Unsocial Media

Being a contributor in the social media sphere just isn’t worth it.  As a matter of fact, it can be harmful to relationships as well as our livelihoods. You know me - I can be explosive, crude, loud and outspoken on any given topic. Now if something said is contrary to the agreed upon narrative your employment can be terminated for nothing related to job performance and that’s simply not worth it. Vocalizing

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 23 years and counting...

Article is here Written by Lee Reynolds: “ It seems that with the rise of the recorded music industry and home audio having driven live performance standards up over the last three-quarters of a century, the premium placed on immaculate performance quality means that audiences today are used to a higher standard of technical brilliance from their musicians than ever before. However, the unobtainable illusion of perfection can be harmful for performers and audiences alike: the stifling, inhibiting pressure — which I know many colleagues feel constantly — can lead to immaculate but safe and unadventurous performances, and more importantly, flawlessness also brings with it a hidden and largely unaddressed problem: almost all audience members who enjoy attending classical performances also feel personally overawed by the perfection that is expected of musicians, and therefore entirely intimidated about ever expressing themselves musically. This is not a problem which is shared by spor...

- I've never been shy about status my disdain for Hollywood and their stuck-up celebrities w their elitist views telling the rest of us how to live when all they do is preach to us from their gated mansion about social and racial justice, the environment and all the other bull shit in the world. It would be one thing if they practiced what they preach but they don’t. These are the single biggest group of hypocrites in the world.    I don't need or want to hear their views on the environment, global relations, immigration, walls, -or their views on race relations. If anything this group of people embodies white privilege. Living in multi-million dollar homes, behind gated walls with security guards.    They drive expensive gas guzzling cars, fly in private airplanes, vacation all over the world on large yachts and...protect their own little circle of hob. knobby white elitists. They pit out a new PSA about racism.. - Hello-what have they ever done to help any...

According to this former Apple exec, Facebook is peddling an addictive drug called anger....  I agree.   Facebooks addictive drug

And in other news.....  Montreal symphony is doing Beethoven! Montreal does Beethoven

For your consideration -  three musical selections depicting America’s complicated racial history and injustices. 

Nothing quite says privilege like a few families in the neighborhood next to ours giving their kids golf carts to cruise the neighborhood. Grab 3 or 4 of your best friends and go for a ride to each other's houses, or the gas station. When I was a kid we walked or rode our bike to go places.  But this?    WTH? It would be one thing if there was a golf course within a 30 mile radius of the neighborhood. But, there's not. This is a disgusting display of entitlement and affluence A bunch of snot nosed stuck up pre-pubescent brats, too lazy to get off their butts and walk. I find it disgusting. On top of it all, they don't abide by the established rules of driving.    They are a hazard to those around them. Toting around acting like a bunch of stuck up spoiled brats. It’s really not the kid's fault. It is their parents with the problem.    Live and let live, right? Wrong-What we're seeing here is just flaunting of affluence and privilege. B...

I have been debating weather to write about this or keep it to myself.  As you can tell, I decided to write it out.  Bumpy skies are ahead for the airline industry. Every carrier has said they want to cut staff by 30 percent or so due to plunging demand. However the cares act has made it impossible to cut staff until October 1. That hasn’t stopped carriers from instituting pay cuts, hours reductions and resulted in offers made for summer off without pay or not work and earn 50% pay for sitting at home doing nothing on a month by month basis. Pay cuts implemented for those who either have to work or want to work.  Pay cuts currently in place may become permanent.  On October 1 all bets are off. Many Companies are offering voluntary opt out packages to entice people to leave the company before furloughs and other involuntary job losses occur. My company is not immune to wanting to reduce their labor costs. The programs to opt out are put together to entice...

I ts been about a week since leaving Facebook.  Since then I’ve been reading a lot about the dynamics of Facebook. One interesting thought - Facebook has made friendship passive where information is broadcasted instead of investigated to invest in the relationship.  Facebook has turned relationships into a consumptive activity as opposed to an investment in people.  Facebook decides which friends we hear from based on some algorithm and our historical engagement activities.   For those with more than 100 friends, how much investment is being made into the relationships as opposed to stalking other people so you know what's going on or looking at pictures?   One thing I found for myself is Facebook became a complete glottonous over- indulgence into the spontaneous eruption of emotion and impulsive posting of rants and shouts. Edited, Re-edite and posted to certain audiences or visible to only me - mostly to keep work colleagues from having an en...

I ts absolutely no secret where I fall on the political spectrum.    I believe in limited government, personal freedom and accountability, De-Regulation and America First. Early on in the pandemic I mused that freedoms were being taken away from the citizenry and that the government was suddenly deciding who the economic winners and losers were going to be as a result of the pandemic. Small businesses destroyed with a mass transfer of wealth to Big business. Mom n Pops can't survive months on end without money coming in the door. Gone were the days of personal freedoms in exchange for the safety that only the government can provide. One of my favorite quotes is "people willing to trade their freedom for the illusion of Security are deserving of neither." Stay socially distanced. Wear a mask. No gatherings of more than 5 people unless you're from the same household. My Mask is for your safety, not mine. Really. Ive often said that every job is essentia...

It isn't hate to speak the truth - J. K. Rowling. So-. . how long do you think it will take the left to demand every Harry Potter book be burned? Perhaps its an exageration. But when one of their own starts de-constructing the agreed upon narrative, there is bound to be some push back from the establishment- 200, 000 people protesting and suddenly No one cares about social distancing- I guess everyone is wearing a mask? Maybe the corona virus didn't accomplish its intended objectives did you ever think of that?    Time to level up because what they’re doing isn’t working so now we gotta protest, riot and burn shit down.   What’s the difference between an orange? Oh...  and Betty Crocker makes better brownies than Duncan Hines.  

So one of the things I started doing is taking my kids out for 30-60 minutes of exercise every other day, with me going every day. It forces them out of the house and gives us time to spend in either total    silence or talking. I’m pleasantly surprised with the conversations Zak and I have had. He's pretty introverted and spends a lot of the gaming.  The depth of our conversations is quite cool.    What I’m doing is creating a time for us to bond.  The other day he really did not want to go on our walk but he went anyway. Actually, he didn't have a choice. As we were walking we were discussing the George Floyd killing, racism, the declaration of Independence, immigration and, the difference between the conversation he and I were having is probably very different than the conversation a Black family is having about the same events going on in our country. When we got back to the house the conversation continued. When we came to a natural breaking point...

Apple disabled the looted cell phones and is tracking their location and  passing the information on to law enforcement.  An interesting development in trying to track and isolate looters.  Technically, Apple owns the device so what they are doing is “Find my Phone” to get it back.  And did an organized crime member take the phone?  A protestor?  Was the phone offered for sale and the new owner get’s a knock on their door from the FBI?  Interesting developments and hopefully a way to catch the perpetrators and domestic terrorists..... If you think about the Edward Snowden revealing the government tracks data traveling through the internet, social media posts, emails, phone calls, etc...  You’d think if they were serious about “protecting” American’s they would already exercise their data to know what nefarious acts are being planned, when they are being planned and when they are being planned.  Yet they are allowed to continue.  Is the...

I found myself in an endless circle of wasting time on social media.  I decided to deactivate my facebook account for a while.  Way too much time was being consumed habitually going in an endless circle of time wasting.  What’s my solution?  Go back to writing blogs. One component of social media for me is to get thoughts in my mind out of my body as a form of self-care.  Aspects of my personality can be blunt, opinionated, gruff, vulgar and outright mean.  For whatever reason facebook became the place for me to showcase those less desirable sides to my person.  It’s easy to fire off some quick rant on a status update.  Facebook is the perfect place for me to become a gluten in my in my own random thoughts and impulses.  That’s not exactly contributing to mental wellness or investing in healthy relationships. What caused this change?  A big part was George Floyd being killed.  A friend of mine referenced Peggy Hubbard’s response...