I haven't posted for a week and a day now and last tried one day short of a week ago (on Tuesday). It seems that when I came home from my usual weekend outing last week (Monday was a holiday) and tried to log in on Tuesday my computer wouldn't log on to the internet. From what the "trouble message" says it is a connection error.
I may have knocked something loose. But the place where it would likely have happened I checked and all seems fine so I hope all is fixed quite easily when my "computer guy" friend comes to check it on Tuesday (the earliest he could do it).
Anyway, on to today's rather short post. I decided to post today (at the library) because I only had 11 posts for the month up until now. As I have said before, I like it better when the posts "match" more month-wise.
So it seems that Gary Coleman has died. Not a big surprise really as he has been in poor health for many years now but still sad. Turns out he was my age. Interestingly enough, Todd Bridges just wrote a memoir/biography. I wonder if Gary Coleman was interviewed about it before he died.
I just went to imdb.com to read a little about him and it said (surprisingly, I think) that Different Strokes went on for about 8 years! It also mentioned that both the late Bob Hope and the late Lucille Ball were Gary Coleman fans.
Before Different Strokes, he got his start in tv. commercials. After the show ended and his career went downhill (although during the time of his popularity he was the star of several child centered films). The last movie he was reported to be in was a sad little, low-budget explotation film called Midgets vs. Mascots from 2009.
Oddly enough, he didn't die of a kidney disease related illness, it was a fall and bump on the head. Sad.
Carmen
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Literary Pursuits
Tonight (it is almost 1 am) I am "officially" posting two (in actual fact three) posts as I have gotten behind on my posting. Like my post on the Al Franken book, "Lies, And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them" this post concerns a book I have read/am reading. It is called "The Book Group Book: A Thoughtful Guide To Forming And Enjoying A Stimulating Book Discussion Group" by Ellen Slezak.
Perhaps it is not the most exciting title for a book but the book itself is quite interesting from what I have read so far. A friend and I, in much the same vein as a book club itself, took turns reading out loud many of the various essays on individual book clubs that make up the bulk and the most interesting part of the book.
The book is basically in two parts. The first part is the aforementioned essays. The second part is made up of book lists of the reading lists of many of the book club's who had a member or members submit an essay to the first (best) part of the book.
In this book there are essays by groups that meet or have met at one time as often as weekly (!) but mostly meet monthly. There are essays by groups that are strictly women's book groups (no men allowed!) and one that is made up of (surprisingly) four married couples and has been going on for several years.
There were even not one but two groups that I've read about so far that have been going on for well over fifty years! One group had been going for seventy-six years as of when the book was written in 1993 and another was started in 1926 (the year my now 83 year old mother was born).
The club that started in 1926 apparently is called The Arts Club and rather uniquely is not only one of the ones that elects officers to deal with the business of their club but has kept detailed minutes that go back to the original year they started in 1926 and have been archived in the the local university!
Some of the groups other than just the one with the married couples in it have men but that is apparently somewhat (probably not surprisingly) rare. Two of the thirty essays are by male members of the book clubs spotlighted. Being that they are the exception rather than the rule I read both of these articles already (as you can see I am cherry-picking essays and not reading them in the order they are in the book).
Having read many of these essays with my friend over the course of a day spent together I can say it has whetted our enthusiasm for potentially starting a book club of our own. We have pretty much decided that if we do start one that it would be a small group of about 4 to 6 people.
The clubs that I/we read about had anywhere between 4 and 30 some active members. We believe smaller is better. Which is good as we want to do it out of our homes, switching off between members. Also, we want to keep it intimate as neither one of us wants to be "on display" in a big group.
As for a focus on either fiction (like most clubs) or non-fiction (the odd club) or a mixture (some clubs) so far it is 50/50. I am a non-fiction advocate while my friend is partial to fiction. So it will be mixed. One wonders what the focus the other two to four as yet unknown members will prefer.
We plan on going the route of each choosing two or three books each that will then be voted on by all members with one title chosen from each person's choices. This seems the fairest option for picking titles. I can only hope that some of the other people who we end up with will also be partial to non-fiction as that is not seemingly the book club norm.
This pretty much brings me to the end of this post except to ask my readers what your thoughts are on book clubs. Have you ever belonged to one? Would you like to belong to one? Do you have any "housekeeping" suggestions if my friend and I start a bookclub?
Carmen
Perhaps it is not the most exciting title for a book but the book itself is quite interesting from what I have read so far. A friend and I, in much the same vein as a book club itself, took turns reading out loud many of the various essays on individual book clubs that make up the bulk and the most interesting part of the book.
The book is basically in two parts. The first part is the aforementioned essays. The second part is made up of book lists of the reading lists of many of the book club's who had a member or members submit an essay to the first (best) part of the book.
In this book there are essays by groups that meet or have met at one time as often as weekly (!) but mostly meet monthly. There are essays by groups that are strictly women's book groups (no men allowed!) and one that is made up of (surprisingly) four married couples and has been going on for several years.
There were even not one but two groups that I've read about so far that have been going on for well over fifty years! One group had been going for seventy-six years as of when the book was written in 1993 and another was started in 1926 (the year my now 83 year old mother was born).
The club that started in 1926 apparently is called The Arts Club and rather uniquely is not only one of the ones that elects officers to deal with the business of their club but has kept detailed minutes that go back to the original year they started in 1926 and have been archived in the the local university!
Some of the groups other than just the one with the married couples in it have men but that is apparently somewhat (probably not surprisingly) rare. Two of the thirty essays are by male members of the book clubs spotlighted. Being that they are the exception rather than the rule I read both of these articles already (as you can see I am cherry-picking essays and not reading them in the order they are in the book).
Having read many of these essays with my friend over the course of a day spent together I can say it has whetted our enthusiasm for potentially starting a book club of our own. We have pretty much decided that if we do start one that it would be a small group of about 4 to 6 people.
The clubs that I/we read about had anywhere between 4 and 30 some active members. We believe smaller is better. Which is good as we want to do it out of our homes, switching off between members. Also, we want to keep it intimate as neither one of us wants to be "on display" in a big group.
As for a focus on either fiction (like most clubs) or non-fiction (the odd club) or a mixture (some clubs) so far it is 50/50. I am a non-fiction advocate while my friend is partial to fiction. So it will be mixed. One wonders what the focus the other two to four as yet unknown members will prefer.
We plan on going the route of each choosing two or three books each that will then be voted on by all members with one title chosen from each person's choices. This seems the fairest option for picking titles. I can only hope that some of the other people who we end up with will also be partial to non-fiction as that is not seemingly the book club norm.
This pretty much brings me to the end of this post except to ask my readers what your thoughts are on book clubs. Have you ever belonged to one? Would you like to belong to one? Do you have any "housekeeping" suggestions if my friend and I start a bookclub?
Carmen
Sunday, May 23, 2010
"Contractual Obligations"
Over the weekend I was with the friend who can not be named and several funny things happened as is often the case when we are together. The one I am going to talk about concerns a "agreement" we "reached" vis a vis a little transaction.
Both of us are not the most flush of people financially (which is true of most of my friends - the few that I have - it seems misery loves company :) ). Anyway, my friend was broke at this point in the month and, for the most part, so was I. She is a smoker, which I am not, and had gone about three days, if not a little more, without cigarettes.
So, she asked me to lend them $10 so they could buy a package of cigarettes until her cheque came in. Being basically broke myself AND the hard-hearted bitch that I am (LOL), I said no. This was followed by some rather pitiful begging that went on for quite awhile.
Finally, it was suggested by this friend that perhaps she could do something for me (which would be in addition to eventually paying me back of course). I still did not want to do this for a variety of bitchy and non-bitchy reasons. However, said friend can be pretty compelling with her arguments.
She made a semi-serious offer to arbitrate between a "old" friend of ours (mostly mine) who had told us a few months ago that he wasn't interested in hanging out with us (and so basically was saying he didn't want to be friends anymore for some very obscure reasons).
I jokingly decided to make up a list of "demands" that I had for her if I were to consider lending her this money. The idea originally was to make it so onerous that she would give up on her quest to nag me into lending her the money. This was because I, one, didn't really have more than almost the exact amount she needed left myself until my next cheque came in (literally a few dollars more - less than five) -that being the non-bitchy reason. Then there was the bitchier reason that I myself am not a smoker as I said and thought that after three days she should just try to consider that quitting smoking for three days and just not restart. Easy for me to say.
Well, anyways, long story made (relatively) shorter, in writing the "jokingly" onerous list of demands, I actual started becoming invested in them. Also, I was starting to see her side of it (though not enough to want to give up on any of my "demands"). So after a "brutal" round of negotiating that literally went to the brink we reached an agreement that saw her get basically my last $10. Literally.
In exchange for this, one of the four conditions I had was that, like she suggested, she had to call this (former) friend of ours once a week for two months to advocate on my (our?) behalf. I was having some second thoughts about this as I didn't know how he (the mutual -former- friend) would react. Especially since, my girlfriend was even less in his "good books" than I was. But before I had conclusively decided to tell her to hold off on calling him for the first of the eight calls she was to make, she had swiftly decided to get her obligations dealt with.
That brings us to the title of this post. When she called me to tell me that she had made the first call and to tell me how it went she told me that she had told "our friend" that she was contractually obligated to call him once a week for the next two months. LOL. I myself found the term funny in a grandiose way. Apparently, his take on it was, according to her, that "we are twisted". LOL.
So, there you have it. I am not only a heartless bitch who enters into onerous contracts with my "friends" but also a twisted person. LOL. Or, as I would like to think of it, I am a compassionate but business-like person who has a unique (as opposed to twisted) way of looking at/doing things. What do you think?
Carmen
Both of us are not the most flush of people financially (which is true of most of my friends - the few that I have - it seems misery loves company :) ). Anyway, my friend was broke at this point in the month and, for the most part, so was I. She is a smoker, which I am not, and had gone about three days, if not a little more, without cigarettes.
So, she asked me to lend them $10 so they could buy a package of cigarettes until her cheque came in. Being basically broke myself AND the hard-hearted bitch that I am (LOL), I said no. This was followed by some rather pitiful begging that went on for quite awhile.
Finally, it was suggested by this friend that perhaps she could do something for me (which would be in addition to eventually paying me back of course). I still did not want to do this for a variety of bitchy and non-bitchy reasons. However, said friend can be pretty compelling with her arguments.
She made a semi-serious offer to arbitrate between a "old" friend of ours (mostly mine) who had told us a few months ago that he wasn't interested in hanging out with us (and so basically was saying he didn't want to be friends anymore for some very obscure reasons).
I jokingly decided to make up a list of "demands" that I had for her if I were to consider lending her this money. The idea originally was to make it so onerous that she would give up on her quest to nag me into lending her the money. This was because I, one, didn't really have more than almost the exact amount she needed left myself until my next cheque came in (literally a few dollars more - less than five) -that being the non-bitchy reason. Then there was the bitchier reason that I myself am not a smoker as I said and thought that after three days she should just try to consider that quitting smoking for three days and just not restart. Easy for me to say.
Well, anyways, long story made (relatively) shorter, in writing the "jokingly" onerous list of demands, I actual started becoming invested in them. Also, I was starting to see her side of it (though not enough to want to give up on any of my "demands"). So after a "brutal" round of negotiating that literally went to the brink we reached an agreement that saw her get basically my last $10. Literally.
In exchange for this, one of the four conditions I had was that, like she suggested, she had to call this (former) friend of ours once a week for two months to advocate on my (our?) behalf. I was having some second thoughts about this as I didn't know how he (the mutual -former- friend) would react. Especially since, my girlfriend was even less in his "good books" than I was. But before I had conclusively decided to tell her to hold off on calling him for the first of the eight calls she was to make, she had swiftly decided to get her obligations dealt with.
That brings us to the title of this post. When she called me to tell me that she had made the first call and to tell me how it went she told me that she had told "our friend" that she was contractually obligated to call him once a week for the next two months. LOL. I myself found the term funny in a grandiose way. Apparently, his take on it was, according to her, that "we are twisted". LOL.
So, there you have it. I am not only a heartless bitch who enters into onerous contracts with my "friends" but also a twisted person. LOL. Or, as I would like to think of it, I am a compassionate but business-like person who has a unique (as opposed to twisted) way of looking at/doing things. What do you think?
Carmen
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Lies And The Lying Liars That Tell Them
Well today (actually several days after the time stamp - LOL) I am writing another review. This time though it is not about a movie but about a book. A book from several years back actually.
I'm sure some of you can already guess who the author of this book is by my highly original posting title. Normally I like finding creative posting titles (if I do say so myself) that I come up with but with this book by Al Franken (of course), I decided that finding a funnier or in any way better title was hopeless. You can't beat the best. So lying liars it is.
This book came out in 2003. I believe I may have read part of it before but if I did I don't think I finished it. If that is the case, it has nothing to do with the quality of the book which is both very funny and also informative in some areas. It would have had more to do with just not being into it at the time. I am not sure if it was Lying Liars I started or his other big title from several years ago as well (before this book in fact) called "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot". LOL.
Franken has actually written several popular books over the years and I think most if not all of them have made the New York Times Bestseller List. Some of his other titles are I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!, Why Not Me? The Inside Story Of The Making And Unmaking Of The Franken Presidency, and finally Oh, The Things I Know! A Guide To Success, Or, Failing That, Happiness.
I found this book a couple of months ago at a second hand store and took the opportunity to own a copy of one of Franken's books. I'm glad I did. I read the book in one sitting! I'm sure some of that had to do with my state of mind when reading it, as well as the intrinsic worth of the book but the book itself really was a good one that is well worth owning.
I won't go into a long review of the contents but do want to give you some highlights to show that it is truly well worth reading yourselves. Actually, until I reread the table of contents, I was going to say that other than one not so funny but very informative piece on pig farming there was only one section I could specifically remember as standing out enough to comment on. But in looking at the contents I can say that is not true. That said, most of the humor "just finds you" within the chapters and I wouldn't recognize it from a chapter heading.
So first off, lets start with the informative stuff. That would be the chapter on George Bush Jr's environmental policies and pig farming. In it, Franken talks about how pig farms create vast "lagoons" of pig shit that not only threaten the environment but cause havoc for land-owners within a fairly substantial radius of these environmental nightmares.
Then there is a chapter called "The Waitress and The Lawyer". It is about a female duo of waitress and lawyer who have a rather enlightening conversation about tax-cuts and what they really mean for those at the bottom of the economic barrel. He frames it as a pseudo-play. Sadly, if I were to put myself in the shoes of either character, the one that I resemble most is the waitress - who is not surprisingly the one who comes out with the short end of the stick. By this, I am mostly talking about my level of financial literacy.
One of the stories that sticks out in my mind comes from a chapter entitled "I Meet Former First Lady Barbara Bush And It Doesn't Go Well". I can't remember the source of the first book/magazine article (book I think) where I read what a enormous bitch Barbara Bush, Sr. is, but suffice it to say this was the second time I have read something of this sort. It is a funny but disturbing little chapter about how dismissive and haughty Mrs. Bush apparently is.
There was also a chapter titled "I Attend The White House Correspondents Dinner And Annoy Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, And The Entire Fox News Team". This chapter proves you don't necessarily have to know all the players to find his "insouciance" funny. He definitely was a burr under these peoples skins. He basically made the rounds at this dinner being a bit of a "righteous" shit-disturber.
A chapter called "I Challenge Rich Lowry To A Fight" shows that sometimes even a out-of-shape middle ager can make his point with a bit of a blowhard and there is a chapter called "Operation Chickenhawk" that spoofs right-wingers like Bush, and Limbaugh as well as others that is a little over long in my opinion and has a rather obvious ending (necessarily so though) but is still funny.
There are chapters on every liberals "favorite" shrill right-wing bitch Ann Coulter and the right's poster boy Bill O'Reilly as well as chapters on Bernie Goldberg and (the late) Rev. Jerry Falwell. One chapter deals with the Fox News team of Hannity and Colmes, where he has a unique way of referring to Alan Colmes in print. You will understand immediately if you borrow a copy at your local library or decide to buy your own.
Well I think I've given a good overview of a few of the just under fifty chapters in the book. It is a pretty standard size book of 377 pages including the miscellaneous additions including the sources and acknowledgements - but sadly no index, as he mentions a number of books and people throughout that I would have liked to reference in an index.
So, by all means take a look at this or some of his other books and let me know what you think.
Carmen
I'm sure some of you can already guess who the author of this book is by my highly original posting title. Normally I like finding creative posting titles (if I do say so myself) that I come up with but with this book by Al Franken (of course), I decided that finding a funnier or in any way better title was hopeless. You can't beat the best. So lying liars it is.
This book came out in 2003. I believe I may have read part of it before but if I did I don't think I finished it. If that is the case, it has nothing to do with the quality of the book which is both very funny and also informative in some areas. It would have had more to do with just not being into it at the time. I am not sure if it was Lying Liars I started or his other big title from several years ago as well (before this book in fact) called "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot". LOL.
Franken has actually written several popular books over the years and I think most if not all of them have made the New York Times Bestseller List. Some of his other titles are I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!, Why Not Me? The Inside Story Of The Making And Unmaking Of The Franken Presidency, and finally Oh, The Things I Know! A Guide To Success, Or, Failing That, Happiness.
I found this book a couple of months ago at a second hand store and took the opportunity to own a copy of one of Franken's books. I'm glad I did. I read the book in one sitting! I'm sure some of that had to do with my state of mind when reading it, as well as the intrinsic worth of the book but the book itself really was a good one that is well worth owning.
I won't go into a long review of the contents but do want to give you some highlights to show that it is truly well worth reading yourselves. Actually, until I reread the table of contents, I was going to say that other than one not so funny but very informative piece on pig farming there was only one section I could specifically remember as standing out enough to comment on. But in looking at the contents I can say that is not true. That said, most of the humor "just finds you" within the chapters and I wouldn't recognize it from a chapter heading.
So first off, lets start with the informative stuff. That would be the chapter on George Bush Jr's environmental policies and pig farming. In it, Franken talks about how pig farms create vast "lagoons" of pig shit that not only threaten the environment but cause havoc for land-owners within a fairly substantial radius of these environmental nightmares.
Then there is a chapter called "The Waitress and The Lawyer". It is about a female duo of waitress and lawyer who have a rather enlightening conversation about tax-cuts and what they really mean for those at the bottom of the economic barrel. He frames it as a pseudo-play. Sadly, if I were to put myself in the shoes of either character, the one that I resemble most is the waitress - who is not surprisingly the one who comes out with the short end of the stick. By this, I am mostly talking about my level of financial literacy.
One of the stories that sticks out in my mind comes from a chapter entitled "I Meet Former First Lady Barbara Bush And It Doesn't Go Well". I can't remember the source of the first book/magazine article (book I think) where I read what a enormous bitch Barbara Bush, Sr. is, but suffice it to say this was the second time I have read something of this sort. It is a funny but disturbing little chapter about how dismissive and haughty Mrs. Bush apparently is.
There was also a chapter titled "I Attend The White House Correspondents Dinner And Annoy Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, And The Entire Fox News Team". This chapter proves you don't necessarily have to know all the players to find his "insouciance" funny. He definitely was a burr under these peoples skins. He basically made the rounds at this dinner being a bit of a "righteous" shit-disturber.
A chapter called "I Challenge Rich Lowry To A Fight" shows that sometimes even a out-of-shape middle ager can make his point with a bit of a blowhard and there is a chapter called "Operation Chickenhawk" that spoofs right-wingers like Bush, and Limbaugh as well as others that is a little over long in my opinion and has a rather obvious ending (necessarily so though) but is still funny.
There are chapters on every liberals "favorite" shrill right-wing bitch Ann Coulter and the right's poster boy Bill O'Reilly as well as chapters on Bernie Goldberg and (the late) Rev. Jerry Falwell. One chapter deals with the Fox News team of Hannity and Colmes, where he has a unique way of referring to Alan Colmes in print. You will understand immediately if you borrow a copy at your local library or decide to buy your own.
Well I think I've given a good overview of a few of the just under fifty chapters in the book. It is a pretty standard size book of 377 pages including the miscellaneous additions including the sources and acknowledgements - but sadly no index, as he mentions a number of books and people throughout that I would have liked to reference in an index.
So, by all means take a look at this or some of his other books and let me know what you think.
Carmen
Monday, May 17, 2010
"Are You My Stalin?"
Yesterday I went to a "meetup" at the Second Cup with someone I met on-line. It wasn't a bad first meeting but I was a little disappointed that there weren't more people from the on-line group that the two of us there were a part of. Nevertheless, it was nice to meet the one person, A.J., that I did. This is not, however, what this post is about. Just a little introduction to how my Sunday went and what led to what followed, which is the subject of this post.
After the meetup, which started at 4:00pm and lasted until almost exactly 5:00pm (though it wasn't on a schedule - it just happened that way), I decided to go to a movie and, likely, dinner because I was between screenings. So, after an ok dinner at the Elephant and Castle that is right next to the theatre, I saw the Canadian movie out of Montreal (I can't believe I'd like something like that! LOL) - The Trotsky.
I will attempt to give you a little preview of the movie without spoiling it for anyone who would like to see it for themselves. The summary is as follows: a young anglo Montrealer named Leon Bronstein thinks he is the modern-day re-incarnation of Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Complete to the end, ice-pick and all.
The movie stars a young actor named Jay Baruchel who has apparently been in a few other movies so far. There are also some name actors/actresses in the cast... Genevieve Bujold, Colm Feore, Saul Rubinek and Michael Murphy. The last of which is recognizable by face if not by name and has apparently, according to imdb.com been in the largest number of Robert Altman movies of any actor. The leading lady in this movie is an actress named Emily Hampshire. She has been in several Canadian movies/T.V. shows since 1996.
The title of this post comes from a line in the movie which was kind of funny. The title character spends his time plotting out how to live his life as much like the original Trotsky as possible and looks for his revolutionary counterparts like Lenin for instance at various times in the movie. I must say, I thought it was an interesting premise but was worried that it wouldn't live up to it and would be a disappointment. And while I agree with a poster on imdb that it ended up being a bit "by the numbers" it certainly kept my interest and despite the somewhat silly subject matter managed to come off as fairly believable - that is, I had no problem with my "suspension of disbelief".
I actually had a choice of two movies to see when I checked out the offerings that night. The other was Letters To Juliet with Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave. That I picked this movie over a romantic comedy says a lot for the premise, I think.
In short, see this movie for yourself. I definitely recommend it. And if you do see it yourself (and if you want to - go soon, as it is Canadian and a film fest film so it probably won't be in theatres for long!) leave a comment on what you thought about it.
After the meetup, which started at 4:00pm and lasted until almost exactly 5:00pm (though it wasn't on a schedule - it just happened that way), I decided to go to a movie and, likely, dinner because I was between screenings. So, after an ok dinner at the Elephant and Castle that is right next to the theatre, I saw the Canadian movie out of Montreal (I can't believe I'd like something like that! LOL) - The Trotsky.
I will attempt to give you a little preview of the movie without spoiling it for anyone who would like to see it for themselves. The summary is as follows: a young anglo Montrealer named Leon Bronstein thinks he is the modern-day re-incarnation of Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Complete to the end, ice-pick and all.
The movie stars a young actor named Jay Baruchel who has apparently been in a few other movies so far. There are also some name actors/actresses in the cast... Genevieve Bujold, Colm Feore, Saul Rubinek and Michael Murphy. The last of which is recognizable by face if not by name and has apparently, according to imdb.com been in the largest number of Robert Altman movies of any actor. The leading lady in this movie is an actress named Emily Hampshire. She has been in several Canadian movies/T.V. shows since 1996.
The title of this post comes from a line in the movie which was kind of funny. The title character spends his time plotting out how to live his life as much like the original Trotsky as possible and looks for his revolutionary counterparts like Lenin for instance at various times in the movie. I must say, I thought it was an interesting premise but was worried that it wouldn't live up to it and would be a disappointment. And while I agree with a poster on imdb that it ended up being a bit "by the numbers" it certainly kept my interest and despite the somewhat silly subject matter managed to come off as fairly believable - that is, I had no problem with my "suspension of disbelief".
I actually had a choice of two movies to see when I checked out the offerings that night. The other was Letters To Juliet with Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave. That I picked this movie over a romantic comedy says a lot for the premise, I think.
In short, see this movie for yourself. I definitely recommend it. And if you do see it yourself (and if you want to - go soon, as it is Canadian and a film fest film so it probably won't be in theatres for long!) leave a comment on what you thought about it.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
"Lovers and Haters" - The Same Person!
Hello people. I am back after a break of several days licking my wounds. It appears this post was done on Thursday, but it was in fact the first of several done on Monday. My dirty little secret of time-stamping a post in draft having been revealed before.
Anyway, as I said, I was off licking my wounds after having read a frequent reader comment on the most recent post "Pimp My Blog". I'd like to think I have a pretty thick skin (like a rhinoceros) but the truth is not as far as my baby goes. It stung. Sob. LOL.
Actually, it was a fairly innocuous criticism that the post was a bit like an "instruction manual" for my blog. Which strictly speaking was true. But after the love bombing I received from several of my readers over the past little while that the comments have been coming regularly, it was a bit sad for me to read.
I guess if I "put on my big girl panties" it's not really the worst thing that could have happened. A little constructive criticism never hurt anyone (I think?). And she did end it with the heartening "love ya".
One thing I will say in my defense is that another site I happened to catch sight of recently (at about the same time I read the comment) was listing/talking about a new feature on their blog (a movie themed blog). So I have some company. Always a good argument.
Another thing that was nice was (and this is where the title of this post comes from) after returning from a weekend away from home (and the computer), I got a pm in my FB account that was from the above mentioned commenter. In it she asked if I was on vacation and stating that she was waiting for my next blog posting. Yay! A fan.
So, what dear readers have I learned from this. Well first of all, that I need a new pair of big girl panties. LOL. Second, that maybe, just maybe I need to "step it up" a bit in my topic selection from time to time.
Anyway, as I said, I was off licking my wounds after having read a frequent reader comment on the most recent post "Pimp My Blog". I'd like to think I have a pretty thick skin (like a rhinoceros) but the truth is not as far as my baby goes. It stung. Sob. LOL.
Actually, it was a fairly innocuous criticism that the post was a bit like an "instruction manual" for my blog. Which strictly speaking was true. But after the love bombing I received from several of my readers over the past little while that the comments have been coming regularly, it was a bit sad for me to read.
I guess if I "put on my big girl panties" it's not really the worst thing that could have happened. A little constructive criticism never hurt anyone (I think?). And she did end it with the heartening "love ya".
One thing I will say in my defense is that another site I happened to catch sight of recently (at about the same time I read the comment) was listing/talking about a new feature on their blog (a movie themed blog). So I have some company. Always a good argument.
Another thing that was nice was (and this is where the title of this post comes from) after returning from a weekend away from home (and the computer), I got a pm in my FB account that was from the above mentioned commenter. In it she asked if I was on vacation and stating that she was waiting for my next blog posting. Yay! A fan.
So, what dear readers have I learned from this. Well first of all, that I need a new pair of big girl panties. LOL. Second, that maybe, just maybe I need to "step it up" a bit in my topic selection from time to time.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Pimp My Blog!
So today we have a very exciting topic. LOL. Two days ago I "pimped out" my blog. And just like on MTV's Pimp My Ride now my blog has mucho bells and whistles.
For those who would like to check them all out here is the rundown. First of all, these two are not really bells and whistles but they are changes. The first of the two is that the subtitle just under my blogs name has been expanded upon with a little more explanation. Second, the number of blog posts that show on the main page has been increased from the default seven to a more "rounded" ten.
The next two changes come as "headers and footers". Above my most recent post are my new additional pages tabs. I have two of them. There is an annoying problem with these though. They don't load properly. When you click on them nothing initially seems to show up on the page. It looks like I created these pages and then left them blank. You have to use your arrow keys and scroll down the page a fair bit and then scroll back up and only then do they load. Below my tenth and last post to show on the main page is a subscription option for potential regular readers. It is not the ideal way to follow the blog though because if you follow that way it doesn't show up as a "number" on my followers list but at least the benefit to this blog is that ideally people who want to do it this way can still read it regularly if they want and ideally, if they are regular readers may become regular commenters too. Also they can, as regular readers, possibly recommend my blog to others. Yay.
Now on to the main "pimping". All of it except one item is to be found on the right hand side column where you find the Facebook Badge at the top, the recent comment feed that I have had there for awhile, my list of followers and my profile information. New to this section is the SocialVibe widget/gadget. Please click on it to help the charity One Laptop Per Child. It will prompt you to do some simple little actions to gain points or such to "micro-give". Next is the poll feature. As I just added it, I am not sure how it will work as far as saving old polls but we will see in less than a week as I set it to expire after the default one week.
The final two features come well below the poll feature under the recent comments, the number of followers and the about me sections. These are the Daily Puppy and Vanity Fair features. The daily puppy shows five (instead of the default -one-) pictures of puppies along with reader comments under them. If you click on the Daily Puppy box at the bottom of feature it will take you to it's site. The Daily Puppy is one of the only ones (if not the only one period) that did not have little ads attached to it. The Vanity Fair feature is the final one (so far - lol) at the very bottom of the right hand side column. Even though I tried out and deleted many other features that came with the little google ads attached, I kept the Vanity Fair one. That's because it is Vanity Fair. The wealthy person's (or wanna-be's) National Enquirer. Another reason I initially considered deleting the Vanity Fair feature is it has unattractive, plain graphics. But I guess "one can't have everything one wants, can one". LOL.
So that is that. Enjoy the new, improved C.A.T.Stuff and don't forget to use the new features (especially SocialVibe and the poll as well as the little boxes under where you make your comments!)
Carmen
For those who would like to check them all out here is the rundown. First of all, these two are not really bells and whistles but they are changes. The first of the two is that the subtitle just under my blogs name has been expanded upon with a little more explanation. Second, the number of blog posts that show on the main page has been increased from the default seven to a more "rounded" ten.
The next two changes come as "headers and footers". Above my most recent post are my new additional pages tabs. I have two of them. There is an annoying problem with these though. They don't load properly. When you click on them nothing initially seems to show up on the page. It looks like I created these pages and then left them blank. You have to use your arrow keys and scroll down the page a fair bit and then scroll back up and only then do they load. Below my tenth and last post to show on the main page is a subscription option for potential regular readers. It is not the ideal way to follow the blog though because if you follow that way it doesn't show up as a "number" on my followers list but at least the benefit to this blog is that ideally people who want to do it this way can still read it regularly if they want and ideally, if they are regular readers may become regular commenters too. Also they can, as regular readers, possibly recommend my blog to others. Yay.
Now on to the main "pimping". All of it except one item is to be found on the right hand side column where you find the Facebook Badge at the top, the recent comment feed that I have had there for awhile, my list of followers and my profile information. New to this section is the SocialVibe widget/gadget. Please click on it to help the charity One Laptop Per Child. It will prompt you to do some simple little actions to gain points or such to "micro-give". Next is the poll feature. As I just added it, I am not sure how it will work as far as saving old polls but we will see in less than a week as I set it to expire after the default one week.
The final two features come well below the poll feature under the recent comments, the number of followers and the about me sections. These are the Daily Puppy and Vanity Fair features. The daily puppy shows five (instead of the default -one-) pictures of puppies along with reader comments under them. If you click on the Daily Puppy box at the bottom of feature it will take you to it's site. The Daily Puppy is one of the only ones (if not the only one period) that did not have little ads attached to it. The Vanity Fair feature is the final one (so far - lol) at the very bottom of the right hand side column. Even though I tried out and deleted many other features that came with the little google ads attached, I kept the Vanity Fair one. That's because it is Vanity Fair. The wealthy person's (or wanna-be's) National Enquirer. Another reason I initially considered deleting the Vanity Fair feature is it has unattractive, plain graphics. But I guess "one can't have everything one wants, can one". LOL.
So that is that. Enjoy the new, improved C.A.T.Stuff and don't forget to use the new features (especially SocialVibe and the poll as well as the little boxes under where you make your comments!)
Carmen
Sunday, May 9, 2010
I Am A Tea Partier
Happy Mother's Day everyone. Just got back from my oldest sister's place where most of the family went for Mother's Day. Today we (the royal we - lol) are going to talk about how I spent part of the Mother's Day weekend. I became a tea partier yet again.
No not that kind of tea partier. For the third year in a row, my mother has bought tickets and taken my two older sisters and myself to the Third Annual High Tea held by her church (a United Church congregation). We have gone every year since it started.
It is a nice little fundraiser for the church that has very good attendance. As the "M.C" of the event always notes at the beginning of the event, it is attended by ladies (and a few odd - well not exactly odd, lol - gentlemen) from not only their church but several other churches around the city and members of the neighborhood/community at large.
The "M.C" has the attendees from the various churches that have bought tickets to raise their hands when she calls out their church and there are a good five or so usually mentioned. As for the aforementioned men, there was about eight there this year by my count (including the young man who provided the piano music that provided the entertainment). There is also a contingent of "Red Hat Society" ladies who fill up one full table each year.
The menu includes "fancy, shmancy" little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Some are layered, many are rolled. All are very cute. A few are even tasty. LOL. There is also scones with clotted cream and jam. I must say that I am definitely not a fan of clotted cream. In addition, they serve both white and dark chocolate-dipped strawberries and a variety of little pastries - my favorite, the chocolate-dipped shortbread "rounds" (which are actually not round at all - lol).
Even though this event takes place the Saturday before Mother's Day (that is to say, the day before) my mom always takes me and my sisters. It is the one time of the year when both my sisters, myself and my mom are all together. All in all, a very nice day and, I guess, a new tradition.
I mention "High Tea" at Beverly United because, other than the fact that it is, as I said, a nice new tradition in my family (and one of the few we have) it kind of "dove-tails" with my previous "Vanderbilt post". Basically, I am now part of the "hoi-polloi" who goes to High Tea, etc. LOL.
Anyway, I hope everyone else had a wonderful Mother's Day. If you would care to, feel free to post about your Mother's Day celebrations/traditions in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from my regular commenters and maybe some newbies.
Carmen
No not that kind of tea partier. For the third year in a row, my mother has bought tickets and taken my two older sisters and myself to the Third Annual High Tea held by her church (a United Church congregation). We have gone every year since it started.
It is a nice little fundraiser for the church that has very good attendance. As the "M.C" of the event always notes at the beginning of the event, it is attended by ladies (and a few odd - well not exactly odd, lol - gentlemen) from not only their church but several other churches around the city and members of the neighborhood/community at large.
The "M.C" has the attendees from the various churches that have bought tickets to raise their hands when she calls out their church and there are a good five or so usually mentioned. As for the aforementioned men, there was about eight there this year by my count (including the young man who provided the piano music that provided the entertainment). There is also a contingent of "Red Hat Society" ladies who fill up one full table each year.
The menu includes "fancy, shmancy" little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Some are layered, many are rolled. All are very cute. A few are even tasty. LOL. There is also scones with clotted cream and jam. I must say that I am definitely not a fan of clotted cream. In addition, they serve both white and dark chocolate-dipped strawberries and a variety of little pastries - my favorite, the chocolate-dipped shortbread "rounds" (which are actually not round at all - lol).
Even though this event takes place the Saturday before Mother's Day (that is to say, the day before) my mom always takes me and my sisters. It is the one time of the year when both my sisters, myself and my mom are all together. All in all, a very nice day and, I guess, a new tradition.
I mention "High Tea" at Beverly United because, other than the fact that it is, as I said, a nice new tradition in my family (and one of the few we have) it kind of "dove-tails" with my previous "Vanderbilt post". Basically, I am now part of the "hoi-polloi" who goes to High Tea, etc. LOL.
Anyway, I hope everyone else had a wonderful Mother's Day. If you would care to, feel free to post about your Mother's Day celebrations/traditions in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from my regular commenters and maybe some newbies.
Carmen
Friday, May 7, 2010
The "Burden" Of Friendship
Hello people. Today I have exciting news! At least I think so, anyway. But before I share it, let me digress. Today is apparently a special day in history. Today is the 170th Birthday (of course he's not actually around to celebrate it - lol) of the composer Tchiakovsky.
I only know this because Google (which is my homepage) had a "Google Doodle" up in place of it's usual faceplate or whatever you would call it. It was kinda ugly though, I must say. Anyway, I hovered over it with my cursor to find out what it was about and voila, Tchiakovsky.
A final thing about the composer (I almost typed composter by mistake - lol - I don't think people composted back then - lol) is that he was apparently, according to ABCnews.com, the creator of all of the following works: Swan Lake, The Nutcraker, Sleeping Beauty and the 1812 Overture. Now you know. You're welcome.
Now on to the topic of the day. Yesterday something absolutely amazing happened. It happened on goodreads.com. A day or so previous, I had been furiously adding new titles to my to-read list (I am at about 1900 - lol) and I came across a book by an author named Wendy Burden.
Wendy Burden is not just anyone. Remember how I had briefly mentioned Cornelius Vanderbilt in passing in my post on (Some) Women And A (Little) History about two posts ago. Well coincidentally (as this happened like a day or so after that post), Wendy Burden just happens to be Cornelius Vanderbilt's great, great, great, great granddaughter.
Well, apparently Ms. Burden just wrote a book called Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir. I read several reviews on goodreads and decided to contact the author who was on goodreads herself as a "goodreads author" and see if she would like to become an on-line goodreads "friend". I am excited to say she responded (and promptly I might add - probably the good training of youth - lol).
Perhaps what made her do this was my "delightful" little blurb I put with the request describing myself as 1st generation poor as opposed to her 4th (or is it 5th) generation filthy, stinking rich. LOL. Or perhaps she likes "slumming" - that is, seeing how the "other half" lives. Regardless, I now can say I have an (on-line) "friend" who is a descendant of the 11th richest family in U.S history (source forgotten - probably Wikipedia).
According to bookslut.com (that's right bookslut - those wild & wacky readers - lol), a online book review WB at one point in her book was "plunging without apparent irony, into bigotry and stereotype" when talking, for example, about the Irish maids. I, however, was more disturbed at the mention of her boiling her brother's pet turtles and pan-frying the hamster!
Bookslut.com also notes that her not so maternal mother gave her as a 14th birthday gift - the pill. That's right, the pill. I guess that shows a certain level of motherly concern. In one of the goodreads reviews someone quoted WB as saying that her mother only really acting like a mother one time of year. On her birthday.
Well, now that you know a little more about my latest "on-line friend" I will start to bring this post to a conclusion. Before that though, a last attempt at tying Tchiakovsky in with the Vanderbilts by way of the painter Renoir. I was thinking that perhaps in an effort to tie together the two aspects of this post I would try to find a Tchiakovsky desendant to befriend. LOL.
However, it would be easier I realized to "get to know" a Renoir, as there are actually (at least there used to be) actual Renoir descendants in Edmonton. I think I found this out in the Edmonton Journal a couple (many actually) years ago. If I am not mistaken they owned a restaurant in this city. Why Edmonton? Who knows.
Anyway, if I decide to continue being a "fame whoring friend finder" (or is it called "star-fucking" - lol) then the Renoir's it will have to be. Sorry about that Tchiakovsky.
Carmen
I only know this because Google (which is my homepage) had a "Google Doodle" up in place of it's usual faceplate or whatever you would call it. It was kinda ugly though, I must say. Anyway, I hovered over it with my cursor to find out what it was about and voila, Tchiakovsky.
A final thing about the composer (I almost typed composter by mistake - lol - I don't think people composted back then - lol) is that he was apparently, according to ABCnews.com, the creator of all of the following works: Swan Lake, The Nutcraker, Sleeping Beauty and the 1812 Overture. Now you know. You're welcome.
Now on to the topic of the day. Yesterday something absolutely amazing happened. It happened on goodreads.com. A day or so previous, I had been furiously adding new titles to my to-read list (I am at about 1900 - lol) and I came across a book by an author named Wendy Burden.
Wendy Burden is not just anyone. Remember how I had briefly mentioned Cornelius Vanderbilt in passing in my post on (Some) Women And A (Little) History about two posts ago. Well coincidentally (as this happened like a day or so after that post), Wendy Burden just happens to be Cornelius Vanderbilt's great, great, great, great granddaughter.
Well, apparently Ms. Burden just wrote a book called Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir. I read several reviews on goodreads and decided to contact the author who was on goodreads herself as a "goodreads author" and see if she would like to become an on-line goodreads "friend". I am excited to say she responded (and promptly I might add - probably the good training of youth - lol).
Perhaps what made her do this was my "delightful" little blurb I put with the request describing myself as 1st generation poor as opposed to her 4th (or is it 5th) generation filthy, stinking rich. LOL. Or perhaps she likes "slumming" - that is, seeing how the "other half" lives. Regardless, I now can say I have an (on-line) "friend" who is a descendant of the 11th richest family in U.S history (source forgotten - probably Wikipedia).
According to bookslut.com (that's right bookslut - those wild & wacky readers - lol), a online book review WB at one point in her book was "plunging without apparent irony, into bigotry and stereotype" when talking, for example, about the Irish maids. I, however, was more disturbed at the mention of her boiling her brother's pet turtles and pan-frying the hamster!
Bookslut.com also notes that her not so maternal mother gave her as a 14th birthday gift - the pill. That's right, the pill. I guess that shows a certain level of motherly concern. In one of the goodreads reviews someone quoted WB as saying that her mother only really acting like a mother one time of year. On her birthday.
Well, now that you know a little more about my latest "on-line friend" I will start to bring this post to a conclusion. Before that though, a last attempt at tying Tchiakovsky in with the Vanderbilts by way of the painter Renoir. I was thinking that perhaps in an effort to tie together the two aspects of this post I would try to find a Tchiakovsky desendant to befriend. LOL.
However, it would be easier I realized to "get to know" a Renoir, as there are actually (at least there used to be) actual Renoir descendants in Edmonton. I think I found this out in the Edmonton Journal a couple (many actually) years ago. If I am not mistaken they owned a restaurant in this city. Why Edmonton? Who knows.
Anyway, if I decide to continue being a "fame whoring friend finder" (or is it called "star-fucking" - lol) then the Renoir's it will have to be. Sorry about that Tchiakovsky.
Carmen
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
I Hate Little Kids
So, ok, the truth is I don't hate all little kids. Just some of them. One in particular. And the thing is I don't even know him. I know, I know. This makes me a very bad person. Nevertheless, it's true.
It all started about a week ago. I was minding my own business (yeah right - lol) and was taking a bus to a friends house. I was almost there when it happened. I have never been more disgusted in my life. Ok, so I am laying it on a little thick, but it was annoying.
About a dozen stops before I get off I notice this little kid, a boy, that was between 5 and 7 years old. He was with his dad. And he had his thumb in his mouth. Yes, that is correct, his thumb in his mouth. A kid who was between FIVE and SEVEN years old. Disgusting.
Perhaps, not all of you share my distaste (disgust) for this scene. But let me remind you he looked to be between FIVE and SEVEN. What in the world are parents doing letting their kids do that, and in public no less, at that age. My niece's two year old daughter isn't even allowed to do that, for God sake.
So tell me, slight over-reaction on my part (still sickened and annoyed thinking about it) or completely normal reaction by a sane and normal adult. Readers you be the judge.
Carmen
It all started about a week ago. I was minding my own business (yeah right - lol) and was taking a bus to a friends house. I was almost there when it happened. I have never been more disgusted in my life. Ok, so I am laying it on a little thick, but it was annoying.
About a dozen stops before I get off I notice this little kid, a boy, that was between 5 and 7 years old. He was with his dad. And he had his thumb in his mouth. Yes, that is correct, his thumb in his mouth. A kid who was between FIVE and SEVEN years old. Disgusting.
Perhaps, not all of you share my distaste (disgust) for this scene. But let me remind you he looked to be between FIVE and SEVEN. What in the world are parents doing letting their kids do that, and in public no less, at that age. My niece's two year old daughter isn't even allowed to do that, for God sake.
So tell me, slight over-reaction on my part (still sickened and annoyed thinking about it) or completely normal reaction by a sane and normal adult. Readers you be the judge.
Carmen
Monday, May 3, 2010
(Some) Women And (A Little) History
Continuing in much the same vein as the last two posts I decided that today I will talk about women and history. Specifically U.S. women and presidental history. Don't ask me why this subject interests me as much as it does, but it does.
Today, I will again try to keep it fairly brief. This is not out of any concern for the reader I must admit but sheer laziness. LOL. As always I would encourage you to read further on the subject - both on the internet and at the library.
This will not be a definitive listing of all the women to run until Hillary Clinton as in researching this on non Wikipedia sites it turns out that the list of candidates (both those that were considered more or less serious than others) is really quite long. These are just a smattering of those that interested me, as I was writing this, the most. These are the women who ran beginning in 1872 and ending in the year I was born 1968.
Let us begin at the beginning. Or at least at the beginning as I know it. The first woman I know of that ran for the presidency of the United States did so in 1872. That was almost exactly (4 years difference) 100 years before I was born and in the blink of an eye it will be 150 years ago! Her name was Victoria Woodhull.
One of the most interesting things about her is that she actually was quite radical in her personal life. She worked as a prostitute at one time! She also was a spirtualist. Although being a spiritualist wasn't as out there as some might think in "Victorian" times. Her sister Tennessee was also a spirtualist and got into some trouble as a result of this work. Her sister later married a titled British man. Woodhull herself didn't marry as well as her sister did but she did marry again, also to a British man. A banker. Not so bad I guess.
She also worked on Wall Street as the first female broker along with her sister. She and her sister became close to a big financier of the day, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who set them up in that business. They eventually had a falling out though, I believe.
They became quite wealthy as a result of this career turn.
Another thing she did was work as a muckraking journalist for a newspaper that she was in fact the publisher of. This was something she was able to do as the result of her financial success as a broker. She got in some trouble for this muckraking though. She was the one to expose a leading preacher of the day of having an affair with one of his parishoners. This got her into trouble as he was quite popular and was from a prominent family (he was the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe).
When she ran for president she actually chose as her running mate a black man, the also famous Frederick Douglass. He apparently disassociated himself from her during the campaign.
Also during Woodhulls lifetime there was another woman who ran to become the first female U.S. President. That was a woman named Belva Lockwood. Lockwood was a teacher then a principal and finally a lawyer. One of the first, if not the first lawyers in the United States. She gained her education after being widowed early and had, as it can be expected many troubles obtaining her education at that time.
Some say that she was the first women to legally run for president (because of some legal criticisms of Woodhull's candidacy) in 1884 and again in 1888. The first time she ran she ran with a female running mate. The second time with a male one. On her second run, her original choice for running mate was not shy in making his horror at the idea known and she had to pick another (again it was a male).
According to my favorite by not only source Wikipedia the next woman to run for President was in 1940 and was Gracie Allen. Yes, that Gracie Allen. It was apparently a gag/publicity stunt and her "party" was the Surprise Party. LOL. During the campaign she did a tour and with the "help" of the Burns/Allen writers wrote a book. She apparently even got some votes!
Fast forward to 1964. That is the year a Republican, Margaret Chase Smith, decided to run. She ran for the nomination of the Republican's to run for President for their party but did not get the nomination. She was a politican and was seen by some as a credible candidate but aside from sexism, ageism played a part in her not being taken very seriously overall. She was 66 at the time.
Finally in 1968, the glorious year that is my birth year and a pretty eventful year in U.S. history with the assassinations of both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. there was a run at the Presidency by the first Africian American woman (no not Shirley Chisholm). This was Charlene Mitchell and she ran for the Communist Party! Unlike Shirley Chisholm who ran her unsuccessful campaign for her parties nomination but was a popular and long-time elected politican, Charlene Mitchell actually got her parties nomination.
She was apparently the great granddaughter of a slave and was the only woman (or one of two) that the Communist Party has run for President. She got only 1,076 votes in the election compared to the 4,000 odd votes Belva Lockwood got in one of her two runs much earlier in the history of women running. It is also the case it seems that in the early 1990's she was run out of the party and now is part of an off-shoot party.
Well, that concludes my look at a small sampling of women who attempted to run for the U.S. Presidency. This also probably concludes, for awhile anyway, my writing about "world" events topics. So this will have to do for that, FJ. Back to my usual unimportant silliness that usually provides fodder for this masterpiece I call my blog. LOL.
Carmen
Today, I will again try to keep it fairly brief. This is not out of any concern for the reader I must admit but sheer laziness. LOL. As always I would encourage you to read further on the subject - both on the internet and at the library.
This will not be a definitive listing of all the women to run until Hillary Clinton as in researching this on non Wikipedia sites it turns out that the list of candidates (both those that were considered more or less serious than others) is really quite long. These are just a smattering of those that interested me, as I was writing this, the most. These are the women who ran beginning in 1872 and ending in the year I was born 1968.
Let us begin at the beginning. Or at least at the beginning as I know it. The first woman I know of that ran for the presidency of the United States did so in 1872. That was almost exactly (4 years difference) 100 years before I was born and in the blink of an eye it will be 150 years ago! Her name was Victoria Woodhull.
One of the most interesting things about her is that she actually was quite radical in her personal life. She worked as a prostitute at one time! She also was a spirtualist. Although being a spiritualist wasn't as out there as some might think in "Victorian" times. Her sister Tennessee was also a spirtualist and got into some trouble as a result of this work. Her sister later married a titled British man. Woodhull herself didn't marry as well as her sister did but she did marry again, also to a British man. A banker. Not so bad I guess.
She also worked on Wall Street as the first female broker along with her sister. She and her sister became close to a big financier of the day, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who set them up in that business. They eventually had a falling out though, I believe.
They became quite wealthy as a result of this career turn.
Another thing she did was work as a muckraking journalist for a newspaper that she was in fact the publisher of. This was something she was able to do as the result of her financial success as a broker. She got in some trouble for this muckraking though. She was the one to expose a leading preacher of the day of having an affair with one of his parishoners. This got her into trouble as he was quite popular and was from a prominent family (he was the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe).
When she ran for president she actually chose as her running mate a black man, the also famous Frederick Douglass. He apparently disassociated himself from her during the campaign.
Also during Woodhulls lifetime there was another woman who ran to become the first female U.S. President. That was a woman named Belva Lockwood. Lockwood was a teacher then a principal and finally a lawyer. One of the first, if not the first lawyers in the United States. She gained her education after being widowed early and had, as it can be expected many troubles obtaining her education at that time.
Some say that she was the first women to legally run for president (because of some legal criticisms of Woodhull's candidacy) in 1884 and again in 1888. The first time she ran she ran with a female running mate. The second time with a male one. On her second run, her original choice for running mate was not shy in making his horror at the idea known and she had to pick another (again it was a male).
According to my favorite by not only source Wikipedia the next woman to run for President was in 1940 and was Gracie Allen. Yes, that Gracie Allen. It was apparently a gag/publicity stunt and her "party" was the Surprise Party. LOL. During the campaign she did a tour and with the "help" of the Burns/Allen writers wrote a book. She apparently even got some votes!
Fast forward to 1964. That is the year a Republican, Margaret Chase Smith, decided to run. She ran for the nomination of the Republican's to run for President for their party but did not get the nomination. She was a politican and was seen by some as a credible candidate but aside from sexism, ageism played a part in her not being taken very seriously overall. She was 66 at the time.
Finally in 1968, the glorious year that is my birth year and a pretty eventful year in U.S. history with the assassinations of both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. there was a run at the Presidency by the first Africian American woman (no not Shirley Chisholm). This was Charlene Mitchell and she ran for the Communist Party! Unlike Shirley Chisholm who ran her unsuccessful campaign for her parties nomination but was a popular and long-time elected politican, Charlene Mitchell actually got her parties nomination.
She was apparently the great granddaughter of a slave and was the only woman (or one of two) that the Communist Party has run for President. She got only 1,076 votes in the election compared to the 4,000 odd votes Belva Lockwood got in one of her two runs much earlier in the history of women running. It is also the case it seems that in the early 1990's she was run out of the party and now is part of an off-shoot party.
Well, that concludes my look at a small sampling of women who attempted to run for the U.S. Presidency. This also probably concludes, for awhile anyway, my writing about "world" events topics. So this will have to do for that, FJ. Back to my usual unimportant silliness that usually provides fodder for this masterpiece I call my blog. LOL.
Carmen
Saturday, May 1, 2010
May Day!
Hi again, everybody. It's a funny thing but I heard from a FB friend and follower of this blog that she had just started to read my blog regularly when I went on my end of April "sabbatical". LOL. Naturally. That is just the way the universe seems to work. But that's ok. I'm back now.
As for my blog entry for today, it's a funny thing also that the last thing I wrote about was a special day (ANZAC Day) and today is another one (May Day). I don't think my May Day entry will be as long as the ANZAC Day one because I don't really feel like writing that much but since May Day is a holiday of "ours" (originating in North America), it just might turn out to be unexpected long. So consider yourself warned.
Off to google for a second ...
Apparently, the IWW (International Workers of the World) are alive and well in Richmond, Virginia circa May Day 2010. They held a parade there (Google May Day 2010). That caught my interest since I "participated" in a piece of "direct action" once (actually twice) against a former employer. I got the idea from the IWW, in a pamphet entitled "Fire The Boss". LOL.
Briefly, I was working for an employer who I think was having money troubles. He gave me a check that I took to his bank. The teller there was nice enough to tell me that it wouldn't clear (saving me - and the owner who was a friend of the teller I found out - a ridiculously large bank fee for an cashing an NSF cheque).
So, thinking about it from a IWW/"Fire The Boss" standpoint I came up with a nutty idea. I would take the nights deposit one night that was basically the same amount as my cheque. It's a wonder he didn't call the police. I think the reason he didn't was because he knew (even though he refused to admit it - and actively denied it in fact) that I knew that his account didn't have the money when it should.
Eventually we worked it out, I don't remember how, but all was well that ended well. Only it ended up happening a second time when I decided to stop working there. This time he threatened action and I accepted a check, which cleared.
Not something I would recommend anyone doing but I must say (in retrospect) I feel like a good little radical (a good thing indeed - lol) for having the experience. And not going to jail for it. LOL.
That was the beginning and end of my experience with the IWW although I find them interesting and would be interested in learning more about them and the people (including many famous labor activists) who were a part of them in the 1930's for example.
The only other time I actively participated in a labor action of any kind was to attend a May Day event one year around that time. I remember it because one of the people there was taking pictures which kind of made me queasy as it was a bit of a radical event or so I thought although the details escape me as it has been several years since and because it was at about the time I "got sick".
Back to May Day "proper", it started apparently in 1890 which is exactly 70 years ago (see same article on google that talked about the IWW parade in Virginia).
Two people that I would like to bring up at this point are the Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman. I can't say as I know very much about either but I want to share a tidbit or two about each that impresses me.
First, Eugene Debs. He was a leading socialist of his time and was actually defended in his first tangle with the law by Clarence Darrow who had switched sides (he had worked as a lawyer for the railroads that were on the other side of the issue).
He was one of the people to have gone on to help form the IWW. He ran for president 4or 5 times starting in 1900 and ending in 1920, the last time during which he was actually in prison for something like inciting draft dodging. He got something like 6percent of the vote!
When he was finally let out of jail on time served by the President of the United States (the new one as the old one detested him and made sure he stayed in prison) he actually met that President (Harding) at the White House and was mildly praised by him.
One final thing to note about Debs was that in spite of the man he became, he actually came from a rather privileged background. Which only goes to show you that you never can tell where a leader of a cause will come from.
Now for Emma Goldman. Emma Goldman was born in Russia. She came to the United States when she was quite young (about 15 or 16). She escaped being married off by her father before she left but married shortly after coming to America. It was unsuccessful. Unlike Debs, the socialist (as radical as he might have been, although not as radical as Bill Haywood) Goldman was an anarchist.
She was ahead of her time, believing and supporting things like atheism and homo-sexuality. She herself though did have a long-term relationship with a fellow male radical. She apparently wasn't a typical feminist (although she was a strong woman) and distanced herself from the suffragette movement(s) of the time it has been said.
The thing that stands out to me about Emma Goldman is that in a book I read (don't remember what it was exactly) it mentioned that in order to not get her friends in trouble when she herself was in a great deal of trouble at one point she actually took to sleeping in a public park rather than ask to be put up by some of them.
So much the radical anarchist she was actually deported at one time she nevertheless found her way back to North America first through Canada and then back to the United States.
While obviously no scholar of labor history (or any kind of history for that matter) I find these two people of interest when thinking of "modern day" men's and women's contributions to the labor movement. As you can see, while not an activist myself for the most part in my every day life I much admire people who put themselves on the line to forward the labor movement for the working class.
I encourage you to read a little something about each of these people and perhaps others you would encounter in reading their stories. As always, the first source I would encourage your use of is the quite useful Wikipedia.
On a final note, I'll leave you with "a question or few". What do you generally do for May Day, if anything? What about this year? Who are your labor heroes/heroines, if any?
Carmen
As for my blog entry for today, it's a funny thing also that the last thing I wrote about was a special day (ANZAC Day) and today is another one (May Day). I don't think my May Day entry will be as long as the ANZAC Day one because I don't really feel like writing that much but since May Day is a holiday of "ours" (originating in North America), it just might turn out to be unexpected long. So consider yourself warned.
Off to google for a second ...
Apparently, the IWW (International Workers of the World) are alive and well in Richmond, Virginia circa May Day 2010. They held a parade there (Google May Day 2010). That caught my interest since I "participated" in a piece of "direct action" once (actually twice) against a former employer. I got the idea from the IWW, in a pamphet entitled "Fire The Boss". LOL.
Briefly, I was working for an employer who I think was having money troubles. He gave me a check that I took to his bank. The teller there was nice enough to tell me that it wouldn't clear (saving me - and the owner who was a friend of the teller I found out - a ridiculously large bank fee for an cashing an NSF cheque).
So, thinking about it from a IWW/"Fire The Boss" standpoint I came up with a nutty idea. I would take the nights deposit one night that was basically the same amount as my cheque. It's a wonder he didn't call the police. I think the reason he didn't was because he knew (even though he refused to admit it - and actively denied it in fact) that I knew that his account didn't have the money when it should.
Eventually we worked it out, I don't remember how, but all was well that ended well. Only it ended up happening a second time when I decided to stop working there. This time he threatened action and I accepted a check, which cleared.
Not something I would recommend anyone doing but I must say (in retrospect) I feel like a good little radical (a good thing indeed - lol) for having the experience. And not going to jail for it. LOL.
That was the beginning and end of my experience with the IWW although I find them interesting and would be interested in learning more about them and the people (including many famous labor activists) who were a part of them in the 1930's for example.
The only other time I actively participated in a labor action of any kind was to attend a May Day event one year around that time. I remember it because one of the people there was taking pictures which kind of made me queasy as it was a bit of a radical event or so I thought although the details escape me as it has been several years since and because it was at about the time I "got sick".
Back to May Day "proper", it started apparently in 1890 which is exactly 70 years ago (see same article on google that talked about the IWW parade in Virginia).
Two people that I would like to bring up at this point are the Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman. I can't say as I know very much about either but I want to share a tidbit or two about each that impresses me.
First, Eugene Debs. He was a leading socialist of his time and was actually defended in his first tangle with the law by Clarence Darrow who had switched sides (he had worked as a lawyer for the railroads that were on the other side of the issue).
He was one of the people to have gone on to help form the IWW. He ran for president 4or 5 times starting in 1900 and ending in 1920, the last time during which he was actually in prison for something like inciting draft dodging. He got something like 6percent of the vote!
When he was finally let out of jail on time served by the President of the United States (the new one as the old one detested him and made sure he stayed in prison) he actually met that President (Harding) at the White House and was mildly praised by him.
One final thing to note about Debs was that in spite of the man he became, he actually came from a rather privileged background. Which only goes to show you that you never can tell where a leader of a cause will come from.
Now for Emma Goldman. Emma Goldman was born in Russia. She came to the United States when she was quite young (about 15 or 16). She escaped being married off by her father before she left but married shortly after coming to America. It was unsuccessful. Unlike Debs, the socialist (as radical as he might have been, although not as radical as Bill Haywood) Goldman was an anarchist.
She was ahead of her time, believing and supporting things like atheism and homo-sexuality. She herself though did have a long-term relationship with a fellow male radical. She apparently wasn't a typical feminist (although she was a strong woman) and distanced herself from the suffragette movement(s) of the time it has been said.
The thing that stands out to me about Emma Goldman is that in a book I read (don't remember what it was exactly) it mentioned that in order to not get her friends in trouble when she herself was in a great deal of trouble at one point she actually took to sleeping in a public park rather than ask to be put up by some of them.
So much the radical anarchist she was actually deported at one time she nevertheless found her way back to North America first through Canada and then back to the United States.
While obviously no scholar of labor history (or any kind of history for that matter) I find these two people of interest when thinking of "modern day" men's and women's contributions to the labor movement. As you can see, while not an activist myself for the most part in my every day life I much admire people who put themselves on the line to forward the labor movement for the working class.
I encourage you to read a little something about each of these people and perhaps others you would encounter in reading their stories. As always, the first source I would encourage your use of is the quite useful Wikipedia.
On a final note, I'll leave you with "a question or few". What do you generally do for May Day, if anything? What about this year? Who are your labor heroes/heroines, if any?
Carmen
Sunday, April 25, 2010
A Sunlit Day
I was going to title this post "Another Kick At The Can" because it is mostly going to be about me trying seriously (at least a little more seriously) this time to write on FJ's topic for me from last post on "The World Today".
If you look in the comments for that post you will see that he felt a little bit "cheated" by my efforts. In a way I can't blame him as his efforts in his take on my subject for him, "My First Girlfriend", were more direct.
Nevertheless, I want it known that he did not guilt me into taking this second kick at the can so to speak. I had it planned pretty much after I finished writing the previous post.
One thing I will say right off though is I pre-wrote the more light-hearted one quite quickly in my head and in short notes on paper before doing it on-line. This one is going to be much harder (which is why I originally had no plans to do it "seriously") and I may or may not be so successful.
But before I start let me (excitedly I might add) tell you why the title was changed to "A Sunlit Day". When I came here tonight (I am actually writing this at the "real" time that the time stamp says - lol), I found 2 new followers. One was one I "directed here", again from FB. Speaking of which, thanks Lucia.
Lucia, is a very busy and accomplished lady who is fluent in several languages. She is a Spanish woman who moved to Montreal and now has duel citizenship. She is so busy, because she is moving (and for many other reasons I'm sure), yet again, to Korea of all places for a job. Congratulations, good luck and thanks again, Lucia.
But back to the title change. The reason for that is the second person who I found out had unexpectedly joined my blog followers. This was a total surprise. I had left a comment on another blog I happened upon in poking around the blogosphere as I do occasionally (although not enough).
It was during this journey that I came across a young girl (only 15!) named Jessica, who lives in New York and writes a blog called A Sunlit Day. I decided to title this after her blog because I am so excited to have only my second follower who I did not relentlessly self-direct here and who took it upon herself to join.
Please check out her blog at http://a sunlitday.blogspot.com/
Now back to the meat on the bone. What to write about "The World Today". My friend who can not be named suggested talking about the internet. Maybe because she thinks it is the only subject related to the world today that I actually might know something about as I regularly bore her with internet (ie. mostly blog) talk.
When she said this I decided (at the time anyway) to right about all the different social networks and other things (seemingly hundreds of them) that you can "link" (if that is the right word) content from other things to using something that I think is called Add It. It even has it's own toolbar!
However, since I know so little about it, other than it seems awfully cool, to me anyway (and more than a bit overwhelming) how many different things there are to use, I really don't know enough (anything really - lol) about it. Except that I joined (and haven't used or figured out what it's for either - lol) Stumble Upon.
Another possibility occurred just now as I was coming back from a brief bathroom break (TMI anybody - lol). As I shut my door on the way back in to my room I decided to look at the mini-calendar on the back of my door since it is so close to the end of the month. Checking out how much month is left.
Anyway, I noticed that today is actually a special day somewhere in the world. Australia and New Zealand to be precise. So with no further ado, allow me to introduce to you - ANZAC Day. And yes, it is all capitalized. Now to do a quick google search on what exactly ANZAC Day is. My guess being a day of national pride.
...
Well, I'm back. Google directed me to Wikipedia. A not so quick reading of the full article on ANZAC Day reveals that it is indeed for the most part considered a "day of national pride" as I had guessed. In fact it is the shared "Remembrance Day" of both Australia and New Zealand primarily and a few little island like places as well.
I think I have my topic. Especially since it is literally about the world today, as in today, April 25th.
Because I obviously just learned about ANZAC Day from Wikipedia I can't do it justice the way they did and don't intend to basically plagarize the entire article (which is quite long anyway). So I will just share some of the main things that I picked out of the article as signifigant (to me anyway).
I do encourage you all to look at the wikipedia article after you are done here. It is long but is fairly interesting.
What follows comes directly from Wikipedia. First of all, ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers were known as Anzacs. ANZAC Day now "broadly commemorates" servicepeople from all conflicts that Australia and New Zealand have participated in.
Wikipedia calls it "a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same Remembrance Day, but making reference to both countries in it's name". It is held on the same date every year as the landing in Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI.
There is criticism of Anzac Day by both Australians and New Zealanders. An early one was in 1960. It came with the publication of Alan Seymours "classic" play, The One Day A Year. It criticised as "a day of drunken debachery by soldiers" by its main character Hughie and should be "a day when questions of what it means to be loyal to a nation or Empire must be raised".
One Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, actually had the nerve (guts perhaps) to note that it should not be a day of "uncritical and self-serving embrace of the Anzac spirit".
"ANZAC Day has also been marked by protests against contemporary wars" like Vietnam and in recent years by feminists, etc. Feminists were protesting against male violence specifically against women in war and were not surprisingly but still I would say shamefully banned from marching.
Which in my mind goes to show that the sacrifices of war don't seem to teach the "hyper-patriotic" (my words) much about freedom of speech. Commemorating war-time sacrifice is highly important but shouldn't preclude the just as important assertion of freedom of speech which presumably was one of the more important things that is/was and always should be one of the few things worth fighting for.
"Other criticisms have revolved around a perceived overzealousness in Australian attachment to the event, at the expense of remembrance of the contribution of New Zealand ... In 2009 New Zealand historians noted that some Australian children were unaware that New Zealand was a part of Anzac". This seems bizarre considering that the first thing they probably should have been taught is what the acronym stands for!
ANZAC Day is observed with primarily dawn vigils/dawn services that used to be reserved for the servicepeople themselves with the general public coming to the later in the day marches but now family and young people are encouraged to come too.
The signifigance of the dawn timing of the services is that it "symbolically links" it to the dawn landing in Gallipoli and it is a "quiet, peaceful" time for the returned soldiers to "seek comradeship" with their fellow servicepeople.
The nadir of services was during the Vietnam War. The apogee is in recent times with many young people "embracing" it.
In a final piece of information on the holiday, one of the traditions of ANZAC Day is the "gunfire breakfast" (coffee with rum) "which happens shortly after many dawn ceremonies and recalls the breakfast of many soldiers before facing battle".
So, there you go, FJ, and any others perhaps looking for a different kind of post. Let me leave you with a last thought or two on what this post will hopefully cause the average reader to reflect upon.
Hopefully, we can all, whatever our nationality and beliefs remember to, well, remember as well as to temper that with the ability to remember all that was fought for and never to let unchecked patriotism stiffle reasonable dissent and protest.
If you do go to the Wikipedia article as I mentioned before there is a moving quote by a Turkish leader of the 30's that I urge you to note. I won't add it here as I have used more than enough of Wikipedia's information (you really should check out the original article) and you may be interested in some of the information I deliberately left out.
Carmen
PS. The title is I think a doubly good one, if I do say so myself, as it references both Jessica and the soldiers dawn services and what was fought for - many more sunlit days. Just a thought.
PPS. As you have probably noticed if you have been following my blog from the beginning or shortly thereafter, I have finally figured out how to use the link button, which like my dear italics button has changed since I started posting. I can now make my links clickable again. Also, a few days ago I got a new widget, the FB badge. It is the only way I knew how to get any kind of a picture on this blog. LOL. Also it includes my email address, and on the top of the main page, which I like because I encourage any and all to email as well as leave comments.
PPPS. Today will probably be my last post until May as I have a, probably silly, habit of trying to do things like "metering" my postings paragraphs, which also includes things like tediously "self-justifying" (a formating device) my sentences on things like resumes when they don't naturally do so and, as relates to not posting until May now, to "metering" my posts in terms of number of posts per month since beginning this blog. Check my archives if you want to see what I mean about this last one. Anyway, till May 1st or so, take care.
The C.A.T.
If you look in the comments for that post you will see that he felt a little bit "cheated" by my efforts. In a way I can't blame him as his efforts in his take on my subject for him, "My First Girlfriend", were more direct.
Nevertheless, I want it known that he did not guilt me into taking this second kick at the can so to speak. I had it planned pretty much after I finished writing the previous post.
One thing I will say right off though is I pre-wrote the more light-hearted one quite quickly in my head and in short notes on paper before doing it on-line. This one is going to be much harder (which is why I originally had no plans to do it "seriously") and I may or may not be so successful.
But before I start let me (excitedly I might add) tell you why the title was changed to "A Sunlit Day". When I came here tonight (I am actually writing this at the "real" time that the time stamp says - lol), I found 2 new followers. One was one I "directed here", again from FB. Speaking of which, thanks Lucia.
Lucia, is a very busy and accomplished lady who is fluent in several languages. She is a Spanish woman who moved to Montreal and now has duel citizenship. She is so busy, because she is moving (and for many other reasons I'm sure), yet again, to Korea of all places for a job. Congratulations, good luck and thanks again, Lucia.
But back to the title change. The reason for that is the second person who I found out had unexpectedly joined my blog followers. This was a total surprise. I had left a comment on another blog I happened upon in poking around the blogosphere as I do occasionally (although not enough).
It was during this journey that I came across a young girl (only 15!) named Jessica, who lives in New York and writes a blog called A Sunlit Day. I decided to title this after her blog because I am so excited to have only my second follower who I did not relentlessly self-direct here and who took it upon herself to join.
Please check out her blog at http://a sunlitday.blogspot.com/
Now back to the meat on the bone. What to write about "The World Today". My friend who can not be named suggested talking about the internet. Maybe because she thinks it is the only subject related to the world today that I actually might know something about as I regularly bore her with internet (ie. mostly blog) talk.
When she said this I decided (at the time anyway) to right about all the different social networks and other things (seemingly hundreds of them) that you can "link" (if that is the right word) content from other things to using something that I think is called Add It. It even has it's own toolbar!
However, since I know so little about it, other than it seems awfully cool, to me anyway (and more than a bit overwhelming) how many different things there are to use, I really don't know enough (anything really - lol) about it. Except that I joined (and haven't used or figured out what it's for either - lol) Stumble Upon.
Another possibility occurred just now as I was coming back from a brief bathroom break (TMI anybody - lol). As I shut my door on the way back in to my room I decided to look at the mini-calendar on the back of my door since it is so close to the end of the month. Checking out how much month is left.
Anyway, I noticed that today is actually a special day somewhere in the world. Australia and New Zealand to be precise. So with no further ado, allow me to introduce to you - ANZAC Day. And yes, it is all capitalized. Now to do a quick google search on what exactly ANZAC Day is. My guess being a day of national pride.
...
Well, I'm back. Google directed me to Wikipedia. A not so quick reading of the full article on ANZAC Day reveals that it is indeed for the most part considered a "day of national pride" as I had guessed. In fact it is the shared "Remembrance Day" of both Australia and New Zealand primarily and a few little island like places as well.
I think I have my topic. Especially since it is literally about the world today, as in today, April 25th.
Because I obviously just learned about ANZAC Day from Wikipedia I can't do it justice the way they did and don't intend to basically plagarize the entire article (which is quite long anyway). So I will just share some of the main things that I picked out of the article as signifigant (to me anyway).
I do encourage you all to look at the wikipedia article after you are done here. It is long but is fairly interesting.
What follows comes directly from Wikipedia. First of all, ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers were known as Anzacs. ANZAC Day now "broadly commemorates" servicepeople from all conflicts that Australia and New Zealand have participated in.
Wikipedia calls it "a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same Remembrance Day, but making reference to both countries in it's name". It is held on the same date every year as the landing in Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI.
There is criticism of Anzac Day by both Australians and New Zealanders. An early one was in 1960. It came with the publication of Alan Seymours "classic" play, The One Day A Year. It criticised as "a day of drunken debachery by soldiers" by its main character Hughie and should be "a day when questions of what it means to be loyal to a nation or Empire must be raised".
One Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, actually had the nerve (guts perhaps) to note that it should not be a day of "uncritical and self-serving embrace of the Anzac spirit".
"ANZAC Day has also been marked by protests against contemporary wars" like Vietnam and in recent years by feminists, etc. Feminists were protesting against male violence specifically against women in war and were not surprisingly but still I would say shamefully banned from marching.
Which in my mind goes to show that the sacrifices of war don't seem to teach the "hyper-patriotic" (my words) much about freedom of speech. Commemorating war-time sacrifice is highly important but shouldn't preclude the just as important assertion of freedom of speech which presumably was one of the more important things that is/was and always should be one of the few things worth fighting for.
"Other criticisms have revolved around a perceived overzealousness in Australian attachment to the event, at the expense of remembrance of the contribution of New Zealand ... In 2009 New Zealand historians noted that some Australian children were unaware that New Zealand was a part of Anzac". This seems bizarre considering that the first thing they probably should have been taught is what the acronym stands for!
ANZAC Day is observed with primarily dawn vigils/dawn services that used to be reserved for the servicepeople themselves with the general public coming to the later in the day marches but now family and young people are encouraged to come too.
The signifigance of the dawn timing of the services is that it "symbolically links" it to the dawn landing in Gallipoli and it is a "quiet, peaceful" time for the returned soldiers to "seek comradeship" with their fellow servicepeople.
The nadir of services was during the Vietnam War. The apogee is in recent times with many young people "embracing" it.
In a final piece of information on the holiday, one of the traditions of ANZAC Day is the "gunfire breakfast" (coffee with rum) "which happens shortly after many dawn ceremonies and recalls the breakfast of many soldiers before facing battle".
So, there you go, FJ, and any others perhaps looking for a different kind of post. Let me leave you with a last thought or two on what this post will hopefully cause the average reader to reflect upon.
Hopefully, we can all, whatever our nationality and beliefs remember to, well, remember as well as to temper that with the ability to remember all that was fought for and never to let unchecked patriotism stiffle reasonable dissent and protest.
If you do go to the Wikipedia article as I mentioned before there is a moving quote by a Turkish leader of the 30's that I urge you to note. I won't add it here as I have used more than enough of Wikipedia's information (you really should check out the original article) and you may be interested in some of the information I deliberately left out.
Carmen
PS. The title is I think a doubly good one, if I do say so myself, as it references both Jessica and the soldiers dawn services and what was fought for - many more sunlit days. Just a thought.
PPS. As you have probably noticed if you have been following my blog from the beginning or shortly thereafter, I have finally figured out how to use the link button, which like my dear italics button has changed since I started posting. I can now make my links clickable again. Also, a few days ago I got a new widget, the FB badge. It is the only way I knew how to get any kind of a picture on this blog. LOL. Also it includes my email address, and on the top of the main page, which I like because I encourage any and all to email as well as leave comments.
PPPS. Today will probably be my last post until May as I have a, probably silly, habit of trying to do things like "metering" my postings paragraphs, which also includes things like tediously "self-justifying" (a formating device) my sentences on things like resumes when they don't naturally do so and, as relates to not posting until May now, to "metering" my posts in terms of number of posts per month since beginning this blog. Check my archives if you want to see what I mean about this last one. Anyway, till May 1st or so, take care.
The C.A.T.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The World Today!
Today is a "command performance". I made an agreement with my FB and blogging friend FJ to swap blog topic choices. He picked mine for me and I picked his for him. I think I got the short end of the stick on this one. He may say different. LOL.
His for me is "The World Today!" (exclamation point mine). Mine for him is "My First Girlfriend".
My comment to him upon hearing my topic was "I hate you". His to me was "You &%^$@#" I have to say though I have backup on my complaint. I was talking to a fellow follower of both of ours on our blogs named Mark. Mark agrees with me. LOL.
Mark's exact words were "That is a truly sucky topic". I couldn't agree more Mark. LOL. BTW, Mark has graciously allowed me to use his name. I offered to note that an anonymous person agreed with me after all the trouble I've had lately with people not wanting to be mentioned, especially by name.
Mark, bless his soul, said "Use my name, it would be proof you didn't make it up". My journalistic impulses are vindicated, finally. Someone understands that without names it somehow isn't the same.
I was also telling Mark that I told FJ that if necessary I would "twist his topic, like a pretzel" to get to a topic I liked. LOL. FJ considered this unacceptable. Well, cheating anyway. So I agreed I would do it only if absolutely neccessary.
Mark agreed that if twisting the topic like a pretzel was anyones job, then I was "creative enough to do it". Thanks Mark. I think that was a compliment. LOL.
I also told Mark that just because I promised to try to not twist without trying to comply with the spirit of things first I didn't promise not to ask for help. LOL.
So after some consultation here is what we came up with...
The world today is round and blue and green and brown mostly. It has lots of water (but not enough)...
- my part
...The world today looks different than it did 16 million years ago. Period.
- Marks part
So there you have it. A collaboration between FJ and me (and Mark). I did tell FJ that he'd probably like it as it would probably be short. (At least the main body of this post that actually deals with the topic selected itself.) He just probably doesn't have a clue how short. LOL.
Carmen
His for me is "The World Today!" (exclamation point mine). Mine for him is "My First Girlfriend".
My comment to him upon hearing my topic was "I hate you". His to me was "You &%^$@#" I have to say though I have backup on my complaint. I was talking to a fellow follower of both of ours on our blogs named Mark. Mark agrees with me. LOL.
Mark's exact words were "That is a truly sucky topic". I couldn't agree more Mark. LOL. BTW, Mark has graciously allowed me to use his name. I offered to note that an anonymous person agreed with me after all the trouble I've had lately with people not wanting to be mentioned, especially by name.
Mark, bless his soul, said "Use my name, it would be proof you didn't make it up". My journalistic impulses are vindicated, finally. Someone understands that without names it somehow isn't the same.
I was also telling Mark that I told FJ that if necessary I would "twist his topic, like a pretzel" to get to a topic I liked. LOL. FJ considered this unacceptable. Well, cheating anyway. So I agreed I would do it only if absolutely neccessary.
Mark agreed that if twisting the topic like a pretzel was anyones job, then I was "creative enough to do it". Thanks Mark. I think that was a compliment. LOL.
I also told Mark that just because I promised to try to not twist without trying to comply with the spirit of things first I didn't promise not to ask for help. LOL.
So after some consultation here is what we came up with...
The world today is round and blue and green and brown mostly. It has lots of water (but not enough)...
- my part
...The world today looks different than it did 16 million years ago. Period.
- Marks part
So there you have it. A collaboration between FJ and me (and Mark). I did tell FJ that he'd probably like it as it would probably be short. (At least the main body of this post that actually deals with the topic selected itself.) He just probably doesn't have a clue how short. LOL.
Carmen
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Just Because You Fake It ...
Ok. First let me start off by saying a few introductory things. To FJ and all the others who got bored reading Part I and Part II of my LiveBridge trilogy. Sometimes my posts are really long, sometimes they are really short, and sometimes they are just right. LOL. Those obviously weren't the times they were just right. Long and probably boring to people who weren't there (and maybe even those who were). As for Part III, I think I redeemed myself there.
When I was talking to Anthony on FB he said something about the guy on the toilet (but not exactly what he said in his comment on the post) and I said that the guy was probably faking it. "Buyers are liars" after all. That is when he literally handed me the title of this post by saying "Just Because You Fake It, Doesn't Mean Everyone Else Does Too". LOL.
Well, that brings me to another work related story. But relax. The LiveBridge stories have concluded for now. This story relates to my time as a semi-pro slurpologist at 7-Eleven. It was a dark and stormy night. Wrong story. LOL. Back to the real story.
It was policy to greet each and every customer as they walked through the front door and the electronic bell rang to announce them for two reasons. One was, of course to be friendly and let them know that we appreciated their business. The other reason was more practical in nature. It let potential shoplifters know that we saw them come in and were on the ball.
Anyway, I greeted this one man who came in with a friendly hello as soon as my Pavlovian bell told me it was time to do so. He did his shopping quite quickly as I remember or may have just come to the till for something. We chatted a little. A conversation that I no doubt initiated based on some icebreaker.
Perhaps the chat was a little longer than I first mentioned. Or not. Either way, at the end of it, he was suitably impressed with me to say that I was extremely friendly and he might have even said something along the lines of me being one of the nicest clerks he had ever met.
That's when it happened. I screwed up. Big time. He asked me how I could be so friendly in such a job. Trying (but obviously not succeeding) at being funny, I actually said "I'm faking it!". You should have seen the look on his face immediately after I said that. Totally deflated. He took me completely seriously. Maybe I was a little serious when I said it. And he clued into that.
But mostly I was joking. No matter. After giving me such a nice complement, he was as I said, totally deflated. I tried to tell him I was kidding. But it was no use. He couldn't be cheered up. It was such a startling transformation in mood it brought to mind the way a guy would look and sound if you told him point-blank that you were faking it in bed! LOL. It was that severe.
So never again, I hope, will I ever be so cavallier with my humor when someone is trying to be complementary. It sure didn't pay off that day. And after about 20 years I still remember this. I am hanging my head as I type this. LOL. Ok, maybe not but I do still regret it and feel bad for the poor guy who was just trying to be nice.
Carmen
P.S. This is my 50th Post. Yay! I think I may just wait a bit with the submission to the blog review "I will ^*&%$ tear you apart" as I am thinking of proofreading all my entries first. I know, I know. What a chickenshit. What can I say. It's true.
P.P.S. This second post "in one day" was because I hit a wrong button and posted a blank post initially. I thought of Anthony's comment dovetailing with this story and thought ok I'll post again. I say "in one day" in quotes because I am actually finishing this today ...
... P.P.P.S - LOL On Earth Day - Thursday, April 22, 2010. So instead of bogusly saying wishing you an early Happy Earth Day I will just come clean and say plain old Happy Earth Day and don't forget the hour without power.
The C.A.T.
When I was talking to Anthony on FB he said something about the guy on the toilet (but not exactly what he said in his comment on the post) and I said that the guy was probably faking it. "Buyers are liars" after all. That is when he literally handed me the title of this post by saying "Just Because You Fake It, Doesn't Mean Everyone Else Does Too". LOL.
Well, that brings me to another work related story. But relax. The LiveBridge stories have concluded for now. This story relates to my time as a semi-pro slurpologist at 7-Eleven. It was a dark and stormy night. Wrong story. LOL. Back to the real story.
It was policy to greet each and every customer as they walked through the front door and the electronic bell rang to announce them for two reasons. One was, of course to be friendly and let them know that we appreciated their business. The other reason was more practical in nature. It let potential shoplifters know that we saw them come in and were on the ball.
Anyway, I greeted this one man who came in with a friendly hello as soon as my Pavlovian bell told me it was time to do so. He did his shopping quite quickly as I remember or may have just come to the till for something. We chatted a little. A conversation that I no doubt initiated based on some icebreaker.
Perhaps the chat was a little longer than I first mentioned. Or not. Either way, at the end of it, he was suitably impressed with me to say that I was extremely friendly and he might have even said something along the lines of me being one of the nicest clerks he had ever met.
That's when it happened. I screwed up. Big time. He asked me how I could be so friendly in such a job. Trying (but obviously not succeeding) at being funny, I actually said "I'm faking it!". You should have seen the look on his face immediately after I said that. Totally deflated. He took me completely seriously. Maybe I was a little serious when I said it. And he clued into that.
But mostly I was joking. No matter. After giving me such a nice complement, he was as I said, totally deflated. I tried to tell him I was kidding. But it was no use. He couldn't be cheered up. It was such a startling transformation in mood it brought to mind the way a guy would look and sound if you told him point-blank that you were faking it in bed! LOL. It was that severe.
So never again, I hope, will I ever be so cavallier with my humor when someone is trying to be complementary. It sure didn't pay off that day. And after about 20 years I still remember this. I am hanging my head as I type this. LOL. Ok, maybe not but I do still regret it and feel bad for the poor guy who was just trying to be nice.
Carmen
P.S. This is my 50th Post. Yay! I think I may just wait a bit with the submission to the blog review "I will ^*&%$ tear you apart" as I am thinking of proofreading all my entries first. I know, I know. What a chickenshit. What can I say. It's true.
P.P.S. This second post "in one day" was because I hit a wrong button and posted a blank post initially. I thought of Anthony's comment dovetailing with this story and thought ok I'll post again. I say "in one day" in quotes because I am actually finishing this today ...
... P.P.P.S - LOL On Earth Day - Thursday, April 22, 2010. So instead of bogusly saying wishing you an early Happy Earth Day I will just come clean and say plain old Happy Earth Day and don't forget the hour without power.
The C.A.T.
Life At LiveBridge - Part III
So the last time I wrote, I admitted that my posting left at least a little to be desired. So today, in my final posting in the main LiveBridge series (which is not to say I won't mention some people more as individuals later) I will talk more about the calls themselves and other information that I hope will be a little more interesting.
As many years have passed (in August it will be 10 years(!) since I started working there), the stories that are really sticky in my mind are probably few so this will be a much shorter post than the last two (then again maybe not! LOL).
In mentioning the UFO story (CFO vs. UFO) in the last post I have pretty much said it all about Experian as far as my call related "humor" goes. There are 2 "celebrity" stories that came out of my rather short time in Experian though.
The first is probably the best, such as it is. It was on my birthday, in fact, in the year 2000 of course since I was in that area only a few months. I called a business that seemed to be located out of a home. I can't prove it but I think I called Clint Eastwood's wife Dina's company. It used the same last name as her maiden name and seemed to be in the media industry.
I think it was a home based business because the person who picked up the phone sounded like CE himself! Now I definitely can't prove it, but the length of the call (or absence of it being more to the point - lol) kind of bears me out. I did my usual introductory spiel and got that far but no farther. LOL. I was met with a brusque (Eastwoodesque?) not interested.
The second brush with celebrity was by "proxy". I was talking to a guy in California somewhere and we got talking a fair bit (a definite no-no as I stated in the previous post) when he pointed out that he was the "next-door" neighbor (as much as you can be on a ranch) of the 70's and 80's TV star (and one of the actresses I most wanted to look like growing up) Cheryl Ladd. Again nothing I can prove in a court-of-law. LOL.
Next we move on to my next assignment - newspapers. The scene of my biggest crime. It was when I was in newspapers that I probably got the most creative about selling stuff. Was even threatened with being fired! The incident in question was when I told one person (I think it was a man), and not for the first time I might add, that he could use the paper for papier mache with his wife/girlfriend to "spice things up a bit". LOL. Seriously. Didn't sell the paper unfortunately and I think I got a Calgary Herald representative that was seeded into the calls. I did get a laugh though. And isn't that all that really counts.
That is also were I believe I started calling the male management "management boy" when requesting their "services" (LOL) to verify my sales, etc. It is testimony to my charming personality, I'd like to think anyway, that I did not get hit with a sexual harrassment complaint or ten. My favorite "management boy", the "Roy of Sunshine" even took to calling me "papier mache girl" until I asked him not to in a rare show of ninnyism on my part when thinking about what my 2nd favorite newspaper "management boy" (the one who threatened to fire me - I don't hold grudges! LOL) would think.
Now comes credit cards, the scene of most of my crimes and mis-demeanors. I'll go in order as memory serves me. First, there was the guy who said he wasn't interested initially (most all sales even say that so you can't let a little thing like that stop you - lol) and then after chatting him up a bit got him to go through the rather lengthy questioning process for the application. After each and every question however, he reitterated that he really didn't want a(nother) credit card.
Not one to let a little thing like that dissuade me I continued the "process". Each and every question. A (mere) objection from him. A (spirited) rebuttal from me. Until finally near the end of either the application questions or disclosure statement (likely the questions as the disclosure was recorded) he told me he was taking the call on the toilet. LOL. What did I do then? Continue of course, reminding him that saying that on the recording coming up would probably not be a good idea. This card was a sale.
Then there was the one where I told another guy that a card with an APR much higher than he was (willing to admit anyway) already carrying on his current card(s) was the equivalent of the girlfriend in the shocking pink bra and panties with all the extra features that necessitated the high APR and his "more sensible" cards with the lower APR were like the faithful, loyal wife at home. This got a laugh but he was playing hardball and no sale for me as I remember. It was calls like this that had the "Roy of Sunshine" telling me I was supposed to be selling the cards not myself! LOL.
There was also a time in System 1 (I can still see it in my minds eye) when I actually fell asleep making my pitch and sort of woke up when I realized that I was actually babbling something (more than likely off-script) and found out just how good I am at reestablishing control to the situation (or more than likely just how much some people are willing to put up with when they really want or need something). Sale!
Saving the best for last, there was the time I actually managed to sell a credit card to a man (I swear many of my sales were to women too. Really. I swear) who originally told me to put me on the Do Not Call List. Yup. Even that does not deter a true "teleharrassment specialist" (I should trademark that title - after all I coined it way back when).
Since he asked me to put him on the dreaded list almost immediately after I said hello, inspiration struck me that day and I asked a question I never asked before or since. I asked him if he knew why he wanted to be put on the list. Being a good sport he let me tell him what I was actually selling when I told him he didn't even know that yet.
His next gambit (you learn that it's all a cat and mouse game - lol) was to give me the worst (from my point of view as the seller) objection he could foist on me. He didn't believe in credit cards. This was the worst objection possible as it is the hardest, in my opinion anyway, to rebut. But after assuring him that credit cards did in fact exist (a little joke that got a fair sized laugh) I pointed out that it could be a just-in-case card. Bingo. I'm sure the joke smoothed the way for him to be so easily sold with just one rebuttal instead of the usual three we were allowed or the thirty or so I was used to giving (seriously - I actually got in trouble once for giving 27 rebuttals - as if they'd started counting from the beginning - but that was not the norm - maybe 10 tops. LOL). Another sale.
This one got me a mixed review with management. There was a manager who I won't name (for reasons you'll come to understand shortly) who once regailed a sales meeting with a story of how he used to use a bait-and-switch technique when he used to sell electronic equipment. After the sale, I immediately signed myself off of my terminal (again not the norm) to rush to his office to tell him that I (with a huge grin on my face and maybe even laughing) told him that I sold a credit card to someone who originally told me to DNC him. This went over less well than I thought. I was shocked. I thought if anyone would appreciate my accomplishment, he would. We left it at a stalemate where I was still happy with my self and not concealing it and he offered a weak warning that I might find myself in trouble after/if the tape got reviewed.
Not to be put off from my crowing about my amazing feat of salesmanship I then went to the newspaper guy who was also upper management and gave him a chance to redeem management in my eyes by congratulating me on the accomplishment. He came through a little better with no warnings (in fairness, it really wasn't his department so that's probably why he was less of a fuddy-duddy about it) and making the point that since the guy agreed it probably wasn't a problem. Vindication. Sweet vindication. This from the guy who was threatening (basically an empty one too, I think, that was more to scare me in line) to fire me for the papier mache comment.
That brings me to my last story. One call that came through the center that I did not mention before because of it's brevity was NARAL - Pro-Choice Voices. This was a survey - a very short one - where the rep was supposed to mine e-mail addresses. It was harder than it sounds because many people back then apparently only had work and not personal e-mails and it was a divisive and obviously political issue. This was I believe being done just before or after a U.S Election at one level or another.
I have two things to say about this. One is another unconfirmed brush with celebrity. The other is how well I did on this call. First the celebrity angle.
The celebrity/personage of sorts I allege to have called up was one of Robert Kennedy's sons. I can't remember which one. What makes me believe this is possible is because of the name on the screen and the accent of the man who answered combined with the fact that the list we were using was probably politically generated in some sort of way. That's all I'm saying. LOL.
The second and last thing is that I totally owned this call. Sad to say that probably since it was very short-term and only involved e-mail address collection there were no bonuses at all with the call. A pity as it was reasonably hard for the reason I mentioned and for whatever reason I did really well at it. I remember this because I used thumb-tacks in the cubicle walls to keep score. Pounding them in a little row as I got another hard-to-get address. Pounding them in so hard that I got one in the finger once. LOL. Which is one of the reasons I remember it so well
Anyway, that concludes the series of Life At LiveBridge, a chronicle in three parts. I'm not ruling out a command performance though if a old co-worker who might have read any of this has any good memories to add. Oh, one other thing, now that I think of it. I almost forgot Erik K and the toe-nail painting episode in my personal stories in Part II. Oh and also the Darek (Erich C's twin) ode to her majesty's toes. Well, perhaps another time...
Carmen
As many years have passed (in August it will be 10 years(!) since I started working there), the stories that are really sticky in my mind are probably few so this will be a much shorter post than the last two (then again maybe not! LOL).
In mentioning the UFO story (CFO vs. UFO) in the last post I have pretty much said it all about Experian as far as my call related "humor" goes. There are 2 "celebrity" stories that came out of my rather short time in Experian though.
The first is probably the best, such as it is. It was on my birthday, in fact, in the year 2000 of course since I was in that area only a few months. I called a business that seemed to be located out of a home. I can't prove it but I think I called Clint Eastwood's wife Dina's company. It used the same last name as her maiden name and seemed to be in the media industry.
I think it was a home based business because the person who picked up the phone sounded like CE himself! Now I definitely can't prove it, but the length of the call (or absence of it being more to the point - lol) kind of bears me out. I did my usual introductory spiel and got that far but no farther. LOL. I was met with a brusque (Eastwoodesque?) not interested.
The second brush with celebrity was by "proxy". I was talking to a guy in California somewhere and we got talking a fair bit (a definite no-no as I stated in the previous post) when he pointed out that he was the "next-door" neighbor (as much as you can be on a ranch) of the 70's and 80's TV star (and one of the actresses I most wanted to look like growing up) Cheryl Ladd. Again nothing I can prove in a court-of-law. LOL.
Next we move on to my next assignment - newspapers. The scene of my biggest crime. It was when I was in newspapers that I probably got the most creative about selling stuff. Was even threatened with being fired! The incident in question was when I told one person (I think it was a man), and not for the first time I might add, that he could use the paper for papier mache with his wife/girlfriend to "spice things up a bit". LOL. Seriously. Didn't sell the paper unfortunately and I think I got a Calgary Herald representative that was seeded into the calls. I did get a laugh though. And isn't that all that really counts.
That is also were I believe I started calling the male management "management boy" when requesting their "services" (LOL) to verify my sales, etc. It is testimony to my charming personality, I'd like to think anyway, that I did not get hit with a sexual harrassment complaint or ten. My favorite "management boy", the "Roy of Sunshine" even took to calling me "papier mache girl" until I asked him not to in a rare show of ninnyism on my part when thinking about what my 2nd favorite newspaper "management boy" (the one who threatened to fire me - I don't hold grudges! LOL) would think.
Now comes credit cards, the scene of most of my crimes and mis-demeanors. I'll go in order as memory serves me. First, there was the guy who said he wasn't interested initially (most all sales even say that so you can't let a little thing like that stop you - lol) and then after chatting him up a bit got him to go through the rather lengthy questioning process for the application. After each and every question however, he reitterated that he really didn't want a(nother) credit card.
Not one to let a little thing like that dissuade me I continued the "process". Each and every question. A (mere) objection from him. A (spirited) rebuttal from me. Until finally near the end of either the application questions or disclosure statement (likely the questions as the disclosure was recorded) he told me he was taking the call on the toilet. LOL. What did I do then? Continue of course, reminding him that saying that on the recording coming up would probably not be a good idea. This card was a sale.
Then there was the one where I told another guy that a card with an APR much higher than he was (willing to admit anyway) already carrying on his current card(s) was the equivalent of the girlfriend in the shocking pink bra and panties with all the extra features that necessitated the high APR and his "more sensible" cards with the lower APR were like the faithful, loyal wife at home. This got a laugh but he was playing hardball and no sale for me as I remember. It was calls like this that had the "Roy of Sunshine" telling me I was supposed to be selling the cards not myself! LOL.
There was also a time in System 1 (I can still see it in my minds eye) when I actually fell asleep making my pitch and sort of woke up when I realized that I was actually babbling something (more than likely off-script) and found out just how good I am at reestablishing control to the situation (or more than likely just how much some people are willing to put up with when they really want or need something). Sale!
Saving the best for last, there was the time I actually managed to sell a credit card to a man (I swear many of my sales were to women too. Really. I swear) who originally told me to put me on the Do Not Call List. Yup. Even that does not deter a true "teleharrassment specialist" (I should trademark that title - after all I coined it way back when).
Since he asked me to put him on the dreaded list almost immediately after I said hello, inspiration struck me that day and I asked a question I never asked before or since. I asked him if he knew why he wanted to be put on the list. Being a good sport he let me tell him what I was actually selling when I told him he didn't even know that yet.
His next gambit (you learn that it's all a cat and mouse game - lol) was to give me the worst (from my point of view as the seller) objection he could foist on me. He didn't believe in credit cards. This was the worst objection possible as it is the hardest, in my opinion anyway, to rebut. But after assuring him that credit cards did in fact exist (a little joke that got a fair sized laugh) I pointed out that it could be a just-in-case card. Bingo. I'm sure the joke smoothed the way for him to be so easily sold with just one rebuttal instead of the usual three we were allowed or the thirty or so I was used to giving (seriously - I actually got in trouble once for giving 27 rebuttals - as if they'd started counting from the beginning - but that was not the norm - maybe 10 tops. LOL). Another sale.
This one got me a mixed review with management. There was a manager who I won't name (for reasons you'll come to understand shortly) who once regailed a sales meeting with a story of how he used to use a bait-and-switch technique when he used to sell electronic equipment. After the sale, I immediately signed myself off of my terminal (again not the norm) to rush to his office to tell him that I (with a huge grin on my face and maybe even laughing) told him that I sold a credit card to someone who originally told me to DNC him. This went over less well than I thought. I was shocked. I thought if anyone would appreciate my accomplishment, he would. We left it at a stalemate where I was still happy with my self and not concealing it and he offered a weak warning that I might find myself in trouble after/if the tape got reviewed.
Not to be put off from my crowing about my amazing feat of salesmanship I then went to the newspaper guy who was also upper management and gave him a chance to redeem management in my eyes by congratulating me on the accomplishment. He came through a little better with no warnings (in fairness, it really wasn't his department so that's probably why he was less of a fuddy-duddy about it) and making the point that since the guy agreed it probably wasn't a problem. Vindication. Sweet vindication. This from the guy who was threatening (basically an empty one too, I think, that was more to scare me in line) to fire me for the papier mache comment.
That brings me to my last story. One call that came through the center that I did not mention before because of it's brevity was NARAL - Pro-Choice Voices. This was a survey - a very short one - where the rep was supposed to mine e-mail addresses. It was harder than it sounds because many people back then apparently only had work and not personal e-mails and it was a divisive and obviously political issue. This was I believe being done just before or after a U.S Election at one level or another.
I have two things to say about this. One is another unconfirmed brush with celebrity. The other is how well I did on this call. First the celebrity angle.
The celebrity/personage of sorts I allege to have called up was one of Robert Kennedy's sons. I can't remember which one. What makes me believe this is possible is because of the name on the screen and the accent of the man who answered combined with the fact that the list we were using was probably politically generated in some sort of way. That's all I'm saying. LOL.
The second and last thing is that I totally owned this call. Sad to say that probably since it was very short-term and only involved e-mail address collection there were no bonuses at all with the call. A pity as it was reasonably hard for the reason I mentioned and for whatever reason I did really well at it. I remember this because I used thumb-tacks in the cubicle walls to keep score. Pounding them in a little row as I got another hard-to-get address. Pounding them in so hard that I got one in the finger once. LOL. Which is one of the reasons I remember it so well
Anyway, that concludes the series of Life At LiveBridge, a chronicle in three parts. I'm not ruling out a command performance though if a old co-worker who might have read any of this has any good memories to add. Oh, one other thing, now that I think of it. I almost forgot Erik K and the toe-nail painting episode in my personal stories in Part II. Oh and also the Darek (Erich C's twin) ode to her majesty's toes. Well, perhaps another time...
Carmen
Monday, April 19, 2010
Life At LiveBridge - Part II
So last time I told you about the job itself. Today I will mention the people. In the interests of time (and my sanity) I won't bother with aliases (see "Outing" Family and Friends post). But I will just use first names. Or if two or more people had the same name, I'll use an initial for the last name.
As these LiveBridge posts were done now (I would have got to it eventually) in honor of Kristianne and Alyson being my latest blog followers I will start with them I guess.
Kristianne was someone who was very bubbly and creative. She often did little crafts in the systems (the individual computer rooms that housed different projects for the most part). She was part of a larger group of young people that all sat together including a girl whose name was Kristi but whose last name I forget.
Kristi and her boyfriend were involved in Medieval re-enactments. This was the first and last time I ever met anyone (to my knowledge anyway) who did this. I found this kind of interesting.
Kristianne, Kristi and I once performed some silly little song in front of an entire system (for God knows what reason). It actually went over quite well, as I remember. As you can tell, what with publishing a blog detailing some of my oddest, grossest, silliest and craziest moments I am not that shy. LOL.
Kristianne also sat with a group of guys named Tayo, Josue, and Chris D. Tayo was and still is an aspiring singer. Both Tayo and Chris are nominally in touch as they are on my Facebook although we have hardly spoken. I believe the same can be said for Kristianne and them as well. It was Josue who really caught Kristianne's attention.
So much so that they have 3 kids together! Unfortunately, they are not together any longer. But they did have 2 beautiful little girls and a equally gorgeous little boy. Kristianne has moved about quite a bit and is currently moving to if not already there to the coast for school. Josue is I believe still in Ontario where they got married.
To go back a bit, Chris D is a bit of a funny story. Chris was in credit cards with me and he was on the verge of being let go because he was having a hard time with sales. Management gave him all kinds of advice including the following which at the time seemed a bit retarded. Apparently, he was told to lower his head when he spoke to lower his voice. LOL. That said, it is equally apparent that something about that must have not been quite as retarded as all that because he went from being on the chopping block to becoming a team leader. Yay Chris D.
Briefly, another thing about Chris D is that he was engaged at the time we worked with him and he just recently (within the last year) finally married the girl. It was about time as they had one or two kids together. It was one of the longest engagement's I'd heard of except for a cousin of my mom's who was actually engaged for decades (I would have used italics but they weren't working - if anything deserves italics it's the word decades when talking about being engaged) I believe.
Kristianne was involved in the home sales of Creative Memories as well at the time. I remember going to a CM party she hosted. I ended up buying a starter kit only to do exactly one project. Actually project implys a full scrapbook even if it is a little one. When I say one project I actually mean 1 page. But I will say what a page. LOL. Seriously it was nice and I should get back to it. Too bad Kristianne isn't in the city anymore to give me a kick-start.
It's not surprising Kristianne would sell Creative Memories as she was very crafty. She was always making little cards and things for people at work. There was a girl named Millaray that Kristianne and I (but mostly Kristianne) befriended who she made a beautiful little birthday card for as I recall.
Kristianne also made me a sparkly container to hold things out of a clear candy tub, some construction paper and sparkles left over from a system motivational project. The candy tub likely came from a guy named Bruce who everyone called the candyman. He would go around the system handing out candies to other staff periodically. Not to be cynical but this was mostly to get off the phones for a few minutes every once in a while and to get to talk to the young girls. LOL.
Now, Alyson. Alyson, was and is a lovely young girl who just hit 30. I remember one time helping her study for a test in marketing in the systems between calls (they were obviously slow that day!). I would like to think that as she said at the time that my help was in fact useful and as she did well on her test that I can take some credit for her later success in her chosen field of marketing. She is now a partner as well as director of client services at at small marketing firm she helped set up.
The one story I most remember about Alyson is perhaps not the most conventionally flattering. But you have to put it in the perspective of being a salesperson. Alyson and I were sitting next to each other in System 3 (the windowless wonder!) - I can still see it. All of a sudden I hear her say to the older lady she was talking to "just say you agree". I admit my moral compass didn't always face due north in that job but I was aghast. We got into so much after her call ended that...
... enter "Fast Eddie" a team leader who was formerly on the floor with us as a salesperson and was well known for his shall we say aggressive sales tactics. Naturally, he sided with Alyson and was quite upset with me for interfering. We got into it so bad that another worker Bev, whose son, brother-in-law, nephew, would-be daughter-in-law, etc, etc, etc all worked there at one time or another - lol - actually had to come to my defense.
Eddie ended up selling Amway, ahem, Quixtar while still at LiveBridge. As did David T, who was Bev's son. There was at least one other guy and another lady selling it and attempting to recruit there so life was interesting. I went to a Quixtar meeting but never had any real intentions of getting involved. I doubt Alyson was stupid enough to even waste any time going to a meeting.
Now that I think of it Josue and Kristianne (mainly through Josue) was also involved with Quixtar. It was quite the thing at LiveBridge that year. Bev's son, who as I said was also involved was one of the other three people I mentioned in my last post, as being in my training class and who stuck it out for any length of time. He went on to become a verifier in the newspaper section. In fact of the two sets of four people I mentioned last time from the two training groups, mine and the one four days later, I was the only one who didn't move up in the company in some small way. LOL. Slacker.
It is now I should put in an aside that would have perhaps better fit with the other day's post about the job itself. But it came up more naturally here. Slacker that I may have been I did once earn a bonus of about $565 in a two week period on credit cards. It was in no way typical (although in credit cards I mostly made a decent bonus of probably between $50 and a couple hundred dollars) but one that I was certainly proud of as I maxed out the bonus structure that pay period. Too bad I wasn't smart enough to save the pay stub for proof of bragging rights.
[Paragraph deleted]
"X" was one of my loyalist subjects. He might even have been the one to coin the term Carmania for my "kingdom" or queendom as it were. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about that did I. I don't know quite how it started, although I could take a guess, but I called myself the "Queen of Livebridge" and appropriately enough, on Halloween Day 2000 bought myself a tiara to prove it. A tiara that I wore at times in the systems. With the approval I might add of the true monarch at LiveBridge - the Operations Manager Sue. She found it amusing and I think a diversion for staff when things got unpleasant around the building.
Speaking of management, there was yet another queen at LiveBridge. A drag queen. His name was Dale. He was, I believed (and still basically do), a very nice guy. He had his own court of admirers. It helped that he was a very funny and pleasant person for the most part. Although, whether stereotype or not, he could be bitchy. We had a falling out of sorts, that I don't really understand. Because of this, I am no longer in contact with either him or one of his best friends there, Sheena, who went from credit cards (which she didn't really excel at) to reception. Sheena, while not gay, I think probably had her own bitchy streak but could also be an extremely nice person and I miss not being able to keep in touch with her as well as with Dale.
There were several others, in management and front office jobs that I liked and got along with,for the most part including Candice (originally from Experian and then training), Mike (the newspaper guy I mentioned in the previous post who also did training), Walter (also in newspapers), Karen (the tech girl), Brent (a team leader), Shauna (a verifier in newspapers), Eddie (mentioned above and a verifier in newspapers and then a team leader in either/both newspapers and credit cards) and a guy who wasn't there long named Colin I think.
Then there was him. The "Roy of Sunshine". This particular person was without question my favorite person at LiveBridge for most of my time there. He was in the training class four days after me along with Candice (whom I mentioned above) and Karen (also mentioned above). I'm not sure when I noticed him but I remember the first conversation I had with him that sticks out in memory.
He introduced himself as Shane (the name he originally used - his middle name), we had a pleasant enough conversation about god knows what (probably some highly interesting work related subject as most telemarketers seem to think that most of their calls are the height of interest - lol - at least it seemed to me) and I remember telling him not to mumble as he was an interesting person and shouldn't hide that behind mumbling.
Where I really remember seeing him (this may have come first) was in newspapers. During my overtime. Apparently he also did Experian for a bit but was transfered to newspapers fairly quickly. He seemed quite well suited to it. Certainly more so than me. That's how I noticed him and fell in love - lol. Or fell in love as much as a lazy old asexual can. He dazzled me with his smile.
You see, every time a person in newspapers got a sale they were to stand up and ring a bell to get a verifiers attention. He was usually standing up anyway. Or at least he stood up when the bells rung to see who had a sale. It wasn't confusing as the people with sales had their hands up as well. Anyway, whenever I had my rather rare sales he would give me one of those dazzling smiles. I think he found me amusing as I could be quite outrageous in what I would say to people on the phones to get a sale or even just when it wasn't necessary to make a sale but to allieviate boredom.
This post is about all the people at LiveBridge (well some) so I won't go into more detail (now anyway) about the "Roy of Sunshine" (Roy being his actual first name that he eventually started using because management started calling him that due to his s.i.n.) but as I said he was adorable. I'll end this discussion of him on the sad note that we eventually had a falling out too.
Well, that is some of the people who populated one of the most fun jobs I have had. In writing this I found I couldn't mention everybody I remember because I either couldn't remember their names, didn't have a discernable story other than that they were wonderful people who made the day go by faster (like Anil, Darek, the other Chris D (the male nurse), Claudia, Ricki Lynn, Laura, etc, etc, etc), or it just didn't fit into the flow of the story.
Also, I found that the stories didn't do these people justice. It seemed a whole lot more fun, and interesting at the time. I guess it's really a case of "you had to be there". So for most of you, who read this this is probably a post to quickly pass over but for Kristianne, Alyson, Sid, Shauna, and any others who happen upon it hopefully it will get you thinking of some of your fond memories of that time.
Carmen
As these LiveBridge posts were done now (I would have got to it eventually) in honor of Kristianne and Alyson being my latest blog followers I will start with them I guess.
Kristianne was someone who was very bubbly and creative. She often did little crafts in the systems (the individual computer rooms that housed different projects for the most part). She was part of a larger group of young people that all sat together including a girl whose name was Kristi but whose last name I forget.
Kristi and her boyfriend were involved in Medieval re-enactments. This was the first and last time I ever met anyone (to my knowledge anyway) who did this. I found this kind of interesting.
Kristianne, Kristi and I once performed some silly little song in front of an entire system (for God knows what reason). It actually went over quite well, as I remember. As you can tell, what with publishing a blog detailing some of my oddest, grossest, silliest and craziest moments I am not that shy. LOL.
Kristianne also sat with a group of guys named Tayo, Josue, and Chris D. Tayo was and still is an aspiring singer. Both Tayo and Chris are nominally in touch as they are on my Facebook although we have hardly spoken. I believe the same can be said for Kristianne and them as well. It was Josue who really caught Kristianne's attention.
So much so that they have 3 kids together! Unfortunately, they are not together any longer. But they did have 2 beautiful little girls and a equally gorgeous little boy. Kristianne has moved about quite a bit and is currently moving to if not already there to the coast for school. Josue is I believe still in Ontario where they got married.
To go back a bit, Chris D is a bit of a funny story. Chris was in credit cards with me and he was on the verge of being let go because he was having a hard time with sales. Management gave him all kinds of advice including the following which at the time seemed a bit retarded. Apparently, he was told to lower his head when he spoke to lower his voice. LOL. That said, it is equally apparent that something about that must have not been quite as retarded as all that because he went from being on the chopping block to becoming a team leader. Yay Chris D.
Briefly, another thing about Chris D is that he was engaged at the time we worked with him and he just recently (within the last year) finally married the girl. It was about time as they had one or two kids together. It was one of the longest engagement's I'd heard of except for a cousin of my mom's who was actually engaged for decades (I would have used italics but they weren't working - if anything deserves italics it's the word decades when talking about being engaged) I believe.
Kristianne was involved in the home sales of Creative Memories as well at the time. I remember going to a CM party she hosted. I ended up buying a starter kit only to do exactly one project. Actually project implys a full scrapbook even if it is a little one. When I say one project I actually mean 1 page. But I will say what a page. LOL. Seriously it was nice and I should get back to it. Too bad Kristianne isn't in the city anymore to give me a kick-start.
It's not surprising Kristianne would sell Creative Memories as she was very crafty. She was always making little cards and things for people at work. There was a girl named Millaray that Kristianne and I (but mostly Kristianne) befriended who she made a beautiful little birthday card for as I recall.
Kristianne also made me a sparkly container to hold things out of a clear candy tub, some construction paper and sparkles left over from a system motivational project. The candy tub likely came from a guy named Bruce who everyone called the candyman. He would go around the system handing out candies to other staff periodically. Not to be cynical but this was mostly to get off the phones for a few minutes every once in a while and to get to talk to the young girls. LOL.
Now, Alyson. Alyson, was and is a lovely young girl who just hit 30. I remember one time helping her study for a test in marketing in the systems between calls (they were obviously slow that day!). I would like to think that as she said at the time that my help was in fact useful and as she did well on her test that I can take some credit for her later success in her chosen field of marketing. She is now a partner as well as director of client services at at small marketing firm she helped set up.
The one story I most remember about Alyson is perhaps not the most conventionally flattering. But you have to put it in the perspective of being a salesperson. Alyson and I were sitting next to each other in System 3 (the windowless wonder!) - I can still see it. All of a sudden I hear her say to the older lady she was talking to "just say you agree". I admit my moral compass didn't always face due north in that job but I was aghast. We got into so much after her call ended that...
... enter "Fast Eddie" a team leader who was formerly on the floor with us as a salesperson and was well known for his shall we say aggressive sales tactics. Naturally, he sided with Alyson and was quite upset with me for interfering. We got into it so bad that another worker Bev, whose son, brother-in-law, nephew, would-be daughter-in-law, etc, etc, etc all worked there at one time or another - lol - actually had to come to my defense.
Eddie ended up selling Amway, ahem, Quixtar while still at LiveBridge. As did David T, who was Bev's son. There was at least one other guy and another lady selling it and attempting to recruit there so life was interesting. I went to a Quixtar meeting but never had any real intentions of getting involved. I doubt Alyson was stupid enough to even waste any time going to a meeting.
Now that I think of it Josue and Kristianne (mainly through Josue) was also involved with Quixtar. It was quite the thing at LiveBridge that year. Bev's son, who as I said was also involved was one of the other three people I mentioned in my last post, as being in my training class and who stuck it out for any length of time. He went on to become a verifier in the newspaper section. In fact of the two sets of four people I mentioned last time from the two training groups, mine and the one four days later, I was the only one who didn't move up in the company in some small way. LOL. Slacker.
It is now I should put in an aside that would have perhaps better fit with the other day's post about the job itself. But it came up more naturally here. Slacker that I may have been I did once earn a bonus of about $565 in a two week period on credit cards. It was in no way typical (although in credit cards I mostly made a decent bonus of probably between $50 and a couple hundred dollars) but one that I was certainly proud of as I maxed out the bonus structure that pay period. Too bad I wasn't smart enough to save the pay stub for proof of bragging rights.
[Paragraph deleted]
"X" was one of my loyalist subjects. He might even have been the one to coin the term Carmania for my "kingdom" or queendom as it were. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about that did I. I don't know quite how it started, although I could take a guess, but I called myself the "Queen of Livebridge" and appropriately enough, on Halloween Day 2000 bought myself a tiara to prove it. A tiara that I wore at times in the systems. With the approval I might add of the true monarch at LiveBridge - the Operations Manager Sue. She found it amusing and I think a diversion for staff when things got unpleasant around the building.
Speaking of management, there was yet another queen at LiveBridge. A drag queen. His name was Dale. He was, I believed (and still basically do), a very nice guy. He had his own court of admirers. It helped that he was a very funny and pleasant person for the most part. Although, whether stereotype or not, he could be bitchy. We had a falling out of sorts, that I don't really understand. Because of this, I am no longer in contact with either him or one of his best friends there, Sheena, who went from credit cards (which she didn't really excel at) to reception. Sheena, while not gay, I think probably had her own bitchy streak but could also be an extremely nice person and I miss not being able to keep in touch with her as well as with Dale.
There were several others, in management and front office jobs that I liked and got along with,for the most part including Candice (originally from Experian and then training), Mike (the newspaper guy I mentioned in the previous post who also did training), Walter (also in newspapers), Karen (the tech girl), Brent (a team leader), Shauna (a verifier in newspapers), Eddie (mentioned above and a verifier in newspapers and then a team leader in either/both newspapers and credit cards) and a guy who wasn't there long named Colin I think.
Then there was him. The "Roy of Sunshine". This particular person was without question my favorite person at LiveBridge for most of my time there. He was in the training class four days after me along with Candice (whom I mentioned above) and Karen (also mentioned above). I'm not sure when I noticed him but I remember the first conversation I had with him that sticks out in memory.
He introduced himself as Shane (the name he originally used - his middle name), we had a pleasant enough conversation about god knows what (probably some highly interesting work related subject as most telemarketers seem to think that most of their calls are the height of interest - lol - at least it seemed to me) and I remember telling him not to mumble as he was an interesting person and shouldn't hide that behind mumbling.
Where I really remember seeing him (this may have come first) was in newspapers. During my overtime. Apparently he also did Experian for a bit but was transfered to newspapers fairly quickly. He seemed quite well suited to it. Certainly more so than me. That's how I noticed him and fell in love - lol. Or fell in love as much as a lazy old asexual can. He dazzled me with his smile.
You see, every time a person in newspapers got a sale they were to stand up and ring a bell to get a verifiers attention. He was usually standing up anyway. Or at least he stood up when the bells rung to see who had a sale. It wasn't confusing as the people with sales had their hands up as well. Anyway, whenever I had my rather rare sales he would give me one of those dazzling smiles. I think he found me amusing as I could be quite outrageous in what I would say to people on the phones to get a sale or even just when it wasn't necessary to make a sale but to allieviate boredom.
This post is about all the people at LiveBridge (well some) so I won't go into more detail (now anyway) about the "Roy of Sunshine" (Roy being his actual first name that he eventually started using because management started calling him that due to his s.i.n.) but as I said he was adorable. I'll end this discussion of him on the sad note that we eventually had a falling out too.
Well, that is some of the people who populated one of the most fun jobs I have had. In writing this I found I couldn't mention everybody I remember because I either couldn't remember their names, didn't have a discernable story other than that they were wonderful people who made the day go by faster (like Anil, Darek, the other Chris D (the male nurse), Claudia, Ricki Lynn, Laura, etc, etc, etc), or it just didn't fit into the flow of the story.
Also, I found that the stories didn't do these people justice. It seemed a whole lot more fun, and interesting at the time. I guess it's really a case of "you had to be there". So for most of you, who read this this is probably a post to quickly pass over but for Kristianne, Alyson, Sid, Shauna, and any others who happen upon it hopefully it will get you thinking of some of your fond memories of that time.
Carmen
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Life at LiveBridge - Part I
Well people, as of now I officially have 32 followers. My last two Kristianne and Alyson are both former co-workers at a call center I worked for called LiveBridge. So in honor of their joining my blog I thought I would write a something about my LiveBridge memories.
First of all, let me say that even though it was a call center (and my first real call center job I have to say I really enjoyed it for the most part. There were many times during the time I worked there when I may not have thought so but on the whole it was a good experience.
Let's start at the beginning. I got the job after just finishing a get back to work course at a place called PSDN (Personal Support Development Network) that I am not sure exists anymore.
The course was broken up into a few parts. There was a Life Skills course component that was central to the course. Then there was a remedial English and Math component and finally a computer component that taught Office 98 or something. A brief overview of word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and powerpoint. Just enough knowledge to get you in trouble. LOL.
So after taking this course, as I had had no or extremely crappy jobs preceding this, I got a very short term job at CIS (Customer Information Services). It was a job doing telephone surveys for a company that was doing a short term (very short term) educational health care survey.
I got this job on the basis of two things really. First I actually researched the job at the library and brought printouts of that research that I referred to at the interview which seemed to have impressed one of the two interviewers I had (it was my first - and so far only two person interview in my career). Second, I brought up Toastmasters on my resume and in answer to a question and it turned out both interviewers were fellow current or former Toastmasters.
As you can see, I was fortunate. It also helped that I really was interested in the job as I wanted to do survey work! It obviously showed. It also helped that the course I took was so recent and was for a full 6 months. I was still in the job search component of it when I found this job.
Finally, the fact that the job was so close to ending meant that they probably really needed people. And I guess, most people would have found asking people endlessly if they were very, mostly, or sort of or however the terms went v-e-r-y boring.
The day I applied at LiveBridge was extremely hot. I remember this for a definite reason. LOL. Well, before I go there, when I was busing to the site of the job which was just past Mayfield Common in an area that is considered a light-industrial district the bus driver forgot to tell me when to get off so I had to walk back several blocks in that awful heat.
That wouldn't have been so bad, except it was so hot that my foundation was melting on my face. Yuck. LOL. So I had to do a touch up of major proportions when I got there.
Then I had a interview with the personnel lady or hiring manager. The first time I think that I saw an actual hiring manager/personnel person for an interview. It went very well, considering the only "decent" job I had had in several years was at CIS and it was only a few weeks to just over a month long. One thing in my favor was it was related to the job at hand. Surveys.
When I was first hired at LiveBridge, I did surveys for a company called Experian. The first day I worked (actually just sat in on I think) in the Experian area I remember being almost on the verge of tears. I don't remember what was so hard about it as in retrospect it seems like it was pretty easy but it didn't seem like it that day. I'm glad I got through it though and stuck it out as it turned out to be a very good job that I kept for about 2-1/2 years and met some really nice people at.
There was either a three day or a week long original training session. Of the people in my training class only four (including myself) stayed any reasonable length of time. Funny enough, the class that started four days later, had four people that stayed on for a signifigant length of time as well. I got to know most of them reasonably well for acquaintances so that is why I remember this.
My start date was August 4, 2000 which I remember because it was the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother (now deceased). This event stuck in my memory because she was born the same year as my grandmother (also deceased) and my mother was born the same year as the current Queen Elizabeth.
Something else that happened, at the very beginning of my job at LiveBridge was that I had a really bad accident the day I started my job. I was trying to get there on time and was rushing. I was running up an escalator (yeah, really smart) and luckily I didn't fall down the escalator backwards. Instead my shoe, which was a bit loose, slipped off one foot and I fell forward, up the escalator. I had books in my hands and luckily I was close enough to the top that my shoe and the books landed at the top landing of the escalator.
I did end up with one honey of a bruise just under my knee. I am actually mis-stating it to call it a bruise singular as it became, in a progressive way, a series of bruises. It was so bad that it started with a fair size lump under my knee that was the inital bruise. Then it travelled down my leg including on both sides of my leg. Then down, down, down my leg until it actually reached my toes in the span of several weeks! Crazy.
I obviously didn't totally learn my lesson, as several weeks or months passed and as I was running to catch the bus after work because it ran so infrequently as it was considered a light-industrial district as I said before, I fell off a curb, running for the bus. Missed it too boot, I think. That injury, was a bad one too as my full weight (not inconsiderable) landed squarely on my one ankle. I ended up bringing bags of peas to work for several days.
Anyway, on to the job itself. Experian was, as I said before, a simple enough job. A series of questions that did not change regardless of what business was being called. After I got over being a weinie about it and got into the job I started to make it more fun by chatting a bit with the "customers" and making jokes here and there. This was definitely frowned upon as it was supposed to be a serious, business-like "business" of taking a capsule history of sorts of the company financially and structurally.
I remember one joke that I often asked when asking for the names of the head people in the company was if a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) was any relation to a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Usually, I was the only one laughing - there may have been a groan or possibly even a chuckle or two - but once the lady answering the questions (the owner or CEO,I think) gave me a full laugh and said she was telling their CFO that. Vindication! I am smart enough, and gosh darn it people like me (and think I'm funny).
While in Experian, I started doing overtime in newspapers. Now that was hard work. For me anyway. Some people took to it like ducks to water. But then again, every area - credit surveys, newspapers, and credit cards all had their stars. I even managed to become one - but it sure wasn't in Experian or newspapers. Not the Calgary Herald, not the Edmonton Journal and certainly not the National Post. I did well enough that they let me have the over-time, so I guess I wasn't horrible. But that's about all.
I did win two cookbooks in newspaper area contests. There were two editions of this cookbook and I won both. Although I never saw the second one because it got inadvertently given to someone else. Oh well I know. Oh and I won a copy of the local paper for 9-11. Dubious honor that that may be. Speaking of 9-11, I still remember going to work that day. I was running late and took a cab part of the way (bused the main trip and cabbed it the final leg).
I was in the cab and he had the radio on. I heard something fuzzy (the radio was annoyingly low as some rather stupid, in my opinion, cab-drivers seem to think low is a viable alternative to off) about planes flying into buildings. This sounded ludicrous, as I had never heard of the first World Trade Center terrorism a few years before as I don't always follow the news). Anyway, I remember thinking this was like a modern-day War of The Worlds broadcast and wondered if Orson Welles family were getting residuals.
Even without the cab, I couldn't have missed this WTC news event as almost everyone if not everyone was pulled from credit surveys and credit card sales to do newspapers. They were determined to get the maximum mileage out of the situation, although to be fair, the papers were being sold in Canada and the credit stuff was all being done in the states where I'm sure they would have been less than happy to hear from us. Needless, to say, even I did reasonably well in papers that day.
Fast forward a bit, and I am being asked (well actually told!) to transfer to the credit card section because my Experian numbers were too low (all that chatting didn't help and yes, even in credit reporting there were quotas) so they thought I would do better in credit cards where you were "selling" something more directly and personality could be more useful. I remember, having a conversation with one of the bosses, oddly enough one who dealt more with the newspapers, about credit card sales being for the soulless people who would bankrupt people. LOL. Little did I know how much I would come to love it. Shows how much I know myself. Soulless indeed.
Selling credit cards was where I spent most of my time in my 2-1/2 years there. There were a few different companies we sold for the 3 that I remember being First USA, Capital One, and a really high rate card (at least I thought so at the time) called Metris (a Fingerhut company - insert dirty joke here - lol).
Of all the companies we sold for I preferred Metris because for whatever reason, I was best at it. I used to have a b.s. line that often seemed to work with the Metris customers - "as a last used, first paid card as such you would have no interest!"
Imagine me using that line on any of you. I'd probably get socked in the eye. But the Metris customers really needed the credit obviously, or thought they did because they would pay up to 29.99% as an APR. That is awful but recently I heard (I wish I wrote down the specifics - I think it was on Yahoo News) of a credit card in this post economic meltdown era of 70 or 79.99%. I didn't even think over 30% was legal. Yikes.
Well, that's it for today. Next time I will tell you a little bit about the people I met there. It was a fairly big place and so there were a number of interesting people who cycled through there over the course of my time there.
Carmen
First of all, let me say that even though it was a call center (and my first real call center job I have to say I really enjoyed it for the most part. There were many times during the time I worked there when I may not have thought so but on the whole it was a good experience.
Let's start at the beginning. I got the job after just finishing a get back to work course at a place called PSDN (Personal Support Development Network) that I am not sure exists anymore.
The course was broken up into a few parts. There was a Life Skills course component that was central to the course. Then there was a remedial English and Math component and finally a computer component that taught Office 98 or something. A brief overview of word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and powerpoint. Just enough knowledge to get you in trouble. LOL.
So after taking this course, as I had had no or extremely crappy jobs preceding this, I got a very short term job at CIS (Customer Information Services). It was a job doing telephone surveys for a company that was doing a short term (very short term) educational health care survey.
I got this job on the basis of two things really. First I actually researched the job at the library and brought printouts of that research that I referred to at the interview which seemed to have impressed one of the two interviewers I had (it was my first - and so far only two person interview in my career). Second, I brought up Toastmasters on my resume and in answer to a question and it turned out both interviewers were fellow current or former Toastmasters.
As you can see, I was fortunate. It also helped that I really was interested in the job as I wanted to do survey work! It obviously showed. It also helped that the course I took was so recent and was for a full 6 months. I was still in the job search component of it when I found this job.
Finally, the fact that the job was so close to ending meant that they probably really needed people. And I guess, most people would have found asking people endlessly if they were very, mostly, or sort of or however the terms went v-e-r-y boring.
The day I applied at LiveBridge was extremely hot. I remember this for a definite reason. LOL. Well, before I go there, when I was busing to the site of the job which was just past Mayfield Common in an area that is considered a light-industrial district the bus driver forgot to tell me when to get off so I had to walk back several blocks in that awful heat.
That wouldn't have been so bad, except it was so hot that my foundation was melting on my face. Yuck. LOL. So I had to do a touch up of major proportions when I got there.
Then I had a interview with the personnel lady or hiring manager. The first time I think that I saw an actual hiring manager/personnel person for an interview. It went very well, considering the only "decent" job I had had in several years was at CIS and it was only a few weeks to just over a month long. One thing in my favor was it was related to the job at hand. Surveys.
When I was first hired at LiveBridge, I did surveys for a company called Experian. The first day I worked (actually just sat in on I think) in the Experian area I remember being almost on the verge of tears. I don't remember what was so hard about it as in retrospect it seems like it was pretty easy but it didn't seem like it that day. I'm glad I got through it though and stuck it out as it turned out to be a very good job that I kept for about 2-1/2 years and met some really nice people at.
There was either a three day or a week long original training session. Of the people in my training class only four (including myself) stayed any reasonable length of time. Funny enough, the class that started four days later, had four people that stayed on for a signifigant length of time as well. I got to know most of them reasonably well for acquaintances so that is why I remember this.
My start date was August 4, 2000 which I remember because it was the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother (now deceased). This event stuck in my memory because she was born the same year as my grandmother (also deceased) and my mother was born the same year as the current Queen Elizabeth.
Something else that happened, at the very beginning of my job at LiveBridge was that I had a really bad accident the day I started my job. I was trying to get there on time and was rushing. I was running up an escalator (yeah, really smart) and luckily I didn't fall down the escalator backwards. Instead my shoe, which was a bit loose, slipped off one foot and I fell forward, up the escalator. I had books in my hands and luckily I was close enough to the top that my shoe and the books landed at the top landing of the escalator.
I did end up with one honey of a bruise just under my knee. I am actually mis-stating it to call it a bruise singular as it became, in a progressive way, a series of bruises. It was so bad that it started with a fair size lump under my knee that was the inital bruise. Then it travelled down my leg including on both sides of my leg. Then down, down, down my leg until it actually reached my toes in the span of several weeks! Crazy.
I obviously didn't totally learn my lesson, as several weeks or months passed and as I was running to catch the bus after work because it ran so infrequently as it was considered a light-industrial district as I said before, I fell off a curb, running for the bus. Missed it too boot, I think. That injury, was a bad one too as my full weight (not inconsiderable) landed squarely on my one ankle. I ended up bringing bags of peas to work for several days.
Anyway, on to the job itself. Experian was, as I said before, a simple enough job. A series of questions that did not change regardless of what business was being called. After I got over being a weinie about it and got into the job I started to make it more fun by chatting a bit with the "customers" and making jokes here and there. This was definitely frowned upon as it was supposed to be a serious, business-like "business" of taking a capsule history of sorts of the company financially and structurally.
I remember one joke that I often asked when asking for the names of the head people in the company was if a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) was any relation to a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Usually, I was the only one laughing - there may have been a groan or possibly even a chuckle or two - but once the lady answering the questions (the owner or CEO,I think) gave me a full laugh and said she was telling their CFO that. Vindication! I am smart enough, and gosh darn it people like me (and think I'm funny).
While in Experian, I started doing overtime in newspapers. Now that was hard work. For me anyway. Some people took to it like ducks to water. But then again, every area - credit surveys, newspapers, and credit cards all had their stars. I even managed to become one - but it sure wasn't in Experian or newspapers. Not the Calgary Herald, not the Edmonton Journal and certainly not the National Post. I did well enough that they let me have the over-time, so I guess I wasn't horrible. But that's about all.
I did win two cookbooks in newspaper area contests. There were two editions of this cookbook and I won both. Although I never saw the second one because it got inadvertently given to someone else. Oh well I know. Oh and I won a copy of the local paper for 9-11. Dubious honor that that may be. Speaking of 9-11, I still remember going to work that day. I was running late and took a cab part of the way (bused the main trip and cabbed it the final leg).
I was in the cab and he had the radio on. I heard something fuzzy (the radio was annoyingly low as some rather stupid, in my opinion, cab-drivers seem to think low is a viable alternative to off) about planes flying into buildings. This sounded ludicrous, as I had never heard of the first World Trade Center terrorism a few years before as I don't always follow the news). Anyway, I remember thinking this was like a modern-day War of The Worlds broadcast and wondered if Orson Welles family were getting residuals.
Even without the cab, I couldn't have missed this WTC news event as almost everyone if not everyone was pulled from credit surveys and credit card sales to do newspapers. They were determined to get the maximum mileage out of the situation, although to be fair, the papers were being sold in Canada and the credit stuff was all being done in the states where I'm sure they would have been less than happy to hear from us. Needless, to say, even I did reasonably well in papers that day.
Fast forward a bit, and I am being asked (well actually told!) to transfer to the credit card section because my Experian numbers were too low (all that chatting didn't help and yes, even in credit reporting there were quotas) so they thought I would do better in credit cards where you were "selling" something more directly and personality could be more useful. I remember, having a conversation with one of the bosses, oddly enough one who dealt more with the newspapers, about credit card sales being for the soulless people who would bankrupt people. LOL. Little did I know how much I would come to love it. Shows how much I know myself. Soulless indeed.
Selling credit cards was where I spent most of my time in my 2-1/2 years there. There were a few different companies we sold for the 3 that I remember being First USA, Capital One, and a really high rate card (at least I thought so at the time) called Metris (a Fingerhut company - insert dirty joke here - lol).
Of all the companies we sold for I preferred Metris because for whatever reason, I was best at it. I used to have a b.s. line that often seemed to work with the Metris customers - "as a last used, first paid card as such you would have no interest!"
Imagine me using that line on any of you. I'd probably get socked in the eye. But the Metris customers really needed the credit obviously, or thought they did because they would pay up to 29.99% as an APR. That is awful but recently I heard (I wish I wrote down the specifics - I think it was on Yahoo News) of a credit card in this post economic meltdown era of 70 or 79.99%. I didn't even think over 30% was legal. Yikes.
Well, that's it for today. Next time I will tell you a little bit about the people I met there. It was a fairly big place and so there were a number of interesting people who cycled through there over the course of my time there.
Carmen
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Pepto-Bismol Pink
Hello everyone (and by everyone I mean all thirty-one of you [yay] - and welcome to me newest, my real-time, but long-distance friend Kristianne). Today I am going to share (another) dirty little secret with you.
Well, secret may be overstating it a bit. I have already told #30 (fishguts aka Tim K) and "the friend who can not be named". But still, the dirty part applies and it sounds better together. LOL.
Anyway, my last post marked my 45th since starting on January 6th, just over 3 months ago. Quite awhile back, like about 10 or 15 posts ago I was already thinking of submitting my little blog - this little masterpiece - to a blog review.
Not just any blog review either. A mighty site that specializing in tearing into blogs and titled, appropriately enough, http://www.iwillfuckingtearyouapart.blogspot.com/ . Why submit my precious little baby to those people.
Well, you know what they say... any publicity is good publicity. So after I get to approximately 50 posts (about the minimium they like to review I believe) I am thinking seriously of indulging in this crazy behavior.
One thing I would like to do first though, which means I might wait till 75 or even 100 posts, is learn how to use widgets better. So far I only have my comment feed. Admittedly it has come in handy for pointing me to new comments before I stumbled into the settings and found the part that allows you to get emails sent to you telling you about new comments. I thought that should have been automatic. Silly me.
Some widgets I'd like, but not necessarily exclusively, are, first of all, a site counter of some sort. Apparently there are several different ones. This is good since I tried adding a site counter once and I signed up for it (that I definitely remember doing) but it asked me to copy and paste, which I'm sure they all do, and I didn't know how to do it. Sigh. So I was left wondering if I went back to that site (sitemeter I think) if it would give me another kick at the can or not.
Another thing that would be nice for this site is the thingy that tells you where people are coming from. As in what part of the world. It also tells you how they came to your site. I am not sure if this info is redundant to some of the fancier metering sites but I have seen it on a number of different blogs and it looks good to me.
Other than that, I think I'd like to keep it simple. There is just one more feature I would like on this little blog but for now I want to keep it a secret for reasons which I'm sure you all will understand when the time to talk about it/unroll it comes around. Keeping it simple is also probably a good thing for two reasons.
One is, of course, my lack of technical skills. And two, the people at Ask and Ye Shall Receive (the ones with the out there tear you apart address) seem to like things kept pretty simple. For one thing no auto-music on blogs. I totally agree on that point.
One thing I don't agree on, and will more than likely get savaged for, is my pepto-bistmol pink background. I refuse to let this make me change it though. I have my reasons for this. First, I kind of like it and it's the only decent free template on blogger/blogspot.
Then there's the problem of any changes I make in the template causing potential problems with my current format such as it is. Finally, I can't afford a fancy, bought template and even if there are decent free ones that you can get from other sources there is still the problem of "attaching them". I'm not sure I'm up to the job.
I will leave you with today's question. Are there any things that you think would improve my blog. Widgets or otherwise (words). If you are willing you can take a look through some of the various blogs on blogger/blogspot and see what gizmos and things are cool. Also, some posting themes you may happen to like and think I could also do well with. This pre-review would be most appreciated.
Carmen
Well, secret may be overstating it a bit. I have already told #30 (fishguts aka Tim K) and "the friend who can not be named". But still, the dirty part applies and it sounds better together. LOL.
Anyway, my last post marked my 45th since starting on January 6th, just over 3 months ago. Quite awhile back, like about 10 or 15 posts ago I was already thinking of submitting my little blog - this little masterpiece - to a blog review.
Not just any blog review either. A mighty site that specializing in tearing into blogs and titled, appropriately enough, http://www.iwillfuckingtearyouapart.blogspot.com/ . Why submit my precious little baby to those people.
Well, you know what they say... any publicity is good publicity. So after I get to approximately 50 posts (about the minimium they like to review I believe) I am thinking seriously of indulging in this crazy behavior.
One thing I would like to do first though, which means I might wait till 75 or even 100 posts, is learn how to use widgets better. So far I only have my comment feed. Admittedly it has come in handy for pointing me to new comments before I stumbled into the settings and found the part that allows you to get emails sent to you telling you about new comments. I thought that should have been automatic. Silly me.
Some widgets I'd like, but not necessarily exclusively, are, first of all, a site counter of some sort. Apparently there are several different ones. This is good since I tried adding a site counter once and I signed up for it (that I definitely remember doing) but it asked me to copy and paste, which I'm sure they all do, and I didn't know how to do it. Sigh. So I was left wondering if I went back to that site (sitemeter I think) if it would give me another kick at the can or not.
Another thing that would be nice for this site is the thingy that tells you where people are coming from. As in what part of the world. It also tells you how they came to your site. I am not sure if this info is redundant to some of the fancier metering sites but I have seen it on a number of different blogs and it looks good to me.
Other than that, I think I'd like to keep it simple. There is just one more feature I would like on this little blog but for now I want to keep it a secret for reasons which I'm sure you all will understand when the time to talk about it/unroll it comes around. Keeping it simple is also probably a good thing for two reasons.
One is, of course, my lack of technical skills. And two, the people at Ask and Ye Shall Receive (the ones with the out there tear you apart address) seem to like things kept pretty simple. For one thing no auto-music on blogs. I totally agree on that point.
One thing I don't agree on, and will more than likely get savaged for, is my pepto-bistmol pink background. I refuse to let this make me change it though. I have my reasons for this. First, I kind of like it and it's the only decent free template on blogger/blogspot.
Then there's the problem of any changes I make in the template causing potential problems with my current format such as it is. Finally, I can't afford a fancy, bought template and even if there are decent free ones that you can get from other sources there is still the problem of "attaching them". I'm not sure I'm up to the job.
I will leave you with today's question. Are there any things that you think would improve my blog. Widgets or otherwise (words). If you are willing you can take a look through some of the various blogs on blogger/blogspot and see what gizmos and things are cool. Also, some posting themes you may happen to like and think I could also do well with. This pre-review would be most appreciated.
Carmen
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Fat Girl Sings The Blues
As you can see, this is the second post for today (as I missed the 11th - which by the way was my half year birthday [gifts welcome] - lol). Since in the last post I talked about being a cow vs. a fat cow that reminded me of a rather "sad" story.
Allow me to share some of my personal heartbreak. It was several months ago. I was on the street. Minding my business (sound familiar - lol), as usual. All of a sudden, out of nowhere and for no apparent reason some young native guy starts harranging me for being fat.
I have thankfully blocked out the details (so this will be a fairly short post) but for the entire two minutes or so that we were standing on the corner of the street waiting for the streetlight to change color I listened to his constant stream of abuse.
Never before have I ever had anything like that happen to me. Admittedly, there have been two or three times when people will yell smartass compliments out when they are in the safety of a passing car. But never before (or hopefully from then on) has something like this happened.
So my question this time (since I've become so fond of asking questions lately) is can you believe someone would actually "do" this?
Carmen
Allow me to share some of my personal heartbreak. It was several months ago. I was on the street. Minding my business (sound familiar - lol), as usual. All of a sudden, out of nowhere and for no apparent reason some young native guy starts harranging me for being fat.
I have thankfully blocked out the details (so this will be a fairly short post) but for the entire two minutes or so that we were standing on the corner of the street waiting for the streetlight to change color I listened to his constant stream of abuse.
Never before have I ever had anything like that happen to me. Admittedly, there have been two or three times when people will yell smartass compliments out when they are in the safety of a passing car. But never before (or hopefully from then on) has something like this happened.
So my question this time (since I've become so fond of asking questions lately) is can you believe someone would actually "do" this?
Carmen
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