January 19, 2009

Ready for the Next Chapter

Did anybody see the episode of the Daily Show where Jon Stewart compared the wait between election day and the inauguration to the days leading up to Christmas?  He said it’s sort of like your parents bought you a bike and wrapped it before putting it under the tree.  Then the bike-shaped package sits under the tree and you have to look at it every day and wait until Christmas morning to open it, even though you can tell it’s a bike.  “Dear Santa,” he said, “PLEASE GIVE US THE BIKE!”

I have become almost completely numb when it comes to outrage over the current administration’s actions.  I was so frustrated and angry for so long, that I had to let it go out of sheer exhaustion.  I still yell at the TV every once in a while, but I’ve just learned helplessness.  In my Developmental Psych class in college, we learned that babies will cry when they’re in a noisy place.  If the noise doesn’t stop after they cry for a while, they go to sleep.  It’s a defense mechanism, and apparently young Democrats can learn to do something similar in the interest of self-preservation.

Karl Rove has apparently started a Twitter account, and last week he wrote this: “Send a farewell letter to President Bush [here he provides an email address] and I’ll give him your note on January 20.” One of my coworkers emailed me the link and told me she sent an email that said, “So long, Cowboy. The last eight years were absolutely terrible. Thanks for ruining the country.”

I don’t even know what I would say to him. I’m almost too tired to think about it. I want him (and his satanic VP) to be tried for their crimes, but I also completely understand the Gerald Ford theory of moving forward instead of looking back. I lived through it once – would reliving it do me any good? Would I really feel better if they were punished? I do think it’s important to make an example of them, but how much time and effort would it take? Would there even be any resolution before Obama’s first term is over? Is there a statute of limitations when it comes to this stuff? Because maybe I’ll be more gung-ho in a few years when my friends aren’t getting laid off left and right and my work day isn’t full of bad news.

At this point, I’m just ready for my bike. And it will be a long time before I’m ready to look back.

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Filed under Bleeding-Heart Liberal

January 15, 2009

Welcome to Oregon

I moved to Oregon today. It only took me 3.5 years of living and working here to finally commit. And that doesn’t even include my four years as a student or the various rivers I had to ford and friends I had to bury in roadside graves along the way.

It’s true. I now have an Oregon driver’s license, Oregon license plates, and a DEQ story (an Oregon must). I can no longer get away with bad highway merging on account of my out-of-state plates or flash my driver’s license to get out of paying Washington sales tax. Wait, I guess that one’s still good.

I feel a little less like Mego now, but maybe this is just what all commitment-phobes have to go through… It doesn’t have to be for forever, right? Montana may still take me back someday?

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Filed under Keeping Portland Weird, Sweet Home Montana

January 14, 2009

Un-American

A couple of months ago, my mom and I were shopping in downtown Seattle when she suddenly stopped me across the street from an American Apparel store, put on her serious face and said, “Meg, promise me right now that you will never, EVER, buy anything from that store, American Apparel.” I thought she was crazy. When I asked why, she told me about how their CEO was a “dirtbag” who sexually harassed his employees and responded to their legal actions with a general tone of, “I own this company, I can run it anyway I want.”

The first time I walked into an American Apparel store a few years ago (it was the one on West Burnside in Portland), I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I wear almost exclusively solid-colored clothing, and that’s all they sell. It seems stupid, but it’s incredibly difficult to find plain clothing that doesn’t have some sort of logo or brand name on it. The store was a huge white room with every style of shirt, sweatshirt, and sweatpant that a person could want, and in a rainbow of colors. The wall was lined with photos of garment tags (from non-AA clothing) each declaring that the item was made in China, Pakistan, Mexico…anywhere but the United States. There was a huge sign on the window that read, “Crafted with pride in Los Angeles, California.” I was immediately on the AA bandwagon. Well-paid laborers! A factory in downtown LA! How could this be bad?

When my bowling team bought t-shirts and silkscreened them, we went to American Apparel. My friend Russ used to work at one of their stores, so he could get us their clothing at pretty good prices (because it turns out I can’t afford the fruits of well-paid American labor). When I saw friends selling screenprinted shirts at Saturday Market or the awesome guy who sells (406) shirts at Missoula Farmer’s Market, I was happy to see they used AA shirts and sweatshirts.

But that was all before I found out the company was started by a chauvinist asshole, albeit an asshole with a great business plan that supported American industry and laborers. I did a few searches on the internet and found out that Dov Charney has had three sexual harassment claims brought against him by four female employees. He routinely walks around his office and factory wearing only underwear (that he designed, of course) and does a whole slew of things that I would definitely consider inappropriate – things that would offend me and make me uncomfortable. If I worked there, I would get a new job before anyone even learned how to pronounce my last name.

American Apparel’s ads have always been a little strange. They’re usually grainy (artsy?) photos of just one person against a white backdrop, and the person is wearing an article or two of AA clothing. Sort of. They’re usually in some state of undress when (one assumes) a photographer jumps out of nowhere to catch them on film. I was never particularly offended by these ads (I grew up with Abercrombie ads, I may never be shocked by suggestive nudity advertising clothing), but AA just came out with a few new internet ads that involve partial nudity. Like, of the important parts. As far as I know, the naked photos are all of women at this point.

Do I think people shouldn’t be allowed to advertise with half- or completely-naked models? I’m not sure. I know the photos of nude women I saw advertising lotions or porn hotlines in France (different ads in completely different places) made me uncomfortable, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wrong. To be honest, the first thought I had was, This might not bother me so much if there were photos of naked men as well. Which was followed by, I don’t actually want to see photos of naked men, I would just feel less gross about the whole thing if it wasn’t gender specific.

So I’ve come to this very confusing place. If Dov Charney has done even half of the things I’ve read on the internet, I find him simultaneously fascinating, awesome, and disgusting. I don’t really know how to feel about buying clothing made by factory workers that work under good conditions, are paid well, and receive benefits, when the person who signs their checks (and takes my money) calls his female employees sluts and talks about sex all the time. Do I really have to ask myself whether I’d like to support child and slave labor or sexual harassment when I buy a t-shirt? And if so, how the hell do I answer that?

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Filed under Deep Thoughts

January 11, 2009

Quotable

“When I die, I want someone to play my ipod.”
- Sandy (a woman I work with), on funerals.

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Filed under Words to Live By

January 8, 2009

A New Year…

… A Few New Goals.

1. Be on time for work. Like, 8 o’clock instead of 8:10 or 8:15… (I gave myself this week as a freebie, since getting in the habit of actually waking up when your alarm goes off is twice as hard when you’ve been on vacation for two weeks).

2. Keep a budget! A family friend who’s an accountant sent me a cool template (geek!) for keeping track of monthly expenses and budgeting appropriately. I’m going to color code it. (double geek!)

3. Use reusable coffee mugs instead of paper cups when I go to Starbucks and try REALLY hard to always remember my reusable shopping bags when I go to the grocery store.

4. Load my Starbucks card with a specific amount on the first of every month and treat it as a bill. When it runs out, I’ll have to make my own coffee or tea until the next month.

5. Try to stay positive between 8 and 5, Monday through Friday. It has come to my attention that I bitch to my coworkers all day about the annoyances of my job, and then go home and tell my friends and family how much I love it.

Wish me luck!

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Filed under Nine-to-Five, Top Five...

January 6, 2009

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…

I’m not going to lie. I’ve been really stressed out about this post. Ever since I asked for your favorite love songs, I’ve been trying to listen to all of the love songs I’ve downloaded and collected and put them in some sort of order… And it’s been really hard.

I mean, I’m used to people criticizing my taste in music. That’s nothing new. But the thing about love songs is that they speak to you based on your experiences. And yes, lots of times other people have felt exactly the way you do, but some of them haven’t. So you may think “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder is a fabulous love song because you once had a significant other call for no reason in the middle of the day on a random Tuesday and say an incredibly sweet thing to you… But I just think it’s lame. Similarly, the songs I’ve collected below are some of my faves, but you may not like them. Any of them.

I’ve had to convince myself that I don’t mind. That I’m not offending any of you by not including your suggestions. In fact, I was thrilled to get them all and even if they aren’t on the list there wasn’t a single one I didn’t download and like. So thank you for your songs. And here are mine.

Top Five Happy Songs About Being In Love:

“I Will” – The Beatles
I have loved this song for as long as I can remember. I used to steal my mom’s copy of the White Album (on CD – unlike Hey Jude, which I listened to on vinyl) and listen to it on repeat. Although it’s not exactly upbeat, I still put it in the “Happy” category since I think of it as being optimistic and hopeful. Some of the covers are better than the original – my favorite is by Tuck & Patti.

“Some Hearts” – Carrie Underwood*
This is the perfect song to listen to when you’re in that dancing-around-your-room-thinking-about-how-happy-you-are-with-the-boy phase.

“More” – Frank Sinatra
I think this would be the perfect wedding dance song. The lyrics are great, it’s the perfect tempo AND everyone loves Frank.

“She’s Everything” – Brad Paisley and “She’s Every Woman” – Garth Brooks
I had a really hard time rating these two because they’re essentially the same song. So I just lumped them together. I love them because I wish they were about me. Is that weird?

VERY close runners up:
“All I Want To Do” – Sugarland
“Forever” – Ben Harper
“Everything” – Michael Buble
“I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
“How Are Ya’ Fixed For Love” – Frank Sinatra
“The World” – Brad Paisley
“Slow Show” – The National
“Somebody Loved” – The Weepies

Top Five Sad Songs About Heartbreak:

“I’m Movin’ On” – Rascal Flatts
This is quite possibly the saddest song ever. I saw them in concert when I was in college and I was thrilled they didn’t sing this song because I was worried my friend Amanda might catch me crying in the Tacoma Dome. And she is not one to let something like that slide.

“The Trouble With Love Is” – Kelly Clarkson
I’m not ashamed to admit that I love Kelly Clarkson. I even bought her really terrible most-recent album. This song is perfect for her soulful voice, too. I particularly like how she blames love itself for her heartbreak, instead of the people she falls for. It’s also playing during the credits of Love Actually, for you more acute listeners.

“I Can’t Make You Love Me” – Bonnie Raitt
This is the perfect song for loving someone who doesn’t love you back, but not quite being ready to admit it. Starlee Kine mentions this song in my favorite episode of This American Life. She says the two men who wrote it were inspired by a story they read in which a man got drunk and shot up his girlfriend’s car. In court, when the judge asked him what he’d learned from it, he said, “You can’t make a woman love you if she don’t”.

“And So It Goes” – Billy Joel
Billy Joel is a timeless classic. My dad gets no small amount of grief for his musical taste (and some of that grief comes from me), but he redeemed himself completely for any past or future musical crimes when he introduced me to Billy Joel at a young age. This song describes the moment when you realize that by opening up your wounded heart to another person, you’re risking everything. And it’s totally worth it.

“One Sweet Love” – Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles is one of my favorite new artists. She’s come to Portland twice in the last six months and I would have paid double the ticket price to see her, but the first time I was out of town and the other was the night before the biggest event I plan all year. This is my favorite line:

The time that I’ve taken I pray is not wasted
Have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love?
Ready and waiting for a heart worth the breaking
But I’d settle for an honest mistake in the name of one sweet love.

REALLY Close Contenders:
“Baby Don’t You Break My Heart Slow” – Vonda Shepard OR Taylor Swift. Both versions are good.
“Every Time I Hear Your Name” – Keith Anderson
“Light in Your Eyes” – Blessid Union of Souls
“Where I Stood” – Missy Higgins
“Divorce Song” – Liz Phair
“Stay” – Sugarland
“What I Really Meant to Say” – Cyndi Thompson
“Stay Gone” – Jimmy Wayne

*Yes, I included country music. It’s just so good at describing affairs of the heart. And I have no shame.

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Filed under Musical Notes, Top Five...

January 4, 2009

Quotable

“This year will take me to England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Spain, plus forty American and Canadian cities, but I always come home to Portland. If this is love or inertia, I don’t know, but my friends are here. All of my stuff is here.”

- Chuck Palahniuk, Fugitives and Refugees

2 Comments

Filed under Words to Live By