Self-Censorship & The Like

A little more than a week ago I went to San Diego with some really close friends of mine. The weekend was probably the best trip I ever had in San Diego. While out there one morning I decided to do a little mobile blogging while I was waiting for everyone else to feel like getting out of bed.

I posted a picture of myself and someone else (not to this blog, but to my Tumblr) and within minutes had a couple of comments about the picture. Everything was fine until some drama occurred later that evening regarding the whereabouts of the friend in the picture. After hearing all the garbage that was generated, I decided that it would be for the better if I went ahead and took the post down.

Even as I write this entry I have removed all identifying characteristics of the parties involved, and have included no names. I really do not like the fact that I feel like I have to censor myself. The whole purpose of me blogging is that I can write what I want and say what I feel until my heart's content. Now there is a person who is becoming an involved part of my life and I cannot comment on what's going on or how I feel about all that's going on.

Granted, he never asked me to watch what I say or what I write. That was my own decision, made out of respect for the sensitive nature of the events he is currently surrounded by. Not to mention the fact that I really do not want to be dragged through the grime that a particular person calls her life. I may be overreacting to a certain extent, given the fact that she may not think to check the pages and see what she may find. However, I felt that any precaution that I could take I should take, at least for now.

And I guess that's where I am going with this. The for now. I am willing to continue with the creative inhibitions for the moment, but this is temporary. As an artist, a writer, and the verbal person that I am, I can only contain myself for so long. When I reach that point, all bets are off...

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Reflections: July 31 (Not Really)

Rewrite. Rewrite. Rewrite. For some reason the words are just not coming to me smoothly today. I have been trying for several hours to compose this entry. Each time it's like I can't capture the words I'm wanting to express. This is why I have not written an entry in over a week, and this has been a very good month in writing for me. Now, it's like I have faced the most giant writer's block ever. One the size of Mt. Kilamanjaro or something to that effect.

This entry was meant to be about time. I wanted to reflect on all the avenues in my life that have changed during the course of the past 31 days. It was meant to be deep and introspective. It could have gone in a very cheesy chain mail-like direction in which I suggested everyone should live in the moment and rest assured that things could get better and the like or it could
have gone in a less superflous manner.

Instead I am left writing about how I really do not feel like writing right now. However, I am pushing myself to write something, anything. The result? This entry.

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No Dark Knight

I know, I know!!! It's one of the greatest Batman movies ever. I know, Heath Ledger gives an unbelievable performance as the Joker. I know it has smashed box office records and that every self-respecting comic book fan SHOULD go see this movie.

With all that said, I really have no desire to see The Dark Knight.

This has made me a pariah in some sense considering my coworkers' and friends' enthusiasim over the film. I cannot explain exactly why I do not want to see this movie, but I just cannot get into the hype. (Again this may go back to that anti-hype mechanism that has inexplicable developed over the years)

I have nothing against Batman. I loved the cheesy Adam West show that use to come on when I was a kid. The giant onomatopoeias that would fly across the scene with every punch and kick is classic. I even enjoyed (Note I say enjoy not that I thought they were incredible movies) a few of the old Batman movies. However, several years ago when Batman Begins came to theaters my first thought was:

"Did we really need another Batman movie?"

As such I vowed not to watch the movie. Despite the great reviews, the recommendations of friends, and the like I never watched that movie. Now here is the sequel, and I still have no desire to see a Batman movie. In fact I ended up staying away from the theaters in general.

Despite my pariah status at work among the fans of the winged-one. I have to admit there are some people who are like me and are not standing in line to get tickets to this movie. Friends of mine who are spent the weekend agreeing that we would rather watch any other movie. Yes, I was even willing to go see Mamma Mia instead of the caped-crusader. Thankfully, I ended up not seeing that movie either.

So do not bother asking me if I loved The Dark Knight as much as you did, or the millions of other people who saw it. Instead I spent the people with a couple of people love. (Something I feel would have been worth standing in line for)

And I have no regrets.

~~

IndyMac: An Egregious Storm

It may seem like yesterday's news: IndyMac being taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), long lines as customers run to withdraw their money, finger pointing, stock prices falling... Now very common knowledge to just about everyone. When I first heard about this situation I really wanted to jump on my blog and go on about this issue, giving my 2 cents even if no one cared. However, I decided to wait it out. To keep my eyes open and my thoughts churning to figure out exactly what I feel about everything. Now that adequate time has passed, here I go.

All around this is a very sad incident. There have been people who have or will lose their jobs, funds that are only going to be covered at 50 cents to the dollar (all amounts over $100,000)fainting spells as people wait in line, and an overall effect on the market as consumers begin to worry about the financial institution they patron. Although, many experts are quick to point out that this incident does not compare to the run on banks during the Great Depression it has its similarities. Bank runs are the result of fear and mistrust of consumers. Speculation and even facts will cause customers to quickly withdraw their money out of banks which will result in the banks loss in liquidity and in turn results in the consequence that has befallen IndyMac.

Then there's the issue of Senator Schumer. On June 27 the senator's office released a letter to the public in which the senator called into question the well being of IndyMac. After the bank take-over many people have point a finger to the senator's comments as being the cause of a bank run that left IndyMac unable to function. In his defense, Sen. Schumer has stated that the reason people have blamed him for IndyMac's failure is because "They're doing what the Bush administration always does: Blame the fire on the person who calls 911"¹

I am sorry but the senator has gotten this all wrong on many accounts. 1st of all his invoking of the "Bush administration" at a time when it is completely unnecessary. This is not a party issue, or a time where shots have to be made when and where they can. We are not watching a basketball game, but rather the second biggest bank failure in American history. Now do not misunderstand me, I will be the first to say that there are many instances in which the Bush administration made horrible decisions and deflected the blame on those who called them on their horrible decision, but this is not the case in the given situation.

His 2nd mistake is in his choice of an analogy. In sending out a letter of concern to bank regulators, Senator Schumer did act as one calling 911. However, his release of the letter to the public does not follow his analogy. His actions are more equivalent to the premature revelation of an organized federal sting. By announcing his actions to the public he contributed to the federal government's inability to prevent the closing of this bank. Once investors heard of the possibility of bank closure they rushed to withdraw their funds. The result? A loss of more than $1 Billion in liquidity for the flailing bank. Now Senator Schumer gets to gleefully exclaim I told you so, when he contributed to the bank's takeover by exacerbating their existing problems. What a shame. (Lucky for the senator, he has 2 years left to his turn. That's a reasonable amount of time for voters to forget about his role in this incident....he should hope.)

On Monday, when the bank opened, lines of people wrapped around IndyMac trying to withdraw their funds. Although, many news outlets in various forms of media assured consumers that their money was safe and business could be conducted as usual their was no way to assuage their fears. Tempers ran high as waiting times grew, lists were lost, and the heat bore down on these drained fearful consumers. However, by Thursday most people found the answers they were looking for mostly via cashiers checks issued by the FDIC covering their account balance and the closure of said account.

Then another issue arose. With cashier checks in hand, many former IndyMac customers attempted to open accounts with other banks. These banks informed these potential new customers that their funds would be placed on hold for at least 8 business days. Already exasperated with banks in general this is not increasing the trust of consumers and in turn is contributing to the decline in bank stock. The irony comes in that according to the FDIC, should the customers continued with their accounts at IndyMac they would have full access to their funds as if the collapse never occurred. Instead, those who left the bank have become the ones with no access to their money.

As I have indicated before this is a very sad occurrence. No one triumphs in a situation like this. Jobs and money have been and will be lost by many, tax payers will have to pay the losses of the bank (estimated somewhere between $4-$8 billion dollars will have to be covered by tax payers²), consumers are leery of all financial institutions and an already unstable economy is taking another devastating blow. All we can do as a people is stay alert, and attempt to ride out this storm.

~~

¹http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92642046
²http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/878809/did_senator_chuck_schumer_cause_indymac.html?cat=3

The Great Grimace Mystery Revealed!!

Ever since I was a kid I would see this big purple thing in the McDonald's commercial. He reminded me of a purple Popsicle or something and had a funny name. Grimace would become a very common topic in discussion of pop culture. It became apparent that no one really knew what Grimace was suppose to be. Sure there have been many parodies, comedic guesses, assumptions and random back stories created to explain the history of the purple marketing agent. However, nothing really seemed logical (or as logical as a story on a fantastical commercial character could be.)

Last night while coming home with a bunch a friends the topic of Grimace came up once again. Heads were scratched and hypotheses discussed regarding the origins of Grimace. Finally, I decided to do something that for some reason I never thought of doing before. With today's technology it's very simple to look things up on the trusty Web, and you know the information discovered would be authentic because EVERYTHING posted on the web is true (*smiles*)

According to Wikipedia Grimace is:

"large, anthropomorphic taste bud with short arms and legs; he is known for his slow-witted demeanor. His most common expression is the word "duh."¹

HE'S A TASTE BUD!!! A PURPLE TASTE BUD!!!!!!!

This was the reaction I got when I read this description to my car riding companions, except there were question marks in addition to the exclamation points. Granted, in retrospect Grimace does look like a purple tongue but even that goes beyond peculiar 80's advertising and into just plain bizarre and borderline creepy. Ok, it's creepy. Someone actually had to sit through an advertising meeting and say "Hey, you know what we should have? A giant purple taste bud." Then there had to be someone or a group of someones who said "Yeah! That's a great idea."

According to Wikipedia, it use to be even worse:

"Originally, Grimace was the "Evil Grimace", with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes. After that first campaign, the character was revised to be one of the "good guys", and his number of arms was reduced by two. Commercials and merchandise generally portrayed him as a well-meaning simpleton, whose clumsy antics provided a comic foil to Ronald McDonald."¹

So, yeah Grimace was suppose to be evil...and he's a giant taste bud. This is a perfect example of how marketing has change. Nowadays we have a talking gecko and sophisticated cavemen hawking car insurance, a giant king promoting hamburgers, and various screaming vendors trying to push everything from citrus based cleaning products to headache salves. I am not saying that today's characters are better. I'm just saying they're very different.

Then again, maybe that marketing team was on to something. After all, I have dedicated a whole blog entry to the history and evolution of their fictional burger character more than 20 years later. I really don't know if the same will be said about the Geico cavemen.

~~

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonaldland

Frustrations Run High

Today I had one of those days where I literally felt like banging my head against the desk. In fact there was actually a point where I got off the phone and just started banging my head against the desk. The incompetence of some people simply staggers me at times. I mean people who have spent years in a particular position and yet, act as if its there first day.


Granted I have to admit, there are times where its not so much incompetence, or ignorance, as it is laziness. There are those who prefer to push things off on other people and then give good lip service to make it seem like they are actually working. These people usually get by on this type of responsibility pushing. However, I am so sick of doing work for other people that goes way beyond the parameters of job description. If I'm doing work for you, then you better be signing a check for me. Otherwise, we have a problem.


I am being very vague in this post, and for obvious reasons. My blog is public and may be prone to various eyes. Another reason is because names and descriptions are unnecessary. It does not matter who is treating me this way. What matters is that days like this have become a very common occurrence. I have talked to my supervisor and his thing is to just deal with it. That's how she is. Great advice, huh?


Is it no wonder that I dreamed last night that I was offered another position. What's sad is that in my dream, my co-worker Megan and I were both offered positions within our current place of employment. I really didn't like the type of work, but due to my desperation I agreed to take a trial run of the position.


I know that things can be much worse. There are so many people right now who are without work and have no means to support themselves and their families. I know that I'm very blessed in that I have a steady income and not working 2 bone crushing jobs like I use to do not so long ago. However, whenever I try to maintain a sunny disposition I end up having people trying to undermine my positive attitude.

I guess I will just have to try harder.

~~

It's Coming!!!!

My views on IndyMac and the predicted bank crisis.

Stay Tuned.

~~Posted From My Blackjack