When the Stage is Free, the Rage in Me is Contained
Tuesday. Well, I'm back after a long holiday weekend. The good news is that I didn't have to deal with Monday yesterday. The bad news is that I have to deal with both Monday and Tuesday today. Awesome. Another benefit of the long weekend was that I had a chance for my emotions to cool down a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am still plenty frustrated with my situation here, but I am now able to think somewhat rationally about it instead of sitting here stewing while my blood reaches its boiling point. Of course, it may not take much to get me back up to that level, but for right now I've got things under control.
I decided that instead of confronting the Big Boss Lady at our next juncture (being my annual review), I thought I would launch a volleying shot over her bow by disclosing my frustrations within my annual personal performance evaluation form that I have to submit to her prior to my review. This form includes a section in which you "discuss your career interests including positions, responsibilities, and timing." In this section I basically laid out my argument (firmly but professionally) on why they should promote me. I feel that I brought up many good points, and focused on why it would be a good decision business-wise, not just saying, "johnny needs a raise." I went through it several times to make sure it read ok and that it got the point across without implying too much anger or nastiness, and then I sent it off. I know that she got it, because she acknowledged its receipt. Now I guess we'll see what comes of it. I'll be sure to let you all know in about three weeks' time.
I have some new music to discuss today. Well, technically these guys aren't new since they've been around since the late 1990's, but since they are new to my collection and new to this blog, I am going to designate them as "new." They are Ozomatli. Ozomatli plays a combination of Latin rock, funk, rap, salsa, and several other genres thrown in. Since you may be wondering (because I did), according to Wikipedia, "Ozomatli take their name from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, which is also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest, and music." Hmmm... interesting. I take my name, John, from an old Hebrew word that roughly translates as "one whose parents could not come up with more original or less boring nomenclature."
Ozomatli originates from California, but also enjoys significant levels of popularity here in Colorado. They have a few tunes that make it on the radio here, and they perform here in concert from time to time as well. I have had kind of a fond familiarity with them, but up until this point I had not checked them out further, even after they appeared on the Sublime tribute album doing a decent cover of April 29, 1992. Their name came up again as I was thinking of new music to check out, and so here we are covering the first of two Ozomatli discussions, the first being on their self-titled album Ozomatli.
Ozomatli will be an excellent candidate for future Friday music selections. This album is fun and funky. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that Chali 2na and Cut Chemist from the Jurassic Five both contributed heavily to this album. I really like the J5, and a few tracks kind of sounded as if someone dropped one of their albums into a Latino blender with no lid, causing the contents to explode everywhere in a musical eruption. Ok, that was a bit overdoing it with the language, but it was pretty cool. The rest of the tracks are very funky, with not a down tune in the mix. I liked this album and I look forward to listening to another Ozomatli album tomorrow. I definitely recommend it to those who like Latino funk, the Jurassic Five, and salsa (both the music genre and the condiment. Doesn't pretty much anything taste better with salsa?). Good stuff.
I decided that instead of confronting the Big Boss Lady at our next juncture (being my annual review), I thought I would launch a volleying shot over her bow by disclosing my frustrations within my annual personal performance evaluation form that I have to submit to her prior to my review. This form includes a section in which you "discuss your career interests including positions, responsibilities, and timing." In this section I basically laid out my argument (firmly but professionally) on why they should promote me. I feel that I brought up many good points, and focused on why it would be a good decision business-wise, not just saying, "johnny needs a raise." I went through it several times to make sure it read ok and that it got the point across without implying too much anger or nastiness, and then I sent it off. I know that she got it, because she acknowledged its receipt. Now I guess we'll see what comes of it. I'll be sure to let you all know in about three weeks' time.
I have some new music to discuss today. Well, technically these guys aren't new since they've been around since the late 1990's, but since they are new to my collection and new to this blog, I am going to designate them as "new." They are Ozomatli. Ozomatli plays a combination of Latin rock, funk, rap, salsa, and several other genres thrown in. Since you may be wondering (because I did), according to Wikipedia, "Ozomatli take their name from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, which is also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest, and music." Hmmm... interesting. I take my name, John, from an old Hebrew word that roughly translates as "one whose parents could not come up with more original or less boring nomenclature."
Ozomatli originates from California, but also enjoys significant levels of popularity here in Colorado. They have a few tunes that make it on the radio here, and they perform here in concert from time to time as well. I have had kind of a fond familiarity with them, but up until this point I had not checked them out further, even after they appeared on the Sublime tribute album doing a decent cover of April 29, 1992. Their name came up again as I was thinking of new music to check out, and so here we are covering the first of two Ozomatli discussions, the first being on their self-titled album Ozomatli.
Ozomatli will be an excellent candidate for future Friday music selections. This album is fun and funky. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that Chali 2na and Cut Chemist from the Jurassic Five both contributed heavily to this album. I really like the J5, and a few tracks kind of sounded as if someone dropped one of their albums into a Latino blender with no lid, causing the contents to explode everywhere in a musical eruption. Ok, that was a bit overdoing it with the language, but it was pretty cool. The rest of the tracks are very funky, with not a down tune in the mix. I liked this album and I look forward to listening to another Ozomatli album tomorrow. I definitely recommend it to those who like Latino funk, the Jurassic Five, and salsa (both the music genre and the condiment. Doesn't pretty much anything taste better with salsa?). Good stuff.
posted by john at 3:44 PM
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