cincinnati/falling/creative class revisited

wow.

so this has gotten a pretty crazy response. i’ve actually gotten my first hate mail! but for the most part, it has been a very positive response. thanks to all of you that have e-mailed me about it. i don’t claim to be any kind of expert…just another guy expressing an opinion and trying to base it on what is floating around out there.

here’s what i’m talking about

google reader

.:google reader: feed me:.

google reader site

from the site:

With Google Reader, keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy as checking your e-mail.

in a nutshell:

i used to have bookmarks upon bookmarks upon bookmarks upon bookmarks in my browser’s bookmark folder. i spend time meticulously combing through them for news and information from my sites…and it would take a considerable amount of time. it was worth it because if you’re not doing that kind of thing and you work in the interactive/marketing/technology business, you are worthless. then along comes RSS…this amazing, fantastic technology that makes it possible for you to subscribe to sites that provide you with RSS feeds directly to content that you want to see. you can read a quick slug to see if the information is relevant for you or not and you can then move along quickly to the next if it’s not. however, RSS hasn’t really been picking up much with the ‘regular ol’ user’ market until the past couple of years. part of the reason is that:

1. the general web-browsing populace (read ‘not tech geeks’ or web people) have really known what it is or what it does and why they should use it

2. nobody has really known what kind of software (feed aggregators) is the best to use. some you have to pay for. some is free. some is web based. it sucks and it’s confusing for the normal user.

in the usual google fashion, they put out this really great feed aggregator called ‘google reader’…and if you don’t have it, you should go out and sign up for an account immediatley. it came out in 2005 or so, but it really wasn’t all that cool…until now. the interface is clean, it’s easy to populate, and even if you’re using a similar type of application, changes are you can export your content out of that application and into this one. for example, i’ve been using bloglines , and it took me all of about 2 minutes to get google reader setup.

one google to rule them all…one google to bind them……….

…and the guy with colitis goes by…

.:ulcerative colitis and me:.

you know what sucks? ulcerative colitis.

out of all the glorious designer diseases that one could be stricken with…cancer, Alzheimer’s, cholera, hepatitis E… leprosy for god’s sake…i get stricken with this one.

alright…i jest. i guess i feel…uh…lucky?…that i only have ulcerative colitis rather than any of those other afflictions. i suppose i’d rather have the runs a lot than, say, have my nose fall off in the middle of dinner or something.

but MAN…MAN OH MAN…UC is NOT FUN AT ALL. i suppose you could ask yourself what disease IS fun. the answer is obvious…but UC is the one i get to live with, and so i will take the liberty of whining about it when i want.

let’s be blunt, friends. i have to poop a lot when this thing is all nice and flared up. that’s really annoying because you realize how much of a slave you are to your own body. you can be driving down the road…out in the middle of nowhere…and all of a sudden, it can hit you. and where you folks with a normal functioning bowel can play ‘choose your own adventure’ and most likely have an agreeable outcome should you choose to ignore the ‘i have to go #2′ for another exit or five, i do not have this luxury.

the conversation with your body goes something like this:

bowel: “la la la la la this is fun…i feel great…good times and millions of dollars for all! vacations! sunshine! woohoo…uh…hey…wait…yeah, you’re going to need to find a bathroom.

you: come on, man. we’re in the middle of rush hour traffic. things aren’t moving. can you maybe give me another 6 minutes to find an exit with a gas station and then we’ll tango?

bowel: i will self destruct in 5 minutes.

you: but…i’m only asking for another minute. please…cut me some slack…i…

bowel: i will self destruct in 5 minutes.

you: DUDE. plleeeeeeeeeaassseee…it’s gonna’ be your fault when this all goes wrong…just hold on…

bowel: i will self destruct….in 2 minutes….

you:…oh, son of a…

there is no gambling. you either win by barely making it to the gas station…or restaurant…or side of the road…or really anywhere you might be able to relieve yourself. or you lose. and you know what losing means…

pretty embarrasing, huh? not exactly rockstar. not exactly coolest guy status upholding. not exactly american idol-esque.

and then there’s the pain. i’ve tried to describe it a couple of different ways to people. sometimes it feels like someone is squeezing at your insides with a really hot vicegrip…kind of like runners cramp, only move the cramp over to your midsection and multiply the pain factor by…five? ten? twenty sometimes? and sometimes it feels like there are a bunch of chuckling little elves who have decided that it’s time to throw on some razor blade ice-skates and do a little ice-skating routine within the many folds of your large intestine.

finally, what’s really frustrating is that:

1. nobody knows what causes it. you can be living a nice, happy, worry-free healthy life (like i was) and then all of a sudden you’ve got…this…thing.

2. treatment apparently has not changed for it in the past 30 or so years. treatment consists of attempting to alleviate the symptoms because…again…nobody knows what the real problem is.

some doctors/professionals will tell you that it’s all about your diet. there are many different fine bacteria that camp out in your bowel…and there is apparently one or several of them that your immune system doesn’t like, and so your immune system turns on to attack it and doesn’t turn off…hence the reason why your colon looks like it has rugburn. but nobody can quite figure out which one or several of those bacteria is causing it, so by eliminating as much as possible out of your diet, you will eventually fix the problem.

some doctors/professionals will tell you that your diet doesn’t matter, that it’s just genetic and that you can do nothing but throw drugs at it and hope that it will either cause the problem to go into remission or bring the problem to a more manageable level.

i’ve tried (albeit not incredibly hard and not incredibly intensely) to change my diet. i drink considerably less soda and caffeine products in general. i eat less red meat and try to eat more vegetables. i take my probiotics. i’ve tried to supplement with fish oil and aloe and flaxseed oil. i’ve done all of this stuff and it has had aboslutely no effect that i can tell. likewise, i’ve run the phamaceutical gamut. i’ve done asacol, pentassa, coloazal, xyfaxin, and prednisone. i even went and tried one of those drug trial things…but that left me worse off than i was at an emaciated and incredibly sick 140 lbs (i’m 5′11 and normally around 155-160).

and prednisone…i mentioned it above. let’s take a few seconds to chat about that. predisone is this great steroid that does it’s job for this disease rather well. first, it stops inflamation, and second, it helps supress your immune system. hooray for prednisone, right?

it’s probably one of the most horrific drugs you can take to treat a disease or other problem with your body long-term, as the side-effects are incredibly damaging. it saps calcium from your bones at a pretty alarming rate. it damages your kidneys. can cause you to develop diabetes. makes you retain salt…which makes you retain water…which makes you look ‘puffy’. it gives you moonface. can give you a hunchback. gives you ‘roid rage. makes you an emotional mess.

i was talking with my new doctor here last week at a visit, and he said something to the effect of, “i’d hate to see what your bones will look like when you’re 50″. well, buddies, i’m 31 now. 50 doesn’t seem all that far off.

as it stands, it appears that i have two choices. i can try this new stuff called remicade. while it sounds like it will work well, it’s apparently crazy expensive…and again, doesn’t address the problem…it only treats the symptoms of inflamation. or i can get surgery. and talk about not being a rockstar. the first couple of months, you get to wear a nice bag to collect ‘waste’…and then the second part of the surgery consists of using your small intestine to take the place of your large intestine by forming it into a pouch and then reconnecting it so that you function in a somewhat normal manner…somewhat normal meaning that you don’t have a bag connected to a fleshy hole in your stomach collecting unneeded/undigested…”stuff”.

i don’t know what to do. i know that i can’t go on living like i currently am. i’m not sleeping well. i’m grumpy. i don’t feel like i can be as social as i want. i feel uninspired. it’s really ‘effing hard. but at the same time, the whole idea of having massive, massive surgery and having to take off an extended period of time from work scares me. any thoughts? any suggestions? make me feel better please…

children of men

.a.meter – 9/10

the breakdown: 2027, and modern day society is experiencing the rather large problem of being unable to make babies. to make matters worse, the world is in a state of chaos and everyone is killing each other

the apathetic anti-hero (AAH) is contacted by his militant activist ex-wife (MA-EX) for the purpose of acquiring papers for someone she feels is important to transport to a safe place…specifically to a group of mystery people called “the human project”. there’s history there, and so he decides to help out. AAH figures out that the person he has gotten the papers for is actually pregnant, and his hopelessness is replaced by the desire to help her against some rather staggering odds. the movie focuses on three things:

1. AAH’s journey into believing there is still hope for humankind even though all appears to be lost

2. the notion that even though this is set in 2027, it looks like we’re actually currently on our way there.

3. we, humankind, very much take for granted the power of children, and how children represent the potential to carry on all of the things we believe in into the future.

5 adjectives to describe the movie: dreary, hopeful, intense, organic, dystopian

standouts:

clive owen (AAH/theodore faron): probably one of the best dark anti-hero types i’ve seen. you feel sorry for how mundane his life is, and how unmoved by his horrific surroundings he is. he feels numb and gray and hopeless…but when he is given the opportunity to change that outcome, his eyes reflect an intensity and determination to make that happen.

michael caine (jasper palmer): i would have never in a million years been able to peg michael caine as being able to pull of an aging marijuana smoking hippy and make it a believeable experience. he’s funny, he’s smart, he’s kind and a little vile…and he’s someone you desperately want to hang out with and get to know better. he’s the grandpa of the future.

juliann moore (MA-EX/julian taylor) and chiwetel ejiofor (luke…one of taylor’s lieutenants…you’d know him from ‘inside man‘, ‘serenity‘, or the bad guy in ‘four brothers‘) were both good for the roles they were cast as well, nothing to really write home about.

the bottom line:

what a movie…what a great, real, gritty, human piece that shows the power of ‘what if…?’ i very rarely leave a movie feeling overwhelmed and tired (in a good way) by what i’ve just experienced. i also very rarely feel like i go to a movie where i feel like what i’ve just seen is truly a genuine artistic expression. but this movie managed to tie it up on a great package that was all at once filled with a lot to take in, yet concise and to the point. there are no complex messages and meanings here; rather, the story relies on the very simple premise of a world without children…and how that small element could completely change the landscape of life as we know it.

clive owen has consistently played good complex characters that feel like they rely less on dialogue and more on physical posturing. don’t get me wrong; i actually think he’s got a great vocal presence and he delivers lines in a very believable, very well timed way. he feels totally natural but he takes it a step further and puts you inside his character’s bodies. there are a couple of scenes in the movie where the typical hero would normally give you the whole ‘tough guy’ demeanor. instead, we see owen let his character’s non-caring facade fall away by actually breaking down and crying. and it’s not melodramatic…it’s believable, real, something you might expect you’d do if you were in the same situation.

i also appreciated one of the small twists of the film being given up fairly quickly rather than waiting for that huge ‘shocker moment’ of realization that something is awry. it was used to enhance the plot and the overall arc of the story rather than relied upon to make the film. now that i’m thinking about it, there are a lot of moments where some very harsh twists of fate occur…kind of like in life…and that is yet another thing which makes the film believable.

finally… alfonso cuarón is shaping up to be quite a visionary filmmaker. while i haven’t seen a lot of his stuff, i have seen ‘y tu mamá también’, ‘great expectations’ and ‘harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban’…all very unique and well produced experiences. cuarón seems to have a talent for mixing fantasy with reality in a very seamless way…something i appreciate very much because it makes it so much easier for you as a filmgoer to suspend your disbelief. i’ll definitely be looking forward to any future films he directs.

my ONLY beef with the film is ‘kee’, the pregnant girl. i like the character a lot. she is not what you expect her to be. she is essentially a prostitute who has the unfortunate burden of having become the only person on earth who is able to reproduce. ironic…but perhaps a tiny bit heavy handed. but the actor who plays her is young; she appears to be a first-timer. i wanted a less-mechanical portrayal. i wanted her to be just as believable as owen’s character…which is difficult given the experience difference. she did well enough and certainly didn’t detract from the overall quality of the film. she just would have been the icing…you know…the difference between a ‘9’ and a ‘10’.

dating on demand

.:your future boyfriend:.

a friend at work sent this little nugget of accidental hillarity my way. i promptly proceeded to spit and drool water all over my desk, i chuckled so hard. a couple of things to note before you watch the video:

1. the guy is serious. this is not a joke.

2. i’ve confirmed its authenticity due to this portion of the e-mail from my friend:

“What makes it even better is that Louis was my TA in Geography 110 at my college. He used to recite the names of all of these anime characters alphabetically on demand. He also sported a fanny pack and hi-tops the likes of which I haven’t seen since 1991. Flippin’ sweet.”