Friday, November 26, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving

More than half of our staff is out on holiday tonight (well, the sun is already out, but you know what i mean) for thanksgiving. Since we work on U.S hours, we rest when the yanks do. So here I am, with the headphones cranked up all the way to drown out the hip-hop music my co-workers are playing nearby. What is it about modern rap and hip-hop that gets people so hooked? Poke me for my musical prejudice, but any genre that has nothing better to sing/rap about than bitches, money, bling-bling, cars and other mundane shallowness is SHIT in my book.

This hatred of mine has deep roots stemming all the way back to high school. I was the sullen, black Sabbath-head kid in the back who was subject to occasional, not-so-subtle ridicule for one reason or another. Most of the popular guys were of the ghetto wannabe sort. You know who I'm talking about: the loud, boisterous blabbermouths who own souped-up, tricked out honda civics (and other asian economy car types) made to look like sports cars, which play fat-bass beats meant to attract maximum attention. Those guys that have this illusion that their rides are some sort of phallic enhancement. Anyway, I hated them for being shallow assholes that think that they're some sorta demigod or something. Jealous? Honestly, maybe partially because they were popular and all. But most of the bile that rose in my throat could be attributed to the attitude that they put out, and I linked that to their fucking music.

College did nothing to cool down the flames of hatred I had for rap/hip-hop. My girlfriend then (now my wife) has an ex who fit the aforementioned thug wannabe profile. Needless to say, it only fueled my rage against their shallow music. I hated that culture of fucking testosterone. Yes, you could call me an uptight bastard - it's not as if rock isn't capable of the same debauchery you might say. BUT at least rock can be that OR something better...like sticking-it-to-the-man as Jack Black put it in "School Of Rock". Prepackaged corporate angst? Maybe. But not all of it, I'd like to think. I have this high-minded ideal that rock can be a vehicle of change, of passive resistance, that you can play heavy music but be cerebral at the same time. But we all know that is not the case for some. (read: Creed, Kid Rock, etc) These days, the hate I feel has calmed down somewhat, but it flares up once in a while. Which brings me back to today. I don't hold it against my co-workers that they listen to that kind of music...I guess they just want to have a good time and enjoy themselves right? It should be no biggie at all. So, there is no point to this jigsaw of a rant. Feel free to share your thoughts, be it in concurrence (is that a word?) or violent disagreement.

Saturday, November 13, 2004
BOO.




Just some tomfoolery at work. If you look very closely, you'll see my (real) finger sticking out of the jacket sleeve :D
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
On the Humdrum Stuff of Life

This blog has been more of a punching bag these past few months. Well, it's probably time to actually muster enough brain cells to use this as a journal instead...as in, "a log of the recent events in my life".

The business that we've (my wife and I) been losing sleep over to get started has finally kicked off. Customers have been coming in but it is going to be a bit stressful for me to teach in the evening before going to work at night. Here's hoping it takes off - good start so far. I'm going to be teaching some kids elementary Japanese too. It's funny when I think about it. I feel more responsible, like I'm a full functional adult. Like those busy busy people who have two jobs just to make ends meet.

In fact, I was just teaching this 12-year old boy before I went to work. Lyn had a late afternoon class so I covered for her tonight. The kid's pretty smart, but he's a smart ass too, and impatient to boot. He was basically raring to go home so he tried to breeze through his math homework and other various assignments. And I told myself back when I was still studying that I'd rather not be a teacher since I don't want to deal with impossible kids. So it got me thinking on the way to work: I wonder how I'm gonna deal with Dan when he gets to that age? Well, deal is probably not a good word, maybe handle is more appropriate. One day at a time I guess. That's the mindset I'm trying to adapt these recent days. One day at a time...before you know it, a year, a decade, a good chunk of your life has gone by.

Here I am at work, dragged back into the night shift. Some guys in the managerial position at work tell me I need to go back to night duty to boost my stats, since I'm on the day shift more often. Less calls during the day mean less calls and less utilization (well, as far as our phone client performance monitor tells us, since it doesn't care about the emails you answer). Oh well...hope I can go back to daylight by the time the holidays come around.

That's all for now. I'm gonna update the photo album with some pics I took at the office.


Thursday, November 04, 2004
Turn off the lights

Listen to this.


Now scroll down...


































This a voice recorded by Karen Mossey, whom she believes to be that of her dead father. Of course I'm not sure if this is real or not, but if it is....oh man.