Friday, March 6, 2009

Barely there blogger

Christy and Jennie really are the bestest friends. They inspire me to do awesome stuff like keep up with my blogging (now if I could just get them to join twitter ... hint hint). But, as I am becoming increasingly obsessed with blogging, I am being continuously let down by blogger. I think the problem is that I have gotten incredibly spoiled by facebook and how versatile it is in it's ability to take over my life. So here is my ideas for how blogger could improve in that department.

1a. Make it easier to view my comments that people have left.
2b. Email me when someone posts a new blog that I am following.
3c. Make comments more conversational by having an actual thread (and inform me when people post on that thread)

That is really all. Anyone else have any ideas?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

I hate Andy Rooney

I'm sorry but I do. He is the worst kind of old person. If you ask my friend Christy, old people are adorable and she loves them and "Oh isn't he cute" ... NO. Christy can have her old people. Except Andy Rooney because he just needs to be stopped. WHY does he still have a column. I wish I could have a nationally syndicated column about the random crap that comes into my head. Yesterday his column was about swimsuits ... or wait ... was it about suits? I don't know because he meanders between the two subjects and just goes on and on and on in a way that doesn't even make sense, much less have a point. And then he says he wishes he could be alive when they finally get rid of tops on woman's swimsuits. Way to be an asshole Andy Rooney.

The story, I think, is meant to be cute and anecdotal about how far swimsuits have come since this ancient man was a kid when men wore a full body swimsuit. But then he starts talking about a dress suit that he bought with two pairs of trousers. And he closes with how the girl who lived next door was a better swimmer than the boys. Like this is unbelievable. Way to be an asshole Andy Rooney.

One of the other memorable columns of Andy's that comes to mind was about fruit. And how it is expensive. That's it. Like 800 words on expensive fruit. Like you don't have more money than God you old bastard.

I just think maybe it is time for him to retire. He is not making any profound, or even unprofound statements or ideas. Just a meandering mind. It's like someone gives him a noun and he just thinks about it and writes it all down. I am going to write an Andy Rooney column. Just to prove that anyone can do it.

I choose my topic: Coffee.

I like coffee. I have been drinking coffee since I was a young child. Some people say that coffee stunts growth, but I guess it doesn't do that too badly because I am six feet tall. It's strange how myths about the things we eat are thought to be true. It seems like every day a new study comes out about whether or not coffee is good for you. I don't think it is too bad. I drink a lot of coffee and it hasn't hurt me yet.

Coffee is expensive. I would say it is a luxury item. Of course, there are lots of different kinds of coffee and some is more expensive than others. I tend to buy middle of the road coffee. Not too expensive, but not bottom of the barrel. Some people swear by Starbucks. I have never been a huge fan of Starbucks. I think it is overpriced.

Did you know that coffee is not grown in America? We import all of our coffee from other countries. Africa and South America are common places to get coffee from. I suppose it is the hot climate that makes those places good for growing coffee. I also like a french roast. But I am not sure if coffee is grown in France, or just roasted there. I wonder about that.

One thing I will say about the quality of my coffee is that I prefer to grind my own beans. Some people think this is a hassle but I just keep my grinder on my counter and it isn't too bad. In the morning I get up and grind my beans and start my coffee.

Some people drink their coffee black. My friend Jennie drinks her coffee black. I did, once upon a time. But then I decided that like a little bit of cream. I think this is a luxury also. I choose to enjoy my coffee this way however, and find I enjoy it more. We should get to enjoy a few luxuries in life.

THE END.

Don't believe me that this reads EXACTLY like an Andy Rooney column? Check it:

http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/humor/andy-rooney/25554359.html?articleURL=http://rss.tmsfeatures.com/websvc-bin/rss_story_read.cgi?resid=200902251800TMS_____AROONEY__ctnxo-a_20090227

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Revolution and Socialism

I have had several conversations lately regarding how weak America has become in regards to prosecuting the rich and powerful. For instance, the governments refusal to call people out for shit that went down during the Bush presidency. (Come on, we all know it was shady and illegal things happened). Another instance being Bernie Madoff's allowance to keep his Park Avenue Penthouse which is worth something like $6 million. Sure, a black kid steals a candy bar and we send him to maximum security, but this old, rich white guy steals billions of dollars, and we let him maintain his lifestyle.

I am aware that these opinions make me somewhat socialist (there is a lot more that makes me somewhat socialist, so the title doesn't bother me). Somehow though, this line of thinking brought me to the idea for a completely hypothetical and dangerous social experiment. What if you gave all the fifth graders in America a semi-automatic rifle and a laptop. The question is, how many kids would use the guns to gain power, stage a revolution, or commit evil, and how many kids would simply blog about it. Now, I realize that this is ridiculous and let me repeat: ABSOLUTELY HYPOTHETICAL. I do not advocate ANYONE, particularly children, having guns. But, it would make an interesting sci-fi plot for a book or a movie or a short story ... maybe I will write a short story. Doubt it.

My point to all of it is, that in America, we don't go to the streets anymore when we are upset about something. We sit, cozy in our rooms, and blog about the failure's of America. We get upset to ourselves and on twitter. But, much like no one reading this blog, it becomes a case of a tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear it. If a blogger gets upset and no one reads it ... is the blogger truly dissenting? Of course the answer in this case is yes, but, the crux is that it doesn't matter.

So, where is the heartbeat of our nation? Where does it lie? In the media? In the distant and confused politicians in Washington? The truth is, that the average American has the ability to be more vocal and be heard more than ever before. After all, 30 years ago it would have been up to a newspaper reporting something happening in the midwest for anyone in Washington to hear it. And now our President carries a blackberry. So maybe blogging is the answer. Maybe we don't have to stand, hand in hand, getting battered by police to make a statement anymore. It just seems so sterile. I was raised in a blue collar environment where real work got done once your hands got dirty. But, if the internet and blogging has changed anything about America it is that we are no longer a blue collar world. Even mechanics hook computers up to cars to fix them now. The internet machine has taken over our lives, our minds and our work.

The only questions left to answer are these: Is our dependency socially, politically and economically on computers and its systems begging for some apocalyptic doom? Will there be a day when all the computers turn off and we are left standing without our third arm and half our brain?

Even as I am writing this, I realize that none of these are original thoughts and that they have been posed and partly answered by minds much greater than my own. But I think they are important to consider. If for nothing else than because we need to remain aware of how different our lives are than people who lived 10, 20, 50 and hundreds of years before us. We also need to remember that there are still many people on this planet, in this age, who live NOTHING like the way we live. And when we hesitate to question the authority that governs this nation and it's wealth, we need to remember that as some of the luckiest people in the world, we have a duty to hold these people accountable. You don't have to choose the gun or the laptop, they have become the same. Just as Bernie Madoff-with-the-money FAILED miserably at his job and should be held responsible for that, we should be held responsible as constituents, as shareholders, and as Americans. We are part of a democracy and have to do our part and speak up.

I am going to write a letter to my senator today. I am going to get a few things off of my chest. Sure, he may never read it, but one of his interns will and mine will be a voice that will be tallied and added to the others and it will be heard.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Wow, I suck at writing.

Well, not writing exactly, but I suck at consistency. Perhaps that is how I should put it. So, obviously the training blog went well (see previous post). I did stick with the training, and ran the marathon, and am training for a second one ... so at least I stuck with that part of it. You would think, with all my spare time this blogging thing would be a no brainer. After all, I think to myself all the time that I want to be a writer.

About that. There are three things in particular that inspire me to write (excluding my bff's starting their own blog and mentioning me oh-so-graciously in it). The first: NPR, particularly This American Life. One, I wish Ira Glass were my Uncle. He is the best. Two, the stories are so simple, yet so insightful. I really enjoy that kind of writing, the kind where it is just an everyday story from someones everyday life, but it is super interesting because it is told in some simple yet profound way. And while it seems like it would be such a simple thing to do, I am aware that it is not.

The second thing that inspires me is reading books of essays such as David Sadaris or Sloan Crosley. Their writing is similar to This American Life in a way, it is usually just simple stories from their lives, but they are interesting. I have a deep yearning to be interesting.

The final thing is books on tape. Not any book on tape, but particularly the book Underworld by Tom DeLillo (review here: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,289625,00.html). I actually only got through the first set of discs for this one, it is a gynormous book. And while it made me start writing my own narrative in my head, often while listening to it, it also made me profoundly depressed (Christy actually had to talk me down from listening to the other half, I really wanted to but was concerned I would become suicidal). I am sure to complete that novel (both the listening as well as the one I began writing in my head while listening) I would need to go live in a shack in the woods for several months with only a typewriter and frozen burrito's and listen to the book over and over and over again. And aside from becoming incredibly fat from burritos, I would either become the unibomber or Virginia Woolf.

The problem with me writing anything LARGE, like a novel, is that I get incredibly overwhelmed by two things. One, is the enormity of the project. I don't do well with long term relationships (outside of my love life that is). The idea of working on one creative project for months or years sounds ... well ... awful. I would get sick of it. Or get interested in something else too quickly. I am ADHD in one area of my life and that is my creativity. Before I have even gathered my materials for one project, I have thought of another, and abandon the first. Rarely do I finish them.

The other bit that overwhelms me is the opening sentence. It is such an incredibly powerful thing and sets the entire tone of the novel. And first sentences live forever and can sometimes outweigh an entire book. After all, who remembers much about Moby Dick besides, "Call me Ishmael" and that there is a whale as a main character? (Here is a list of the 100 greatest first sentences in novels OF ALL TIME ... I think that author is full of themselves and their opinions ... http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/04/news/doc43e3e6b004381080724526.txt)
The entire idea of the opening sentence makes me so nervous, that by the time I rewrite it a dozen times, I have forgotten the outline of my entire premise.

By the way, the last opening sentence I wrote for my imagined novel that I will never write is this: She sat down at her typewriter, and stared at the blank wall in front of her.

Bleh.

For more thoughts on opening sentences to novels and whether or not they matter, read this article that I haven't read:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/34068

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Training Log Wk1-Wednesday

Okay, no one reads this because I don't keep it up. Surprise. So I am going to use this as a training log because I hear it is a good thing to keep up. And heck, so far I am more committed to this than anything else I have done for a while. So here goes. Third day of training! So far I have done all of the runs. Well, I have done all of the miles, some have been on bike. Which they tell me is fine. We had a three mile run today and we actually (Jennie, Lindsey and I) ended up doing 3.6. We ran downtown and other than a rather steep disastrous trail that was a bit too long, I would say we did rather well.

I ate a powerbar about an hour before and drank...not enough water today. We ran about 11 min miles, which is a little slower for me but I felt really strong the whole way through. OH! And I did group power this morning, so my legs were already worked out. And then we swam for a bit after but it started raining.

I went to the doctors on Monday and he cleared me for training. He is getting all my "stats" down, resting heart rate, cholesterol, etc. while I am in great shape so he can "hold me to them". I like the challenge! He also gave me a great tip, take your resting heart rate lying in bed every morning and keep track. If you start over training your resting heart rate will rise. That is really helpful. Sometimes I can't tell if I am over training or just tired.

This post was a bit organized so hopefully that will improve!

Friday, May 9, 2008

All this green talk.

Okay, I am getting really annoyed at the city in which I live. I want very badly to be as green as I can. I want to do my part. But honestly, Greenville doesn't make it easy.

I am mostly talking about biking. Greenville has a huge cycling community but that is not reflected on the city streets. It is just an exercise or weekend hobby, not a means of transportation. I think it is a little ridiculous to mount your bike to the top of your SUV and drive 20 miles to where you are going to bike. I mean seriously.

This is all instigated by the fact that I want to be able to bike to work. I live THREE miles from work for goodness sake. It would save me gas money, it would be healthy for me AND it would be healthy for the environment. But there is simply not a good route for me to take! It just doesn't exist! I would have to cross the on/off ramps of 85 OR bike down a windy road that is known for it's speeding (2 lane, no sidewalk or shoulder by the way). I certainly can't justify risking my life for it!

Spartanburg recently earned a bronze medal from a national cycling organization for being cycle friendly...a goal that they set out to reach and actually put money (gasp!) into making happen.

Where does Greenville spend it's money? On patching up roads that should have been correctly paved 20 years ago, running those stupid trolleys downtown (the one part of the city that is compact enough and safe enough to walk around) and a bus system that they keep cutting because they aren't willing to put in enough money to actually make it WORK. We don't even have park and rides for goodness sake! Meanwhile everyone likes to complain about the traffic on Woodruff rd.

I think this blog may turn into a letter to the editor...or multiple editor's. Someone's attention needs to be turned to this. It is ridiculous!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

And we are back.

Okay, so it has been a good six months or so since I have last blogged. I got a little caught up with every day life. So sue me. Besides, I would argue that keeping a blog is one of the most self centric things a person can do. After all, it is publishing your thoughts on the internet with the assumption that people want to read it. Yikes.

I think that I am at one of those cross roads in my life. I feel the ground shifting a bit and I am heading in a new direction. There are a few things that qualify this theory. I will get more into that as we go.

I have made a life change in my fitness levels. I have lost a ton of weight and am in shape for the first time in...really, my life. I am still not where I want to be but I will get there. I am running races on a regular basis. (To see pics of the latest go to http://flickr.com/photos/anjalog/sets/72157604869996119/). And I am gearing up to train for a marathon. Jeez. Never thought I would say that.

So with all that running comes time to think. It can be a dangerous thing for me to live inside my head for too long. So, I start considering the ways in which my life style and my ideals conflict. And no, this isn't about me being gay (somehow, that just never conflicted with anything, haha). I am working out this whole theory in my head. I will write about it when the time comes.

I am going to wrap this post up soon. I realize that no one wants to hear everything I haven't been saying for six months in one post. I will try to spread them out. But check back often, I have switched servers so you can actually see stuff now. Don't forget that my address has changed too. Now I am anjalog.blogspot.com...I think. What is at the top of your browser window dummy?