Wedding Conversations, Part One

Wedding Etiquette Conversation # 1.
Me: So, if I don't get to see your dress beforehand, you don't get to see my suit, right?
Marina: No, that's not how it works.
Me: Well, that's not fair.
Marina: That's how it works.
Me: Damn.

Wedding Etiquette Conversation #2
Marina: You need to think about how you want your groomsmen to dress.
Me: I'm going to have them all dress as ninjas.
Marina: No.
Me: No?
Marina: No.
Me: Damn.

AdSense Makes No Sense

Four months ago, I decided to experiment with Google AdSense. It seemed a passive and relatively harmless way to try to earn money for my writing by allowing ads on my three blogs on Blogspot. It also seemed good motivation to write as much as possible, and when I asked people what they thought, no one seemed offended by the notion of putting up with ads to read my blogs.

As of today, I've decided to remove the ads.

I looked at my AdSense profile page this morning, and after four months of allowing Google to post ads, I have unpaid earnings of . . . $1.12.

Considering that I wouldn't get paid until after I had $100 of earnings, this is clearly not a sustainable model for me.

It is nice to have a view counter to keep track of how many views I'm getting, but that's not enough. For the most part, the ads are simply clutter on my pages, giving Google a platform to sell ads without having to pay me anything.

AdSense might work well for some people, especially people who write about subjects that would attract people more likely to click on ads. Maybe people who write about technology or review products or fashion trends would earn measurable amounts. And Blogspot gives me a nice, easy platform for sharing my thoughts and musings with the world. But it isn't worth my time and energy to have ads interfering with the layouts of my blogs.

There may be some good options out there for me to earn money for writing, but Google Ads is not the way.

Enough of this: I'm off to make some scrambled eggs. Those will sustain me, unlike Google.

The Better Option

Politics are adversarial. Sometimes, it seems that's all they are. General nastiness and stubbornness are used to score political points. It would be much more pleasant and possibly effective if our politicians would work to formulate plans to benefit everyone through an exchange of ideas and principles and compromises.

Don't laugh. It is possible.

While waiting for that to happen, check this out: Occupy Santa Cruz and other groups held an event today in Santa Cruz to promote food sovereignty and sustainable farming methods. Doesn't that seem much more effective than fighting with police in the streets of Oakland? At the very least, it feels more forward-thinking and positive.

On a related note, this feels like a good time to bring up Kiva again. Kiva.org is a microlending, not-for-profit site, where you can lend an amount as low as $25 to individuals around the world, such as a woman who raises chickens in Kenya, or a single mother in Central America trying to run a village community market.

Microlending is not necessarily a panacea for financial inequality. There have been some horrible news stories out of India, where a surge in demand for microloans from for-profit lenders has caused a spike in interest rates and the subsequent collapse of the system amid reports of predatory lending and over 100 suicides linked to microlending debt.

But I think that Kiva is different. I emailed them to inquire if they have any connection to any of the microlending firms in India, but I do not believe they do. The Kiva lenders do not expect to profit; in my experience, I've even lost a small amount of the $50 I originally put in, due to a default and some donations to Kiva. Overall, I think the system works. I lend the money, and a few months later, once the credit is repaid, I lend again. In about four years, I've made about 8 loans. I don't know that I will ever have a sense of making a real difference, but it feels right.

In any case, it feels better than sitting around reading or watching the news about our political debacles. If the government can't always make a difference, we can.

UPDATE: Here is a portion of the response I got from Kiva regarding microlending in India:

We are working hard to expand our partnerships to all regions across the globe at a pace that is healthy for both our current partners and for Kiva. In fact, Kiva staff are actively looking into partnering with microfinance institutions in India; however, before we are able to move forward, there are numerous financial and legal regulations that we must investigate.

We know that the microfinance industry in India has been in the news quite a bit lately, the concerns about over-indebtedness and client protection that have been raised are important issues for Kiva and the rest of the microfinance industry to address. At Kiva, we are continuing to direct our resources to foster responsible microfinance at all of our Field Partners around the world through due diligence, monitoring, and staffing. To read more about this, you can check this blog post written by Kiva's Senior Director of Social Performance: http://www.kiva.org/updates/kiva/2011/01/28/kivas-commitment-to-responsible.html.

Kiva seeks to partner with microfinance institutions that have a strong social mission, and when conducting due diligence on potential Field Partners, we favor organizations that excel in:
--Client protection, especially regarding the prevention of over-indebtedness, fair and transparent pricing, good collection practices and the security of
client information;
--Targeting and outreach that ensures vital services reach the unbanked, the under-served and the poor;
--Innovative loan products, savings and non-financial services specifically tailored to the needs of the target group;
--Measuring outcomes in the lives of client borrowers and savers.

Many of the partners are chosen because in addition to lending money, they also offer services such as savings, financial literacy training and empowerment programs.

People Watching: Santa Cruz

1) As I walked along Pacific Avenue, I passed a man in a wheelchair, who was heading in the other direction, but backwards, propelling himself by kicking out with his feet, moving at quite the clip. In his left hand, he held a folding mirror, like a side mirror on a car.

I was struck by this. How adroit! He's facing backward, therefore able to see cars that are approaching him in his lane--for he was in the street, not on the sidewalk--which would also make it easier to move himself along, but he has the mirror so as not to smack into any parked cars or bikes behind him.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

2) As I passed SubRosa, the anarchist cafe in Santa Cruz--of course Santa Cruz has an anarchist cafe, although I haven't gone in to see if they have set prices for their menu--some guy sitting on the sidewalk said in a tone dripping with snarkiness, "Nice jacket, man."

I'm assuming he meant me. I was wearing the old vintage leather jacket I bought in Missoula years ago for $30 from my friend's mom's vintage shop. It is a little battered, but it has held up well.

Was he objecting to leather on principle? If so, I would point out that at least I bought it used, so no extra cows were harmed to equip me with a jacket.

Of course, if he was really trying to be nasty, this effort left something to be desired. It lacked sting and zip. It would be like pointing out to the Queen of England that she has a lot of Corgis.

Maybe he was just crazy and disordered in his thinking.

3) I stepped outside the front door this evening, tumbler of brandy in hand, and a passing gentleman and I exchanged friendly nods that morphed into greetings that morphed into ironic complaints about how rugged this winter has become.

I don't think that would have happened in San Francisco.

4) I stumbled upon an interesting independent shoe store today. The clerk rolled around the store on roller skates, The Empire Strikes Back was on the TV but on mute, and there were various vintage road signs on the walls, along with a classic arcade game table console.

Although I'm not sure why an image of Boba Fett appeared to be selling Adidas.

Random Thoughts From The News

1) Apparently the launch of a new Nike shoe sparked a riot.

Seriously?

Apparently this is the American version of a bread-line, or at least a middle-class bread-line. We do have actual bread-lines and charity food pantries and soup kitchens; those are legitimate. Rioting in line for sneakers, not so much.

At least, not until a sneaker is released that lets you leap tall buildings in a single bound or outrun a speeding bullet. That would be worth rioting for.

Actually, I'm not sure anything else in the news can top that for the moment, so I won't try to add anything more.

Relative Liberty

In the time since New York police evicted the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park--formerly known as Liberty Park Plaza--metal barricades have been erected around the site, restricting access and forcing entrants to pass through checkpoints.

I don't know about you, but I just love passing through "checkpoints" to get to a public space. That makes me feel relaxed and happy; checkpoints make me think of sugar plums and fairies.

The ACLU is currently suing for removal of the barricades. This serves as a fine distillation of one of the central dilemmas for me in considering the Occupy Movement, specifically the encampments.

Public space is public space, and the right to assemble and the right to free speech should be inviolable. On the other hand, when you have a teeming encampment of people in a public park, that is going to discourage quite a few other members of the public from taking advantage of the public space. Individual rights to assemble and speak out are always limited by the right of other individuals not to be harmed or have their own rights unduly restricted.

In the case of Zuccotti Park, the question of public space is complicated by the fact that it is technically a "Privately Owned Public Space." In other words, it is property owned by private interests, not the city, and it is treated as a public space in exchange for other zoning incentives. This particular park was created in 1968 by United States Steel. The current owners, prior to the evacuation of protestors, said that the lingering presence of campers posed sanitary hazards. The protestors volunteered to clean it up themselves, but that was never really going to satisfy anyone in the administration, I wouldn't think. It could be that the sanitation question was simply a convenient and plausible excuse for disassembling the assembly.

In any case, it is telling that people exercising their right to assemble and their right to free speech triggered the construction of barricades to limit access to the space. How fitting it is that the park is no longer called Liberty Park Plaza--the name was changed to honor the chairman of the current owners of the property. I find that morbidly amusing.

Regardless of whether or not the Occupy movement has a right to monopolize public--or quasi-public--space by camping there, I think common sense should be used instead of metal barricades. If you are going to say that the Occupy protestors are ruining it for everyone and preventing others from using the space, you can't turn around and fence off the space. That doesn't work from an ethical standpoint.

How about letting groups pay for a permit to utilize the space? The money--which would need a rigorously transparent accounting process--could be used to maintain the space and provide proper facilities and maintenance. Or maybe make a part of the permit price serve as a deposit; that would encourage the protestors to rigorously self-police and attend to any disruptive elements.

Or maybe it is time for the Occupy movement to turn its attention to politics, like the Tea Party. Look to promote candidates for office to express your ideas through political channels, although this does not mean that protests should be stopped entirely. Any channel to bring attention to inequality should be utilized to the fullest. You just have to figure out when one channel is no longer useful, or when you start to harm your cause by persisting in the same actions with the same results over and over, especially when you start to lose the sympathy of the public.

New Year's Resolutions, Part II: Revenge of The Resolutions

I do love making checklists. For someone who is as disorganized as I tend to be--I have a "nest" of books next to the bed--I get a strange thrill from checking things off a list. I'm so entranced by the process that I will make up tasks for the sole reason of adding them to my iPhone Reminders, and then checking them off when done. I'll even set a reminder to go grocery shopping WHILE IN THE GROCERY STORE. And yesterday, when I figured out how to add a Google Calendar app to my iPhone that would let me remotely update my shared calendar with Marina, I may have gotten a little carried away.

"3 p.m. Devin finishes lunch." "3:15. Devin walks towards home." "3:30. Devin checks out a high school soccer game."

"4:15. Marina considers eliminating Devin's admin rights to the calendar."

Okay, none of those updates actually happened, but they COULD have.

In the spirit of making more checklists, then, I will hereby present a few more resolutions that are perhaps a little more serious/sincere than the last set. You may say that it is a bit self-absorbed to post this online, but what is a blog of resolutions but a very public checklist?

1) Write and/or submit one poem or story every month.

I'll even create a spreadsheet to track what I've submitted, when and where, and when it is rejected. I might even include a column for items that are accepted.

This may not sound like much, but it is a start. I can't exactly go from zero to sixty in terms of submitting writing. I'm not a Ferrari. I'm more of a classic Volkswagen Beetle: a little round in shape, a little meek looking, but strangely hip and capable of prompting passing children to slug each other in the shoulders.

2) Actively research one new question/subject a week to learn something new, especially something that could tie into a story.

The best stories seem true to life because the author can provide exacting descriptions of processes, technology, religions, etc. Neal Stephenson, for instance, author of Snow Crash and the new Reamde provides so much detail on various technical and cool and geopolitical topics like computer hacking, online role-playing games, Russian gangsters and MI6 and other spies, that I have no idea how he had time to acquire such a breadth of knowledge and still write so many novels.

There's one question that occurred to me right there. What is the origin of the word breadth and how did it come to symbolize width? Was a loaf of bread once considered a standard unit of measurement? And if so, what kind, sourdough or wheat?

Actually, no. From Dictionary.com:

Middle English breadeth, breth, from brede breadth (from Old English brǣdu, from brād broad) + -th (as in lengthe length)
First Known Use: 15th century

In the spirit of seeking knowledge, I'm going to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum this afternoon for the first time, so that I can learn a little more beyond the difference a wave in the ocean and a Wave in a sports stadium.

I also want to know what the heck that metal cap in the rock is that I saw on my run this morning, down near where the waves break, which apparently shoots water way up in the air in narrow streams. From a distance, I thought there was a spouting whale at the bottom of the bluff. I can only speculate it is something intended to prevent erosion, since it sits below a ridge of sandbanks. Maybe it's diverting some of the force of the waves?

I'm coming to the conclusion that "What the heck is that?" is a very promising start for a short story or some piece of non-fiction.

3) Run/walk/jog along West Cliff Drive every other day.

This one is important enough to make both sets of resolutions. And so far so good. I ran again this morning at 8 a.m., past the breaking waves of a ridiculously gorgeous ocean view that as always stands in for a deity in terms of my spiritual needs. I was able to run a little further this time, with a little less pain. If that's not a good way to measure progress, I don't know what is.

Bring it on, 2012. I'm ready for you now.