Weep For Humanity

it all started with this article on TechCrunch

I'd Rather Embed Image that makes sense
than something completely irrelevant

go ahead, read it, (if you haven't already....and i really hope you haven't), i'll wait.

 see anything wrong with this?
 i did.
lots of things.

the title: instagram than a movie?!? apparently, her definition of watching a movie is nowhere close to what normal peoples' is. if it is, then either she has some hearing impediment along with a weird  persistence of vision issue, or she has never watched a movie like regular people do, or both. else she wouldn't make a statement that stupid. also, she assumes, wrongly, that everyone watches movies the way she does.

the content: that whole thing reads like a shameless plug for instagram. without the mandatory legal disclosure if the author/company has taken money for the promotion. okay, if for a min, we consider that it was not a promotion and it was what she actually thinks, then why should i read about it on a news blog? doesn't she have her own personal blog to write this kind of garbage that goes under the category of news journalism on? fine. i don't know shit about journalism, but i am sure this definitely is not it. 

this is also what happens when you're running out of time to create content under pressure to write something in support of a different post on a vastly popular blog in the hope that it will be linked together by techmeme and others, so that this dumb article rises to the much needed popularity in order that AOL gets the SEO ranking and ad revenue that pays for writing articles this shitty.
here, for your viewing pleasure, is the nice twitter timeline of online editing that went on for this article

(btw, alexia, the line "This is a pain point that Hollywood is currently suffering through" is wrong grammar. your HilzFuid missed it.)

that video: what does that video have anything to do with what she's talking about in the title? other than the fact that Louis CK is actually making fun of exactly that demographic. and this HilzFuid is saying that this video fits perfectly! perfect it is, for sarcasm!

but the most troubling about it is the twitter reaction for this: (search here, if you don't believe me) "interesting", "good blog post", "so true!"  what are they even talking about? just agreeing because a popular news blog article says so? without any thought?

i weep for humanity. 

I'd Rather Watch Instagram Than A Movie tcrn.ch/wetJ90
— Alexia Tsotsis (@alexia) January 23, 2012

i'd rather watch experience the movie.

Offline

She could not help it.
"It would be a quick glance", she convinced herself. She had to do it; it was ruining her concentration. One look and then she could be herself again. It was an addiction - a drug that calmed her frayed nerves, and once the mind craved for one, she had to get her fix. She needed it green. It would let her relax. But the dot stayed gray; gray as the overcast skies on a morose winter afternoon. It was making her restless, anxious.
Only a few days ago, it would have been green, restoring her tranquility. It was as if the ends of the network cables were the sensors of a cardiograph somehow connected to him. The glowing dot on her monitor, a bright green LED summing all the data points to signal his well being, reassuring her that he was there, safe, and all was right with his world. The gray troubled her; and compelled her to keep checking it.
“It ought to change any minute now,” she assured herself, impatient like a race car driver at the starting line, waiting with bated breath, and the engine pulsing. She waited, and the light did likewise.
A small tear appeared imperceptibly at the corner of her eyes. She pushed it away, as if in defiance. “Go away, i don’t need you!” she exclaimed, angry at her betrayed emotions. It was him she had addressed, the tears merely an excuse. She would not break down, she resolved, not today. She was stronger now. More mature. Her world had been cruel to her, she felt, but nothing could faze her any more. Through a brief surge of some sense of victory, she felt in control.
It seemed so stupid now, looking back. Why couldn’t he understand? And why wouldn’t he call? Was it too much to ask? She failed to understand what had gone wrong. No one understood her, she affirmed, and no one cared about her or thought of her. Abruptly, she reached for her cellphone, clutching it like a castaway grabbing a life buoy. She wanted to corroborate herself, she reasoned, but there was a faint glimmer of hope that she was wrong. The smudged screen reflected her own beautiful eyes, but only for a brief instant before lighting up at her touch, as if eager to please. There was nothing she had missed. She tossed it back again carelessly, disappointed. She would resist the urge to call. "I will not give in, not this time", she said it to herself like it was a chant. She would fight till the end. It was a brutal battle - her will power against her lack of it. She had to see how long she could last. Suddenly, she was nostalgic. They came flooding to her mind, all the bittersweet memories, like a tsunami, and just as tempestuous. A part of her wanted to let go, a part desperate to hold on. Making decisions always did that to her. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs - “Why?” It came out only as a whimper, more like a cry for help. She felt like running away from it all. She missed the warmth of her home, of an elderly hug, and the melody of the comforting phrase being whispered softly in her ears, “It is going to be all right”. Something felt warm on her cheeks. And wet. She realized she was crying. She did not intend to, but it had happened. “i tried my best”, she tried to rationalize. They were streaming down in rivulets now, faster, giving rise to more, a vicious circle. She buried her face in her hands, hiding from herself, and shielding herself from her surroundings, as if she did not want them to learn of her vulnerability.
It was a while before she opened her eyes again. The monitor had gone dark. She saw herself in it, teary eyed, her pretty face contorted. “No,” it was an order. “Stop it!” she commanded herself, brushing her cheeks with the palm of her upturned hands. A thin, tapering streak of silver appeared near her cheekbones leading up to the corner of her eyes, glinting in the dim fluorescence of the room. She slammed the screen shut, frustrated with herself for breaking her resolve, and somewhat disturbed by the reflection.

He saw the green dot turn gray, and paused; his hands still, fingers poised over the keyboard in the middle of contemplating a greeting. The list shuffled noiselessly as her name moved to the end of the list and settle, like a stone sinking slowly to the bottom of a lake, and probably with the same finality. He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled.
She was offline.

Any Other Name

For quite some time now, i had the name wasabi for this blog. (and the lame <life> blah blah blah </life> in the description). the reason, apparent if you had read my first post, was simply this: for a lack of imagination (at that time) and an inclination towards learning Japanese.
but quite recently, i was told that this was the exact name under which a friend used to write, and that i was the 'only hindrance on earth' (her words, not mine) to prevent her claim to fame.

oh well, to quote Shakespeare (once more, though in its entirety),

..That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes,

Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;

And for that name, which is no part of thee

thus, i hereby publicly abdicate all pretensions to the name wasabi, and the right for a claim to it in my future endeavors.

    Thy will be done

    on earth as it is in heaven.

from now on, this place will go by the name wabi-sabi.


not only is this very similar (phonetically, only, obviously) to wasabi, but also of Japanese origin, keeping up with the tradition, as you no undoubtedly would have guessed.
this one makes more sense, though, for a place like mine - something which isn't too complicated, or exotic. just plain simple appreciation of everyday life.
(in other words, i can get away by giving it a name that means i won't ever need to, or would, work on beautifying rectifying this template that i messed up big time)

more on the beautiful concept of wabi-sabi can be found nicely summarized on wikipedia.

Death of Nations

if this recession has taught us anything, it is the fragility of this society. 

it is the bane of the balance sheets brought upon by the its sorry dependence on companies' profitability. i can see examples upon examples of degradation to quality brought upon by the race to dress up numbers. everywhere. and the only way to do that... make the numbers look pretty, i mean, without spending more money is to cut costs. what these econo-misers fail to do, is realize that there are many intangible aspects in the world that cannot be quantified on their spreadsheets -like quality of life.

they only need to look beyond the sorry piece of paper with their numbers on it and into their very lives that have taken a turn for the worse. 

so all i see around me these days are consequences of someone saving their job by coming up with or implementing a cost cutting action, which then goes on to appease the accountants, coz hey, bottom line! 

i can practically hear the CEO addressing his/her motley crew in closed board rooms "Get me 20% lower cost figures by Q4 this year ..." with dire consequences. call it Management by Liposuction.

so you get a mad scramble to cut costs in every imaginable area (or not!), and presto. you have thinner bottled water bottles with a "saving the environment by using 20% less plastic" label and smaller caps, which makes it drop from your hands half a dozen times before you can put it back on, effectively diminishing eliminating any chances of reusing that bottle. result: more plastic trashed coz that bottle got squashed by the time it was empty. but on the balance sheets? 20% less raw material costs, a "yes, we made it happen!", and more sales! YAAY!

That's the rationale behind shorter cables and lower quality components for electronic equipment, restaurant menus with fewer choices and smaller portions, (also, new menus means the chance to upwardly revise the rates). gone are the table cloths, the napkins and the glassware and silverware, replaced by 'disposable' paper sheets (or in worst cases, none at all!) and paper napkins and 'unbreakable' plastic tumblers and cheap, disposable plastic cutlery. 

dig deeper, and you find suppliers low balling, or offer deteriorated services to make up for the reduced margins, subsequently, you have cleaning services that won't, reduced delivery frequency in the mail room, limited, low quality office stationery, reduced operational hours of the cooling system ... to a point that it gets ridiculous and starts interfering with your ability to get work done. except, you are doing the job with a lot fewer people due to the recent 'rightsizing' of the staff (employees are costs, too). oh, the management has made you believe how can do more with less coz 'you're awesome'. so now a guy (or girl, for that matter) is doing the work of two (or more) for the same - or even reduced pay with the consolation of "hey, at least i have a job" all the while thinking that the moment the job market "improves" they're going to jump ship for a better life.

except, it is not going to. not in the near future

those used to taking lots of things for granted are in for a rude shock - these effects trickle down in our lives really well through the budget gaps.

so get used to having ill-maintained public infrastructure, reduced police force and firemen to tend to your 911 calls, higher priced stamps, higher parking fees, higher taxes, higher health care costs, increased interest and insurance rates, more traffic tickets (the police department is not exactly flushed with funds here), reduced hours and resources for your kids in their schools (ditto, schools) - like teachers and supplies - at the same or even reduced paycheck! and this is to say the least. you would not imagine how low some departments would be willing to stoop in order to cut costs to meet the reduced budgets.

get used to the idea of supporting your kids waay beyond their teens since they're not getting a job anytime soon. oh, and they will have their own education loans to pay, and lives to live, so, of course YOU will be not be retiring in the near future coz your 401k dwindled down to almost nothing and you also have your own bills to pay - leading to even more unemployment.

so YOU cut down on spending - clip coupons, buy in bulk so that it is cheaper, try to look for deals - and spend more time buying stuff than you'd have otherwise. your spouse and kids are furious with you for not spending enough time with them, and you need to convince them how 'less is more', all the while not talking about the elephant of debt in the room.

and the economy takes even longer to revive, since no one is spending any money.

hello, downward spiral of miserable futility.

in today's age of austerity, this is the new normal.