tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75572032012-02-01T18:35:32.328-08:00Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.comBlogger1311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-11756471011836059112009-12-04T14:30:00.000-08:002009-12-04T14:32:30.732-08:00

So, this blog is basically over. You can check out my newer blog, which is not just a random collection of my thoughts, but a deliberate and directed assault against a burgeoning part of the software industry.www.HeyYourAppSucks.comIt's been real!

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11538130928800937815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-14819137383846205432009-09-06T13:50:00.000-07:002009-09-06T13:53:33.564-07:00

McSweeney's did not want these, so they can be posted here now.Most Adorable YouTube Videos- A piglet wearing sunglasses is raised by a monkey wearing a bow tie- Twin baby girls sing "You are my Sunshine" with a lisp- A bounce house falls on a baby but the baby is not hurt because he was sitting such that the doorway opening went over him, and he giggles- A kitten in a wheelchair plays Tetris on

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11538130928800937815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-38663280735001183252009-07-29T14:19:00.000-07:002009-07-29T14:58:16.371-07:00

Seen in my Spam filter today:You received this email because you are a client of, or expressed interest in, Uxoqcqvo Solutions.I don't recall expressing interest in Uxoqcqvo Solutions. But then again, I express interest in a lot of things. Important things, mostly. So I don't want to ignore this e-mail. If I expressed interest in something, it stands to reason that I should follow up, even if I

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11538130928800937815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-83897185652528064532009-07-16T15:56:00.000-07:002009-07-16T17:04:46.210-07:00

So I was googling some other dude today at work, and landed on his ZoomInfo profile page. It was pretty lame, but inspired me to see if this "vertical search engine" (as Wikipedia calls it) has created an automated profile for me. Well, yes, it has:In a word, AWESOME. Perhaps it has listed me as a celebrity because my name is cited in 374 "sources" -- links that ZoomInfo has gathered from the

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11538130928800937815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-89241819300475960822009-03-09T22:15:00.001-07:002009-03-09T22:16:04.768-07:00

Does anyone care if I don't update this blog any more? Or at least until June? I am trying to graduate.

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-75124904954034239062009-01-07T18:30:00.000-08:002009-01-07T21:23:55.338-08:00

Recently (OK, it was Halloween), I decided to shave off my goatee. Or Van Dyke. Or chin beard, or whatever you want to call it.Which prompted me to attempt an experiment. One involving facial hair and digital photos, and online self-involvement; a.k.a., a blog.Day ZeroFace feels smooth, looks weird. I have not seen my chin since 2003. It looks about how I remember it. Looking in the mirror and

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-26399520574322375752008-12-13T11:10:00.000-08:002008-12-13T12:24:57.632-08:00

A decade later, with the Congo's once-impressive infrastructure rusted or looted, the IMF imposed a new SAP. Tshikala Biaya describes how the 1987 agreement "sought to give 'legal power' to the informal sector and make it a new milch cow which would replace the welfare state that the IMF and the World Bank had just destroyed." The Club of Paris rolled over Mobutu's debt in exchange for further

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-72324800064564241992008-11-26T01:00:00.000-08:002008-11-26T01:15:44.008-08:00

I want to write a new blog post!!!!!! But there is just so much other crap to do! And not enough minutes in the hour OMG!!!!!!!!!1In the meantime, enjoy this pointless piece I threw together a few years ago. Many people might not be aware that Vladimir Nabokov, author of "Lolita" and dozens of other works, often inserted characters into his books whose names were anagrams of his own (the most

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-77642239905941728122008-10-08T22:45:00.000-07:002008-10-08T22:53:01.432-07:00

I took a small step toward becoming a true San Francisco Bay Area resident a couple weeks back when I finally signed up for FasTrak. This is the transponder that goes on your windshield and is connected to your bank account, so you don't have to fumble for cash to pay the toll on all our wacky bridges.Not free.During the online signup process, I encountered this question:My question is, how the

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-61762630907873880302008-09-30T00:38:00.000-07:002008-09-30T00:38:20.821-07:00

Thanks for asking (usually preceded by "I'm fine")Typically you thank someone for doing something good, or for going out of their way to do something good. Asking "How are you?" does not fit into either category. In fact, I'm having a hard time thinking of any question that fits into either category. The only ones that would legitimately require thanks are questions like "Are you on fire?" or "Do

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-65542977643320894202008-08-27T20:46:00.000-07:002008-08-27T20:49:34.490-07:00

This review was recently posted on Travelocity.Marriott (Manhattan Beach)Meeting room sucks. To reiterate: sucksMason S. from Oakland, CA – Wouldn't stay againStayed Jul 2008, 2 daysMajor problems here. We reserved a meeting room and requested a networked printer. Printer did not work. Hotel's IT guy was incompetent. We brought our own IT guy over who had to go to Fry's Electronics and buy a

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1291027054019906162008-08-15T00:01:00.000-07:002008-08-15T00:01:00.981-07:00

So, I stupidly left my wallet in the car a few weeks back, and it sat there for two days, because I also rode in someone else's car up to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. While the lack of cash, ATM cards, and ID did put a minor crimp in my style, I was able to coast on the understanding of others and pay back my debts Sunday afternoon. However, sitting in a locked car, in Sacramento, in July, for two

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-22759182734851338692008-08-10T19:47:00.000-07:002008-08-10T20:35:30.597-07:00

We are all going to hell. But I'm OK with that.Had a conversation with some friends the other day where it was determined that none of us are going to heaven, and none of us really want to, either. Because let's face it: Heaven is going to be full of dickheads. Pat Robertson, George W. Bush, etc. I might know a couple of actual Christians who aren't that bad, but overall, if you are going to

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-17234975391891038742008-07-30T23:08:00.000-07:002008-07-31T00:04:20.892-07:00

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this stack of boxes in the back of our office.It's a bunch of Xerox paper. You know, for printing shit on. Because that's how we roll. But look closer ...This paper is whiter than ever, according to the packaging. Already, I am trembling at the whiteness within. It will be blisteringly white. It will be so vanilla as to make the snowy Swiss Alps appear positively

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-66394803471129644792008-07-24T17:08:00.000-07:002008-07-24T17:08:00.597-07:00

I am not sure what to make of the dream I had last week, except that there are several possible interpretations.In my dream, I witnessed a pedestrian being struck by a speeding car. I was standing on the sidewalk, and I watched as a woman entered the crosswalk nearby. Then a car approached, and I could see that it was not going to stop at the stop sign. And then she was hit. It was not bloody or

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-43427407622772510582008-07-19T17:11:00.000-07:002008-07-19T17:11:01.046-07:00

Part Two of the Things Found In My Work Parking Lot series. Part One is here.It's Not Weed (Damn It)The weeds growing in our parking lot need to be hit with Roundup or something.For Perspective's SakeYou could, like, hide a body in there or something. A small one, anyway.Not A PineappleThis is some sort of fruit, or something. It is more rotten now than when I took the picture.Look Closer. Not

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-20762667082355392182008-07-15T23:29:00.000-07:002008-07-15T23:29:43.636-07:00

The following post consists of Things Spotted In My Work Parking Lot. It's part one of two. And unlike previous blog posts where I promised a Part Two, there will actually be a sequel to this one. Promise.Although these photos were not all taken on the same day, all of these things are still in the parking lot right now. Because I checked. Today.Barbie's LegLet's get this started off with a bang,

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-23046092157271738392008-07-09T21:47:00.000-07:002008-07-09T21:48:13.061-07:00

David Pogue at the New York Times has an article that profiles several products that are designed to help you keep track of everything you write down. Silly me, I thought paper is what let you keep track of everything you write down. No, it turns out that they make pens that capture your scribbles as a digital image and then either store them as JPEGs on a flash drive, or, like, automatically

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-65485655579656193262008-06-24T23:50:00.000-07:002008-06-25T00:09:29.493-07:00

I was carded buying a bottle of wine the other day.The offending bottle.Let me tell you, this made my day. In fact, it made my week. I texted one of my colleagues about it within an hour of it happening. Turns out 30 is not so old after all.I used to get annoyed when I would be carded buying booze at a store. I don't care about bars carding me, because they card everyone who appears to be younger

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-70444371947508844972008-06-12T21:22:00.000-07:002008-06-12T21:57:17.455-07:00

That's right. I am an asshole. You've got schadenfreude? I've got schaden-ecstasy, because I am a hater and I kick midwesterners when they are down. In the balls, no less."Why would anyone want to live in California? All you hear about out there is natural disasters.""I heard in California, people live in active earthquake zones. That's just stupid.""People out west are idiots. There's wildfires

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-60263514207101405422008-05-25T19:21:00.000-07:002008-05-25T21:14:44.822-07:00

Here are three photos that I have been meaning to blog about for a little while.A Single Plant Would Not Be Enough. We Need A Whole Trail.It is pretty common in this country to walk around a vaguely wooded area and see a few signs identifying trees and other flora by their Latin names. It is less common to find a themed "walking tour" with these signs, but still not unheard-of. However, Mills

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-31084080607675960952008-05-07T19:02:00.000-07:002008-05-07T19:21:43.286-07:00

I always enjoy looking at what the people in line ahead of me at the supermarket are purchasing. This is particularly amusing in the express lane, because people who purchase fewer than ten items at a time are often buying strange combinations of things. Sometimes I imagine the guy buying charcoal briquettes, a can of corn, two boxes of Eggo waffles, and a copy of Redbook is about to host a very

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-2260339026076747402008-04-26T22:20:00.000-07:002008-04-26T22:18:45.521-07:00

It was four months ago, for New Year's celebrations, that some friends and I partook of some absinthe, a spirit that has only recently been made legal in the United States after nearly 100 years of absinthe-specific prohibition. (For background, I refer you to Wikipedia's characteristically too-long entry on absinthe.) We, meaning I, thought that this would be fun. However, as it turns out,

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-20224490958214766622008-04-18T00:20:00.000-07:002008-04-18T18:39:10.076-07:00

Scene 1. A room in an army base outside of Baghdad. Two soldiers, ERIC and MARCEL, play cards at a folding table. MARCELYeah, I lived all over before I enlisted. Chicago, Atlanta, the Bronx. What about you?ERICStrictly west coast, man. San Francisco, mostly.MARCELYeah? The Sucker Free City?ERICUh, nobody really calls it that in real life.MARCELWell, excuse me. Gimme two.He places two cards face

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-22501876743169410332008-04-08T21:04:00.001-07:002008-04-08T21:49:17.451-07:00

5. Playing hard to get. Mason, you have to write something! I'm so bored at work. I can't get through another day without your pointed wit, your withering dismissal of other human beings, your relentlessly optimistic take on life. Save me, oh, save me ...Back off, doll. I'm an important guy. I have more important things to do than hold your hand via blogger.com. You're just going to have to get

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-84651387211917696962008-03-24T22:13:00.001-07:002008-03-24T22:18:05.509-07:00

I don't usually write on this blog about anything we do in class, mostly because class is boring and my blog is just straight-up exciting. However, last week in "Craft of Fiction" we actually did something interesting. Perhaps this is because our professor stole it from another professor who teaches at another college. Regardless, I will now share it with you.The theory behind this exercise is

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-8738140347691930942008-03-18T19:10:00.000-07:002008-03-18T19:19:49.048-07:00

Despite what you may assume, this blog post will not be based on an anecdote about how I was the victim of a crime and am now convinced that Ron Dellums is personally to blame for the police shortage. The only people allowed to draw vast, uninformed conclusions from a single experience in their own pointless lives are newspaper columnists. Specifically, columnists at the Daily Bruin and the

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-38983930536175279292008-03-05T23:29:00.001-08:002008-03-05T23:29:42.391-08:00

In economics, the term leading indicator refers to an event, series of events, or a situation that can be used to predict a future tendency in the market. For example, in a robust housing market, a decline in the number of building permits for constructing new homes is generally a leading indicator of an upcoming downfall.In this blog post, I will propose that I am a leading indicator of the

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-15513293272052915962008-02-29T18:56:00.000-08:002008-02-29T23:45:03.815-08:00

I am so enraged right now I can barely see straight. A very good friend of mine was laid off from his job at the Los Angeles Daily News today, and another friend took a buyout to avoid crossing his fingers and hoping for the best. This is the same day that dozens more were laid off or consolidated at other papers in the same chain. In the Bay Area, a string of papers owned by the same company

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-16328493771578070942008-02-24T00:05:00.000-08:002008-02-24T00:08:10.183-08:00

A friend and I had a discussion not long ago about the value of libraries. More specifically, about the value of actual, bricks-and-mortar, dead-tree libraries in a digital age. At the time, he was a scholar (read: grad student), and I was not; now, our positions are reversed. Regardless, we were both keenly aware of the importance of digital information to scholarship, and to general research as

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-60296133824690591692008-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:002008-02-10T14:13:38.291-08:00

For about a year and a half at my previous job, I sat at a desk directly across from this old guy, whom I assumed was either cantankerous or quietly obsolete, because that's how old guys are. For the first month or so, we never spoke to each other, so I pretty much assumed that my latter supposition was correct. We've probably all worked jobs where there's one or two really old people there, like

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-64323784874049326022008-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:002008-02-01T22:50:48.208-08:00

It would be tempting to make fun of Britney Spears' most recent troubles, which includes her being forcibly removed from her home by mental health professionals and held against her will at UCLA Medical Center for treatment and evaluation. This was done under the auspices of the state penal code that allows family members and doctors to request such intervention, which is commonly referred to as

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-50835651786551887022008-01-23T22:45:00.000-08:002008-01-23T22:49:06.669-08:00

If you were to guess what the top ten musical interests would be for a Facebook network consisting of students at an all-female liberal arts college, who would be some of the artists you might guess? Ani DiFranco, naturally. Le Tigre, Ladytron, maybe Jill Sobule, right? Maybe the grad students would be into Sleater-Kinney, because they are older. Or perhaps you think that because this is 2007,

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-19226194994719188102008-01-16T20:11:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:00:31.282-08:00

No smart-assed intro to this bullshit. Just take a gander at what the post office decided was not important enough to deliver today.Yes, those are sample ballots, your official documentation of what is on the Feb. 5 ballot, what the local measures mean, etc. This is an important document! And it's just tossed on the shelf unit next to our elevator like a stack of coupons (which you can see on the

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-3296406879663529522008-01-06T18:03:00.000-08:002008-01-06T18:34:15.817-08:00

Oh, dear blog readers, how long has it been since I regaled you with my wit and insight! Far too long, I fear. Tonight, we shall make amends.I hate Caltrans.I am a big nerd and asked for a translation of the Prose Edda for Christmas, and I got it. (Note also the Bartok CD; total dweebness.) But hey, my good pal Brian is thanked by the translator on the acknowledgements page. Way to go, BTO!For

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-4700960091925752412007-12-11T22:42:00.000-08:002007-12-11T23:22:19.864-08:00

Walking along the second floor of Mills Hall a few weeks back, and what do I spot attached to a bulletin board? Why, it's some random piece of paper described as the "Mills College Emergency Action Guide." Of course! I must memorize this important leaflet that tells me to call 911 for every possible emergency.More importantly, the Emergency Action Guide offers me a set of Bomb Threat Procedures.

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-76038900685306828032007-12-03T21:02:00.000-08:002007-12-03T21:46:12.067-08:00

Fellow current and former grad students can confirm my generalization that grad students get a lot of worthless e-mail. Someone in the department is always forwarding something that is either pointless or only noteworthy to five people in your program. I try to read as little of it as possible, but my internal filter is not as good as it should be.Today, my classmates and I received a five-page

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-10898577314295731182007-11-25T13:40:00.000-08:002007-11-25T23:14:58.438-08:00

This is part one of what will likely be an ongoing series plumbing the depths of the stupidity of Oakland's municipal apparatus. That is, they hire idiots to work for the city.Exhibit 1. The Closed StreetThis photo was taken on Friday, Nov. 16, facing west on Thomas L. Berkley Way in downtown Oakland. You can see that the street closure sign has already been in place a week longer than it should

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-27308109965450572932007-11-14T20:16:00.001-08:002007-11-14T20:19:05.642-08:00

More of the usual excitement from the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by the New York Times on Sept. 20:One factor that also affects the marriage trends is that people are living longer. As a result, the median age at which women in a first marriage were widowed rose from 57.8 in 1996 to 60.3 in 2004. Among men, the median age increased from 59.6 to 61.3.This seems to lead to some interesting

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-78700108712260018482007-11-08T21:41:00.000-08:002007-11-08T21:42:04.755-08:00

What do Shakira and the Transformers have in common?Why, me, of course.This blog post begins in 2002, when I had finally grown bored with the soporific monotony known as mainstream radio. I would tool around L.A., adjusting the dial on my '85 Volvo's stock radio, trying to pick up signals that sounded like they played music worth listening to. This is how I discovered my beloved KXLU, the Loyola

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-70553823567667471202007-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:002007-10-31T23:43:36.963-07:00

Is it anything less than awesome that every time I drive onto the campus of Mills College, I happen to have a hideously misogynistic song blasting on my radio? I'm already concerned that just by virtue of being a man at a women's college, I'm one step away from someone pointing and screaming "Oppressor!" every time I walk by, like some sort of womynist body snatcher. Okay, it hasn't happened, but

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-473439782562415862007-10-28T20:51:00.000-07:002007-10-28T21:13:53.199-07:00

You know you are a graduate student when you scour the library for a book by a French postmodernist philosopher, written in French, even though you do not speak the language above a second-grade level.Also, when you encounter a statement such as this one.Does this mean, then, that differance finds its place within the spread of the ontic-ontological difference, as it is conceived, as the "epoch"

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-81890949808606851562007-10-20T19:07:00.000-07:002007-10-20T20:44:58.860-07:00

So Bridget died the other day. I hadn’t been in touch with her for several years, partly because she was a globe-trotter and I am a boring, sedentary type; and partly because we were friends for a time but not super close. Regardless, her death hits me hard. Her obit is here.I am listening to Radiohead while writing this, which I hadn’t even thought about when I plugged in my head phones. Turns

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-77630084356707936142007-10-08T23:30:00.001-07:002007-10-08T23:30:56.497-07:00

Is anyone else amazed that this license plate is not yet taken?This is a screen grab from the California DMV website where you can sign up for personalized license plates. They have strange names for them in this state; depending on the background pattern you select, you might be able to get a Memorial Plate, a Coastal Plate, etc. The one above, personalized with no background, is an

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-44894136361000884832007-10-01T18:45:00.001-07:002007-10-08T23:35:12.463-07:00

You will start to go gray well before you are middle-aged.I want you to know that this picture is a photograph of my hair. I have tweaked the contrast and the hue in order for it to show on your computer screen exactly what I see every morning: I am 29 years old and I am going gray. This is not all that shocking, of course. Not only have I been the proud yet circumspect owner of a handful of

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-59503576386197380582007-09-24T19:17:00.003-07:002008-12-11T00:31:19.100-08:00

Getting a new job has meant saying goodbye to that old standby of my life, the reporter's notebook. In case you aren't aware, this is a distinct style of notebook that holds 80 or so pages and is generally about eight inches high, four inches wide, and spiral-bound at the top. These are produced by paper companies just like legal pads or whatever, and also some larger news companies produce their

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-29752947803961939862007-09-21T18:49:00.001-07:002008-12-11T00:31:19.547-08:00

Anyone else think Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums looks like El Guapo from "The Three Amigos"?El GuapoEl AlcaldeDoes this mean Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short are going to stage a coup?That would be awesome.

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-3357417045102364282007-09-17T19:18:00.000-07:002008-12-11T00:31:19.685-08:00

This urine sample proves that work does, in fact, suck.Statement: No one is doing any work on Project A.Situation: Team leaders are disappointed at lack of progress.Position: I should not be blamed for this problem.Hypothesis: Others can be revealed to be at fault.Action: Describe pending assignment as "very important"; "crucial"; etc.Effect: Pending assignment taken over by team leaders;

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-8719662267563257482007-09-13T23:03:00.000-07:002007-09-14T00:17:34.463-07:00

It's not really "new," but the "latest" data on baby names from the Social Security Administration is online at this link. From this link you can access the SSA's database of the top 1,000 baby names for each year going back to 1880. The database is searchable by name, by year, by top five per state, etc. Unfortunately, some of the info doesn't go back too far, but it's still fun. For example, in

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-4807778421479724872007-09-03T20:59:00.001-07:002007-09-03T21:01:21.109-07:00

This e-mail came from the head of the English department last week. I reprint it here with no comment.>Dear Grad Students and Faculty:>>As we start the semester, I'd like to remind >you that there is to be NO alcohol in any >classes. I certainly hope you will all find >satisfying ways to socialize and relax outside >of class periods, but please refrain from >having any alcohol in any class,

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-858260421867512172007-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:002007-08-28T21:15:11.739-07:00

At Mills College, all students are on a campuswide listserv that comes in the form of a daily digest and cannot be deleted or unsubscribed. That is to say, they spam you every day and there's nothing you can do but bend over and take it.Not so bad, really; you don't have to read it. Except that, whoops, you do have to read it, because occasionally there's something important in it. Like, all

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-38608568986706252082007-08-26T12:16:00.000-07:002007-09-03T20:47:07.007-07:00

So, it's been quite a while since this blog was active. I'm sure that situation upset many people. Rankled them, if you will. My rabid fan base had to turn their rabidity elsewhere.Part of the reason I stopped blogging was that I got chewed out and nearly fired for some non-blog-related activity at my old job. After that happened, I freaked and decided that even though it was an anonymous blog, I

Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04811255979110410199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1120936466379699892005-07-09T12:10:00.000-07:002005-07-09T12:25:57.416-07:00

I've decided to end my blogging activities. Effective immediately, this blog will be going dark. You can feel free to e-mail me, jadedslacker at yahoo dot com (or at my primary e-mail address, which will not be revealed here), or leave comments that will not be replied to. The archives will remain, for now. Blogging has been an interesting experience, but it's not one that will continue for me.

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1119477150165734132005-06-27T19:19:00.000-07:002006-11-21T10:26:41.760-08:00

That's right. In case you had not heard -- although I don't see how you couldn't have, since, you know, it was all anyone was talking about last month -- I am now an award-winning journalist. That's because I won an award at the awards ceremony of the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The judges recognized my outstanding work with an award of 2nd Place in the Breaking News

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1119404193262296272005-06-22T18:33:00.000-07:002005-06-22T14:07:47.503-07:00

You may recall this post in which I complained about people who write in the margins of library books. I reminisced about the good times I had erasing comments from previous books I'd checked out. Well, it turns out this was not The Right Thing To Do. From a New York Times article on the federal government's efforts to spy on our libraries:Last June, a library user who took out a book there, "Bin

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1119135637672000392005-06-18T15:54:00.000-07:002005-06-18T16:04:24.983-07:00

You may have heard on the news about a child molester arrested in San Jose who is believed to have abused as many as 36,000 boys during his long and disgusting career as a pedophile. The story is here if you haven't heard.While it seems clear that this guy is a monster and is responsible for some very despicable crimes, I think we need to stop drinking the exaggerated Kool-Aid on this story and

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1118864085792591852005-06-15T12:18:00.000-07:002005-06-17T16:23:34.766-07:00

A few weeks ago I was driving home after spending an evening in Los Angeles with some friends. It must have been a Friday, because I was listening to Super Twin Turntables of Soul on KXLU. Yes, this is a radio station that has a program schedule, rather than just playing the same thing all day regardless of who is the DJ. (KROQ, I'm looking in your direction.) It is also a college radio station,

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1118715946468477962005-06-13T19:19:00.000-07:002005-06-13T19:25:46.473-07:00

Do any real-life blogs exist any more? Let's take a look at what I got when I hit the "Next Blog" button up there in the right corner five times.1. Buy Ambien Online. Site intended to Google-bomb people looking for information about the prescription drugAmbien. Most recent post: Thanks! http://buy-ambien.mail333.com ambien buy cod: ambien buy cheap, Also http://adipex-online.newfreehost.com

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1117585381153491022005-05-31T17:24:00.000-07:002005-05-31T17:23:01.156-07:00

Don't worry, this one will be significantly shorter than Part I. This paragraph is brought to you by Bay City News:When researching for an editorial at the San JoseMercury News, Diamond compiled a stack of articles 10inches high on pit bull attacks that span a decade,she wrote in a recent opinion column.She may have actually written that, but that doesn't make it true. A single ream of printer

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1117223643824870582005-05-27T17:48:00.000-07:002005-05-27T12:54:03.830-07:00

You know what's rad? How about when you message your editor at 2 p.m. and say you might have another story today, and he says the paper desperately needs another front-page story, so you bust your ass to get it done by 5:30, tracking down state officials and interviewing them on their cell phones as they sit on an airplane that is minutes from departing, and then they run your story on page 6 so

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1116446623206705742005-05-18T17:50:00.000-07:002005-05-18T14:21:46.396-07:00

Scene one. A WOMAN is doing something. She is alive. Scene two. The next day. Crime Scene Investigators are taking pictures of the WOMAN's dead body with Nikon F5 digital cameras.GRISSOMWhat happened to her? COP 1Vaguely sex-related comment. GRISSOMSexual pun. WILLOWLook at this. GRISSOM squats to look at a tiny bit of evidence that WILLOW could not possibly have seen by simply glancing at the

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1115858886896164342005-05-11T18:12:00.000-07:002005-05-13T10:21:07.740-07:00

Let's take a look at a couple of paragraphs from a local newspaper that is not the newspaper I work for. The story is about grandparents raising their grandchildren because of deadbeat parents, high unemployment, etc. I made a couple of changes to disguise the location and spare the reporter embarassment in front of my six blog readers.The new responsibilities bring financial, legal and emotional

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1115172071140332982005-05-03T18:19:00.000-07:002005-05-03T19:15:04.663-07:00

My first trip to the dentist in 4.5 years took place a couple months ago, where I learned that I have periodontal disease, a.k.a. gum disease. It is at an advanced stage, actually beyond gingivitis, which is what the announcer in those mouthwash commercials is always announcing in grave tones, as if it were some sort of life-ending event, like cancer. In reality, it means your gums are unhealthy.

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1114470533024855962005-04-25T16:06:00.000-07:002005-04-25T16:08:53.026-07:00

One time I interviewed a soldier who had just returned from Iraq. Instead of responding to my questions with "yes," he would say, "roger that."

Mnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1113409936208049062005-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:002005-04-13T09:32:16.213-07:00

Is it hypocritical for me to call out copy editors for their overbearing attentiveness to minor grammatical flaws, and then turn around and write an entire blog post about a particular error that really gets my goat? Well call me a hypocrite, then, because I really hate the misuse of quotation marks.Who knew that quotation marks were so difficult to understand? You put " and " around a phrase

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1112740189274626632005-04-05T15:15:00.000-07:002005-05-13T10:21:41.236-07:00

So, more about me and my name. If you are nuts, like me, or at least one of my comment-posters, you have put your name into Google to see what comes up. For me, this is more about ego than it is about "see what comes up," since I have a lot of hits from having my byline published in a lot of newspapers. But sometimes I wonder what people think about what I write, and by extension, about me, even

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1111790818939571412005-03-25T14:41:00.000-08:002005-05-13T10:19:32.440-07:00

For some unknown reason, I horde greeting cards and post cards like a squirrel jealously guards his acorns. I think it's because I have a compulsion to maintain evidence of the fact that I do, or at least did at one time, have real-life friends. Without my postcards, I would be alone in a sad, soggy world. Soggy because global warming is melting the ice caps, you see.Anyway, people often write

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1111615148508252732005-03-23T13:57:00.000-08:002005-05-13T10:20:27.076-07:00

You may recall a previous post in which I discussed how annoying it is to run into other people with the same name as me. Feel free to click the link and refresh your memory. The point is that my first name is unusual, and I've never truly met anyone else by that name. For ease of understanding, we'll pretend my name is Holloway.Anyway, what I left out of that previous post is that my name is

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1110494039262714562005-03-10T14:32:00.000-08:002005-03-10T14:33:59.270-08:00

So when you're a journalist, you call people on the phone a lot. This also means you are frequently placed on hold, while some numbskull flack runs around their office trying to find the answer to your question, instead of simply letting you speak with the person who has the answer. Regardless, this means you get to sample a wide variety of "on hold" music and other such entertainment.Hold music

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1109899717377121382005-03-03T17:27:00.000-08:002005-03-03T17:28:37.376-08:00

The spellcheck mechanism on blogger doesn't recognize the word "blog."Maybe someone should fix that.You know. Since they do blogs.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1109361033357637682005-02-25T11:36:00.000-08:002005-03-23T14:06:17.726-08:00

Is it self-flattery to think that anyone really cares how frequently I post on my blog? The notion that my loyal readers are faithfully adding me to their "Favorites" page, that they chew their nails to the bone in anticipation of my next meth-fueled blog binge, is probably rather delusional. I know my hit counts. I know they rarely exceed single digits in one day. Which is fine. I didn't get

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1108887831697832872005-02-19T22:15:00.000-08:002005-03-17T17:26:47.660-08:00

There are two discrete lessons that I learned from my work as a freelance writer. By that I mean specific things that can be listed or ticked off on your fingers, like, "Never forget to wear deodorant" or "Ramen can sustain life for up to six months." (Compliments to Terce for that last bit.) I learned plenty during this period, but most of it was fuzzy-math stuff that can't be quantified, like

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1108511403857092262005-02-15T17:49:00.000-08:002005-02-16T11:21:25.963-08:00

This is an open letter to you guys in the band. Yes, you who played second (out of four bands) at Los Angeles indie hot spot The Echo on Monday night. You watched as the first act -- a guy with a guitar -- played. He was soulful and unobtrusive, and he finished before too long. At this point, you did not have to immediately begin setting up on stage, but perhaps it would have been appropriate for

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1107999039468781332005-02-09T17:28:00.000-08:002005-02-09T17:30:39.466-08:00

Imagine you used to own a car -- we'll call it a 1996 Toyota Camry -- that you traded in to purchase a new car. All this goes down in April, 2003. A month later, you get a letter from the California Highway Patrol asking you to pick up your car, which is being held in their tow yard. Hmm, you think, that's odd. Because your car is not in their tow yard; it's out back behind your apartment

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1107477042648949062005-02-03T16:51:00.000-08:002005-02-25T12:03:04.040-08:00

-- keeps jobs in America, unlike heroin, which is imported-- doesn't make you all itchy-- no unsightly track marks-- Marcellus Wallace's wife unlikely to OD on Jeno's(R) Crisp 'n Tasty(R) Frozen Pizza-- you can't put hot sauce on heroin-- allowable under the homeowner's "no drugs" policy; heroin not-- heroin: $9,000 per ounce. Jeno's(R) Crisp 'n Tasty(R) Frozen Pizza: four for $5 at Food4Less--

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1107385147112081162005-02-02T14:56:00.000-08:002005-02-02T14:59:07.113-08:00

I just had to put this on here. I doubt it's the most amusing thing you can find at meetup.com, but still. And no, this is not quite what I was looking for. Pomona-Claremont Teen Vampire Meetup Group Teen Vampire Meetup Group No. 202 Pomona, CA (~5.0 miles) 7 members, No rating yet Next Monthly Meetup: Saturday, February 26 Meet other Vamps. There are no posers or role players allowed. THIS

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1106618608790333262005-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:002005-02-01T12:47:21.490-08:00

This one is about my good friend Marc, whose real name I use, though not the family name, mostly because he already has enough hits on Google when you search his name and also because you would all mispronounce it. I first met him in September 2001, a few days after the most historic day of this century, for the United States anyway, and his opening crack was, "Hey, I've been out of the country

Mnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1106942728476312032005-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:002005-01-28T12:05:28.476-08:00

I am convinced that there are far too many other people wandering around whose names begin with M. I reached this conclusion long ago, when programming my cell phone and discovering that the M's outnumbered all others. To be fair, that does include Mom, but her name begins with M anyway -- and it also does not include Dad, whose name also begins with M. So at present, Marc, Marcelle, Mari,

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1106769108871797172005-01-26T11:32:00.000-08:002005-01-26T11:51:48.870-08:00

OK, so I have a love-hate relationship with the Oscars. There's not much love there, but I can't hate the awards as much as I should. I figure this is as good a time as any to vent about it, since the nominations came out the other day and that piece of crap "The Aviator" got 11 nominations. If you haven't seen it, I'll save you the trouble: Imagine "Citizen Kane," but instead of stellar acting,

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1106254334977265452005-01-20T13:46:00.001-08:002005-01-28T12:20:32.843-08:00

I have come to the conclusion that while I may, in fact, write a little better than some people, it turns out that most everyone else is far more interesting than I am. As a result, I will be dedicating a few upcoming posts to stories, anecdotes and analyses of people I know whose lives contain more noteworthy events and whatnot. Please do not attempt to lobby me to gain inclusion for yourself,

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1106099449432010042005-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:002005-02-07T11:30:06.183-08:00

The mercury hit 82 degrees Fahrenheit in my new home town today. Was it warm where you are? Not really, huh? Well, that's too bad. I feel for you. Honestly, I do. Of course, I shouldn't be gloating. The heat is causing problems, and not just because the air conditioning in my office is broken (it's true) and because I work in a dairy community, meaning the air smells like shit. (Also true.) This

Mnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1105672823998829512005-01-13T18:54:00.000-08:002005-02-07T11:30:34.746-08:00

Not too much to say here. I've been busy. A corrections officer was killed by an inmate at a prison out here, and I've been covering that. Pretty messy. The prison had hundreds of stab-proof vests (yes, there is such a thing, like a bullet-proof vest) sitting around in a warehouse, waiting to be distributed when this officer was stabbed by an inmate. He wasn't wearing a vest. I toured Men's

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1104903414807562282005-01-07T23:40:00.000-08:002005-01-07T23:52:29.626-08:00

Journalism lingo! All right! Now you can talk like an ink-stained wretch. Who wouldn't want to? I did a little Google research for this blog post, and I have to say the few listings of journalism slang that I was able to find were sorely wanting. Most of them just listed jargon that is not very entertaining. (Who cares about the difference between a cut line and a tag line? Someone with a

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1104528540831840982004-12-31T13:32:00.000-08:002005-01-13T18:54:37.780-08:00

It's very important to be able to come up with appropriate titles for this blog, and I want you all to know how much effort goes into it. After all, phrases like "Never Mind the Blog," "My Kingdom for a Blog," and "I'm Bloggin' It" don't just appear on your computer screen like magic. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, and more blood went into their creation. And now, you fortunate lot, I'm going to

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1103584957448355952004-12-28T11:15:00.000-08:002004-12-28T11:12:48.523-08:00

Yet, knowing that a part of my soul remained mercilessly silent when I involved myself in such behavior caused me unbearable torment. -- "My Name is Red," Orhan Pamuk I hate sarcasm. I hate it. It’s a virus in my bloodstream, an ice pick through my tongue, a rusty fishhook embedded in my brain. And, as much as I hate to admit it, as much as I wish it weren’t true, it's probably too late to find

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1103859635849922952004-12-23T19:28:00.000-08:002005-01-13T18:53:08.623-08:00

In the spirit of the Christian-imposed holiday season, I present to you my very own list of the best and worst holiday songs of all time. I have not ranked them, other than dividing them into four categories. Also, this list is by no means exhaustive; as I discovered during my research, there are plenty of holiday songs that I've never heard (some of which are apparently quite popular) and can

Mnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1103581163346435432004-12-20T14:30:00.000-08:002005-01-13T18:53:33.680-08:00

This isn't really directed at anyone in particular, but why do people see the need to interrogate me about my drink of choice at a bar? I don't like beer. I'm having a gin and tonic instead. Is that a problem? Are you okay with my taste being different from yours? Last I checked, it was still legal to order something besides beer at a bar, regardless of whether the walls are wood-paneled or if

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1103404353186896642004-12-18T13:11:00.000-08:002004-12-18T13:12:33.186-08:00

Dear Southwest Airlines flight attendants, Do you really think you're funny? Sincerely, M

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1102643707504187792004-12-09T18:17:00.000-08:002005-01-13T18:54:02.990-08:00

It's important to be able to learn from our failures. Or, at the very least, to acknowledge them with the intent of learning from them. This latter seems to be the best that most people can do with their various failures, and it's beginning to seem that I'm among that crowd. After all, I've been able to learn of my mistakes. I've learned to identify exactly what led up to them, and what I should

Mnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1102224810746753612004-12-04T21:25:00.000-08:002004-12-21T10:38:41.360-08:00

At my newspaper, they like to do "vignettes" for big stories. Like on Election Day, we were supposed to round up some random events or interviews and then write a few paragraph on each for a collection of vignettes. One reporter found a woman standing in line at a polling place who hadn't decided who to vote for. We called her the last undecided voter. I interviewed a man, an immigrant, who

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1102033524493382852004-12-02T16:11:00.000-08:002004-12-02T16:25:24.493-08:00

This is from Frank Rich's column today, taken wildly out of context: The dense text in the best blogs often requires as much of a reader's time and concentration as high-end print journalism, itself facing declining circulation. That's right. Now go read my area codes manifesto again.

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1101780142455093192004-11-29T18:01:00.001-08:002004-12-28T11:54:32.603-08:00

So today I moved into the new office, aka the bureau. Quite a lot of space here. Easily 1,000 square feet. You could fit four of my old studio apartment here and still have room for a parking space. It was just me today, but the other reporter will be back tomorrow, and an ad clerk is supposed to join us as well. We will have plenty of room to spread out, and there's windows too, so we get

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1101329491712493832004-11-24T13:48:00.000-08:002004-11-24T12:51:31.713-08:00

Nothing could possibly encapsulate the disconnect between reality and oldies radio than what I heard on K-Earth last night. OK, so let me explain. I was driving home at 5:50p, which means all the crummy commercial radio stations were playing advertisements. Why do radio stations feel like they need to follow TV's schedule? Don't start your programs on the hour. I'm in the car before the hour,

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1100726748318056872004-11-17T13:25:00.000-08:002004-11-17T13:26:03.360-08:00

There was an earthquake Sunday morning! And I felt it! Such a nostalgic experience. It's been at least a decade since I actually felt an earthquake. And Northridge 1994 wasn't one of them, since it was at 4:31 a.m. and I was about 60 miles away. But this one woke me up at 7:30 a.m., even if it was only a 3.0. The familiar rumbling and shaking brought back a whole host of memories. I think my

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1100307258109912982004-11-12T16:52:00.000-08:002004-11-12T16:54:18.110-08:00

I've decided apartment living is for dirty, evil, city-dwelling scumbags who vote for abortionists and sodomy, and I want nothing to do with them. Leave me and the real Americans in our houses, with our burglar alarms and our homeowners' associations stridently defending our housing tracts against the incursion of poor people. Oh, wow, look at that. I've adopted the language of the homeowner

Mnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1099790311287311172004-11-09T18:17:00.000-08:002004-11-09T18:25:14.526-08:00

There's this girl I've been missing. Her name is Jessica, she's 21, and she lives in an artist's loft in downtown Los Angeles with her sort-of boyfriend. I haven't thought about her much lately because I've been busy with commuting, packing, moving, unpacking, and getting used to a bunch of little changes that add up after a while: working again, living with a housemate, not having Internet

Mnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1099791937887411302004-11-06T17:42:00.000-08:002004-12-02T12:27:01.603-08:00

OK. There was an election. We lost. That's the way it goes sometimes. A lot of us are having a hard time understanding this, myself included. I mean, I get it, but it doesn't make sense to me. How does opposition to gay marriage -- the most non of nonissues* -- galvanize enough churchgoers to vote for an administration as horrendous as the one we currently cower in fear of? Why do people continue

Mnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1099462033232418612004-11-02T22:10:00.000-08:002004-12-02T12:27:46.000-08:00

Not only have I not been doing the blog thing this week, I pretty much have not been doing *anything* aside from work and moving into my new place. It's been busy. The thing about unemployment isn't so much all the free time, and then having to adjust after going back to work/school/jail. It's more about the free mental space. I had way more time than I ever needed, of course, which I filled by

Mnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1098980433540382882004-10-28T09:17:00.000-07:002004-10-28T09:20:33.540-07:00

I've moved out of my apartment and my new place doesn't have Internet. Since I don't feel like blogging at work, you'll have to wait a few days for me to figure out how I'm going to swing this thing. I'll be back -- but if you are hanging on this blog's every word, I think it's time for you to curl up with a good phone book and try reading something interesting for a change.

Mnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7557203.post-1098597487517082502004-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:002004-10-23T22:58:07.516-07:00

Apparently I was outed in the comments on the previous post, to which my reaction was, big deal, I just won't write any more about work. That's really just a precaution against an editor stumbling onto the blog, the odds of which are virtually nil, especially since a Google search on my name would still not show this blog among the results. If anything, that now means fewer of those maddeningly

Mnoreply@blogger.com2