Lisa wrote in a comment wondering if I saw any inauguration protesters.
Alas, I made it a point to stay home, and as far away as possible from all inauguration proceedings as possible. Perhaps you may think I have missed a part of the history of our great nation. Ah! but you forget: it was colder than a dead possum out there (Margaret seems to think that this is not a southern euphemism, but I am doing my best to change that).
Further, the crowds started streaming in early in the morning, so if you wanted to actually see any part of the parade, you would have to stand outside from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm when it passed you by.
Then, when Bush approached your part of the route, he would quickly hop in his car and roll up the windows so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with the protestors.
Also, the security was tighter than a dead possum being squished by a boa constrictor (you must admit, it would be tight). Protestors weren't allowed to carry anything dangerous, like signs with tall sticks (this is true!). Apparently, they weren't even pleasant people to be around, cursing up a storm and generally making themselves and all things left-y look terrible to people that didn't like them to begin with.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Jamie Goes To School
I started back to school this week, with a fresh lunch pail, and my name bus number pinned on my jacket.
Yes, it's true. I am a grad student.
Perhaps the most annoying thing about college, especially in the first week, is the one student you find in each class who simply cannot bear to have your time together go by without hearing their own nasal voice drone on about some topic only tangentially related to the lecture at hand, because they are such a giving person that they just know that the whole class would benefit from their slight tidbit of useless knowledge, often gleaned from a dubious internet source, or the ever-reliable, "something I read somewhere."
Oftentimes, they have no particular point to make, but just want everyone to hear them and know that they are smart. In fact, they need for you to think that they are smart. Their entire existence depends on the people that they don't even know finding them intelligent. What kind of self-esteem is that?
Perhaps with the plethora of handouts we received at orientation, something from the campus counseling center should have been included, with an ominous title, like, "If You Think You Don't Need Counseling, This Flyer Is For You!"
So, I've made it through the first week of classes, and now have aproximately 9,000 pages to read over the weekend. They certainly don't suffer the fool.
But, it's rather exciting to be a student again. Soon you will see me at 3 a.m. at the IHOP ashing into my half-eaten pancakes and typing away furiously on a paper because, "I do my best work under pressure." It's terribly romantic to put myself in the same league as the students who started the French Revolution and others at the cultural zeitgeist. Discounts at the movies and major attractions certainly don't hurt either.
Yes, it's true. I am a grad student.
Perhaps the most annoying thing about college, especially in the first week, is the one student you find in each class who simply cannot bear to have your time together go by without hearing their own nasal voice drone on about some topic only tangentially related to the lecture at hand, because they are such a giving person that they just know that the whole class would benefit from their slight tidbit of useless knowledge, often gleaned from a dubious internet source, or the ever-reliable, "something I read somewhere."
Oftentimes, they have no particular point to make, but just want everyone to hear them and know that they are smart. In fact, they need for you to think that they are smart. Their entire existence depends on the people that they don't even know finding them intelligent. What kind of self-esteem is that?
Perhaps with the plethora of handouts we received at orientation, something from the campus counseling center should have been included, with an ominous title, like, "If You Think You Don't Need Counseling, This Flyer Is For You!"
So, I've made it through the first week of classes, and now have aproximately 9,000 pages to read over the weekend. They certainly don't suffer the fool.
But, it's rather exciting to be a student again. Soon you will see me at 3 a.m. at the IHOP ashing into my half-eaten pancakes and typing away furiously on a paper because, "I do my best work under pressure." It's terribly romantic to put myself in the same league as the students who started the French Revolution and others at the cultural zeitgeist. Discounts at the movies and major attractions certainly don't hurt either.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
The Snow Is Attacking!
Washington DC, psychologically speaking, is not in the Mid-Atlantic.
It’s as southern as grits and dead possum (that’s a southern thing, right?)
This is evidenced by the fact that right now, as we speak, it’s snowing in DC (total accumulation: a quarter of an inch). This means:
-schools close
-liberal leave is in effect at most employers
-commutes take twice as long (avg.)
-SUVs crash through fences to smash into commuter trains (this happened last winter)
If this were Massachusetts or Wisconsin, no one would even notice this weather. In Washington, though, it’s the only topic of conversation. Since it started snowing at 10:30 this morning, it’s the lead story on the Washington Post website.
The lead story!
The fact that DC gets snowed on, though, just makes it like most of the rest of the country (despite what Fox dramas would have us believe…damn you, The O.C.!). The public’s response, however, is what makes Washington southern. Only in the south would winter precipitation (sometimes called “wintry mix” here, which I refuse to say…it was difficult enough just to write it here) cause the populace to ransack the groceries, hauling carts full of Charmin and Evian home, as if this were a great nor’easter, and we might not be able to dig out for several weeks.
The total accumulation is expected to be one to two inches.
More maddeningly, this happens several times each winter. Yet, local governments refuse to buy the snowplows needed to deal with the (inevitable) weather and have the control to run them 24 hours a day. Instead, they rent them by the hour from private businesses, who get to decide how long to run.
And there is the crux of the southern mindset: in the face of overwhelming northern evidence (consistent annual snowfall), the public continues to pretend that the snow will never come, instead of ramping up the infrastructure to deal with it (like they do in the north).
However, Michael says if it keeps snowing, we get chili for dinner!
It’s as southern as grits and dead possum (that’s a southern thing, right?)
This is evidenced by the fact that right now, as we speak, it’s snowing in DC (total accumulation: a quarter of an inch). This means:
-schools close
-liberal leave is in effect at most employers
-commutes take twice as long (avg.)
-SUVs crash through fences to smash into commuter trains (this happened last winter)
If this were Massachusetts or Wisconsin, no one would even notice this weather. In Washington, though, it’s the only topic of conversation. Since it started snowing at 10:30 this morning, it’s the lead story on the Washington Post website.
The lead story!
The fact that DC gets snowed on, though, just makes it like most of the rest of the country (despite what Fox dramas would have us believe…damn you, The O.C.!). The public’s response, however, is what makes Washington southern. Only in the south would winter precipitation (sometimes called “wintry mix” here, which I refuse to say…it was difficult enough just to write it here) cause the populace to ransack the groceries, hauling carts full of Charmin and Evian home, as if this were a great nor’easter, and we might not be able to dig out for several weeks.
The total accumulation is expected to be one to two inches.
More maddeningly, this happens several times each winter. Yet, local governments refuse to buy the snowplows needed to deal with the (inevitable) weather and have the control to run them 24 hours a day. Instead, they rent them by the hour from private businesses, who get to decide how long to run.
And there is the crux of the southern mindset: in the face of overwhelming northern evidence (consistent annual snowfall), the public continues to pretend that the snow will never come, instead of ramping up the infrastructure to deal with it (like they do in the north).
However, Michael says if it keeps snowing, we get chili for dinner!
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Someone Thinks I Sound Hot
Thank you to the anonymous commentor to my last posting. Please remember that as of today, exactly three people know that I have a blog. One of those people doesn't have the address. So, I have a pretty good idea of who you are.
This brings up the whole concept of anonimity on the internet. While it's possbile to lie, and undoubtedly some people do, the vast majority of my experience has been that when people are anonymous they are more honest. Sometimes it takes an extreme tone, but overall, it seems that the web is enables people to speak more directly.
The interesting part, of course, is that this happens even when the poster is obviously not anonymous. For example, people are quite honest in their blogs, even when their identities are known or knowable. Check here, here, or here (for an overview) for exapmles of people being fired form their real life jobs for blogging online.
I know I'm not covering new territory, as this has been covered elsewhere in more (and better) detail. My point, though, is that the aura of anonimity 'helps' people speak their mind in ways they wouldn't otherwise.
Personally, I try to always speak my mind. Hopefully as this blog evolves, the content will be the same as if we sat down and had us a nice long chat. Except, of course, that I'm talking a lot, and you're mostly just listening. Eventually, you'll probably tune me out.
This, however, would also mimic reality.
This brings up the whole concept of anonimity on the internet. While it's possbile to lie, and undoubtedly some people do, the vast majority of my experience has been that when people are anonymous they are more honest. Sometimes it takes an extreme tone, but overall, it seems that the web is enables people to speak more directly.
The interesting part, of course, is that this happens even when the poster is obviously not anonymous. For example, people are quite honest in their blogs, even when their identities are known or knowable. Check here, here, or here (for an overview) for exapmles of people being fired form their real life jobs for blogging online.
I know I'm not covering new territory, as this has been covered elsewhere in more (and better) detail. My point, though, is that the aura of anonimity 'helps' people speak their mind in ways they wouldn't otherwise.
Personally, I try to always speak my mind. Hopefully as this blog evolves, the content will be the same as if we sat down and had us a nice long chat. Except, of course, that I'm talking a lot, and you're mostly just listening. Eventually, you'll probably tune me out.
This, however, would also mimic reality.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Inauguration Day Fast Approaching
I live near Washington, so with the impending inauguration of our newly reelected president, the city is a-twitter with bustling security officers, mirrors on long handles, and bleachers as far as the eye can see.
A recent tidbit from the Washington Post is that, unlike every other previous predisent, Bush isn't going to pay for his own ceremony, even though it's the most expensive in history (the story is here). Supposedly, the DC city government has enough money in their homeland security appropriation. But, how are they supposed to deal with real improvements in the city's security when unplanned expenses like this pop up?
More pertinent to my own life is that I put my apartment up for rent over the inauguration on craigslist, and so far have only received one response. It was from a Washington Post staff writer who's doing a story on people who are renting out their houses for the inauguration! Is this how the Post gets its leads? Trolling the random classifieds on craigslist? The problem, of course, is that the people who don't have anyone staying in their houses have ads up, and those that have already rented their homes will have deleted their postings...so this staff writer is doomed to interview people who hope to rent their places, but have thusfar been unsuccessful. Doesn't sound like a very interesting article, does it?
A recent tidbit from the Washington Post is that, unlike every other previous predisent, Bush isn't going to pay for his own ceremony, even though it's the most expensive in history (the story is here). Supposedly, the DC city government has enough money in their homeland security appropriation. But, how are they supposed to deal with real improvements in the city's security when unplanned expenses like this pop up?
More pertinent to my own life is that I put my apartment up for rent over the inauguration on craigslist, and so far have only received one response. It was from a Washington Post staff writer who's doing a story on people who are renting out their houses for the inauguration! Is this how the Post gets its leads? Trolling the random classifieds on craigslist? The problem, of course, is that the people who don't have anyone staying in their houses have ads up, and those that have already rented their homes will have deleted their postings...so this staff writer is doomed to interview people who hope to rent their places, but have thusfar been unsuccessful. Doesn't sound like a very interesting article, does it?
The World According to Jamie
This blog is not going to be an attempt to convince you that I'm cool. Just so you know that right up front.
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