Wednesday of last week, a former employee of my unit (one who left before I came on-board) was found frozen to death in his car. An obituary was left at the main desk where I work–it consisted of about three typewritten lines detailing the date and time of the funeral, that the interment itself was going to be private, and that the man had worked at my unit.
A man’s life, summarized in three sentences. How fucken’ sad.
…but I’d really like to spend a vacation there.
Money Quote:
“Bella”: Look, Dad–you should be glad I still have my virginity.
Dad: I guess I can’t argue with that, can I?
Satire outstrips Reality when the plot of a porn movie makes more sense than the original movie it seeks to spoof.
From Steve Sailer’s iSteve Blog, the comment by Jeff Burton:
“pushing the boundaries of technology” in order to rehash Dances with Wolves and Disney’s Pocahontas.
Enough said.
Another primitive screw-head has tried to blow up a plane, Richard Reid-style: Increased Security at Detroit Metro Airport. Sounds like he used of the same mixture of PETN and liquid that Reid used as well–with similar results. And, like Reid, the passengers found their balls and kicked his ass. Good for them!
Excellent commentary over at Hot Air.
A bonus from the same site: Pregnancy banned while deployed; feminists shriek. File under “Feminist Horseshit”.
Man, I’ve got a long way to go.
Company Christmas Party last night. A dimly-lit hole in the wall with loud music and an absurd number of blondes. Seriously–I thought LA was the city where they grew on trees.
I watched my behavior during the party, to determine what I need to work on. I think I’ve got most of the basics down–upright posture, hands down, no crossing the arms, etc. What I suck at is eye-contact with strange women–I kept avoiding eye contact with the women in the club. It’s hard overcoming all those years of bad habits, and it doesn’t help that I just found out that a former co-worker of mine is being investigated for sexual harassment because he stared at a female co-worker. This is the People’s Republic, after all–you can get sued at the drop of a hat. Dammit, we don’t even own our eyes in this fuckin’ state!
The bigger problem I have is my passive behavior in groups; I am not initiating conversation, and I am not inserting myself into the dynamic of the group. I’m still dwelling on the fringe of the group, and when others move on to other conversations, I find myself alone.
So much to work on.
An additional: I definitely mis-characterized the Negotiator; she’s lost the muffin-top, and she doesn’t nearly have the heavy facial features that I originally thought she had. A 7. I’ve also discovered that she’s an Adventuress (see Practical Female Psychology for an explanation. Unfortunately, I don’t feel any interest for me on her part. Sigh
….if she could tell me the name of the guy who collects her garbage.
The Tiger Woods scandal is a tale of sex — and sexism
Sorry, Ms. Givhan; I can’t bring myself to feel any outrage over the treatment of Tiger’s mistresses, because I know all-too-well how women treat beta males. Maybe when women give as much social import to garbage collectors, butchers and security guards as they do to lawyers, doctors, and corporate CEO’s, I’ll start worrying about the social image of cocktail waitresses, lingerie models and porn stars.
With a tip o’ the hat to Kathie Shaidle over at Five Feet of Fury for the link, and the pithy summation: “Female writers don’t get groupies. We get stalkers.“
One point to the contrary, pace Mrs. Shaidle; this, is the actual money quote:
“Men are typically seen as having agency and women are typically seen as being acted upon in romantic relationships,” says New York writer Emily Gould (a survivor of her own small-scale sex scandal). “So then even when those stereotypical power dynamics aren’t really the ones at play, the culture-making machinery will simplify whatever the real story is until it is a more familiar wronged-woman, lothario-man narrative.”
Something interesting happened at work today; I got a front row view of alpha behavior from one of my co-workers–and I have to say, I am impressed.
One of the things I have noticed about women in general is their tendency to let their emotional state block rational analysis–not hinder, but out and out block. Today, a young lady approached my desk looking for directions to a department that is located in a building several blocks away. When I tell her this, she complains, “But the webpage said it was here”.
Me: “I’m sorry, but it’s not located in this building–it’s over at XX address.”
Her: “But I checked the web–it’s supposed to be here.”
Co-worker: “I understand your confusion, but he’s right.”
Her: “But the–”
Co-worker: “Look. If you don’t listen to what I say, you won’t understand what I’m trying to tell you. You have to go to XX address, because that is where you’ll find what you are looking for, ok?”
The moment he said “Look,” I saw a definite change in her behavior; when she spoke to me, she kept looking around, confused and unfocused–clearly upset. When my co-worker said “Look,” she snapped into focus, and was visibly listening to him.
I think I understand something about what I’ve been doing wrong in my interactions with women. I tend to look at things from a problem-solving mindset–what does this person need to solve their problem? Is it directions, information, support? I then offer them what they need, and expect them to respond as I would. That wasn’t working with this woman, because she was too emotional (upset at being wrong) to do the logical thing (take the correct info and move on). This is actually kind of common, now that I think about it–all to often, people ask me for information, and then don’t listen.
My co-worker knew what to do; he took command of the situation, and directed her to the appropriate location. He led, while I suggested. He actively changed her behavior, while I passively attempted to do so.
The closest thing I can relate it to (and brother, would I catch hell if I said it out loud where I work) is what Caesar Millan does with dogs: he assumes leadership status and leads dogs to a calmer, more submissive state. My co-worker did the same thing–he assumed leadership status and lead her to a calmer, more submissive state.
I don’t think I’ve ever done that with a woman before–if I have, I did so without realizing it.
After all I’ve been through, I’m still acting passive; I’m sliding right back into the same fucking behavior that has made me miserable all along.
By Ferdinand Bardamu of In Mala Fide, no less. I had wondered about the sudden spike in traffic.
In Mala Fide is one of my daily reads, and Ferdinand is one of the big fish of the “Roissysphere”–a collection of bloggers who discuss The Game and it’s social impact. I read what they write and consider what they say very seriously.
I am honored, sir.
