report card, week 5 – at war with eurasia.
December 16, 2008
Or was that Eastasia. I guess it doesn’t matter, so long as Oceania is victorious! Brother, did you hear that the chocolate ration has been increased to 20 grammes? Doubleplusgood, that!
The story of 1984 reminds me of a certain Factory… where we hear more from the national newspapers than our own internal channels… anyway, back to my own version of reality, as I bend it to my will with iron hands!
Late as usual this week (probably a good thing, as I’ve been busy!), so I’ll have to try and be early with my report for week 6.
How did things work out for week 5, then? At the end of the week 4 report, I posted the following list of activities for week 5:
- Writing.
- Exercise.
- Time with family.
- Thinkfest with Friar.
- Get those job applications out (first one is due next Monday!)
- Niche blogging in the background.
Well, I don’t think I’m quite ready for an A+ yet (let’s save that for week 6). I did a good job, though.
I wrote every day but Friday (work Christmas party for my wife) and Sunday (bad fever and cold, which I still have).
In spite of my illness, I did manage to exercise every single day. I figure even if I only do one set of weights, that is better than nothing, and it always seems to make me feel a bit better.
For family time, we mixed it up a bit, lots of reading, some games, coffee & donuts one night, and a First Communion prep for our oldest.
The thinkfest with Friar was a good time, though this week it was more of a down time (hey, we all need a break) and we watched Trinity and Beyond, aka The Atomic Bomb Movie. Hey, it is narrated by William Shatner, how cool is that!
What else would you expect from a couple of nookular engineers?
I got one job application out under the wire for Monday, and another one will be counted against week 6 so long as it goes out before the end of Wednesday this week.
My partner for the niche blogging left for Europe on the weekend and will not return home until after the holidays, so we will continue along as best we can until she is back in her realm. We will be brainstorming some ideas until then.
How do I feel overall? Well, pretty good – I did a good job, but I can do better. The biggest hurdle was getting my details back out into the job market, but now that I’ve done that, I will continue.
So perhaps I can give myself an A this week.
What about next week?
A bit more of the same, with some minor tweaks:
- Writing – I really need to work on this, as the online magazine soft launch is this week.
- Exercise – no brain, no pain.
- Time with family.
- Thinkfest with Friar – natch.
- Keep on looking for a new Factory – one more good opening closes tomorrow.
- Niche blogging in the background – keep an eye on this, do some brainstorming.
- Draft the text for a sub-page to my Hire Me page – the final piece I need to do to be registered with Ubuntu Linux.
Can I do it? Yes I can!
(Hey, if Bob the Builder can do it, this Viking sure can.)
So why the 1984 reference anyway? I guess I always figured reality is what you make it. And maybe it doesn’t matter if you’re struggling against the forces of Eurasia or Eastasia, so long as you fight the good fight.
So that’s what I intend to do, fight the good fight and make my own reality.
Oh, and love Big Brother.
(Image credit: Nineteen Eighty-Four, Umbrella-Rosenblum Films)
I still haven’t seen the movie – though I’ve read the book several times. Just as long as we’re fighting the good fight – I agree with you 100%.
Matthew Dryden’s last blog post..Gravity Twisted: The Next Page
@Matthew,
The movie is pretty good – but (as usual) the book is better…
Hmmm, I’m seeing a trend here…you’re getting more work done now that we’re not chatting as much!! :0
Good for you, though, and wow to the exercising every day even though you were sick. Listen to your body, though, okay? It may be telling you you’re pushing too hard. You really do have a lot on the go. But I’m so proud of you for doing all you have and are doing! Go Viking!
steph’s last blog post..Short
@steph,
Not at all! I miss our chats a lot, and I’ve replaced them with movies – a poor substitute…
(Though tonight’s choice isn’t bad, I’m watching “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” right now – I’m a spaghetti western fan…)
Don’t worry, I will listen to my body – I did lighten up the exercise a bit and have been getting plenty of rest. Right now my body is telling me not to share an office with Typhoid Ken
(My co-worker, who has been coughing for almost a month…)
Hey – I’m proud of you too – go Steph!
@Brett
There’s the Ebola-Plague going around the office. Some still show up to work anyway to be “heroes”. Piss me off. Why don’t these typhoid Marys stay home, and not infect the rest of us?
Pretty timely post, especially after what’s been happening at a certain Factory this week. (Someone explain to me why I should EVER listen to what senior managers have to say, from now on….?).
Mandatory viewing for disgruntled workers should include: Office Space, Fight Club, and 1984.
(Oh, yeah, and Trinity and Beyond….that one is AWESOME!)
Friar’s last blog post..Friar’s Best and Worst Christmas List
@Friar,
Yep, that’s just it and that’s why I’m sick – Typhoid Ken couldn’t take a few days off work, and so I had to suffer… oh well, that’s what sick leave is for!
Heh heh, you might just say my post was “inspired by a true story” today.
Maybe we should add Metropolis to the list, sometimes I feel like the guy working the clock…
Brett,
Hooray for you! Your first self-acknowledged A!
I haven’t seen any of Friar’s three mandatories, and I wonder if it has anything to do with being happier than you disgruntled boys? (Though of course I read 1984 in high school.)
I almost got Fight Club out of the library last weekend. It was there, I decided I would give it a shot, then I did a little Internet work and stopped to read the Wikipedia entry for FC… couldn’t do it. Too disturbing, glowing recommendations from you dudes or no. I’m not good with things like that. Might give me nightmares.
Rest, keep up the amazing work when you can, and feel better. I hope we get to hear more about this online mag business soon!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Happy Holidays?
@Kelly,
Hey, thanks!
You should really watch FC – hey, one of the sweetest gals I know loves it (my wife!) and you’re a pretty sweet gal too, so I’m sure you could take it
I’ll give the signal once we’re in full on launch…
I think maybe I might take your advice and turn in for the night – what is it about colds anyway, you feel great in the morning when it’s time to go to work, and by mid-morning you feel like a bag of rotten potatoes… never mind how you feel at night
@Kelly
You can watch Office Space, though.
Just good clean fun about life in Cubicle-Land.
No nightmares, I promise!
Friar’s last blog post..Friar’s Best and Worst Christmas List
Ooooooh! I love the book 1984, even though I was born in 1985, read the book in 1997 and it was a 1978 edition
Good to hear that you’re fighting the good fight – doing the same down under, gearing up for Christmas on the beach and a massive Boxing Day Open House party that we’re throwing. Yay!
Scribbles’s last blog post..Literary Inspirations – Oscar Wilde on Kindness
An “A” for sure! A lot of times when we get sick, it is a good excuse to didtch the plan but you have kept it alive and I know going into week six you will rock up to that A+!
goog for you!
I’m with Kelly no disturbing movies for me….I need my sleep!
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Lessons from Scrooge
@Scribbles,
Yes! The classics remain the classics, no matter how old the story. Hey, glad to hear you are doing the same – I wish my Christmas weather would be a bit more like yours this year
Oh, in time… and hey, I *love* your new blog theme – very nice indeed.
@Wendi,
Thank you my friend – I just couldn’t let things slide. I wouldn’t have felt good about it.
Hmm – quick poll here for those who have seen it – would Fight Club be considered disturbing or thought provoking?
Brett,
Really it’s violence that I stay away from. How violent is it? I do not watch things that cause harm to women (shown graphically) or children or animals. You guys can duke it out all you want..but people hurting other people. or animals..I’m too big of a baby…
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Lessons from Scrooge
@Brett
I bet the poll results would be split right down the sexes. The guys would find it thought-provoking, and the ladies would find it disturbing.
I think it’s really mostly a guys movie. The quintessential anti-Chick-Flick
@Wendi
You say you don’t want to watch things that harm women, children or animals…
…I notice you left out MEN… I guess that’s okay, then.
Friar’s last blog post..“Big City” Dining
@Wendi,
Maybe I should just tell you the story some time! (though no women or children or animals are hurt)
Actually, here is a really good post at Lateral Action by Brian Clark that takes some of the best quotes and how they can be applied to life change:
http://lateralaction.com/articles/tyler-durden-innovation/
I couldn’t have written it better myself – Brian wrote a kick ass post here (you hear that Brian?)
@Friar,
Hmm – it depends. I know a few guys who didn’t “get it”, so it just depends on the person. Of course, not “getting it” means different things, if you’re not into violence, then it’s not your thing and that’s okay. A couple of the guys who “didn’t get it” are on the low side of the bell curve if you know what I mean… a bit too deep for them maybe.
I would expect some ladies wouldn’t like it because of the bare knuckle stuff.
Then again – my wife loves it, and remember Rachel from our group in the Factory – it’s one of her favourite movies – I know others as well.
Brett,
Brian’s was a great post. From time to time when you mention the movie, I consider it, Brian’s post made me think about it harder, I thought Empire naming him the best character ever was interesting… but it’s really how much it’s meant to you that made me want to see it.
I’d heard when it came out that it was hard to take, so I never saw it. Years passed, I came under 6 Weeks’ spell, and I almost did it…
Wendi,
If you don’t mind a spoiler, read the Wikipedia entry. It’s very balanced and well-written. You can decide whether it’s too disturbing from there.
Maybe it’s the fighting, but without spoiling it right here, I don’t think that’s all of it. I watched Muhammed Ali when I was a kid and lived to tell the tale, and that was real pain/ blood/ “sport.” This is just a movie. It’s the underlying stuff (combined with the violence) that I decided I couldn’t watch.
Friar,
Depends on the men. Who didn’t love a little ouch in Thelma and Louise?
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
@Kelly
You know…I have NEVER seen Thelma and Louise…!!!!
Friar’s last blog post..“Big City” Dining
I think… it’s Brad Pitt’s debut. Or at least his first big one. And the right men get theirs.
People call it a chick flick as if men can’t appreciate a movie where the heroes are women, but trust me, the guy who took me was laughing his butt off. It’s excellent. You’d appreciate it.
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
@Kelly (& Wendi),
I think Brian’s post actually comes closer to capturing some of the messages I appreciate in the movie. The Wikipedia entry for the movie is accurate but it really only tells you what you could have picked up from the back of the DVD case. It misses the underlying messages of the story.
The book might be easier to take if one doesn’t want to see the violence and so on – plus, you then get the original story (though they are pretty close). The Wikipedia entry for the book gives a bit more info too.
I think a lot of people found the movie hard to take because some of the messages call into question much of what we consider societal norms (consumerism and so forth). Some folks don’t like it when you poke fun at them (or out and out tell them they are living a lie, in this case).
And sadly, a lot of people don’t like to have to think when they go to the movies – give them a plot a 3-year old can follow with a happy ending where the bad guys go to jail and they go home happy.
So it might not be for everyone.
(I suppose it doesn’t help that you get to see big bank buildings blowing up and collapsing, which might tend to offend people too in light of what happened a couple of years after the movie was released.)
Brad was in Thelma and Louise, that’s right! And a bunch of other stuff too way back when (one episode of 21 JUmp Street, 4 episodes of Dallas, etc.)
T&L was a good movie.
Chick flicks – yeah, that’s not always a good description. The last time I judged a movie (book?) by it’s cover or name was with The Silence of the Lambs.
I thought, “that must be a dumb movie, the title sounds dumb”, but I went to see it anyway.
Umm, yeah. Colour me wrong.
Lots of good movies supposedly aimed at women that anyone can enjoy. My fav that my wife asked me to watch with her was “Boys Don’t Cry”.
Well, this boy did when he watched it.
Progress indeed! I notice a distinct upward trend, no? I think that means that action begets more action – it’s that whole inertia momentum thing, eh? Newton’s Laws and all that…
Good for you and keep going!
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Are You Motivated or Held Back by Fear?
Hi Alex,
Thanks very much – yes, action begets action, indeed, and watching someone else make progress can be infectious – I’ve been following your running progress on Twitter and I must say you’re doing very well you know – so you keep it up too!
An A? Really? So then that is the first A you have ever gotten.
You, me and Friar are all B’s and proud of it. Now get off your high chair and come back down here with the rest of the great unwashed masses.
An A, riiiiiight.
Francis Kopke’s last blog post..Someone is making a buck.
Heh, heh, heh.
I couldn’t resist.
I am an A too, but I have 2 ss’s after my A.
That’s right I am an A$$!
Good job Brett.
I always remember what Tuco says, “If you’re gonna shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
Action is everything, anyone can talk the talk. And you have a lot of “Action” in your plan.
Francis
Francis Kopke’s last blog post..Someone is making a buck.
Oh Francis, you know me, I’m a Beta masquerading as an Alpha. I don’t work so hard.
“Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I’m so glad I’m a Beta.”
Heh heh… we are the Killer B’s, as in Attack of the Killer B’s…
That’s right, Tuco is the mano. Action really works. Sometimes it is tough, but it is worth it. I felt like shit last night (which was good, because I also looked like shit and probably smelled like shit), but I still hit the weights.
Sleep was therefore good.
Hey, we should watch that movie together (the one with Tuco) over the distance some time, we can cue it up at the exact same time and chat on Skype while we watch
@Brett
I’m further down the list.
More like a Lambda. Or Mu.
Friar’s last blog post..Small-Town Radio Trivia Challenge
Okay, is it a quote I don’t get? Can I be an Omega even though I wear a ton of grey?
And what the heck is a Tuco?
Do I have to spend my evening on Wikipedia to understand all this?
And have I used enough question marks in this supposed “comment”?
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
It’s not from 1984 and I’ve forgotten it, is it?
???
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
Kelly,
Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (known as the Rat) was “the Ugly” in “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly”
I was being silly today – the quote is from Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” (if anyone hasn’t read it, society doesn’t use natural reproduction anymore and is divided into five castes via a cloning process, sort of). It is an interesting story.
You may use as many question marks as you wish, milady!
Brett,
Ah, I feel better. Saw TGTBTU only once, in film class. Not a western fan. Read Brave New World in h.s., which is why I was worried it was from 1984 and I’d forgotten. The memory has the same misty haze over it.
By the time you read this, you’ll probably have a misty haze over you. Happy Thursday!
^^
. .
^
o
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
Kelly,
No worries – I don’t know too many ladies who are into those sorts of films
(I think it might be similar to The Three Stooges that way…)
Friar & I had a good night last night, though I wasn’t too misty when I returned home (still trying to beat this illness, so I didn’t want to pickle myself too much!)
@Kelly
I’m suprised a quotable-quote literary afficionado like yourself didn’t get the reference to A Brave New World.
(Heck, if we dumb illiterate Enjineers have read the book, almost everyone else would have too).
Friar’s last blog post..You know you’ve experienced a true Canadian winter when…
@Friar,
That’s because we *work* for Brave New World Company, and we know our place
@Brett
Just like in the book, those children that are designated to be “Epsilons” (manual laborers) are discouraged from reading books and learning. They get electric shocks if they try.
Same thing over here at the Factory. They just want me to fill out forms and read procedures. I get electric shocks and scolded any time I think of something original or creative.
(ZZZZap!). (ow!). See? I’m beign shocked, just for writing this!
Friar’s last blog post..You know you’ve experienced a true Canadian winter when…
@Friar,
Good thing we look good in black, eh?
Friar,
I read it, I just was bored to tears, as I recall. Some books don’t grab me, and that was one. Moby Dick was another, and War and Peace. My goodness the torture high school students have to endure!
On the other hand, I remember every bit of Dickens, Shakespeare, Spanish lit, every play and every bit of poetry from that time of my life. Hooked.
So I’m not a total loss, but I might be a total loss to you, hehe.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..5 Things My Kid’s Winter Concert Can Teach You About Customer Experience
@Kelly
Funny…when I think of Dickens and Shakespear…I think: Meh.
It was okay. But Meh.
(But then again, I’m an unwashed illiterate engineer…as the Artsy students loved to remind us!)
Friar’s last blog post..You know you’ve experienced a true Canadian winter when…
@Kelly & Friar,
I’ve gone back and re-read books I was forced to read in high school as an “adult” and not surprisingly I enjoyed them a lot more.
I could see Brave New World would be terribly boring in high school (as it might be boring to some people who are all grown up and so forth!) – I mean, as a teenaged boy that wasn’t perhaps the sort of literature I wanted to read.
(Cue the ever popular admission of guilt, “Honest! I just read ‘it’ for the articles!”)
@Brett
That’s the problem with High-School English.
They’d take something like Brave New World (or any other book) and dissect it and over-analyze it to death,for months. By the time we were done with it, we were so damend SICK of it, we’d swear never to read that author again.
Mabye if they had just let us READ the book to enjoy it, more of us wouldnt’ hate literautre so much.
Friar’s last blog post..You know you’ve experienced a true Canadian winter when…
@Friar,
Exactly. We had to study “A Canticle for Leibowitz” in Grade 9.
Tearing it apart passage by passage ruined it, but I re-read it a few years later and I really liked it. It is actually a pretty good book I thought.
If they just let you read it, they wouldn’t be able to test that you learned what you were supposed to learn..
Sometimes I really wonder about the value of testing. I’ve often thought that students should just be judged by their teachers and their peers. No tests, just a “grade” assigned by the rest of their class and their teacher.
Yes, popular people would do better and misfits would sometimes do worse, but that’s pretty much what’s going to happen in life anyway.. and I suspect enough people would take their judgment task seriously that your final “grade” really would reflect your mastery of the subject.
I know, radical idea, no wings, no legs. Shrug..
@Tony,
Your idea for grading isn’t a bad one, you know.
I had one instructor at university who let us choose the weight for our final exam vs. the assignments for the rest of the semester. The grades on the assignments during the semester were done by our peers, the final was graded by the instructor. The final could be worth as much as 95 percent or as little as 5 percent, and you only had to let the instructor know at a one-on-one interview you had with him just before the final.
It was a team building and communications course, and so, there was a lot of incentive to participate.