My Amazon.com Wish List
Friends to check out...
Nick
Antithete (Rachael)
ChasingNuts
Amanda
Photoplasia (Jim)
Bob Hutko
Geralyn
Matt

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional

i bloviate [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
jer_

[ website | ibloviate - www.ibloviate.org ]
[ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ]
[ archive | journal archive ]

Valentine's Day [Feb. 8th, 2010|12:20 pm]
[Current Mood | bouncy]

Every Valentine's Day, I see those "Valentinr" meme links floating around the vast web of social networking and I think, "Yeah, that's all well and good for those that ask, but what about those that never ask?" Those people who, in elementary school, sat quietly and went through their two or three Valentines and never complained about it, despite the fact that they delivered their hand-printed cards to the entire class...and they even spent the extra to get the Simpsons or South Park ones that you can't get at the Dollar Store. In High School, they are the ones that let you copy their math homework in high school, but still were disappointed each time they opened their locker to find it lacking in cards. Those people who would never post a Valentinr request because, shit, they've already lived the hell of hoping for recognition and getting nothing...that would be insanity.

So I have a mission for you:

It's going to be a pretty tough mission, because it is going to require that you spend a little time thinking, and more importantly, thinking about others...but here's how it works...
  1. Find a person that could use a pick me up, a hug, or a little bit of lovin'
  2. Find a method of anonymously providing them with a Valentine's Day card...perhaps you know their email address and can provide a virtual card. If you have their mailing address, you could mail one. If you know where they frequent you could leave one for them. Use your imagination.
  3. Send them a Valentine's Day card that says "I appreciate you. Thank you." (Please, this is a spot where you should consider deviating from the script some)
  4. Anonymously get the card to the recipient.
  5. Repeat until the season ends.
Let me know how it goes...I'm off to the dollar store to buy some cards.
Link1 comment|Leave a comment

Oh, This is Going to Suck!!! [Jan. 31st, 2010|11:46 am]
[Current Mood | scared]

I have decided to do a Polar Plunge in February.

Here's the deal, my friend Josh is doing a Polar Plunge to raise money for the Michigan Special Olympics. I think this is an awesome thing to do for an awesome cause. His goal, this year, is $1000. I will donate 5% of whatever he raises (up to $200, because..umm...I'm not loaded here) toward my own campaign. Why? Because if I get $50 in my account, I, too, will be taking the plunge. That's right, if he hits his $1000 goal, I will be dropping my body into icy, Michigan water on the 20th of February in Ann Arbor.

So, to recap, give that man money, help the Special Olympics raise money, see if my fat ass floats in really fucking cold water. It's pretty simple.

Go donate!

Or don't, that water looks frigging COLD in his video from last year.
Link9 comments|Leave a comment

Idle Thoughts [Jan. 31st, 2010|10:45 am]
[Current Mood | nervous]

Some thoughts about yesterday's sexual harassment post and some of the responses thereto.

A lot of people (many, many people) have pointed out that what “really needs to be done” is to tell everyone which touching is bad, tell everyone that this touching will not be accepted, and tell everyone that—if you are harassed—you absolutely can tell folks and get help. This implies a few things I find ludicrous:
  • Supposition 1: Some people don't know that grabbing someone without permission is unacceptable. Seriously? Now I'm not going to deny that there is a tiny subset of people that don't know that grabbing someone is wrong, just like there is probably a subset of people who don't know that driving drunk or committing robbery is wrong. I don't know that those people are teachable. By and large, though, the individuals doing this shit are people that know it is wrong and STILL FEEL SAFE DOING IT. The douche that grabbed the young lady from my story yesterday assuredly knew it was wrong, he had been told in the past that she did not want him touching her, he was certainly reminded of it when her fiancé spoke up about it…and he shrugged, smirked, and went on his way. He knew that it wouldn't be addressed, because culturally we don't address it in the guise of being “accepting” of others' flaws and in the spirit of not policing one another's behavior.
  • Supposition 2: Telling the sort of people that do this that it won't be accepted will help. A couple of the local conventions have a policy in place on this. It's in the rules. We state, it clearly. It still happens. Why, do you suppose, is that? Because telling people we won't accept it is mere lip service until we contribute action. Until we actively fail to accept harassing activity, we are telling the sort of person that believes that silence equals consent that by our silence, we consent to their activity. Frankly, this is the weakest way out I can imagine…“Well, we really don't like sexual assault, but to actively and aggressively target it sounds like a lot of potentially uncomfortable work. Can't we just draft an angry note? Can't we just place strongly worded signs about the convention?” Yes, we can. That is a great step.
  • Supposition 3: The “victims” (and I use the term very loosely) in question simply don't realize that they can ask for help. This is actually an interesting, two-front battle. There are people who are harassed that simply aren't aware that the convention committee can be informed and can take action; this is a failure on the part of the committee (and I include myself in this failure, as I have served on a number of those committees and have entirely failed to address the issue in any tangible way). We do need to spread the word that the committee can and will take action. The other side of this, though, is that many people have approached the committee, staff, or persons in charge with complaints…and nothing came of it. Worse, I have gotten two emails to date from people who were made to feel as though they were “whining”, “stirring up trouble”, or “overly sensitive” for complaining. So how can we tell people that they can report this behavior if we have a culture that is actively dismissive toward just such a report? When a harasser can be told, “We are going to report you to the concom” and he or she simply rolls his eyes, smirks, and wanders away, there is clearly a problem. When people who have been harassed come forward explaining that they didn't want to report it because they didn't want to “play the victim” (you know, they deserved it because they were flirting or wearing a corset) or ruin the fun of others, we have created a culture of acceptance of that behavior.
So no, I don't consider words without action to be sufficient, acceptable, or even a realistic solution to the problem.

I have gotten a shocking number of messages indicating that these people “just need to stand up for themselves”, are being “hypersensitive”, or “should not be shocked when someone initiates physical contact” (specifically when being flirty)…because apparently the problem is not that one group is making unwanted, physical sexual advances. The problem is that those advances should be wanted, they should be rebuffed in a completely non-subtle way even if it is decidedly out of character for the person being advanced upon, and they are warranted anyway due to flirting. An appalling number of these messages came from women who point out that since they have no problem defending themselves all women should just defend themselves. First, let me point out that this is not about women, but about people being harassed. I have two male friends who I have witnessed being harassed to varying degrees…so assigning a specific gender pairing for this is ridiculous, it is about harassment. Second, your experience is not everyone's experience. Simply because I feel comfortable telling someone to get off of me, or simply because I find it trivial to come off as intimidating enough as to dissuade unwanted contact does not mean that everyone has that ability, or should even have to have it. By indicating that women should be able to defend themselves, you indicate that it is okay that they have to. I am firmly of the belief that everyone should be able to rudimentarily defend themselves, but I am even more of the belief that a convention full of friends should not be a place where we test that skill set.

Finally, this entire endeavor was characterized several times as “women needing a man to defend them.” I have no doubt that part of this is because I am a dude, so this is being looked upon in a very protectionist way, but I assure you that it is not. Quite the opposite. I am not asking men (or women) to defend anybody. I am hoping to create, through action, a culture at the conventions where this sort of behavior is so generally looked down upon that we aren't called upon to police activity at all; where sexually harassing folks is looked at like shitting on the furniture…this is something we just don't do here. It's just not okay.

In the beginning, it is going to be rough. There is no question that some power-hungry ass clowns are going to troop around barking at couples about consent, and we have to be exactly as intolerant of that sort of behavior as we will be to the other sort. There is a balance to be struck, and it will not be easy. This is relationship building, and every one of you in a healthy relationship know full well that building a relationship (or repairing one) is hard work. Add to that, we're repairing a culture that has—and here is an important bit—ACCIDENTALLY become damaged. I don't think that anyone rational is saying that the entire social group has conspired to create a hostile space for the quieter and more passive members, but the fact remains that in many ways our passive members are gazelles to the lion-like sexual aggressors. But I have faith we can make this shift and that we will all be the better for it.

One last thought, to those that have expressed support or helped spread this around to other members of fandom that my meager reach does not encompass, thank you. I'm going to probably continue to take a bit of a beating on this, and I'm pretty okay with that, but it is nice hearing that I'm not a complete ass once in a while. :)
I have killed comments on this entry. If you wish to comment, please feel free to email or use the comment thread from the original post.
Link

The Safety Dance [Jan. 30th, 2010|10:48 pm]
[Current Mood | weird]

I was sitting down, tonight, to do a little writing about the recent ConFusion convention from the perspective of a con-runner; but the more I pondered how best to kick things off the more I realized that there is something else I would prefer to address. Sexual harassment.


The problem, and a partial solution...

[Edited 2010-01-31@1052] I have posted some thoughts about the message traffic received in the 12 hours following this post. They can be found right here if you are so inclined.

Link47 comments|Leave a comment

ConFusion 2010 - Attendee's Report [Jan. 27th, 2010|12:40 pm]
[Current Mood | tired]

I have such a difficult time in writing these follow-up posts after a convention. I desperately want to write everything down immediately, while the memories are fresh and interesting to me—unfortunately my brain is usually such a exhausted, jumbled mess after a weekend immersed in the freaks and geeks that it is virtually impossible to string together a coherent narrative (which presupposes that I have ever before strung together words that could be considered “coherent” or even “a narrative”, but I digress). So usually I wait a week or so and find that my loss of interest and hazy memory of events results in a rather lackluster summary of the weekend. This time I'm going to try to write this out immediately, and hope that the editorial process will make it something akin to readable. This is my “from an attendee's perspective” version…I'll do one from the conrunner's perspective if I'm so inclined later.



Read the tale of a weekend in Troy, MI…
Link10 comments|Leave a comment

Parental Venting [Jan. 18th, 2010|11:55 am]
[Current Mood | frustrated]
[What am I listening to? |"Treat Me Like a Saturday Night" - Jimmie Dale Gilmore]

It is really hard for me to think of the feelings of others. I, personally, have a tremendously difficult time of it…so much so that it takes me a ridiculously long time to make real decisions that would involve the feelings of people that aren't me. As I alluded to in the past, I was diagnosed several years ago with antisocial personality disorder which is not entirely unlike (but is not the same as) being a sociopath…I just suck at empathy. Now, much like most mental disorders, there are methods for managing this. I rigorously set goals—I am constantly setting and revising them—I don't use drugs or alcohol, I avoid violence, I avoid being manipulative and try to be as overt in my motivations as I can, I have a convoluted and confusion set of rules that make sense to me (but to few others) that allow me to deal with authority and provide me with something not unlike empathy, and I struggle with controlling my behavior based on that set of rules (although I'm sure many of you would disagree).

So try to imagine how much it pisses me off to have to be the empathetic parent—to be the one that cares about my daughter's perception of things that go on routinely in her life.

Last week, I pick up a teary-eyed Amber from her mother's house and after only a modest amount of asking what was wrong I find out that my ex has been dumping loads of guilt on Amber for, of all things, seeming happy now that she's living at my house—because happiness is clearly Amber's fault. I spoke with my ex about it and I am convinced that she did not mean to make an eleven-year-old feel guilty for being happy, but she certainly didn't think it through either.

In the interim, it has been brought to my attention by Amber that her brother has amped up the program of teasing that he has been participating in since the summer; now into even more out-of-bounds territory. No more is he merely calling her fat and stupid, now he is pointing out that she is fat and stupid AND that their mother and dog like him better because he stayed where Amber did not. As if Amber doesn't feel like she is abandoning her mother enough, she needs that added to it. This was pretty significantly crushing for a little girl who is struggling with self esteem issues (possibly related to being abandoned by her mother for several years?) So I talked to Amber about it, called my ex and asked that Cody be grounded for this until his next visit to my place (two weeks) at which point I could deal with the situation. She agreed.

Less than a week later, Cody was ungrounded because he "sincerely apologized to Amber" and they all "discussed it." When I asked Amber if she felt he was sincere, she said that she didn't. When asked if she wanted him ungrounded, she said she didn't. When asked why she agreed to ungrounding, it was because she didn't want her mother to hate her and she was tired of Cody constantly on her ass about "getting him grounded."

Sure, that sounds sincere.

It really seems to boil down to two things:

  1. Cody can't be babysat by video games, computer, and television if he is grounded from them, that is a pain in the ass.
  2. Cody might not consider his mom's place the 'fun place' if he is punished there, so he couldn't stay grounded at the risk of his mother losing him too.

I get it. It is hard to be the disciplinarian. It is even harder when you know that your kids could, at any time, really decided that the grass would be greener elsewhere and actively dislike their living arrangement. I am intimately familiar with this concern…

…and I just don't care. I got a daughter back from her mother's place last night and she was in tears because it is clear to her that her mom loves Cody better. The evidence she gave was heartbreaking—her school and attitude at her mothers is compared to Cody's disfavorably (something I have heard her mother do, and we have discussed more than once not doing), Cody gets out of trouble quickly when picking on Amber but Amber gets immediately punished for annoying Cody, Amber's mother buys her fitness toys unprompted which must mean that Amber is fat, etc. So I have to separate from the situation and think and feign empathy and try to figure out why everyone is doing the stupid shit that they are doing; then I have to sit down with Amber and try to talk to her about this without talking badly about anyone, without speaking ill of her mother, and without being dishonest.

It becomes more impossible each time her mother does this to her.

So last night we spent an evening working on homework, having lengthy chats about the nature of self-esteem, people pleasing, and how the perception of things is not always representative of the reality of things. By this morning, I had my chipper, upbeat daughter back and ready to confront today's challenges head-on. If this keeps up, the only thing I can do is change visitation further to give Amber bigger breaks between being gutted by her mother…a change, mind you, that will be traumatic for Amber and fought vigorously by her mother, because her mother practices less empathy than even I.

And this is the part that is hardest for me to grasp—she practices less empathy than the guy who doesn't even feel empathy in any real way. If she is hurting, she lashes out. If she feels bad, she makes sure everyone knows. When she is inconvenienced, she makes her life more convenient. She rarely thinks of the long term affects on others, and only barely less rarely thinks of the short term impacts on others. So I find myself constantly being an apologist for the heinous acts of my ex. I'd love to hate her over this (and believe me, there are moments when my daughter's tears mix with mucous on my chest as she sobs her way through things that I do hate her), but the fact is, she and Amber are very similar. They are both struggling with self-esteem issues. They are both fighting to feel loved and needed in the world, and are both clinging to horrifying methods of getting that approval…one ministering to the horse that keeps kicking her in the face, the other placating and assuaging her own son so as to ensure his ongoing affection. It makes it hard to hate when all I can do is look at my 'rules' for empathy and think "Wow, how would that even work…how would I act if I was suffering like that?"

If history is any indicator, I'd act pretty selfishly.

So I'm left here again. No solution in sight, just more fumbling around trying to minimize the damage to whatever degree I can and strategies plans that will almost certainly be undone by others before they even get started. Thanks for letting me vent. I've pulled the ability to comment from this post, this was just me blowing off steam.

Link

One Week... [Jan. 17th, 2010|02:53 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |Home]
[Current Mood | happy]

Well, we're in the home stretch! Less than a full week until [info]dek9 and [info]daddy_guido come to town bringing merriment and mockery to all the bad boys and girls. Oh, and there's this little convention happening too… :)

This con should be different…the first time in a few years that I have no real jobs to participate in at the convention. In fact, all I am doing is a few panels (my schedule of panels will appear below). That is delightful to me, because I've watched as friends have struggled with programming and registration (and even pitched in some help where I could be of use) and I do not envy them in the slightest. It's nice to have a break, and this break means I get to hang with some of my favorite people having fun. Also, this year will mark the first time my kids have attended con, so this gives me time to explore it with them. Finally, I'm going to be able to aid Ger in her role as liaison to Peter Beagle; how awesome is that!?

What I'm really excited about, however, is the AASFA board's second foray into grant giving. Here's the board President's email on it:

Have a cool idea you want to do during ConFusion?

Don't have the money to make it happen?

Go to the AASFA Board's panel at 7pm on Friday, where we're giving away grants for cool things you want to do during the con!

Applicants will be required to explain their idea to the Board in front of a live studio audience and answer questions about it. (If you've seen the BBC program Dragon's Den, or the US's Shark Tank you
get the general idea.) The Board will then vote on whether to fund it or not. When we did this at ConStruct, most ideas got funded -- but some didn't, and you should be prepared for some tough and entertaining questions along the way.

If you're funded, you get the cash on the spot, so you can go off and get what you need. That's why we're doing it Friday night.

Ideas must:

  1. Be for something executable at the con
  2. Be for something that's open to the con membership, i.e. not a private event or party (it does not have to be suitable for all ages, so you could do something adults-only or something for KidFusion)
  3. Be legal
  4. Be cool enough to get funded!

Some of the things we funded at ConStruct were a Miracle Fruit tasting panel, a pervasive game that ran during the rest of the con, and a puppet making workshop.

Hope to see you there!

-- Joe and the rest of the AASFA Board

There it is, in a nutshell. I can say this, when we did it at ConStruct, it was a lot of fun. The actual process was very entertaining, and the results were fantastic. People really came through with some awesome ideas. I am excited about this new, larger run at it and I hope you all bring your awesome ideas for us to see and fund.

My schedule this weekend (* means that this is a panel I am scheduled to be on, others I am just planning to attend):

  • Thursday
    • 2000-? GoH Dinner - Having some dinner with the GoHs and elected guest
  • Friday
    • 1800-1900 *Intro to ConFusion Panel - Join us as we introduce the newcomer to the Con.
    • 1900-2000 *AASFA Grant Proposals - The AASFA board gives out cash in exchange for people doing great things at the con. Come see the entertainment!
    • 2000-2100 Opening Ceremonies - Well…opening ceremonies. You know the deal. I'm sort of on this, as the board will be briefly announcing winners of the cash grants.
  • Saturday
    • 1300-1400 Intro to Improv - Dawn, Greg, and Carrie teach us how to do improv comedy, then help us do so. This is traditionally a riot. I love this panel.
    • 1500-1600 Social Media Panel - Some social media experts (Dawn, The Ferrett, Cat Valente, Mike Resnick) talk about the topic. A meet & greet follows.
    • 1600-1700 SMOS: So You Want to Run a Con - Watch Greg and other con-running masters speak about how to run conventions. Obviously something near and dear to my heart.
    • 2000-2100 Brown Liquors - Dawn and Greg talk about booze…I don't even drink and I have to see this!
    • 2300-? *SMOScast - Carrie and I (and a herd of special guests) record another live SMOScast. Come see how the magic happens. This isn't exactly a panel, but we were given use of the concierge lounge for this.
  • Sunday
    • 1000-1100 A Reading with Peter Beagle - The name pretty much says it all, eh?

So that's the happs. This week is a nice, short week…and next weekend is a weekend of fun. Then a few weeks of broke to follow; but that happens, eh? :)

Link9 comments|Leave a comment

Parental Musing and my Daughter's Homecoming [Jan. 12th, 2010|04:36 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Location |School]
[Current Mood | exhausted]

So Amber is back living with Ger and I.

As catchup, for a few years now, my ex-wife has been wanting to have the kids live with her during the school year. I have resisted because after a hard-fought school year of pain and difficulty, the children were finally both somewhat meeting their potential. They were doing well. I was not a fan of upsetting the apple cart as it were. At the tail end of last year—with the children's school performance largely stabilized at mostly A's with the occasional B—we decided to give it a try this school year. I suppose it is actually more accurate to say that I allowed myself to be convinced, but with huge reservations.

Now, roughly four months after this experiment began, Amber is back living with us. Amber's A- average plummeted to a rather abysmal C+ (and that plus is pretty much a result of a whopping A+ in gym). At the end of marking period one, she was failing Math and barely hanging onto a pass in English and Science. At home, she was constantly having huge fights with her mother and the interpersonal conflict between the two had managed to settle into a cold war stat; Amber grounded from everything and in constant trouble and her mother gradually running out of ways to handle the situation.

Typically, I would be a fan of letting them figure it out…but this is her education here. Amber cannot afford to fail core classes at this stage of her education; not from the perspective of advancing her academic career nor from the perspective of missing valuable knowledge that will serve as building blocks for later learning. More importantly, she needs to learn to do it without someone up her ass constantly about it. It is essential that those fixes happen as soon as possible.

So every morning I get up bright and early and traffic my girl 45 minutes downriver to drop her at her school, then take my own self to work/school. In the afternoon, I pick her up from her mother's place (which is right near her current school) and we get to work on our respective homeworks. Mondays—my long days—and on her off days, Ger has volunteered to pick her up. In all, it adds about 6 - 9 hours to my already long weeks. Logistically, it sucks, but we will make it work. From all other perspectives, it feels like the right choice.

In the two weeks since the decision was made, Amber's homework has started to go in more regularly and her attitude has improved tremendously. My increasingly sullen teen-to-be has become the chipper, funny, happy kid that I remember. The attitude has all but vanished. Clearly, the constant stresses from whatever issues she and her mother were having with one another were taking their tolls on her; the tension release is almost palpable.

Cody, conversely, is thriving in the radically-less-structured environment of his mom's place. He seems happier and more generally comfortable since the change in a way that I would never have guessed. That hurts, a little…but it is what it is. The boy needed more autonomy than I am easily able to give, and his mother's house provides that hugely. This prompted the hardest part of the most recent change; the first time that the children have been split up. Frankly, while I have been against this in principle it just makes sense in this case…one of the things that we have to combat, however, is the sense of laziness that Amber has developed by virtue of having Cody around to "do for her". She has feelings of self worth that are wrapped up in her brother being the "smart one" that she doesn't recognize that she, too, is the smart one. Out from the omnipresent shadow of her brother, perhaps she can take her moment to shine and really see. I don't LIKE the idea of splitting them, but after much consideration and soul seeking, I don't think there is a better way. This might be for the best, in the long run.

In short, more hard decisions. Parenting is tough…and we're currently in the toughest part…not the decision between a shitty but obviously correct choice and a clearly wrong but way easier one, but the choice between a pair of fairly shitty options, one of whom is probably right (but not necessarily). Exhausting.

Is it time for vacation yet?

Link10 comments|Leave a comment

The Adventure of the Stolen Characters [Jan. 5th, 2010|12:41 pm]
[Tags|]
[Current Location |Home]
[Current Mood |happy]

Let me begin by saying that I went into Guy Ritchie's adaptation of one of my favorite characters expecting to hate it. Previews of Sherlock Holmes had led me to believe that Hollywood had, in its own inimitable fashion, managed to create another bland action drama out of yet another literary work…further raping the corpse of my childhood. I needn't have worried. What follows is behind a cut only because I don't want to worry about spoilers…but I don't plan on talking about the plot of the movie at all, so the only spoilers will be for those unfamiliar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes.


Read more... )

In short, if you are at all a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, you should absolutely see the movies. The characters are great, the cinematography is gorgeous, the script is hilarious, and the story could have been written by Doyle himself. A+++ would buy again!

Link6 comments|Leave a comment

2009 in Review [Dec. 31st, 2009|11:05 am]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood | relaxed]

It is that time again…the time to navel gaze and introspect about the highlights of yet another trip around the sun. My thoughts on the year 2009.

Link1 comment|Leave a comment

Driving me to Humanism [Dec. 29th, 2009|10:18 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | frustrated]

Why is it that people with beliefs that I respect so often don’t actually practice those beliefs? I am time and again frustrated and upset by people that express a core belief structure that really resonates with me…something with which I really connect…time and again I find myself disillusioned by those same people.


Yesterday, an author and female that I respect as something of a self-professed feminist posted this picture with the associated text as follows: “This is the single manliest image evar. @justbeast’s dad at age 18”.


If you don’t immediately see the problem, don’t fret—I will be happy to explain it ad nauseam below the cut...

Link20 comments|Leave a comment

And now, for a break... [Dec. 19th, 2009|09:14 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood | relieved]

Today I took my last final of the semester (and I’m fairly certain I killed it, for the record)…so now I take my first real break in…well, pretty much at all. The kids are with my parents until I get there for Christmas, I have no events to plan, organize, or arrange in the near future, no projects lined up, nothing. I think I’ll take a few days off and do not a thing except possibly visit with friends. After that, I’ll take a leisurely poke at a few minor things I’ve been putting off and slowly gear back up for getting back to work and school for the winter semester.

But for now, just the relaxing part; and maybe some Left 4 Dead.
LinkLeave a comment

On Vendettas [Dec. 11th, 2009|04:21 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | annoyed]

One of the fun things that followed the anti-Me campaign was that several people sent me their stories of being hounded by simple-minded children. To be honest, most of the stories were WAY worse that what I went through last week, so it really put things in perspective.

The one that really made the most impact on me, however, was a school friend named Luke.

You see, Luke apparently annoyed a member of one of his project groups at school; a group that finished its project and disbanded months ago. Not especially enamoured with his group experience, Luke moved on. Group-mate Vamsi Kancharla, however, did not.

Now let me begin by saying this…I have no problem taking folks to task over the web or really any public medium. In fact, it is probably one of the things I find the Internet most useful for; once we suffered indignities or injustices quietly and without numbers to help spur change. With the Internet, we can broadcast our displeasure and join with others similarly disenfranchised to make a difference of some sort. That belief, though, is predicated on a few things:

  1. You must drop some knowledge on us. You can’t just bitch about how airline A sucks and they can rot for all eternity in the fiery depths of hell…no, you have to explain what happened and give us a chance to determine if a sleight happened at all. Vamsi Kancharla’s temper tantrum did not do that. He devoted 10 of his 12 twitter messages on @vam_si to telling Luke to fuck off (he has since cleaned it up, no doubt because the lack of wisdom in linking his homepage to his tantrums became apparent to him), but none to what Luke did that was so terrible. Perhaps Luke is the worst human alive, but the world will never know.
  2. You have to display maturity and intelligence. I initially used the word wit there, because my method is to try to be witty and amusing, but you don’t have to be…but you do have to be mature enough to present a case that the public can get behind. Another friend recently got dicked by a travel agency and ended up receiving great effect from very simply laying out her complaints to a listening public and allowing the public to decide what to do. No humor, no snark, just a mature (if not frustrated) explanation. Tantrums get you nowhere.
  3. The web has a long memory. Vamsi went out of his way to ensure that his uber-witty baldman website was linked to Luke’s name; check out the metatags lifted directly from Luke’s own homepage and repetitive use of Luke’s name. Clearly his hope was that a prospective employer, friend, or associate would run across this page (which, for the record, has failed so far), but it would take a moron to look at that page more than 3 or 4 seconds and not realize what it is. But if Vamsi’s name ever gets associated with that site (like, by his name being listed at the domain registrar for example...or if a bunch of people were to link to baldman.org with Vamsi’s name as the link text like so: Vamsi Kancharla *cough*) then his name gets to be associated with childish tantrums, really poor web design, and poor reasoning skills. Not a wise plan.
In the end, who is he hurting? I can’t imagine many people have even seen this site, or take it seriously, so I have a hard time considering Luke an injured party here. I mean, annoyed party, sure, but it’s hard to be injured by the Internet equivalent of being called a ‘poopy head’. No, the only person really getting hurt here is Vamsi himself…because in the time he has wasted on a stupid vendetta, he could have been taking much needed web design courses and (looking at his resume) boosting his GPA.

I’m just sayin’



[Edited 2009-12-11 19:42] Vamsi has taken the relatively wise steps of protecting his twitter feed and removing his antagonist site. He has, however, redirected baldman.org to my website...but...well...since I've been shaving my head bald for several months now, it seems rather fitting. Good times.

[Edited 2009-12-11 21:13] And the antagonist site is back up, but now Vamsi has gone ahead and put his name on it (now that he's been outed, that is). Manic much? Oh, and he explains his side in commentary where he a) points out that it was all an inside joke, b) posts from the same IP as the anonymous poster to prove that he wasn't the anonymous poster, and c) makes sure to note that I'm old. Clearly, I have wronged the boy.

[Edited 2009-12-12 07:49] It's as if the universe has given me a new toy, he just keeps coming back! Now he has posted a largely incoherent rant, and updated baldman.org to point out that I, too, am bald! You guys might be bored by this, but I get the feeling he never will be! I hope not, this is like a play.
Link19 comments|Leave a comment

Writer's Pay, of COURSE I Have an Opinion! [Dec. 11th, 2009|07:37 am]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | amused]

In engineering, I sometimes find that I disagree with the notions espoused by a senior person of my nerdy tribe. I might feel that, perhaps, when this gentleperson with a Ph.D. makes an assertion that (s)he has not taken the full weight of the matter into account, or perhaps (s)he fails to see the whole picture. In times like these, my go-to reaction is to sort of ‘poll the brain trust’ as it were. I run around like a child in search of permission, asking everyone with experience in the matter for their thoughts…I like to be fully informed. Sometimes I find out that I am right (or, far more often, I am simply not entirely wrong, which is something I am willing to call a victory in academia), but most of the time, I find that there is consensus—or near enough to consensus that I would be foolish to ignore it. Note well that this is not the same as consensus science (which is not really science at all, but politics); I refer to consensus of experience. Why would I need to blindly make my own mistakes when a cluster of well educated engineers scientifically made those mistakes for me and documented the hell out of it!?

I think of this every time I read something new in this kerfuffle over the pay rate for SFA writers and hopefuls. I find the entire topic interesting because I enjoy writing and would not mind one day making some money from it (although I think it is safe to say that fiction would probably never be in my future) and because I am an avid enough reader that the “back end” or “under the hood” stuff is interesting to me. To continue my already laboured metaphor, though: Seriously, people, when there is something not unlike a consensus amongst those that have been where you are that selling your work for fractions of a penny is not just unhelpful, but can be actively harmful, you should probably listen and give it some thought. When members of the industry who actively participate in this process from the buying end chime in to agree, you should most assuredly give a great deal of consideration to the facts presented. Most importantly—and I cannot stress this enough—if you are an aspiring writer taking established writers, editors, and publishers to task, check your goddamned spelling and grammar. For God’s sake, Jenn, your comments are ridiculous in ways that are ironic in the Alanis Morisette way and deleterious to your argument in a way that no response could ever be.

(For the record, I realise that I am now opening myself up to the most pedantic possible pokes at my spelling and grammar. I suppose that is the price I pay for being a douche...que sera, sera)

Link1 comment|Leave a comment

Anti-Jer Campaigning [Dec. 2nd, 2009|11:06 am]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | amused]

This needs some backstory...

So the other day at work, a student’s phone starts ringing with another of those pop-sounding not-quite-midi-but-not-quite-the-real-song ringtones that are ALMOST more annoying than hearing the actual song. Oh, and it was on LOUD. After the student let a verse or two play out (easily 15 or 20 seconds) he answered the phone. Loudly.

So I wandered over and—trying to keep it light (because the above mentioned people are also the exact sort to immediately take offense to even the mildest rebuke)—I said, “Hey, is that for me?” He responded that it wasn’t, so I said, “Aww, then you’ll have to take it outside then.” I chuckled, he chuckled, then he walked toward the door. Mission accomplished and, as a bonus, everyone is in a good mood.

Well, they WERE in a good mood.

Read the rest of the story and the text of the angry manifesto...
Link25 comments|Leave a comment

On Driving in Michigan [Nov. 25th, 2009|12:59 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood | annoyed]


Poll #1490273 Which way should traffic flow...
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

Given the above drawing, traffic should flow as follows...

View Answers

a) Lane A to Lane 3, Lane B to Lane 2
0 (0.0%)

b) Lane A to Lane 2, Lane B to Lane 1
30 (85.7%)

c) Lanes A and B to 1, merging as safely as possible.
2 (5.7%)

d) Lanes A and B to 2, merging as safely as possible.
0 (0.0%)

e) It’s the wild west, just go where you can!
1 (2.9%)

f) None of these. Some other response I’ll explain in the comments.
2 (5.7%)

g) I have no idea, I just want to click through.
0 (0.0%)


My explanation of this poll... )
Link10 comments|Leave a comment

SMOScast Episode 9: 9 Comes After 7? [Nov. 24th, 2009|02:33 pm]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood | happy]

Episode 9, featuring the new cohost, is up and ready for download in .mp3 (51.3MB) or .ogg (45.0MB) formats. Check out the website for some great ringtones to download.

Episode 9 - 9 Comes After 7? (56:02) - 7 November 2009
(.mp3 @ 51.3MB / .ogg @ 45.0MB)</div>

Much babble about upcoming conventions, introducing our new host, and discussion of an entirely too intimate nature. You know, pretty much same-ol’ same-ol’.

Carrie’s Glossary:
All the words I later had to look up because she’s the smart half of this duo.
Foofaraw, Folderol, Defenestrate, Archipelago, Ecumenical, Eschew

Some bonus material: Carrie’s Mogwai and Something in Me

  • 00:00 Intro Music (“Shut Up Woman, Get On My Horse”)
  • 00:28 The show starts.
  • 00:43 Yes, that is Jess figuring out that we’re talking about her.
  • 02:07 Yes, Scabies
  • 02:58 How did I end up at Netscape?
  • 03:41 Racism: Part 1 or Carrie Teaches About Racism
  • 04:26 Jer can’t help people on the side of the road
  • 04:58 Yes, that was “Rape the fuck out of her”
  • 05:56 Our super long word...the “game”
  • 06:35 Cryptosyphafooferolderal...abies
  • 06:56 Urethra sex
  • 08:15 We try to get folks to show us urethra sex
  • 09:39 Flashed by Limey, vision saved by the laptop
  • 10:03 ...then Jer falls in love with a dude
  • 10:28 We attempt to get back to the longest word, 4 minutes later
  • 10:49 Adding opisthotinis courtesy of Lucy
  • 11:04 Adding fenest from defenestrate
  • 11:11 Brendan’s urethra
  • 11:46 ConFusion January 22-24
  • 13:56 Peter Beagle on a Segway. How do we make this happen?!?!?
  • 15:03 Jer’s understanding of geography is stellar!
  • 20:30 Whale Fart Dance at ConFusion
  • 22:30 SkenCon III: CarrieCon
  • 23:45 Ooops, Jer finds out Carrie’s date wasn’t invited to SkenCon...by asking him if he’s going on air
  • 24:32 ConVocation February 18-21
  • 25:02 What is in Sken’s Browser History Round 1 - Fuckin’ nothing
  • 25:17 Round 2 - Fuckin’ nothing
  • 25:22 Round 3 - More nothing...most boring browser ever!
  • 29:30 Penguicon
  • 29:42 Spider Jerusalem does not equal Spider Robinson
  • 31:26 Racism 2: Jer hates German-pronounced names
  • 32:26 Inadvertent obscenity that was almost certainly...umm...vertent
  • 34:03 Pounding Pudding
  • 34:29 It’s smoscast.com douche. jer@ that.
  • 35:40 Jer gets distracted by hot Pocohontas for a while
  • 37:54 At exactly this moment, Nick magically appears
  • 39:56 Racism 3: Racism gone wild!!
  • 40:18 Trust me, at this point the stuff I had to cut was ridiculously out of control. Funny, but too far!
  • 41:54 Penguicon is missing the rest of the guests of honor
  • 42:51 Yes, we will BOTH be in drag. There WILL be photos
  • 43:27 A great soundbyte. Soon to be a drop!
  • 43:56 It’s a fine line between mogwai and smeagol
  • 45:45 It’s a similarly fine line between a furry and Silence of the Lambs
  • 47:11 The effectiveness of the Penguicon board
  • 47:40 Ignore the sudden cut...guess who has never heard a SMOScast before? Carrie!
  • 48:01 Jer tries to start a mother-daughter team
  • 49:19 We get some boob-age
  • 49:44 Back to the drag show discussion
  • 51:15 We are going to WindyCon! (Well, some of us)
  • 54:38 Time to wrap things up
  • 55:03 Outtro Music (“Shut Up Woman, Get On My Horse”)
  • 55:51 Secret bonus tracks...SHHHHHH!
LinkLeave a comment

From Twitter 11-20-2009 [Nov. 21st, 2009|02:08 am]


Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

LinkLeave a comment

From Twitter 11-19-2009 [Nov. 20th, 2009|02:11 am]

  • 08:52:45: Who is Simon Pratt? Why are they being interviewed? His wife makes Britney Spears look like a MENSA candidate.
  • 13:05:08: I am so tired of student excuses. Something comes up for you every week, and you never have time to make arrangements. Strange, that.
  • 15:25:01: Just got done installing Steam under Wine on my laptop. Relatively painless with a bit of presearch :)

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

LinkLeave a comment

From Twitter 11-18-2009 [Nov. 19th, 2009|02:09 am]

  • 12:59:49: I am ridiculously unproductive today. Seriously, like, Olympic levels of useless...
  • 15:25:13: So, what's the over/under on @ActuallyNPH's 140 character gag? I'm hoping he stops doing it on his 140th post...
  • 20:17:59: Playing Mario Bros Wii with the wife...we are bad Yoshi masters :)

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

LinkLeave a comment

navigation
[ viewing | most recent entries ]
[ go | earlier ]

Contact me?