Happy Halloween!

This is a nice one:

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Nightmare Before Christmas On Halloween

Last night, I went to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D. I’ve been a fan of this film since I first saw it during opening week back in 1993, and am just a bit troubled over how it has become an icon of teeny-bopper mall goth culture in recent years. I say just a bit because, well, nearly everything these days gets co-opted by some embarrassing force.

Over the last 13 years (God, where has the time gone?) I have watched the movie easily over 26 times (and all on VHS, mind you. I never did get around to the DVD.), and probably closer to 50. I like this movie. I have great respect, in particular, for Danny Elfman’s score (I was always really into Oingo Boingo), as well as the stop-motion animation technique, and the subtle, dark humor of the world Tim Burton created. Fast-forwarding to the animated features released in recent years (with a few notable exceptions by Pixar), every film seems to be another uninspired bunch of CG animals, banding together to fight the Man. I just saw a trailer for another penguin movie, for chrissakes! Will filmmakers ever again create something as original and wonderful as NBC? I hope so, but it is hard to find any evidence this might happen anytime soon.

How was the 3D? Amazing. Disney Digital 3D uses an innovative single-projector process (instead of the typical two projectors, with one image for your left and right eye, respectively), in which right and left eye images are alternated at a staggering 144 frames per second (read: really freaking fast). The result is a fantastically smooth three-dimensional effect. I was quite impressed with how well this movie translated into 3D. It was easy to forget I was wearing dorky glasses the whole time. The quality of the image was crisp, vibrant, and reminded me why I loved the movie in the first place. If, however, you’re looking to see insanely awesome 3D effects, this is not the movie to see. The effects are subtle, environmental, not flashy or over-the-top. Some of the moments of 3D are incredibly stimulating, still, like when we see falling snow, or when Jack races through the forest. But most times, you forget that it is 3D. That’s how good it is.

For awesome 3D, go no further than Captain EO (1986 - 17 minutes), a fantastic movie that also has the distinction of being, minute-for-minute, the most expensive movie ever made (something like one million dollars for sixty seconds). Plus, it stars Michael Jackson (yes, him). If you hear of it playing in a theatre with full 3D, go for it. I don’t think you’ll need the DVD, though. Not that amazing.

Christmas List

I think I have found something worthy of a place on my first Christmas Wishlist since the early 1990s. Now, I have been perennially (annually?) loathe to make any sort of gift list, and even less apt to have an answer when asked of my requests by friends and family. So why do it now?

Well, I’m under no delusion that anyone reading my blog might purchase any of these presents for me (even my parents, but, hey, if you guys are inspired, go right ahead!). So my reason for titling the post in this way is partially to say, “Hey, I want this,” and partially to say, “Hey, maybe you will want this.” Leading up to the holiday season, I will be posting little previews of some products I think are cool and exciting and worth a closer look. Perhaps you’ll see something that strikes your fancy, or something you think would be just perfect for someone special in your life. I am going to try to find products at several price points, and hopefully will come up with a good balance between stocking-stuffing appetizers, and super-awesome main courses.

First on my list is the new Sony® Reader. This is what they have to say about it:

The Sony® Reader offers a new and convenient digital reading experience. It boasts an amazing screen with technology that rivals text on paper. Weighing less than 9 ounces and at only ½” thin, it’s more compact than many paperbacks. Plus, it comes with a soft, black cover and software that seamlessly allows you to search and browse thousands of electronic book titles from the Connect® eBookstore and then easily transfer from your PC to your Sony® Reader. With built-in memory and multi-format support, you can take many of your favorite titles and documents with you. So compact and convenient, you’ll want to take it everywhere.

David Pogue of the New York Times gives it a very good review, for the most part, but stops short of saying that the Reader will replace paper books any time soon. I think he’s right about that, but it isn’t enough to stop me from wanting one. Why do I want one, after all? Well, first, something you should know about me is how much I hate carrying things. In fact, I can’t wait for the day that I will be able to receive my multi-functional biometric RFID implant in my wrist, enabling me to make calls, browse the web, buy stuff, and get into my apartment.

But, I love to read. And I read a lot. Lately, I’ve been growing fond of the PDF book, which, of course, lets me read without carrying anything. But this, naturally, restricts my book-reading time to that spent in front of my laptop, or my computer at work. Lots of the paper books I’ve been reading lately, are, also, pretty huge books (mostly programming stuff), and these are a major pain to try to read on the subway.

I have been strongly considering starting a Safari subscription (which lets me download PDF books from the O'Reilly library at a pretty decent price). My only reservation about getting Safari has been the limited e-book-reading time I have (I also don’t think that printing out PDFs is a great idea. Isn’t the whole point to move away from killing trees, after all?) But with the Sony® Reader, I will only have to make the small sacrifice of carrying one more thing and get to read every book I could ever want to. It looks sleek, has great battery life (in fact, you never even turn it off! Once a page loads, it doesn't use up any energy to stay visible - pretty awesome, gotta say.) But I think I am willing to make this sacrifice. The Reader is sleek-looking, thin and light, and functional. The user interface, I’ve heard, is not particularly intuitive (it can’t be worse than my cell phone, can it?), but most of what I’ll be doing is reading, after all, not fudging with settings or trying to play music or anything weird like that.At $350, the price is fair, and seems like it will quickly pay for itself in savings, especially if I download any of the thousands of free e-books to be found on the Web. Purchasing the Reader before Christmas also bags you fifty bucks to spend in Sony’s bookstore, which is a pretty sweet bonus.

So yeah, I’d love one of these for Christmas. Definitely.

Dogs Genitals and the WWW

Scott Adams, on having to survive a day without the internet:

They say that dogs lick their own genitalia because they can. But I think it’s at least partially because they don’t have the Internet.

Make sure you check out his amazing story here if you missed my post about it.

Double Your Money!

This morning, check this out.

From the site: “Advertise on mmmzr and get twice your money back!”

You might be scratching your head wondering how in Hades this will work, and I must say, it’s a tad sketchy on its face, but holds up on further scrutiny. Basically, mmmzr offers ad space on their home page, in the form of a grid of cool-looking image links. When it first started, ads were $1. Each time someone purchases an ad in a particular column, the price for an ad in that column doubles, and the previous companies move further down. They also receive their original payment back, and continue to receive that payment for each subsequent company that joins the column. Your ad remains on the front page for the life of this site, and will continue to gain traffic (ideally). mmmzr is definitely banking on the viral spread of this pretty crazy idea to drive traffic to their site and make it worth it for advertisers, and I am hereby doing my part to push that along, because I think it is a pretty cool scheme. The price right now is $256 for an ad, which means they’re not doing too bad, just yet, and the first ad-buyers have made a whopping six bucks so far! If anybody wants to get in on purchasing an ad, I’d be more than happy to take donations to that end, and split all the proceeds with you. Really. Or something.

I wonder how high it will go. I wonder if I will click on any of the ads. Hmm. I wonder if porn companies are allowed to advertise, and if so, how long before they overrun the page. Hmm.

Blossom

The winners for the MyDreamApp contest were announced recently, and they look super-awesome. This is the contest where folks compete to have their Dream Application made into a reality. The three winners - Cookbook, Portal, and Atmosphere - will definitely be great when they are released, but I really hope that the third runner up gets made by somebody, somewhere. Soon.

It is called Blossom, and this is what the creator has to say about it:

Ever wonder where all those hours went in your day? Blossom helps you prioritize and stay on task in a fun way. The Blossom plant responds to your productivity!

Choose a virtual plant to illustrate achievement of your goals. Create criteria that feed it, and criteria that neglect it.

For example, to Feed it: Actively use Excel or Photoshop. To Neglect it: Actively use World of Warcraft or browse blogs on Safari. IF your plant is healthy and flowering, you know you’re meeting your goals. Consistently failing to meet one’s goals will slowly wilt the plant. Clicking on the plant can display stats of current health, graphs of app usage, and suggestions of what to work on next to meet your goals.

If this sounds a little like a Tamagotchi or Chia Pet, well, it is. But this is on track to be the most beautiful Tamagotchi ever “alive.” The possibilities this application creates for absolutely stunning, dynamic art are endless. Surely, developers and designers would be able to extend the plant varieties, offering ever more creative and unique alternate “species” to truly turn each desktop into a living, breathing organism. Not to mention how effective this would be (at least for me!) for keeping one on task in order to cultivate glorious foliage. The ability for this app to communicate over the internet also speaks to interesting possibilities in the community ranking of websites in terms of their productivity value. This way you can’t lie by telling the program that the five hours you spent last night on YouTube were “really for work. Really!”

I am excited by this program, and even more excited for killing my first tree. This application, I hope, is one of many applications to come that will exist as ambient notifiers - responding to our actions, and provoking our responses. Where input and output begin to merge, and there is just one continuous stream of information flowing back and forth in equilibrium - that, I think, is the future. There will be a moment when humanity and technology finally agree, and I think Blossom is a major step toward reaching that point.

Google - A Verb

From the Official Google Blog comes a bit of fun semantic/trademark stuff, which I quote in full, below. But please do check out their blog, cause you can often find lots of cool up-to-the-minute inside information about our favorite search engine and lovable super-giant corporation.

Q: What do zippers, baby oil, brassieres and trampolines have in common?

A: No, the answer isn't that they're all part of the setup for a highly inappropriate joke. In fact, the above list (along with thermos, cellophane, escalator, elevator, dry ice and many more) are all words that fell victim to those products' very success and, as they became more and more popular, slipped from trademarked status into common usage.

Will "Google" manage to avoid this fate? This year has brought a spate of news stories about the word's addition to the Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English dictionaries, an honor that's simultaneously highly flattering and faintly unsettling. Consider, for example, this passage from a New York Times story published last May:

"Jim sent a message introducing himself and asking, 'Do you want to make a movie?'" Mr. Fry recalled in a telephone interview from his home in Buda, Tex. 'So we Googled him, he passed the test, and T called him. That was in March 1996; we spent the summer coming up with the story, and we pitched it that fall.'"

Now, since Larry and Sergey didn't actually launch Google until 1998, Mr. Fry's usage of 'Google' is as distressing to our trademark lawyers as it is thrilling to our marketing folks. So, lest our name go the way of the elevators and escalators of yesteryear, we thought it was time we offered this quick semantic primer.

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device that identifies a particular company's products or services. Google is a trademark identifying Google Inc. and our search technology and services. While we're pleased that so many people think of us when they think of searching the web, let's face it, we do have a brand to protect, so we'd like to make clear that you should please only use "Google" when you’re actually referring to Google Inc. and our services.

Here are some hopefully helpful examples.

Usage: 'Google' as noun referring to, well, us.
Example: "I just love Google, they're soooo cute and cuddly and adorable and awesome!"
Our lawyers say: Good. Very, very good. There's no question here that you're referring to Google Inc. as a company. Use it widely, and hey, tell a friend.

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information on, um, Google.
Example: "I googled him on the well-known website Google.com and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Well, we're happy at least that it's clear you mean searching on Google.com. As our friends at Merriam-Webster note, to "Google" means "to use the Google search engine to find information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web."

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information via any conduit other than Google.
Example: "I googled him on Yahoo and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Bad. Very, very bad. You can only "Google" on the Google search engine. If you absolutely must use one of our competitors, please feel free to "search" on Yahoo or any other search engine.

Thanks for your attention, and we look forward to serving your search-related information needs again soon.

Google away, friends! Just make sure you’re only Googling here.

Voice Hack

This is one of the more inspirational stories I have read recently. Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, lost his voice to a rare condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia.

Please check out his account on the Dilbert blog, and read on for some very inspirational comments, as well.

And while you’re at it, why not leave me (or him) a comment about the happiest moment of your life.

Thinking Outside The Box

Found in the New York Times. Click to see it at full size.

The concept, I believe, is from this site (which offers an interactive program I might check out at some point). I think this is definitely cool, and looks to be a great illustration of the relationships between elements. But I have to say, part of me misses the long rows. It makes me wonder if linearity of thought might be what separates us (to a degree, and older generations, certainly) from those just now coming-of-age. Are people becoming more inclined to grasp concepts presented in non-linear form? And if so, what does this mean for the future?

I am thinking about what, in particular, this leaning might mean in the arts. Popular videogames are surely less uni-directional than they once were (think Super Mario Bros. vs. Grand Theft Auto, for example). Some films seem to be taking greater risks, also, straying from the conventional narrative structure and still doing well in the box office. This is, of course, not to say that popular media - Hollywood in particular - are consistently leaning towards an elimination of “linear narrative,” but that those works that do seem to be enjoying more of an audience than before. Which is to say, they seem more commercial.

Is this evidence of a new way of understanding and experiencing being recognized and exploited by popular media, or merely another in a long line of co-optations of experimental narrative techniques for the purpose of being “edgy,” gaining indie cred, and impressing the Academy by taking risks?

What do you think? Have you seen any examples of this, lately?

Pom

A teaser for an upcoming interactive multimedia performance event.

Try These Things

1. Climb a tree
2. Stand on a couch
3. Eat a dead animal
4. Eat a dead plant
5. Eat something that was never alive
6. Buy a scratch lottery ticket and never scratch it
7. Yell your favorite letter while on the toilet
8. Sing while on the toilet
9. Brush your teeth in the shower (while peeing)
10. Eat a piece of pie without your hands
11. Eat spaghetti without a fork
12. Light a candle and watch it until it burns out
13. Read magazine ads outloud
14. Look through the phonebook for someone with a wonderful name. Call her when she is likely to be at work and leave a message telling her you thought her name was wonderful. If she calls back, answer.
15. Wear mismatched socks
16. Skip the underwear
17. Make weird faces in the mirror. Memorize one, and use it in public.
18. Count to 736 while watching television
19. Make a tower of your belongings that reaches the ceiling
20. Sing your favorite song backwards
21. Touch the backs of your knees
22. Eat ice cream in the snow
23. Buy a yo-yo
24. Guess what time it is
25. Go to a stranger’s funeral
26. Walk somewhere new
27. Explore someplace abandoned late at night
28. Go a day without talking
29. Go a day wearing earplugs
30. Take a nap at sunset
31. Set your alarm for sunrise, then go back to sleep without having looked at the sun
32. Drink champagne through a straw
33. Drop a hardboiled egg on the floor
34. Pretend you can tap dance

Anything you think people should try? I’ll add them to the list!

Before & After

I was approached with the task of taking this picture (albeit with a slightly different font similar to the one in the final design - not sure why this Windows computer was lacking the correct one and changed it this morning) which, at full resolution was about 3 inches tall, and enlarging it to be appropriate for printing on a t-shirt. Not just one t-shirt for a relative either, but nearly fifty shirts, which, to me, is a little crazy for a birth, but I guess some families are good like that. I don’t know if you can imagine off-hand what that picture would look like enlarged twice its size, but just try to visualize blue and green oatmeal.I decided all that was possible for this job was to start from scratch and create a completely new design based on the original concept (which was, of course, a Microsoft Word file making it even more fun! Luckily, though, I recently downloaded NeoOffice for Mac, which made opening it a breeze.) So, I started with a simple Google Image Search, and managed to find a couple photos I thought might work. Tragically, however, they also were very small and wouldn’t scale well to the size and resolution necessary for the t-shirt. I would have to do some line art on my own, and use to original files as guides, and for color. I kept the font close to what was provided (losing the red drop-shadow and vertical stretching in the original), and didn’t spend a world of time on minute touch-ups as this gig was more a favor than a job, but what I managed to come up with was greatly appreciated by the family, and, I think, a pretty good job on my part. What I think is important about this, and my reason for posting it this morning, is the way in which I tackled the problem. Rather than being frustrated with very poor materials, I pushed myself to take seemingly drastic action and completely scrap what I was given to start with a clean slate. I think that this is often called for, and perhaps too often shyed away from by most artists (including me!). It is much less scary to work with what you have, to keep pushing it, and this, in general, is a great way to work. But there comes a moment when the pushing crosses over to fighting, and the design begins to suffer as decisions become forced rather than grow organically and emerge through the process. I often feel such an allegiance to any work I produce, and any effort I expend on a project. Who wants to waste time, after all? But sometimes you just need to get away from the assumptions that have been made throughout the process, and question all of the decisions you made from the beginning.

I am reminded of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books of my childhood. If you die after making one set of decisions, you can always go back to the beginning, choose the other option, and pretend nothing ever happened.

You.

You are a beautiful person.

Believe me.

That is all.

Hairless Hair at NYU

What were these people thinking? I read a brief this morning in amNewYork about a production of the musical Hair, presented this weekend, which is being billed as “an Artistic collaboration between members of THEATER MITU, NYU / TISCH and THE SKIRBALL CENTER.”

In the brief, Chris Mills (the dramaturg) talked about reimagining Hair to make it relevant today, and I guess for him that means shaved heads, an all-white set, and making the music slightly tonally darker. Woo. I don’t have the actual quote in front of me, but he said something to the effect of: “Hair (on your head, not the musical) was very critical to gender when the original production came out (1968), and today it is different. We thought that shaving the heads of both genders was appropriate for updating it.” Something like that. I will try to find the actual quote on my lunch hour, so as not to misrepresent him. But the essence of the matter is, this is why I find dramaturgy so suspect, in general, and why I am frightened to imagine what this production might be. So often, revivals of classic works (even modern classics) fail to really find out what makes the production relevant to today. How many versions of Shakespeare, for instance, have been produced in which the action is set in “modern day society,” the characters given “everyday” clothing as costumes, and the language updated? Such things amount to little more than gimmicks, and do nothing to examine the relevancy of the play. Neither does this make the production more palatable to a “contemporary audience,” by which is meant “dumb, short-attention span, doesn’t care about theatre.” It just insults and belittles, and turns the play into the very same popular entertainment so reviled by the theatre-crowd to begin with.

Now, this is not to say the NYU production will not be good. (Anyone seen it this week?) It is, of course, entirely possible that Mr. Mills did considerable homework, and the director, cast, and musicians could be top-notch. But that is beside the point. This production has lost any chance it may have had of being worthwhile when the publicity surrounding it centered on the radical notion of having no hair in Hair. By calling attention to the “ooh” factor of the production, there isn’t anything left to see. We are never allowed to question the reasons for these choices on our own. Instead, we are left scratching our own more-or-less hairy heads, wondering about how awful it must be for the actors to have to endure these haircuts. Especially the girls! Oh my God. I just cannot believe that girls would shave their heads. They are girls, for crying out loud! How absolutely awful for them.

Wait, you mean they get naked, too? Sweet.

EDIT - here is the actual quote: “We’ve reimagined the show to make it insightful today. The ways in which gender and hair worked in 1968 have changed, so we’ve chosen to remove hair from both genders.”

That is even battier than I remember it.

IE7 Woes

I just downloaded Internet Explorer 7, which was released yesterday, against my better judgement, and I already hate myself for doing so.

The setup process has been a nightmare, and I have spent over an hour of precious work-time on it, to no avail. I’ve managed to install it correctly, restarted my computer, and launch the program. I can even browse to other websites and was able to un-install the Google Toolbar because IE7 makes it look like crap by loading lots of unorganized buttons all over the place. What I cannot do, however, is customize my settings using the page that tries to load when the application is opened. Several times the operation has simply timed out. And once it managed to get as far as displaying some text from the target page, albeit without any styles applied, and no little radio buttons to click. Then, of course, it froze the application. Microsoft’s own page. Nice job Microsoft. You are going to really confuse some people today. And really piss off some others.

I’ve played around with the Beta version of the browser on my brother’s computer, and hate the new placement of the reload and stop buttons, and the general look of the thing. My biggest peeve is in the gradient shading on the tabs. In particular, the way that the bright part of the gradient (which has a sharp line, in proper 2.0-style) aligns with the top of the text. Yes, the text is centered in the tab, but this exact alignment makes me go all buggy-eyed when trying to read it. I will try to get a picture of this to illustrate.
EDIT: I took a screen shot.


Now, maybe you are asking, “Why did you download it, then?” Well, at work, IE is the default browser, and my co-workers need it on this computer in case they feel like making up some shipments on the FedEx site (which is set as the homepage). And, allegedly, security will be better with this release, so that is important. Additionally, as I do a good deal of web design and development, testing on multiple browsers is crucial (Why? Because IE is not standards compliant and does freaky things). So, I must endure the Microsoft-ian beast for the near future.

Got a Microsoft hate story? Love story?! I’d like to hear it.

In closing,

Why is it still not working?!!

EDIT: 4:06 p.m. EST (six hours later), I just got it to work. And all it is is a page asking me to verify that I want to keep Google as my default search provider. Christ Almighty!

Wish I Had One Of These...

in my apartment



Click here to view this on YouTube if you can’t see the video embedded on this page.

Question of the Day 001

from Melissa A.

How can I get more creativity into (or out of) my everyday life?

This is an awesome question, and I am really going to try to answer it comprehensively and honestly. It is a tough question to tackle without getting into my personal struggle with finding creativity in life, so I’ll sprinkle some anecdotal evidence in what will mostly be thoughts and observations, as well as a few exercises that I think (hope!) will be useful. EDIT: I think I am going to make this subject an ongoing theme, as well. Thinking more about it, there is just so much to talk about.

To start this off, though, here is a list of things to stimulate creativity.

1. Look at everything upside-down. I guarantee that if you walk around the city half-bent-over, arms waving at your side, you will be seeing things you’ve never seen, and thinking of things you’ve never thought. Or at least the people walking by you will. And their reactions should be just unique enough, just passionate enough to deserve a painting, or a few choice poetic words on paper. I guess more generally this tip could be called “Provoke.” Create situations in your life that cause unusual, novel reactions, and you’ll never fail to find delight in the world, even if the reactions are negative.
2. Close your eyes for ten minutes every day. I like to do this while watching television, or on the subway. This is not a nap. You should be alert, attentive, and attuned to all the sounds, smells, and feelings around you. Don’t time yourself. Guess. If you do it enough, eventually you will know exactly how long ten minutes is, and that is impressive. Then increase it to 20 minutes. There are no other rules. Just keep your eyes closed, and listen. Every day.
3. Do something impossible. Genetically engineer a Unicorn, run 50,000 miles in under 4 minutes, eat the whole thing, build a time machine (and really work to make it functional!). Attempt something you think can’t be done. And really, truly, work on it. Do research, make prototypes - whatever it is, just keep trying to create it.
4. Cook something super-fancy. Pretend Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray or whoever your favority celebrity chef might be is coming over for dinner. Make something that will cause their eyes to light up (in a good way). The only catch - no recipe allowed. And you have to eat it once it is done. No exceptions.
   
5. Get a pencil. Sharpen it. Don’t stop writing until you need to sharpen it again. Keep doing this until it is just an eraser. Push yourself. Far. Physically, mentally - keep pushing.
6. Teach yourself something new. Find a book, or a website, and keep reading and actually do what is taught. Learn something you’ve always wanted to know how to do. Or brush up on something you haven’t done in ages.
7. Force yourself to just do it. Just create. No excuses. Make something. Now.

More coming, another day. But hope this gets you started. Let me know if you try any of these, and whether or not they worked for you.

And have you got a question for the Question of the Day? Leave a comment with it, or email me (if you want to remain anonymous) at kevinmichaelkeating at gmail dot com.

300 Million Strong!

Hooray America! You are freakin’ huge!

This is pretty cool.

And this is kinda related, but waaaaaaay cooler.

Companies That Inspire Me

1. Apple Computer - I think this response by Steve Jobs (for a Newsweek interview) sums it up.
   

   QUESTION: Microsoft has announced its new iPod competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about building communities. Are you worried?

   ANSWER: In a word, no. I’ve seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you’ve gone through all that, the girl’s got up and left! You’re much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you’re connected with about two feet of headphone cable.

   That is one awesomely crafted response which symbolizes just how concerned Apple is about their customers finding value in their products. Not just useful, constructive value, but the kind that makes you want to be using the product. All the time. The kind of value that make you fall in love with a piece of plastic. The marketing geniuses and development teams behind Apple’s products know how to foster this love. And they do it by first believing in their own work, and second by stripping away the layers of complexity, until what is left is a piece of hardware/software poetry. A nugget of joy in white plastic - easy to use, and yet super powerful.


2. The more I find out about these guys, the more there is to love. Their Signal vs. Noise blog is an absolute delight to read. They are just so overwhelmingly positive in the way they approach problem-solving, and their energy and advice extends far beyond the software realm. If writing a mondo-inspirational blog weren’t enough, these guys are the creators of a whole line of rich applications for the web which are super, super awesome. My interdisciplinary artist's collective Deliberate Motion has just started using Campfire and Writeboard to facilitate an multi-state collaboration that will take the myth of Persephone and use it to view contemporary issues of time-passage, humanity, torture, and choice. Campfire, especially, has been crucial in this process, allowing a handful of us to talk simultaneously despite living in 3 different states, and twice as many cities. I plan a longer post on their products at some point in the future, once I’ve used them a bit longer (I would really like to throw Basecamp into the mix as well, but haven’t had a minute to figure out how to incorporate it. Believe me, though, if their other products are any indication, I really won’t need more than a minute.) These guys are awesome. And you should check them out. They epitomize all that is good about the Web right now, and really, truly care about making things as easy as possible. Keep up the good work. Please.


3. “Don’t Be Evil.” This has to be the best corporate motto of all time. From their powerful search engine, to the multitude of applications worth checking out (Google Maps, Google Earth, Gmail!!!, Google Reader, Google Analytics, Google BlogSearch), these guys have got it going on. Google is all about providing tools to harness the power of the web. I am particularly excited about Google’s BookSearch and the implications that holds for the future. And their recent acquisition of YouTube is also fascinating. I check out Google Labs regularly to see what is in the works. I can’t wait to see where they go next. Oh yeah, Blogger is awesome, too. Especially in Beta.
   

What Do You Want To Know?

Ask me a question.

Ask about me. About the world. About quantum mechanics. About anything.

Ask me a question.
I will give you an answer.

Really.

I’d like to turn this into something of a “Question of the Day,” which will be answered in addition to my regular posts. So send ’em along and keep ’em coming!

Woman Gives Birth To Grandchild

Yup. No lie. A 50-year old woman in Japan has officially mothered her daughter’s baby. This is pretty cool for them, except the fact that Japanese law grants motherhood to the birth mother, and not the biological parents. Apparently a celebrity couple is trying to change this. Check out the story here for more details. And reply to this post if you need a sperm donor.

GodBlog Part 1

I absolutely have to point you to this amazing article.

Here is a little taste:

Since blogs are so popular, how should those striving to live God’s Way view them?

and

Then there is the language itself. Here is a mild example: “If your a hater then whateva i dont have time 4 your negativity in my positive world.” Phrases such as “screwed up,” “I dunno,” and every type of swear word are commonly used. One blog by a young twentysomething in a splinter used the acronym “OMG,” which is a shorthand way to take God’s name in vain.

Do check it out. You won’t be sorry.

Friday The 13th, Duh!

Art For Terri

This one is for Terri (a good friend from high school who recently moved to Boston for medical school), who responded to my post via Facebook. She will likely understand the picture right away, but for the rest of you, let it suffice to say that there was a “rumor” in high school regarding a “missing” essay of mine.

Art For Erin

Perfect/Imperfect - YouTube Video

Late-night YouTube browsing has brought me this treasure. Hope you enjoy it.

Quick warning: The very first image is of nude female breasts (just for a second), so if you are viewing this at work, you might want to wait until your boss is out of sight.

Helping Verbs - Language Is Important

is am are was were be being been has have had do does did shall will should would may might must can could

Q. Why do you hate me?
A. I don’t. No.

Q. Why do you hate me?
A. I don’t know.

Death By Coke Blak

Emily Tucker thought I’d be interested in this, and boy was she right.

Energy Fiend is the self-proclaimed “most complete list of beverage caffeine content online.” And the page I was sent, “Death By Caffeine” is pretty super. Enter your weight, “Pick Your Poison” from a pretty comprehensive list of caffeinated beverages, click “Kill Me” and it will return a message like this:

After 165.61 bottles of Coca-Cola Blak, you’d be pushing up daisies.

Sweet. It even gives you a link to a place to purchase said poison. In case you feel like living on the edge, I guess.

Be sure to check out the “Death By Penguin Mints” page as well, where you’ll learn that Oral Fixation Night Light Mints are pretty deadly, at least if you eat around 5,000 of them.

Very nice find, Emily. I can’t wait to find which of my favorite beverages will kill me the slowest. So then I can drink it every day, guilt free.

It is most definitely not Cocaine.

7-Eleven and Produce

A couple interesting things for you this morning.

First, Freakonomics Blog has called my attention to a NYTimes article that details a deal made between the Chicago White Sox baseball team, and 7-Eleven convenience stores. Apparently, 7-Eleven will pay the team $500,000 yearly for the White Sox evening home games (of which there are about 50) to start at, naturally, 7:11pm, instead of the usual 7:05 or 7:35. Awesome.

And from one of my current favorite blogs, Spurgeonblog (which you should definitely check out if you haven’t yet), comes news of an awesome product, called Fruittree.

Chris writes:

One of my many vicious circles goes like this...

1. Decide to eat healthy.
2. Buy lots of fruit and other healthy foods.
3. Stick fruit in a big bowl on the kitchen table.
4. In a moment of clutter, set the bowl aside. Forget all about it.
5. Several days later, follow the swarm of fruit flies back to the forgotten bowl, now filled with a sickly sweet rotting goo that used to be bananas, oranges, peaches, and mangos.

One of the winners of a recent kitchen design contest may be just the thing for people like me. Fruitree is a concept piece designed to solve the out of sight, out of mind problem with fruit that goes uneaten and spoils. Fruitree is mounted on a wall, so the fruit is right in front of your eyes. Circulating air is pushed throughout the Fruitree, keeping the fruit fresh longer. Fruitree was designed by Chia Shee Loh, Antonietta Fortunato and Elena Godenzi.

Man, this is exactly what happens to me. Decide to go healthy, shop at one of the expensive “real” supermarkets (instead of a bodega), eat well for a day or two, get distracted, forget about all the tasty produce I brought home, notice it in about a week when it’s too late. Or, often, it is my girlfriend who will remind me that there is some fruit I should eat before it goes bad. Or tells me that it has gone bad. Or eats it herself so that it doesn’t go to waste. It’s a damn shame. One of these days, I’ll be able to focus. Maybe I’ll be able to do it without the Fruittree. But wouldn’t it be cool to have one?

Trouble visualizing? Here she is. Beauty, no?

Promised Art - Emily Tucker

Not so Web 2.0 for Miss Tucker. I suppose I just wasn’t feeling the gradient fill tonight. Or perhaps her compassion-practicing is rubbing off.

Hopefully she won’t be sad that she doesn’t get a hungry woman-eating rabbit or a green wasabi-face.

And I’ll leave the request on the table. Drop me a comment (or write a six-word story if you feel ambitious), and I will create some art inspired by you.

Six-Word Stories Returns

Bailey Triggs has majorly taken me up on the call to write some six-word stories, and I am proud to present them below for your reading pleasure. Keep sending them, and I’ll keep posting them!

• A sucker’s born every minute. Welcome.


• ‘You complete me.’
  ‘Wow, that’s awkward.’


• ‘Can I get your number?’
  ‘No.’


• The dog without a leash. Fetch.


• ‘Kevin, m’boy!’
  ‘Please don’t touch me.’


• ‘I picked it for you.’
  ‘Gross.’


• ‘It’s the cops!’
  ‘Chug, bitch, chug!’


• ‘Love.’
  ‘There’s a cream for that.’


• The party clown. The wrong address.


• Neighbor’s yard sale:
  ‘Isn’t that my…?”


• The acid accident. Always a bridesmaid. (for Erin)


• ‘I destroyed it.’
  ‘It’s right here.’


• ‘Touch it.’
  ‘No.’
  ‘But…’
  ‘No.’
  ‘Okay.’


• ‘I hurt.’
  ‘Way to be emo!’

Way to be awesome, Bailey!

A Work In Progress - Comments?

Click the pic to enlarge. This is a rough-ish layout of what will be an eight-page brochure (the first page is actually the back cover, followed by the front cover, and the inner pages in pairs). A few of the pieces will be replaced with some new ones, and there are a couple pendants yet to add. Any thoughts would be, like, totally appreciated.

North Korea Doesn’t Scare Me!

Saw this on Gizmodo. Kinda speaks for itself, now don’t it?

For Bailey

Six-Word Stories

Marginal Revolution has posted this interesting piece about six-word stories.

Hemingway's was "For sale, baby shoes. Never used."
Norman Mailer, David Lodge, Robert Olen Butler, and others try.
Caterina asks her readers. My favorite from the comments is:

She watched the world end.
Again.

I'll try "Demand sloped up, Harry is naked."

I think I might give it a try, as well. And hopefully you will, too. Especially those readers who are, after all, writers. And damn good ones, to boot. (See, now you cannot resist! I have called you out and complemented you - there shall be no resistance!

Okay, here goes my first attempt:

Man eats dog. Stomach rumbles. Shit.

More later if I can find it in me.

Teh Mo-Chan, As Promised

Hope she likes it! And if any of you want a picture inspired by your you-ness, click that little “comment” thingy below this post!

The Future Is Now

In the future...

• everyone will have the same haircut and the same clothes
• everyone will be very fat from the starchy diet
• everyone will be very thin from not having enough to eat
• it will be next to impossible to tell girls from boys, even in bed
• men will be ‘super-masculine’ and women will be ‘ultra-feminine’
• atomic fusion will enable us to build a skyscraper with
• the energy obtained from a grain of salt
• through genetic surgery there will be a race of menial workers, studs, ‘whores’, TV personalities and politicians
• half of us will be ‘mentally ill’
• there will be no religion or spiritualism of any sort
• the ‘psychic arts’ will be put to practical use
• we will not think that nature is beautiful
• the weather will always be the same (relative to the way it is now)
• no one will fight with anyone else because anyone can
• be anything he or she want to be
• there will be an atomic war that will reduce the survivors to savages
• water will be expensive
• all material items will be free
• everyone’s house will be like a little fortress
• everyone will think about love all the time
• TV will be so good that the printed word will function as an artform only
• people with boring jobs will take pills to relieve boredom
• everyone but the wealthy will be very happy
• everyone but the wealthy will be very filthy
• everyone but the wealthy will be very wealthy
• communication/distribution systems will be so good that no one will live in cities
• farming will be managed through a nationwide computer hookup
• there will be mini-wars going on everywhere
• political and other decisions will be based completely on opinion polls
• only the very wealthy will be able to travel or move out their houses
• individuals with soldier inclinations will go out for ‘killer’ sports
• there will be machines which will produce a religious experience in the user
• there will be a classless society, no one richer than anyone else
• people will constantly be having plastic surgery, altering their features many times during a lifetime
• there will be many mass suicides
• there will be groups of wild people, living in the wilderness,
• who will rob suburbanites
• there will be only paper money which will be personalized
• everyone will only get to go home once a year
• everyone will stay home all the time
• we will not have time for leisure activities
• we will only ‘work’ one day a week
• our bodies will be shrivelled up but healthy and our brains will be bigger
• there will be starving people everywhere
• no one will be able to afford TV or newspapers, resulting in no one knowing what's going on
• people will live in space
• only the very wealthy will have pets
• the poor will be regulated by the rich
• the crippled, retarded, and helpless will be killed
• everyone’s house will be a total entertainment centre, with video, pills, dancing, sex, holographic movies, and game machines
• everyone will have his or her own individual style of very way-out clothes
• we will all eat our favorite foods, only they will all be synthetic
• we will fuck anything, anytime, anywhere
• there will be so much going on that no one will be able to keep track of it

—Knee Play 12 by David Byrne for CIVILwars by Robert Wilson

Shit.

Shit.

Free Art For You!

From Mo-chan's LiveJournal comes the following meme, which I am gladly continuing. So, read below, post a comment, and receive some artful goodness!

The first five people to respond to this post, will get some form of art, by me, about them. I make no guarantees about quality or type, but I will assure that I will give it good effort.

The only catch, of course; as with most memes, if you sign up, you have to put this in your own journal as well (and actually follow through!).

If you're lucky, I might find it in my heart to make even more than five if this gets a good response. Naturally, I'll send the final art to you, and post it here. Feel free to disregard the “you must put this in your own journal” part. I won’t hold it against you. Then again, you may have bad luck the rest of your life. Just don’t go blaming it on me.

5 Perfect Moments

The last of my 5 Things posts, officially.

1. An unexpected first hug from a close friend.
2. God Clouds on a long drive home.
3. Smiling at someone you don’t know and having them smile back.
4. That song. With that person.
   
5. Refrigerated cake for breakfast.

“I believe in low lights and trick mirrors.” —Andy Warhol

Stinking Antiriddle!

Antiriddle: Chapter 2 has been killing a group of my friends. We are on this riddle. And have found this additional clue. But where to go from there?

5 Women I Wish I Knew When They Were Alive

Click the photos to learn about these scary-looking ladies.


Blog About 5 Things Week - Instigator Blog

Antiriddle: Chapter 2

Super-awesome online riddle game, Antiriddle, has added a second part today. I just started trying to solve it this afternoon, and so far am stuck on the second riddle.

Can you do any better?

Let’s beat it!

Post your progress in the comments, and we can bring together our mental resources to take this baby down.

P.S. If you are a little stuck, I suggest going to the original site, and working through the tutorial, to get an idea how this works. There is also a blog with hints for the first chapter.

5 Men I Wish I Knew When They Were Alive

Click each photo to learn about these scary-looking folks.


5 Women is coming later.


Blog About 5 Things Week - Instigator Blog

5 Lies People Tell You

Continuing the joy of Blog About 5 Things Week, here is a list of five cases when what people say should not be taken at face value. I hope you enjoy the list, and don’t think badly of me for thinking this way. If you disagree, or have some more things you’d like to add, I’d be happy to see your comments. Thanks for reading, especially if you arrived here through Instigator Blog, and I hope you’ll check back regularly.

1. I’ll do the dishes - Whenever someone says this, usually in the context, “Oh, don’t worry about them. I’ll take care of the dishes later," it really means that after two days, dishes still-undone and overflowing, you will have to suck it up and wash them yourself if you feel like having a glass of water. This tends to be followed by silence from the other party, or, on occasion, something like the following: “Hey, you didn’t need to do those. I was planning on finishing them tonight.”
2. Sorry I can’t come - This is a classic line that means, “Dude, your party/meeting/event sucks, and I wouldn’t be caught dead there. Sorry about your life.” If you haven’t realized this by now, well, sorry. Real friends will make you change things if they can’t attend. Or send you money.
3. I’m registered such-and-such, but I vote for the candidate, not the party - Bullshit. Not only do these people vote even more strictly along party lines, they are cowards, and are ashamed. Not ashamed of what they believe, but of the fact that they don’t really know why they believe what they do. I have no problem with not being an expert on “politics,” and think everybody could use a more open mind and some education, but no one gets anywhere by refusing to speak their mind. Regardless of what you know or don’t know, keeping your mouth shut and remaining non-confrontational by saying something like the above is the surest way to keep the truth from ever being discovered. Take a risk, and say something. You might make a complete ass of yourself, but you’ll learn something in the process.
4. You look great - No you don’t. If you’re an American, you’re probably overweight. And that’s just not healthy or sexy. Chalk this one up to wishful thinking.
5. I love you

Okay, so maybe that last one isn’t always a lie. I mean I mean it when I say it. And I know my girlfriend means it, too. But isn’t the reason people wait so long to say it in relationships that they want to be sure that it’s true? Doesn’t this seem to suggest that some people might say it who aren’t sure if they mean it 100%? I’m not sure where I am going with this, exactly. Maybe there is something interesting in all this about the ambiguity of language, and people’s reluctance to say what it is they feel. Fear of offending, fear of confusion, of vulnerability - these fears aren’t “necessary in civilized society,” but stifle true, meaninful expression and harm the free exchange of ideas.

So, I guess, what I’m saying is, “I love you. Now do the damn dishes.”

Foley Scandal IM Transcript

This is a break from Blog About 5 Things Week, but so important that I had to share it with you. Below is a transcript of Rep. Foley’s exchange with as shown on Reddit. Reader discretion is strongly advised. But all the same, I think it must be read in order to fully digest the enormity of this issue.

READER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED: Foley's Exchange With Underage Page
BRIAN ROSS AND THE INVESTIGATIVE TEAM
September 29, 2006 — - The following is an instant message exchange a former page says he had with Rep. Foley in 2003. Warning: sexually explicit language, reader discretion is advised.
Maf54 (7:25:14 PM): hey
Auto response from Xxxxxxxxx (7:25:14 PM): scrounging for food...brb
Maf54 (7:25:25 PM): ok
Maf54 (7:25:35 PM): kep scrounging
Xxxxxxxxx (7:31:51 PM): boo
Maf54 (7:32:13 PM): bo dude
Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:17 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:32:26 PM): whered ya go this afternoon
Maf54 (7:33:39 PM): i am in pensecola...had to catch a plane
Xxxxxxxxx (7:33:47 PM): oh well thats fun
Maf54 (7:34:04 PM): indeed
Xxxxxxxxx (7:34:14 PM): what are you doing in pensecola
Maf54 (7:34:21 PM): now in my hotel room
Xxxxxxxxx (7:34:39 PM): well ..like why did you go there
Maf54 (7:35:02 PM): for the campaign
Xxxxxxxxx (7:35:29 PM): have you officialy announced yt
Maf54 (7:35:45 PM): not yet
Xxxxxxxxx (7:36:06 PM): cool cool...
Maf54 (7:37:27 PM): how my favorite young stud doing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:37:46 PM): tired and sore
Xxxxxxxxx (7:37:52 PM): i didnt no waltzing could make you sore
Maf54 (7:38:04 PM): from what
Xxxxxxxxx (7:38:34 PM): what do you mean from what
Xxxxxxxxx (7:38:42 PM): from waltzing...im sore from waltzing
Maf54 (7:39:32 PM): tahts good
Maf54 (7:39:32 PM): you need a massage
Maf54 signed off at 7:39:37 PM.
Maf54 signed on at 7:40:35 PM.
Xxxxxxxxx (7:40:44 PM): got kicked off?
Maf54 (7:41:24 PM): must have
Xxxxxxxxx (7:41:57 PM): ugh tomorrow i have the first day of lacrosse practice
Maf54 (7:42:27 PM): love to watch that
Maf54 (7:42:33 PM): those great legs running
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:38 PM): haha...they arent great
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:45 PM): thats why we have conditioning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:56 PM): 2 days running....3 days lifting
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:11 PM): every week
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:14 PM): until the end of march
Maf54 (7:43:27 PM): well dont ruin my mental picture
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:32 PM): oh lol...sorry
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): nice
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): youll be way hot then
Xxxxxxxxx (7:44:01 PM): haha...hopefully
Maf54 (7:44:22 PM): better be
Maf54 (7:46:01 PM): well I better let you go do oyur thing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:07 PM): oh ok
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:11 PM): have fun campaigning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:17 PM): or however you spell it
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:18 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:25 PM): ill see ya in a couple of weeks
Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny
Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol...a bit
Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy
Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow...
Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never to busy haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:51 PM): haha
Maf54 (7:50:02 PM): or tired..helps me sleep
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:15 PM): thats true
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:36 PM): havent been having a problem with sleep though.. i just walk in the door and collapse well at least this weekend
Maf54 (7:50:56 PM): i am sure
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:57 PM): i dont do it very often normally though
Maf54 (7:51:11 PM): why not
Maf54 (7:51:22 PM): at your age seems like it would be daily
Xxxxxxxxx (7:51:57 PM): not me
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:01 PM): im not a horn dog
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:07 PM): maybe 2 or 3 times a week
Maf54 (7:52:20 PM): thats a good number
Maf54 (7:52:27 PM): in the shower
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:36 PM): actually usually i dont do it in the shower
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:42 PM): just cause i shower in the morning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:47 PM): and quickly
Maf54 (7:52:50 PM): in the bed
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:59 PM): i get up at 530 and am outta the house by 610
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:03 PM): eh ya
Maf54 (7:53:24 PM): on your back
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:30 PM): no face down
Maf54 (7:53:32 PM): love details
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:34 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:36 PM): i see that
Xxxxxxxxx (7:53:37 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:53:39 PM): really
Maf54 (7:53:54 PM): do you really do it face down
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:03 PM): ya
Maf54 (7:54:13 PM): kneeling
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:31 PM): well i dont use my hand...i use the bed itself
Maf54 (7:54:31 PM): where do you unload it
Xxxxxxxxx (7:54:36 PM): towel
Maf54 (7:54:43 PM): really
Maf54 (7:55:02 PM): completely naked?
Xxxxxxxxx (7:55:12 PM): well ya
Maf54 (7:55:21 PM): very nice
Xxxxxxxxx (7:55:24 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:55:51 PM): cute butt bouncing in the air
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:00 PM): haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:05 PM): well ive never watched myslef
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:08 PM): but ya i guess
Maf54 (7:56:18 PM): i am sure not
Maf54 (7:56:22 PM): hmmm
Maf54 (7:56:30 PM): great visual
Maf54 (7:56:39 PM): i may try that
Xxxxxxxxx (7:56:43 PM): it works
Maf54 (7:56:51 PM): hmm
Maf54 (7:56:57 PM): sound inetersting
Maf54 (7:57:05 PM): i always use lotion and the hand
Maf54 (7:57:10 PM): but who knows
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:24 PM): i dont use lotion...takes too much time to clean up
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:37 PM): with a towel you can just wipe off....and go
Maf54 (7:57:38 PM): lol
Maf54 (7:57:45 PM): where do you throw the towel
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:48 PM): but you cant work it too hard....or its not good
Xxxxxxxxx (7:57:51 PM): in the laundry
Maf54 (7:58:16 PM): just kinda slow rubbing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:23 PM): ya....
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:32 PM): or youll rub yourslef raw
Maf54 (7:58:37 PM): well I have aa totally stiff wood now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:40 PM): cause the towell isnt very soft
Maf54 (7:58:44 PM): i bet..taht would hurt
Xxxxxxxxx (7:58:50 PM): but you cn find something softer than a towell i guess
Maf54 (7:58:59 PM): but it must feel great spirting on the towel
Xxxxxxxxx (7:59:06 PM): ya
Maf54 (7:59:29 PM): wow
Maf54 (7:59:48 PM): is your little guy limp...or growing
Xxxxxxxxx (7:59:54 PM): eh growing
Maf54 (8:00:00 PM): hmm
Maf54 (8:00:12 PM): so you got a stiff one now
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:19 PM): not that fast
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:20 PM): hey
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:32 PM): so you have a fetich
Maf54 (8:00:32 PM): hey what
Xxxxxxxxx (8:00:40 PM): fetish**
Maf54 (8:00:43 PM): like
Maf54 (8:00:53 PM): i like steamroom
Maf54 (8:01:04 PM): whats yours
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:09 PM): its kinda weird
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:14 PM): lol
Maf54 (8:01:21 PM): i am hard as a rock..so tell me when your reaches rock
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:23 PM): i have a cast fetish
Maf54 (8:01:27 PM): well tell me
Maf54 (8:01:32 PM): cast
Xxxxxxxxx (8:01:44 PM): ya like...plaster cast
Maf54 (8:01:49 PM): ok..so what happens
Maf54 (8:01:58 PM): how does that turn you in
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:02 PM): i dont know
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:04 PM): it just does
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:08 PM): ive never had one
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:16 PM): but people that have them turn me on
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:27 PM): and if i had one it would probably turn me on
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:29 PM): beats me
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:32 PM): its kinda weird
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:50 PM): but along with that i like the whole catholic girl look....thats our schools uniform
Maf54 (8:03:02 PM): ha thats wild
Xxxxxxxxx (8:03:14 PM): ya but now im hard
Maf54 (8:03:32 PM): me 2
Maf54 (8:03:42 PM): cast got you going
Maf54 (8:03:47 PM): what you wearing
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:04 PM): normal clothes
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:09 PM): tshirt and shorts
Maf54 (8:04:17 PM): um so a big buldge
Xxxxxxxxx (8:04:35 PM): ya
Maf54 (8:04:45 PM): um
Maf54 (8:04:58 PM): love to slip them off of you
Xxxxxxxxx (8:05:08 PM): haha
Maf54 (8:05:53 PM): and gram the one eyed snake
Maf54 (8:06:13 PM): grab
Xxxxxxxxx (8:06:53 PM): not tonight...dont get to excited
Maf54 (8:07:12 PM): well your hard
Xxxxxxxxx (8:07:45 PM): that is true
Maf54 (8:08:03 PM): and a little horny
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:11 PM): and also tru
Maf54 (8:08:31 PM): get a ruler and measure it for me
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:38 PM): ive already told you that
Maf54 (8:08:47 PM): tell me again
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:49 PM): 7 and 1/2
Maf54 (8:09:04 PM): ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Maf54 (8:09:08 PM): beautiful
Xxxxxxxxx (8:09:38 PM): lol
Maf54 (8:09:44 PM): thats a great size
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:00 PM): thank you
Maf54 (8:10:22 PM): still stiff
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya
Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb...my mom is yelling
Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back
Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no
Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:59 PM): she is computer dumb though
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:01 PM): it makes me so mad
Maf54 (8:15:04 PM): good
Maf54 (8:15:08 PM): haha
Maf54 (8:15:11 PM): why
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:23 PM): cause she cant do anything
Maf54 (8:15:31 PM): oh well
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:41 PM): she couldnt figure out how to download a file from an email and open it
Maf54 (8:15:53 PM): haha
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:14 PM): and she only does it like a million times a day
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:16 PM): oh well
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:18 PM): whatever
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:53 PM): well i better go finish my hw...i just found out from a friend that i have to finish reading and notating a book for AP english
Maf54 signed off at 8:17:43 PM.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures

5 Creative Commons Photos of Jesus

Links back to Flickr:

• Jesus and red flowers, Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires (I've been there!)
• Jesus
• Jesus Is Lord Parking
• Jesus And Black Jesus
• Jesus Loves Me (too)

Blog About 5 Things Week - Instigator Blog

5 Things That Suck

1. The blink tag
2. Microsoft Internet Explorer
3. Dyson DC07- reviewed by Adam Greenfield - and it sounds like it sucks really well.
   
4. MySpace
   
5. And this from Daily Kos:

   Things you can count on the Republican leadership to screw up:

   The deficit. Body armor. Medicare reform. Social Security reform. The minimum wage. Port security. The National Guard. Diplomacy. The Geneva Conventions. Fair elections. Clean elections. Intelligence. Protecting the Constitution. Protecting the Bill of Rights. Government transparency. Oversight. Separation of church and state. The middle class. The poor. Tax reform. Tax cuts. Bankruptcy law. Global warming. Disaster management. Defeating terrorists. Saying no to lobbyists. Saying yes to public opinion. Pre-war planning. Post-war planning. Competence. Civil rights. Civil liberties. Civil debate. Veterans' benefits. Hiring based on ability. Legal surveillance. Morality. Energy policy. Energy independence. End-of-life decisions among spouses. Inclusion. Learning lessons from history. Learning, period. Drug policy. Fiscal responsibility. Trusting the generals. Trusting the spooks. Trusting the experts. Basic honesty. Basic health care. Education. Creating jobs. Keeping CIA operatives' identities secret. Catching Osama. Playing nice. Playing fair. Refilling ice cube trays. Making paper airplanes. Or coffee. Tying their shoelaces. Making friends. Blowing their noses. Counting to ten five three. Sharing their toys. Telling the truth. Uniting the country. Protecting underage kids from a predatory congressman.

   That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.
   ---The New York Times

Instigator Blog - Blog About 5 Things Week

Blog About 5 Things Week, Apparently

Instigator Blog has declared it Blog About 5 Things Week this week, and is asking readers to join in by posting lists of 5 somethings.

So I'm going to go for it. All week, I'll post a list of 5 things. What will these things be? I’m still thinking about it. But for tonight, since it is late, here are 5 Things that you will not see posts about this week:

1. Lindsay Lohan Wardrobe Malfunctions
2. Stupid Jokes On The Family Guy (I would need at least 500 to do that justice)
3. Ways To Eat Bananas With No Hands
   
4. Jokes To Play On Jewish Relatives For The High Holidays
5. Ways Facebook Is Not Trying To Eat Your Privacy

If you’ve got anything in particular you’d like to see, drop me a comment. Otherwise, just check back daily to see what I manage to conjure up.

Hypo-Allergenic Kitties

Man, this is impressive. Go science!

Source: Allerca Lifestyle Pets