I love debating. It really is too bad my high school didn’t have a debate team. I would have excelled. Plus, I’d probably be a better debater now.
Over dinner one night recently, as our food digested and we finished our drinks, a good friend and I spent about 40 minutes trying to decide if humanity was inherently good or inherently evil. Forty minutes, I know. Humankind has spent millennia pondering the same questions, yet we were determined to provide answers in less than an hour’s time generations before us couldn’t.
What happened to last week? A full five work days felt more like two. And, I was doing so well on posting here at the old personal pad again. Can’t control the news cycle, or the news makers, it seems.
Christmas is almost here and New Year’s is just around the corner. I’m excited to get Q-Notes‘ last print issue of the year out on the news stands this week. Click over to Q-Notes and sign up for our email newsletter to get a preview of our year-end wrap up. We’ll announce our Person of the Year and Person of the Decade in the issue, too!
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
I got a call today from a friend in Washington, D.C. He asked me, “Are you going by Matt Hill Comer or Matt Comer, because you’re using both.”
And, he would be right.
When I changed my last name in college (long story, read it here), I went by “Matt Hill Comer” as many of my friends, family and colleagues adapted to the new me. Over the past two years, I’ve slowly begun using “Matt Comer” in a variety of spaces; among them, my blog and on my bylines at Q-Notes.
“Matt Hill Comer” seemed like a great way to transition easily from “Matt Hill” to “Matt Comer.” I knew there’d always come a day when I’d vow to only ever use “Matt Comer.”
(Note to those thinking about changing names: It is an utter pain in the ass, but definitely worth it if you’re changing it for some deeper emotional or spiritual meaning.)
It is time for “Matt Hill Comer” to find its way into history. Today I bought up MattComer.net for my personal site, which lists my press clippings and short bio. It will replace the old url, MattHillComer.com.
So, goodbye Matt Hill Comer. Hello Matt Comer. ‘Tis the new me, all over again — sort of.
Oh, don’t worry. Still not a sports person. Tar Heel pride is showing through tonight (and the boys are cute). So wishing I were on Franklin Street right now.
I sat down to do my taxes last night (not finished yet) and realized that I’ve finally reached the point where (a) I can’t deduct as much because I wasn’t in school and have no dependents, and (b) the days of getting back everything I paid to the feds is over.
Being an adult sucks. Taxes, while necessary, suck.
This entire post: as childish as my tax return should be.
(This is the first year I’ve done my taxes on my own; Mom usually does them. Needless to say, I ran into things that absolutely confused me. I’ll finish them this weekend, with Mom on the phone to guide me.)
The next two days will prove to be very busy, indeed.
I’m headed to Raleigh today to hunt down some gay-owned business and retail owners for an upcoming article. I’ll break away this evening for some drinks with old college friends. Tomorrow is EqualityNC’s Day of Action at the N.C. Legislature. Photos and more will be posted over at Q-Notes.com.
GM is going to deal a final, deathly blow to its Saturn brand, it seems:
Starved from within, Saturn’s sales peaked in 1995, dwindling despite a decade of bubble-driven auto sales. The company, raking in cash from seemingly endless SUV sales, didn’t worry about a quirky brand known for its small cars. In 2004, GM and the UAW dissolved the special Saturn contract that once promised to herald a new age in carmaking. Three years later, the Spring Hill facility was shut down for re-tooling. Today, it makes the Chevy Traverse. Saturns share space on assembly lines elsewhere. They’ll lose even that soon: As the now-destitute auto giant begs for government help, its latest restructuring plan promises to kill off that donut-loving hipster’s Saturn just as definitively as his father’s Oldsmobile.
The self-inflicted blows that felled Saturn may date back to the boom years, but there’s still something sad about watching GM cite innovation and restructuring as it dispatches a car that was meant to represent … innovation and restructuring. Two decades after first announcing Saturn as part of its plan for salvation in an age of foreign cars and pricey oil, Detroit remains flummoxed by foreign cars and pricey oil. With or without more help from Uncle Sam, the GM that comes out of the crisis will have to be smaller, more creative and more customer-friendly. That all sounds sort of familiar, doesn’t it? Perhaps one of the remaining employees will look through the archives and discover a good place to start: free jelly donuts.
How sad. When I was a kid (before I knew the slightest thing about cars) I thought Saturns looked so cool. All my older friends said they were pieces of shit. Oh well… what did I know? I was like 10 when they were most popular.
GM is going to deal a final, deathly blow to its Saturn brand, it seems:
