blueplaid

I have a new e-mail address: ben@bendotcom.com

Over the course of the next few months, my new website will be going live: www.bendotcom.com

Gotta love Saturday movies...

Heist
Captain Ron
Toy Story 2
Rat Race

Nothing passes the time away like the movies.

I wish I had something to say...but I don't. I've found that I am a lost for words recently. Sure I've been busy with work and school and planning my trip to Europe. But no thoughts that need sharing have popped into my head.

I was accepted in the PhD program at USF, but no assistantships. Which means I would have to pay out of pocket, but not interested in that, yet.

Have you ever seen PreFab Homes? I would like one of those. I need my own place. I'm ready to live on my own, in a nice place that I can call my own.

Talked to Captain Steve today for 45 minutes. There is somethign warming about catching up with old friends, espcially ones like Steve. We take care of each other and each others friends. With everything in life, our paths will probably drift apart, but he's a great friend and I value his friendship.

I value all of my friendships I think, jsut in different ways. Someday, I think I will recognize that all, perhaps when I become famous, which is still on my agenda.

Work has been dull lately. I need a new adventure. I think I really need a true adventure, I haven't had one in a long time. I also need to get out a bit more. The walls of my room are beginning to grow old. Yet there is no place I can go now. No place draws me in the area. I need a change of scenery. A new beginning. That will have to wait for the summer I suppose.

I've grown very cynical as of late. This is not good, nor is it healthy. Which brings me back to the adventure. I need something to re-energize myself.

So I found out today that I was accepted into a graduate program at the University of South Florida, which is great. However, I was not accepted for a teaching position, which is not great. So do I want to attend a school fot $22,000 a year just for the three letters P-H-D? I don't know. I am still waiting to hear back from two other schools, so that may make my decision easier. So it is with mixed emotions that I proceed.

In other news, I'll be getting a $50.00 refund from the school that jipped me out of the application fee.

School is going well.

Tired of the snow.

Dr. NAME,

My name is Benjamin Reed and I recently submitted a graduate application to the UNIVERSITY Ph.D. Program. I was disappointed to learn that you are not admitting any students for the Fall 2005 semester. Ms. NAME recently informed me of this matter (see below), and suggested that I contact you for more information.

I read the Communication Graduate Bulletin posted online at the university website and also reviewed all the information posted on the Communication Department website under the admissions link. None of this literature specified that the Fall 2005 program was no longer accepting admission applications. To my recollection, none of the printed material that was mailed to my house mentioned this fact either. Also, if I remember correctly, my online application that I submitted in November indicated that I was applying for the Fall 2005 semester, and did not inform me that this option was not available.

In the material above, only a deadline of February 1st was provided. I thought I had completed my application well ahead of schedule. I am writing this letter to kindly request that my application fee of $50.00 be refunded to my credit card (unless you are also able to refund my GRE scores and transcript mailing fee). Currently my academic plans were to enroll in your program this fall. Had I known ahead of time that your department was not accepting fall 2005 students, I would not have gone through the great lengths to secure letters of recommendation, submit an application, and pay the $50.00 fee for the application (and the subsequent fees for GRE scores and undergraduate transcripts to be mailed totaling twenty more additional dollars). For a full-time graduate student with a very limited income, $70.00 is a substantial sum of money, especially upon learning that it was spent needlessly.

I understand that your application states that application fees are non-refundable, however I hope that because of the confusion and misinformation I have shared with you, you are able to honor this small request. Naturally if my credit card is refunded I would withdraw my application from the admissions pool. Until this matter is resolved, please keep my application on file.

If you have any further questions, or would like to speak with me personally, please do not hesitate to contact me at ### or replying to this e-mail.

Cordially,

Benjamin A. Reed

So I just got off the phone with the District Manager. My letter was received and we have a great conversation. A $100.00 check will be mailed addressed to me and my print re-framed.

Never stop fighting!

Still in Florida, so my updates are not as frequent. My friend Matthew does a smashing Carol Channing Impression, so I am off to the Parliment House to see his show, and looking forward to that.

Please let me know how this reads. It has not been sent out yet. Is it took long, too dramatic, too mean? Am I being too greedy? This will surely be the biggest test yet of my letter writing skills. To be continued...

Mr.

This e-mail follows up a telephone call I left for you on Sunday, December 12th, 2005 of which you never responded.

On the previous Saturday I picked up an order for a poster that I had for a custom frame at the XX Store in North Attleboro. Upon looking at the piece, I noticed that the actual poster had a crease that was not there before and scratch marks along the border (also not there before). The corners of the frame were not aligned properly and one corner actually had been cut so poorly that jagged, dangerous edges were exposed. I was not pleased with the poor quality of workmanship, especially since I paid roughly $75.00 for the framing and about $25.00 for the print (not a print from Prints Plus). (For what it is worth, I am a student and $75.00 is about half of my weekly paycheck. That is a lot for someone with a limited income).

I spoke with NAME your store manager, who was very effective at making the situation worse. Instead of apologizing for the situation, she became very defensive. She told me that the corners of all frames never meet and are jagged with every frame they do AND that white borders always scratch when plexiglass is placed on them. While I am not a framer, I disagreed and found it hard to believe that for the amount of money I paid I would receive a piece of junk. In addressing the crease mark she continued with the excuse that becasue it was the holiday season, STORE reduced the among of time they spend making each from from 60 minutes to only 10 minutes. Due to such a short amount of time spent on every piece, quality would diminish. I was aghast at such a declaration. Can you believe that your store manager actually told me that they spent hardly any time working on my piece. In effect admitting that they were wrong, knew so, and still would not resolve it (what kind of customer service is that?). Furthermore, if STORE is reducing the amount of time they spend working on a piece, resulting in poor work, why wasn't the price I paid proportionately reduced?

To resolve this situation I asked NAME if she could refund the cost of the print and 10% off reframing for the hassle of having to drive back and forth again (I live about an hour away from the closest STORE, though many competitors are closer). She declined. Instead, she offered that I purchase another print and it can be reframed at no charge. I explained that this print was purchased over 1, 300 miles away and that another purchase was out of the question. NAME, told me that if I go online, I can purchase the print. Her children "do it all the time". This print was from a Disney Theme Park. I happened to work in the park over the summer and know for a fact that these prints can not be purchased online or from the photographers website as NAME promised I could. (I did not relay this latter piece of information to her, it wouldn't have made a difference). My interpretation of this interaction was that she wanted to lie to me to get me out of the store because she was tired of dealing with me.

I told her to repackage the print (it was disassembled for her to examine it), and I would try to obtain a new print (I wanted to leave because she was of no help). NAME herself repackaged the print (not reframed), and when she gave it to me there was some stray material trapped between the glass and the print. Can you believe that your store manager would work so haphazardly at repackaging, especially when she knows that the reason why she had to repackage it was because it was done so poorly in the first place? Words can not describe how angry I was at how I was treated and how careless she was in the assembly.

So this is my story. There are other parts I have left out for purposes of brevity. They are not as important as what was explained above (NAME'S inablity to find my liability form and subsequent excuses for such, for example).

I am writing this letter to you for several purposes. First to describe what a horrible experience I had at your STORE. Second, to seek a resolution to this matter. I have provided two possible solutions that I am amicable to.

1) A complete refund of $100.00 for the framing and print. I will keep my current print as is and will not ask for it to be reframed.

or

2) A STORE credit of $75.00 for future custom framing (with the expectation that these framings will have the full attention needed to produce quality work with no scratches, creases and jagged edges). In addition, I would like a $25.00 refund for the damaged print and for this print to be reframed at no charge and no credit deducted from the other $75.00 credit.

You will notice that these requests are larger than the original in-store request for a refund of the print ($25.00) and a 10% refund for the aggrevation of driving out of my way to have it reframed (about $7.50).

Consideringhow deplorable my treatment was at the store from NAME, her rude demeanor, her inability to resolve my situation resulting in an even more frustrated customer, her careless workmanship and her blatant mis-truth to have me leave the store, I feel that my requests are not excessive. Since I was in the store for about 45 minutes, I spoke with several other customers who also shared my frustrations about NAME. On the other hand, NAME 2 the Assistant Manager, showed a genuine concern and continued to follow-up with me throughout my duration in the store. He showed compassion, took pride in his store and the work that it does and wished me well with my endeavors. Please share my Kudos to him.

I look forward to hearing from you and I am welcome to other possible alternative solutions (but this shouldn't be a bargaining game). If you are unable to fulfill any type of resolution, I kindly ask that you provide me with the name and contact information for the customer service department for your corporate office and if none should exist, than your next highest manager.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Cordially,

So the past two weeks have been filled with mindless papers and mindless studying. Much to my surprise, I extended a 7 page paper to 12 in a matter of a few hours before it was due. Kudos to me. With all this school work, I have neglected to engage in traditional holiday cheer. It hardly seems like Christmas is coming and like I have had a break.

I am house sitting right now. The house has two cats. I have learned that I am very much allergic to cats. For the past three days I have sneezed, coughed, sniffled and wheezed all day and night. One box of tissues is almost gone. I do not like cats. I do not like house sitting. I want to go home. I want to enjoy my break.

Speaking of Christmas, I keep hearing over and over on the radio these debates about being PC and saying Happy Holidays in lieu of Christmas. Cities and towns are being challenged to not hang up religious signs. Once again, the cause of this dilemma is the mixing of church and state.

By no means is this scientific, or maybe even accurate. But I have heard that Chanukah isn't even a big Jewish holiday, Rosh Hasshana is. Why don't we see dreidels in malls. Why must we have only bows and wreaths and trees? I'm not sure if I can articulate this, but society has taken away what Christmas is. It's no longer the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but instead the holiday has a different meaning. It's about family, and togetherness, charity and cheer, cookies and friends and presents. Isn't that what Christmas is now?

We don't see advent wreaths in malls, or banners of joy, hope, etc. Nor do we see crosses during Easter for the resurrection or palms hanging from the celing. Instead, it's bunnies and eggs. Easter too is now a secular holiday with chocolates.

It's frustrating that I can't say Merry Christmas without fear of offending anyone, but it's all our fault. Jesus's birth was not marked by Kris Kringle or Frosty or elves or trees. So why has Christmas come to what it is now? Why is it less about religion and more about captalism?

I don't have a point, this is just an observation. I like the Christmas Holiday for the family and friends, the atmosphere the ornaments. I don't care about Jesus' birth. When I say Merry Christmas, it's about celebrating winter.

Maybe I rambled, maybe I contradicted things. Who cares. Don't argue with me.

Merry Christmas

Ok, well I'm tired of these complaints on the news so I must say something. Target doesn't want Salvation Army solicitations. Not a lot of stores do, and I understand why. Perhaps it may not be a good PR move, but that is their choice. Now the community is all upset because of this, and they are angry at Target. Well if you are so concerned about this issue, why not mail a check to the Salvation Army instead? No...we have to whine about it how much more difficult it will be to put a check in the mail. If you really cared enough about the issue, mailing a donation check would be easy. In fact, it's almost standard. The Salvation Army is one of only a few charities where you can donate at the mall or some store. The real reason people are upset, is because they are lazy and don't want to mail the check. It's too much work to give. How selfish is that?

I also fault the Salvation Army for relying too heavily on store donations. Times are changing and they are learning this lesson right now, too late. They need to come up with more innovative donation strategies. What worked 50 years ago, won't work today.

I ate a piece of glass the other night.

Tonight at dinner, I offered the suggestion that if you didn't see anything on the menu that appealed to you, we could always go to another restaurant. Then I began to wonder, do people actually do that? Sit down at a table order your waters, maybe eat some bread, and then leave after discovering that the menu isn't as enticing? Just curious.

Just came back from the movies...The Saw was perhaps the most terrifying movie I have ever seen. If you want a good scare, I recommed it highly. I am still shooken up over the film.

First, I have friends in the South. Please don't take this as a personal attack.
Second, I didn't write this.
Third, This is funny. I'm not sure how accurate it is, the links on the site that provide evidence and support may be funded by liberal organizations, I'm not sure.
Fourth, so for all that, this is for entertainment purposes only. Some may be true, some may not.

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Fuck the South. Fuck 'em. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep.

And now what do we get? We're the fucking Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really?

Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn't bother to read the first half of the fucking sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?

No, No. Get the fuck out. We're not letting you visit the Liberty Bell and fucking Plymouth Rock anymore until you get over your real American selves and start respecting those other nine amendments. Who do you think those fucking stripes on the flag are for? Nine are for fucking blue states. And it would be 10 if those Vermonters had gotten their fucking Subarus together and broken off from New York a little earlier. Get it? We started this shit, so don't get all uppity about how real you are you Johnny-come-lately "Oooooh I've been a state for almost a hundred years" dickheads. Fuck off.

Arrogant? You wanna talk about us Northeasterners being fucking arrogant? What's more American than arrogance? Hmmm? Maybe horsies? I don't think so. Arrogance is the fucking cornerstone of what it means to be American. And I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch.

All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you're the ones who built on a fucking swamp. "Let the Spanish keep it, it’s a shithole," we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.

The next dickwad who says, "It’s your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? Go on, guess. That’s right, motherfucker, they're red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It’s too easy, asshole, they’re blue states. It’s not your money, assholes, it’s fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes.

Let’s talk about those values for a fucking minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you fucking Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It’s fucking Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage universe. Yes, that’s right, the state you love to tie around the neck of anyone to the left of Strom Thurmond has the lowest divorce rate in the fucking nation. Think that’s just some aberration? How about this: 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are fucking blue states, asshole, and most are in the Northeast, where our values suck so bad. And where are the highest divorce rates? Care to fucking guess? 10 of the top 10 are fucking red-ass we're-so-fucking-moral states. And while Nevada is the worst, the Bible Belt is doing its fucking part.

But two guys making out is going to fucking ruin marriage for you? Yeah? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own, you little bastards. Oh, but that's ok because you go to church, right? I mean you do, right? Cause we fucking get to hear about it every goddamn year at election time. Yes, we're fascinated by how you get up every Sunday morning and sing, and then you're fucking towers of moral superiority. Yeah, that's a workable formula. Maybe us fucking Northerners don't talk about religion as much as you because we're not so busy sinning, hmmm? Ever think of that, you self-righteous assholes? No, you're too busy erecting giant stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in buildings paid for by the fucking Northeast Liberal Elite. And who has the highest murder rates in the nation? It ain't us up here in the North, assholes.

Well this gravy train is fucking over. Take your liberal-bashing, federal-tax-leaching, confederate-flag-waving, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bullshit and shove it up your ass.

And no, you can't have your fucking convention in New York next time. Fuck off.

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www.fuckthesouth.com

Mom made this meal from the South Beach diet tonight. Instead of mashed potatos, we had cauliflower potatos. Mom mashed up caulifower to make it look like mashed potatos. It certainly didn't taste like potatos. Dr. Aggasi...try again. Just because a food looks like another food, doesn't mean it taste's like it, nor is it a substitute.

So the Texas Board of Education has decided that they want their health textbooks to say that marriage is ONLY a union between one woman and one man. After all, texas does not recognize any other unions. This would be fine except for one thing, marriage is no longer a union between one woman and one man. Massachusetts has same-sex marriages, as does Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium. In this new text book, Texas will not even mention these marriages, even though they are legitimate.

So why is this a problem? A number of reasons. Most importantly Texas is teaching incorrect information. Texan students are learning incorrect information, plain and simple. You could argue that Texas wants to teach those "moral values", but the role of a school is not to teach to an agenda (though many do), but to educate others on a complete society, regardless of whether we personally agree with it.

Now, imagine the discussion if the text book said that marriage was between a man and woman in Texas, but other states and countries recognize marriages between same sex partners. Well, then the students would begin to question why marriage rights are unequal, posing an interesting discussion in the classroom. And what answer would the teacher provide? I'm willing to bet a religious answer. Inevitably explaining why God doesn't approve of such marriages, blah blah blah.

So not only is Texas excluding the definition of marriages that do exist nation and world wide, they are doing it based on religious grounds. Should we be teaching religion in school? (Personally, I think we should, but more along the lines of a comparision between religions) Here is another example of how the state is teaching based on religious principles, and not necessarily on what is actually happening in our world, regardless of whether or not it is true.

Imagine a Biology text book that does not offer Darwin's theory. Regardless of whether or not you personally or religiously agree with the theory, you still have to teach it. After all, this is a theory that exists in the field. It should be shared. (Note: this has in fact caused problems in some communities.)

Or abstinence only education. (I won't get into completely how it ignores GLBT people). Studies have shown that while it works in not having students have sex, when they do, they are less likely to use condoms, thus increasing the chances of getting STDs. Shouldn't textbooks and teachers provide a survey of information and let students reach their own conclusion to what is right?

The fact of the matter is, Texas is afraid to let their students learn about homosexuality in any sort of positive light because then perhaps those students will realize that there really is nothing wrong with it, and be accepting of it. So what's wrong with that? Well according to at least five states, a lot. They absolutely forbid the discussion of homosexuality unless it is in a negative reference (Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas). I wonder what the reasoning is behing that? JC?

So why is this a problem? Well Texas is one of the nation's largest purchasers of text books. Meaning, that they will alter their books to meet Texas's low standards, thus sharing those low standards with the rest of the country who also buy those books. They probably wouldn't reprint it.

The moral of this story is two-fold, (and if you made it this far, I appreciate your openness to read further). We live in MA, where gay issues are ok to talk about. As I've showed, this isn't the case elsewhere in the country, so don't fool yourself into thinking that things are going ok as far as the gay rights movement, because they are not.

Secondly, don't always believe everything you are taught. There is more information out there. Question everything.

Fri: LAX would be a sexy place to go to school, but the Univ. doesn't offer the program I want. Plus traffic is a bitch.

Sat: Disneyland while a classic, can not compare to Florida.

Sun: It rains in the desert. What luck

Mon: Arizona here we come. Great campus, great program, great college town, only problem, it's a red state.

PhD students are nerds. I'm gonna be the first coolest PhD student. No nerds allowed.

Back to work tomorrow, not sure how I feel about that

I'm registered at Amazon.com if you're interested in buying me a gift. Less than three weeks left...

I don't know if I like Wal-Mart or not. I know it's cheap, but I'm getting frustrated with their incesant censorship of goods. Books, music, etc. I know it's their choice, and that all stores choose what to sell and what not to sell, but I think they have a larger agenda behind this censorship. I must investigate further...

Congratulations to the Red Sox, but I just don't understand all the fuss. Ya I know the Red Sox haven't won a WS in 86 years, but what and who are the Red Sox.

The current RS, the team that won, were not the same team 86 years ago. Nor were the owners, the vendors and practically all of us fans. This "team" (the one that won right now), won this year. I could understand if all these players (or even a slight majority) have been playing for the past 86 years, trying so hard to win and have finally done it. Now that is an achievement!

But when you break it down, the WS champs are just a bunch of players who got together this season to play baseball and try to win, and they did. Of course everyone tries hard to win, but it's not like this team have been trying to win for 86 years, they tried for one year (maybe longer for those members who have stuck with the team for a few years).

When people say they saw the Red Sox win the WS. What do they mean? The Red Sox is a name of a baseball team. In an ethereal sense, it doesn't exist. One can not build a Red Sox team somewhere else. There is no recipe for the Red Sox to be created. It is a snapshot of what the team is at one moment in time.

Yes there is a history of the team, and that history is important, but in a concrete sense, the Red Sox are Ortiz, Ramirez, Schilling et al. These are the guys who brought victory to the Red Sox, but who are the Red Sox?

I understand people cheering, saying that they saw the Red Sox win the World Series and their parents/grand parents never did. But in reality, all they saw were a bunch of guys who were hired to play because the price was right and this year the right combination of players were together to create a winning team.

I don't think a curse existed and therefore not broken. It's great to congratulate a hometown team for winning, but dont overinflate the whole thing and make it sound like this group of guys have been trying soo hard for 8 decades, because they haven't.

Cheers to Menino for making the parade on Saturday, the traffic would have been ridiculous to drive into work on Friday.

Jeers to Ramirez for the Jeter sign, where's the good sportsmanship?

Also jeers to anyone who leaves the team for another team that offers more money. Players don't have sense of attachment to a team. It makes everything so superficial. I don't know why Nomar left, probably $$$, but fans in Boston will adore him one day, and then he lives and they despise him. That doesn't make sense. If you truly like the Red Sox (that entity with a culture, and vibe), then you will stay with the team no matter what.

Also, why can't Schilling party with W? He is well enough to go to FL but not to NH? That doesn't seem right? Ya it's politics, but I think the Bush camp would have responded the same way if he said to vote Kerry. Such is life I guess.

Also jeers to whoever made the decision to waste tax payer money on TWO Red Sox signs to hang on the State House. I suppose the homeless people in the Common who stare at it everyday will have to go hungry for another few weeks. One was enough (but even then, a poor choice), two is overboard.

Cheers to the band that played in front of the State House Friday, the Dropkick Murphy's? I liked the warm-up.

I have created a fan club. Here's the plan. Instead of e-mail photos and videos I have taken of all my exploits, I created a Yahoo! Group where they will be posted and you can review at your leisure. Check out the poll, and files. Photos will be coming. Subscribe to the listserv to know when I have uploaded new stuff. In order to access the groups file, you need a Yahoo! ID. I'm curious to see what the response will be and whether or not this idea will catch on or just fizzle.

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I was supposed to go on a Whale Watch today, actually the 3rd time I've tried to see whales this year. Sure enough, as luck would have it, it was cancelled due to inclement weather. I bitched to the ticket counter that their comp tix from the last two whale watches expired in a week and I would not be able to use them. Well she gave me new tix that expire next year. So someday I will get to go on my whale watch.

So instead, we went to the MFA, but not after scoring some free tix from the library. Caught the Art Deco Exhibit then went home.

I've had a rough two weeks, so tonight I'm just gonna chill and then start school tomorrow.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/10/21/emerson_college_student_dies_after_postgame_melee_associated_press/

That girl, Victoria. She used to go to FSC. I recruited her to do the college program in FL. How tragic.

June 2005...off to Europe