1. This weekend, I had for the first time since my childhood a rootbeer float. I'd been wanting to try one for awhile now, because while I distinctly remembered not liking them, I couldn't remember exactly what it was I found so unpalatable about a rootbeer/ice-cream combination. I had thought it might be because the way the ice-cream makes the ( Read more... )

        I feel it would be a betrayal of my James Madison education not to wish Mr. Alexis de Tocqueville a very happy 200th birthday today.  That's right: on this day 200 years ago, the man who brought us Democracy in America vols. 1 & 2 was born, a man who would shape the education of countless political theory students and remind us of the ( Read more... )

Last night I dreamt that all my friends (including anyone who would possibly read this journal) were killed in a massive explosion, the result of a terrorist attack. Before they passed on to heaven, however, their spirits all dropped off to visit me at work. They congregated in the office lobby and in my small office room, lounging about and ( Read more... )

     Those who desire to gain some insight into the workings of my mind may wish to review some of the comics found at http://cheston.com/pbf/archive.html
It might be helpful to consider that my favorites are Chew Boy and Bunny Easter.

I would also like to thank National ( Read more... )

God must be preparing me for Hell. All day, the air conditioning at work hasn't seemed to be working correctly. No matter how much I fiddle with the controls, it still won't produce particularly cooler air, leaving me feeling warm and miserable. I wouldn't mind this so much if I didn't know the air conditioning at home is broken, as well. I ( Read more... )

I was in the middle of my usual work routine this morning (reading the news), when Dad entered my office and announced that since his secretary wasn't coming in for the rest of the week, I'd need to do her work instead. I was shocked. Not only did I have real work to do, but a large quantity of it at that. And since I haven't done most of the ( Read more... )

Well, I survived yet another Bike Virginia tour; I just wish I could say the same for my bicycle. In the last week, I've had to replace the shifter, the chain, the rear cog-set, and a spoke in one of its wheels. Essentially, the bike has reached that age in which everything has become worn down and needs replacing, or so my bike-mechanic brother ( Read more... )

I have to say I'm really looking forward to my Virginia trip next week. Not just because it'll give me the opportunity to ride hundreds of miles on my bicycle through mountainous countryside in hot, humid weather, but because it'll also give me the opportunity to listen to audio recordings of college lectures on Existentialism. That's right: ( Read more... )

The more I think about it, the more bizarre my job really seems. I only spend about a third of my time at the office doing anything that would count as real "work", that is, that would actually benefit the lawyers, clients, or secretaries here. Most of the rest of my time is devoted to self-improvement: learning about various different facets of ( Read more... )

1. "Decadence" is one of my favorite words. I'd like to use it more frequently in conversation, but am afraid I'll sound too communist if I do. I like the religious aspects of the word ( Read more... )