell, getting to know the city on your own is half the fun.

Ha. Tits.

2008-04-12T17:16:00.001-07:00

I pulled this from Scottie's blog...apparently it was on the BBC.

I'm shocked I missed it, but then again I don't typically read their photoessays on nature-y shit. Yeah, I know, my liberal ideology seems to suggest that I'd be more of a tree hugger, but I have to say that I'm in complete agreement with J. Maarten Troost on this one. I hate the outdoors and I'm perfectly comfortable sitting on the couch in my nice warm house. If the all the lions, tigers and bears in this world aren't as comfortable with their surroundings as I am, I'll be happy to send a check.

Actually, come to think of it, tits remind me of another subject I've been giving some thought to--something I saw on Oz (if you watched the show, you'd get the reference). Basically I've been ruminating prisons and congressional districts. Oz brought up some pretty wild issues. For example, did you know that the prison population is actually factored into political districting decisions? You might say "yeah, that makes sense," but does it? I mean, prisoners, by virtue of being convicted of a felony, can't vote. Also, they have no income, meaning that they factor into the census population as people living below the poverty line. The general implication of this is that the congresspeople in these districts (in NY for example), are getting all kinds of aid and subsidies based on a fucked up statistic. They're also getting elected by fairly unrepresentative portion of their "constituency." Think about it, these prisoners, despite not being allowed to vote, are still arguably having their interests represented by that particular congressperson. But if they could vote, do you really think they would vote for the same dude that the rest of the town/district voted for? Some official that prides himself on being "tough on crime" and that is an avid proponent of the death penalty? Seems pretty fucked to me, although it also seems to be a good topic for my final paper. hmmm...

Holy Hell

2008-04-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I spent all freaking morning fucking with this blog, trying to get it exactly the way that I want it. Or at least in a format that I'm willing to settle on. I love you Scott, but you were of no help at all. Skank. Anyway, I'm in for a technology-themed day. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon reading a book called Post Broadcast Democracy and a couple of other political/technology related articles in preparation for my class on Wednesday. I stupidly volunteered to do the final presentation in the class, so I need to put a little more effort than usual into understanding this material. And I need to put significantly more amount of time into developing the presentation, since the last (and only other) presentation I did for this class was....well, long winded (to put it mildly). What can I say? Wilson's Bureaucracy is an incredibly dense book. Not my fault it takes a half hour just to give a brief overview of main points.

In other news, the job search hasn't gotten any better since yesterday, but I am sort of enthusiastic about the possibility of joining the peace corps. The more I read, the more excited I get. I probably should have spent more time hammering out the essays on the application. But hell, there's only so much you can say in 250-500 words. Apparently the next step is getting a letter in the mail that gives me some additional application information, and after that, within the next month or two, I should be contacted by a PC recruiter for an interview. With my luck, I'll be rejected from the PC as well. At least if job search track record is any indication.

So it's finally getting hot here in Phoenix, 90s and 100s I guess over the next week. It's about time I suppose. But I really have no idea how much longer I can deal with the emptiness of being unemployed. School is ending in a week or so, and pretty soon I'll be left with nothing except a fruitless job hunt and the depression of being an unproductive member of society. I'm sort of considering just giving in, moving back to Hawaii and getting some McJob somewhere while living with the rent's or my sister. To tell you the truth, that's probably a viable option depending on what happens with the PC. I mean, if things ending up happening with this program, going back to Hawaii for a few months to work a little and save up some money isn't too bad of an idea. What do you guys think?

Finally.

2008-04-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

So i've finally gotten around to starting up this blog. I signed up for the account ages ago and then completely forgot about it until today. As you all (you all = scott / kj, since you two are the only people that will know I even have a blog) know, my first attempt at blogging began in the summer of 2003, when I blogged daily about the news and current events. And then, well, school started, and my posts got less and less frequent until I finally forgot my login information for the account. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time around.

A brief life update since my last blog. First, I'm no longer a college student. Yep, I finally tricked them into letting me graduate. Yay! Since graduation, I had a brief stint peddling porn here in Phoenix, then I spent a year living on the East Coast...mostly in Boston, working at my first "real" job, which I subsequently quit because the job sucked, the company was shittily run (sorry Deb), and I developed a terrible case of sciatica. So, this past winter I moved back to Phoenix where (after 4 months) I'm still unemployed, but at least I've been able to start taking graduate courses at Arizona State. The long term goal is to get into grad school, but I've been really freaking out about finding gainful employment in the erstwhile. This freak out about jobs has led me to apply for some pretty random stuff in the past couple of days. Yesterday, for example, I applied to be a flight attendant on Hawaiian Airlines. Yeah, I know. and Today, I somehow got it into my head to finally finish my application to the peace corps (an application I started in 2004). So we'll see what comes of that.

Anyway, aside from life sucking because I'm unemployed, It's also beginning to suck because of the weather. They say it's going to get up to 100 degrees on Monday, and you all know how well I do with warm/hot weather.

I hate for this inaugural post to be completely pessimistic and depressing, so let me tell you a little about my class. I'm taking a grad seminar in American politics right now. The class is great, I like the professor, but I have come to realize that American politics is not the sub-discipline for me. Well, in all fairness I knew that already, but this class just firmed that notion in my mind. I think that I'm doing well in the class though. My professor mentioned tat he thought I was struggling a little in the beginning, but I think I've come around, and I think I have a fair shot of getting a decent grade. At least it's a foot in the door to grad school you know? So we'll see how things go with it. I've only got two weeks left in the class, so I'm hoping to make these next two weeks kick ass.