full by definition
Why did the pigeon cross the road?
This is exactly what New York looked like today.
A few weeks ago, when K. Sites's footage of the Marine shooting the not-yet-dead Iraqi aired, James Luckett wrote of the picture(s): "what gets me is how the light filters in through the window white and bright as the the deed is so effortlessly, so easily framed by those already dead spooning the right corner, holding fast to the nearest companion ceasing breath."
Today, in Mosul, we saw Iraqi light again, as if for the first time. Was the light as heavenly in Vietnam? Is that the difference, then?
Evan from Jackson Heights wanted some music; via BoingBoing, Meet the Beasties, so far heavier on Beasties than Beatles but there's still 6 tracks to go.
last survivor of the Christmas Truce, via mefi: Alfred Anderson has spent 90 years trying to forget the war. But it has been impossible. So on Saturday he will look back. 'I'll give Christmas Day 1914 a brief thought, as I do every year. And I'll think about all my friends who never made it home. But it's too sad to think too much about it. Far too sad,' he said, his head bowed and his eyes filled with tears.
via google news, some headlines for the wire version of yesterday's story on laptops, sperm count, and scrotal temperature:
Chestnuts roasting on an open FireWire
Shock as docs say laptops stop tots
Laptops go on sperm killing rampage
Sperm does not compute
US researchers warn of possible fertility risk to men using laptop computers on their laps
[this one from Germany, which makes it funny]
Japanese robots aren't fucking yet, but they are keeping old people company. "Snuggling Ifbot, who is dressed in an astronaut suit with a glowing face, has the conversation ability of a five-year-old, the language level needed to stimulate the brains of senior citizens, its software designer said."
Which leads us back to D. Coupland's Microserfs:
"While taking Misty on a walk with Mom through the Stanford Arboretum, Mom was telling me about this conversation she heard between two people with Alzheimer's down at the seniors home where she volunteers:
A: How you doin'?
B: Pretty good. You?
A: How you doin'?
B: I'm okay.
A: So you're doing okay?
B: How you doin'?
I laughed, and she asked me why, and I said, "It reminds me of America Online chat rooms!" She demanded an example, so I gave her one:
A: Hey there.
B: Hi A.
A: Hi B.
C: Hi
B: Look, C's here.
A: Hi, C!
B: CCCCCCCCCCCCC.
C: A + B = A + B
A: Gotta go
B: Bye, A
C: Bye, A
B: Poo
C: Poo poo"
On the the theme of time and place and history, if you need a quick refresher on being a teenager, livejournal helpfully serves up its latest posts.
The worst happened.
By now everyone should know what happened between me an my mom this morning.
In English, Skip asked about it, and I wrote it down, along with my feelings.
How I hate how my mom treats me, that shes a hag.
Hag found the note.
And apparently shes been reading all my other notes, going through my purse and school bag to find them.
She knows everything.
I am confused by boys they make so little sense at times..... But I happy that they are them and not me
I truely despise snow.
five things that annoy you:
1. fAke BiTcHeS
2. mY mOtHeR _ tHe sUpeR bItcH
3. JuSt PeOpLe
4.fUkIn waDe _ hEs pIsSinG mE ofF
5. wAdEs gAy AsS fRiEnD wHo iS aNnOyInG mE mOrE
To dumbass shoppers at Wal-Mart:
1. Get the FUCK out of my way. God DAMN IT. Move your fat ass out of my way. I have things to do, people to see, and I am more important than you are. I rule. You suck. Bow down and lick the dirt off my shoes before I kick your teeth in.
[and then also, non-teenagers:
I've been thinking a lot about chris and my relationship. I don't think it will last much longer. I'm on the edge right now as it is. About a month ago if someone suggested leaving him, I would have had all these emotional attachments, and would have said I can't... now on the other hand, I feel more willing, no strings attached. today when he left to work and asked for a hug, I said no, then he says "same damn thing, every day". I just wonder if he don't realize what is really happening. I have not felt intimate toward him for quite some time now... he and I both know it we just don't discuss it. We never talk. I try bringing stuff up and he's either too tired, busy, or it's too late and he has work the next day. I feel bad cuz I always have bad stuff to say about him, but he really brings it upon himself. Last night he says to me "if we had 2 phone lines, we could chat online together" i said "yeah we could" and then he comes back with "you never want to talk to me out loud". ]
I am spending a lot of time reading about fishing these days. Which has been fascinating, in the new-jargon way (e.g., " I went to a 3/16 oz darter jig and a 3" curl tail grub in salt and pepper. I swam the jig into the bait fish and when I felt them bumping the bait, I'd let it fall. ... I've also had some success slow rolling a blue glimmer spinnerbait from hook some bass lures, in the 1/2 oz size.") Today, though, brought in this story from Bassmaster, about fishing in Saddam Hussein's pond.
"I was stationed at Baghdad International Airport, and one day I ran into a buddy I'd spent some time with in Korea," Sgt. Curiel explains. "He told me his unit was headquartered at Saddam Hussein's palace on the airport grounds, and the palace had a lake surrounding it. He said he'd seen fish coming up, so we decided to try to make some tackle and catch some of them.:
