Occupy Wall Street

So, many of you have texted me asking, "what's going down on Wall Street with all the protesting?" I didn't really know so I had to look into it.

Here's the story:  Using social media like Twitter and Facebook, protest organizers hoped to incite a mass occupation of Wall Street. The plan was to quickly descend en-masse on September 17th. They called it "The Day of Rage". They were hoping for the kind of crowds that erupted in Egypt earlier this year. Unfortunately Twitter and Facebook aren't the most private places, so the NYPD was more than prepared with metal barricades to herd the protesters into "protest zones". On a side note I think the whole notion of a "protest zone" or "free-speech zone" is bullshit. Free-speech exists everywhere. Limiting where we can express ourselves is just as bad as not letting us do it at all.

The group's main focus is the 99% vs. the 1% problem. Specifically they're outraged that apparently about 1% of Americans control most of the wealth of the country. To them the banks of Wall Street represent that 1%, so what better place to occupy?

They've been there for about 11 days now, and show no signs of leaving. The major news outlets aren't documenting everything that happens at the occupation, but if you spend enough time on Youtube, Imgur, Reddit, or even 4chan you can get a good look into what's going on. The organizers have set up a website which you should visit, https://occupywallst.org/

Now I'm not an economist, so I'm not even going to attempt a fix for the job market. I am however a pretty close student of history. Most revolts, uprisings, and revolutions start when those struggling to get by just absolutely lose it. Plain and simple. Tensions boil over and everything goes to hell. People take their rage and frustration out on whatever they can get their hands on. Just look at what happened in the U.K.

What I'm curious about is how the Media, Police, and Government will continue to handle the situation on Wall Street. By now I'm sure you've seen the clips of the women who were corralled and then maced by an NYPD officer. I've seen the clips from different angles, but honestly I don't understand the officer's actions. True, I didn't see what happened before, but in the clip the officer walks in, sprays mace everywhere, and then walks away. All this seems unprovoked to me. A large portion of what we see comes out via Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. It'll be interesting to see if any forms of control are exerted over these outlets. I wouldn't be surprised. Zuckerberg already has access to everything we post...ever.

Be careful where you get you facts. It's not like watching Egypt erupt on the other side of the world. This is happening here. This is an American problem. Watch closely, and be careful.

A very small step takes us from this:

To This:

If you haven't seen either of these images then we clearly have a problem.

~n

CERN broke the Universe

So I don't know how heavily you all follow science and particle physics, but something huge happened. Scientists at CERN think they measured sub-atomic particles traveling a few tenths of a second faster than the speed of light.

As most of us know, Einstein said that light-speed was the fastest anything could go ever. It was (barring more testing) one of the rock solid laws of the universe. The implications are massive. To me it's like saying the only reasons humans can't fly is because we're not trying hard enough.

As a sci-fi nerd I sometimes get very sad that many of the fascinating technologies created on these shows and movies won't appear in my lifetime. Light-speed, Hyperspace, Ludicrous speed are all just science fiction and impossible with the current level of existing knowledge.

But a discovery like this is an incredibly small, yet absolutely massive step forward. Imagine what science will come up with now when they start thinking, "Hey, maybe we can travel faster than light."

I think what's most important is that from now on scientists shouldn't be allowed to say, "We Can't." They should only ask, "Should we?" And in the case of faster-than-light travel...Hell yes.

See you Space Cowboy

~n

Celebrity sightings and DADT repeal

I left work at 1:00pm to go to the deli on 8th St. I was about 10 or so odd paces behind some guy carrying a white-plastic grocery bag in one hand, and a ratty guitar case in the other. He had on black athletic shorts, some weird Gortex vest, and a floppy olive-green baseball cap. At first I thought he was homeless, not gonna lie.

He rounded a corner and I followed. Not because I'm a creepy stalker, we were just going the same way. A small gaggle of students walked by him, then past me. Out of their excited chatter I made out, "Oh my God that was Daniel-freaking-Craig." The homeless Craig clone kept walking, but turned his head and shot a look. There was no mistaking those sparkly blue eyes. It was indeed Daniel-freaking-Craig. I guess trying to look homeless was a clever ruse to travel incognito. But if you're James Bond...well good luck with that.

This is actually the second time I've seen him wandering the East Village. Last time he was with his wife (the lovely Rachel Weiss). I felt tempted to try and snap a picture, but he probably get's tired of it. That, and I'm slightly afraid he'd cut me in half with the lazer that undoubtedly shoots out of his James Bond wrist watch.

Being a celebrity nowadays is weird. In most cases you're only famous because millions of people have seen you on a screen (or naked on the internet), not because you've cured something or went to the moon.

In other new Don't Ask Don't Tell expires tonight. I really don't have much to say on the subject except this:  When the shit hits the fan, there are only two things that would matter to me about a fellow soldier. 1) Can he carry me if I need him to? 2) Does he have good aim?

This isn't just because I'm gay and I'm motivated to push equality forward etc. This is because our military is made up of volunteers. Any man or woman who would willingly enter the bullet riddled shit show that is the Middle East deserves our respect. End of story. If you think soliders would find it distracting, then I think you should spend some time talking to some actual active duty servicemen. But don't blame me when they knock your teeth out for being dumb.

~n

Nothing of Consequence

I met up with Peter for lunch today. It's nice to see a familiar Iowa City face here in the heart of the city. Aside from that nothing really happend. Typical Monday...ness.

I had a strange moment on the subway platform though. I walked down to the lead end of the station like I normally do. While I walked I tried to fish out my copy of Cloud Atlas from my messenger bag. I wasn't looking into my bag though. I had to navigate the sea of people, I-beams, and make sure I didn't plummet onto the tracks. However, by the time I reached the far end of the platform I'd forgotten what I was looking for. So I just grabbed something and pulled it out. 

So I stood there blankly staring at what I grabbed:  A banana. Can you see this? Me, a banana, and a blank stare trying to figure out if this what I wanted. It wasn't. And then I said, "I'm so disappointed." To the banana. I looked up to see some guy in an Armani suit turn away awkwardly. Understandably so.

Blank for too long.

So this site blog sat in my bookmarks folder since last July. I made it under the delusion that I would be writing in it as a way to keep myself creative and expressive. I wanted to be sure my brain didn't dull instantly after graduation. I'll give you one guess as to how that turned out.

I think after spending a year writing my undergrad nonfiction thesis I just sort of felt tapped out. Drained completely. That and I was still in the shock that is the unemployed post-grad existence. There's something about spending months pouring out intensely personal self-reflection that will just take it out of you. It was like taking everything that had a huge effect on me and putting it in on a page. It left me feeling creatively and emotionally empty. Plus after graduation I didn't have a single clue what to do with myself. "Holy hell...what now?" Was all I could really muster.

Judy (Fencing Coach) tried to prod me into writing. But every single scribble I put down seemed stupid. Also, I felt useless without a classroom. What good is writing stuff down if know one reads it? Or that's what I thought at the time. I was so used to having a group of people unpack my essays and give me feed back. And in that vain kind of way I really didn't know how to write if no one told me what they thought about it. I went on like this for a few months.

I started journaling (hand written) again on January 1st, 2011. I started after I dug out the old journal that I started writing for health class sophomore year. That was back when I frist really started trying to deal with my sexuality and feelings of confusion. You see I have this bad habit of starting journals, then neglecting them after a few weeks. That first one only covers a few months of time, but it's important time. I can read it and immediately remember how I felt writing it. The confusion, the anxiety, the desperation to tell someone, anyone really, what I was going through. I think the most important part of the coming out process is telling yourself, "Hey...you're gay. Time to start dealing with it." I like knowing that I'll always have that conversation written down in blue ball point ink.

I've been pretty good about the new hand written journal from 1/1/11. I might wright consistently but then miss a week. But you know, sometimes weeks are just boring and nothing really happens. I always try and sum things up though. I'd like to think that one day my notes might make their way into an odds and ends shop of the future, or maybe a museum. Professors of the 2502 will go, "This is how 21st century man lived." and blah blah blah. That's the one thing I loved about reading history excerpts. A lot of what we know today comes from personal accounts, even if they were trivial/mundane stuff. To me there's something romantic about picking up a really old journal and reading what the writer thought was important.

So I've got a few things going now. My hand written journal where I write day-to-day things, and stuff I'd rather not share publicly. An idea notebook where I write self prompts, small musings, stupid doodles, or what ever comes to mind. Lastly I've got this blog now where I can actually try and write at length again. If you know me weel I'll appreciate your prodding to keep me going at it.

Now that I'm in New York and surrounded by so much...well I don't know what I'm surrounded by but it's incredibly stimulating. I don't know if I just needed a scene change, or something more inspiring but I'm glad to be writing again. Cause I realized something when I picked up that first journal and sat down with it. I'm writing for me.

~n