rhettoric.com -- one man's struggle to find art in a world of infomercials. rhett, butler, diary, running, marathon, camping, hiking, outdoors, film, photography, photograph, sex, asceticism, ascetic, sadist, masochist, masochism, sadism, art, love, initiation, creativity, will, power, immortality
saying no is hard to do June 28, 2008, 4:11 pm

I just quit television, which isn't nearly as easy as it should be. I'm not even talking about the withdraw or the lack of entertainment, I'm talking about just disconnecting.

After waiting on hold for the disconnect department I had a twenty minute conversation with a rep where he attempted to upsell me at least six different times. Halfway through the conversation he completely broke down laughing he couldn't believe that I was willingly giving up cable.

This was one of the conversations

"Your going to lose your sports package"
"I know. I don't want it"
"You know basic is only $13.95. That's just the network channels, news and stuff"
"Yeah, I don't want anything"
"Really?"
"Really"
"Are you in school or something?"
"no, I work"
"I'm just trying to wrap my head around this"
"You work in the disconnect department. Are you really saying you've never had a call where someone just wanted to disconnect?"
"no! People want cable they just usually don't want to pay as much for it"
"huh, well now you have a story"
"you ain't kiddin'!"

I've talked with some patients and coworkers about this and they're all incredulous. No one thinks I'll be able to live without cable. I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like there's anything *that* good on that I'll be missing. I love Lost but that's off until January and even then I can just watch it on the internet the next day.

So yeah, cold turkey. think I'll last?

comments [4] | link

a poem for where I am June 15, 2008, 7:45 pm

I heard this poem on the radio the other day. I'm not sure why I have such a soft spot in my heart for the cowboy archetype, but for some reason it's always resonated with me.

They are hedonistic to be sure, but also noble and tragic in their own way.

Rye Whisky
by Anonymous

I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry;
If the hard times don't kill me. I'll live till I die.

I'll tune up my fiddle, and I'll rosin my bow,
And make myself welcome wherever I go.

Beefsteak when I'm hungry, red liquor when I'm dry,
Greenbacks when I'm hard up, and religion when I die.

They say I drink whisky; my money's my own,
All them that don't like me can leave me alone.

Jack o' diamonds, jack o' diamonds, I know you of old,
You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold.

Oh whisky, you villain, you've been my downfall;
You've kicked me, you've cuffed me, but I love you for all.

I'll buy my own whisky, I'll make my own stew;
If I get drunk, madam, it's nothing to you.

My foot in the stirrup, my bridle in my hand,
A-courting fair Mollie, to marry if I can.

I've no wife to quarrel, no babies to bawl;
The best way of living is no wife at all.

You may boast of your knowledge, and brag of your sense,
'Twill be all forgotten a hundred years hence.

comments [3] | link

still waiting May 16, 2008, 1:07 pm

I called Robert Wood Johnson today. The rep I talked to said they had "quite a few" people withdraw yesterday (which was a big deadline) but that the class was still slightly overbooked. She said that she expected more withdraws in the next few weeks after which they expected to start working through the high priority waitlist.

So yeah, that's where that is.

In the meantime I've been doing pretty well. I went to Las Vegas last weekend and made some money. In a few hours I'm heading to Chicago. At least I'm not letting the precarious state of my future affect my epicurean impulses.

comments [1] | link

a movie review for 2007 March 21, 2008, 6:53 am

I finally saw I am Legend

I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. I actually read the novel before the film came out with the expectation of seeing the movie, but I missed opening night and the people I knew who did see it weren't very enthusiastic. Now I know why.

I'm usually not one to compare movies to books. They are two different genres and movies have always been on the more sensational, eye-candy side of the equation. That's fine as far as it goes, but it truly mystifies me as to why movie makers would go to the time and trouble to create what they have to know is a terrible, uninspired, film.

I'm going to give some spoilers for the novel below. They aren't really spoilers for the movie though because, instead of adopting the more original plot points of the novel, the film decided to shed them for a hackneyed zombie movie plot.

In the novel, the protagonist Robert Neville is a blue collar worker who finds himself a lone survivor of a pandemic that has turned the world's denizens into vampires. Much of the novel is focused on the severe loneliness of Neville, his quest to investigate and cure the disease, and to cure vampires whenever possible. One aspect of the novel I liked was that Neville, with no formal training, learns the scientific method from scratch. Even though the science, especially related to the vampires, is more than a bit hoaky the sentiment is a strong one.

Alternatively, in the film, Robert Neville is a Lieutenant Colonel who works as a virologist for the U.S. Army. In other words, the last survivor of new york city coincidentally had the precise training necessary to combat vampires and research the disease that caused the condition. nice.

In the novel Neville eventually meets a woman. Neville eventually learns that this woman had been a vampire but that some of the vampires have discovered medicine which counteracts some aspects of the disease. These partially cured vampires have formed the rudiments of a civilization in which Neville is feared in much the same way as vampires are in our culture. He's a monster who stalks their territory when they all sleep (in the day) and slaughters them mercilessly. Great twist.

In the film, Neville meets a woman as well. But she's human and she has a small child with her. They are both completely human. She's never heard Bob Marley so he gives her his greatest hits CD, which, not coincidentally, is called Legend. He then explains that Marley was a hero for peace. At the end of the film Neville sacrifices himself to get a cure for the disease to Anna who escapes new york and then finds a survivor settlement. She says that this act makes Neville a Legend. It really doesn't have the same punch, does it.

So yeah, I dig Will Smith. I like vampire movies and I liked the book. But if you're one of the eight people who haven't seen it yet, you can skip the film.

comments [1] | link

another day, another rejection March 13, 2008, 11:52 am

so yeah, it's been ugly. New Jersey Med put me on their alternate list, I haven't heard back from Robert Wood Johnson and I'm waitlisted at stony brook. That's the good news. Pretty much every other school is a flat out rejection.

I'm honestly flabbergasted. I have a very competitive application. I don't think I'm even saying that with personal bias. My MCAT score is in the 90th percentile, and my post-bacc GPA is in the 95th percentile. My reception *should* be a lot stronger than this, so it's been very difficult to accept.

The real question is what to do about it. I have a meeting scheduled for the beginning of April with an admissions committee director to discuss my application, so hopefully that will shed some light onto my application and why it's apparently unattractive. Other than that the real question is what to do for the next year.

The work at the physical therapy clinic has been good but I think I'm going to try to find something more enjoyable and that pays better, I'm not sure what though.

In an amusing bright spot to the past few months I attended a charity casino night last week where I did very well. I spent $80 in cash, but in return I received the following

1) A $50 gift certificate to a nice restaurant
2) a G.C. to another restaurant for two free entrees
3) A G.C. to a free yoga class
4) A G.C. to a private one-on-one yoga session
5) Two G.C.s for a free manicure
6) a two hour consultation with a genealogical researcher. I assume where I'll find some info about my family tree.

the stated values of those GCs comes to about $400 so I guess I did all right there. All right, off to work

comments [7] | link

Want more? Check the archives.