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March 28, 2007
impending baby explosion
last week i hung out with ellie, (her baby filled belly), and tyler. while sitting on her couch i flipped thru a babies r us catalog and eyeballed all the things i wanted to buy. not, of course, for myself since my belly is certainly not full of impregnating sperm, but for my brother who has knocked up his girlfriend. yes, that is right, i am going to be an aunt come october. i know there are not many family-minded individuals on CH. nor are there many people (that i know of) that are aunts/uncles. i've told some of my cousins who either are uncles or about to become uncles and we discussed the delights of not being parentals but getting to buy the love of these tiny new relatives. i am so excited to be the absolute best aunt ever to my niece or nephew. sure, i'm going to have to fight for this title with erin's two sisters, but i don't admit defeat easily!
my mom and i have already begun stock-piling for this baby explosion. i mean, first john and katherine will have isabella in april. a week later, ellie will have lucas. and then 6 months later, adam and erin will pop out their un-named, unknown gender baby. so far we have books, night-lights, and an antique crib. well, and a turtle whose shell has a constellation map that lights up on the ceiling, but i already gave that to ellie. i want to buy strollers, car seats, tiny baby clothes!, mobiles!, man i want to buy everything!
auntie michele. oh man.
Posted by michele at 04:20 PM | Comments (6)
March 23, 2007
SPOILER "and if you watch battlestar galactica, you are a nerd." SPOILER
SPOILERS IN HERE
SERIOUSLY, SPOILERS
FOR BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AND STARGATE ATLANTIS
SPOILERS
i've become obsessed with SCIFI channel shows. i downloaded and watched almost 3 seasons of battlestar galactica (BSG) and then netflixed season 2 of stargate atlantis and downloaded season 3. i had just started getting over the horror of BSG killing off one of my favorite characters (kara thrace) and was going to finish watching season 3 of it when they killed off carson beckett in SA. WHY must they kill people off? it's fucking retarded. they are replacing beckett with jewel staite (from firefly) but that's not healing my sorrow!
i am a sorrowful nerd!
so say we all? GO FRACK YOURSELF, MOTHERFRACKER!
Posted by michele at 05:53 PM | Comments (11)
this post? not pretty.
In my library science management class, the teacher's notes for this week, include a mention of the Theory X/Y debate. She writes, "Process theories consider one's expectations and preferences. In my view [Theory X/Theory Y discussions] are a bit outdated. I've rarely met anyone who wants to admit they embrace Theory X attitudes--perhaps there's one of you in this class, but I doubt it." After reading the Theory X and Theory Y outlines, I have to agree that I would never want to embrace the majority of Theory X, however, I do kind of tend towards hating work.
#1 of Theory X is "Work is inherently distasteful to most people," while the #1 of Theory Y is, "The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. The average human being does not inherently dislike work; depending on controllable conditions, work may be a source of satisfaction (and will be voluntarily performed) or a punishment (and will be avoided, if possible)."
I don't know if it has to do with my Gen-X apathy, my Gen-Y belief that I'm owed something (I was born on the cusp AND I hate labels), or the way I was raised (spoiled), but I do sort of find work "distasteful". I still do it, but I mostly try to avoid it out of an inherent laziness. I certainly don't see work as is "natural as play or rest"--it's definitely something that I find more taxing than enjoyable. I used to say (along with my best friend) that we just needed to find a job that we loved and then we would like working. However I've lost hope in finding something I love doing enough to do it "voluntarily". My friend still has faith, which I find remarkably deluded at this point (though still endearingly adorable, of course).
In point of fact, I'd say that no one does work just for the satisfaction of doing it. The whole chapter is about motivation and basically it's motivators which make us do work--not our own free will. Even if someone's motivation is just a pat on the back at the end of the day--that's still a motivating factor which indicates a lack of volunteerism. Selfless do-gooders MAYBE treat AIDS in Africa or teach agriculture in South America out of the goodness of their hearts, but they've probably got their motivators too.
In the summary at the end of the this week's chapter, the authors write, "Motivation is inseparable from an individual's goals, values, psychic needs, and life experiences. What motivates one person may completely fail to strike a responsive chord in another." Maybe it's not that I haven't found my perfect position yet, but that I have yet to discover the motivator which speaks to my individuality. Maybe someday I'll find it and a job will no longer be just a job. Then again, maybe my current motivator which keeps me looking is to delude myself into believing that.
Posted by michele at 05:45 PM | Comments (2)