Non-profit, literally

I get daily emails from Idealist.org about job openings in non-profit and socially-minded for-profit companies. Every week there's usually a few interesting jobs that are right up my alley. Invariably, they pay considerably less than my current corporate rut job. "Considerably less" as in Executive Directors for some of these places make less than me. And that's not because I make Executive Director money. I don't hate my job, specifically, as much as I hate the corporate atmosphere I have to to do it in. Things like the Yummy Sandwich incident. Or the stupid-hire-in-the-first-place, boss on probation fiasco. Most days,…

Continue ReadingNon-profit, literally

Congratulations, you make it until the end! You are the strong, modestly good-looking man who doesn't take it from anybody. How fast would you die in a cheesy zombie flick? brought to you by Quizilla

Continue Reading

Crawfish Dreams, Venom’s Taste

I love randomly discovering new [to me] writers, especially when they're not well-known bestseller list types. That whole underdog thing. I finished Crawfish Dreams last week and am happy to say that Nancy Rawles is a remarkable talent! She weaves an intricate tale of a family of Creoles living in mid-80's Los Angeles into a delicious literary gumbo. Pretty Miss Camille Broussard is the roux, a strong base around which her family, the Watts "riots," and the dark side of Reaganomics all come to vibrant life. Her children, in particular, are so finely detailed that you want to smack them…

Continue ReadingCrawfish Dreams, Venom’s Taste

The New Stuff

For Rich Villar I remember the new stuff. When it hit the mic raw and risky like homemade sushi      more interested in the flavor      than the presentation. We were too hungry for pretense. I remember the new stuff. When it burst from the heart like a ball of fire through an origami parade on a mission from god –      prophecy overflowing      from the mouths of babes. We were going to change the world but were tempted by it instead. I remember the new stuff. When writing was like breathing and everything was new and new was…

Continue ReadingThe New Stuff

Pumpkin Seeds: Trickle Down Edition

1. My earliest "political" memory is of rooting for Jimmy Carter over Ronald Reagan in the 1980 Presidential election. My second is of being disappointed that Reagan didn't die when he was shot in 1981. 2. Reaganomics can kiss my ass. Shit trickles downhill, not prosperity. There is no pony buried under the manure; just more manure. 3. On Tuesday, my boss finally got the boot. Thursday's goodbye lunch was one of the most awkward moments I've ever had to contribute $21 to. What do you say to someone that was justifiably fired and knows it? 4. Realized last week…

Continue ReadingPumpkin Seeds: Trickle Down Edition

Jesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.

You can’t make this stuff up.

“Jesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.” That’s Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson’s campaign slogan as one of eight GOP candidates in the July 20 primary for North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.

Pretty inoffensive, though, compared to the radio ad he’s running:

ANNOUNCER NO. 1: Vernon Robinson, conservative. The aliens are here, but they didn’t come in a spaceship. They came across our unguarded Mexican border by the millions — illegally.

They’ve filled our criminal courtrooms and invaded our school. They sponge off the American taxpayer by clogging our welfare lines and our hospital emergency rooms. They’ve even taken over the DMV. These aliens commit heinous crimes against us, like Maximiliano Esparza, who raped a nun and strangled her with her own rosary — illegally.

They commit crimes but won’t commit to learn our language. You walk into a McDonald’s restaurant to order a Big Mac and find to your horror that the employees don’t speak English — illegals. You may be in the heart of America, but you feel as though you are in the Twilight Zone.

Vernon Robinson will secure our borders, cut off the welfare payments and once and for all make English our official language. Press one for English? No. Vote Vernon Robinson for English.

VERNON ROBINSON: I’m Vernon Robinson, and I approve this message.

ANNOUNCER NO. 2: Yo Gringo! Este episodio de Twilight Zone era pagado para Robinson por congreso.

The ad’s come under fire, not for it’s extreme offensiveness but for the fact that the required disclosure at the end – “This ad was paid for by Robinson for Congress.” – is in Spanish.

…?

(more…)

Continue ReadingJesse Helms is back! And this time he’s black.