Author: docthink

no one of consequence

Shard Equations

NOT my ankle

A shard is something that is broken. And I have been beset by a few breaks that have interrupted my Thinkings.

First, my trusty I-Book conked out on me in mid-November.

Lack of equipment = lack of posting

I figured out that I needed to make an appointment to sidle up to the Mac Genius Bar to figure out how to get AC power to the laptop.*

A funny thing happened Sunday morning on the way to the Genius Bar. I was walking downstairs and missed the last step. I landed on the side of my foot, rather than the regular way. Ouch.

So, after 9 hours in the ER I had instructions to keep the cast dry, to come back on Wednesday for a consult for surgery, and to be careful with my handful of meds.

Broken IBook, the culprit!So,

no computer + much distraction with the bad ankle = no postings

We had a great Thanksgiving (I was off the pain meds and was delighted to partake of “the end of the mint Mojitos” that the Spouse served), and I had a successful surgery last Tuesday night.

But the 16-year old says that I’m beginning to have my own Giuliani-type mantra.

The 16-year-old: There’s Giuliani and he’s like “9-11, 9-11, 9-11, blah blah 9-11.”
Me: furrowed brow
The 16-year-old: And there’s like you, “Broken ankle, broken ankle, blah blah, broken ankle”

Doc Think is on hiatus until the I-book gets fixed. Remember

equipment + repaired shards = Thinkings

* For those who think that I didn’t do enough troubleshooting, the power supply (PS) appears to work, as the ring lights up when it’s plugged in. The IBook doesn’t recognize that it’s getting juice, either with or without the battery. The battery died–and power was gone–before I could do the keystroke to reset the power settings. I don’t know anyone with the same connection, so I needed to at least check another PS.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 1

Doing What?

Well, I have been quite remiss in my entries of late. And I figured out why.

Too much doing, and not enough thinking.

Doing what? Like driving. Back and forth. To work and school. Dropping off at practice. Picking up at practice. Oh, and the drive-thrus.

Doing what else? Like talking on the phone. I don’t even know what about. I know that I shouldn’t talk while I am driving, but it has become mutually inclusive. And rest assured there is no thought going into these conversations.

Doing what else? Like furrowing my brow. There has been a bunch of brow furrowing going on for the past few months. Again, not a thoughtful kind of furrowing. Just that just below a boil worry. No great breakthroughs, because that would have meant there was some thinking.

Doing anything else? I will be damned if I could identify effective use of my non-thinking time. It seems like I am in a whirlwind of activity, yet little to show.

I think–hey! that’s a good start–that I will work to be a little more mindful. Using my mind rather than losing my mind. That feels better already.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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Pickup or Delivery

We were driving back from practice and were going to pick up a pizza on the way home.

The 16-year-old: This coupon is for a specialty pizza.
Me: Well my problem is that I just don’t like the specialty pizzas.
The 16-year-old: What?
Me: The meat pizza features “meat products” and that makes me queasy.
The 16-year-old: I like it.
Me: And my big thing is with that supreme pizza. I like everything on it except the green peppers.
The 16-year-old: You can pick them out.
Me: Well, it’s really hard to pick out the green peppers. They get mixed in with the cheese and onions and you always miss some.
The 16-year-old: Well, why don’t you just order it without green peppers?

Me: [pause]
Me: [laughing and gagging] I am pretty embarrassed. To be honest, I have never thought of ordering it without green peppers.
The 16-year-old: Crap. The way you were laughing I thought you were being harsh on me for asking a dumb question.
Me: [still laughing] No, you can laugh at me.

D’oh!

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 2

What Were They Thinking?

Facebook worth $15 billion? Don’t tell Microsoft, but I think that they got took.

This stuff–from Facebook son of MySpace son of (do you remember?) Xanga son of something else– and all those zillions of identities and passwords we can’t remember, reminds me of the freeways in the 70’s. Instead of billboards we have banner ads. Instead of Styrofoam Big Mac boxes we have a cyber-landscape littered with forgotten passwords and logins. Databases with data junking up some one’s server. No value. And doesn’t break down well.

So, Big Bill and Co. sink $240 million for 1.6% of the “company.” I half wonder if the Google-guys tricked them into the investment.

I mean, c’mon. They don’t even have a sock puppet. Yet.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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Homecoming

This week is Homecoming Week for the 16-year old. Today he got to dress like a Bama. So he wore the oddest conglomeration of clothing, primarily consisting of layers of mismatched crap. (Although I do admit surprise to see the T-mac* jersey as the top layer, but this is a digression.)

Also this week, I drove past my old high school, a bunch of times. And for the first time since I graduated, I almost stopped to see what it looked like. It didn’t have a football field when I was there. We had to rent from the other school. But we did have fun at those Friday night games! When I was there, kids and teachers would huddle around the exit doors–smoking cigarettes. I bet that there aren’t ANY teachers bumming a Newport off of a student these days.

When I was there, me and M.P. used to skip first hour and hang out at the Bicentennial Family Restaurant. Drinking coffee and avoiding a VERY dull class. When I was there, we didn’t have AP classes. I was invited by my “college prep” English teacher to sit for a test that could get me college credit. But it cost a bunch of money, and there were no guarantees. I did learn, a few months later, that my college classmates had earned tons of college credit from these AP tests. Shoot, the SAT was a big enough deal, even for me.

When I was there, I had a fight with my social studies teacher who threw me out of class for insisting on fairness in his grading of a test. I only agreed to go out on “independent study” if I could bring 3 of my cronies with me. We obsequiously studied the history of film and were only thwarted by our teacher’s inability to pick up the AV on his way in.

As I drove by the school, I thought about stopping in. But then I just kept driving.

*if you do click here, let the song load.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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A Tale of Two Thomases

It was the worst of Thomas, and it was the best of times.

The worst, (Justice) Clarence Thomas, once again smearing Anita Hill in an attempt to hustle his book and polish his rep. The best, Ms. Hill reclaiming her dignity.

The worst, (basketball executive and former playa) Isaiah Thomas saying that while it’s always wrong for a white man to refer to a black woman as a “bitch” or a “ho”, it is no such restriction on a black man. The best, the Knicks and Mr. I. Thomas getting socked for $11.6 million in damages for sexual harrasment.

Orlando Patterson wrote a thoughtful piece in the NYT in the context of the Jena 6 case (and OJ, again), in which he says

…something that has been swept under the rug for too long in black America: the crisis in relations between men and women of all classes and, as a result, the catastrophic state of black family life, especially among the poor….a fact of life for too many black women who must daily confront indignity and abuse in hip-hop misogyny and everyday conversation. What is done with words is merely the verbal end of a continuum of abuse that too often ends with beatings and spousal homicide.

Gentlemen do not talk to ladies like the two Thomases did, or like Don Imus has. We need to expect better of our men. All of the time.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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Making Fun of Yourself–If You Can

I really liked Kanye poking fun of himself–liked it really alot–on Saturday Night Live on Saturday.

I like Kanye anyway. When people talk about his oversized ego, I don’t think that they have sat through any of his CD’s. The man has alot of big feelings, is passionate about his art, and, he can really make a beat. In all of his big-head phoniness, he comes off to me as a real person.

Contrast that with another Chi-town transplant, Ms. Hil. Jon Stewart had a time with her, and her very squirrely laughing.

I know, as Kanye says, it’s the media that makes it bad–cutting and splicing. Heck she might not have really even been there.

But when Hil is being touted as perhaps the next Al Gore–I get the shivers.

“Like the former vice president, she often came across as a pontificator and an automaton — in contrast to the personable and humorous person she is known to be off-camera. And she seemed especially evasive when dealing with questions requiring human reflection instead of wonkery.” (Frank Rich, NYT)

Here is some important data points for all potential presidents:

  1. Remember that the wonky Al Gore LOST. Becoming real after the election is simply too late.
  2. Be more like Kanye. He makes mistakes, but for all his Louis Vuitton-isms, he seems more real than the whole lot put together. (Get that Barack?)
(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’

No, not THIS Michael Jackson, but the one from homeland securitySo, another top, highly paid official is leaving the Bush Administration, because he needs to make more money. This is on the heels of Tony Snow, recently White House Press Secretary, who left earlier this month because he “ran out of money.” He said he took out a loan to make ends meet, and can’t support his family of five on $168,000. That’s more money than 93% of U.S. households earn each year.

So now, another public servant who has been sucking $168,000 out of the federal trough has also had to give up public service.

“The simple truth, however, is that after over five years of serving with the president’s team, I am compelled to depart for financial reasons that I can no longer ignore.”

What is this guy saying? He is compelled to depart for financial reasons he can’t ignore? Hunh? Can’t live within his significant means? This is a guy that was called “whip smart when it came to budget and operational details, a real manager.” Yet he can’t figure out how to live on a salary higher than 9 out of 10 Americans. Like does he gamble? Lose a bunch of money in the stock market? In over his head with a subprime mortgage? Owe money to a loan shark? Bought alot of travel on his credit cards?

Or maybe he lost everything in Katrina and is suffering from a slow recovery process. Oh wait, it was his department that caused that whole mess. Enough worry about Katrina victims when you are having your own money trouble. Yeah, go get another job.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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Toxic

Loathe as I am to defend the Miserable Ms. Spears recently as a performer, folks need to lay off her and her mothering.

This isn’t to say that Britney is a “good” mom. But who is? Reading and hearing (non-stop) the accusations, I kept waiting for the awful surprise. Turns out that the kids may “have poor dental hygiene and bad eating and sleeping habits.” That Britney used Whitestrips on the babies–DUMB–and sometimes is naked in front of them. And the awful part–the reason we should take her kids away is…is…is???

Now, don’t think that I approve of all the bad stuff that Brit is doing–but I don’t approve of lots of things that other parents do. Like putting ice tea in the baby’s bottle. Like taking their 3 and 4 year-olds to R-rated movies (and sitting in front of me!). Like spanking their kids. Like teaching them that evolution is a theory or that Reagan was a great president.

I am thankful that nobody ever saw me the day after my sister-in-laws wedding when I was hung over and my kids saw. Or when I turned my back for a minute and there was a baby in the middle of the dining room table, lapping up the butter in the dish. Or when we let the family dog return after biting the then six-year-old. Or when we were in the pool and the lifeguard jumped right in front of us in the pool to save our 4-year-old who got in over his head. Or the time(s) that they heard me curse.

From what I have heard, Britney’s actions to date–like ice tea in the bottle and Cheetos for breakfast–are not the things that you lose custody for. Part of being a parent is learning on the job, and the judge has sentenced her to that.

Sometimes I think that outside of her million$$, there but by the grace of God go I.

The millions of dollars thing, though, does make me relate to her a bit less.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
Posted on by docthink 0

‘Bout Times

Looks like the NYTimes got cyber-religion.

After two-years of blocking off their money-columnists from non subscribers, and after two years (to the day, they say) of making any article more than two weeks old unavailable, the New York Times realized that this was not such a good idea.

Like people were not reading their columnists. And like the columnists didn’t like this so much, either.

I was a Times Select subscriber for the first year. I thought that I couldn’t live without Maureen Dowd, David Brooks and Frank Rich. Or without being able to retrieve an article from last month.

But what happened instead, was I left the NY Times as my primary news source and turned to the Post. Even though I had already paid. Weird.

It was like as I was trying to keep track of my columnists and getting my money’s worth the Times lost value to me. I can’t say why, but it did.

So when time came for my renewal, I didn’t renew my subscription. I soon discovered that if there was a column that got my attention that I wanted to read, all I needed to do was search and I could find it.

The Times wants to regain those search eyeballs. Maybe I will read Dowd again. But maybe I have moved on.

(c) 2005-2016 Doctor of Thinkology. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons License.
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