"What the hell is the American Dream, I wondered? Seven credit cards maxed-out, living paycheck to paycheck, upside down on the mortgage in a boring house you don't really like, a job you hate but the retirement plan gotcha, your little boy buzzing on force-fed Ritalin, wife and daughter gobbling Prozac and everyone wondering, 'Is this all there is ( Read more... )

Posting this here, since Facebook has heard enough about it already.

President Obama said that on Sunday, a small team of U.S. operatives launched a "targeted assault" on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad where months of intelligence work had established that Mr. Bin Laden was living. Mr. Bin Laden was killed after a firefight, and ( Read more... )

By this time tomorrow I'll be on the road back to Lansing. yay.

Usain Bolt has set a new world record in the 100 meter dash.

I'm impressed most when I run the calculations and realize that running 100 meters in 9.72 seconds means a human speed of better than 23 miles per hour. Enough to get a speeding ticket in certain condominium developments.

The potential bone marrow recipient with whom I was a potential match will not be receiving a transplant at this time, due to a change in circumstances. This, according to the most recent letter I received from the donor registry. So I go back into the pool of potential donors, at least until I turn 62.

The Ann Arbor News, which recently enjoyed attention in the New York Times for a shockingly obvious feature describing how high-profile student athletes at the University of Michigan are funneled into easy classes in order to maintain academic eligibility, returns to the forefront of groundbreaking journalism with this article on home foreclosures ( Read more... )

Checking e-mail this morning, I found the following headline ( Read more... )

I got my wish, a tricycle ( Read more... )

Another eatery opened earlier this summer in the Storefront Of Death, 414 South Main Street in Ann Arbor, where I used to work when it was W.G. Grinders sandwich shop. Zenaida Lounge (née Zenaida Chocolate Lounge) limped along in that space for a year and change before closing last December. By late next summer, I anticipate writing a similar ( Read more... )

Familiarize yourself with the insights of Jim Kunstler, whose weekly "Clusterfuck Nation" column is a good primer on what's really going on behind gas prices, which this afternoon are settling in around $3.65 per gallon in greater Lansing. And be afraid.