Friday, April 22, 2011

Know the Writer

Adam Silver,   head writer

  1. If I were a baby, I'd be 246 months old
  2. I have an X and a Y Chromosome, so I'm male
  3. I am skinny relative to an elephant, and really fat compared to a squirrel
  4. I have't lived in my parents house in 3 years
  5. I have never been completely independent
  6. My favorite drink is Diet A&W Root Beer…recently I tried Diet Mug, and it was a thorough disappointment.
  7. I have one brother and one sister, one mom and one dad
  8. I have anxiety attacks on a daily basis...Some are more severe than others.
  9. I have everything that I need, and most things that I want
  10. I have never been arrested, but got really close one time when a buddy and I were caught paint balling cars on Poplar. It was a whole lot of fun until I shot a police car…
  11. I'm kinda douchey
  12. I have never lost a family member and it terrifies me to even think about it
  13. I have a list of fears longer than I care to admit
  14. I have a love for movies-- I don't like foreign films that much.
  15. I have a scooter and love it
  16. I have a Mac and love it
  17. I have an Ipod and love it
  18. I have a camera and love it
  19. I have a drum kit and love it
  20. I have every CD I want and every movie I want except for Sin City
  21. I have plans to go buy Sin City next check
  22. I am overly obsessive about food, relationships, and my long term goals
  23. I am very good at handling short term goals
  24. I have never had a beer that I loved
  25. I have smoked a lot of weed, but never really liked it
  26. I have no interest in any mood altering drugs
  27. I have slept in a playground tube slide before
  28. I have always hated sleepovers
  29. I have my headphones in when I walk around campus and my studio so no one talks to me...people still talk to me.
  30. My favorite food is Indian
  31. My favorite color is Forest Green
  32. My favorite font is Helvetica…Arial's for quitters
  33. My favorite trilogy is Toy Story
  34. My favorite Ensemble is the cast of Arrested Development
  35. My favorite restaurant is Rainforest Cafe
  36. My favorite musician is Conor Olberst
  37. My favorite smell is Christmas
  38. My favorite words are "juxtaposed" and "antiquated"
  39. My favorite thing to read are blogs…I'm not a bookworm
  40. I fail at a whole lot of things I do
  41. I'm not my biggest fan
  42. I hate vanity and self loathing…I'm guilty of both
  43. I have a history of lying. I do still sometimes lie, but I have gotten a whole lot better. I've seen relationships get ruined by lying, and I've come to realize the error of my ways.
  44. One time, this guy at my old job referred to the lady with down-syndrom at my table as "the retard". I still fantasize about beating the shit out of him for it.
  45. The maddest I've ever been was when my old boss came in drunk 
  46. The happiest I've ever been was January 5th-January 10th
  47. The saddest I get is when I'm left alone with my thoughts for extended periods of times…As a result, not being able to sleep is more than annoying.
  48. I have argued about politics
  49. I'm beginning to lose hope in politics
  50. I have never argued religion
  51. I will never lose hope in the power of faith
  52. I don't believe in god, but there are certainly things that I can't explain
  53. I don't know everything
  54. I don't like seafood, but oddly enough I LOVE gefilte fish…and Swedish fish
  55. I don't like breakfast foods or deserts
  56. I don't like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, or Aerosmith 
  57. I don't like eating standing up
  58. I don't like talking and walking
  59. I don't like staying up late
  60. I don't like ignorance
  61. I've never liked a single extremist
  62. I'm pro-peace…who isn't
  63. I'm pro-choice
  64. I'm pro-gay rights
  65. I'm pro-government
  66. I'm pro-arts
  67. I'm pro-obama
  68. I'm anti-isralli/palestinian conflict
  69. I'm anti-fox news
  70. I'm anti-glee
  71. I think facebook does more good than bad
  72. I see why texting is good, but wish it didn't exist
  73. I like being alone, listening to music, working in the shop
  74. I have two tattoos…one I regret
  75. I have 4 piercing
  76. My favorite store in the mall is Yankee Candle
  77. I like going the malls in different cities
  78. If I became President, the first thing I'd do is sentence the people who work for U of M parking services to death…then I'd outlaw the death penalty.
  79. I shower obsessively because I refuse to be the fat kid who smells bad
  80. I still am afraid of the dark
  81. I still will revert back to a speech impediment if I blurt out without thinking
  82. For the first 11 years of my life, I was "Adam Schilvew"
  83. When I get sad, a lump in the back of my throat causes me to choke…The first time I noticed that was when I was playing soccer and I got a red card pulled on my for slide tackling. It still happens, and I've noticed it also happens when I get mad. This leads me to think that, for me, anger is just miscommunicated sadness.
  84. I've been accused of being "girly" by kids from grade school because I was always more interested in the arts than in sports.
  85. I can name every crush I have had since I was in kindergarten
  86. My latest crush is a girl from my english class freshman year….I still have a crush on her 
  87. I have no interest in sports, but she does…she must be "boy-y"
  88. I love puns
  89. I love cats, but would consider myself a dog person
  90. I love movie nights
  91. I prefer New York style pizza over chicago
  92. I prefer cold over hot
  93. I prefer acoustic over electric
  94. I prefer comedy over drama
  95. I prefer post modernism over all other art periods
  96. I carry my keys on my belt loop religiously
  97. I will never lose my wallet, keys, laptop, or Ipod
  98. I don't mind if I lose my phone
  99. I always finish what i start, even if I end it horribly
  100. I'm a lot like M. Night Shyamalan


Done!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A few quick things

  Hello, and welcome to Silver Dollar Value's first blog post in April. Like many of you, we here at SDV welcome the new month, and hope for it to be even better than the last. I know I personally have nothing but optimism regarding the month ahead as I've used up all my pessimism in January, February, and March.


This is the 9th (or something) post here at SDV, and we couldn't be more pleased by the vast number of responses and comments you guys are leaving for us. As always, your opinions mean so much, and without you, our loyal readers, this blog would all be in vane. As head writer/editor/publisher/sponsor for this blog, I personally would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you for your feedback, both positive and negative…it has all been heard, and has been very much considered with each press on the key board. I am very aware of my eagle eye readers, and I love you all. 


Now to piss you all off--


Lately I've been thinking a lot about the world around me and my role as a student, employee, roommate, boyfriend, son, obsessive doodler, and general human being. I've thought at great length about the human condition and how I can overcome my natural sense of arrogance and entitlement. Whether grocery shopping at Kroger or learning at school, it never fails me that I find tons and tons of examples of someone or something being unfair, cruel, annoying, or otherwise unjust. I am a firm believer in the goodness that exists in all beings, but I have noticed that people are getting further and further away from being genuine, honest to goodness, decent creatures in society. It seems like everyone is starting to abandoned their sense of right and wrong, and gravitate towards an easier, less friendly society. You don't believe me?


Examples:


1. A few weeks ago, I had critique for my sculpture class. It was not unlike any other critique we've had, and as always, I had spent hours and hours on my piece prepping it and making it perfect to be shown. By the time critique had come, I was ready to talk about it and discuss how I think it achieved what I was going for, and how I think it didn't. It was by no means a perfect product of mine, but never the less, it was my art, so I did have a little bit of stake in it. Well, it was finally time. The class had finally gotten to my piece and I was asked to talk about it. 
"This piece is meant to suggest the power media has in how we form our opinions... It is an intentionally angst y  subject matter that I feel like I lost a bit in the over all outcome of the final work... I am not happy with this piece and will be the first one to admit it."
I guess one person heard me say something else because the reactions I got were disgusting. One girl said it was obvious I didn't care about my work and that I shouldn't waste their time like I just did. She said that this was a good example someone (me) not caring about his work, and thussly, not caring about their time. 
Well bitch, you're probably right. The hours I spent in the studio both in class and out proves how much I don't care about my work. I should be more like you and just come to class every other time, spend 20 minutes twiddling my thumbs and smoking cigarettes, and leave. You're absolutely correct in assuming that I don't care about the class' time given my constant disregard for other people's art. I mean, what kind of monster must I be for participating in critiques as a fellow young artist, and not as a snobby, pissy brat like yourself. I'll have to model my art after yours-- stolen "for sale signs" and shitty pictures of a church being torn down. You're pathetic you snotty nosed drunken bitch.
(ps. I spoke with another girl from the class about it, and she agreed. "---------- just seems to hate everything…it's not you.")


2. I was at Shnucks (sp) doing some grocery shopping, and I noticed a great increase in prices. For instance, a pound of Fiji apples are generally $.79. This time, they were $.99. Also, generally a half pint of non dairy creamer is $1.34. This week, $3.49…for the exact same product. Well, I continue my journey through the store, picking out the items I really really need, and finally arrive at the check out. I merrily approach L'tesha, the check out clerk, and asked her how she is. Not only do I get no verbal response, but the one indication I do get is an eye roll. 
Are you kidding, bitch? I have just had a long day at my job where I respond to customers with dignity and respect just to get off and come here to get disrespected by you? I'm willing to spend a little more on groceries, and I definitely realize you have no say in it, but the least you can do is great me with a little less hostility than that. How difficult would it have been for you to say something back? Rather, how hard would it have been for you to not roll your eyes to the back of your head? It's people like you that makes me hate the service industry. You're job isn't to ring up groceries--self check out could easily replace you if that were the case. Your job is to be the last smile a customer sees before leaving your establishment. Your smile and personality are meant to ease a customer's grief about spending so much on simple needs and reassure them that at least they can always count on a positive environment to shop in. Instead, you reflect your shitty, unfulfilled life on me when I say "hello". I now understand why people buy groceries on amazon.com.


3. My brand new awesome apartment is awesome. It has the essential things that I need, and even a little more that I don't need. It suits me wonderfully, and really, I wouldn't change much about it. One thing I would change, however, is the utility bill situation. Get this--the bill is split between all the tenants through out all the building. Sounds good right? Wrong. Our last bill was $122.29. You might say, "oh SDV. That's not bad what with cooking and laundry and all." Oh but wait, we NEVER use the oven, and we don't have a washer and dryer…No apartments do…the laundry room charges $1.50 to wash and $1.00 to dry (*mostly dry).
So what the heck?! How does that work??


4. Hero is a term given to someone who is admired or idealized for courage,outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. With this, is it fare to say Christopher Reeves was a hero? Absolutely. What he did to raise awareness about stem cell research and achieve breakthroughs in modern science concerning other victims of paralysis were paramount. Likewise, I would also consider Michael J. Fox a hero. He has raised awareness about parkinson's and muscular dystrophy, and because of his foundation, preventative medicines now exist.
Both these men were stricken with something disastrous and did something incredible. They are heros.
A list of not heros:


  • Captain Sully. Probably a good pilot, not a hero. When disaster struck, he was able to land the plane into the hudson river. That's awesome, but it's his job. I wouldn't take away his bad ass award, that's for sure.
  • Every cancer patient. "Little Anne has eye lid cancer and only has a week to live. Please help her and the thousands of other heros like her battling this terrible condition." Do I feel bad? Yes. Do I want to help? Yes. Is she, or the thousand like her, a hero? No. They're victims.
  • Soldiers sign up to serve and protect our country from harm. They train for years so that one day they might be able to be at the front lines with a gun in their hands. They are coveted by mostly everyone as heros. Are they? Well, some of them are, sure. Are they all? No. I don't believe you can sign up to be a hero, and I know for damn sure that solider isn't synonymous for hero. The brave men and women serving overseas deserve our respect, and I do support theirjhvjhv

I don't even know what I'm talking about. Life is good. Complaining is futile. If you're not happy about someone or something, you can do something about it or get over it. I believe that being a good person and being positive in the end will pay off. Period.







Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Silver Dollar Values: Scooting towards a brighter tomorrow.


Hello, and welcome to Silver Dollar Values 9th official (or something) blog post. I understand the spacing between posts are getting larger and larger, and I handsomely apologize for that one because I know how much this blog affects your day-to-day life,  and two because I have a really nice hair cut and am looking pretty good today.

On to more pressing matters--The Future. In my opinion (facts to everyone else), the future is what happens later than present. For instance, the future of this sentence is a period. And the future to this sentence is another period Bronze Age The point is, the future is eminent and undeniable, and just like the clairvoyants that came before me, like Nostradamous and Tupac, I will now foresee the future. Unlike them, I will tell it in a narrative revolving around a young boy, Abner, and his well educated and well mannered yet unattractive mother, Astrid. Enjoy!

  The year, 2050. The place, Memphis, Tennessee in a small house right off Romney Avenue. A young boy named Abner wakes up to the sound of Nickelback playing on his government issued alarm clock. It's 5 a.m. on a Saturday, so he must get ready for school. His mother, an unemployed Desert Storm veteran named Astrid, makes his favorite breakfast-- blue pill. After ingesting his days rations of Diet Coke (now made completely out of corn), he heads to the door. His mother hands him his satchel made from the hides of illegal immigrants, gives him a kiss on the forehead, and sends him on his way. Embarrassed that she got her government issued red lipstick on his forehead, he readjusts his mandatory Beiber-cut hair to cover it up. He gets on the school pontoon that now take the children to school as a result of the flooding due to Comrade Gore's global warming. He talks to his friend, Ansel, about how funny Little Fox (programming for children presented by Fox News) was. He finally makes it to school where he sits in his chair to start the day. Today's subject?-history. In the future, there is only one subject per day as there is only one hour of school (ps, the arts have been banned from school after president Gringrich outlawed homosexuality back in 2014). In history, the kids learn about the Alamo. Abner is told to read aloud:
"A long time ago, a whole lot of men who were led by                                                    Davy Crocket were killed by Mexicans who wanted to steal their prized church. Davy resurrected, killed the Mexicans, and returned the church to it's rightful owner--America."
The bell rings, Abner packs his things, and gets back on to the pontoon. Because school is now so short, kids must work to occupy there time. Abner works for the largest fuel distributor in America-- Enron. There, he works from 8-8, beating baby seals and harnessing their blood as it's the only natural resource left that can fuel their pontoons (says president Bristol).After a long day of work, he comes home to find that his mother is passed out drunk on the couch. (In the future, it doesn't matter how well educated or well mannered a woman is, if she's unattractive, she will not be eligible for hire.) As always, he puts a tattered blanket over his unconscious mother, turns off the tv that the government has outfitted in every room of ever house, and goes up to get ready for bed. Abner's last hour of the day is a lot like ours. He gets a shower, brushes his teeth (there is no spearmint in the future. Arctic blast is all there is), and says his prayers. Here it is:
"Dear heavenly father,  Thank you so much for allowing me to go to school today. I am thankful that I am fortunate enough to be able to be in a country where I can truly reach my true potential. Sure, sometimes it's hard knowing that even at 8 years old I have to work for 12 hours every day, but thank you for allowing smoke brakes. Please bless the less fortunate at Guatanamo bay who aren't able to find jobs. Also, please help my mother battle her alcohol problem. She really really needs a nose job, and something to fix her snaggle tooth. Finally, Rolling Stone is coming in town, and I'd really love to see them! 
In Reagan's name, Amen."






  I know what you're thinking. Boring. Bleak. Maybe not as fun or optimistic as you hoped the future would be, yes? Sorry. Because of poor turn-outs at elections, a lack of concern in one's neighbor, and no one commenting on or following my blog, this dark future will certainly be ours. 
However, there is good news. Because of a group of revolutionaries back in 2012, a small country in the uncharted regions of Canada was formed. It's name? America II. Let's take a look at what's happening there in 2050. This story is about a college student named Alejandra, and her balding and slightly overweight father, Abdul. 


 It was a dark and dreary Tuesday morning in the little country of America II. The date was August 2nd, 2050, and college student Alejandra was waking up around 11:30. This was a special day for Alejandra as this was her 22nd birthday. In America, a twenty second birthday doesn't really mean anything, but in America II, it means just as much as every other birthday. For here, each birthday means 30 minutes more you can sleep in (For instance, a 21 year old could sleep in 'till 11:00, a 20 year old can sleep in to 10:30, and so on. With this system, retirement is something that everyone can reach by the time their 40). Alejandra gets up, brushes her teeth with Crest Flavor sensation spearmint, and goes down to kiss her father, Abdul, good morning. Abdul had just gotten back from the beach with his supermodel girlfriend because in the future, in America II, women and men are judged by their inner beauty, and not on there outer horridness. First things first on her birthday--Cake. On anyone's birthday, breakfast is vanilla cake with banana frosting. She receives the first of 22 birthday presents from her father around 12:30. A silver porsche boxster. It's not much, but it's what her father could afford on his minimum wage job at a pottery studio. She loves it, and is grateful that he remembered that she wanted it. "Thanks dad!", she spouts out with unbridled enthusiasm. Next, she's off to school. Sure, she just got a new car, but in the future, everyone will car pool to school, work, and other social outings. Before class, she wants to stop at the store to pick up cupcakes for one of her classes. She stops at Walton's Mart, because in America II, there are only local establishments to shop. There is always a parking spot, and there are never lines at check out. EVER. Finally she arrives at her publicly funded and socialized school, Second American University, where she studies to be a drive-thru window operator because in the future, drive-thru window operators need to be well educated and polite. She gets to class where she finds her report card sitting on her desk. She opens it up, and this is what it says:
  Dear Alejandra, 
Your attendance and participation, while not required, are greatly appreciated. We, your multiple teachers, love you, and know you will go on to do great things once completing your student career. 
As far as your grade. This semester, you received a "Smiley Sun", which as you know, is equal to an "a" in America. We hope you continue to show how great you are, and don't let this positive attention hinder your growth as a free spirit. 
Love, Violet Earthwind and Petunia groundsalt
(ps- Happy Birthday!)
Ecstatic, but not surprised by her schools devotion to establishing personal relationships with her, she smiles on through her day. Next class, Music. In the future, everyone will need to know how to play at least one instrument, and she chose Géophone. (Sidenote: "smoke one the water" and "stairway to heaven" are banned from being played on guitar in the future). Then, she has art appreciation, American history:post native genocide, and then finally Math. In her math class, they do nothing but learn how to use a calculator. In the future, the have come to terms tat learning math is obsolete, so they don't bother wasting our time. The future is considerate.
Once done with school, she rides the carpool to work where she works at Best-2-Buy in customer service…She's not rude. After her 5 hour shift, she returns home to find her dad working on a puzzle of the sistine chapel and eating fresh strawberries. She asks him to lay off the junk food, they both laugh, and she starts to help him with the puzzle. They catch up about there day, plan there weekend trip to Spain because in the future, plane tickets aren't expensive, and eat fresh ambrosia and sip on honeydew nectar until it's time for bed. She goes up to her bed that's made because in the future, beds make themselves. She gets on her knees, and says her prayer. Let's listen in:
  Dear Kurious, Theos, Jehova, Adonai, Christ, Yahweh, Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, Zeus, Hades, and etc,
It's me, Alejandra. Thank you for my health and peace through out all the world. I don't understand you, and don't know for sure if you are listening, but that's ok. I believe in you, and that's enough for me. Thank you for President Sasha's Newest law outlawing parking tickets. That was really nice of her.
In nature's name, Amen








Bam! There's the future. Like I said, America might not look so good in 40 years, but America II will be doing really well. It's economy will be thriving, they will treat their educators with respect and adequate pay, and everyone will read my blog. Everything will be alright.


Now I'd Like to briefly adress a growing concern of mine--Rap. I like rap. I listen to it from time to time, and even have been known to spit hot fire a time or two amongst friends. But what is going on with music, specifically rap, objectifying women and romanticizing the fact that too often in our society, women are looked at as a piece of meat and not as a contributing member of society? And it's not just the men. People like Nicki Manaj and Kei$ha (or whatever) are just as bad if not worse for, not only allowing such disrespect, but joining in on it. I'm disgusted by how it's become so nonchalant and easy to constantly degrade a gender, and I'm confused on why people don't seem to care. Was Tipper Right?! Please tell me Tipper wasn't RIGHT!!!!!






Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Click-BOOM!: A photographic history

Hello, and welcome to Silver Dollar Values 5th (or something) official blogpost. 
First off allow me to apologize for my week long hiatus. Because of spring break and good weather, I had no time to sit and write a blog. My deepest condolences to you for a week of having nothing good to read. As customary in any good blog, we hear at SDV would like to recap every single thing that happened in between now and our last posting (March 3rd, 2011). I will do this using Times New Romans because it's somber enough to be taken seriously as a chronologically driven block text font, yet because of its purpose (to go over what happened in a certain period of time) and its name (times), it's a pun, which makes it AWESOME! Here it is:

3/4- Because CONgress can't get along and play nice the government sends thousands of federal employees home without pay.
3/5- Eva Mendes turned 36
3/6- Nintendo releases Pokemon' Black and White to the world
3/7- Nothing happened
3/8- International women's day and Mardi Gras--Women celebrating their history, one drunken flash at a time.
3/9- According to www.abovetopsecret.com, this was the official beginning of the New Age of Consciousness.
3/10- Thomasine Dixon, 76, of Pensacola died Thursday March 10th in his home due to heart failure. 
3/11- Japan gets cluster F***ed
3/12- Everyone forgets about Japan as NCAA basketball is now in full swing
3/13- People care more about Charlie Sheen than 80,000 Japanese people
3/14- Justin Beiber plays in London as part of his My World tour
3/15- Nothing

(never mind that not being funny at all, that was not at all fun to do and I greatly regret doing it)

Notable other things that happened that hadn't been mentioned previously:
The People's Key- Bright Eye's new CD!



On with the post
This week, I was going over the pictures in my phone. After careful deliberation I've to share some with you, my loyal readers. Enjoy!




First off, a seemingly innocent can (I guess it's a can) of biscuits. I must admit, even I forgot why I took a picture of this. Then I remembered! When I was visiting my parents during winter break, I missed the simple things that Memphis had to offer me that I did not have there. Racism, religious ignorance, high crime rate, humidity, Wendeys,  Kroger. They didn't have Krogers there, instead, they had Fred Myer (no "s". I know, dumb right?!) and Winco. But, one night, while grocery shopping, I stumbled upon a can that had that clever and recognizable insignia on it. It reminded me of home.


Next, a picture of a boxed season of Gilmore Girls I found at a thrift store in Portland. Personally, I think the show is very weak. It lacks any sense of relate-ability and the acting is nothing less than atrocious. Without fail, a typical scene will always include the little one speaking too fast while complaining about some trivial problem to a mom who seems to understand perfectly well what she's going through. 1 out 5 stars I say, none the less, it reminded me of Molly, so I took a picture to send to her.



This is the workshop at the University of Memphis. I am very grateful that the University allows me to work in an environment as inspiring as this. The large windows are nice because you don't feel all alone when working all by yourself late at night. Also, I have every tool I could ever imagine on hand at my disposal, and I am very fortunate that my school has given me the opportunity to try my hand at basically every instrument I need. This is not sarcasm. I really feel this way.


"Bimbo". That's funny!


Ruffles, Ruffles, Ruffles…Way to raise the bar. I believe this was the conversation at Ruffles HQ:
"Boss, I have a great idea regarding a new flavor of chip"
"oh yea? What's that?"
"ok. Well, what's you're least favorite thing"
"why that's easy--Unloaded chips"
"Right! That's why I propose a chip flavor. LOADED CHILI & CHEESE"
"yes yes, this could work. But what about the bag? Should we change it at all?!"
"Oh no. Let's just add a large picture of a hard attack on the front of the bag!"
"Genius!"


The were the before pictures of cookies Molly and I made. There was supposed to be an after picture, but I forgot to take one. Either way, I really think they are very beautiful. Molly decorated the bottom row. Notice, her middle one has an even distribution of sprinkles, while the one all the way to the right has the letter "m" on it…I don't know why "m", but w/e.
Mine on the other hand are quite different. The middle-top one is my nazi cookie as made evident by its sprinkle swastika. Naturally, the one next to it is perfectly round, perfectly pure cookie. They were delicious.


These delicious cupcakes were for a young girls birthday party at seize the clay (I don't know how old she was turning). It was torture. Through the whole party, all I kept telling myself was that at least I got to have one of these. Finally, the party came to an end. Sure enough, the mother came up to me, told me job well done, and gave me a victory cup cake (it was blue. I would have rather had an orange one, but blue was good too). I was so happy. I was so nice during the party and maintained my composure throughout the whole 3 hours for this moment. I went to the back to wash my hands to ensure I could enjoy this tasty treat without getting botchalism or something. Upon returning, I noticed there was a wash rag touching it. I looked up at my co-worker, and said "uh, is this where your wash rag goes, Rene'?!" "I don't have time for your f***ing s*** today, Emanuel!" She then picked up my cupcake, and threw it away in the garbage can. "There. You happy?!"… I wasn't :(.


We bought pickles from wal*mart, and promptly threw them on the ground. 


One great night during spring break, I had the fortune of having nothing to do. So, like anyone else in this position, I decided to watch a little SNL, and play my favorite game of all time-- Field Runners. You may notice what's going on in SNL in this picture, but if not, let me explain what it is. Mike Tyson is watching Keanan Thomson dance and Jack Mcbrayer is nervously smiling. It is was a good night!


Spin art. Pretty cool huh?




And finally, an arial view of my sink at work. I love sink. I think they are very good things to put things in that need to be made wet. I also think that you can put dirty things into them, and when you take them out, they are cleaner. I really like sinks. 
Proclamation: From now on, there will a picture of a sink in every blog post I ever do… 



And so ends this blog post. Not much going on my way lately, so I don't really have much to write about. As always, keep up with all my followers blogs, and don't forget to tune in here every Tuesday (excluding any government observed holidays and school breaks of any kind).
Thanks!


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Margaret Sangler and other made up names

   Hello, and welcome to Silver Dollar Value's first blog post in March. Like many of you, we here at SDV welcome the new month, and hope for it to be even better than the last. I know I personally have nothing but optimism regarding the month ahead as I've used up all my pessimism in January and February.

  March is known for many things. March Madness is a time for fans to make wages, eat junk food, and paint their faces. March 15th is a time when a group of Judases can overthrow an unsuspecting, all encompassing ruler. March of the Penguins is a long boring movie about the migration of a flock (I guess you would call them a flock) of Penguins. But, I think without a doubt, March means one thing to the majority of people--Women's History Month.

***Disclaimer: This is an opinion based blog. The remainder of this post will include mostly opinions with some facts to back them up. If you are uncomfortable with opposing viewpoints, please exit the blog.


***Disclaimer 2: Seriously. Don't get offended. These are just some opinions I have concerning this specific topic. I cannot stress enough how much I do not want anyone to be annoyed.


  On February 28th, 2011, President Barrack Obama officially made the month of March National Women's History Month. After years of hard work and dedication, women have finally gotten exactly what they wanted--March. From here on out, women can sleep peacefully at night knowing that all the struggles to achieve equality in the workplace have been met. Women can be assured that all the picketing and boycotting in Washington for the right to vote, drink, smoke, work, and etc. had been heard. And women can finally rest easy knowing they too are valuable members of society capable of doing anything that their male counterparts can do because now they have 31 days out of a year that focuses souly on all great strides that their foremothers had achieved before them. In short, this National Women's History Month is the piece de' resistance of women's achievements…the icing on the cake for gender equality…the defeated waterloo. Right?!


No. Women's history month has about as much worth and prestige as, say, black history month.  There is nothing positive that comes from having a month long tribute to women's history when the central issues is still as big of a deal as it is. Here are just a few reasons why I believe we shouldn't rejoice about this recent happening:

  1. It's a month of recognition. Not a time. Not a period. A month. A month has a beginning, middle, and end. It comes and goes, and before you know it, you have 11 more of them until you get back to that same one. This means that for ever 31 days of appreciating what historical women have accomplished, there are 334.25 days where you don't care. A month is not an abstract figure that can be as important or unimportant as you want it to be. It's a period of time, written in stone, that will forever be ticking, and if your schools curriculum or tv programming doesn't match up with it, then too bad. Before February 28th, 2011, America recognized March 8th as a day of remembering back to the days of cruelty and oppression to women. It was a day where schools could bull shit some power point presentation about Amelia Earhart, or Nickolodeon could do mini bio-pics on women actors between shows. Again, the same problem arises. What's the prefect situation? No month. No day. That way, no one felt obligated, therefore, no one felt like they knew anything they didn't. The fact is if someone has particular interest in Women's issues, they will do their own research, and find facts that might not be covered in school.                        What I think in a sentence: A month, like a day,  is not an adequate amount of time to give someone to learn about something as important as Women's History.
  2. One word. BLACKHISTORYMONTH. I won't call anyone out, and by no means am I saying that everyone is as hateful and naturally cruel as I am, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people doubt the impact b.h.m. had on us growing up. I'll sum up to you everything I remember being taught during b.h.m. growing up in Memphis, Tn--Martin Luther King. Is this the same fate you want for women's history? A glorified, falsified, and glamorized  (mesmerized, hypnotized, an other words that rhyme)  condensed version of something that actually can't be summed up by learning about one man? NO. Keep our public schools out of areas like that as they have already shown that they can't do anything for a cause except for hurt it.                                                                                                            What I think in a sentence: Schools have enough to ruin without the added pressure of conjuring up some fallacy about something I actually care about like women's history.
  3. False information is harmful information. In the case of women's rights, I feel as though it is worse to think you know everything  there is to know about the cause rather than admitting that you really don't know that much at all. Just as in points 1 and 2 (which incidentally could totally be the same point), a month of forced interest is no time to learn about what the women's struggle is all about. And, again in my opinion, I would rather someone be pure from the abridged version of it if that means that they don't think it's as simple as  "Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton  led a crusade against men, won, and now women can vote." That irritates me more than someone who surrenders to the fact that they don't know much. I personally don't know everything, but I know enough to say that I don't, in fact,  know everything. And, to attack another issue, just because you're a woman doesn't mean you know more than me. I'm all for women having self worth and caring about themselves and their history, but a false sense of pride never comes off well. When some slutty, peace-sign sporting, ignorant girl comes up to me and "informs" me, she's doing nothing but hurting the entire cause. She's putting a face to a movement that the movement would probably not claim as its own, which leads me to think that the movement isn't a well oiled machine, which leads me to not be so vocal about the movement as I don't want to be compared to said slutty girl. Muslims:terrorist::women's rights activists:slutty girl.    What I think in a sentence: Knowing you don't know is very important, and without proper consideration, can turn a progressive movement into a tabloid headline.
  4. Scandal. Tell me friends, why  did Obama decided to implement this H.W.R.M. right after Black history month? Is a to chronologically show where the importance is in America? Or is the 31 day month for women next to the 28 day month for black people supposed to encourage a comparison of the two causes, and reignite a rivalry between the two. Maybe the only reason he gave March to women is so that there will be riots. Obama might be fueling a secret liberal agenda to start the civil rights movement again, only this time, it's a civil rights race to the finish line. I say give April to Mexican-Americans, May to Native-Americans, and so on. Let's go all out with, what I'll start referring to as, Racelympics! Right?!                                                     What I think in a sentence: I'm so clever, even I don't know what I was trying to say in point 4. Sorry for wasting your time.
Because this is an opinion based blog that isn't meant to be taken seriously at all, I understand why I probably shouldn't have even brought up something that people actually care about. If it's any consolation to the three people reading this, I actually do really care about civil rights, and while I do understand it's really just a gesture made to ensure that schools at least pretend like they care about women's history, I personally think it's not a great idea. Because schools aren't comfortable enough to talk about issues like birth control or planned parenthood-type organizations (the two topics that without a doubt sum up the kind of inequality going on in America), we all will be cheated out of actually learning about the key figures that are STILL making a movement.

 I am no writer, and I probably shouldn't have tried expressing through word how I feel about this matter. 

    use  imagination to see how that might relate to current topic

    Thank Morgan Freeman for Morgan Freeman!

    Tuesday, February 22, 2011

    A day in the life of...

    Hi. How's it going? You might notice by my text that I'm feeling a little blue, and that judging by the typeface, I'm not my normal self. If you know me at all, you know that I'm a STRICT sans serif guy who would never dream of bulk texting with any color other than automatic black. You might have also noticed how informal my salutations were this time, and that might have hinted to you that something might be up given my normal, "hello". I also didn't indent, which could suggest that this is a candid, right-off-the-dome event. To some, that could mean more intimacy and forefrontedness, and to others, it could suggest the coming blog will be more arbitrary than usual. Some of you might be in your head conjuring up some sort of explantation to all of this, and you might even have your opinions about it all. Or, for my less frequent viewers,  you could have no idea how I usually write, have no idea what I usually write about, and, have no idea that I usually write in black Helvetica. You might be very confused and frustrated as you were just looking for a fun, short, blog to read through while you're sipping your coffee or something to stare at in between facebook stalking, and instead, you got this--a long, poorly structured, mega intro to a catastrophic blog which might only suggest what's to come in the rest of this post…
    or
    No one could be reading this at all.

    Either way, I'll keep trudging on as if everyone is on board.1

    Hello, and welcome to Silver Dollar Values fourth or fifth official blog post. Today, we will do something especially exciting- A day in the life of…. This blog will document my entire day, February 21, 2011. Without any exaggeration, this was a very very normal day, and just for fun, I'd like to share it with you, all my reader (there is no "s" on the "reader"…that was intentional).  So, without further ado, here it is:

    A Day in the Life of

    10:30- Wake up to roommate standing in my closet. 
    10:32-Recieve explanation for roommate being in closet. It turns out I scored a sweet new tie rack.
    10:40-Show roommate cool bruise and discuss Left 4 Dead over coffee.
    11:00- Get shower, shave, apply face moisturizing cream. 
    11:24-Lay in bed and listen to Bright Eyes. I begin by listening to an old favorite, "Going for the Gold" (Don't be frightened of turning the page EP), and then moved onto some of his lesser known works. I particularly found great interest in "Kathy with a K" today. Maybe it was the change in speaker system (I usually listen through ear phones or car system, but today I was on computer speakers), or just the mood of the setting, and the tone that comes from laying on my made bed with my clean clothes on that made it stand out to me today more than usual. Either way, I really dug it, a lot, and continued to listen to it about 5 times though out the day.
    12:00- Finally get to brush my teeth before leaving
    12:15-Answer phone from darling Molly, get in car, and head to Target
    12:45- Arrive at Target
    12:45-2:00- Get reminded again why I have the best life. As always, forget how trivial and minute my little problems are, and just focus on enjoying the little time I get feeling this way.
    2:01- Leave towards U of M
    2:15-4:15- Work on a metal project that seems to be going nowhere. 
    4:20- My Monday ritual is one of my favorite things. Every Monday, around 4:30, I go to Tiger den, grab whatever mutated scab of corn starch their passing off as a "meal" today, sit down and watch the newest 30 Rock and The Office…all alone…without anyone harassing me or bothering me. It's a little thing that truly makes me very very happy.
    5:30- Go to Class, ace a quiz that I had no idea about (that is not normal. The last quiz, I got a 4/10).
    6:00- Finish my "Indie Memphis Film Festival" flyer. It turns out that my idea of design is directly referencing, if not ripping off, work by the great Mondrian. 
    7:20- Leave class, turn on radio to "Drake and Zeke After Dark". Today, they spoke about the current crisis going on in Egypt. IF THERE IS ONE THING I LOVE, IT'S WHEN RED NECKED RADIO DJS DISCUSS POLITICAL AND SOCIO ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. FOR REAL!!! IT'S ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC TO LISTEN TO.
    7:45- Arrive at my apartment to hear a Zombie Apocalypse going on in the living room. I rush in through the front door, and to my relief, it was just a video game. I see Timmy and his friend Eddie on the couch, and sit down next to them. Tim makes some jokes…then more…then more. Eddie and I don't. Even after Tim sees that I'm not in the jabbing banter mood, he continues to seemingly verbally abuse me. This was his thought process: (his spoken word will be in red, and his though will be in green.)
    "you suck at this game" weird he didn't laugh. I'll try again
    "you don't know how to spell loneliest?! Moron" hmmm? Maybe this one will do it
    'you're awful" uh, Eddie and Adam aren't responding. Either way, I'll keep trudging on as if everyone is on board.1
    In hind sight, it was quite funny. And later, he and I talked, and it was very obvious that he was just joking. No ill thought whatsoever on my side.
    8:00- Tried playing online gaming.
    8:45- Still tried.
    9:45- Still tried.
    10:30- Played, and didn't approve. NOT FUN
    11:00- Stopped.
    11:01- Had deep and meaningful conversation. It lasted 3 hours, and by the end of it, I felt completely fulfilled and satisfied.
    2:30-3:50- Online gamed
    3:50- Went to sleep, FINALLY. 

    That's it. I'm not very writative today, and I 'm sorry. As always, please check into all of my followers and see what they're writing about. Thanks for tuning in!




    There's no point to this photo. I just like it. To keep my identity anonymous, I will not disclose which one is me.