andrew archer

Troels Carlsen

“Personally, I think it would only be fair to allow women unfettered access to higher education for the next 100 years or so, and routinely block men’s access — either by outright refusing their entrance or by reminding them of how inferior they are or by continually telling them that they “can’t have it all” and if they want a life and a job then they need to choose now (and of course emphasize that the morally sound choice is the “life”).

Put the majority of house and child-care responsibilities on men’s shoulders. Then structure domestic work policy in a way that makes it incredibly difficult for men to have enough time, money and energy to raise their kids and continue working full-time. Guilt them for being bad employees and bad parents. If they decide to stay home, tell them that they’re letting their brains turn to jelly and that they’re a disgrace to the Brotherhood. If they decide to work full-time, tell them that their children are deprived, and will inevitably grow up to be serial killers. And if they have the audacity to demand flexible work schedules so that they can balance their lives, guilt them some more about straining the resources of their workplace and asking for special treatment. Accuse them of being socialists.

Then allow women access not only to higher education, but also to the better-paying blue-collar jobs — and tell men that, unfortunately, no one in their right mind would trust a man to fix their car or their plumbing. Women have the small nimble fingers and the fine motor skills necessary to put all those little parts together. Don’t blame me, it’s just biology. And when men start to call bullshit, question their sexuality, their physical attractiveness, and their sanity.”

Dinesh D'Souza

the icelandic economy

”We had hundreds and hundreds of people studying finance.” This in a country the size of Kentucky, but with fewer citizens than greater Peoria, Illinois. Peoria, Illinois, doesn’t have global financial institutions, or a university devoting itself to training many hundreds of financiers, or its own currency. And yet the world was taking Iceland seriously.

There’s a charming lack of financial experience in Icelandic financial-policymaking circles. The minister for business affairs is a philosopher. The finance minister is a veterinarian. The Central Bank governor is a poet. Haarde, though, is a trained economist—just not a very good one. The economics department at the University of Iceland has him pegged as a B-minus student. As a group, the Independence Party’s leaders have a reputation for not knowing much about finance and for refusing to avail themselves of experts who do.

..on icelandic resources

The waterfalls and boiling lava generate vast amounts of cheap power, but, unlike oil, it cannot be profitably exported. Iceland’s power is trapped in Iceland, and if there is something poetic about the idea of trapped power, there is also something prosaic in how the Icelanders have come to terms with the problem. They asked themselves: What can we do that other people will pay money for that requires huge amounts of power? The answer was: smelt aluminum.”

-michael lewis (vanity fair 2009)

"I didn’t like the way I looked, the way I dressed and moved, what I achieved and what I felt I was worth. But there was so much energy in me, such belief that one day I’d be handsome and clever and superior and admired, such anticipation when I met new people and new situations. Is that what makes me sad?"

- Bernhard Schlink

the need to greet the teller

my husband and i discussed possibly robbing a bank. (in jest for all you government douches reading my blog.) we decided we were definitely gonna dress up..i was thinking a spandex cat suit with a batgirl eye mask. we noted that if we DID ever rob a bank, he would definitely have to be on his knees because he’s six foot four and we need to be anonymous.

we took into account various disguises..

..nuns

..presidential masks like point break (played out)

and

..muslim extremists

i just have to giggle, were so clumsy it would never work :oD

rambunctious sex scenes?..

am I the only one that really wasn’t impressed by the Reader? When it was all said and done, I just didn’t feel it was that big of a deal. The movie was portrayed much more dramatic then I felt it should be, AND I really wasn’t all that amazed by Kate Winslet’s performance either. I didn’t feel any connection with her character, it was so bland. She barely spoke any words during the first half of the film, and I don’t believe Kate Winslet is the type of actress good enough to convey emotion without really saying anything. All I could think of was ”Kate Winslet talking with a pseudo German accent with hint of a Swedish dialect” or ”Kate Winslet..wow her boobs really changed since Titanic.” and ”Wow Kate Winslet without much makeup on.” She doesn’t show me fire, I need more from her. But I respect her..I guess. But this whole thing with the ”greatest actress of our time” media spell doesn’t really fool me. I’ve experienced better. But I look forward to watching Revolutionary Road. Maybe that’ll change my opinion of her? I mean, in all honestly she makes really good sex scenes if that counts for anything…

eternal winter

…or so it seems. So i asked my husband when, oh when does it just begin to show a hint of spring in Iceland, and he just gave me that look and smiled. He said ”well, basically we have nine months of winter” and a good summer (which means sun, clear skies, little to no rain) is not even a given for the remaining three months out of the year. So as I look outside the window and bid everyone a happy march..I realize that there is STILL snow on the ground, and winter has shown no sign of even potentially stopping.

Deep down inside I really don’t mind. A couple days ago my husband had a reunion with one of his friends that he hadn’t seen in a few years. We decided to go for a drive through the winding roads up the hillside and blow smoke. He had actually been to a few cities in the United States, one of those being Orlando. They decided to skip going to Miami because his fiancee was pregnant and sick and, they didn’t feel the drive would be best. I congratulated them on such a well made decision. Then I described the Miami heat as if someone had locked you into a sauna for twenty four hours, without food. That seemed to get the point across :o) and make him laugh so that’s all that matters. (no the representation I give Miami to Icelandic people does not matter) I speak the truth!

So the weather change I’ve experienced really doesn’t bother me. Besides, I have just figured out how to layer properly. Everytime I would go outside, I figured I had enough to keep me warm but I’d always end up being a little cold. So here’s what I do now.. I wear a shirt of course, throw on a hoodie, put on my icelandic wool lopapeysa,following a jacket. I remember just two days ago when I first tried that combination. My husband and I were walking outside and 10 minutes later I say to myself, ”I’m not cold!!” It was the turning point.

Spring officially beings somewhere around the end of march I believe. Maybe I’m speaking to early when I refer to Iceland and the eternal winter. I guess we’ll see. I always happen to have a weird effect on weather anyways. Last summer in Iceland it was unusually the hot. The winter before that when I visited, it was unusually cold.

So much for that, it’s snowing outside.

i don’t know what’s worst. when i was living in LA, the neighbors above me would blast the mexican music with the insane accordian playing nearly everyday. and just to be clear, i have nothing against mexican accordian music, i love it all when the time and place is right-except at my apartment during nearly all hours of the day. and now, at this very moment the next door neighbors are blasting beyonce-if i were a boy. as if that was a good song?

i think i’ve done a fantastic job of managing to avoid it for so long. well that actually goes for all of beyonce’s music.

so i just want to take the time out to express my humble gratitude to the beloved company of print and paper manufacturing HP. Now that I am a customer, I can only hope for the improvement of the quality of my life, and the happiness of many others.

i needed to print something last night, and because the printer was something we never used, it was still sitting in it’s box. still wrapped with styrofoam. printers aren’t rocket science, and it was fairly easy to set up.

oh but just one problem. HP was nice enough to include

* the actual printer
* the plug to connect into the wall
* and the cord to connect into the plug that connects into the wall

and that was fine. now the printer was just able to turn on, but thanks to HP’s searing kindness, they don’t include the USB cord to connect the printer, to the computer.

it took me about five minutes to figure that out, because of the choice of languaged the manuels were in. i appreciate HP giving me three, but what the hell.. these languages were like nothing i have ever seen before. i don’t even know what country they’re from! only then..do i find out..that the usb cord..is not included.

what good does that do me HP?? thanks for selling me a big ol box with a printer and a plug to the wall. yeah who needs the usb. that’s definitely not important.