42

So I won free passes to the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and John and I went to a screening last night. I must add a caveat that since I was not an avid reader when I was younger, I never read the book. I will let John and those of you who have read the book comment on any subtleties that I missed or how true to the book the movie was.

Not having read the book, I still enjoyed the movie very much. In the same way I enjoy the X-Men movies or Sin City having never gotten into those stories, this movie is enjoyable to those of us who may be slightly out of the loop. I may have missed a couple inside jokes here and there, but I wasn't lost, I understood what was going on and why and more importantly, enjoyed the story.

The acting was great, the sets and effects were perfect. Sam Rockwell was hysterical as was Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, the clinically depressed robot. The movie is intelligent, engaging, and definitely worth seeing. I noticed on IMDB that there a lot of the same people involved in HHGTG were involved in Shaun of the Dead - so if you liked that movie, you'll probably like this one.

New Perspective

I was at a presentation yesterday about how Muslims are portrayed in the media and the moderator showed us the blog of an Iraqi woman living in Iraq. She writes about the war on the ground and how the war is affecting real people. Too often we don't get to hear these stories about wars. It's unpatriotic to think about the "enemy" or maybe too painful for some to think about the actual cost of war, especially when most Americans (including myself) have not directly experienced war in the way this woman is right now.

Go read Riverbend and many of the great blogs she links to.

Stolen quiz

I got this from Great White Bear who got it from Blondsense

This quiz is perfect for all those people who love to say that the US is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles. You know the one's. Usually that argument follows something you say about how the 10 commandments don't belong in front of a courthouse, or that evolution should be taught in schools... or at least that's how it is with some of MY family...

SOme of the questions are tricky. I got a 15 out 21. Sadly, that's better informed than most people.

Slummin with the Virgin Mother, Canto Due

"Faithful see Virgin Mary in underpants stain"... I kid you not, someone told me they misread the headline as that (rather than underpass)...

Which led me to thinking. I know, dangerous thing.

I'll bet someone has seen Mary in their skidmarks and it caused a huge personal dilemma: Whether or not to tell someone what you've experienced. Is spreading the word more important than public humiliation of your filthy skivies being paraded on TV? I mean, how can you tell anyone else what you've seen? If you do, how do you explain what Mary is trying to tell you? Cleanliness is next to godliness? I mean, what would the purpose of appearing in a faithful congregant's tightie-whities?

But admit it - you know it's happened.

Heeeere's Johnny

So the secret fraternity of Balls & Shaft (I stole that from PCU) has finished it's initiation of a new Pontiff. (Thank you sir, may I have another)...

"As a young priest he was on the progressive side of theological debates but shifted to the right after the student revolutions of 1968.

In the Vatican, he has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on such issues as women's ordination."

So in other words, the Catholic church will remain in the Middle Ages, much like the Fundamentalist Muslims they like to criticize so much...

How can you crack down on liberation theology? The liberation theologians are doing all the shit work in the Third World, feeding, clothing, and teaching the bulk of the Catholics on the planet. Thank god I'm not catholic...

For those catholics out there who are looking for a religion more liberal with lots of similar rituals... try Wicca... ;-) All the rituals with none of the guilt...

Slummin with the Virgin Mother

What the fuck is it with people thinking they see the Virgin Mary everywhere? There was the grilled cheese sandwich a few months ago (personally I think that looked more like Marylin Monroe than Mary, but I'm a heathen so what do I know?).

Now there's this... yes folks, in our dearly beloved Chitown. I don't know about you, but this is starting to pick up the same feel as UFO sightings. Except it's not Cleetus having the experience. Too bad the Holy Virgin doesn't do anal probes huh? Now THAT would be news...

Higher Education Act

So apparently our work has paid off. Sen. Durbin has agreed to introduce a stand-alone bill in the Senate to repeal the drug provision of the Higher Education Act and it's due entirely to our work collecting signatures, calling his office, writing editorials, etc.

I'm not sure when he will introduce it, and it will probably get killed, but it is a huge deal that it will be a stand-alone bill. That makes a huge statement; it's not just some rider on something else. Keep your eyes peeled - once it's introduced, everyone can call their own senators to support the bill.

The National SSDP chapter said we've done the most in terms political activity - which made the cynical side of me wonder: are the other chapters sitting around smokin pot and weaving hemp? It sorta reminded me of Jon Stewart's comment during his stand-up show about medical marijuana. It was something like "why is it that when you see people who support medical marijuana it's twenty 18-year old kids and one old lady in a wheelchair?"

Anyway, that's a huge deal. BTW, here's the Sun-Times Editorial
The print version was cooler because they put a graphic under the headline of a cap and diploma which read "keep out of reach of ex-drug offenders". So really, even though the editorial board didn't take an official stand on the issue - by inserting that graphic (it wasn't our idea), they unofficially took our side.

PandaPorno

Ok, it's great that the pandas finally got it on and all, but was it really necessary for them to publish THIS photo?



What will the children think?


(photo "professionally" edited by Donna)

Another busy busy weekend

I'm too old for this crap, and I'm too young to be too old for this crap - go figger.

So, Friday I came into work for about 3 hours and then left for the University of Chicago, where Ethan Nadleman was speaking. Who? He's the director of the largest, most successful drug policy reform organization in the country. He's always fun to see speak - very engaging, very intelligent. He usually talks about Harm Reduction, which is an alternative to our current drug war. He has also developed alternative drug education programs, which like the more successful sex education programs, don't just tell kids "just say no" and pray that they actually listen. He combines "just say no" with "but if you do... here's some things you need to know".

Then, sans breakfast or lunch, and only a snickers bar and a cup of coffee in my tummy, I go back to work and do a few more hours of work, only to leave at 4 to go sign our new lease. Yeah, remember the duplex we liked? Well the people who were supposed to get it flunked their credit check. I'm very nervous about this - I am really going to miss our current place, but I'll get over it.

We went to an early dinner at a great restaurant about 2 blocks away called la Bocca della Verita - a very good, neighborhoody (is that a word?) Italian place. We walk in, and who is sitting at a corner table, but Billy Corrigan - fresh from the Cubs game I can only assume. He looked like he was hoping that the only two people that seemed to recognize him wouldn't gush (or Gish.. ha ha). I would never interupt someone's meal - that's just plain rude. If he was on the street, or sitting at a bar maybe I'd say hello - but not when the person is in the middle of dinner with friends.

Saturday I volunteered for the New Deal Service Day - where staff, faculty & students go off and do various community service work around the city. Our group ended up at the Resale shop of the Chicago Christian Industrial League. They do job training and the like and it seemed like a very good place. The resale shop had a third floor that they used for storage, but that they wanted to turn into part of the store, so we were sorting through donations, throwing out the crap and arranging the good stuff in a presentable way. They had some nice stuff. There was a buffet there that I LOVE. I may go back after we move, I need a place to put our china.

While I was off slaving, John was changing the oil and putting the battery back in the motorcycle.
Sunday we took the bike to Wishbone for breakfast and then out to Oak Park, to one of our favorite stores Fly Bird. It's just a crazy little punked out store with all sorts of fun stuff. On our way back on North Avenue, one of the local churches had people lined up for a mile or so along North Ave with neon signs saying "Honk if you need a Prayer" and screaming "Hallelujah" and "THANK You JEE-sus". We just smiled and nodded our way along North Ave, all the while thinking "what the Fuck?"

I got a lot done on my paper for class, which is due today. Still a little more to do during lunch I think.

French Fries & Fatty Thighs

So we were at this restaurant, a little bar & grill, and John got cheese fries & chicken fingers and I got a burger & fries (ahhh comfort food). The amount of potatoes on our table was OBNOXIOUS.

I probably had two good-sized potatoes worth of fries and the order of cheese fries was twice that size. So think about that - imagine two people eating six whole potatoes in one meal.

This has become a common problem I noticed. You always get way way too many fries, and I always feel bad leaving so much food behind.

Then it dawned on me. Most people grow up being told to clean their plates. Thankfully, I was never told that. But think about that - millions of people with the ingrained notion that you MUST finish your food and clean your plate, combined with the ever-increasing portion sizes. Maybe that is the reason we're so fat?

Newspapers People Read

I got this in an email (thanks Joe) and just had to post it:

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
   
   
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
   
   
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
   
   
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
   
   
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
   
   
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
   
   
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
   
   
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
   
   
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
   
   
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country ... or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.
    
    
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
    
    
12. None of these are read by the guy who is running the country into the ground.

So Tired

Well it seems I got myself in a tizzy over nothing folks. The landlords husband rented the place last night out from under us. DOH!

Oh well, it wasn't meant to be. And since we're on a perpetual lease with our current place so it's not like we'll have to settle for someplace we don't want just because we'd be homeless otherwise.

The coffee I got this morning sucked so bad. This will be a LOVELY day.

Can't sleep

This is terrible, I can't sleep tonight. I get like this when I'm under stress - I can't shut off my brain and I end up endlessly thinking about things. I know it's silly to worry about stuff that hasn't happened yet, but I can't help it. Right now here's my list of stresses:

• We're probably going to get that apartment we say this past weekend. We're going to see it again tomorrow. I don't know if it's just the stress of moving or what, but something isn't sitting right with me. It's a lot of space, but it's missing several things we wanted - like a dishwasher. We're going to go buy a portable one - but we have to make sure there's room in the kitchen for it. Part of me thinks we should just keep looking, that we will find a place that meets all of our criteria eventually. Since we're on a verbal, month-to-month lease, we can keep looking until we find a place. We don't have to be out of here at a certain time. On the plus side, it's a lot of space, John will have his own private office area. I would have a room of my own. Annie would have a yard to play in and a nice park 1.5 blocks away to play in. We also have to ask about flooding. The duplex is the first floor and basement of a 3 flat. Our current downstairs neighbors have had flooding problems during heavy rains, but our yard is also almost all concrete. The yard in the new place is all planted, with a nice tree - so there's plenty of drainage for water. Just the same, if John puts the office in the basement and it floods... bye bye computers. We have to take some precise measurements and take a critical look at the plumbing and electrical tomorrow.
  
• School work. I'm in the home stretch of my current class and am planning to take a summer class that would last from the end of May to mid June - right around the time we'd be moving if we took this new place. I'd be gone 2 nights per week at class and be bogged down with homework.
• Expenses of moving. Moving is an expensive endeavor - especially when you're going to have two rents for one month. I refuse to go back to the days where you have one day to move out and move in. I'm too old for that crap. Plus I like to have time to think about where to put everything and also get the critters used to the new place. Double rents plus a security deposit, installation costs of utlitities and the cost of movers is a lot of money and so we're pretty much going to have to cut back on all entertainment until July. On the plus side - I'll be in class and will hence be too tired to want to go out and do anything. ;p

I guess I'll try to get a couple hours sleep now.

What a weekend

I haven't had a weekend this busy in a long time.

Friday we went to see Jon Stewart. Words can't describe how absolutely funny that man is, especially when he's uncensored. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. He's much shorter than he looks on TV, and much bulkier - he looks like a little Israeli tank ;-) I personally think he looks better in a t-shirt & cargo pants than in a suite and properly coiffed.

At the end he sorta plugged the Daily Show and John thought he looked despondent. John thinks Jon Stewart doesn't like the Daily Show. I think he probably does, but maybe didn't feel comfortable plugging it during his own show. He has a lot of creative control on that show, gets his message to a mass audience, and isn't stuck on some lame sitcom. I'm sure he'd prefer to be uncensored on TV, but that's life, ya know.

Saturday morning we took Annie to the dog park. She doesn't really play much at the park, she kinda sticks by us. I think there's too many people there for her tastes, since she plays all day when she goes to daycare once a week. We did that to wear her out since we were going to be out all day. We then went out to the burbs for a friend's surprise b-day party. That was fun - I don't get to see my suburban friends nearly as much as I'd like. Everyone left me :-( Their kid is cute as a button tho - he kinda looks like John's baby pictures - so Joe if you're reading this beware. You could end up with a little John and from what I hear he was a PAIN in the ass when he was younger. :-) We left the party round 5 ish or so cuz we were going to swing by my parent's house that evening - it's not often we have a car, so when we do, we use it. We ended up going to see Sin City with them. That's a damn fine film. I want to see it again though because toward the end I was getting very uncomfortable in the seat and couldn't sit still. I've got something funky going on with my S-I Joint and sometimes it just hurts to be conscious. The movie was just like watching a comic book, very well done. It's not for everyone.

Sunday we went to Wishbone for breakfast - my favorite place for breakfast. Everything on the menu is fantastic. We then headed up to Lincoln Square to look at an apartment. We got there early, and walked around the 'hood for a while. The place was right in the heart of Lincoln Square, by the Davis theatre. We went into the Museum of Decorative Arts - which is in a building Louis Sullivan designed. It's half displayed architectural-related art and half shop. I walked past this one framed drawing of the Auditorium Building and asked how much it was. It wasn't for sale - it was a woodcut engraving printed in Harper's Weekly in July, 1887 - two years before the building was completed. I said that was too bad and that I worked in the building and the owner of the shop said she'd be willing to part with it for someone that had a connection to the building. Already framed and matted (though it may need to be re-matted) it only cost us $150 - which isn't bad for an original newsclipping from 1887. So I brought it into work today and am going to loan it to Roosevelt for display. It is mine however, and I will retain ownership. It's just so pretty, and it's been hand colored.

The apartment was a really cool duplex (first floor & basement of a 3 flat). It was missing a few things we really wanted, but are willing to compromise for that much space. There was another couple interested in it though, so they may have stolen it. The only forseeable problem with that place is that the 3rd floor tenants are friends with the landlord and though the ad said that dogs were allowed, the landlord was very clear that the yard is the 3rd floor tenant's domain. I understand that she's a gardener and all, and that's fine - but the yard is shared space, or at least, should be shared. That also means we'd have no place to put the motorcycle - the landlord said she'd have to "discuss" that with the upstairs tenant. I don't know if I want to be the odd-man-out on such a chummy relationship between landlord & tenant.

Anyway, that's all for now. I know I forgot something, but eh.

Going back to god

I think the Italian and/or Polish Parliaments should pass legislation to keep the Pope alive.

Just a thought.