Ari Herzog

In 15 years, gas prices rose $3+ a gallon

2008-05-16T14:11:00.006-04:00

Come Thanksgiving Day weekend, my 15-year high school reunion will occur at the Canton Town Club and if it's anything like the 10-year reunion I attended, many of us will laugh over the good old days, exchange phone numbers and email addresses, and never talk to each other again until the next reunion.

It's not that we don't try to remain in contact, but the pressures of life (and many of my peers with children) interfere with the simple act of picking up a phone or sending a quick e-mail to say, "Hi John, Thinking of you. Hope all is well. Write back, Mary."

I used to say I was friendly with all of my high school classmates, but when my mother heard that, she asked me, "If they are all your friends, how come they never come over to the house?" Good question. In retrospect, I had a small group of friends (who did come to the house) but larger concentric circles of acquaintances and other degrees of contacts.

In recent years, with the advent of social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, many of my high school friends and acquaintances have re-entered my life and while we may not even e-mail each other, we do keep in touch through the simple acts of checking out each other's public profiles, writing short "happy birthday" and "how are you" notes, and commenting on posted pictures of each other with friends, family members, and celebrities. In this sense, we try in our own ways to keep the flame alive.

At a gas station this week, I filled up my 15.7-gallon Subaru tank at $3.67 a gallon and remarked to myself that when I drove my hatchback Dodge Omni in high school, I was paying about 90 to 99 cents a gallon. I even remember the price of unleaded gas dropping to a low of 88 cents! Imagine that; a pipe dream for the future?

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that analysts at Goldman Sachs, in response to Nigerian unrest and Russian instability, predicted the price of oil would jump to about $200 a barrel by the fall; oil trades around $120 now.

"That would put oil at unprecedented price levels, even going back to just after the Civil War," said Stephen Brown, an energy economist at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank.

Running quick and dirty math, if I drive to a job in Lowell, a distance of some 30-40 miles one way, five days a week for a year, I would accumulate some 15,600 miles a year. And that doesn't include incidental and vacation driving. Let's say I drive 20,000 miles over the next 12 months; with the price of gas at, say $4 a gallon, it would cost me about $4000 for gas, not to mention any repairs or depreciation costs.

If I don't drive to Lowell but commute by train to a Boston job, I would spend about $4000-5000 a year, depending whether I park at the $2 MBTA lot or ride my bike and take the bike with me into the city. If the price of gas increases, the cost of taking the train, all things relative, stays the same.

U.S. health care workforce needs reform

2008-05-14T18:38:00.003-04:00

In "Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce," a new report released last month, the Institute of Medicine prioritizes a need for the U.S. health care workforce to receive increased training and higher pay as a prerequisite for meeting the needs of 78 million baby boomers who turn 65 between 2011 and 2030.

Three years from now, if the status quo remains, the aging baby boomers will comprise 20 percent of the U.S. population and be met by a health care workforce that is too small and very unprepared for the necessary geriatric care of aging adults.

The IOM charged its ad hoc taskforce, the Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, to determine the health care needs of Americans over 65 years of age and to assess those needs through an analysis of the forces that shape the health care workforce, including education and training, models of care, and public and private programs.

The committee determined three steps must be taken immediately before 2030:

First, we need to increase the competence of virtually all members of the health care workforce in the basic care of older adults.

Second, we need to increase the number of geriatric specialists both to provide care for those older adults with the most complex needs as well as to train the rest of the workforce in basic geriatric principles.

Finally, we need to change the way that care is organized and delivered, using each person to his or her highest level of ability, including family, friends, and patients themselves.

Today's older Americans comprise 12 percent of the total population but 26 percent of all physician office visits, 35 percent of all hospital stays, 34 percent of all prescriptions, 38 percent of all emergency medical responses, and 90 percent of all nursing home use.

The health care workforce, though, comprises a mere 7,000 certified geriatricians which sounds lofty until you realize this is a 22 percent decrease from eight years ago.

And mental health? There is one geriatric psychiatrist in today's industry for every 11,000 older adults; and if growth rates remain consistent, there would be one for every 20,000 in 2030.

Despite the disproportionate health care numbers, "the U.S. health care system is in denial about the impending demands," said committee chairman Jack Rowe in this testimony last month to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Rowe argues that our society places little value on the expertise needed to care for our vulnerable population of frail older adults, considering that a geriatrician earned an average salary of $163,000 in 2005, compared to a general internist salary of $175,000 despite extra training for the former. The disconnect is further seen in a dermatologist salary of over $300,000 a year.

More alarming (though not surprising to me) is that federal standards for nurse aide and home health aide training has not changed in 20 years from its current level of 75 hours. California, Rowe says, requires more training hours than the federal minimum, but has even higher standards for dog groomers, crossing guards, and cosmetologists.

The next issue of my American Society of Public Administration journal is expected to have a larger story about this, and its impact on municipal workers.

The Fate of Employment Prospects

2008-05-13T17:09:00.004-04:00

I don't believe in coincidence.

I believe everything happens for a reason. Some call this fate.

In the hours since buying a desk and erecting it, one organization asked me to interview with them on Thursday; and a contact at another organization is trying to set up a different interview with me.

I don't believe in the independence of the two events &mdash desk installation and employment conversations. Rather, one is the direct causation of another.

Feng shui designing my home office

2008-05-12T17:46:00.006-04:00

With feng shui as my guide, I am attempting to design a quadrant of my apartment into a home office. For the past seven months, I propped my laptop computer on my, err, lap; and while I may still do that, it would be less frequent as I now have a proper desk that I bought yesterday at IKEA.

After assembling the desk today (very easy) and moving existing furniture around to maximize space and comfort (not very easy as I kept changing my mind), I think I'm set for now. I still have some organizing to do (taking clutter off the floor, consolidating multiple bins' and baskets' worth of stuff, buying a floor plant, buying another floor lamp, etc.), but apartment life is much nicer-looking now than yesterday.

Comparing the living room with the office room, here are some pictures (which can be clicked on for a larger view).

BEFORE:

AFTER:

How did I miss Kay Hanley's latest gig?

2008-05-09T16:43:00.003-04:00

I'm behind the times.

I never saw Boston-based band Letters to Cleo in concert but I always liked their pop melodies. About 13 years ago, I bought their 1994 album, "Aurora Gory Alice," which I uploaded to iTunes last spring.

As I listen to it now, I wondered what happened to lead singer Kay Hanley. I found this Boston Globe article from last December that highlights Hanley as a backup singer to Miley Cyrus.

If I was a bigger Letters to Cleo fan, I suppose I would have known this. But it goes to the bigger issue that I'm out of touch with today's music scene.

As a college student, I belonged to BMG, Columbia House, CDNow, and other music "clubs" that sent packages of free CDs if I agreed to buy so many more at jacked-up prices. That's how I built up most of my collection of 500+ CDs over the years.

But now? Do I buy a CD or do I download it off iTunes Music Store? I used to buy CDs for no reason than the cover art looked pretty or a song sample sounded good; it's too easy to buy music these days and there are a billion and a half more music concerts today than 10 years ago, so how am I supposed to choose what I like?

Ikea looms this weekend

2008-05-08T21:43:00.004-04:00

As I head south to the family abode this weekend for Mother's Day, I'll stop off en route at Ikea and buy this desk. With a birch enamel color over the particleboard, it will fit in nicely in an area of my to-be home office.

One of the first stories I'll be writing will be an essay comparing the past eight months living in Newburyport versus about two years in Somerville.

I started brewing a story idea earlier today while eating lunch beside the Rowley River in said town, and how the outdoor sounds were eerily quiet until an MBTA train rumbled by. I thought of many afternoons walking around South Boston's Castle Island and hearing and seeing the planes land at Logan across the harbor. Then, my mind shifted to downtown Newburyport and surrendering my senses to the tranquility of mildly moving powerboats on the Merrimack River.

Once complete, I plan to pitch this story to the Boston Globe.

Desk hunting

2008-05-07T20:04:00.005-04:00

Last week, I wrote about wanting to buy a writing desk.

Easier written than done.

Over the past few days, I walked into downtown antique and used furniture stores, drove to similar stores in the region, and even checked department stores like Staples and Homegoods.

Everything is either too expensive, too heavy, too many accessories (shelves, drawers, and the like) or not the right color.

On the tip of a former colleague, I'll visit two more places tomorrow that may stock used furniture for what I want. If I can't find anything in my style and price range, I'll wind up buying one of three desks online:

A desk from Staples:

A desk from Target:

Or a desk from Ikea:

Ikea would probably be my choice.

Cartooning me

2008-05-04T13:30:00.001-04:00

Looking back over the better part of 25 years, I've enjoyed watching TV cartoon shows and animated films and reading newspaper comic strips, but I never got into reading comic books.

While my peers collected comic books and shared graphic novels, I devoted my childhood to matchbox cars, Star Wars creatures, and Lego sets.

Considering I always read more than other kids my age, leading to high scores on read-a-thons and book reports, it's ironic I never got into comic books.

Never say never.

After listening to Lauren Weinstein talk about her cartoon book, "Girl Stories," at the recent Newburyport Literary Festival, and in reaction to yesterday's national celebration of Free Comic Book Day, I looked up the nearest participating comic book retailer and drove to the Toy Soldier in Amesbury.

In lieu of stereotypical superhero comic books, I asked Mick for suggestions. He seemed about my age and knew the genre.

I ultimately walked away with three free books, provided by different publishers specifically for the national day:

1. A Marvel Adventures story about Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man

2. A preview of four comic strips to be published this year converted from bestselling novels by Jim Butcher, George R.R. Martin and Dean Koontz

3. Atomic Robo

I wonder if I'll like the comic books...

Chinese steel

2008-05-04T10:52:00.002-04:00

I shot this picture on May 11, 2006 in Beijing.

With the Olympic Games beginning on August 8, the Chinese spent many man hours over several years constructing structures, including this one.

The Olympic torch arrived today in Macao, and makes its way to the mainland. Over the next three months, the torch will relay through every Chinese province. I wonder how much of the relay will be on foot, as much of the nation is desolate.

I wonder if my above picture is for an athletic venue or a peripheral lodging structure.

Foray into iTunes music store

2008-05-02T15:39:00.003-04:00

Nearly two years after purchasing an iPod and storing my music on iTunes, and about a year after buying a CD, I finally downloaded two songs from the iTunes music store.

It seems Starbucks has a 'Pick of the Week' featuring a different song each week, where patrons can walk out of the physical store with free cards that specify redeemable codes to download songs.

This week's song is "So Many People to Love" by Carly Simon.

I don't own any (other) songs by Carly Simon, but a free song is a free song, no?

Around the same time I was looking at the iTunes music store website, I saw the music video for "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance on Comcast's alternative music channel... so bought the 99-cent song on impulse.

It's convenient, for sure. But how often will I be playing songs on my computer or listening on my iPod?

P&G says no

2008-05-02T14:07:00.002-04:00

Not even 48 hours after applying for a management position at Procter & Gamble and filling out an exhaustive 67-question multiple choice test, P&G sends me a generic email and says it's a no go.

How much time did they really spend looking at me, or did they just look at how I answered their leadership survey questions?

I think it's humorous how they suggest I try again in 12 months.

Dear Ari,

Thank you for applying to [position title here]. We appreciate your interest in Procter & Gamble.

We have reviewed your qualifications and, unfortunately, are not able to pursue your application further. We encourage you to apply again in 12 months and consider the available opportunities at that time.

Thanks for the time you have invested in applying to Procter & Gamble. We wish you every success in finding an excellent career opportunity.

Sincerely,

P&G Recruitment

Taking a tip from H.G. Wells

2008-05-02T01:39:00.002-04:00

In his classic, "The Time Machine," H.G. Wells writes about a scientist who builds a time machine and travels hundreds of thousands of years into Earth's future.

Wells' hero meets the Eloi and the Morlocks, two human species evolved from different genetics. The Eloi, a pretty species, are the bourgeoisie who spend their days singing and dancing amid the gardens. The Morlocks, an ugly group, are the proletariat who build things and live underground with no distractions.

As I seek a means to maximize an approximate 64 square foot section of my apartment into a home office, I think I'll work like a Morlock. That is, the nearest windows are a good 12 to 14 feet away, adjacent to my now living room and TV. I currently sit on a couch during work; another distraction.

Feng shui dogma dictates that office space should be near windows to extend positive energy. Since I like the outdoors, wouldn't working next to a window be a distraction?

I can always re-arrange things later... but for the time being, I'll find a simple desk and chair that I can sit down at, put my laptop computer on and other paperwork, and do work without the distraction of a TV or window next to me or a couch under my butt.

67 questions about leadership

2008-04-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

I just applied for a management job on the Procter & Gamble website.

After filling out a 6-page online application, including uploading my resume, references, and cover letter, I was prompted to submit to the "Success Drivers Management Assessment," a set of 67 multiple choice questions about leadership.

A sampling of some of the questions and choices:

Do you tend to focus more of your attention on the issues of the present or on the potential issues of the future?

A. Much more focus on the present
B. More focus on the present
C. Just as likely to focus on the present as on the future
D. More focus on the future
E. Much more focus on the future

I chose B.

How have you been able to take ideas in your work and turn them into reality?

A. By using my unique strengths
B. By removing barriers
C. By being patient
D. By being assertive
E. By ensuring everyone is engaged in the vision

I chose E.

Which of these do you consider to be the most important in trying to solve problems?

A. Analyzing information
B. Formulating alternative actions
C. Being well-informed
D. Challenging assumptions
E. Taking a broad view
F. Creating innovative solutions
G. Focusing on the key issues
H. Probing for more information
I. Something else

I chose G.

Which of the following would you find least attractive in a job?

A. Keeping a tight, planned schedule each day
B. Working an extra hour or two many weekday evenings
C. Working weekends whenever the need arises
D. Working by yourself most of the time
E. Starting very early most mornings
F. Working over 50 hours most every week
G. Starting at the bottom, working your way up

I chose E.

Apparently there are no correct answers, but HR should be able to determine my management ability presuming my responses were consistent.

The fact that the test took about an hour to complete, I hope I hear back in a timely manner.

Twelve

2008-04-28T17:12:00.005-04:00

A unique collaboration of 12 Boston area directors and starring a local ensemble cast of relative unknowns or actors with limited professional experience, the Boston International Film Festival debuted the world premiere of "Twelve" last night at the Somerville Theater.

This eclectic but unified collection of 12 short stories—each about a different month of the year—forms both a love letter both to Boston and an impressive showcase for the area’s burgeoning indie filmmaking scene, said the indie festival's website when I booked my weekend festival tickets.

Last Friday night, I watched three festival films but the highlight was "Phoebe in Wonderland," an amazing drama starring 9-year-old Elle Fanning as a girl with behavioral issues who reluctantly joins her school production of "Alice in Wonderland" and creates a fantasy world to cope with her troubled life. If/when this is distributed nationwide, I'll be back to see it.

The other two films I saw were "Natural Causes," a well-performed though poorly constructed romantic drama that follows a college couple through flirtation, into a relationship, and break-up; and "Nerdcore Rising," a pioneering and humorous documentary in the form of a concert roadtrip with MC Frontalot, the so-called father of nerdcore hip hop, known to nerds and geeks around the country (if not beyond) for inventing raps about nerdy subjects like "Star Wars," PalmPilots, and comic strips.

But back to "Twelve."

Co-producers Scott Masterson and Steve Oare hand-picked 12 directors to shoot a 10-minute short during a different month of 2007. Each director had creative license to explain a story any way he/she wanted.

The films were directed by Scott Masterson, Seanbaker Carter, Andy McCarthy, Garth Donovan, Luke Poling, Noah Lydiard, Megan Summers, Brynmore Williams, Joan Meister, Marc Colucci, Jared Goodman, and Vladmir Minuty.

Individually, the 12 short films were shot in and around Boston and focus on love, friendship, despair, addiction, and violence using elements of comedy, romance, song, and documentary. I liked each film in a different way, but my favorites include:

"March" - about a serial murderer and the police detective who tracks him down in a very funny way.
"June" - following the inventive exploits of a teenage boy who builds a flying contraption to escape his alcoholic stepmother.
"August" - an educational documentary about bees and the hive sounds they make.
"November" - a jarring look at inner-city youth who live a life of drugs, guns, and violence.

Together, the 12 films are linked by a tree that changes appearance as the months of the year unfold in each successive short film.

My friend Katie and I thankfully bought our tickets in advance, as the premiere sold out for all 900 seats of theater 1. (Due to demand, the festival is showing an encore presentation tonight.) We enjoyed the film from the sixth row of the balcony.

Searching the web, I see that Justin of Lonely Reviewer also attended last night's show, calling it alarmingly cohesive and effective, and that the 12 directors demonstrated a love of filmmaking. These 12 talents behind the film showed that given something as seemingly simple as telling a story in or about a month can be something more than just a simple story about a month.

For comparison, see Erin Trahan's profile earlier this month of "January" director and co-producer Scott Masterson at NewEnglandFilm.com, and last December's story in The Phoenix when Caitlin Curran interviewed "July" director Megan Summers.

T + P4 = B

2008-04-26T23:48:00.003-04:00

Six years ago, I scribbled the above formula into a notebook while listening to bestselling author Laurie Beth Jones keynote at the 31st annual American Society of Journalists and Authors conference.

I thought about that today, not the formula as I had to look it up in my notes but the general essence of that conference, as I hobnobbed with some 40 authors, playwrights, and poets in town for the 4th annual Newburyport Literary Festival. Throughout the day, I sat in on several panels involving children's writing, graphic novel illustration, and poetry.

Which brings me to travel...

Seven months before hearing Jones speak, I had returned home to Massachusetts after a consulting job in California went sour that resulted in a cross-country roadtrip.

Driving over 20,000 miles across 20+ states and half of Canada, I visited the sun-drenched beaches of San Diego and Halifax, the natural wonders of Yellowstone and Acadia, and the urban centers of Winnipeg, Toronto, and Denver. My so-called "Great American Roadtrip" later became a series of workshops at the Boston Center for Adult Education and provided the backdrop for numerous travel essays that continue to this day.

After returning from California, I attended numerous literary conferences in Boston and New York between 2002-04 through illustrious organizations such as ASJA, Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, and the South Asian Journalists Association (the latter I previously wrote about here).

Perusing through my saved journals from the j- conferences, I see copious notes on writing tips and tricks, finding one's voice, advantages of not having j-school experience and dozens of other media topics from the likes of Barbara Ehrenreich, Ken Burns, Susan Orlean, Roy Peter Clark, Adam Hochschild, Jacqui Banaszynski, Mark Obbie, Adrian LeBlanc, and Victor Merina... not to mention those who have passed on such as David Halberstam, Molly Ivins, and Peter Jennings.

Fast forward to the present, and the first panel I attended, So You Want to Be a Famous Writer, featured authors Terry Farish, Lauren Weinstein, and Natasha Friend.

I listened to an elderly woman ask the women how to discipline oneself to write a novel without distraction from daily vices. Weinstein talked about the importance of pets and Friend spoke of keeping to a calendar, and through it all I chuckled to myself because God knows how many times in how many conferences and how many panels I've heard that same question.

Everyone wants to be a writer, and God bless every one of them. But how many wannabe writers successfully transition from concept to creation?

People, said Jones at the 2002 ASJA conference, are whiners, dreamers, and doers. Whiners complain about what is, dreamers wonder about what could be, but doers encapsulate the raw material of what is and what could be to define a vision and bring it into the now.

Jones formularized writing as T + P4 = B, where T is Talent; P is Passion, Pain, Persistence, and Promotion; and B is Bliss.

Do you agree with this formula?

MA saluted for its PV programs

2008-04-24T14:07:00.002-04:00

Did you know that Massachusetts is one of 10 states in the nation, according to the April/May 2008 issue of Home Power magazine, with financial incentives and regulatory policies for solar panel installation?

Reporter Kelly Davidson lists the current state of affairs for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.

My home state of Massachusetts, with a daily average of 4.6 hours of peak sunlight, is singled out for its new Commonwealth Solar program, administered by the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust, that offers commercial rebates of 30 to 50 percent and residential rebates of 20 to 60 percent against non-competitive installations of photovoltaic projects.

Of note, Governor Patrick pledged the Commonwealth Solar program to help erect 250 megawatts of solar-producing electricity by 2017.

The Home Power article also references the 26-year-old net metering program; and the construction of the country's largest photovoltaic manufacturing plant with Evergreen Solar in Devens (at a cost of $165 million).

Job hunting

2008-04-23T18:13:00.002-04:00

I recognize that a prospective manager would want to ensure a new hire is the best applicant in the pool, but why must the process take so darned long?

Moreover, if I take the time to apply for a job, wouldn't you think an employer would take the time to send a response, even a generic one?

Passed over

2008-04-22T14:52:00.001-04:00

(cross-posted from my other blog at the Newburyport Report)

"Where is your Passover section?" I asked one of Market Basket's older clerks today as he stocked the beverage aisle in the Port Plaza chain.

"The what?" he asked me.

"The Passover section," I repeated. "Matzahs and such."

"Aisle 4," he said.

I walked to aisle 4 (or whatever number he said) and laughed to myself. He must have misheard me and thought I asked for the pasta aisle.

It was not much better down the hill at Shaw's, where two boxes of matzah sat on the top of a tiny shelf matrix for Middle Eastern foods.

Where do local Jews buy their Passover foods?

Truman Greene

2008-04-15T21:47:00.002-04:00

Truman Greene sings and plays guitar in this video in his own advertisement for H&R Block.

It's so bad it's actually funny!

Ted and Niki: Key points

2008-04-15T14:15:00.000-04:00

"We can't be interminably bickering with each other," said Senator Ted Kennedy during a WBZ Radio breakfast hosted two weeks ago yesterday at Boston's Westin Copley Hotel.

After listening to radio hosts Gary LaPierre and Dan Rea interview the 7-term senator for about an hour on a wealth of issues, Kennedy spoke about his hope for the future, arguing that youth voters today generally do not care for partisan politics and special interests.

Kennedy suggested that rather than Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continuing to argue over health care, the Iraq war, education, and alternative energy, the two ought to come to a consensus of a common voice.

"When a political leader appeals to the people," Kennedy said, "I think the people respond."

Looking over my random notes, it's worth mentioning some takeaway points from Kennedy:

Four days after seeing and hearing Kennedy, I returned to Boston and saw Congresswoman Niki Tsongas talk to faculty members and various public officials at a much smaller gathering at Suffolk Law School.

I jotted down four key points from the freshman congresswoman:

Tsongas also mentioned, which was news to me, that every member of Congress receives an annual budget of $1.3 million to hire 18 staff members.

5 spam emails

2008-04-10T22:44:00.002-04:00

With apologies to Hormel Foods and their spiced ham product, has anyone actually read the content of, and clicked the links for, email spam?

Well, I just did. Taking one of my email accounts that was set up primarily for online forms and knowing there'd be a ton of spam, I decided to uncover my slices of spam.

Here are the top 5 spam emails I received over the past 24 hours:

Become a super-hung giant: The best way to please your lassie like a real Casanova, is to get your love gun bigger!

1. The email points to a website that advertises a penis enlargement pill.

2. The pill may or may not work, but isn't it a tad odd that the site displays the "As Seen on TV" red logo when a google search for the name of the pill yields a mere 8 results?

3. The problem here is while I googled the name of the pill, how many others would?
All your meds needs: Stress-free and hassle-free online medication here now

1. The email points to a so-called Canadian pharmacy website that is described on the site as the leading #1 online pharmacy.

2. Googling the website URL comes up with zero results. More to the point, the web domain doesn't even include "pharmacy" or "health" or such keywords in it, but is a random assortment of letters that may mean something in some other language but has no English language connotation.
Quality Pills at Lowest Prices: People who used to purchase medications in Canada know CanadianPharmacy for the cheap prices and high quality medications. No other drugstore has such a large selection of products.

1. Canadian pharmacies may be known for cheaper costs, but not when the email address that sent the message is the domain of a Vancouver high tech company.

2. The linked website no longer works, and this email was just sent to me yesterday.
suonimit: Get Ready for spring-summer season! Even ostin povers needs our meds

1. Huh? What does suonimit or ostin povers mean? At least try to spell it right to give an appearance of decency!

2. The link points to yet another Canadian pharmacy site, but once again, the URL has no bearing on a pharmacy.
Need a gift for your loved one, look no further: Sapphire crystal glass with top grade swiss movements available here

1. "Here" pointed me to a company that stocks 5,000 "replicas" of Rolex, Cartier, Gucci, etc.

2. There are so many links and product descriptions, I almost thought I was on some famous jewelry site. Maybe I was, for all I knew. But shouldn't a customer-oriented web shop have a phone number for customer service? Just a simple contact form, and it was a duplicate to those on the above pharmacy sites.

3. The strangest link was their "terms and conditions," which cited a single sentence of Code 431.322.12 of the Internet Privacy Act signed by Bill Clinton in 1995 that the company's ISP cannot be threatened. Why would I think of that?

Cinematic joy

2008-04-10T17:36:00.002-04:00

With film trailers lasting two, three minutes long, and press critiques delving into every little detail, there is a wondrous joy at walking into a movie theatre after only seeing a poster or hearing a whisper of the plot.

The less I know in advance, the more I enjoy the film.

I should know, having watched numerous films in recent weeks at Newburyport's one-screen community theatre, the Screening Room.

Last night, for instance, I was wowed out of my mind with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and was ignored in the Oscar nomination process. Set in Ceausescu's Romania in the late 1980s when abortion was illegal (the original film title is "4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile"), not to mention typically fatal for the women, the film follows two best friends: one who needs an abortion and the other who helps her through it.

But this is not an abortion film so much as it's about the "consciousness" (to borrow a word from Roger Ebert's review, which I read after I watched it) of abortion, with stunning cinematography and visuals, not to mention the lack of any music. Dialogue or the lack of dialogue carry the film.

Dialogue also carries In Bruges, a spell-binding drama and thriller I saw two weeks ago that kept me guessing the plot until the very end. Co-starring Brendan Gleeson, 53, who began professional acting at 34 after teaching high school English for a decade. Bless the man!

Living in Newburyport, and not typically following the blockbuster stadium movie theatres, I fell in love last night when I saw online that the Independent Film Festival returns to Boston later this month, playing shows at the Somerville Theatre, Brattle Theatre, and the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

Judging from simple descriptions on the website, my top three choices are:

Stuck, a suspense drama with Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, which plays Saturday, April 26 at 10:15 in Somerville;
Mongol, an Oscar nominee for foreign language film, about Genghis Khan, which plays Sunday, April 27 at 7:00 in Brookline;
Natural Causes, with no big name actors and no big award shows but is about relationships, which plays Friday, April 25 at 10:15 in Somerville.

That weekend in Newburyport is a literary festival, which I'll be volunteering at. I don't know my assigned shift yet, but it's fair to say I'd be able to see any of the nighttime films. Tickets are not on sale yet, or at least weren't yesterday.

Launch of new ariherzog.com

2008-04-09T17:45:00.003-04:00

Frequent readers of this blog will notice that while it is still hosted by Blogger, the domain changed. Look up at the location bar in your browser: www.ariwriter.com.

That's not the only change. Seven years after its creation, I am pleased to announce my personal website at ariherzog.com has a different look.

A work in simplicity, it has easy and accessible links to my writing clips, photos, this blog, and other resources. The site will be updated as needed in the coming weeks.

All in one place: www.ariherzog.com.

Reasonable silence

2008-04-03T14:58:00.003-04:00

This blog is abnormally quiet as I'm amid several processes, namely job hunting and related networking, and Newburyport Earth Day publicity efforts.

I'm also making changes to my personal website at ariherzog.com which I haven't updated in a few years, and I'll be incorporating this blog into a new domain I recently bought.

Changes. Life changes. Welcome to my life.

On a sidenote, I used up some vegetables this morning and concocted a tofu, garlic, mushroom, and green and red pepper dish; and a beef, garlic, mushroom, soy sprout, and green and orange pepper dish.

On vices

2008-04-01T01:46:00.003-04:00

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;
The best of life is but intoxication:
Glory, the grape, love, gold, in these are sunk
The hopes of all men and of every nation;
Without their sap, how branchless were the trunk
Of life's strange tree, so fruitful on occasion:
But to return,--Get very drunk; and when
You wake with headache, you shall see what then.

Such are the words of Lord Byron in "Don Juan" (canto II, st. 179) according to a random online site.

It may be reasonable to get drunk but in this economy, alcohol costs money. And when one is unemployed with no regular income, it is more affordable not to spend the needless cash on alcohol when it's far cheaper to drink water.

But no need to quibble. I'll splurge without going overboard.