ouch. what can i say? smithies > we work hard and party hard, too? this picture on the NY Post page is very smithie: cute, she loves to bake, but she can steal yourmoney or balls right from under you, and is ruthless in her reasonings why. BUT i must say that robin katz isn’t representative of most smithies once in the real world? i think robin katz’s behavior isn’t representative of what most people once in the real world. thievery of this expensive proportions is almost always tied to compulsive lying > the first excuse is ‘i need to pay my bills”. lifting over 110G from an account to pay your bills speaks to the ridiculous cost of your bills. while excessive debt can be for student loans, bankruptcy, or a bad business deal, more often it’s that you are spending beyond your means towards luxury. we can get so greedy and feel impervious when we are so young. it sucks she’ll be going from glam NY-investment banker life to jail and fines very soon. thanks to TSC for the story.
oh how i can relate to this article. when i first started this blog, i did do it out of a small wish for fame and notoriety, not so much that people would be logging on to read about the party i went to last night, or the amazing cardamon bread pudding i made over the weekend, but i had hoped the idea behind this blog would catch on. people would start using the “no postage necessary” envelopes to send in poetry, love letters, or intellectual articles to the credit card application collection centers. soon, i’d have to created another blog to just post the responses and reasonings, something more along the lines of PostSecret with substance and commentary on social disconnect and loneliness, rather than just community picture submissions like upsidedowndogs or look at this fucking hipster (as entertaining as it is to scan through that site every now and then). i want commenters, i want more people saying “hey, cool post”, or sending me emails about paper goods they’ve sent in to the collection centers and why.
but also, i know of the ease to start something and not complete it: diets, workout routines, fictional novellas, etc. blogging really could just be the internet fad of the 21st century, and the thought of all the abandoned blogs out there pains me to think of all the WWW space they’re uselessly and inefficiently taking up. [certainly not to say, nopostagerequired is contributing to the greater good and worth however much GB it’s using). plus, i’m reminded that i’ve got to go and delete that embarassing, old LiveJournal I wrote back in high school. another reason i started this blog was the hope that it’d encourage me to write more. if i was writing, however informally, on a consistent basis> that can only help me practice and perhaps make all the papers in graduate school much easier to complete. but alas, i’ve fallen too often into the “sorry, i haven’t posted here in awhile” trap, and sometimes this blog becomes a nagging chore that’s always in the back of my mind to work on, much in the same way of starting art projects, that Census Bureau application, or that morning workout. i will write here that I am attempting to write here at least 4 times a week until it becomes routine. it’s taken me more than a year, but i’ve at least gotten to 100+ posts, it’s somewhat reassuring that nopostagerequired won’t be listed on One Post Wonder, i’ve jsut to be more diligent in keeping it up. onward >
i interned for Domestic Workers United during the summer of 06. it’s an organization that is completely grassroots, and really about giving domestic workers the agency to take on their battles for justice. along with jacob blumenfeld and company, DWU was a huge part of why the summer of 2006 was so inspiring, to see these immigrant women who came for a better life, but were stillcaught in a disadvantaged position to speak up for themselves and each other that they are hard workers, what they do as nannies or housekeepers is actual work, and they deserve proper respect was incredible.
i recently saw an editorial cartoon on slate that had a guy holding an umbrella that was failing to keep him dry from this huge rainy, stormy cloud titled “the economic crisis”. the word bubble said “finally, i am feeling the trickledown”. HOW TRUE. lately there’s been so much talk about how when business and capitalism was good, the rich didn’t want to spread the wealth around like socialism, but now that there is trouble, they are all asking for help and a bailout. and this whole situation has become something that’s really affected everyone, even the ones at the bottom or outside of the system.
heading home for Thanksgiving, i was able to get a ride from RVW’s brother (and my friend), DVW. a car ride with a good acquaintance is infinitely better than a tight, cramped, and long Chinatown bus ride with a bunch of strangers. however, our ride up to Bucks County, PA took much much longer than expected, we hit traffic every single time we entered a new state: MD, DE, and PA. but that gave us time to listen to Kanye’s new album (3 times!), Jim Gaffigan’s Beyond the Pale, and Mitch Hedburg’s Do You Believe in Gosh?
also, the ridiculous amounts of traffic gave us time to catch up. i learned that DVW is in the process of becoming a volunteer firefighter for fairfax county, va. yes, people actually volunteer to go through classes, exams, and physical training to help out with firefighting duties – for no money. while they aren’t on call, they do get pages when any firefighting activity such as a hazmat spill, or water mane leak occurs, and in some particularly huge, and complicated situations, they will be called in to support. i asked DVW if he was simply going through this lengthy, and expensive (money and time) process just so he could run into a burning building, or fight against a hurricane – for no monetary funding – but out of the goodness of his heart to save people. he said yeah, that and the free gear -> apparently a lot of t-shirts, sweats, and being able to carry around your own complete firefighting outfit in the trunk of your car.
how to be a volunteer firefighter:
high school degree or GED, though a degree in Fire Science would be useful
enroll with your local Fire Department and begin their training
Physical Exam - test your ability to handle the stresses of emergency services
EMT Basic
VISIT (Volunteer In Station Training)
Level I/II – classroom training about the history of firefighting but also how to tie knots
EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operators Course) – parallel park a fire truck, and which alarm is better for a hazmat spill and a cat being stuck in a tree
hydraulics - the fundamentals of getting water through a pump to a fire
once fully trained, DVW is expected to donate about 20 hours/month, go to the station, temporarily replace career firefighers, act as a standby to other local fire departments, and help out with bingo night (which occurs every now and then). he can serve for 6 months, or however long he wants, continue his studies to become a career firefighter, or just stay on the volunteer lines.
i stole this from kanye’s blog, and click on it immediately because it was so different from everything else that he posts: models, new urban buildings, modernist design or inventive new artists. Beejoir – LV Child Sculpture: this little African child tagged with the louis vuitton logo all over like one of the famously expensive purses. the thing that struck me was how, even at the most basic analysis level, this piece is about mass consumption in this global economy – Louis Vuitton = luxury, physically branded upon like an object, an emaciated African child in fetal position (though looking up… at what?). but not every reader saw it that way.
kanye’s love for LV is not a surprise. he’s a big fan of and worked with takashi murakami, and lyrics to Stronger include “Cause this is Louis Vuitton dime night, So we gon do everything that Kan like“. some of the comments to this post are surprising, if not a bit alarming: “These are dope!”, “MAN, YOU DON’T KNOW ART. THESE SHITS IS HOT, SON; & MAD EXPENSIVE! FUCK YOU MEAN?, or “they look like baby Obama’s”. -> OMG, really? they look like baby Obama’s?
but luckily there are just as many commenters who write: “I actually really hate these, it makes me kind of feel like they are slaves and they are just being look at as if they are property and not human…..seems kind of disrespectful to me.”, “If you stamped/or dressed all the hungry children with louie vuitton shit–would they be worth feeding then?..would that get your attention?”, “If we have a fancy logo on us, is that enough for you to care about us?”. they also come in gold. beejoir’s work definitely revolves around the new global, overindulgent consumerism. while the artist was successful in getting his message across, what does it mean when he’s also made 100 copies of the sculpture and selling them for $500 apiece?
it’s now even more expensive to apply for american residency and citizenship. i’ve touched upon this in previous posts (like here) but the HPV vaccine is getting even more convoluted and controversial almost everyday. not only has it been reported that it’s one of the most painful shots one can get and some girls are even fainting from it, but its very campaign geared towards young women of a “sexually active” age brings into question race, gender class, abstinence-only sex education, and preventative medicine.
it’s amazing and almost astounding that we now have vaccines that can prevent cancer, its like the medicine of the future. this HPV vaccine needs to be made accessible, and its great health insurance companies are now covering the costs, but requiring it brings about a whole new level of control over girls and women’s bodies. even though guys are just carriers, why aren’t they required to get vaccinated? and have we got into the habit of using pharmaceuticals to cure ailments that might have been caused b/c we’ve been taking other pharmaceuticals? it’s definitely a stretch to say that HPV and cervical cancer are caused by drugs, but conspiracy theory time: what if the government’s new requirement of the HPV vaccine is because they are in bed with the pharmaceutical companies, and the vaccine itself has a fairly strong and positive message, which makes it easier to market? it’s more obvious to see why doctors are pushing this so hard, but the prospect of the government & the pharmaceutical industry in bed together is not an earth-shattering notion. i definitely believe that gardasil is an amazing piece of medicine & scientific research, but who it’s made compulsory for – young girls many of whom cannot cannot afford it because they do not have health insurance, and now many of the young girls trying to immigrate into the country are being forced to pay even more and jump through additional hoops – is what worries me.
finally a wealthy political pundit/celebrity follows through on their word. i love keith olbermann’s indignation and disposition to outraged wrath towards the conservative Republican bloc. his anger and journalistic antics are like the liberal version of FOX News. i guess i’m seduced by the ’superficial, shallow’ entertainment of clearly biased american news – it’s pretty obvious which side i’m on. i like Keith Olbermann as much as I hate FOX News. props to KO for not just spewing irateness, but thinking of a way to constructively contribute to a tangible, and good cause.
must point out though that the Obama campaign should stop harping on Palin supporting the ‘bridge to nowhere’ until it became unpopular and she said ‘no, thank you’ because record shows that Obama & Biden supported it, as well. thanks to Political Lunch for the fact-checking.
also, in my search for new blogs, i recently came upon this – Feminists 4 Sarah Palin. it argues against what seems to be the biggest point of contention with the Palin VP candidacy – that her nomination is a slap in the face to all Hillary supporters and feminists everywhere. i’m still mulling over how i feel about the points this blog makes in regard to the conception of feminism today. much of the argument is (like in my ’sarah palin to the rescue? post) whether woman = feminist, or have we achieved a certain level of equality to move past that to something more complex and intricate.
in Only as Good as Your Word: Writing Lessons from My Favorite Literary Gurus, Susan Shapiro tells of her relationships with several of her most important writing mentors to outline her own story as a writer. she starts with her high school modern lit teacher: Mr. Zucker, her older best-selling author and columnist cousin: Howard Fast, her very first boss at the New Yorker: Helen Stark, colleague, conspirator, and realist Ian Frazier, the unassuming legend Ruth Gruber, the fastidious editor Michael Anderson, and the unrelated poet Harvey Shapiro. in chronicling her partnerships with each, she describes the ups and downs of being a freelance writer: pressures to find the next assignment, dealing with unaccomodating editors, writing about things you don’t necessarily care about, or in the writing medium that is not your particular specialty, and the seductiveness of a full-time, salaried, but potentially very boring office job.
Shapiro writes of mentor/mentee relationships between writers but her coming-of-age story to be a prominent and prolific freelance writer is more about the lessons learned from the relationships that we all seek out – either for advice, companionship, out of admiration, convenience, or necessity. there are people who are always pushing you to stay true to your craft, not to sell out, or there are those who are realistic when you get idealistic. there are some relationships that seems to be less mutual admiration, and more one-sided, those that just fade b/c one person decides to just cease contact – there are these life lessons about people and relationships, that you can’t keep them all, and they aren’t always on your terms, or any sort of mutual terms. it’s something i’m still struggling with as i realize how true and frequent to the world this scenario exists.
“Hadn’t I been a promiscuous protege myself? i’d cast a wide net, juggling many editors, older colleagues and superiors simultaneously, deserting a few gurus gone wrong, always searching for more gurus gone right. (more…)
another case for why people do not trust labor unions in America. while most work hard to properly represent workers from all sorts of trades, blue-collar, or service sector, even college professors and graduate students, getting them the proper benefits, contracts, and pay wages, it is the stories of stealing, deceit and trickery that get headlines. the union men and women that i’ve met in my very brief 1-2 year experience in the labor movement are the hardest working, family-oriented, salt-of-the-earth, good-natured American gritty, honest and kind people around.
it is unfortunate that the American labor movement has become entangled with politics, bureaucracy and corruption in recent years. given its long and, at times, questionable history (mob? communists?) in the country, perhaps it’s almost understandable or logical that people are generally skeptical of how much unions actually do accomplish to benefit the American worker.
but it’s stories like this that set the whole movement back a couple of steps and add to the negativity that unions are corrupt and ineffective. to steal more than $93,000 from the members and the fund that you were trusted to protect and take care of, for your own personal finances is wrong, despicable and immoral. i don’t like to mix morals with politics and public life, but there are definitely things that almost everyone, living in this society, can agree to be wrong. the fact that union cops took money out of the account used for charitable causes, including a fund for their fellow, slain officers just adds injury to insult. stuff like this is why people generally do not trust the po-pos, the two caught and charged with stealing, they are hurting the cause of what they are supposed to stand for – they should be reputable and trustworthy as union leaders and police officers.
better than setting up a bonfire in the woods by yourself and throwing all of the stuff he gave you that was “cute” into it. here at Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry: “You don’t want it, he can’t have it back”, you can sell the jewelry given to you from previous relationships and tell the stories or reasons of why you are no longer together. unlike the pawn or consignment shops, the website does not take a big chunk of the profit for itself. Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry is almost like a support group for the broken-hearted. it’s almost comforting to know you aren’t the only person who has been cheated on recently, though it may feel like it. mostly geared towards women in heterosexual relationships, there is a section where men can sell jewelry remnants of old loves, as well.
these Tiffany Elsa Peretti Open Heart earrings for $150 seem particularly covetous. it also comes in a pretty Tiffany teal envelope! why is she selling? “he pretty much promised me the world and didn’t come through for me. But now I have a fantastic new boyfriend… So, I’m selling the old jewelry to make room for the new jewelry!”Other memorable lines: “he was lazy, cheap, and a piece of crap, obviously he must go”, “same old same old”, “all my exes have been idiots”, “need to pay the bills…”
the section on engagement rings is particularly heartbreaking.
money or balls right from under you, and is ruthless in her reasonings why. BUT i must say that robin katz isn’t representative of most smithies once in the real world? i think robin katz’s behavior isn’t representative of what most people once in the real world. thievery of this expensive proportions is almost always tied to compulsive lying > the first excuse is ‘i need to pay my bills”. lifting over 110G from an account to pay your bills speaks to the ridiculous cost of your bills. while excessive debt can be for student loans, bankruptcy, or a bad business deal, more often it’s that you are spending beyond your means towards luxury. we can get so greedy and feel impervious when we are so young. it sucks she’ll be going from glam NY-investment banker life to jail and fines very soon. thanks to TSC for the story.
party i went to last night, or the amazing cardamon bread pudding i made over the weekend, but i had hoped the idea behind this blog would catch on. people would start using the “no postage necessary” envelopes to send in poetry, love letters, or intellectual articles to the credit card application collection centers. soon, i’d have to created another blog to just post the responses and reasonings, something more along the lines of 
caught in a disadvantaged position to speak up for themselves and each other that they are hard workers, what they do as nannies or housekeepers is actual work, and they deserve proper respect was incredible. 
the-earth, good-natured American gritty, honest and kind people around.
