Goodbye Flashlight

Three day weekends are always too short. When a holiday extends the free time, there’s a strong desire to pack as much into that precious time, that the end result seems shorter than the typical weekend. I had planned to visit the American Museum of Natural History twice, but I could only make it once. A large chunk of my time was lost because of a stupid drunk girl.

I went to an apartment party on Saturday night that a friend hosted in celebration of her recent birthday. I had a great time and even had the opportunity to be the center of attention for a period of time, telling tales of the ridiculousness I’ve seen in my nearly thirty-eight years. I rarely take center stage among strangers, but I felt comfortable at this party, and I was encouraged by my friend, Jon. He took his turns making the group laugh as well.

There was once exception pleasantness: the afore-mentioned stupid drunk girl. She showed up half-drunk, and then more than finished her trip to inebriation within two hours. When she reached the point where she could barely stand, she leaned into me where I sat at the kitchen table, tried to kiss me, slapped me, and tried to kiss me again. I was shocked and repulsed, mostly because I was afraid she was going to throw up on me. Luckily she didn’t.

Eventually, the bottles of alcohol disappeared, and she convinced the two guys she arrived with to go to a gay bar up the street. I was happy to know she was leaving. I did not look for her to say goodbye.

My friends and I waited another hour before leaving, and were held up by what we later learned to be the fault of stupid drunk girl. She took my coat instead of her own. Of course it was a simple mistake. Her coat looks nothing like my own.

We were able to get her phone number from one of her friends, and attempted to reach her several times that night and the next morning, only to be immediately diverted to her voicemail, a barely-audible recording of “Stewie” from Family Guy. It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that we finally reached her and I was able to make it across town in the cold to retrieve my coat. When I checked the pockets, my $100 flashlight was missing.

Previously in the day I had left the AMNH early because I couldn’t bear the rudeness of the children who think nothing of walking in between me and the text of the displays, even though they see that I’m trying to read the information. One kid looked at me and willfully moved in front of me to block my view, another stepped on my foot to come between me and a display because he wanted to walk along the edge of the diorama, but I had planted myself to deter the little rats from blocking my view.

By the time I found my coat missing, and finally my flashlight lost, I was furious at the lack of consideration that I have to deal with daily. My roommate is one of the most inconsiderate people I’ve ever met, so it really is daily. I miss the days when manners were taught. I miss the days when people took responsibility for their actions and parents took responsibility for their children. As Willie Nelson once sang (sic.), “Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be boneheads.”

Oh Shit!

I just saw a commercial for AARP that used a Buzzcocks song. A BUZZCOCKS SONG!!!

(Please click on the above link to see this ad)

Now I have nothing against the AARP, but I have a hard time equating the song in question with being of the retirement age. The song used is "Everybody's Happy Nowadays," and it's fantastic. I don't think my parents, who are now among the 65 set, are Buzzcocks fans.

If you don't have the SINGLES GOING STEADY album, get it. And don't think that it's time to wear white shoes and move to Florida just because you like it.

P.S. the title "Oh Shit!" is based on another song by the Buzzcocks. Seriously, get the CD or download these songs!

It's A Mystery

The young man who killed five people in a Utah mall has a story that he can no longer tell. As a young boy, he was in the middle of an Eastern European war:

When the Bosnian Serbs overran the town in 1995, taking away and massacring some 8,000 Muslim men and boys, Sulejman and his mother were evacuated by the United Nations and later reunited with his father, Redzo said.

“They were a good, quiet family and I remember that he was a nice kid when he was four or five, maybe a little bit playful,” he said, standing in front of the burnt-out shell of Sulejman’s family home in the village of Talovici, eastern Bosnia.

“No one could have supposed that he was going to do such a thing,” Redzo said. “Who knows what made him do that?”

Now why would a young man, who's childhood was rife with violence, become violent himself? It's a mystery. A real mystery.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Welcome Kansas to the Late 19th Century

Despite the continued ridiculousness that many believe (such as Jon's driver during his business trip in Texas last week), Kansas schools will no longer have science screwed up by the bible.

The Kansas state Board of Education on Tuesday repealed science guidelines questioning evolution that had made the state an object of ridicule.

It does my heart and mind well to learn this news, especially after seeing the new human evolution hall at the American Museum of Natural History last weekend (more on that soon). Between the fascinating new exhibit and some new sanity in Kansas, I give Evolution 50 points in the "competition" for the brains of our citizens.

Science

Despite continuing controversies over the battle between Evolution and Creationism in the world (see the news story about the famous Turkana Boy skeleton and museum in Kenya), I am excited about the new exhibit opening this weekend at the American Museum of Natural History.

According to the AP story:

I think this is the first major exhibition in the world where the fossil
evidence and the genomic science are brought together to tell a mutually
reinforcing story," museum President Ellen Futter said at a media preview on
Tuesday. "Bringing the two stories together is extraordinarily powerful.

I'll be at the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins exhibit this Saturday if I can get in. I'm assuming the world of geeks will be there as well. I just hope the number of families in the way will be low. Nothing against families, the kids just tend to get in my way when I'm trying to look at the exhibits, and it just angries up my blood. Aaaaaaaaargh!

Even My Own Dog Has Gone Commercial!

Day after the Super Bowl and the watercooler talk is not about the game, but about the commercials. I think more people watched the game for the commercials than any thing else. And what are they saying? The commercials were not very good this year. I'm not a big football fan, but I thought the game itself was exciting. 50 fumbles make for an interesting competition. More importantly, I won the pool for the first two quarters even though I only put in $2. What I hear about from everyone around me is what commercials they liked, and there weren't many that anyone liked. Crazy.

If you missed the commercials, you can watch them again and vote for your favorite at MSNBC.

Early Spring

Everyone around the office is talking about Punxsutawny Phil this morning. They're thrilled that the Seer of Seers, the Prognosticator of Prognosticators predicts an early Spring. Hell, I could have predicted that. It will be an early Summer, too. Then Summer will never end.

IT'S GLOBAL WARMING, PEOPLE!!!

Scientists from 113 countries issued a landmark report Friday
saying they have little doubt global warming is caused by man, and predicting
that hotter temperatures and rises in sea level will "continue for centuries" no
matter how much humans control their pollution.