It seems remarkably quiet out there.  I knew the economy was “bad”, that good jobs were “hard to find”, that there are a hundred applicants for every job posted, but still – man!  I’ve never had any trouble finding a job when I really wanted / needed one.  I’ve been on the hunt for quite some time now (shhh, don’t tell my previous boss) but it’s only been the last three weeks that I’ve really been punching through the clutter on the job boards and sending out resumes and awesome cover letters ’till my fingertips hurt.  Five to ten a day, usually.  It’s my new full-time job, ‘tho I don’t get paid for it.

Granted, a lot of the positions I’m applying for are pretty highly skilled, unique opportunities that I’m sure will take some time for the people on the other end to sort through and start scheduling interviews.  The last one I interviewed for was two months in the making.  But I’ve also gone back to my roots (in the interest of an immediate paycheck) and have been applying for some intermediate and entry-level positions that I would think would need to be filled right away.

Ok, so it’s not really all bleak and hopeless – I do have an interview on Monday.  It’s a “group interview” which is kind of new to me, but maybe it’s a good way to weed out the incompetents in one quick meeting.  And it’s for a reputable medical company, so I know it’s not just a big masked sales pitch.

Speaking of Sales . . .
It’s my background.  My immediate experience reeks of it like bad cologne.  But the thought of taking another straight-up sales job makes me want to vomit into my Banana Republic credit card bill (What?! They make nice clothes).  So hopefully it doesn’t come to that.  I would love something in the non-profit sector, where my sales experience would be a great asset to a fund-raising or management role.  That’s quite a bit different from the abject capitalistic digging-for-any-dollar-possible direction of the typical sales role.

Back to the Roots.
I’m also actively searching for something in a manufacturing environment.  Production management, shipping & receiving, warehouse and inventory management – I’ve got the skills, baby.  I like the idea of making things, or at least helping to facilitate the making of or delivery of things.  Far too many manufacturing jobs have moved to cheaper (read: corrupt) climates.  Even a lot of customer service and tech support jobs have moved to India (and other countries).  Where are all the lazy Americans looking for an easy job supposed to go now?  Not that I’m a lazy anything.  I’m not.  But I believe those jobs should remain here.

So I’d like to get my hands dirty, be up on my feet for a while, assemble things, box things, feel things pass through my hands.  My last job was too abstract.  I realize I won’t make the same kind of money I’m used to, and I’m resolved to that.  We can make it just fine on less.   More on that later.

p.194 - Bicycle Diaries, David Byrne

When placed in the context of recurring shapes, patterns, or rhythms, it may very well be that the entire makeup of the world is indeed much like a song.  But in spite of how boldly beautiful the initial statement may seem, all songs are, in fact, logical.  Anything that follows a set pattern could be said to be following logic.  I’m not disputing the sentiment of the passage, not at all.  I actually find the description to be quite accurate, at least as far as my limited knowledge of “the world” goes.  Then again, one could argue that the song (being that it is a product of the world) is actually a miniature reflection of the world, however minute a snapshot of the grand scale of the world as a whole that song may encapsulate.  The song then–any song–tells us more than we may realize.

“The song remakes the emotion–the emotion doesn’t produce the song.”
p.192 – Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

“They” refers to four groups pushing legislation to eliminate copyright controls and lessen or eliminate punishments for copyright infringement. 
They are:  the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, the Consumer Electronics Assn. and the Computer and Communications Industry Assn., according to NMPA president/CEO David Israelite. In a keynote address he recently gave to the National Assn. of Music Publishers’ annual meeting on June 16.

Well, who are “they” anyway?
Electronic Frontier Foundation: “EFF is the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world.”  http://www.eff.org 

* defending my rights? My right to compensation for my work is one I like very much, however, these guys are defending the “rights” of people to steal and freely share it.

Public Knowledge: “Public Knowledge is a Washington DC based public interest group working to defend your rights in the emerging digital culture.” http://www.publicknowledge.org

Consumer Electronics Association: “CEA Government and Legal Affairs, the legislative voice for consumer electronics, is committed to advising, lobbying and reporting on federal, state and international CE policy on behalf of our members and industry. ” http://www.ce.org

Computer and Communications Industry Assn., CCIA: ”CCIA is an international nonprofit membership organization dedicated to innovation and enhancing society’s access to information and communications. CCIA promotes open markets, open systems, open networks and full, fair and open competition in the computer, telecommunications and Internet industries.” http://www.ccianet.org

Mr. Israelite refers to these four organizations as “the new enemy” in the protection of intellectual property.  They took out a full-page ad in newspapers around Washington D.C. which read, “Content industry piracy claims are bogus”.
Bogus. Bogus? They claim no one in the industry has been hurt by content sharing. They claim that open sharing of intellectual property actually “helps the economy.”
I claim that because of file sharing on a massive scale, which began with Napster and has moved on to many, many more similar programs, there is no more “industry” for fledgling artists to grow into. There is no money for the recording artist from album sales. Maybe an artist can tour constantly and support themselves that way for a while, but they’ll never make a living selling their music to music listeners.
And that is the Great Tragedy of open sharing.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone proudly proclaim, “I never pay for music!”.  Yet that person has three iPods and a home computer loaded to the gills with music of every stripe, color, and genre.  Why should artists continue to hone their craft, labor over their art, pay out of their own pockets for recording and production if the listening audience is “just going to download it”? 

It makes me furious. It makes me sad. It kills the desire of the artist to create, as there is no financial support for them to continue their art, and what we will be left with is an Artless Society. 

And that, my friends, is the Greatest Tragedy.  

Wow! That’s a lot of people living more than 2o years past the average life expectancy of the average American.
So how do you want to live those extra years?
Here’s a quick breakdown of the healthy habits of a few centenarians.

How can you live healthfully into your 100s?

“Having good genes is half the battle” – but you can:
Eat more fiber, fruits and vegetables.
Avoid soda.
Drink two to three alcoholic drinks per week. 
Have a treat once or twice a week. 
Indulge occasionally & share with a friend. “It’s important not to feel deprived.“
Stay active, both mentally and physically.
Walk more, take the stairs, do crossword puzzles, read daily. “People who have lifelong interests will have better mental faculties throughout their lives.”
Enjoy yourself!
Stay married.
Spend time with friends.
Meditate.

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/aging/how-live-be-101

I’ll see you at the birthday party!

First of all, artists and creators should just “accept” that their works can and will be freely distributed?
Bullsh*t!

Second, “Free Culture” is the birth of mediocrity in the arts. 

One only has to look at the abundance of “crap” music, art and literature flooding the market to see how the “free culture” mindset has marginalized quality across the board.  I’m not talking about genres or concepts that one inherently doesn’t like and so feels has no worth, but rather the trite and soulless, only-of-the-moment, pre-fab formulaic “pop” that floods the iPods, clubs, bookshelves and galleries of the world one week, and is completely forgotten the next.  True art should have an intrinsic value and longevity to it.  It should have a shelf-life of more than just a month, season, year or even a generation.  It should be timeless. 

Oh, yeah – and the artist should be compensated for their work. 

This current generation of self-entitled thieves will have nothing of value to pass on to whatever generation may come next.  The trend of remixing, or mash-ups, while only slightly imaginative, doesn’t serve to  pay homage to the artists it so blatantly steals from, despite what those engaging in this form of “creation” may say.  What it does is elevate to “star” status individuals with no real talent of their own other than a technical aptitude for meshing someone else’s creative works together to create the illusion of a seamless concept.  It’s insulting.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/04/calmness-curation-cat-porn-dave-eggers-joys-of-print/?=sidelink

Another champion of print media.  But of course, Eggers has a vested interest in the survival of books in the printed form.  Sad to think of a future without crinkled pages, earmarks and underlines and notes hastily scribbled in the sidebars.  My wife and I love books.  The physical, hold-in-your-hand kind.  It was one of the things that brought us together initially. She had met me before at a club but thought I was a drunken lout. Then she happened to walk by as I was dining alone at a sidewalk cafe, reading a copy of The Tin Drum, by Günter Grass and she became interested enough to have me over for wine and all-night conversations.  I couldn’t have planned it better had it been planned.  Fortunately it wasn’t.  Fate?  If you believe in that sort of thing.   

I hate to think that the Kindle and iPad, amazing as they are, would be the exclusive fate of all literature, news, journalism, etc.  Technological evolution and ingenuity will never cease to amaze me, nor will I ever immediately shun any new forms of content delivery without first giving it a good run around the park (I write and read blogs, I own and love a smart phone).  But neither will I ever cease to purchase Books and Magazines or pick up the occasional Newspaper.  I don’t care how light, portable, easy-to-use, or memory-and-feature-packed devices get, the tactile sensation of paper in my hands can never be replaced.

“niche isn’t just in the content or the subject matter; it’s in the mechanism of transmission.”

As one source replaces another the reader remains loyal only to the content that catches and maintains their interest, rather than the vehicle that brings the information. Gone are the days of the local daily paper gracing the breakfast table, along with the few essential magazines that come each month and are allowed to pile up in the living room, bedroom, or bathroom (one of my favorite places to read mags).  Tomorrow’s adults will know nothing of these things and may in fact find them absurd or archaic, as they glean their news, entertainment and knowledge of the world and its happenings through various blog posts and hot-at-the-moment social media platforms.

It’s not even 6 and I’m out!