Coopernundrums » conundrum

Decade Dance

JayCooper — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:18:53 +0000

I was just introduced to the most brain stimulating debate I have had in while and I thought I would share it with you. It is not a new debate, certainly not when you’re dealing with millennia. Late last night I sat at the old computer gathering info about the last ten years for my end-of-year blog post and I came to the frustrating realization that there is actually a great deal of debate about this subject. It seems there is general confusion regarding how the decades and millennia are interpreted by the average Joe.

I must admit that I fell into the trap of believing the hype and had it embedded in my mind that the end of the first decade of the new millennium is about to end. Many people call this decade The Oughts or The ’00s. Clearly, then, the decade includes years that have zero as the third digit. Next year, that third digit turns to a 1, so the end of the decade obviously is at hand right? Consider also the popular terms affixed to decades. Since I am a child of the ’80s that would mean that can only years that include some derivative of 80 should be included. In no way can 1979 be considered part of the ’80s. Using that logic, 2010 must mark the beginning of the next decade. Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines a decade as “in common usage, a ten-year period beginning with a year 0, as 1920-1929.” All of these factors prove that this decade will end on Dec. 31, 2009, Right?

Another school of thought says that as we age, we are not said to be 1 until after living 12 months, and we do not celebrate a 10th birthday until after living 10 years. Logical conclusion: The next decade won’t begin until after 2010 concludes. If you think about millennia the first one thousand years started with the number 1 and thus ended with 1000. This means those years 1001 through 2001 would equal the second millennium. Following this logic the first decade of this millennium began with the year 2001, and the last year of the first decade of this millennium will be next year, 2010. This is a very compelling argument.

Does that mean Webster’s dictionary is wrong? No, the definition mentioned earlier, pertained to the “common usage” of the word. The same dictionary also defines a decade as “officially, a ten-year period beginning with the year 1, as 1921-1930.” Webster apparently wants to make everyone happy.

It seems like the debate itself will be lost in the sea of media outlets and emotional minds ready for this decade to be over. I for one am happy, since it gives me two years to consider and be respectful of all the wonderful, wondrous and sad things that have occurred in the last ten years.

Happy new year all!

Good Riddance Circuit City

JayCooper — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:50:48 +0000

This will be brief..

I ALWAYS hated Circuit City. It was always a bloated horrible place to even shop. The deals were always few and far between and the service was ALWAYS terrible. Its no wonder they went out of business. They cared more about the image than the business which is why THEY ARE NOW DEFUNCT!

Goodbye to bad rubbish is what I say..good riddance!

Touché , Cliché

JayCooper — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:04:53 +0000

Clichés never bothered me when I was younger. Lately, however they have really been annoying me. I hear them incessantly on the news and on the TV. I see them in print magazines and in the newspaper. I do a LOT of reading online. Reading any kind of articles or blogs online you will find that it is filled with them. Looking back through many of my own blog posts I was not surprised to learn that I have been guilty of using them as well.

A cliché is a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel.

As I progress with this blog posting thing I am going to try very hard to avoid them from now on. You let me know if I slip up ok?

Decade Dance

Man bags

JayCooper — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:10:14 +0000

I like to think that I am a pretty masculine kind of guy. I try to be a good role model to my boys, trying to convey toughness while at the same time exhibiting a tender loving side also. I think masculinity on a whole has taken a real beating the last few years. There is no denying that there are more effeminate men on the TV, in movies and in print these days than there have ever been. I see this as a great thing in some ways. Tolerance and acceptance by and large is fantastic, but in the same breath I certainly do NOT encourage or endorse guys dying their hair for fashion, putting on makeup, painting their nails or wearing what is obviously or blatantly meant to be women’s clothes. (I mean dresses, bras, panties, you get the idea)

The whole reason I am writing this is because I wanted to talk about the subject of man bags. Being an artist and also a computer jockey all rolled up into one means that frequently I have a lot of crap I have to carry around with me. I usually carry a trapper keeper folder type gizmo and a laptop bag. I would much rather use something designed for the job. I mean if you have ever used a trapper keeper its meant for papers and the occasional pencil or pen. Likewise a laptop bag doesn’t have much room for the various and sundry tools I need when I am working on a computer. This brings us to my conundrum. I think I would like a Man Bag!

Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t want to be caught dead carrying ANYTHING that looks like a women’s purse. That being said my choices are pretty slim. One obvious choice would seem to be a medium to small size duffel or more commonly called gym bag. This might work well, but most duffel bags this size don’t have shoulder straps. Those folks with PDAs and cell phones know the importance of having your hands free to text or look up info. Another choice could be the atypical full on back pack or hiking pack. This would work pretty well except for the fact that I would have trouble accessing stuff in the bag without taking it totally off . Getting in and out of cars with it would be a pain also. Lets face it, your average backpack is pretty ungainly when you don’t have it, well, on your back.

That leaves me with only one choice, and it’s a choice I can live with, the proverbial messenger bag or “man bag” as some TV shows have dubbed it. Most of these bags have a nice well designed shoulder strap, plenty of pockets and gizmo holders and they can be slung round on the back, hip or even tightened up close to the chest in crowded areas. The real question is no weather I want one, because I do. The real question is can I live with carrying around a man bag in my macho head. Most of these things do look a LOT like a women’s bag. I guess its’ something I am just going to have to keep deliberating for now.