And Then There Was One
Saturday, January 30, 2010

I don't mind saying that this blog has made a few complaints about the state of the world lately. But, surprisingly, I'm not whining today. Today is a good day.

"What accounts for this sudden and pleasant change in disposition?", you ask. Well, I'll tell you. It's not that healthcare reform has been passed, or that the economy has markedly improved, or that new episodes of Arrested Development have been released on DVD. Nothing monumental like that. It's that, last night, MFP and I ordered a pizza, put on our jammies, and watched what--in a just and sane world--would rightly inspire a revolution. Or, more specifically, we watched President Barack Obama show the entire country how to have a rational conversation:

Funny that. I'm kind of surprised that something so small, so seemingly insignificant, can inspire such hope and optimism in an accomplished cynic, such as myself. But since I see our general inability to have a rational conversation as being directly connected to our failures on healthcare and on the economy (and maybe even on Arrested Development), it kind of makes sense. In a word, this! This is the change I want to see in the world. More Barack Obamas please.

For the record, I could go on and on and on about this exchange, but no need. It's all there. For everyone to see. And everyone--EVERYone--should see it! And be it. I, for one, will certainly try to be the change...

...whenever I'm imagining myself to be a responsible adult, that is.


UPDATE: OFA has put together some shorter clips of the event. You'll still have to suffer through some typically absurd Republican grandstanding to get to the good stuff, but it's worth it! The exchanges are incredibly eye-opening.

Nothing New byslag at 8:34 AM 0 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

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Existential Questions
Saturday, January 23, 2010


Some days I don't know why I do the things I do. This day was one of those. Which, naturally, means it was a good day.

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On Pugilism and Politics
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Recently, at Church of Pugilism, MFP and I were paired up for the first time in a long time. Which means that we go through the circuit as a pair and work together when the stages require two people. And in this particular circuit, one of the rounds involved one of us putting on a pair of mitts while the other punched the mitts. Often in this particular type of round, there is a specific set of punches we're supposed to go through in a specific order, and this time was no exception. However, things like direction of punches and footwork can change per the participants' discretion.

So, I started out punching while MFP was holding the mitts out to catch my glove. Throughout the round, he determined the direction of my punches and footwork. Sometimes he would move left, sometimes right, other times backwards, and so forth. As if we were dancing, I half-followed and half-anticipated his movements. Once in a while, I would misjudge his next move and have to quickly catch up to where he was in order to get my punches in. We'd both laugh. And since he was the one taking the punches, I had no problem with him doing the directing.

However, when it was time to switch up--time for me to hold the mitts and for him to punch--he (being a man*) seemed to think he would be the one directing this round also. Needless to say, that wasn't going to happen. For a short while we both sort of clumsily moved around the floor while he punched. He would shift left, and I would hesitate a little before reluctantly twisting to my right so that he could at least reach the mitts with his punches even if he couldn't get a firm hit in.

But very quickly, I got pretty obstinate. He would move to his left unprompted. And I would respond by quickly moving to my left, even farther away from his grasp. He would shift backward, and I would shift backward totally out of reach. I was grinning pretty widely this entire time, and each time he missed the mitts because he was out of range, he would laugh out loud. This kind of thing is fun for us. We can get a kick out of challenging each other's assumptions. Assumptions you don't even realize you're making until your effort-filled punches touch nothing but air.

In real life, however, more direct give-and-take is extremely important for MFP and me. When we debate serious issues or have disagreements, we need to be facing opposite each other--each point made being either caught our countered straightforwardly by the other person in real time. MFP and I can laugh when we're chasing each other around the boxing ring. But when tensions are high or if there are serious issues to be worked out, indirect or incomplete connections are highly counterproductive. Sometimes, we may find that we'd been chasing each other around the ring for quite a while without even realizing it. And then, fatigue and frustration set in. At that point we might even find ourselves at a complete system breakdown until one or both of us decide to put the effort into making direct contact again. Luckily, that happens quite rarely in our house.

However, one of the places I find that happening far too often is in our national political discourse. It definitely seems like a lot of the major players aren't even trying to mirror each other's movements. And interviews between members of the press and our representatives seem less like intentional and direct challenges of assumptions and more like random oblique punches toward the elbow. Half the time, they can't even manage to stay within the ring while they're chasing each other around. The boundaries of their debate completely obliterated, the most we can usually hope for is maybe a sucker punch to the shoulder blade or--if we're really lucky--a stray folding chair glancing off the shinbone. But, much more typically, what we see is all the swift and vigorous punches hitting nothing but air. Fatiguing. Frustrating.

Nonetheless, probably the worst part about this situation isn't the fundamental reality we're dealing with. It's the fact that the observations I've laid out here aren't even remotely unique. We've all felt this way about our discourse for quite some time. And yet, in spite of that awareness, and in spite of the fact that the problem--as humorous as it can be sometimes--is reasonably simple to correct, we don't bother to fix it. We've all had to perform these small corrections in our own individual lives. Refocusing on our counterpart when we get distracted--ensuring that, next time, we will move to our left when he moves to his right and so forth. We all know how it's done. And yet, on a national scale--in an area that could be considered infinitely more important in global terms--very few people are willing to put the effort into making direct contact again. Consequently, we're on semi-permanent complete system breakdown. The new normal.

No one's laughing.


*=It may seem like a cheap shot to bring gender into this scenario, but I can guarantee that, if MFP were paired with a male (even one he was fairly comfortable with), his assumptions about who would be leading the round would be slightly different. That's nothing at all against him. That's just the way things are. The political reality, if you will.

PS As I was composing this post, MFP sent me an email containing a link to "Ninja Nexus One Unboxing". Since I was writing about boxing (unbeknownst to him), I immediately assumed this was a humorous video about the opposite of boxing--whatever that is--Ninja-ing(?). But when I watched the video, I realized what "unboxing" meant in that context. Assumptions and missed connections--so funny. Much funnier than that video, I think.

Nothing New byslag at 7:43 PM 0 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

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What if I Don't See the Lightning Flash?
Monday, January 18, 2010

I stumbled upon Martin Luther King Jr's A Knock at Midnight speech this morning while I was perusing the YouTubes. Buried among all the videos featuring soaring, dream-having, mountain top-visiting rhetoric was this simple story about a time when Dr. King was having coffee alone at his kitchen table and feeling discouraged about the state of his work and his life. It struck me as being powerful in its ability to capture a moment that we all encounter sometimes. And it made me realize how indispensable the ability to display a depth of sensibility is as a leadership quality.

The story he told not only demonstrated that Dr. King knew what his fellow members of the movement might be feeling at a given moment but also illustrated that Dr. King could, at times, be haunted by those same feelings himself. His doubts, his discouragement, his humanity were all part of the process just as those of his compatriots were. He was one of them. And as a result, they could imagine themselves as being one of him. That's serious business.

And as I was listening, I kept thinking that this kind of speech is one that Barack Obama should give. I think we're all feeling a little discouraged at the state of the union right now, and it would be nice to know that Obama feels our pain too. And low and behold, I get an email in my inbox linking me to Obama's MLK Day speech at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in DC:
In it, Obama touches on many of the same themes that MLK had dealt with in his life and even shares a tiny bit of his own discouragement:
You know, folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm. (Laughter.) They say, all this stuff coming at you, how come you just seem calm? And I have a confession to make here. There are times where I'm not so calm. (Laughter.) Reggie Love knows. My wife knows. There are times when progress seems too slow. There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt. There are times when the barbs sting. There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught, and change is so painfully slow in coming, and I have to confront my own doubts.
Which almost made me wonder when Obama had a chance to open up my head and peek inside my brain to know what I wanted him to say (in spite of what our culture creators insist, there must be many more people out there who share my thoughts and feelings about certain things). But then, Buzz-kill Obama goes on to say this:
But let me tell you -- during those times it's faith that keeps me calm. (Applause.) It's faith that gives me peace. The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts. The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he's been rejected a hundred times. The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she's teaching she can't reach, that that 10th one she's going to be able to reach. The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake's wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community. A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand. A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.
Which, as it did at the same point in Dr. King's speech, pretty much leaves me feeling a little hopeless. Dr. King described this kind of faith moment as seeing the "lightning flash" and hearing the "thunder clap". Luckily, Obama went a little bit vaguer in that area--only mentioning the capital Him in one sentence--and a bit more concrete in others--the teacher, the unemployed father, the Haitian community. But still, I don't find this "faith" solution totally workable for me. I tend to think of doubt as the essence of democracy, and this faith talk is more than a bit anti-doubt. Beyond which, what if I just can't see the lightning flash or hear the thunder clap? And what if the fuzzy notion of "better days ahead" doesn't get under my skin enough to stimulate my optimism itch? What then?

Nothing New byslag at 7:23 PM 0 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

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The Limits of Proof of Concept (aka Thursday Chair Refinishing Blogging)
Thursday, December 17, 2009

A kind and patient friend of mine asked me to blog about some chairs I recently refinished. So.. I'm blogging about some chairs I recently refinished.

For a while now, MFP and I have been discussing the nature of self-confidence. And anyone who has ever discussed the nature of self-confidence knows that the only time the discussion comes up is when one or more persons is lacking it. For me, being on the receiving end of one of the many bromides concerning self-confidence tends to inspire hostile feelings. "Just believe in yourself!" Yeah, well, what if I'm wrong? "Don't ever give up!" Yeah, well, what if I'd do better at something else? "You can do anything you put your mind to!" Yeah, well, then why can't I make you stop spouting silly bromides?

As a result of these feelings, MFP and I have been on a quest to find the boundaries of experiential learning in relation to self-confidence. That is...Empirically, we've discovered that there are things we can do that we've never done before (for instance, our first steps). Success! So, once we've made that discovery, we might assume that there are infinite other things we can do. But then, at other times, we've discovered that there are things we can't do (quite possibly, our second steps). Failure! So, once we've made that discovery we might assume that there are infinite other things we can't do. Which naturally makes any reasonable person unsure of where the boundaries are between the things we can and can't do. And to complicate matters, there are a ton of extraneous variables to be considered. Natural ability vs. acquired ability; costs vs. benefits; the laws of physics; etc.

Which all brings me to my chair refinishing project.

Essentially, I had two different pairs of chairs that needed--because I'm uptight, my mind says "needed"--to go from a light wood finish to a dark wood finish. One set of chairs I purchased on Craigslist for $10 each, and another set I purchased on Etsy for $50 each. The Craigslist chairs were already mostly stripped of what appeared to be white paint while the Etsy chairs were finished in what I thought of as a "yellow maple-y" color (turned out to be birch, apparently). And one more thing on my list of assets: I have a paint and refinishing store at my easy disposal.

On my list of liabilities: I've never done anything like this before. My self-confidence has unknown limits. And I'm uptight--I don't want to screw up.

So, my plan was to start with a proof of concept. The $10 Craigslist chairs were going to serve that purpose because they were cheaper and a little easier to come by (aka, less costly should I screw up). And after several trips to the refinishing store to purchase supplies and get advice (I guess another item on my asset list is an unabashed willingness to ask a barrage of questions), I was ready to apprehensively have my way with my $10 chairs. And after stripping, sanding, aniline dyeing, staining, and polyurethaning, here's the result:
In spite of the many flaws in my product, I am satisfied and find myself ready to move on to the Etsy chairs. Or so I think.

Here's the thing. More variables. My proof of concept is limited because my Etsy chairs are not exactly my Craigslist chairs: they're made of different wood, they still have most of their original finish, and the cost of screwing them up is higher... Not only that, there are other extraneous circumstances: the weather is different, the allotted timeframe is getting shorter, I'm getting weary and impatient... So, after some trial and error on the unseen parts of one chair and another trip to the refinishing store to ask where I was going wrong, I was ready to apprehensively have my way with my $50 chairs. And after (a lot!) of stripping, sanding, aniline dyeing, staining, and polyurethaning, here's the result (with the original seat and back finishes pretty much in-tact):
In spite of the many flaws in my product, I am satisfied and find myself ready to move on to the lessons learned portion of the enterprise. For reals, this time.

On my list of technical lessons learned through this project: The most important part is the stripping and preparation; the entire piece should be subject to the same stripping method (for instance, don't sand some parts and use chemical stripper on others); the amount of time stain is left on makes a big difference as does the amount wiped away; not all polyurethanes are created equal; for pete's sake (!) go all no-VOC if possible because this stuff stinks like you wouldn't believe (a lesson learned too late, I'm afraid).

On my list of experiential lessons learned (or, at least, noted) through this project: There are seemingly infinite variables that can undermine the self-confidence gained through proof of concept (ie, an acceptable first step doesn't necessarily lead to a fearless second step); the cost of screwing up doesn't necessarily influence the amount of self-confidence (ie, in reality, not a big deal if I screwed this up, but I was still unrelentingly timorous throughout the whole); success and failure are fluid concepts that aren't necessarily affixed to objective outcomes (ie, I can look at all the little imperfections in my chairs and see the project as a failure, or I can look at all the improvements in my chairs and see the project as a success).

Also, cats:
The End.

Nothing New byslag at 9:00 AM 0 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

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Better than War and Peace
Friday, December 11, 2009

Possibly the best line from Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech:

I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation.
So true. You just know this is exactly what Obama's thinking every time he pays a visit to Congress. Is it wrong to include the term LOL in a post referring to a Nobel Peace Prize speech (or at least more wrong than at any other time)? Whoever wrote that line deserves his/her own prize.

Nothing New byslag at 10:44 AM 1 dispenses karmic justice! (or just comments here)

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White House Jobs Summit Takeaway: Bring Back Van Jones!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009

So, MFP and I spent part of our weekend watching the White House's Jobs and Economic Forum on the web. And after watching almost every video (with the exception of Tim Geithner's session just because twitchy dudes make me nervous), there's a lot I could say about the subject. But probably the most glaring takeaway for me was how desperately the environmental movement needs compelling personalities to represent it. Even though I have slightly more than a passing interest in the subject, the Innovation and Green Jobs of the Future Discussion could not compete with my dirty laundry for my attention. And MFP literally fell asleep. While Energy Secretary Steven Chu has his own kind of nerdy charm, the moderators of all the other sessions seemed to take some pains to make their discussions accessible to the average viewer. Not so with the ecogeeks. An observation which only served as a painful reminder of how much I miss Van Jones. In conclusion: Bring back Van Jones!

Nothing New byslag at 10:18 AM 0 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

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