July 2010
Worse than a walk of shame? →
nytimes.com
“Alcohol-induced behavior has produced many unintended consequences, but pushing up the global price of oil and losing $10 million must rank among the most novel.
Britain’s financial regulator disclosed on Tuesday that Steven Noel Perkins, a former oil futures broker, single-handedly engineered a jump in the price of oil a year ago and cost his firm millions of dollars with a string of unauthorized trades after a weekend of heavy drinking.
Mr. Perkins had just returned from a liquor-soaked golf weekend with colleagues in June of last year when he sat down in front of his laptop at his home east of London and started to place bets on Brent crude futures, according to a report by the Financial Services Authority. He continued to drink and place bets through the night, and by the morning of June 30, Mr. Perkins had placed more than $520 million worth of trades, at one point pushing the price of oil to $73.05, an eight-month high. The trades by Mr. Perkins were the main reason the price gained about $1.65 a barrel in just over two hours in the middle of the night, according to the report.”
This is scary.
June 2010
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
—Ray Bradbury
“Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.”
—
Joseph Addison
Inscribed around the bottom of the Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall.
I never bring a camera
I wish I would have known how nice yesterday would have been, because I would have brought a camera with me. I never remember to grab a camera, and it is only after I am out and see something I would like a picture of that I think about it. I think I could have taken some really nice shots in the Chicago Cultural Center yesterday because it was so empty, and I’m not finding anything I love online to post.
Play
Play
“
Anyone who wants to know why network television news hasn’t mattered since the seventies just needs to check out this appearance by Logan. Here’s CBS’s chief foreign correspondent saying out loud on TV that when the man running a war that’s killing thousands of young men and women every year steps on his own dick in front of a journalist, that journalist is supposed to eat the story so as not to embarrass the flag. And the part that really gets me is Logan bitching about how Hastings was dishonest to use human warmth and charm to build up enough of a rapport with his sources that they felt comfortable running their mouths off in front of him….
If I’m hearing Logan correctly, what Hastings is supposed to have done in that situation is interrupt these drunken assholes and say, “Excuse me, fellas, I know we’re all having fun and all, but you’re saying things that may not be in your best interest! As a reporter, it is my duty to inform you that you may end up looking like insubordinate douche bags in front of two million Rolling Stone readers if you don’t shut your mouths this very instant!” I mean, where did Logan go to journalism school - the Burson-Marsteller agency?
Most of these reporters just want to be inside the ropeline so badly, they want to be able to say they had that beer with Hillary Clinton in a bowling alley in Scranton or whatever, that it colors their whole worldview. God forbid some important person think you’re not playing for the right team!
” —Matt Taibbi, responding to Lara Logan’s criticism of Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings’ piece on Gen. Stanley McChrystal. (via)
Taibbi is occasionally frustrating and a habitual flamethrower, but, well, that’s his job. And Hastings’ job. And Lara Logan’s job.
(via hammerito)
The internet refuge
I do not know what I would do without access to the internet at work. I’ve never had a non-desk job and these desk jobs have always provided me with plenty of access to the internet. Taking breaks to check on news and look up interesting things is how I relieve stress and fill up time, even on days when I’m busy and could just work straight until the end of the day with no breaks.
It’s come to a point where I feel almost entitled to this time, even though I’m very, very well aware I’m not entitled to anything beyond my lunch and a couple of 15 minute breaks. One thing I’ve been thinking about today is whether my use of the internet at work is an addiction or just a necessary escape valve from what have always been pretty uninteresting (at least to me) office jobs. I’m not a big socializer in the office, but could this just be because I have the internet to keep my attention? I’ve also rarely had many people around my age or of any social interest to me in the office (most of my coworkers over the years have been 40+ year old suburban Midwestern women with whom I’m not seeking after work friendships). I would really rather look up pictures of art deco building, ruins, and read about politics than hear about a coworker’s kids/pets/home repairs/etc.
Tumblr has been an interesting development in my work internet usage because it allows me to see interesting images and feel somewhat social. Before I started using Tumblr I mostly spent my day looking up the same kinds of images and information, but I just kept it to myself or e-mailed friends really salient pieces. Now, as I use Tumbler mostly at work in some way people from Tumblr feel like really interesting co-workers.
It’s a rather odd attititude to have about internet work usage (it’s certainly not a mature point of view), and certainly not conducive to furthering my career, haha.
I'm prescient
I’ve been here 15 minutes and already discovered three major things people ignored while I was out.
Just fucking slap me.
Kicking and Screaming
I’ve been in such a great mood all day, and I’ve been feeling pretty good for the last couple of days in fact. I realize this is all because I took some time off. This was the longest break I’ve taken for just myself since I started working in Chicago back in ‘07 (I’m not counting Christmas, because I take that chunk of time more for my family than myself). It was a really nice extended weekend for me.
That positive mood has now fled and I feel as though I have a massive knot in my stomach. I’m dreading the morning. Tomorrow is the last day for the co-worker who took over my old job, meaning that job will be mine again until I can get a new person trained to do it (this takes a lot longer than anyone reasonable would think). Between training someone already, having to train the replacement for this now vacant job in a couple of weeks, and doing all of the work that I know has built up over the last month of my coworker being part time out has me pre-stressing. I am expecting to be yelled at as soon as tomorrow, but more likely on Thursday for letting something go out of date due to my taking some time off. Also, no news yet on a raise which is supposed to come in July, which makes me nervous seeing as how I haven’t had a raise since the summer of ‘08 when I was promoted.
What’s worse is that I realize this feeling of looming dread is my day-to-day norm at work, and that I’m only noticing this feeling as something different at the moment because I’ve taken a break and felt so much better. My job is really not that bad objectively, but it still makes me pretty miserable almost everyday I am there.
I just have to remember how nice this time off has been, and not let the gauntlet of blame and stress that I know is coming cause me to not take some consecutive personal days again until Christmas (assuming I’ll even be allowed to take time off without anyone to cover for me for the upcoming months). Maybe I’ll even let it motivate me to get serious about looking for a new job again…
Listen
New Passion Pit! Tonight Tonight (single)
This is a good cover in that it completely changes the feel of the song. It sounds so clean and sparkly in this version.
