I'll never understand mankind's need to differentiate itself from "the animals." Most primates have opposable thumbs. Gorillas mourn the loss of family members. Grey parrots can achieve a vocabulary of nearly a thousand words. Dolphins use symbolism, abstraction and culture. The ways in which we differ from the other species are merely a matter of ( Read more... )

On month ago today I spent approximately six hours of my life scratching away on pressed sheets of cellulose fiber with a tool of crystallized graphite. All this for the purgatorial CSETs, the mandatory punishment for any who would seek employment as a California teacher ( Read more... )

Someone once told me that writing requires a certain arrogance, an overbearing pride in oneself which defies censorship or criticism. This is certainly true. I can't worry about what people will think of me or my work. I am not a politician. I am not even, strictly speaking, an entertainer. My first priority is to the act of expression - no matter ( Read more... )

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If you like video games and you like silver age superheroes, you owe it to yourself to try the new Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich demo. Trust me when I say this: The Kirby is strong in this one.

The dreaded "kissing disease" mono is transferred through saliva from one living host to another. Mono may incubate, biding it's time, in the human host for up to a month before symptoms become apparent. Expect swelling of the throat and lymph nodes, headaches, and extreme fatigue. Victims of mono can be identified by their pale complexion, ( Read more... )

I've been busy. So yeah, here's a quiz.


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I have this problem, a neurological defect if you will, that sometimes interferes with my ability to see things. It generally manifests when I'm trying to scan or sort through a collection. I look at a rack of coats, for example, and all I see are coats. My own coat, if it's there, is invisible to me until I look at the coats sequentially. ( Read more... )

What do you think happens after you die?
I cease to be and my body decomposes.

Do you believe in heaven?
I don't believe in things not in evidence.
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Whenever my friends come by for a game, I seldom mind that they don't clean up after themselves. They always leave something behind: dice, notes an empty can. Usually I just throw it away or, if genuine property, return it to them when next we meet. In the words of a famous, if not always eloquent author: shit cleans up ( Read more... )