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Language in overdrive

I've read about the National Novel Writing Month for a couple of years now. It's an interesting project that pushes you to write a 175-page (50,000 word) novel in one month: November. I always intended to take a shot at it when it comes around, but I somehow always find myself busy with work, school or life in general.  Now, while I still have some advancement to candidacy forms and essays to complete before starting my thesis, I'm going to find the time to do this.

I'm not, to quote a wise 80's front man, expecting to grow flowers in the desert. However, I think I can manage to slaughter the English language with the best of intentions as much as anybody else. Right now, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write and it will be a miracle if I finish, but what the hell. It should be fun.

In the same vein, I'm going to start making the time to learn another language during the traditional holiday slowdown for work. I'm looking at some local classes, but I would benefit from a good software program to use at home and work, as time allows.  I've read good reviews of Rosetta Stone, but I'll try out a couple of different ones before making a purchase.

Screw CNN, screw us

I don't think anybody is shocked that certain news outlets play favorites.  And I'm not talking about the obvious sites dedicated to one issue/party/conspiracy/trend of the moment. I'm talking about some of the contenders, backed by large amounts of revenue and unfortunately even worse amounts of ethics.  Yes, I'm thinking directly of FOX with their pandering, contemptible and barely coherent Bill O'Reilly. Although to be fair it seems like most cable news outlets have become nothing more than a well-dressed third-grade class, with less maturity.

Now, I've been a fan of CNN for a long time, mostly since it became a habit and they seemed to provide interesting coverage.  I visit their site at least once a day to check in on news and events, but I have to admit that I thought the percentage of useless fluff to useful information has been increasing in the last couple of years.  I wasn't actually measuring it or anything, it was just a hunch. 

Well, I ran across this today at Daily Kos - SCREW CNN (w/ graphics) [PG edition]. They took the front page of the CNN site and dissected it to display what was actual news and everything else.  Sure, CNN could have been having an "off" day and they just happened to have a bad ratio when this was done.  And yes, Kos isn't exactly a neutral third party in the state of the world, but it doesn't mean they are automatically inaccurate. Yeah, it's possible this was a one-off for CNN, but it seems very unlikely with the state of modern media. This feels more like a confirmation of what I think a lot of regular readers have been experiencing and it's not just CNN.

I guess it's not too surprising when you consider marketing has become such a major factor in news outlets (and I'm not just talking about the flashy graphics and theme music, though it's a part of it). Broadcast journalism has become increasing amounts of ad material, focus on entertainment/gossip stories, 30-second sound bites for the ADD generation and an ever-present shrill voiced talking head that can do one thing and one thing only - Yip like a small, annoying poodle. No substance, nothing real to add to the conversation or the debate. Just good ol' fashioned antagonism, bias and ad hominem attacks. And let's not even get into the level of insincerity, smugness and vanity displayed by the worst offenders (which range across ALL of the channels).

This is obviously going to continue for a while since there is a significant part of the viewing audience that is just hungry for style and hot air masked as news.  It's a little unfortunate, but I guess we only have ourselves to blame, the media outlets are only giving us what we seem to respond to as consumers.  Why get the depressing, brutal truth of real news when instead you can be spoon fed some drunken Hollywood starlet's latest nipple flash?

Hell, I remember when shows like "A Current Affair" used to be complete tabloid fodder and a bit of a joke to "real" journalists. But the laugh was on them as the owners of the news divisions watched the market share increase for gossip journalism and instead of keeping the course with substance, they chose an adopt and extend policy towards these tabloid shows. Flash forward a couple of years and what was once merely third-rate reporting found on some pre-prime time gossip show became front page stories in 52 media markets.

So to condemn the media is surely to condemn ourselves. It hasn't always been this way and the public is comprised of groups of followers, so I wonder what it will take to change the focus - us or them?

Good Weekend

In an unusual weekend for me, I was able to completely avoid any real work and had nothing but down time.  I ended up catching up on cooking, movies and books.  To be honest, I'm not sure how there wasn't any work to do, but I didn't spend too much time worrying about it (although I did spend time looking at houses online in Kent and Bothell). At work, we were in the middle of an office move and my girlfriend decided to spend Saturday with her brother by going to the Home Show.

I had anticipated seeing Grace at some point, so I had made an effort to look up some recipes I thought she might enjoy.  Her love for all things citrus had me investigating lime, lemon and orange bakery goods.  I ended up taking a shot at a Key Lime Cookie recipe.  The cookies came out okay, the lime flavor is more of a strong finishing taste, but still good. 

They were a bit of pain to make for two reasons that became more clear during this weekend; my kitchen sucks and I don't have the right equipment.  Now, there would be some who would blame the cook instead of the tools, but hey I'm the cook so screw you.  My kitchen isn't laid out properly, especially in relation to counter space and outlets. I also had some trouble trying to get zest from the lime.  I used a multi-faced grater, but it was a mess and not very useful. If I'm going to do this again (or any other type of zest required recipe), I think I need to get a microplane grater.

I also baked a Madeira Cake from Nigella Lawson's book "How to be a Domestic Goddess". I thought this came out much better.  It's a very simple recipe and very tasty in a simple, uncomplicated way. It's utterly fantastic with a mug of green tea.  It's very similar to a pound cake, but far more delicious.  As an aside, I have a thing for Nigella Lawson.  It could be her accent, her sexy smile, voluptuous body, culinary competence or just the way she moves.  I would obviously vote for all of the above. Although it's a bit funny, since Grace was operating under the assumption that I watched a completely different Food Network show, Semi-Homemade, only because of that host's boobage (which honestly I don't even remember thinking about until she mentioned it).

Finally, I made another batch of Spaghetti Carbonara from Ruth Reichel's book "Garlic and Sapphires". It's a completely easy recipe and far better tasting than I imagined the from the first time I read ingredient list.  I'm going to try some of her other recipes in the near future.  It was also nice since I finished her book this weekend as well which was a nice impetus to do this again.

While cooking and eating the results, I watched "Silent Hill", "Syriana" and "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". I've been very behind on my Netflix queue so it worked out well. "Silent Hill" was lame, it didn't come off as either creepy or scary. Instead it was about as commonplace as any low-grade horror film and unfortunately provided another nail in the coffin in the genre of game-to-movie crossovers. I really enjoyed "Syriana", mostly because it did a great portrayal of how I would imagine the level of corruption, deceit and pandering that exists in that world.  However, the best of the bunch was "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang", it was written and directed by Shane Black (writer of "Lethal Weapon", "The Last Boy Scout" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight").  It was terrific and very funny, even with the level of self-awareness it exhibits during the story.  I can't remember the last time that I was laughing out loud along with a movie, it had some really great lines. It was good enough that I called my friend halfway through the movie and told him to go rent it immediately.

In between all of this I was able to finish a couple books:

Garlic and Sapphires - As mentioned before, this was interesting. She gets into great detail about her efforts to disguise herself during her work as the food critic.  Her stories are interesting and the differences between the common folks and the "recognized" are expected, but still frustrating (speaking as a clearly defined member of the common crowd).

The Warrior Elite - This is an inside look at the training of a SEAL class, specifically 228. I've seen TV shows on Hell Week and read articles on the training, but this is an insightful look of the daily activities of the BUD/S training for all the phases. Reading the amount of physical exertion, pain and emotional turmoil of the evolutions was interesting, but I didn't figure it would pull me in as much as it did.  I actually got attached to some of the trainees and their stories to the point that I was a up with their success and down with their failure. It was heartbreaking to read about some of the DOR's, especially the ones based on medical issues.  This was a good read and I have more respect than ever for the SEAL teams and their training.

It was a good weekend, very lazy and very rewarding.  I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to do that again, but it was a nice change of pace.

Where to live?

I've started my search for a place to buy and it's a bit depressing.  I can either live in a condo or townhome for ($300k) near my work in Redmond or hold out for an actual home in Kent, Maple Valley or maybe Bothell, if I'm lucky.  I've been reading that the real estate market is slowing but you wouldn't know it from the prices in King County. Although, even those prices are finally starting to be affected. 

I keep being told horror stories of owner associations that are completely nuts.  For instance, one woman purchased a condo but two years later the association passed a decree that everyone had to pay $40k to refurbish their kitchens, that's $40k each. It made me angry just hearing about it.  I can't even imagine how I would react having to go through it. The idea that you don't have true ownership and some Chets can dictate elements of your home is disturbing. However, buying a home in Kent means a lot more time on the road and a helluva lot more money in gas. The flipside is that it's an actual home, with property, rooms, garages, parking and ownership. 

My rental management just raised my rent to $1300 ($1375 for month to month), which is another reason pushing me to get the hell out of here. I'm fed up with this place anyway so the timing works out.  I just wish housing was a tad more moderately priced, which is particularly scary since I'm single and making what I would consider is damn good money. I have no idea what single-income families are doing to buy a home in this market.

I hate free furniture

Nothing is really free.  Take for instance the free love seat that my girlfriend came across on Saturday. But first, some background is in order.  Grace, and her family, has raised the acquisition of leftover furniture to an art form.  They have some rules about what constitutes whether something is usable, but if she finds something on the side of the road she will stop to check it out. Personally, I find the whole thing distasteful, it reeks of desperation and I’m not all that hip on getting into somebody’s discard pile.

This weekend was supposed to be low key because I’m stressed about buying my first home and I’ve been going through my finances and considering loan options and potential borrowers.  However, while heading out to the grocery store early Saturday afternoon Grace noticed a faded purple loveseat which someone had labeled with a “Free” sign.  It’s the end of the month so people that are moving out of the apartment complex are getting rid of items one way or another.

I realized that it would be a problem when I saw it, but when I watched her whip out the cell phone and start dialing, I knew it was going to be a long day.  After a series of phones calls between the sisters and me sending a cellphone picture of the couch, they agreed to keep it.  During the phone calls she took the sign off the couch and sat down, asking me to join her. But not only do I not know where that couch as been, but there was a suspiciously poo colored stain on the arm which I had no intention of touching.

I turned down the idea of moving it into my apartment for safekeeping but did volunteer to put it in my Explorer until her sister could pick it up. Then that idea wasn’t going to work out since she was busy with errands. I volunteered to meet her halfway someplace, but that didn’t work out either, but me driving it out to Seattle to her place seemed to work out okay (in case you missed it, yes that’s sarcasm folks).

In another charming bit, Grace made one too many calls to her sister and made her a bit testy. My response to Grace was that if she continued being “testy” she could come out and get it herself.  I tend to get annoyed when her family is crappy to her, especially since she doesn’t stand up for herself (doesn’t want to rock the boat, which drives me nuts). Also, if I wanted drama I would go to see the dismal looking local production of Evita.

Anyway, Grace wrote down directions to her place, but then said we weren’t going to be able to deliver it until around 9pm (it was about 4pm when we got the directions). The timing was due to me not wanting to go to a strangers house to move a couch into their basement without her sister being present. We finished shopping, headed back home and I made a very nice spaghetti carbonara for dinner.

We got another call from her sister that she wouldn’t be around until about 10pm and headed for her place around 9pm.  It turns out her directions were less than stellar.  I knew we were in trouble when they were giving contradictory information. If you know Seattle, when you exit 520 west to Montlake you can't make a left from the offramp, you can only head north. Also, if you are told to make a left onto 45th, you are going to be heading west up towards the UW. 

Unfortunately, the directions started to break down after that and we stopped just past Wallingford for new directions.  I only heard half the conversation between Grace and her sister, but there was mention of “two 45th streets” (huh?). Turns out she lives in Ravenna towards Sand Point which if either of those were mentioned would have kept us more in the ballpark.  But the revised directions got us there a little while later.

We arrived just minutes before her sister and noticed nobody else was home. We unloaded the couch onto the sidewalk and put the truck back together (back seats up and cover bar in place).  When she arrived she was apologetic about the directions and unlocked the door. We carried it up the stairs to the house and started our first run at getting it into the basement.  That failed miserably after several tries due to the very old and very narrow doorway. We made another series of attempts to get it upstairs which also were unsuccessful.

This led to more phone calls and discussions about what to do with the couch. The options discussed were my finding a Goodwill, my listing it in Craiglist, me dumping it back at my apartment (some ludicrous statement about how we didn’t really “own” it so it we wouldn’t be responsible if the apartment management complained about re-dumping the couch where we found it – obviously I didn’t make this argument) and finally me lugging it to Bothell to their parents place (anybody else notice a pattern for the guy who didn't want anything to do with the fricking thing in the first place?).

I opted for the trip to Bothell since it seemed the least problematic so we reloaded the Explorer, said our goodbyes and headed north. By this time it was about 11:30pm so the trip should have been relatively quick. However, when we took the “shortcut” it turns out road construction detoured us through a couple of miles of residential neighborhoods. We finally made it sometime after midnight.  Her dad was still awake and helped me unload the couch onto their deck and after a brief stay, we headed out.

We arrived back at my place just after 1am.  So yeah, the day was not what I would consider a “good thing”. After several hours of driving, phone calls, arrangements and moving of furniture I return to my original statement. Nothing is really free.