Category: Observations Page 32 of 88

Tech Writer

On July 9, 2015

I am terrible at covering technology. I don’t write reviews. I won’t tell you about the latest gadget and why it’s worth your money. I struggle to prove why anyone should more than one thing that serves the same purpose.

I won’t give you app recommendations nor phone preferences. Technology is a tool to use. It’s not a religion to go to war over. It’s not worth the words spent and tears shed over the cruelties of which brand our plastic and metal shells come from in China.

I won’t tell you Mac or PC. I won’t mention Linux or its variants. I won’t waste your time and mine debating something pointless.

There are a great many people who will tell you all about technology and how you’re using it wrong. They’ll tell you how to use it better, how to make it work for you, how to hack your life and what you need to buy.

I say use what you have. Use the tools you can afford. Use the tools that make you happy. If you don’t need a smart phone, don’t buy one. If you don’t need a Mac, a Chromebook or slim Windows laptops will serve you well.

Technology has become a lifestyle and a fashion symbol. But it’s all branding on the same plastic box. It’s a ruse to get more money from you every year.

To buy the latest and the newest. To have the best all the time.

If that’s what you want and what makes you happy, I’m very happy for you. But it’s not the way I feel. It’s a way to feel.

So many times I see people writing as if their way is The One True Way. Whether it be the writing application they use or the operating system their computer runs or telephone they carry.

Here is my great truth.

There is no One True Way.

There is no single answer. There is no right and wrong. There is only what works for you.

We’re all human

By Carl

On June 29, 2015

In Observations

We are all human.

I remember the first time I got to see a professional basketball game in person. We were way up in the nosebleed section. We watched the players race across the floor and it felt surreal.

These giants of athleticism smashing into each other. The speed they moved and the fluids movements were like a dance.

A finely choreographed ballet of baskets unfolded. It was a blast.

Later, I saw another game. This time I was closer. I could see the players better. They were closer and it was more real. And they were human.

From afar, these people were a mysterious persona a mile high standing billboard tall. Up close, they were human. Big, bulky humans but humans.

That’s why I’ve never had a sense of celebrity worship. They’re just people. They do a job. They do it well. But they still get up in the morning feeling sick. They still have to put gas in their car and shop for groceries.

They still eat and sleep. They’re flesh and blood.

I started thinking about this during the follow-up with Marc Maron after his interview with President Obama.

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: 614 – The President Was Here

When I listened to his interview I was struck by the humanity. This was a carefully orchestrated press appearance. This was two guys sitting in a garage talking about their lives.

In the follow-up Maron talked about how human Obama was when he was there. He said, here I am sitting there looking at his mouth. Looking at his eyes. His face. He sat right across a desk from The President.

He is human.

When they took pictures afterward, they shook hands and wrapped their arms around each other. Just like you would with a friend or family member.

It’s worth your time to listen to the interview with President Obama. It’s a humanizing look at a man we often see and hear from in our best and worst times. But he’s an imperfect man full of fear and courage.

Photos are from MarcMeetsObama.com.

American Flag From Unsplash by Anthony Delanoix

Marriage

By Carl

On June 26, 2015

In Observations

I’m happy about today’s ruling. I’m happy friends of mine can not only be married, but can enjoy the legal and tax benefits of marriage. I’m happy they’ll be able to visit each other in hospital if they’re sick or injured.

I’m happy their marriage which may have been valid in DC is now valid in their home state.

But what about churches?

Churches should be able to act in their own belief. They should not be forced to carry out marriage they don’t recognize. If they choose to perform a ceremony, that’s great for the couple. If they refuse, that’s not something the church should be held accountable for. It’s their religion and their beliefs. I would not force something on the church that runs contrary to their views.

But think of the children?

Think about them. How many kids have expressed their concerns about marriage? Yours? Theirs? Anyones? If they’re too young to understand, leave it be. There’s time for that. If your kids ask and its something you don’t believe in, I leave it to you, the parent, how to handle that situation. It’s your right to pass your beliefs and values on to your kids.

Christians?

No one is changing your beliefs. No one is attacking your beliefs. You’re still welcome to live by the word of God and quote scripture. You may still attend church. You may still disagree with this ruling. This doesn’t affect your negatively. You’re still able to go about your life like nothing happened.

That’s why I intend to do. This doesn’t positively change my life at all. I’m a straight white man married to a wonderful woman. This changes nothing. And that’s the point. It changes nothing. The only thing that could get tougher is finding a non-church venue for a wedding this summer. Competition is about to get a lot more fierce!

Comments about pedophiles / marrying trees / bestiality /polygamy?

Pedophiles. Still bad. That doesn’t change.
Marrying livestock. Still not legal. If that’s your thing, move to a farm in Texas and do what you like. Nobody messes with Texas.
Marrying trees. The best you can do is tie yourself to one in the name of the environment.
Polygamy. It’s not had a great track record. But if you want it bad enough, start a movement. The door is open.

I am moving to Canada!

Sorry. You’re about a decade late. Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.

But don’t worry, there are still plenty of countries you can move to. Mexico isn’t looking good for you either. You’re safest moving across an ocean.

What could have been…

The ruling was 5-4. This was not a clear-cut decision. It could have just as easily gone the other way. We are a country divided and it’s how to work and live with each other that makes or breaks us. I am happy the ruling went in the way I had hoped it would. But I’m also aware it was very close.

Congratulations! You all know who you are. I’m ecstatic for you. Enjoy it!

Union Troops holding captured Confederate flags in Statuary Hall.

Two Sides

By Carl

On June 23, 2015

In Observations

I try to understand both sides of an issue. I’ve gotten criticism from my side for not being on that side enough. I’m not coming out with guns drawn and scathing words. I understand there are two sides to everything. If there wasn’t, it would be an issue.

It’s easy to find the other side because other thoughtful thinkers will point it out. Not in a way of OMG DID YOU SEE THIS MESS? or I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS! But in a simple way of hey, look at this other perspective that’s different from my own. That’s important. It’s necessary to see the other side and why they believe what they believe. Even if I find it repugnant. I need to know where they’re coming from or we’ll never hope to meet on a common ground.

The most recent debate about the Confederate flag finds itself at the middle of a controversy just like this. For context, I grew up surrounded by them. It was a way of life for me to see it on cars, flying in front of houses and in the community where I lived. I didn’t think much of it because it was my privilege not to have to worry about it.

But I understand its history and its message. Whether it be heritage or hate doesn’t matter. It’s a symbol closely associated with slavery. Just as the swastika was a pagan symbol before the Nazis used it. You don’t see many swastikas around anymore.

Federico Viticci made a similar point on Twitter.
We also have a heritage in Italy. It’s called fascism. We don’t celebrate it or miss it. Time to grow up for some Americans.

Heritage and history do not exist in a vacuum. They’re two sides to every history. The side that gives you pride in the South also reminds others of a terrifying, painful period in their lives. Where their great-grandparents were literally owned by your great-grandparents. That’s the heritage.

Just as there are two sides to everything, there are people in the South who want to make the argument to remove the flag of the United States of America because of what it represents.

I saw a group from the South arguing against the US Flag because of what the country has become. I’m paraphrasing but they wanted it removed because of the acceptance of homosexuality, the deteriorating morals of the US and the liberals ruining the country.

I don’t agree with them and their belief doesn’t change the history associated with the Confederacy but there’s always another side. A side I absolutely disagree with.

The Confederate Flag is coming down. It’s no longer for sale in Wal-Marts, Amazon or eBay. Virginia’s Governor has a plan to remove the licenses plates with it from the state.

It will eventually come down in South Carolina, but not until some more work is done. It’s not as simple as merely lowering the flag. The flag cannot be lowered, only removed. It can clearly be seen in photos. The mechanism to remove it is under lock and key.

It’s time to move on. There is a line that needs to be drawn between heritage and hate. You’re allowed to do whatever you like in your own house. You can fly a flag on your farm and in your home if that’s your desire. But it’s time to remove it from government. It’s time to take it off government buildings.

Those buildings are not just used by those who want to fly the flag. The public grounds are used by everyone. They’re used by white and black alike. They’re used by people from all walks of life and it’s time to take down this symbol of hatred and slavery.

The Nazis gave Germany the autobahn and rocketry, the swastika is not an acceptable symbol of heritage in Germany or anywhere else. Your heritage is not more important than the atrocity accompanying it. It’s unacceptable to continue to fly and use a symbol that hurt so many for so long. It’s over.

On a Slower Life

By Carl

On June 15, 2015

In Observations

We are very much products of where we’ve come from. My life is strongly colored by my upbringing. I grew up on a farm. I grew up around animals. I had trees and fields. I took bike rides and wrote in notebooks.

I did not have cable television. I did not have the Internet until later in my adolescence, and even then did not have broadband connectivity until college.

I grew up slower.

I wasn’t ignorant. I read voraciously. I wrote and thought. I shared my thoughts in that fledgling collection of wires and computers. I talked to classmates and spent hours on the phone with a friend talking to the wee hours of the morning.

I have no idea what we talked about. Important things™ to our teenage minds.

It was a slower life. A life of Sunday afternoon reading under the sunlight or playing baseball in the yard. A weekend of soccer games and ice cream. The long bike rides and long drives as I got older to enjoy the world surrounding me.

A world I took for granted as the young often do.

As I get older, I yearn to return to that slower life. I am not cut out for the city. I want to watch fields fill with firefly and lightening dance across the sky. I want the wind to blow over the uncut fields and hear the distant mooing.

I am not cut out for the city. I like my quiet far too much. I don’t understand references to most Nickelodeon shows or the piles of other children’s television my wife can recite from memory.

I had 6 channels. (Maybe 8 if the wind was right.)

I watched the Red Green Show and learned about the Handyman’s Secret Weapon. I spent a lot of time fighting with antennas to marginally improve a picture of a basketball game or The X-Files.

It was a slower life and as I ease into the middle of my third decade of life, it’s that slower life I miss.

(Photos taken Eric Holscher, my brother.)