Here's my comment to a posting by Liz Randol that I pretty much sums up my thoughts on this subject:
I don't mean to sound flippant, but seriously, who cares? Is this yet another example of politics that means something to politicians, but basically not the rest of us?
What's more, I have a strange feeling that the Democrats (of which I am one...) would be equally guilty of redistricting magic if they were in control.
Time...and smarter folks than I (like Liz Randol) will tell. I'm just a pension guy.
Local Atheist and general all around good guy (you can follow him HERE) Justin Vacula noted on Facebook that...
"Just putting the following out there...if the upcoming election in Luzerne County happens to be delayed or modified in some way because "Charlie Bible Buck Hatchko" is listed as a candidate on the ballot, don't blame me for complaining, but rather blame the persons who allowed this to go on the ballot. Thanks!"
As I think about this, it's pretty clear that Mr Hatchko is trying to alter his name in order to appeal for votes. Fair enough. What if others tried to do the same? We could end up with combinations like...
Heinz "Jews Control the Media" Von Erich
Appealing to the neo-NAZI vote.
Walter "Abortion is Murder" Jones
Appealing to the Right to Life vote.
Bob "Scary Brown Horde" Smith
Appealing to Lou Barletta's supporters.
Fred "Popery" Carroll
Appealing to the anti-Catholic vote.
Lisa "Trick or Trout" Anderson
Appealing to the Dyslexic vote.
Larry "Uptight White Guy" Alden
Appealing to Rick Santorum's supporters.
Lisa "Black Helicopter" Rimes
Appealing to conspiracy nuts everywhere.
Tim "Freedom to Crap Anywhere" Simmons
Appealing to Occupy Wall Street supporters.
Charlie "Pretend it's Still 1954" Peters
Appealing to Rush Limbaugh's listeners.
Luther "I don't Care if Scranton is Actually Larger" Searfoss
Appealing to Wilke-Barre voters.
Steve "Who are You" Allen
Appealing to the dementia vote.
Lester "Doherty Caused my Psoriasis" Windstead
Appearing to supporters of Scranton City Council President Janet Evans
Steve "Lame-Assed Posting" Albert
Appealing to...well...no one.
“I don’t understand the hatred and fear of gays and bisexuals and lesbians…it’s a concept I honestly cannot grasp. To me, it’s not who you love…a man, a woman, what have you…it’s the fact that you love. That is all that truly matters.”
Blogging (in general)...I go through these phases where I write in manic quantities, both here and in other places. Then the pendulum swings back and I struggle a bit to put any thoughts, cohesive or otherwise, into words. It's been more of the latter lately, although I'm at a loss to explain why. Part of it has to do with work these days, as some changes that evolved over the past month or so have put more responsiblity (and more urgency) on my plate, which ultimately just sucks some of the "vita" out of me. Part of is the fact that I genuinely have far less personal angst in my life. Well maybe I have the same amount of angst, but I'm just better able to handle it all.
Speaking of Work...and Vacation...I read where Andy Palumbo is crying over burning off his last vacation days (link HERE), which isn't something I've had a problem with for years. Just yesterday I scheduled time off through the balance of the year and when the dust settled I still have 10.5 vacation days left to carry-over into 2012. Now for the record I did take two weeks of vacation this year (New Hampshire and Maine), so it's not as if I don't take some time throughout the year. I suspect this is one of the benefits of working at the same place for so long, namely the 33 vacation days I earn per year (which increased by about a third when I added in carry-over from 2010 to 2011). I will use one or two of the 10.5 days before the end of the year, as I'm sure youngest daughter will want to be picked up from college and/or I may just need an extra mental health day here or there. Oh, and I am taking time off around Thanksgiving and Christmas (which I usually don't do).
Beavis and Butthead...reappeared on MTV yesterday. For 30 minutes I laughed myself into a stupor. Mike Judge creates terrific parodies, be it Office Space or the world's dumbest teenagers. If you don't like Beavis and Butthead because it glorifies stupid behavior then I'd say that you miss the point...namely that it pokes fun at stupid behavior. "Beavis was crying, hehehehehe."
Europe Pledges a Trillion in Bailout Money...who here in the US cares? Will the GOP Presidential candidates even mention this? Of course not! There is an element of United States society that still thinks it is 1915 and what happens "over there" can't impact us "here". Reality check: nothing could be further from the truth. Whether we like to admit it our not, we have a world economy. Greek debt, for example, may be held by some American financial institutions; what's more, I'm sure that American financial institutions have a large financial stake in the other holders of Greek debt. It's like a small Arkansas town...everyone is related.
Occupy Wall Street...Is Rush Limbaugh still claiming that the Occupy Wall Street people are defecating over everything?
The Research Begins: iPad vs. Android Tablet...I'm not going to do anything until early next year, but I am salivating at the thought of having another tech toy. I'm open to any opinions on the subject, be they pro-Android or from Apple fan-boys. If I go Android then I'd be tempted to buy the Sony S1. Do I need a tablet? Not really, but there is a certain element of needing to stay on top of technology that helps in my career...which sounds good, even if it is mostly horse manure.
I read this article yesterday and found it very interesting, in a very sad sort of way. I'll let the author tell the story, but the bottom line is that I think on many levels our mental health professionals are failing us in this country. Whether it's...
...over-work on the part of mental health professionals
...the easy fix of medication
...a desire to not judge
...it all amounts to the same thing: we seem to be less mentally healthy as a society, despite advances in science a desire to be "compassionate".
To the latter point, I do think that sometimes we are compassionate in the wrong ways. As noted in the article, we allow someone to die a very slow death because that's easier than telling them a difficult truth. In the end, that's actually not all that compassionate.
I confess to following some of the Occupy Wall Street protest stories. Some I find very amusing, such as the "coverage" by right-wing talk radio, who would have you believe that the protesters are defecating over everything. Others I just shrug off as part of the now all-too-typical polarization of American society. Mostly though, I do find it interesting.
By my own reckoning the 99% probably represent about 3% actually, about the same percentage that last voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 (citation HERE). That's not a knock...it's more like reality check. In fact, while I hate to admit it, the Tea Baggers probably represent a larger percentage of the American public. The Wall Street protesters should take some solace in the knowledge that fighting for what you think is right is a very good thing, very much in keeping with the best of American history. I'd say the same for the Tea Baggers, but some of the not-so-subtle racism expressed during many Tea Bagger rallies really turned me off to their "cause"...many of the tenants of which I actually do agree with by the way. Want to immediately turn me off to a cause? Then be a racist swine.
Now when I was thinking about writing this note I had contemplated talking about some of the protester's demands, but I've decided against that for one simple reason: I've not seen any single cohesive set of demands. Yes, there has been whispers of "eliminating college debt" (for example), which is actually just too silly for much in the way of serious commentary. I do agree that a college education costs far too much, but it does have value...and that is worth paying for no matter what you think (outside of love, the best things in life aren't always free). There are also some elements of union frustration in the protests, for which I have only a limited amount of patience at any given moment (but that is another topic for another time).
So where does this leave us? Well by my optics I think we have the Wall Street protesters on the hard left, the Tea Baggers on the hard right, and the vast majority of us in the middle. I'll confess that my sympathies probably lean ever so slightly on the side of the protesters, but not by much. In fact I enjoy my capitalist existence. I am proud of the fact that I've been able to move from very modest beginnings in my youth to professional position now that affords me the ability to do stuff I enjoy, like writing this spew. That kind of success doesn't happen in a vacuum...it happens because we have a society that has the ability to encourage it. To the extent that we may need to re-orient our society so that this can happen for more folks...well...that's something I can support.
One of the many gifts I have been given in 2011 (and I actually have been given many gifts this year...) has been this whole adult asthma thing. A side effect of that has been, I think, a tendency for colds to stay longer. This has been the case for me for the past two weeks. I don't think I've ever had a respiratory thing that lasted this long. I know, "call the doctor", but as long as things slowly but surely seem to be getting better I'm going to avoid that, if for no other reason than the fact that there is not a lot the good Doctor McKenna can do for me anyway.
Ironic, huh? A guy who is has never even tried bad for the lungs stuff like smoking now has asthma. Somewhere someone is laughing about that one.
Anyway, I will confess to the fact that, earlier this week, this whole thing was getting me down. I was tired of feeling sick, tired of feeling all doped up but not really better. Insert invitation to pity party here. Fortunately that passed, in large part to the discovery of the 10mg dose of Phenylephrine. Now I just seem to have the linger effects of the cold, stubbornly holding on like Rick Santorum in the GOP primary. Here's to hoping that both fade, and soon.
Over the years I've been asked to participate in various social activities. I've gotten Facebook event invitations. I even had a therapist suggest that I should be more socially engaged. Throughout it all I usually & respectfully decline. Why?
Well before delving into the pop psychology of it all, first and foremost I am always grateful whenever anyone thinks to invite me to their party, event, etc. Sometimes, on rare occasion, I even accept and show up. It takes some effort though, and I find that for the most part I'll go out of respect to the person who invited me.
Last December, for example, I attended a post-wedding party for my friend Leigh. For me it was the perfect storm of stress: I really didn't know anyone at the party (outside of Leigh and her husband) and it was something of a trek to get there, but I still went out of respect. Leigh has been a good friend for a number of years, and I was genuinely glad for her on this occasion. What's more, the wedding cake was awesome.
I could add the two blog-fest events as other examples of my discomfort in social situations. Now I did have a good excuse for not attending the last blog-fest, as I had just dropped my youngest daughter off at school. However, as the brilliant Ms Rivers stated to me after the fact, "you really didn't want to go, did you?", to which I copped a reluctant "yeah, you're right". She was right, and although I would know a few people there (Gort, Tom Borthwick, and others) and I genuinely enjoy some of the conversations that come with these kinds of events, I never the less feel this reluctance to put myself out there in a crowd.
Work-related social events are probably the worst of this sort of activity for me. In part it's because, I suspect, the fact that I have a "work" persona that I'd like to think is different than my "personal" persona. The melding of the two is incredibly difficult for me, even in small doses. Now I never hesitate when I need to talk to groups of people, as this is an important part of my job. Never the less I was very tense when, at the beginning of a recent meeting, we were all told (as part of a ice-breaker activity) to share something with the group that we no one knew about us. What did I share? That I had my own URL (that would be THIS site). I could feel the tension though as I thought of what to say.
Pop psychology.
So what is the "why" to all of this?
Well on one hand, I suspect the quick-n-easy answer has something to do with self-image. Maybe I lack a positive self-image and this is manifest by fear of being exposed for all my supposed flaws in social situations. For the record, I'd give this one only a so-so nod of acceptance. Yes, I don't always think that I have what I would call a healthy self-image, but I don't think it is debilitating either. What's more, at least professionally I think I have a fairly healthy self-image. The dirty little (not so) secret is that I have been successful professionally, and in fact I've already gone further in my career than I ever thought I would when I started out in the workforce a quarter of a century ago. So while there may be some element of poor self-image in this pop psychology mix, it's only a minor ingredient, if at all.
On the other hand, Myers-Briggs tells me that I am a dyed-in-the-wool introvert. Among other things, I've learned that I don't get a lot of energy from being around others. My energy...and my best work...comes from more individual interactions. Yes, I can "do" social situations, but it probably takes more of an energy toll on me than it does for someone who is very extroverted. Interestingly enough, I really do enjoy facilitating in front of groups of people, but I also realize that it takes a lot out of me.
In the final analysis, pop psychology can explain some things at a point of time, but the stark reality of life is that very few things stand still (least of all in our heads). I am, in fact, evolving. That's as instructive a point as I can make about myself, and I'm sure that it is equally true for most others as well. As humans we are given this almost miraculous ability for introspection. We can question who and what we are, and we can, if we feel the need, change. I know real, substantial change doesn't come via fiat, and sometimes that change never comes at all. Never the less it's comforting just to know that we can evolve. As for me, well I'm certainly okay with questioning my discomfort with some social situations, but I'm not all that interested in drastically changing. I basically like who I am. I am, it seems, alright.
Last week I had responsibilities at work to carry out that, let's just say, represent the worst of the "stuff" I ever have to do professionally. I think anticipation leading up to this work increased my overall stress level so much that I ended up getting physically sick...in this case a fairly decent head cold that is only now abating. I don't mention that for want of sympathy, as I deserve none in this particular case. My stress over doing my job pales in comparison to the stress others are under, and besides, when you want to have a certain kind of job you have to take all that goes with it, both good and horrendous.
My point in the above paragraph? Well I have two fold purpose in mind for this particular rant.
Point One: As I grow older, I am becoming increasingly aware that how you feel...that is emotionally, attitude-wise, outlook in life...plays a part in now you feel physically. Not related to what I noted in the first paragraph, but part of my job entails doing adult-learning related work. There have been times on occasion when I genuinely don't feel good, suffering from the kind of maladies that strike all of us from time to time. You know what though? For some reason I'm always able to hold it together for that portion of time when I am in front of others. Yeah, there may be the errant sneeze or cough, but by and large my energy level is high, I'm physically moving around a lot, and I am actively engaged in the learning process. Before and after the event I may be the physical equivalent of jello, but when I'm on it's all systems active. Mind over matter if you will.
Point Two: I do have sympathy for those engaged in the Wall Street occupation movement*, but I'm not completely sold on everything that is being spouted. I get the distinct impression that some folks...particularly those who are younger...feel there is a "right" to a good job, high pay, a pension, etc. Simply put, there is no such right, and this is a GOOD thing. Why? What we have to enjoy today isn't the result of an entitled citizenry! No, it's the result of people working their asses off in pursuit of more. They wanted more, and they realized that the only true way to have more in life is to work hard and strive to achieve. Life hands us adversity, and we choose how to react to it. We can....
Choose to whine, cry and complain that we are entitled to stuff and point fingers of envy at those who seem to "have" OR
Choose to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the game.
Maybe my perspective is somewhat different than that of the average 20-something these days. By way of background, I grew relatively poor. My three brother and I lived with our mother in a housing project. Mom worked nights to support us so that she could be there for us during the day. We didn't have a lot, but my mother constantly impressed upon her sons the need to get an education and showed us by example that all work was noble. Fast forward to now and I did get an education and I have a very good job that enables me to do some good things, such as help my children pay for their college educations. What I have now career wise is the product of some luck (being at the right place at the right time), but by and large it is the product of almost persistent hard work and determination. Yeah, there were times when I thought I "should have been promoted" or something like that, but they were fleeting, as I would inevitably come to my senses and remember that the best things in life aren't given to you...they are earned.
The common thread to both points above is simple: how you feel matters, and by and large you control how you feel. Yes, we are guaranteed the right to pursue happiness, but there is no actual right to be happy. Oh, and sometimes happiness takes a mighty long time to achieve. The world isn't a video game there rarely is there actually instant gratification. Real gratification comes from a life well lived.
(*) There is an element of the Wall Street occupation movement that I do very much "get" , and that has to do with egregiously excessive executive compensation. No executive, no matter what they do, is worth hundreds of times the wages of an average worker.
