Hallowhimper

I know. I never write anymore and the last post was blatant theft.

Things are insane: Scooter Libby and Harriet Miers

In my news world it's: "We only have $125,000 to go, and we'll make it, but only if you call in now...." So I did last Monday, hoping against hope that other people would get the hint and call in or pledge on the internet. It's not that hard people. A monthly extract from your credit card of $10 probably won't hurt that bad. So support public radio. Damn thing was s'posed to end last Friday and went until today.

Halloween is funny, but I feel kind of Halloweened out. I almost didn't dress up today. But I did. The Data Princess. And my office mates performed well. We had a very sketchy Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, a Rodeo Clown, Johnny Appleseed, Kenny from South Park, the Pirate (oh yes, the American Girl pants came back out), little miss muffett, a hunter, and Analyst X. Maybe some others. We even had a contest.

You know what's cooler than a costume contest? A limbo contest. You know why? Because I can actually win a limbo contest. Can you believe it? I actually won something. And now I am in pain. No, the limbo contest was not at the office; it followed several visits to the ice luge.

Stats homework is calling my name. I think that the quality of my work is deteriorating... just in time for the midterm.

Le Roi David: Back Bay Chorale's First Concert of the Season

Friday November 18th, 8pm
Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston [directions]
Tickets: $20, $30, $40

20% discount for groups of 10+, so email me and I'll put you in a group somehow.

Le Roi David: Arthur HONEGGER (big headliner piece)
Octandre: Edgar VARÈSE
La Création du Monde: Darius MILHAUD
Attende Domine: Pierre VILLETTE

Claude Corbeil: narrator
Lynn Torgove: Witch of Endor

Stolen from Back Bay Chorale's website:

Originally written in 1921 for the theater, Honegger captures in music the drama of king David’s tumultuous life — slaying the giant, betrayed by his king, triumphant in battle, lusting for another’s wife, suffering his son’s death, offending his God, yet ultimately creating the legacy of the kingdom of Israel.

Performed in its original French, Le Roi David is enriched with imaginative staging and narration by one of North America’s leading French operatic baritones.

Please come if you can! It will be a truly unique experience with 1920's jazz-inspired music -- including a soprano saxophone for one piece.

Then you're already in Back Bay for your Friday night debauchery.

Chamois of Self in Normal Distribution

This is me.
This is me not doing my dishes.
This is me not sorting through papers.
This is me not taking my recycling downstairs.
This is me feeling bad about it but being distracted by baseball.
This is me not caring about the stupid Other Sox.
This is me going back to idea number two.
Yes, I'm pretty self absorbed.
Normal Distribution.
Look.

I Just Didn't Have it Yet!

Samantha,

O-Ren Ishii,

and Willy

Halloweenie

Generally for Halloween I like to take an abstract idea or inanimate object and attempt to personify it. For example, last year I was the blaster worm computer virus--it involved a lot of pink spandex. This year, I decided to take a different route and go for a movie character--a recent movie character--and go as Willy Wonka (the Johnny Depp version, thank you very much).

Thought process on choosing the costume about 2 months ago:
1. Motley Princess sees the poster for the new movie.
2. MP thinks "Who's that woman?"
3. MP realizes "It's Johnny Depp"
4. MP knows "I have to be that"

I was a freaking hot Willy Wonka; I was channeling Johnny Depp... Ok maybe not, but you can't say I didn't try. However, I was angry most of the evening because, you guessed it, someone else was also attempting Wonka. He looked more like Elton John, though. Freaking loser. Still, nothing worse than having the same costume as someone else.

The good news: that was the warm up party and I have next weekend to redeem myself. But with what?

Magnet Program

Laura has a new enviable blog which is here. I also changed the link in the sidebar.

While Laura was here we were on a mission to find SITC moments. First she had to get me on board by renting and watching several episodes of the HBO classic. It was pretty difficult to rope me into that one. Right.

Then we planned out an evening that took us to a fine art exhibit. A mingling event that showcased said art. A brand spanking new bar. (It might also be a brand new spanking bar, but we haven't gotten that familiar with the waitstaff yet). A party where we reminisced with long lost freshman year floor mates of mine whom I never thought I would see again. Then we went home.

What did we learn from this evening?

If it rains, bring a prophylactic device of some sort to prevent getting wet (or use your poor, sorry state to cajole someone into driving you around).

Bright colors, like in the wild, do attract the opposite sex (or the same sex if that's your thing). Although in my case, it was a gender flip, but I don't really believe in gender anyway, so whatever.

Short skirts definitely attract the opposite sex (or, like I said, the same sex).

Guys really do make cat calls. Especially black guys. (This is not racism, this is pure observation and not meant to have statistical accuracy.)

And last but not least (this is an ongoing realization): I am an old guy magnet. But that's ok because I don't really believe in age.

As the boys of OutKast say: "Age ain't nothin' but a number"

Halt Observation

I've been so obsessively busy lately that it's as if I have halted all of my observation skills. Or maybe I'm getting to the point in handing out this web address that I'm afraid to divulge personal details. That is definitely a problem. Plus, didn't I say that I was going to try to stop that anyway?

I haven't been listening to the news as much as usual because when I get up in the morning I basically just run out the door. Then I either get home after 10pm or I have to do homework. That is what I'm doing tonight. I made some chili too. Yummy vegan chili. Ok, I put cheese and sour cream on it, but it's mostly (90% plus) organic and perfectly safe for any vegan if you skip the toppings. I also made homemade cornbread.... I am clearly dedicated to my homework. Right. Well, except that I am. My first two assignments came back as check+, so I have to keep up appearances.

Speaking of obsessive, I just spent another half hour at work just now. There's this little problem that came up on Friday with some data that looked not quite right and I've been trying to discover the source of it all weekend. I'll intermittently have some sort of Eureka moment and I'll go back to work on the problem. I've still been somewhat unsuccessful, but I have been able to apply my new statistics skills, which is invaluable for my mastery of the subject. Go me! (I realize that I'm entirely pathetic.)

Missing Out

While I'm happy that my homework is finished and I'm not out in the cold making myself more sick, the party that I skipped is evidently pretty killer* and involves nudity and/or partial nudity. I'm aware that I can look at a naked person at home, but somehow it just isn't quite as fun. Laura's still there and doesn't plan on leaving any time soon. Too bad that bitch has my T Pass**.

Why is my neighbor (upstairs) ALWAYS awake? And dropping things?*

*Please note the time stamp. It is correct. Note also that it is Monday.
**Laura's not bitch. I just think it's funny that anyone would even try to call her that. So I did. I'm a complete failure.

Nostalgia

In the last week, one of my best friends has come to stay with me; another good old friend has told me he's going to come to maybe live here (and will stay with me first); I've reunited with people from freshman year (by accident at a party on Friday), touched base with an Anthro buddy, and revisited ultimate frisbee moments (by way of seeing the people and having them remind me of all the stories I tried to forget); plus I got an email from someone I met in Cancún. That's long enough ago to be nostalgic about it, right?

What's next? Will I meet up with Colin Stannard, my 4th grade crush?

Don't you have a party to attend?

Well, yes I do. As it turns out, some of my friends from college along with some highly qualified compatriots have just won a spot in the national championship of ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee? Excuse me, did you say Frisbee and National Championship in the same sentence? Oh, yes, my friend, I did. And unlike when I was playing, it is not all about drinking beer. But still, can you imagine telling your boss what's up? I guess I can. He'd be proud.

I should be going to the celebration party because I was asked to attend through a tertiary invitation. But I'm not. It's happening right now and unlike some folks, I have work tomorrow. I am "doing homework". Ok, I'm procrastinating on my homework and passively watching the Angels game (and the Yanks, but who cares about them?). It's a pitcher's count Mariano Rivera vs. Vlad Guerrero. Now Rivera nearly hits Vlad. Tap foul. Grounder to Cano and it's back to Anaheim. Crap. I hate baseball.

Stats homework takes forever. (I bet you're wondering why...)

What Happened to the Motley Princess, Envy of the World?

I know. I've been angsty lately. Activistic, angsty, angry even.

Right now is good though because someone is sleeping with me. And by that I mean in the same room. On a different bed. Laura is in town and I couldn't be happier. Well, I'd be happier if she weren't leaving next Tuesday, but I take what I can get.

My sister seems to think I'm immune from depression, and to a large degree that's true, but a lack of sleep, general frustration in the work place, and best friends being far away are not good in combination. Thank God for Anna (except that she doesn't believe in God, but whatever). I also just found out that one of my people* is coming back to me. He's coming here for a while to see if he might stay. Bad ass, I say. Then someone will sleep with me again. In the same room. On a different bed.

Choir is going well. Class is going well. It goes even better (or more interestingly) if you have had zero to little food all day plus a glass of wine prior to said event. I know what a z-score is, baby. Top that.

It's been the week of the substitute, however. On Monday we had a substitute director - Dr. Jones - which made me happy because I haven't seen her since before I graduated and I think that she might have played a role in hanging the moon and/or setting the stars.

In class we had 2 TA's teaching. It's kind of funny to see someone who you know is really smart and quick get really slow due to the added stress of being in front of 100 people and a hi-res camera. But they got the point across.

*I don't have permission to disclose my mystery person, so I won't. I really don't think he'd mind if I told you individually, so email me if you're curious. cg [at] motleyprincess [dot] com.

Fox News

On Monday night (9/26/2005), I was quite disappointed by a segment on the Boston 10pm local news (Fox25).

The reporters interviewed several Boston-area drivers about President Bush’s statement regarding “non-essential” driving. One female driver was asked whether going to the gym was essential or non-essential driving. She answered “essential.” A male driver was asked whether going out for a pizza was essential or non-essential. He answered “Essential, well, no, that can be delivered.” I’m not sure if any one else noticed, but most restaurants that offer delivery in Boston deliver via automobile. Each person interviewed had more or less the same opinion about driving: it’s all essential. This was echoed by the anchors.

This is irresponsible reporting for a number of reasons:

1. It is not a balanced view of the Bostonian population and while I’m sure it was not meant to be statistically accurate, I think it is fair to say that it was extremely one-sided. I know for a fact that only 8 out of 30 of my colleagues drive even part way to work. Of those 8, 7 use their car for only part of the commute. This is not because we all live in the Back Bay. Even when you look at miles traveled, car travel only constitutes approximately 24% of my company’s total work-related travel on average. Twenty-two of the employees polled at my office (73%) never drive to work. If you ask me, getting to work is pretty essential, so if we’re not using cars for even that part of our lives, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of driving is considered non-essential by my colleagues in general and that a fair number of people in this city agree with that. In a city where public transportation is good, quite a few people view many trips as non-essential driving.


2. The broadcast portrayed Bush’s statement as the administration telling us what to do. No, the administration, for once, was doing the responsible thing and asking the American population to participate in a community effort to work on the fuel supply. With good reason and much evidence, the recent violent hurricanes have been attributed to global warming. Car emissions contribute to this. So, instead of relaxing laws over emissions standards, as Bush initially did in the wake of the Katrina disaster, he along with his administration, was finally taking a more measured step and asked American citizens to curb their consumption. This of course was in response to the more immediate need involving disabled and destroyed refineries, but it was still in the right direction toward a more sustainable relationship between humans and oil.


3. The broadcast also broke any tie the viewer might have to his or her community and encouraged a dog-eat-dog mentality. Perhaps Fox News does not agree that community is important, but encouraging people to take and consume over conserving for the good of the whole is, in my opinion, irresponsible.

Perhaps the report was tongue-in-cheek, but it did not appear to be so. Bush’s delivery of the idea was clumsily fumbled, so I can see the humor. The text of his speech to which this refers is below, as transcribed. Not only are half of the sentences grammatically incorrect, but it also doesn’t say much. It says “we can encourage employees” and “we can shift peak electricity” and “There’s [sic] ways for the federal government to lead”. It does not say “we will encourage”, “we will shift” or “These are the ways in which the federal government will lead.” So I can see why Fox News would make a joke about it. If that is the case, I think it could have been more clearly presented as a joke.

Thank you for considering my response.

Regards,

Motley Princess (I used my real name in the letter. I'm already non-anonymous enough on the internet. I don't need to use the name here.)

The text from President Bush’s speech on September 26th to which I refer is found here. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050926.html “Two other points I want to make is, one, we can all pitch in by using -- by being better conservers of energy. I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive when they -- on a trip that's not essential, that would helpful. The federal government can help, and I've directed the federal agencies nationwide -- and here's some ways we can help. We can curtail nonessential travel. If it makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail nonessential travel, it darn sure makes sense for federal employees. We can encourage employees to carpool or use mass transit. And we can shift peak electricity use to off-peak hours. There's ways for the federal government to lead when it comes to conservation.”