Like most road Mondays, I had lunch with the usual pack of travelling co-workers on the way to the office. As we often do, we talked about our project, and how our agency can’t be as efficient as private industry can be at doing certain things, because we have to account for regulations that they don’t. In response to this sentiment, one person offered up the following sentiment (paraphrased, ‘cuz I can’t remember the exact words):

Oh well…<deep, theatrical sigh>…they’re passing all kinds of laws now, and things won’t ever again be like what we’re used to.

This person was referring, of course, to the health care reform bill (among federal employees, office politics sometimes merge easily into national politics) . Nods of agreement arose around the table. Seeing the futility of fighting this particular battle*, I remained silent other than a mumbled “and how’s that a bad thing?” that went largely unremarked upon.

The conversation did, however, offer a clear view of a marker of sorts – I’m not sure if it’s generational, cultural, political, or what, but it’s a definite difference between me and the rest of my office travel companions: Just because things are going to be different than the status quo, unlike them, I’m not immediately convinced that’s going to be bad thing.

Change, in a lot of areas, is a good thing; I can’t see how getting a start at fixing something that’s widely accepted as broken and making it work better for more people can’t be. We’re used to all sorts of inconvenient things; why not try to make them not inconvenient any more? Just because “it’s always been that way” doesn’t make “it” immediately right, and doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to do what we can to improve the parts of “it” that we’re in a position to do something about.

I suppose most people would say (at least to themselves) that it’s easier to just put up with the status quo than to take a chance at making it better.

To tie this back to another piece of my life, for the last several weeks, potty training a toddler has been very prominent on my personal agenda. The biggest challenge is to convince the kid that despite the fact that she’s used to soiling their diaper and having somebody periodically come around and replace the soiled diaper with a clean one, using the toilet is a better deal, because even though it’s a little more complicated than what she’s used to in the short term, life’s a lot more pleasant and convenient for everyone when she can walk around without a pantsload of shit.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if a toddler can figure out this lesson, why can’t an adult come to the same conclusion in a slightly different context?

_________________

* – it’s pretty much universally acknowledged, if rarely remarked upon, that I’m one of the workgroup’s token bleeding-hearts; when things veer in the direction of politics, I generally don’t jump in, because I think it’s bad form and unprofessional. Unless, that is, somebody says something blatantly racist, sexist or homophobic. If I have a button, that’s it – push it at your own peril.

…I hope I look half as good and have half as much apparent energy, chutzpah, and, uh, gonads as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Who am I kidding, she’s probably in better shape than I am right now. I suspect she has a portrait of an old crumbling zombie wearing a tasteful pantsuit hidden in her attic or something.

Happy Birthday, Madam Speaker…HCR’s a pretty good present.

Currently on my mp3 player are a couple of CDs by the now-defunct band Innocent Nixon, who I saw play once upon a time at a now defunct bar in downtown Richmond. One of their tunes is called “Big Big Ugly.”

Whenever I hear it, my mind leaps immediately to alien epithets for humans in Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar / Colonization series?

I don’t think my drinks that night had any ginger in them.

Funny thing about private independent businesspeople offering a service to the public; you’d think they’d be eager to exchange their efforts for my shiny gold rocks. You don’t make money if you never bother responding to a request for quote.

Oh well….maybe ♪Tomorrow Tomorrow♪ etc….

1. “Kamera” – Wilco
2. “Sitting Still” – R.E.M.
3. “Living” – Julie Schreiber Band
4. “Waking up in Vegas” -Katy Perry
5. “Anything Goes” – Guns & Roses
6. “Solidsarockstar” – Miss Kittin
7. “This Town” – The Go-Gos
8. “These Days” – The Rentals
9. “One” – Vampire Weekend
10. “Straight to Rock City” – Rock Sugar

As I was distracted all day yesterday by work, potty training, and, uh…Final Fantasy XIII, I completely forgot to make mention of a terribly important and worthy observance, that of Ada Lovelace Day, celebrating the achievements of women in technology and science.

Ada Lovelace is widely considered the world’s first computer programmer, based on her work on processing algorithms for Babbage’s analytical engine in 1842-43(!). As such, it’s important to recognize her contribution to the field of computer science, and her status as a hell of a role model for modern women, especially those in technical fields.

Surely, my love for geeks of the female gender is well documented, both in who I married and who I admire from afar, so it makes perfect sense that I’d take a moment to honor the day…even if it’s a day late.

I’m wholeheartedly of the opinion that there ought to be more women out there who embrace their aptitude for (and love of) technical fields, sharing their knowledge and skill with the world, writing, researching, publishing, discovering, and making things, without regard to societal constructs telling them that everything they touch has to be pink and frilly.

I’d hate to see the next Great Discoverer thrown off her path by a society that tells her she shouldn’t be doing that sort of thing because she’s got her reproductive organs on the inside.

this also gives me a moment to mention that my particular geek girl spend this year’s Lovelace day reconfiguring the wifi card in a laptop running ubuntu linux, and how really sexy I think that is.

(I hope that last statement doesn’t completely blow the preceding grand feminist argument…though I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong or belittling to women in my being attracted to smart, is there?)

…I like paying taxes, with them I buy civilization.

Words of wisdom from Surpreme Court Justice (and wearer of a truly fine and impressive moustache) Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Think about it, won’t you?

A few weeks ago, I was surprised to find a moderate performance/bonus award in my pay. In addition to paying a couple of the few remaining bills I have, and taking care of a few necessities, i bought myself a present:

Yep, that’s the original art for page 22 of Marvel’s She Hulk #16, signed by penciller Rick Burchett, posed nicely next to the page in the published book.

This is my first piece of original art, the collecting of which has been called (in this NYT piece) “something nerdier than collecting comics” (by somebody who has a serious collection). The comic itself is not a particularly significant or valuable one, though it’s from a book written by Dan Slott, one of my favorite comics writers working today. And yeah, I’m one of the few real, honest-to-goodness She-Hulk fans out there, sue me. I’ll just hire her to file a counter-suit – she’s a lawyer as well as a superhero.

It did, however, earn some minor attention on the internets when it was published because it contained an interesting conversation/joke between Wolverine and the title character, the final panels of which fall on “my” page:

In any case, I think it’s a neat acquisition – I own a one-of-a-kind piece of comic book history, and I got it for a very good price.

Now I need to work on getting the damned thing framed.

…but this is as good an explanation as any for why I self-identify as a Democrat rather than something else:

Sayeth President Obama as he worked to corral House Democrats to support the health care reform bill:

…Something inspired you to get involved, and something inspired you to be a Democrat instead of running as a Republican…Because somewhere deep in your heart you said to yourself, ‘I believe in an America in which we don’t just look out for ourselves, that we don’t just tell people you’re on your own.’

I think that just about covers it.

We’re all in this together, stuck with one another, at least for the near term, on this wet blue ball of rock whipping around an unremarkable yellow star, in a galaxy winding its way through an ever-expanding universe. Why shouldn’t public policy reflect the idea that we and the only home we have ought to be healthy and provided for?

That was the pull quote from the President’s message a little after midnight, after the House passed the health care reform bill. This business isn’t quite over yet; the Senate has to pass another piece of fix-it legislation, though (knock on whatever hard surface you have on hand) it doesn’t appear there’ll be a serious problem there.

Anyway, to the House Democrats, “Good Job!”

That said, the President’s message also included this bit: “This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right.” That ought to be the pull quote. This bill, while really pretty good, isn’t perfect, and there’s a lot more work to be done before Americans have a health care system they can be truly proud of (at least where the set “Americans” includes somebody other than “Heath Insurance Executives”). Hopefully we won’t wait another fifteen years before touching this issue again, and work on getting all the tinkering and adjusting that’ll be necessary once these provisions start taking effect.

Despite the fact that it was closer than I would have liked, I enjoyed watching the leadership whipping the caucus into the “yes” column; that’s the real-life American experience; there’s voting, but nobody gets kicked out of the house or off the island. I wish more people paid attention to that. The system of stroking egos and getting the ducks queued up is very interesting to me (and not just Sorkin and Schlamme, as evidenced by the early seasons of The West Wing); and even though I’m never thrilled when a couple of whiny-pants representatives <cough>KucinichStupak </cough> throw temper tantrums until they get a chance to jump in front of the cameras and pretend to be heroes (more shades of reality TV there, urk), I recognize that sometimes, that’s the way things get done in Washington, and I can live with that.

Because once there’s an executive signature on this thing, a whole bunch of people will be better off than they were before, and that’s really what matters.

Long week, though reasonably productive. Still, happy to be heading into the weekend.

Before I get to the tunes, a little something worth your time: A reasonably thorough but not overly long overview of the health care bill, that, with luck, is going to see a vote (and hopefully get passed) on Sunday afternoon. Not at all scary, and generally good for America. Why the hell anybody’s opposing this on any grounds other than “pressing need to be an obstructionist asshole” is beyond me. Take a minute today or tomorrow to call your congresscritter and tell them to support this.

Anyway – music:

1. “Why Worry” – Dire Straits
2. “War Machine” – AC/DC
3. “Crossfire” – Kasey Chambers
4. “Telephone” – Lady Gaga w/ Beyonce
5. “Motherless Child” – The Wailin’ Jennys
6. “Pull Shapes” – The Pipettes
7. “Here Comes a Regular” – The Replacements
8. “Walcott” – Vampire Weekend
9. “Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts” – Arctic Monkeys
10. “Vacation” – The Go-Gos

Update: okay – making this argument shows that the opposition clearly has nothing else to run with. I honestly kind of feel bad for them.