WORK

I have to write an essay for school on the concept of "WORK" and I am having so much difficulty organizing my thoughts. A friend told me that if a person doesn't work or go to school then they must be "retarded." She was serious, too. It's actually kind of sad because she was referring to her sister who refuses to work. Moreover, she refuses to apply for General Assistance because she's not about to explain to an agency why she can't work. She would rather live with her parents, eat their food, drive their car, and usually has something to complain about. Did I mention that her teeth are starting to fall out? I guess she is retarded.
American culture is deeply rooted with the "Protestant Work Ethic" which states that "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." I agree, too. My hands have been idle for almost ten years. Indeed, much of that time was spent in the "devil's workshop." I have noticed that for many people getting a "good" job and keeping it is a measure of success. For others, having money and "things" (no matter how attained) is a measure of success. Our identities are formed, in many respects, by the jobs that we hold or want to hold. But who decides what a "good" job is? What if you work every day for your entire life scrubbing toilets? Would this define you as a toilet scrubber or a hard worker?
I worked for many years and enjoyed what I did but I would not want to be defined by what I was doing (a professional paper pusher). What about if a person has worked their whole life and suddenly gets hit by a bus and becomes paralyzed and can no longer function the way they did before? Will their new paralysis become their new identity?
In American culture, it is appropriate to ask what one does. So what do you do? They might as well ask each other "so who do you sleep with? or how big is your @#%!?" This is private information and it is amazing that the "so what do you do?" question is OK to ask, especially now that we live in such a politically correct world. It's intrusive.
The fortune in a fortune cookie once said "You are defined by your responsibilities." I like that statement because an individuals responsibilities vary from person to person. It goes across the entire spectrum. Responsibilities could be parenting, managing a work force, having safe sex, paying your bills on time, making sure that the people around you have what they need, making a Cape Cod for a customer, spinning records, sorting mail, or getting to class on time, etc.
Work is important for me because it is the only way that I can have the things I need in order to be happy. MONEY MONEY MONEY The more money you have the more freedom you are able to obtain. Whenever someone else is paying your bills you must answer to them.
Work also gives people a structure to live. This is important, however, structure can be obtained with other things (i.e., volunteering, religion, etc.) For the most part, working sucks! Unless, you are one of those fortunate people who are able to support themselves by doing what they love. I love playing video games but is that going to pay my rent?

Keith Olbermann's comment on gay marriage

A friend just shared Olbermann's comment on gay marriage with me. I found it especially interesting because Olbermann has always come across as a hard core conservative. It just goes to show you that we can all co-exist. Left, Right, Centrist. (no extremes, please) ;-)

check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4xfMisqab8

Gay Marriage

With all the practical benefits in question already being offered to gay couples, the insistence of on official recognition of gay marriage - instead of accepting the compromise - more accurately constitutes an attack on the religious beliefs of millions of Americans.

Madonna and her divorce

How cliché that one of the first blogs from a homosexual is about Madonna!

Madonna's fruition is very interesting. I want to believe that what I see is really how it is. However, the fact that she is a celebrity keeps me skeptical. Her virulent and very public divorce is very sad. The effects of divorce hit children the hardest. This is probably the biggest mistake I have seen her make (IMHO). Her priorities should be to her children and her husband. She obviously does not care about either one.

Last Sunday a friend called me up and invited me to go and see her perform in Oakland. I declined. How could she possibly be working or performing when so much is going on with her personal life? It's not like she needs the money. Whatever, Madonna! If I were to break up with my boyfriend, Robert, I would be devastated. No matter who or what was at fault. It would severely affect my life and we are not even married nor do we live together (yet) or have kids (never will). I hate to say what her critics have been saying about her all along (especially because I really really like her). I have to agree with Dr. Laura on this one. Madonna is objectionable, offensive, and intentionally vulgar. And that is not cute! Anyone can be a pop star (Brittney, Paris Hilton, etc.) Apparently, being a good mother and wife was just too much work for her.

Poor Lourdes.

Initial VOCABULARY Post

Erudition

- knowledge acquired through study and reading

Gentility

– good manners and elegance

Mores

– the customs or conventions regarded as essential to or characteristic to a community; moral attitudes, manners, ways

Culture

– The way of life, that characterizes a particular group of people at a particular time. Culture includes all the social institutions, patterns of behavior, and systems of belief and kinds of popular entertainment that create the social world we live in.

Demagogue

– a dangerously charismatic speaker. A political leader who gains power by appealing to people’s emotions, instincts, and prejudices in a way that is considered manipulative and dangerous.

Dalliance

- a flirtation or flirtatious episode, or an affair.

Cajoled

– to coax (to persuade gently or gradually)

Verger

– a sexton; a church official who carries the staff of office verge in front of somebody such as a bishop or dean during ceremonies and processions

Bracken

– a large fern that grows on wasteland

Sycophantic

– trying to win people’s favor by flattering them

Complacency

– self-satisfied and unaware of possible dangers; eager to please

Idiosyncratic

– a quirk or an unusual response to something

Yaff

– to yelp; to bark

Health care

– processes that directly or indirectly contribute to the health and well-being of patients, such as medical, nursing, and other health-related services;

Healthcare

– a system or an arrangement in which health care can be delivered;

Monition

– a warning or danger

Vernacular

– the language of a country or district

Vignette

– a short description or character sketch

Yielding

– inclined to give in; submissive; compliant

Nihilistic

– total rejection of established social conventions and belief’s, especially of morality and religion; belief that life is pointless and human values are worthless

Jettisoned

– to discard or abandon something such as an idea or project; rejection

Juxtaposed

– to place two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them

Proletarian

– relating to the working class; worker

Cacophonous

- having a harsh or discordant sound

“Emo”

- a style of hardcore punk which describes several variations of music with common roots. In the mid-1980s, the term emo described a subgenre of hardcore punk which originated in the Washington, D.C. music scene. In later years, the term emocore, short for "emotional hardcore", was also used to describe the emotional performances of bands in the Washington, D.C. scene and some of the offshoot regional scenes such as Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Gray Matter, Fire Party, and later, Moss Icon.

“Scene”

- a term used to denote a youth subculture which is related to emo, indie rock, post-hardcore, and metalcore music genres.[1] The form of dress associated with being scene generally including dyed hair with many layers and fringe, skin-tight clothes that often have distinctive patterns or colors, guyliner, and use of "cute" icons in popular media, such as Pokemon and in recent years Power Rangers (mostly early series like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Trubo), for their ironic value. Scene is often the subject of backlash and criticism regarding the fashion's trendiness and faux-individualism.
Kitsch - something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality; a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition

Ephemera

- items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, esp. pamphlets, notices, tickets, etc.; a short-lived thing; lasting only for a short time.

Urban/Contemporary legend

– a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or humor.

Folklore

- is the body of verbal expressive culture, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, and jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group.

Provocative

– deliberately annoying; intending to arouse somebody sexually

Corpus

– a body of writings by a particular person, on a particular subject, or of a particular type

Posthumously

– occurring after someone’s death

Avowed

– to state or affirm that something is true

Reprobation

– strong condemnation or disapproval of somebody or something

Attenuated

– long, narrow and sometimes tapering

Superfluous

– more than is required

Teeming

– to have an extremely large number of people, animals, or things in a place

NAFTA

– North American Free Trade Agreement – a free trade agreement signed between the United States and Canada in 1989, and extended to include Mexico in 1994