01.28.08
Fun Idea of the Day
Got a little extra time on your hands? Me neither. But here’s a fun idea that I’ve been dabbling with lately- start a club. I’ve co-founded two clubs in the last couple of months as a way to fill the void left by an extracurricularless, post-college existence. For me, the best part of college was the clubs and organizations I got to be a part of. Now that I’ve graduated, there are no more coffee house College Democrats strategy sessions trying to figure out how to entice students to register to vote (as if the principles of a representative democracy are not enough) or Student Leadership Council retreats to the outback of Tennessee. But because my yearning for purposeful socialization lives on past my graduation date, I figure, why not start my own clubs? Nothing fancy, no constitution or Robert’s Rules of Order, just small get-togethers for a common interest.
The first club is a copycat of an organization seen on the funniest show on television, “The Office”. On the show, Pam, Toby, and Oscar hold sessions of “The Finer Things Club” where they drink tea out of dainty little teacups, read novels of refinement, and generally enjoy the finer things in life. My sister and I have started our own chapter, and with patron saint Oscar Wilde watching over us, have been taking time to notice the little things in life, like black americanos with pink-frosted cookies. Our recent accomplishment is a re-working of the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films list. (Since I know you’re curious, in our humble opinion, “Gone With The Wind” is the greatest film ever made.)
The second club was started with my roommate as a way to pursue learning and continuing education after college- the SPI, or Society to Promote Intellectualism. We made a list of topics that we want to know more about and have always been interested in. Each week we pick a field, divide up the research, and then report our findings at the meetings. We’re hoping to mix it up with field trips, attending public lectures, creative writing exercises, and whatever else we come up with. Funny how it’s not as oppressive as I remember homework being when it’s a result of your own initiative and direction.
If these things aren’t your bag of tricks, how about a book club, hiking club, scrapbooking club, sushi club, or (insert a hobby here) club? I use the term club loosely – as in a group of friends who sometimes get together for a particular reason. Come up with a name and you’re good to go. Happy clubbing!
01.25.08
That’s Debatable
Lately I’ve been missing all the presidential primary debates. I don’t realize a debate is underway until I get a text message or phone call from my trusted blogging partner or sister saying, “are you watching the debate?” The last couple of times this has happened, I find myself saying ”another debate? really?” I don’t have the exact number of how many have taken place, or will take place before the conventions, but I can safely say it’s in the range of 15-20. (If anyone knows the actual number, let me know. From my initial research, it seems there are many, like myself, who seem frustrated with the lack of communication from the parties regarding the official debate schedule.)
Are that many debates really necessary? I don’t believe so. In fact, I think that past a certain point, debates may be more harmful than helpful to the democratic process. Debates allow a candidate to clarify and support their stance on relevant issues and policies, as well as highlight any differences they might have from their competition. However, this objective is readily met within the confines of a handful of mulitple-hour debates. After seven or eight debates, the candidates are forced to rehash issues and stances they’ve already been over. And then things get ugly. The debates turn from policy discussions to free attack ads. They begin to attack each other’s integrity and history, because they’ve already been over what it means to truly have a universal health care plan a thousand times before. With fewer, more focused debates, the candidates would be forced to use their time wisely and discuss the truly important tenets of their candidacy.
For those of you who have watched the last couple of debates, were they truly constructive in helping you choose a candidate to support? Or were you too busy wiping mud from your television set?
01.22.08
I Saw the Sign
I’ve never met or been one of those people who whole-heartedly believe in signs, or fate, or 
the alignment of the stars, but over the last week or so I have found myself saying or thinking something along those lines more than once.
It all started with a job-offer. It was a great offer, but the decision was one I took seriously and deliberated over. There are a lot of pros to my current job and I wanted to make sure that if I left it, I would be leaving for the right reasons. On the afternoon of the day before my decision was due, my supervisor sat down in my office to fill me in on the topics of the staff meeting I’d missed that morning. She explained at length the discussion that had taken place regarding our company’s not-so-great financial situation and the possibility of cut-backs and lay-offs. All I could think of was the fact that I was at the bottom of the totem pole and would most likely be the first to go should it come to that. This had to be a sign!
Then, once I decided to accept the job that would require an out-of-state move and my lease to be broken, I realized the financial stress of it all and began to wonder if I had made the wrong decision. But, in no time at all my apartment was rented getting me off the hook in terms of rent AND I found a great place to rent in my new city. Several people said that my stars must be aligned.
On the flip-side, I will be moving in less than a week and last night my car broke down when I was leaving my farewell dinner with a friend. As we were getting in the car to follow the tow truck, her husband said, “I think this is a sign that you should stay here and not move.”
What is it with signs and stars? I am really receiving a mixed-message about my recent decisions. It’s funny that when the signs are in support of my decisions, I am a believer in fate, but when they point to the contrary, I am suddenly a non-believer.
Do you believe in looking for signs?
01.16.08
We Are Replaceable
“Remember, you are replaceable.” That’s what my mother told me last week. And no, she wasn’t talking about me as a daughter, she was talking about me as an employee. Talk about a reality check; but how true that statement is!
I am going through what feels like a huge life change. I was offered a new position that would be great for my career (I hope!), but when discussing it with my family I kept feeling guilty at the thought of leaving my current employer after only 7 months. I felt I would be letting them down after they took a chance on me, not to mention that we get along very well in most instances. I also know that they are very pleased with the work I produce. That is when my mother interrupted and said, “every employee is replaceable.”
We sometimes get these ideas in our head that an organization or department is going to fall apart when we leave. But the truth is, someone did our job before us and someone else will do it after we leave. Sure, we produce great work and do it with a smile, and we will be missed once we’re gone, but there is a lot of other talent out there waiting for an opportunity like the one I’ve received. I’d like to think that by leaving I may be giving someone else their chance to learn and to shine.
This doesn’t make the leaving and the change any easier for me, but a little dose of reality every now and then (even from your mother) does help to put things into perspective. Life, and work, will go on without you and it always pays to put yourself first in your career.
01.14.08
You Hear It… Worst
Okay, I’m fed up. Insulted even.
I don’t have television at home. I have a tv for watching movies on, but my roommates and I have chosen not to pay for cable. We figure, we live in Los Angeles- there are plenty of things we could do besides watch tv and we’ll save a little in the process. However, I’ve been housesitting for the last week or so and as a result have been able to watch some tv. A few mintues ago, I caught the local news’ teaser where they briefly list the stories they’ll be covering that night. What was the lead story you might ask? Nothing less than the latest chapter in the Britney Spears/Kevin Federline custody battle. ON THE EVENING NEWS.
I could go into a long rant about the implications of our eroding mass media channels, but I’ll spare you, because chances are, you feel the same way. But in what universe is that considered appropriate for the evening news???? During the last week, I’ve run into countless examples of this– on the Today Show, on every local news report, and on the cable news channels. I don’t understand how this has become acceptable. When websites like TMZ and Perez Hilton are abundant, why are celebrity stories taking up valuable space on the “serious” news reports?
More importantly, what are we going to do about it? My short term solution is to be more selective when choosing my news source. Below are some of the sources that I’ve found to be a little more constructive and informative.
Slate Magazine: www.slate.com My first web stop of the day. I think they do a good job of posting quality stories versus a pure quantity of stories.
National Public Radio: www.npr.org Solid news in three mediums: listen on the radio, stream programming online, or read the articles on the website.
Where do you get your news? Any sources you’d recommend? Feedback please!
~LA
STL Goes to Washington: Viability & the Second-Choice
In an effort to show my support for uniting the people no matter what side of the aisle, I will say this: Republicans sure know how to make a clear and simple caucus process! I am going to briefly discuss the Democrats’ caucusing process and more specifically, the viability threshold and the second-choice candidate.
At a democratic caucus, a candidate’s supporters must make up at least 15% of that precinct’s caucus-goers. If the candidate does not meet that 15% threshold, he/she is considered not viable. Supporters can then either attempt to attract more supporters in order for the candidate to become viable, they can leave, or they can join another group – choosing their second-choice candidate.
Republicans do not have this rule in their caucuses. Everyone chooses by secret ballot and there is just one round of voting.
With the opportunity for supporters of a non-viable candidate to then choose a second-choice candidate to support, the caucus becomes a strategy for those in the lead. Most will agree that a candidate’s biggest supporter at a caucus is the precinct captain and that it is in the candidate’s best interest to arm the captain with a strategy for winning over the second-choice votes.
As an example, for the Iowa caucus, Clinton’s camp gave local precinct captains cards that outlined arguments targeted to supporters of each of the candidates who might be eliminated. They advised captains to “put yourself in their shoes” and imagine what it would feel like to have your first-choice eliminated from the caucus. Then they were to pitch a positive message.
Obama’s campaign provided its local precinct captains with lists of likely caucus-goers who had named Obama as a 2nd choice candidate. They were to then make a face-to-face pitch for their vote as second-choice.
In the case of the democratic caucus, being nice and being positive is a strategy that can win the votes of those who must realign, and it has served well for many candidates over the years.
There it is in a nutshell: the craziness of the democratic caucus, what it means to be a viable candidate, and how candidates can win the votes of those whose candidate was eliminated.
~ DC
01.09.08
STL Goes to Washington: The primary process
Now that primary season is well under way, we’re kicking off a series called “Save the Lobsters Goes to Washington” where along with the political commentary we’ve been dabbling in, we’ll take a closer look at some of the practices and institutions of our electoral process. A catch-up of sorts for all those things you’ve forgotten from civics class. We believe that the good voter is the informed voter.
As I was discussing the results of last night’s New Hampshire primary with my sister, we realized how little we actually know about the primary election process. What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary? Who are the delegates and how are they chosen? What’s a superdelegate? First, we have to remember that elections are facilitated by the individual states, and therefore, different states have different rules about how presidential candidates are selected.
Caucus vs. Primary
A caucus can be thought of as a big group meeting for members of the same political party. Issues and candidates are openly discussed and debated, after which attendees express their choice of candidate. In Iowa, caucus-goers stand in the corner of the room which represents their candidate. Other caucuses allow attendees to choose by secret ballot.
In contrast, a primary is similar to the general election where voters simply cast a ballot for the candidate they support. Primaries may be open, (where voters can vote for either a Republican OR a Democratic candidate) closed, (where voters can vote for a candidate only from the party they’re registered as), or blanket (where voters can vote for a candidate from each party).
Delegate This!
Delegates are people chosen to represent their state at the party’s national convention. In most Democratic primaries, candidates win a percentage of that state’s delegates based on the percentage of votes they won from the voters. In Republican primaries, delegates are usually awarded on the “Winner Take All” principal, where the winner of the primary receives all of that state’s delegates, no matter what percentage of votes they garnered.
Superdelegates are usually party officials or members that act as delegates during the national convention, but do NOT have to support the candidate that won their state’s primary. Superdelegates from Iowa do not have to support Obama and superdelegates from New Hampshire do not have to support Clinton. Regular delegates far outnumber superdelegates.
I’m often puzzled by our electoral system, so hopefully we can continue to shed light on the murkier parts of our democratic process. Anyone else is welcome to contribute whatever insight or knowledge you might have! Also, if you have any topics or questions you’ve always wondered about, let us know and we’ll try to address them.
For my research, I consulted this article from BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7049207.stm
and this one from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html
Happy Polling!
~LA
01.03.08
Marian the Librarian
When I was younger, the Music Man was one of my favorite musicals, and the song about Marian the Librarian was near the top of the list. Since that time, my love of libraries has not diminished. Here I am 23 years old, a full-time professional living on my own, and I still love the library as much as if I were headed there for story-time.
Here are just 10 of my favorite reasons to love the library:
1. Sound of constantly clicking keys on the computer keyboards, because no matter when you go, there are always dozens of people using the free internet.
2. Self-checkout – you no longer have to explain your book selection when the librarian is giving you quizzical looks about the self-help non-fiction you’ve been dying to read.
3. The amazing magazine selection. Enough said.
4. The heat setting set to a super-warm temperature in the winter as if they want you to fall asleep rather than actually finish the chapter you’re trying to read.
5. The somewhat quirky CD collection where you always end up with something you’ve never heard of before.
6. The magic of the online catalog: where dreams can be both realized and squashed.
7. The overly zealous librarian ready to assist in your every need.
8. The children’s section, where kids can’t seem to get enough of reading and learning.
9. The sight of someone standing in an aisle completely lost in a book they intended to only read the back of.
10. As much reading as you want – for FREE!
What other place is as cool as the library??
~Dorky DC
