An Anti-Idiotarian from the Bosnian Generation

2003-05-14T19:07:00.000-04:00

i have officially moved. please adjust your links and blogrolling.

have a nice day.

2003-05-14T03:15:00.000-04:00

movabletype is up, running, and has created my new site. soon, all these archives will migrate over there. all the bugs have been ferreted out by my loyal bug-eating-bats. well, most of them anyway.

new url: the Bosnian Generation. all new stuff will be over there.

2003-05-11T10:58:00.000-04:00

i dont know why i havent joined in on the whole blogrolling thing. sometimes i'm old-fashioned? nah. i'm pobably just too lazy.

2003-05-10T15:56:00.000-04:00

links are changed. day of hell is over. more later.

2003-05-09T13:34:00.000-04:00

ah...i have to change stacey's link also.

ttfn!

2003-05-09T13:32:00.000-04:00

i have movabletype up on my new server (over on milescape, but there are a few bugs to be worked out before i can move over there.

2003-05-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

i gotta change some of my links over there. command post for example.

dissident frogman for another.

and it appears that he's linked me in his blogroll. nice to see. as far as i can tell, my first blogroll. awwwww...

i must go work however. gots ta make that money.

2003-05-03T23:38:00.000-04:00

i never thought i'd cry over a rock.

sad day indeed.

even if they restore him, it won't be the same. i won't be able to point up at it and show my kids the sillouhette that defined a large part of my schooling when i was little. i'll have to show them a replica.

2003-05-02T22:36:00.000-04:00

oh...and it appears to be no pants day.

good luck.

hah, yeah, right, like i'm going to post pics of myself. you wish.

2003-05-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

ha. ha ha ha ha ha.

yeah, i still think they're cute.

2003-05-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

happy beltaine everyone!

my celebration was to watch someone else play the legend of zelda: the wind waker.

that counts as nature, right? wind? water? boat? islands? right?

even though it is all animated...and not actually 3D...oh. never mind then. i guess i didnt have one this year.

last year i went to one up in purchase ny. with a lot of people i knew and didnt know. some pagans, some not, some atheists. most drunk by the end of the night. there was alcohol, cigarettes, fire, food, celebration, and a little ceremony in the middle. drums, harmonizing, dancing, all in the middle of a field for camping. portapotties off in the dark where you had to use a flashlight to get to them. staying up till sunrise, then crashing for a few hours before having to go back and crash in gellas dorm room before having to go back to the pollution-filled city and away from nature.

for samhain last year, i made the mistake of going to riverside park for the ceremony. not cause its dangerous or anything, just that the combination of polluted river, landfill park, and highway make for a very un-nature like place.

only problem with being in the city.

however, i was out walking today, and did notice all the buds on the trees and new leaves and tulips and daffodils and other spring flowers that were making an appearance.

so spring is here. finally.

blessings. merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.

2003-04-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

an iranian blogger has been arrested. his name is sina motallebi. i'd post his website, but it seems to be not working right now, though it is still cached in google. search for rooznegar.com and check the cache.

go sign a petition calling for reporters sans frontieres and other human rights organizations to publicize the story and get him released.

and just a reminder...that is a guestbook down in the corner. use it for comments. or email me. helloooooooo...anyone alive out there?

2003-04-20T16:24:00.000-04:00

happy easter, passover, eostre, et al to people.

i go back to my candy and alcohol day now!

happy happy joy joy! i should be doing the snoopy dance right now i'm so happy.

and its nice out. it hasnt been nice out for easter in...god...ever...in new hampshire.

and there are other people here who like trance. i'm not the bizzare one! yay!

2003-04-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

i went to a tenebrae service tonight. as easter is the return of the light, tenebrae is the leaving of the light. it usually then is followed up a few hours later by the good friday service. but moms church combines the two (sort of) and reads all the passages through from the "first communion" (seder dinner) through the betrayal, passion, and death. i listened to it from an intelligent point of view...i havent done that in a non-academic environment...well...ever.

i realized a number of things. first, who was judas and why did he feel the need to give yeshua over to the romans (yes, i'm using the hebraic name. deal with it.)? why dont we know this and why has it been overlooked? why dont they use maztoh instead of leavened bread? why isnt it taught as a seder? wow...theres a lot of music...hmm...maybe all this religious elation comes from overoxegenation from too much singing...

there is so much unquestioning and desire to be unquestioning. i dont understand it. being curious, desiring to know more, is one of the things that defines our intelligence. it defines how much we can learn, how much we want to learn, and why we actually learn anything at all. so much that people just accept as "mystery" or "something too great for us to know" is simply not wanting to be wrong about something so fundamental to their lives and their mental state.

to place so much faith in something that you dont question is simply stupid. for so many centuries christians believed that the sun went around the earth. well, they were wrong. they placed so much faith in it that they excommunicated people for saying differently and questioning differently.

not questioning...desiring to not question...having blind faith...its not an admirable trait. its stupid. its locking yourself away in a little box away from the world and not wanting to open the top and look outside. so what if its bigger than you are. so what if it is a little too much for you to deal with. you adapt. you deal. you change in order to be able to not go crazy. you do it every single fucking day. you criticize people for not taking their meds when they know that they wont die from going so completly nuts that they dont eat. you say that you cant understand being like that. and then you come to me and tell me that you want to be like that. that you want to lock yourself away in a little box and not look out at the world.

well, i dont understand. and i'm not going to apologize for not understanding. i'm not going to say i'm wrong. because i'm not. i'm simply laying out in front of you exactly what you're saying. i'm just applying it to a very different situation.

2003-04-14T02:48:00.000-04:00

i got to go out and show apartments for a friend of mine. i'm going to start working for him soon, he just needs to get his schedule figured out.

i think i closed a deal. at least, i had as of when i left them. it was unclear as to whether the deal stuck.

give me two or three weeks and i'll have my own real estate license and i can work on my own.

yay.

2003-04-08T14:20:00.000-04:00

does anyone ever watch the shows for little kids now? theyre completely patronizing and stupid.

i miss the 80s. such good shows for kids. rainbow brite, strawberry shortcake, he-man, she-ra, square one, mr. wizard, 321 contact, fraggle rock, gummie bears, double dare, thunder cats, voltron, even sesame street was better in the 80s.

now youve got bob the builder, an attempt at a new he-man (which just sucks), pokemon, little bear, franklin...i cant even think of any others, thats how much they suck.

theyre made for kids. which means theyre patronizing, oversimplified, and just terrible.they assume they have to teach kids something. they dont have to teach kids shit. kids learn just fine on their own. better than most adults.

by the way...bob the builder is totally gay. but i like the cat. its cute.

and now, links to pictures of two of the kids i babysit for. little cuties.

chloe

chloe with her dog henry

kenna

2003-04-08T13:10:00.000-04:00

there is snow here. this is an odd occurance for april. but i enjoyed seeing the snow yesterday...as i lay in bed, with a fever i caught from one of the kids i babysit for. just a fever. nothing else. and it went away by last night. so i got some rest, got to tell people to fuck off cause i was sick and couldnt do anything, and play some games.

ps. mario party 4 is really fun.

pps. so are the final fantasy games.

ppps. yes, i have all the final fantasy games. does that make me a geek?

=)

i am happy now. i am all better, and i get to play with a lot of kids this week.

but the guy who plays mr noodle on sesame street died. that is not a happy thing. he was also on evening shade. anyone remember that show? it was one that i watched with my parents when i was younger. he was the weird little man with the weird hair and moustache.

2003-04-06T18:09:00.000-04:00

and now blogger is being a bitch. i cant wait to move to movabletype....to my new website...

2003-04-06T18:07:00.000-04:00

argh...grrrr....wow...i'm really getting upset with all these network problems. one minute i'm online, the next minute i'm not. i'm supposed to have a board meeting in irc in about an hour, but that aint gonna happen...i cant keep a steady enough connection for any sort of chat type thing.

hopefully i'll be back online permanantly, without problems, tomorrow. or tuesday. if not, then i'm saying screw it, i'll just get my own cable hooked back up. bonus there is that i'll be watching cnn instead of just listening to it.

in other happenings...it looks like aladdin is holding his carpet so tight around the tassels that hes hurting it...god i love cartoons...

2003-03-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

i had a dream last night. it was odd, but no more so than most of my dreams have been lately.

some background: i live in a tiny nyc studio apt that acts like grand central with at least one person crashing here at any given time, and numerous people coming through just to say hello, or use the computer, or check some news, or have a meeting, or whathaveyou.

in otherwords, its me, my hamsters, and godonlyknows how many other people.

so i dreamed last night that i was moving out. correction. that i had moved out. into this nice, good sized, one bedroom apt with an ok sized kitchen, small little den-type room, kinda small bedroom, and large, sunlit main room. the whole thing had blond hardwood floors, lots of sun and very white walls. probably just renovated.

so i had some people helping me move in, but they were dropping chunks of mud all over the floors and i was yelling at them cause i had to clean it up.

and thats all i remember. start the analysis now, if you like.

2003-03-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

internet issues.

i'll leave it at that. but i'm back now, and ready to keep on bloggin'.

so lets go.

2003-03-22T16:36:00.000-05:00

although it is amusing to see the peace protestors throwing tantrums, throwing firebombs and generally making an ass of themselves.

i need to get something i can use to post pictures. they really do speak a thousand words.

2003-03-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

seems like the networks think its a slow news day. tommy franks press conference this morning. not much reporting on the war.

the networks are preempting the war for sports.

i like sports as much as the next person. though i prefer playing them to watching them. but preempting a major world event...a major historical event...for sports?

so i'm preempting the networks in favor of food.

2003-03-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

well, i know why i keep getting so many google hits for worlds largest cheeto...turns out i'm the top site for that search string.

what that means for all the non-geeks out there... when you type "worlds largest cheeto" in google, mine is the first site on the list.

nice, huh. i woulda thought dave barry would be there.

mwuahahahaha...i am entering the blogosphere...

2003-03-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

wow...nonviolence has gotten quite a bit more violent...

2003-03-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

by the way...i've said this before, but it bears repeating...until i get my new blog up and running (i.e. not on blogspot), the only comments section i have is in the form of my guestbook over on the left. down there at the bottom, near the sitemeter. i like to hear feedback.

and it is currently pouring outside. yay.

2003-03-21T18:35:00.000-05:00

ok, *now* its a thunderstorm.

2003-03-21T17:53:00.000-05:00

thunder thunder thunder....i'm sure some people are bitching that we arent really getting what we deserve, but i'm going to tell them to go to hell. and then i'm going to enjoy my rain.

2003-03-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

dude...first thunderstorm of the year in nyc...it isnt a true thunderstorm, but theres thunder, and rain, and thats good enough for me.

2003-03-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

the sirens over baghdad have started again...

2003-03-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

theyve sounded the all clear in baghdad.

2003-03-21T14:59:00.000-05:00

i dont know...maybe its all the pictures of bombs dropping, or the over-commenting of the commentators, but something is seriously imparing my blogging today.

maybe games will help...as long as the news stays on in the event of a Major Event (tm).

go check out the command post. (do i have to tell you...go look on the left. its right there. i'm lazy. deal with it.)

2003-03-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

rummy is about to have a pentagon briefing, live on foxnews...among others.

i fully expect him to come out and say "this isnt shock and awe...we're holding back on it, just to give the iraqi leadership one last, final, ultimate, we-really-mean-it-this-time, last-last chance to surrender before we rip their heads off."

2003-03-21T13:18:00.000-05:00

on foxnews, in their little scrolly thing on the bottom, they just had a headline that said "troops and civilians (emphasis mine) hauling down giant posters of saddam hussein in safwan".

civilians, huh. yeah, theyre really upset by us being there.

2003-03-21T11:40:00.000-05:00

alright, it seems as though the sun owes france another 45,000 euros.

pretty impressive, for a paper that rivals americas weekly world news for veracity...

2003-03-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

ahem. want a definition of stupidity?

2003-03-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

i need to read the giver again.

2003-03-21T10:52:00.000-05:00

finally woke up. slept too much. blech.

2003-03-20T20:42:00.000-05:00

wow...i've gotten lazy...i havent included a link for...6 posts.

heres one just to keep you busy through the night: http://warblogcorner.blogspot.com/.

theyre happy bouncy warblogger people. good stuff. keep yourself entertained, barring a major event (read: death of saddam, death of bush, destruction of major world landmark, complete and utter surrender of the whole middle east, the cuteness of one of my hamsters) i will not see you all till tomorrow.

2003-03-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

i'm back from food, and other than a massive campaign for basrah, not much has happened.

then again, the campaign for basrah is pretty major.

i'm gonna go do some more web design for my family site, then hit the sack. after all, i gotta be fresh for tomorrows blogging...i promise, there will be a post about the double war of iraq/baghdad.

besides, i'll probably be taping foxnews all night long, so i doubt i'll miss anything. ah, the wonders of having a giant hard drive and a tv tuner card in my computer.

i guess if youre digitally recording you cant call it taping anymore...hmm...tivoing?

2003-03-20T19:36:00.001-05:00

i'm going now. i really promise...see, i have my shoes on, and my coat, and my hat...

2003-03-20T19:36:00.000-05:00

yeah, yeah, yeah....in uncles words (from jackie chan adventures) one more thing....

the reporters in the washington press corps are idiots.

2003-03-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

all these protesters, with their vomit-ins, and their blocking traffic and their chanting.

after all, thats what its all about, isnt it? the chanting?

2003-03-20T19:22:00.000-05:00

just on nbc nightly news...hillary clinton getting pissed about us not having a war budget.

wow. hillary clinton getting pissed.

strategic emotion. what an odd concept.

yeah, yeah, i'm gonna go eat now. you can stop ordering me.

2003-03-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

one last thing, then i'm going to go eat...i promise...

as we all knew, saddam is a poet.

i'm not going near this one. make up your own joke. or go visit michele and read hers. shes much better at it than i am.

2003-03-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

i've been living on news today (links along the side, i'm lazy people, havent you figured this out yet?). mostly foxnews and abcnews, since theyre on basically every channel.

no, really. i mean i've literally been living on news. i had some hot chocolate this morning, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich around one or so, and am about to get pizza for dinner. most of the day has been spent in front of the computer, blogging, reading blogs, and watching news.

i'll get food now. go check out some of the links. thems good eatins.

2003-03-20T18:25:00.000-05:00

lets see...a confirmed missile headed towards kuwait city... isnt the southern dmz much larger than the northern? hmm... i know its purely academic, but how far is k.c. from the closest hussein-held base with missiles? what kind of missile was it? was it included in blix's reports?

and so on and so forth.

notice i'm still justifying myself? and to people who actually read my blog, not just people who argue with me.

2003-03-20T18:17:00.000-05:00

got maps?

2003-03-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

by the way, if you have anything to say, or have a response, feel free to use the guestbook over on the side. comments are not supported in this format (i cannot wait till i move over to my own site) unfortunatly, so that is the only recourse i have. i'll get a mini bulletin board set up at some point. that way all you wonderful readers can respond to each other in addition to me!

2003-03-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

the french are goin down!

(apologies to merde and the frogman.

2003-03-20T16:20:00.000-05:00

anyone else watch peter jennings interview hans blix?

too bad jennings didnt confront him directly with bits of his report that listed wmd that hussein had. would have made for an interesting interview.

2003-03-20T16:11:00.000-05:00

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan (post-conflict), South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

yeah, really unilateral.

2003-03-20T16:06:00.000-05:00

need more evidence?

i know its from 99, but that isnt really all that long ago.

2003-03-20T15:55:00.000-05:00

theres a really good post here by alex knapp...is linking al qaeda and iraq once and for all, drawing together a bunch of info. this is for all those people who claim this is all about the oooiil!

i'm tired. i'm tired of the waiting (although it is over now) i'm tired of the arguing (which will probably never be over) and i'm tired of the people spouting off and using personal attacks to justify their positions. everywhere i go, i am forced to justify myself and my feelings. my mother is shocked by me "sounding like a conservative" (i love you mommy).

i am not a conservative. couldnt be farther from it. i think right now its immensly conservative to be anti-war. the liberal and free position is be a determined optimist. it is to want intervention and not just want for the best to happen, but to *make* the best happen.

on a separate and happier note, i'm building a family website. also looking forward to a brand new fudge brownie recipe...it should probably be called a brownie fudge recipe, because of the amount of chocolate in it.

yum.

2003-03-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

the city that never sleeps wakes up late, apparantly.

i remember waking up at 6am when i was tiny, just so i could have breakfast with dad. we would eat, he would get ready and go to work, and i'd go back to sleep. every morning he was at work at 7:30am and didnt get home till almost 6pm. quite a workaholic, that one. right up until he was too sick to work.

but *this* is a rant about NYC, not my darling father. that will come later.

NYers never go to work before 9. they work until 5 or 6, unless theres a major project due. we understand that we work so we can live, not the other way around. we arent waiting for our lives to happen to us in some distant future, we are making them happen right now. theres too much living to be done to be cooped up in an office 24/7.

2003-03-20T10:55:00.000-05:00

Friday March 14, 2003

Jury Duty, Day 3

10:15am back in the courtroom. lets see how soon it is till i can go up, tell them its a conflict of interest because of my work as a drug law activist.

10:30am seems like there are a lot of alcoholics in this panel...lots of bargoing... =)
i really dont like that one of the jurors will be fined for being late. he called and told them he was going to be late. (ed.note: he showed up at 11:15, and since he definetly lives in manhattan, its not that he overslept. it does not take that long to get downtown from anywhere on the island). judges are gods in their courtrooms, and dole out praise and punishment. i am *so* ready to start my own country, if i cant change this one.
why is there someone here from the bronx? this isnt that county, this is new york county. hmm...same one as last case...cept he got dismissed from the last case and i thought that was dealt with...
the prosecution asked a weird question about shopping...i guess the defendant directed the undercover cop to the seller... maybe he took the money too? doubtful...

10:45am again with the defense attorney being better than the prosecution...though not by much.
wow, the judge should really kill this whole line of questioning about shopping...it tells us all what the defense and prosecutorial theories are going to be. theyre basically arguing the case in front of us now.
the judge is such a sexist sonofabitch.

11:20am selection time...i'm surrounded by idiots...and here i probably go...nope...not me...sigh...

11:45am whats with all these people smacking their lips into the microphone?
i really cant believe the judge is allowing this whole line of questioning still/again. i dont get it.
hes scaring people into being dishonest and lying about being impartial. hes already sent one person down to civil court for not agreeing with the laws, when the person was just being honest. hes not intelligent enough to be a good judge.

12:10pm got kicked for being a drug law activist. judge asked if i'd be ok with an ax murder, i said yeah, no problem, he said "we'll see if we can find one of those for you" and sent me back to the jury room.

12:40pm DONE! they let me go, along with all the other people from my case, cause we didnt go yesterday, and got out three days of service. i'm outta here!

2003-03-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

Wednsday March 12, 2003

Jury Duty, Day 2

9:25am am on train...am late, maybe. stupid rush hour. i just hope there isnt a line at the courthouse...
i'm almost surprised there isnt a such thing as professional jurors. i need to think about that a bit more.

11:27am got kicked from the case cause of my views on the drug laws. and knowing what the drug laws are at all.

12:30pm LUNCH!

2:40pm another case...

the judge keeps asking all the women their marital status...not to be a "rabid feminazi", but i dont see why its necessary. good thing certain people i know and care about very much arent here...
he calls the neighborhood known as the "upperwest side" the mid west side...he dont get it. =P

4:00pm get me out of here...he just pisses me off more and more...

4:05pm prayers are answered! the case is continued to friday! now, let me see if that cute girl is still here...

(ed. note: she wasnt, i went back on thursday, using a friends unlimited metrocard, and looked for her. *sniff* no girl for me)

2003-03-20T10:53:00.000-05:00

Tuesday March 11, 2003

Jury Duty, Day 1

8:30am arrived...gruff, interesting guy with a good sense of humor joking about his "shenanagans" (spiel...he wasnt exactly the most eloquent person, just funny)

8:50am watched stupid cheesy movie about the "history of juries". the questions asked and answered by the people in the movie are stupid. jury duty isnt that bad. i get to sit in a room, read my paper, play games, and relax.
their history is off. oh, and i *hate* how british our system is. it isnt about justice, its about "laws".

9:00am i'm reminded of ow terrible old court shows are. give me law and order any day. i'm reading the newspaper while the video is playing, to keep myself entertained. two detectives on staten island were killed, execution-style last night. (ed.note: this case was solved pretty quickly and the detectives were promoted posthumously so their families would get the benefit) senator schumer of NY, is pissed because he has to pay 23 dollars for a new ezpass since his was stolen with his car. i'll let that stand on its own.

9:15 speech! speech! the reqs for being a juror... i guess if you have this job (jury clerk) youd have to have a sense of humor...
hehehe...they give pep talks to those who need them because they think theyre bad for not being chosen...
judges really shouldnt have such overbearing jurisdiction.

9:30am "the working staff is none too stable"
(there is no smoking in this building. this is a courthouse, we will catch you) hm... i wonder if i should challenge them by smoking in the building...wait...i dont smoke...
"we, the jury clerks, are filled with self righteousness"
there really is a fluidity to jury service and to the whole judicial system...too many people are involved to say exacty what could happen.

9:40am it feels like i've been here forever. so i am going to take a break. see y'all at 10 or so...

10:15am jury call...lots of names...not me though...

11:20am ...do doo doo...

12:15pm ...nada...

12:20pm our friendly jury clerk announced that if we dont get a call soon, he'd let us go for lunch. i've played a lot of Golden Sun on my GameBoyAdvance. GAMES!

12:30pm LUNCH!

2:57pm called for duty...will i be picked?
why is it they ask men to remove all hats "not of a religious nature" when entering the courtroom, but not women? seems pretty sexist to me. then again, what do i expect?
sitting in the hall...waiting for them to be ready for us...stuck in golden sun...again... this happens way too much for my liking...

5:00pm got empaneled for questioning by the judges and lawyers...dont know if i'm actually going to sit on the jury...its a drug and firearms case and i am very anti-anti-drug and pro-legalization of pot...he was caught with 9lbs of pot...but i can probably be impartial nonewithstanding my views. i may be disqualified just cause i tend to stand out..
my excess of jewelry set off the security alarms, but i set them off even when i took rings, bracelets, and earrings off. maybe the settings are a bit too sensitive? what are they trying to do, catch nail clippers? (more on that story later.)
a number of people could not speak english. why werent they disqualified before we even got to selection?
and why the hell dont they have internet ready computers there!? i'm having serious news withdrawl...i want my insta, damn it!

2003-03-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

ok, i'm going to try and post my jury duty ranting again. i tried it yesterday, and got errors (damned blogger). so lets see...

2003-03-19T22:10:00.000-05:00

on a slightly more irreverant note:

you all see that little sitemeter thing...yeah, that...over there...on the left...no, down a bit...towards the bottom...the little rainbow thingy with the numbers...anyway, it tells me i've had sixteen hits from people looking for the worlds largest cheeto. people, go check out dave barry (link on the left, i'm being lazy). there was also one for "aimee deep lesbian"

god only knows why someone searched for that. maybe not even god knows.

2003-03-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

and so it starts. the war so many people fought against. the war that has been going on for the last twelve years, and is only now being fought on all sides.

2003-03-11T07:06:00.000-05:00

and off i go.

2003-03-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Support Women for a Free Iraq!

they do good stuff.

and who says all women are anti-war? huh? i daresya!

2003-03-11T06:46:00.000-05:00

the worlds largest cheeto which was first seen on dave barry's blog.

even insta's gotten excited over it.

heh. worlds largest cheeto. probably a publicity stunt by cheetos.

hey, they bought smartfood popcorn from my cousin...maybe they arent all publicity and so forth.

or maybe i'm just delusional. yup, always a distinct possibility.

2003-03-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

some light blogging this morning, then Jury Duty, then possibly more blogging tonight about the civic duty that is sitting in a Jury Room.

ok. lets see if i can lay this out well. iran has nukes. north korea has nukes. if iraq wants nukes, it could easily get them. it isnt that difficult, even under the oh-so-watchful eye of hans blix and the UN. hmm...a good name for a rock band?

anyway...taking out saddam and participating in a reorganization of iraq is probably the best thing for the region. it acts as a destabilizing force for the muslim countries, just by virtue of throwing alliances with/against them out of whack. it gives the world leverage to deal with iran and north korea, inasmuch as it shows them "ok, we did this, it worked, whos next?"

and it has the added benefit of rendering the un impotent and irrelevant.

ok, i'm sick of the isolationism. lets jump in there, get our hands dirty, and create something really good.

or we could make mudpies. mudpies are good too.

2003-03-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

wow...more Axis of Weasels...

and weve been told by the international journalistic community that the US has bad journalistic policies?

2003-03-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

two links about blix this morning. both from scrappleface, whom i adore (hm, should that be plural?).

if only i had the funnybone they do...this place would be a whole lot more interesting.

Back to Blix...i'm starting to agree with the theory that hes just like all the other "old europeans" and just wants the middle east to go away quietly so they dont have to get their hands dirty.

and he was looking so promising and unbiased. sigh. too bad. NEXT!?

2003-03-09T01:05:00.000-05:00

saturday night live started out really well tonight. "bill, youre an ignorant slut". the "queen of latifah". i liked the rhythm of it.

but then...they went and messed it up. they threw up a bunch of propoganda and didnt disguise it as propoganda, but didnt actually make fun of it being propoganda either. and they took my powerpuff girls!

but they did redeem themselves at the end. their tribute to mr. rogers was very sweet and perfect. just a simple song, and trolley. i had almost forgotten about trolley.

*sigh*

2003-03-08T23:11:00.000-05:00

the musicians, actors, and stagehands for the broadway musicals are striking. i dont have an issue with them wanting more of whatever it is theyre asking, but to strike over it and cause so many problems for so many people is just stupid. people got tickets months in advance to see some of these shows, made special trips, and all these people can think of is themselves. continue the fucking negotiations while continuing to work! how difficult is that?

its just difficult to watch everyone stand around and bitch and moan and block traffic while trying to decide how to make the best of it.

2003-03-08T04:28:00.000-05:00

i've been writing quite a bit lately about dave barry. i've always liked dave barry, better even, than tim allen. the distinction was always clear for me. dave barry: not-quite-tastless humor of the sort that comments well about society. tim allen: tastless humor. granted, i appreciate tastless humor sometimes (thats what happens when i'm surrounded by guys for years on end), but i appreciate dave barry always.

one of the reasons for this is because he appreciates people like garrison keillor, who i grew up listening to. dad always listened to him whenever we were in the car at the right time. for some reason, we had his four seasons tapes. i liked his monologues and fake commercials. i never really understood a lot of his other humor though. maybe i'd understand them better now.

heh. time to go play final fantasy four. if my playstation2 decides to work. maybe i'll read a bit more dave barry first.

2003-03-08T02:54:00.000-05:00

and we wonder why france is blocking the un resolutions?

2003-03-08T01:53:00.000-05:00

hot off the presses from dave barry comes...

"the worlds only waterskiing squirrel!"

2003-03-07T00:48:00.000-05:00

just a couple things tonight, folks.

first: a good distinction between the situation in iraq and the situation in north korea.

second: it seems as though the lawyer who was arrested yesterday for wearing a peace tshirt in a mall had the charges dropped against him.

2003-03-06T01:54:00.000-05:00

i guess we are back to free speech for some, but not for all...which is what the protesters i've talked to seem to think. i guess both sides are guilty of it. no surprise really, this whole situation has caused badness on every side of this argument. its gotten so that people are screaming about their posters being torn down by the opposition, but arent willing to listen to why that opposition feels the way they do. and i'm applying this to the anti-war and the pro-war sides.

2003-03-06T00:12:00.000-05:00

a life changing transplant. unlike that at duke university hospital, this one has no danger of the patient rejecting the cells based on blood type....thanks to the miracle of stem-cell research, this boy will be able to live a long, healthy life without pills or other immune-suppressing drugs.

2003-03-04T23:57:00.000-05:00

after some technical difficulties (damn that sitemeter), i am posting from an undisclosed location.

i'm sure she'll get a lot of linkbacks from a lot of people, so let me add mine in before it hits midnight.

a beautiful reaction to some idiots who thought that women are only responsible for keeping sex from "their men".

too bad fucking for freedom is most likely not in my future tonight. good night and good luck to all you boinkers out there.

2003-03-04T22:49:00.000-05:00

to quote michele... (ahem) drool

2003-03-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

can anyone else see what saturday night live is going to do with this?

"once upon a time, there was a fairy princess. she went around to all the kingdoms, trying to find a prince who would suit her needs...to be bound in leather and beaten!"

2003-03-04T17:48:00.000-05:00

and people say we have to choose between focusing on al qaeda and focusing on iraq. to them i say hah!

2003-03-04T17:35:00.000-05:00

i cant believe no one has heard of this

it was one of my favorite books growing up. hell, it was the nickname one of my babysitters had for me.

2003-03-04T17:22:00.000-05:00

so michele brought some things into perspective. specifically, just how long 12 years really are.

2003-03-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

yeah, yeah, i know, i'm writing a lot in a short time. hey, i just woke up, gimme some slack. i got a whole day of posting to shove into a couple hours before i have to get to work.

so here we go again: this story about sex abuse in new hampshire catholic churches doesnt surprise me. why should new hampshire be excused when the whole nation, hell, the whole world, is involved? i dont personally know anyone who was abused, but then most of the catholics i knew growing up were girls. i wasnt too interested in the boys as a 5 year old. hell, there dont seem to be that many interesting boys out there now, except for the occasional really cute one that i wouldnt mind getting to know (*cough*apollo ono*cough*).

2003-03-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

here's a little article from the new york times about the cute russian lesbian duo t.A.T.u. that shows the stupidness of what everyone is saying about them being a "horror" (according to "child advocates"). well, i'm a child advocate, on the board of two youth rights organizations, and being a kid myself, and i love them.

take that, "child advocates" who know nothing about children.

2003-03-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

saw girl, interrupted last night. well, technically this morning.

it amazes me that in this "highly advanced" and "cultured" era (i.e. the 21st century), we still diagnose borderline personality disorder. in a world where we are focused on curing actual diseases, and bpd is simply a girl (or a boy, but much more rarely) being a spoiled brat who is convincing themself that they are crazy.

it also bothers me that there is such a fine line between sane and crazy, and how easily it can be crossed. all it takes is someone preferring to give up that little bit of control.

2003-03-03T23:42:00.000-05:00

so on food network tonight, they highlighted one of my favorite pizza places in new york city (the capital of the pizza world, as we all know). Lombardies on spring street, between mott and mulberry. yummy

2003-03-02T09:26:00.000-05:00

yeesh its early *insert manaiacal laughter here*

nothing for you right now, dear reader, but when i return (and i shall return) there will be links and comments galore.

if my internet connection decides to behave itself this morning. it hasnt over the last few days.

i think i need to get that wireless router from gateway. silly network, connections are for everyone!

2003-03-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

spongebob barbie!

2003-02-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

damn it, they won't even listen to the grandmothers!

thats what bothers me about the anti-war movement.

2003-02-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

a lost neighbor.

"won't you be my neighbor" is a phrase i heard a lot growing up. i watched the show every day when i was a kid, and at some point...i dont remember exactly when, i learned that dad had met or known or worked with mr. rogers. i dont remember exactly what it is, but something like that.

he will be missed.

2003-02-27T17:49:00.000-05:00

these girls are being censored and ridiculed in britain, germany, russia, and a few other countries. specifically for an "under age" (eighteen) girl-on-girl kiss, and for their repeated use of "epithets" that various countries deem crude. here is one article, from a site dedicated to lesbianism...it discusses some of the controversy surrounding them...i've heard something about certain countries believing they are promoting paedophilia, but havent been able to find many articles about it.

heres another article from the uk...i guess they dont like them as much as some of the other magazines and "official" music reviewers in the UK would like us to think...

and yet another one.

2003-02-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

...Allah can be very understanding...

except when allah allows the turkish government to take my friends house away for no reason.

2003-02-25T19:23:00.000-05:00

"But if the antiwar movement dissuades the United States and its allies from going to war with Iraq, it will have contributed to the peace of the dead."
- JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA

2003-02-25T02:24:00.000-05:00

two things today: one is this, otherwise known as stupid government warnings. the other shall be posted as soon as i remember what it is.

2003-02-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

another from the wonderful den beste.

anyone think i like uss clueless a bit too much?

2003-02-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

den beste has yet again made an interesting point.

2003-02-21T12:06:00.000-05:00

"We want to take revenge on him,” said Mustafa Ali, a surviving son of Qadir Ismail Ali. “We are ready to lose half our population, just for Saddam to be removed.”

2003-02-14T17:41:00.000-05:00

it seems as though i was right about the un...it is no longer a serious force in the international world. and its all france's fault.

2003-02-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

according to them, we live in the "city upon the hill" that our founding fathers wanted america to be. we have achieved it.

well, we're approaching it, anyways.

and that one reason makes it a good thing that we not only promote freedom in other countries, we go in and fight for it. and we shouldnt be the only ones fighting for it. everyone in those countries who looks to us as a beacon of freedom needs to rise up and fight alongside us, so that we are not fighting for someone else, but with someone else.

they say it a hell of a whole lot better than i do.

2003-02-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

wow...why are there so many people that are so racist?

i realize this may not be the thing to seize on in a story about the columbia crash, and most people would just overlook it. but when someone is offensive in any one way, they are very difficult to read for the emotion...no matter how much i may agree with them, any racist remark is very upsetting.

i dont agree with glenn reynolds of instapundit fame. he says this guy is amazing and should have his own newspaper. now, if thats sarcasm, its going over my head. if it isnt, then reynolds is just a bit off, in my eyes. i dont see how someone who says

I pointed out the Caltech observatory to my wife. Giant dishes about a mile east of the highway, looking up to the heavens. Some controversy I vaguely recalled: An Indian tribe didn't want those big dishes moved to an alleged sacred site nearby. (Ever notice how casino sites are never sacred?)

can be considered an amazing writer by anyone.

take the italians. do you think they would enjoy having an observatory with a whole bunch of satellite dishes plopped on top of st. patricks cathedral? no? i dont think so either. would they stick a casino in las vegas? well, apparantly they did.

sacred land is sacred land. digging it up to put a bunch of satellite dishes there is not a very nice thing to do. complaining that the land is sacred to a particular group of people is just as bad. letting that comment stand is just as bad as both the above.

racism doesnt just come in black and white.

2003-02-04T06:43:00.000-05:00

she has some useful information about how math for a recording artist works...but i think shes way off on filesharing. i think she doesnt realize that the way to fight back against the recording industry is to support filesharing. to support the people who will listen to her music and go to her concerts and will be a lot more willing to give her money if the RIAA is not involved in any way.

of course, this is an old article, from june 14, 2000.

then theres this article, written much more recently. the only major thing i disagree with on this is the idea that the RIAA should get back in business by having a paid filesharing service. this guy expects the RIAA to actually make a service that is better quality than some of the free services out there?

blogger ate my last entry. actually, technically, my internet shutting down while i was trying to publish ate my last entry. so i will instead direct you to g's article about the columbia crash.

i will add only one thing to it. i do remember the challenger crash. vividly. after all, christa macauliffe was from new hampshire. lived ten minutes from my house. her daughter went to camp with me. her son dated my babysitter. in a very typically new hampshire way, they didnt hide the crash from us. they stuck it in our faces. we did reports on it once i got to elementary school. we had a mockup of a shuttle in my third grade classroom, where we pretended we went to an alien planet, or an alternate dimension, where she had been transported to, and rescued her.

even then i was a sci-fi geek. =)