Yes, it's been ages (once again) since I updated this blog. You all should be used to that by now, though. So I will forgo the apologies and you know what, let's never mind what I've been up to for the past month since being laid off because believe me, even I'm not interested. Let's start with where I am now.
If you want to get really specific, I'm sitting at a desk in my hotel room in Grand Rapids, MI, sipping on coffee that I suspect may be substandard, but since I'm usually a tea drinker, I can't be sure. I needed the extra jolt of caffeine, however, since it was a late-ish night last night* and I had to get an early start this morning. Because I'm attending the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College this weekend, and the fun starts at 8:30a.m. today.
I got here yesterday, and I have to say, the opening lecture by poet Scott Cairns was so good, I felt kind of sorry for everyone who had to present after him, because man, he set the bar pretty high. I'd give you some highlights from his talk, but somehow I managed to lose my notes from his session. And if this comes as a surprise to anyone, you must be new to the blog. (Welcome!)
But it doesn't matter, because I don't have much time to write now anyway, since my ride will be here in 15 minutes to take me over to the conference. So I'll just leave you with a Scott Cairns quote that I found, which kind of, sort of sums up the gist of his brilliant lecture:
I pray that the American church will one day—sooner than later—overcome its addiction to narrow certainties. Thereafter, its people might recover a taste for enormity.
—Scott Cairns (from an interview in The Other Journal
(I'm really, really mad that I lost my notes.)
I want to tell you more, but oh dear, look at the time. Hopefully later! Til then, kisses from your friendly neighborhood frogg princess...
* Being over 30, I define "late" as anytime after 11pm; and yes I know, that's sad),
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Speaking of Sisyphean Enterprises...
...just try getting a live person on the line at the Employment Development Department. Gah.
About Time
So, I didn't intend to let what, nearly a month go by since my last post, but I did anyway. Oh well.
The past few weeks since my last day of work have been a blur. I kicked off my entrance into the (increasingly crowded) realm of the unemployed with a trip to the charming beach town of Encinitas (not to be confused with Ensenada, though some people apparently do, I discovered). I spent my days there walking and lounging on the beach, mostly, or else just wandering around the town. It was great.
But of course, you know what they say about all good things.
Since returning to reality, I feel like every day has become Saturday, and if you take a moment to think about it, that's not as awesome as it sounds. Because Saturday for working people is the day when you run around trying to catch up on all the errands and such that you don't get done during the week because of being at your job. Well, imagine that your whole life has turned into one long unbroken series of catch-up days. It won't be long before you are forced into the realization that, guess what, you are never going to catch up. Ever. There will always be something awaiting your attention, and it will usually have to do with the endless generation of paperwork that living in this society seems to require — mail you have to sort through, a form you need to fill out, an application you have to write, filing that obstinately refuses to do itself.
Basically, full-time employment is the gift of not having the time to spare to think too much about the implications of the fact that a great deal of time is being leached out of your mortal existence by Sisyphean enterprises.
Um, yeah.
So, how's everyone else doing these days?
The past few weeks since my last day of work have been a blur. I kicked off my entrance into the (increasingly crowded) realm of the unemployed with a trip to the charming beach town of Encinitas (not to be confused with Ensenada, though some people apparently do, I discovered). I spent my days there walking and lounging on the beach, mostly, or else just wandering around the town. It was great.
But of course, you know what they say about all good things.
Since returning to reality, I feel like every day has become Saturday, and if you take a moment to think about it, that's not as awesome as it sounds. Because Saturday for working people is the day when you run around trying to catch up on all the errands and such that you don't get done during the week because of being at your job. Well, imagine that your whole life has turned into one long unbroken series of catch-up days. It won't be long before you are forced into the realization that, guess what, you are never going to catch up. Ever. There will always be something awaiting your attention, and it will usually have to do with the endless generation of paperwork that living in this society seems to require — mail you have to sort through, a form you need to fill out, an application you have to write, filing that obstinately refuses to do itself.
Basically, full-time employment is the gift of not having the time to spare to think too much about the implications of the fact that a great deal of time is being leached out of your mortal existence by Sisyphean enterprises.
Um, yeah.
So, how's everyone else doing these days?
Monday, March 08, 2010
Countdown
Today was the first day of my last week of work. That sounds like it felt a lot more momentous than it was. Actually, it was a mundane Monday, like so many others. Which highlights a strange fact of life that I've noticed more times than I can count — the fact that it just, well, goes on. Like normal. Regardless of any chaos that has infiltrated one's individual situation.
Speaking of chaos, one of the first orders of business demanding my attention post-gainful employment is my bedroom. The details are simply too horrifying to go into here, but let's just say that in my own personal universe, entropy is alive and well.
Of course, since it's me we're talking about, procrastination comes before first orders of business, so this weekend I'll be heading out of town for a few days. No, not to Buenos Aires — not yet. (God willing, that'll happen in June.) This will just be a quick trip so I can rest and recharge after what's been a difficult few months. Also, I need to spend some time wrapping my brain around this new reality that's opened up in front of me, and what opportunities it brings with it.
One thing I can be sure of — entropy will be waiting for me when I get back. And then it will be so on.
Speaking of chaos, one of the first orders of business demanding my attention post-gainful employment is my bedroom. The details are simply too horrifying to go into here, but let's just say that in my own personal universe, entropy is alive and well.
Of course, since it's me we're talking about, procrastination comes before first orders of business, so this weekend I'll be heading out of town for a few days. No, not to Buenos Aires — not yet. (God willing, that'll happen in June.) This will just be a quick trip so I can rest and recharge after what's been a difficult few months. Also, I need to spend some time wrapping my brain around this new reality that's opened up in front of me, and what opportunities it brings with it.
One thing I can be sure of — entropy will be waiting for me when I get back. And then it will be so on.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Ack!
I don't even know where to start with this blog tonight. It's been crazy around the ol' lily pad lately, and I'm trying to think what's the best way to sum up what's been going on. Well, how about this:
a) I got laid off.
b) Er, do I actually need a "b"?
So yeah, things have been interesting, and probably will continue to be for a while. But don't cry for me, Argentina! Because the truth is, after the initial shock and also my sadness at the thought of leaving some of the greatest co-workers anyone could ask for, and whom I will truly miss, I am excited for what the future might hold.
For example, a trip to Buenos Aires. (And here you thought that Argentina reference was just my usual pure randomness, didn't you? Tsk tsk.)
But more on that and other stuff in the weeks to come. In the meantime, I leave you with this inspiring thought for the day:
Just kidding. I don't actually have one; it just sounded like a cool way to end this post.
a) I got laid off.
b) Er, do I actually need a "b"?
So yeah, things have been interesting, and probably will continue to be for a while. But don't cry for me, Argentina! Because the truth is, after the initial shock and also my sadness at the thought of leaving some of the greatest co-workers anyone could ask for, and whom I will truly miss, I am excited for what the future might hold.
For example, a trip to Buenos Aires. (And here you thought that Argentina reference was just my usual pure randomness, didn't you? Tsk tsk.)
But more on that and other stuff in the weeks to come. In the meantime, I leave you with this inspiring thought for the day:
Just kidding. I don't actually have one; it just sounded like a cool way to end this post.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Facebook Follies
The other day I was chatting with my friend Drew about the evils of Facebook, a favorite topic of ours, and made the mistake of suggesting we both blog about why we both don’t like it. This was a mistake because Drew took me up on it, which meant that I would have to keep up my end of things and write about it, too. On a deadline, no less. And of course that meant that I a) procrastinated and b) when I finally did sit down to write, I suddenly couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
God knows I shouldn’t be having writer’s block over this, of all topics. Having never joined Facebook, I've had plenty of opportunities to explain my reasoning behind why I continue to eschew the most popular social networking site in the entire world. People are always mystified at the fact that I don’t have an account. The other day a girl asked if I was on Facebook and when I said no, her resulting expression was a unique blend of pity, awe and disbelief, accompanied by a single word: "Wow." I might as well have said that I used oil lamps to light my house, and commuted to work in a horse-drawn buggy.
So I eventually came up with a bunch of reasons ready to deploy whenever someone asked why I'm not on Facebook. I've said the site was causing people to trade real-life relationships for virtual ones, or that it was making us more isolated while giving the illusion of more connection. I've said it was a big distraction and that the last thing I needed in my life was another way to waste time, because I was doing way too well in that department already. All of which I believe are true. However, as Drew and I conversed the other day, it became clear that our biggest beef with the social media juggernaut could be summed up in a single word: Privacy.
Facebook has made eroding privacy into something of an art, if by “art” you mean “terrible travesty.” I mean, let’s be candid for a moment: It’s a joke to think that a company whose CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, got his start hacking into Harvard’s computer system and illegally lifting people’s private information to use without permission on a website he’d created would care one bit about your privacy.* Except insofar as caring about it could possibly make money for them. But since it can’t — since in fact it is your lack of ability to keep things private in the Facebook universe that provides the most potential for making money off of you — well, need I say more?
Probably not, but hey, I will. (Mostly because Drew will so not let me get away with leaving it at that.)
Recently, as many people know, Facebook changed their privacy settings. Their default mode is not that all your stuff would be hidden, but that all your stuff would be out in the open for anyone on the ‘Net to see. And even if you do choose to lock down every possible setting, there is some information that will still be publicly available. Like, your profile pic. Your gender. Your fan pages. Your networks. Your geographical region.
Well, so what, you’re saying. I have nothing to hide. Why should I worry?
To which I say, seriously?
Look. We’ve all heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.” Well, in this society, knowledge is equated, for better or worse, with information — and guess who’s sitting on the mother lode of it. (Hint: Facebook.)
Everything you do on Facebook is pretty much owned by Facebook. It’s also logged, tracked, saved. It’s already being used for potentially invasive research. All your photos, all your blog posts, all your wall messages, and yes, every silly quiz you take, it all becomes data that can be used to tell any number of things about you to people you don’t even know, and probably never will.
The point is, privacy isn’t about keeping stuff hidden anymore, it’s about controlling the information that belongs to you. And when you use Facebook, you cede control to Facebook. Ultimately, you’re handing over your personal information to a corporation headed by the guy who very recently said this:
People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.(from the Guardian)
That explains those new “privacy” settings, I guess. But it sure doesn’t make me feel any better, knowing my information’s under the control of 25-year-old Zuckerberg, who has decided for himself what people have gotten more comfortable with over time. And I’d beg to differ with his analysis anyway, considering the backlash that has greeted Facebook’s roll-outs of products like the ill-fated Beacon — a service which broadcast a user’s activities on external websites to that user’s network on Facebook, and which, I’ll just note, was initially implemented without user consent and only discontinued after protests. Lots and lots of protests.
Odd that anyone would have had a problem with it, considering the new social norms and all. Granted, Beacon was launched in 2007, and Zuckerberg's quote is from this year — no doubt a lot has changed in three years. Maybe if Beacon was launched today, people would just shrug their shoulders and not care. Somehow, though, I doubt it.
Now wait just a minute, I hear you saying. You use Google. You blog. Heck, you blog using Google! And what about cell phones, and IMing and all that stuff? How is any of that different or better than using Facebook?
Well, those are good questions, all of them! And if I weren’t so behind on when I promised Drew I would publish this post, I’m sure I’d be more than happy to go into a deeper analysis and provide informative explanations. On the other hand, that doesn’t sound like me at all, does it? Fortunately for all of us, there is a simple solution to this little quandary anyway. And here it is: Go read Drew’s blog.
* “Zuckerberg was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy and faced expulsion, but ultimately the charges were dropped.” (Wikipedia, pulling from The Harvard Crimson)
God knows I shouldn’t be having writer’s block over this, of all topics. Having never joined Facebook, I've had plenty of opportunities to explain my reasoning behind why I continue to eschew the most popular social networking site in the entire world. People are always mystified at the fact that I don’t have an account. The other day a girl asked if I was on Facebook and when I said no, her resulting expression was a unique blend of pity, awe and disbelief, accompanied by a single word: "Wow." I might as well have said that I used oil lamps to light my house, and commuted to work in a horse-drawn buggy.
So I eventually came up with a bunch of reasons ready to deploy whenever someone asked why I'm not on Facebook. I've said the site was causing people to trade real-life relationships for virtual ones, or that it was making us more isolated while giving the illusion of more connection. I've said it was a big distraction and that the last thing I needed in my life was another way to waste time, because I was doing way too well in that department already. All of which I believe are true. However, as Drew and I conversed the other day, it became clear that our biggest beef with the social media juggernaut could be summed up in a single word: Privacy.
Facebook has made eroding privacy into something of an art, if by “art” you mean “terrible travesty.” I mean, let’s be candid for a moment: It’s a joke to think that a company whose CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, got his start hacking into Harvard’s computer system and illegally lifting people’s private information to use without permission on a website he’d created would care one bit about your privacy.* Except insofar as caring about it could possibly make money for them. But since it can’t — since in fact it is your lack of ability to keep things private in the Facebook universe that provides the most potential for making money off of you — well, need I say more?
Probably not, but hey, I will. (Mostly because Drew will so not let me get away with leaving it at that.)
Recently, as many people know, Facebook changed their privacy settings. Their default mode is not that all your stuff would be hidden, but that all your stuff would be out in the open for anyone on the ‘Net to see. And even if you do choose to lock down every possible setting, there is some information that will still be publicly available. Like, your profile pic. Your gender. Your fan pages. Your networks. Your geographical region.
Well, so what, you’re saying. I have nothing to hide. Why should I worry?
To which I say, seriously?
Look. We’ve all heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.” Well, in this society, knowledge is equated, for better or worse, with information — and guess who’s sitting on the mother lode of it. (Hint: Facebook.)
Everything you do on Facebook is pretty much owned by Facebook. It’s also logged, tracked, saved. It’s already being used for potentially invasive research. All your photos, all your blog posts, all your wall messages, and yes, every silly quiz you take, it all becomes data that can be used to tell any number of things about you to people you don’t even know, and probably never will.
The point is, privacy isn’t about keeping stuff hidden anymore, it’s about controlling the information that belongs to you. And when you use Facebook, you cede control to Facebook. Ultimately, you’re handing over your personal information to a corporation headed by the guy who very recently said this:
People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.(from the Guardian)
That explains those new “privacy” settings, I guess. But it sure doesn’t make me feel any better, knowing my information’s under the control of 25-year-old Zuckerberg, who has decided for himself what people have gotten more comfortable with over time. And I’d beg to differ with his analysis anyway, considering the backlash that has greeted Facebook’s roll-outs of products like the ill-fated Beacon — a service which broadcast a user’s activities on external websites to that user’s network on Facebook, and which, I’ll just note, was initially implemented without user consent and only discontinued after protests. Lots and lots of protests.
Odd that anyone would have had a problem with it, considering the new social norms and all. Granted, Beacon was launched in 2007, and Zuckerberg's quote is from this year — no doubt a lot has changed in three years. Maybe if Beacon was launched today, people would just shrug their shoulders and not care. Somehow, though, I doubt it.
Now wait just a minute, I hear you saying. You use Google. You blog. Heck, you blog using Google! And what about cell phones, and IMing and all that stuff? How is any of that different or better than using Facebook?
Well, those are good questions, all of them! And if I weren’t so behind on when I promised Drew I would publish this post, I’m sure I’d be more than happy to go into a deeper analysis and provide informative explanations. On the other hand, that doesn’t sound like me at all, does it? Fortunately for all of us, there is a simple solution to this little quandary anyway. And here it is: Go read Drew’s blog.
* “Zuckerberg was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy and faced expulsion, but ultimately the charges were dropped.” (Wikipedia, pulling from The Harvard Crimson)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Simple Pleasures
There's something to be said for coming home after a stressful day, running a hot bath, filling it with peppermint-scented bubbles, and reading poetry while soaking in the water.
And that something is, simply, "Thank you, God."
And that something is, simply, "Thank you, God."
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