Ambivalent Assertion

I love all things music, communication, technology, social media, and blogging, but I see that our Internet and gadget-obsessed society is failing at maintaining and creating authentic relationships. This is where I gush and hate on all of these topics, sometimes in one breathe. It's becoming increasingly rare for me to talk about my neurosis with someone who isn't drooling over their smartphone, so I write in this electronic journal instead.

[ambivalentassertion]

“We had noted how wedded to our devices we all seem to be and that people seem to find any excuse they can to keep busy,” said Timothy Wilson, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and lead author of the study. “No one had done a simple study letting people go off on their own and think.”

More reasons to put down your phone and step away from the computer.

[ambivalentassertion]

I’ve experienced variations of this at several recent weddings. Other times, hashtags are written in the wedding program, on table arrangements or whispered down the aisle.

The rest of the evening becomes a digital free-for-all: square oversaturated photos of the cake posted to Instagram; overheard moments from guests crumpled into 140-character balls on Twitter; and photos of the happy couple — taken from every angle imaginable, including selfies — shared on Facebook.

I'm no where close to being married, but I have thought about this topic (hashtagged weddings) for when that day comes for me. I'm not really down with people staring at their phones and tryna take a milli selfies when a real life sacred celebration is happening.

[ambivalentassertion]

Couples Are Signing 'Social Media Prenups' To Prevent Spouses From Posting Unflattering Photos Of Each Other

If you don't think you look good in that Instagram photo your husband took of you, you could collect a ton of money.

I DON'T BELIEVE IN LOVE ANYMORE

[ambivalentassertion]

​What It's Like When Your Job Actually Treats You Like an Adult

I've worked a fast food drive-thru, waited tables, baked bread, slogged it out in corporate copyediting, worked at an alt-weekly, juggled freelance, and this one time I worked at a Ponderosa for three days. Looking back, only two of those jobs offered adult-like working conditions: Produce results, and we won't hassle you.

I fist-pumped after reading this.

Sometimes I wonder if managers forget what it was like to work at the bottom rung of the ladder. To have your boss breathing down your neck, logging every wrong move you make, and demanding more, more more. Micromanaging your employees must be stressful. It seems like a waste of manpower and a waste money. It's common knowledge it's cheaper to retain employees and customers than to have to constantly attract new ones. I also have learned that those in leadership position tend to be complete imbeciles. And granted I've come to realize that all adults are wingin' it in life anyway, but it's scary when you have power hungry people in this positions. It does not create a sense of stability or community amongst employees. It's a feeling of an omnipotent power lingering every time you walk in the front door the office/small business/etc. It's also not exactly a compliment to be referred to as a "boss." If I were in a management position, I'd work at being a LEADER. Because that's what your job really is.

  It seems since companies are more focused on creating a "brand" and "cool, open workplace environments (with free snacks!)" we've been re-thinking and gauging new ways of management. I'm glad companies are waking up and realizing that people are PEOPLE inside and out of work.

And I guess that's why start-ups are so appealing to me while on my seemingly never-ending job search. Leave me alone, give some paid vacation and health insurance, and I will do the work BEFORE YOU EVEN ASK HAVE TO ASK ME! I understand they offer these kinds of benefits in part because you are asked to work super long days and essentially be readily available to come in, even when you aren't scheduled to work. I'm OK with that. To me that's true compromise.

"HAPPY COWS MAKE HAPPY CHEESE"

[ambivalentassertion]

Imma just copy and paste this whole article.

See how easily programmed we are to mindlessly click on anything about celebrity scandals? Had the title of this article been “Why isn’t Anyone Talking About All the Nigerian Boys Who Were Killed” or “The Truth About Private Prisons”, your clicking-response time would’ve been different.  But this isn’t about criticizing you as much as it is about understanding what draws us to gossip and celebrity worship.

  We crave distractions. Stories about people like Donald Sterling, Mimi Faust, Chris Brown, Cliven Bundy, and the Carters/Knowles give us a temporary escape from our own boring lives. Many of us spend 8 or more hours a day at a job we hate, working with people we can’t stand, making less than what we need, to start all over again the following day. And out of nowhere comes a story that instantaneously takes us away from endless spreadsheets, bossy supervisors, and grueling staff meetings. Our cell phones and computers are patiently waiting, a magical portal to an exciting world of superstars, fame, drama, and anything else to make us forget our tedious daily routine.  We post about it, Tweet about it, make memes about it, and for one glorious moment, we are transported to a place where there are no deadlines to meet, quotas to fill, or angry customers to pacify. We are now part of this bustling global discussion where our 2 cents actually seems to matter, even if it’s only based on how many likes or retweets our opinions garner.  And then, reluctantly, it’s back to our monotonous grind, anxiously waiting on another juicy episode to rescue us again.

Interestingly enough, at the core of many of these sensationalistic stories, lie critical issues such as racism, domestic abuse, corruption, sexual exploitation, and many other topics worthy of intelligent public discourse.  Unfortunately, the underlying issues are almost always overlooked. Rather than expand the conversation to explore and maybe even address the problems as a collective, we stay at a standstill, rarely using these stories as lessons and teachable moments. And just like that, in a day or two, the opportunity to encourage critical thinking is replaced by the next hot story.  But of course, all we average people really want is simple entertainment to brighten up our days.  We experience enough personal stress as it is.  No one has time to analyze and dissect other people’s problems, much less solve social ills in the process. Right?

But what if the distractions we crave are really just symptoms of an unfulfilled potential? What if our silly opinions on the latest celebrity-scandal could instead be channeled into more productive dialogue?  Just like the drug addict who gets high to fill an emotional void, is celebrity worship simply the drug that masks our discontent with life?  Are we so starved for sustenance that we consume anything and everything just to help us stay afloat another day? Have our lives become so uninspiring that living vicariously through complete strangers motivates us enough to keep pushing just a little longer?  What if the remedy to a boring, uneventful existence was to simply and wholeheartedly get involved in our own lives rather than in the affairs of others?  

What if we could give our lives even more meaning by using our free time and energy to champion some of the issues we seem to be so passionate about? Rather than posting countless Facebook comments about Donald Sterling’s racist rants, can that same fire be used to advocate for racial justice…even if only within our own circles?  Instead of tweeting how outraged we are about Mimi Faust’s sex tape, can we do a better job of monitoring the sexually degrading entertainment our kids are exposed to?  Can we spend more time developing healthier relationships with our loved ones than we do trying to figure out why Jay-Z and Solange don’t get along? Taking it a step further, is there an organization we can join that will welcome our fervor for speaking our minds and help us apply that intensity towards something constructive?

  The truth is, celebrities and their drama have distracted us as long as I can remember.  However, today’s media has magnified their importance like never before.  Technology and social media give us 24/7 access into every facet of their lives while we become more and more detached from our own.  Something is very wrong with this picture.  And while many countries across the globe use the power of technology and social media to launch nationwide political movements, here we are stuck on Facebook and Twitter, awaiting the next chapter of the Solange/Sterling show.  In the meantime, our quality of life is rapidly decreasing…and Dr. Dre’s money can’t help us.

*applause*

[ambivalentassertion]

'Arrogance' over need for sleep

Emerging evidence suggests modern technology is now keeping us up later into the night and cutting sleep.

"Light is the most powerful synchroniser of your internal biological clock," Prof Charles Czeisler, from Harvard University, told the BBC Day of the Body Clock.

He said energy efficient light bulbs as well as smartphones, tablets and computers had high levels of light in the blue end of the spectrum which is "right in the sweet spot" for disrupting the body clock.

"Light exposure, especially short wavelength blue-ish light in the evening, will reset our circadian rhythms to a later hour, postponing the release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin and making it more difficult for us to get up in the morning.

"It's a big concern that we're being exposed to much more light, sleeping less and, as a consequence, may suffer from many chronic diseases."

[nevver]

Hey

[lovsalive]

"I wish it was yesterday" Mad Men, Field Trip (7x03)

[ambivalentassertion]

Feelin' you on the reg, Bobby.

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this twitter is horrifying

[ambivalentassertion]

Reason: Wrong type of phone - Imgur

[ambivalentassertion]

What I Learned When I Boycotted My Phone

This mom stepped away from her phone when she was around her child for a week—and learned a few important lessons when she did.

"My experiment helped me understand that attempting to document every heart-melting gesture won’t help me hold onto them, and going a week without daily photos didn’t make me feel like I was erasing history. We should think of photos as placeholders—snapping a few during a day at the zoo or on the first day of school, not shooting rapid-fire at every step your child takes."

...and pets and food and your boyfriend and gym selfies.

[nevver]

Not available on the App Store

[ambivalentassertion]

I want one on a t shirt. Maybe a chest TAT.

[foolsgoldrecs]

Duck Sauce’s “NRG” Video

[ambivalentassertion]

Scrolling through OK Cupid matches

[ambivalentassertion]

Real Estate – Crime from Tom Scharpling Real Estate + Nick Kroll cameo. Consider this video as something v relevant to my tastes.

[theyreallysaidthis]

The social world has changed. We have given up a verbal hello for a swipe or double tap. We don’t say how we feel in person but hide behind our computer and iPhone screens. We are more concerned with how many followers we have than if we are actually treating people in real life with respect and common courtesy. I don’t care if you have 54k followers, you are nobody if you smush me on the subway and don’t apologize. Don’t be a dick to people because you’re having a bad day. Put down your phone and look at the fucking stars in the sky and the flower that’s made up of trillions of atoms.

[ambivalentassertion]

Preach.

[nevver]

Word on the Street

[ambivalentassertion]

Hey, Universe.