Monday, June 27, 2005
'Entitled Generation'. So have the new batch of twenty-something-year-olds officially been dubbed e.g. my kids. Born to a boon economic landscape and relative world peace (9/11 and the Iraq war were the first events to rock their little Edens), life has been an imbricated tapestry of chauffeured rides, parent-picked teachers, tutors, trips abroad, quality cuisine, and unmitigated 'enrichment.' Their closets are stuffed with esteem-building awards they started getting at age two and now these prince and princesses of the 21st century await their rightful lifestyles (just as soon as they are done with their $160K's-worth of undergraduate college). How apropos that a friend would spot my son working his third summer at the yawn-boggling Registry of Motor Vehicles today. Not exactly the kind of place you would expect to find an entitled kid..."Anna my dear, he looked very out of place," she laughed. "Next to those pasty career bureaucrats he stood: golden brown from the sun, turquoise-blue bedroom eyes, RL white polo t-shirt, baby-blue-and-white striped seer-sucker shorts. Pop collar. He looked as if he just stepped off a 40 ft sailboat and errantly missed the turn to the yacht club." Ah, comic relief indeed. A pause on the telephone. "Wait excuse me..., did you just say 'turquoise-blue bedroom eyes'?" Jesus. Thanks to Demi Moore we now have forty-something women preying on babes from the cradle...
Thursday, June 23, 2005
What do Boston legislators do when they aren't being caught by the Herald press teeing up and smoking cigars on the golf greens down on the Cape instead of working on the budget? They're at the State House working of course. OK, ok. Granted only for three minutes [less if you factor in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance]:
CONVENES: The Senate convened at 11:01 am with Senate Pro-Tempore XX of Town X presiding. Senators and guests recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
RESOLUTIONS: The Senate adopted congratulatory resolutions offered by Sens. X and Y.
NEW BILL – FUNERAL PROCESSION: The Senate admitted a bill filed by Sen. X relative to the operation of motor vehicles in the concourse of a funeral procession. It was referred to the Transportation Committee.
NEW BILL – WRONGFUL ANIMAL DEATH: The Senate admitted a bill filed Sen. X at the request of Ms. XX to penalize the wrongful death of animal companions. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
ADJOURNS: The Senate adjourned at 11:04 am to meet next at 2 pm today in a formal session without a calendar.
CONVENES: The Senate convened at 11:01 am with Senate Pro-Tempore XX of Town X presiding. Senators and guests recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
RESOLUTIONS: The Senate adopted congratulatory resolutions offered by Sens. X and Y.
NEW BILL – FUNERAL PROCESSION: The Senate admitted a bill filed by Sen. X relative to the operation of motor vehicles in the concourse of a funeral procession. It was referred to the Transportation Committee.
NEW BILL – WRONGFUL ANIMAL DEATH: The Senate admitted a bill filed Sen. X at the request of Ms. XX to penalize the wrongful death of animal companions. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
ADJOURNS: The Senate adjourned at 11:04 am to meet next at 2 pm today in a formal session without a calendar.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Boston Taxpayer's Money Hard at Work (not). A pending budget deadline didn't stop about a dozen Reps, including House Majority Leader John Rogers, from an enjoyable sunny day of golf down on the Cape this last Monday. If I were the PR person who had to get the Democratic Reps out of this pickle, I think I might just try the mea culpa route...especially that said Reps had already just enjoyed Bunker Hill Day on Friday -- a freebie holiday enjoyed almost exclusively by state workers.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Because I Can. The boss called my house bullshit (in a rage). The daughter called me in from the garden from whence I was weeding. "Hi how are you doing?" I ask. A sputtering is to be heard on the other end of the phone. Summary: the boss doesn't like my summer philosophy of doing a 3-day/2-day alternating week with the colleague. Well the boss didn't seem to mind last week when I told him of my plans but obviously he wasn't listening to what I was proposing. The summer months at the State House are preposterously slow so why have two adult employees idling at the office with nothing to do? If there is anything I can't stand is idle idling. Schade um den Tag... So I sent an email to my colleague suggesting I would take today and Thursday off. OK so I didn't call the boss at the diner this morning to inform him but I can assure you that everything was under control. Shit hits the fan when he calls in a fume. But I don't care is the thing.... "I didn't sign up to be a quasi receptionist whiling the hours away until the good Representative deigns to pop into the office for forty minutes on a whim..." I will quit. Because I can. He wants a full-time babysitter to take care of his day and make him look good. I can take on that role. But I have to have an awful lot of respect/love for the person I am to babysit to do it. I have neither for this guy. End of September is my deadline to quit/find-another-job. But not just because I can doesn't mean I'll leave a person hanging. I'll promise him three big deliverables plus training of new person before I move on...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Spotted Around the Commonwealth --
* a U.S. Navy pop-up recruiting station set up at Government Center in Boston. They had parked two cool-looking trucks next to a blue and purple tent emblazoned with cool macho-looking navy guys standing at attention. Cool rappish-esque music was blaring from loud speakers but incongruent to the scene were the rather bored-looking recruiters lulling behind the folding tables.
*workers erecting the new Elizabeth Montgomery 'Bewitched' statue in the center of Salem. Only her backside was visible but it was clear she was sitting on a broom. Oh the Puritans must be turning in their graves...
* the ubiquitous new women's fashion craze of wearing jersey wrap tops that come right below the boobs and which get tied in a knot over a longer tank top worn underneath. All the better to accentuate the rolls of fat that are invariably to be found in between the chest and the hips.
* seven protesters arrested in Cambridge at the army's celebration of its 230th anniversary which in actuality turned into a blatant recruitment effort.
* a U.S. Navy pop-up recruiting station set up at Government Center in Boston. They had parked two cool-looking trucks next to a blue and purple tent emblazoned with cool macho-looking navy guys standing at attention. Cool rappish-esque music was blaring from loud speakers but incongruent to the scene were the rather bored-looking recruiters lulling behind the folding tables.
*workers erecting the new Elizabeth Montgomery 'Bewitched' statue in the center of Salem. Only her backside was visible but it was clear she was sitting on a broom. Oh the Puritans must be turning in their graves...
* the ubiquitous new women's fashion craze of wearing jersey wrap tops that come right below the boobs and which get tied in a knot over a longer tank top worn underneath. All the better to accentuate the rolls of fat that are invariably to be found in between the chest and the hips.
* seven protesters arrested in Cambridge at the army's celebration of its 230th anniversary which in actuality turned into a blatant recruitment effort.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Butuminous Rectification. Very occassionally I am enlightened here at the State House. In response to a call to MassHighway about empty 18-wheeler trucks bouncing on a section of bridge and making loud noises, I got an email back from our laison. In addition to responding to my concerns within twenty minutes, he also put two new vocabulary words into context:
MassHighway is looking into this for you. Here's what they found:
In the left lane northbound the bituminous concrete has severely shoved up to form some large heaves (see picture). Adjacent to the heaves is a telephone manhole. The bituminous concrete collar around the manhole is spalling. When large trucks go over this area they bounce, thus the loud noise. MassHighway is now scheduling the work to be completed by its bridge deck repair contractor, NEL Corp. This should be fixed within a few weeks or so.
Can one's life be spalling out of control do you suppose? Or if someone on the cell phone is breaking up, can you say, "Heh you're spalling."
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Poppy Turkenluis. Another amazing moment in the life of un-green-thumb Anna Bloviation's.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The Choreographers' Mercy. Someone up there said, 'This has got to stop. She has gone insane. Only the peonies are privy to her passion. What the hell is she doing madly traversing the property with a water hose nurturing her damn grass seedlings?" And so came the thunder. And lightening. And now some rain.
In the Meantime... While Anna Bloviation's grows herr grass lush, there is the hero whistle blower Rick S. Pilz, a senior associate at the office that coordinates government climate research, to laud. He is going up against his boss Philip Cooney. Charge? Re-writing science to fit this administration's agenda i.e. what global warming? Good luck to you Rick.
In the Meantime... While Anna Bloviation's grows herr grass lush, there is the hero whistle blower Rick S. Pilz, a senior associate at the office that coordinates government climate research, to laud. He is going up against his boss Philip Cooney. Charge? Re-writing science to fit this administration's agenda i.e. what global warming? Good luck to you Rick.
Not Now! We're Having a Rare Quality Family Moment! A few first mosquitoes and a losing card streak were the only two things to mar what was otherwise a laugh-filled family evening. So when the phone rang, I whispered to my friend that I would call her the next day. "Who knows when there will be such an evening again?" The mood was still intact upon my return to the table. As was my losing streak. Or maybe....maybe they were fixing the cards each time I got up to move the sprinkler....the sprinkler being my main source of stress in my life right now. Have got to get those little grass seedlings going that the landscaper put down to fill in the bare patches. Am I getting to be middle-aged or what..
Latest in Fashion. Faux bullet-proof vests flying like bullets off of the shelves of Downtown Crossing here in Boston. They cost anywhere from $40-$120.
Latest in Fashion. Faux bullet-proof vests flying like bullets off of the shelves of Downtown Crossing here in Boston. They cost anywhere from $40-$120.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Anna, Anna quite Contrary. How does your garden grow? Thanks for your help Ms. Lizzy.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Whole Foods Market Dog. Unlike the obsessively famished, eats-absolutely-anything-(including dog doo-doo) Labrador species, Australian shepherds will not generally steal food when you're not looking. Many a coffee table of dinner party cheese and crackers have been left to the next morning and our dear Heidi (Australian shepherd) will not have touched a thing. At age eleven now, the girl definitely has discerning taste and fine manners e.g. take today: a toasted whole-wheat bread, organic lettuce, additive-free turkey sandwich with homemade mango chutney was left on the deck chaise while Anna Bloviation's went to answer the phone. Upon my return, Anna found the top piece of bread neatly removed from the sandwich. 'I know this is unusual of me,' Heidi grinned sheepishly, 'but this stuff is really very fine goods.... One bite for you, one for me?' her grin implored. 'Look! I even left you the turkey!' Later that afternoon, on our routine seven-mile walk along the seashore, we came across a sidewalk strewn with spilled Doritos. She sniffed and moved on, not the least bit interested. Ahhh, a dog of my heart.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Illiteracy Recognition. I'm realizing more and more that there are large swaths of knowledge/information/culture of which I know less-and-less to downright nothing these days. The gaps used to be confined to the realms of my early circumstances. But of late, admitedly, some are of my own choosing. Of circumstance include the gap called religion (of which I had zip-point-zero induction), an ambivalent sentiment towards studying, and a city called San Francisco in the seventies (if you know what I mean). I can also blame bouts of blankness on the fact that besides the above, a whole lot of brain probably got thrown out the ears following two major car accidents in my lifetime. On this front, I like to think just how brilliant I might have been weren't it for 70 mpg and 130 mpg speeds respectively, knocking my holy neurons to smithereens. But I digress.
The Things of Which I am Completely At Loss: Religious Zeal. Baseball (well frankly any sport these days). TV sitcoms; TV for the most part. The names of movie actors. The names of my new neighbors. Mathematics beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and a 15% tip for the waitstaff. Physics. Neo-Conservatives. Cell phone junkies. Obesity sprawl. Twenty-year-old sons. I'm sure there is more.
The Things of Which I am Completely At Loss: Religious Zeal. Baseball (well frankly any sport these days). TV sitcoms; TV for the most part. The names of movie actors. The names of my new neighbors. Mathematics beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and a 15% tip for the waitstaff. Physics. Neo-Conservatives. Cell phone junkies. Obesity sprawl. Twenty-year-old sons. I'm sure there is more.
