How Texas Supports Troops

Corporal Carl Basham is an 8 year veteran of the Iraq War. When he signed up with the Marines, his parents lived in Louisiana, having just moved there from Texas. A year later, his parents moved back to Texas.

Now, he'd like an education please.

Texas authorities have told him that because he signed up with the military in Louisiana, he is not a Texas resident. Therefore, if he wants to go to community college in Texas, he'll have to pay out-of-state fees. Now there's a big thank you.

No wonder Bush so feels at home in Texas.

Happy 17th Day of Vacation, George!

Congratulations, George! You are now in uncharted territory for MOST Americans. You are on a third week of vacation.

Oh I know, boo hoo, you had to attend a few dinners, shake hands with the Columbian President, fall off your bike a few times, and ignore Cindy Sheehan. It wasn't a vacation after all!

But you know, somehow, I think your vacation is better than the ones the soldiers get. And it was because of this equation that Bratworse and I went to a candlelight vigil last night.



So have fun with your bike, with fishing, with napping, with your vacation. Meanwhile, people all over the country are starting see the disconnect of the WH to people's realities. And they're wondering why the hell you are biking two hours every day instead of using those two hours to try and wrangle some funds up to armor our soldiers.

Filed under Politics & B.S.

Good Dreams

I can't figure out if I just woke up and look really tired, if it's how I look when I'm content, or if it's what I'm going to look like in the coming years. I know we are our hardest critic and I'm just looking too closely at the lines, wrinkles and bags. It's my face not dry cleaning!

In any case this look is the reason my dear idealist has christened me "dopey!"

Fog

	Fog over San Francisco
	Fog over Oakland

Classics

Bamboo

Young Green Bamboo!

Review: RedBeard *WARNING SPOILERS*

"You saw it already"

"No, I did not."

2/3 of the way through, I nudged Bratworse... "You awake?" No response. I mutter to myself, "Damn, she was right, I have seen this.

It turns out we were both right; I had only seen the second half of RedBeard by Akira Kurosawa before and therefore didn't recognize the first half.

Redbeard is one of Kurosawa's later films (his films start slowing down in the 60's and this was made in 1965). I'm much more familiar with his earlier work like Rashoman, Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Hidden Fortress.

It seems as if Redbeard was a throwaway movie for Kurosawa. From the gratuitous japanese bondage scene to the bludgeoning over the head with its character development, Redbeard just feels like different in intensity from his other movies.

It had very little character development for the main character - Redbeard, played by the incomparable Toshiro Mifune. Mostly, the young selfish man who learns to admire Redbeard, and the young ward who comes under his eventual care are the two characters who change over time, but the transition is heavy-handed and sudden.

As a story, it's fairly run-of-the-mill. Young arrogant doctor gets sent to study under the care of eccentric doctor and turns over new leaf by the end of the movie.

*SPOILER WARNING* However, despite the faults, Redbeard managed to make me sob through most of the 2nd half. The young ward Otoya befriends a "little rat" Chodo who is stealing rice from the clinic. After a while, Chodo and his family decide to eat rat poison to avoid shame. While Chodo's life hangs in the balance, Otoya and the rest of the kitchen help start yelling into a well to try and call back Otoya's soul... and well, I lost it. I was bawling.

All in all, Redbeard gets a 7 out of 10 rating. However, rating it on the Kurosawa scale, it only gets a 5 out of 10.

Happy 16th Day of Vacation, George aka Precedent Setting President

Hey George!

I read a real funny this morning. I read that the reason you didn't want to meet Cindy Sheehan was cause you didn't want to start a precedent.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA... did you really mean that?

How do you set the precedents... let me count the ways:

• Start a pre-emptive war to find WMDs err regime change umm spread democracy;
  
• Create the largest deficit in our national budget;
  
• Cheat your way into the WH;
  
• Take more vacations than any other president (a full 20%);
  
• Harbor somone suspected of treason;
  
• Use public funds to sponsor party-affiliated propaganda in the hopes of dismantling social security;
  
• Have people impersonate secret service in order to keep out dissenting voices in PUBLIC forums;
  

I think you're very dishonest, George. You just can't be bothered. All you have to do is tell her you'd meet her after your 5 WEEK vacation and all the wind would go out of her sails. But see, that stupid stubborn streak in you is what we're counting on. That immature side of you that just can't admit you were wrong, or you made a mistake.

So tell the world it's cause you don't want to set a precedent. We all know you'd rather set precedents that'll benefit your (Cheney's) Halliburton buddies or your ultra-rich buddies and precedents that'll make your dad's heart stop. Oh, that was the whole plan wasn't it? Show up your Dad?

Filed under Politics & B.S. and Bwahahahaha.

Fairness

I have been wanting to post this for a very long time.

There are a couple of bloggers who refer to these two as Jenna and Not-Jenna. Stop it.

These two are Jenna and Barbara. Say what you will about Jenna, but I do believe that Barbara spent the summer in Africa, helping in an AIDS hospital. IF this is true, then CREDIT MUST BE GIVEN IF DESERVED. Stop with the snark with Barbara. She doesn't deserve this.

However, Jenna seems to ask for trouble. Her escapades, sticking out her tongue at the press, even her drunkenness seem to emulate our Idiot-in-Chief. Hey, if you flaunt it, it's open territory.

Look people. Say what you want about Americans, or our ruling class. However, I TRULY believe the admiration we Americans have for fair play. Yes, there's a large contigent of ugly Americans who would stomp all over you even if you were lying wounded, just because you two were in competition. But I believe there's an even larger contingent who doesn't like seeing people picked on, if it's uncalled for.

Barbara is trying to see how the majority lives. Let's just give her credit for that and leave her alone, okay? Can you imagine George or Jenna in Africa among the sick and dying?

Besides, I can just imagine what life could've been like for her, in her twin's shadow. The indignation of being called Not-Jenna as well as my attempts to be a real person ignored, could just push me into being an over-bearing arrogant asshole like her relatives. (BTW, Barbara is already known as GWB's daughter, Jenna's twin, and at some point in her life, someone's wife. Let her stand by herself for now.)

The Weather Report

The other day on my way to work, after dropping off Idealist, I heard the weather report on the radio station.

"High today ranges from 60 to 90 degrees"

How's that for a weather report?!

The irony... in the morning it was around 60 degrees, but the fog cleared and I could have sword it was 100 degrees!

Resignedidealist here: That's the Bay Area weather for you - which is why we warn all the tourists to wear layers here. I've personally experienced 40 degree fluctuations here, from 40's in the AM to 80's in the afternoon. Oh yeah, and since my mood heavily depends on sunlight, I'm not exactly the chirpiest soul on fog-filled mornings.

D'oh! I told Bratworse about my follow-up post... and she pointed out to me that the HIGH was 60 to 90 degrees and that's what she was gawking at. Silly me, and here I thought she was still sufferering from immigrant wonder (she moved here from Florida)

Happy 15th Day of Vacation, George!

I know you don't recognize any of those names. Hell, you couldn't even remember Casey Sheehan's name when you met Cindy Sheehan that one time. Why should you recognize any of these names now.

Anyway, you needn't worry. Your neighbor took care of that pesky little problem. Seems one of your neighbors, irate that you won't see Cindy and thus remove some traffic congestion, decided to take out his irritation at the makeshift memorial. A pickup truck mowed down the crosses in the middle of the night. Hey! Maybe this guy will go to your little March with his pick-up truck.

Oh, speaking of marches... I hear the Washington Post pulled out of sponsoring your political rally put on by the Department of Defense. It's okay. I think one of your 230 attendees can afford to sponsor it. After all, they did give $25,000 towards your campaign... what's a bit more to pay for propaganda?

Lastly, I see that the Iraqi government failed to come up with a constitution by yesterday's headline. I also hear that Condi and others are pressuring them to come up with a constitution within 10 days.

I've got an experiment for you all: try sitting in a room with falling plaster, and have someone play explosive noises outside the door. Now try and come up with a constitution. I know you're in a hurry for them to come up with something just so you can wipe some of the egg off your face but seriously, George. You try to come up with coherent thoughts while there's explosions going on right outside your door. Oh wait. You couldn't even come up with coherent thoughts after receiving NEWS of explosions.


Filed under Politics & B.S.

Better Than a Stack of Bills

Sometimes, sweet shit happens.

Over on DailyKos, a guy named ColdFusion04 has been after the community to help out in a contest. This contest, run by a Clearchannel (conservative) talk radio station in Milwaukee, featured 17 Conservative contestants, 2 moderates and 1 Liberal. The basic premise of the competition was to have a popularity contest through calls and votes on the web; whoever won, would get a 2-year job as morning host at 50k a year.

ColdFusion04 studied the contest rules carefully and figured out a plan to knock off competitors in each round, moving the liberal, Nicole Devin up. Sure enough, Nicole Devin won!

So, congratulations, Nicole. Have a great two years and be a voice of reason amidst a sea of half-truths and contortions.

As for you conservatives who say that there's a conspiracy, umm, hello? How can there be a conspiracy when the method to win is published and can be viewed by anyone? It's like [bear with me, football season is starting] Bill Callahan saying to the press, "We're giving the ball to Sapp and he'll throw it to Moss," then having the opposing team be incredulous that the ball was actually given to Sapp and he threw it to Moss. Yes, it *must* be a conspiracy.

Level 48 Paladin!

Playing around on my iBook G4, I finally figured out how to do a screenshot [cmd-shift-3 and for a cropped one, do cmd-shift-4, then drag cursor to form a box around soon-to-be-captured image]. Anyway, I quickly got on WoW, image-captured my main girl - Jaece and threw it up here. Like her new hat? I just got her that. It's *much* better than the helmet she used to wear. Jaece is a level 48 Human Paladin. Her two skills are skinning and leather-working. She isn't my first character on WoW. Hydiddlee has that distinction and I'll post a picture of him soon with his helmet on and his helmet off. He is so unbelievably cute but I play Jaece much more than Hy. The ONLY reason why is cause she can self-heal. I have walked into areas where she will take on 5 foes, all a couple of levels higher than her and she has walked out alive. Now, that's kick-ass.

Happy 14th Day of Vacation, George!

How's it going, Georgie Porgy? I hear you've been having a good ol' time, going on bike rides and fundraisers.

In fact, I hear you drove right past Cindy Sheehan on your way to a fundraiser for the GOP. So, I guess we all now have the answer: In order for you to act like it's no big deal to meet with you twice, all we have to do is cough up $25,000.

You know what this means, George? This means that in YOUR eyes, $25,000 means much more than a marine's life, a marine whom YOU asked to give up his life.

Actually, I'd be interested to find out how many people have met you more than once, more than the 15 minutes you gave Cindy Sheehan or Delores Kesterson (I'm being generous here, you only gave Delores 5 minutes of your precious bike-riding time).

I'm willing to bet some of them "contributed" less than $2,000 to you. Which means, Casey Sheehan's life is worth less than $2,000 to you.

The other thing I wanted to point out to you, George, is this article. Apparently, the famous swans in Boston's Public Garden are a couple of lesbians!

Just thought you should know so that you could have a new diversion. You know, since most lawmakers are now admitting that this isn't the right atmosphere to push through an anti-gay marriage amendment (Hear that sound? That's the sound of the entire conservative christian movement's sphincter scrunching shut in terror)

Instead of proclaiming against Gays as anti-nature, you can now crusade against Gays in Nature. And all the liberals will rise up against this proclamation and there! You will then have again a distraction against the noise of Iraq.

BTW, in case you're interested (and I know you're not) TBogg has an on-going deathcount while you are on vacation. Let's see, that's 230 people you're willing to visit cause they contributed to your political party and 55 families you're not going to visit.

I wonder how much those 230 people sacrificed. The whole world knows what the 55 families sacrificed. My thoughts are with those families; may your future weekends never be as bad as this one.

I hope you really do believe in a God, George. I really hope you did take Christ to be your savior. Cause if you did, there will be a very nice place for you when you die. You'll feel right at home. I hear it's hotter than Texas.

Filed under Politics & B. S.

Unintentional Funny

"This is a terrible thing for The Washington Post," said Bill Dobbs, spokesman for United for Peace and Justice. "It calls into question the media's credibility."

Okay. I've stopped laughing now. No... wait.... okay. Now I've stopped laughing.

I'm sorry, but so many things have called into question the media's credibility that whenever I read an article in almost any newspaper.com that I do all the research myself so I can judge the veracity. How's that for credility?

[Wipes her eyes]

Whew. That was a good one. But seriously folks, this isn't quite a Yoda-type move by the Washington Post, is it? To help sponsor this atrocity of a "commerative march"? Bo Jones, publisher of the Washington Post, says that the paper'll pull out if the event gets political. Ooooh Yippee! We'll soon be listening to you all navel-gazers parse the word "political". I hope you get a good seat in El Presidente's box for this march, Mr. Jones. Wave to all those supporters of the war effort who aren't in the military but yet marching so they can play dress-up like Leader Dearest.

BTW, I bet few in NY would be fooled that this March has ANYTHING to do with 9/11. Go on, try this march in NYC. I dare them.

*Warning* Gross but Necessary Post Following

Bratworse's post below reminded me I wanted to blog about this.

Two years ago, I went to bury my father in China. While there I got my period. So off I trudged and bought Stayfree pads from the supermarket next door. When I put them on, I was pleasantly surprised. The cover of the pad was soft, cottony and comfortable!

I came home to the U.S. and only bought Stayfree pads from then on.

Two months ago, someone at Stayfree decided gee, let's save some money and switch to this QWIK-DRY Top Layer. I'm sure someone there must've thought, hey, it'll keep them dry, they'll be grateful for that.

NO WE ARE NOT!

I want ALL the executives, all the marketing people, all the research people, to pour a bit of chocolate syrup and maybe some chopped up marshmallow bits onto a pad, and then wear that for 4 hours. THAT basically is the constituency of what we sit on.

And don't think of a period as peeing into a diaper or something. IT IS WET AND STICKY AND GROSS FROM THE SECOND THE PAD TOUCHES THE VAGINA. And we have to sit on that.

This damn piece of plastic is so uncomfortable we are switching. We went to Always, which now has a cottony type cover. Still not as good as what I got in Hong Kong but it'll do.

But resignedidealist, you ask, why don't you use tampons instead?

I have no problems with tampons IF there weren't lumps involved. There is NOTHING I hate more than standing at the grocery store, or standing up from my desk, and feeling that lump of tissue that just freed itself from my uterus try and ooze past the tampon. If it oozes past the tampon, chances are the panty-liner cannot handle a dump like that.

Also, WHY DO WE WEAR PANTY-LINERS WITH TAMPONS?

It's the redundancy of that act that makes me think guys created tampons.

You can bet your ass if guys had lumps of tissue monthly disgorging themselves from a wall within them, they'd have figured out a way to secure the lumps and the blood, and still NOT have to sit on plastic.

Bratworse hates it when I talk about my period much less blog about it, but damnit, someone's got to bitch about this shit. I'll try not to be as graphic or ... hmm... [starts to get an idea of mixing up chocolate syrup with marshmallow bits and taking a photo of it to post]

Yes, I'm pms'ing and dreading having to finish up the Stayfree pads.

Thinking OuTlOuD

- Grocery Store Reveries -

Idealist and I went to the grocery store the other day, as we are likely to do when desperate times call for desperate measures. Previously we had purchased Stayfree's maxi pad, thinking that the new leak protection did not mean plastic diaper (Must be cheaper to use plastic instead of the cotton weave they were using before, 'Cause you know everything's about money). In an attempt to find a less plastic form, I found my way to the feminine hygiene section. Looking around, I decided that there was a message there in the feminine hygiene aisle. To the right of me - diapers for infants and toddlers, infront of me - maxi pads and tampons, to the left of me - depends. I'm halfway there! We should just resign to the fact that woman just might be in diapers all their life.

- A Job's Humor -

My co-worker/manger nearly cracks me up every time she does some act that reminds me of Danielle Howell's song, "Big Puffy Girl Handwriting." I have since nicknamed my co-worker "Big Puffy Girl Handwriting (I nearly crack up when she writes tomorrow - "2moro")." To give you an idea the song starts:

"Big puffy girl handwriting, handwriting that's big and puffy. You know those girls that write: to so and so, they write the letter 2, I mean the number 2, like "2U" and love, L-U-V and instead of you're, they write Y-R. "YR gonna luv 2 b4 I... " You know what I'm saying? Those girls and I didn't get along very well."

To hear the entire song, you'll just have to purchase it or attend one of Ms. Howell's proformances (maybe one day she'll come out to California *hint*), not only does she provide the apt description for my co-worker, she's also got me wondering about what "The Shift" is going to do to me (when you turned twenty-six, did it shift?).

- A Faery's Wish -

I dreamed of a blue faery, not the pretty girlie kind, but the ugly gremlin kind akin to Brian Froud's interpretation. She instructed me on a few things than left in a blink, only to return shortly after to say she'd forgotten something and would disappear again and return to repeat that she had forgotten something. After what seemed like awhile of this I was awakened, left wishing faeries exist, the good, the bad and the ugly! I think we all need something to believe in, there most be some form of "little magic" out there. If all that matters is faith, why argue about what it's in?

- Pheonix Union's (P.U.) Movement -

I have gladly accepted the nickname "budding activist." As founder of P.U. I am taking on our first movement. The movement of independence! I'm talking independence for the intelligent, living on their own, unmarried (for whatever reasons), childless, under twenty-four year olds. More specifically I am rallying against the Government's classification of independent for the sole purpose of Financial Aid dispersal to college students. I have the bare skeleton of my purpose, and eventually will complete the argument.

Happy 11th Day of Vacation, George!

They're coming, George.. all to see you on your vacation. Isn't that fantastic?

Me, I'm just happy to see people realizing that they are the power. As Gary Hart said, Cindy Sheehan "holds the highest office available in a republic, that of citizen." Many more are exercising their power of office.

It's just like Field of Dreams - If you build it, they will come.

You built a field of lies, falsified records, and ever-changing reasons for why we went into Iraq. You built a road of corpses leading to oil-fields.

Did you really think they wouldn't come?

Enjoy your weekend, George. And for goodness sake (if there's any inside you) send some lemonade out to those people in 100 degree weather okay? You know, figure out how many are out there (700+ and counting) and make just enough for one cup each. At least there, you might have reason to put the mantle of "conservative compassion" on your shoulders.

Filed under Politics & B.S.

Okay, Who Did a Time Warp on Us?

Happy Anniversary, Bratworse!

It's our 3rd Anniversary officially, but not really. It's kind of hard to explain. I met Bratworse playing a MUD named Threshold-rpg. No, no links to the site cause tho I had 4 pretty fun-filled years playing the game, the owner is too much like George W. Bush in my eyes and I simply can't recommend it.

Anyway, I met Bratworse virtually, and on this game, we courted and eventually got married. All this prior to our actually meeting. I think it took her 6 months of IM'ing me to get my phone number, with me the entire time saying, "Are you a guy?"

Finally we met in person December 2002, brought in the New Year together and she moved in with me in Feb. 2003.

Those of you paying attention should be doing a double-take right about now. Wait, but you guys met in Dec. 2002. How can this be your 3 year anniversary?

Well, Bratworse decided that we actually met 2 years before that and since we got married in the game and decided in August 2002 that we were going to meet (okay, clarification here. I decided we were going to meet. She decided we were to live together. I was not to find out this until much later, like 6 months after she moved in)

Therefore, our anniversary was declared August 11th. The 11th mainly because she hoped I wouldn't forget such a number and in fact, when I told her "Happy Anniversary, Honey" this morning, she was quite happy her trick worked.

So, tho we have no $ to celebrate, we'll be celebrating in our hearts.

Oh, the picture above? [shuffles sheepishly] We were to buy an ipod for our anniversary and since we have no $, I thought the picture might help.

Happy 10th Day of Vacation, George!

How was the Windy City yesterday, George? Did you happen to drive past all those women camped out in front of your ranch? Nah, judging from the pattern of behavior, I would bet a million of your bucks, that you turned tail and took a helicopter out of there to the airfield. Gee, George, did your mom intimidate you *that* much that Cindy Sheehan frightens you?

So I heard that you sent out attack dog Bill O'Reilly after Cindy Sheehan through a stand-in - Delores Kesterson. Umm, I think you/Rove/O'Reilly made a teensy weensy lil mistake there. See, I think it was actually Chief Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson's step-mom that was supposed to be on the show, not his birth-mom. But hey, all those moms look alike, eh?

You know, you really should study a tad before you go and meet grieving Moms. You know, be less brusque, don't make jokes since it's kinda solemn that they lost a loved one. Oh, but that would mean you were taught manners, wouldn't it?

Oh yeah, another tip? Learn the names of the person you're honoring. See, there's this thing called short-term memory (I'm assuming that you didn't fry yours, but that might be assuming a tad much huh?). All you have to do is put the person's name in short-term memory, have the meeting and then walk out. It will give the impression at least that you cared.

The common thread between Cindy Sheehan and Delores Kesterson? They both met you in person and came away with the impression that you didn't know who you were talking about, that you didn't care to be there and/or worse, that you thought you were at a cocktail party, that all you cared about was being the president of the U.S. and having others do your bidding.

I know, I know, you really ARE that way. But geeze, George, if you had taken the trouble to just act a little, maybe you'd be spared this protest. But you must've been late for a bike ride.

So I see a few of your cronies are starting to feel some heat. Over in San Diego, Randy "Duke" Cunningham wants to use some of his campaign contributions for a legal fund. On the other side of the country, I see some people finally got indicted for the phone bank tampering during the 2002 elections. Oh and some other DeLay/Abramoff scandal. Oh yeah, and something about lawmakers giving themselves a substantial raise in Pennsylvania in the dead of the night?

Gee, judging from some of these articles, they seem to suggest there's a deep layer of corruption within the government ranks. Nah, it couldn't be. Your pals? Corrupt? I know, at least corruption isn't treason, righ.... whoops.

Filed under Politics and B.S.

Blogher, I Don't Even Know Her!

Well, after a few days of visiting a page here and there, a few days of following links to find myself guffawing at antics, learning new tricks, and being envious of those attending, I did it.

I first followed directions on this page and lo & behold, a self-updating blogroll magically appears to the right. The first hurdle cleared, I posted my request to be added.

First off, let me explain. I'm a fairly regular reader of Dooce since oh about 6 months ago or less. So I knew about Blogher, well peripherally. It seemed every time Dooce wrote about it, my attention was diverted away by some political shenanigans. Though I made a mental note to look it up, well, somehow, Dooce was hopping on a plane before I realized the weekend was here.

When she returned, I followed her links to other women's blogs and read. And read. And read.

When Bratworse picked me up later that day, I turned to her and said, "We are going to Blogher next year no matter what." She said "Okay. What's Blogher?" Later that day, I showed her three pages that impressed me with their writing. She smiled and said, "Okay, we're going to Blogher."

Happy 9th Day of Vacation, George!

Did you have a good night? Cindy Sheehan has a slight fever and a sore throat... but then you're probably thinking it's her own fault, huh? Since she spent all night in a thunderstorm. But see, any GENEROUS person would be like, oh that poor woman's still out there? Let some of my servants go out there with soup... oh but that'll be encouraging her, wouldn't it? We can't have that.. why showing mercy or tenderness is - y'know - feminine. And you're way too macho to be decent huh?

So I hear through the grapevine (well, Donald Rumsfeld) that the Pentagon and the administration is about to throw a big ol' party... one wild country western shindig, complete with a hike and everything... all to commemorate 9/11. I see you even invited Mr. Clint Black to be the entertainment. Me personally, I prefer his wife, Lisa Hartman Black.

But I do have a question for you. What does this hike and having a good ol' country western hoedown have to do with supporting our freedoms, or troops or commemorating 9/11?

First off, 9/11 happened to New York City. And as any New Yorker could tell you, most wouldn't be caught dead listening to country music. If you had asked Billy Joel, or Phillip Glass, or any Broadway star (hell, even Bernadette Peters would've been a better choice), you might've been able to connect it better to 9/11. But as it is, anyone who've been to New York and seen the faces they make at C/W music, would be able to see this celebration of freedoms for the farce it is.

Secondly, in previous DECLARED wars, the way Americans supported the war effort was by personal sacrifices. So far, the only sacrificing have been done has been by the military and not the ones higher up, but the ones on the ground. Oh yeah, and their families, which brings us back to CINDY SHEEHAN.

Thirdly, could you kindly explain about the correlation of "freedom" and the Patriot Act? Basically, from my reading of the Act, the government is curbing a lot of our freedoms.

Other than that, I think your idea of a country hoedown for the whole country is a fantabulous idea. After all, who cares if 5 American soldiers just died yesterday as long as we can get a BBQ and good ol' country western singing, right?

Filed under Politics & B.S.

Happy 8th Day of Vacation, George!

How's the weather down in Texas? Cindy Sheehan says that you might be having thunderstorms.

There's no chance of you going mountain-biking in the storm, is there? I mean, since you didn't know to come in out of the rain in Scotland. Oh wait, if something happens to you, we get Dick in Charge, eh? You know, I really can't decide what's worse for the country, you or Dick.

BTW, in case you weren't aware, 17 people died yesterday in a series of bombings in Iraq. You might be getting one more mother outside your doorstep asking the same question Cindy Sheehan wants to ask to your face, since among the 17 was another Marine.

Today, I wanted to educate you on how ordinary people get vacations.

Most of us have to plan and BUDGET months in advance for our vacation. We first have to look at our budget and figure out where we can go under our budget. Thanks to your buddies and you bungling the economy with your friggin tax breaks for the rich and this costly war and the price of oil, Europe is out for most people. See, when pizza in London costs $80, which is what a majority of us make in a day, then Europe isn't really a possibility for us existing on a budget. By the way, Asia is out too since they unpegged their currency to ours.

What's good for corporations (the trade deficit) usually means our choices will get limited. We cannot afford to travel overseas now... ah, but I'm starting to understand your insiduous plan now.

You want to keep us dumb, broke and isolated don't you? You plan on bankrupting the American economy (much like Brazil) with your tax breaks, your wars, and your killing of social security. Then you make sure we stay dumb and entertained. Hence your endorsement of Intelligent Design. (But then, what can we expect from a man who revels in his "C" capabilities and uses his position to demean others more qualified)

But I digress.

Anyway, on with my lesson. First we figure out where we can go on our budget. Then comes the odious task of asking permission to take a vacation. Who did you have to ask? I don't remember getting anything in the mail about you asking permission. What? You think I work for you? Umm, your paycheck was paid in part by me. You know, if there's corporation acknowledgements, like this message was paid in part by.. why doesn't your paycheck say that? It should say, Paid by the CITIZENS of the United States who pay taxes. That way, you will remember who you are working for. Not your cronies at Halliburton or Exxon or the House of Saud.

Okay, so first we figure out a budget, then we ask permission. Barring any emergencies, any budget cuts, unemployment, etc.... we then go and take our one week off. Of course, we all manipulate the system as best we could... Take off on a Friday, drive all night on Thursday night so we get our vacation starting truly on Friday.... make sure to have the vacation over a three day weekend so we can squeeze ONE extra day out of it.

This is the world of working people. This is the world of 75% of where your paycheck comes from. So go back to clearing brush. Go back to pretending you're a farm hand for 5 weeks. But face it - until you face our terrors, you are a pampered baby playing at trying to better your father.

Filed under Politics and B.S.

Doodad to Me One More Time

Doodad to Me One More Time, originally uploaded by cholotto.

Here's what I bought Bratworse at the faire. It works with unlocked hair too. The problem with dreads is, finding a lock that was thin enough for her. This lock is on the right side of her head, towards the middle of her skull. The only other locks that'll fit were in front, but I couldn't fathom the doodad hitting her in the face every time she whirled around. I'd be so busy getting her to whirl around I'd never get anything done!

Science and God

Most of us are familiar with the above drawing. In our small minds, that is pretty much what our solar system looks like.

And guess what, we'd be wrong. I've been reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and the first chapter has already blown my mind away. Basically, if we make Earth the size of a pea, Jupiter in relation, would be OVER THREE THOUSAND FEET AWAY.

Nothing in the above diagram even remotely comes close to the scale and breadth of the true universe. Given that same pea-sized Earth, Pluto would have to be drawn OFF THE PLANET'S SURFACE in order to accurately depict the size of the solar system.

And this is just ONE solar system out of millions of billions.

So your mind blown away yet? Okay, wait a few seconds for your mind to collect itself. Now doesn't the sheer immensity of the scale we're dealing with, just re-affirm in you that there is intelligence and there is design?

"Intelligent Design" is neither. It's not intelligent nor does it show a design in anything. It is JUST A WAY FOR PEOPLE TO MAKE SURE YOUR BRAIN REMAINS SMALL. It has nothing to do with the reality of science, the complex beauty of the world we live in, nor does it have anything to do with faith. For people of science who have faith in a higher being, each fact uncovered that discloses the immense complexity of our surroundings, underscores their faith.

So let me ask you (if you're a supporter of Intelligent Design): Why do you insist of making our world smaller? Why do you limit what we know? Why are you insisting that the world is ONLY 6,000 years old?

Intelligent Design gives you pee-wee football's playbook to understanding football, INSTEAD of the NFL's playbook. So go ahead America, be in the junior league. Cause when time comes to play in the big leagues, it'll be China and India sending in their teams, not us.

Happy 7th Day of Vacation, George

I know, you missed me updating you over the weekend, but George, you see, being ordinary folk instead of royalty, makes the weekends ever so much more precious to me since I can't get 5 weeks off for vacation like you can. Well, I could, but you see, ordinary folks like me, when we take 5 weeks off, it's usually cause we lost our jobs.

During this time, our 5 weeks off isn't restful at all. We fret about where our money is coming from, we worry about the roof over our heads being taken away; trust me, it's not fun. But you never had to worry about that at all, didn't you. Every time you ran a company to the ground, you always had one of Daddy's pals help you out, huh?

Anyway, here's the scuttlebutt over the weekend. Outside your ranch, there's a woman named Cindy Sheehan. You might remember her. You met her because she lost her son Casey in Iraq. But then, you might not remember her; after all, you didn't remember the name of her son when you did meet with her. What's she doing out there? Well, George, she would like you to answer right to her face why her son died. You can do that, can't you? You can take a moment out from brush clearing to go answer her questions... oh wait, I forgot. 10,000 brown lives won't budge you, 20+ Ohioan's lives won't budge you, why would 1 Californian life? Oh ignore the cameras, you always did anyway.

Added at 1:49 pm - Hey, George? Cindy Sheehan says that one of your lackeys, erm, political associates called her to say that if she's not gone from the front of your ranch by Thursday, she would be arrested for *get this* being a threat to national security. Can you believe the nerve of these imposters?

Of course, we know that you, big guy, won't ever let someone like Cindy Sheehan get arrested just for this little thing that's protected in our constitution, this thing called "Freedom of Speech?" I mean, it's not like you would let anyone get kicked out of events you hold.

But see, here's the thing. All you have to do is walk outside with your truckloads of secret servicemen, and talk to this woman. Tell her why we're in Iraq. Tell her there is really a good reason why her son died. Oh, I don't suggest that you throw her the cock'n'bull story about spreading democracy. I think she's a tad too well-read (yes, she read more than "My Pet Goat") to swallow that bile. Be sincere. And she'll leave your doorstep. No need to spend MILLIONS OF DOLLARS CALLING IN TROOPS TO HAUL THIS BEREAVED MOTHER AWAY.

But, you know, George, there IS this part of me that does hope that you're that assinine, that you're that insulated, that you will pull this boneheaded move. See, we'd love to show the world what we've been seeing in you.

Filed under Politics & B.S.

Happy 4th Day of Vacation, George

I see you had a visitor, the Columbian President, Alvaro Uribe. And you made a hah-hah! Calling Condoleeza Rice, Condoleeza "Arroz". Boy, that was a knee-slapper. How did you come up with that by your lonesome?

By the way, even the New York Post thinks you should take a little time from your hard work of hosting foreign dignitaries to go visit some of the poor families in Ohio who lost loved ones this past week. But I know, those brushes are just everywhere on your ranch and you need to clear them. After all, you didn't break from your last vacation because over 10,000 brown-skinned people died. Why should you for only 14 Americans? I mean, that's like saying to the world 14 Americans is worth more than over 10,000 dead indonesians, malaysians, Thai, Sri Lankans, Indians, etc.

Anyway, the weekend is coming up, and I'm going to take some time from my hard work, which I know, isn't as hard as driving around the Columbian president on a ranch. Oh, when you get back from your vacation, can you see to it that our troops have more protection? That they get a raise just like the others in your white house that you just gave raises to last month? Oh, the budget? That's easy, take a couple million away from Halliburton and assign that monies to troops salary. See? Not really hard work. Oh, but too easy for you, eh?

What was I thinking?

Filed under Politics and B.S.

Happy 3rd Day of Vacation, George

Did you get a good night's rest? Sleep well? That's good. You should rest easy after all that hard work. After all, 14 patriotic Americans got good rest. In fact, eternal rest. You should sleep well knowing that you helped kept these 14 from ever experiencing insomnia again.

And all this while you're on vacation! You were right, being president IS hard work.

Filed under Politics and B.S.

The Price of Love

I grew up thinking no one could love me. I grew up thinking that I would always be on my own and that I would have no one to answer to.

So I lived my life with that attitude. I basically removed most luxury from my life, lived on less than modest means and went without simply because I didn't want to be trapped by a job I hated, and simply because I never thought I would have to share the burden of who I am with anyone else.

I was a freebird, a free thinker! I would work just to have enough to live on, enough to build up debt and then when the debt came calling, hauling ass to make sure there was a roof over my head.

I had the luxury: I have skills people pay for, I have intelligence, I am employable.

But two years ago, a girl-woman came into my life, declared she loved me and moved in. And now, this woman, this beautiful lovely fascinating wondrous woman is paying for her choice of partners.

My Bratworse moved 3,000 miles away from her family to be with me. She let go of her college studies, her furniture, her support just so she can live a life with me. And now, though she's been accepted by the Academy of Art, she can't afford to go.

See, in my attitude towards life prior to Bratworse, I basically said Fuck You to the establishment and my credit sucks as a result. So I can't really co-sign for a loan for her. Her grandparents are in the middle of re-doing their place, as well as some other stuff and therefore cannot co-sign for her. Her dad won't co-sign but I'm unclear as to the reasons. And her mom can't.

So this bright young woman, who sees patterns in blank pages, who wants to learn how to translate those patterns she sees in her head onto pages so others can share in her visions, this wondrous woman who so desperately wants to learn, to have a piece of paper that tells the world she learned through formal training - cannot.

We're still working on a solution so that her dreams can come true.

In the meantime, I'm kicking myself. I never thought I'd be this blessed. That for me, what is a blessing, is a curse to this woman who chose to love me.

I am so sorry, Bratworse. I am making you this promise right now. You WILL get a college education. Somehow, somewhere, we ARE going to make your dream come true. Cause you made mine come true. I love you.

One Out of Twenty

One Out of Twenty, originally uploaded by cholotto.

*sigh*

I only approve one out of twenty photos now. I remember time when I approved 19 out of 20. The older I get, the more like my father's side of the family I resemble. I'm also developing a body shape akin to my father's as well... small everywhere except my thighs and my tummy.

Times-a-changin' and my body reflects that lol

One day, maybe you can bribe Bratworse to post pictures of me I don't approve. Hmm, I better go erase those off her computer now.

Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations, originally uploaded by cholotto.

So a couple of weekends ago, I went fishing with Bratworse and one of my best friends. There was a small puddle in the boat and when I revved up the engine and took off, all the water in the boat rushed to where I was, the back. I looked down and saw this phenomenon recur over and over - the vibrations of the engine with the boat, made waves in the water and they formed this geodesic shape. It was so cool to watch. The shape would come together in sharpened clarity, and then fade out to nothingness, then come together again.

I'm sure a mathemagician could figure out exactly what made these shapes. For me, it was just fascinating to watch nature and math come together in this rhythmic dance that birthed visual candy.

Happy 2nd Day of Vacation, George

How was the trip out to Texas? Were all the brush there right where you left it?

BTW, just in case you didn't notice, you should invite Farm-Girl Schmidt out to the ranch to congratulate her on her narrow win. You two have a lot in common. Both of you squeaked out victories in your election, both of you are under the impression you grew up on ranches/farms, both of you lie through your teeth. See? Great dinner conversations.

I haven't had time to peruse the news to update you on what's happening in the world while you work on clearing brush and falling off your bike, since I actually have to work for a living, but when I do get a free moment from making a measly living, I'll put something up. In the meantime, make sure you do take time off, okay? We all know it's hard work NOT to provide armor for our troops, it's hard work to jab a thumb into the Senate's eyes, and it's hard work to advocate Creationism.

Filed under Politics and B.S.

Happy 1st Day of Vacation, George

So I see from my favorite WaPo writer that you start your vacation today.

I just wanted to wish you a happy first day! After all that hard work of bypassing the Senate to install your own bully boy into the U.N., after making sure you kissed the right ass (as in your new master in Saudi Arabia), after making sure you told the world that you want your minions as ignorant as you (Intelligent Design? Tell me, how can there be such a thing when YOU were created. You are so far from intelligent, there are amoebas with more brain function), you needed to clear away some brush on your ranch, huh?

It's not like there's a war going on, people dying, bombs going off.

So, kick off your boots, wallow in horseshit (oh wait, i'm sorry, that's your other residence) and pay no attention to the men behind the curtain. Oh, why should you? They're keeping the country running so you can have your month-long vacation.

(P.S. In my search for an appropriate picture for the ass-kissing I googled images. Though I found plenty featuring the-then Crown Prince and Bush holding hands, not ONE picture of the kiss. Can you find any? Or is the Patriot Act at work here?)

Prove It to Me

I posted a comment earlier to this post in the Washington Note. I am so tired of stupid-ass generalization that says nothing. The author of this post claims that the U.S. is the most powerful in the world. My comment to him was, in what way is the U.S. the most powerful? Financially? Hah! Chinese banks own our notes. Militarily? Hah! With volunteer shortfalls, unarmored humvees, we sure are looking like we're lean and mean and a fighting machine.

I had a co-worker, one whose politics I agree with, tell me America is the greatest country in the world. I asked, have you lived in another country? He said no. I asked, have you been off the continent? He said no.

When you start believing general over-reaching statements like the U.S. is the most powerful, or the best... that's setting yourself up for fear. If you have faith in that statement, any statement that contradicts or challenges will shake your faith and that's when fear seaps in.

Liar Liar

So, now they've resorted to lying. I tell you, all these efforts just to get me to add them to my contact list.... my head is getting so swollen.

Today's efforts:

This is Gloria from your work. Add me to your contact list.

My response?

LIAR! I don't talk with liars! I work with all guys, so if you're Gloria from my work, you're a liar. LIAR! Ever consider working for the White House?

Filed under Ms. Cell Annie.

July 28, 2005 - Mnemosyne

Happy Birthday Mnemosyne (pronounced nemosign, I think)!

I think the best gift I ever gave you was the previous year's. One day I'll get better at this whole birthday gift thing. For now I'm resorting to just commenting and sharing my thoughts and ideas, almost like a eulogy, though on a birthday (I have to redo Guitarist's if this is to be the trend, though I really think it's just to remind me of everyone's birthday for the years to come... hehe... I'll never admit it).

There is so much I can think to say, but the beginnings of which has not shown its face.

I tremble and quake with the earth of your brain
Walking on eggshells when there is no rain
I am intrigued by your feats and adventures, if not just for your wisdom
But the memories that are filled to the brim
The irony of wanting to know, without ever really knowing at all
Leaves me staring at a list of memories written in brail on a wall
Before it gets so cold, that that the rain turns to snow
There's just a couple things, that I'd like to know

It just all slips away so slowly, you never really know when you lost a lot
Just like one of the zombies in Vegas pouring quarters into a slot
I am amazed and crazed by your history
Like a fortune cookie's mystery

And I know that I was warned
Still it was not what I hoped
I think I'm done gunnin' to get closer
to some imagined bliss

I swear some stuff you just see better from further away
And I think I communicate best now, the less I say
There's so much you gave me without ever knowing you gave it up
Measured out so carefully and filtered through the measuring cup

Left to our own defenses parading about the city of our brain
We found comfort in the same
And embraced it, despite the shame
Abandoned we stuck to our decisions through a piece of time
And are left happy, alone in our own little world with our own little rhyme.

Job Searching

I had two job interviews yesterday one with a couple in real estate, and one with a website. Twenty days after my, "thanks for all the fish" I am now employed once again.

Interviews are interesting now a days. In the past I've had everything said to me from "if you're expecting overtime pay leave now" to "Are you planning on getting pregnant?" which are of course not allowed to be asked in an interview.

It is times like this when I really sit back and think about all the people (Mary Harris "Mother" Jones", Lucy Parsons, Joe Hill) involved in the labor movement (war is probably the most apt description, cause really they were fighting a war). And I must give utmost thanks to Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco for the awareness they are actively spreading.

The struggle that took place for us to have regulated hours, wages and conditions was a war. People were getting arrested for talking (street speaking/soap boxin') and labor unions were declared illegal. It's amazing people weren't arrested for striking (Bread and Roses Strike) and forced to work, the corporations went so far with other things (The Everett Massacre were the Sheriff deputized every drunken guy in town, when the wobblies returned to Seattle they were arrested and placed in a new jail in which together they created enough noise that they broke the jail).

Without the I.W.W., organizers, activist and agitators we'd still be slaves to the bosses. Don't just stand-by and let them violate the rights worker's have today, that people died us to claim our own.

New One

So, I guess all these weeks of refusals have driven my admirers on ICQ to devise new tactics. Here's today's efforts:

Warning! Your icq was hacked by SpyWare! Get Spyware Remover as quick as possible! Add me to your contact list for removal instructions.

Should I be flattered that they're going to this extent? I think I shall take the compliment. After all, who else would lie just to get my attention? Oh, wait... hmm.

BTW, here's my response:

Ack! Spyware! Tell me it ain't so, Joe! Hey! Maybe you're the spy. Maybe you're the ware. Add you, the spy? HAH! What do you think I am? STooPiD? DOUBLE HAH!

Lesson to Andy Card

Just pretend for a sec that the WH is a mafia type organization. I think today's little revelation about who received the call, as well as last week's Novak little tidbit about how Andy Card may be replaced soon are just little shows of power to anyone thinking about ousting Rove.

Andy Card is supposed to be Karl Rove's boss. It's possible and probable that Card has suggested recently that perhaps Mr. Rove shouldn't be in the WH.

What would Sonny do if someone had suggested to him that he needed to leave the Family?

Gonzales could've said anyone. Right now, anytime anyone of these yahoos say anything, my litmus test is asking who benefits from this chess move, keeping in mind that Bush is a short-timer, but the others still can have long careers in politics.

A Month Long Vacation????

Okay. One thing needs to be understood and understood now. Bush works for ME! Bush works for YOU!

WE pay his salary. And when did WE authorize a month long vacation for our COMMANDER IN CHIEF during WARTIME?

This is absolutely outrageous. Our men and women are dying; Iraqis are dying; Brits are dying. And President Bush is taking a month-long vacation at his ranch?

Bush originally had planned to announce a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on July 26 or 27, just before his planned July 28 departure for a month-long vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, said two administration officials, who spoke on the condition they not be named.

Why the hell isn't he going to be at work trying to figure out how to get our soldiers more armor? Why the hell isn't he going to be at work fixing our budget? Why the hell won't he be at work trying to get our men home since the mission is accomplished, the elections held and democracy as he says is on the march?

Think about it. When was the last time YOU got a month long vacation when the company you worked for was in crisis mode, which is what WARTIME is?

Invention Needed!

I am SICK AND TIRED of answering the phone to hear the bleet of a fax machine. So, you inventors out there, or you engineers who work on designing fax machines.

Why can't you put in a standard: MAKE IT SO THAT YOU HIT THE # SYMBOL OR SOMETHING AND THE FAX WILL UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A WRONG NUMBER AND WILL NOT CALL BACK!!!!

How simple is this concept? You make it so that the fax machine will call back automatically for 5 times. SO MAKE IT EASY FOR PEOPLE ON THE RECEIVING END TO STOP THE 5 TIMES!

ARGH!

Can you tell that I've received numerous phone calls like that? I just screamed at the phone and my co-worker is looking at me worriedly.

More Requests and Refusals

So there I am, minding my own business when an alert goes off on my computer screen. Yet another person wants me to "Add me to your contact list"

So I replied, "NOOOO! oh god, nO!!!!! no, don't make me add you! OH GOD! NOooooooooooooooooooooo! oh. hmm. Guess I watched too many horror flicks this weekend. Just a No will suffice."

I have too much fun with these things.

Left Behind

One of the suspected bombers in the London bombings, is a 30 year old man with a wife and a baby. Another is a 19 year old whose uncle collapsed upon hearing that his nephew may not have been one of the victims but rather the bomber. This uncle screamed out "We have lost everything we have."

My blood curdled when I read that the bombers are suspected to be LONDON-BORN. And then when I snapped back to reality and remembered those people had family, family who called up the police to report them missing... family who are so scared out of their minds right now, because they are entering such unfamiliar territory.. all I could do was become FURIOUS at these suicide bombers.

Not only did you kill anonymous (to you) people, not only did you maim them, you are hurting and condemning the people who cared for and loved you.

So I am addressing this to all potential suicide bombers in cities worldwide.

1) If the government the bomb goes off in is as bad as you say they are, then how can you leave your family in their hands? You are selfish AND cowardly.

2) If the government the bomb goes off in is NOT as bad as you say they are, and your family somehow manages to survive the stigma of being families to suicide bombers, then you are a FOOL! For you DIED to protest something that protects the families of suicide bombers. See if your leaders would do the same.

As for the guilt of the family members, I have little doubt that they are NOT involved. I mean, how stupid can they be to stay in the bombed country if they've anything to do with it. I mean that's like saying someone chose to be gay!

Oh yeah, I forgot, there are some of you who hate your own lives so much that you can believe others chose a life of being in the minority cause life as a minority is just oh so wonderful.

The First Drag

It's now a recurring dream: I dream of being given a cigarette or suddenly finding a long thin white stick between my forefinger and my middle finger and I lift my hand to my face and suck deeply.

The instant relief gratifies like nothing else in the world. My being suddenly feels like it's sitting well within the confines of my skin; my shoulders slump as if freed from puppet strings.

Even as I'm revelling in the delight of the first drag, my soul is screaming to my dream self "It's a trick! Stop! Don't you know what you're doing to me?"

I wake up, upset and scared, desperately hoping I didn't have that first drag, yet desperately wishing I did. Anger soon floods my senses. Anger that I did this to myself, anger that I can't enjoy the first drag, anger that the first drag is pretty much a false promise and I know this.

The first drag does deliver; the delivery however, lasts at most a minute. Withdrawals takes weeks and that's what I'm angry about, that I will continue to dream of the first drag and never again will it occur in real life.

Wazzat? Did I Hear You Right?

So let me get this right... Matt Cooper gets a "Get out of Jail Free" card because Rove's lawyer slipped up and said ON CAMERA that Matt Cooper isn't going to jail cause of Rove. So Cooper and his lawyer asked the Investigator, umm does that sound like Rove's giving permission to give him up and the Investigator says, yup, sounds about right to me.

Oh, this is DEFINITELY going to be filed under Bwahahahaha.

Dreadlogging

There is a big misunderstanding regarding dreadlocks. The first one is that many believe dreadlocks were originated by the Rastafarian religion, when in fact the Celts, Russians and Germans (to name a few) adopted the style well before the origination of the Rastafarian religion.

The other famous misconception about dreadlocks is that they are a dirty hairstyle, when in fact depending on how they are done dreadlocks are one of the most cleanest/healthiest hair styles. Just because someone has dreadlocks, it does not mean that they do not wash their hair! Let me tell you dreadlocks are a lot of maintenance and even though they're super clean, they still look all frizzy... ARGH!

I am very happy with my dreadlocks, and am looking forward to the journey they have been and are going to take me on.

Pheonix Union

What we're For:

• Intelligent Open-Mindedness
  
• Truth
  
• The People
  
• Selflessness
  

What we're Against...

• Ignorant Close-Mindedness
  
• Corporations
  
• Deception/Corruption
  
• Greed
  

Goals to complete for 2005

• Speak to those who will listen, and listen to those who do not hear
  
• To strive to amend our transgressions and embrace honesty
  
• Recognize that one person can make a difference
  
• Learn to find happiness in small things
  

I will define this more when time decides to take a vacation, for now here is the tip of the iceberg.

July 11, 2005 - Gotti

Happy Birthday Gotti!!!

It is with great pride on this day that Gotti be the first recruit to the P.U. (Phoenix Union).

P.U. members are upcoming agitators (revolutionary dreamers to say the least). The phoenix symbolizes our desire to not grow old and our Sisyphean task of remaking ourselves.

I will get more into PU at a later date, for now I just wanted to define it for Gotti's birthday.

Gaming in RL

I found this bug while on vacation in Florida. It reminded me of those little scarabs that you had to collect in some video game. I just had to capture it. I'm not a big bug enthusiest, so the capturing was a bit of an experience. Especially after Swing or Gotti said, "I think they fly."

To give you the accurate picture of how the capturing went down you have to picture me holding the camera at arms length away over the beetle, of course with my back to it and even dare I say leaning away snapping the picture then fleeing as quickly as I can in fear of promoting an attack with my flash (it was dark outside), returning amazed that the beetle hadn't even budged. Gotti offered to aid me in my persuit of capturing the beetle, I felt like Monk watching her lay on the ground near the beetle to get a face to face view.

Now that I've captured the beetle, may I move on to the next stage with an extra bonus?

Requests and Refusals

The requests war continues!

Today, I get another ICQ request: Please authorize my request and add me to your Contact List. Master of FAT ICQ#xxxxxxxxxx

to which I replied: Thank you so kindly for being a polite requestor. However, I must say that an invitation from the Master of FAT just sounds... gross. So sorry.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

My vacation to Florida was great, aside from the missing luggage. It was nice to see everyone that I have missed. I certainly had a lot of firsts this trip. Had many experiences that I'm very glad I experienced. Learned a few things that perhaps would have been better left in ignorance. All in all it was a learning experience, not only of my family, but of the world (of sorts).

When I resided in Florida almost every Sunday I would stop at the grocery store, buy a london broil, salad makings, and other side dishes, then stop off at Card Sharks' and collect Guitarist to go pick out the next horrible horror movie to be critiqued. We'd play cards (the games of choice: Spades, Hearts, and occasionaly Euchre or May I, if Party Girl decided to partake), eat good food and resign laughing at the predictable villan in whatever movie Guitarist and I choose to torture us with that day. Most Sundays I get the urge to pick up some good food, movies and drive on over to Card Sharks'. It's something I really miss doing. Even after school somedays, when I had enough time between the last class and work, I'd drive on over there just to hang out.

I was able to enjoy the company of the Card Sharks, Guitarist and Party Girl this trip and am thankful for the time I was able to share with them. I am disappointed that I missed Ex-Dancer, Ms. Funny, and Come Over and their children. Perhaps one day it'll work out and I'll get to see them all again.

I also was able to spend a lot of time with my Dad, The Whee One, Gotti, Swing, Chef, Shh... and G'ma/G'pa. The Whee One and I were able to experience what life is like for Gotti, and I learned quite a bit about Swing, Chef and Shh...

I am so proud and scared for Gotti, she has been through so much and I'm not sure the environment she is currently in is what it seemed for her. I worry what will become of her, but I know how strong she is, and true to her convictions and beliefs that she is willing to stand for. I am assured that the life she once led will not be carried out again, but I worry about the control of others that are currently in her life.

Gotti, Shh... and I went out to the casino where my dad is a dealer and had a great time. I having never gambled before, never drank so much liquor before(started out the night with a Tequila Sunrise, moved on to Whiskey/Soda Mix, at the casino had three 7 of 7's and a shot of something that tasted like pineapples), never visited a strip club or received a lap dance before was bedazzled by the end of the night, and quite short on cash. To my surprise after approximately an hour and a half of sleep was not drunk or hung over. The night didn't end until 5:30am and the next day began at 7:00am with G'ma & G'pa taking the group of us out to breakfast.

The Lieing Cycle

I quit my job yesturday (Thursday, 07-June-05). I had gone to visit my family for the fourth of July in Florida. Upon my return, my boss invited me into his office to discuss what had developed during my vacation.

After giving me a list of things that he prefferred I take care of, he went on to explain that I had been reporting my hours wrong, so the payroll was off. Confused I asked what he meant by that. He explained that on some days I had reported that I had worked from 8:45am to 4:30pm. Confused, I said those where the hours I did work. He explained, but "I agreed to pay you for a six and a half hour day from 9:00am to 4:00pm. But that doesn't mean that we're not flexible, You could come in at 7:00am for all I care, you're only getting paid from 9:00am to 4:00pm and that's what you need to report." He went on to say I thought that was understood when we were discussing changing you from a non-exempt employee to an exempt. I don't recall what took place after that, but my mind was made up.

It's amazing that this guy has been in business for five years. He can't make a single sentence and stay in the same tense. He called pens, pencils (among misnaming other items, that led to MANY a confusions). He reminded me of that person who purposely doesn't say everything, just so they could say later, "Oh, you misunderstood."

I was fed up after our talk. I had enough of feeling like I was lieing to everyone, the tax board, the A.R.C., A.S.H.I., the clients, and other employees.

I was done worrying about whether or not I was going to get paid. In May he informed me of a raise I was to get begining June 1, 2005. When I preformed the payroll reflecting the raise, he informed me that I had done it wrong, and the raise was going to be retroactive to June 1, 2005, but who knows from when.

After completing the list that he had given me of what needed to be done, I returned to his office and explained what I had completed and where I left other things, then calmly said, "I have some bad news. I'm quitting." He said, "Really?" perhaps ten times, then sat back stunned. When he asked, "Why?" I pulled this story of moving on in the direction I wanted to go and receiving an offer I just couldn't refuse. He expressed his sorrow at the loss and went on to explain how much he enjoyed working with me, and what a great employee I was. He also asked that I make a call to two of his clients explaining my departure the same way I had explained it to him, so that he wouldn't look bad.

I took my cell phone downstairs, and obliged. Before calling the clients I called Gotti, and explained to her that I had quit. I had been text messaging her, saying I wanted to quit, but didn't know how. Asked if I should go out singing, "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish..." She advised me not to quit. She asked why I lied about my reasons for quitting, and I explained that I didn't trust his reaction, especially at how pissed off he'd get at my accusations. I was scared! Plus, as Idealist and I are both apt to avoid confrontation at all cost, it seemed to me the better choice to just pull something out of my ass.

See even in quitting I was lieing. I feel guilty about lieing to the clients about my reasons for quitting. Especially after both of them expressed how much they liked my work. I don't know how to express how I feel about lieing to them precise enough to capture it. I am glad to have ended my participation in the cycle, but perhaps disappointed at myself for not putting an end to the cycle.

Powell and Rove

After I wrote the last post, I start going around the blogs re-reading about the Plame/Miller/Cooper/Novak stuff going on. And some stuff started forming in my head.

I'm most likely wrong, but I kind of just want to throw this out there.

What if, it wasn't Rove that told Novak, but Powell? And what if it was Rove going around to Miller & Cooper saying that it was Powell that leaked Joseph Wilson's wife was CIA?

In 2003, Colin Powell receives a report that tells him Iraq never sought yellowcake from Niger. In that report, Joseph Wilson's wife was mentioned attending the CIA meeting that sent Wilson to Niger. Hmm, now why would his wife be at that meeting unless she's CIA?

A few days later, Joseph Wilson writes the editorial stating the lack of evidence regarding this claim that Iraq sought yellowcake uranium from Niger. Colin Powell is made out to be a liar for he spoke out on the connection before.

Furious, he leaks to Robert Novak about Ambassador Wilson's wife attending the very same meeting that sent him to Niger in the first place. This is how Robert Novak can claim that he "believed the CIA officer he outed, Valerie Plame, was a FORMER covert operative and CURRENT analyst, unlikely to return to covert work whether Novak revealed her name or not."

Next thing to happen then is the reverse-leak; Novak tells Karl Rove that Powell leaked. Karl Rove can then tell others about the leak, technically not being the one TO leak in the first place. And he's careful to leak just what Powell leaked, thereby hiding the fact that Novak told him and not the other way around. That way, Rove can say that he's never leaked Plame's name.

This would also explain how Novak could've avoided trouble. He'd be giving up a toothless tiger, not a bald eagle (okay! Rove is more like a vulture but I was trying to tie in Rove with America, get it? *sigh*)

That surprise visit Bush paid to the Powells? Well, surprise to the media and maybe, a slight surprise for the Powells. Maybe Rove was getting ready to spring the trap and Bush was his messenger boy as usual, giving Powell time to get stuff in order before facing that he committed treason.

All the above is pure speculation. But I am not getting a panicked feeling out of the WH and I'm thinking that it's cause they're getting to toss one to the wolves, and the sacrificial lamb had always been slated to be an outsider, not an insider.

I'm hoping that this isn't true, mostly cause I hate to see the bad guys not only win, but get a threefer.

BTW, I'm wondering when they'll toss Condi to the wolves, especially if the above scenario does pan out. But one thing for my predictions? They rarely come true.

The Mathematics of It All

I'm sitting here thinking about the ludicrousness of it all because everything adds up to continual warfare as a distraction. Here's the maths of it all:

1) Bombings like today happen because there are people out there who believe that somehow, if you kill enough of the enemy, you will break their will. Their will to overpower and manipulate situations to their advantage, their will to subjugate your identities to theirs, etc.
2) Bombings like today happen in big cities, I mean major cities.
3) People who live in big cities are the ones most sympathetic to the downtrodden people, I mean, just look at the reaction of most Londoners - they're all, let's get the bombers, not let's get their associates and anyone who might look, think, breathe, dance similarly. Granted, being most sympathetic and $2.95 will get you a latte at Starbucks, but these people just might rally to the cause of an other skinned/religious/music loving person just a tad sooner.
4) By killing off sympathetic people, the ones left are the ones most wanting to nuke the bombers and whatever they think is the bombers' affiliation, whether it be religion, race, color, creed or tattoo.
5) Therefore, continuous warfare would be a constant.

However, the battle aren't countries with countries anymore, at least ones involving the U.S. Recently, they've been countries against ideas more or less.

Ideas, being amorphous, can be rather hard to confront violently, for unlike countries which has a finite resource, ideas tug on the imagination which is infinite. Ideas have to die a natural death and cannot be forced. In fact, when pressured to extringuish, ideas flourish.

This is the lesson of the big cities - to let ideas run their courses and if it's a stupid idea, the common sense of people and general fairness will eventually win out. Sometimes, ideas we think are stupid hang around and become common sense, and some of us are too stubborn to accept it. Me, I will never understand the general acceptance of baby doll lingerie.

Yes, I'm flip in some of my examples, but it's only to show that rigidity and anger towards those different in ANY way, just leads to more ... what's the word I want to use here, confrontations? Strife I think is the word I want. Maybe discord. And who benefits from all this strife and discord? Just ponder that and come up with an answer, any answer.

When that person appears in your mind's eye, ask yourself then, "Is he worth being afraid for the rest of your life?" Because look at the math above. Continuous warfare by a country against an idea means pitting finite resources against infinite resources. Is your mom/brother/lover/arm/eye/peace of mind worth it?

Perils of Being Half-Asleep

So this morning, I'm groggy. Partially from lack of sleep (I was buying music off iTunes until 2:30 am), partially from being shocked about the London Bombings. And Bratworse and I were involved in one of our heated AIM discussions when my work phone rang. I dealt with it as I was typing out our signature "Okay, this discussion has ended and I don't want to talk about it anymore cause we're both getting heated over something we shouldn't be getting heated over" signal when instead, I uttered it over the phone.

I said "I love you" to a total stranger whom I'd never met, whom I'd only just started working with two weeks prior. And she laughed.

I'm going to go off to die of embarassment now, thank you.

What we look like together

What we look like together, originally uploaded by cholotto.

Okay, this is us playing with the new camera and taking photos a foot away. Can you tell?

Air Ports, Air Planes, and Air Delays…

You have to really enjoy all the wonderful journeys and adventures one plane ride can provide. My flight to Florida, as been lacking in the dream, but still an enjoyable adventure, if you are kin to the humor that allows it to be enjoyable.

First off, in San Francisco, I was late arriving, and the check-in clerk felt the inkling to tell me so. My response, a sleepy and tired me some how managed to pull, “Yes Sir, I’ll do my best to achieve promptness in the future,” out of my ass. Oh I’m sure he heard, I’m not sure if he saw my sarcasm, as I was trying to be sincere! Come to find, the plane needed a lesson in promptness as well. Ten minutes late. Late! People have other planes to catch at the destination, at least my tardiness really, only affected me.

Arrival in Florida on three or so hours of sleep, surprisingly left me in good mood and humor. After an hour of watching the luggage creep by, I spoke with the Delta baggage claim in regards to me late bag. After speaking with four different Delta representatives over the course of the day it was established that either my bag took a trip from Canada to Spain, or was in Atlanta with the 500 odd lost bags in the vacinity for the entire time.

Compensation: For every twenty-four hours that your bag is lost you will be entitled to a twenty-five dollar "out of pocket expense" reimbursement for up to five days for a total of $125. After the Five Days: You get to file a report for the items that were in your bag and be sure to submit receipts for those items (RECIEPTS! for items that I have had for years!).

Luckily it didn't come to that.

My return flight was full of delays. The departure from Tampa, FL was delayed by ten minutes. The departure flight from Atlanta, GA was delayed by forty minutes. The arrival into San Francisco, CA was delayed twenty minutes (yea sitting in a stationary plane waiting for it's turn to land).

And my luggage? Left in Atlanta, GA!

Perceptions of Size

Okay, with a title like that, you'd think I was talking about Katamari Damacy!

But no. I was just thinking about how I'd try and change someone's mind about why it was important that we play nice with the others as in global warming issues, regime changing issues, torture issues, etc.

Then I realized that there was a basic perception to combat. It's like this. I see America as no more than 1/8th of the world at least and 1/6th of the world as most. Let's just say manpower, economic power, etc. In all comparisons, that would be the range that the U.S. falls into. Which means, if we start to throw our weight around, 5/6ths to 7/8th of the world could band together to kick our butts. The probability of the entire world banding together is pretty miniscule; however, the mere possibility of it should give one pause.

And therein lies the problem I believe. I think that the average American - the ones who've never been out of the country, never really paid attention to Canada or Mexico except on how it might impact them (as in illegal aliens supposedly taking their jobs), the ones who gave and gave out of their pockets when the tsunami hit, the ones who couldn't name one city in either Yugoslavia, Chile, or Burma (I know it's called Myangmar now, just seeing if you're watching) - that average American seriously believes the United States to be equal to 1/2 of the world in EVERY measure.

Therefore, they feel no qualms about throwing weight around internationally.

I was watching Band of Brothers on the 4th of July and crying. Crying because growing up in Singapore with the t.v. show Combat on week after week for most of my childhood, I had grown up with the ideal of the generous and giving G.I. Joe. I had grown up worshipping the cowboy ideal - the kung-fu fighter was pretty much after either perfection or revenge... but the cowboy actually had a function besides gunslinging. (Okay, as an adult I know that most cowboys weren't gunslingers and most gunslingers weren't cowboys so gimme a break!)

Anyway, the U.S. seems to be a much more different place now, more concerned with material goals than goals of good wishes.

But I digress...

Am I wrong in my assessment? I mean, think about it... just picture in your mind a game of sorts... Dodge Ball, let's just say. If America was playing the rest of the world, how big is America compared to the rest? Gigantic? Put the rest of the world together and morph them into one person (jeeze, I am really playing waaaay too many games). Does this person equal America? Or is he smaller? Or larger?

I really do believe that most Americans, if imagining an abstract exercise like this, would picture America being equal to whatever forces might face us, no matter what the challenges may be. Unfortunately, this perception doesn't hold up to reality.

[Edited] Bratworse and I just had a conversation that confirmed this. She asked me to classify Ravi Shankar's music and I replied "Sitar or Indian" and she says that it's not part of the choices (iTunes categories) so I adjusted and said "World... or International." Which basically proves my point - all of the rest of the world's music is lumped into one huge amorphous category named "World" whereas American music gets categorized into many nuances.

When to Come in Out of the Rain

So there are quite a few Americans on bicycles in Europe. Only one skidded into a policeman, injuring him. He rode out in rain, rain which Americablog says is pouring down. This American wasn't part of a team, nor was he there to participate in the Tour de France. He wasn't even in France. Rather, he was in Scotland, representing the United States. This particular man just happens to be the president of the United States.

Our president, who prides himself in his mediocrity and his "C" student status, is apparently delighting in showing off his mental prowess; he doesn't know when to come in out of the rain.

*heavy heavy sigh*

Feathers Flying Out of My HEAD!

BWahahahahaha

I never thought I'd see the day when someone would declare that to me... in a serious voice and tone.

Bratworse just got dreads and she's trying to decide if she wants to put a cap on or just lay down on the pillow. Not comprehending the quandry, she explained that if she laid down on the pillow without coverings, her dreads will pick up the lint. "IS THERE LINT ON THE PILLOW!" She screams exasperatedly at me.

Now, I've contemplated the ways of the world, whether world peace can be accomplished, how to build skyscrapers in Sim City but I have NEVER ever contemplated if pillows produce lint.

I helpfully suggest "Go get a towel and you won't get the pillow dirty."

She glares at me. "I meant my hair! My hair's the one that might pick up the lint!"

Blinking back at her stupidly, I asked "Umm, won't that make your dreads better? I mean more fuller and rounder?"

She just glared.

"I just want to put my head down."

I was about to point out to her that if she put her head down, it would probably be for a duration of 2-3 hours tops and that in the whole scheme of things, the amount of lint her dreads might pick up would be fairly miniscule when she hopped out of bed and harrumphed at me as she went to get her cap.

She then puts the cap on declaring "I am NOT having feathers flying out of my HEAD and I am NOT doing the Neglect method!" amidst my howls of laughter. Me? I was laughing at the fact that somehow, during this past week, I married an old jewish hasidic rabbi.

Distorted Dreams

Some of you may be checking out some of the old posts listed under the categories. If you are, let me 'splain. Distorted Dreams was where I blogged. Then Bratworse and I decided to get our own website. So trying to find enough to write about a few times a week was already hard. So I'm blogging here now, but I'm linking up to the old site through the categories here since that was one of my objectives with Distorted Dreams anyway.

What I'm noticing about my posts are, the political ones are pretty timely... meaning they're usually about time-specific events (like the election, or the Downing Street Memo though I don't think I blogged about that per se). The others aren't; they've got more universal appeal.

Anyway, don't be confused by the cross-blogging.

I Want SkyScrapers, Damnit!

My best friend and his lover just left. As unsociable as I get, I think I did pretty good this weekend. I went out to breakfast with them twice, and watched a god-awful movie on DVD with them. After all, they did come up here with the caveat that they were here to see babies and not me and just needed my place to stay.

Whilst they were out getting baby throw up on them, (btw, they visited 3 babies, 2 newborn and a one year old), I sat at home obsessing over my latest game, Sim City 4.

Okay okay! For those of you saying that that's not a new game, I didn't say NEW! I just said latest! Look, I hadn't gotten a new computer since 1996. (God, that seems so long ago). For me, that's a REALLY long ass time. I'm used to updating my computer every 3 years or so. AND right around 1996, OS 10 came out or rather, OS X.

In terms of computer timing, my timing sucked big time. Since I bought a low end machine, it *could* upgrade to OS X except I had to expect my computer to experience problems. So I upgraded to OS 9.1 and stayed there. Which meant no new games for the mac for a very long time since all new games being developed in 1996 were OS X native.

Thus this year has been one spending spree after another. I'm catching up big time on technology.

And thus, Sim City 4 is a LATEST acquisition. It's a 2 year old game.

Anyway, to make a short story long, I am trying to make skyscrapers. So far, the buildings have gotten to be around 10 to 12 stories high at the most. Unless you're a pygmy, skyscrapers these buildings do not make. UGH. It's stuck around 45,000 and now I'm reading I may have to build surrounding cities in order to generate skyscrapers. M&M, my two guests have been snickering at me despite their best attempts to ignore my obsession. My best friend figured out I had printed out an entire strategy guide and yet, cannot achieve my goal.

BTW, the name of my city? Lesbos.

Filed under Gaming-Obsess Much?.