I Didn't F*ck It Up

I Didn't F*ck It Up is a song by Katie Goodman. This is the song that I resonate most strongly with as a modern folk song. It captures the anger, bitterness, hope, fear, despair, and intention of the Occupy Movement. Occupy has often been criticized as being unfocused. It didn't have a plan for solving the problems it raised and it couldn't focus on what problem to take on. The issue was actually that there were too many problems. The beauty of this song is it applies to every screwed up system that needs change equally well.

Every feeling I have when it comes to any just issue I try to engage with is summed up in this song and I highly recommend checking it out. Checking out the lyrics it is straightforward to break it down.

There’s never been a time

As fucked up as this.

While this is not really true, it can really feel that way due to increased access to information about all the things that are screwed up. The concerned citizens of today have more information than ever about the issues that affect them, their families, the poor in their communities, their state, country and planet. We are also relatively well educated and take to heart the motto that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have never been so capable of seeing the current state of things and having access to the historical status of things. We are on so many precipices that this line is all we can think to sum up this heavy concern.

I didn’t fuck it up

You, probably, didn’t fuck it up

But they, they fucked it up

Individually very few people have the power to cause major harm. There are some of these people that exist. Some profit off of the misery of others. Others are trusted and are not up to the task of the power they have been entrusted with. Aside from this there are collective issues that we all contribute to. In these cases it is often easy to get defensive and say "I didn't fuck it up" because one person acting alone doesn't cause that much harm. This is why I like in one of the refrains she comments mid phrase "That's right, shift the blame." It reminds me to take a moment and consider the ways in which I do contribute to the problem, even in minor ways. Small things add up.

I can’t un-fuck it up

You, probably, can’t un-fuck it up

And if we’re counting on them to un-fuck it up

Then we’re all fucked.

Just like the average person doesn't cause the problem alone, we also can't fix the problem alone. Those with power to fix things can't be trusted if they are the same people who caused the problems int he first place. There is frustration here. These problems are so big that it doesn't feel like there is any way out.

Did you fuck it up? 

How ‘bout you? Did you fuck it up?

Cuz you look like someone who could have fucked it up.

From this point of frustration it is normal for the average person to start looking around them for people they can point fingers at. For many people they don't have the ability to look past the first layer or two. This can involve things getting heated and accusatory of others with the same power level that they have, or even less. It causes us to rely on our experience, which is really our prejudices and our biases.

Okay, now pick yourself up off the floor
and get sort of a hopeful tone and ask the people around you:

Could you help un-fuck it up?

For a moment we get hopeful. We realize that we are only going to get out of this if we work together. You've moved past blame. If we all just focus, put our heads together and do our best, we will make progress. We don't have to be beholden to these problems.

Now sit back and look at these people and roll your eyes and say:

Are you really soooooo fucking busy that you can’t take one fucking minute to un-fuck it up?!

That hopeful moment doesn't always last long. We then realize the challenge of motivating people. It has to do with timing a lot of times. Some of the people you run into aren't yet aware there is a problem. Some of the people you run into are so jaded by the problem now that they consider their efforts to help fix it utterly worthless. We are all on our own timeline. Since these don't sync we can get really judgmental of people when we are in a "fix it" phase and others aren't.

Okay, now lose the righteous asshole attitude and say:

I mean, I’m willing to pick one thing to help un-fuck up. Won’t you join me?

Sometimes we get flashes of insight reminding ourselves of this timeline issue. We realize that honey works much better for attracting people to the cause and so we paint on our sweetest smiles and try to make the process of helping attractive and plausible.

That’s better! Isn’t that better? Oh I’m really feeling the love, but ya know, the problem is deep down inside it’s hard not to still be pissed off that it’s fucked up to begin with. It just keeps going round and round 

Even after we've committed to being nice to potential allies in our cause and just trying to work tirelessly. It is still very overwhelming. The next emotional trap that we fall into is anger at those who caused the problem and/or continue to perpetuate the problem. People with power to fix things who let things slide or cause problems. People who allowed us to get into the current state of things.

Anyway, as you can see this song really runs the gamut. Every emotion I feel in my pursuit of supporting justice in my community and world is covered by this song. It is my therapy. It reminds me that I am not alone. I hope that it will provide you with some common feeling of solidarity in the emotional rollercoaster that is involved with trying to be an un-f*cker.

Rock Band

So today, I'm going to talk about the video game Rock Band. This game has been around for quite a long time so it might seem odd to talk about it. Here's the thing though, it is one of the best video games I've played. In this post we're going to talk about all the reasons I like it, some recent news about it, and explore some of the group dynamic effects of the game.

I was quite self-conscious about my voice before playing Rock Band. I had no experience with drumming and very little experience with video games in general. I also had very little experience with music. Rock Band has given me the opportunity to learn skills, gain confidence, and connect with music that I wouldn't have otherwise. With the expansion of instruments to include the pro instruments, Rock Band really opened up the opportunity for learning. I love that the low levels are approachable enough that I can play with young children. I love that the rigor level can be racheted up to the point where in order to succeed I need to practice and focus and work for it. It is the best of both worlds. Rock Band also has a neat level of character customization.

A while back, Rock Band fans everywhere were disappointed to learn that Harmonix was not going to be releasing any additional Rock Band songs. Luckily according to a press release, they are back at it releasing more songs. They also sent out a survey which leads me to think that they are considering developing for the next generation of consoles.

I think the social dynamics around Rock Band have settled down but it is something to keep in mind. When I first started playing Rock Band, most of the people who had it slowly started to feel used for their game. It was so much fun and so exciting that it was all people did for a while. This led to some weird feelings. If you feel these things you should plan to do other things with your friends. Rock Band is great but you don't have to Rock Band all the time.

Doodle.com

Doodle.com is a great website for coordinating meetups with busy people. I have used it for planning parties and business meetings. I am particularly a fan of coordinating in a way that reveals as much information as possible. Doodle.com does this for me.

Essentially what you do is create the details for the event and all of the days and times that are potential options for meeting up. You then send the link out to all the participants and they mark their availability. I usually enable the middling response of yellow. This is equivalent to the phrase "if need be." You can then maximize your meeting by picking the best time for all the people.

Unfortunately the free version does not have calendar integration so if you aren't up for spending money on it you'll then have to contact all those folks again and inform them of your response. I think this is fine though. They have to make their money somehow.

Nue Restaurant Seattle

There is a new restaurant on Capitol Hill in Seattle called Nue. It brands itself as serving "internationally inspired street food." This description is apt. I went out for a business meeting and it was the right level of elegance and quirk that really hits the spot for a tech business meeting. The waitstaff were attentive but didn't rush us at all. The menu was truly unique.

I'm generally not very adventurous. Luckily the group ordered some of the smaller plates to share so that I could try several things. I can personally vouch for the Indian Kale Pakora, Grilled Barbados Pig Tails, and the Japanese Katsu Sando with Togarashi chips. Everyone ordered something different though and everyone was thrilled with their meal. This is definitely a place I will be coming back to.

Bananagrams

Bananagrams is a game that is like a competitive solitary speed scrabble. Each player gets the same number of tiles to start with. Players then simultanously try to arrange their tiles so that they create a valid crossword structure, like in scrabble. Once a player has used all of their tiles they say "peel" and then all the players must grab another tile from the middle to incorporate into their crossword. Play continues like this until there are fewer tiles left than there are players. When that happens the first person to complete their crossword says banana and is the winner so long as all the words are legitimate.

There is a special rule as well for being able to put a tile back that you don't want. If you do that though you must take three tiles instead. I don't generally do this as it seems like a bad trade and takes up valuable time. I think I would only consider it if I had horrid letters AND no vowels.

I like this game because it is somewhat solitary. I don't have to worry about other people blocking me with their words. I don't have to worry about using their words to make my own. All the letters in my play area are under my control. It is also nice to be able to break words apart and put them back together again. There is nothing saying that the first crossword you make to say "peel" has to look anything like your final crossword when you say "banana." I also like that there is no waiting. It is not turn based everyone is playing the whole time.

For a low-pressure style of Bananagrams, there is also the non-competitive style. I was introduced to this after church one week. I went out to coffee with some folk and they were playing Bananagrams. The difference was they determined ahead of time who would win. They freely traded tiles between players. It was all about the creativity of making the most awesome words. The person they determined to be the winner could basically ask for any letter they needed. It was neat to see what they came up with.

Anyway, this is the inaugural post of WhitPicks. As you can see, I do pick bananagrams. It is a fun game that can go pretty quickly. This means you can play several rounds before tiring of it. In future installments of this blog I will pick all sorts of things and discuss why I pick them.

Do you have variations that you use when playing Bananagrams? Have any criticisms of the game? Feel free to use the comment section to help people get even more info.