… when you’ve got JP designing for you.
Details to follow, as soon as I’m on my lunch break…
I shouldn’t, but I do. Sunday, Sep 20 2009
Confessions of a Shallow Mind and random stuff I can't figure a category for 5:52 pm
Thank you, M., for sending me this site I shouldn’t like, but I do. Like, “oh dear god, I’m laughing too hard to breath” -like. I’m evil, don’t act like you didn’t know that.
Abandonment, and some issues Sunday, Sep 20 2009
Confessions of a Shallow Mind and Daddy Dearest and stuff you didn't need to know but I'm telling you anywa 3:55 pm
Okay, so I just got abandoned into a hotel suite in Copenhagen by my Dear ol’ dad. Apparently he was “needed”. So it was time for me to do some soul searching. How’s that all connected, you might ask. Well, mes petites, through this little link called “my dad’s underling”. He was rather cute, you see, and I hadn’t met him before. So of course I tried to appear as adorable and charming as I could. And then, when I was left alone, I checked my blogroll. And if someone had answered my earlier comments in a discussion. (more details in a moment, to explain that one.)
Which brought to mind what H said about me back in St. Barts. That while I don’t care about whether people like me or not, I want people to fall in love with me.
The annoying thing about H is that she knows me. Like, really knows me. And when she says something like that, you can bet your favourite pair of Louboutins she’s right. As she was in this case. I do want people to, if not fall madly in love with me as that’s highly potential stalker material, to be absolutely fascinated by me.
Why is that? Was I left with too little attention as a child? Was I made to work for affection? Do I feel like I have to earn people’s good opinion of me, their interest in me? Do I feel that what am I, when I’m not “being ii”, is not enough to make them like me?
Recently I’ve been involved in some pretty lively discussions with some people, some of which I know, but not all. And this all has happened on the blog of someone I like. Not as in “wish to shag senseless”, after all, there’s BF, but I do wish to become a good friend of this person. He interests me, and I hope to get to know him better. For clarity’s sake, let’s call him Boots.
Well, as I checked the blog in which we’ve been having these lively conversations, I noticed that Boots hadn’t reacted to my comment. And I wondered: why not? Why aren’t you paying me attention? What am I doing wrong, why don’t you like me?
How silly is that?!?
I have been called funny and smart and I’ve received all kinds of praise, even in that blog, from people who both know and don’t know me. It’s nice to get compliments. But after a while, when you do get them, you start craving for them, or for them to lead into something. If I’m so funny and clever and whatnot, why aren’t you paying more attention to me, Boots?!
Which is incredibly childish. But in line with H’s theory that I must have everyone fall in love with me.
I should go back to therapy, shouldn’t I?
K’s holy trinity Saturday, Sep 19 2009
It's not me - my friends are crazy! and work 10:53 am
A week ago on Friday I walk to the office I share with K and toss a bag of candy on the table.
Me: I brought candy.
K*in a sad voice*: Good. ‘Cause there’s no ballet.
His holy trinity is the PBC. Porn, ballet and candy. Why all my friends are crazy?
The Jewel Box by Anna Davis Sunday, Sep 13 2009
Books 9:23 pm
The Jewel Box by Anna Davis
Yes, I finally finished a book! After reading her The Shoe Queen I knew, sort of, what to expect. I liked her style in The Shoe Queen, and I liked the world where the events took place. Where The Shoe Queen was set in the bohemian Paris of the 20’s, The Jewel Box took across the canal to the roaming London in the third decade of the 20th century.
Davis paints a picture of London in the 20’s to us with a vivid brush. The flapper world is present in this even more than it was in the previous book. The one problem I had with The Shoe Queen, the almost too elaborate details of the outfits, were corrected for this book. The story was painted for the reader but the details were not revelled in too much. The picture was complete, or maybe my knowledge of the era was more developed, but more trusting to the reader to see for themselves.
The story’s that of Grace, the original flapper, who is fighting for the rights of the women in her own way, while never really feeling up to task with her suffragette mother still at home, actively supporting the cause. Beautiful, fascinating and bold, Grace goes about town, dancing, drinking and dashing, only to write about the flapper life in her column at the Herald under the pen name Diamond Sharp.
The story of Grace takes place in pairs. Just like there’s two earrings in a jewel box, you need two people to dance the Charleston, and it takes two to a love affair. While we’re following Grace, we’re also introduced to her sister, Nancy. Equal in beauty, but nice to Grace’s naughty. There are two men, John and O’Connell, who both capture the attention, and attraction, of Grace. There are two stories, one taking place in the 1927, one for the years preceding that. Through these twosomes Davis spins before us a story about love, honesty, strength and gin. Especially gin.
But like in a jewel box, there’s always the mismatched. The earring whose pair is missing, the broken necklace or the brooch with a clasp that no longer works. These odd things show up for Grace as well, and to all those in her life, creating unbalance, breaking the symmetry. It is how the characters react to those asymmetries that keep us reading on, page after page.
Unfortunately, Davis chickens out at the end. The symmetry is restored, the broken pin tossed away. Only pairs are allowed in this jewel box.
Shame. It’s usually the mismatched that keep things interesting.
There’s benefits, and then there’s Benefits. Sunday, Sep 13 2009
It's not me - my friends are crazy! and jobs 9:07 pm
My current job has a lot of good side-effects.
1) It’s just across the road from my gym. I actually end up going.
2) I get to share an office with a guy who looks (according to his niece) like Jesus.
3) I get invited to all sorts of events from art gallery openings to cultural institute season starts to football games. Not that I don’t attend a lot of those as it is, but it’s nice to be asked.
4) My boss, the ambassador, promised to lend me a few of his books about the use of game theory in international conflicts. And yes, that IS cool!
5) I end up in situations such as walking down the street at 10PM with the ambassador and his second-in-command, debating where to get the good pizza.
6) When I needed to go pick up something for the embassy from the store, I was given a car and a chauffeur at my disposal. When we got to the supermarket he parked very illegally on the sidewalk: “diplomatic parking.” That was pretty rad.
K Monday, Sep 7 2009
It's not me - my friends are crazy! and Lessons in Logic and jobs 9:33 pm
I’m sharing an office at work with a guy named K[censored]. So K for y’all. And I don’t mind that at all, as he’s fun. And having him there gives me an opportunity to rant, make mean comments about something so colossally retarded* that it’s almost beyond comments**, joke and run crazy ideas by someone. Oh, and did I mention he’s fun.
Across the court-yard, on the opposite building, there’s a dance studio. So every now and then they have ballet classes. K’s a big fan.
One day they had what looked like a private ballroom class. Then suddenly, the next time we looked out (yes, I’m keeping an eye on them too) the curtains are drawn.
K starts to laugh and winks, “oh, the next lesson… they drew the curtains for that.”
Me: Would you rather they hadn’t?!?
Of course I make fun of his new addiction to ballet now constantly.
——
One afternoon last week, K’s browsing the news sites online.
“Did you know monkey’s prefer Metallica to any other music?
Me: Huh?
K: Yeah, there’s been a study, and they preferred Metallica out of all others played.
Me: That’s kind of cool, really.
K: And their favourite song is my favourite too.
Me: So… if you think about it… you’re a monkey?
——
Because of where we work, the security restrictions are rather strict for our computers. Every now and then, I get this announcement when I try to access a web page that there’s an application the computer’s not allowed to perform or something like that. It happens. To everyone there.
Except K.
K gets other kinds of notices. His notices say:
“Access denied. The site you’re about to access contain with a 70% probability material of sexual or pornographic nature.”
Noone else in the place is getting that notice, and he keeps getting them all the time. And in all seriousness, he’s been trying to access academic articles and news reports.
Stop trying to watch porn at work, K!!
——-
Today Driver*** brought fruit for everyone (he was ordered to) to the break room / kitchenette. I saw him laying them out as I went to get a drink out of the fridge. Little later K returns to our office:
“There’s fruit in the kitchen.”
Me *not lifting my head from my reading*: Yeah, I noticed. Driver brought them a little while ago.
K: It’s nice, there’s all sorts of fruit, not just apples.
Me *still reading*: Yup, plums and peaches, at least.
K: And also monkeys.
*silence*
Both of us: Monkeys?!?
K *laughing hysterically*: I meant bananas!
Me: Right. There’s a monkey in our kitchen. Okay. *pause* Is he listening to Metallica?
* Thank you, Sgt Colbert. I’m totally keeping that.
** Original quote was “that’s so colossally retarded I can’t even comment that”. I guess I’m just better than Sgt Colbert. (Please don’t kill me now!)
*** Yes, we have a chauffeur there.
rise from the ashes like a phoenix or shot like a coyote? Friday, Sep 4 2009
ice hockey 2:59 pm
The Phoenix Coyotes is turning out to be the source of most NHL news these days. The events are taking on a soap opera like appearance, with law suits flying and most probably major scheming going on behind closed door. Oh, how much would I give to be there in the middle of all of this right now!
So far, in the Saga of the Coyotes… (as far as I know. I try as I might to keep up, but there’s a ton of news. And it all depends on who’s side the story is spun. No one knows, but everyone guesses.)
The franchise went belly-up, despite being heavily subsidized by the League. Offers were made, most notably by one Canadian by the name Bilsillie. The League is holding back nothing to keep the Coyotes off Bilsillies hands, including making a bid for it themselves. Why? For one, Bilsillie wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. The league wants it to stay. Two, they don’t like him, he’s considered “deficient in both character and integrity”. Third, there’s the Toronto Maple Leafs. Which is a whole new can of worms, but I’ll get to that later.
The bankruptcy court for the Coyotes is supposed to be on Sept 10. The only thing we know for sure is that that won’t be the last day in court, no matter how the judge rules. Both sides have said they’ll take it to the next level.
Why should the Coyotes stay in Arizona? It’s not like the region’s that crazy about hockey, as the slighter than dwindling fan interest has proved. Ontario on the other hand is the home ground of the game. The Canadians are always in favor of more hockey, so why should they be deprived that?
Standing lease, for starters. The city on Glendale has contracts with the franchise that are still standing. Should the team relocate, lawsuits on breach of contract would follow.
Also, one cannot help pointing out that in the past 10 years, the League has kept franchises such as Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators afloat. While Nashville is taking a hit, being in the “Sunshine Belt”, the case for the other three teams can be made. Should they too have been moved when the going got rough? And yes, two of those did file for bankruptcy.
In the end, the League is supposed to have a say in relocation issues. In this instance, they’re arguing, among other things, the concern over the travel schedules of the other 29 teams. The court acknowledged these concerns. Point for the League.
As for the Leagues dislike of Bilsillie in particular, the guy should take a hint. This is the third franchise he’s buying, and once again he was voted against 26-0 by the NHL Board of Governors in July. Maybe hockey’s not your sport, Dahlin’! Or try learn to play by the rules. The League has a right to approve the offers when it comes to new owners of teams, and they intend to hold on to that right, as we’ve seen here. The Board of Governors ruled against you!
Additional curve ball into the mix is the anti trust laws. The pro sports have been in and out of court since the 50’s trying to make the case that they are not in violation of the antitrust legislation, that they do not have monopoly power and that there’s no blockage of entry. Now, some argue, that Mr. Bilsillie is very efficiently being blocked by the NHL from the pro hockey markets. Prospective lawsuits to come, mark my words. The problem with lawsuits and court cases regarding monopoly power and market entry and antitrust issues is that once one league loses, we can anticipate the collapse of all major professional leagues. Bye bye NBA, good bye football. Dangerous and big issues are at stake, and I’m not at all surprised the other three big leagues are keeping a close eye on this.
The BOG vote on the whole ownership issue does seem like a monopoly power. Unless it’s a majority vote. And either way, that rule has withstood the antitrust battles. It’s proven to be if not good, at least law-abiding.
Now, the Maple Leafs… They’ve been suing the League over what’s the procedure to allow new teams in a previous teams ‘home territory’. A bit of background, if you please. The NHL Constitution says each team has a right for it’s ‘home territory’, an area around the place where it plays, and no other team can come there without its permission. Now, in repeated antitrust hearings the NHL has said that they are not in violation of the antitrust laws, as it takes a majority vote to allow the new team. The Maple Leafs say it has to be unanimous. Hamilton, Ontario, is in Toronto’s home territory. As it happens, it’s also on Buffalo’s. So while Sabres haven’t, as far as I know, joined the Maple Leafs in the court battle, they have an equal case.
Allowing the situation to get where the Toronto Maple Leafs veto the relocation of Coyotes, a certain action at that point, it seems, would be the first knock on the foundation of pro sports leagues in North America. They’d start to crumble, and eventually be demolished, after that.
And we can’t have that.
The questions keep piling. Who’s right and wrong is no longer the main question, but on whose rules we’re playing and, maybe most importantly, who are we playing with. The NHL says they don’t want to play with Bilsillie. They said so, 26 to 0. Now the court will have to decide whether or not they can still be forced to do so. And if so, where.
Good News Wednesday, Sep 2 2009
ice hockey 2:47 pm
Hockey’s back! Or I’m back with hockey. Either way, expect a post about the game in a few days.
