OK, this one is pretty harsh, but I've been pissed at the sci-fi, erm, I mean "syfy" channel for a while. They used to support cool programs like the Dune miniseries, the Dresden files, and Eureka. I used to be able to count on them to rebroadcast shows like the Outer Limits, and B- movies from the 70s and 80s.

Not anymore. At 9 or 10 they switch over to wresting, and I switched the channel. Every time they had something I wanted to watch, the canceled it. Now, other channels like lifetime and HBO have picked up the vampire theme (granted, the lifetime one kinda sucks) and FOX even tried New Amsterdam (which I liked, but then was predictably canceled. Life was canceled by NBC too, but that's another story).

Going from scifi to syfy is just, dumb. Here's the angry email I sent out.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Syfy is not a hip, edgy, or new rebranding of your channel name. Instead it’s weird, sound’s like your trying to appeal to preteens, and can’t spell.

This attempt at rebranding is sad, pathetic, and obviously aimed and alienating your core demographic, but you were already doing that by replacing content with WWF shows.

Why doesn’t your marketing team change the name to SYFY RAW and just broadcast wresting, monster truck rallies, COPS, and get this trek to loserville over with.

[my name]

Tags: angry letter of the day, syfy

This is the first time I've gotten to trot out my title in an angry letter to a public official.
Thanks to left cost conservative (http://leftcoastconservative.blogspot.com/2009/05/ab-962-not-new-idea.html) for the info. I think while we both oppose this law, we may take different stances on gun control legislation overall. A similar letter will be sent to my CA senator asking him to oppose the bill.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Assembly Member Ruskins,

I am writing to let you know that as your constituent, your support of AB 962 worries me. Your support of this bill implies that you have not researched effective gun control measures and support implementing costly and useless legislation instead of effective and reasoned measures.

This legislation will not bar criminals from obtaining ammunition. This legislation makes it difficult for women to protect themselves. Furthermore, this legislation has also been shown to be ineffective both at the federal and city level.

I am a lifelong Democrat, but also a gun owner. While I support measures such as 10 day waiting periods and fingerprinting the applications to own guns as crime reduction measures, I do not think that AB 962 will do anything but make it difficult for legal gun owners, like myself, to purchase ammunition.


1. this legislation will not bar criminals from obtaining ammunition.

It is a well known fact in both law enforcement and criminal studies that gangs and other violent groups have well established national and international networks through which illegal goods such as drugs and stolen guns are distributed. This will not stop individuals with illegal guns from purchasing illegal ammunition from the same distributor from which the illegal gun was purchased.

2. This legislation will make it difficult for women who are being stalked and harassed from obtaining personal protection for themselves.

As a female I have been the recipient of attention by an anonymous party. This mild stalking made me aware of how unsafe a person can be (the person knew where I worked and sent messages to me, anonymously, at my work). The owning of handguns and ammunition allow women like myself a means of protection against rape or death in case either the police refuse to respond to our complaints or they arrive too late.

As you may be aware, the police are not required to respond to all reports of a crime. There are too many examples of women who have been in dangerous situations where either the police did not respond to her at all (as in the famous New Mexico case which went to the Supreme Court), or where the police responded too late and a stalker had already entered her house. Owning a gun and having ammunition allows those women who are being stalked or harassed to protect themselves.

3. This legislation is costly and such legislations have already been shown to be ineffective in smaller settings such as the City of Pasadena and at the federal level.

In 1995 the City of Pasadena established such a law. The law was repealed after it was found that all the law did was generate massive amounts of paper records which were not used by police.

Federally, initially the Firearms Owners Protection Act, Appendix I, required that all ammunition purchases be recorded. In 1986, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified before Congress that the law was useless for fighting crime and this requirement was repealed.

For the above reasons I am disappointed that you supported AB 962.

Your constituent,

Dr. [my name]

Tags: ca ab 962, gun control
Current Mood: aggravated

Well I graduated yesterday. I turned in my dissertation at the end of may and am now done - I have a postdoc to boot! I am one lucky bunny.

The department graduation was great, but long. It was longer than when I got my MA, and was complete with speeches. I got a little light headed because we had rushed to the car in the morning and all I had had to eat or drink was a cup of coffee. We had to be there at 11:30 and the ceremony ended at 2:30ish. There was food, but I was so busy talking to family that I didn't get to eat. My mom and dad got to meet advisor and find out who the guy I constantly talked about was.

A funny thing happened - My sister kept asking if she could keep my hood and was sad to find it was rented (if I had actually bought it I don't think I would have gotten it back). For some reason she is really fascinated with the hood, she didn't want to cap or the gown, just the hood...

Now back to cranking out emails to politicians and other luminaries...

Tags: dissertation, graduation
Current Mood: accomplished

For more information see here: http://www.feministing.com/archives/014017.html

my email

Subject: imitation of Sarah Haskin's "Target Women" - she deserves credit

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing about the segment of the Late Night Show called "Target Demographics" which is a eerily similar to Sarah Haskin's show "Target Women." This comedy segment seems clearly to either be a parody of Sarah Haskin's show or an imitation - either way Sarah Haskins is owed credit for her ideas.

The fact that the writers of the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" would find it acceptable to steal a comedy bit from someone is outrageous. If they so admired Sarah's wit, they could have hired her as a writer, or, hired her to perform on the show. They did neither. Instead, they imitated her so closely that the name of the show, the subject matter, and the presentation are clearly derivative.

Please publicly apologize to Ms Haskins and compensate her appropriately.

Sincerely,

[my name here]

Tags: jimmy fallon, sarah haskins

I'm a letter writer. I respond to emails, but given that most of my time on the computer is spent writing the dissertation, I often have time to think about someone and write to them in my downtimes - when I'm on the bus, sitting listening to a boring paper presentation, in one of those rare five minute breaks at the loan desk at work, or while I'm catching lunch (I don't like mixing food and my laptop). Sometimes it's a mere, I am thinking of you postcard. Other times I have time for a longer letter.

Today I got a response to the letter I wrote to secretary of defense Robert M. Gates (not actually from him, but from his office). I also wrote to my grandmother, my sister, a couple of cousins, Robert G. McSwain (acting director of the committee on indian affairs), Susan Rice (U.S. rep to the U.N.), and Hillary Clinton (secretary of state).

So, sometimes I feel like a crank.

I enjoyed seeing Aziz Ansari at the Punchline in SF a couple of weeks ago. The Punchline is a much better venue in which to enjoy comedy than Cobbs - the seating is more comfortable, the food is better (though the service is slow), and you don't feel like your packed into a room like sardines.

Ansari was pretty funny, though his act was uneven and didn't flow as well as it could have. This was, I think, due to the fact that our show was being recorded since he was putting together a CD and (as he explained) at each show they were recording different bits so that they had a wide choice for the CD. I think my perception of the "unevenness" was also due to my personal preference - he tried out some comedy for an upcoming Judd Apatow file, funny people, in which he would be playing a (somewhat misogynistic) comedian called Rodney. I didn't find most of the "Rodney" humor funny as it consisted mainly of "Rodney" talking about receiving blow jobs at various locations and a DJ uttering quips about the location, except that I did find the DJ quips for the location of the White House and Toys 'R Us hilarious. I have to say that this bit will be forever linked with the Obama campaign slogan for me. I enjoyed the second half of the show (where he discussed messing with his 17 year old cousin on facebook) and found it funnier than the first half. Even when he is uneven, Ansari is still funny, and one day I hope to see him in a group performance with the other members of Human Giant.

got lots of writing done yesterday, need to buckle down today. I need to get my inspiration back.

I just finished Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris. Harris is the author of the Southern Vampire Novels which have been made into the HBO series True Blood.. Compared to her Southern Vampire series books, the Lily Bard mysteries are a bit short (209 pages). The series follows Lily Bard, a 30ish woman recovering from a violent rape in her teens. I like reading these two "mystery" novel series (Southern Vampire and Lily Bard) because they both feature heroines who have gumption and are not ninnies. I will be buying the next book in the series.

Tags: book review, charlaine harris, shakespeare's christmans

on starbucks and non eco-friendliness
I woke up this morning at 10, got dressed, and walked to starbucks.  Because of the new frugal mode we're in, I don't like to go there often as it is pricey for a cup of coffee.  The problem with brewing coffee at home is, I like the latte part of my morning ritual.  The nonfat milk makes the coffee tastier, but not $3 tastier.

We bought a coffee bean grinder and I'm going to experiment with making stronger coffee in a french press and adding warm milk to see if that's a good substitute.  Maybe something akin to vietnamese coffee except without the vietnamese filter.  Hubby brought home a vietnamese coffee kit made out of plastic, and I can't get the filter to screw in right, so french press it is for me.

buying stuff to be frugal
I felt guilty on the way home - I got the coffee in paper cups.  Not very eco friendly on top of the not thrifty.  Next Saturday I must remember to pull down our travel mugs.  It's weird but I keep thinking about how sometimes I feel in order to save or be frugal, we need to buy stuff.  Like we could save more eating at home, especially eating roasts at home, but we don't do it because we're both busy working.  But I've convinced myself that if we had a crockpot, I could save money cooking in there because I could just throw things in.  It's weird how consumerism creeps in like that.  On the other hand, I think part of the need to buy the right accouterments is that given Hubby and my lifestyle as students until recently, we haven't accumulated a lot of kitchen implements.  Our kitchen is full of used pots and pans, many of them with the dreaded chipped teflon coating. 

It makes a difference when your cooking if half your pots don't have lids.  A couple of years ago, when moving, we found a gift certificate to Crate and Barrel that had been given to us for our wedding.  We used it to buy a good set of knives, and we found that well made, high quality implements, makes cooking go faster.  When we moved to our new apartment, our kitchen was bigger, and we discovered that buying a smaller microwave (and giving away our large one) meant more space for implements like the Cuisinart, which also makes cooking easier.  Little by little, I have been buying better quality kitchenware.  I also find myself coveting ceramic pots.  So it's a toss-up.

worry and eco-friendliness
I keep reading blogs about people who have worked hard to forgo plastic in their life or who work hard on being more eco friendly, and I try to do my part.  So far, I'm trying to cut down on the heat we use, so right now I'm bundled up in a sweatshirt and sweatpants sitting on the throw we use when it gets colder.  We have managed to only run the heat after 7pm.  Even then, for smaller periods of time.

Of course, now that we're running the heat, I worry about carbon monoxide poisoning, especially since there have been several recent incidents in the bay area.  Next paycheck I will buy a carbon monoxide detector for myself, and for my parents.  My worry impels me to buy stuff, but it's not bad stuff, it's safety stuff, but once more I am caught in the grips of consumerism.

I keep thinking about my worry - I had a panic attack yesterday and I think on days when that happens I am more inclined to worry about stuff later.  Hubby stated that when the news segment about the carbon monoxide poisoning came on he was tempted to turn off the tv because he knew what my reaction would be.  I need to meditate more, I haven't been doing that.

Tags: eco-friendly, frugal, starbucks

The recent economic downturn has me a bit worried. Furthermore, because I will be graduating soon and hubby had a week off, we are trying to save money be eating at home more.

I woke up early this morning and it was the first time I've really had a day where I can sit and do my normal schedule of writing. Last quarter I was always getting up and catching the bus, then running from campus spot to campus spot. This quarter due to the data work I am doing I will be staying at home which means more of a routine. I recognize that working at home is a luxury many people don't have and I'm grateful that I can do this.

I do have to say when working at home I find that I need a pretty routine schedule or I don't get my work done.

This morning I woke up, did the dishes, and then made pumpkin bread. It was the kind of bread mix that comes in a package (just add eggs, water, oil), but I did it all within the first hour of being awake. Having the dishes done seems to make using the kitchen easier, especially when making lunch and dinner.

then I got to have breakfast.

Last quarter I never got to have a routine breakfast because I was always running around in the morning (all of my sections were morning sections so I was up and on the bus early). This morning I got to make myself a bowl of oatmeal and have a tangerine.

I don't eat the instant stuff - it's too bland. rather I throw 1/3 cup of oats, either steel cut or scottish style, 2/3 cup of water, into a bowl with honey, almonds, and some kind of fruit. This morning it was a banana, usually its some of the dried cranberries I keep in the freezer (along with the almond slices). I then nuke it for 3-5 minutes until its done.

My breakfast was pretty substantial - I sliced a whole banana into the oatmeal so my stomach is full.

The tangerines were pretty cheap. I'm used to seeing them cost something like $8 a box at Safeway this time of year. However, there is a cheap Mexican veggie market 7 minute walk away, so I popped over there yesterday (we will be having some zucchini and chayote I bought from there tonight). The tangerines were pretty inexpensive, but unlike the ones in the store they weren't "pretty." The tangerine was just fine taste wise, but the rind was mottled, bumpy, and had discolorations on it.

I've come to the realization that we are so used to seeing perfect fruits and veggies that these perfectly good ones seems suspicious and have to be sold to an "ethnic" population in the U.S. whose immigrant members are more aware that the fruit is perfectly good even if it's not aesthetically perfect. All the fruit and veggies sold at the store are that way - have bumps, discolorations. Also, a good thing about the fruit is that it's ripe. Many a times in a mainstream grocery store I've bought a melon or peach only to take it home and discover that it has to ripen or that it is flavorless and mealy. The fruit in this market is sometimes remaindered, but, because of that, it's ripe. I found, when having a honeydew melon from the store this summer, I had forgotten what truly ripe melon tastes like. Of course, if you buy a ripe melon or piece of fruit, you have to eat it within a week. You can let it sit around in the fridge or it goes bad. That's the trade off.

Tonight I'm going to try to make arroz con pollo. The chicken is defrosting right now.

Tags: cheap fruit markets, food, frugal, life