The lack of response has been absolutely heartbreaking - I mean, 72 hours BEFORE the storm, when Ray Nagin was grimly exhorting people to get out now, why, WHY weren't they airlifting (especially) the poor, the elderly, the sick OUT of there, round the clock? WHY, if they knew it was logistically impossible to get everyone out, why weren't there ( Read more... )

and I'm very distressed about being up at this hour, too, as I have to be at work at 5am, which wouldn't be so bad if the allergy medicine I took five hours ago would let my brain reach sleep mode, but it won't, so I'll try not to worry too much. I'll just do what I normally do, i.e., take an extra long nap after work, which will in turn fuck up my ( Read more... )

So the cheapest plane ticket I can find is from JFK to Frankfurt, Germany, which will put me relatively close to my final destination, which is Prague. All my money will be spent this summer...but I'll have a future ticket to teach in Russia, where I will become fluent and undergo the harsh winters that I have been euphemistically calling " ( Read more... )

I return home today to find that the entire house stinks to high heaven! The culprit? An obscure (to us) Southeast Asian fruit known as durian. Holy CRAP, the smell is so pungent and potent...sort of like a sulfurous yet organic/sweet smell...yikes. My dad so thoughtfully brought it back from Houston, and proceeded to describe to me that, had the ( Read more... )

Mitch Hedberg was one of the funniest people on the planet. It feels weird to be so sad about the death of someone you've never met, but there it is. In the summer of 2003, when I lived in Austin with Nathan and Lauren, we all went to see him headline at Capital City comedy club, and I think it was just about the most hilarious hour I've ever had ( Read more... )

I'm "so and so" in more ways than one! http://www.homestarrunner.com/tgsmenu.html

So tonight I'm walking mindlessly through Target trying to find some wedding gifts for a friend of mine, quite unsuccessfully, I might add, when this music just entered into my head. It was this Mendelssohn piece I had choreographed some ballet steps to, because it ( Read more... )

I opened Internet Explorer to Yahoo news just now and what do I see but these two headlines, side by side...

37 Troops Killed in Deadliest Day in Iraq (AP):  "...heaviest single-day loss of life for the United States since the Iraq war began. The guerrillas also carried out a string of attacks nationwide against schools that will serve as polling ( Read more... )

Visually and aurally overloaded with awesomeness ( Read more... )

They're thinking, "HOLY SHIT! I'M GLAD WE MOVED TO THE US AND DIDN'T GET EATEN ALIVE BY THAT TSUNAMI!!"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/?GT1=5936

Damn...

It occurs to me that sometimes I wish I was a hell of a lot more exciting...or interesting...I mean, I feel that I am perfectly fascinating, but no one I meet fascinates me equally, or if I do manage to meet someone whom I perceive as equally deep, there is an obvious, sort of painful, lack of interest.

Things to think about for the upcoming year ( Read more... )