I didn't until I ran across it recently. Well, I guess that's sorta the way all words are learned. "I didn't know about it until I knew about it!" Ha ha.
Anyway, it means "physically beautiful" (usually associated with female outward beauty) although I would think it could apply to waterfalls as well.
After I looked it up, I suspected there might be a derivative noun. At first I thought "pulchritudite" but it is really "pulchritude". There is also "pulchritudity" interestingly enough.
A quick (Safeseach off) google image search suggests that "pulchritudes" has become a sophisticated euphamism for soft-core artistic porn.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
JHW: forgive the executioner?
Job Hunt Woes
Well, I should've probably posted while my emotions were fresh, but at the same time perhaps it's better I've cooled off.
I'm not a man with a temper generally, so quite probably my "angry" is not recognizable as such to many other than myself and others near me.
Story to follow: but my immediate quetion for you is: if some manager fires you wrongly or company representative treats you dishonestly, should you be mad at them? After all, they are only doing what they are told. They have a job to do, after all. It reminds me of the old custon of an axe-weilding executioner being forgiven by the prisoner before a beheading. I don't recall if it was a commonly practiced custom or not.
For me? It's hard to say. Bottom level flunkies I am more likely to forgive but middle managers I am more likely to reserve hard feelings for. Like a few days ago.
On to the story (for anyone wishing to read this far). Anyways, stage one, a few days ago I had a call from a job posting I'd found via Craig's List. (and this is not a critisism of that website; if anything, it has proven an unexpectedly useful resource) They said if I could be to a town nearby in 10 minutes they could see me about a job opening. I asked what the job was for, not recalling the company's name, but I was misdirected with talk of "setting up displays". I wasn't fooled with the clear euphamism, and despite resevations, I agreed, despite the inconsiderate timing. But it turned out I could only fill out the application and talk to a receptionist as a pre-screening. I was told I would be called (a nebulous and inconsiderate allowance) at some point to set up an "real" interview the following day. I was misled to apply, and further still misled by having my requests for a job description denied. A kind soul in the company did recommend I highlight "sales" in my application.
Stage two, I wait and keep myself open all morning, inconveniencing my family. More inconvenience to my family, especially my sister. Finally a call: I had to be there (30 min away) in an hour and a half. Pretty inconsiderate, but not as bad as yesterday. I imagine the company is "testing" applicants to find out who has few to no prior commitments and is at the company's beck and call. A single mom? A caregiver for aging parents? Have a part-time job? Share a car? Ride a bus? You won't be able to just drop everything. To continue, I get there at the expense of my sister's kindness and I give a great accounting of myself. I am head-and-shoulders above average applicants, prepared and having letters of recommendation. My interview is with a middle manager who I haven't met before. (As an aside, unsuprisingly, he asked my birthdate, showing either an ignorance of law or a disregard for law, or both.) However, the man will still not tell me what the job is. I ask, twice. His line (and a line I've heard before) that in the name of equality all answers are addressed in a group orientation. I have to come to this orientation tomorrow, and for once I have a clear time to show up. I ask two questions further: is the orientation paid traing? No. Have I just been offered a job at this point? No, there will be another interview after the orientation where final hires are made. This is disgusting. I have explained to friends and such that if confidentiality was the reason, that could be explained as such, and I could accept that. But this? Screaming scam, or at best a horrible job with a worse company to back me up. I theorize they don't want applicants to know the reality because it's rather bad and few people would apply. They want people to get in so deep, like I was feeling, they can't leave without feeling like they've wasted a good deal of time and effort.
Stage three: I leave, knowing that I am walking into a disaster of a job, but I want a job badly. Do I show up tomorrow? Talking to a nearby store owner, I learn the company has something to do with vacuum cleaners and maybe shampooing carpets and maybe hiring illegal Mexicans for the labor. I think of the situation as one very common: It's like an aging car: you keep fixing it, dumping money into it, and you wonder when it's time to stop, and you feel like you've spent this much you might as well keep going. Well, about two hours later I reach a decision. I propose laying down an ultimatum, although I won't announce it for propriety. I call the company, ask for the middle manager I'd spoken to earlier, and once and and for the last time ask: "Can you please tell me some more about this job I am applying for" He replies: "Well, let me just take you off the list for orientation" The bastard! I give him a few choice words, but nothing extravagant and quite breif. I wish I had gone on longer. This job is taking advantage of the down-and-out and abusing people without the intelligence and/or will to stand up for themselves.
So, I am glad, but I am also rather upset at the state of things in this latest installment of Job Hunt Woes.
Well, I should've probably posted while my emotions were fresh, but at the same time perhaps it's better I've cooled off.
I'm not a man with a temper generally, so quite probably my "angry" is not recognizable as such to many other than myself and others near me.
Story to follow: but my immediate quetion for you is: if some manager fires you wrongly or company representative treats you dishonestly, should you be mad at them? After all, they are only doing what they are told. They have a job to do, after all. It reminds me of the old custon of an axe-weilding executioner being forgiven by the prisoner before a beheading. I don't recall if it was a commonly practiced custom or not.
For me? It's hard to say. Bottom level flunkies I am more likely to forgive but middle managers I am more likely to reserve hard feelings for. Like a few days ago.
On to the story (for anyone wishing to read this far). Anyways, stage one, a few days ago I had a call from a job posting I'd found via Craig's List. (and this is not a critisism of that website; if anything, it has proven an unexpectedly useful resource) They said if I could be to a town nearby in 10 minutes they could see me about a job opening. I asked what the job was for, not recalling the company's name, but I was misdirected with talk of "setting up displays". I wasn't fooled with the clear euphamism, and despite resevations, I agreed, despite the inconsiderate timing. But it turned out I could only fill out the application and talk to a receptionist as a pre-screening. I was told I would be called (a nebulous and inconsiderate allowance) at some point to set up an "real" interview the following day. I was misled to apply, and further still misled by having my requests for a job description denied. A kind soul in the company did recommend I highlight "sales" in my application.
Stage two, I wait and keep myself open all morning, inconveniencing my family. More inconvenience to my family, especially my sister. Finally a call: I had to be there (30 min away) in an hour and a half. Pretty inconsiderate, but not as bad as yesterday. I imagine the company is "testing" applicants to find out who has few to no prior commitments and is at the company's beck and call. A single mom? A caregiver for aging parents? Have a part-time job? Share a car? Ride a bus? You won't be able to just drop everything. To continue, I get there at the expense of my sister's kindness and I give a great accounting of myself. I am head-and-shoulders above average applicants, prepared and having letters of recommendation. My interview is with a middle manager who I haven't met before. (As an aside, unsuprisingly, he asked my birthdate, showing either an ignorance of law or a disregard for law, or both.) However, the man will still not tell me what the job is. I ask, twice. His line (and a line I've heard before) that in the name of equality all answers are addressed in a group orientation. I have to come to this orientation tomorrow, and for once I have a clear time to show up. I ask two questions further: is the orientation paid traing? No. Have I just been offered a job at this point? No, there will be another interview after the orientation where final hires are made. This is disgusting. I have explained to friends and such that if confidentiality was the reason, that could be explained as such, and I could accept that. But this? Screaming scam, or at best a horrible job with a worse company to back me up. I theorize they don't want applicants to know the reality because it's rather bad and few people would apply. They want people to get in so deep, like I was feeling, they can't leave without feeling like they've wasted a good deal of time and effort.
Stage three: I leave, knowing that I am walking into a disaster of a job, but I want a job badly. Do I show up tomorrow? Talking to a nearby store owner, I learn the company has something to do with vacuum cleaners and maybe shampooing carpets and maybe hiring illegal Mexicans for the labor. I think of the situation as one very common: It's like an aging car: you keep fixing it, dumping money into it, and you wonder when it's time to stop, and you feel like you've spent this much you might as well keep going. Well, about two hours later I reach a decision. I propose laying down an ultimatum, although I won't announce it for propriety. I call the company, ask for the middle manager I'd spoken to earlier, and once and and for the last time ask: "Can you please tell me some more about this job I am applying for" He replies: "Well, let me just take you off the list for orientation" The bastard! I give him a few choice words, but nothing extravagant and quite breif. I wish I had gone on longer. This job is taking advantage of the down-and-out and abusing people without the intelligence and/or will to stand up for themselves.
So, I am glad, but I am also rather upset at the state of things in this latest installment of Job Hunt Woes.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Paul: quasi-scifi movie
It has taken me a while to get around to posting this, but I saw Paul the other weekend and I was both pleased and disappointed. More pleased than disappointed. And I applaud the genre it falls into: scifi about scifi fans, following in the footsteps of Galaxy Quest and quite a few others.
Other than the fact that Big Bang Theory isn't scifi, it represents part of the trend and its popularity.
Speaking of which, there were no references to Big Bang Theory in the movie. I mean, I grant that it was impossible to include references to all popular sci-fi icons, but at the same time, I thought there was too much empahasis on certain aspects and little outside of those 3: classic Trek, classic Star Wars, and E.T. Not even modern Trek or modern Wars. I have to say, that while I very much applaud the movie generally, I noticed many areas that I wanted to see. I accept that copywrite issues might have carried a lot of concern, but ways were possible. No Stargate references. I mean, just one measly Egyptian headress would've covered it. And Egyptian headress certainly aren't copywrited. And although the Gorn references were spectakularly funny to me, whatever happened to "Amok Time" and associated fight music and gladiator blugeons? I'm not terribly familiar with Dr. Who, but I didn't see that, either. Planet of the Apes? Spaceballs? Godzilla? War of the Worlds? What gives?
Oh, but tossing in the actress from Alien was a nice touch. But why weren't there more?
I really want to see the DVD extras to catch all the obscure references that I missed.
The ultimate and saddest irony is that this preview I found on YouTube has the only reference to 2001: A Space Oddysey I recall:
Other than the fact that Big Bang Theory isn't scifi, it represents part of the trend and its popularity.
Speaking of which, there were no references to Big Bang Theory in the movie. I mean, I grant that it was impossible to include references to all popular sci-fi icons, but at the same time, I thought there was too much empahasis on certain aspects and little outside of those 3: classic Trek, classic Star Wars, and E.T. Not even modern Trek or modern Wars. I have to say, that while I very much applaud the movie generally, I noticed many areas that I wanted to see. I accept that copywrite issues might have carried a lot of concern, but ways were possible. No Stargate references. I mean, just one measly Egyptian headress would've covered it. And Egyptian headress certainly aren't copywrited. And although the Gorn references were spectakularly funny to me, whatever happened to "Amok Time" and associated fight music and gladiator blugeons? I'm not terribly familiar with Dr. Who, but I didn't see that, either. Planet of the Apes? Spaceballs? Godzilla? War of the Worlds? What gives?
Oh, but tossing in the actress from Alien was a nice touch. But why weren't there more?
I really want to see the DVD extras to catch all the obscure references that I missed.
The ultimate and saddest irony is that this preview I found on YouTube has the only reference to 2001: A Space Oddysey I recall:
Saturday, May 14, 2011
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus!"
In The Venute Bros, an American animated television program (part of Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim")I learned about yesterday. Generally, I don't much like it for some esoteric reason I can't rightly explain, but I did however enjoy The Tick and Darkwing Duck back in the day. Then again, it's easy to give in to nostalgia and related fallacies. But then again, it is more, because I delight in Pixar's innocence but cringe at Shrek's base storytelling. Can I explain it? No. But for me it is very real.
It appears to have intentionally sub par animation, reminding me of Beevis and Butthead of yesteryear.
Henchman #21 screams "Semper fidelis tyrannosaurus!" ("Always faithful terrible lizard!") as he is dragged out of Dr. Killinger's room. As Killinger notes, #21 meant to say "Sic semper tyrannis" ("thus always to tyrants"), a phrase used by the murderers of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in the 1599 William Shakespeare play of the same name as well as by John Wilkes Booth during the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.[24]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_Why_the_Caged_Bird_Kills
and, wow, I gotta finish watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdXtLigz2pU
It appears to have intentionally sub par animation, reminding me of Beevis and Butthead of yesteryear.
Henchman #21 screams "Semper fidelis tyrannosaurus!" ("Always faithful terrible lizard!") as he is dragged out of Dr. Killinger's room. As Killinger notes, #21 meant to say "Sic semper tyrannis" ("thus always to tyrants"), a phrase used by the murderers of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in the 1599 William Shakespeare play of the same name as well as by John Wilkes Booth during the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.[24]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_Why_the_Caged_Bird_Kills
and, wow, I gotta finish watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdXtLigz2pU
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Disney's John Carter of Mars set for Summer 2010
Please click the above while you read this.
or maybe this:
(I didn't know about that show, Venture Bros., before now...huh)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carter_of_Mars_(film)
I just learned about all of this mostly today, with a hint yesterday. Wow. Gosh.
I am disappointed and at once rather glad it's not going to be an animated feature, as I had first pictured in my mind. I thought Disney was going repeat it's Tarzan experiment. Well, I hear it's live-action, more like The Rocketeer, I suppose. (another movie I adore, by the way. Have you seen it?) Very very disappointed about the animation, and very very releived I won't have to suffer the singing and dancing Barsoomians.
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/18863/930989-john_carter__bill_super.jpg
Friday, May 6, 2011
I survived Y2K !
And whatever happened to Elian Gonzalez, anyway? Isn't he like 14 now?
http://www.hovied.com/world/2010/elian-gonzalez-happy-to-be-back-on-cuba-01075599.html
who knew?
People love to ask whatever happened to flying cars like in the Jetsons. I call those people out for not thinking that through.
What are some other good news bits from yesterday?
http://www.hovied.com/world/2010/elian-gonzalez-happy-to-be-back-on-cuba-01075599.html
who knew?
People love to ask whatever happened to flying cars like in the Jetsons. I call those people out for not thinking that through.
What are some other good news bits from yesterday?
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
my search for Soak Ass Creek
http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/public/ecoaddress/riverbasins/riverbasinmapinteractive.htm
I heard tell that there is a creek off Peter's Creek Parkway (running through the golf club) called Soak Ass Creek. If so, that's hilarious, and I must find out if I am right!
I heard tell that there is a creek off Peter's Creek Parkway (running through the golf club) called Soak Ass Creek. If so, that's hilarious, and I must find out if I am right!
JHW: Top 3 Mistakes on LinkedIn (re-post)
http://blog.simplyhired.com/2011/04/the-top-3-mistakes-job-seekers-make-on-linkedin.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may2
April 26, 2011
The Top 3 Mistakes Job Seekers Make On LinkedIn
By Joshua Waldman
Everyone is on LinkedIn these days. Let’s face it. Almost every CEO from every Fortune 500. Last count was over 50 million users.
In contrast, job boards have only about 3.5 percent of available jobs. This is common knowledge in the career industry, but then why do so many people spend so much time on job boards?
The answer is because it feels safer. LinkedIn is really all about networking. And socializing in an unfamiliar environment can be frightening. I know, I’m an introvert. I totally understand why job seekers try to spend as little time as possible in front of LinkedIn.
So I want to offer you 3 of the most common mistakes in using LinkedIn and how to avoid them. My goal is to help job seekers get over any unconscious resistance to using the most powerful job finding tool ever invented.
Mistake 1: Not Having a Brand
Shoe companies have brands, not people!
Wrong.
Looking for a job is just another sales situation. You are your product. And everything about you is going to either sell you or turn people away.
It’s really just a choice you have to make inside.
Just like how we make buying decisions emotionally, sometimes based on silly things, like the color of the packaging. So too do hiring managers unconsciously make decisions about our candidacy.
If your résumé doesn’t quite match your LinkedIn profile, and that doesn’t match what your referral said about you, then you are in big trouble.
The risk of being inconsistent is huge, and it helps to have defined “who you are” long before you put yourself out there.
The second part of branding is knowing your audience. What are their two biggest problems right now, problems that you could potentially solve?
The trick is to align the “who you are” with the “what they need” so there is a nice overlap.
This, my friends, is your personal brand. It will define your strategy, your writing style, your colors, photos and everything else about you online.
Most people crank out their LinkedIn profile without doing this step first.
Mistake 2: You are NOT Your J-o-b
“Systems Engineer”
“Marketing Executive”
“Fundraiser”
These appear under people’s names in their LinkedIn profiles. And they tell us nothing about who this person really is.
They are a commodity.
Quick story. I had a client, a network engineer, who wanted to work for a very large shoe company. No, not Nike, but good guess.
He knew they had two problems. First, they had no internal network. Second, their external network was so broken that it was affecting supply chain.
So in order to really appeal to this company, we needed to directly address their biggest challenges — challenges that he had the capacity to solve.
So his headline went like this, “Powerful Intranet builder | Supply Chain thought leader | Project management guru”
You have 120 characters to tell the world who you are and what value you bring.
And every communication you generate on LinkedIn will have this professional headline attached to it.
So choose wisely.
Hint: don’t use your job title as your headline.
Mistake 3: Don’t Look Like an Axe Murderer
Every single time I speak about social media in the job search, someone always comes up to me afterward to ask me this question, “But I’m just not that comfortable putting my picture up.” They are either too young or too old or too something.
Yes, ageism, racism and sexism are very real. It’s sad and terrible that they still happen in our society. But using a black and white photo, or zooming way out to try and hide something about ourselves is not going to solve the problem.
The only thing we can do is put some time and effort into our photos, to reflect who we are honestly. And to make a nice looking photo.
All too often, people will put up a mug shot, and wonder why they aren’t getting call backs.
This happened to a friend’s client. And the day he changed his photo, he got a job offer. No exaggeration. (I can hear the HR people cringing from this story, but it’s true).
So the lesson from this is that it is worth getting a professional headshot taken if you are serious about getting a job.
Joshua Waldman is the founder of the Career Enlightenment blog and author of "Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies". He specializes in helping job seekers, frustrated by the traditional job search, leverage social media to find work FAST! Sign up to his mailing list today and get access to his exclusive training videos for free.
Read more on the Simply Hired Blog: http://blog.simplyhired.com/2011/04/the-top-3-mistakes-job-seekers-make-on-linkedin.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may2#ixzz1LKCimpgQ
April 26, 2011
The Top 3 Mistakes Job Seekers Make On LinkedIn
By Joshua Waldman
Everyone is on LinkedIn these days. Let’s face it. Almost every CEO from every Fortune 500. Last count was over 50 million users.
In contrast, job boards have only about 3.5 percent of available jobs. This is common knowledge in the career industry, but then why do so many people spend so much time on job boards?
The answer is because it feels safer. LinkedIn is really all about networking. And socializing in an unfamiliar environment can be frightening. I know, I’m an introvert. I totally understand why job seekers try to spend as little time as possible in front of LinkedIn.
So I want to offer you 3 of the most common mistakes in using LinkedIn and how to avoid them. My goal is to help job seekers get over any unconscious resistance to using the most powerful job finding tool ever invented.
Mistake 1: Not Having a Brand
Shoe companies have brands, not people!
Wrong.
Looking for a job is just another sales situation. You are your product. And everything about you is going to either sell you or turn people away.
It’s really just a choice you have to make inside.
Just like how we make buying decisions emotionally, sometimes based on silly things, like the color of the packaging. So too do hiring managers unconsciously make decisions about our candidacy.
If your résumé doesn’t quite match your LinkedIn profile, and that doesn’t match what your referral said about you, then you are in big trouble.
The risk of being inconsistent is huge, and it helps to have defined “who you are” long before you put yourself out there.
The second part of branding is knowing your audience. What are their two biggest problems right now, problems that you could potentially solve?
The trick is to align the “who you are” with the “what they need” so there is a nice overlap.
This, my friends, is your personal brand. It will define your strategy, your writing style, your colors, photos and everything else about you online.
Most people crank out their LinkedIn profile without doing this step first.
Mistake 2: You are NOT Your J-o-b
“Systems Engineer”
“Marketing Executive”
“Fundraiser”
These appear under people’s names in their LinkedIn profiles. And they tell us nothing about who this person really is.
They are a commodity.
Quick story. I had a client, a network engineer, who wanted to work for a very large shoe company. No, not Nike, but good guess.
He knew they had two problems. First, they had no internal network. Second, their external network was so broken that it was affecting supply chain.
So in order to really appeal to this company, we needed to directly address their biggest challenges — challenges that he had the capacity to solve.
So his headline went like this, “Powerful Intranet builder | Supply Chain thought leader | Project management guru”
You have 120 characters to tell the world who you are and what value you bring.
And every communication you generate on LinkedIn will have this professional headline attached to it.
So choose wisely.
Hint: don’t use your job title as your headline.
Mistake 3: Don’t Look Like an Axe Murderer
Every single time I speak about social media in the job search, someone always comes up to me afterward to ask me this question, “But I’m just not that comfortable putting my picture up.” They are either too young or too old or too something.
Yes, ageism, racism and sexism are very real. It’s sad and terrible that they still happen in our society. But using a black and white photo, or zooming way out to try and hide something about ourselves is not going to solve the problem.
The only thing we can do is put some time and effort into our photos, to reflect who we are honestly. And to make a nice looking photo.
All too often, people will put up a mug shot, and wonder why they aren’t getting call backs.
This happened to a friend’s client. And the day he changed his photo, he got a job offer. No exaggeration. (I can hear the HR people cringing from this story, but it’s true).
So the lesson from this is that it is worth getting a professional headshot taken if you are serious about getting a job.
Joshua Waldman is the founder of the Career Enlightenment blog and author of "Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies". He specializes in helping job seekers, frustrated by the traditional job search, leverage social media to find work FAST! Sign up to his mailing list today and get access to his exclusive training videos for free.
Read more on the Simply Hired Blog: http://blog.simplyhired.com/2011/04/the-top-3-mistakes-job-seekers-make-on-linkedin.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may2#ixzz1LKCimpgQ
Monday, May 2, 2011
swirling dervishes YouTube
I've heard of the Swirling Dervishes (aka Whirling Dervishes aka Sufi dancing) for many years, since college and perhaps high school, but this video (when I saw it on DVD) was an eye-opening experience. It is beautiful and stirring. Don't you agree?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgjCfHn3x2g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgjCfHn3x2g
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