July 27, 2009
July 25, 2009
July 24, 2009
It's a cryin' shame...
Minneapolis is such a great city, with so much going for it. Why, oh why did we allow this monstrosity of an airport to eat up so much valuable land? Does anyone really think it appropriate, or patriotic, that our airport makes it impossible for any of the dead soldiers at Fort Snelling to rest in peace? The Tim Pawlentys and Michelle Bachmans of this state (oh-so-righteous, self-serving, selfish, and voraciously ambitious) won't rest until they've paved Paradise, and made our lovely chain-of-lakes into a massive airport parking ramp for the tourists heading for the Mall of America.
So please, folks (anyone out there?), when the issue of airport expansion comes up again (and it will, oh it will), don't let a bunch of fast-talking chamber-of-commerce boosters con us into allowing that to happen, again. Let's not make the same mistake we made twenty years ago. It's time to start talking about where to move the airport, or else we might as well dissolve the city council right now, fire the mayor and put the whole thing under the tender ministrations of the Metropolitan Airport Commission, who no doubt have our best interests at heart anyway. Don't they?
So please, folks (anyone out there?), when the issue of airport expansion comes up again (and it will, oh it will), don't let a bunch of fast-talking chamber-of-commerce boosters con us into allowing that to happen, again. Let's not make the same mistake we made twenty years ago. It's time to start talking about where to move the airport, or else we might as well dissolve the city council right now, fire the mayor and put the whole thing under the tender ministrations of the Metropolitan Airport Commission, who no doubt have our best interests at heart anyway. Don't they?
Nothing's wrong
Nothing's wrong with anyone's mind that can't be fixed by a rigorous application of logic. Teach logic and rhetoric, teach kids to THINK, and they will learn how to tell good facts from bad facts, how to analyze statistics, and most important, they will remember that it's FUN to think. Everyone has a mind to which they owe respect and which they ought to nurture with care. So taught Carol Bly, and so say I.
July 15, 2009
Speaking of "the rule of law"...
Vice President Cheney's complete and utter disregard for the rule of law needs to be thoroughly, publicly examined. The truth must come out, so that we as a country can understand what happened to us under the Bush Regime, and ensure that such flagrant abuse of power does not happen again in our lifetimes.4
July 10, 2009
Why Corporations are Stupid and Deserve to Die
Dear Restoration Hardware: I do understand that you cannot find it in your tiny little soul (if a corporation can be said to have a soul, which is doubtful) to work with me on a deal to exchange the couch I bought from you because I ordered the wrong color. Yes, I know: times are tough. I made the mistake, not you. Yes, you have your rules. Yes, I understand. You can't give even an inch on your principles, not a sou, not a penny.
I also have rules. One of my rules is that I don’t continue to patronize stores that refuse to work with me to make me happy when I make a mistake in a purchase that I freely own up to, and when I call and pleasantly discuss the options with you WITHOUT pitching a nasty fit on the phone. Which I could do. And have done before, with success. But I don’t want to harass anyone. I want to be pleasant, and reasonable. I want to catch flies with honey, not vinegar. So the fact that you apparently mistook my calm, polite, and reasonable manner for lack of spine was a mistake on your part.
It was a mistake, because what you apparently didn’t realize when I spoke to one of your representatives on the phone about this, is that I like to buy furniture. And I like Restoration Hardware’s furniture. And have bought a fair amount of it over the years. But when you make it so very clear to me that you value your corporate rules more than you value your relationship with me, a loyal and frequent customer, then I have to re-evaluate my relationship with you. And make some hard decisions.
Like, you are off my vendor list. For good. I don’t do business with people who don’t negotiate.
And I’m going to blog about this, and Facebook about this, and Twitter about this, to get the word out about how Restoration Hardware values (or fails to value) loyal customers. Given that Smith and Hawken is shutting down most of their stores, and retail in general isn’t doing so well, I think you might want to re-think your corporate policy on exchanges, and your very ill-thought-out corporate policy on how to handle nice, loyal customers.
Because you just lost one.
I also have rules. One of my rules is that I don’t continue to patronize stores that refuse to work with me to make me happy when I make a mistake in a purchase that I freely own up to, and when I call and pleasantly discuss the options with you WITHOUT pitching a nasty fit on the phone. Which I could do. And have done before, with success. But I don’t want to harass anyone. I want to be pleasant, and reasonable. I want to catch flies with honey, not vinegar. So the fact that you apparently mistook my calm, polite, and reasonable manner for lack of spine was a mistake on your part.
It was a mistake, because what you apparently didn’t realize when I spoke to one of your representatives on the phone about this, is that I like to buy furniture. And I like Restoration Hardware’s furniture. And have bought a fair amount of it over the years. But when you make it so very clear to me that you value your corporate rules more than you value your relationship with me, a loyal and frequent customer, then I have to re-evaluate my relationship with you. And make some hard decisions.
Like, you are off my vendor list. For good. I don’t do business with people who don’t negotiate.
And I’m going to blog about this, and Facebook about this, and Twitter about this, to get the word out about how Restoration Hardware values (or fails to value) loyal customers. Given that Smith and Hawken is shutting down most of their stores, and retail in general isn’t doing so well, I think you might want to re-think your corporate policy on exchanges, and your very ill-thought-out corporate policy on how to handle nice, loyal customers.
Because you just lost one.
July 09, 2009
July 07, 2009
Quit smoking, you idiots!
My dear friend Matt just reminded me of something: Quit smoking! All you smokers out there, listen up: quit being selfish and stupid and bull-headed. Quit smoking, and you will miraculously discover that half your crabbiness will just disappear, thus half your unpleasant and selfish behavior will also disappear. Magically. You will stop offending everyone you know with the stench you carry around with you like a dark cloud. You will be able to stop cravenly seeking solitude in order to indulge your habit. You will be able to walk amongst women and men again with your head held high. If you're lucky enough to be a woman, and go into menopause, then you will get all your crabbiness back, and more, so don't worry about becoming all soft and nice.
I don't feel at all soft, or nice, but I am glad, glad, glad that I quit smoking and I will do my best to piss off all the idiots who are still smoking. I hope I piss you all off enough that any smoker who reads this will quit smoking just to spite me.
Consider this a white glove, thrown down on the ground in front of you, smokers. And yes, I'm talking to you fancy Europeans too: just because you have an ancient civilization and us Americans are just adolescents, doesn't mean you're right about everything. And you are wrong, wrong, wrong about smoking.
I don't feel at all soft, or nice, but I am glad, glad, glad that I quit smoking and I will do my best to piss off all the idiots who are still smoking. I hope I piss you all off enough that any smoker who reads this will quit smoking just to spite me.
Consider this a white glove, thrown down on the ground in front of you, smokers. And yes, I'm talking to you fancy Europeans too: just because you have an ancient civilization and us Americans are just adolescents, doesn't mean you're right about everything. And you are wrong, wrong, wrong about smoking.
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Carol Bly, who
got me all fired up about connections between neuroscience and morality and art.
Ridiculous Music
About Me
- The Xan
- Minneapolis, MN, United States
- From 1700s Italy, "dilettante" originally meant "lover of the arts," but became a pejorative when professionalism took hold during the 18th century. A dilettante became a mere lover of art as opposed to one who earned a living from it. Today, the word refers to a poseur, or one pretending to be an artist. synonyms: dabbler, sciolist, dilettanteish, dilettantish, sciolistic Usage Examples “It’s better up here away from the phonies and the dilettantes. Here I can do what I want and no one comes to sneer. You’re not a sneerer, are you?” - Flowers for Algernon ‘There were no scientists in Stuart England,’ we are told, ‘and all the men we have grouped together under that heading were in their varying degrees dilettantes.’ - The Invention of Science Charles wasn’t a dilettante; he was serious about the breeding and created his own new lines of pigeons. - Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith source: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dilettante