Pinky on "In this Economy"

What will you do differently?

The phrase, “In this economy” has become forbidden in my household. In a relatively short media span of time, it has become the catchall phrase for all the ills of the past three months, whether strictly economic woes or not and thus, has even passed joke and annoying status to become meaningless. As we have strived to indicate in previous posts, our approach to life over the past five years has been increasingly rooted in recognition and celebration of the moment and the gifts with which we are blessed every day, thus, the frailty of “this economy” and the fear factor of joblessness, meeting our financial obligations, and “what will I do when I grow up” has a somewhat weaker hold than it has had in the past. (Maybe this is early Alzheimer-like naiveté, but, let’s go with it for now).
I offer the thought that our laissez-faire approach to life is more at work here than Adam Smith’s doctrine that a self-correcting economic hand would correct any self-interest that drives capitalism (see, liberal arts education means something!). Is it possible that we have gone beyond the point of extreme self-interest in our engagement in the marketplace and in life that we don’t even recognize the give and take that is required for a balancing effect in the universe, much less in a capitalist economy? Is it possible that we are so removed from the fragility of survival that we do not engage in the basic instinctual combativeness on which our markets, and (I am reaching) our relationship with others is predicated? I am mixing so many biological, socio-economic, and metaphysical metaphors in my own brain right now that I am confusing myself, but it’s Pinky’s blog…so…back to the question: What will you do differently:

If your concern right now is solely how to survive this economic situation…what will you do differently?
If your thoughts run a little deeper, and think this “situation” is indicative of an “opportunity” to look at our complex and dynamic relationships with our world, economies, and populations in a radically new way….what will you do differently?
If you think Pinky just has too much time on her hands…. J

Pinky's Holiday Message - Part I

I am very fortunate to have been raised by two people who embody the spirit of the holidays as a daily practice. In standard etiquette fashion and in many anonymous ways, my parents have offered their hands and their hearts to many people. On Tuesday afternoon, my father had to be taken by ambulance from his doctor's office to the emergency room. As my mother and I waited for them to get a room for him after it was determined that he would be having surgery, we overheard a very disheartening conversation between a nurse and a patient's nursing home. Apparently the nursing home was unaware that one of their patients/residents had even been taken to the emergency room and it seemed (from the side of the conversation that we could hear) that they were reluctant to make any arrangements to take him back.

I believe that we have infinite capacity for love and care-taking of others. I do not believe that it is taxing in anyway for me to have concern for all people around me. I cannot help everyone: offer them shelter or money or support, but this does not mean that I cannot think and pray for all. My parents taught me this. I hope that celebration of those around me is never restricted to specific seasons or days. I hope that I can give unselfishly of my heart and my ears all the time. I hope that the holidays are just another way to demonstrate my deep love for my family and humanity rather than the only time I nod to tradition and humanistic values.

Pinky's Prognosis

Pinky visited Dr. Sievers today because she apparently has inherited Scooter's black lab ears. Pinky is in a love/hate relationship with the vet as he is very kind and is liberal with the treats, but she doesn't like shots and having her ears cleaned out with giant Qtips. But I digress...

Pinky has also developed some disturbing lesions on her lips. Her mother, having just lost Scooter the Wonder Dog is behaving like Paris Hilton with a purse accesory when it comes to the care and love of Pinky. So after we went through the "Oh, God, another million dollars on antibiotics and ear cleansing (read soapy water that is priced at $20.00/bottle)" phase, we asked Dr. Sievers to look at our lip.....And he pronounced quite immediately and quite comically that Pinky has

Wait for it

Acne. Okay, the brother and sister-in-law have produced two beautiful granddaughters who continually amaze the family with their feats of intelligence, creativity, and beauty. I, much proclaimed the black sheep, have given the parental units several four-legged grandchildren who are prone to ear infections and now I have to buy Stridex for Pinky's acne.

Are you kidding me? Next thing I'll be bra shopping and looking at battery operated cars. Yes, she could probably learn to drive. Yes, I am crazy about her.

My life: is a stand-up comics DREAM!!!

Pinky on Jones' Envy

Did you ever notice how even in pictures, other people's lives look more interesting? I've been browsing the photo albums and profiles of my friends on Facebook and can't help but notice that they are always surrounded by friends, travelling abroad, skiiing, yucking it up, or WORSE for my sense of a fully-rounded life, participating in good deeds. I can't help but think there is a conspiracy afoot to put my fairly prosaic, stripped-down, reading-on-couch-and-not-necessarily-great-works-get-up-to-walk-dog-when-she-is-crossing-paws-at-front-door life to shame. I mean really, who has a karaoke party with 150 friends for their birthday and then plays football with the entire Boys and Girls club of Seattle and then wake-boards in Spain the next day? Do you think that I really believe this isn't a large-scale effort by Photoshop to expose my pitiful rurual existence to shame?

Okay, I have great friends and they do great things and lead great lives.......I guess my diamond encrusted invitation just got lost in the mail :) I love you ALL! (the person whose photo albums I abused to make a somewhat humorous, but truly loving and impressed point....I'll buy lunch next time :)

Pinky on Conversation

Whether it is the long weekend or the spirit of Thanksgiving, I have been blessed by a lot of communication from friends and relatives, including some very nice surprises from old acquaintances and one freshman year in college roommate. The communication has largely been supported by internet applications, mostly Facebook and I have thus been noodling on the art and mechanism of communication. I actually emailed another friend from college who is a professor in communications and queried her as well. The prevalent question for me is: Are we truly engaging in meaningful dialogue with our many many threads of input and output, largely electronic, primarily unaccompanied by other than static photos, if that, or are we participating in an exercise that further separates us from emotional bonding? My husband ranted about front page news on Thanksgiving day being about the violence in Mumbai rather than for once being a local interest and warm-hearted story, but despite my initial disagreement with him, I do wonder whether our race to be the first to KNOW and our seemingly never quenched desire for blood is also somewhat echoed in our pale and superifical connections ....... I am delighted that I am able to be back in touch with so many friends from the years, but I wonder if I am destined to just give MORE people LESS of my ear and heart? I still am a believer in the urban legend that we only use 10% of our brains and I am committed to exercising more of mine, if possible, but.......

Pinky on Social Networking

I am definitely suffering from sensory overload...Colleagues and friends of mine and I have been rabidly discussing the impact of social networking on our respective industries, familiy connections, and impact on the planet (these topics in no particular order of significance). Emerging from the threads and discussions of today are three thoughts of the evening:

1) Is social networking in the virtual world REALLY how we want to interact as humans? Although the transcendence of geograhpic and cultural barriers afforded by the virtual communities available to us is awesome, I wonder if, as I posted earlier on this blog, the anonymity that accompanies many of our presences really allows us to be less humane.

2) If we truly only use 10% of our brains, I assume that we could learn, through generations, to accomodate the phenomenal amount of information now available to us through the various on-line communities and discussions we join. However, at the moment, I feel as if I am becoming superficially conversant in a variety of topics rather than deeply passionate and expert in some. Is this a good or bad thing?

3) I, aging English/Poli Sci major that I am, find it amusing and a little disturbing how loosely we throw around terms to accomodate our grasp of technological change. I have heard the word metaphor applied to database design; social networking to on-line communities; and agnostic to applications that can integrate with various others.......Does anybody use dictionaries anymore or are we just grabbing the buzz words of the day and running with them? I, as precise as I try to be with my language am guilty of all of same as I try to express myself, but I am curious about how our misuse of the language may drive our misuse of the potential of the tools at hand....

Just a thought...

Pinky on PG Ratings

We just finished watching a Francis Ford Coppola movie, "Youth without Youth". Briefly, it is an exploration using linguistics as the surface mechanism, of human conciousness. After all, as many have posited, our sense of being is only attainable and described via articulation....so, both cosmically and spiritually do we exist before we may express we exist? I digress...this conversation is another post...However, I have become fascinated by the new descriptions in the movie rating system. This movie, for example, was rated "R" for sex, nudity and "one brief disturbing image". I won't spoil it for you, but we pretty much figured out what the most probably image was that earned this rating, but a number could have made the cut. Much like my fascination with the J. Peterman catalogue authors and my new interest with the company descriptions on the Hoover's site, I have become curious about the new more specific language in movie ratings. How do I get this job? With this new attention to detail and undertone, I might rate my all time favorite, "Wizard of Oz" as an "R" for its graphic representation of cruelty to and genetic testing on simians.

Your thoughts?

Pinky on "Party" Politics

I had the great fortune to be dining at Michael Mina's in the St. Francis hotel on November 4th. The St. Francis was hosting the DNC that evening and the No on Prop 8 campaign (opposition to the ban on same-sex marriage in CA). Needless to say, the energy level was off-the-richter scale. So many thought threads are spinning for me about this election that a series of posts will result, but as a beginning: As a forty-four year old, I have often been disappointed in the lack of truly unifying rallying causes that have underscored my generation. In Portland, Oregon, some colleagues and I were in a conference room when the first air strike of the first Gulf War was televised. The stunned silence of the group as we watched the bombing was the first time as an adult that I felt a fundamental connection with those in my age group. In that room, the emotional lightbulb for all of us was that the men could very likely be drafted....Viet Nam was an extremely hazy recollection for most of us there and many of us shared our childhood confusion about the phrase "fighting guerillas in the jungle", which we had taken to mean that we were slaughering GOrillas. Although my generation's politics are far more varied than perhaps those of the Beat and Flower Children, there was at that moment a recognition that we could all be profoundly impacted by what we could so dramatically view through the advancement in technology.

It is with some degree of sadness that the years between that moment and 9/11 are more notable from a very individual, perhaps selfish tracking of time. Therefore, to stand across the street from Union Square in San Francisco, and celeberate not only with my political and generational peers but the majority of the population regardless of color, gender or age, was one of the most uplifting and deeply gratifying experiences of my life. Personal politics aside, I truly believe that we as a country have an opportunity to unite and celebrate shared principles and ideals rather than focus on our discretionary, individual, and separate agendas.

My hope is that the next moment in time of this consequence about which I would remark would be a presidential campaign and election that makes no reference to gender, sexual orientation, or race and color, but only to the success of the most qualified candidate.

For the first time in my adult life I am truly truly proud to be a voting citizen of the United States of American; my pride and hope as a global citizen has never faltered.

Pinky on Parents

For the past couple of years, I have had the great honor of living with and in close proximity to my parents. My younger brother and I both feel very blessed to have been brought into the world by two individuals who we, and many many others, consider to be angels on earth. Yesterday, my mother had to endure yet another rotator cuff surgery to repair a reopened tear (damn dogs!)....There is nothing quite so humbling and jarring as the bedside observance of a parent in pain. I think that my emotional picture of my mother is fixed with her in her thirties, with a long brunette ponytail, encouraging my brother and I to hike/Xcountry ski/do homework/try something just a little bit more. Given that I am not even in my thirties any longer, this is obviously irrational, but just the same, I cling to this false idea of stasis. On the surface, I may appear to be fully self-actualized, but inside I still carry the little girl who believes in Joo Joo and the Green Slime (family horror story) and kisses make boo boos all better.

Pinky on the Electoral College

A number of years ago, based on some late night conversation and I am sure copious amounts of wine, some friends and I set out to prove state-by-state, how the electoral college is a misrepresentation of the people. I am not sure how many people know that some states do not require their electoral vote to represent the popular vote. Or that the casting of the same is not tied to the percentage of the voting population who actually visits the polls during any given presidential election. If I remember clearly, we demonstrated (at least to our own wee hour satisfaction) that Montana could be a deciding factor in a presidential election EVEN IF NONE OF THE POPULATION VOTED. Don't ask me to reverse engineer that proof, but you may want to visit this article for some critical thinking of your own.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27283314/

Pinky on Professions

I have always been an advocate of a liberal arts education as the foundation for the ability to creatively and critically approach life as well as provide a sustainable income that doesn't involve the phrase "Do you want fries with that". As a double-major in English/Political Science, certainly my career can provide evidence to support that one can be successful outside of teaching and law with that type of background. I have held leadership positions in mostly the information technology field and have (written oh so modestly) at some points made some significant income. HOWEVER, whether it is midlife crisis or just early morning career frustration, I find myself pondering the options again. Outside of a think tank, what options are there for somebody who wants to read and think all day? Is there a publishing house in the PNW that would allow me to comb the slush pile for the next Great American Novel? Can I do that remotely? What if, as the hubs suggests, I start posting book reviews on the blog?

Pinky thinks Mommy either needs hormone treatment of to go for a run.....

Pinky on Perfection

We have added the "Living Oprah" blog to our watch list ( see B (l) ogging down section), because we are a fan of the Big "O" (ha) and we were curious about how this blogther ended up on the Today show just because she is practicing mimcry. the Big "O" seems to practice a spiritual and warm-hearted approach to life that definitely appeals to us and we have always been rewarded by following her book list suggestions. (Stones in the River should be in the Pinky Pages section). However, (you knew it was coming, didn't you), the article on the MSNBC news feed suggests that the Mini-Oprah is practicing what Oprah preaches solely on the basis of acquisitions rather than implied philosophy or good works.

Hey, I have a material girl streak that wouldn't mind the ability to retail therapy my way into contentment on occasion, but in the spirit rather than the price tag of some of O's suggestions, I think I could provide an alternative accounting that represented in this blog.....

http://www.livingoprah.com/

Pinky on the Plumber

Now that Joe the Plumbler is Joe the Jobless Plumber, my theory that people are increasingly comfortable opining in neutral, facesless media such as THIS is once again supported. I don't think many of us will survive unscathed any level of social spotlight shining on our underbellies, so despite the level of credibility that seems to be being granted to the "social networking" environment, are we really just practicing avoidance rather than neutral anonymity? If we have faith in our convictions; personal, moral, political or professional, has the scrutiny of the media on everybody from celebrities and politicians to the "Joe's" rendered it impossible for us to display our truth images and names in our posts and discourse? A colleague of mine has asked in Twitter whether he needs a more professional photo of himself to accompany his various spots of sunlight on the net......I am tiptoeing around the distinctions between public professional and private persona myself...

Any comments, thoughts, flaming arrows?

Pinky on the Perimeter

About a week ago, on one of our daily block walks, we noticed a very nice mountain bike that had been recovered from the blackberry bushes by construction workers preparing for the equivalent of our small town's Big Dig (Bostonians, we are definitely not vying for your record). After consulting with the hard hats, we decided to call the LAW and report it. We ourselves had come home from a honeymoon trip to discover that our Kona had been lifted, so thinking that in a karmic world, helping to return another fracture-creating toy would help us.

We were thanked and informed that the patrol would come up and pick it up......

wait for it.....

bike still there.....

Do any of you who are out there tirelessly searching the internet for pointless rambling discourse care to respond to the following questions:

1. What should we do next?
2. Is the bike being returned to us in a different form? Oh ,Buddhist and other Spiritual Fellowship friends, come on, give me your thoughts...
3. We know our small town is not a hotbed of celebrity high-speed chases and AIG money-laundering (I mean SPA trips), so since we live about two minutes away from the police station we are curious about what activity could have prevented a quick stop.....Do we complain? Do we post a rant? Do we worry that this inattention to friendly citizen involvement and concern portends worse inefficiency?

4. Do we get a new bike?

Pinky on Nuclear Medicine

Deep in the bowels of the UW Medical Center lurk the hearts and souls of badge-wearing, white-coated, lab rats, eager to inject you and strap you down to machines only saved from medieval metaphor by the obvious GE logos emblazoned across their humming sides.

Since I had never been subjected to bone scanning of the radioactive variety before, I came prepared with my usual curiousity (flavored by a little bit of fear and tons of frustration that nobody can seem to decide what to do with the tear/fracture/cyst in my left wrist-let's just blame mountain-biking in Colorado). For me, curiosity manifests as questions and the insatiable need to SEE what they are looking at behind the curtain.

So, at 10 am I get an IV and get what looks like a horse syringe filled with unpronounceable isotopes plugged into my right arm....then, of course, I get strapped to the mobile device-thingey for 10 minutes to check the positioning. I get to come back after a brief interlude (you can go in secret places in the hospital if you have an IV shunt hanging out of your arm...bwa ha ha, rubber gloves, anybody?) and then they look again.

The lag between the injection and positioning and actual "reading" of the results is SIX HOURS.....With my trusty Blackberry and the newest Gregory McGuire book tucked at my side, I began to roam. (Yes, bossman....I was checking emails, making calls, etc.....while I was exploring.)

Since UW is in the heart of Starbuck's country, I had several choices of venue from where I could acquire the non-fat latte addiction of choice and then venture forth. After my first experience with the hand surgeon (unnamed but he worked on the Husky QB thumb fracture), I was eager to see if evasive, horrid bedside manner was actually TAUGHT at the school itself . One research obstacle that I had to overcome was that it is impossible to tell in a 2 billion acre medical center which of the scrub/white-coat/badge wearing personnel are doctors, students, or janitors. The camaflage was stupendous. I am dressing like a doctor/student/janitor for Halloween. I think it will take twenty years of my age. Most folks who didn't appear to be patients DID appear to be between the ages of 12 and 23. I thought it took YEARS to even become a resident.

Even more All-Hallow's Eveish is that you can pretty much go anywhere in the hospital without being challenged.....if you have a shunt in your arm and stride with purpose. From mystery book reading, I am sure there are medical centers more labyrinthine, but I would enter the basement of UW in any B-horror movie location hunt. Any double door you go through leads you to a corridor that involves a hook to the left or right. I have always wondered what is in the space between the corridors and I still don't know, but I am sure it has a GE logo. Things hum really loudly or they thunk. It is very cold and the flourescent lights flicker and die. Sometimes, you accidentally hit the right double-door hallway hook combination and arrive in an atrium area. Then you get Starbucks.

This was like an on-line fantasy game from my wildest nightmares. And, I was radioactive. And they told me that a RADAR gun would pick me up. I asked one security officer if he would try and zap me as I ran back and forth across the crosswalk; he was spectacularly not amused.

Pinky on Politics

We've been watching Obama's McCain roast at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner. What a blessed relief from repetitive messages of the past month. And, what an opportunity to get in some of the digs that we have all been thinking without making Obama appear as bitter as McCain. Pinky particularly enjoyed the not-so-subtle but appropriate jabs at McCain's age......

So, if you havent' seen it, I've embedded it for your amusement...

The Beginning

It has been an inauspicious beginning to our foray into the social networking sub-category blogging. I'm struggling a little bit with necessary demographics both in terms of my profile and the audience with whom I want to interact.....not that I want to be exclusionary, just that I am exploring this medium somwhat curiously rather than ambitiously. We'll see how this works....Right, Pinky?