Things That Are Categories on $64,000 Pyramid

my thoughts are moving away from me, like on a conveyor belt at the grocery store. goodbye, soy hotdogs... goodbye topic sentence...

i'm trying out this new type of writing process wherein i don't hold off a new idea as it's sprouting, but write it down and let it all flow, man. it's so meta that i think it's frying my brain 10x faster than my normal writing process, wherein i must complete sentences before i start new ones, sprouting ideas be damned. but, i suspect that the cold, hard, eye of 8 hours of decent sleep will tell me that 40% of what i've got here is CRAP and that at least 20% needs to be rewritten, so the decision has been made (passive voice - i am absolved, absent) to shower and get some damn sleep.

mmmm, damn sleep...

goodbye asparagus... goodbye verbs...

You know what I like?

I like the fact that we say that a computer "crashes." What a beautiful mental image. I've written before about my mental image of e-mail attachments (a filing cabinet dragging like a muffler behind a car through cyberspace), but I think I like "crashing" even better. Brings to mind footage you'd see on Fox in a documentary about people imploding buildings on purpose.

In other news, Rumsfeld is an arrogant idiot who has, apparently, an appaling amount of power. And if watching Bush on television tends to make you so hopping mad that you just don't do it anymore, here is an article that will give you a general idea of what you are (thankfully) missing.

If you want to make your head explode,

read Foucault's History of Sexuality while listening to Prince's "Erotic City".

One of the things I learned working in a pharmacy is that it's easier to keep pain away than to get rid of it once it's there. Keep that in mind.

K'blammo.

During times like this the onslaught of pure informational noise is so overwhelming that one feels reluctant to contribute to it.

-Scott Rosenberg

Yeah.

I've been avoiding television news coverage -- I figure that I avoid television as much as possible when there isn't a war, so there's no reason on earth to turn towards it when it has something huge to work itself over over. I've been reading Salon, but not everything. Honestly, I'm kind of undecided about the war... I guess I still think that it shouldn't be happening right now, but I'm hoping that it goes well and humanely and that this administration has not botched diplomatic relationships too terribly. We need some humility. I also hope that if it does go well, Americans will not simply decide to cede all judgment to the Bush administration.

shudder.

okay, so i guess the post below doesn't give the whole story - this whole story at least. i've been trying to figure out how to best dedicate my efforts to improving something, anything, and i had a conversation today that gives me hope for the work i have the potential to do in the academic sphere.

literature gives people the ability to envision a better world. studying literature... how to articulate... studying literature gives us a glimpse into what is happening that is bad now, but also how this world can move toward a better one.

man. things are glum. bleary. things are bad. something about this war is isolating.

?

absolutely nothing

well. i feel like i should say something, because maybe (?) there are people out there who want me to, are expecting me to.


so. i'm sad that the war is happening, i'm hopeful that we can oust Saddam, even though it's technically illegal, i'm hopeful that all the potential for the US to seize power over oil and the reigon goes unfulfilled, i'm hopeful that oil field fires do not speed the destruction of the environment, i'm disappointed that for all the protesting and thought leading to the conclusion that the war should not happen was in vain, i'm hopeful that someone else who gets elected next time can rebuild the alliances with other countries (God love France), i'm worried that many people could die, i'm worried that i and others could find some sort of sick gratification in a gruesome war, conditioned as we have been for it, and i'm disturbed by the lack of any seeming notice of it in the public sphere.


But that doesn't help you to read or me to write. What does it do?

A word to fellow webloggers

E-mail me if you think I'd enjoy reading your blog on a weekly basis. And I will. If I do.

I spent the last couple days either reading The Corrections, and it was a joy. I highly recommend it. I won't give a detailed review of the book, especially because I don't like knowing what a book is about before I read it and so you might not either, so here is an analogy. You know how, when you're in an airplane and you're lifting off, you kind of sit back and think, "well, here we are and now my life is *completely* in the hands of some pilot I don't know"? Starting a book can kind of feel like the same thing, only you have the chance to get off if you're not comfortable with the author's control. For this book, I not only felt comfortable in the author's hands, but I looked forward to doing little loop-de-loops and aviation tricks.

How dismayed should one be upon learning that a certain extremely powerful political figure cannot pronounce the word "nuclear"?

Nobody told me happy St. Patrick's day. Maybe it's not too late for you. Happy St. Patrick's day.

you know, I would actually really like to support this country, and to agree with their decision (made probably over a year ago, thank you very much) to invade Iraq, and I think it would've been possible for them to at least attempt to put on a good show of trying to persuade people - American citizens and other countries - to go along with it. the utter lack of any such attempt should make us wonder why they think they can just do this. it might at some point in the near future become clear that they can. and that should be very, very frightening.

Sweet Holy Jesus Lord God Almighty in Heaven,

you have fucking got to be fucking kidding me.

That'll show those French bastards not to dare to (*gasp*) disagree with the United States of America! (read: stand in the way of American world domination)

15 years from now, remember this moment and wonder why you didn't flee.

I am the Goldilocks of oatmeal.

One pack is not enough, two are too much.

If I were God Of Trivial Things, I would decree that blogs written in languages other than English should have non-English titles.

Forgive the light posting. Light posting, heavy weekend.

Heavy.

Hey, ummmm... shouldn't numbers on the counter go up? 'Cause mine are going down. Are you people un-visiting my site? Did Superman switch the rotation of the planet, so that time is now going backwards? Does the counter know when my site will no longer be up and running, and is it counting down to that day?

I'm sure these are the most plausible explanations.

If We Attend Classes Tomorrow, Then Don't the Terrorists Win?

This e-mail was sent to many, many people at my college today:

Students and Faculty, as president of [******], I have always kept the educational
standards of this university at a high priority. However, when the welfare of the
student body is concerned, a higher priority takes precedence. Therefore, due to
circumstances beyond my control, classes will be cancelled for Thursday, March 6th.
Classes will reopen the following Friday under the normal schedule. Assume
scheduled activities for Thursday to take place instead on the next day at which
that class is scheduled.

Along with this in my inbox were seven other e-mails proclaiming this one to be a hoax. Thank God, because the poor grammar and diction would never have given it away. "Reopen"? What is this, Wal-Mart? And can anyone translate that last sentence for me?

He doesn't like the dirty girls...

Although it's already linked on the sidebar, today's Onion is so very good that I have to recommend you check it out. The main story, which usually falls a little flat, made me really laugh.

I got the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, and am only now realizing how much the music gave that movie the feeling it had. And the remix of "Mad World" is so fucking beautiful it makes me want to cry, or have sex, or go parasailing or something.

Holy crap I actually figured something out.

Whoa are my colors screwed up. I'm not colorblind, I'm just working through some kinks here.

F is for feeler

No blood for _____________!

a) oil

b) revenge fer tryinta keel [Bush's] daddy

c) military industrial complex fodder

d) a complex smokescreen for desecration of environmental protection laws and corporate scandals

p.s. I sure do like photography and cameras. (It's not working.)

There is so much wrong with this I want to vomit.

"Opposing coach Michael Murray watched Smith's rejection of the flag with dismay. His assistant, Doug Carter, was not on the bench because he had recently been called to active duty with the National Guard.


"'It really hit home,' Murray said, 'because he's going to fight for our freedom and the flag symbolizes that freedom.'


"Murray, who wore an American flag lapel pin, said of Smith, 'Maybe if they had an assistant who had to go off to war, her view might be a bit different.'"

Okay, two points:

One: The flag symbolizes freedom from *Britain,* who America was once a colony of. That's what the Revolutionary War was. Saddam Hussein is a very bad guy, but he is definitely not trying to colonize America. "Freedom" has also come to mean "freedom from the government," but I guess Mr. Murray hasn't been paying any attention at all to our dear government's attempts to scale back that pesky freedom that lets terrorists run wild in America.

Two: Will someone *please* tell Mr. Murray that Smith, in speaking out against war, has shown that she is actually against people like Doug Carter needlessly risking their lives? If they had an assistant get called to service, I'd think Smith would be even MORE against war, not less. What the hell is this idea that if we know someone who gets called to service, we should throw all questions about whether or not this war is just out the window and believe blindly that it is? Is it that unbearable to think that maybe people like Doug Carter could die for something that isn't right? (Oh, I just realized what that idea is: facism.)

For more facism, see this terrifying quote from Bill O'Reily (on this modern world).

ain't it hard, ain't it hard

to want somebody who doesn't want you

I do so love photography

And I am not happy to advocate the happy capitalist (or whatever it says) for that matter. And sure, I could pay to get a site without ads, but as I have exactly $148 left over per month for food past about the 15th, credit card bills, books, and entertainment, I do not think that blogger is a high enough priority to justify spending any money at all. Sorry, blogger.

Re: Your Committment to Sparkle Motion

I can't stop thinking about this Onion news story, for some reason: "Bush Won't Stop Asking Cheney if We Can Invade Yet" (from Sept 11, 2002.)

Is there someone I could talk to, once and for all, to confirm that I do not want any version of AOL and that I do not want to install Flash 6? For the love of God?

Oh, and also, it's creepy how the blogspot ads at the top of the screen somehow become tied to the content of the blog. Like if I mention photographs or photography, for instance. I really like cameras and film, and I actually have a portable (well, not really portable, but I don't have it set up all the time, so I guess practically speaking it's portable) darkroom. I should forget all this schoolwork and do some developing. I like photography.