37 responses and counting. 12 people are willing to move in without seeing the place, or meeting "Anal Grease Robbie."
.....
There are a lot of homeless, or soon-to-be homeless people with internet connections. Only in America!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
If a body meet a body, coming through the rye...
I found out today that I too am a Holden Caulfield of sorts. I was reading something in the American Literary classic "Jonesy: Keep Your Head Down and Skate" that reminded me of a book I read in college, and subsequently, whether consciously or not, decided to adopt as my modus vivendi.
In "Jonesy," professional ice hockey player Keith Jones describes, in great depth, how he's managed to collect 24 of 26 signatures on a cherished picture he owns. When one of the players who's signature he still needs gets traded to his team he obviously asks him to sign it. The look on this 25th person's face alone, in that moment, is enough for Keith Jones to blurt out "Why don't you just keep it."
The book this reminded me of was a dime-novel called "Ragged Dick" by Horatio Alger in which a poor boot shine works hard all day, and then spends what he earned on his needs, but more importantly, all his friends' needs and wants. He provides his hungry friends with food, his "thirsty" friends with booze, and so on. It doesn't bother him that some don't work, and that he wakes up every morning without a penny to his name - he just gets up and does it again. That's basically the story.
Or so I thought....
I learned a practical life-lesson today: When you only read the first chapter of a 17 chapter book you don't always get the entire story. Don't worry, I got a "B" in the class, but in college I was more about seeing how well I could do without trying at all, as opposed to how well I could do generally speaking. Well, ladies and gentleman, Dick ends up getting a job with JD Rockefeller of all people. He becomes a suit and leaves his old friends behind!
I know a lot of these novels were designed to foster the American Dream (and especially reprinted in the late to mid twenties specifically to build the American worker's psyche) but my American Dream is different. It's not about washing machines and Friday night dances, it's not about working hard and getting more money, it's about being decent to everyone around you and looking out for each other, and hoping, but more so knowing, that if you're just a good person things will work out.
Can't write anymore today, the shoe shine guy is coming around the office. If I miss him again they'll be calling me Ragged Dick!
In "Jonesy," professional ice hockey player Keith Jones describes, in great depth, how he's managed to collect 24 of 26 signatures on a cherished picture he owns. When one of the players who's signature he still needs gets traded to his team he obviously asks him to sign it. The look on this 25th person's face alone, in that moment, is enough for Keith Jones to blurt out "Why don't you just keep it."
The book this reminded me of was a dime-novel called "Ragged Dick" by Horatio Alger in which a poor boot shine works hard all day, and then spends what he earned on his needs, but more importantly, all his friends' needs and wants. He provides his hungry friends with food, his "thirsty" friends with booze, and so on. It doesn't bother him that some don't work, and that he wakes up every morning without a penny to his name - he just gets up and does it again. That's basically the story.
Or so I thought....
I learned a practical life-lesson today: When you only read the first chapter of a 17 chapter book you don't always get the entire story. Don't worry, I got a "B" in the class, but in college I was more about seeing how well I could do without trying at all, as opposed to how well I could do generally speaking. Well, ladies and gentleman, Dick ends up getting a job with JD Rockefeller of all people. He becomes a suit and leaves his old friends behind!
I know a lot of these novels were designed to foster the American Dream (and especially reprinted in the late to mid twenties specifically to build the American worker's psyche) but my American Dream is different. It's not about washing machines and Friday night dances, it's not about working hard and getting more money, it's about being decent to everyone around you and looking out for each other, and hoping, but more so knowing, that if you're just a good person things will work out.
Can't write anymore today, the shoe shine guy is coming around the office. If I miss him again they'll be calling me Ragged Dick!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Crime Dog
Combination of too much coffee and too few pivot tables that needed to be run:
Here are just a few of the responses:
A bunch of these that seemed earnest enough...
A bunch of these that seemed earnest enough...
1)
Hi.I live in Brooklyn.I could takehim asap.I would just need a picture or something so I could tell about how big he is. There aren't any childfren here and wewould get alot of love. ThanksJJT
Hi.I live in Brooklyn.I could takehim asap.I would just need a picture or something so I could tell about how big he is. There aren't any childfren here and wewould get alot of love. ThanksJJT
_____
There were also quite a few that seemed to get it was a joke - but were still interested.
2)
Is he trained?
Btw..I love your sense of humor lol.. I'm sitting at work laughing still..
I'm in SI/NJ and I have a golden mix..does max get along well with other doggies?
Is he trained?
Btw..I love your sense of humor lol.. I'm sitting at work laughing still..
I'm in SI/NJ and I have a golden mix..does max get along well with other doggies?
_____
There were A LOT of these, that almost made me feel bad for a second.
3)
Hello,I am very sorry you feel you have to give up your dog. Have you worked with a trainer? How old is your son? Often, these things can be resolved with a bit of work and time.If you have already done everything you can, please do not give him away for free. Ask for an adoption fee that is large enough to discourage people who take free animals to sell to research labs or as bait for dog fighters. I would ask at least$50 and $100 would be better - you can always donate the money to a shelter or rescue if you don't feel right about taking money for him. Doing a home visit is also a good idea so you know he isn't going to end up in a chain in someone'sback yard.Speaking of rescues, have you tried contacting a rescue who might be willing to take him? A rescue will neuter him if he is not already neutered and make surehe goes to an appropriate home. I am sorry you are going through this and wish you and Max well.Faith
Hello,I am very sorry you feel you have to give up your dog. Have you worked with a trainer? How old is your son? Often, these things can be resolved with a bit of work and time.If you have already done everything you can, please do not give him away for free. Ask for an adoption fee that is large enough to discourage people who take free animals to sell to research labs or as bait for dog fighters. I would ask at least$50 and $100 would be better - you can always donate the money to a shelter or rescue if you don't feel right about taking money for him. Doing a home visit is also a good idea so you know he isn't going to end up in a chain in someone'sback yard.Speaking of rescues, have you tried contacting a rescue who might be willing to take him? A rescue will neuter him if he is not already neutered and make surehe goes to an appropriate home. I am sorry you are going through this and wish you and Max well.Faith
_____
This was the only pure counseling e-mail recevied.
4)
Maybe you can work on Trever and Max gettign along? and get the wife to help with that too? just my two cents. Cathy
Maybe you can work on Trever and Max gettign along? and get the wife to help with that too? just my two cents. Cathy
_____
Not sure why this guy thought my son was trying to bite the dog...zing! Also, didn't really appreciate how he demanded to see my fake dog.
_____
5)
How old is your son? Has he tried to bite him? Let me see the dog .--John
_____
How old is your son? Has he tried to bite him? Let me see the dog .--John
_____
Oh well now I HAVE to give him to you....
6)
Hi is he good with kids Id like to have him he sounds Just right! I HAVE A DISABLED SON THAT WOULD LOVE HIM....
April In upper Manhattan 212 926 .....
Hi is he good with kids Id like to have him he sounds Just right! I HAVE A DISABLED SON THAT WOULD LOVE HIM....
April In upper Manhattan 212 926 .....
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Chopsticks
I honestly don’t understand why anyone, especially Americans, would ever use chopsticks.
I subscribe to the belief that you should do what makes sense. If you find that a coffee cup adequately fulfills your need to scoop and move soil around in your garden then the fact that it is designed to hold a beverage should not limit your use of it. If it makes sense do it. People should not aimlessly wander through their lives doing things just because that’s the way things are. Just because someone hands you chopsticks doesn’t mean you should use them. Especially in a society so focused on streamlining processes and making day-to-day life more efficient, the use of chopsticks baffles me.
Chopsticks were invented in China anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. The fork was introduced in the Middle East 1,000 years ago. By the 11th century the fork had made its way to Italy, and by way of the European trade lines was commonly used in all of Western Europe by the 14th Century. Forks were born from a need and desire for increased utensil development.
How chopsticks have managed to somehow avoid extinction is an extraordinary feat. It’s understandable that in China, where the use of these utensils is something that is deeply engrained in the culture, people are still willing to put up with this inferior technology. You don’t see the streets of America’s largest cities crowded with rickshaws so I don’t understand why we are willing to jab at our leftovers with two pick-up sticks. As a nation in its infancy the US picks and chooses which customs and traditions of other countries that it wants to incorporate into its own. We hardly ever choose to accept something into our society that is outdated. It just doesn’t make sense to us.
The fork is such an infinitely superior tool to the chopsticks that I see no reason for the use of chopsticks to continue. The fork’s four-pronged attack accomplishes the desired goal of getting food from your plate to your mouth with ease. The dual functionality of the fork as a shovel and a spear should be reason enough to abandon the limited chopsticks. Here some may argue that it is actually easier to eat some Asian dishes, noodle dishes for example, with chopsticks. Well then someone better notify the Italians that they’re eating their spaghetti the wrong way. If this school of thought is true I expect the spinning forks I see in Little Italy will be replaced by two little wooden sticks sometime in the near future.
Granted, the chopsticks club is not a difficult one to get into, but it is still nonetheless exclusive. A little hard work and concentration will render even the clumsiest diner an efficient chopsticks user. But if you happen to be in the estimated 20% of adults that do not know how to use chopsticks, and the chopsticks users get wind of this, expect to be ridiculed, condescended to through explanation, and then laughed at as your pants and your mouth compete over which gets more sushi. And if you happen to enter adulthood, for one reason or another, not having mastered the use of these two little sticks, then where are you? Left to practice on your own behind closed doors? Hoping that the next time you’re in a group you’ll have mastered the technique and the ridicule will end? Performing an archaic eating ritual when a fork gets the job done so much easier?
If you’re still not convinced that the chopsticks need to be eliminated then here’s some food for thought. An estimated 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are used and thrown away every year. That equals 25 million fully grown trees every year. Chew on that. If you can get it to your mouth with your chopsticks.
I subscribe to the belief that you should do what makes sense. If you find that a coffee cup adequately fulfills your need to scoop and move soil around in your garden then the fact that it is designed to hold a beverage should not limit your use of it. If it makes sense do it. People should not aimlessly wander through their lives doing things just because that’s the way things are. Just because someone hands you chopsticks doesn’t mean you should use them. Especially in a society so focused on streamlining processes and making day-to-day life more efficient, the use of chopsticks baffles me.
Chopsticks were invented in China anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. The fork was introduced in the Middle East 1,000 years ago. By the 11th century the fork had made its way to Italy, and by way of the European trade lines was commonly used in all of Western Europe by the 14th Century. Forks were born from a need and desire for increased utensil development.
How chopsticks have managed to somehow avoid extinction is an extraordinary feat. It’s understandable that in China, where the use of these utensils is something that is deeply engrained in the culture, people are still willing to put up with this inferior technology. You don’t see the streets of America’s largest cities crowded with rickshaws so I don’t understand why we are willing to jab at our leftovers with two pick-up sticks. As a nation in its infancy the US picks and chooses which customs and traditions of other countries that it wants to incorporate into its own. We hardly ever choose to accept something into our society that is outdated. It just doesn’t make sense to us.
The fork is such an infinitely superior tool to the chopsticks that I see no reason for the use of chopsticks to continue. The fork’s four-pronged attack accomplishes the desired goal of getting food from your plate to your mouth with ease. The dual functionality of the fork as a shovel and a spear should be reason enough to abandon the limited chopsticks. Here some may argue that it is actually easier to eat some Asian dishes, noodle dishes for example, with chopsticks. Well then someone better notify the Italians that they’re eating their spaghetti the wrong way. If this school of thought is true I expect the spinning forks I see in Little Italy will be replaced by two little wooden sticks sometime in the near future.
Granted, the chopsticks club is not a difficult one to get into, but it is still nonetheless exclusive. A little hard work and concentration will render even the clumsiest diner an efficient chopsticks user. But if you happen to be in the estimated 20% of adults that do not know how to use chopsticks, and the chopsticks users get wind of this, expect to be ridiculed, condescended to through explanation, and then laughed at as your pants and your mouth compete over which gets more sushi. And if you happen to enter adulthood, for one reason or another, not having mastered the use of these two little sticks, then where are you? Left to practice on your own behind closed doors? Hoping that the next time you’re in a group you’ll have mastered the technique and the ridicule will end? Performing an archaic eating ritual when a fork gets the job done so much easier?
If you’re still not convinced that the chopsticks need to be eliminated then here’s some food for thought. An estimated 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are used and thrown away every year. That equals 25 million fully grown trees every year. Chew on that. If you can get it to your mouth with your chopsticks.
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