SP1...

So I updgraded to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). The process took hours, and I went out with friends to a bar after I started the upgrade. After I got back, the process was still in phase 1 of 3, at 27%! I woke up this morning and was pleased to see that the upgrade had finally installed. However, I then noticed that my laptop speakers were no longer recognized as a device and that my touchpad driver had stopped functioning. Thanks, Microsoft!

All of this was fixed quickly, but still, what exactly is this service pack going to do for me? Apparently... not much.

Sick and tired of hearin'...

I've been reading political blogs a lot this election season, and I have to say that some arguments advanced by the Clinton campaign have just been silly. My chief complaint is that all of these arguments are divisive for the Democratic party. As such, their wisdom should be reevaluated.

1. The "Commander-in-Chief threshold"
What exactly is this threshold, and how in the world would this concept help either Democratic candidate against Mister Experience himself, John McCain? Also, since when is it wise to proclaim that the Republican candidate is a better choice than the person who may quite likely be your party's nominee? Talk about party loyalty and strategy. It's like Joe Lieberman just walked into the room or something.

2. "Important states" (aka Size Matters)
New York and California are, indeed, important states for the Democratic candidate to win. But I am sick and tired of hearing about how Barack Obama's candidacy doesn't pass muster because he didn't win those states' primaries. First, the Democrats are royally screwed if either candidate's supporters are unwilling to vote for the other, period. It's not as if the large majority of Clinton's supporters won't vote for Obama if he's the nominee, and vice versa. There are those die-hard individuals, but intra-party crossover surely isn't our biggest battle! (That is, it won't be if we don't' cannibalize ourselves into a state of disrepair...)

Second, this line of thinking is just offensive. Yes, there are big states. Yes, they seat a lot of delegates. But there are other states, and their citizens matter! Why should Americans care more about Texas, California, and Ohio than, say, Georgia?

3. "Lifetime of Experience" v. "Speech"
"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002." - Hillary Clinton, 3/8/2008

This characterization is just wrong. Period. Barack Obama obviously also has a "lifetime of experience." To reduce Obama's impressive set of achievements down to a "speech he gave in 2002" is ridiculous. Aside from being misleading, the Clinton campaign in this situation again frames the presidential election as a (McCain and Clinton) v. Obama contest. One would hope that Hillary's speechwriters got a little excited and got overzealous with the use of synecdoche. But this approach is horribly divisive for the party, which could seriously screw things up this November.

Disclaimers:
I know that my perspective is biased by my support of Obama. However, I have tried extremely hard during this primary season to keep a level head. During the presidential debates in Iowa and New Hampshire, I noted the stark difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates. The Republicans were downright nasty towards each other -- Fred Thompson, in particular, was a real douchebag in this regard. However, I was extremely proud that the Democrats had three amazing leading candidates who were all civil. Clinton, Edwards, and Obama were individuals who I knew I could happily endorse. As the field of contenders was whittled down to two, everyone in America has noticed how negative the campaigning has gotten. My mother pointed out the viciousness of the candidates' campaigns to me, and she by no means is a political wonk. This "war of attrition" type of campaigning isn't sustainable for the party, and I hope that it stops soon.

My life in the present

My life has changed pretty drastically since I last posted in this blog regularly. These changes are the major reasons why I didn't write frequently in February, and I'm hoping that the increased normalcy in my life will allow me (1) to sleep and (2) to write more. For the 2.5 people who keep track of my life through this sad little slice of the blogosphere, here's a little update for you.

I moved.
Geographically, I’m only one Metro stop away from my old residence in Fort Totten. I now live in by the Georgia Avenue/Petworth stop on the yellow and green lines. I have 5 roommates (all Hunger Fellows), and since six of the eight male Fellows live in this one house, we’ve deemed it the “Frat house.” Our abode has a very perplexing design and boasts 3.5 bathrooms for 4 bedrooms. Why? Who knows -- but there's never a line.

I finished my old job.
I [arguably] finished my work at Food & Friends. During the last two months, I was working rather insane hours (10 to 12-hour work days and then working more after dinner). In other words, I had absolutely no life outside of work. In fact, for two-week periods, I didn’t even leave Fort Totten. For those of you who have heard me describe Fort Totten, there is nothing there – less a KFC/Taco Bell (one establishment, mind you) and a liquor store. I finished writing two 50-page reports with Lindsey, and now they’re being edited by Food & Friends. With any luck, we’ll get the corrections back, incorporate them, and finally be done.

I have a new job.
Two Tuesdays ago, I started working at Families USA in its Health Policy department. Right now, I am working on projects that focus on private insurance markets, and especially on individual and small group plans. I had no idea that health insurance was so complicated – but it is! I’m trying to dive head-first into my new work, and I hope that I’ll get over the steep learning curve soon. Everyone at Families is really nice, and I'm excited that I get to work at a health policy organization during an election year.

I bought a bed.
And my newest accomplishment -- During my first two weeks here in Petworth, I slept on an air mattress from Target ($26). I don’t think that I’ve been particularly well-rested during the recent weeks, and my inflatable bed may be a chief reason why. On Tuesday, I finally Craigslisted a bed for $75, and I’m sleeping much better now. The mattress is a little hard, though, so I’ve ordered a memory foam pad off of Overstock. Way to splurge on a budget.

Well, that’s about it! I’ve started to enjoy happy hour culture in D.C. now that I work downtown, and my initial conclusion is that it’s definitely a coping mechanism. The pace in this city is intense, and it’s not surprising that people’s first recourse is to drink themselves into oblivion! But really, though, the happy hour circuit is extensive, and I plan to know it well by August :).

Danger?

Earlier this week, a man was shot and killed during an armed robbery in my neighborhood. The scene of the crime was reported as the “700 block of Princeton Place NW.” This area is extremely familiar to me because I literally walk through it every day on my way to the Metro stop. According to the press release from the city, the victim’s body was found in an alley, and the suspects fled the scene towards Georgia Avenue.

I don’t know what to make of this event. My roommates and I have sensed a recent spike in crime, and as new residents in our neighborhood, we are baffled about how best to address this situation. The fact that all of our workplaces require business formal or business casual attire compounds the situation. We are extremely conspicuous as we walk to the subway stop, sticking out like sore thumbs in a working and middle class neighborhood. Last night, I was lucky enough to get a ride home at 11:00 p.m. As we pulled up to my street, we realized that police had blocked an area two blocks from my house due to some incident that has not yet been publicized. I, quite frankly, am not sure if I want to know about it.

So far, I have actually been one of the calmer (or perhaps more numb) individuals in my household. One of the reasons why this is the case is because I’m Asian American. As Geraldine Ferraro has made abundantly clear, being a man of color is a “lucky” situation... But ridiculous comments aside, Washington, D.C., has had a traditionally tense racial division between white and black residents. As someone who is neither black nor white, I can often sidestep these particular tensions, which often are exacerbated by gentrification. I’ve noted to some of my friends that while this situation perhaps benefits me de facto (otherization is “lucky!”), it’s still extremely troubling – especially for my white housemates.

We’ll see how all of this turns out…

He regresado.

I've been working so much recently that I haven't had much time to post on this blog -- or to do anything else vaguely recreational. However, after a very tumultuous February, my life has finally settled down. With my newly recovered leisure time, I'm going to try to write more in this blog, if only to maintain some semblance of an ability to write prose. So anyhow, here goes, y'all.