Envy

Gluttony

Greed

Sloth

Pride

Lust

Wrath

What do you think? What should I do for my next series?

Today is TBWITWW's 33rd birthday. She's as amazing as ever and I'm so happy to have her in my life. She's my best friend, the mother of my children, and she's totally hot. She's the yin to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the RJ-45 to my Cat5, the lime to my margarita, the pasta to my sauce, the guitar to my drums, the CompactFlash to my 20D, the bitters and vermouth to my whiskey, the garlic to my onion, the allen wrench to my Ikea furniture. You get the idea. Without her I'm, at best, incomplete and, at worst, completely useless. Sappy as hell, I know, but she brings that out in me.

Nicole, I love you and I'm so glad I've gotten to spend another year with you.

Happy Birthday

DrBacchus twittered a link to Read The Bill. I think it's a great idea, but I think it doesn't go nearly far enough. Just because a bill is out there doesn't mean it will get read by the congress-people. I think what would be more useful is adding to the 72 hour requirement, a requirement that the entire text of the bill be read on the floor before voting, and if you're not there for the reading, you don't get to vote. This would insure that the entire text of a bill was at least in the representative's mind, but would also help head off the ridiculousness of 500+ page bills. There is no way to exercise real oversight over such a thing.

Would this really help? Or would it just slow down the already glacial progress of our Government?

I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting links to things that catch my attention on the web on a weekly-ish basis. Here's some from the last two weeks.

I always enjoy the writing over at Defective Yeti, and his post on "Mindfuck Movies" has given me some fodder for my Netflix queue.

Urban gardening information and how to start seeds.

Art of Manliness looks at the debate about circumcision.

And Dr. Bacchus writes about the language of love in Dialect.

"We have our own dialect
with words that mean other words,"

Skippy wrote an article asking why people blog. In it he mentions the uses of Twitter and Facebook in addition to "traditional" blogs. It got me to thinking about why I blog, and in keeping with my usual lack of focus, I think there are several reasons.

I use Twitter as a way to put out little bits of information. Things I find amusing, questions that I'd like (relatively) quick answers to, basically the things I would say to you if you were in the room with me and I had a quick thought. I've also set it up so that Twitter also updates my Facebook status.

Facebook I use because many people I know use it. I rarely put content on Facebook, but I enjoy seeing what people I know are up to. Most of the people I'm aquainted with either don't have the skills or the desire to run full blown blogs, and like the ease of updating Facebook (and similar sites.) Most of the people on Facebook that I have as friends are probably better described as aquaintences. I think there are better ways to sty in touch with those who you are close to, but Facebook allows you to keep in touch with a wider range of people with a lower effort.

Finally, there are the blogs. I have 4 of them, none of which are updated as regularly as I sometimes think they should be. Aiden's site is a place of memory. It doesn't get updated regularly, but it is there when someone needs it. The counterpart of Dean's site is also one of memory. The memories are, in general, much happier, and they are still being created, but there will be a time when those memories are just as important and distant as those of Aiden. Something to Chew On is our food blog. It's a site that both my wife and I work on, and it represents an activity we both enjoy together. Additionally, it allows me to share some of my photography. Finally there is this site, which serves as a platform for me to vent my spleen (as the saying goes). It allows me to say things to a slightly wider audience then just my wife. I enjoy the responses I get and hope that real conversation develops out of it.

So, I blog for a lot of reasons, and almost all of them boil down to bragging, ranting, or otherwise making myself feel like my opinions have some weight in the world. To tie into another of Skippy's posts, if what I have to say doesn't interest you, move on or wait for a conversation that does. Hopefully something I have to say will interest you, or at least spark you to start a conversation with me.

Dean's page has moved from peanut.morydd.net to its new home at DeanPaul.net. All of the old links should automatically redirect you there. But feel free to update your bookmarks and such.

I'd like to see a requirement that all new laws:

1. Fit on one sheet of 8.5x11" paper, 1 inch margins, no font smaller than 12pt.
2. Be written in plain English, understandable to an average high school graduate.
3. Provide specifically for enforcement and penalties.
4. Make compliance as simple as possible.
5. Make punishments as harsh as is reasonable.
6. Require repeal of at least one pre-existing law.
7. Be veto-able by a general referendum of the the constituency to which they apply.

What do you think? Are there more rules? Are any of these a bad idea?