I moved into a new office today, albeit temporarily. It’s an attractive location, as the building has direct access to the L’Enfant station. My cube is about 100 feet away from a US Post Office. Dry cleaners? Around 60 feet. Espresso bar? 100 feet. McDonalds? 200 feet or so. Okay, so the last one isn’t really a factor, considering my long-standing aversion to McDonald’s food.
Yes, I know this is a few weeks late, but better late than never. Here are a few of pictures from Miko and Garin’s engagement party (28 May 2006). Funny, I couldn’t even find a single decent picture of both Miko and Garin.
I found an aberration today while using Bon Echo build 2006052616. I was clicking on a link to an html file, but the browser interpreted it as an object to be downloaded. A second later, I saw the file show up in my downloads window. I then tried opening up a blank page using about:blank and Bon Echo actually dumped a zero-length file called “blank” into my downloads directory. Hmm. A simple restart of the browser alleviated the problem, and I haven’t seen the anomaly since.
I was going through the Pearls Before Swine archives at comics.com and noticed this doozy from May 8. Apparently it’s a followup to the famed 14 Nov 2005 strip, in which Pig “makes nice” with Annie-May.
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you” —Nathaniel Hawthorne
My parents actually had a framed poster of this quote hanging in their bathroom for the longest time. It depicted a couple of cartoon children chasing butterflies in a 1970s-ish field of flowers. Why is this relevant today? Because I had one of those moments just recently. You see, it all started when I heard a particular Yo La Tengo song in passing on KEXP-FM. It must have struck a chord with me, because I remembered it and tried to find it. It was growing on me, but I had yet to hear it a second time! I wracked my brain, trying to Google the song by its lyrics. No luck. I thought about going into Yo La Tengo chat rooms and saying, I’m looking for this song, but I don’t know what it’s called and I don’t know the lyrics… I eventually decided against this.
Just the other day, I had my Winamp on shuffle, and all of a sudden, I heard it emanating from my speakers again! Turns out it’s called “Today is the Day” from Summer Sun. Sublime. Slow and deliberate. Earthy. Ethereal. Hazy. Hypnotic. I must have downloaded it off one of my podcasts or something, because I have no recollection of finding it. Totally insane.
Here’s a little list I started making last month…
Allow states to lower the drinking age to 18. So, you’re an adult, old enough to appear in “adult” films; old enough to mow down enemy combatants with M1A1 Abrams tanks, but not old enough to bring a glass of pinot noir to your lips?
Institute a flat consumption tax and eliminate the income tax. Granted, this may put my dad out of a job, but hey — how much time/money/stress will this save? A consumption tax should not discriminate against certain products — such as cigarettes or gasoline.
For the sake of free speech, eliminate all campaign finance restrictions. All means all.
Either ban tobacco products completely or revert all restrictive and hypocritical legislation regarding its use, taxation, and advertisement.
Overthrow Roe v. Wade and bring abortion laws back to the states.
Make Social Security contributions and payouts voluntary. Remove all taxes on government benefit payments and capital gains income.
Deport as many illegal aliens as possible. Enforce laws. Strengthen the borders.
Protect citizens from out-of-control judges.
See also: what I believe
Is there something about the sight of Lindsay Lohan with one closed eye that movie execs find particularly attractive? Apparently so, for three of her past four feature films contain pervasive promotional material that features her winking gratuitously to the camera, breaking the fourth wall in the process. Consider these images from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and her newest film, Just My Luck.
As far as I can tell, Fox has even factored Lohan’s winking into the plot of Just My Luck, as the tagline “Everything changed in the wink of an eye.” appears on the official movie poster. I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better.
Isn’t it great to live in a country where the average person can own a car for the sake of mere convenience? After having moved close to the Forest Glen metro station, I no longer rely on my car, Janus, to take me to the train. Janus now sits quietly at home day after day, while I work. She’s now used for non-essential trips — Pleasure, if you will. I’m literally one block from church. 7/10 of a mile from the hospital and the train station. A mile from the mall and grocery stores. Everything is right here. Yet I’m paying for a car that, essentially, is used to shuttle me back and forth between volleyball and the gym.
The monthly cost of staying in shape:
There. The estimated monthly amount required to keep my body in peak shape: $645. $21 a day?
I recently subscribed to Paste Magazine after having received three complimentary issues. I was hooked. Paste doesn’t patronize or appeal to the lowest common denominator. Women are not portrayed as merely objects. Artists are judged according to merit and talent — not good looks or connections. All bi-monthly issues come with either a free CD, DVD, or both. And these aren’t your average “sampler” discs. The CDs are packed with over twenty full songs, and the DVDs have over two hours of full music videos, short films, previews, et cetera. At $3.75 an issue, it’s a steal. And Paste manages to do all of this without selling out or being pretentious.
When I subscribed, I noticed that there was a gap in my issues — for some reason I hadn’t received Issue 20. I contacted Paste and asked them as much; they said I had probably subscribed a bit too late to receive Issue 20. Nevertheless, they sent me my missing issue, no questions asked. I was very impressed with their service, to say the least. As readership in Paste increases, I’m hoping that the magazine dubbed the “anti-Rolling Stone” will not succumb to pressures to evolve into what it originally set out to distinguish itself from. Please no.
In reply to Eric Meyer’s recent post:
Most of the modern seder is based upon God’s explicit instructions as recorded in Exodus. Below are some comments I wrote on the subject: Seder and the Night of Deliverance
Now, I must admit that Exodus 12:23-27 basically says to observe the ceremony of spreading lamb’s blood on the door frames as a “lasting ordinance”. However, most Jews today also do not observe the Sin Offerings, Guilt Offerings, and Burnt Offerings as depicted in Leviticus 5 and elsewhere, probably more out of practicality than out of indifference.
Of course, Christians today do not observe these instructions because Christ fulfilled the laws of Moses and became the last sacrifice.
