Friday, May 25, 2007

Educating yourself for the man

Anyone else out there find these complaints from corporate interests about how college graduates are unprepared to do what employers want them to do offensive and irrelevant? Why is the education of our students about preparing them to be corporate slaves? What about developing the individual, the spirit, expanding the mind, preparing people to be future leaders, letting them discover their own directions and souls? How further backwards towards the days when only the highest social and economic classes were properly educated are we going to go? And the corollary question of how much are average Americans willing to tolerate in terms of having their lives be used as cogs in a machine?

Art influences life

Borderline ironic that watching Babel has led me to decide against a previous decision to vacation in Morocco. It looked so charming in the Ab Fab episode when they went to film a commercial.

parochialism

I've been feeling very critical lately of the fact that many people, in this day and age, still propagate separatism based on race or religion, and honestly believe they are justified. In particular, I am disappointed by "minority" groups whose members feel that their separatism is justified, despite the damage caused by separatism on the part of other groups in society. Particularly those who actively exclude non-members. I don't feel a real need to justify my opinion and have listened to many counter-arguments, none of which are persuasive. Limiting oneself due to parochialism is wrong, regardless of the form it takes and regardless of heritage.
However, I would like to share that the least impressive argument comes in the form of "you wouldn't understand...," inevitably due to the fact that I happen not to share some point of heritage with the speaker. It's possible that indeed, I could never understand, but one of the points and advantages of living in a modern society is that we all integrate. Not only do we not put people at the back of the bus, we also don't all group ourselves voluntarily into exclusionary cliques based on race and religion. It's not natural for people of any heritage to integrate, but a good number of us have managed to see flaws in applying the logic of our ancestors to our modern situation. The rest of you should bloody grow up.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Bar review

The remarkable thing about bar review is that it turns out that the way my housemate taught me to study is exactly how barbri is structured. It's very practical.
I'm exhausted. Both physically and mentally.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Laughter




Mozart in Amadeus has the most brilliant laugh. I just adore him.

Similarly, in Jet Set, Guillaume Gallienne's character has a delightful laugh/speech pattern. He is also responsible for my love of saying "j'adore, j'adore, j'adore" without any reference explaining the source of the comment. I just get so irritated when I have to explain things, even when they couldn't possibly be obvious to others. It just creates this bad feeling in my stomach - it ruins the high associated with being on an endless tangent of random thoughts and associations unless I'm bordering on manic, in which case it just encourages my tangentialism.

More Riesling...


Today's low-quality rielsing is rosemount. A little less acidic, but you really can't tell there is sugar in here. However, the base of the bottle (not the rest) is square, which is really cool.
I'm tired lately, I suppose going through the motions of progression from lots of energy to no energy, but I don't like it. I prefer endless energy. I suppose everyone would if possible. So why are scientists not focusing on this? Currently the problem is that everything that encourages energy is addictive and as a result, highly regulated by the FDA. Perhaps the reason for this is that the body is really better as a result of endless energy and so the addiction to energy is good? The interesting part about the drug problem is that it is a problem because people who are (this whole thing is my opinion but I want to reinforce that this is my opinion here) naturally prone to addiction become addicted, a certain percentage of those people create problems, and we focus all our energy on that small percentage. We never discuss the number of people who try drugs and don't become addicted, or who become addicted but manage to get by. Is so much energy, so much pain, the cost of incarceration of small time dealers, is everything associated with the fight on drugs responsible given the real effect that drugs have on a certain percentage of the population? Just from a practical perspective, it probably makes no sense to have a war on drugs, since such a small percentage of Americans actually use drugs and then cost the country money as a result of that use. In fact, I posit that it is impossible that the war on drugs is economically justifiable. I don't doubt that if you rearrange the priorities, it is justifiable, but lets associate our justification with reality, whenever possible, 'kay? The reality is that many many people use drugs casually without cost to the US government. I just object to the use of my tax dollars for this purpose.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Free Speech

The People vs. Larry Flynt

I can't believe I just saw this movie now. Touching, brilliant, tragic, and even a supreme court view!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Riesling

For years, my drink of choice was red wine. It started giving me headaches. I focused on beer. It started making me exhausted and giving me headaches. So I switched to white wine. I don't really like white wine, and that's how I ended up with Riesling. It makes the white wine a little more bearable - you know, a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. Currently I'm on a $9 bottle of Jacob's Creek Riesling, Vintage 2006, from southern Australia. At least it goes down easier than the sake.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Movie binge

I like to do things to excess. Even if I didn't like it, that's who I am. Sometimes I do nothing, then I do lots of things. Right now is a "lots of things" time. In the past two days I've seen:
--> The Pursuit of Happyness (Widescreen Edition) (ok);
--> Catch & Release(disturbing, but the celestial seasonings thing was awesome);
--> Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition)(ok);
--> Auntie Mame (most excellent);
--> Born into Brothels (good - but a documentary so appreciation will vary);
--> Being There (bizarre).
--> Music and Lyrics (Widescreen Edition) (awesome)
--> The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition) (good)
--> Failure to Launch (Special Collector's Edition) (prosaic hollywood)
--> The Queen (over-hyped)

UPDATE:
--> Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition) (okay, but not nearly as good as I thought would be)
--> Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition) (brilliant)
--> Amadeus (brilliant - another I can't believe I just saw now)
--> Orange County (Ws Sub) (okay)
--> The Weather Underground (wow. basically someone let spoiled self-involved white kids get totally out of control. what idiots)
--> Blood Diamond (Widescreen Edition) (good)
--> Bride and Prejudice (boring, almost inexplicably, but I was totally bored)
--> Babel (hmmm. kind of like traffic, if traffic weren't compelling and were more concerned with politics and cinematography than the story. oh, and over-hyped)
--> Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk (interesting documentary that kind of hits the wrong points on what's wrong with higher education)
--> Akeelah and the Bee (Widescreen Edition) (beautiful. makes you cry in a happy way)


I pseudo-watched the following, which I though I hadn't seen previously, but was mistaken:
--> Vanity Fair (2004) (Widescreen)
--> 21 Grams

“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Auntie Mame


Oh the morals of this film. You raise children and they turn into exactly what you hate the most, then eventually they come around. And you must have fun, even though everyone will try to stop you. Oh, and a lot of the "real" people out there are awful individuals, modern versions of people who believe in restricted communities, as it were.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Scam emails

I find these deeply amusing. I received my first one literally as I returned to my desk from an office training on recognizing and stopping money laundering. How we laughed. Last year I decided it would be fun to lead one of these people on for a while and opened up a yahoo account with a spam name (something like xydhsejzzjs@yahoo.com), took on the persona of a lonely teenage girl who worked at a fast food restaurant, was extremely unpopular, and clearly could be of no use to him. He wrote back.
Lately, I've been finding them more offensive, as I did with the one below - I'm not sure what's going on here (oh, and the "to" address is not mine...):

From:"Mrs. Babara Irene Hanff"
To:charity@beloved-christcentral.com
Subject: Dearly Beloved In Christ!!!!
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 19:30:38 -0400
Dear Friend,

I am the above named person undergoing medical treatment now. I was
married to Dr. Peter Hanff who worked with erithean Embassy in Poland as a
diplomat and a business man for over 6 years before his untimely death
in the year December 2004 We were married for eleven years without a
child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death we were both Christians. Since his death I decided
not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home, which my
religion is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum
of$20 Million (twenty million U.S. Dollars) with one finance/security
office in Europe.

Presently, this money is still with the Security/Finance Company.
Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months
due to cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke.
Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a foundation or
better still a Christian individual that will utilize this money the way
I am going to instruct here in. I want an individual that will use this
to fund missions, orphanages and widows and other good charity deeds
The Bible made us tounderstand that blessed is the hand that gives.

I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit
this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want
my husbands hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers. I don't
want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, hence
the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death
hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of
the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight my case and I
shall hold my peace. I don??need any telephone communication in this
regard because of my health, and because of the presence of my husband's
relatives around me always.

I don't want them to know about this development. As soon as I receive
your reply I shall give you the contact of the Finance/Security Company
Europe. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower
you as the original- beneficiary of this fund. I want you to always pray
for me because the lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a
life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must
serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all through
your life.

Understand that we must keep this contact secret as possible that way
we can be focused on the fact that you have claimed the money
successfully and commence on what we have discussed Any delay in your reply will
give me room in sourcing for a reliable individual for this same
purpose.

.Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated
herein.Please reply me through my private email: babara_hanff@yahoo.com.hk

Remain blessed
Mrs. Babara Irene Hanff

What I'm reading...

Daughters of the Shtetl.
It caught the attention of the customs official, who once I started explaining what the book was about, was quick to move me on through...It's a book my younger brother was evidently assigned for a class and accordingly marked about 4 paragraphs and certainly didn't read any of it apart from the first 2 pages (this leads me to believe this is a genetic tendency and not one I can be personally held responsible for). It's a graduate study focused on Jewish Russian (from the Pale generally) immigrants who came to the United States and then began working as laborers, frequently garment workers. The main flaw in the book is its attempt to bring some perspective by discussing almost exclusively Italian workers - I recognize the laziness - she should have done a more comprehensive survey and looked at immigrant groups who arrived at different times but in similar waves and with similar levels of unskilled employment and compared those. However, it is very engaging and written in a way that makes what would otherwise be tedious a very good read, even hard to put down.

Vacay


So, was on vacay. I travel a lot, as a dear friend of mine just put it, my job is interfering with my travel lifestyle. But why do people travel? Over the years I've met a handful of people who don't enjoy/have little to no interest in travel. Is it fear over the unknown? Lack of certain thinking capabilities and hence a certain lack of imagination? Or the most insidious, a lack of interest? It makes me fearful for the state of the universe to imagine that someone could simply be uninterested in the ways of the rest of the world. I suppose a lot of people like their lives, like the way they work, and aren't terribly interested in how other people might do things. And in fact, this group can be lumped together with a group of "check the box" tourists who travel regularly, but who do so to say they have been places and done things. But there's a group of us who are reinvigorated every time we see a new structure of streets, a new tendency towards work clothes, a new way to stand on a bus, new rules about queuing, a different attitude towards rain (resulting, inevitably, from the different types of rain people experience - something I've learned over the years) and all those little things that give the most nominal insight into oneself, one's decisions, and one's culture, through the comparision to another.
It's the part of travel people tend not to talk about, an experience they sometimes don't even realize they've had. Personally, I think my need for travel stems from a practical response to an overdeveloped fight-or-flight (read chemical imbalance) response. If I don't travel, I feel more and more boxed-in and tend to rebel excessively to try to make the feeling of sameness go away. I just need the influx of the new - I've been stopping myself from disappearing into the world for most of my life, primarily by reading, which does a very similar thing to travel.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Biblical musings

So while I was procrastinating, I started reading the bible, part of it having been assigned reading for a class. And wow, is it wild. Leviticus in particular is just off-the-hook crazy. Like, I'm not that clear on the, okay to eat locusts, but no to escargot. There is also far more on specifics of how to deal with signs of leprosy than on dietary restrictions, which kind of makes you wonder...like the leprosy thing, not so important anymore, so why is it there? I know that seems a little circular, but if this is a book to address everything through all of mankind, what about more modern diseases and how to deal humanely with those with illness? I actually just think leviticus as a whole should go out the window - it's kind of cuckoo for coca puffs. Plus they don't even enforce the, you're not allowed in the temple if you only have one testicle thing anymore.
But the really interesting part is the interpretation. Most of what I read involves imposing values onto the religious text, regardless of what the text actually says. Being a literature prodigy, I know all about interpretation and about how far you can go. I actually know because when something is wrong with an interpretation or solution, there is a feeling in my stomach that tells me (yes, that is serious. and it works. it's never failed me). But drawing larger significance from simple rules is actually, I think, wrong. I think it is wrong to take a holy text, project your opinions onto it, thereby forcing them onto others who feel that not accepting the interpretation is a rejection of the text and ergo, of the religion. I mean, I could anoint myself as a religious figure and say that the whole testicle thing actually referred to undescended testicles and the fact that this interferes with testosterone production and general malfunction and so suggested that people who were unable to procreate weren't welcome in the flock. It matches with the getting rids of the lepers thing. The modern interpretation is that the weak should be weeded out and those who cannot contribute should not be allowed to use precious resources, such as fertile women. But I kind of doubt we'll see that one anywhere...

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Skool sux

Skool is really lame. Totally lame. About as lame as the debt integration rules that provide that a qualifying debt instrument when combined with a section 1256 contract will qualify as an integrated instrument if the cash flows of the separate components are substantially equivalent to the cash flows on a fixed or variable rate debt instrument.
Don't make the mistake of confusing the qualifying debt instrument with the qualified debt instrument - Hah! as if you could! Mix up I.R.C. 988 and I.R.C. 1275! But seriously folks...am on the verge of throwing myself out a window.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

the pres...

As anticipated. He looks a little more like a freak here than normally. (from the iht)

Silly travel guides


As someone who travels frequently on my own, I actually know better than to buy a bad travel guide. However, I've recently developed an unfortunate addiction to the Phaidon wallpaper guides. They're very silly and more for someone who is going to be touring around with a private driver or a tour guide who is basically to help you navigate the language and such. But they summarize a city into a handful of things to see and places to eat and sleep, with lots of pictures. It's a very un-American travel guide - one thing I really respect about Americans is that when they travel, they travel like responsible adults. They try to hit all the sites, see the nightlife, take in the atmosphere. They're really good, solid people, Americans. But there's something delectable in seeing a foreign city as a self-indulgent playground. Something hysterical in having conversations with people about cities of millions as though there were only 4 hotels and 10 restaurants. I mean, it's really very funny, at least if you can keep from laughing out loud. You have to keep the laughter inside for this kind of stuff and instead pretend as though you are just a happy person who doesn't realize how small and insular your sad little version of the world is.
And yes, I do often wish I didn't have the inability to stop the constant overwhelming analysis of the world and its stimuli. It's like trying to sleep with 3 luxury condos being built outside your window. No, that's really happening. It's more like trying to sleep before an exam you're unprepared for...off to study again :)

Sunday, May 06, 2007

French election has begun!

As Le Monde notes, there is a, who the f*** cares attitude about this election. For one thing, the polls are open on a Sunday, which would give about 10% participation in the US. For another, Sarkozy looks set to win, so it is dubious whether it is worth it for anyone to even bother voting, except if, in the hilarious structure of the French, Royal can "faire mentir les sondages." (which means, make the polls lie) I think if we talked in that sort of structure in america, I would be a much bigger fan of the world and life in general.

In fact, the interest in the election is so great that the other main article is about reading people's minds.

Fiji Water Bottle

What are you interested in?
Nothing.
Me neither.
(identify the movie on your own)

I bought some fiji water yesterday because exam period expands my eccentricity. On the back there is a drawing showing where they get the water from. there is an "artesian aquifer," surrounded by "Impermeable Rock." And yet, somehow, the Fiji brand water manages to come through the "Impermeable Rock." I am fascinated that my water is able to defy the very laws of basic word denotation. True proof that it is magical water. Not to mention its not-so-subtle reference to the Wonka Chocolate River debacle (Please do not touch the water: it's our number one rule.) Perhaps it will allow me to concentrate on something, anything, of any relevance whatsoever. Oh Fiji Water, give me strength!

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Really?

Sigmund Freud - "Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness."

What about my just flitting from one random thought or obsession to another? I feel like Freud didn't really get people...

Thoughts on travel

- I love shopping in Tokyo.
- I love eating in France and Japan.
- I love Copenhagen's airport.
- I love how people look like me in Spain.
- I love the dried corn snacks in Peru.
- I love how I seem to have lived in Moscow in a former life.
- I love the atmosphere of Istanbul.
- I loved Spring Break in Cancun.
- I love hot spring towns.
- I love the sulphur hot springs in Iceland.
- I love remembering being on the beach in Puerto Vallarta as a child.
- I love the predictability of US Customs officials.
- I love the plaque commemorating the invention of Dada in Zurich,
- I love the books I found in Aarhus.
- I love the easter festivities in Warsaw.
- I love markets everywhere. Even the one selling broken toys in Tunisia.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Second Tour Countdown!

See the Presidential box on the right for the actual countdown: http://www.lemonde.fr/

There were very strong numbers for Sarkozy across the board, and even in areas I didn't expect it - it doesn't look good for Royal. Although it's unclear how Bayrou folk will split, I'd go with Sarkozy over Royal. The numbers also make me think that France is becoming more like the US, which is sad. Tears, tears. Listening to one of the videos, that people are commenting that protests will not change the country and that kids should get jobs, wow, it's like talking with my conservative friends and/or my conservative persona (I prefer ideas to opinions - I know this is confusing to some people so I state it. Opinions just aren't that interesting and when you discuss opinions, people often get confused and instead of actually talking about the ideas, end up defending their pride and ego, regardless of the relevance to the discussion, because they misinterpret a disagreement of opinion as a personal attack. Then everyone gets very dramatic and I just think that sort of drama is totally unnecessary and causes me and everyone else stress. I really dislike how people do that. Turn ideas into debates about who they are personally. So painfully self-centered, to use a loaded term that people like to throw around when they can't think of a more accurate insult, although it is accurate in this context :) )

Also, Sarkozy is such a totalitarian freak. I mentioned earlier that I think the resemblance between Sarkozy and Putin should be more than a warning to the people of France.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Examinations

I hate exams. Totally hate them. But it isn't as though I have an alternate argument for them. The problem is that the educational system sucks all desire to learn out of children, such that repercussions are the only things available to motivate you by the time you should actually be paying attention. For me, it's just the simple fact that over the years, I have ceased to have any motivation whatsoever. I'm not motivated to work, or to not work, or to do much of anything. (I reference the Ferris Bueller scene here where the girlfriend and best friend are walking through daley plaza and both admit to not being interested in anything - I feel you) I blame treatment of the excess acid production in my stomach and the realization that I was allergic to wheat. Now that I don't have the stress associated with these conditions to deal with, I am too calm, I just don't even know myself anymore. And then I do silly things like buy boxes of chocolate (I don't like chocolate), more bananas (approximately 10 bananas have gone bad in my apartment in the past week), and a bunch of clothes for some imagined time when I'll want to leave my room and look lovely. The thing is, what I like is luxuriating in all my random thoughts and associations. That's the only thing I really enjoy and somehow that doesn't fit neatly into explaining why risk management can be a tax disaster, due to the treatment of swaps v. collars etc. My panda bear stuffed animal (Mr. Bear) is wearing a burberry golfing hat and taking this all in. I appreciate his upbeat and calming demeanor. He's a cutie.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Bone Marrow

So I've decided everyone needs to put him/herself in the bone marrow database. Basically, someone out there gets sick, they look in the database, find this random person who happens to match for them, and you can save someone's life. It's essentially unconscionable not to. You can visit www.giftoflife.org or visit the national bone marrow program (http://www.marrow.org/) for more info.

"He who saves one life, it is as if he had saved the entire world" -Talmud