Ronstock '08

Ever heard of Ronstock 08? How about libertarian Ron Paul? He is becoming a very interesting individual...read and look on.

Ron Paul followers gathering for own convention... (Ass. Press Article)

Living in Utah during primary time I saw flyer's, posters and people heralding the Ron Paul Revolution. Whether you admire the guy or think he's a political joke, the guy's got style.

Check out his theme song by Aimee Allen, called appropriately the Ron Paul Anthem (I think).

The Republican's are getting desperate

I'm sure everyone has heard by now McCain's pick for VP. What a shocker right? Well yeah, in a way. But considering all that is happened during this election so far, not so much.

Let's consider the facts: McCain is really, really, really old. Sorry McCain fans, but he is. This election cycle is about change. Nothing else is as important as this one clear cut and oft repeated message. McCain is the familiar face in congress. He is a hard, seasoned politician. Which is quite obvious I know. But this time around, this quality, what you could call experience, longevity, whatever, is not an asset. Right now, experience makes voters nervous, it makes them wonder, what if its not different this time around? What if a McCain administration is really just a proverbial third term for GW? Obama, in his DNC speech, poked fun of McCain for this very thing. What is different about McCain and Bush?

Which is why he needed to pick a wild card as his VP. His campaign needed an uplift. That uplift is a woman, a mother of five, an Alaskan, and an inexperienced politician. I think McCain is either being extremely smart or very, very stupid. I know of a couple staunch Republicans who are already protesting his choice.

"I can't believe he picked a woman!"
"An Alaskan?"
"What was he thinking when he chose her?"
"Jeez, I guess VP doesn't mean as much as it used to"
... and so on and so forth.

What ever the case, he cannot turn back. The cards are on the table. And that all important message of change, chronicled now by both campaigns, is coming, regardless of who ultimately is victorious.

Tidal District

Tidal District is a recently formed band from Dublin. To tell you the truth these guys don't even have a full album out yet, only a few singles and one EP titled 'Hold the Party Line'. But these guys a good. Be some of the first to check them out. Go to their myspace page and listen to some tracks there. I guess their single "Aces" was quite popular in Ireland. It's actually not my favorite track of theirs, but at least it gives you a sampling of their sound.

The National

One of the few bands I've come across that sounds both refreshing and comfortingly familiar all at once. Their Sound is mellow and dark, with a pounding and yet subtle tempo. Faint traces of a violin or a trumpet sound out and blend together amid all the organized chaos of the drums and guitars. This band really knows what the soul sounds like. The highlight of it all is lead vocalist Matt Berninger's baritone voice. Jeez this guy will give you the chills he is so good. His voice is what will pull you in, but its their blending of every sound into their cohesive discography that will hook you for life. Their lyrics, their sound, both are so artistically and emotionally aware that you feel like your watching a really good art house movie that you never want to end and fortunately, never will.

Their most recent album Boxer is pure music magic. Every track is good. And believe me, I know how rare that is to find. A few of my favorites are Slow Slow, Green Gloves, Ada...who am I kidding? I like them all!

If you're a fan of Lollapalooza or of live stuff, go here to listen to their performance at the festival just a few weeks back.

Check out this music video for their single "Fake Empire".





Another non-musical plus: These guys designed Obama t-shirts and are selling them online to go towards his november campaign. Way cool in my eyes!

"Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead."

~Benjamin Disraeli

Music my love...

I loovvve music!!! It's always surprising to me when people are shocked either by how much I love or know about music or about what I listen to. I've never been in the music "scene", I don't play any instruments and I'm completely tone deaf. But I have to admit, at times in my life I have been completely obsessed with music. I mean to the point where I'm listening to it more than I'm doing anything else. But yes, I guess I don't seem like a music person. I think I did more when I was younger, you know when you have to dress and act the part you are playing to the world.

Lately I've felt like I'm loosing that feeling, (not the loving one...haha) that all-encompassing need for sound, and not just any sound but good sound. Beautiful sound. I know I still have it though because really good music still gives me goosebumps. It still makes me feel the things it once did, way back when life was simpler and music did mean almost everything.

Case it point: My first year of college, still encased in my music groupie identity, (I don't know what else to call it) I wrote my final essay for my English class on music. That thing was almost 10 pages long and I had never loved writing anything so much in my life. I still love that paper. Not because it is good writing (its quite wide-eyed and mediocre) but because I wrote it with the feeling of music in my words. (I swear I'm not making this up. Einstein said he thought and daydreamed in music. In fact, he is often quoted saying "I see my life in terms of music"!) I was in the zone. And believe me, the zone is hard to find. Not often do words, at least for me, come so easily, and keep coming, almost without hesitation. Anyway it was great. I highly recommend writing about the things you really care about often. It's pretty addicting.

Now I am so bogged down by life that I feel like outside sound is only meant to distract me from my purpose, my discovery of my wants and desires, my career goals and my financial woes. All of it is overwhelming, so much so that along the way I have forgotten why I am so down. Its not because I am bogged down with decisions, although that is part of it. I've found its more to do with the fact that I'm neglecting most the loves in my life. My three big loves, well okay four. Friends. Music. Men. Books. Friends are of course a big love. I need to call more, make an effort more. Music, hello what have I been blogging about? Men, also very self-explanatory, although slightly embarrassing. And books. I need to read more of the things that matter, the things that change your world-view, that teach you more about life than any single class or test ever could.

I need to remember how all of these things make me so much happier than I am without them. So thanks. To my friends, who mean everything, and I really do mean it. To the artists who are so brilliant and talented and who have changed my life. And to all those men, and I mean all of them, who have given me some uh interesting experiences, both good and bad. I'll stop there before it gets too scary.

And that just sounded like I was writing my own acknowledgements page. Sorry about that. Read all my music posts and seriously check them out. You never know, they might change your life too.

A Horde of Career Tests

Yesterday I spent about 6 hours taking career tests. If you don't know what those are, they are all a little different... Basically, the tests attempt to distinguish you as a certain type of personality, worker, or interest group, and then based on that assumption they point you towards careers you will both be good at AND enjoy. I thought I'd impart the knowledge I learned onto you all.

The most helpful test I found was The Princeton Review's Career Test. Go to this site and give them your email, make up a password, and then search for the test under the career sidebar. They give you two separate results: your interest color and your usual style (all will be explained...). Both of mine turned out to be blue. The best part is they give you a list of potential careers and all are linked to a lot of info about each, including sections like a day in the life, facts and figures, graduate programs, quality of life, etc.

Another one that's really good is based around John Holland's theory, which basically says that people and work environments can be classified into six different groups (realistic, social, investigative, artistic, enterprising, and conventional). I took it here (which isn't a test you have to guess yourself which combo you would be) because I didn't want to pay. If you want to take the real test, take it here.

The third and last is more fun than anything. Its Carolyn Kalil's True Colors Test. This one, obviously, is another color based test and I thought it was very precise. I was green, which I was very happy about (I always seem to get blue on these color tests).

What is your city?

Lately I've been searching for the answers to A LOT of life's most difficult questions. Today my search was purely geographical. Where in the world do I want to live? If anyone has some free time, I highly recommend this site, called Find Your Spot. It asks you a series of questions and then gives you 25 cities (limited to the U.S.) that fit your specific preferences. It's very cool and I know you're dying to do it.

Here were my top 10 cities to live:

• Portland, Oregon
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Corvallis, Oregon (Whitney!!!! haha. I guess it really is a great town)
• Ventura, California
• Santa Barbara, California
• Eugene, Oregon
• Norfolk, Virginia
• Palo Alto, Calfornia
• Valencia, California

Don't ask me why there are so many Oregon cities. I have no clue, having never been there.

FYI- I'd love to know your favorite city, whether its somewhere you've lived or visited.

Change? A House Undivided? No longer...

I am a little more than ashamed. Most of you who know me think of me (I hope) as a very politically-attuned person. Meaning, I actually care about politics. I know shocking, especially considering the level of cynicism in our great, free, and democratic nation. So when I realized last night (as a certain announcement was made, see below) that I had not posted once about politics or history, or the race for the white house, or even about how much I both love and love to hate out current political system I was appalled! What kind of blogger did I think I was/am?
Ergo the following post....Ahem.

Last night, all the while pestering Anna to turn the T.V. back to CNN and NOT to Olympics volleyball (the final), we watched as what I was waiting for was revealed. Barack Obama's running mate/VP pick is ..................................................................................................... ................................. ................Joe Biden! (It felt that long to me too...) The secret has been revealed, the eggs are out of the basket. You're probably saying 'who cares' (Christina) or even more likely 'who the heck is Joe Biden?? (everyone else)'

I have to admit. I was just a little disappointed by the reveal. The guy seems great at all. But I was hoping that Obama stuck to his change mantra.

Sarcasm alert! Apparently, metaphors speak louder than actions. I'm referring, if you haven't guessed yet (OK you probably haven't) to the fact that Obama made his announcement in the Springfield, Illinois courthouse where Lincoln once made his famous "A House Divided" speech. (Lincoln was referring to the biblical passage found in Matthew that reads "A house divided against itself cannot stand") At the time, the country was severed geographically (North and South) and ideologically (Free vs. Slave ). I knew Obama had chosen the spot because it signified the official beginning of the war against slavery/for freedom in America.

I had hoped that the locale meant he was also going to take the ultimate step in fighting the war against political and ideological separation, not, as I said before, through words, but through actions. For me, this meant that he would pick a candidate to run with him from across the party line. Yes, I had hoped he would choose to run with a Republican. Shocking, I know! But, Biden? Who has been a Democratic senator since my mom was 8 and my dad 13! That is a LONG time. Believe me... Don't get me wrong. He seems like a great guy. He's smart, old, and experienced. But when did that ever signify change? And when did the fact that he agrees with Obama in party affiliation (and on most issues) ever embody political gap narrowing?

I'm interested to see how the two interact, what Biden can bring to the table (I hope a great deal), and whether or not the final race will bring out the big, bad, Obama wolf . (if it exists?)

Disclaimer: No. This doesn't mean I will vote for McCain, even if he picks a Democratic running mate, which he won't. It just means I wish Obama was more Obamaesque. And it means that he is no longer above playing party politics, at least in my eyes.

What color is YOUR parachute?

I wouldn't call the last couple of months the highlight of my life. They would, rather, reside near the bottom on my life history's list of good times. Job hunting is NOT fun and does NOT make you feel better about yourself. I have learned a few things in the past ten weeks though.

First: College is not the real world. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it resembles it in any way.

Second: College will teach you about the real world, but not how to survive in it. This involves Josie B. Student learning all about current events, international problems, philosophical implications, empirical evidence, and scientific reasoning. It does not, however, involve a study of the job market, how to find a job, or even where or how to start.

Third: A degree is worth less than your real world expertise. Sadly, knowing how to go about securing a job will help a lot more than that beloved degree. Paper is less effective than personality. That's just how it is. People don't choose to hire you because of your resume.

So how do you go about learning all this real world stuff? Well, for one, you learn learn by failing. All those unsuccessful attempts at landing a job teach you what not to do. I highly recommend this path if your looking for a long and tortuous professional and personal hell. Or if your a masochist. Either or.

If that, however, does not sound appealing to you, I would go for the second option. Learn from another expertise and success how to find a job the right way. And learn it before you graduate. There are many ways to go about doing this. I, not surprisingly, chose to read a book.

That book is Richard Nelson Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers. I just started the book today and I have already learned a lot! Here are some pearls I have gleaned from my perusal:

• College/High School fails to teach you the three essential life skills.

1. How to choose and find a job.
2. How to choose and find an appropriate partner/husband/wife.
3. How to think and how to make good decisions.
• It takes, on average, 18 weeks to find a job in America. That is over four months!
• Some are the worst ways to go about finding a job include using the Internet (4% success rate), mailing resumes to employers at random (7%) and answering local newspaper ads (14%).
• Some of the best ways are asking for job-leads from family, friends, and contacts (33% are successful), knocking on the door of any employer that interests you (47%), using the phone books yellow pages employers of interest residing in the city you want to work, and then calling to ask if they're hiring for a position you can do well (69%).
• The best way to find a job, according to the author, is by doing a life-changing job-hunt. This includes doing homework on yourself before even beginning the job search. It involves learning the WHAT, WHERE and HOW.

• What are the skills you most enjoy using. That does NOT mean those you are good at.

  Where: Imagine you are a flower. Every flower has an environment where it does best. Where would your flower thrive, in a professional sense?

  How to get where you want to go. This is perhaps the most difficult question.

• If done thoroughly (again according to Bolles) this has a 86% success rate.

I'm working on #1 right now. After making a huge list of verbs detailing things I can and can't do, I found about 15 that I both do well and love doing (the second part is essential):

1. Discovering
2. Learning
3. Questioning
4. Writing
5. Analyzing
6. Interpreting
7. Investigating
8. Traveling
9. Reading
10. Informing
11. Examining
12. Creating
13. Playing
14. Listening
15. Conceptualizing
16. Reviewing
17. Researching

I know most are pretty abstract, but they are meant to be. The practical comes in when you figure out how to consolidate these skills/interests into a real world job.

I haven't gotten that far yet. But I hope to, as I hope some part of this very long post helped or interested you in some small way. Cheers!

My obsession with Russian Lit

I love Russian Literature! So when I read a couple of weeks ago that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (see Biography) had died I was just a little sad. This guy was a true life hero. He, like many during Russia's infamous purges, was thrown into prison for defaming Stalin (he called him "the whiskered one"...I know shocking!). The guy spent 8 years in Russian labour camps or gulags. If that wasn't bad enough, he was diagnosed with cancer while there. During his exile following his release, Solzhenitsyn wrote and published his first book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, his masterpiece. For it he received the Nobel Prize in 1970, an honor that was short lived. In 1974 he was formally stripped of his citizenship and forced to leave indefinitely. He would not be allowed to return to his beloved home until the collapse of Soviet Union in 1994.

We read the above novel for my Russian Lit class my last semester. It was the last book we read, a fitting end to what was a very dark set of novels. If you have read any Russian literature, you probably know what I mean. Not often does one expect to find happy ending. Reading Russian lit is tortuous, it really is. So why read it? Because, I would counter, life is tortuous. Sometimes our lives don't end happily. The hero in real life does not always make it out alive. Good does not always trump the bad. I wrote the following in my reading journal about the experience of reading Russian lit:

Russian literature does not ignore the dirty, cold, and horrible; instead it embraces them and acknowledges them as a legitimate and often ignored reality. In so doing, even it (and by that I mean all the dirty, cold, and horrible) becomes art, worthy of some form of aesthetic beauty and grandeur.

My particular reaction to One Day in the Life was much the same.

The thing that struck me more than anything else was the constant sense of fear that pervaded the novel. To live a life of fear is perhaps one of the most horrible things that I can imagine...

It seems so brutal to me, so demeaning, that the only choice one makes, and that the only living one does is surrounded by the fear of death. This fear makes a person obsessed with life, with just surviving...Such a life is demeaning because we lose what makes us human. We become our fear, and that alone is the only thing that survives.

Solzhenitsyn experienced the cold, dirty, and the horrible. He described what it was like to live with the constant fear of death surrounding every action and reaction, every decision, controlling every emotion. I didn't know what that feels like. But, in a small way, I do understand now what it must be like. And that is what makes this book, and others like it, semblances of a more experientially connected life.

"Remember, there is such a thing as good and evil."

"How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold?"

"You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power."

My 10 Favorite Things

• Back to Basics Smoothie Maker

• Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

• Lip Smacker's Dr. Pepper Chapstick

• Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things

• The Hours DVD

• The painting Mary did of Ingrid and I

• Physician's Formula Bronzers
  
  

• Versace Red Jeans

• My Ralph Vaughn Williams CD

• My iTunes library

My particular favorites are:

"A Rush of Blood To the Head" by Coldplay, "Better than Love" by Griffin House, "The Funeral" by Band of Horses, Boxer by The National (the whole album), anything by The Veils

Top 15 Stuff White People Like:

#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee

Read more.
Inspired by Anna. Thanks for the laugh.

The onion smells funny

Website of the week: http://www.theonion.com/

Brief Intro: It calls itself "America's finest news source" but really it is a site where a whole bunch of writers who think they are quite witty (or who couldn't get hired by legitimate news media) humorize current events and satirically comment on the ridiculousness of modern life.

Highlight: 'Our Dumb World': its basically a map with markers you click on to read funny and semi-inappropriate gibes on said country, local custom, historical event, etc.

Example: Here are just some of the national 'motto's' they created. And my bracketed commentary.

Ireland: Blowing their pot o' gold on whiskey (They could have blown it on something worse)

France: One Nation above God (I love how they're making fun both of France and the U.S's overly trite opinion of France at the same time)

Estonia: United in Circular Dancing (you know you've seen them in action)

Singapore: Where Dirt Gets Death Penalty (it really does)

Australia: As Seen on Animal Planet (really what do you know about the country that you haven't learned from Steve Irwin? Not much.)

Iraq: They had it Coming (picture Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Blair, etc doing Chicago's Cell Black Tango) yeah...

Oh Grey's...where have you gone?

If you love Grey's Anatomy, watch this...

Okay I like Twilight...I confess!!!!!!

After reading my friends blog on Twilight, I decided I needed to come out of the elitist English major closet and confess that I also really enjoyed the Twilight series. After finishing the last book Breaking Dawn about a week ago, my love was once again renewed. Sure, there are a lot of things that I could complain of concerning the characters, but its hard to deny how entertaining and enthralling these books really are.
Oh and she posted a really cool quiz on her site. If interested follow this link.

My results are as follows:

You are intelligent, outgoing & stylish. A true girly girl, you love shopping & makeovers. Although you are a generous friend, you can be coy, tricky & very persuasive in order to get your way. You are known to zone out occasionally during conversations, but your friends forgive you because you are understanding, supportive & know how to throw one heck of a party!

Look for my post reviewing Breaking Dawn...coming soon!

Wicked and da da dun....another interview

News: a report of a recent event; intelligence; information.

News Item #1:

I started reading Wicked. I know, I am about 2 years overdue. For over a year I've had various and sundry people ask me, tell me, beg me, and talk to me about IT. But they're many reasons why its taken me this long to begin.

First off, my first association with the franchise was NOT ideal. My freshman year of college I became acquainted with Wicked through the continual blasting of the token high notes of Broadway sopranos. To tell you the truth, I don't remember what they were singing about. I do remember my constant annoyance towards my roommate, who, from what I could tell, only listened to John Mayer (who I also loathe), the Beatles, and the Wicked soundtrack. I know, I thought it was a strange combo choice too.

To make matters worse, the first time I tried to begin the novel I was sick with food poisoning from bad Thai salmon. Let me tell you, reading anything is an experience when you're half delirious. When I was recovering from mono (and taking A LOT of Vicadin) I tried to read War of the Worlds. Yeah...need I say more?

Anyway, the point is, it didn't really work. The only thing I remember about the Wicked reading experience was the 'bawdy' show detailed at the beginning of the book. You know what I'm talking about...

News Item #2:

I have a job interview today. Its at the Singapore American School, the private, swanky, my family has more money than yours na na na, kind of school. Its for a job as a secretary (I know not the best I can do) but I'm guessing the job pays much more than entry-level publishing. We'll see.

News Item #3:

I have tentatively decided to try to get into Graduate school. Go me...

Survey Says...

Here was part of a fun survey my family did for FHE last week. I emailed Mary and my dad it as well. Mary emailed back (for once) but dad is WAY too busy in Georgia I am sure. It was a good way to get to know the family a little more and just to have a laugh and your own expense. I highly recommend doing it. Anyway here it is...





WHAT IS DAD’S FAVORITE SMELL?

Kelly- Baking cookies
Krystal- Ocean water, coconut, or Mom.
Mary- The Ocean
Anna- Mom’s perfume
Katie- Mom’s cooking
Kenny- Mom
Derek- Fresh bacon




WHAT WOULD BE MOM’S SUPERPOWER?

Krystal- Mind reader. Because then she would be able to know how were feeling and would help people when their hurting
Mary- Flying
Anna- Super strength so she could do anything
Katie- Move things with her mind
Kenny- Be able to be a super mom
Derek- ?

WHAT JOB IS PERFECT FOR KRYSTAL?

Kelly- A writer because she has a way with words
Mary- A bum
Anna- A writer; she’d love it
Katie- Editor
Kenny- A critic
Derek- A job she likes



IF MARY WAS A COUNTRY, WHAT WOULD IT BE? WHY?

Kelly- China because she keeps “tight control” over who knows things about her personal thoughts.
Krystal- The Czech Republic; its artsy, historical chic, aesthetically beautiful and very eastern euro.
Anna- Peru—some spice, with issues.
Katie- North Korea (evil laugh)
Kenny- China
Derek- Spain because she speaks Spanish

WHAT COLOR DESCRIBES ANNA THE BEST? WHY?

Kelly- Teal because she reminds me of a warm ocean on a tropical island…
Krystal- Pumpkin orange. She has a warm personality and her hair reminds me of apple cider and the blistery days of autumn.
Mary- Red. Because she wears it a lot and her hair is reddish and when she gets mad her face turns red
Katie- Orange- her mood can usually match it (hot or cold)
Kenny- Green
Derek- Lime Green because she looks really good in it

IF KATIE'S LIFE WAS A SONG, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

Kelly- “Going to catch up” because she is constantly setting goals to improve as she sees good in others
Krystal- “It Smells like Teen Stubbornness”
Mary- “Growing up is hard to do”
Anna- “The world is not enough” or “I’m always right”
Kenny- “What a sad life”
Derek- “the iron fist”

WHAT/WHO WOULD KENNY BE REINCARNATED AS?

Kelly- “The Thinker”
Krystal- a traveling hobo comedian
Mary- The first Chihuahua to learn to speak
Anna- A shaolin warrior
Katie- Back Back—the sultan’s favorite jester
Derek- ?

WHAT ANIMAL WOULD DEREK BE? WHY?

Kelly- A rabbit because he is constantly moving around
Krystal- Baby lion because he’s fast, sneaky, and downright scary. They are also both blond.
Mary- A very vain parrot
Anna- A cat because it has claws and a temper
Katie- A Chinchilla
Kenny- A Chimpanzee

Real Life SUCKS

Oh how I wish I could go back to school. I would have prolonged the experience, I would have double majored in economics and comparative literature. I could have been one of those people who switches majors like they were bath towels. Really though I did not know how good I had it. Yes, school is stressful. Duh! But life, I mean real life is ten times worse. Real life equals responsibility, it entails actually making meaningful decisions that will effect EVERYTHING.

This week I finally got the call I have been waiting for.

"Can you come into the office? We'd really like to hire you."
"Sure. Anytime works for me" I say calmly, like it happens to me everyday.

Yada. Yada. Yada. I jump up and down and thrust my arms in the air and say "yes" because why not? I just got a job as a writer at a publishing company, I will soon actually have money coming in instead of all out, and there is nobody home to tell me I'm weird (again). Why not..??
It sounds great right? Your thinking good, she finally did it. Yeah. That's what I thought too. Until the next day.

The next day...
I get up (6:15 am), and leave for the MRT by 7:15. I get there at 7:30 and ride it until 8:15. Then I begin walking, thinking I can find the bus stop on my own. I give up and hire a taxi. Then I sit there for 50 minutes in traffic trying to get about 7 blocks. 9 am I am at work (it starts then) and the editor tells me she wants to see more of what I can do.
"We have a piece we want you to finish by today" she tells me. "Its a four page cover spread." Great I think.
9:30-1:30 I write a very boring article covering a conference in which 10 people spoke (I covered each speech) on various business related topics to international financial planners and CEO's.
1:30-2:30 lunch finally. I didn't eat breakfast (I assumed I was just coming in to meet the boss, etc not actually start the job and WRITING and WORKING).
2:30-3- I meet with the boss, in which he outlines what I would do (write almost every single piece requested by our clients, attend occasional events to report on them, and liaison with the other employees like the graphic artists and my editor on pagination, etc). How much I would get paid (2000 a month. That is in Singapore Dollars, making it even worse) and the technical (the company provides emergency medical in the amount of 300 a year, hours are 9-6 with occasional days of working late and on weekends with no overtime).
3-6 I research for another article my editor is working on and write up interview questions for her to ask them
8 pm I finally get home, after two hours of buses, trains, and walking.

I guess it doesn't sound that bad. I mean, I know I'm a complainer. I've known this about myself for a long time. But seriously! 2000 a month (that is 1200 dollars) plus basically no benefits. And I would be gone from 7:30 in the morning until 8 at night and sometimes later! With 3 hours of travel time! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Problem #1: Too much work with not enough compensation. Do I look like someone who agrees with slave labour?
Problem #2: The commute. Do I really want to spend 3 hours on public transportation 5 days a week?
Problem #3: I would be the sole hired writer for the company. Which means I am going to be writing so much my brain is liable to shatter with all the words coming out in such a constant flow.
Problem #4: Do you know anyone who actually WANTS to be a business/financial writer? No? Well there is a good reason for that.

All in all, I am very disappointed with everything at the moment. I finally get offered a job and it turns out to be nothing like I expected it to be. I turn it down, I am back to where I started. If I accept it, I know I'll be unhappy.Neither are good, but then, that is how a lot of real life decisions are. You end up picking the one you can tolerate.

Brief Book Blurb

Life has been crazy this past week. In lieu of this and my own psychological need to convince myself I can at least finish ONE thing I started, here are VERY compact reviews of my last three July books.

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

4.5/5 stars

Written before he made his bid for presidential office (at least officially) this book was an uplifting prelude to Obama's official political philosophy ( just in case you have tuned out all news media during the past year and don't already know it). I found most of it to be good reading. His prose is critical without being offensive. He is both unapologetic and extremely honest about his own personal biases. He shows the reader a policy's flaws subjectively while objectively backing it up with facts, personal testimony, and experience. Check out "Opportunity" or "Race" if your undecided as to whether the book is worth reading. The writing will speak for itself.

If you are a fan of Barack I suggest reading the book. Am I being idealistic and naive to like his book as much as I like him? Maybe. Should you read the book if you are neither? Well, if you care anything about the future of this country if Obama is elected, it might be a good idea. Even if you are a Republican ass.

PS I am just kidding. Republicans are..., moral people.

PPS Disregard that last comment if you are not directly related to me. If not, then you probably are an ass.

Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres

4.5/5 stars

This book reminded me a lot of my other July book--Bastard out of Carolina. Both were extremely autobiographical and deal with broken families, abuse, and the child victims. Jesus Land was much less depressing though and in a way, it hit closer to home for me.

The book is about a deeply religious Midwestern family whose children include their white biological daughter Julia, and their two adopted black sons, David and Jerome. Obviously, issues of race come into play (the novel is based in the 70's). More important, however, is the author's understandable belief of the extreme hypocrisy intrinsic to the religious system her parents and community espouse, exemplified by the treatment of her father and mother towards their offspring and by the "Christian" reformatory " school she and her brother David are forced to attend.

The book is disturbing but honest. The "Jesus Land" of the author's childhood is turned into a kind of ironic hell, in a story that has become all too familiar in the modern 'Christian' community.

White Noise by Don DeLillo

3.5/5 stars

I would have given this book a higher rating because DeLillo is a BRILLIANT writer and his concept was very time appropriate (Postmodernist, dark, apocalyptic). But I have to admit, the novel was disappointing on many levels. It took until the airborne-toxic event (or Part 2) for me to even get into it. Sure, I kept reading because I hate giving up on books. But I did finish three separate books while I was still in the middle of this one.

Really though, I can see why it won the National Book Award. Beautiful prose, controversial topic, resonating, philosophic underpinnings blah blah blah. It wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound. But don't expect an easily accessible book because its not. Maybe the summer is making me lazy, brain-dead or both. But I had a hard time with it. If you want to read it by all means be my guest, but I would recommend it more as a book club selection or college required reading. Multiple insights are always a good way to go with text like these.

Side note: If you like technology this is probably not the book for you.

The Island of Pulau Ubin

On Saturday, my family and the Matheson's traveled to the small island Pulau Ubin off the eastern coast of Singapore. Translated, Pulau Ubin means "granite stone" in Malay. Apparently, in the 60's the island was inhabited by thousands who worked in the many granite quarries on the island. Visiting it now, you wouldn't be able to believe that many people lived there. The island is largely abandoned and very rural, with only a hundred or so living there now. From what I saw, the villagers are mainly farmers and fisherman, living in grass huts and wooden jetties. The island is filled with natural wildlife, including native animals, plants, and crops. Everywhere I looked a saw green. Banana trees line the bike paths, and coconuts palms were splayed along the road as numerous as concrete in the city. This small, untouched part of the world must have been how the big island of Singapore looked before urban development.

We, like most tourists, visited the island for its natural beauty and outdoor thrills. After descending off of our small 'bumboat', we rented bikes and explored the mangrove forests, the sandy beaches, and the ocean boardwalks. The coral reef was sadly hidden from our view because of the high tide. But we did see the famed 'kampongs', a name for Singapore's once popular small village that now only exists on Pulau Ubin. What's remarkable is the villagers, who live just a couple miles off the coast of one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, rely on local wells for water and diesel generators for limited electricity. From what I saw, the wells are quite old, but plentiful. I saw at least three while there.

We rode our bikes from the eastern side of the island, where we saw the Chek Jawa wetlands, to the west, where we passed an abandoned resort with crowding vegetation overtaking its concrete floor and walls. We saw small farms filled with sweet jasmine, curry and ginger, coriander and tee leaf. There were durian and mangosteen trees, with shelled rambutans and jackfruit everywhere, left behind, no doubt, by the hidden monkeys in the trees and the wild pigs in the forest. And everywhere there is life; in the rubber plantations and the coconut farms, and in the rivers, the forests, and the surrounding ocean. It is a beautiful place, and it was a beautiful day spent with family and friends, enjoying each other's company and marveling on the great beauty that is Mother Nature.

Review of July Books (Pt 2)

Dracula by Bram Stoker
3.5/5 stars

What you need to know:

• Stoker's material was far from original; vampire lore has been around since the Middle Ages.



• Count Dracula's historical basis was Vlad III, also know as the Prince of Wallachia or Vlad the Impaler.



• The novel was preceded by John William Polidori's short story "The Vampyre" which conceptually began during a summer he spent with Lord Byron (Polidori was his physician), Percy and Mary Shelley, and Claire Clairmont (Byron's lover). During a three day rainstorm that forced the party indoors, each took turns telling the others a Gothic story. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was also a product of this infamous gathering.
  

The bad:

• The novel itself does not live up to its own hype. It begins slow, has A LOT of rising action, not much of a climax, and the ending was short, disappointing, and expected.
  
• Johnathon Harker, one of the main characters, writes exactly like the solicitor he is meant to be, that is, quite dully.
  
• The funniest character dies in the middle of the book.


• Stoker uses the popular 19th century Mary/Eve dichotomy for his only two female characters. Shockingly, he decides to kill the "slut" and save the "angel".
  

The good:

• Some parts are very funny.


• The structure. Stoker's entire novel is composed of written dairies, letters, telegrams, and memorandums written by the different protagonists. I love shifting perspective, and Dracula is filled with it.


• The sexual nuances between a vampire and his/her victim begin, in a lot of ways, with the relationship Stoker portrays between Lucy and Dracula and Harker and the three 'brides' of Dracula.

If you like vampires, Gothic tales, or even folklore, read it.



The Dead Travel Fast by Eric Nuzum
4/5 stars

A book that begins with an account of the author drinking his own blood is bound to be funny. The Dead Travel Fast is a smart, well researched, and well lived account of vampire lore, its cultural ramifications, and the days to day allusions to the undead we are only half aware of. During the author's journey he watches hundreds of vampire movies (his description of them is perhaps the funniest part in the book) travels to Transylvania, meets modern day, American vampires, and of course watches and loves every episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. His journey is extremely funny and over the top, and his discoveries and hypotheses as to why and how the world created and then obsessed over the vampire monster are revelatory and ring true.
I would recommend it to anyone who was ever been transfixed by the mystery of the undead. Or by a specific undead (ahem Edward, Angel, Spike...) Need I say more?

Here is an excerpt from the book. Enjoy...

"Watching my own blood drip down the bathroom mirror, there’s only one thought running through my head: In a lifetime of questionable decision making, this is not one of my finer moments...

The gore sprayed all over my bathroom was the result of the last of these undertakings: to drink blood. The whole blood-drinking thing, as you can imagine, posed several problems.

Most of these difficulties were rooted in the particulars. In my
book, to drink something means to take a mouthful of something and to swallow it—“tasting” or “sipping” wouldn’t be acceptable. This, of course, requires a sufficient quantity of blood.

Even though blood fetishists don’t advertise their gatherings in the Sunday paper, they aren’t particularly hard to find. However, anyone willing to let me drink their blood probably isn’t someone whose blood I should be drinking.

Then I got an idea: I could drink my own blood."

Night Safari

Our friends from Japan the Mattheson's came to visit us here in Singapore so we had A LOT of fun last night going to the zoo's night safari. The first entertainment of the night was this fire show which pretty much consisted of mostly naked men chugging kerosene and blowing it out to produce a lot of fire. It was actually a really entertaining show because the performers were getting really into it and they were laughing and spitting kerosene on each other and taking off audience members shirts (yeah....) and blowing mini wooden spears at various sensitive body parts. After that we went on the actual night safari where we saw all kinds of really cool animals in the dark like tigers, lions, rhinos, bearded pigs, golden jackals, hyenas, etc. There were actually too many animals to remember. What I liked though was it had a lot of species native to the Indo-Asian region that you wouldn't see in an typical American zoo. Like the Malayan Tapir which I had never seen before (below). Or the babirusa, which is a very strange looking pig. Anna and I decided to go off from the main group and take a walking tour. The craziest things we saw were bats that kept flying over our heads and flying squirrels, which believe me, are a lot faster than normal ones. And yes, I am a little afraid of bats.
At the end of the tour, they showed us this grassland with all these deer. Anyway, the green vegetation was completely wiped out. The point of this dead pasture/field area was to demonstrate how most of the rainforests will look if we continue to ruin the environment. Now I am a conservationist, at least I try to be, but this lady was crazy. She kept repeating "reduce, reuse, recycle" over and over again and her voice got very shrilly when she was talking about the dead earth. She was assuming of course the earth was already DEAD and that we the safari people were the ones who KILLED that specific patch of rainforest. It was really quite depressing...kind of ruined the magic of the whole journey. But I guess it did make me feel guilty, which is good???
So if you ever want to see a simulation of an Asian Riverine Forest or Burmese Hillside, this is the place to go. As long as you can stand the sad ending.