Ideapad

America: land of the free, home of the myopic.

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban. This is tremendous, forward-thinking, constitutionally appropriate news. The United States is where people are supposed to be free from oppression, and this kind of decision is a thoughtful interpretation of that.

So what do gay marriage opponents want to do? Change the Constitution. I won't go deeply into the pro argument and my views on the subject (now apparent); I am here instead to pass along this quote:

“The court was wrong from top to bottom on this one,” said Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage. “The court brushed aside the entire history and meaning of marriage in our tradition.”

That statement lays bare all that is wrong with the anti-gay-marriage argument. American law is not just about tradition; proper interpretations are not a this-is-how-we've-always-done-it discussion. No, the law is about, or should be about, what is fair and just and sensible and appropriate, as thoughtful, wise people would approach society, had they a clean slate to properly adjust society's ways.

The gay marriage law isn't about doing things "traditionally," nor is it about making Maggie Gallagher and her peers comfortable with homosexuality, which is their own problem. No, the law is about doing right by individuals who have done no wrong. And someday, at least theoretically, a majority of Americans will view this subject as they do issues of race and religion, as a differentiator that by and large defines our society in a positive light.

Perhaps it is too much to ask, but one can hope.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Friday night. We're at Almost an Evening, the Ethan Coen play, at an intimate theater on Bleecker Street. Thirty-four-weeks along, Amy is experiencing the usual late-stage pregnancy issues, so we situate ourselves fairly close to the restroom, which, due to the layout of the theater, requires walking past the stage in front of the audience.

The play is three one-acts without an intermission. Amy excuses herself between the second and third. Unfortunately for her, the stagehands work fast, and the third act kicks in while she's away.

F. Murray Abraham and Mark-Linn Baker are on stage, engaged in debate as two gods. Abraham is in Moses garb: white tunic, moccasins, long flowing gray hair, beard. He is deep into a tongue-in-cheek monologue full of swearing.

Amy has to get back to her seat, so over she comes, stage right, past the front row and up to her third-row aisle seat. She wants to be invisible, but no luck.

F. Murray Abraham's monologue stops short. A glimmer in his eye, he glowers at Amy's back as she climbs the stairs. The room collapses in laughter.

There's a pregnant pause in the show, long enough for her to turn to me, nervously, and ask, "What's so funny?"

"He just glared at you," I say.

We look back at the stage, and a second later, Abraham is making eye contact with Amy.

"Was it something I said?" he bellows. The room cracks up again.

"No, really, I love pregnant women," he says. "You go anytime you want."

Abraham is still in voice but the play is fully derailed by now. Peals of laughter fill the theater. People are applauding. Abraham buries his face in his hands to hide his own smile.

He steps back to the podium, looks down, then around the room, and commandingly says: "Where was I!"

More laughter. Amy is about ready to die by now, but Abraham laughingly says, "I lost my place," then regains his rhythm and the show goes on.

The rest of the play was decent; the first act was the best, but the inadvertent cameo stole the show.

On the subway platform afterward, a woman with a light British accent approached us on the play, and asked with a smile, "So outside of your scene, what did you think?"

"For better or worse," I replied, "her scene was the funniest of the night."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So much new knowledge:

~ The Close Door elevator button doesn't do anything except pacify impatient riders.

~ Clarins, my former employer, who has sworn for years that it wants to remain independent, is installing a new CEO as the son of the founder steps down, throwing his and his brother's majority family ownership into long-term question.

~ Lancome, Orlane and Sisley, three major beauty brands, were all founded by different generations of the same family. (Side learning: reading T Magazine online is abhorrent.)

~ The infamous waiting list for Hermes Birkin bags doesn't exist.

~ And, not least, this taste-test of dogs' preferences for gourmet treats versus good ol' Milk-Bones. No spoilers here.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In my Facebook news feed today:

Posted by David Wertheimer at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What a great quote from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson: "If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn't put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down."

Swallow hard, then think about what Stephenson is citing: American high school graduation rates. He says the labor pool is so thin that AT&T has been unable to fill job vacancies with Americans, forcing the businesses to remain in India for staffing purposes.

The facts seem borderline absurd, but a few minutes of research reveals it's even worse than it seems. Some studies quote America's nationwide high school graduation rate at just 71 percent, and the state of Georgia barely graduates half its students, like Stephenson says. Statewide! One town falling below 50% is bad; this is an entire state at 54%. Several cities, like Cleveland, barely get above 25%.

Even if this isn't fully accurate, it's awfully dire. Americans underappreciating eduation is nothing new. But when American companies have to outsource their labor to maintain quality, not just save costs, the signs point to a far more serious situation.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says, on WSJ.com.

We knew this. We just didn't want to listen.

Previously on the Ideapad:

"Extending DST won't 'save energy' just by keeping the sun up later. Lights will still need to run overnight on highways, city streets, and 24-hour facilities, and most stores won't change their operating hours." —July 19, 2005 (I missed air conditioning, but I'll take it)

See also Endless Summer in the New York Times, August 9, 2005 (previously linked here).

Posted by David Wertheimer at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As an American, I am proud of the democratic system we have in place, which despite its flaws does a reasonably good job of preserving basic rights. As a Lebanese friend of mine (born there, now a U.S. resident) has said, "American democracy is flawed, but compared with the rest of the world, it's the best we've got." I'm a bit too jaded and disinterested in glad-handing to get too closely involved in politics, but I follow it regularly as a concerned citizen. I am a registered independent who did not vote in the primaries.

I read with interest Geraldine Ferraro's op-ed in Monday's New York Times, "Got a Problem? Ask the Super." In it, Ferraro takes up the issue of superdelegates in the Democratic party. She explains the reasons for their creation and notes that she was part of the team that created them.

Ferraro goes on and, in one fell swoop, completely dismisses the primary process and its voters.

Her argument for superdelegates is sensible enough: "Superdelegates were created to lead, not to follow. They were, and are, expected to determine what is best for our party and best for the country. I would hope that is why many superdelegates have already chosen a candidate to support."

All well and good, until the next paragraph.

"Besides," Ferraro writes, "the delegate totals from primaries and caucuses do not necessarily reflect the will of rank-and-file Democrats. Most Democrats have not been heard from at the polls. We have all been impressed by the turnout for this year’s primaries — clearly both candidates have excited and engaged the party’s membership — but, even so, turnout for primaries and caucuses is notoriously low." [Emphasis added.]

Two days after I first read this I'm still taken aback. Geraldine Ferraro, former Vice Presidential candidate and long-time Democratic Party bastion, doesn't think the Democratic primaries mean anything! This from a woman who ran the organization that determined the winners of primary contests.

The essay proceeds to defend this position from multiple angles: low voter turnout, independent voters allowed to cast votes in select primaries, etc. But Ferraro's theories just blow my mind.

"I am watching, with great disappointment, people whom I respect in the Congress who endorsed Hillary Clinton — I assume because she was the leader they felt could best represent the party and lead the country — now switching to Barack Obama with the excuse that their constituents have spoken." [Emphasis added.]

Democrats in good standing would do well to dissociate themselves from these thoughts, lest their party come to resemble the leave-me-alone-while-I-run-our-country attitude of the GOP.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Scene: a crowded N train, just before Christmas. A panhandler enters the car--old, dirty, hunched. As the doors close he breaks into song to encourage handouts. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...."

He finishes before the train reaches its next stop, and surveying the situation, he continues. "Sing it with me now.

"If you want my body and you think I'm sexy...."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I got spam today from something claiming to be the Alzheimer's Organization.

My first thought, unfiltered: "I don't remember signing up for an Alzheimer's email...."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 04:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Scene: Thanksgiving dinner, in between courses. Seven-year-old Noah is roughhousing with his cousins on the floor. At one point he takes a hard hit on his thumb and cries out in pain.

"Fuck!"

Noah's mother, sitting nearby, scowls. "Noah! Don't say that."

"Shit, then!"

Posted by David Wertheimer at 08:27 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One of the pleasures of my week of offline leisure is that I'm watching "The Price Is Right" every day. (Honest! It's like I'm a sixth grader with the flu. Awesome.) And now that I'm old enough to pay attention to the products, I got a real wake-up call with the items "up for bids" this week.

Twice in the past three days the show has asked the four folks on Contestant Row to bid on "a pair of iPhones." Out come two models, each carrying an iPhone, pressing the home button and not the touch-screen to demonstrate the functionality.

None of the contestants was particularly wowed by the iPhone. And none of them knew the price.

In the circles I, and probably you, inhabit, Apple is a topic of conversation, and the iPhone's pricing structure has been a particularly hot topic. Go ahead, try it: what's an iPhone cost right now? Right, $399, down from $499-599 at the time of introduction.

Easy, right? Then how come no one on TPIR knew it offhand? Two iPhones, $798, bingo bango, and a $100 bonus for getting the exact retail price. Obvious to me, to you, but not to middle-class, game-show-contestant America.

Which, of course, is why Apple is so excited: the market opportunity for mobile telecom devices is vast, and they've only just started.

Speaking of "The Price Is Right," some other things have caught my eye. New host Drew Carey is still finding his comfort zone and comments on the crowd too much, although he does a great job poking fun at the awkward product-placement juxtapositions. ("Get this right and you're off to Greece! ...with a bunch of pens in your pocket.") Also, the show reuses prizes frequently--I've seen the iPhones, a Corvette, and a candy-apple-red washer/dryer twice each--but the games have yet to repeat. The populist bent and combination of things you know and things you don't makes it fun to watch at any age. Although the yodeling mountain climber game might not amuse me as much as it did in '85.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Me, commenting on the GM/UAW strike, Tuesday: "Won't a short strike help GM in one respect by reducing existing inventory? Obviously not long-term, and the PR is bad, but ignoring the variables, there's a bottom-line opportunity here".

The Economist, Thursday: "From GM's point of view the short strike may even have been a blessing: the halt in production gave it a chance to reduce its stockpile of unsold vehicles."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As a longtime Internet veteran and as someone with a keen interest in privacy protection, I have a unique password for almost every site that requires a login.

After 12 years of spending 50 hours a week online, I probably have hundreds of accounts floating around.

Of them, I know the password to startlingly few.

I do not have a central password file.

When I had a handwritten day planner, I used to jot down half a dozen or so of my most vital and easily forgotten accounts, but I haven't put any of that data on my iPhone, so I only have access to the passwords my memory can hold onto.

My memory, like yours, does not excel at remembering passwords.

I use the "remember me" checkbox on many websites, but when I'm at work, for example, or guesting on an unknown computer, chances are I'm going to get stalled at the firewall.

I am eternally grateful for passsword-recovery options that email me the curious alphanumeric strings that I initially thought were hooky and clever.

Despite my lack of ability to remember the memorable passwords I devise, I am nonetheless irked when a website sends me a reset password link rather than a reminder or, more preferably, the password itself.

The convenience and security of having information mailed to me pleases me every time it works.

The two words I click on most on the Internet are, "Forgot password?"

Posted by David Wertheimer at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Mom: "She reads haftorah like nobody's business."

--

Amy: do you know how freaky our friends are? their year-old son has an email address!!
Me: hey Amy? our dog has an email address
Amy: my friend emailed me that she was just kidding
Me: Charley has two, actually

(Names omitted to protect the innocent. Charley, on the other hand: guilty as charged.)

Posted by David Wertheimer at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PLAYERS: Seated from left, wife, advertising producer, pop-culture aficionado; mother; and sister-in-law, Love and Sex editor for a major media website.

SCENE: Mom and Dad's fortieth anniversary dinner at Provence in Soho. "Josie" is playing on the house stereo.

SISTER-IN-LAW: This song is called "Josie!" It's a Steely Dan song about a prostitute.

WIFE: So I just found out what a Steely Dan is!

MOTHER: Yeah? What is it?

WIFE pauses, considers, then explains: It's—a vibrator. Or a dildo.

MOTHER turns, points at SISTER-IN-LAW. That's something you're supposed to know!

(see also)

Posted by David Wertheimer at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I walk into the Banana Republic Men on 17th and 5th and notice my shoe is untied. I stop near the entrance and lean over to tie it. Elapsed time in store: five seconds.

As I am bent over, a sales clerk swiftly approaches me, and asks: "Are you finding everything okay?"

Posted by David Wertheimer at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Subject line from an email marketing piece from Telecharge, the ticket vendor:

"XANADU on Broadway - The Critics LOVE It. Seriously."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Compared with my previous cell phone and my BlackBerry, the iPhone's touch-screen UI greatly increases the chance that at some point I am going to get hit by a car.

Posted by David Wertheimer at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We bought a striped Chilewich welcome mat for the front door of our new apartment. Since the hall floors are tile, the building permits them, and since our door is directly opposite the elevator, the Chilewich is on display.

The other morning we came out of our apartment as our neighbors were waiting for the elevator. Little Ellie, age 4, made eye contact with Amy and beamed.

"I like your new mat," Ellie declared.

"Thank you very much," Amy replied.

"My babysitter doesn't like it, but I do!"We bought a striped Chilewich welcome mat for the front door of our new apartment. Since the hall floors are tile, the building permits them, and since our door is directly opposite the elevator, the Chilewich is on display.

The other morning we came out of our apartment as our neighbors were waiting for the elevator. Little Ellie, age 4, made eye contact with Amy and beamed.

"I like your new mat," Ellie declared.

"Thank you very much," Amy replied.

"My babysitter doesn't like it, but I do!"

Posted by David Wertheimer at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leave it to me to make a courtroom laugh.

Judge, addressing the jury panel: "Since this is a criminal case, we'd like to know if any of you have ever been the victim of a crime."

I raise my hand.

"Yes, Mr. Wertheimer."

"This is going to sound a little silly, but I once had my pants stolen...."

Posted by David Wertheimer at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)