Author: Dan G.

Experiments in cooking

So this year I decided I’m going to try to make myself a better person in many ways. I’ve really been inspired by my current job to make a lot of changes in my life; one of these realizations was that I really need to eat healthier. The first part of that was quitting soda; I had quite a habit going. I’m sure Coca-Cola will miss me. So, my latest experiment is to see if I can manage to learn to cook without killing myself in the process.

Let me explain: I am a horrible cook. Anything beyond “place in microwave, cook for 6 minutes on high” is intimidating to me. Growing up, I managed to set the toaster oven on fire at least twice, and turn what was supposed to be a grilled cheese sandwich into a lump of formless charcoal from which a rather unbelievable amount of smoke emanated. Needless to say, sometime during high school the rule became that Dan stays away from the kitchen. I was that guy. So when I moved out on my own, I didn’t really have any skills to put together a good meal on a day to day basis. I lived off delivery food and frozen meals, with occasional cold cuts or hot dogs to liven things up. Side note: Stouffers frozen meals are God’s gift to those who cannot cook.

Anyway, given my decision, I had spoken to a couple of friends and the universal decision was that I should get a crock pot, because there was little I could do to catastrophically fail at that endeavor – or so they thought. My first couple of crock pot experiments resulted in inedible, hard-to-clean-up messes, including an ill-advised attempt at oatmeal (thank you, internet). But tonight, I celebrate my first successful crock pot meal: Salsa chicken. And it’s actually really tasty. I feel so accomplished, like the first hunter to kill a boar. (Ladies and gentlemen, I give thee: Suburbia!)

So, this is where it starts. Soon I will move to the grill. And from there, who knows where I’ll stop.

Look out world. Here I come.

Tragedy in Tucson

I woke up today to hear that AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, along with Judge John Roll and many other bystanders. A psychopath went on this shooting spree at a Safeway down in Tucson at a small rally. Thankfully Rep. Giffords looks like she may pull through; Judge Roll and some of the others weren’t as lucky. What I hoped to see was a universal condemnation of the gunman as a lunatic and an outpouring of support for the families of those injured or killed. I hoped, but knew that it was too much. I knew I’d be disappointed, and I was right.

Not ten minutes after the shooting, people were already politicizing and pointing fingers. As Giffords is a Democrat, the fingers naturally all started pointing right – Palin seems to be the biggest target, because she said Giffords was a “target” in the election. Get that? Target! Like what you shoot at! She even put an image of crosshairs over AZ to illustrate this on her website! Obviously Palin called for her assassination! Obviously Tea Partiers are insane murderous psychopaths! Obviously people like that shouldn’t have guns! Oh, the humanity!

But wait. Markos from the Daily Kos ALSO referred to Giffords as a target with a bullseye over her district, with one of his co-bloggers saying she was “dead to me.“And Giffords is a blue dog Democrat, one that gets a lot of flak and anger from the far left for not being far enough left herself.

And wasn’t there a judge there too? Judge Roll? Didn’t he actually DIE in the attack? Why aren’t we hearing about him? The judge received death threats over his decision to certify a case where illegal immigrants sued an Arizona rancher for $32 million. He was under full-time police protection for a month.

And weren’t other people there too? A 9-year-old girl was killed too, with a confirmed death toll of 6 so far according to CNN and rising. What about them?

And who is the shooter? A quick look at his Youtube channel reveals that he’s a bit of an anarchist and an atheist, believes that money should go away, and that the government is trying to subject us all to mind control. He also lists the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf as his favorite books. Not quite your normal Tea Party set of beliefs. In fact, he sounds like a raving, rage-filled – and possibly schizophrenic – lunatic. Which he is.

And that’s the point of all this spinning and twisting, isn’t it? One guy goes nuts and shoots a bunch of people, including a vaunted, important, larger-than-life person in Congresswoman Giffords. It’s a scary thought to a lot of people, that one man could change things that much. And so, like all the great conspiracies, they try to latch it on to a bigger picture. If it’s Palin’s fault, then there’s another larger-than-life figure to blame, a movement to demonize, a conspiracy at work. It’s not just one man, it can’t be. It can’t be so seemingly meaningless as that. Life can’t be that fragile.

But it is.

So people latch on to the part that interests them – not the injured people, not the dead judge or little girl – and politicize it, spin it, and try to make it anything but what it is: a single, evil man doing something horrible. Because if that can happen, then it can happen to anyone, and that’s just too scary to think about for some people. Bill Whittle wrote brilliantly about this idea a few years ago.

So please: take a step back and see this for what it is:  a crime, a multiple murder, a tragedy. Don’t try to spin this to your political belief system or make this about you. The blame lies squarely at the feet of the shooter. Instead, ask yourself: what can the community do for those families who were hurt by this? What can I do?

When this is becomes the natural response, instead of a full day of blameshifting and namecalling, then we’ll finally be getting somewhere. In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers go out to Giffords and the others injured, as well as the families of those killed.

Happy New Year

In the words of one of my very favorite writers, Neil Gaiman, who regularly puts things far better than I imagine I ever shall:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Happy new year, friends.

Crazy Busy

For many people, the holiday season is a time of family get-togethers, warm fires, playing in the snow, watching old movies, and sipping hot cocoa.

For those of us who work in the customer service side of a multinational technology company whose products are a perennial gift-giving favorite, it’s a season to work extra hours, be very busy, and a chance to prove yourself as the best of the best.

Needless to say, I’ve found my niche. I’m enjoying the first job I’ve had in… ever?… that I’m totally passionate about and really believe I can succeed and make a career out of. I hope I’m right, because I’m having a blast working for some of the coolest people I’ve ever met for a company that knows how to treat its employees. I didn’t see myself getting here, and even as it was happening, I kept holding my breath, waiting for the hammer to fall, waiting to hear the “yes, but…” or the news that I was being demoted, cut back, or cut loose… But it never happened. I succeeded, and the people I’m working for have seen that and recognized it and recognized me for it.

It’s a pretty damn good feeling.

So if I’ve been busy or unavailable, I am sorry. It’s only going to get worse for the next month or so, but after that we should be good again. In the meantime, things are great here, despite all the insanity taking place around the country, and I’m savoring every minute of it. I might even try to find time to comment again on some of the insanity. Who knows…?

Thanks for still reading after all this time. I’m always humbled by people who stumble across this one way or another and choose to leave me feedback. It’s a blast and I don’t want to let this go on another several-month dead period (whoops…), so if there’s something you’d like to see here, let me know!