The Northwoods Is No Place For A Pink Flamingo
Archive for January, 2009
Decisions
Jan 28th
As it happens, I’ve got a fairly big decision to make in the very near future. Over the past year or so I’ve been in touch with various alum’s from the American Boychoir School through the wonderful and infamous Facebook.com and what makes that significant is that this year marks 20 years since we graduated in 1989. Usually it takes just about that long for people to really start wondering about their friends from the past again. We’ve all grown up, gotten over our teenage angst, and started our lives out in the real world. That means its time for a 20 year reunion. This year, the alumni association is putting together reunions for the classes of 1949, 1959, 1969, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2005. Anyhow, the events will take place in Princeton on March 20 and 21 and they have invited Martin Leyland (former Headmaster) to be recognized as an honorary alumnus. I think it’s fairly important that I go to this event but lord what a horrendous time of year to hold it! I’ve got to decide now whether this is important enough to spend a fairly large amount of money on (and I’m leaning that direction) or whether or not I need to save the money and hope I can get out there sometime in the future. We are talking plane tickets, a rental car and a hotel for a minimum of 3 days in Princeton which isn’t a cheap place to begin with. I did some looking around last night and I’m looking at about $700-$800 for a 3 or 4 day trip including limited spending money and perhaps a day in New York City (which is LONG over due). That will end up being a good portion out of one of my upcoming bonuses at work which I honestly need in order to get through the winter months.
It’s pretty hard for me to not consider this though because of the significant role ABS really did play in my life. Not only did I spend 3 years with ABS proper as a choirboy, touring all over the country, I spent the better part of 10 years in high school and collage working out there in the summers. To say the least, I knew a lot of people, many of whom had quite a significant influence on my life, also many of whom are now well past retirement and may not be around forever. The opportunity to likely see Jim Litton again would be especially nice. Even though I am not doing much with music now, this would give me an opportunity to network with a variety of people, all who share at least one common experience with me which is difficult to help other people really understand. There are not many of us out there in the world who share this experience, I know most of us didn’t even realize it’s significance until years after the fact. You don’t get these opportunities very often and my class in particular is full of some very interesting people, none of whom I’ve seen or had much contact with since the 80′s. I’m told that several people from the class of 88 and 90 may also make an appearance, it would be great to see all these people again.
Anyhow, donations are appreciated but not expected, if I can convince my folks to babysit the dog for a few days, I might have to make this happen, it’s hard to know when I might have a chance to do this again.
American Boychoir Class of 1989
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Generation Gap
Jan 26th
Not much news today. Thought I would post a picture from THIS web site. Most of you readers know I deal with paint. I’ve learned quite a bit about this product over the years and based on what I know, I am a strong opponent of oil based paints. The trend of all manufacturing is going green and in the paint world, this is actually a very good thing. It’s not just environmentally friendly, it is economically feasible and an important step in reducing the availability of products that can indeed cause a great deal of harm. Without fail, I will get customers who absolutely insist on using oil based paints for their projects. Most of these customers are older and they just get hysterical when I inform them that we don’t have much oil to sell and they don’t like it when I encourage them to look at acrylic, most have only ever used oil and most are quite resistant to change. We sell very few oil products at work and as a result it is in my best interest to try to discourage typical DIYers from purchasing oil based paints with very few exceptions for very specific projects. Oil still has it’s uses (your car would just die if it were painted using an acrylic) but they are very specific. The picture below explains why. This year, Ohio will join a growing list of other states outlawing the sale of many types of oil based paints, Michigan will not be far behind and thanks to our Legislature, we are actually ahead of the game in this country when it comes to eliminating higher content VOC (volatile organic compounds) from the hands of irresponsible consumers. The biggest push is simply the aforementioned fact. Consumers in general are very irresponsible. How many of you reading this, have had an oil spill from your car in the driveway and decided rather than take the time and make the effort to clean it up right, you grabbed the hose and blew it off into the lawn? How many of you have just tossed that old can of paint into the trash without thinking about where it might end up? Did you know that the Great Lakes suffer greatly because people carelessly dump their unused paint into the lakes? Nobody thought of these things years ago and in many cases, my generation is now paying the price for that irresponsibility. So, think twice about what you are putting into your garbage, especially if it was a liquid at one time (or still is). A good rule of thumb for being a responsible consumer: If you can not, or are unwilling to dispose of your product properly, you should not be purchasing it or using it in the first place. I’m not terribly tolerant of people who refuse to take this sort of thing seriously. Had people taken responsibility in the first place, I woudln’t have to tell you that because of you and your irresponsible behavior, you can no longer buy the product you want so badly.
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Scores and Clefs
Jan 25th
I’m constantly amazed at the new things I find on the web these days. I keep thinking back to 1993 in my freshman year at collage. That year, I got to work and study in a huge computer lab with what was then, very current technology. The Internet was just a baby. Recently invented of course by Al Gore (hahaha). I was able to get on line in the labs and use Gopher to find various things that might help me out in my studies. How primitive. Then, later that year, we saw the first web browser that used HTML to offer graphics and such. That browser (Mosaic) later turned into Netscape which then evolved the Internet even further. I used to spend hours in the lab ignoring my schoolwork just surfing the Internet. Then I would go home and pay nearly $400 a month for AOL who charged for Internet access at 14.4Kbs speed BY THE MINUTE (so I could complete the schoolwork I neglected in the lab). Anyhow, to this day, I’m always surfing and finding new things, constantly amazed by new technology. Of course now I have an unlimited 5Mbs connection for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Oh how I wish this web site had been around when I was attempting to draft musical compositions (something I suck at). I hated learning the proper (traditional) styles of composition. My professors hated my handwriting, not to mention my flat out refusal to avoid perfect traveling octaves in my assignments (among other composition faux-pas). I’ll readily admit that I’m not a composer and I do indeed get why understanding the rules are important (it’s like proper grammar). To me, music composition was ALWAYS first about how it sounded to ME the composer. I had enough experience in classical, choral, and to an extent Jazz music to know what sounded good and what didn’t. If it worked for what I was composing and it happened to break a rule, big fucking deal. My professors saw things differently. I learned a great deal being ridiculed by my composition professors and then given handshakes from my peers after class for doing my own thing and ticking off the prof. No really, I don’t fault them for their insistence that I learn how to do things correctly. It was for a grade after all, once I was out of their class I could do whatever I wanted…and I did. Anyhow, for you composers out there, check out this web site. If you are still writing in long form (and not using a computer), this might save you a little money. Looking back, I think if I were in school today in a composition class, professors might treat my anti-rule attitude in regards to composition a little differently considering the evolution of music. I think my profs were a little put off by me too since they realized that I still saw myself (and was being treated by my peers) as a big fish in a little pond. My background, stubbornness, and the talent I was willing to express forced them to constantly try to keep my ego in check and that was a lot of work for a few of them. They knew better than I did, if only I had allowed that to sink in a little further.
So on the same technology lines, I was thinking the other day as I added more friends on Facebook from high school, that my class was the last one in 1991 (my Sophomore year) to officially learn to type using a typewriter. The following year, Christian Hell High installed a new computer lab and from that point on, kids learned using computers. It’s crazy to think that in under 20 years, we’ve advanced so much that nearly everything I grew up with (except for Tinker Toys) is obsolete. It puts into perspective a little what my parents must think about some of the tech toys I show them.
Well, it’s off to bed now. 5am arrives far too early.
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A Conversation:
Jan 24th
Middle Age person wearing pajama pants and a Red Wings sweatshirt: EXCUSE me, do you work here?
My Co-worker (somewhat dazed): No, I’m just wearing this attractive blue vest with a huge name tag, carrying a phone and I have this radio ear piece on because I think it’s a swell fashion statement.
Middle Age person: OK, sorry.
Person walks off.
I had to give my co-worker props for having the balls to follow through with this comment but even more, we had to laugh that even after stating the obvious, this person still had absolutely no clue. Why do people ask stupid questions? Are they stupid people? Probably not. Are they oblivious to their surroundings? Maybe. Are they simply unaware that one of these things is not like the other…hmmm
As a side note, we caught up later with this person and offered to help find what she wanted. Still somewhat oblivious, she thanked us and left happy. When you work in retail, it is absolutely critical that you find the humor in your job and share it with other people. I see hundreds of people a day, 5 to 6 days a week, I can see the entirety of humanity over the course of just a couple hours. If I could not willfully be amused by some of the things I see and experience every day, I think I would go insane.
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The 44th
Jan 21st
It became official yesterday at noon, Obama is now officially the 44th President of the United States. I was initially somewhat skeptical of him when he announced that he would run this past year but as I got to know him through his campaign I came around pretty quickly. I’m always a skeptic of government and after the mess that ‘W’ made of the presidency during his 8 years of ruler-ship, I’m still not sure that Obama is going to be able to get everything he has said accomplished BUT, that being said, Obama is what I (and others) might consider to be a transformational figure. It’s likely that he will be seen not necessarily as a great leader (although I think he is) but rather as a catalyst to transformational change in this country. He has the power and clear ability to motivate people through his words and this country and it’s people need MASSIVE amounts of motivation right now. We’ve all been shit on in all kinds of ways and I think this president will help us create a new and more optimistic America.
I’ve had an interesting time watching people react to this election as it relates to race. For people who are my parents age and who grew up in the 50′s and 60′s this is a major advancement and all said, this is the Dream that MLK had for this country. The HUGE significance of electing the first African American to the highest office in the country is not at all lost on me. That said, I never had to grow up with direct racial disparity present in my daily life (that is not to say I have not felt other types of disparity in my life), I had never been told or taught by any relative or teacher old or young that there was ever any difference between me and my African American schoolmates. All of us knew that race was an issue for some people in this country and much time was spent learning how race relations developed throughout history in this country. Growing up, my generation was likely one of the first to experience what might be referred to by our parents as full integration without incidents (we had no sit-in’s, no police protections, no riots like they did) but to me and my peers the full presence of African Americans in our lives was simply every day life. It was reality and it was normal. I see Obama as a figure that can say to the older generation – we’ve made it to a point in history in this country where you can feel very proud of the good fight you have fought and will continue to fight. It is no accident that Obabma was able to take the oath of office, he is a direct reflection of the important battles that my parents generation won. Obama is a great African American but Obama will be remembered because he was/is an American first.
My generation will likely see other minorities elected to high office. It’s quite likely that within 20 years we will see the first female President. I suspect it will be 30 or more years before this country sees a Gay man or woman in high office but I don’t for a minute believe that such a thing is impossible, I think it is very possible. That optimistic thinking right there is a significant change from the generation before me who grew up thinking those things were not possible in their lifetime which is why I think this election has had such an impressive impact on so many people. I think ultimately though none of that really matters. It’s not the color of your skin, it’s not your gender, it’s not your sexuality, it’s not your name which makes you a great person or a great leader. It is how you treat everyone else in your life that matters. It’s about how you use your abilities and your talents to better the country or the world. It’s about not allowing anyone else to ever tell you what you can and can’t be for arbitrary reasons. Success is not measured by your physical characteristics or your gender, it is measured by your ability to be the best person you know how to be for the entirety of your life.
I hope that we are able as a country to expand on the progress we have made, that we can take human relationships to the next level and then the next after that. We all have to live on this planet and we can only better ourselves by remaining optimistic about everything and everyone around us. I know many times, especailly on this blog I am not terriably optimistic about our human condition but overall, I’m happy to be living in this era and I know many others are as well.
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Unanswered Questions
Jan 19th
I have a few questions that I would like answers to:
1 – Why do 40 something year old men feel the need to behave like 12 year old boys when they are in a group? I’m pretty tolerant of a great deal of the banter I have to listen to at work between grown men waiting for me to get their orders ready but really, why must the conversation you are having among your group of friends always have to be about the chick you banged last night and how much you hate your wife?
2 – When did pot become legal? At least 3 times today at work I had the pleasure of dealing with people in their 30′s or 40′s who were very clearly strung out and REEEEEEEEEEking of pot. I mean really, are people that board up here that the only thing grown adults can find to do is get high?
3 – Why is sexism tolerated? It never fails, at least 5 times a day, I get 60 year old men just hooting and hollering about not being able to find their wives in the store and did I see a good for nothing woman anywhere? Never a useful description of the person they lost, always some sort of insult directed at women in general. The names these men call their wives, the way they treat them with such scorn and contempt is deplorable. I hope their wives have their wits about them enough to crack these sorry old men right in the balls….and in public.
Clearly I had an interesting day at work. In all, not such a bad day, just interesting. It’s funny that there are times at work when I risk being called a prude by my peers for having such issues with the way people treat each other. I’m told that’s just the way they are. Well, why is that and why should I for a minute feel a need or be compelled to lower myself to that standard? It’s fairly easy for me to say that before I moved up here, I’d never really been exposed to adults who exhibit such poor social skills as part of their everyday existence. Amazing.
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Another One
Jan 18th
I know I’ve been writing a lot about politics lately. Just bear with me.
Just when the GLBT community was offered an olive branch for the slap in the face it received when Rick Warren was invited to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration, HBO turns around and does this. Today, Bishop Gene Robinson (for those of you not in the know, he is an openly gay Episcopalian minister and his presence was supposed to help counter the hate filled freak Rick Warren who openly proclaims gays are all incestuous – polygamist – pedophiles) was to give the kick off to the ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial with a prayer, it was then to be followed up by a choral and vocal event from the DC Gay Mens Chorus, Heather Headley, and Josh Groban. Clearly I was interested more in the choir (and Josh) than the Bishop but no thanks to HBO, I was not given the chance to see either. HBO decided to cut it from the program. This has of course infuriated the GLBT community. Now, before you get all bent, in so far as HBO is concerned, HBO is a premium subscription channel on cable. As a public service, this broadcast was released live to any person who had cable, meaning they did not have to pay to see it. Anyone without cable or who was not standing on the mall was never going to see or hear this event anyhow since the major networks were not going to cover it. HBO was under no obligation to provide this broadcast HOWEVER, the question now is – was the cut intentional or was there another reason for it? 2 of the biggest names in singing were part of that opening. Heather Headley and Josh Groban, those names alone attract MILLIONS of fans. So why was it cut? The GLBT blogs exploded this afternoon with everything from HBO caving to religious extremest propaganda to it being just a very poor decision by HBO. They didn’t cut anything else out of the broadcast. Regardless, with an administration coming into the White House that has promised to be IN THE FRONT of equality on a variety of issues including gay rights, they have stumbled with poor decisions and bad press management now twice and that’s not setting them up very well to deliver a consistent message.
The video below is from YouTube (thank god for YouTube). You can see the performance. Unfortunately, you’ll only ever be able to READ the invocation by Gene Robinson since it was not captured on video apparently. I’ve included it below the video.
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New HampshireWelcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
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The Age of Bland?
Jan 16th
Finally, it’s Friday and I’m off for the weekend. It was a fairly busy week at work, one of my buyers was in to see me and that created some stress although not of the bad sort. I’m doing my job and apparently doing it decently. After work today I went out and decided it was time to trim the mop growing out of my skull and then I headed over to the mall to pick up something for the folks. Oh My God. I’ve never really been a big fan of malls. I don’t go into them unless absolutely necessary and really the mall up here started out with a bang but it has really become a shithole. I figured while I was there I would take a look around and maybe pick up a pair of jeans. I recently wore out the knee in a pair that I liked and figured I could spend a little money on a new pair. I was wrong.
First, just walking in there I felt old. Keep in mind it’s a school day and about 1PM so kids should be in school right? HA, not a chance. They are everywhere. I already don’t like that. I had to be in school until at least 3PM 5 days a week, is that not the norm anymore? Are there that many drop outs up here? Next I headed over to TJ Max and I did not find a SINGLE pair of jeans that did not have shit all over it or was torn or chemically aged, or faded or whatever the hell else. Big (I mean HUGE) sewn in patterns of who knows what plastered across the butt on many pairs, wild patterns in the stitching, GAPING holes in the jeans, some in uncomfortable places. What the hell happened to fashion lately? When did grunge come back? Or did it just never go away? All I wanted was a slightly faded pair of jeans with no holes and no funky designs on them. Could I get it at TJ Max? Nope.
I figured at that point it was just my selection of stores. I always liked TJ Max because you used to be able to find designer clothing at reduced prices. Next I tried American Eagle Outfitters. Again, I have generally liked their clothing in the past but they too had no jeans at all that did not have the same issues as what I had seen before. They all looked horrible to me. Why would I want to dress like that? Lord knows I can’t dress that way at work. And, why would I want to pay $60 for a pair of designer jeans with holes all over them? OK, next stop JC Penney.
No luck here either. Whatever the designers are thinking this year in fashion have completely lost me. Again, why would I want to pay $40-$60 for grungy jeans. Amazing. The only thing I could find today were a few jackets that I liked and I don’t need any more freakin jackets!!! Everything else looked like it belonged on someone half my age. If this is what it means to get old, dam it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Now, before you go all ballistic on me, I too wanted to fit in with the crowd, wear really random ass clothing, and pretend that I just came out of a fashion magazine. I don’t fault or blame kids today for wanting to do the same thing and in fact I would encourage it simply because it gives them an identity…or at least a path to discovering one. BUT can someone please tell me where I can find a nice pair of jeans (that aren’t so cheap they will fall apart after 3 washes) and that are not designed for generation WHY? A person can only own so much GAP clothing (they are the only store up here that maintains more of the “preppy” style which I can get away with at work). Do Calvin Klein, DKNY, Perry Ellis and some of the other designer lines make anything any more that might hide my knee cap not allow it to get sunburn?
I know, I’m old, get over it right? I guess my only option is to lose about 40lbs and start making another $40K a year so I can fit into and then actually afford Banana Republic clothing since that’s about the only designer line I can stand. At that, I can’t even buy their stuff up here, you know up in redneck land they think the Banana Republic is a province in Mexico! GRRRRRRRRRRRR……
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Money and Theology
Jan 16th
Related to my previous posting, still going on with political topics. While the main stream media is not out in front of this issue, that fact is certainly nothing new in the world of gay rights. Those of you reading this know my opinions, it will eventually come time for you to shape your own and support them purposefully. There are likely few dissenters among my audience but we do not live in a bubble. Your own opinions, statements of belief, and influence upon your friends and acquaintances all matter.
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Lack of Progress
Jan 14th
This is all over the GLBT blogs and I figured I would post it here. Al Sharpton tends to be a little on the outspoken side on a whole range of things however he hit the nail on the head with this comments regarding Prop 8 and the overwhelming support of self proclaimed Christians who pushed for it’s passage. If you have not been following, Prop 8 was the referendum in California which rescinded equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians revoking and invalidating the marriages of some 18,000 gay couples.
“It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when the they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being delegated into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners. There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people’s bedrooms and claim that God sent you.”
Right here in Michigan we continue to lose battles not just on the economic front but on the gay rights front as well. This week the Kalamazoo city council rescinded a human rights ordinance that would have prohibited discrimination.
“Last night, the Kalamazoo City Commission repealed an anti-discrimination ordinance that sought to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered residents of the city from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. The Commission voted down the ordinance rather than put it up for a citywide vote after receiving petitions from residents opposing the ordinance.”
The ONLY thing I can say in a positive light about this is that the council, who previously voted 7-0 in FAVOR of this ordinance, refused to allow this issue of basic fairness be put before voters. Rights of this sort should NEVER be subject to a popular vote. End of discussion. They will re-introduce another resolution in the near future hopefully with bigger teeth. Michigan in general lags way behind the nation in regards to so many things, gay rights included. This was a driving force behind getting the hell out of Grand Rapids and never looking back. The rednecks up here however are just as bad, there are just a LOT fewer of them to get in the way. Things like this really make me wonder why I stay in Michigan. Of course there are lots of reasons why I do, I just know that I won’t be able to count on those people who represent me to actually consider the impact their decisions have on my life.
The more that I follow the current political trends the less I am inclined to really believe that significant progress can be made so long as religion continues to interfere and obstruct the lives of so many people. I’ve spent a good deal of my life struggling with the concepts of religion, I’ve exposed myself to nearly every corner of it, studied it, read about it, talked to people about it and I always come back to one thought: How can a religious person justify the pain that they as a collective group inflict upon their neighbors in the name of their God and at the same time sleep peacefully at night? There are plenty of good Christian people (many of whom I know and respect), however as a collective group, their dogma has and continues to interfere with my life in ways that I am not able to interfere in theirs. Religion it seems to me is a crutch for people who fear the unknown and who fear change. Nobody can grow when they are afraid of change. Each day, I read about horrors inflicted upon the GLBT community from religious people and religious leaders from people getting fired from their jobs to people being killed. I just don’t get their justifications for their actions.
I digress. This sort of thing tires me out. How about a little humor.
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