Jeff S

the hot dog king

on a visit to the local burrito shop which is known as "Q'Doba," I found myself face to face with a furmiliar villain.

Admittedly, my burrito experience is limited to what few ventures I made to the other mom and pop burrito shop which is known as "Chipotle" in New York, but suffice to say that I feel that a crticial appreciation of this style of shop has been built up (the two are direct copies of each other, so they will be compared as such, rather than actually criticizing their burritos for their burritoness)

The first beef I have is that there is no pork. Maybe this is my fetish-like wont of Southern goods, but there was no pig delight in store. That is just like an easy fix, as I see it. Other things, like the looseness of the burrito, I assume will only improve with time.

An interesting item of note: for those would-be conniseurs of pop, the mix is either naive in its ill-mixing, or fantastic in its cultivation of new flavors. I remembered half way into my Dr. Pepper that I was, in fact, drinking Coke. I tried the sprite for similar effect, and I reccomend you all to broaden your taste buds.

Will I visit the Doba again? Perhaps. I think for sentimental value if not for Burritoes. I must say, I prefer the simplicity in ordering at Chipotle, if I can say that I favor this style of restaurant at all.

Also of note: when/if you do go, use the high chair seats. I feel like most people avoid them out of fear, but only in seeing others use them will they become more widely adopted. And opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Thanksgiving balls

I hate to be a nag here, but....where are the blogs?

well since I am big brutish and in your face I will drop a little science, not even for pity's sake, but because I want to. I'm just that cold and funky, like James Brown's Out of Sight. And yes, as of writing, that is me who has it checked out from the library.

The thing is, when people don't write things, it's not that I think they are lazy or busy, I assume they are boring. and that is bad news bears, I hope?
---
An interesting sort of meta-debate I have been seeing across many forms of everything is something like "elitists vs. populism." I saw it today in an article I read on the collectors world's natural opposition to designers who contract with major companies (look at Target ads and this might make more sense). I have seen it in some of the reaction towards Blink, a book I recently finished. Other people have mulled upon this subject as well.

But I think this speaks to a much larger sort of divide. I distinctly remember some conversation where I argued with someone the merits/dismerits of a book such as the DaVinci Code, a book whose major criticism is in its supposed pandering towards simpletons, or something like that. The question would be, should we be dumbing down or turning up our noses (figuratively of course)?

There are some grave intellectual trends implied here, that somehow an intellectual ruling class has the right to judge (or not) the "unwashed masses." But at the same time one cannot ignore the blatantly negative effects of dumbing down.

I guess my feelings depend largely on the situation; there are definite benefits to making something more widely available, and I feel as if this is possible without significantly altering content (in a given piece of art or information). But this responsibility to the actual content must be maintained, lest populist intentions create even more reason for end user/viewer/reader watering-down.

the two opposing examples I would draw and make fight in an arena would be the Académie Française and anything of the Sparknotes variety

on a bit note

sometimes, and I mean rarely, someone writes about something I have conceived in its entiriety in my mind way before they might have. the problem is that I don't know any famous people, so perhaps this is a better piece of writing than whatever I might have come up with. a good read nonetheless, especially if you think you might be funny but aren't sure

The joke is dead

what in the confound cat hair would you want me to do

In several conversations about the subject, the concept of post-awareness has been defined. I almost hesitate to write about this here, because to enter the idea in your heads is to lead you down a dark tunnel chalk full of insular references and cross references, but I will try and keep it simple for y'all. I wouldn't write it if I didn't think I could get you out, either. So here we go

Irony is a mindstate which has all but flooded our generation's consciousness. The example I often cite is clothing, specifically t-shirts; go to the mall, look at t-shirts, you will have some idea of what I'm talking about. But it is found everywhere else, it is movies, it is music and I guess I won't choose to venture into books, because I don't yet have enough of a literature backing to make informed decisions.

Irony is no longer novel. We've given it, what, about 20 years, but in less than a year, I somehow changed from making fun of things to making fun of people who make fun of things. What I end up dealing with is a parenthetical post-post-post maze, where in my mind I am wondering if I will advance to the next level of hierarchical understanding and condescension. And I guess me and whoever else is joining are ready to get off the train.

People are funny, I am not going to deny humor in people. But living this as a guiding principle is somehow flawed, it makes me want to wash my hands. It is at the basis of unjust culture theft, unfunny sarcasm, and awkward cultural misunderstandings. This is all due to too much insincerity, and in a post-aware world, it is no longer necessary for one to remain so desperately aware in order to be cool.

I do warn you, as was reminded of me by a professor, that one should not feed any sort of belief too much. The critical thinker doesn't dine on only one theory, lest his mind become clouded with that idea alone. As you can see with our friends the extremists of the religious right and even our real friends on the far protesty left, that sort of thing ends up being pretty circular. This is why I like emo music, but I don't love/live it. It is also why people start watching the OC ironically but inevitably come to a melodramatic point of addiction. In my understanding of the spectrum of emotional expression, one can not or should not be exclusively pure emotion or pure insincerity, rather, it is the mix of both which is apt to produce a more enjoyable person.
-----

here is a link to the essay I wrote about this subject, through the context of Beck. some people will find it intresting, while the rest are probably too insincere or emotional...:jeff:



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

chez moi

I am at home the wonderful homaha. I just recently figured out irony so look forward to that piece of writing, but in the meantime, here is something I did
check it

oh and look at all the words that we have come up with