On an empty stage

Matt Cavenaugh and Jenny Powers. Two leading Broadway stars. I always fall for these Real Estate articles that use the lives of the inhabitants as vehicles to talk about a neighborhood's lifestyle. Makes me all teary-eyed. Yep.

Ooo, Weddings/Celebrations? I will have a look.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/realestate/26habi.html

You twit.

The Awl takes down Maureen Dowd, heralding her irrelevance.

Also regarding the journalists who need the tweeting and those who don't:
"David Carr, you are FILLING UP MY DASHBOARD, YOU HAVE TO CHILL"

http://www.theawl.com/2009/04/person-with-twice-weekly-column-feels-no-need-to-provide-instant-updates
(via fimoculous)

A is for Apple

Tragic and though I hope the, as of now, unresolved situation does not claim anymore lives, I must point out that the New York Times posted some awesome graphics for the Binghamton American Civic Association incident. Assuming that readers have no idea where the heck Binghamton is, one of their big pictures is a map of New York state, showing where my alma mater's humble, Podunk hometown is located, relative to Albany and New York City.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/nyregion/04hostage.html

MY RESPECTS TO YOU

Atheism is a belief system I believe in. A belief system of no belief in the existence of deities. I love it. Supernatural occurrences can be undone by science and evidence showing that was happened was mere happenstance.

Oh atheism and rationality, you have shown me what to do in most situations. But, you have failed me when I most frequently need you: What do I say when a person sneezes? Tradition says to say, "Bless you!" and I balk at using what sounds like a religious exclamation.

What do I say to a sneeze? People will think that I am rude if I remain silent. Those around have stopped saying it to me and it kind of hurts.

Oh boo-frakking-hoo. It doesn't hurt that much. I still don't want to be a spaz.

"MY RESPECTS TO YOU." seemed like a fine substitute, albeit stilted and out of place.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" would have genuine concern behind it (seriously), but the person may be confused as to what I am referring to.

I think I will settle on "THAT WAS A GOOD ONE." It addresses the action and compliments the person. A step beyond the crummy "Bless you!"

Oh, it's a baby.

"Is Osama Bin Laden the Ralph Ellison of terrorism?"

http://www.slate.com/id/2211997/

FUCK

Seething, right now. I know there are plenty of intelligent people out there, a part of any group. But, there are times when I just want to throw my hands up in despair and deride all members of certain groups, knowing that that is completely unfair. What justifies my hatred for this group is that its members volunteer to be brain-bleached into unending ignorance. Right-wing nuts who have clearly adopted their ideas through mere legacy--repeating words and morals they heard from their conservative kin in their formative years--are formidable nuisances. That is, they are adept at completely baffling you and stopping you from being able to believe that they are saying the stupidest shit right fucking now. FUCK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hMJVXt09E

The comments are filled with the most sexist and ignorant spew I never thought would ever come from the minds of rational human beings.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not going to be dense and dismiss these people as crazy. That's unfair. Everything that has happened has contributed to the opinions that they now claim to hold. I feel that most conservatives just fail to look deeper into issues and the long-term effects of any policy. I'm not saying that lefties have a perfect vision. It's just that nothing's black-and-white and this tendency to see things that way have completely ruined our conversation (ah, damn it Denby!).

Name-calling, subject-changing, getting attention by performing with apoplectic rage. Pitiful tactics, I say. I'll stop here for now. So tired of trying so hard to make a difference while the ignorant remain ignorant due to minimal effort to expose themselves to the realities of American life today.

Indulge

if i lived in fresh water, would i ever have to drink water?

if i lived in chocolate cakes, would i never have to eat again?

A mouse drenched in oil

It's the sound of metal rubbing on metal. Or maybe a frustrated teacher impatiently rephrasing new notes onto a blackboard. It could be the heater kicking on on this frigid day. Oh, it's a mouse stuck in a trap.

A mouse was struggling to free itself from one of the office glue traps. It's whole left back was stretched and flat against the side of this newfound shelter. Like a furry little carny, taking a ride on the Round Up, having the centrifugal force smushing him against the wall.

I sympathized for the two beady eyes that stared back at me. Frightened but ready to fight, his paws stood firm. Although that may have been the industrial grade glue forcing him to maintain such poise in the face of an intimidating human. His fierceness was lessened by his left cheek being stretched and attached to the wall. Was this one of nature's scare tactics? The hissing of a snake, the bright colors of a poisonous tree frog, the dilophosaurus ready to spit in my face? His face was just glued to the wall.

I bought a small 16 oz. bottle of Red & White Premium Quality vegetable oil at the corner bodega. I brought the mouse outside and sat on the curb with the mouse problem in front of me. He started freaking the fuck out when I poured vegetable oil on him. I gently rubbed and he tried to bite me, his teeth grabbing only the latex gloves I had put on. The oil worked itself in and he was saved from a slow death. He quickly sprinted straight across the street. I was afraid he might get smushed by a car. I discarded the gloves and now useless mouse trap.

You have a little something on your face

Recognition and acknowledgement are pretty cool things. Being rewarded for the time and effort you put into a project creates one of the few sensations that pass under the radar, yet continues to fly (Was that corny? Did it make sense?).

A co-worker of mine was recently snacking on puffed rice. As she stuffed her stupid mouth, she was commenting on how her diet was keeping her from eating the foods she loves. Health concerns are the primary reason and I could sympathize. I was trying to do my work and she was keeping me from it. A puffed rice piece managed to sneak its way onto the corner of her mouth, hanging solely by a film of spit and near-weightlessness. Her nerves didn't fire and I enjoyed the few minutes of platitudes, now made interesting by the homely source; a face slightly stained by a lost grain. Shady as fuck? Maybe.

I took pleasure in this tableau. The feeling of coming into work or school in an outfit you were unsure of a few hours ago, confronted by a mirror that won't let you be content. That's her. If she knew about the rice.

She rubbed it off when I wasn't looking. But at the corner of my eye I saw her do it.

[I'm so fucking despicable.]

reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA uses those CAPTCHA human verification codes you see when you sign up for sites nowadays to transcribe unreadable words in books they've attempted to scan. It's pretty clever when you think about it.

http://recaptcha.net/