The Tax Act, etc
My tax course materials arrived at the post office yesterday and I rode into town to get them, wondering on the way home how many other people around the world transport such things by horseback. Quite awkward to ride with a large cardboard box. When I get Deadwood back from sarren I'm going to have to study how Jane carries Sofia. JD does a nice job with the chair in the Mag 7 episode The Collector, which I can finally see on DVD!
I decided to leap right into the tax study instead of letting it build up into one of those things you avoid until you can't put it off any longer, and was somewhat cheered to find that the author seems to have as much contempt for the Tax Act as I do. From the introductory section: "It is clear from a superficial examination of the Act that it is an extremely lengthy, complex and confusingly arranged piece of legislation...a reflection of [the difficulties that arose as the Act increased in size] was the growth in complex section and subsection referencing, such as section 160ZZPZD." 160ZZPZD! It raises my blood pressure to think about the huge waste of resources that goes into administering unnecessarily complex laws. One thing has improved since I last studied the subject, at least, which is that the laws are now mostly online. Last time I had to buy about ten different volumes of legislation.
I've been thinking more about Brokeback Mountain and the things that come across differently in the film to the story. Jack's story seems sadder and sadder. He knew exactly what he wanted and could clearly ask for it, but couldn't get Ennis to even try. Because he could imagine how it could work and lived every day with the contrast between his reality and his hopes, I think his life was much harder than Ennis's, since Ennis didn't really even let himself want or hope. So sad to know just what you want, have it almost within your grasp, have the emotional courage to ask for it and not get it.
I decided to leap right into the tax study instead of letting it build up into one of those things you avoid until you can't put it off any longer, and was somewhat cheered to find that the author seems to have as much contempt for the Tax Act as I do. From the introductory section: "It is clear from a superficial examination of the Act that it is an extremely lengthy, complex and confusingly arranged piece of legislation...a reflection of [the difficulties that arose as the Act increased in size] was the growth in complex section and subsection referencing, such as section 160ZZPZD." 160ZZPZD! It raises my blood pressure to think about the huge waste of resources that goes into administering unnecessarily complex laws. One thing has improved since I last studied the subject, at least, which is that the laws are now mostly online. Last time I had to buy about ten different volumes of legislation.
I've been thinking more about Brokeback Mountain and the things that come across differently in the film to the story. Jack's story seems sadder and sadder. He knew exactly what he wanted and could clearly ask for it, but couldn't get Ennis to even try. Because he could imagine how it could work and lived every day with the contrast between his reality and his hopes, I think his life was much harder than Ennis's, since Ennis didn't really even let himself want or hope. So sad to know just what you want, have it almost within your grasp, have the emotional courage to ask for it and not get it.