Imagine There's No Context

A couple days ago I came across this cartoon floating around Facebook:

It's a pretty adorable cartoon rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine". I like the song and I even kind of like the cartoon too. Though, it called to mind a debate that occurred in one of my poetry classes. Essentially one of the poets in the class decided to evoke the image of Hitler. Our professor posed the question to the class: is the use of Hitler as an idea, image or context...cheap?

I would argue yes, unless your work is about the holocaust, I think utilizing it as a vehicle cheapens not only your work/argument, but it also sort of trivializes the holocaust as well. That sort of serves for anything in my mind, whether you're just in a Reddit debate or writing poetry. Essentially, I'm saying you're not going to be the next Wilfred Owen if you've never served in a war, so write about something closer to you. In my opinion you don't need a universally recognized image to conjure up a universally recognized idea. Now for the Rorschach test, what comes to mind when you see this:

As is the case with the a fore mentioned cartoon, I think in using the image of some great figures in society is cheapening. Bob Marley, Albert Einstein and MLK Jr. I understand all have similar messages and are appropriate for the cartoon representation of the song itself. Though, I think in the age of bad emotional outbursts on social media, there are quite a few  people with the "what about Gandhi? syndrome". The WAGS is a serious condition in which many people believe they can manifest absolute good on their side by simply throwing the name out there. 

WAGS is a serious condition. People within my generation love to prattle on about love being this ultimate force...or something like that. The Beatles, Bob Marley, Gandhi, they're all used as posters for exception to societal expectations. I wear a Bob Marley T-shirt so I'm subversive enough to smoke weed and the government can't touch me. I have a picture of Gandhi as my wall paper so everyone can see I have a vague understanding of civil disobedience. I have a John Lennon bumper sticker so people know that I'm a friendly atheist. I think you're cheapening their causes by turning the focus on your own trite little struggles as opposed to keeping them centered on what they originally meant. Maybe I'm just bitter. If you're fighting for, writing about or arguing in favor of the gay rights movement, by all means quote Milk, but if you're arguing about whether or not it's OK to litter, it might be a little out there.

The WAGS is a watered down appeal to authority, maybe an existential fallacy too. Although, I'm not sure where to take the argument with Jesus. Seems like I'm more understanding of people using him, like Jesus is more outside the realm of WAGS. Maybe it's because the idea of using Jesus as a model on how to live your life is more institutionalized. Or maybe it's because I see Jesus used less to prove a point than I do John Lennon. Although I do see quite a few floating Jesus quotes out there, as though I'm just supposed to think the matter is settled because someone bust out divinity with an absolute lack of context. 

My advice, even though it's easy and even though it's cool and even though it might even work, think about what you're doing. If you're going to live your life like these people, please do, but don't use it to attempt to sway others. If you're going to write about these people write about them, but don't call up emotions that are predetermined, that's like...plagiarism.

Today I'm listening to Minimum Wage and wondering who let a wolverine loose in my bank account. 

Thanks for Listening,

Kyle

I Am a Character in a Fyodor Dostoevsky Novel

Going over some poetry I had written in college I found a piece I wrote about Fyodor Dostoevsky and how I used to read him in high school. Sometimes I wondered if I would have made it through high school without him.

Dostoevsky was a Russian writer in the mid 1800's and while I did not wholly understand the intricate play of ideas and the complex phrases, I sensed a strong, true purpose behind the words and I felt that I almost understood. I could follow the plot fairly well too. I remember my first encounter with him. It was toward the end of ninth grade and I didn't have many friends, I was extremely self conscious and I felt this burning desire to call something mine. While I had a great family and a small group of really great friends I felt estranged from them, as though I could not call them my own, but only that we were present together. I did like to read, but I had never really read anything outside the Harry Potter series and a few other fantasy books. Then one day I was sitting in my friend Tony's basement,  he tossed me Notes from the Underground off his pool table and told me to "read something great." I did, I read it twice.

There was something in Notes from the Underground that was as self conscious as I was, as scared as I was and as longing as I was. The novel is split up into two parts. The first part is the writings of an unnamed narrator who has gone underground, away from society. There is nothing fantastic about it though, it isn't some banal desire for a more deliberate life like Into the Wild, but it isn't a retreat either. There is some sort of real fear there, masked by intelligible, but somewhat depraved philosophy. Next was Crime and Punishment, which seemed to showcase an inflated version of my desire to call something I did my own action. Finally, there was The Brothers Karamasov, the greatest book I have ever read. It's hard to explain what the Brothers K was able to do for me in high school, but essentially it gave me an identity I can never lose. I will never stop identifying with every character in that book and exactly what they had to go through. This identity was something I could call mine, I didn't have to be self conscious any more, I could be self aware. Reading this book instilled into me a stubborn confidence that was far from perfect, but was at least enough for me to grasp until those early years of high school were over. I imagine I was pretty insufferable, but in the end it was worth it.

In 1849, Dostoevsky was arrested and condemned to death. He was even brought in front of a firing squad. At the last minute, his life was saved and he was released. I would imagine that to be very terrifying, but I wonder if Dostoevsky knew he had saved my life in high school, if he would have thought the whole thing to be worth it.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit"

I Am a Character in a Fyodor Dostoevsky Novel

Madness and Disease creep hand in hand
down a hallway littered with bloody kerchiefs
soot covered jackets and the many white faces
of men and women limpid against the wall
But I am not there
I am staring in a mirror
Staring back at me is a painfully skinny 9th grader
his clearly visible rib cage stains his self confidence

And that 9th grader with his plebian tastes
thought he was better than everyone because he
could read Dostoyevsky
He fancied he was the object of envy
This helps him get through 9th grade without a girlfriend
without guy friends
without sports
without a single extra curricular activity

Godlessness takes the shape of an opaque turquoise
fog settling over St. Petersburg  
Poverty dances with the children
Worthlessness dwells in every wrinkle
pockmark and scar that Life has branded Russia’s people with
But I am not there
I am staring in a mirror
Staring back at me is an anonymous narrator
ashamed of his post-pubescent body
but proud to know the only literature that
suffered as much as he did

Guy Fawkes and the Eternal Smile

This past weekend at work I had an interesting discussion having to do with the supreme court case featuring a christian wedding photographer versus a lesbian couple. I would detail for you exactly what was said, but this New York Times article outlines both points far more intelligently than I think I could. I have always believed that both sides in any debate between discrimination vs freedom of speech could provide me with a compelling enough argument on each side to leave me with an utter lack of opinion. Prime example: the Westboro Baptist Church, the most sinister example of a (physically) non-violent western religion. They are most known their "God Hates Fags" message and for being so absurdly infamous that their official webpage has a whopping 1.7 stars on Google review. I do not agree with what they are saying in any way shape or form, but I can't disagree with their right to say it. The simple reason being that I would not want anyone to be able to take the right away from a gay advocate group, it should only stand that the opposite must hold true. However, I have such a disdain for hate speech that even acknowledging this truth is such a difficult task that I would rather not discuss the matter at all. Too many times have I felt entirely too helpless to move. This debate and my inability to respond to it has manifested itself many times in my life in the form of Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache:

The picture seems to be primarily used by young activist members of the LaRouche political group. They believe Obama to be a murderer requiring immediate impeachment. Let's get one thing straight, I am an Obama fan, so the picture offends me, but it is offensive to see a Hitler Mustache on any American president. Hitler analogies should not be cheapened with every drastic political view and our president, like him or not, is definitely not deserving of such a gross overstatement. In addition to that he is of mixed race and I believe the offense goes without explanation. If you don't believe this to be offensive I find that strange, but I ask you to bare with me none the less.

I remember the first time I ever saw this sign. I was visiting my dad in Seattle and we were just walking to our car after a really pleasant afternoon. A man carrying one of these signs and a clip board for signatures approached the two of us. My dad, whom I have the most respect for, who never looses his cool and who probably did not vote for Obama looked this man straight in the face and said "if you come any closer to me with that sign I will kill you.." Apparently this is how most of Seattle reacts to the political group. I remember thinking that this was the appropriate response, that we, as individual American citizens, have a duty to make these people feel as uncomfortable as they make us feel. As a disclaimer, my dad would not have killed that guy, he is a very smart man.

When I returned to college after that summer, I was absolutely furious to see that this group was grass-rooting right in the middle of our campus with that sign. This was absolutely appalling to me so naturally, several other students and I all separately declared war. I walked straight out of class and began to argue with these people right away, but knowing nothing of their political philosophy I was quickly at a loss of what to say. The next time they were on campus I began arguing with them about the logical fallacy that the sign presented, but it was obvious they didn't care and one of the men had me reeling when he said "don't you get metaphors man?". Ouch. 

Other students on campus didn't have much luck either. Some took the hands on approach. I once saw a student snatch the sign and run clear across the campus with it, only to find two on display the next day. One female student got the police called on her for dashing her coffee into the face of a guy asking for her signature. Still they kept coming. One day I watched as a student mobilized what seemed to be the entire smoking community on campus to simply crowd around the table and laugh. The political group simply laughed abjectly back. The best result seemed to be when an extremely brave group of students decided to use their right to free speech against that of LaRouche's. They made t-shirts with Obama wearing a halo over his head, made signs that simply said "NO HE ISN'T" and took to standing approximately 15 feet away shouting "OBAMA IS NOT HITLER!" This stroke of genius caused such an amazingly huge stir on a small campus that inevitably the campus police were called. Everyone cheered when we observed one officer tell the group it might not be a good idea for the group to show up on campus anymore and, in order to preserve safety, they needed to pack up and go.

And for while it worked. I practically forgot about LaRouche and the Obama sign altogether. Then the next year they were back. There were more of them and there were way more signs. One dude was even wearing a card board cut out. Online they've made the picture their quintessential image:

That's when I realized there was never any war, just a platform. We were not fighting the image we were empowering it. The LaRouche political group was not exercising its freedom of speech, it was exercising ours. We were helping their cause reach the masses even more. It was then that I realized exactly how important free speech was. I had failed the way countless oppressors have failed before, I tried to silence a group, revoke their right to say what was on their mind and instead made what they were saying so much more powerful.

In some ways this ends the debate for me. The more we try to stop the Westboro Church from saying "God Hates Fags", the more it becomes their mantra, the more it becomes their battle cry. If we force a New Mexico wedding photographer to limit her free speech in taking pictures she doesn't want to take, we are making her the poster child victim of limited free speech when the real victim is the lesbian couple who was denied wedding photography services. In some ways though, I'm left with this feeling of discontent. My helplessness is not subsided, if anything else I feel more helpless. Am I supposed to smile in the very face of what offends me? Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone. 

Thanks for Listening,

Kyle

Up in the Huff

A couple of weeks ago I applied for an entry level recruiter position with a company called Huffmaster. I was attracted to the job posting because it was entry level, recruiting, and in the description big bold letters wrote, "PERFECT FOR RECENT COLLEGE GRADS". It was a really quick process, one I've done so many times I forgot that I even applied for it. You can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from the recruiter yesterday. Next thing I know:

 Huffmaster, is a company that provides temporary employees for companies when their full time employees go on strike. To be fair, there are a few occasions where Huffmaster will lend out its services to companies in need after a natural disaster or if their business picks back up after a massive lay off, but for the most part they specialize in replacing employees on strike while the unions and the top dogs hash things out. Back in the day these replacement workers were called scabs, as a recruiter with this company I would essentially be a scab picker.

I received a call yesterday evening from the head recruiter. She told me she had my resume on her desk, that she has an immediate need and has to schedule my interview right away. Without a moments hesitation I agree and she signs me up for an interview at 10:00 AM the next day. That night I am all over Google. I'm trying to figure out interview questions, see where the company is going, where it has been. After about a half hour of doing this I began to face some major moral dilemmas.

I started to wonder if I could be OK with doing this job. One major problem I had was that I would be hiring temporary workers. I know first hand how difficult it is to have a job for an unknown amount of time with the constant threat of it ending at any moment. Most of all though I had trouble with the fact that I would be replacing people who have a problem with their benefits, their wages or the overall way in which they are treated. I believe in their right to strike and if their employers won't feel the pain of them leaving, am I helping to deafen their cause? Do I want that on my conscience?

On the other hand, maybe I would be like George Clooney from Up in the Air. This is a job after all and I kind of need one of those. I know I would be very good at recruiting, I would be able to help people find jobs, people who need jobs and can take advantage of the work experience, if only for a short time. Sure the work I would be doing wouldn't be glamorous, but then again, that seems to be a pretty privileged place to come from. Should I really be casting my judgment down on this job? Or should I work it, get the experience and the inevitable stories then move on?

I went into the interview today. It was a small office building in Troy, Michigan. There was no receptionist in the main room so I rang the security door bell. A massive, friendly security guard came to greet me. I told him my name was Kyle and what I was there for. He said "one moment Jean Claude, I will go get them, best of luck to you" and was off before I could tell him my name is not Jean Claude. I sat in a tight little waiting room and reviewed my notes, thinking about whether or not I would want to do this. Then the recruiter came out and greeted me, we went into an empty office and she asked me a few questions. I could tell she really liked my past experiences, she had a couple more interviews that day, but if I were selected, she would want me to start right away. When I left I felt like my head was full of cigar smoke.

Ultimately I don't think I'm going to take the position. For one, I would be a contingent employee, basically I would always technically be working for them, but if there wasn't any work I wouldn't be getting any hours. The other, more logistical reason, is that I can't start right away. I need to give my current employer two weeks. I did learn a lot though, in talking with the recruiter, in seeing the people around the office. I learned that I shouldn't weigh my character on the contents of my career or whatever job I was doing. My career, the things I own, where I live they all seem so transitional. My character needs to be subjective to all of these things, I should strive to be a good person no matter what I do, where I live or what I own. So next time a job comes around, I'm going to look at the logistics and whether or not I would enjoy doing it. That being said, fingers crossed for my job interview with Oakland County Government on Tuesday!

Thanks for Listening,
Kyle
   

Pickle Sucking McGillicuddy

Before I begin, I would just like to state, I am a firm believer that video games do not make young kids more violent. That being said, I am incredibly curious about trash talking in video games. I'm not so much concerned with F-bombs or the fact that my roommate just accused a fellow Halo player of  "camping his dick off", but rather comments that seem to come from a more violent place. For example, avid gamer Justin Carter was just released from jail this past July after serving five months for a felony terrorism charge. First off Justin is 19, so he isn't exactly a child, but he did post on Facebook, in context to a video game, that he was going to shoot up a kindergarten. I personally think a 19 year old would have better sense, but since there are probably 19 year old kids who have actually killed people....I'm unfortunately not that surprised. Today I want to find the mother flippin' line, a line where, once crossed, can land your arse in jail with a terrorism charge.

Perhaps my curiosity with the subject derives from my little brother. Mike is a ballin' gamer and, in my opinion, a pretty creative trash talker. I say creative because he seems to take it to the next level. Like playing the new Call of Duty game, characters can get guard dogs to fight along side them in online play. After melee killing another character's dog my brother plays this commercial into his headset. Nice one Mike, I thought it was genius. On the flip side I've heard him tell a kid he was going to kill their mom, which some people might think is inappropriate. While I do agree, it is inappropriate, both instances have something in common; they both are incredibly gratuitous. In this way I think of my brother's trash talking like a Tarantino movie. There is something so ridiculous about it, so over the top not going to happen, that it is not only harmless, but it's pretty freaking funny. Though I can't bring myself to condone it too much because I would rather my brother not be accused of being a terrorist.

One thing that I'm not down with are the millions of homophobic and racist comments being made all across the air waves. Now I am about to make something real clear: there is nothing OK about shooting up a kindergarten. Clear? That being said, it is an overly gratuitous statement, uttered by a stupid 19 year old. The threat should be assessed, but the jail time was a little excessive. On the other hand, why are kids allowed to call each other faggots? I appreciate language and know that words have meaning, the word faggot is incredibly offensive, derogatory and used in any other context other than acknowledging it exists, is hate speech. Last I checked hate speech is the closest thing to terrorism you could probably get in real life while playing a video game. Again, people should not be thrown in jail for saying the word faggot, but I would like to see more concern from the gaming community. Why was Justin Carter in jail? Because he posted something on Facebook that, due to fairly recent tragic events, made a lot of important people feel like they had to do something.

Trash talking has always been a part of competition. Even threats have, remember when Mike Tyson told his competitor he would eat his children? People went nuts! Now I'm sure things of that nature are said on a fairly regular basis. The threats and insults come in a constant stream in online gaming. Sometimes when things get too out of hand other players can flag your account. But what the slug?! Racism is still very prevalent online, I've heard the N word on multiple occasions. There are adults who play these games! Why aren't more people flagged for blatant racism? Because it hasn't come to the attention of the right important person. My point: lets not throw idiots in jail and deem them terrorists unless we know they're terrorists. Maybe, we can use our power and resources to work with the gaming community and try our best to moderate and educate the trash talkers of the world. If we harnessed all of that trash talking creativity who the hell knows what we can do with it. I'd like to see my brother become a comedic radio talk show host, maybe if given that kind of hope, Justin Carter wouldn't have felt the need to vie for acceptance through shock value. Or maybe I'm just a douche.

Thanks for Listening,
Kyle

The Temp is a Lonely Hunter

Most people don't know that I worked for a staffing agency. Most people don't know, because I've been too ashamed to admit it. For six months I began to believe I was employed by Quicken Loans, but I never was, I was employed by a temporary staffing agency known as Aerotek. Working for Aerotek has been an experience wrapped in more deceit, mystery and anguish than what I would imagine a love affair to possess. In an effort to get this dark secret off my chest and into the open, I'm going to detail what it meant to work as a temporary employee and why I was so ashamed to let anyone I love find out. Stay tuned.

I would ideally like to start out by sharing what it was like working for Quicken Loans. However, since I never technically worked for Quicken Loans, I will let their web page designated for the Awards and Kudos they've received speak for itself. They've time and time again gotten praise for being such a great company to work for. I can clearly see why too; they invite you in with open arms, their anti-corporate ideology is incredibly enticing to young people and regardless if you work for or with them, they treat you like one of the family. On the flip side, according to Aerotek's website "traditionally staffing agencies were used to provide employees on a short term basis" So I should have entered into the situation knowing that I could be cut and would be cut, at any given moment. But I didn't, so where did I go wrong?

Simple; I just graduated college, I was looking for a career, I applied at Aerotek and was given a job. A real JOB. My first real JOB. During my interview it was made clear to me that I would be working on an open ended contract. This meant there was to be no time limit for my work there. It was implied that if I worked hard maybe, just maybe, I would be hired on through Quicken. This is where I made my mistake. I believed that if I worked hard enough I would be hired in, the gates would swing open, Quicken Loans would adopt me. Even when I started working, began to get to know everyone I worked with, realized they had all been temporary employees for at least a year, I still thought that as long as I worked hard I would be ushered into the greatest place of employment that Detroit has to offer.

That's right, there were others. In fact according to Alexandra Karaer, Director of Research for the American Staffing Association, 2.91 million people are employed by a staffing agency every day. We were the forgotten children...and in our haste to get in, we were blind. Blind to the fact that every month we would lose anywhere from 2-5 temporary staff members who weren't keeping up with the work load, to the fact that despite hard work and dedication not one of us was being hired on, blind to the words "temporary team members are not eligible" at the bottom of every email offering us some cool perk. We just kept working.

Although we couldn't have been that blind right? I know I couldn't have. I told everyone I know that I worked for Quicken Loans! Never did I mention Aerotek, my open ended contract or the fact that at any given time I could be laid off. No, instead all of my friends and most of my family thought I had a career. My dad, my best friend, my little brothers, they were all so proud of me. I couldn't break it to them that my job, my career, was more like a paid internship. That I would most likely not be with Quicken for the rest of my life. I had an answer for everything: no benefits because I was still on my mom's insurance and didn't need them, the people I worked with were just getting laid off, if I worked there long enough I would get a raise and all the other employee perks Quicken advertises that it gives to it's employees. I lied to them, probably because I was lying to myself so spectacularly. Then, I simply got the call.

 I'll probably never forget the day I got the call. This is how you knew your contract was up with Aerotek. Let's say that you were at the grocery store after work at about 7:00 P.M. Let's say you were shopping for a team pot luck you would be having the next day. You would get a call from a 313 number and you would know exactly what it was regarding. Your whole world would seemingly come crashing down around you and you would think of at least 7 people you would have to explain your "being laid off" to. You would answer the phone: "Hi is this ____? Hi ____, this is _____ from Aerotek, I'm calling with some unfortunate news". And ___ would go on to explain to you that your contract has ended. You would be cordial and polite, you would answer any questions ____ had to ask. After all, you've never met ____ and this is probably an incredibly hard job to do. And then, just like that, you are unemployed. You wouldn't be buying anything at the grocery store that day.

In the end I'm thankful for my time at Aerotek. I, like most temporary employees, believe the experience has made me more marketable. I got the experience of working for Quicken Loans, which is an incredible company to work for, or with, or whatever and ultimately I made some really great connections. Right now I'm between jobs, looking for work and trying to be as proactive as possible. My advice for anyone looking to be employed at a temporary company is to know what you're getting into. It is not a scam. Just don't fool yourself, make the most of it and work hard, but don't lie to anyone. Don't lie to yourself and buy a bunch of new things because you have a career now and you can, don't lie to the people you love and tell them that you are in with a great company for the rest of your life and don't lie to the rest of the job seeking world because you're frustrated that you lied so hard and didn't pull it off. At any rate, Quicken Loans is still on my resume....Anyone want to give me a job?

Thanks for listening!

Kyle

All Men Seek for Thee

I wish to be a brilliant writer. The way I see it there are four things that are getting in the way of this. The first is that I do not write well, the second being that I do not write, the third is that I have a lack of ambition and the fourth is that I have no context. The goal is simple, post at least 800 words a day into this blog. Write book reviews, write what I did, what I'm going to do, journalistic endeavors all the way to what I had for breakfast. This blog is for no one else, but me. I will be striving to find context and to actually write something. Strive to hone in my skills. It is often told that we can move mountains and I believe this. If it is true that people can moves mountains than it is true that I can move myself.

If you want to help me, find me writing exercises, give me a topic, teach me how to copy write something, teach me search engine optimizing techniques.

Why am I doing this? Because I want to be a brilliant writer. I graduated college almost 1 year ago with a degree in English. This creates a series of assumptions in the minds of employers, parents, friends, family, strangers and lovers. Most assume I can write and while I have a basic comprehension of the English language, my degree does not make me Shakespeare incarnated. My degree helped me read and analyze literature, which essentially has done nothing for me. Yes, I had to write papers, I had to write analysis, I had to send the occasional email. I, however, was never taught everything there is to know about writing. So here it is: a documentation of my journey to become the writer I have always wanted to be. In blog format.

Thanks for Listening,
Kyle