Yes, Mr. I.H.I.D.V.F.H. is back in the news. He apparently held his breath and disinfected himself long enough to meet with the parents of lesbian and gay children. According to the parents, it did not go well. Links:
Philadelphia Inquirer: Santorum meeting went badly, parents say; and the more blunt Philadelphia Daily News: Parents of gays: Santorum stunk.
Monday, May 5, 2003
Dictionary fun
Don't worry, I'm not going to start posting obscure words-of-the-day. But I do find this amusing. I did a search for "cardreader" in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged on-line (subscription only, so I'm not linking it); it wasn't included, but they gave me the following suggestion as a "similar word": "swartrutter." The entry for which is:
Update, 01/20/04: Hey, why are so many people searching for "swartrutter"? I've gotten 16 search requests in the past four days—most of them from the UK, with one each from Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Did it show up on a quiz show, in a crossword puzzle, on a history program? If anyone knows, drop me a comment.
Main Entry: swart·rut·terTheir idea of a "similar word" is clearly not the same as mine...
Pronunciation: sw(r)t.rd.(r) [there's supposed to be some schwas in there but they didn't copy right]
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: alteration (influenced by Dutch swartrutter black rider) of German schwartze rotte, literally, black gang
: a member of any of various 16th and 17th century marauding bands in the Netherlands who blackened their faces and wore black garb
Update, 01/20/04: Hey, why are so many people searching for "swartrutter"? I've gotten 16 search requests in the past four days—most of them from the UK, with one each from Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Did it show up on a quiz show, in a crossword puzzle, on a history program? If anyone knows, drop me a comment.
Unsent
Dear Wawa:
No, I do not want cheese. No, I do not want extra meat. No, I do not want frickin' bacon. I just want a plain turkey sandwich, okay?
Sincerely,
Zhaba
Really, what is it with the new Wawa touchscreen ordering system? What's next, "would you like your sandwich smeared with lard?" If I want fattening add-ons, I'm perfectly capable of selecting them myself without being prompted by more and more screens. Jeez.
Presumably this is actually helping them make money. It's depressing how impulsive and receptive to suggestion consumers are getting. Of course, we're being conditioned by hearing about it all the time. "Supersize that?" "It's only 50% more if you buy another one." "Free shipping for an order of $150 or more." "Would you like to sign up for our in-store credit card?"
Bozhe moy...
No, I do not want cheese. No, I do not want extra meat. No, I do not want frickin' bacon. I just want a plain turkey sandwich, okay?
Sincerely,
Zhaba
Really, what is it with the new Wawa touchscreen ordering system? What's next, "would you like your sandwich smeared with lard?" If I want fattening add-ons, I'm perfectly capable of selecting them myself without being prompted by more and more screens. Jeez.
Presumably this is actually helping them make money. It's depressing how impulsive and receptive to suggestion consumers are getting. Of course, we're being conditioned by hearing about it all the time. "Supersize that?" "It's only 50% more if you buy another one." "Free shipping for an order of $150 or more." "Would you like to sign up for our in-store credit card?"
Bozhe moy...
Google search of the day
"attention deficit" child children: 246,000 hits. (Adding other keywords like "teen, teenager, kids," and the like, gets more.)
"attention deficit" adult adults: 76,300 hits.
The Yahoo! Health entry for ADD doesn't even have the words "adult" or "adults" on it.
I know it's a problem for children (and sometimes an overdiagnosed one), but it's not like you outgrow it the minute you hit voting age. And in kids, I think the disaster scenario is "s/he will fail in school and never get into college and never get a good job," which admittedly would be a bad thing; but in adults, the disaster scenario is that you can't keep a job if you manage to get one. Who cares what your third-grade math test scores were if you get fired for never getting any work done?
Sigh...
"attention deficit" adult adults: 76,300 hits.
The Yahoo! Health entry for ADD doesn't even have the words "adult" or "adults" on it.
I know it's a problem for children (and sometimes an overdiagnosed one), but it's not like you outgrow it the minute you hit voting age. And in kids, I think the disaster scenario is "s/he will fail in school and never get into college and never get a good job," which admittedly would be a bad thing; but in adults, the disaster scenario is that you can't keep a job if you manage to get one. Who cares what your third-grade math test scores were if you get fired for never getting any work done?
Sigh...
Sunday, May 4, 2003
Apocalypse right this minute
It's here. The end of the world. The pale horse, the sky rolling up like a carpet, the stars dropping like figs from a tree, the whole deal. The Olsen twins are on People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list.
So's Susan Sarandon. That's going to piss some people off. (Although I have to say that, altogether, the anti-war protesters are a good deal easier on the eyes.)
And so is a flamenco dancer named Farruquito. There's a stage name for you. (At least I hope it's a stage name.)
So's Susan Sarandon. That's going to piss some people off. (Although I have to say that, altogether, the anti-war protesters are a good deal easier on the eyes.)
And so is a flamenco dancer named Farruquito. There's a stage name for you. (At least I hope it's a stage name.)
Saturday, May 3, 2003
Hello, image searchers
(Actually posted January 27, 2004.)
Hi there. Are you here for the increasingly-popular "li'l kim burqa" picture everyone's been searching for and linking to? The post I included it in is way down the page, "The letter of the law," from April 30, 2003. I actually found it on another site, but I downloaded it and put it on my server, because (rather ironically) I didn't want to steal the other guy's bandwidth.
So anyway. You're here. Feel free to stick around and browse for a while. And, while you're at it, if anyone knows how or why this particular image on my server got so popular, drop me a comment, okay?
P.S. If you're one of those people who thinks women should stay in burqas, you'll probably find my opinions...uncongenial. Don't bother telling me I'm going to hell, okay?
Hi there. Are you here for the increasingly-popular "li'l kim burqa" picture everyone's been searching for and linking to? The post I included it in is way down the page, "The letter of the law," from April 30, 2003. I actually found it on another site, but I downloaded it and put it on my server, because (rather ironically) I didn't want to steal the other guy's bandwidth.
So anyway. You're here. Feel free to stick around and browse for a while. And, while you're at it, if anyone knows how or why this particular image on my server got so popular, drop me a comment, okay?
P.S. If you're one of those people who thinks women should stay in burqas, you'll probably find my opinions...uncongenial. Don't bother telling me I'm going to hell, okay?
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