Part the first, in which our hero confesses his undying affection for Hostess Twinkies snacks, head-banging (on counter-tops) and tendency to lie in topic titles…

A June ‘09 update.

I really haven’t said much lately, or anything, in fact, about more personal things going on in my life, as I had wanted this to be general, public, etc. It will still be public, as it will be posted, and there is little, if any, privacy on the internet. At least, that is a good rule of thumb for deciding if one should or should not say something. However, there is no link to this blog from Twitter, e.g., as once was. If someone felt a need to bookmark it before, or if I give it to someone, fine.

I am lucky in the sense that I have little to lose or gain in the way of wealth or reputation, but there is a certain sense of propriety I cannot wrest from my being. [holy shit, Dick, if you are going to write stuff like that, you'll have to start using a dictionary]

Being-wresting aside, I am going to, in this one post, fill in some important details about the last year. And, another time,  maybe I will get around to the year before, a highlight of which had me in the hospital for the only time since I was born.

To make sure I actually do finish this post in this sitting, I am going to be brief ー for me ー with the hope of filling in anything important enough to add later, after posting.

In February of ‘08, the company I worked for was sold to a liquidator to sell off the assets of the 200 or so locations of CompUSA  (based in Dallas, but for the last few years, owned, in large part, by a group headed by the Mexican, Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world.) I was not thrilled, as I had received a couple or so promotions in the last year, but the job was not what it once was, and no longer interested me.

For most of the 10 years I was there, I was in the Training Department, as an instructor.(Most of the retail outlets had Training Centers, but were still unknown to most people, in spite of a sign at the entrance about training.) The department consisted of a manager, coordinator, and about 6 instructors (though, for a while,  more, especially with part-timers, or fewer)( A former instructor and former coordinator are facebook friends, now. They weren’t there -CompUSA – at the end)

I happily taught all-day classes ( in other words, a “Word” class might run from 9 AM to 4PM for a particular level — Intro, Intermediate, Advanced. Some ran 2 days: Photoshop, InDesign, PageMaker, MS Project, e.g.) in Microsoft, Adobe and Corel applications, and a few odd others, at our 3-classroom center, and at clients’ sites.

I forgot — brief!!!

At the “end”, there was me. The how and why can come later, if I feel like it.

I was the instructor & NY licensed Business Teacher, the NY licensed Business School Director for the site, and “District” Training Coordinator for 2 states. (NY required that we follow business school regulations of the NY Education Dept., but most states were less regulation-crazy)

But!

But most of what we were doing around the country was testing. (it’s my party, I’ll start a sentence with “but” if I want to) (♫)

We tested for companies, for state licensing, and, mostly, for the TSA (Transportation Security Administration, div. of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security). The test-client list was quite long, though, and required the proctor to meet certain qualifications, and follow procedures correctly, including getting “things” ready & keeping them working, connected, etc. … but, once again, I digress.

Out of a job, I found myself spending more time listening to “new” music than I’d had time to check out before in the podcasts I had only sampled lightly before. Now I d/l all back files I could, and at one point had a thousand songs on the computer that I hadn’t heard. I went into this a bit in other posts.

I also noticed that in checking job listings, I was having a lot of trouble reading them, thinking the print was just getting smaller. I’d had trouble with the lights at work making it hard for me to read the monitors, but put off having my eyes checked, because it did not seem like a good time. I mostly ended up using the computer for everything I could, as I could adjust brightness and text size, and I found that white text on a black page was more acceptable when I could manage it. … Again, too much detail …

When I found I couldn’t really see well enough to drive at night, I made an appointment to have a check-up.

The Dr. told me I couldn’t drive legally. So I didn’t drive legally. (say what you mean ♫ )

Cataracts in both eyes required a new lens in each. This, thankfully, is a simple, correctable, and common problem. (for most people — with health care insurance or money — but that is another topic)

One eye was done in Dec. ‘08, the other in Jan. ‘09.

It was interesting being blind, but I don’t recommend it. Should put down my thoughts and observations from that period some time.

Anyway, a different Dr. at a different kind of check-up (blood-flow stuff) noticed a mole (near rt. eye) he didn’t like, and said he wanted to remove it. After three tries (March and May, ‘09), all cancerous (basal-cell) cells were removed. Still trying to be brief, but the Dr. asked in the operating room if I had any questions, so I asked about his playlist. (Joplin, Clapton, CCR …so that’s what I listened to while he cut)

Meanwhile, unemployment benefits ran out, and I was not at retirement age, but I could and did, opt to “retire” early, for less money, but money, nonetheless. When something comes up, I’ll go back to work.

Meanwhile, being able to see has shown me tasks I didn’t know needed doing, and with some time available now, I am pretty busy.

I didn’t mention that during the time period I’ve been talking about, I tried Facebook, mainly to learn about it, and Twitter. Oh yeah, I think I did something with Tumbler. And, of course, WordPress. I felt I had to blog something, anything. Once again, I figured I had better keep up on what people are doing and want to do, if I am to be in the workforce. And because I enjoy it. Someone on Twitter recommended Blip.fm, as I think we “met” through a musical interest, or it could have been politics, though we radically disagree there, so I don’t know. (aside: Twitter needs the capability to look up such info as who(m) you talked to, when, about what. The info is there in your old “tweets”) I did, and do, like interacting on Blip more than Twitter, which has its uses.

So this leaves me in search mode, but possibly happier than I have been in a while. Happily delusional, then. … At least considering a future, which I wasn’t particularly willing to do a couple of years ago.  Again, that’s another topic…

Vamping

Soon to post…

Living. Slowly.

Getting ready to post…

updating… written 9/6/08 …back to it soon

I have been spending some time today going through unheard songs. It seemed like a good time. No transportation today. Raining. The last factor was a very bad internet connection. It was time to do some watching, listening, and deleting. It is hard to drop the habit  of clearing things out to make room for more stuff and make more “working space” on the hd. inc eour first Mac had an 80 MB hd (it was the optional larger drive…it also had the optional extra RAM, all of 8 MB) and the Apple II had an add-on external 10 MB SCSI hd. Amazing to think of it now!

 

Anyway, some good habits were developed, like cleaning up, backing up, and restarting to clear memory before problems showed up.

 

I am writing in TextEdit, rather than online, because I want to write now, but can’t get online now. It seems silly not to write just because I don’t have a particular service available. One could use a pen, obviously, if it were important to set down ideas, and especially if one had the words, phrases — what one really had in mind — at the time. I need to keep telling myself that. 

 

I have taken to dragging a “clipping” copy of a blog post or a comment – or even a Tweet – before sending, or posting. The connection may have been lost while I was writing, and this way I don’t have to type it again or remember exactly what I said and how I said it. I just drag the clipping icon to the appropriate field.

 

I am now down to 190 tunes “unprocessed” — not yet listened to and either deleted  or allowed to remain for at least one more listen.

Again with the music

I said some time ago I would write more about my culling the music podcast tunes. Some good stuff and not so good stuff has been made available. I know of some I want to buy now… tracks, most likely.

At this point, I don’t know how many I deleted from KCRW, KEXP and MPR, but I did reduce a list of 288 Indie Pop (IndieFeed) songs to 160 palatable pieces. A bunch more (probably between 50 to 100) were gone before I decided to print a playlist. Keeping a song means I would like to hear the song a second time, at least. More will go, I’m sure, as more are added.

I am caught up, except that I am now going through the category Alternative Modern Rock form IndieFeed.. . . About 420 songs, going back to January 2005 podcasts. These are quick and easy to eliminate, as I am being ruthless. 

How is it possible to be ruthless ?(or, as I like to call it, efficient) Bear in mind that the object of the music is to please me. (As is everything else in the world  - or as I like to call it, “Good Luck!”.) 

This means that the things I think are overdone – an intro 30 seconds long that consists of two notes repeated, for example. Maybe it worked once in a particular song, but is not likely to work again. Sometimes an intro is just playing through the song’s chord progression many, many times before vocals or interesting instrumental line comes in. It is as if they are trying to remember what comes next, or are, in fact just then writing the song.

All is not lost yet. Maybe the interesting lyrics can then come in with an interesting melody and a good voice. Even one of the three might just keep it from being trashed. More voices in harmony, an interesting musical counterpoint, inspired rhythm or choice of instruments are all a plus. Anything beyond just a voice should ADD, should improve the piece. Improve is not a good word, but it will have to do. 

Perhaps the song is basically good, it needs cleaning up, or better mixing of the musical components.  If a group can’t make a song sound good in a studio, imagine how bad it might be on stage! Might, I said.

Frequently a ballad form is used in which a couple of verses are followed by a refrain/chorus/interlude, followed by verses, etc. I try to hear both parts before passing judgement. 

Again, it is to MY tastes.

At Long Last – - Labor (day)

To update a couple of previous posts:

The NYC ballet left town. So did the NY Giants. The ponies are around, of course, and the so-called #1 Quarter horse in the world is running tomorrow.

I will miss it, along with the Capital District Scottish Games. Kilts and bagpipes are just not that enjoyable without ale. Also the “cheers and beers” contest is not being held again this year. Pipe bands competed in entertaining with one rule: they had to wear a kilt somewhere on their bodies. Funny skits, dancing, rock songs on bagpipes, with other additional instruments allowed as well. And dancing girls. And beer and ale. Since I am not drinking, the fun is gone from it, no matter what anyone else says. Anybody can enjoy Quality Entertainment when sober. I just can’t think of where there is any, except sitting here typing. No travel needed.

Hung Out to Dry

Air drying clothes?

The national media seems to have discovered hanging clothes out to dry as a means of saving energy. Surely there is a list somewhere and they finally got to this most obvious of practices. A network giving its blessing could have a good effect, though. It was pointed out that some neighborhoods don’t allow outside drying. Could it become a badge of…of sanity? (Eat My Shorts, OPEC! My T-shirts, too.)

What I started thinking about, however, after seeing the network report, was: How can they drag this topic out for a week or so? It should be easy.
Bring in the “experts.”
Physical fitness: Can you get in better shape by carrying your clothes to and from the clothesline, reaching down, reaching up, etc. OR…
Can you hurt yourself by doing this? Should you check with your doctor first?
Should you have a playlist for your MP3 player especially for clothes hanging?
Are there any celebrity (can of worms, can of worms) playlists for this? Celebrities hanging clothes?!!!!!
What do they wear to hang clothes?
Any celebrity clothes hanging advocates?
Do any celebrities have wacky anecdotes about clothes hanging experiences?
(and what do their servants do while the celebrities hang clothes?)
What are the odds of bird droppings soiling clothes?
What percentage of clothes need to be bird-soiled, on average, before outside drying is a lost cause?

Makers of detergents with fresh scents, dryer softeners, and dryers will have plenty to say about the topic. Just let them talk.
How efficient are the different makes of dryers, etc. How much have they improved. Why then, did we stop air drying? And when, as a nation? We always do things “as a nation”, it seems.

If I buy the most efficient dryer in the same color as my hybrid car, aren’t I covered, conscience-wise?

Of course.

Ballet, Tennis, Football, and Horses

Things are overlapping around here before the major concert events, The NYC Ballet is still in town, (At SPAC, Saratoga performing Arts Center, in Saratoga Springs, NY) The NY Giants -who may be remembered from such things as the latest Super Bowl, which they won. The trophy will be at City Hall in Albany tomorrow — are in town for training camp. The much hoped-for scrimmage between the NYC Ballet and the Giants is not going to happen, I am sorry to say.

Tues. night Anna Kournikova was in town for a tennis match. No one noticed who won.

Wednesday, the Saratoga flat track racing season opened and will draw the top horses from around the country. The other track is for racing sulkies.

There were heavy rains for the last two days, unfortunately. Though an open-air theater, there is a lot of covered seating at SPAC , so the ballerinas and crowd should have been OK so far. Part of the fun of SPAC, though, is sitting on the lawn, picnicking during the concert. We used to sit in the orchestra pit for most of the rock concerts we attended, however.

Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be aware of what is happening when, because of the effect on traffic density for miles around, many of the thousands of cars non-local. Really not bad, considering.

Internet Music Podcasts

I spent some time today listening to a backlog of downloaded songs from podcasts such as Indiefeed- Indie pop music, KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune, KEXP Song of the Day, NPR: All Songs Considered. The last one, and a few others, include more than just a song — interviews, a concert or several songs. I was concentrating on those singles I might want to put on an iPod as songs. Already, I especially like a song each by

• The Watson Twins
• Adele
• Joan as Police Woman
• Lucy Michelle
• Flight of the Conchords
• Devotchka
• Fleet Foxes
• Leona Naess
• The Wood Brothers.

I still have a list of over 200 songs to listen to, deleting those I just can’t stand or will not want to hear a second time. Some may turn out to be good artists down the road, but I am thinking only of the current song. 

   In fact, it may even be difficult to find a second song by those I like. It happens a lot. 

 

Naturalized New Yorker

I was asked not long ago if I thought of myself as a New Yorker now. Having spent more than half my life in upstate NY (52.4%) – wait!!! I may have just used an ablative absolute and… and no one cares, Anyway, I think I responded with something like, “As much as anything else.” That was difficult enough an admission for a person born and raised in the South.

I can’t think of anything jarringly better or worse about the North or South. I was disturbed by “blue laws” in the South — but they are not limited to that area. I remember not long ago, after having lived here for 49.2% of my life up to that time in NY, I tried to do my grocery shopping on a Sunday morning. Beer was on the list. Not sold in The Empire State until after lunch. (They didn’t make it clear whether or not you had to eat lunch first, but it would make as much sense as anything else) It bothers me just thinking about it, so I need to change the subject. …though, for the record, I haven’t bought any beer for almost a year. My doctor said I had consumed over 100% of my share in 80% of my life. Doctors talk funny. 

Today is Juneteenth

Emancipation Day, as I recall. I don’t feel like arguing the history. I just want to relate one memory.

I was working in a men’s clothing store downtown, in Texarkana, in ‘63. One June 19, the town seemed rather empty. Black employees and potential customers alike were off celebrating the unofficial holiday. Large numbers of people would descend on the beach at Lake Texarkana (name later changed to Lake Wright Patman). The beach was generally whites only – not by law, but by practice. That day, it was pretty much blacks only – once again, no law. The next day, things would be back to what passed for normal in those days, at that place. 

The day had slipped by me for years until then. It had no impact on my everyday life. Though I was ignorant in this matter (possibly others? duh), I see now it was important to some people then. I wonder what else I missed, and am missing.

Can’t worry about it though. Will the media mention Juneteenth? I’ll watch for it.