They're running the viper in reverse

I was unable to channel my inner Pauly Shore and get out of jury duty successfully. I am not permitted, by order of the guy to talk about the case specifically. I can say, generally, that it was the most boring 8 hours of my life. I sat on a jury like 8 years ago, when I was 18 or 19, and the defendant didn't have an attorney. He made a ton of procedural errors and I tried to keep my supreme annoyance about his wasting my time out of my mind when returning a guilty verdict; I probably failed.

And this is just part of why I am so ill-recommended for jury duty. I spent the whole day mentally finishing the sentences of the witnesses and the attorneys. During the recess, I felt nothing but contempt and annoyance for my fellow jurors, and I realized, at about 10 AM, that I would totally preferred going to work this week. Too late.

I just watched the season finale of Weeds. It was obviously building for the cliffhangers, so the dialogue was a lot weaker than normal. Isabelle, however, provided a truly hilarious scene referring to Lord Voldemort. I laughed for 2 straight minutes. I don't seem to be able to write in detail right now and I am going to attribute that to my extremely long day. That said, it's time for bed.

You musn't forget how much light you bring

I was trying to start a post about the mosquito ringtone that only kids can hear and I wanted to use a song lyric for the title that talked about getting older. I chose a line from Tracy Bonham's Shine and then realized the beginning of this song would make a kick ass ring tone. Then, I started to think about all the people I gave my great Amelie ringtones to and I started to wonder about why I try to please people that I don't even really like. All in all, thinking about ringtones is making me deeply contemplative and a little sad about my life.

Anyhow, here is a link to the mosquito ring tone so you can see how old and crappy your hearing is. I was able to hear it without problem, but two of the guys I work with (younger than me I might add [and why would I say I might add, because I already did add it])could not hear it. I felt pretty young and vibrant at that point, ignoring the ache in my back and the creaking in my knees.

Peace!

Parasite bent on devouring its host

I totally remembered what I was going to post about yesterday, but then forgot. I just got a CD in the mail from the lovely Jenny Owen Youngs who's wonderful song "Fuck Was I" was on Weeds and totally caught my attention. Included with my CD was a pin, a sticker (which I would stick on my trapper keeper if I had one), and a nice little thank you on my paypal receipt. When I purchased a CD from Bonfire Madigan, again I received two pins, a handmade CD case cover and a nice note on the receipt. I love buying CDs from independent artists. They are always so grateful; they always include some little personal touch and you know they are stuffing envelopes and sewing CD cases in their spare time.

So, when does it become okay to steal music? I don't think there is a definite rule for this; it seems more organic. Like a baby bird just knows when to fly, I trust my instincts for when an artist is bloated, awful, and rich enough for me to justify stealing their music.

Tackable Surface

It was only as I was eating cold oatmeal and checking back over the site for grammar errors, spelling errors, and sin of pride, did I realize that it had almost been a month since I last posted to the site. I felt very guilty, since I always get annoyed when people don't update their blogs daily. I had an idea of something to write about last night, but I had forgotten it by the time I woke up this morning.

When I got into work, I didn't feel like working, so I carefully unpacked the Campbell's Chunky Soup I brought for lunch this week, and the oatmeal and cherry flavored sparkling water. Then, despite having a mountain of enhancement requests to sort, I went through the spam folder for my inbox to make sure nothing was incorrectly labeled as spam. I noticed all these similar subjuct lines-

Momentous note. You must to read.
Momentous message. You should to read.
Significant letter. You have to read.
Significant letter. You should to read.
Serious message. You should to read.
Significant letter. You must to read.

I've always wondered how spam generators choose subjects and body text that allure people into opening them. There seem to be trends to Spam subjects, like "Significant letter. You have to read" is the hot, new subject and everyone is trying to get on board with their knockoffs.

This is a shitty post, but I am going to submit it anyway, because it is better than nothing and it lets Yella know that I am at least trying.

Good thing my gun was not properly calibrated

Last night was another rollicking good time. It started earlier than our normal weekend parties and actually commenced with an actual meal together. Normally, we skip those niceties and go straight for the drinking. I only had two patron margaritas, which were tasty and good with my tacos. Some others, like Dave, had much, much more to drink. The 8 of us, though, had a good time playing DOA, Tekken, Guitar Hero and Mission Confidential.

This same group of people was gathered back in April for Ethan's first birthday and we had a conversation about asians being good at math. Liem, John, Anna, and Andrea, all Asian, asked about us whiteys and what we were good at. I remarked that I "excel at imperialism." This remark received a pretty good chuckle. Today, while reading a few more pages in "The People's History of the United States," I came across a quote from political scientist John Burgess (1844-1931) that actually states that whites were "particularly endowed with the capacity for establishing national states...the are entrusted with the mission of conducting the political civilization of the modern world."

I was shocked to find something I said with equal parts sarcasm, wit, and liberal guilt was actually someone's belief system. Three cheers for western expansion.