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People seem to hate us Californians and our hippy ways, but sometimes our hippy ways produce awesome ideas. From http://alternativefuels.about.com/:
Effective January 1, 2009, every new vehicle sold in California must display a window label that rates its environmental performance in two key areas. Each label will report a score of 1 to 10 (worst to best) concerning said vehicle's contribution to both global warming and smog. It's part of California's efforts to educate the public about the relationship between vehicle emissions and environmental degradation--and maybe give a shot-in-the-arm to the state's push for a 30 percent reduction in tailpipe emissions by 2016. So far, automakers haven't really bristled, but they've shown that they can be easily pushed too far (shades of the ZEV). According to detnews.com, The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers spokesman Charles Territo said, "Consumers today are more educated than ever before." He also noted that similar information is already available on the internet. One place is the Green Vehicle Guide on the Environmental Protection Agency's website.
Personally, I think this is an AWESOME idea. I mean, I know douchebags that don't care about the environment and just want their cars to go fast enough to run down people on bicycles won't give a crap about how they're killing us all. But there ARE some people out there that have never really thought about it and just MIGHT think about it when they're going to purchase a new car. Hopefully this will encourage more people to get hybrids or at least something with better mileage. Plus, I'll be in the market for a new car in the near future, and that will surely help me in my decision.
Also, this makes me completely giddy. Just the THOUGHT that we can get (new) Hummers* off the road brings sunshine into my soul. Of course the fact that they're closing plants which happen to produce HYBRIDS is really rather stupid.
Oh, GM. I really hope you realize that there's a GOOD trend going on and try to adapt to consumer demand instead of throwing temper tantrums, changing laws in the state senate, and digging yourself into a hole like you did when you destroyed all the electric cars and started developing the Hummer. You and your BFF Big Oil may have had our government in your back pockets for quite some time, but with gas prices estimated to be $9.25/gallon by September** we normally apathetic Americans aren't going to allow you to continue business as usual. We might even get so mad that we put the TiVo on pause and write an angry email, or something.
-K.
*A friend of mine that works at Carmax said that they have lots and lots full of used Hummers they cannot get rid of. They're no longer taking them in.
**A totally made up statistic.
Show us two things that belong together.
Uh huh!
So, this weekend I got a new haircut:
It's actually quite different than it was before; a lot shorter, lots of layers and sweep bangs. My hair before was pretty much just straight, long, and bleh. With the exception of the bangs being all up in mah face, I quite like it. I've gotten quite a few compliments on it. And then there was the bossman yesterday:
Joe - Something's different about you. Your part. It's more to the left.
K. - No.
Joe - You died your hair?
K. - No.
Joe - New earrings?
K. - No.
Joe - Well, I just don't know.
K. - It's a hair cut, Joe. My hair is completely different.
Joe - (huffy) Well, at least I noticed something was different. I never get credit for ANYTHING (crosses arms over chest).
After this exchange, I had a discussion with the Bossman. I've been reading a book called Stumbling on Happiness. It's not one of those self-help books, but one that discusses the philosophy of happiness, how it works, and how we tend to make decisions about the future based on how we're feeling in the present (i.e. I want a sandwich now, so I'll want a sandwich next week) or how we make decisions based on the past. The example he used was about going into Starbucks and having your daily coffee jump up by a dollar. Instead of focusing on what we could buy with that extra dollar (a box of paperclips, two ink pens) we focus on the past (something we cannot change) and how much it used to cost. Instead of making our decision on the possibilities of what we could buy and weighing our decision on whether that coffee really is worth an extra two ink pens, we look to the past and make our decision upon what was (I'm not paying that much for coffee when it was so much cheaper before!), rather than what could be.
I read this passage to Joe, specifically pointing out his longing for Tommy's Burgers of Yore, and he jumped up, grabbed a pen, and wrote down "Judge the present not by the past, but by the possible." He then typed it up, and read it at a directors' meeting, very proud of this new philosophy. He gave me credit for pointing it out to him (he better had, as I was sitting there and would have punched him), and as of yesterday put himself into a better mood.
However, that was yesterday (the past) and it is currently today (the present). He's going to be spending an extra few hours with his children this morning, so I'm interested to see if when he comes in he'll be adhering to his new mantra (which, since it was given to him yesterday is really the past) or if he will base his mood on the present (after having spent extra time with his tweens). I'm guessing his mood will be based on the later, and he'll come in the same moody Joe that we've all grown to love and find hilarious.
Or, at least, I can hope.
-K.
Ace Employee - I’m sorry sir, but they don’t come that way. Joe - But why should I have to eight bucks when all I need is a fifty cent part? Ace Employee- There’s nothing I can do. They don’t come that way Joe - (points to the exact part) But I only need this part, right here. Why aren’t you understanding this?
Grumbling the entire way to my car, all I could think was, Damn tweenagers.
"Dan," he comes in complaining, his face twisted up in utter disgust. "Apparently he’s not Danillo, anymore. He’s Dan."**
Joe spends most of his time lately shuffling his kids around to various classes and musical performances, trying to make conversation with them but met with moody, responses about how they’re "misunderstood." I told Joe he should put a camera in his car and call it "Taxi Dad confessions" as all he does is take them from place to place. The entire thing is taking its toll out on him; lately he’s much more grumpy and flies off the handle, whether it’s about some administrator’s rules and how he hates working for "The Man" or if it’s sending letters off to student organizations threatening suspension of privileges because they haven’t returned a borrowed projector.*** Last week, one of the other departments called, asking if we had returned the canopies we borrowed from them. When I found out we hadn’t, I playfully scolded Joe.
The first grievance was about Tommy’s, a local burger joint known for smothering meat with more meat. Their famous double chili burger is one of the Bossman’s favorites. Joe’s complaint was that the patties were not up to their usual standard; "The patties were the two thinnest things I’ve ever seen! If I order a double, it should be a double. Not just ONE patty sliced in half. THAT IS NOT A DOUBLE. That is a single PRETENDING to be a double! Damn it, I paid for a double and that's what I should get!" he said, shaking his fist toward the ceiling.****
The next on his list was Ace Hardware, as his outside faucet was leaking and he needed a simple part to replace it. Unfortunately, he was informed, they do not sell the individual parts and you have to buy the entire faucet itself. He described the exchange:
Joe - Look, I only need this part, not the whole thing.
At this point in the story, I chimed in. "You know you completely ruined this guy’s day. The entire thing would have only cost you $8. And yet you ruin this guy’s day over it. He’s going to go home and talk about some idiot who didn’t understand that he couldn’t just buy a part of an entire package. It’s like going to a car dealership and telling them you just want to rip off the drive shaft of one of their new cars because that’s all you need."
To which Joe replied, "But I only needed the one part!"*****
My favorite grievance, however, was one about Guitar Center. Joe ordered three items and received an email letting him know that one of the items was on back order but the other two were being shipped out. He then received an email asking him to confirm receipt of his order and to fill out a customer service survey.
"Why," he fumed, "after sending me an email saying ‘We know you haven’t received your entire order yet.’ would they send me one asking me to confirm that I received my entire order? They know I haven’t received it, and yet are asking me to say that I’ve received it. What’s wrong with these people?"
At this point, my co-workers and I were wiping tears off our cheeks from laughing so hard at his "hard" life. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and asked us just what we thought was so funny.
"MAN you’re grumpy! Don’t you think you’re maybe blowing little things out of proportion?"
He looked at me, blinked twice and said "I just want to be treated fairly."
I guess that’s all anyone can ask.
And so, I’m sure you’ll all agree that I’ve proven that tweenagers ruin lives. They disrupt an otherwise pleasant trip to the bookstore, and they make their parents so stressed that they blow up from receiving an email asking them to confirm receipt of an order that they haven’t received.
Damn kids.
-K.
*Not really a creek, but a drainage ditch.
**I’m thinking of starting a comic strip based on Joe’s son. By day he’s known as Danillo. But at night he becomes Dan, the Emo Tween.
***I really hope someone else recognizes the subtle hilarity in this.
****The power on campus, by the way, went out shortly after this gesture. Good job, Joe.
*****This reminds me of an episode of Matlock I saw as a kid, where Matlock bought a package of hot dogs and two packages of buns. He ripped all but two buns out of the package and threw the rest on the ground, refusing to pay for them. "You sell ten hotdogs to a package and eight buns, so that I have to buy two packages of buns. It’s a racket, I tell you and I refuse to pay for those buns I’m not using!"
You tell ‘em, Matlock.
At about 1:10 today a water main burst causing the Art building and the Administrative Building on campus to flood. Too bad the man circuits for all the power on campus are housed down there.
After about 10 minutes with no a/c or power, my building was roasting. At least it's only 100 degrees here and not 111 degrees like on Saturday. We were advised to go home and work from there. Too bad all the servers for the VC for Student Affairs department (the umbrella my divison is under) are housed in the admin building which, as I stated earlier, flooded.
I have no access to my budget files which are housed on the server. These files need to be updated for a meeting I have with my boss tomorrow because we're currently in the middle of fiscal closing. Huzzah.
-K.
I'm trying really really hard to want to see this movie, but no matter how many trailers or clips I've seen I just... I just cant. I don't find him cute or interesting enough to watch for 45 minutes without any sort of dialogue. I keep hearing reviews that declare it as like, the best movie ever, but... it's just... it's a robot, guys. A fucking ROBOT. You know how I feel about robots...
Hate all you want, but I can't get into this movie.
-K.
If I’m actually going to get into this photography thing, I need to take it seriously and purchase the equipment I need. I am doing my Co-worker’s sister’s wedding on October 4th,* my first “paying” gig, although she’s simply paying for the flash** and light meter I need for the shoot; a mere $500 or so when wedding photographers, at the cheapest, cost upwards of $1,000. Because I’ve never shot a wedding before, I’m doing it for her under the stipulation that she knows I’ve never done it before and her photos won’t be the most magnificent things that have ever been shot in the history of photography.
However, I do want to do a good job. I know enough about photography to get decent pictures, I’m sure. But there’s quite a bit of research and practice I’ll need, and I’ve got to break down and get the equipment that will be needed. First off, I need a new camera. I’m currently using the Canon Rebel XT, which is good and all, but it’s not something professional photographers use. Technically, I should be getting a Mark III but I really can’t spend $3700 on a camera right now. I was talking to my photography teacher and he suggested the 40D—it’s what most professionals use as their backup, and it’s got quite a few features of its newer, expensive brother, without a lot of the glitches. Right now the bodies are going for around $900 which is fine—I won’t really need a lens since I’ve got a couple as it is (although, I really, REALLY want a fisheye lens, but it’s not a priority at the moment).
I also need to get a laptop. I need a new one anyway, but I’m planning to get a Mac, simply because they’re better for image editing and from what I heard, more reliable in general. Because I work at an educational institution, I can get a little bit of a discount, but Macs are fucking expensive. I plan on going to the Mac store this weekend and getting their suggestions on what would be best to use. Hopefully they can work out some sort of payment plan for me.
I’ll also need to get a copy of Photoshop for Macs, as mine is for a PC.
And a good book on wedding photography, which I can surely pick up off of eBay for cheap.
I really want to pay off my credit cards. I owe about $2500, which isn’t bad considering I live with a woman who has $15,000 in debt but even so, I hate owing money. I probably can’t get everything paid off until September, and with the wedding coming up, I need at least a couple months of practice with a new camera/flash/computer in order to try to give this girl the best pictures possible. A wedding is a pretty big day in a girl’s life and I don’t want to completely fuck it up because I haven’t used my camera enough. I may also bring my film camera, just for good measure. I seem to shoot better on film than digital, but then again, I’ve had a lot more training in film than in digital, so that’s probably why (yes, there is a difference!).
Man, buying things is expensive.
-K.
*The day after my birthday. Start your shopping now!
**Have I ever mentioned I’m terrified of using flash? TERRIFIED.
These photos are by Alex Wong and picture Luke Russert (Tim Russert's son) as he touches his father's empty chair on the set of Meet the Press. So, so much is expressed in these shots. It just tears my heart out.
I love writing, but goddamn, there's something about photography that moves me like nothing else.
-K.
Saturday night I went out to the local Borders to pick up some books. Everyone and their mother seems to love David Sedaris, and after seeing an interview with him on The Daily Show, I decided to give him a try.
I’ve made a resolution to myself that for every book I pick up that I really want to read, I must pickup a book that I normally wouldn’t read. This lead me down the Military History section of the bookstore where I picked up the autobiography Blood Makes The Grass Grow Green by Johnny Rico.
The story is based on Rico's experiences in Afghanistan, long after the media proclaimed the war in the region to be over. As Rico shows, the war really isn’t over; there are plenty of bombs and sniper fire to illustrate that; in fact, he is subjected to so many bombs and so much sniper fire that he gets more and more bored with every attack, as it’s become routine and unreal for him. It also shows the complete and utter boredom and the way in which our soldiers choose to entertain themselves (masturbation, dvd's, and Grand Theft Auto), the lack of supplies our Army has to offer (at one point they have to take the batteries out of their walkie talkies to make their night vision work), and the complete and utter insanity that is bureaucracy, as at one point they’re told they’re not receiving any more ammo because they "wasted" it defending themselves from sniper fire. The book is honest, hilarious, disturbing, and extremely uncomfortable. Even so, while reading it, I entertained thoughts of joining the army, just for the experience. Of course I highly doubt that was the author’s intentions. He details the aftermath of some of his fellow soldiers' dismissal from the army; some leave the country, some go to community college with lofty dreams of becoming a war correspondent, and some, despite their consistent complaining about the army and “the man” during their time in Afghanistan, reenlist, as they have no clue as to what to do if someone isn't telling them what to do. That last one happens more often than you’d think; I know several men who have done the same.
Anyway, I’m glad I picked it up. Next on the list is Sedaris’s Naked which I am excited to read. I forgot how much I enjoy wandering down to the bookstore, reading in the coffee shop and being out and about. I must do that more often.
-K.
So I haven't posted anything from this semester's photography class because there hasn't been much to post. We haven't had many assignments and the ones we've had have sucked. To be honest, I'm very disappointed in this class; I haven't learned much and in many ways it's been a big waste of time, which sucks because this was the one class I was super excited to take.
Le sigh.
Anyway, I finally got around to scanning the photos I like. We got to play with a 4x5 camera (the one that looks like an accordion) for some modeling shoots. Art, one of the guys in my group, brought in a girl and a make-up artist. The girl originally looked all cute, her hair in two little buns with very minimal make-up. The make-up artist worked her magic and turned her into a total Femme Fatal. Take a gander:
This was my favorite out of the four I did, but unfortunately she had lipstick on her teeth, so I had to turn this one in instead:
One thing I learned about this exercise was that 4x5 cameras are a total pain in the ass. The quality of the negatives, though? Whew! I can see why photographers would spend $85 for 100 sheets of film. Such clarity... amazing.
The next photo I took at the beginning of the semester. I didn't end up turning it in, but Iiked it because it came out all blurry and looked like a soft water color portrait:
It was taken at 4:00 PM at 100 ISO (I had film to burn up), which I knew would make it near impossible to get a sharp picture, ESPECIALLY with the subjects moving and me without a tripod, but I still shot it and I'm glad I did. I wish the hands were a little clearer and you could see that she's carrying a bag on her left side instead of wondering if she's got some sort of deformity, but it is what it is. I actually have been playing around with it in Photoshop and converted it into a "painting" which I might blow up and hang on one of our walls somewhere:
Anyway, that's about it for pictures I don't hate or find rather boring. I'm hoping that my last assignment (which is done with a 4x5...) will be a good one. I have to say, I've never been so excited for a class to end.
***
In other news, I went on a cruise last week and it was awesome! Except for the fact I got latched onto by a cuddler. Ugh. More on that at a different time.
Oh, and Mr. Abrupt called a couple of weeks ago. I took my time in calling him back, as I was very busy. I talked to him on Sunday, and he called a few days later but I couldn't talk, as I was working overtime on an event at work. And I haven't talked to him since.
That guy, man. He absolutely fucking kills me sometimes.
-K.
