if that's all there is, then let's keep dancing

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i love seattle but... this feature in last week's stranger was hilariously apt.
What I Can Tell You About Seattle Based on the People I've Met Who Are From There (I Live in Brooklyn) by Tao Lin

especially this part:

"SEATTLE CAUSES PEOPLE WITH COLLEGE DEGREES TO GET NEAR-MINIMUM-WAGE SERVICE JOBS

About a year ago, a person e-mailed me telling me to read a "story" he had published in an online magazine. The story was called "Clichés vs. Concrete Words." The first sentence was "Clichés are not as good as concrete words because clichés leave out information." The person was 22, his name was Brandon, and he lived in Seattle. Later, I went to Seattle on a book tour and Brandon came to my reading. He was working as a copywriter. We had dinner together. A few months later, I read on his blog that his contract as a copywriter was over. A few months after that, I read on his blog that he got a job at a cafe. "I steamed some milk and I shook the milk around and said look at that milk, look at that milk," said his blog. Brandon has a BA in psychology."

i love you seattle, why don't you love me back?

Check out my goodreads for my reviews of these books and more.

48 books- not bad, i almost made my goal of reading a book for every week of the year!

January:
Lullabies for Little Criminals: A Novel (P.S.) O'Neill, Heather
Buddy Does Seattle (The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from "Hate" Comics, Vol. I, 1990-94) Bagge, Peter
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) Murakami, Haruki
In My Skin: A Memoir (Hardcover) Holden, Kate
Possible Side Effects (Paperback) Burroughs, Augusten

February:
Beijing Doll (Paperback) Sue, Chun
Stumbling on Happiness (Hardcover) Gilbert, Daniel
Paint It Black (Hardcover)
Polly: A Novel (P.S.) Bryant, Amy

March:
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (Paperback)
White Ghost Girls (Paperback) Greenway, Alice

April:
Confessions of a Memory Eater (Paperback) Kennedy, Pagan
Strange Candy (Paperback) Hamilton, Laurell K.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (Hardcover) Bechdel, Alison

May:
The Tattoo Artist: A Novel (Hardcover) Ciment, Jill
A Spot of Bother (Hardcover) Haddon, Mark
NP (Paperback) Yoshimoto, Banana
Why Should Extroverts Make All the Money?: Networking Made Easy for the Introvert (Paperback) Balzano, Frederica J., Ph.D.
Kafka on the Shore (Hardcover) Murakami, Haruki
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Hardcover) Murakami, Haruki
My Friend Leonard (Hardcover) Frey, James

June:
What Is the What (Hardcover) Eggers, Dave
Chicken with Plums (Hardcover) Satrapi, Marjane
Winkie (Paperback) Chase, Clifford

July:
The Road (Paperback) McCarthy, Cormac
Bolt Risk (Paperback) Wood, Ann
Lord of the Flies (Paperback) Golding, William
Flight: A Novel (Paperback) Alexie, Sherman
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children (Hardcover) Greene, Melissa Fay
The Edible Woman (Mass Market Paperback) Atwood, Margaret
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Paperback) Obama, Barack

August:
Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk (50th Anniversary Edition) William S. Burroughs
When I Was Five I Killed Myself (Paperback) Buten, Howard
A Wild Sheep Chase (Paperback) Murakami, Haruki
Less Than Zero (Paperback) Ellis, Bret Easton
Chobits, Volume 1 (Paperback) Clamp
Mysterious Skin (Paperback) Heim, Scott
A Personal Matter (Paperback) Oë, Kenzaburo

September:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) Rowling, J. K.
Rules of Attraction (Paperback) Ellis, Bret Easton
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) Rowling, J. K.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (Hardcover) Beah, Ishmael

October:
Necklace of Kisses: A Novel (Paperback) Block, Francesca Lia

November:
A Home at the End of the World: A Novel (Paperback)
The Blue Girl (Firebird) Lint, Charles de
Crank (Paperback) Hopkins, Ellen

December:
Glass (Hardcover) Hopkins, Ellen
The Game (Firebird) Jones, Diana Wynne

if you have ever worked in customer service, food service, or the restaurant/hospitality industry, you should read this article. it puts into words perfectly what i've always felt about obnoxious, unreasonably demanding customers.

i was the subject of some brief but intense internet noteriety in the oberlin lj community for expressing very similar sentiments in a post to the community- mostly by people taking the side of the customers. (i have a variety of theories as to why this is the case, but that's beside the point). anyways- this post fucking preaches it.

Violent Acres: Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
December 13th, 2006

Every time I promise myself that I will work on controlling my temper, I always end up making a scene.

This time, it wasn’t my fault. All I wanted was a bagel. A bagel, a cup of coffee, and perhaps a spot near a window where I could idly watch the traffic go by as I browsed through the newspaper and licked cream cheese from my fingers. But apparently the Gods were not on my side.

Today I got in line behind a middle aged woman in a fur coat who was barking orders at the poor bagel girl like she was a dumb misbehaving dog. Fur Coat was ordering multiple bagel sandwiches from a list, but instead of ordering them in such a way that would make sense, she was attempting to order them all at the same time. The Bagel Girl was obviously confused and you could tell by her shaking hands that Fur Coat’s harsh tone was intimidating her. Finally, Fur Coat snapped, “I said light butter on that bagel! Light butter! Jesus!”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I cut in, “You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

Fur Coat glared daggers at me and stated, “I’m not.”

“Well, I beg to differ.”

With a disgusted ‘Hrmph,’ Fur Coat went back to her overly complicated order, but she did so quietly and even managed to begrudge the poor girl a ‘Thank you’ after she was finished.

I have a theory about asshole customers: I think they only act that way because no one ever calls them on their bullshit. The poor kids behind the counter can’t stand up for themselves lest they lose their jobs and other patrons look the other way claiming ‘it’s none of my business.’

Fuck that. When I see some self important asshole verbally degrading a teenaged kid with dead eyes behind a counter, it ruins my day. So, I say some shit. Besides, I feel that if I stay silent, I am almost giving an abuser permission to act like a raging asshole. Ignoring their behavior suggests to them on some sick level that what they’re doing is Ok.

It’s not OK.

The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self absorbed little children.

Speaking of respect, another idea that has ruined American culture is the one that states, ‘I don’t give respect freely. You have to earn my respect.’ This one is most often uttered by punk kids with bad attitudes and black fingernail polish.

Fucking gag me.

I mean, how egotistical does one have to be to automatically assume that their respect is so fucking important that one must jump through multiples hoops in order to earn it? How about we give people respect because they are humans with lives and feelings just as important as our own? Why not give people a default level of respect and more or less can either be won or lost based on the behavior of the individual? The loss of respect is something that should be based on actions. The idea that that one must win basic respect in the first place is incredibly belittling. How narcissistic can you be to embrace that ideology?

A few Sundays ago, my husband and I went out to breakfast. If anyone has ever attempted to go out to breakfast on a Sunday morning, they know that restaurants are usually packed around then. We were finally seated and our server was not only very busy, but also a new employee according to her ‘Hi! I’m new!’ nametag.

I’d like to say that everyone in her section was very understanding. The place was a madhouse and she was obviously out of her element. I wish I could say that the patrons in that restaurant were mannerly and polite and treated her with even an ounce of dignity and consideration. But, if I did, I’d be fucking lying.

Nearly everyone yelled at her or condescended to her like she was a stupid little child. One guy ordered a side of ‘home fries’ and reamed her ass when she brought him French fries. Had he looked at the menu a little closer, he would have seen that ‘home fries’ weren’t listed. This particular restaurant only served French fries or hash browns. Her mistake was understandable and he was basically yelling at her because she didn’t read his mind accurately enough.

But let’s all forget about that for just a moment. Instead, I want to point out that there are a multitude of things that can go wrong in one’s life. Death, illness, and poverty just to name a few. Yet, here I was watching a grown man lose his fucking shit because he was going to have to wait 5 minutes for a side of hash browns. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.

At this point, the angry little man demanded to speak to a manager and a kowtowing corporate whore scuttled over with free coupons and many apologies. The angry man furiously demanded that his waitress be fired right that instant. Over hash browns.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned over and interrupted, “When you’re finished talking to this man, I’d like to speak to you. I have the same server.”

The angry man smiled smugly, no doubt convinced that I was going to back him up on his quest to get a new girl fired because he had to wait 5 fucking minutes.

The manager finished with him and moped over to my table ready for his second tongue lashing of the day. I surprised him by loudly saying, “I just want you to know that our server is doing the best that she can. She’s been trying very hard and has been very sweet to us even though that asshole has treated her so poorly.”

The manager suddenly looked panicked and started shooting terrified looks at the table that just finished reaming him out. “I know,” he whispered fearfully, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to fire her.”

And while I was pleased to learn that this particular manager wasn’t going to fire the new girl based on the whim of some fat ass piece of trailer trash, I was disappointed that he rewarded said trash’s temper tantrum with free food. I long for the day a manager walks up to a table and says, “How dare you treat my employee this way. Get out now.”

I’m sure they want to, but that ridiculous policy ‘The Customer is Always Right’ silences them. So until we banish that phrase from American culture forever, I suggest we quit looking the other way when people behave like scumbags.

After all, technicalities may suggest that they are always right, but that doesn’t make them any less an asshole.

ciara's "like a boy"



Ciara - Like A Boy lyrics

ok, i know what i said about hip-pop... but the imagery and message of this song won me over. actually it made me feel like cheering. i am kind of sad now that i won't be in oberlin for drag ball this year- i just know there are going to be some drag kings performing to this song, and i would love to see that.
yay genderplay!

ETA: the sociologist/feminist side of me could definitely find a lot to critique if i deconstructed this video. actually one wouldn't need to look too hard to find problematic things in it. but for now, i just wanted to enjoy the aesthetics of the video, and celebrate the fact that gender play showed up in the pop world- compared to a lot of stuff out there, this is pretty subversive.

found via feministing- the comments actually echo some of inkyoctopus's critiques about gender in the song. go there for your deconstruction fix. :P

if you have ever been annoyed by hipsters (or accused of being one) you must watch this.

this is too cute:



debate '08: obama girls vs. giuliani girl

So I have photos online in a zillion different places (yahoo, facebook, myspace, t-mobile, photobucket, livejournal, my hard drive...) and i want to put them all on one photo hosting site so i don't lose track of any of them. Which site do you think is the best/most useful? Picasa, Flickr, photobucket? Flickr seems to be popular, but apparently they only show the most recent 200 photos. Does that mean you can't link to them too? What do you use?

one of the most satisfying things about graduating is changing my status from "some college" to "college degree" or "alumni" in myspace, thefacebook, okcupid, and the other online thingies i'm addicted to.

now i have to pack up all of my earthly belongings to be mailed home, stored in brandon's house over the summer, or brought home with me on my flight back to seattle.

Supposedly if you've seen more than 70 of these 200 movies, you have no life. yoinked from a bunch of people on my friends list. i don't think anyone actually reads these- the real fun is in filling them out, not reading other peoples', but i might as well post it for someone else to fill out. :)

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