Jobs in the next decade

NPR Makes the best interactive graphs.

Jobs are bound to go up...eventually. Though economists predict it might take at least another decade, this NPR article claims that the U.S. will eventually create up to 15million jobs in the next ten years, with the Unemployment Rate dropping to 5%. A pretty big claim, I don't completely doubt that. What is interesting are the predictions of the markets where these jobs will open up. I guess, in a re-shaping economy, jobs bloom first in the lower paying, lesser qualified, least desirable sectors of the workforce.

Apparently, I should look into truck driving.

US output.

The Indians put out way more than anyone else.

For commentary, go here.

Women Artists in the post-YBA era

Artkrush/Flavorpill does a slideshow feature highlighting the new (relatively speaking) big women artists of this next "generation". The new Cecily Browns, Lisa Yuskavages, Tracy Emins, etc.

To tell you the truth, I am not as overwhelmingly inspired as I thought I would be. Then again, the works are not as blantant and in-your-face as I expected, these women artists seem to have taken a much more subtle stance in their art and aesthetics. I especially like the works of Katie Paterson, Hannah Starkey, and Tomma Abts.

Check out the slideshow HERE

CNN outs Annoying Facebook Users

this amazingly irrelevant article by CNN describes the 12 most annoying types of Facebookers. Quite brilliant. Ahhh, the internet generation.

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

For the Unemployed, the Day Stacks Up Differently

By AMANDA COX, SHAN CARTER, KEVIN QUEALY and AMY SCHOENFELD

Published: July 31, 2009

Nearly 1 in 10 members of the American work force are unemployed — a level not seen in 27 years.

Multimedia

Interactive Graphic

How Different Groups Spend Their Day

Without a paying job, these Americans have picked up other forms of labor: vacuuming the house, sending out résumés, taking classes and caring for family. And the unemployed have more time for leisure and socializing.

Sunday Business analyzed new data from the American Time Use Survey to compare the 2008 weekday activities of the employed and unemployed. The comparison may seem obvious, but differences in time spent by these two groups can be striking.

On an average weekday, the unemployed sleep an hour more than their employed peers. They tidy the house, do laundry and yard work for more than two hours, twice as much as the employed. The unemployed also spend an extra hour in the classroom and an additional 70 minutes in front of the television.

The annual time use survey, which asks thousands of residents to recall every minute of a single day, is important to economists trying to value the time spent by those not bringing home a paycheck.

"If all we were doing is substituting production at home for production in the marketplace," said Daniel S. Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, "then maybe unemployment wouldn't be so bad."

twits

So as most of you know or have figured out I have a twitter account. For those of you who had no idea, there it is, now you know. For those of you who won't be my friend now that I've revealed this, I don't want to be your friend either.

I've only twittered (tweeted, whatever) maybe once or twice, and probably log in three times a week at most. I'm not that much a fan of the site, and though it can be slightly intriguing it is pretty darned pointless. Plus, I hate the fact that all links are scrambled and you can never get an idea of what you'll be linking to. Dangerous, I tell you! But I'm certainly not going to hate on people who tweet like there's no tomorrow. Not only is that unfair, but I know that Twitter has become a relevant Thing (like, it's a Thing with a capital T, something culturally significant, maybe more of a fad than anything lasting in our world but not just a plain ol' thing.) and plus it allows me to stalk, ahem, find out about people and kill some free time. I know, me, free time, crazy right?

Today, however, I found that Twitter can indeed be a really useful, stimulating and even educational tool.

Okay, yes, I think this way because it will tell me things like the location of the Kogi truck and what flavors ice cream the General Greene is serving on any given day. Nay, any given MINUTE. But that's not why I'm blogging about twittering (like whoa, so 2009 of me). See, I've been racking my brain to find ways that I can stay in tune with the art world. When I was in college, (Ready, time warp machine?) my very right brained self was relatively sharp in making art world criticisms, comparisons, and assessments of works and of artists. By the time I graduated I had trained myself to talk art lingo, to see things in art that did not exist, and to familiarize myself with not only older art history figures, but current and emerging artists as well.

Then a funny thing happened - I forgot everything. It was like my brain was wiped clean by alien mutants! (weird comparison, sorry.)

I went from knowing how to talk about art, to knowing how to talk about a signle roster of 25 artists. I suppose this happens in many fields, and frankly I'd love for my neurosurgeon to be focused on exclusively my brain and the synapses that are firing...not my brain a little, and my toes a little, and oh, a little bit of my gall bladder as well. But art is not a science (duh) and is informed so SO much by its history and by it's relevance, you gotta be in it to win it.

Now, of course I can do my own reading and research. But I'm not disciplined enough to do this, aside from the fact that I'm so far removed it's hard to figure out where to jump in, or even how to retain any information that I do manage to collect.

This is where twitter comes in. I knew that everyone was on twitter. But I had no idea that EVERYONE IS I ON Twitter. Artnet, The MoMA, Art Fag City, the list goes on, all these amazing institutions and publications and super knowledgeable art sources, they are all there talking art and art world gossip. What I like about art news in twitter feed is the more approachable and digestible format for which art news is presented. I love ArtForum just as much as anyone else, but sometimes the articles and reviews are so scholarly and so word-centric that I get lost in the writing and can't even begin to analyze what the art is about. All I need is a 140 word round-up about what's going on, who thinks what, which artist is featured in which museum this month. Twitter, I've discovered, allows me to pick up names and bits of information much like I would gain in any normal discussion.

140 words or less. That's how I'm going to get back into the art world.

Comeback Kids

I spent 63 minutes on the treadmill today. Before you congratulate me, I have to tell you it was only to watch the soccer game on TV, and the last 30 min was spent at a walking pace. I also tripped several times because I was paying too much attention to the TV and not enough attention to which part of the treadmill was moving and which one wasn't.

I love soccer. I forget about it sometimes, but watching professional soccer, especially European teams, really makes me miss playing. At this point I haven't played for almost ten years (yikes!) and the last time I played a little bit of pick-up I felt so embarrassingly out of shape. Actually, I was out of shape, my legs and my back hurt for three days thereafter. Ooof, I'm getting old.

Soccer fan or not, everyone knows that the U.S. pretty much sucks in terms of soccer enthusiasm. My dad thinks it's because soccer isn't a sport that's conducive to the American marketing and capitalistic creed - Not too many commercials in a sport where there are two 45-minute halftimes and no time-outs. I tend to agree, and also think it has a hard time competing with sports that are so much faster-paced and higer scoring. Anyway the lack of professional soccer support has often led to the U.S. being disregarded as competitors, and it's usually proven true by early losses.

So I was surprised, first of all, that soccer was actually playing on ESPN today. I was also surprised, second of all, that the US was in a semifinal game! Really!? Watching the teams play, it was obvious that Spain is actually a better team, but guess what, the better team doesn't always win. Sometimes a little bit of luck and a few breakaways just need to happen. And that's what happened today.

USA vs. Spain

2-0

Europeans are regarding this as one of the bigger upsets in recent soccer history. Spain is a team that had a 15-game winning streak, and had not lost since November 2006. They were widely regarded as the favorites to win the entire tournament. Not any more!!

ok. Thanks for listening to me geeking out about sports for a bit. I'm telling you, I've got something for everyone on this bloggity blog. (And finally, soccer players are so hot)

The "hipsta" neighborhood

I always say I'm lucky to have lived my entire life in liberal-minded environments, call them left-wingers, blue states, Democrats, atheists, the public education system, non-profits, whatever have you- I've been surrounded by these groups and their beliefs for as long as I've been able to think. I leave the right-wing, Obama-hating, Super Jesus masses confined, in theory, mostly to states like South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, those glaringly red states that offer zero appeal, ideologically or otherwise.

Hence when I came across this man I'm about to mention, a man born and bred in Brooklyn, who is just as righteous about his conservative views as the Pope, I was appalled. Jay Mundy is a conservative media blogger and radio personality, with a website dedicated to all his silly rants. There's too many things to mention about his insane conservative views, you just have to visit his website to believe it.

I was drawn to his specific June 15 broadcast because it was about him visiting Williamsburg for the first time, written in the Brownstowner blog with the headline, "Conservative Talk Show Host Beholds Williamsburg". W'burg! My 'hood! Hmm, click.

This man irritated my right off the bat. First of all, his monologue begins with a horrible introduction calling him a conservative warrior, paired with a whiny country song whose lyrics sing "God Is Great, Beer is Good...and People are Crazy" (twang twang twang). Seriously.

Then Mr. Mundy comes on the air, and spewing in his horrible Brooklyn accent, announces that indeed he broadcasts from "The sick city of New York," or as he likes to call it, "New York Sicky". He goes on to profess that he's a lifelong Brooklynite, born and bred in the "ethnic" Irish-Italian parts of the borough. Because in today's society, the ethnic struggles of the Irish and the Italians in America are rife with stories of hardship and heartache. But I digress. He eventually continues to the topic of his monologue, which is as previously stated, Williamsburg.

Now before I go on to what he says, I just want to add that I go back and forth between my thoughts of Williamsburg, usually I find it rather annoying and cliche but on many days I also find it to be a complete gem of a neighborhood. Williamsburg is a big area, there's a lot to do, a lot of spaces to do things in, and well, my favorite, a lot of things to eat.

But how does Mr. Mundy describe it? Here are some passages that I've transcribed:

"Just think of wherever you are, the most left-wing hippie person you can think of...most left-wing, lunatic, liberal hippie - 1960's nutcase, off the wall, keep that image in your head...now multiply that by hundreds, by thousands. THAT is what Williamsburg is, it is extremely scary."

"[They have] tattoos all over them, people are high on drugs all day, and they got tattoos on their faces and they're all wearing weird clothes, like something that you can't even imagine that you'd see in a hollywood picture and say, 'That's not the real world.' ...these are misfits, that's what they are, and they're acting out."

"There are no cops on the street because they hate it - you should see it, there's graffiti , they think graffiti is art! There is graffiti everywhere! - There's no cops on the street because they hate power, they are extreme leftists."

And that's just from Part One. I got so sick of listening to him that I didn't even go on to Part Two. But you are more than welcome to check it out yourself, below:

Part One:

Part Two:

Good Week/Bad Week

I highly recommend adding The Week to your daily reading list, or just subscribing to it (It's pretty cheap not to mention a great bathroom read). The Week is, as it's namesake indicates, a weekly publication of current events, editorial roundups, cartoons, and all sorts of random bits of information from news sources all over the world. It's informative without being too wordy, which is important to me. (I could have just said it was concise, I know...)

My favorite section is the Good Week/Bad Week page. The editors take pretty bizarre news stories and deem them either good or bad for whoever or whatever is involved. Example:

Good week for:

'Heteropaternal superfecundation,’ after Mia Washington of Texas entered the biology textbooks because a DNA test revealed that her 11-month-old twins have different fathers. She admitted to have been sleeping with two men when they were conceived.

Internships, after a small Spokane, Wash., distillery developed a small army of volunteers to bottle and package its vodka and gin for no pay, as long as they get free shots of the products at the end of their shift. “It’s grown popular entirely by word-of-mouth,” said Don Poffenroth of Dry Fly Distilling.

Miracles, after a Texas couple reported finding a Cheetos cheese snack that bears an incredible resemblance to Jesus. Dan and Sara Bell said they will see what they can get for “Cheesus” on eBay. “If it’s only 25 cents, we’re just going to eat it,” said Dan.

Bad week for:

Maureen Dowd, The New York Times columnist, who admitted that a 43-word paragraph in a recent column was nearly identical to a paragraph written by blogger Josh Marshall. Dowd’s explanation was that she somehow lifted the paragraph from a conversation with a friend, who “must have read Josh Marshall without mentioning that to me.”

Driving under the influence, after a Massachusetts man was ticketed for driving erratically while eating a bowl of cereal on his lap. He explained that he was hungry.

Bodybuilding, after doping officials showed up to do steroid tests at the Belgian bodybuilding championship, and all 20 muscled competitors grabbed their gear and ran out the door. “I have never seen anything like it,” said doping official Hans Cooman.

See more Good Week/Bad Weeks HERE

Laodicean

L-A-O-D-I-C-E-A-N (ley-od-uh-see-uhn). Whoa.

Some little girl from Kansas correctly spelled that word to win this year's spelling bee. I have mixed feelings about the spelling bee- I am a sucker for competition, especially nerdy ones that require contestants to spell things right. But at the same time, I feel so sad for these kids. The spellling bee might very well be the single greatest highlight of their childhood. Clearly these children are not cut out to be captain of any Varsity squad, or crowned their high school Homecoming Kings. Nerdom is so bittersweet.

However, they will probably go on to Stanford, get their Masters degrees in two years, then develop a some crazy Google-like startup, make a kabillion dollars, and hire me to clean their house.

Check out more Images via the Daily News

Also, you may not have known this, but check out my little moment of glory:

Santa Clara County Spelling Bee, circa 1994

Tanya and I wore our John Muir Wildcat t-shirts for school spirit. Nhut Pham went all out and wore a shirt & tie.

If I remember correctly, I got all my words right. I spelled Rendezvous perfectly. We got 2nd place, I think. Ahhh, the finer moments of my childhood.