I’ll be gone

You won’t be seeing me around next week, because I’m going on vacation!

Well, actually, I will be out of town on business. So, it’s not like a real vacation. Even more actually, I will be up to my eyeballs in work, coping as best I can with the lack of sleep that always hits me whenever I stay at a hotel.

Here’s the thing, though: Even though I’ll probably have access to the Internet, I think it’ll be a good opportunity to take some time off from Odd Lots. I know, I know, I’m not exactly the most prolific blogger you’ve ever seen, but sometimes this site really takes it out of me.

People — people, I am exhausted. Not simply physically tired (although that’s part of it), but low-down, prone on the ground, mentally spent.

I am tired of pop culture. I’m tired of politics. I am tired of constantly grappling with the pointlessness of existence. Tired of the constant philosophical monologue that rages in my brain and has no outlet because, at the end of the day, I am too tired to write about it.

I am tired of WordPress and the endless stream of spammy “likes” and “follows” that come from an endless parade of travel agents, photographers, self-published authors, BNBs, scam artists, and other poor souls who somehow have the wrong-headed notion that their “make money blogging” schemes are going to come to good.

I am tired being of constantly pestered by what appears to be every single motherfucker on the make.

It is demoralizing to constantly have this shit blinking away in my toolbar. Why don’t they all just move to Florida and sell cheap Chinese solar panels to the elderly — and contract a little hep C, while they’re at it?

It’s one thing to realize that I have managed to alienate my miniscule core group of regular readers: that’s on me, I’ve got no one to blame but myself. I could grudgingly accept the fact that I’m all alone over here, if that’s all that was going on. If I were just talking to myself, I could live with that. However, it is quite another thing to be constantly reminded that I am broadcasting my heart and soul at a faceless throng of spam-bots and crooks. To be unread is one thing. To have one’s outpourings scanned by a robot for keywords to determine the ideal posts to like in order to drive maximum traffic to their online panhandling emporiums, on the other hand, is something that withers the human soul.

So, I’m taking a break! A temporary one. I shall return because, honestly, where else would I go?

I’ll be back on the 24th, no doubt re-invigorated and full of joy.

Yours in ennui,

Brick Chimney

The battle of “Happy Birthday”

“In other words, Warner/Chappell is almost certainly guilty of massive copyfraud — perhaps the most massive in history — in claiming a copyright it clearly has no right to.” From: Lawsuit Filed To Prove Happy Birthday Is In The Public Domain; Demands Warner Pay Back Millions Of License Fees | Techdirt.

It will be amazing to see how Warner/Chappell will, even if they are found guilty, wind up experience no serious consequences as a result of this lawsuit. Don’t get me wrong — it definitely seems like there is a good case being made that the song “Happy Birthday” is, in fact, in the public domain. I’m just not convinced that large, wealthy corporations are ever meaningfully punished.

Another dilemma

This essay about a young woman’s job as a whimsical barista in San Francisco, is a real eye-opener. Working a service job may not be the same thing as digging ditches, but it is, in its own way, destructive. Have to embody a character so intensely and for so long can mean losing part of yourself. That distress is real, the pain is real, and it’s only right that we, as customers, respect the sacrifices that are made on our behalf to facilitate our consumerism.

Are there people saying smart things on Twitter, now?

Benjamin Hart takes on The Awl’s comment section — whoops, I mean Twitter. Which is, like, only about half of The Awl’s comment section.

(Let me just say: I certainly see the point he’s making, here. However, canned, easily repeatable cliches, memes, are the push-button tools that allow the busy, the uncreative, and those driven to communicate with others, but who do not have the knack for it, to reach out and share their thoughts with the world. Sort of like how Garageband led to the flowering of a million shitty bedroom musicians, or how YouTube inspired a million lousy sketch groups, or how blogging gave dull people a new way to be ignored. Professionals in each of these disrupted fields have all, at one point or another, cried out, “GOD! Would you all just SHUT UP?” I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m just saying that their resistance is futile.)

Stay away from the Mission

Crazy naked man attacks BART passengers, performs gymnastics – Boing Boing.

As an occasional user of the 16h and Mission BART station, all I can say is… yup, this sounds pretty much in character. A lot of people will tell you that it’s not so bad, but things like this happen more frequently here than anywhere else. I mean, shit can’t go down all the time, but it goes down at 16th & Mission pretty damn often.

Incidentally, there’s a group calling themselves “Clean Up The Plaza” that’s trying to get a petition going to get the city to actually do something about all the crime and urine that plague the place. Check it out, if you’re interested.

Brace yourself for the oncoming spin

You’re probably going to start hearing about how most Americans think that domestic spying is just absolutely peachy and nothing to worry about, soon — if you haven’t already. Before you start either ruefully wagging, or sagely nodding your head, try to remember that it’s maybe a little more complicated than the news is making it out to be. And read this, too.

Some Sloppy Morning

For the first couple of hours after waking up each morning, I generally feel somewhat nauseous. It’s fine, it’s been happening all my life. The thing is though, it means I have to be a little careful about what I see, eat, or smell in the early A.M. And, frankly, I did not need to see this fucking thing, this early in the day.