Rain, Rain; Go Away!

Man's a fool;
When it's hot, he wants it cool.
When it's cool, he wants it hot.
What it is, he wants it not.

Thanks to my late great-aunt Elvery for this tidbit of wisdom.

Making Money Count

In this day and age, the economy is uncertain.  People who had believed their jobs were secure for the next 30 or 40 years have been "let go" due to downsizing.  It's not the corporate CEO's losing their jobs due to the lagging economy; it's the laboring man and woman that is the very backbone of the American economy.

It's not easy to watch homes go; nor is it easy to give up the privileged lifestyle so many have become accustomed to before the housing bubble of the Bush Administration burst. Yet, here we are:  the impoverished, the middle class Americans, even some of those in the lower upper economic class, walking the same path of economic duress--even while Wall Street execs are living in the fat of their own excess, bringing in bonuses they do not deserve.

What can the common man do to combat the state of economic oppression brought on by corporate greed?  We can start by remembering.  That's right; remembering.  Remembering what?  Remembering how the American economy was built.  By individual businessmen who sold their own wares, or waged their own goods and services at reasonable rates to their neighbors, friends, and others in the communities they lived in.  Small business is not dead; in fact, quite the opposite is true.  People who have been laid off have resorted to doing what it takes to make ends meet--selling goods on ebay, marketing trade to anyone who needs help, and even by doing a few favors for free.

We can no longer trust Wall Street or big banks to keep our money safe.  Our country is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the Congressional Republicans are placing the blame on a Democratic President who inherited an economic fiasco the day he took the oath of office. If this country is to bounce back, then the common man must take control of the economy and stand for himself.

Social Networking

Social networking can be beneficial; it can help you catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and stay in contact with those you love.

It also has its hazards.  You can reconnect with people you were close to as a child only to find that you are vastly different from them.  Accidents or miscommunications can be blown out of proportion.  And petty conflicts can become all-out wars.

And so is the case with this blogger.  He had a social networking account up until recently.  He viewed a page and clicked on the "Become a Fan" button.  No biggie.  Except that a notification of it showed up in the live feed of the social networking site--and he was totally unaware of it.  A negative comment was made about it by a recent reconnect, but with no details as to what the offense was.  This author looked his profile page and his "wall" up and down searching for something that was "inappropriate", but found nothing.  He was offended by the negative comment, but handled the situation  badly.  The situation grew, and not in a good way.  As a result of his unawareness and the miscommunication, he posted a public apology to rectify the situation.

Apparently, however, his apology wasn't good enough.  He received a nasty message from a third party about the situation.

There is no need to perpetuate pettiness; so this blogger decided to take what seemed to be reasonable action.  He deactivated his social networking account to avoid any further negativity.

He has some anger, but that will abate in time.  In the meantime, let the others enjoy all the benefits and consequences social networking can bring.  He now sees the wisdom in his baby sister's decision not to participate in the phenomena.

Silence...

...is golden.  Or so they say. However, philosophy and educated debate are healthy occupations, too.  Unlike idle gossip.  Responses are good, agree or disagree, as long as a healthy debate ensues and not malicious and petty finger-pointing and name-calling.  But a lack of response poses questions:  Is anyone listening?  Is anyone there to listen?  Or are my posts just that boring?  One can never tell....

Faux de pas

I saw someone's status on one of those networking sites that struck me as, well, a unique way of making a good point.  It said something to the effect of fake people being like knock-off handbags; by themselves, they may look good to the rest of the world.  Put them next to the genuine product, and they look like the very thing they are:  cheap, superficial, and seriously lacking in quality.   Only the  person didn't use quite so many words--it was written a little more bluntly.

And it set the wheels in motion (the wheels in my mind, of course--yes, I know.  It may seem empty, but it's really not!).

I could have summed up this person's description in one politically correct word:  superficial.  But the thinking didn't stop there.  I started thinking about who I am versus what a few closed-minded, ill-educated, homophobic idiots think of me.  Which, in turn, led me to what I despise about some of my more outrageous brethren--or in this case, "sistahs".  And labels.  As people, we thrive on labels.  If we can't label it, then we can't recognize it. 

For example, the sky is blue (most of the time, anyway).  I mean who ever heard of a green sky? Well, naturally, the sky can't be green because the grass is, so the sky must be blue.  A sexy woman is a fox, a babe, a bombshell. Sexy can also be sultry.  But a babe with a bad reputation is a vixen (or, for those with smaller vocabularies, simply a bitch).  A sexy man? A hottie or a hunk. Are women less creative with the labels, or is it just simpler to characterize all the sexy man-traits into two (or maybe three) categories?  Who knows?

But labels induce stereotyping, which exacerbates prejudice.  Why, even groups of prejudice can be prejudiced against others in their respective groups.

I wouldn't say I'm prejudiced, but it sometimes annoys me when other guys want to act like girls (The whole drag queen persona--or phenomena--does not apply here!).  I sometimes feel that, if they want to act like girls, they should just dispense with their physical manhood and be girls.  I will also readily admit that the thought is quite harsh and apologize to those whose personalities are on the feminine side of androgynous for even having the thought.  It is, however, a prime example of how society has enforced our ways of thinking and how we must conform to the unwritten bylaws of society to fit in.

Needless to say, these thoughts give way to the reason behind this post:  the way we choose words and phrases to soften the blow of negativity.  For example:

1. Flambouyant is just a fancy phrase for sissy. So is trendy, stylistic, and metrosexual.
2. Outspoken has become synonymous "I'm glad he or she has the balls to say what I do not, but I wish they would just shut up!".
3. In some circles, people pretend to believe that an activist is a champion of special, rather than equal, rights.
4. Opinionated is another way of saying "never shuts up".

But I have to agree with the idea behind the above mentioned social networking status:  Of all the labels in the world and all the people who do fit nicely into these types of categories, perhaps the leper among them are those who are superficial (or "fake").  Sometimes superficiality is a defense mechanism, put into place early in life to protect that which is most valuable to us--our heart.  But guys--and ladies:  when you keep it up, you end up hurting yourself more.  There are people out there who will love and accept you for who you are; if you are experiencing problems you can't handle alone, someone out there is willing to help you.  All you have to do is drop the charade, be yourself, and ask for the help you need.  Self-improvement is only a step away.

I Rant; Therefore, I Am

I'll never figure people out.  It's all about sexuality--for everyone, it seems, but me and a handful of others.  I am who I am.  No more; no less.  And everyone else cares more about my sexuality and my sex life than I do.

I don't care if you're gay, straight, bi, tri, or quad.  I don't care if you're single, married, swinging, or in a group relationship. I don't care how big or small you are; how loose or tight you are, or how many lovers you've had.  And you shouldn't worry about me.

And "Damn; you're hot!" is not an appropriate conversation starter.  Neither is, "A/S/L?" or any of those other idiosyncrasies made appealing by the IM culture.

Do the words "In a relationship" in someone's profile have no meaning anymore?  Or "Married"?  Hmmm; guess not.

Sorry to hear that.  I guess now I'll go and serve myself up a cup of "Whatever happened to good old-fashioned platonic friendships?" soup. (Oh, I forgot; platonic is for those who didn't make the "I'd do THAT!" list.

Puh-leaze.

Laptop Touchpads

You would think that, as many years as computer companies have been making laptop computers, they would learn:  on-board mice--or touchpads--should NOT be located directly in front of the keyboard.  I mean, haven't they learned yet that this is the most inconvenient spot they could have possibly designed them to be?

Attention Dell, HP, Apple, Acer and other computer companies:  it would be much more convenient if on-board touchpads were located to the RIGHT of the keyboard.  Granted, there are a few left-handed people who feel they need a left-handed mouse.  However, the rest of us have adapted and learned to use the traditional right-handed mouse efficiently and would be lost with a left-handed mouse designed for us southpaws.  Thanks to many, many not-so-thought out expletive outburst and a web search, I have figured out how to disable the wretched thing--only after downloading the touchpad driver on my PC manufacturer's website--as I use a USB mouse and the touchpad only serves to annoy the absolute crap out of me when it puts my mouse where it doesn't belong, highlights and deletes whole passages without my permission, or commits any number of technical atrocities against my person.  Were the touchpad located to the right of the keyboard, as is the location of a traditional mouse, it would have been much less of a nuisance to learn the semantics and enjoy the benefits of a built-in mouse.

However (as it is), I am forced to disable it and ignore its inconvenient existence altogether.

A word of advice:  Just because you put it there doesn't mean that's the best location for it.  Listen to your customers and heed their cry.  Move the touchpad to its rightful location or dispense with it altogether. You can even give PC customers the option to have their touchpad located to the LEFT of the keyboard if they feel a left-handed mouse is an absolute necessity.

P.S.:  I never learned to use left-handed scissors, either. But ambidextrous scissors don't move my cursor or delete my ideas without my permission.