Pretty Shiny Things

More geopolitics

2011-12-01T09:09:00.002-05:00

From this article on Secretary of State Clinton's historic visit to Burma/Myanmar:

"She said the U.S. was ready to further improve relations with the civilian government in the Southeast Asian nation — also known as Myanmar — but only if it stays on the path of democratization. In a series of modest first steps, she announced that Washington would allow Myanmar's participation in a U.S.-backed grouping of Mekong River countries; no longer block enhanced co-operation between the country and the International Monetary Fund; and support intensified UN health, microfinance and counternarcotics programs."

Is it just me, or does anybody else read this and think "Wow. We are bullies." Maybe it was our demand that they cut military ties with one of their allies that got me thinking that way. Not that the government she's dealing with is full of nice people. But that shouldn't have anything to do with our basic behavior - blocking cooperation with the IMF? NOT supporting UN health and microfinance programs? And we'll only let them into our Mekong Club if they do what we say? Bullies. At the very least - there are stronger words I could use.

Now, I don't think we're ALWAYS bullies. I do love my country, let's be clear. I just wish I could admire us much more often.

Dear American Police

2011-11-02T10:07:00.003-04:00

As a citizen of this great experiment in democracy, I have a message for you:

When you see thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people in the street - or even the determined few who so often bring real change - you see us armed with only our bodies and our voices. You the police - local, state, or federal - are the ones with the tear gas, rubber bullets, and other "less lethal weapons."

We have the right to remain silent. We have recently chosen to waive that right.

You have the right to walk away.

Sincerely,

One member of the Gentle Angry Masses

Occupy Pittsburgh

2011-10-28T22:11:00.002-04:00

Camping out tonight for the second weekend. Will start bringing my laptop down or borrowing so that I can post things on-site... soonish. Or I could probably hit up the social media tent at some point. We'll see.

It's a great big beautiful work in progress. Peaceful here so far. Way too much energy at the campsite - which is a good thing, but some of it's nervous tension because no one knows what's going to happen next. Pray for peace both internal and external. Or if you don't pray, watch some of our beautiful YouTube videos.

Okay. I need to sort out my Halloween costumes and get my cute butt back down there. Oh, and since I haven't mentioned it before, find me on Twitter. My handle there is not too difficult to figure out. Which reminds me, as a camp librarian, I need to get us a copy of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Peace, love, and the camping revolution.

Found this on Yahoo today

2011-08-31T08:14:00.000-04:00

Keeps the Trains Running on Time

Photo: Derek Teed

Name: Derek Teed
Job: Train conductor
Salary: Expecting $100,000 or more
Age: 25
Hometown: Aberdeen, SD
My salary is based on the jobs and terminals I get assigned, but if they pan out as expected, I've been told I should break $100,000 this year.

I just graduated from the University of Minnesota and served two deployments to Iraq as a medic. Yet, I somehow landed a job that requires just a GED or high school diploma and pays over $100,000 in some areas.

I'm used to a tough lifestyle and am good at working away from home and at all hours -- and that's why the railroad pays you so much. You could get called up any time to work. Like today, if I wanted to go to a bar and have a drink, I couldn't because if I was called and I showed up after having a drink, I would be fired on the spot.

I've done five shifts so far, and four of them were 12-hour shifts. As a conductor, you're responsible for the whole train -- the cars, communicating with the dispatcher and making sure everything is set up and in order. You're the one out there making sure you have the right-away on a track, so that two trains coming at each other don't hit.

So far, it's going alright. I'm really tired, but I make enough to support myself. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone's pretty well off, so a lot of my friends went for doctor degrees and whatnot. And I'm out here making more money than any of them.

Entirely random blog entry

2011-08-27T20:07:00.003-04:00

So today I looked up juliecharles.com. Or maybe that was yesterday. Anyway, today I looked it up on the wayback machine, and the first time they crawled it was March 2006, when it led to a blog which looked like this:

Dogs ate my car; rats ate my lunch

I haven't actually read any of it yet, but I can't wait.

Random links and random thoughts. Pretty fitting blog post, eh?

Wait, still need a random thought: I'm glad my sister's an ex-pat, even though Canadian banks are, apparently, confusing and stressful.

Meta-Hamster

2011-08-02T22:06:00.002-04:00

Taking allegorical form for 100% of its conscious existence, the Meta-Hamster, or Meta-Ham, is, according to those who have the ability to perceive it, a conceptual species of hamster that can only be perceived “as it ‘really’ is” if you have earned an MFA (or, increasingly, a PhD) in English, Creative Writing, or “Comp Lit.” Those without advanced degrees see only a nondescript hamster of normal height/weight, or what is known as the Common American Hamster. Those with advanced degrees in literature-related subjects, however, see—in addition to the Common American Hamster (though in recent years some have claimed to be unable to see the Common American Hamster but only the message it conveys)—“the fall of Western Civilization,” “the deterioration of a marriage,” “the loss of a child via abortion,” “[something about the bourgeoisie],” or, sometimes, “technology’s crippling effect on the youth of [the word ‘today,’ a country, or a generation],” depending on their context/goal in life at the moment of viewing. Many have argued that the Meta-Hamster is “not really meta” or “not at all meta” in the way that most things referred to as “ironic” are “not really ironic,” but usually simply “coincidental” or even “normal, not even coincidental,” but these arguments have only served to strengthen the Meta-Hamster’s brand, because to argue against its name seems, for the majority of people involved in the perpetuation of the Meta-Hamster as a legitimate species (and however ironic/sarcastic they are being in their claims of this), to only “prove” that the Meta-Hamster is meta, perhaps more meta than anyone yet realizes, even, as most people who see it have at most only one doctorate degree and two or three graduate degrees.

- from “North American Hamsters,” a forthcoming iPhone app by Tao Lin

Tao Lin and I are tight - and by that I mean we're friends on Goodreads.com. I don't remember how I stumbled across this paragraph, but it cracks me up.

Police Brutality in Pittsburgh

2011-07-31T23:23:00.003-04:00

My friend Eva wrote this about her experience at Schenley Plaza on Friday night at the end of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, 2009:

I went to Schenley plaza at 10pm on Friday out of curiosity. There were rumors of a hip hop caucus concert (canceled) and of a peaceful gathering for those who opposed unnecessary police brutality of innocent people the night before. I promised my parents I would leave immediately if it became riotous in any way. When I arrived, I was shocked to see the state of things—they were peaceful. There were maybe a few hundred people consisting of students, reporters, and even some families. The inhabitants of the park were hanging out peacefully playing duck duck goose, and talking. I was ecstatic at the idea that so many people could come together and make a statement by being peaceful. Then, one guy with a megaphone came around and I thought, " Oh no, this is going to be trouble." But his message was the most beautiful I have ever heard: He was saying that this is not a protest, but a gathering to attest to the fact that we have first amendment rights to gather and speak freely, that we do not condone violence by anarchists OR by the police. He asked gathered citizens not to fight, not to protest, and not to fight back if the police unlawfully attacked them. He asked police to consider the fact that we are not enemies, that we are both human beings, and that we both want peace. He asked them to merely consider their actions when they use violence on innocents in the pursuit of "peace and safety for the people”, when they are really acting on the orders, and for, the elite. (His name is Luke Rudkowski from we are change, and I believe that he is still in jail.) I thought things were going great. It was peaceful, and I believed that his words were truly resonating with the Police officers. The police started to move, and a few of us cheered because we thought that the police had received our message, and had decided that their presence was not needed. We were wrong. Nobody provoked it, nobody threatened any violence, and the worst confrontation I heard was a group of students chanting "We, the people, have the right to assemble." Apparently we don't because when I turned around, I saw that we were encircled, surrounded on all sides of the park by the cops. Some had unmuzzled dogs, snapping at us, looking ready to kill. Others had their hands on their guns, looking ready to shoot. My friend said, "What happened? What is going on?" At this point, there was an air of panic within the park. Of course I was scared, but there was also a sense of calm within me, because I foolishly believed that they would not attack if nothing violent occurred. The first thing I heard was the LRAD system, a piercing noise that hurt my ears (Apparently this is the first case of its use in the US). People began to move, and the police made a slight opening. Following the high pitched noise was an automated police message: I declare this an unlawful assembly. You must disperse immediately. It does not matter what your purpose is. If you do not disperse immediately you will be subject to arrest or other police action. Immediately after this message was played, two smoke bombs went off on both sides of the park-- and we ran. People were yelling "WALK!" And as my friend dragged me running I said, "We should just walk, we are not doing anything wrong, we are following orders. They can't do anything." Let’s just say I am glad that I ran. My friends and I stopped when we were about a block behind the line of dispersing people on Forbes avenue, and thus a safe distance from the police line moving in from bigelow. I watched those who did not disperse quick enough (they didn’t run for their lives) be subject to further gas bombs, rubber bullets, police beating, and a few arrests. The arrests were seemingly random: there was no pattern, and no apparent reasoning. I thought I was safe until I turned around and saw that there was a police line on the other side of us, barricading us in. At this point, I ran up Craig Street and was walking on the sidewalks with no more than ten people. Then an unmarked van drove by, and some police officers dressed in full riot gear jumped out. I was told to move, had a gun pointed at me, and was subject to mace, although it wasn't directly in my face. As I ran up, somebody who I was next to was pushed to the ground and beaten by a policeman. I ran into a line of cops who were yelling MOVE quite rudely and mixed with profanity so I said, ”I just want to go peacefully home, where do I go?" They pointed me back to where I came from, where now there was another line of police barricading us in. We were trapped. I am glad my friends are more lucid in times of distress, because they noticed that there was an alleyway, a golden glimmer of hope. We ran down the alleyway and finally escaped, each one of furious, terrified, and not able to process what had just happened. The next twenty minutes are a blur to me: my mind raced in every direction as I tried to recontemplate everything I had believed in my life up to this point. Tears were involved. I did not feel safe from the police intimidation and brutality until we walked all the way to Shadyside. At this point I regressed to middle school and called my Dad, a Pitt professor, to pick my friends and I up to give us a ride home. I slept at my family's home that night, because every block that leads to my apartment in south Oakland was barricaded off by police, and I wasn't about to go walk into that situation again. I am lucky to have family in Pittsburgh. I am lucky to not have been arrested. I am lucky to not have lasting physical damage. I did have a splitting headache the next day, but who really knows the cause. It could have been the LRAD, it could have been the excessive gas, or it just could have been the fact that I couldn’t sleep or eat properly for the next 24 hours because my mind was not able to process the events. This experience damaged me. Fortunately, not the physical damage that some of my peers had to endure (How can you possibly justified sending a student to the intensive care unit for 17 hours who was unarmed, defenseless, and not posing any threat?) But I underwent severe mental trauma. This experience broke down some fundamental truths I have believed (or tried to) my whole life. I thought the police were there to protect us. I thought that here in the United States we had civil rights, which we fought so hard to obtain. In the past when I heard of police violence, I always tried as hard as I could to believe the reasoning of the police, to believe what they did was justified to some extent. They were just trying to keep the peace. When I heard that people were not able to exercise their civil liberties, I tried my hardest to believe that it was necessary, that these people were posing a real threat to society. But now I realize that those excuses are just that: excuses. Friday night at Schenley Plaza, a few hundred people gathered peacefully. None had weapons, none were violent, none were provoking any violence, none hinted harm to any person or establishment, none were even protesting! Friday night at Schenley Plaza, over a thousand police officers gathered violently. They had terrifying and dehumanizing weapons, they were unbelievably and unnecessarily violent, they provoked and spoke derogatorily to many citizens, and they beat down and physically damaged defenseless law abiding people. Now who is facing charges? The people who were cruelly attacked for no apparent reason? It is shocking to me that such a large scale blatant attack on our civil rights and constitution can be ignored. We deserve answers. We deserve justice. Something must be done.

-------------------

For a news article about the incident, and other incidents and arrests during the G20 in 2009, see this article. Keep in mind that Friday night, the G20 was over, the world leaders that the police were supposed to protect had all left, and Pittsburgh was left with a lot of frustrated young people and a huge buildup of police force that had no real purpose anymore. The police presence in Pittsburgh that week was unreal. Schenley Plaza, where the worst repression took place, is basically the University of Pittsburgh's front yard. It's a public park, and should be fine as a place for citizens to peacefully assemble. I wasn't there that Friday, but every description I've heard of what happen lines up with what Eva said - the police surrounded a group of people, then demanded that they disperse... which was impossible, as they were surrounded. Then the police said that since they hadn't dispersed - and remember, they COULD NOT disperse - it was open season for arresting, chasing, and beating people. So fucked up. The only good thing that police did that night was that the university police prevented other police officers from chasing students into the dorms. So, good job university police for standing up to injustice and protecting your students.

Sorry for the long block of text, but it's her writing and I wouldn't want to edit it by adding paragraphs where she might not have intended them. I feel it's powerful as is, and hope that it wakes a few people up to the reality we live in. Who knows? Maybe a law enforcement person will see it and realize that "just following orders" is no excuse.

Still here

2011-06-06T17:03:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile, eh blogfriends?

Having no Internet at home seems to be seriously cramping my updating style. Nevertheless, I am happy, healthy, employed, and part of a great group of beautiful people here in Pittsburgh. Check out the new badge-thingy on the side of the page! It's my account over at Peaceburgh, a social networking site.

More stuff soon, I promise.

Statement from J-Street

2010-08-21T10:01:00.003-04:00

Just got this in an email from a mailing list I'm on:

Julie --

Below please find J Street's statement on the recently announced direct talks between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom,

- Hadar

Hadar Susskind
V.P., Policy and Strategy
J Street
August 20, 2010

J Street Statement on Direct Talks
August 20, 2010

J Street welcomes today's announcement of direct talks between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the United States closely shepherding the process. We applaud President Obama's leadership and the work of Secretary Clinton and Senator Mitchell in bringing the parties to the table.

But bringing the parties together is only the starting line on a difficult road that will demand real political leadership and courage from the parties and from the United States and the international community. President Obama has said before that talks and process are not the goal - the goal is two states living side-by-side in peace and security, with defined borders and an end to the conflict. We urge President Obama and his team to continue to actively lead the way toward that destination.

J Street is pleased by the announcement of a one year timeline for talks and by the assurances given by U.S. officials that the United States will be actively engaged in the process, helping the parties close gaps and keep moving forward.

The United States and the broader international community - including the Quartet and the Arab League - will have to help the parties to overcome the many obstacles and challenges they will face. We hope that this will include taking an approach that is regional and comprehensive in nature, placing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a regional framework that attempts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole.

The window of opportunity for progress is brief and closing. This could well be the last opportunity to save the two-state solution. We believe that Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic home, not to mention vital American interests in the region, hang in the balance.
We urge the United States, Israel, the Palestinians, and the greater Arab world to approach these negotiations with a seriousness of purpose suited to the urgency of the moment. The stakes are high, and the status quo unsustainable.

----------J Street is the political home of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.
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1. I like this statement a lot. My favorite part is:

The United States and the broader international community - including the Quartet and the Arab League - will have to help the parties to overcome the many obstacles and challenges they will face. We hope that this will include taking an approach that is regional and comprehensive in nature, placing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a regional framework that attempts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole.

2. I'm off to continue enjoying my Grand Tour of America. There will be napping in the car. Have a nice day!

Just FYI

2010-08-21T05:58:00.004-04:00

I'm in California this weekend, to greet friends from China, and then we're going to New York to take my "Chinese little brother" to his boarding school (upstate, for the New Yorkers in the house; WAY upstate, for you New Yorkers who believe the world ends at the fringes of New York City). Right now we're in LA, at a very nice hotel (Hilton ain't famous for nothin', y'all) in some sort of Chinatown. Tomorrow it's road trip time: up the 101 to Monterey Bay, stopping in Carmel, and then up to San Fran, to hit up downtown and do a bit of sightseeing. Tom's Dad is in-country for 10 days, but my extremely dear friend Zhongyuan (aka Sally) and I will be traveling together for about a month. We'll see how it goes and where we end up.

There will probably be more posts when we get to my parents' place next week, but I'm not going to make any promises.

Ideally, supercool times will be had by all and we won't run into any huge transportation snafus. Keep your fingers crossed, send us happy thoughts, pray for us, whatever you like.

Oh, and since I'm hitting up Googlism.com (random reasons, long story, don't ask): here's a few of my favorite portions of the current "Julie" page:

julie is taking your name in vain over on general

julie is???

julie is hesitant to set herself up for further heartbreak
julie is known for her warm
julie is originally from quebec
julie is currently the apegga representative on the faculty of science at the university of calgary
julie is no more
julie is irate at the pregnancy
julie is forced to give it up
julie is playing next
julie is identified

julie is far from being some crass yank

julie is an innovator who visualizes how software will actually function in the real world

Two unrelated things

2010-05-27T14:15:00.003-04:00

First, if anyone wants to thank a UN Peacekeeper: click here and the Better World Campaign will hook you up. In related news, Bangladesh is sending a mostly-female UN police troop to Haiti. Not exactly a cheery article, but you can read more about the situation here.

This page lists a few online courses in computer graphics programming. Could be useful as a refresher. And wouldn't my life be easier if I had Internet access at home? ... also sillier, in all likelihood, as I cannot resist the Flash games.

UN Peacekeeping website

2010-03-25T14:58:00.002-04:00

This thing is awesome. It's a website developed by the good folks at the Better World Campaign. Front page is a quick overview of UN peacekeeping missions around the world, clickable by continent.

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T15:33:00.003-05:00

I went out to buy some white-out, and ended up watching a good bit of the Veteran's Day parade. As a near-pacifist, I'm opposed to war in almost all cases, so flag-waving and cheering the military make me a bit uncomfortable. However, today didn't feel like that. I respect the people who serve, and who served in the past - it's hardly their fault when the leadership of our country makes horrible decisions and sends them into places where I feel we shouldn't be. I was a bit startled by the huge booming sounds that one of the parade units was setting off. Hello, flashbacks? Seems like an odd thing to have in a Veteran's Day parade. Also, the young reservist recruits - dressed ominously in black - had me nearly in tears. Just FYI. Also also, marching bands and baton twirlers are fun, and wear funny hats.

So, bought some Pittsburghy doodads from a street vendor, clapped a lot, said "Thank you!" to some soldiers, and chatted with a few random people about politics and the weather. Sunshine makes any parade better, even when, because of tall downtown buildings, it's only available in a few patches.

Ooh, and I also ran into a gaggle of toddlers, whose adult leader gave me contact info for Brightside Academy, their school. So, another opportunity for teaching Chinese to short people, which I may pursue if I decide to stick around The 'Burgh for a bit longer... as I am sorely tempted to do. New part-time job starts this week, at this place, while the old part-time job, at this place, continues. And I do have a twice-a-week Chinese lesson with a very small girl, if that counts as a third part-time job. Hopefully the new job will not be crazy amounts of hours, as that would probably result in me getting the flu or something. I am not the strongest, healthiest girl on the block. Curse you, anemia!

How did I start out this post? Veteran's Day. Happy (belated) Veteran's Day to all our troops and veterans. Take care of yourselves. It's rough out there, even in the sunshine.

Summer draws to a close

2009-09-05T16:12:00.004-04:00

It's been a very quiet summer for me - a little working, a lot of Flash game-playing, many many books, and librariness. And I turned 30, which went over fairly easily, really. I got a spectacular free meal out of it from a couple of chef friends of mine. Scallops, steak, and creole shrimp helped the major aging milestone go down easier.

My cats and I moved to Uptown in April, and so far none of us have been mugged, unless you count the fights I'm pretty sure my cats have had with the neighborhood strays. A studio apartment is really too small to keep my two cats cooped up in permanently - fortunately I have a roof and fire escape they can hang out on. I'm actually still trying to figure out if they can get out to the street on their own... not that anyone cares. Enough about my cats.

The current plan is to polish up my resume and apply for an entry-level Technical Director position at DreamWorks Animation. My internship there during summer 2007 was supremely fantastic, and although I'm not crazy about LA, the DWA campus there is, in my opinion, just about a perfect environment for creative people to do good work in. And if, for whatever reason, DreamWorks and Blue Sky Studios and their ilk won't have me, China's still hiring English teachers. I figure 6 months or so of teaching English again should give me enough time to make connections and shoot for a programming job over there - hopefully graphics programming, although their feature animation industry isn't nearly as well developed as ours. And with the current salaries for foreign teachers, I could actually pay my student loans down reasonably well just as an English teacher, and even more so as a programmer. At least that's the word on the street.

So there you have it: an update on my world.

Interesting little game: MyBrute

2009-04-25T01:35:00.004-04:00

I wasn't too enthralled with this the first time I checked it out, but with a long list of classmates participating, whom I could fight against, it became more interesting.

Create your Brute and fight creekpilgrim, if you dare. Fear my cute pink hair! Fear it!

It's an odd little game in that you don't really do anything except choose whom to fight - the things that happen during a fight are all automatic and don't require any actions or choices on your part. And you get experience from other people fighting your brute when you're not around, and possibly some kind of experience from the experience of your pupils - that part I'm not too clear on as yet.

There are one or two other games I know of that basically play themselves - you just let them run and they level up over time. Sadly, I cannot remember their names....

Update: Creekpilgrim is good with a knife. Just killed two brutes, although the first one stole my weapon and killed me with it. Talk about adding injury to insult.

Damn you, Turbine

2009-03-21T15:51:00.004-04:00

It figures that they come out with Leaves of Lorien just as I lose access to my shiny ETC machine.

For those of you unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings Online, or those of you who would like to see pretty screenshots from my favorite part of The Lord of the Rings, you can find some linked from this page. (Update: sadly, they've changed the website and I can't find the pretty screenshots. Link is to a map with overhead views, so not nearly as lovely to look at. Unless you really like looking at the tops of trees.)

Grad school hates me, again

2009-03-21T15:30:00.003-04:00

On the other hand, this is my favorite grad school advisor EVAR. When life hands you a Leave of Absence, if you're patient enough, you might receive a Spanish computer graphics guy to make up for the sour taste in your mouth.

Of course, when grad school subsequently hands you a Letter of Dismissal... I'm not sure what happens after that, although I'm doing okay with the patience bit (at the moment). Thank the good Lord for library Internet access. And friends. And mothers.

Update: Carnegie Mellon University apparently cannot be bothered to give me a final answer as to what happens after one receives a letter of dismissal and one appeals the aforesaid letter. It's been a year, people. What? You can't pick up a phone and call me back after I call you 2 times in one week? Is your arm broken? At this point, you've passed over from accidental ineptness and you're pretty deep in Extreme Rudeness Territory. The Entertainment Technology Center, naturally, cannot pay me enough money to return and finish my master's degree, at this point. The rest of Carnegie Mellon, including the graphics lab and the entire school of computer science, has deeply disappointed me and I hope they realize their error before I write them off for good and go seriously looking for another institute of higher learning to which I can transfer two and a half years' worth of grad school credits.

Edited Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Link to read after sleeping

2009-02-27T04:07:00.002-05:00

This is the end of my Internet wanderings for tonight. I swear it!

A friend of a friend recommends this fabulous post by Rob Donoghue. I was intrigued enough to read the one about mooks; looking forward to finishing this up tomorrow. After the voxelizing has been conquered. Or at least the collision detection that is holding up the voxelizing.

3 am

2009-02-27T03:14:00.005-05:00

YouTube served me up a lovely new voice tonight, and then it suggested this, a mashup of said voice, Katie Melua, and... well... watch it. I believe it's a film called Threads, but I can't be bothered to check because Matchbox 20 is singing me a lullaby and I don't feel like interrupting. Say what you will about the pop band, and then take a look at his eyes in the last few seconds of the song. That's quality humanness.

If I'm going to be awake at 3am, I might as well be in this sort of mood. Connections, insights, a sudden view into the territory around this momentary rut my life is in. And I don't mean rut in a bad way. At least not entirely. Not that my performance this semester has been perfect, but the semester itself has been... reasonable. I'm currently walking a waiting-for-student-loans tightwire, with bad consequences for having absolutely no cash waiting just a few steps ahead. And I need to somehow kick my independent study into gear. But these are not things that are going to kill me, and I have faith that people are going to be kind to me this time around.

The work is good. The teammates are cool - tonight's afterhours movie selections were Shinobi and Shaun of the Dead, so you know the bonding's topnotch. Which, unfortunately, meant that I missed the last bus home and here I am. Fortunately for you, if you're a long-lost friend wondering what's up with Julie these days. And most of my friends are at least a bit off the radar, so.

I'm not sure whether I wish I didn't need the kindness. It would be great to do everything right and never need help, at least in theory. But maybe it would be even lonelier.

Working for The Man

2009-01-31T16:27:00.002-05:00

Here's another one Juleigh sent out, this time featuring advice about how to restructure instead of downsize, should you be a video game company executive feeling the pinch of the current financial climate.

While I'm not a video game executive, nor do I plan to be one anytime soon, I really enjoyed the article. Thinking back to my time in financial software (hello Ontario Systems), the advice here really makes sense. I don't think I was ever there during painful layoff sessions, but I do pay attention, read pretty widely, and hear stories from people who've worked at various companies; also, Ontario was unusually open about the financial status of the company, at least internally, so I got me some finance and accounting education whether I needed it or not.

I can picture how the suggestions that Mr. Mencher gives might work better than the standard "We're trimming 7% of our workforce in order to meet (or approach) our yearly earnings projection." And given the state of the world economy, who couldn't use advice about better ways to keep a business viable? Really, I think it boils down to: if you let your numbers men or women run the show, you're going to piss off your employees, or at least frighten them into polishing their resume when they should be working harder to fill in for all those people you just fired. Wouldn't it be better to take a look around and find some ways to tighten the collective belt before you resort to decreasing your labor force? Perhaps you don't need that corporate jet after all, or your financial planners and industry forecasters should give up their yearly bonuses for dropping the ball on this one.

Good links for job hunters

2009-01-28T12:14:00.002-05:00

The ever-fantastic Ms. Juleigh DeCarlo just sent these out to us, and I want to dig into them (and possibly post about the first one) when I get a bit of breathing room. The sprint to Quarter Presentations is on and things are a bit hectic around the offices. Cool that we have "offices;" a suite of rooms is just what one needs when one is doing serious development.

Six Words that Make Your Resume Suck

The AWN Career Connections

The Five Worst Mistakes You Can Make on a Resume

Evidently, AWN.com is a good resource for entertainment technologists. Who knew?

Beginning again

2009-01-27T21:42:00.002-05:00

New year, new semester, new chance to have a fulfilling and useful semester at the ETC. And so far, everything is fab-o, a-ok, could not be better if I had custom ordered it. I mean, having my old housemates back would be perfection, but since they've all abandoned me for the West Coast (except for Zikun! who is in Pittsburgh somewhere), I'll take what I can get.

My main semester project: Crayon 3D which you can investigate here and here. Someday we will have a shinier website. With possible mailing list! Our dreams and future feature lists are bigger than one semester can contain.

Kongregate

2008-11-29T09:21:00.003-05:00

No, you didn't just catch me out in a typo. Having discovered the Referrals page on one of my favorite casual game sites, I am here to try it out.

It's fun to combine things. So: my previous post about freelance online writing meets my love of all things piratical meets my addiction to casual games: click here and earn me some points, friends. It's fun, I promise. And if you don't find it fun, please tell me why. I'd genuinely like to know.

Taking the plunge

2008-11-29T08:03:00.002-05:00

It might end up being only a small plunge - I have so far invested less than $20 in this venture, plus a few hours doing research on how to make money online without going into anything resembling marketing or "business." I hate business. My friend Carrie and I had a running joke in undergrad that business majors don't have souls. Since the only business major I can think of that I'm particularly close to is thinking about ditching her religion as a bunch of man-made power-grabbing foolishness, I have yet to find a reason to change our theory.

But I digress. Free Lance Home Writers is my new business partner, and hopefully between me putting in some serious time on this and it actually being a decent system, I will make enough to pay off these last couple months of student loan payments that are breathing down my neck. Last only because I will shortly be fighting my way through whatever paperwork is necessary to make the banks leave me alone until I actually graduate at the end of next semester. Also, boots. I need boots. No, really. This is not girl-talk, or retail therapy. My old ones fell apart in Japan, and I don't intend to trudge to the bus stop through snow drifts wearing sneakers.

You see how I have difficulty focusing on finding gainful employment? I think it boils down to real fear that I won't find anything and I'll end up spending the rest of my natural life hiding from big mean banks. I didn't realize going into this whole deal that grad school would be such a gamble. For the past six months, I've felt as though I were teetering on the brink of either pushing through and getting that huge piece of paper from CMU or waving goodbye to $60,000 plus interest and making the best of my life as it stands.

If you're looking for some sort of pretty shiny summary of what this post is about, sorry. Fresh out today.

Short-term Employment

2008-10-20T04:50:00.003-04:00

I worked for a subgroup of Progressive Future, called Work for Progress. We registered voters right up until the Pennsylvania deadline, mainly by walking around public areas with high foot traffic and asking everyone we saw whether they were registered to vote at their current address. My second day on the job, they told me that they had just gotten a grant (I forget from whom), so we were now the Community Voters Project and were only going to approach African Americans. So. Interesting.

I could write lots and lots about my experiences registering voters in various Pittsburgh-area neighborhoods, and tell lots of funny stories, but I'm too tired. Sadly for me, although good news for progressives, Obama made it up high enough in the polls for the organization to fold up its Pittsburgh shop and move our directors to states where the race was tighter.

I was pretty much offered a job as a career staff member if I was willing to relocate until November 4th, but didn't end up pursuing that option. Too much uncertainty, and I hate moving, even if it would only be for 6 weeks. Also, campaign workers mostly do it for the love, not the money, unless you're a professional political hack way up the food chain. I'm not sure I could actually have covered living expenses on the salary they offered, not to mention my ridiculous hope of saving up something to help pay for tuition next semester.

So now it's back to the job hunt. I am currently waiting for an email from Etcetera Edutainment about whether they do, in fact, need C++ programmers for the short term. Contract work is tricky - I admire people who can live like that, but I don't think it's the lifestyle for me.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2008-09-19T22:06:00.002-04:00

I had a job interview this morning (more on that later), so I couldn't wear my traditional Full Pirate Regalia. I settled for wearing my much-beloved "In touch with my Inner Pirate" t-shirt under a respectable shirt. And now I am off to Cappy's, to hopefully find my friend with the eyepatch (no joke kids, no joke) and do a couple of shots with the fine folks at Cappyoke. And maybe I'll sing a Tracy Chapman song. She's been in my head lately.

ONE Campus Challenge

2008-09-17T21:54:00.004-04:00

I'm considering stepping up as a campus leader for this. I'm not sure I should, as I don't want to over-commit and then do a lousy job. And since I'm not sure what kind of work schedule I'll have this semester, I'm really not sure about the time commitment.

On the other hand, it's something I feel passionate about, and even a small presence on campus would be better than nothing. Plus, it would be a reason to be on main campus on a regular basis, and that would be no bad thing.

A link, for the curious.

UPDATE: I now have a job, and the hours are flexible, which means more time for ONE. I actually tried to sign up as campus leader tonight, but there's something wrong with their webform - it kept telling me a field was missing, which was patently untrue. Sigh. I'll have to try again next week.

Settling in

2008-06-16T17:32:00.003-04:00

I now have a place to live, and employment. Both are big improvements over last week. I am living with a woman my grandmother's age, who is renting me a big bedroom on the third floor of her house. I've always wanted to try one of those long rooms shaped almost like a triangle by the slope of the roof on both sides. Now's my chance. It feels cozy, like my own little nest where my cats and I can curl up and do our own thinking. Plus, it's in a part of Pittsburgh I haven't explored before - even the bus ride into town is eye-opening.

I meet tomorrow with my new boss. I'll be teaching high-school students about entertainment technology for six weeks. I'm kinda fuzzy on the details at present, but excited to be teaching again, and looking forward to the challenge.

Pittsburgh is lovely. Blue skies and green trees are heavenly. I have landed on my feet and look forward to what lies ahead down the path.

Japanese Fashion: A Retrospective

2008-06-10T23:24:00.006-04:00

So, Japan is a Mecca of sorts for those interested in current fashion trends. While I am not a fashion expert by any stretch of the imagination, I do like to people-watch. Here are some tidbits of Japanese fashion that I observed in Osaka. Keep in mind, I imagine that some of these are changing now that the weather is heating up.

Top-of-head bun: Japanese women will sometimes put their hair up in a bun, but not toward the back of the head as we would do in the west. They put that sucker in the exact center of the top of their head. It looks odd.

Crazy messy hair: Japanese young women who are obviously dressed up to go out and look gorgeous will apparently attack their hair with forks and other tangle-producing objects. I didn't see this too often, but it really looked as though they had spent an hour looking for lost objects under their couch, or had recently had birds nesting in their hair. These ladies almost always had hair of that peculiar orange color that results when people with naturally black hair attempt to change their hair color.

Black socks: These were ubiquitous. The most common length is to barely above the knee, although 4 or 5 inches above the knee is also common. The socks are skin-tight and made of some synthetic substance. They can be worn with anything, although something with an extremely short hemline is most common, leaving a band of bare skin between the socks and the shorts, dress, or skirt.

Elaborate stockings: The hose/stockings available in this country now look positively boring to me. Fishnets, flower patterns, bright solid colors, accents at the ankles, stripes, you name it. We need to get on this fashion trend immediately - they are so fun!

Tiny lace footie socks: These are perfect for wearing with high heels, although it was hard at first for me to get used to seeing a patterned sock in combination with an elaborate shoe. These socks are about the same shape as a ballet slipper, and frequently have ruffles, ribbons, or extra lace around the rim.

Baggy dresses and long or baggy shirts: While Japanese women's clothing is beautiful and sexy, it tends toward the cute and feminine, and often is very loose through the torso. They like floaty, ruffly sort of shapes, rather than tight-fitting silhouettes. I often wondered if this is because the average Asian woman isn't terribly well-endowed up top, and so they don't wear clothing that shows off that part of the body. You do see low-cut shirts and tight tops or dresses occasionally, but not that often. They like things that are long and loose through the waist and then tight again at the hips, or just floaty and loose all the way down. And again with the short hemlines. Really amazingly short hemlines, whether they're wearing shorts, dresses, or skirts.

Crazy stockings with shorts: This is another fashion trend that took some getting used to. The shorts were usually incredibly short, and then combined with boldly patterned stockings. And high heels, of course. It looked awfully cold in the winter, but they soldiered bravely on.

Men's clothing: A continual sea of suits. Black, grey, pin-striped, lots of subtle variety, but still. A huge percentage of Japanese men wear suits almost every day. For casual wear, plaid shirts worn over a t-shirt are surprisingly popular. Stylishly ripped jeans are also trendy.

Enormous hair: I already mentioned the intensely tangled look, but even outside that, women like big elaborate hair styles. These are usually young women who look as though they spent 3 hours on their appearance before setting foot out the door. Men also like large hair - I remember staring at one guy on the train, trying to figure out how the people in his company could take him seriously when his hair had enough product in it that it stuck out at least 3 inches in every direction. They like it a bit long on the neck, which I am all in favor of. Some guys have it a few inches below the shoulder - and usually some shade or gradient of orange if it's that long.

Kimonos: These are not overly common, but I probably saw one every few days, and some days saw 3 or 4 in one day. They obviously take a great deal of effort and attention to detail to wear; the end result is unfailingly lovely. I saw a few male kimonos as well, but only a few.

Uniforms: The Japanese love uniforms. Some identify the wearer's profession, like the huge baggy pants that construction workers wear, or the jumpsuits and gloves that sanitation workers wear. Schoolchildren all have their particular uniforms. My favorites are the ones that resemble traditional Japanese clothing - usually restaurant workers wear these.

In general, the Japanese dress much more formally than we do here in the States. It was interesting to get in the habit of carefully considering my clothing, hair, and make-up before venturing out in public. If you're traveling to Japan, consider choosing something other than jeans and t-shirts: you'll feel like a schlub.

Time is running short

2008-05-07T06:45:00.004-04:00

Today is the 7th, which gives me just over a week left in Japan. Hard to believe I will really be boarding a plane and leaving so soon. I have a short list of things I still want to see or buy, but even if I had another month here, it wouldn't feel like enough time. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

Despite all the ups and downs, I have no regrets. I'm not really one of those people who thinks that every little happening in life is orchestrated by a divine hand, but I do honestly feel that everything about my trip to Japan has worked out for the best. Of course, it remains to be seen whether I can find a job in the near future, but I still have hope in that department. Other than that, my unexpected departure from academic life has allowed me to experience more of Japan than I ever would have had I remained chained to a desk for 14 hours a day. I have made one very, very good friend, met some other great people, and am in serious danger of falling in love with one adorable Indonesian. My Japanese is still pretty shaky, but hopefully I have learned enough that I will keep plugging away once I return to the Land of English.

And I definitely hope to come back. Kyoto alone is enough to draw me back here... and hopefully a few good friends will still be in the country and eager to go out for karaoke and dancing. And food! Mmmm, sashimi.

Adjustment

2008-04-23T03:06:00.005-04:00

I'm playing around with font colors. I think the link color is too light now, but before it wasn't standing out enough, so maybe this is an improvement.

Also, I have moved from the southern edge of Osaka to the northern edge of Osaka. I think. I'm not sure subway maps really give an accurate representation of the city. I like it up here. Went for a walk really early this morning and encountered the Japanese version of old people doing morning exercises. Tell you what, I'll expound, and compare to the Chinese version. If you're bored by cultural minutiae, feel free to move on. It won't hurt my feelings.

When I lived in China, I wanted to study tai chi, so a friend took me to a park early one morning and we asked around until we found a good teacher. I can't speak for every city in China, but in Maoming the parks are full of small groups of elderly people doing various forms of morning exercises: maybe casual marching and hand-slapping routines designed to encourage blood circulation, maybe meditating alone in front of a tree, maybe ballroom dancing, maybe tai chi. Tai chi with swords!

The park I found this morning, on the other hand, seemed to be taken up with just one huge group, and they were all doing the same movements together. I watched for awhile and figured out that the group in white ballcaps were probably the leaders - I think it was one of them that was shouting out instructions. A lot of people had the same yellow shirts on, too, although I don't know what they were for. It wasn't military precision or anything; a few people wandered in and out, or stopped to help one man find his dog. Some people seemed to be newcomers and not as familiar with the movements. Overall, kind of like a low-key aerobics class and nothing like the meditative movements of tai chi.

So. China: chaotic, but not in a bad way. Complicated. Diverse. Not a place you can understand at a glance. Japan: fond of uniforms. Systematic. Orderly. A place for everyone and everyone quietly doing what seems to be expected of them.

I can't imagine either scenario taking place in America... although for all I know, retirement communities all over the country have morning exercises every day. I think it's a great thing - socializing and continued strength and mobility, all rolled into one. Plus, it was a darn nice park. Excellent trees.

Religion in Japan

2008-03-19T08:07:00.002-04:00

An interesting article from Kansai Scene. I've enjoyed visiting Buddhist temples, a Zen Buddhist temple, and Shinto shrines. Haven't tried a Christian church yet, but Easter is coming up, so that's some encouragement to find one. There's a fairly large Shinto shrine near our apartment building, but so far I've only found time to poke my head in through the gate.

Terrible English menus in China

2008-03-17T13:51:00.003-04:00

Fuckin' hilarious.

In a similar vein, my co-producer Michael found this menu. Thanks, Wayback Machine.

Overnight at the ETC

2008-03-17T13:36:00.003-04:00

My life took a turn for the Completely Sucky this afternoon, so I'm consoling myself by spending way too much time on the Internet. Which means I didn't get my work done in time for last train, and I found this. Every now and then, Christians remind me why I love them so much, and why I still claim to be one. Christian-Daoist, mind you, if such a thing exists, but still. I love Christ, and I know so many beautiful stories that come directly from Christianity, so I'll still claim 'em.

Also, good news! The SBC has finally decided that this whole "global warming" thing might be kind of a problem after all, and maybe Christians really do have a responsibility to care for the planet. Welcome to the club, Mom and Dad.

[Links provided by the ePistle, a free publication of Evangelicals for Social Action]

Urban myth -- debunked!

2008-03-17T06:38:00.003-04:00

I was telling a friend about zhongwen.com, and followed a link to an old favorite, hanzismatter. This post appeared, so I'm sharing it.

Rant about why it's still apparently ok to misunderstand at will, if not outright exploit, Chinese culture has been skipped for your convenience.

Dear Brian Evans

2008-03-15T00:43:00.003-04:00

Because you complained that my blog has no content, I am creating more content, just for you. The gist of the content is: post your complaints in the comments, you big jerk, and then maybe I'll be more motivated to post actual content.

For the rest of my theoretical readers, I welcome any and all interaction. I promise I won't be as mean to you as I am to Brian - he knows I'm only joking.

Now from Osaka

2008-02-12T23:05:00.003-05:00

Since we've got this ETC Japan blog going, I figure I might as well link this thing to it and see how I like the whole Blogger experience.

Until I figure out how to link these up properly: http://etcosaka.blogspot.com/

Starting out

2005-11-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Not sure how much I'll really use this, but at least I can post comments on friends' blogs.