dear governor nerd,
on the cold evening of november 2, 2010, i heard the news that we would be embarking on a relationship together. i have to assume this is what it feels like to be a part of an arranged marriage. so i waited, relishing my last moments of a democratic majority in the state house and a democrat in the governor's mansion as we rolled into winter and inching closer to january. i had heard the rumors about you; you were going to be different than the others, you would save michigan and you would be like governor milliken, a moderate with the best interest of the state at heart. and while your business (and lack of political) background made me a little uncomfortable, i braced myself for the idea that maybe this could be a good thing. change is good right? and things always ache a little when change happens.
before we could even make it to our january date, you started to show your true colors, appointing former governor engler staff as your transition team. i felt betrayed. you were already breaking promises, the promises that got you elected, the promises that you would be different. january came and with you at the helm and republican leadership flanking you in the house and senate, you set off to work and i watched, hoping that it wouldn't turn into a catastrophe. as we approached your first state of the state, you were criticized for never talking about what your "plan" is for michigan. see, now that you are in office, you can't just say you are so much smarter than us. we have a right to know what's going to happen. i didn't join in criticizing you. i waited for the state of the state and listened diligently as you repeated ideas from state of the state's past and said almost nothing specific. there was no plan but there were still some good things that you said, like we need to invest in education.
before i knew it, it was february and you presented your budget proposal. you came in slashing with a machete where scalpel like precision was necessary. you came in with a wrecking ball when you just needed to make a small hole. it seemed that no one was safe. the young, the poor, the middle class, seniors, young adults. we were all pawns in your plan to make michigan a state for business. a state for business that would only be number two in the region and was being built on the backs of hard working men and women of this state. we have rolled through march and things have just kept getting worse. you have made law out of a bill that challenges citizens' fundamental right to vote for their elected officials and are sitting idle while the house and senate discuss taking away rights for domestic partnership benefits for same sex state employees, not to mention what is happening to our unions and our schools. you should be ashamed of yourself.
to be fair, i knew this had to happen. i knew the honeymoon had to end. and it has. but not just with me, with the majority of the citizens of the mitten state. you might have had many at hello but now they are wishing for a time traveling delorean driven by christopher lloyd to take us back to november 2, 2010 and have a do over. that's the fastest that people have given up on their governors, nationwide.
i know that you don't care about the politics of this because you "aren't a politician." but it is your politics that are ruining lives and you have become this state's worst nightmare. governor nerd, please listen to the people. we are the ones outside the capitol crying for justice. we are the ones considering leaving the state that has always been home because things are too horrible here. we are the ones that you need to be able to tax to support your buddies. you need us a lot more than we need you.
i'm writing to request a divorce. our relationship has gone as far as it can possibly go and whoever set up this arrangement should be punished deeply for the horror that it has been. i can't possibly be with someone who has no respect for good things and only thinks with his wallet. i await your reply (though your signature of resignation would be preferred.)
from the girl who is very worried about the future of her state.
until next time...
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
pandora, i really need more than 40 free hours a month. come on...
so liz taylor is dead. i found that out this morning when i logged into my most potent addiction, facebook upon getting to my desk at work. i, like many of my peers who were early college students when facebook burst on the scene have what is probably an unhealthy addiction to the site. i read something recently that most people in my age group get most of their news from facebook and that facebook is the first site that they check in the morning. it's definitely the first website i go to in the morning but my email comes to my phone so i don't have to go anywhere to see it. technically i read my email first if i have any. so upon sitting at my desk and scanning through updates, i notice my newsfeed was dominated with "rip liz taylor" messages. i have a lot of gay friends so a lot of the statuses were a lot more dramatic than that. seriously. it was too much for 9:30am. it seemed that the only other thing on my newsfeed was about the very sad news that detroit's population has shrunk to the smallest the city has been since 1910. of course, i then had to read all the free press articles about this very sad topic. sorry liz, while your life was pretty incredible, the sadness of your passing has been trumped by slow death of the city of detroit and the continued damage governor nerd is doing to the state with his wrecking ball method of "fixing" the state.
this morning, i sent one of these rather depressing stories about detroit to my dear friend jayme who returned by sending me an article about mom's who are obsessed with posting crap about their kids on facebook. this sent me into a tangent about the myriad of ways that people suck at facebook. so now for your reading pleasure i provide you this: a list of things people need to stop doing on facebook (the sooner the better, really.)
1. posting ultrasound pictures. mom's to be, listen. i get it. you are super excited and it must be really amazing to be able to see the baby growing inside of you. however, it actually is just gross for those of us who just happen to be your facebook friends. i don't want to see into you no more than i want to see an x-ray of someone who just broke their arm. as cranky as i am, i don't care about belly pictures, honestly. a few, not like one every day. that's absurd. but no pictures of delivering your baby. please. it might be a miracle to you but to me it's just sick. let's make a deal. don't post pictures of your insides on facebook. just quit it.
2. incessant posting of baby/kid pictures. i'm friends with you, not your kid. there is a damn good reason that you have to be at least 13 to be on facebook. if i knew that being your friend meant that i would need to constantly see updates about your burping, vomiting, drooling, cooing center of your universe, i would have seriously reconsidered adding you. god bless the hide feature. i have taken almost every single friend i have that is a mother and hidden them. sorry but i can't take the updates about diaper rash or colic. as far as i'm concerned, the only thing you are good at here is birth control. i have never wanted a child less after having to see so much of it all over facebook.
3. posting statuses with extra letters and/or the word "bestie". never post a status like this: "ommmmmmmmmmmgggggg so exciteddd for the weekendddddd with my bestiessssssss!!!" seriously you just look illiterate and no one is that excited about anything. please calm down.
4. posting statuses to "end breast cancer". posting statuses about your bra color or where you leave your purse is actually doing nothing to beat breast cancer. just like changing your picture to a cartoon is doing nothing to stop child abuse. if you want to put an end to these things, give money to a local cancer foundation that is doing research or facility that helps abused children. if the goal is to just annoy a population on facebook, like the bra color thing to not tell all the men on facebook and leave them confused, now that's funny. if that's the stated goal, count me in.
5. posting pictures of food that you are eating/made. seriously, you are going to look through your album later and be like, why did i take a picture of this sandwich?
6. posting statuses about glee. i post quotes from tv shows from time to time, like if they are funny or something but that is the extent of it. i have no reason to make it known to the world what i'm watching at 8pm on tuesdays. but all the "gleeks" do. if i never saw another word or phrase that was morphed to suit glee (i.e. gleepeat or glee my god) it would be too soon. it's a tv show and definitely not the best thing that has ever happened to tv. i do understand that this show does do some good stuff but its "gleeks" have made it so that i never want to watch an episode.
i hope that people might take into consideration this offer for some facebook etiquette. i think it is something we are sorely missing these days. remember, if you wouldn't scream it in a crowded room, don't post it on facebook. also remember, once it's posted online, it's there forever. neighborhood friendly reminders from a cranky, relative internet stranger.
from the girl who is itching for spring to lift her mood.
until next time...
this morning, i sent one of these rather depressing stories about detroit to my dear friend jayme who returned by sending me an article about mom's who are obsessed with posting crap about their kids on facebook. this sent me into a tangent about the myriad of ways that people suck at facebook. so now for your reading pleasure i provide you this: a list of things people need to stop doing on facebook (the sooner the better, really.)
1. posting ultrasound pictures. mom's to be, listen. i get it. you are super excited and it must be really amazing to be able to see the baby growing inside of you. however, it actually is just gross for those of us who just happen to be your facebook friends. i don't want to see into you no more than i want to see an x-ray of someone who just broke their arm. as cranky as i am, i don't care about belly pictures, honestly. a few, not like one every day. that's absurd. but no pictures of delivering your baby. please. it might be a miracle to you but to me it's just sick. let's make a deal. don't post pictures of your insides on facebook. just quit it.
2. incessant posting of baby/kid pictures. i'm friends with you, not your kid. there is a damn good reason that you have to be at least 13 to be on facebook. if i knew that being your friend meant that i would need to constantly see updates about your burping, vomiting, drooling, cooing center of your universe, i would have seriously reconsidered adding you. god bless the hide feature. i have taken almost every single friend i have that is a mother and hidden them. sorry but i can't take the updates about diaper rash or colic. as far as i'm concerned, the only thing you are good at here is birth control. i have never wanted a child less after having to see so much of it all over facebook.
3. posting statuses with extra letters and/or the word "bestie". never post a status like this: "ommmmmmmmmmmgggggg so exciteddd for the weekendddddd with my bestiessssssss!!!" seriously you just look illiterate and no one is that excited about anything. please calm down.
4. posting statuses to "end breast cancer". posting statuses about your bra color or where you leave your purse is actually doing nothing to beat breast cancer. just like changing your picture to a cartoon is doing nothing to stop child abuse. if you want to put an end to these things, give money to a local cancer foundation that is doing research or facility that helps abused children. if the goal is to just annoy a population on facebook, like the bra color thing to not tell all the men on facebook and leave them confused, now that's funny. if that's the stated goal, count me in.
5. posting pictures of food that you are eating/made. seriously, you are going to look through your album later and be like, why did i take a picture of this sandwich?
6. posting statuses about glee. i post quotes from tv shows from time to time, like if they are funny or something but that is the extent of it. i have no reason to make it known to the world what i'm watching at 8pm on tuesdays. but all the "gleeks" do. if i never saw another word or phrase that was morphed to suit glee (i.e. gleepeat or glee my god) it would be too soon. it's a tv show and definitely not the best thing that has ever happened to tv. i do understand that this show does do some good stuff but its "gleeks" have made it so that i never want to watch an episode.
i hope that people might take into consideration this offer for some facebook etiquette. i think it is something we are sorely missing these days. remember, if you wouldn't scream it in a crowded room, don't post it on facebook. also remember, once it's posted online, it's there forever. neighborhood friendly reminders from a cranky, relative internet stranger.
from the girl who is itching for spring to lift her mood.
until next time...
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
no more polite lol's for you, dede.
i am not particularly fond of bruno mars. actually, i don't like either of his singles that he has out. the reason is pretty simple; i think he is a liar. look, as nice as the sentiment is, almost no one is "beautiful just the way you are" and to me it kind of feels like you are using that as a line. it is a good line though because let's admit it, how many of us would like to feel like we are beautiful (i mean like stunning, together, attractive, the stuff people judge you externally on) when you rolled out of bed? yeah it would be awesome. second, no you would not catch a "grenade" for me or anyone else. i'm calling your bluff, bruno mars. it is an empty gesture. jeremy and i have discussed this quite a bit before. it would be like saying i'd catch a javelin for you, i'd fight a polar bear for you or i'd come change a flat tire for you. come on bruno. get real. and then he did. he got real and i am very pleased. he came out with a song called the lazy song. everything about it, even the title is perfect and for once, it's completely realistic. "today i don't feel like doing anything." speak on it, bruno. you've got me now. but seriously, don't make a single about walking into a burning house for a girl. then we are done again.
the first day of spring was technically sunday but far be it for michigan to get the memo. in fact, we have a winter storm watch for this evening. there's something new to look forward to (sarcasm.) i don't know if it has something to do with the continued gray skies, the threat of more snow or the fact that i feel like i haven't slept in two days even though i have but i am crankier than usual. and this crankiness got me thinking because thinking is more fun than working. i was thinking about detroit and a festival that happened here this weekend, marche de le nain rouge which apparently caused the city to be over run by hipsters. hipsters...
on saturday, my friend dave texted me to tell me that he may have found the place where all hipsters came from. he was probably right; i have to assume that hipsters originated in los angeles. maybe new york if not la. i asked if there was a fountain of PBR and a never ending supply of american spirit cigarettes on a collection of mismatched, random, "vintage" coffee tables and weird boots growing on trees. i figure it has to be a land where there is lots of flannel and mustaches. and this place... would be my personal hell.
here is the thing about hipsters that makes me crazy. it's actually the same thing that makes me crazy about most hippies too. i have an issue when the very reason for your existence is to tell me that you think you are better than me or everyone else for that matter. i'm a vegetarian too, but that doesn't make me better or worse than any of my friends who would mainline bacon if there was a way to do it. and i don't do it for the environment or because of the poor animals who suffer. i do it because i don't like the way meat tastes. it's just what it is. i don't watch a lot of tv but that's because i've been spoiled by having tv on dvd, online and dvr. i don't like having to watch in real time. next issue with hipsters is pretty simple and it's very similar to the first. i can't stand when someone does something for the sake of being contrary. why?? do you get pleasure out of making people crazy by just doing the opposite just to be different? if so, you are all sadists. third, most hipsters are people whose lives are still financed by their parents. that they purchase their ironic shirts at american appearal on their parents credit cards and call it a vintage find. they cram too many people into a random loft in detroit because it's cool. or something.
but here is the thing that makes me craziest of all. honestly, i could probably deal with all of their hipster nonsense if it wasn't for this thing. there is no principle behind their nonsense. if they are going to spend their time gauging how awesome they are against how much everyone else sucks, then they better be doing something incredible. but they don't. instead they drink PBR, smoke crappy cigarettes and wear 90s combat boots (daria style) over their skinny jeans and complain about everyone being too mainstream.
don't look now hipsters, but you might notice that the skinny jeans with boots over them is exactly the look that all sorority girls sport, as it is a trend.
pheewww. that felt good. i know it has nothing to do with anything but it's been on my mind and i warned you, i was cranky.
from the girl who doesn't tuck her pants into her boots.
until next time...
the first day of spring was technically sunday but far be it for michigan to get the memo. in fact, we have a winter storm watch for this evening. there's something new to look forward to (sarcasm.) i don't know if it has something to do with the continued gray skies, the threat of more snow or the fact that i feel like i haven't slept in two days even though i have but i am crankier than usual. and this crankiness got me thinking because thinking is more fun than working. i was thinking about detroit and a festival that happened here this weekend, marche de le nain rouge which apparently caused the city to be over run by hipsters. hipsters...
on saturday, my friend dave texted me to tell me that he may have found the place where all hipsters came from. he was probably right; i have to assume that hipsters originated in los angeles. maybe new york if not la. i asked if there was a fountain of PBR and a never ending supply of american spirit cigarettes on a collection of mismatched, random, "vintage" coffee tables and weird boots growing on trees. i figure it has to be a land where there is lots of flannel and mustaches. and this place... would be my personal hell.
here is the thing about hipsters that makes me crazy. it's actually the same thing that makes me crazy about most hippies too. i have an issue when the very reason for your existence is to tell me that you think you are better than me or everyone else for that matter. i'm a vegetarian too, but that doesn't make me better or worse than any of my friends who would mainline bacon if there was a way to do it. and i don't do it for the environment or because of the poor animals who suffer. i do it because i don't like the way meat tastes. it's just what it is. i don't watch a lot of tv but that's because i've been spoiled by having tv on dvd, online and dvr. i don't like having to watch in real time. next issue with hipsters is pretty simple and it's very similar to the first. i can't stand when someone does something for the sake of being contrary. why?? do you get pleasure out of making people crazy by just doing the opposite just to be different? if so, you are all sadists. third, most hipsters are people whose lives are still financed by their parents. that they purchase their ironic shirts at american appearal on their parents credit cards and call it a vintage find. they cram too many people into a random loft in detroit because it's cool. or something.
but here is the thing that makes me craziest of all. honestly, i could probably deal with all of their hipster nonsense if it wasn't for this thing. there is no principle behind their nonsense. if they are going to spend their time gauging how awesome they are against how much everyone else sucks, then they better be doing something incredible. but they don't. instead they drink PBR, smoke crappy cigarettes and wear 90s combat boots (daria style) over their skinny jeans and complain about everyone being too mainstream.
don't look now hipsters, but you might notice that the skinny jeans with boots over them is exactly the look that all sorority girls sport, as it is a trend.
pheewww. that felt good. i know it has nothing to do with anything but it's been on my mind and i warned you, i was cranky.
from the girl who doesn't tuck her pants into her boots.
until next time...
Monday, March 21, 2011
mondays = extra cranky = ranting = posting.
i heard an interesting statement the other day. that me and my fellow liberals tend to think that we are more open minded and accepting because we work to make ourselves more aware of our surroundings but this becomes problematic, in that we forget that we see things through our own culture stained eyes. this is distracting. so we are all open minded, until someone challenges what we think we know. it is still my belief that we are better than conservatives who just pretend that there is nothing beyond a black and white world but i'm biased.
aging is kind of a funny thing. i have started to notice that i don't know as much as i used to when i was a teenager. i'm pretty sure when i was 15 i was convinced that i knew everything and as i get older, i realize just how wrong i was. i kind of wish i was right though. how nice would it be to actually know everything? i guess it would only be nice up until you had to deal with everyone that you know is wrong. it was a friend's birthday this past week and in the week or so leading up to it, she was being really weird about turning 27. she kept making statements to me like "i don't want to inconvenience anyone to come out and celebrate" and "i hope people will want to come" and "i don't want people to be looking at their watches wishing they were some where else during dinner." i'm not really sure what her issue was and she really didn't clarify it for me, which was particularly annoying. i'm not a fan of people starting a conversation then stopping when i start to ask questions to get information into whatever topic it is. it's like "hey i want to talk to you about the number 9." "oh, ok, what about the number 9?" "never mind." it aggravates me in a way that few things can really aggravate me. aside from all this nonsense about her birthday and her impending worry about aging and not "being where she should be at 27" i think it was a pretty good birthday. i mean, she was still weird about everyone being at dinner and made a point to thank us multiple times and express to an out of town friend that she had a good time and it was "fun, not forced fun, that everyone seemed to enjoy."
the one minor flaw in her birthday was that her boyfriend of over a year was unable to join us. last minute, he got called into work. there are some circumstances in which i think that might be acceptable. like if he was a doctor or something. maybe if he was the new guy at work and had to prove himself. or maybe if his boss was some kind of miranda priestly the devil wears prada kind of thing. maybe his boss is. i don't know, i've never talked to him long enough to actually know what he does for work. but it seems to me that he should have made sure that he had the day off for his girlfriend's birthday, particularly as she was struggling with this particular birthday. but instead, he didn't. and she just (seemingly) brushed it off. i am quite surprised that she is just so quick to be ok with this because i was annoyed. maybe he made up for it some way that she just hasn't shared. still though, kind of a dbag move.
i was talking about this with a friend who has much more traditional, let's say, or old fashioned views when it comes to relationships. which is strange but brings me back to my original point, because she is a liberal. a feminist for all intents and purposes who believes firmly that women deserve equal rights and that this is a cause to fight for. and yet in discussing our birthday friend's relationship and their individual lives, she said to me that perhaps our birthday friend is waiting to make a life move based on when her boyfriend finishes college. what a backwards thought! i was shocked and did nothing to disguise it when she suggested that. she promptly stopped responding to me (via gchat.) i understand making plans together, making plans for the future and building a life together. i get that. but that is not what was said here. this was waiting to make a decision about a job (as in getting one, not taking one in another state or something) just a job. and if birthday friend is going to talk about building a life with her boyfriend, then that is a whole different thing. if she is happy and thinks their relationship is strong, mazel tov. go for it. but remember this is the guy who went out with his buddy on st patricks day then the next day couldn't insure that he would have the day off work to spend with her for her birthday.
anyway, i know that i am hyper critical and apparently hard to impress. i know that i have very high standards for people. but i wouldn't have those standards if some people weren't able to live up to them. i fail to believe that there is something wrong with my expectations; i think more people might need to join me to expect more out of the people we interact with and society. i am sorry that i have made two of my friends the focus of my blog today but honestly, i would have told both of them this if they ever wanted to have a conversation about my thoughts.
from the girl who is counting down days to march 31.
until next time...
aging is kind of a funny thing. i have started to notice that i don't know as much as i used to when i was a teenager. i'm pretty sure when i was 15 i was convinced that i knew everything and as i get older, i realize just how wrong i was. i kind of wish i was right though. how nice would it be to actually know everything? i guess it would only be nice up until you had to deal with everyone that you know is wrong. it was a friend's birthday this past week and in the week or so leading up to it, she was being really weird about turning 27. she kept making statements to me like "i don't want to inconvenience anyone to come out and celebrate" and "i hope people will want to come" and "i don't want people to be looking at their watches wishing they were some where else during dinner." i'm not really sure what her issue was and she really didn't clarify it for me, which was particularly annoying. i'm not a fan of people starting a conversation then stopping when i start to ask questions to get information into whatever topic it is. it's like "hey i want to talk to you about the number 9." "oh, ok, what about the number 9?" "never mind." it aggravates me in a way that few things can really aggravate me. aside from all this nonsense about her birthday and her impending worry about aging and not "being where she should be at 27" i think it was a pretty good birthday. i mean, she was still weird about everyone being at dinner and made a point to thank us multiple times and express to an out of town friend that she had a good time and it was "fun, not forced fun, that everyone seemed to enjoy."
the one minor flaw in her birthday was that her boyfriend of over a year was unable to join us. last minute, he got called into work. there are some circumstances in which i think that might be acceptable. like if he was a doctor or something. maybe if he was the new guy at work and had to prove himself. or maybe if his boss was some kind of miranda priestly the devil wears prada kind of thing. maybe his boss is. i don't know, i've never talked to him long enough to actually know what he does for work. but it seems to me that he should have made sure that he had the day off for his girlfriend's birthday, particularly as she was struggling with this particular birthday. but instead, he didn't. and she just (seemingly) brushed it off. i am quite surprised that she is just so quick to be ok with this because i was annoyed. maybe he made up for it some way that she just hasn't shared. still though, kind of a dbag move.
i was talking about this with a friend who has much more traditional, let's say, or old fashioned views when it comes to relationships. which is strange but brings me back to my original point, because she is a liberal. a feminist for all intents and purposes who believes firmly that women deserve equal rights and that this is a cause to fight for. and yet in discussing our birthday friend's relationship and their individual lives, she said to me that perhaps our birthday friend is waiting to make a life move based on when her boyfriend finishes college. what a backwards thought! i was shocked and did nothing to disguise it when she suggested that. she promptly stopped responding to me (via gchat.) i understand making plans together, making plans for the future and building a life together. i get that. but that is not what was said here. this was waiting to make a decision about a job (as in getting one, not taking one in another state or something) just a job. and if birthday friend is going to talk about building a life with her boyfriend, then that is a whole different thing. if she is happy and thinks their relationship is strong, mazel tov. go for it. but remember this is the guy who went out with his buddy on st patricks day then the next day couldn't insure that he would have the day off work to spend with her for her birthday.
anyway, i know that i am hyper critical and apparently hard to impress. i know that i have very high standards for people. but i wouldn't have those standards if some people weren't able to live up to them. i fail to believe that there is something wrong with my expectations; i think more people might need to join me to expect more out of the people we interact with and society. i am sorry that i have made two of my friends the focus of my blog today but honestly, i would have told both of them this if they ever wanted to have a conversation about my thoughts.
from the girl who is counting down days to march 31.
until next time...
Monday, March 14, 2011
i'm going to need a crown.
it just seems like with every day that passes, things get a little darker in the mitten state, despite the fact that we sprung forward this weekend and now have an extra hour of sunlight. even the st. practice day weekend wasn't enough to take my mind off of what was happening with our budget and in lansing. but this weekend, unlike the rest of my week, i spent a lot of time socializing with my friends and in the grand st. patty's day weekend tradition, imbibed in the celebration. after a couple of vodka and tonics, i happened upon an idea that tickled me and i thought i would share. see, governor nerd seems to have failed civics and doesn't understand that he doesn't get to unilaterally decide what is best for the state. there needs to be balance. so this got me to thinking, in a humorous, non ignorant way (because i passed all my civics, government, history and political science classes) of what i would do if i was dictator of the state.
1. i would make it illegal to be a republican. try and cross me when your political ideology isn't allowed in my state? yeah that's right. you wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
2. i would take all the money that the state invests in major banks out and create a state bank. i would only allow the state treasurer to invest our money in this state bank or community banks and credit unions. the hope here is simple, the big, corrupt, ugly, money grubbing banks would flee my state.
3. i would take a systematic look at the budget to invest in one of the most important assets we have in this state, the kids. as cliche as it is, it's true. children are our future and i for one want those little buggers to be educated. invest in schools, invest in teachers, invest in universities. this will provide positive things for the state, as people will want to come here to teach and business will want to hire our educated workers. (smart, right?)
4. i would stop the tax credits for big businesses that aren't contributing back to the state. if you aren't using michigan workers or creating michigan jobs, i'm fine with you leaving. don't let the door hit you on the way out.
5. appropriately use money on smart programs that are working in the state, like our film incentive, the next generation battery production and solar panel creation. put michigan to work competitively in this new economy and used best practices and empirically researched best methods for making the state work better.
6. if anyone tries to undermine me and my authority, please see number 1. it is my belief that if i'm working for the best interest of the citizens of michigan, things will get better. (and you might notice that no where in this list do you see anything about providing tax cuts for millionaires, taking away rights of municipalities or undermining citizens' right to vote.)
of course, this isn't actually possible. but i know that most of my ideas aren't bad. outlawing republicans is unreasonable but the rest of the stuff actually makes sense to saving our state. i'm not the only one with these thoughts. there are good public servants out there who are working on these very things while getting cut off at the knees every step of the way by obstructionists. i am proud of those who are in lansing and in their local government who are fighting for what's right. keep it up guys. we need you.
governor nerd, there are many like myself from my generation of young people who think like this and we can work to give michigan a very bright future. we just need you to quit trying to stymie us.
from the girl who would totally be a better governor right now than the nerd.
until next time...
1. i would make it illegal to be a republican. try and cross me when your political ideology isn't allowed in my state? yeah that's right. you wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
2. i would take all the money that the state invests in major banks out and create a state bank. i would only allow the state treasurer to invest our money in this state bank or community banks and credit unions. the hope here is simple, the big, corrupt, ugly, money grubbing banks would flee my state.
3. i would take a systematic look at the budget to invest in one of the most important assets we have in this state, the kids. as cliche as it is, it's true. children are our future and i for one want those little buggers to be educated. invest in schools, invest in teachers, invest in universities. this will provide positive things for the state, as people will want to come here to teach and business will want to hire our educated workers. (smart, right?)
4. i would stop the tax credits for big businesses that aren't contributing back to the state. if you aren't using michigan workers or creating michigan jobs, i'm fine with you leaving. don't let the door hit you on the way out.
5. appropriately use money on smart programs that are working in the state, like our film incentive, the next generation battery production and solar panel creation. put michigan to work competitively in this new economy and used best practices and empirically researched best methods for making the state work better.
6. if anyone tries to undermine me and my authority, please see number 1. it is my belief that if i'm working for the best interest of the citizens of michigan, things will get better. (and you might notice that no where in this list do you see anything about providing tax cuts for millionaires, taking away rights of municipalities or undermining citizens' right to vote.)
of course, this isn't actually possible. but i know that most of my ideas aren't bad. outlawing republicans is unreasonable but the rest of the stuff actually makes sense to saving our state. i'm not the only one with these thoughts. there are good public servants out there who are working on these very things while getting cut off at the knees every step of the way by obstructionists. i am proud of those who are in lansing and in their local government who are fighting for what's right. keep it up guys. we need you.
governor nerd, there are many like myself from my generation of young people who think like this and we can work to give michigan a very bright future. we just need you to quit trying to stymie us.
from the girl who would totally be a better governor right now than the nerd.
until next time...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
i'm not for bullying but i can think of one nerd who might need a swirly.
i have been called a number of names in my life. sometimes they were kind, you know, shortened versions of my name, various nick names. sometimes they were rude like the time i got called a "fag enabler." (and even though that is really rude, i kind of like that i was called it. my very existence pissed off one of the westboro idiots so much they had to say something to me.) as it has been made pretty clear, i am a liberal and while i know i said a couple posts ago that i was going to try and follow a theme, right now i need to veer away from that for a quick minute. mostly because current events in my home state and in the nation are so distressing that i have to say something. this is your chance to avoid it. this is about to be a political tangent.
let me start by saying, i absolutely love the wisconsin 14 that left the state when their governor was trying to shove union busting, anti-middle class legislation down their throat. i applaud you for being brave and standing up for what is right for america. i'm sure it was no easy task to do and i'm so glad you have the tenacity to do the right thing. it is truly upsetting to see what happened last night with this bill going through. i remain hopeful though that the voices of the many who are gathered in madison in protest and the many who will be affected won't be ignored.
in my beloved mitten state, the voters did a very bad thing in november. we elected a nerd to be our governor. we hardly seems far. i didn't vote for the guy. anyway, governor nerd rode in easily as a millionaire financing his own campaign who had a message of anti-washington, claimed to not be a political insider and claimed that he would use his business savvy from his time as a CEO to fix our state. and in 2010, that was a message that people wanted to hear. allow me to be clear for a moment. i believe that there is a big difference between a public servant and a politician and i think that politicians are usually the slimey people in politics who only think about themselves. i like patterns and following them and using them to predict behavior. let's look at some patterns of governor nerd together, shall we?
--governor nerd spends his campaign talking about how we need to invest in michigan's future. that we need to invest not only in education from k-12 but preschool through college graduation. then he presents a budget proposal that would cut funding for k-12 students by $470 a student, cutting funding to public universities by 15% while also threatening to take more funding from universities if they raise their tuition above a certain percent. he says we need to invest in education and our future, then he presents cuts to critical institutions.
--governor nerd says that we need to do more to keep our young people in michigan. we need to stop the "brain drain" from the state, referring to our young people that were educated in michigan to leave the state to find jobs. he also says we need to create jobs. it's all about jobs. then he presents a budget proposal that suggests we should cap the film tax incentives. the same tax incentive that has created countless jobs, brought a tv show based in detroit, filmed in detroit to the state and is generating $6 for each dollar that is spent here. he says keeping young people and building jobs is important, then he caps incentives that are working and doing good things for the state.
--governor nerd says that we need to work to cut the deficit in the state. this is why all the radical changes, right? then he presents a budget proposal that eliminates tax breaks afforded to low income workers and seniors. and rather than using the $1.7 billion projected revenue from these cuts toward closing our budget deficit, he plans to use them to create $1.8 billion in tax incentives for corporations. he says we need to fix the deficit, then he proposes spending the tax money he's taken from the poor and seniors on corporations.
--governor nerd says that the future of the state can only be bright if it involves revitalizing the city of detroit, that the city cannot be neglected. then the emergency financial manager for the detroit public schools decides to close half of the schools in the district, bringing classroom sizes to 60 kids in a high school class. he says we need an urban agenda. then he presents a budget proposal that cuts revenue sharing from the state to municipalities. and as cities and townships reach extreme financial hardship because of this devastation to their budgets, the house and senate have passed a bill to allow for emergency financial managers to come in and unilaterally take control of the municipality. break union contracts, tell school districts to merge, overrule local elected officials and even have the right to dis-incorporate a city or township. and it is governor nerd and his administration who have the authority to decide when a municipality has reached this point where they need to be taken over by this emergency financial manager. he says we need to save the city of detroit, then he basically rolls out the red carpet to destroy not just detroit, but other cities as well as he hands them over to corporations.
does anyone else remember in 2004 when john kerry was called a flip flopper? governor nerd seems to be taking a page out of that book. in fact, for as much as he might claim otherwise, his profound ability to say one thing then do another is exactly what people don't like about politicians and what, in my book, makes you a dirty one. in the short time that he has been governor, governor nerd has done a good job of learning how to talk out of both sides of his mouth and for that, we should all be a little afraid.
one of the most upsetting things about all this to me is he doesn't seem to care. i get it, he's not "politician" so he doesn't care if he gets elected again and he doesn't care who he pisses off along the way because these changes are for the long term benefit of the state. this just in, dude, in order to get to the long term, we have to survive the short term. and just because when he is done having his turn as governor for whatever reason he decided to run, he can pick up and move. like he did to gateway when he was CEO. i hear china is lovely. but there will be lots of us who are still here, cleaning up the mess he created. thanks for that, jerk. governor nerd keeps talking about "shared sacrifice" which i can completely support but i have yet to see a single part of his budget proposal that in any way impacts him. that's what sharing means, governor nerd. please go ask any four year old. they will explain it to you. he expects me to continue to watch my peers move out of the state for work, watch young people not further their education because they can't afford it, watch cities fall apart, watch citizens lose control if they can't vote for their elected officials and what is he going to do? i would love for him to explain how this is shared for him and his fellow middle aged, wealthy, white males.
things are a mess right now and it's exceptionally difficult to not be mad. i am tired of being told that because we are in a financial crisis, the government should just take over everything. am i high or isn't it the republican party that is against big government interference? i thought that was one of their things. i guess maybe the rules and ideology changes when it's their rules. i'm not sure.
from the girl who is trying to think of the best way to fight.
until next time...
let me start by saying, i absolutely love the wisconsin 14 that left the state when their governor was trying to shove union busting, anti-middle class legislation down their throat. i applaud you for being brave and standing up for what is right for america. i'm sure it was no easy task to do and i'm so glad you have the tenacity to do the right thing. it is truly upsetting to see what happened last night with this bill going through. i remain hopeful though that the voices of the many who are gathered in madison in protest and the many who will be affected won't be ignored.
in my beloved mitten state, the voters did a very bad thing in november. we elected a nerd to be our governor. we hardly seems far. i didn't vote for the guy. anyway, governor nerd rode in easily as a millionaire financing his own campaign who had a message of anti-washington, claimed to not be a political insider and claimed that he would use his business savvy from his time as a CEO to fix our state. and in 2010, that was a message that people wanted to hear. allow me to be clear for a moment. i believe that there is a big difference between a public servant and a politician and i think that politicians are usually the slimey people in politics who only think about themselves. i like patterns and following them and using them to predict behavior. let's look at some patterns of governor nerd together, shall we?
--governor nerd spends his campaign talking about how we need to invest in michigan's future. that we need to invest not only in education from k-12 but preschool through college graduation. then he presents a budget proposal that would cut funding for k-12 students by $470 a student, cutting funding to public universities by 15% while also threatening to take more funding from universities if they raise their tuition above a certain percent. he says we need to invest in education and our future, then he presents cuts to critical institutions.
--governor nerd says that we need to do more to keep our young people in michigan. we need to stop the "brain drain" from the state, referring to our young people that were educated in michigan to leave the state to find jobs. he also says we need to create jobs. it's all about jobs. then he presents a budget proposal that suggests we should cap the film tax incentives. the same tax incentive that has created countless jobs, brought a tv show based in detroit, filmed in detroit to the state and is generating $6 for each dollar that is spent here. he says keeping young people and building jobs is important, then he caps incentives that are working and doing good things for the state.
--governor nerd says that we need to work to cut the deficit in the state. this is why all the radical changes, right? then he presents a budget proposal that eliminates tax breaks afforded to low income workers and seniors. and rather than using the $1.7 billion projected revenue from these cuts toward closing our budget deficit, he plans to use them to create $1.8 billion in tax incentives for corporations. he says we need to fix the deficit, then he proposes spending the tax money he's taken from the poor and seniors on corporations.
--governor nerd says that the future of the state can only be bright if it involves revitalizing the city of detroit, that the city cannot be neglected. then the emergency financial manager for the detroit public schools decides to close half of the schools in the district, bringing classroom sizes to 60 kids in a high school class. he says we need an urban agenda. then he presents a budget proposal that cuts revenue sharing from the state to municipalities. and as cities and townships reach extreme financial hardship because of this devastation to their budgets, the house and senate have passed a bill to allow for emergency financial managers to come in and unilaterally take control of the municipality. break union contracts, tell school districts to merge, overrule local elected officials and even have the right to dis-incorporate a city or township. and it is governor nerd and his administration who have the authority to decide when a municipality has reached this point where they need to be taken over by this emergency financial manager. he says we need to save the city of detroit, then he basically rolls out the red carpet to destroy not just detroit, but other cities as well as he hands them over to corporations.
does anyone else remember in 2004 when john kerry was called a flip flopper? governor nerd seems to be taking a page out of that book. in fact, for as much as he might claim otherwise, his profound ability to say one thing then do another is exactly what people don't like about politicians and what, in my book, makes you a dirty one. in the short time that he has been governor, governor nerd has done a good job of learning how to talk out of both sides of his mouth and for that, we should all be a little afraid.
one of the most upsetting things about all this to me is he doesn't seem to care. i get it, he's not "politician" so he doesn't care if he gets elected again and he doesn't care who he pisses off along the way because these changes are for the long term benefit of the state. this just in, dude, in order to get to the long term, we have to survive the short term. and just because when he is done having his turn as governor for whatever reason he decided to run, he can pick up and move. like he did to gateway when he was CEO. i hear china is lovely. but there will be lots of us who are still here, cleaning up the mess he created. thanks for that, jerk. governor nerd keeps talking about "shared sacrifice" which i can completely support but i have yet to see a single part of his budget proposal that in any way impacts him. that's what sharing means, governor nerd. please go ask any four year old. they will explain it to you. he expects me to continue to watch my peers move out of the state for work, watch young people not further their education because they can't afford it, watch cities fall apart, watch citizens lose control if they can't vote for their elected officials and what is he going to do? i would love for him to explain how this is shared for him and his fellow middle aged, wealthy, white males.
things are a mess right now and it's exceptionally difficult to not be mad. i am tired of being told that because we are in a financial crisis, the government should just take over everything. am i high or isn't it the republican party that is against big government interference? i thought that was one of their things. i guess maybe the rules and ideology changes when it's their rules. i'm not sure.
from the girl who is trying to think of the best way to fight.
until next time...
Friday, March 4, 2011
a short list of annoying things.
it is finally friday, hurray. this week didn't feel particularly long, as they have started to feel lately. regardless, i am very happy to see my good friend friday and usher in a weekend of sleeping in and doing whatever i want all damn day. this weekend that is likely to include buying a plane ticket because my vacation time was approved this week and that means it's time to gtfo of michigan, for minute at least. it's also a short day at work because i have to go to a meeting where a printing guy is going to tell me all the best ways to email him a document, in case i wasn't already sure how to do this. best practice meeting was conveniently scheduled to include my whole department, which made scheduling kind of a nightmare but also made it so that when it was over, my boss said we could call it a day. well, now she isn't joining for this meeting, which leads me to believe that our original plan is still in tact.
i stumbled across a list online today of things you should never say to a stay at home mom. this list includes: "when the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job?," "i'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree" and "i'm jealous. i wish my husband were rich so i wouldn't have to work either." there was also a list of things you should never say to a working mom. that list includes: "it must be hard missing all those special moments every day," "i'm surprised you went back to work. your husband seems so successful" and "i could never let someone else raise my children. but that's just me!" i'm sure that all of the things that were on this list would be really annoying to have someone say to you. i'm certain that i wouldn't want people to feel like it is their place to come up to me and insert their opinions about my life choices because their opinion is different than mine. wait a second...isn't that what i complain about all the time here? darling mothers of the world who are all tired of these kind of statements that you get asked based on your choices, please consider that is exactly what you do when you make annoying statements to your single friends.
it is because of this connection and my amusement with this list, that i present to you with a list of things you should never say to your single twenty something friends.
1. you think you're tired? try running around with a toddler all day.
2. it must be nice to afford a vacation since you don't have to worry about paying for a minivan, insurance and thinking about saving for college.
3. you don't know what it means to be busy.
4. aren't you ready to settle down yet?/aren't you tired of being single?
5. so, why don't you have any kids yet?
and now some thoughts on why all those things are horribly annoying to hear. ready?
1. look, i'm not trying to suggest that you aren't tired. in fact, i'm sure you are. if i had to run around with a 2 year old who woke up at 6am and in turn woke me up, i would be one cranky mofo too. but the thing is this. just because i don't have a 2 year old, that doesn't mean i'm not tired. i work then i go out. i volunteer, i do stuff. and these things that i do take the time that you use to chase around your 2 year old. whatever makes you happy but realize that you don't own being tired. (oh and really, you'd probably be less tired if you weren't up to weird hours of the night playing like farmville on facebook. just a thought.)
2. yes, i can afford to go on vacation. don't be jealous, it's ok. some day, i will have to think about financing diapers, braces and college. for me, that time isn't now so don't try to make me feel bad for wanting to gallivant and be ridiculous in my 20s.
3. my thoughts on being busy are almost the same as being tired. refer to my cranky answer to number 1 if you are still unsure why this is annoying.
4. if i was tired of being single, don't you think i'd be trying to remedy that? i mean sure, things aren't as awesome as they could be in that department of my life but as i build a career, friendships and things that will sustain me through out my life, i am in the moment not entirely too concerned with finding someone to be with until i die. and if the movies have it right, the falling in love thing will happen when i'm least expecting it. so i'll just keep not expecting it and see what happens. and no, i'm not ready to settle down yet. you'll receive some kind of notification when i do decide to settle down. it will likely be in the form of a wedding invitation or for random prying strangers, a facebook notification of a relationship status change or a ring on the curiously empty left finger that you stare at oh so condescendingly.
5. look, i don't have kids because on most days, it's almost too much to remember to feed myself something besides chocolate and coffee. i also quite enjoy doing things like staying out all night, drinking with friends, sleeping in until the afternoon and not having anyone else's bodily fluids come into contact with me. it also is my understanding that kids, while they are great and everything, change your life and quite frankly, i'm not ready for that yet.
the bottom line is pretty simple, i more or less like my life the way it is now and i would prefer not to have you make me feel as though i'm for some reason behind the curve because my life doesn't look like yours.
so all you mommys of the world, i will follow along with those 20 things i'm not supposed to say to you. i mean, i wasn't going to say any of those things to you anyway. it seems exceptionally rude and i don't really care that much about how you spend your day. you do what's good for you and your family and that's fine with me. but do me a favor, provide me this same courtesy. just because we are peers and our lives don't look anything alike, doesn't mean either of us is right or wrong and i'd like you to remember that.
from the girl who is really going to enjoy doing nothing this weekend.
until next time...
i stumbled across a list online today of things you should never say to a stay at home mom. this list includes: "when the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job?," "i'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree" and "i'm jealous. i wish my husband were rich so i wouldn't have to work either." there was also a list of things you should never say to a working mom. that list includes: "it must be hard missing all those special moments every day," "i'm surprised you went back to work. your husband seems so successful" and "i could never let someone else raise my children. but that's just me!" i'm sure that all of the things that were on this list would be really annoying to have someone say to you. i'm certain that i wouldn't want people to feel like it is their place to come up to me and insert their opinions about my life choices because their opinion is different than mine. wait a second...isn't that what i complain about all the time here? darling mothers of the world who are all tired of these kind of statements that you get asked based on your choices, please consider that is exactly what you do when you make annoying statements to your single friends.
it is because of this connection and my amusement with this list, that i present to you with a list of things you should never say to your single twenty something friends.
1. you think you're tired? try running around with a toddler all day.
2. it must be nice to afford a vacation since you don't have to worry about paying for a minivan, insurance and thinking about saving for college.
3. you don't know what it means to be busy.
4. aren't you ready to settle down yet?/aren't you tired of being single?
5. so, why don't you have any kids yet?
and now some thoughts on why all those things are horribly annoying to hear. ready?
1. look, i'm not trying to suggest that you aren't tired. in fact, i'm sure you are. if i had to run around with a 2 year old who woke up at 6am and in turn woke me up, i would be one cranky mofo too. but the thing is this. just because i don't have a 2 year old, that doesn't mean i'm not tired. i work then i go out. i volunteer, i do stuff. and these things that i do take the time that you use to chase around your 2 year old. whatever makes you happy but realize that you don't own being tired. (oh and really, you'd probably be less tired if you weren't up to weird hours of the night playing like farmville on facebook. just a thought.)
2. yes, i can afford to go on vacation. don't be jealous, it's ok. some day, i will have to think about financing diapers, braces and college. for me, that time isn't now so don't try to make me feel bad for wanting to gallivant and be ridiculous in my 20s.
3. my thoughts on being busy are almost the same as being tired. refer to my cranky answer to number 1 if you are still unsure why this is annoying.
4. if i was tired of being single, don't you think i'd be trying to remedy that? i mean sure, things aren't as awesome as they could be in that department of my life but as i build a career, friendships and things that will sustain me through out my life, i am in the moment not entirely too concerned with finding someone to be with until i die. and if the movies have it right, the falling in love thing will happen when i'm least expecting it. so i'll just keep not expecting it and see what happens. and no, i'm not ready to settle down yet. you'll receive some kind of notification when i do decide to settle down. it will likely be in the form of a wedding invitation or for random prying strangers, a facebook notification of a relationship status change or a ring on the curiously empty left finger that you stare at oh so condescendingly.
5. look, i don't have kids because on most days, it's almost too much to remember to feed myself something besides chocolate and coffee. i also quite enjoy doing things like staying out all night, drinking with friends, sleeping in until the afternoon and not having anyone else's bodily fluids come into contact with me. it also is my understanding that kids, while they are great and everything, change your life and quite frankly, i'm not ready for that yet.
the bottom line is pretty simple, i more or less like my life the way it is now and i would prefer not to have you make me feel as though i'm for some reason behind the curve because my life doesn't look like yours.
so all you mommys of the world, i will follow along with those 20 things i'm not supposed to say to you. i mean, i wasn't going to say any of those things to you anyway. it seems exceptionally rude and i don't really care that much about how you spend your day. you do what's good for you and your family and that's fine with me. but do me a favor, provide me this same courtesy. just because we are peers and our lives don't look anything alike, doesn't mean either of us is right or wrong and i'd like you to remember that.
from the girl who is really going to enjoy doing nothing this weekend.
until next time...
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