If the envading markets of iPhone, Blackberry and iPad have not consumed you already, prepare yourself for the release of a new consumer, the social phone, Kin . If you are thinking, WOW, I must get one, then you are being consumed as we speak, first your time and eventually your money. Once you own a kin, you will feel obligated it to use it for the amount of money spent (arguably wasted). The new microsoft "social" product runs the slogan: "Are we really friends with our 'friends'?". Obviously not! Because we are so sucked into these virtual social networks that reduce our human emotions and interaction to bits and bytes, pokes and the likes... How would you like to remotely create virtual children through future gadgets and conclude your life with a GAME OVER? I say it's already GAME OVER whether you kow it or not!
Would you like to have a life?
[1] Yes (Free of charge)
[2] No (Cost of new gadget, the amount worth living)
Enter amount : $
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
To work or not to work, what is the question?
Out of all working definitions of "work", the following is my favorite: To work is to exert oneself by doing mental or physical effort for a purpose or out of necessity.
Never in my whole life did I apply for a job or experience the anxiety of job hunting, except vicariously. Alma mater has nourished me and sheltered me my whole life. However, time has come for huge decisions dictated by self-fulfilling purposefulness and stable economic necessity.
Reasons behind my quasi-eternal PhD phase can be attributed to my fear of pointless graduation and post-graduation, that will expose me to a whole new plethora of job opportunities, impartially related to my PhD investment.
From an economically driven perspective, the following chart illustrates the average salaries (USD) for job positions that appeal to my interest or qualifications.
Of course, the academic track following PhD usually debuts with a post-doc (~$40,000/year) and then trifurcates (splits) into three tracks: Adjunct, Researcher and Tenure. Adjunct or visiting professors are more easily hired on a short term contract. Researchers are dedicated to full-time research while professors, very competitively, climb up the tenure ladder, at best tri-annually, from assistant professor (~$50,000/year) to associate professor (~$60,000/year) to full professor (~$80,000/year).
NB. The minimum wage in the US is $13,920 for full-time employers under a $7.25/hr. Dishwashing salaries start at $8/hr.
I decided to look at job postings for the selection of jobs that I would be interested in pursuing or find myself qualified for.
While freelancers are commitment-free gypsies, flexible to accommodate almost any creative activity, they are not offered social benefits. I still ask myself, how can I ever self-sustain myself when I despise prolonged sustainability? The paradox of commitment to indifference holds no answers for my future so far.
I will end this with some work related quotes (in French):
"Travailler dur n'a jamais tue personne, mais pourquoi prendre le risque?" (Edgar Bergen)
"Le travail est pour moi la chose la plus sacrée !!...... c'est pour ca que j'y touche pas !!!"
"La liberté commence dés qu'on a deux chefs."
"L'homme n'est pas fait pour travailler, la preuve c'est que cela le fatigue" (Voltaire)
"Le travail est l'opium du peuple et je ne veux pas mourir drogué" (Boris Vian)
"Le 1er mai, c'est la Fête du Travail. Mais pourquoi a-t-on congé alors ce jour-la ?" (Proverbe communiste)
"Si tu as envie de travailler, assieds-toi et attends que ca passe" (Proverbe Corse)
Never in my whole life did I apply for a job or experience the anxiety of job hunting, except vicariously. Alma mater has nourished me and sheltered me my whole life. However, time has come for huge decisions dictated by self-fulfilling purposefulness and stable economic necessity.
Reasons behind my quasi-eternal PhD phase can be attributed to my fear of pointless graduation and post-graduation, that will expose me to a whole new plethora of job opportunities, impartially related to my PhD investment.
From an economically driven perspective, the following chart illustrates the average salaries (USD) for job positions that appeal to my interest or qualifications.
Average Salary of Jobs with Titles Matching Your Search
| In USD |
| ||||||
associate/full professor | $69,000 | ||||||
researcher | $62,000 | ||||||
freelance photographer | $40,000 | ||||||
novelist | $48,000 | ||||||
freelance artist | $46,000 | ||||||
postdoc | $41,000 | ||||||
assistant professor | $49,000 | ||||||
adjunct professor | $49,000 | ||||||
translator | $50,000 | ||||||
Of course, the academic track following PhD usually debuts with a post-doc (~$40,000/year) and then trifurcates (splits) into three tracks: Adjunct, Researcher and Tenure. Adjunct or visiting professors are more easily hired on a short term contract. Researchers are dedicated to full-time research while professors, very competitively, climb up the tenure ladder, at best tri-annually, from assistant professor (~$50,000/year) to associate professor (~$60,000/year) to full professor (~$80,000/year).
NB. The minimum wage in the US is $13,920 for full-time employers under a $7.25/hr. Dishwashing salaries start at $8/hr.
I decided to look at job postings for the selection of jobs that I would be interested in pursuing or find myself qualified for.
I will end this with some work related quotes (in French):
"Travailler dur n'a jamais tue personne, mais pourquoi prendre le risque?" (Edgar Bergen)
"Le travail est pour moi la chose la plus sacrée !!...... c'est pour ca que j'y touche pas !!!"
"La liberté commence dés qu'on a deux chefs."
"L'homme n'est pas fait pour travailler, la preuve c'est que cela le fatigue" (Voltaire)
"Le travail est l'opium du peuple et je ne veux pas mourir drogué" (Boris Vian)
"Le 1er mai, c'est la Fête du Travail. Mais pourquoi a-t-on congé alors ce jour-la ?" (Proverbe communiste)
"Si tu as envie de travailler, assieds-toi et attends que ca passe" (Proverbe Corse)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Finally, man can shit decently
On April 2nd, 2010, toilet paper was depleted in our apartment thus limiting my excretory trips to foreign public services, since I could hardly imagine the terrible consequences otherwise. Today, I bought a 4 pack of toilet paper giving the excretory opening at the end of my alimentary canal more freedom to deuce unconditionally. Finally, man can crap decently.
Speaking of which,
did you know that Daoism is a religion of the Han people of China that practiced eating excrements, sacrilegiously?
did you know that there is a shit fetish; I dare you to google it. Warning: not for the faint hearted.
An arguably optimistic citation from latin reads: "semper in excretum sum sed alta variat" and translates to "always in the shit, but the depth varies".
Synonyms and related words:
BM, crap, defecation, discharge, dung, excrement, excretion, fecal matter, feces, feculence, flux, go to the bathroom, manure, number two, shit, stool, waste, buffalo chips, bugger, ca-ca, coprolite, coprolith, cow chips, cow flops, cow pats, creep, cur, defecation, dingleberry, droppings, feces, feculence, guano, manure, movement, night soil, sewage, sewerage, shit, stool, turd
How many words are synonymous to book? Which is more useful? One can argue that the term book is not offensively useful in a savage world described by Hobbes' Leviathan.
Joke: The blond, for lack of enemies, immediately stops eating his shit sandwich all disgusted upon encountering a strand of hair therein.
Do you ever feel like your head is going to blow up, while taking a crap, but just before this happens a glorious assistance from the bottom releases the pressure and during this fraction of a second you experience the most amazing frisson (tingly sensation)? I tend to cite freudian thanathos (death wish) when it comes to defecation mainly due to the fact that one is suffering and willingly loosing it in a couple of senses. I find it entertaining to question when does the apple you eat stop becoming an apple and start becoming you. Similarly, one can wonder when does his excrement cessate from being him to form an independent identity on its own or thanks to the excreter in charge. You might have heard of the nutrition book, "you are what you eat" but have you come across "you are what you shit"?
Apologies to my readers who were shocked by this post; it was meant to break the formal tone of the blog and spice it with some humor.
Speaking of which,
did you know that Daoism is a religion of the Han people of China that practiced eating excrements, sacrilegiously?
did you know that there is a shit fetish; I dare you to google it. Warning: not for the faint hearted.
An arguably optimistic citation from latin reads: "semper in excretum sum sed alta variat" and translates to "always in the shit, but the depth varies".
Synonyms and related words:
BM, crap, defecation, discharge, dung, excrement, excretion, fecal matter, feces, feculence, flux, go to the bathroom, manure, number two, shit, stool, waste, buffalo chips, bugger, ca-ca, coprolite, coprolith, cow chips, cow flops, cow pats, creep, cur, defecation, dingleberry, droppings, feces, feculence, guano, manure, movement, night soil, sewage, sewerage, shit, stool, turd
How many words are synonymous to book? Which is more useful? One can argue that the term book is not offensively useful in a savage world described by Hobbes' Leviathan.
Joke: The blond, for lack of enemies, immediately stops eating his shit sandwich all disgusted upon encountering a strand of hair therein.
Do you ever feel like your head is going to blow up, while taking a crap, but just before this happens a glorious assistance from the bottom releases the pressure and during this fraction of a second you experience the most amazing frisson (tingly sensation)? I tend to cite freudian thanathos (death wish) when it comes to defecation mainly due to the fact that one is suffering and willingly loosing it in a couple of senses. I find it entertaining to question when does the apple you eat stop becoming an apple and start becoming you. Similarly, one can wonder when does his excrement cessate from being him to form an independent identity on its own or thanks to the excreter in charge. You might have heard of the nutrition book, "you are what you eat" but have you come across "you are what you shit"?
Apologies to my readers who were shocked by this post; it was meant to break the formal tone of the blog and spice it with some humor.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
On Materialism
I come from a financially fairly relaxed family to struggle my way financially towards a fairly relaxed family.
I think of myself as highly creative yet I can hardly imagine materialism as anything other than a masquerade with consumerism being a superstore of masks priced according to how impressive these masks are. Events and occasions are simply places were people like ourselves meet. Many of these people are new to these places and sometimes to the other people sharing the space. Strangers are examples of people we do not know. Classmates, colleagues, roomates, partners, family and friends example people that we know but only to a certain extent that varies with places and other people sharing them.
In general, people are much more familiar with the superstore mask than with each other. In unfamiliar places or with others barely recognizable by names or faces to have them as friends on facebook or myspace, people are compelled to purchase the best possibly affordable mask and not one that is adequately representable. That is mainly because most people are more ignorant about the others (also with respect to spaces) than they are aware of and confident in themselves.
What most people do not realize is that by putting on an a disguising mask (neither pun nor redundancy intended) around these unfamiliar spaces and people, they are missing the whole point of spaces and meeting and knowing people. They are better off staying in spaces they are most familiar (home) with people they are most acquainted with (family). Otherwise, they are fooling other people by misrepresentation and themselves by erroneous feedback from others contaminated by their misrepresentation. Hence, one can conclude that interaction and communication are unreliable when either of the people involved are misrepresented.
We are often tempted to wear these heavily impressive masks decorated with precious stones and colors, unaware of others' greed and envy. We give our best shot for the first impression, and let the fooled desire us for what we are not, and fool us in return. We think we have conquered, in a game we call the chase, while we are being conquered by self-deception and vanity. Yes, vanity is what I define as the money and effort spent on a fake mask in vain to impress friends we do not have. We feed off vanity and feed it to others in a world of others we (think we) know enough to interact with, but not enough to (dare to) know better. We are ready to steal or even kill to push "affordability" to "feasibility", reducing "morality" to a reminiscence of a term we once feared in the past. What has become of us but monsters fighting for the most deceptively impressive mask that only feeds our vanity making us more monstrous ad infinitum.
My fellow sufferers, I comiserate with you when turned down by your (prospective) soulmate. I condole you when death takes your lovers and I hear you when heart broken by your (future) wife/husband and mother/father of your children. It is tempting to think that your mask was not good enough but what do we know? It is easy to judge and blame it on others but how so if we barely know ourselves?
Know thyselves, before knowing others. Wear no mask and fear no other. Eventually, you will end up going to unimaginable places with natural and earnest people like yourself, there for the same reason. Interact sincerely! A new world with no lies will unfold many truths about yourself and others. You will loose interest in all material world and materialists which will be around but can be avoided (or helped out in hopeful cases). It might be hard to follow this path in places corrupt with brain- and identity-washing brand names, deceptive commercials, and societal fads, trends and craze, but it is never impossible.
Parents lavishly pampering their kids with all goods they can afford should think of how hard it will be for their kids to grow into affording these goods independently some day and how harshly life will contrast against their will. Grown up victims of such indulgences should practice resistance and learn to appreciate everything by earning it in real-world-like scenarios. Nouveau-riches should practice patience and modesty or give their money away if they cannot otherwise.
The next time you consider buying a new car because your older one doesn't look as good or a new phone because your friends have newer phones, ask yourself, why on earth should you listen to someone who would judge you by your car or phone? How could such a person be your friend? Thinking that you are doing it for yourself and not for your friends is a self-deception unless the upgrade is very necessary. Even if you were capable of affording the fastest car and slickest phone, you should avoid being judged by mere appearance and invest your money elsewhere (education, traveling, helping others...). That way, you can learn about your virtues and vices through others' sincere feedback and improve yourself to eventually find the right friends and Mr./Mrs. right that match your qualities. Material comes and goes while your only onle life is going...
I think of myself as highly creative yet I can hardly imagine materialism as anything other than a masquerade with consumerism being a superstore of masks priced according to how impressive these masks are. Events and occasions are simply places were people like ourselves meet. Many of these people are new to these places and sometimes to the other people sharing the space. Strangers are examples of people we do not know. Classmates, colleagues, roomates, partners, family and friends example people that we know but only to a certain extent that varies with places and other people sharing them.
In general, people are much more familiar with the superstore mask than with each other. In unfamiliar places or with others barely recognizable by names or faces to have them as friends on facebook or myspace, people are compelled to purchase the best possibly affordable mask and not one that is adequately representable. That is mainly because most people are more ignorant about the others (also with respect to spaces) than they are aware of and confident in themselves.
What most people do not realize is that by putting on an a disguising mask (neither pun nor redundancy intended) around these unfamiliar spaces and people, they are missing the whole point of spaces and meeting and knowing people. They are better off staying in spaces they are most familiar (home) with people they are most acquainted with (family). Otherwise, they are fooling other people by misrepresentation and themselves by erroneous feedback from others contaminated by their misrepresentation. Hence, one can conclude that interaction and communication are unreliable when either of the people involved are misrepresented.
We are often tempted to wear these heavily impressive masks decorated with precious stones and colors, unaware of others' greed and envy. We give our best shot for the first impression, and let the fooled desire us for what we are not, and fool us in return. We think we have conquered, in a game we call the chase, while we are being conquered by self-deception and vanity. Yes, vanity is what I define as the money and effort spent on a fake mask in vain to impress friends we do not have. We feed off vanity and feed it to others in a world of others we (think we) know enough to interact with, but not enough to (dare to) know better. We are ready to steal or even kill to push "affordability" to "feasibility", reducing "morality" to a reminiscence of a term we once feared in the past. What has become of us but monsters fighting for the most deceptively impressive mask that only feeds our vanity making us more monstrous ad infinitum.
My fellow sufferers, I comiserate with you when turned down by your (prospective) soulmate. I condole you when death takes your lovers and I hear you when heart broken by your (future) wife/husband and mother/father of your children. It is tempting to think that your mask was not good enough but what do we know? It is easy to judge and blame it on others but how so if we barely know ourselves?
Know thyselves, before knowing others. Wear no mask and fear no other. Eventually, you will end up going to unimaginable places with natural and earnest people like yourself, there for the same reason. Interact sincerely! A new world with no lies will unfold many truths about yourself and others. You will loose interest in all material world and materialists which will be around but can be avoided (or helped out in hopeful cases). It might be hard to follow this path in places corrupt with brain- and identity-washing brand names, deceptive commercials, and societal fads, trends and craze, but it is never impossible.
Parents lavishly pampering their kids with all goods they can afford should think of how hard it will be for their kids to grow into affording these goods independently some day and how harshly life will contrast against their will. Grown up victims of such indulgences should practice resistance and learn to appreciate everything by earning it in real-world-like scenarios. Nouveau-riches should practice patience and modesty or give their money away if they cannot otherwise.
The next time you consider buying a new car because your older one doesn't look as good or a new phone because your friends have newer phones, ask yourself, why on earth should you listen to someone who would judge you by your car or phone? How could such a person be your friend? Thinking that you are doing it for yourself and not for your friends is a self-deception unless the upgrade is very necessary. Even if you were capable of affording the fastest car and slickest phone, you should avoid being judged by mere appearance and invest your money elsewhere (education, traveling, helping others...). That way, you can learn about your virtues and vices through others' sincere feedback and improve yourself to eventually find the right friends and Mr./Mrs. right that match your qualities. Material comes and goes while your only onle life is going...
"Do what you want and say what you feel because those that mind, don't matter and those that matter, don't mind!" -- Dr. Seuss
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