RKNet Blog... Thing

Simple links that summarize my feelings for this particular pseudo holiday that inspires more jealousy, depression, and ill-will than possibly even Christmas!

• Wordlab - $122.98 Says I Love You In which the spending habits of the besotted and pussywhipped are discussed.
• Ectomo - Lupercalia: Happy Fucking Valentine’s Day In which the dubious history of the holiday’s Christian/pagan associations is discussed.
• The Sherman Foundation - New Word Order: Honey Trapper In which the definition of a newer phrase says a lot about modern relationships.

Enjoy tomorrow’s discount candy!

Tonight is the company christmas party. A handful of us are circumventing the overpriced drinks scandal by pre-gaming hardcore. I expect someone to fall victim to the Rocky Mountain Bearfucker. (I’m not convinced that’s the right recipie, will update when I’m sure.)

Gotta dig my car out from out underneath about a foot and a half of snow before any of that.

Do you know what’s awesome? Selling out.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of having a radio show. I loved radio. Every Christmas I would spend the entire day just listening to old episodes of This American Life. It was my tradition. With the advent of podcasting, I felt that there was finally a medium better than radio. For a short time I even did my own podcast, which was considered awesome, but was actually terrible. But I believed in the medium, I saw that there were a lot of things people were doing with podcasting that people did not do with radio.

So when I decided to try and get a radio show, I thought I would try to create a radio show with all the virtues of podcasting. And that was my plan. Until today. Because my show was greenlighted today. The station I will be on thought my demo was good, but they have a popular show that mixes Japanese and English, and they want me to throw out appropriate Japanese expressions at random times. And they want me to talk about plamo, action figures, and figurines.

Random Japanese expressions. Really. I feel like a whore. But, that’s showbusiness!

- Kento Ikeda, sexy bourgeois.

I technically speaking didn't wear a bra today! *GASP* Given my overall build, it's typically fairly impractical for me to go without a bra and also without attracting unnecessary attention or getting annoyed.
However, the last few days have left me with aches and pains in my back and ribs, and I believe it has to do with weight gain coupled with a poorly fitted bra.
So today as an alternative I wore a tanktop with one of those “shelf bra” type things in it. I typically don't trust that type of garment any further than I can throw it (i.e. not far), but today has worked out fairly well. I threw a button down over the tank, and I've been comfortable and devoid of awkward attention all day. Although the “awkward attention” factor definitely hinges on how much I focus on whether or not I should feel awkward. Well, I haven't really thought about it all that much all day, and everything has gone swimmingly.
I don't have stomach pains, rib pains, back pains, general discomfort, and I haven't had to fuck with my bra straps all day.
They haven't made the shelf bra top yet that can truly, properly contain my extreme boobage, but this one I got from Express for Christmas comes pretty close to perfect.
Thank goodness, too, because with the rampant stresses and my general lack of personal care a break on some level was more than necessary.
With that, I say unto you Ladies of Larger Bust: Try out a shelf tank! Your body will thank you for it.

http://www.b3ta.com/features/phalliclogoawards/

A local restaurant just got covered by this blog for having a phallic logo.
Check out the Chop Shop’s logo and decide for yourself!
They’re really a remarkably great restuarant, if you can now get past the idea that it looks like a dribbly p33n0r.

Edit: I am an insensitive jerk and I forgot to credit my source! Thank to Regina Lynn over at Sex Drive Daily and one of her other devoted readers for locating this. I was just so shocked to see that the place where my company Christmas party was held has gotten internet notoriety now for having a phallic logo! :P

I’ve heard of at least a few people who are finding themselves more and more depressed lately. There are times where I’m tempted to lump myself in with that group as well, although for the most part I’m doing my damnedest to keep a relatively positive disposition despite mounting fears about my irresponsibility catching up to me.

As it turns out, I and my compatriots are far from the only ones who feel this way. Via The Sherman Foundation, I found an article at Ananova entitled Blue Monday. It addresses the phenomena of winter blues, particularly that post-Christmas slump a lot of people seem to fall into.

Just a short blurb of an article, but it cites a few villans of positivity that tend to crop up right around now:

• bad weather - That one is a big 10-4. Winter finally showed up around here, and I have to say the cold snap and the nearly snapping my neck walking to work on ice doesn’t do much for MY mood.
• mounting debt - You bet your arse this one’s creeping up with increasing urgency for yours truly here. My holidays were at least somewhat expensive, and without a “nest egg” to speak of, making rent is stressful as hell.
• failed resolutions - I didn’t have any specific “New Year’s Resolutions” but I was definitely poised for reform of my habits until all the ice hit. It seems sort of obscene to drive to the gym, drive home, then walk to work… when the gym is in the same building as my office. If they hadn’t taken away my parking space, it wouldn’t be an issue. I was feeling a little more positive about the whole thing before the prospect of walking to work became a dangerous one.

So yeah, I can see what they’re getting at with that.

The solution proposed in the article is “volunteer”. Well, that’s nice and all, but that won’t shore up the hole in my bank account, now will it? I’m all for doing for others, but dammit, you have to do for yourself first. If you can’t help yourself, what business do you have helping others?

Still, I have to look at all this from a positive persective. Being broke is encouraging me to start cooking again. It’s going to get me to follow through on setting some things straight. It’s going to motivate the hell out of me. Hopefully I can take all this negative propulsion and adjust it, setting a trajectory that will slingshot me back to home using the moon’s gravitational pull. Or something.

atheist christmas trees
That’s right, you heard me.
These are the kinds of things that make me laugh out loud. If nothing else it’s proof-positive that no one is above an excuse for presents!
Originally spotted over at ToM’s daily (or at least semi-daily) Wired blog roundup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

For any of you who have worked retail, I’m sure the term “Black Friday” is already in your vocabulary. It is likely said with a great deal of dread for those still in retail, and pity or disgust for those who have moved out of retail.

Seeing as Thanksgiving is as good a time as any to pause and think about the things we’re grateful for, I think this is one term that fits. I am very thankful that I am not working in the mall during this upcoming Black Friday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_convention
Much like the recent console launches and their ensuing horror stories, something about major commercial events really seems to bring out the worst in people. My heart goes out to the people patient enough to work during what will undoubtedly be another grueling holiday season without snapping. The endless christmas music alone was nearly enough to break me. Didn’t they come up with something in the Geneva Conventions against torture?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_price
Speaking of torture, the other thing to keep in mind when you’re out there scrambling to get “something for the guy/gal who has everything”, is that you’re invariably going to be played more artfully than a Stradivarius.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradavarius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory
Just remember that in the end, the holiday shopping season is basically a hunter-gatherer game. As a rule, it’s better to be a player than it is to be one of the played. “Savvy” isn’t just a five letter word afterall, it’s a mindset.

If you’re running monitarily tight this year, you may want to add this blog to your reading list: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/
You might also want to check out: http://www.makezine.com/
and the undoubtedly related: http://www.craftzine.com/

Once again, good luck to all who brave the horrors of Black Friday, and have a great Thanksgiving.