(no subject)

[channonyarrow]

Send...help...cannot...breathe...

Which is what it feels like when I take my laptop in for servicing because 2008 had a final present for me. WITH LUCK (note that I have no luck) it will be back in three days to the tune of about $300.00, not including the fact that I for some reason bought an external HD that I can't afford. WITHOUT LUCK, it's gonna have to go to Apple, for five to seven (!) for $600.00 In the SCREWED WITH YOUR PANTS ON department, that five to seven remains the case, but the cost jumps to $1200.00.

So I am using the craptop at home to do Photoshop stuff, and my parents' even worse computer for internet stuff and wishing that I'd done something with intermediate top, like figure out if it has wireless. Yes. I have three computers, and I shit myself with glee when I found out that John Williams did the arrangement of That One Song That A Bunch Of Famous Dudes Played. I am a geek, let's all get over that together. Here's a tiny bridge.

Actually, if it comes down to SCREWED WITH YOUR PANTS ON, I may actually just buy a crap HP laptop for a quarter of the price and call it a day.

I am actually a little bit in love with my Genius Bar rep. And not even because he went (as far as I can tell) WELL above and beyond what he should have done to help me out (repeating a hundred times "Well, if I had a job, I'd say start the register rolling now," apparently works). I am not that shallow. No, this is because we both geeked out about a) my flash drive being a WotC giveaway; b) my former job at WotC (I think it was namechecking Jefferson that worked, since he knows Jefferson too, and dude, you cannot tell me "that guy with the Superman tattoo on his arm" because I have dreamt of that man naked through no fault of my own, I KNOW who he is) and, c) my email address. AWESOME. MADE OF WIN AND PUPPIES.

And of course I watched the inauguration. I wish that everyone would shut up about how Obama's African-American, because I have these strange flashbacks to Nazi Germany; given that he's mixed-race, this seems overly compartmentalise-y. You know, "You are more than one-eighth African-American? TO THE CAMPS WITH YOU, SIEG HEIL!" I mean, I have no idea what box the dude checks on census forms, but constantly hearing that he's African-American is like "Wow, we really have to work on this "race" thing here."

Which I already knew.

Also, I realise that a lot of my flist disagrees, but I felt that Warren's speech was, all in all, far better than I had expected, and even a very reasonable speech overall. I also liked the minor religion-checking of Judaism (you cannot tell me that Hero Israel quote was not chosen with that in mind) and Islam (The compassionate and merciful? I don't even care if that IS in the Christiam Bible, I know it from al-Fatiha) and felt that as far as avoiding separation of Church and State goes, it was a fine prayer. I assume this is because of Rahm Emanuel. DO NOT FUCK WITH RAHM. HE WILL SEND YOU HOME IN A BOX.

God, it's been less than 18 hours since I turned in my computer, I've slept for some of that and watched an inaguration for a lot of it, and I WANT TO DIE. SEND HELP.

*criez*

EDIT: NO, STUPID COMPUTER, THE CD-ROM IS NOT NEW HARDWARE. Also, why the fuckkity fuck are you finding the flash drive FOUR FUCKING TIMES??? JESUS GOD I HATE PCS.

Comments

He's Irish, d'oh!

[germankitty]

"I mean, I have no idea what box the dude checks on census forms, but constantly hearing that he's African-American is like "Wow, we really have to work on this "race" thing here."

You've probably seen this already during the campaign, but if not (or just in case you need a reminder), the answer's here:



Sorry for the earworm! *evil grin*

Re: He's Irish, d'oh!

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

I had not seen that. And now I think I know why. *g* That's totally gonna be stuck in my head FOREVER.

Re: He's Irish, d'oh!

[germankitty]

*snicker* I know -- it happened to me again yesterday when I looked up the clip!

But it was too funny not to share ...

[graeae.livejournal.com]

Didn't you just buy that laptop? Is Apple's warranty that much shit?

And yes, I actually thought the Warren invocation was well done. As you said though, Rahm was probably hiding under the podium with a baseball bat ready to break some kneecaps.

Dude, I can hardly wait until he brings it to Pelosi and Reid the first time - it will be glorious.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's not crap. It's crap, however, if you drop the laptop and bend the case, since Idiot User is not covered. In the end, though, the whole thing cost me $0.00, AND I might be able to get more out of them, as there's now a bend in the front case that wasn't there when I dropped it off.

I knooooooww. It will be beautiful.

[graeae.livejournal.com]

Gotcha... that was a good thing, though. I have an extra laptop suitcase around here somewhere if you ever think you want something that looks like you stole a time capsule from a bank. ;) Seriously. It's silver and bizarre.

I didn't notice him at the Inauguration. Sadly.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

I kind of want to marry Brendan, my Genius Bar rep. And by kind of, I mean "a lot."

And here! Here he is!



I was pretty sure I saw him at least once during the seating, but I decided I was hallucinating. THEN I SAW THAT.

[graeae.livejournal.com]

What's a Genius Bar rep?

And that picture?! I AM IN LOVE.

What the fuck was he doing? Please tell me he was following Cheney.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Genius Bar is where you go when you got them Mac repair blues. Or if you want to learn how to do something, or, basically, need ANYTHING from Mac. There's one in all the stores, and the stores are staffed with three levels of shirt. Orange shirts are concierges and can direct you to where you need to go and sign you up for appointments; light blue shirts are sales and advice; dark blue shirts are techs. Brendan is a dark blue shirt; I called yesterday to make an appointment and he was who I got, and he really, really, REALLY went above-and-beyond. Like, I figured the best case was gonna be the three hundred, which was waiving the labour fees in any event, and he really, really made it fucking happen (also, now I have a 500 gig external HD that I should have bought in the first place so I can use Time Machine to back the computer up and keep it backed up; this is AWESOME). But basically, to get off the squee, I don't know if they're all Genius Bar reps - everyone except the orange shirts I've seen working the Bar, but I assume they are. Basically, it's your associate. Except they're all geeks.

I don't know what he was doing, but man, I am also totally in love. I kind of hope that he was making a face at Sasha (who was THE MOST ADORABLE THING ON FEET, DID YOU SEE HER DANCING DURING THE RECESSIONAL?) right before he pointed out that Cheney was in a wheelchair and he, Rahm, could be sure he stayed there if he didn't go back to Wyoming and STAY HOME FOREVER.

"You've spent the last eight years in an undisclosed location, Dick. Do you really think people are going to fucking notice if they don't fucking see you for another eight, Dick?"

Do not try to convince me that this is only a beautiful dream. I BELIEVE IT WITH MY SOUL.

[graeae.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't see Sasha dancing. *grins* But I heard one of them make some comment to Barack over the mic about making it good right before he took the oath.

*dies* God, we're totally gonna end up with a Rahm fic community.

OMG, we need to write Rahm vs. Chuck Norris fanfic!!!

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

We can't. We can't possibly. That much awesome couldn't even be contained by the universe. One of them would have to discorporate if they ever met.

You know - I was trying to find the recessional, but no luck - somewhere, Barack Obama is, right now, saying "I wish I'd said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." HE HAD JOHN WILLIAMS ARRANGE THE FUCKING MUSIC THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE REAL. OUR GEEK-IN-CHIEF. ♥

[graeae.livejournal.com]

It would be Chuck, of course. He voted Palpatine McCain.

And don't forget the Spiderman inaugural comic that I can't find anywhere in this goddamn city... and geeks everywhere finally have a leader.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I think that Chuck Norris gets a pass to be Republican. He's Chuck Norris. How many other Republicans are so awesome that they are an entire internet meme?

I hadn't heard about the comic.

Dude, you are totally not working on your thesis. Fucking call me, we'll squeal about our Geek In Chief at pitches only dogs can hear.

[graeae.livejournal.com]

Lemme call you at 9.

Of course, I'm not working on my damn thesis - we had this little thing called an inauguration. Maybe you heard of it?

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Hi, I was not only up, dressed, and out the door by seven thirty, my PARENTS were. My mom got ONE HOUR of sleep. So she could see the inauguration.

We cried a lot, it was really fucking ridic. AND YET, AWESOME.

So are you just catching up on inauguration stuff then? I figured that you were just working on your thesis at every possible second because of work being bastardly.

[tacky-tramp.livejournal.com]

I'm actually heartened that Obama's rise to prominence is forcing us to talk about the complexity of race. Because it really isn't as simple as "white mom + black dad = not 'African-American.'" But yeah, it's a fine line between recognizing that when you're darker than a paper bag, you function as a POC in this racist society, and actively perpetuating the one-drop rule. :/

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

I don't claim to know the ins-and-outs of Obama's self identification, and I do know that saying that he's not African-American is, itself, a gross simplification, but I want to see the media quit spraining something to describe him as the first African-American president. It's like, just shut up, that's only a big deal because you are making it one. Let's make a big deal about the fact that, for the first time in a long time, we've elected the smart dude over the get-a-beer-with dude.

[tacky-tramp.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's a big deal because for most of this country's history, people of discernibly African descent were considered subhuman, because they and other people of color still get the shaft, and this is a symbol of the progress we as a society have made. Saying it's only a big deal because people are making it a big deal completely misses the emotional investment many Americans quite understandably have in the slow but hopefully inexorable decline of racism.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

But the fact that we have to say anything at all kind of undermines the notion of progress! I know that if Hilary had been elected, we'd be hearing about the first woman president, but making this fuss - emotional attachment or not - is denying the chance to actually operate in a colourblind society. I know that it's not - again, I am not actually stupid - but when the fuss is only about race, rather than competency/lack of, that's not moving the nation forward. At fucking all. We have elected someone; it does not matter what their skin colour or genitals are. It simply matters that we elected someone very competent for the job.

[tacky-tramp.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not going to tell Jesse Jackson he shouldn't be joyously weeping because he's seeing the hard and fast progress we've made during his lifetime.

Nor do I think we ought to pretend like race doesn't still matter. Of course it shouldn't matter, but it still does matter, and I much prefer that we acknowledge that rather than pretend this isn't an important milestone along a road that stretches long and hard before us.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

My point, however, is that, whatever individuals do, the media is not setting the example by being so self congratulatory for not lighting a cross on Obama's front lawn. I am not talking about what non-media individuals do; at no point in this post have I done so. For the media to keep saying "we've elected a black president! hooray! look at how race-blind we are!" just pretty much emphasises the fact that we're not. That needs to be recognised, and dealt with, but it's not handled at all by everyone in the media continually harping on the colour of Obama's skin. It doesn't fix three hundred + years of institutionalised racism; acting like it does doesn't fix that, either.

[tacky-tramp.livejournal.com]

Since when is it the job of reporters and pundits to set any kind of "example" for the rest of the country? It's their job to tell stories that inform and move us, not morally instruct us. Mind you, I don't think they do the whole informing-and-moving thing very well -- I'd like to see much less self-congratulation and rehashing where ANY subject is concerned -- but this IS a big fucking deal and I don't see anything wrong with spending some time looking at that. I just wish more people were taking Jay Smooth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYsRwHexkpE)'s tack on it. Acknowledge the moment, but take it as an opportunity to discuss what remains to be done.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

We have yet to agree on any issue of race that has ever been raised by either of us. Obviously, this is not going to be that time either. I don't think you're hearing my point; I also accept that it's probable that I'm not saying it well. I prefer, personally, to see it as us electing the right person, regardless of race, for the job, and avoiding electing the wrong person, regardless of race, for the job. The media seems to want to spend a lot of time saying that we've elected a black person; I am pretty much expecting someone to say that it was amazing that he wasn't carrying a gun at the time, or something similar. I don't know what your specific wish to see this as is, but it seems to be neither of those, given that it seems to assume that a) the media is actually reporting something newsworthy (and that's another issue I have with it: I already know he's a POC, I've known that from day one. Continuing to say it doesn't shock me, so shut up, media.) and b) that I'm trying to dictate whether or not this is a momentous occasion on a personal level, for persons who never thought they'd see this day. So. We don't agree, and we're not going to.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Wow, then I'm gonna ask - evidently since this post seems to have annoyed you more than you'd like to be annoyed - what business you have saying anything about it? I at least actually listened to the speech. My expectations were, in fact, fairly low; I don't like that we have three occasions of officially-sanctioned prayer at the Inauguration, and I don't like Warren's beliefs, neither their exclusivity nor their lack of depth. However, as a bridge-building gesture, I felt that it was well thought out and met most of Obama's needs.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_amphisbaena/]

I wish that everyone would shut up about how Obama's African-American, because I have these strange flashbacks to Nazi Germany; given that he's mixed-race, this seems overly compartmentalise-y.

I agree with this point and would add to the comment thread above on this post that the way to treat the media is generally as a social thermometer. Things that are taken for granted are not written about. I've been thinking about this because our college dedicated all of Monday and most of the weekend to hosting a series of dinners, lectures, and celebrations on what this inauguration would mean for African-Americans, and for my part, I am happy that this is a perceived victory for them but am myself unsatisfied.

On the other hand, in terms of America becoming more colorblind, I think that ought to happen on a functional level, but without the sacrifice of diverse culture and without sacrificing the recognition of African American history in the U.S. It should be noteworthy in a historical sense to me, Obama as the first black president, but not on a- I don't know, societal level? Bleh. *brain falls out*

I cried through the inauguration, and when I was looking at pictures of his children at the ceremony. This is a man I feel I can trust in the Oval office, which is a first in my lifetime (I was not thinking about politics while Bush was president). That was more of a relief than I realized.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_amphisbaena/]

*I should say, I was not thinking about politics while CLINTON was president *dohs*

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

I agree completely, actually - I'd like the historical recognition, but the constant baying of his racial status/status as a POC (particularly since it's wrong) is Done To Death. The media just seems to think that yay, we've conquered race, and we haven't - asserting that we have ignores the huge injustices done to blacks, Asians, Native Americans, Jews, Arabs - basically, everyone except WASPs - well into this century (and this century is only 9 years old). Hell, that are still happening today. But they do function as a thermometer: this is a better description of what I was going for than example. And the constant back-patting is just another reminder that we have so far to go.

And yet, my world is relatively racially blind, particularly given the background I have. I mean, it's not that my parents are members of the KKK, and they're both more sexist than anything, but my dad can be REALLY racist. REALLY REALLY racist, actually.

There is no answer, but it's frustrating because all the effort to say "Look! We've conquered race!" is just proving how much we haven't, and the constant harping on Obama as an African-American is not helping us to actually get over the fact that he is, indeed, African-American. I have considered sending a picture of Yaphet Kotto and Obama to every media outlet in the country, with a note saying "WHICH ONE OF THESE MEN IS BLACK? HINT: NOT BOTH OF THEM."

I cried so much, man, I cried during the fucking seating, that is how amazed I was. And I know what you mean about politics - though i did get Clinton-joy! when he was elected, I was also, like, sixteen; it wasn't really the biggest thing on my mind. Still, I was Generally Content during his presidency, and I felt that a lot of the things he wanted to do weren't done because of Congress, and I didn't like the Lewinsky thing but whatevs. Then Bush came along and I found out what a really bad President can do. I don't know how much of my joy over his election is because I really feel that he was the best candidate in the entire race or if it's because after eight years of absolute shit, we get a pony after all.

Granted, it is a pony with a lot of "Bring it!" in its speeches, but it's still a pony made of awesome. (I love his "Bring it!" speeches.)