My apologies, but I'm going to vent. Here and now.
Hubz & I were watching "normal" tv tonight. By "normal", I mean network TV, over the air for free, no money. One of the things we noticed was that no matter what, all the kids on this show were still getting "gold stars" for their performances. You know, the automatic "atta boys/girls" "you are an amazing person" etc etc., while saying whether they liked their performance or not. Even if the judges weren't feeling the performances… "you are awesome"
Hubz looked at me and said "Someone needs to do a skit based around if Hitler had a kid in today's current 'supportive' system. I wonder if anyone would get it."
Imagine:
Hitler's kid just gets finished doing something in the school yard, like tries to skin a squirrel or trip the little physically challenged kid. He comes back into the classroom and the teacher says, "That was really heinous little Dieter, but you get a gold star for playing today and coming back inside in a quiet and orderly fashion." Two things that the kid should have done anyway if taught well by his parents, with no real mention or focus on correcting the inappropriate acts the kid did while he was out in the yard.
Maybe hubz & I are being too critical, but maybe, just maybe we aren't the only ones who see this trend of "everyone gets a gold star" which is now affecting our current generation of kids entering the work force? A strange sense of entitlement and wanting to get kudos for everything they do, good or bad, so as not to crush their spirits or stunt their emotional growth.
I see basics like kids in middle school who are touted as being so smart and beyond their classes learning, yet they can't write OR even spell common words and that's okay and allowed and not counted against them on tests or papers, "as long as they get their point across." Or those who don't understand that a lot is two words. it always has been and it always will be unless you decide to give a portion or allot something to someone, but it's never alot. Spell check is not your friend in the end if you couldn't spell the word to begin with or even make an educated attempt at spelling the word.
I keep hearing more and more horror stories from people who are now encountering this generation of kids in the workforce… thinking that they should automatically get a raise after (3) three months because it's been (3) three months, not because they are good workers. Or some kids who demand they get special treatment now based on their future potential as soon as they finish college. People who are our age (my hubz & mine) having to go thru worker sensitivity training to learn how to DEAL with these kids entering the workforce and how to speak to them…Really?
Retraining people who have been in the workforce for 25-30 years on how to deal with this new sense of indulgence so as not to crush their spirits when they discover that the world is not going to hand them a gold star for missing a major deadline, for example? Can you imagine the dialogue?
How many clients of yours would be forgiving if you came back to them with "Sorry we missed getting your product/service to you by the time you needed it, but little Jimmy/Jenny didn't feel comfortable doing the work in the timeline we set, so we told them it was okay and we'll let you know when they are ready. Oh and we're giving them a raise because they tried as hard as they could." or even better, "I know your contract said you'd get a 50% discount, but little Jimmy/Jenny didn't realize how that math really worked and it was only supposed to be a 15% discount, so we're going to have to charge you more for this order, okay? Thanks."
I would hazard a guess and say your business wouldn't do so well and your clients wouldn't be giving your company many gold stars for that kind of support or result.
I have been let go because of poor work performance back when I was younger and I knew it. Was I crushed? A bit. Did I let it keep me down and go running home to mommy & daddy? No. I went on, got another job and never looked back. It was part of what I was expected to do. Go out work my butt off and get rewarded for my ability to complete my work and my overall growth and performance as I went on. If I wanted to move up, I couldn't just expect or demand a promotion/raise just because I felt it was due me, I had to have solid proof of my ability.
Don't' want to burst anyone's bubble, or hurt their feelings, but dang nab it! To quote RuPaul "You gotta work!"
I'm off my soap box for this evening.
July 14, 2011
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Let's Hope We Aren't The Only Ones
June 26, 2011
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In answer to a question from @JosephRanseth
The question was in regards to profound lyrics.... my answer to him this week:
Out of Reach by Cities of Foam
My arms flail open to the sky
Waiting for the heavy dream
Of you and I
To consolidate this space
This no man's land is here
For your war games by and by
Attack retreat, hide and seek
Pinch and poke
Guess what I spy, love
I spy love
Your hand's been dealt unfairly one more time
Figurines go floating by just out of reach
Not yours to play with
Who's yours to play with?
Little men
With their toys and their games
Building blocks for the damned
Soon turn true
Drinking dreams growing old
Making aspirations drown
Little Queens
With their fallen crowns and scruffy dowdy dress
Broken heels
Staying/stealing in, stealing time
Cleaning up Prince Charming's mess
June 25, 2011
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I hope you've been practicing....
...your French, because here's another one!
In keeping with the fun, goofy, French yet not songs that I love to sing.... Here's a great song by one of my fav local bands : Pink Martini. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing them, then may I suggest you remedy that as soon as possible?
Sympathique - by Pink Martini
(en FRANCAIS)
Ma chambre a la forme d'une cage
Le soleil passe son bras pas la fenetre
Les chasseurs a ma porte
comme les petits soldats
que veulent me prendre
Je ne veux pas travailler
Je ne veux pas dejeuner
Je veux seulement oblier
et puis je fume
Deja j'ai connu le parfum de l'amour
Un million de roses
n'embaumerai pas autant
Maintenant une seule fleur
dans mes entourages
me rend malade
Chorus
Je ne suis pas fier de ca
vie qui vuet me tuer
C'est manifique
etre sympathique
Mais je ne le connais jamais
Chorus
(In ENGLISH)
My room is a cage
The sun streams through the window
The bellhops are at my door
like those little soldiers
who want to take me away
I don't want to work
I don't want to lunch
I want only to forget
and so I smoke
Long ago I knew the smell of love
A million roses
didn't smell as sweet
Now a single flower
in my way
makes me sick
Chorus
I am not proud of this
life that wants to kill me
It is magnificent
to be sympatico
But I have never known this
chorus
June 24, 2011
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I'm in one of those moods today.
Don't ask me why, except that it seems to be just one of those strange, goofy days.
In honor of that, I'm posting one of my fav silly songs to sing around the house by one of my fav female vocalists, Bette Midler.
When I was little, I always wanted to be able to sing like her or of course, Barbra Streisand, so I would warble along to the best of my abilities when no one was around. I still do.
I'm including the lyrics so you too can sing along with me... in your house...at the top of your lungs, even...without a care in the world!
Happy Friday!
Samedi et Vendredi
Samedi et vendredi et lundi et dimanche.
Anouilh, Belmondo, Fernandel et Bardot,
Montalban, Ricardo, la la la.
Sandra Dee, Dame May Whitty sont ici egalement.
Henry et Nancy et Vaslav Ninjinsky et
Lucy et Desi et la la la.
J'aime tous les gens dont je parle, vous savez.
Parce qu'ils viennet me voir quand je dors.
Je chante de petites chansons pour eux, tu sais,Je danse plaisante, veux etre morte.
Pacino et Tricia et Spiro
Jackson Cinq et Simone Signoret
Zizi Jeanmarie, Mamie Eisenhower, Ursula Andress,
Carmen McRae, Farouk, Aimee Anouk.
Samedi et vendredi et lundi et dimanche.
Larry, Curly, et Moe.
Dylan et DeNiro.
Debonair Marcello, la la la.
Ils sont ici dans mes cauchemars.
Et savez-vous pourquoi?
Parce que je mange.
Je mange de saucisson.
Je mange de saucisson, la la la.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars.
Bienvenus a mes cauchemars . . .
English Translation
Saturday and Friday and Monday and Sunday.
Anouilh, Belmondo, Fernandel and Bardot, Montalban, Ricardo, la la la.
Sandra Dee, Dame May Whitty are equally here.
Henry and Nancy and Vaslav Ninjinsky and Lucy and Desi and la la la.
I love all the people I am speaking about, you know.
Because they come visit me while I sleep I sing little songs for them, you know.
I dance to please those who have died.
Pacino and Tricia and Spiro Jackson Five and Simone Signoret Zizi Jeanmarie
Mamie Eisenhower, Ursula Andress, Carmen McRae, Farouk, Aimee Anouk.
Saturday and Friday and Monday and Sunday Larry, Curly, and Moe.
Dylan and DeNiro. Debonair Marcello, la la la. They are here in my nightmares.
And do you know why ? Because I eat. I eat sausage. I eat sausage, la la la.
Welcome to my nightmares. Welcome to my nightmares.
Welcome to my nightmares. Welcome to my nightmares.
Welcome to my nightmares. Welcome to my nightmares.
Welcome to my nightmares . . .
June 18, 2011
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Starfish can run
This one (Sun Star) was high tailing it for a rock, thinking that would save it from low tide.
May 30, 2011
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Old School skills...
I have noticed over the decades the fall of the art of typography. It used to be that artists and designers were required to learn hand lettering, because there was no such thing as fonts in a computer readily available. Then, with the advent of Prestype, whoo hoo! Look out world, it was party time. You then went and got items typeset from a reprographics vendor so you could cut & paste paragraphs and copy it into place. Along with a little amberlith or rubylith and you were set.
Now, with the advent of computers & fonts, any Tom, Dick or Harry can "create" a font, tweak a font and go nuts. The last font book I bought for my reference, so I could have a place to even remotely begin if a client came in and said "Match this font. I don't know wht they used.", has over 250,000 fonts in it, with probably 1/3 of them unusable for any serious commercial purpose. I still have my Letraset & Chartpak "bibles" as a primary go to...
What on earth elicited this post from me today? Well, a convo with one of my Tweeps reminded me of this and how it's an otpional class for desingers and artists nowadays.
I thought I'd show you part what my mother made for my 2nd birthday, a book of original illustraitons for me to color and painted pages for me to read.... she went to Burnely Art Instititute back in the 60's, which used to be on the corner of Broadway and Pine in that white haunted building and was required to learn hand lettering as part of her studies. She later became a designer for some of the major sign companies in town as well as in her own right as an independant business owner.
I wish I could do this, but alas, I too am limited to computers now, but my prestype collection is in the hands of my 10yo niece if I really feel inspired. The nice thing is that even after 40 years, most of this book has remained intact and is still in my possesion.
Enjoy.
May 19, 2011
February 24, 2011
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Happy Snow Day morning...
We don't get snow at the water most of the time, so we do enjoy it now and again.
February 23, 2011
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Today's weather report a la Bunny...he's so chipper about it...
(7072 KB)
Watch on posterous...but the Lemur trembles at the thought...
and what will the Crocus think?
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