Thirty Day Challenge: Day 2

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest




My friend Sam (aka Sammich) and I. We met in 2005 at the UNO dorms, as our rooms were next door to each other. I guess it's kind of sad that less than six years is the closest I've been with anyone. Though I guess I brought that on myself when I moved by myself from Kearney to Omaha in 2005. I'm not so good at keeping in touch with people, either. Anyway, Sammich knows a lot about me--probably too much about me. But that's okay. That's what friends are for, right?

Thirty Day Challenge: Day 1

As a fun and frivolous activity, I am going to do this "Thirty Day Challenge." Now all of you Peoples of the Internets can learn about the man behind the curtain. Or in this case, myself, the writer of this infrequently updated blog. Also, it will make this infrequently-updated-blog a somewhat-frequently-updated-blog. That, and create dialogue and whatnot. I will try and do each activity daily, but we'll see what happens.

The activities:
Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
Day 04 - A picture of your night
Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19 - A picture of a letter
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
Day 25 - A picture of your day
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss



Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts




1) I've lived in Nebraska my entire life--but that will probably change later this year.
2) I did most of my traveling before the age of 12. My grandparents used to take our whole extended family on vacations to places around the States and Europe in the summer.
3) I've been playing the drums since I was 16.
4) When I was a kid, I wanted to be a singer and an actor when I grew up.
5) Now when people ask what I do, I'm unsure of what to say, because it feels like I do too many things to sum up into one category. Usually I just laugh and say, "starving artist."
6) I have a degree in studio art, and a minor in English. At first, I was an English major.
7) My mom and dad both also have degrees in art. My late maternal grandmother was also an artist.
8) I love fantasy and science fiction.
9) I've always been an animal person.
10) Part of me is still quite the kid at heart.
11) Another side of me is jaded and seethingly sarcastic.
12) I call myself a pessimistic optimist. I'm naturally optimistic, but have become pessimistic because my optimistic ideals rarely come true.
13) When I was 19 I stopped going to school full time to record an album and go on tour with a band. Since we were not very good, I didn't become a full time drummer, and ended up going back to school full time.
14) I love, love, love going on long adventures on my bicycle in warm weather.
15) I love the outdoors, stars, dreaming about outer space, and most anything whimsical in nature.

Why I Can't Believe in Astrology

I am a person who believes in a lot of far-out theories. I am easily swayed by "crackpot" conspiracies. Galactic synchronization will occur in 2012 while the Mayans come back in their spaceships to save us. Facebook is just a tool for government control. The poisons found in processed foods are another form of government control. Ghosts are everywhere. Time isn't linear, it's cyclical. I may not believe in these ideas whole-heartedly (except that time is cyclical) but I think they're much more likely than the thought that astrology has any relevance.

Why do I believe in Mayan spaceships but not astrology? Mostly because the descriptions of my sign seem to be not just off, but the complete opposite of what I am actually like. I'm sure if I did more research I could find a whole lot of reasons not to believe astrology, but for now I just want to pick apart how my sign is so different from me.

I am a Leo, born August 14th. With the whole uproar about signs changing, I would still be a Leo: http://networkedblogs.com/cXX9W

Leos are born fortunate.
I was born more fortunate than some, certainly, but most of what I have is thanks to hard work.

Charismatic and positive-thinking they attract not only an abundance of friends and opportunities, but manage to survive life's stormy times with style and good humor.
No. Unless by "charismatic" you mean, "utterly awkward." Oh wait, those are opposites, so I'm going to go ahead and say, FALSE. And the "abundance of friends" part? No way. Making friends is something that has never come naturally for me. I have a hard time relating with people. The awkwardness is a probable cause for such lack of good human relations.

Once a Lion is committed to a relationship, they are totally devoted and faithful.
I find it really hard to commit to something fully. That is also why I haven't gotten any tattoos.


For a Leo, when a relationship is over, really over, it is over for good.
How many times have I gotten back together with someone after breaking up with them? Approximately six.


All Leos are trendsetters, leaders and adventurers.
An adventurer yes, trendsetter maybe, leader, no.


They don't like much change. Status quo suits them fine.
Change is good! I thrive on change!

They find it hard to believe ill of others.
People are bastard-filled bastards covered in bastard.


If injured, they strike back quickly, but they also forgive easily and never hold a grudge.
I can hold a grudge for years, decades even.


As a rule, people born in this period feel isolated and lonely in life, and if not actively employed in some work or purpose they become melancholy and despondent.
Ok, so this one is probably true. But only because it contradicts some of the previous statements.


So, there you have it. Either astrology is BS or I'm an alien. Maybe I can make friends with the Mayans when they return. Sigh.

Why Customer Service Jobs are Bad for the Human Spirit

Customer service jobs: in a retail-saturated society, they're something the majority of us have experienced. Young or old, most lower- and middle-class Americans have at one time worked for a fast food chain, sit-down restaurant, grocery store, clothing store, gas station, supply store, etc. However, the retail environment Generation X'ers and Y'ers are familiar with is different than the one our parents and grandparents grew up in; unions, workers' rights, Sundays and holidays off, and long-time employees have faded into past practices for many American companies. With the coming of a newer, shinier, faster-paced economy, also came came a new era of employer-employee as well as customer-employee relations. In my experience, too many of these relations have been severely negative, emotionally draining, and downright depressing for a number of reasons:

1) Condescending attitudes toward "unskilled" workers.
Because a person is getting paid to be behind a register or serving you food, that's obviously all they're capable of doing, right? Wrong. They can easily be smarter and more talented than you. Lack of funding, not being old enough, or a desire to pursue interests that don't easily make money (like, the arts, for example) could all be reasons they don't have a degree in business that got you that boring office job you hate anyway.

2) The customer is NOT always right.
Just because you are capable of going into a retail/food service environment and whining about something asinine, should NOT mean you can get anything you want. Oh, you mean you want the sale price on something you vaguely remember was on sale last week, but the sale sign is no longer there? Oh, you want a new bowl of soup because you implanted one of your own hairs in it after you ate three-fourths of it? Oh, you need someone to hold your hand and change your diaper? "NO!" is the reasonable answer. "CERTAINLY," is the corporate answer. Otherwise, the customer will go to the place next door, where the management is more easily manipulated.

3) Good customer service = being a doormat for the general public.
Customer: "I can't believe you won't accept my homemade coupons, you imbecilic, dirty, good-for-nothing cashier!"
What the cashier wants to say: "I can't believe you are idiotic enough to make your own coupons, you fat, ugly, detrimental-to-society customer!"
What the cashier actually says: "Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll ask the store manager."
In such situations, not standing up for oneself and keeping quiet is rewarded. It's essentially the prototype of an abusive relationship: the abuser [the customer] continues his/her abuse, and the abused [customer service employee] continue to take such abuse as it becomes the norm, in fear of being reprimanded [in this case, by the management.]

4) Having to tolerate sexist and creepy come-ons by strangers.
Along with tolerating abuse as a doormat, comes tolerating creeps--as a doormat. Older men are the usual culprits of such behavior, but aggressive cougars also have been known to pack a punch. Waitresses generally have it the worst, as people seem to think it's easier to act like a douche bag when there aren't any fellow employees nearby. Comments range anywhere from minorly douchey, ("Sweetie/honey/girlie, please bring me some ketchup," and "hey, what's your sign?") to majorly douchey, (Waitress: "Can I get you any dessert to go?" Douche bag: "Yes, I'd like a slice of YOU to go, baby, with a side of sugar.")

5) Being expected to act happy, no matter what.
Most management employers who have been in the business for more than two days understand that customer service jobs are not fun, but they at least want you to fake it for the sake of business. A surprising amount of customers who apparently have not worked in customer service think an employee should be happy all the time (!) Not long after my grandfather and favorite uncle died within a month of each other, I was constantly hearing from customers, "You look sad. Cheer up! Aren't you having fun?!?!" and "While aren't you smiling? Can't I get a smile from you?" (The latter, usually said by older men, is something I've never heard said to a male customer service employee. Just saying. See point #4.) These unmindful comments made me want to scream and throw things more than I already wanted to, but for the sake of the job, I kept quiet and embraced the art of subtle passive-aggressive behavior.

6) Acting too happy is also unacceptable.
Customers want to seem like they're concerned about your happiness, but only if it is directed towards them, of course. Having fun and laughing loudly with coworkers will often receive a dirty look and the comment, "It looks like you need something to do!" Because the customer service employee gets SO MUCH FULFILLMENT by helping you.

Which leads me to my next point...

7) Every customer becomes the enemy.
Eight hours a day of emotionally-draining pretending-to-be-happy becomes exhausting. It may be different for extroverts, but for introverts, making small talk and fake-smiling all day is as tiring as running a marathon. I wistfully remember a pre-customer service time in my life when I thought people were good and the world was a happy place. Of course there are a fair share of good, kind people who shop in retail stores. However, after dealing with so many shitheads, one comes to expect the worst and approach people cautiously. I might be more neurotic than some, but I've seen the same adjustments occur in so many people just starting a customer service-heavy job: the first few weeks are filled with enthusiasm and optimism. Then, they gradually get beaten down into the pit of jaded, robot-like motions.

********

With this in mind, is it really a surprise that a number of retail stores have opted for self-service checkouts? Even with the increased shoplifting that occurs with such technology, many establishments still continue to use these robots. They're everything customer service clerks are trained to be: efficient, reliable, always polite, and they don't require sick days. ("Thanks for shopping with us, and have a nice day!" the screens read after payment.) I'm just waiting for the day when waiters and telemarketers also become replaced by robots. The industry makes people act like robots, so why not just get the real thing?


Footnotes
Pros about customer service jobs:
1) Intense motivation to go back to school, get a better job, get your music career off the ground, or start your own small business that practices Ethical Treatment of Human Beings.

Written by Anna Schmidt.

Dreams

I've always wondered: do people like hearing/reading about other people's dreams? I've been thinking about this lately, especially in relation to my own dreams. The last few days I've been having amazing, beautiful, and sometimes frightening dreams. The subject matter has been everywhere, including touchable nebulae in the earth's atmosphere to holographic woodland creatures inside grocery stores being used as distractions for terrorists. You know, usual dream stuff. At least for me.

I know I can't accurately describe these dreams to anyone without letting them live inside my brain for awhile; the visuals are what really make the dreams. I'm a very visual person, so the imagery usually has the most impact in my dreams, and not so much the dialogue. I think the closest way I could get someone to understand my dreams would be to create artwork depicting scenes from them.

My good friend Sam recently had a dream that amazes me:

"[L]ast night [I] dreamt in literature. Seriously, instead of seeing my dreams I had words scrolling telling me what I was dreaming about. I'm so exhausted-- and I never want to see a book again."

I think that is absolutely fascinating--that is something I'm sure my subconscious would never create. I like hearing about crazy dreams like this. In other situations, I don't find listening/reading about others' dreams interesting at all. Obviously, it also depends on the person and how they explain their dreams. I think I'm also interested in hearing about others' dreams when I want to know more about a person--it's like stepping into their shoes for awhile.

Do you like hearing about dreams?

Market Day

I will have a booth at Market Day again! November 26th.

Halloween costumes

Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday. I even included my cats in on the Halloween festivities this year (!)

Bean as Beanie Weenie

Senator Lyle Fluffykins, preparing his rhetoric for election season.

Sir Ferdinand Lewis, charming all the boys with his smashing fashion sense.




Myself as Weird Al Yankovic in the late '80s/early '90s




Tom as Hippie Jesus (aka himself... he had no costume)