Victory!!

30 posts in 30 days was the goal and I made it! Actually this will be post number 42 for the month, but some of those were informational posts and others were to fill a Tweet jones. I'm really glad that I decided to take the daily blog posting challenge, I hadn't really pushed myself with regard to my blogging so it was gratifying to set a goal and reach it.

I definitely punted on a couple of weekend posts, but when I started doing this I originally had only planned to post on weekdays. Even so, I think I only had one or two weekday posts that were less than 500 words so overall I'm pretty happy with the quality and quantity of what I've been able to produce over the course of the last month.

I know it probably sounds strange to talk about quantity of words, but if I'm going to actually become a professional writer then I have to be able to produce at a certain level. There will be word counts and deadlines that have to be met and a lot more pressure than writing a blog post every day, so I may turn up on the heat on myself when the new year starts.

I have to give my first shout out to WifeRat. She's really been in my corner and without her seeing the value in what I'm doing with this blog there's no way that I would have made it through this month. WifeRat is my biggest fan and my strongest ally in life. I love you honey and my gratitude for your support knows no boundaries.

I also want to give a shout to KnockoutEd from COINTELPOL, he's always here commenting and cheering me on. KE has some interesting stuff to say so check him out and leave a comment or two. Thanks also to Ta-Nehisi Coates for giving me a link and my best bit of exposure in the blogosphere. More thanks to NylonThread for turning me on to the whole National Blog Posting Month thing. Finally thanks to everyone who has ever read or commented on my blog, I can't believe people actually take the time to read what I write. It's humbling, gratifying, and inspiring all at the same time; I only hope that the few comments I leave around are as inspiring to other bloggers as their comments are to me.

[NON SEQUITUR]Holy shit! Did I really just hear "Every Day is Like Sunday" in an NFL ad? Apparently I did. Is there a musician on this planet that is more antithetical to ethos and style of American professional football than motherfucking Steve Morrissey? I think not. Seriously, WTF?[/NON SEQUITUR]

I'm still committed to posting 500 words every weekday until the end of the year. I'm not sure how that's going to work out this coming week with Dad's funereal and most of the family in DC, but if I can squeeze out 2500 words this week I'll know I can do it every week.

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More Family

I come from a family where all the men cook. Both of my grandfathers were excellent cooks, BigDaddyRat and both of his brothers can throw down in the kitchen. These aren't guys who just BBQ either, my Dad and I won a cake baking contest when I was in sizth grade. Not only do all these guys cook well, but they scrub the kitchen like their life depended on it when they're done too.

I love my wife, I love the fact that she's a "modern" woman who expects me to do my share around the house, and I love taking care of my family by cooking and cleaning for them. My Mom had a similar attitude, she told me that she didn't want to raise a helpless man; so she taught me to cook and clean and I'll always be grateful to her for teaching me those important lessons.

Even so, there's nothing like having a bunch of doting aunts around fixing you food, clearing your plate, and generally treating you like a king. Yay Aunts!!!

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Family

Is there such a thing as too much family? 'Cause I feel like I'm straight OD-ing on family right now. Yesterday was Thanksgiving, obviously a big family holiday with lots of relatives around. Today we're heading up north for an 80th birthday party tomorrow night and as an added bonus, we're going to a funereal tomorrow morning. After we get back, it's back to DC for BigDaddyRat's funereal which will be attended by just about every relative we have on that side of the family. So let's total it up; we have a major holiday, a family party, and two funereals in the span of six days.

I'm estimating that of the relatives that I have semi-regular contact with, I'll probably be seeing about 80-90% of them in the course of a single week. It's funny because it's such a wild mix of people. In the next few days I will converse with goose-stepping GOP religious right fundamentalists and Black nationalists who want to see Obama looking out of the Oval Office in the "By any means necessary" pose. I will dine with one uncle who is an Assistant US Attorney and another uncle that's done time in so many different states that noone's sure what the total is. I will greet two cousins the same way, "Yo man, it's been too long, we gotta get together and kick it." One of those cousins is a Federal police officer, the other is a retired (we think) gangbanger. I will get pawed on by two sets of aunts, one set of aunts will be rural and White, the other set will be urban and Black; all of them will be throwing down glasses of chardonnay and scotch like it's their motherfucking job.

The one thing that binds all of these people together is their love me, WifeRat, and (especially) BabyRat. As different as my family is from WifeRat's family, they are also eerily similar in many respects. The loud, exuberant aunts and their soft-spoken, even tempered husbands with useless 2nd and 3rd cousins aplenty on both sides of the family.

Before our families were bound together, I would have never believed how similar a rural White family and an urban Black family could be. I wonder how confusing all of this will be for BabyRat, will she assume that every family is the same with a White half and a Black half, just like she has one male parent and one female parent?

As I type this I realize that I have a lot to deal with in the next few days and I have no choice but to lean on all of my family members for strength. They will all reach out to me, the ones that forwarded e-mails about Obama being a Muslim side by side with the ones who think he's the second coming. As I prepare to lay my Father to rest, the criminals and the cops will all fold me inside of the protective cocoon of their love and sympathy. The beefy, hard-working hands of uncles both Black and White will clamp down on my shoulder and give me a squeeze because they don't know what to say, but that small act has always said just as much as the most elegant turn of phrase.

So I guess the answer is, "No." You can't have too much family.

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Setting a Scene

I want to get into writing some fiction and I don't have anything I want to discuss today, so I'm going to write an introduction to a character. Enjoy. -HR

Dante gave himself a quick pat down before he walked out the door of his apartment, checking for his wallet, keys, and phone before closing the door behind him. His footfalls echoed through the stairwell as he came down from his top floor apartment and when he reached the bottom of the stairs he hip checked the front door of his building open and stepped out into the cool DC fall morning.

Dante's eyes scanned for his car and he quickly spotted it across the street near the end of the block. After getting diesel fumes belched in his face by a Metrobus, he took the required number of steps to reach his car. Despite the fact that Dante was a little more than six feet tall and a lean 200 pounds, he had the lumbering gait and carriage of a much heavier man. He opened up the low-slung two door car and dropped into the driver's seat like a ton of bricks.

The car's engine came to life with a quick twist of the ignition key and Dante rolled down the windows to let out the stale funk emanating from the duffel bag in the back seat. He twisted around in his seat and started to dig through the half open bag, feeling around blindly until he felt the familiar shape of a pack of cigarettes and plucked them from the bag. He pushed in the lighter in the dashboard of the car and pulled into traffic as he jammed a Newport between his lips.

As he navigated his way out of the city and enjoyed the feeling of tar and nicotine grabbing his lungs he began to think about the day ahead of him. Dante worked at a pretty standard government contractor job; do a bunch of stuff that the feds can't or won't do for themselves and have them resent you for it. Today was a little different because last night the wire transfer went through, he could hardly believe it when he looked at his account balance before he left for work this morning and saw that it read "Available Balance - $786,423.92." It was official, he no longer needed to work at a job he didn't really like just to make ends meet.

He had been waiting for this day for a few months and now that it was here he didn't really know what to do. Should he detour over to the Tune Inn and have a couple of cocktails before going to the office and wait for someone to say something to him? Maybe during the weekly staff meeting he would go ahead and tell the insufferable jackass that he worked for what he really thought of his latest project plan. Then again maybe he would just keep working like normal and the next time someone, anyone said or did anything that annoyed him he would simply announce, "I quit" and walk out the door with no explanation.

It wasn't a matter of 'if', but 'when' he was going to quit working for the soulless defense contractor that had provided him a pretty good living for the last three years.

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Struggling

It's been a weird week, a lot of shit going on that I can't really talk about and I'm getting more and more gripped up as we get ready to head home to lay BigDaddyRat to rest. This three month delay between Dad dying and his funereal is a nightmare. I'm going to hit some random topics and pop off on what I think.

Craziness in Mumbai - I never really understand what terrorists are trying to prove with shit like this. Seriously, what's the thought process behind this? "Hmm, we're a marginalized group trying to bring attention to our plight and point out the hypocrisy of the world's hegemonic powers. I know what we should do, we should go out and kill a bunch of people that don't have anything to do with what we're pissed off about!!!!" Dopes.

I guess this guy doesn't like W much - Whoa dude, and I thought I didn't like President Bush. I think that Bush43 has done incalculable damage to the United States and its future prospects. However, just like when Clinton was in office, I think even if you don't respect the man have a little respect for the office. You made your point when you called Bush43 "Caligutard," you can just stop there.

I'm actually feeling kind of bad for W these days, he's looking pretty fucking haggard. Eight years in the Oval Office is a tough haul when things are going well, imagine what the last eight years have been like? As much as the DNC nut garglers are counting down the days until W is out of office, I bet no one is more anxious for him to get the fuck out of Dodge than the man himself.

I found this real surprising - Grunfeld is one of the better executives in the NBA so I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Still, seems a little hasty after extending the coaches contract just a few months ago.

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Educating BabyRat

The school that we've been sending BabyRat to is pretty interesting, not only do they have uniforms but the director enforces the dress code strictly by fining non-conforming parents. I found this out because WifeRat was having a little trouble following the dress code rules. WifeRat says that she follows the rules, but that's total BS; she follows the rules when she agrees with them, but when she disagrees with them then the rules are stupid and arbitrary, the rules are made to benefit capitalists, the rules prop up the penisocracy, the rules are anti-feminist, and so forth.

Coming from a military background, I have a different feeling about uniforms than other people in my house. A uniform is a source of pride and signifies that you're a part of something that's bigger than you as an individual. Wearing a uniform shouldn't be about doing as little as you can and still being in compliance. It's about how sharp can I look? How can I show my pride in myself and my organization by looking as good as I can possibly look in this uniform? This isn't something that my Father ever said aloud, but it was how he lived his life. Neat, clean, and fastidious aren't dirty words.

I swear The Director of this place would have been an awesome drill instructor. She has the trim build and precise manner of every drill instructor I've ever met. The Director would look amazing in one of those Smokey the Bear hats too.

High standards and high performance is the norm at BabyRat's school and I fucking love it!! The assumption is that every kid there can learn and will learn. Of course that's a lot easier to accomplish when you have a self-selected group of families that obviously place a premium on learning and education.

Lately they've been teaching BR's class about consequences and decision making. We found out about this a couple of weeks ago when BR got home from school and started complaining that she didn't get afternoon snack. As is often the case when you're talking to a three year-old, you get the important parts of the story but necessary in the proper order and some important information gets left out entirely. All I could discern was that BabyRat didn't get a snack because some of the other kids took too long.

WifeRat is, of course, distraught. If there's one thing she insists on for BabyRat, it's that she gets to eat and drink when she's hungry and thirsty. So the Wife is all fired up when she hears this, but I calm her down and promise to ask what's up the next day when I drop the kid off at school. The next day I speak to LMS and she tells me that the kids serve themselves at snack and that if there's a problem like the one BabyRat described then those kids go last the next day.

I'm satisfied with this answer and don't give the situation too much more thought until BabyRat starts whining about not getting a snack again a day or two later. Again, I have to talk WifeRat down off the ledge and promise to get more information. This time when I speak to LMS I ask a few more pointed questions about the whole setup for snack time and I finally get to the heart of the matter: the kids have like an hour long time frame when they can get their snack. If they fuck around too long and wait until the end of snack time, then they're short. When I explained all this WifeRat she was mostly OK with it, but still didn't like the idea that BabyRat might not get her afternoon snack. Which is kind of ridiculous because she BRINGS THAT LITTLE HUNGRY HEIFER SOMETHING TO EAT WHEN SHE PICKS HER UP.

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Pancake Mountain News - The Melvins Dance Party

Pancake Mountain News November 25, 2008

Hey Kids- After you've eaten all your turkey and your family is driving you crazy come join us for our first LA dance party with THE MELVINS at the legendary Troubadour club in West Hollywood! WHERE: Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 WHEN:   show up at 4:30, be ready to dance at 5:00 SIGN UP HERE! Also, while I've been in LA I managed to edit another exclusive clip from our Kings of Leon Dance Party from eariler this month in DC. Check It Out!! From sunny L.A., your pal, Rufus Leaking

Pancake Mountain's TV Dance Party with The Melvins Saturday, November 29, 2008 at The Troubadour, West Hollywood Doors open at 4:30pm. Be ready to dance at 5pm We'll see you there - Don't Miss it! SIGN UP NOW!

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Domestic PsyOps

I hate to disappoint you, but this post is not about the latest shenanigans of Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez. Really it's about BabyRat and the eternal struggle to get her little ass to go to sleep when necessary.

The three Christmases since BabyRat has hit the scene have been pretty low key for her, she didn't totally understand what was going on, even last year. When asked what she wanted for Christmas in 2007 she said that she wanted a wind flower (a pinwheel) and a candy cane, that was it. I can only accept some of the credit for my kid's lack of materialism, I have TiVo to thank for the fact that BabyRat almost never sees commercials. Of course none of this kept BigDaddyRat and MommaRat from buying a small truckload of silliness every Christmas, but I digress.

BabyRat has never been a big fan of going to sleep. She usually sleeps very well once she gets to sleep, but even when we've been in a good groove with her falling to sleep with little or no drama every night she still has an occasional evening when she just won't go to sleep for a couple of hours. For a while I had the situation under control by bouncing her to sleep on my lap every night, but eventually (after a couple of years) that stopped working and it's been an up and down struggle since then.

Thankfully BabyRat's understanding of the world has sharpened considerably since last Christmas and we have finally turned that to our advantage. While last year Santa was an interesting curiousity, this year BR knows that he is the all powerful, all seeing, and all knowing: SANTA!!!

The looming threat of Santa's "Naughty & Nice List" is finally bearing fruit. Since we've been giving a pre-bedtime and pre-naptime hard sell about Santa watching to see if she's naughty or nice for the last couple of days, BabyRat has gone right to sleep. WifeRat pointed out that in the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" the lyrics specifically mention, "He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake," so obviously we're not the only people who are going down this road.

I know that I want BabyRat to go sleep when I say for my own convenience, but I also know that little kids need their rest. I'm also nervous about what happens after Christmas. Assuming this keeps working, BR will continue to go to sleep with no drama and then will hit paydirt on Christmas but then what? Will she think that she got what she wanted out of the deal and now she can go back to acting an ass at bedtime or will she at some point during the holiday season realize that going to sleep right when she gets in the bed is pretty good and start doing it of her own volition?

Do any of my fair readers have any experience with this? I know at least a couple of people who have commented lately have kids and I have reason to suspect other parents are lurking.

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I Actually Dig Fargo

Despite what some people seem to think, I do like Fargo. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than DC and the people around here are just so damn nice it's kind of weird for an East Coast guy. Over the last couple of weeks I've even had a couple of pretty good meals that had some local flair to them. But best of all, since I've been in Fargo I have sat in traffic exactly twice for a grand total of less than 20 minutes.

Last weekend WifeRat and I arranged for BabyRat to stay with Nanna after we got done making lefse and we went out to dinner. We originally wanted to go to the Silver Moon Supper Club but when we called they couldn't seat us until 9:30 and I know what that means; you don't get to your table until 10 and then you basically get a gavage-style meal of end of the night leftovers. So we decided to stop by the Silver Moon and see if something opened up, which it didn't so we decided to go to the HoDo.

WifeRat had the Bison tenderloin and I had the NY Strip, they were both pretty good. I especially liked the "barley risotto" on the Bison tenderloin, it was a nice little regional touch. We had the Walleye cakes and Shrimp/Scallop gratin to start. The gratin was nice but the walleye cakes were a little underseasoned, which is a constant thing out here.

Two nights ago we went to Doolittle's, they're a small regional franchise with four restaurants in Minnesota and North Dakota. The food there was well above average for the F-M area and I've been to a lot worse restaurants in DC. If your kids like mac & cheese, this is the place; best kid's mac & cheese I've had in a restaurant. I had a "smoked tri-tip" that doesn't appear on the online menu and was served with some excellent mushroom raviolis, a nice plate for $16.

Last night I was out with Slayer from the rugby team, I picked him up from the bar he works at, Rascals. Rascals was unbelievably dead, but I still had to pay a $3 cover to see Whisky Sam from Grand Forks. After we left and I lost $30 playing blackjack at Dempsey's, James (another rugby guy) talked us into going to Old Broadway with him. The less said about OB, the better; imagine the Swerve but with a higher ceiling. We fled OB and went to Rooter's but we got there too late to play Pig Wheel which is what we wanted to do instead of go to OB.

So for all my bitching and moaning about Fargo I'm still managing to have a good time, I just miss DC.

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TV

Technology is wonderful, I'm sitting here right now watching the Sunday Night Football game over the internet. When I realize the NFL could do this with every game if they were so inclined, I get pissed about the monopoly the NFL has granted to Direct TV that denies me the opportunity to see the Raiders week in and week out in the comfort of my home. ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook has been bitching about this for years.

We decided not to get a TV while we're out here in Fargo and for the most part I don't miss it. With the advent of Hulu we can easily watch a lot of TV online and if we're really jonesing we can get stuff like "Mad Men" on iTunes. The only time I really miss having a TV is on Sunday afternoons when football is on.

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In Defense of Frat Boys

I was reading a blog post today and in it there was a swipe at "frat boys." Now I wasn't in a fraternity in college so I don't even know why I care about this, but for some reason I do and I'm gonna speak on it.

One thing that I've noticed over the years is that the folks who are most vehement about their hatred of "frat boys" and "jocks" and anyone else who doesn't fit into their narrow definition of an acceptable lifestyle, are essentially doing the same thing they accuse the frat boys of doing. That is, just lump a group of people together based on a set of assumptions and assume that they're all the same. It's really quite ironic.

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Food in Fargo

I hate to sound like some kind of insufferable "foodie" douche-nozzle but the food in Fargo sucks. I'm finally in a position where I actually have time to go out to eat again and I find myself stuck in culinary hell.

It's not like every time I go out to eat it has to be some sort of transcendent fine dining experience or every morsel I put in my mouth has to be seasonal and locally sourced, but I do enjoy eating. I would like it if there was some sort of local specialty where I could taste test a couple of venerable Fargo dining institutions (like the eternal Pat's vs. Geno's debate in Philly, even though they both suck and the best place to get a cheese steak in Philly is Jim's) and claim some Fargo insider cred by expressing a strong preference.

Alas, it is not to be. Fargo seems to have no entrenched culinary traditions for me to take part in. I ate a fuck load of cheese curds this Summer, both fried and fresh but that's really a Wisconsin tradition.

The closest I've come to any kind of indigineous cuisine is fried walleye. I had some fried walleye this Summer at a couple of different places, but the best fried walleye I had was at one of my Aunt's houses and I helped cook it. While bemoaning the lack of fried walleye the other day, my Father-in-law gets around to informing me that the Legion has fried walleye every Tuesday. I'll give that a whirl soon, but hopefully they won't be serving it with the gawd-awful, sugar-laden tartar sauce that seems to be the norm up here, and if I want some hot sauce for my fish I better bring it myself. If you're lucky enough to actually get some hot sauce it's always Tabasco. I don't have anything against Tabasco, but when I want some hot sauce on my fish I'm looking for some Texas Pete or something in that style of vinegary, not much heat but lots of flavor, hot sauce.

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Friday Morning Links

I'm not quite sure what happened, but it looks like the Cynics' Party morphed into Stinque. Does anyone know what the story is?

Stinque commenter RomeGirl hits the nail on the head when talking about Palin, "She and, I presume, some kind of professional person who is paid to look after her interests, walked around a turkey farm, saw two drains and a bloodbath, and said, RIGHT HERE IS FINE."

The Sexist is 70% man. - Ever wonder what your writing style says about you? I did to and apparently I'm only 65% man.

What's the German Word for Douchebag? - Stunning, guys get a tattoo of whorehouse on their forearms for a lifetime discount. Good ol' progressive Europe!

Criticism of Eric Holder coming from a few different sources - As Ta-Nehisi points out, Obama's rhetoric on drug law enforcement is quite different from what Holder was saying during the Clinton administration. Hopefully the new AG will get with the new boss' program.

The Copy Ranter on Russian Bear vodka ad - CR is right, "real men" WTF? Totally inconsistent with the tone, tenor, and style of the rest of the ad.

From the Root: Busta Rhymes continues to reach out and spread understanding - I'm sorry I even asked if it was fair to brand Busta homophobic. Especially distasteful was Busta glomming onto Obama saying, "After Nov. 4, we gettin' so much new sh**, we gonna call that motherf$#%&@ Ay-rab money." It's an ignorance dog, slathered in stupidity.

Malcolm Gladwell gets put on blast - Saw this link in a tweet from Jay Smooth and dude gives Gladwell the business something fierce.

The Sports Guy - Amazing column on "The Battle of the Network Stars".

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Thoughts on the Mall

Living in DC I don't go to malls very often. I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where I can buy about 99% of what I need (really 100% of what I need and 98% of what I want) somewhere within about a 15 block radius from home now that the Harris Teeter finally opened. I guess I go to Pentagon City a couple of times a year, but it's usually during the holidays and I'm there on a mission not fucking around like I was today.

For reasons I can't explain, I took a stroll through the West Acres iteration of Spencer gifts while I was at the mall today. I was fascinated and kind of weirded out to see that the Misfits iconic Crimson Ghost logo now appears on everything from air fresheners to wallets. I'm glad that there's some kind of cultural counter-point out there to focus grouped garbage like Hannah Montana, but the blatant cash grab is kind of gross.

All of this got me thinking about capitalism. I'm an unapologetic capitalist who wishes that there were more ethical rules applied to capitalism. I firmly believe that many of the innovations that make modern life worth living wouldn't and couldn't have happened in any other economic system. Look at the poor prick who invented the AK-47, quite possibly the most popular weapon ever made, he got a medal and the designation of "proletarian hero" but not much else out of the deal. What's the incentive to innovate and invent if you're still gonna be living in a shack with a dirt floor no matter how successful you are?

The flip side of that is that capitalism produces a lot of garbage in search of the next "killer app". Spencer's was full of all manner of frightfully stupid and unnecessary junk; penis lollipops, breast suspenders (don't ask 'cause I can't really explain), and edible underwear are just a few examples. Presumably, behind each and everyone of these products was someone who thought, planned, and worked to get these products to market with the thought that they were going to make some money off of them.

I can't help but wonder what if all the time, money, and energy that went into manufacturing and distributing the useless tchotchkes sold at Spencer Gifts, Hot Topic, and Pac Sun were put into renewable energy research? But that's not the way capitalism works, we can't compel anyone to innovate in a specific area, we can only provide incentives.

I saw this post the other day about a "Green New Deal" that I found quite fascinating. I don't know if we want lawyers coming up with our environmental policy, but the idea has some merit. This is where we need to give capitalism a little kick in the ass, help it get out of its conservative rut with some gov't assistance.

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Understandable Mistake or Shameful Shit?

So I've been following this guy Humanity Critic for a couple of weeks now. He's got some interesting stuff to say and a style to his writing that I like, appreciate, and will probably start to bite. HC is constantly Twittering and has put me on to some good links regarding Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State talk that's been going on.

Well last night I got a tweet about Busta Rhymes being a homophobe with a link in it and the link takes you to a video of Pharrell and DJ Premier talking backstage or in a Green room somewhere.

The whole setup is a little crazy because before seeing this I wouldn't have really thought that Premier and Pharrell would hang out. Premier is 42 but looks like he could be in his 50's and Pharrell's little skinny ass probably won't ever look more than about 19, so the visual is striking when you see the two of them together. Then consider that stylistically the two men are on opposite ends of the spectrum; Premier is straight old-school and Pharrell skates and listens to Steely Dan. But when you look at the variety of artists that both Premier and Pharrell have worked with and the success that they've both enjoyed, it's not that surprising that they would be kicking it.

In this video Pharrell is telling a story about Busta Rhymes. Not surprisingly, Pharrell is a pretty talented mimic and the way he relates the story is funnier than Hell. In addition to changing up his voice he also takes on the Busta's abrupt and strident body language, the extra loud tone, and the barking rhythm that makes Busta Busta. The conclusion of the story is that Busta is upset because some dude (one of the Jungle Brothers) that wanted to take a picture with him was wearing mascara.

I could go either way on this story. I'm not down with the homophobia, but tripping because some dude is wearing mascara doesn't really mean much to me. This isn't me defending Busta or going soft on homophobia. Just like accusations of racism, I like to wait until things are fairly clear cut before I level the charge of homophobia against someone. None of this is the point of this post, we're just getting to the incident that inspired this post's title in the next couple of paragraphs.

So like I said, I've been following Humanity Critic and I decided to follow up on this by leaving a comment on his blog at vibe.com. In order to comment you have to register, mildly annoying but really no big deal. They ask for your city and state, I type in Washington and in the drop-down list for states "DC" is nowhere to be found. Fuck me gently with a chain saw, I can't believe this just happened.

Now ten years ago or maybe even five, I could understand how something like this happened. But it's 2008, shit like this should have been straightened out a long time ago. It's incidents like this that have radicalized my thinking about DC statehood. When I first moved to DC getting representation in the House would have been enough to keep me happy, but now I say fuck all that! DC STATEHOOD NOW!!

As far as Vibe goes, I've always thought the magazine was kind of whack and now I have proof. Vibe.com I'm puttin' y'all on blast. This is some trifling, shameful shit. I find this diss of DC especially disturbing from an African-American oriented publication and website.

Who the hell is running your site that they didn't notice that you have ZERO users from D-Chocolate City-C? Maybe you just don't care that you don't have any users from DC, it's not like there are any black people there or anything.

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Update on HRC for SecState

Everybody's spinning is the general sentiment behind the Politico's piece on why Hillary Clinton might reject an offer to serve as Secretary of State. A few sources have already spoken on the possible conflict of interest the Clinton Global Initiative poses. Some bloggers are disagreeing.

I'll keep posting as the story breaks.

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How Do You Send a Tweet About Twitter Being Down? (eom)

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Work

I haven't really popped off about work for a while because right now I'm in a pretty good situation. I'm working remotely as an analyst and tech writer; I check my e-mail in the morning, call to check in with the bosses once a week by phone, attend a phone conference once a week, make sure my deliverables get out quickly, and life is good. I really consider this whole setup to be a gift from my boss.

For the most part the people I work with are OK. The current setup is that we have no sub-contractors on our team, so we're all employees of the large defense contractor that we work for. I guess that sounds strange to people who aren't familiar with gov't contracting, doesn't it?

It does make a difference to have everyone working for the same company though. Sometimes in a misguided effort to build some kind of phony espirit de corps on gov't contracts were everyone is just there for a paycheck, managers from one company or another will attempt to ascertain some kind of small perk for their employees or have closed door meetings to differentiate between employees and subs or employees of other companies.

The real problem comes with dealing with the gov't workers. We're there to provide advice and support to our gov't customer on a variety of topics. We generally act as subject matter experts where our customer agency has gaps in their knowledge of appropriations, technical subjects, and legislative mandates which frequently takes the form of providing analysis and solutions for a whatever problems they're having. What this really means is that we're there to do what the government workers can't do for themselves.

This leads to situations like the one I find myself in this morning. Within the portion of the USDA that my company services, I'm the designated subject matter expert on SharePoint. I don't do any server side stuff, I'm really just there to train users and figure out a way to extract some value out of the product for our customer. I've been dicking around with this off and on for coming up on three years now and they still don't know they want.

The Hobbit is the gov't worker I have to deal with on all of this and he insists on playing this crazy "Mother may I?" game with me. If I call him on the phone to discuss something I want to do (even though I'm the SME, I don't admin rights) after a 15 minute circular conversation, where I could swear he's deliberately being obtuse, he asks me to write it all up in an e-mail. If I dare to skip the introductory phone call with the Hobbit and broach a new topic in a detailed e-mail, he likes to wait a week before responding and when he does respond he asks a series of questions that I answered in my initial e-mail and makes several nonsensical counter proposals. It's positively maddening.

I have a co-worker who has spent a bit more time with the Hobbit than I have and he says that the real problem is the Hobbit doesn't communicate effectively via e-mail. True, he doesn't communicate well via e-mail but he also is trying to communicate bad ideas for the sole purpose of feeling like he made some sort of contribution to what's going on.

Here's what I wish I could make the Hobbit understand: I don't really care. It's your show, I'm not invested in this institution other than wanting to help it function better. My paycheck keeps coming every two weeks and that's all I need out of this deal. I'm content to create and implement a winning strategy with this technology and let the Hobbit take all the credit for it. If only he were smart enough to recognize the situation, shut up, and get out of my way.

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Some Quick Links

The Humanity Critic continues to fire out links about HRC for SecState and why it's a bad idea.

I'm glad I'm not in DC right now.

Prince declares love for the GOP. Not exactly, but he does come out against gay marriage and, " . . . people sticking it wherever . . ."

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