Preaching to the Choir

So I have talked in the past about my intolerance towards people who were not like me. I talked specifically about some neighbors of mine. Now, let me preface this by saying that these are some of the kindest people that I have the privilege to know, and while we may not see eye to eye on Religion or politics, I deeply respect them and their beliefs, and I am glad to have them in my life.

OK, now that we have the disclaimer out the way, it’s time for me to rant. I love going over my neighbor’s house and hanging out. There is only one problem. They only play one type of music. I, in general, don’t really like to just hear one type of music. But it isn’t just that. The type of music that they listen to is boring and WASPY Christian music. I mean this stuff, which is supposed to have a happy message has a tone that is so depressing. At best, it makes you want to fall asleep.

I mean I’m no Christian scholar, but I have picked up a few buzz words over the past few years. The ones that I seem to here the most are salvation, freedom, liberty, gospel, and most of all good news. Those all seem like joyous words to me. I mean we are talking about the good news here. Shouldn’t the music be a little upbeat? If the news is so good, then why does it sound like their puppy just died? I mean if you are going to have music that is such a buzz killer, at least make it like Christian Death metal or something talking about what will happen to all of us wicked sinners when the world ends. I could even rock to that, and I know that a lot of my friends who are big fans of the Left Behind series would love it too. (Ok, I was joking about Left Behind).

I can understand that some people only want to hear music that has “positive” messages. I don’t agree, but I understand those who do. That being said, shouldn’t the music be good? I mean I can rock on to Jars of Clay and Third Day and some of the other so called “God Bands”, and I know people who are proud Atheists who can too. I went to my other friend’s Church, and the music was so powerful that this proud Agnostic couldn’t help but sing along. So shouldn’t the test really be the music? I mean if the Art is bad, then what the heck is the point? Will you get your message across, or will you, for lack of better words, wind up preaching to the choir?

Job Dating

This whole job-hunting experience seems surprisingly familiar. And then, one day, it hit me. Job-hunting is pretty much isomorphic to dating. You put your resume out on Monster and all those sites, and you get a lot of hits from people. This is kind of like your first experiences getting a lot of numbers from girls at different places. You think that you have sealed the deal, as they say.

Then, the first date comes along, which is usually a first interview or a telephone screening from an HR guy, or maybe even an IT guy. You think to yourself, well, I fucking kicked ass on that date, so this chick will most likely want a second date, because we all know how money I am. Then, you wait by the phone, and each hour and each day, your self esteam gets lighter and lighter, until you give up.

Then there are the hookups. You know, the jobs that your friends try and get you. Now, like with a woman, the job gets props because your friend recommends it, but then again, you think to yourself, why shit where you eat? Why does my friend want to hook me up? Is it for me? Is it for them? Is it both? If I fuck up, then how much am I really fucking up? Just my situation, or our friendship?

Then there are those hotties. I had a phone interview with a really big name consulting firm, and it was like I met a chick who was hotter than the 9th ring of hell and liked John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Jean Luc Godard, August Wilson, and Woody Allen. You want to let your interest be known, but you don’t want to blow your load. Finding that happy medium is hard, because you can’t help but think about your sunny days ahead and all the romantic trips to Europe and Asia you will take with this hot chick on the dime of that hot company.

Then there are the head hunters. I guess, to keep the analogy alive, they are like matchmakers. I don’t believe in match makers, because most of them don’t have their own healthy love life, but want to give you advice. The same goes for Head Hunters. I swear to God that some of the messages that I got on my phone sounded like a cheesy used car ads.

Monday! Monday! Monday! All programming jobs must go. SQL Server, C#, VB.NET, you name it. Whatever it is that you think that you know, we have a job for you Give us a call at 215-555-JOBS, that’s 215-555-JOBS. All jobs must go!

Well, like dating, you have to know that this whole thing is a game, and games should be fun. Hey, I live at home, so my professional biological clock isn’t ticking. However, it would always be great to slide up into some hot software engineering job.