Month: March 2007

My Day with the Silk Boxers from Hell

It’s a sure sign I haven’t done laundry. The silk boxers go at the bottom of the drawer, so I don’t have to wear them unless their the last ones. After today, they won’t make it back into the drawer. They’re gone… Banished… Forever.

I’m extremely sensitive to heat. Sit in a leather / suede chair long enough, and I’ve got to stand up and walk around for awhile. Give me a 70 degree room or cooler, plus a ceiling fan, and I’ll be a happy camper. Not today. Oh no. Not with silk. Bastard silk. I officially hate silk.

If you’ve ever tried to wear boxers under jeans, you know that they have to be made out of a sturdy enough material that they won’t bunch up as you put your pants on. Seriously. As a matter of fact, they’re not worth buying if they’re not sturdy enough to stay in place. The only thing more frustrating than a shifting pair of boxers is a hot, itchy, shifting pair of boxers. Okay, the boxers themselves aren’t itchy. It was the stupid tag, but it’s placed in such a way as to provide constant irritation throughout the day.

Yes, I’m talking about the comfort level of my knickers. Get over it.

Why the hell did I every buy silk boxers in the first place? I know why. It was mostly curiosity which I have since left for dead. Sleeping in them may be okay, but the rest of life does not favor silk. Not for me. You do whatever you want. My silk days are done.
Getting Raw on Purpose

Yesterday’s post gave me reason to pause and reflect on how I experienced some of the music I mentioned. I can remember the anger, the resentment, the sorrow, and the pain I continually stirred up with those songs. Those songs helped me to develop a false sense of strength, pride, and superiority. These feelings always stayed locked inside. I was never very expressive of my deepest feelings.

Let’s get raw on purpose. I’ve wasted too much time attempting to be some super special blogger whom everyone will link to and quote. It’s simply not me. So let’s dispense with the formalities and pick up where I left off a long time ago – just sharing my thoughts.

I can guarantee you that there will be topics I refuse to cover. There will be feelings I refuse to disclose. I may express my opinions more than feelings, but they will be genuine. On top of all that, I may not write very often. I have neglected my journal (the actual, physical book) for too long. I need to get back into it, so you may only find a couple posts per week at times while others you may find several posts per day.

CultureFeast just hasn’t been a predictable site, so I can’t promise anything will last forever. There have been more than a dozen different ideas for the “identity” of this site. They all flopped, for the most part. For better or worse, I am the identity of this website. I hope you will contribute because I really enjoy engaging conversations. Please leave comments whenever you think of them. This isn’t about the money. It’s about the interaction. It’s you who makes this thing worthwhile.
PM Dawn: Returning to Great Music

Some 13 years after the first time I heard “Looking Through Patient Eyes,” I find myself returning to give PM Dawn another listen. You could easily find used copies of their albums at your local CD Warehouse or Half Price Books. That I find myself returning to them is perhaps a long-awaited sign that I am indeed growing up.

Youth is characterized by the urge to stay current with latest songs, styles, language, technology, and activities. It’s all about the cool factor. I cannot tell you how much crap I listened to as a teenager because it was cool. Marilyn Manson? Seriously?

There were, of course, different groups and each group had its own version of what was cool. I ended up on the dark side for a time, and listened to garbage like My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Tool, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Rollins Band, God Lives Underwater, Gravity Kills, and others. Some of them had catchy tunes, but overall they left me feeling like I had been in a traumatic car accident in my soul.

Preceding and following my dark side, there was my grunge/alternative phase: Pearl Jam, STP, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Seven Mary Three, Candlebox, Our Lady Peace, Live, etc.

But before I really entered a “phase”, I listened to whatever music I came across that sounded good. My first favorites were Michael Jackson, 10,000 Maniacs, Duran Duran, The Cranberries, PM Dawn, Sinead O’ Connor, and yes, even Ace of Base.

I won’t claim that all of these are artists I plan on revisiting. But I’ve been somewhat surprised these past three to five years by the artists and songs I like. It is a fascinating personal discovery, and the latest artist to be reclaimed is PM Dawn. They’re music is so smooth and relaxing. I don’t have to hate my parents or quit my job to enjoy it. So much for angst. I’m finding more and more that all the angst-ridden songs of my youth are relegated to the category of “historical significance only.”
Life Should Be Somewhat Unpredictable

And if it isn’t, something is probably wrong. You should enjoy your time on earth, not to the exclusion of others, but for the sake of others.

Everyone tries to sound all sage and wise, but catchy cliches aren’t the be-all of wisdom. Still, we all seek. We wake, we eat, we work, we date, we love, we hate, we dance, we cry, we sleep, and we try to find the answer to life’s biggest questions:

1. Who am I?

2. What is my purpose?

3. How do I attain that purpose?

I’m often jealous of the people who seem to have ceased asking these questions some time ago. True, most of them have no more clue about the answers than I do, but the very act of not caring or of believing that these questions are illegitimate is difficult not to envy.

How does one follow one’s heart and pay the bills? I read this encouraging article on career intervention that set the wheels back in motion. The article shares a similar feel to John Eldredge’s book, The Journey of Desire. Both inspire me to strike out in the unknown, but neither offers a map or any serious instructions. Motivation is good, but without direction, motivation leads to either failure or torment.

Read Eldredge’s book, if you haven’t. Even without the additional tips on how to navigate the unknown, the inspiration alone is something I think our hearts need some exposure to. If all we ever encounter are negative people who have no dreams or hopes or willingness to pursue them, we’ll be tempted to believe as they believe. We need to encounter some folks who are living the dream – taking risks and going after their hearts’ desires. It’s not a fantasy unless you only fantasize about it.
Web-Based Industries Promote Dualism

There are thousands of people right now spending all their time viewing one website or another, engaging in social networking, writing code, designing pages, writing copy, buying links, selling ad space, etc. Thousands of people. Imagine that. Imagine the millions if not billions of dollars being spent on fluff right now. Yes, I just called the Internet “fluff.”

It is nothing, after all. It is the perception of something not really there. And it promotes dualistic thinking among its users. It invites all web professionals to spend their entire professional lives engaging it, focusing upon it, learning about it – and it offers next to nothing tangible in return.

Take me for example. I am a writer who happens to perform search engine optimization duties for a living. I spend a minimum of nine hours per day staring at a computer screen, hopping from one website to the next. That’s not all I do, of course, but I do spend the majority of my day engaging the Internet. If I spend the majority of my waking hours on the Internet, then I must also be spending a minority of my waking hours observing and engaging the real world.

That means that I am more influenced by technology than by nature. That means that I am unbalanced.

I’ve always had a confrontational style about me. I’m actually quite mellow now in comparison to my teenage years. I call things what they are (or at least what they appear to be) without feeling that I should change the truth to avoid exposing someone else’s lie or faulty belief systems. Some of my corners still need to be smoothed out, but stating my perception of truth without compromising is part of who I am.

That’s why I can say that the Internet will turn out to be a huge waste of time. Sure, people will make millions. Sure, thousands of people will have jobs and support their families. Then again, if we amassed a million man army and took over the world we could still get plunder and support our families… so obviously these ends do not justify every means.

The simple truth is that man is out of harmony with nature. I am out of harmony with nature. The most “real” physical sensation I have right now is tired eyes from staring at this screen. I walk out the front door and stand in the fresh air and all I can manage to feel is how much I want to go back inside. Something about the “real” frightens us. Something about the lack of control – the realization that men are not gods. Nature proves that man is limited, finite, and most definitely not in control. Technology is man’s attempt to control as much as possible.

Call it whatever you want. The way I see it, Ecclesiastes is correct: all is vanity…
What is Second Life and How Did It Get Compared to MySpace?

I’m doing my thing the other day, reading my RSS feeds to catch up on the news, and I read this article about War Games and MySpace. I think to myself, that’s an odd phrase… hmmm… and I decide the title alone makes the post worth reading. Turns out there’s this group of smart kids at Harvard, MIT, and London Business School who annually participate in this conceptual business challenge. They select a topic and each group involved takes on a different business to calculate which business moves the company is likely to make and which company is likely to become the most profitable.

Late last night, I decided to visit SecondLife.com and see what the buzz is all about. I quickly learned that participation with the site requires a software download and the option to insert your credit card or PayPal information for a bonus number of mythical online currency. I declined to offer my credit card info and proceeded to enlist as a free member.

A few minutes later, I was in an online video game. I was a person walking around in a world filled with other online users. It’s crazy! Of course, it was late and my wireless speed slowed down the character movement, so I quickly lost interest for the night and turned off my computer.

From what I gather, you first select the basic appearance of your character. You then walk around these informational areas, learning functionalities before actually entering the world of Second Life. I still don’t know what to expect from the game, and I doubt I’ll be spending much time on it, but I see definite potential for people in their teens and 20s especially, finding this the perfect escape from boredom or routine responsibilities.

There are currently only a few million members on Second Life, so MySpace doesn’t have to worry about the competition just yet. However, I think Second Life may have figured out an alternative way to retain users online for long periods of time. I’ve yet to see proof of the actual potential to make money with this site, but it’s at least interesting enough to warrant a casual visit (though download time and such aren’t exactly conducive to someone interested in only snooping around for a few minutes).

If you’ve tried Second Life or have heard a lot about it, feel free to fill in the gaps.
Family Moving Back to Texas

It’s official! My family is moving back to North Texas. There’s nothing like the DFW area. It marks the soul. The only thing greater would be to be rich and travel to exotic places and relax on tropical beaches. I say that now, but summer’s coming and I’ll be ready to go arctic.

We can’t wait to have my family back in the area. We’re hoping to have monthly, if not weekly, Shabbat dinners in our home with family and let our parents help us out with babysitting when the first kid comes along.

Please keep my family in your prayers. They are still looking for work.

Have a great one!
Just Say No to Mavs Haters!

You know what the problem is with the Dallas Mavericks? It’s one of the only teams composed of NICE GUYS! There aren’t any wannabe gangstas or drug dealers or egomaniacs, and that makes them a little boring in the eyes of the sensationalist media. The media loves the Cowboys even more because of T.O. He makes enough stupid comments in a season to keep the commentators commentating. He’s job security.

The Mavs are too nice for the media to swallow. Nobody’s accused of rape. Nobody’s nearly killed themselves in a motorcycle accident. They’re possibly the cleanest team in the NBA. On top of that, they kick ass.

If I were a college coach and was approached by the NBA, I’d want to coach a team of players like the Dallas Mavericks. They play like a college team: unselfishly, without the need to take up the spotlight and endorse the latest space age sneaker or artificially colored sports drink.

Do I miss Nash? Of course. But is he a better fit in Phoenix? Absolutely. He’s where he will shine best. Stop comparing Devin Harris and Jason “Jet” Terry to him. It’s not going to work. His drive and leadership were lackluster here. He’s found his niche. So have we. Our Mavs are the best team in the NBA this year.

Mark Cuban is the best owner in the league. Avery Johnson is the best coach. And we have a collection of the best unselfish, college-style players in the league.

All you Mavs haters who hate to compliment the Mavs because they’re not flashy like some other teams, just remember that when it comes to wins and losses, your team’s glitter is cubic zirconia compared to the steel that runs in our veins.
Mark Cuban Asked Me to Write for His Blog!

Mark Cuban called me up out of the blue the other day. He said, “Is this Daniel?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This is Mark… Mark Cuban.” I paused. I continued to pause. Then I said, “Yeah right, buddy! Good one! Who is this really?”

Long story short, Mark told me he liked my blog personality. Apparently the stunt I pulled recently got his attention. He told me that as much as he loves blogging from the old treadmill and other workout machines, he wants to produce more content each day, and asked if I was interested. Knowing that he hasn’t produced more than a couple blogs in a day lately, I agreed with him that more content would be nothing but good for his site, BlogMaverick. I also told him that he could triple the traffic to his site easily by increasing the amount of daily content posted.
The popularity of his blog would be difficult to accept if it weren’t for the fact that people just can’t help but like and gravitate toward Mark Cuban. He’s the most popular basketball team owner in the NBA. He owns successful businesses including a killer movie theater chain. He owns a very popular blog. All he needs, apparently, is me.

I told Mark that I was flattered, and that I would consider his offer. He sweetened the pot a little, and offered me a deal that would be difficult to refuse…

… more details coming…
COBOL Programming Jobs are Scarce

I hadn’t realized the state of the union (in Texas, at least), but North Texas apparently never recovered from Y2K job bubble. Programmers flocked to this area to cash in on the Y2K scare. But when it was all said and done, we had a plethora of programmers and too few positions. There are computer geeks who have been unemployed for a year or more. The time comes when you learn a new or updated trade if nothing swings your way.

Seven years later, the situation doesn’t seem to have changed much. Database programming jobs do come available, but they’re descended upon by a pack of ravenous wolves. Of course, if it’s what you love, you try for each and every job. But if it’s not, you send your resume out, but you also come to the point when you have to branch out… learn something new, take a few courses, work part-time, etc.

If you have the inside track on a job opening for a COBOL programmer in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, contact me and I will only recommend the best people.