Timothy Egan is so much better than the rest of us

So I ran across this Op-Ed piece today, where some guy named Timothy Egan pretty much rips Joe Wurzelbacher (AKA "Joe the Plumber") a new one. To quote:

Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes, no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed, and not even any good as a faux American icon. Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him.

With a résumé full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion.

To quote The Church Lady, "Well, isn't that special". Editorial pieces such as this only cement the opinion that many in the traditional media looks down their noses at the "flyover country", much as Dickens' Pip looked down upon the very people that helped him in his time of need in Great Expectations. To roundly insult an entire segment of society betrays Mr. Egan's inner rage that someone who is "not a writer" could dare enter the esteemed ranks of "Dostoevsky or Norman Maclean".

But not to worry, Mr. Egan is not simply being insulting for the sake of insult - it's purely political. In the next paragraph, he asks...nay, implores publishers not to publish Sarah Palin's new book, with the fatally flawed logic of "Anyone who abuses the English language on such a regular basis should not be paid to put words in print." Nevermind that most public figures (the same non-writing public figures he runs down time and again) employ ghost writers, for the simple reason that they realize they are not professional writers. And I, for one, am eternally grateful that they do, despite the fact that "real writers"...well, I'll just quote the piece in question:

Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

But don't worry, President Obama will make it all better:

Our next president is a writer, which may do something to elevate standards in the book industry. The last time a true writer occupied the White House was a hundred years ago, with Teddy Roosevelt, who wrote 13 books before his 40th birthday.

What a royal douchebag.

Food Network Challenge has jumped the shark

When I first heard of "The Food Network" I thought it was the craziest idea I had come across. Imagine - an entire network about nothing but *food*. Don't get me wrong, I like to eat as much as the next computer geek, but I thought a Food Network was a little much.

Then I discovered the joy that is Good Eats, Iron Chef America, and Unwrapped. All these shows appeal to the inner geek, which is quite a feat. I even enjoy Food Network Challenge - it's amazing to see the artistry that people can put into cakes, and the dedication people have to their craft and profession, which I admire no matter what the person does ("Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.", Colossians 3:23-24, NIV). However, it seems that lately the execs at Food Network have run out of ideas, as evidenced by the ridiculous challenges we are seeing lately (Big City Cakes and Sugar Towers are two examples).

These challenges are, for all intents and purposes, impossible. You're asked to pull off amazing feats like make skyscrapers out of cake and fondant, or make a 20 foot tall tower out of sugar, or make bridges out of cereal (!), usually with disastrous results. All the while Kerry Vincent is wandering around, telling you how much you suck, how you don't deserve to be there, and how she could do it better. (I'm not fond of Ms. Vincent, can you tell?) Honestly, I don't know of many of the competitors that can stand her, and to be honest her constant nitpicking and griping is getting on my last nerve. My theory is that she has pictures of Food Network Executive Management is a compromising position.

I'm just waiting for the next Food Network Challenge: Eiffel Tower - where you have to make a 1/50th replica of the Eiffel Tower, entirely out of cooked spaghetti. All while Kerry Vincent is critizing you for cooking the pasta al dente.

How's about a breastmilk shake?

PETA activists are nutjobs. There, I said it.

WNBC in New York reports that PETA sent a letter to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream imploring them to start using breast milk in their ice cream. To their credit, B&J's pretty much told them to go pound sand.

But wait, that's not the best part. The precedent that PETA used for the request? A Swiss restaurant named Storchen has evidently started using human milk in it's dishes. Or at least he tried, but got shut down by the Swiss government.

Also, have a look at this character. I wonder if he even knows what breast milk tastes like. Some questions are better left unasked.

The Joy of Flight

I've decided to take private pilot lessons. I'll pause a moment while that sinks in.

Yes, I've gotten bored with having my job also be my hobby (as it is with most techie people) so at the urging of my father I've decided to pursue something I've always had more than a passing interest in. Today, I went to the Shelby County Airport for a "discovery flight" (basically to see if I have the nerve to fly in something that has about as much interior space as my car). I have to say, that was perhaps the coolest thing I've done, in a long time.

Honestly, the plane was not as hard to fly as I thought it would be. Of course, any seasoned pilot will tell you that *flying* is easy, it's the landing that takes skill and practice :-) . I have a *lot* of weight to lose before I can be as comfortable in the cockpit as I am in my Windstar, but I've needed to lose weight for the longest time anyway, and this is just one more reason to finally put down the Kit Kat bars and the Wendy's double cheeseburgers, get off my dead behind, and *do* something.

More to follow...

Long time no see

I got a PM from a reader on the weather forum I hang out on, saying that he was actually reading my blog (gasp, shock horror) :) and so i decided it was about time for an update. Not really much to say, other than I'm enjoying the new job position, even though I am *so* out of my element.

More later.