Things That Are Useful

Word.

I've been working that one back into my vocabulary recently without even meaning to. Or maybe it's been the other way around. Maybe 'Word.' has been working it's way back into my vocabulary. Either way it gets funny after you say it a bit. Keeps the freaks at bay, though, if you use it loud enough and with enough zeal. Woooord! What's up with you?

I need to write more words every day.


Google.

It's an IPO! It's mail with a G. No E, no Dash. It scans for ads like you don't like it, but not in the sneaky way all the others do. Spam free. Threaded. Gmail is going to make email look like snail mail but with smoother jcpenny catalogs the mailman don't have to carry. Thing about Google is there's more ways to use it than there are knots.

Soople makes it simple.


The Safe.

Put the money in it every night I manage, but for some reason tonight it got freaky on me. Last one there downstairs in the office hovel. Ice machine making cubes of fear fall in a crunch as I sat with the night drawer counting cash. Finally, when I put it in, signed in the safe, the door wouldn't close. Seven times I tried the combination and each and every one made it make the three beeps of nope, and not the one chirp of yup. Finally it relented and I sealed the night away.

Did it appreciate my patience, or just get bored?

Blatent Self-promotion

Since we've had a little lull in posting, I figured I might as well plug one of my other blogs to you all. So, please, check-out Ableson Rants when you get a chance...

Fishing Bug Caught Early

Growing up in Pelham Manor, NY, I received my first fishing rod in sixth grade as a Confirmation present. I had been introduced to fishing the previous year during a week- long trip taken with my schoolmates dubbed as “Outdoor Education”.  While that was a freshwater excursion, my sights quickly turned to saltwater as the Long Island Sound was in my backyard.
 
As a ten year old, my fishing excursions were limited to those places I could get my parents to take me, which usually ended up being the Larchmont Shore Club, where we were members when I was a kid. A typical routine would have me heading to the club for a painful couple of hours of swim team practice, followed by hours of “snapper” bluefish fishing in the Sound.
 
I clearly remember the excitement I felt with every tug on the line, regardless of the size of the fish. My interest in fishing grew even further one summer day when my rod bent over faster and harder than I had ever felt before. I had seen some of the men fishing the Sound land bigger bluefish, so I thought that I had finally graduated from only catching snapper blues to the bigger variety. However after a fish fight that seemed to go on forever, I was treated to the sight of a strange fish, with stripes running down both sides of it’s streamlined body. This moment, I believe, became ingrained in my head, causing the addiction I have today to the sport.
 
As I grew from pre-teen to teenager, my interest in fishing waned as I became preoccupied with other things that teenagers typically pursue such as; sports, girls, friends and being annoying to my parents. Did I mention girls?
 
My interest in fishing never really left me completely as I would find myself watching the fishing shows on Saturday and Sunday mornings throughout high school and even while attending college in New Hampshire. Although still busy with my studies and extracurricular activities, an impromptu trip to Martha’s Vineyard towards the end of my college years brought fishing back to the forefront of my mind.
 
Once I graduated from college and moved to Boston, I began to research the historic fishing grounds that surrounded my new home. This led to the persistent accumulation of fishing gear that continues to this day and a sometimes one-dimensional train of thought—especially during the height of the saltwater fishing season.
 
By the way, that rod from sixth grade hangs in my garage today.

Online news media

I can't remember the last time I picked up a physical newspaper to read. There is something about having it in your hands and feeling it's presence that is nice, and I do like to do crossword puzzles every so often. However, the variety of perspectives and sources that reading the news online offers has made it my choice for getting information about the world we live in.


Google News rocks because it collects up to date news from a variety of sources in different categories. For each article or subject there will be links to different news outlets so you can get all the sides to the story. It doesn't seem to discriminate or lean towards pointing you to one website or another. I actually haven't figured out why one website gets to the headline link and another doesn't, because I've seen everything from CNN to small unknown websites linked.

Commondreams is a great website that has progressive news articles from different websites all in one place. On any given day you can read articles from big media like the New York Times, USA Today, or the Wall Street Journal, as well as articles from smaller media outlets like The Nation or Mother Jones. There are also articles published only on Commondreams by freelance writers, and sometimes speeches by politicians and intellectuals are published for your reading pleasure. I always look forward to Bill Moyers' articles and speeches as they are always incredibly well thought out and written.

I usually cruise over to Alternet to see what they have to offer. They always have interesting articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment, the war on drugs, and of course the impending Election 2004.

In These Times is one of my favorites, for many reasons. First, it's the only place where Kurt Vonnegut still publishes excellent articles.

Sometimes I surf the links on the left hand column of Commondreams and  pick random sites to see what they have to offer. If I feel like hearing the official, twisted word straight from the devil's mouth, I read the White House Press Briefings.

On occasion I check out Town Hall and Fox News to see what the other side has to say on the matter. It usually ends up making me frustrated.

I also read the local news, even when I'm away from home, to keep tabs on the issues of my home state.

Thoughts on Adoption

As most of you know, I have a beautiful five year old daughter. I'll spare you all the details, but we had a tough time having her, more accurately, my wife had a very tough time.
 
In any event, what we went through to have Caitlin Sierra has made a biological sibling for her all but impossible. We have been considering adoption for almost three years, and it's been an emotional roller coaster, equal to that of Tami's pregnancy with Caitlin.
 
So, we are just about done with the prerequisite homestudy, which all agencies require. This is a process of a joint interview, separate interviews, then a visit to our home. It's taken me awhile to warm up to the idea that someone has to bless my ability to be a parent, when I already have Caitlin, but I have come to understand the need for it. For this we paid just about $5,000.
 
We've considered both domestic and international adoption, and quite frankly, the choices are mind boggling, with all of the situations different regarding age of children available, open vs. closed adoption, paperwork required, length of wait, parental age maximums and cost.  As an example, Russia is quite popular these days, and some of the requirements are:

-You can be no older than 42 to adopt
-Children are typically 8 months - 18 months when adopted
-Parents required to take 2, 2 week trips to Russia.
-Tons of Paperwork
-12 month wait for a boy / up to 2 year wait for a girl
-$38,000 total costs (including home study, travel, fees, etc...)
-Practically zero information regarding parents of baby, so no medical records.
 
We have ruled Russia out, mostly because about 10% of the children adopted from Russia suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, which affects childrens development and can lead to serious health problems as an adult, among other things. Also, the travel needed is excessive and I can't see taking my daughter to Russia at this point, and frankly, I have many other places I'd like to see first.
 
We are pretty close to signing up with an agency out of Texas. The cost is a bit less than Russia, but not much, and we'll get an infant (3 day's old!) as well as a full medical background of the biological parents. We also need to put together a "marketing book" which will have pictures and stories about our family which the birth mother's review to select the adoptive family. (Birth mother's are amazing, and would require a separate blog entry for me to accurately spell out my admiration)

 
If all goes well, we could have a little one by winter. Another neat thing about Texas is that you get what you get, meaning you won't know if it's a boy or girl until you get the call. Plus with Texas, it's a shoe if for a Dead related name.:)
 
The cost factor has really been an eye opener. I understand the agencies needs to stay afloat, but it sure is an expensive proposition when all you really want to do is open your home to a child who needs one.
 
Anyway, if you've read this far, thanks for doing so. Have great weekends!
 
 
 
 
 
 

The grass is always greener...

Money is the root of all evil. Another day, another dollar. Money can't buy happiness. Greed kills. It's never really been about the money for me because, afterall, it can't buy happiness. Still, these are the cliches that have been running through my mind lately. It all stems from not getting the raise I expected at work.

I've changed jobs four times in my real world life having once made a lateral move and more recently, taken a pay cut. It wasn't too important to me when taking this job because I was unemployed at the time and also looking to find a working environment that was more laid back than my previous one. Besides, the prospect of getting a free education seemed to outweigh the pay cut at the time. That has all changed.

My work has been nothing short of brilliant in the eight months I've been at my current job, at least, according to my review. My boss put in for a significant pay increase on my behalf, telling me she would like to see me get up to the salary I was making at my last job. The actuality of the raise fell far short of this. In fact, it amounted to nothing more than a cost of living increase. I realize this is the nature of the non-profit world and my boss has petitioned the powers that be for a supplemental increase on my behalf. But judging on how slow things move at this institution, it is going to take months for it to happen, if it happens at all. So, I've found myself debating my future.

There are a lot of perks to working where I am. The summer hours and the freedom being the most prominent. But, there is little leadership and I am left to my devices to create work for myself. And while this is a definitive perk, I'm starting to realize I am not very effective when left to my own devices. I need to be busy at all times. I need deadlines. And most importantly, I need/want to be part of building strategic plans and then implementing them.

So, I'm starting to contemplate a return to the for-profit world. I can't belief I just typed that because of my well-documented hatred of my last job (or pretty much any post there from Jan-June of '03). But, I'm pretty sure it had more to do with my co-workers than anything else. I made the mistake today of looking up what someone with my experience could expect to make in the for-profit world and discovered I am making about $35K below the median.

Fueling my urgency is my impending fatherhood. Kids aren't cheap and I currently feel like we are still living from paycheck to paycheck. I'm leary about making the move back to the corporate world, but I'm not exactly sure why. Part of me thinks it's the long hours, but lord knows I've put in some long hours in my current position. Plus, I'm on-call at times...and I really do not make enough money to be at the mercy of a pager. I think the job hunt is about to rev-up again.

The good news is that I am in a good position to began looking and not coming to front he ranks of the unemployed. It means I can take my time. Something has never felt right about this job since day one. I chalked it up to being new, but with eight months gone, I've still got the feeling. There has been too much uncertainty because we have been without a director pretty much since I've been there. I'm not sure what it is with me and having the bosses that hire me move into different departments shortly after I arrive. But, its now happened in my last three positions.

Still, the uncertainty is doing me more harm than good. My natural cynicism is creeping more and more into my daily work and I fear I'm just being too negative about things. The summertime isn't helping either, causing a lack of focus at work and with my writing. I realize this is about to turn into one of the many pep talks I've so often given myself. I've made it a goal over a year ago to deal with change better, a gol I feel I've met. Now, I need to take the next step toward initiating change myself. Because if I don't, I'm going to find a few years have got behind me and I'll still be sitting in the spot.

I should also mention that x-factor that compounds this choice is the fact there is potential for me to move up. But, in order to do so, I'm going to need to establish a good rapport with the new director (if they ever get hired) and I'm going to need my current boss to leave. Those situation could work out and I could also get the raise I am looking for. Until then, I know I can't sit idly by. Testing the waters never hurts.

AS for why the free education thing sounds a bit better on paper than practice? Well, it would take approximately three to four years for me to get a masters going part-time on top of work and a new baby. Add it the fact that I would want to become a teacher and we're dealing with the money factor again. Maybe I'm lazy or maybe the working world just doesn't agree with me, or me with it. I know, the glass is always half-empty for me.

Hi

I love purple.

Kay.

Bye.

Festival Season

Yes, even in Switzerland, it's festival Season. This July, I have been lucky to be living at the epicenter of the 3 main festivals of the Lake Geneva region.

First it was the Lausanne Arts Cité Festival. Taking place in the historical center of town, around the cathedral and the old city castle, this "urban" festival consists of a handful of stages, showcasing music, theatre, classical movies or comedy acts. Mimes and poetic readings also occur in small plazas, street painters and community orchestras liven up side streets. The main square around town is filled with various food and wine stands, which other more traditional bars complement quite nicely. The experience makes for a very enjoyable stroll in the cool summer evenings, drinking and eating, taking it all in, strolling from stage to stage through busy streets or simply gazing above the old castle wall at the lake and barely etched mountains in the distance.

That same week, and stretching for an additional week, is the infamous Montreux Jazz Festival. Arguably the biggest jazz festival in Europe, the inspiration for deep Purple's Smoke On The Water, this festival is a pot pourri of all music styles for all ages and tastes. From classic rock to African beats, from classical music to Brazilian Salsa, from Italian pop to Dutch techno dj's, from authentic reggae to funky grooves this festival has it all. 3 main indoor venues of varying sizes (Stravinsky Auditorium, Miles Davis Hall, Casino Barriere) for the main acts, and a handful of outdoor stages for free shows, all on the lakeside of the beautiful town of Montreux (Freddy Mercury' adoptive home, as commemorated by his statue). The lakeside promenade is also lined with shopping stalls making for a very enjoyable (although somewhat repetitive) 3-mile lot stroll. Wine and booze flow endlessly and the schwilliness, whilst prevalent in the wee wee hours of the night, is always good-natured and friendly.

This year, I am lucky to be able to attend for the first time in 3 years (no Phish tour, no High Sierra), and am making up for missing the previous 2 years by seeing amongst other artists, Herbie Hancock, The John Scofield trio, the illustrious Carlos Santana with a slew of special guests (Hancock, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Steve Winwood, etc), Parliament Funkadelic (with original keyboardist Bernie Worrel), Michael Franti & Spearhead.

And finally, next week kicks off the Paleo Festival in Nyon, a short 20-mile drive west of Lausanne, also along the lake. This is a music festival in the truer sense of the world, ie, 4 outdoor stages, and one single ticket to see them all and stroll from act to act. Onsite Camping is available and a very popular option although that is a scene I frankly have yet to experience. This year the festival's headline were Peter Gabriel and David Bowie. Unfortunately, David Bowie had to cancel due to emergency health issues. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he will return next year. Texas and Patti Smith amongst others, are scheduled to replace him. Not quite the same caliber but since tickets are non-refundable, I'll most likely still go, if only to attend this festival for the first time.

This is my local music fix for the year pretty much. I am missing a moe. show in London tonight but you cant hit them all. Bigger mainstream acts such as Radiohead are tough to hit since they play in bigger towns such as Zurich, and I'm never on the ball when it comes to getting tickets for these guys. As for jambands, their appearances in Europe are few and far between. Even Medeski, Martin and Wood which had fallen into a laudable pattern of hitting Europe every summer has bailed on the continent this year. SCI's quick Europe tour this winter was a welcome surprise. The Disco Biscuits would make a killing in the club scene of certain countries. When I end up backstage this upcoming tour, I will tell Trey and Page and Mike to bring their solo acts to Swiss festivals next year. Aren't Vermonters suppose to be big skiers after all ?

What Turns Me On

Alright, here it is, what turns me on, makes me tick these days. Today its Exile On Main Street. I know, I know, most of you are like "what took you so long?" I have no idea. Especially since the former love of my life Liz Phair (who lost many points recently by releasing a cheesy pop album) based her whole first record Exile in Guyville on this rockin' record. It was originally thought to have been a response to EOMS - but later interviews she said she only used it to help her in structuring EIG which was a double album as well. So I am obsessed with the songs Sweet Virginia and Torn and Frayed and Casino Boogie and (you get the picture). I have always been so curious to hear this album but just never set out to obtain it. But now that its here, in my jukebox, in my ipod, I am discovering all the nooks and crannies song by song.
I love discovering new music that has been out for awhile whether its a few months, a few years or even a few decades. Thats what is so fun about music, its endless. There is always somewhere to go. With that nameless favorite band vanishing into thin air soon, new music has to be had, and played on repeat over and over and over again to make me want to just get out my seat and rock out.