Incessant Insights

In an act of procrastination, I went to the movie store for a mid-afternoon treat. Madison’s Four Star Video is a little overwhelming if you’re just spontaneously stopping in to rent something. Every movie looks interesting, most of them along the lines of independent, foreign, or dramatically serious. Yet I was in the mood for fluff. I’ve been meaning to watch How Stella Got Her Groove Back (I’m looking for a Renaissance of my own), but unfortunately it was checked out (I guess some other soul was bitten by the Bug of Desperation). I ended up selecting Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. I admit it, I was hipster-baited. I thought that a movie starring Michael Cera with a seemingly promising soundtrack had to be pretty okay (for a teen movie). I was wrong, folks. Utterly, irrevocably wrong.

The film could have so easily been cool – yet it was ruined by the dialouge which was forced, clichéd, unnatural, and awkward (and not in the ‘good’ awkwardness one would expect of a teen movie). First of all, the dialogue was lame. The whole bit about the “Uniboob” (when one of the gays drags Norah into the truck to make her look sexier) and other ‘witty’ phrases were anything but. Throughout movie there were phrases like this that the characters ‘coined’ that made them seem ‘super realistic’. They weren’t. With some subtle dialogue changes where the writers didn’t try to be witty (or actually where witty), it could have been a decent film.

Yet for how much I hated it, I do think it was spot on in a lot of aspects. Firstly, Nick and Norah both have exes that they can’t quite get over. These exes know their old flames are still pathetically in love with them, so they exploit the situation for their own amusement (or, in Norah’s man’s case, his career advancement). And, realistically, Nick and Norah both briefly went back with their exes even after meeting each other, showing how hung up people can get in a relationship, even if it sucked. Luckily they finally saw the errors of their ways, only because they found someone else, not because they had any strength of character. I also appreciated how frank this film was about sex and drugs. Both happen in high school, too the extreme. At least they weren’t being cookie cutter about it.

Okay, so I just admitted that maybe the movie was realistic…so aside from the painful attempts at ‘witty’ dialogue, I shouldn’t be so harsh about this movie. Yet it’s the realism that made me cringe. While I am probably five years older than they’re supposed to be, things seem to be preeeeeeettty similar – we just mask it with an older, more pretentious and worldly vibe. Why do people let themselves be manipulated by outrageously disgusting figures like Tris (Alexis Dziena – SHUDDER, SHUDDER, SHUDDER!) and Tal (Jay Baruchel – SHUDDER, but not as bad as Alexis)? I see these two archetypes every weekend at the bars and am incredulous as to how people find them appealing, seeing as their personalities suck AND they’re not even remotely attractive. We, as a culture, must just be masochistic to get involved – and be manipulated – by these losers. There is no other rational explanation.

So, after that horrendous viewing, I ironically relish my Chandler Bing Syndrome. Even though I have historically gotten involved with characters of a similar vomit scale (due mostly to boredom and/or desperation), I can always rely on my CBS to kick in, so I can manage to avoid the unnecessary attachment to these People Who Suck by quickly cutting all ties. It’s amazing sometimes how much good defense mechanisms can do. Long story short, we, as a culture, need to get over this disgustingly immature cycle. If someone sucks, DO NOT REINFORCE THEM, and especially do not give them the satisfaction of hooking up with them and/or dating them. I’d take Janice any day to any of these assholes.

Labels: chatter

My parents came to visit this weekend. I hadn't seen them for a couple of months. We'd phone chatted, but it was more along the lines of basic pleasantries. So naturally, now that they had me for 2 whole days, the inevitable "what are you doing after graduation?" question surfaced.

"3 month road trip, cover as much of America as I can, going both vertically and horizontally in depth".

Okay, then what?

"Abroad".

Okay....

"Teach for America."

Then...

*Crickets chirping*


To put it a little more eloquently, I am not exactly 'delaying' the real world as much as trying to figure out how I want to contribute to it. Here's a rough itinerary:

July 2010-October 2010
I want to travel the country. Maybe not every state, but close. I want to create my own Portrait of America (maybe even publish a book about it...there's always a market for one of those), documenting the natural beauty and landscape and the massive urban metropolises, all while highlighting the people who inhabit these lands.


October 2010-February 2011
Next step will be boomeranging back home to either a). pay off my roadtrip expenses that weren't covered by travel grants and b). save up for next adventure and minimize the imminent debt to come. Most likely will be working at a restaurant, terrorizing the suburbs, eating free food, and watching way too much cable TV.


February 2011-July 2011
Nomading. A little shorter duration than I would prefer, but TFA summer duties call. I am still open to programs, but I am most likely going to Live the Dream with AIESEC. It hasn't let me down yet, and I doubt it will in the future: Potential locations: Budapest (crashing with Anna), Vietnam, China, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, or Malaysia. Any offers??

July 2011-July 2013
Teach For America. After MUCH MUCH MUCH reflection, I have decided this is something I am very passionate and committed to doing. Although part of me wants to get to it right away, I don't think I could survive only having a MONTH of post grad freedom. I think a year will do nicely. Location preferences: New York City, Boston, the Bay Area, Chicago, New Orleans.

July 2013: ????
Hopefully I'll have been published in some sort of respectable publication, settled in a city I love, have awesome friends, and be on my way to making it freelance. Maybe grad school? Maybe continue teaching? The world is my oyster.

So there it is, my postgrad plans. Where these necessary to post for all the world to see? Probably not, but putting these on the internet hold me more accountable. The last thing I want to do is have to remove my bliss tattoo....by selling out and taking that awesome Target internship...

Labels: chatter

A prominent news source recently ranked Madison as the number one quirkiest city in America.*

Yes, we are home to Scanner Dan, Mike who does the fabulous Bob Dylan, the two red headed twins, Magic the middle aged 'college student', and many more interesting characters. Madison is also one of the most liberal cities around. If you or someone you know does not go hippie or go through a Jack Kerouac obsession, you obviously have not gotten around.

But that is not to say that everyone just wants some peace and some love. We've got people from both sides of the track, that's for sure

Last week, in the same day, I saw two extremes which really defined the quirk factor of Madison First, I saw the crazy anti-abortion family who hang out by the Humanities building. Then, after class, I saw a speech by the man behind the sustainable food Revolution (at least the media darling of it), Michael Pollan. Only in Madison would these two 'acts' happen just hours of each other in the same square mile.**

Let me reflect on both:
The anti-abortion family: A 'charismatic' 'preacher' stands on a rock in front of the Humanities building. He is with his Italian wife and two young children (12 and 8, I'd say). The older child is holding up a sign comparing abortion with the Holocaust. I found that comparison especially funny because his little brother was holding up another sign, saying how Catholics, Atheists, Jews, Muslims, and homosexuals were all going to Hell. Therefore, that Holocaust reference by people who rightly think Jews should be in hell was a little ironic, but hey, the Holocaust is the default genocide to go to to make your point, so I guess he's got his PR down. As always, a crowd gathers round to challenge this family's belief while they spit out the same reply : Abortion is murder, even if the mother is in danger, if you believe in this you are going to hell, yada, yada, yada. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, even these people, but what really got me boiling were the expressions on the children's faces....blank. These kids are listening to rude comments from both sides. They are face to face with the students' incredulous glares. They are spectacles. So sad. Reactionary.

Jump to about three hours later, Michael Pollan, this family's antithesis (if you were to compare apples and oranges -- abortion and sustainable food) succeeds in filling half the Kohl Center. No one anticipated the crowd. While the Green Movement and the push for local food is nothing new, Pollan's presence made the crowd feel like this was, indeed, a historic discovery. Eat food. Not too much. And mostly plants. Whoaaaa. Madison is indeed participating in the movement, and is, in my opinion, one of the best towns in the country to buy local and, at the same time, have a great variety of food. Progressive.

It is this variety of people, culture, and activity, this mix of reactionary and progressive, that make Madison so quirky. And while there might be quirky cities all over the world, I must say that Madison does it with the most charm.

*I really didn't read that anywhere, but I believe it is true, nonetheless. Plus, we're also home of The Onion, and I am sure they would agree.

**I'm sure NYC, Chicago, and other major metropolitans might have something comparable. So I guess I should modify it by stating that no other medium sized city in the Midwest could produce such a cast of characters.

Labels: chatter

You know when you're watching a movie or a tv show, and the protagonist is about to do something realllllllly stupid/embarrassing and all the sudden you feel super uncomfortable and wish you could just shake him or her out of it? I find this most often happening with Carrie Bradshaw. Yes, she works the whole 'I'm quirky' thing, but really, girl, you are not that smooth. I saw the whole Burger-post-it not fiasco from a mile away! You need to cool it!

Anyway, that feeling you get when you just wish this character would go a more righteous path multiples when this 'character' is actually a real person.

Case in point:

I was on the pier of the Union Terrace a few days ago reading, relaxing, and profiting from the beautiful September sun when two international students sat down next to me. They were both speaking a rather broken English -- one of them with an obvious French accent the other with a Dutch (or something Germanic) accent. I really wanted to horn in on their conversation and maybe pull the whole "I'm one of those worldly Americans who speaks (nearly) fluent (ha) French and loves to have intellectual conversations", but decided against it once they started talking about this hot Japanese babe. I doubt I'd have been a witty conversationalist.

This chit chatting continues as this super Sconnie middle aged couple sits down with a couple of beers. Now 3 out of 4 of the tables on the pier are occupied, so it is nice and intimate and everyone can hear what's going on. So Frenchie lights a cigarette and almost immediately, the middle aged man asks to bum one. Frenchie gives him one. The American man mumbles something how he really never smokes cigarettes...you know, implying that he used to smoke them but now he's pretty much cut the habit. But one look at an attractive European smoking was just all to romantic to resist. One puff nostalgically brought him back to the good ole days of Big Tobbacco.

He lights up too and motions to shake Frenchie's hand, adding a "God bless you". "
"What?", Frenchie asks.
"Don't you speak English?", The man inquires.
"Yes, I do, but I just do not understand".
The couple goes into a frenzy about how he doesn't speak English. They are astonished, amused, and abhorred all at the same time.

On that note, Frenchie starts to get a little creeped out and walks back to his table. Yet the couple was not yet through with him. "So do we sound and look American?" the wife asks curiously. Frenchie smoothly turns around, puts on the European charm, and tells the man that he definitely does but the wife, in contrast, has a more European vibe. The woman nearly swooned. I am still keeping to myself behind my book, some how successfully stiffling my laughter. Sure, she could be European, but not in the flattering way she's imagining. What the Frenchie was really thinking was that she looked the type of 'European', that is common on the streets of Budapest or Bucharest, former Soviet States, that rapidly Westernized in the nineties but sort of stayed in the nineties. He was not refering to 'European' who struts down the Chammps-Elysee wearing black fur, black pants, black boots, and a black scarf, who she was no doubt imaging herself to be.

The couple was getting more and more exciting just talking to this exotic Frenchman. As he was gracially heading back, the man asked one more question: "Are you going back to your boyfriend now?" Frenchie is a little stunned and responds, "I am not gay", not in a nasty way, but a definitive response. The man eggs him on, asking him more questions relating to 'homosexuality'. His wife tells him to "shut up", but it is obvious she's entertained.

Finally, the Europeans are forced to pack up due to all this intrusion on their serenity. The couple was obviously disappointed that their playthings were leaving and begged them to stay. Needless to say, the Europeans scurried away and left the couple and I all alone. I began to get anxious that I would become the next thing to help them pass the time, but alas! I must not have been that interesting, and the couple went back to their beers.

I thought about trying to find the Europeans and appologize for that couples' amusing, yet rude behavior. You know, make them see that not all Americans have such poor manners and social skills, but then I thought the better of it. A lot of Americans do have poor manners and social skills, just like a lot of French people do, they're just in different ways. Why bust the stereotypes when they're often true? Plus, that will be a great story for him to tell his friends and family, and who would I be to intrude as the voice of reason?

Ah, one thing we can conclude is this trans-Atlantic relationship is anything but boring.

Labels: chatter

Madison in the fall is quite the scenic place.

From Badger football games to Halloween, it becomes quite apparent that, although a mid-sized city, Madison is, first and foremost, a college town.

And what a college town it is.

Yesterday was the first Badger game of the season, and, like all the years before, the first waves of the Red sea engulfed Langdon, Regent, and State Street.

Despite the fact that the game started at, oh, six pm, the festivities began early in the am, around 8 or so, I'd assume. Yes, in the wee hours of the morning, a primordial cry of "BAAAADGER FOOTBALL" rings throughout the land. The campus mobilizes and soon enough the same three songs, "Sweet Caroline", "Build Me Up, Buttercup", and "Blinded by the Light" are set on repeat. To break it up a little bit, various rap songs (definitely heard Nelly's "Hot in Here") blast while the students stagger through the maze of red, beer, and excitement.

Yes, Badger games are definitely a rite of passage. I nostalgically reflect on those carefree days where I could drink like fish, go all day, and go out that night for a victory celebration. Yet in my last year, I find that the to be one of the the last things on my mind. See I've never been a football fan, but tail gating and day drinking could definitely persuade me to join the masses. Yet now, I am content to sit back and continue my day, quotidien style.

After all, I am old now (old, in college town years, that is). It looks like it's time for the new generation (they were born in the 90s, after all!) to step up and continue the tradition. Yes, binge drinkers, Jersey Chasers, and plain ole football fans alike, I want YOU to become a Badger. And, due to the various arrests I saw, it looks like they're definitely up to the challenge.

Labels: chatter

George Harrison my favorite Beatle. Screw Paul and John.

The man was sheer brilliance in human form.

Question: Why do humans always feel that everything we do has to be for a purpose, for a set outcome, with a surplus in either happiness, productivity, money, etc?

Fact: Very few people, minus the masochists and/or artists (who are probably the same anyway), think that it's a good idea to pursue things that do not present a direct, tangible benefit to themselves.

Greater Fact: A great many people do go against logic and get mixed up in things that have no 'point' or final 'telos. Yet society gaffs at this. It goes against the human nature that we thought we knew.

Food for thought: Are these unproductive endeavors life lessons or are they wastes of time? Should we end everything that does not seem to be going anywhere just because they are not, in fact, going anywhere? Or, should we just take things as they come, enjoy them, learn from them, and appreciate them for what they are, even the most insignificant or frivolous?

Hmmm...?

Labels: chatter

So, as with Summer 2008, Summer 2009 has been a blur, in more ways than one. It seems like you always have all these 'goals' to fulfill now that there is all this 'free time'. You know, like what movies you've always wanted to see, what books you've wanted to read, all this extra time to volunteer and what not.....

Well, the temptation to fall into a Madison summer of drink specials, terracing, and promenading anywhere and everywhere make it hard to do anything on that 'productive list'.

I don't want to sound like a complete bum; quite the contrary. In fact, I have been working two jobs pretty 'steadily' (taking 'me' days here and there, when necessary), and I've actually managed to start getting myself out of the ole credit card debt.

Yet I had been in this waking up at noon, going to work at four (service industry), going out, going to bed circa 3-4-5, doing it all again. While fun (and habitual), this left with me with little time to pursue anything of substance. I had no time.

About a month and a half in, I started volunteering for Organizing for America (former Obama for America that is trying to push (and pass) his policy agendas). While it was a lot of phone calling and canvasing, which gets tedious and very disheartening at times, it is incredibly awesome to see your (once seemingly) pointless work be rewarded in the sense of a successful accomplishment of set goals.

Case in point: Rally for health care reform.

We'd been calling people up asking if they'd publicly support Obama's 3 mandates for health care reform (1. coverage for all Americans, 2. Affordable coverage , 3. Freedom of choice, with a strong public health plan). That was part one of our calls. While it seems like common sense, many people were resistant (good work on the propaganda machine, lobbyists), but that is a different topic that perhaps I will elaborate on one of these days. The second thing we did was invite people to show up to a rally in downtown Madison.

One of my conversations with a middle aged woman summarizes a lot of the comments I'd been getting when talking about the rally: What is the point? It is local. If you're going to protest, go to Washington. Only then will that do anything.


Seriously? How do movements start? Grassroots, baby. Grassroots activism that spreads and gains national momentum. Then, you can go to Washington and really have a presence. But even that is slightly masturbatory. Local rallies and protests are just as, if not more important. They might get less (national) media attention, but they sure as hell get a ton of local attention. And what is the point of this media attention? To show representatives in congress how we, their constituency, want them to vote. I mean, even if Obama thinks he's this century's FDR and really gets shit done, U.S. government is designed to prevent easy passing of legislation. So really, congress is just as important to hold accountable.

For me, then, that was the purpose of the rally. Yes, it's incredible to feel the positive, yet restless energy of a a huge crowd, but more than anything, rallies are to manifest (thanks, French, for that lovely verb) public opinion. And I think our rally was successful in doing that.

So, whether you support single payer or a continuation of a privatized system with more humane ideals, it was awesome to have your support yesterday. I didn't even dedicate that much time to organizing and calling, but I still felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. This isn't necessarily a 'personal' sense of pride, but rather a pride in the community. I felt that with the election and all of the personal involvement of people normally disillusioned or uninterested in the participation of democracy, but that fever had seemed to die down as of late. I was happy and re-energized to see it fired up more than ever yesterday.

Labels: politics-esque

Labels: life, summer

Something about the sheer power and force of a thunderstorm turns me on.

It excites me.

Yet it soothes me at the same time.

I am all for the paradoxical; I love how a loud clap of thunder or an sudden bolt of lightening, two ominous manifestations of Nature's fury, make me feel utter serenity.

What a way to break up the monotony of sunny summer days.

Labels: chatter

"America has been pushing itself forward; not because of the Limbaughs of today or the Haywards of yesterday, or the Lester -- you know these guys -- these old Civil Rights racist guys -- you know I'm forgetting their names. Lester Maddox -- Lester Maddox didn't move America for it to be in a better place. Did he? No he didn't. Bull Conner didn't make America better -- you and the people whose shoulders you stand on made America a better country that it is today. The fact is; we already talked about how MLK was called the most notorious liar in America, by the chief law enforcement officer in the United States -- J. Edgar Hoover -- and he was called this right after he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The fact is, you and the people you care about, the people you draw inspiration from, are the ones who stood with Martin Luther King of that day.

But the great things that have happened in America are yet to be done. The future is unwritten. Don't look back nostalgically about who made America better -- you are being called on during this moment, during this time and in this day to bring forth even a better America, and you can do it.

So don't fail, don't shrink, don't back down and don't punk out. Get busy. Get strong."

-Rep. Keith Ellison.

Holla

Labels: politics-esque

ANNOYED.

Economy, get better.

Love,
Your favorite unemployed Tumbleweed.

Labels: Bitching