Archive - Jun 2011
June 20th
Chris Donovan for Congress
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 06/20/2011 - 21:02Mostly, I stayed out of the 2010 election cycle. While I supported the Democrats across the board in the general election, the primaries were more difficult. I was good friends with many of the candidates running against one another and I just didn’t want to get into it.
2012 is a different cycle. With Chris Murphy running for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, his congressional seat will be open. Already there are three Democrats running for the nomination, Chris Donovan, Dan Roberti, and Elizabeth Etsy. I don’t really know Dan or Elizabeth, and I’m sure that they would be find candidates if they win the nomination. However, I have known Chris Donovan for about eight years. He is currently the Speaker of the Connecticut House. I suspect that if I dug back through his legislative history, I could find something that he has done that I disagree with. That’s the way it is with just about every politician. However, I can’t recall any thing off the top of my head that I’ve disagreed with him on. Instead, on just about every issue I can think of, he’s been a great State Representative. He has stood up for the people, against special interests on issue after issue.
So, when my wife and I received a phone call the other night from Chris asking for our support, I was glad to give it. I encourage you to do the same thing. I’ve set up an ActBlue contribution page for Chris’ campaign. Please, join me in supporting and contributing to Chris Donovan’s campaign.
June 19th
This Moment in Time
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/19/2011 - 09:38They say that everything has a reason. They say there are no accidents. They also say that sometimes a cigar is a cigar. I remember people saying all of this to me years ago as I tried to make sense out of a difficult period of my life. As I write of this, the words of Bob Dylan come to mind.
They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
Yesterday was a good day. It started off with strawberry picking with Fiona. Later, I took Wesley to the dog park, Fiona to the pool, and the family to the Fairfield Irish Festival. Food in hand, we looked for a place to sit, and found open seats at a table with a couple and a seven year old girl. Fiona became fast friends with the girl and soon, they were exploring the fair on their own as Kim and I sat and told stories with the couple.
Meanwhile, my cellphone beeped as more work emails came in. Friends at work were remembering when AIDS/HIV emerged thirty years ago. Some of my co-workers have been at the health center for longer than those thirty years. There were emails talking about how we can use social media to talk about the fight against AIDS/HIV at the health center for the past three decades and what still needs to be done.
Beside the tent, a merchandise table was being set up for the band, The Rogues. Fiona went over and got a T-shirt and a CD. She had gotten to know them when she interviewed their lead on her radio show a week ago. This too, came from a long chain of events, starting with a visit to Podcamp, picking up information about BlogTalkRadio and the emergence of Fiona’s Radio Show.
What leads us all to this moment in time? It wasn’t some self-help, highly effective, purpose driven plan on my part. Instead, it was simply living each day as well as possible. Perhaps yesterday wasn’t an accident, and although the reaso
ns for yesterday as well as any future ramifications might not yet be clear, it was a good day.
Today, my older daughters are not joining me on Father’s Day. Instead, they are going to the Clearwater Festival. Miranda commented on Facebook what a great day Saturday at the Festival was. I would have liked to have joined them, but it just wasn’t feasible. Nonetheless, it says to me that they have grown into a life valuing things that I value, and for that I am grateful.
June 18th
Random Reactions to Loud Educated People on Trains
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 06/18/2011 - 12:49Random reactions:
When you find yourself in a hole, it is time to stop digging.
If you find yourself telling people around you that you’re not crazy, check to see if you’re in a hole.
A loud discussion on a cellphone on a train is not a private conversation.
In fact, anything you say, could and might be used against you in a YouTube video.
NYU does not seem to have classes in cellphone etiquette on mass transportation
People don’t need Facebook’s new facial recognition to figure out who you are.
Entitlements may be destroying our country, but it isn’t the entitlements that the government gives out, it is the sense of entitlement that many people seem to feel if they live in Fairfield county, drive an SUV or went to an expensive college. It’s part of the reason I moved away from Fairfield county.
Yes, I’ve probably been loud and obnoxious at times as well, and I do feel sorry for her. Yet on every train ride, they ask people to be considerate of passengers around them, particularly when talking on a cellphone. In addition, hopefully everyone who views this video will stop to think for a moment about times they’ve been loud and obnoxious, especially if they do it from a sense of privilege, and perhaps think twice next time they find themselves in a hole.
June 17th
#ff #eav
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:17@Iddybud @BevanWhitfield @davidbeckwith @JRStratford @JohnFromCT @TheDudeDean @mlmxpertholland @LesleyLambert
Every week, I look for different ways of creating my Follow Friday (#ff) list. This week, I decided to do it based on my top investments on Empire Avenue (#EAv). Empire Avenue is a social networking game. Think, buying and selling shares in people’s social media influence. So, today’s list is of the people whom I have large holdings in.
@Iddybud is an old friend from the world of political social media. I own a lot of shares in her, and they’ve been performing well, both in terms of price appreciation and dividends.
@BevanWhitfield is a friend from Second Life. Her stock is also showing good price appreciation and is returning decent dividends.
I met @davidbeckwith about the same time that I met @Iddybud. His stock has been climbing nicely on top of good dividends.
I believe I met @JRStratford at one of the Western Mass Podcamps. Again, nice growth and dividends.
@JohnFromCT and I have met through various social media events in Connecticut. While his stock price continues to grow, his dividends and price are currently fairly low. He may be a good investment for a long term buy.
I think I met @TheDudeDean through various blogging networks. Strong dividends. Still getting good price gains, but at nearly 94/share, he’s pretty expensive.
@mlmxpertholland is a person that I met through Empire Avenue. Solid growth and solid dividends. Has a QR Code as the avatar. Gives interesting investment advice. We’ll see how accurate it is.
Also from Western Mass is @LesleyLambert. I may have mentioned her in other #ff blog posts. She has a lot of interesting things to say, especially around new technology, like QR Codes, and how it relates to real estate.
So, that’s my #ff for this week. Are you on Empire Avenue? Who do you like? If not, who else are you following?
June 16th
#bloomsday ramblings
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 06/16/2011 - 20:15Tip. Tip. You can’t step into the same stream of consciousness twice. These thoughts come to me as I sit down to write a blog post on Bloom’s Day. I had thought about writing it this morning, and had all kinds of interesting fleeting thoughts, but they are all gone.
The self exists at the intersection of our inner neural network and our external social network. Friends sharing Bloom’s day tweets, a Librivox recording of Joyce’s Ulysses, the Facebook page of the Greenwich Mountain Lion, and Weiner’s resignation; all of this mixes together into the palimpsest of the day.
What is the fascination of the Greenwich Mountain Lion? Something claimed to be extinct that we hope isn’t? Some fascination with wild danger? Jouissance? Does the juxtaposition of the ghost cat with the social x-rays add to the fascination?
And Weiner? The Scarlet Tweeter? Is it now his turn to wear the Scarlett Letter? Something Vitter has avoided? Splitting. Let’s project all of the ‘bad’ aspects of our own desires on a convenient scapegoat, Weiner will do.
Clusters of little white Mountain Laurel flowers stand out against patches of blue in the evening the sky, before the predicted storms roll in. It is just scattered showers predicted for tonight. No severe thunderstorms, gumball sized hail, floods or serious winds; nothing like the end of the world earthquakes, tornados, floods, wildfires and zombie attacks.
Yes, they are filming a zombie film in Connecticut as Fiona watches Avatar, The Last Air Bender. Too bad a Water Bender can’t take some of the floods from the Mississippi River and send them to the fires of Arizona.
Tap. Tap. Clove? No. Alone. I’ve been to the Zoo. We’ll, here we are, this is the beach. I’m cold. Lines from various plays come back to me. The Emerald Throne is dust. There has been a lively discussion on Facebook recently from my high school classmates of years ago. Stirring up ancient memories, ancient desire. Breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land. When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
The absurdist plays of my high school years were wasted on my youth; Albee, Ionesco, and others. The twenty something evenings drinking Guinness, Guinness is good for you, while reading Finnegan’s wake with an odd collection of polyglots and polymaths disappeared too quickly. Can there be misery greater than mine? Miserable, Miserable. I always wanted to do an absurdist production of Winnie the Pooh. It’s the end, or perhaps FIN as seen at the end of an early Wim Wender’s film.
Now, it’s time to sleep, perchance to dream. I dream'd a dream to-night…And so did I….Well, what was yours?... That dreamers often lie….In bed asleep, while they do dream things true. Ah, isn’t the Internet great, allowing you to gather quotes that otherwise would have been jumbled in your mind. Pity the poor Google Engineer trying to make sense of my searches.
A tweet interrupts the stream. More results of votes on state labor contracts. A bug lands in my hair. All are signs that the moment has passed.
