Terms Of Venery

You know what that is, even if you don't: collective nouns, like "a pride of lions", or "a kine of cows", or "a troup of shrimp", which is the title of this new wall piece (2014, cast glass, mahogany frame):

"A Troup of Shrimp"

 Can two shrimp be a troup? Well, they're gonna have to be.

Speaking of terms of venery, there are modern forms, and soon to be obsolete modern forms, such as "a discourse of fax machines". And there are terms for groups of people as well, such as "a slew of assassins" or "an odium of politicians".

I think there should be a term for non-commissioned officers. More specifically, chief petty officers (or simply chiefs), or staff sergeants or gunnery sergeants, or sergeant majors. In business, they are usually called managers, but since the corporate model is based upon a hierarchal military organization, it is much the same (although business usually looks more like a joint civilian clusterfuck that makes money despite itself rather than a force to be reckoned with).

As the son of a Navy guy, I'll go with the example of chiefs. I thought perhaps "a network of chiefs" might work, but really it is more like "a quantum entanglement of chiefs", or perhaps "a superimposition of chiefs".

It is true that the people who really run things are the non-comms, the people who keep the butthead executives away from the workers. More importantly, if something needs to get done outside of the chain of command, there is a, well, almost like a spacelike Newtonian plane of existence cutting across all light cones that is the known as the chief's network. When some problem of either a staff personal nature or situational nature is there, this rather impossibly instantaneous communication system goes into effect and suddenly distant parts of the universe are in contact and taking care of things.

I never really thought about it, as I don't really think of myself a s a chief, but apparently, given some introspection on the matter, I guess I am. Not necessarily in keeping butt-head executives away from the workers (although, come to think of it, that's what most of my jobs have been), but rather connecting with others to make sure shit gets done and people are taken care of.

So, I may or may not be part of that, but if I am, then so, dear reader, are you! Because, in a strictly relativity-obeying acausal fashion, this is what we do. And doesn't that sound better than being a passive purveyor and container of selfish memes? Given that I don't buy into that shit, I think so.

So, hello, chief! How you doing today?

I'm doing good. So, apparently are some other Americans, who are the beneficiaries of the ACA (you know, Obamacare). According to the Wall Street Journal (although give the editorial staff a moment so they can spin a denial of this new tidbit), the ACA has boosted household spending and income for January.   Well, you looking at one household right here. And what did I do with my extra disposable income? Why, I went and bought myself a toy. A Kaossilator Pro Plus, to be exact.



And it is a HUGE amount of fun. I have literally, like a six year old boy, played myself to sleep with the thing. And woke up with bent headphones. Take that, Rush Limbaugh!

Okay, here you go, my test track with the Kaossilator: