Today's Link: Analog X
Today's Music: The Chemical Brothers
Current Book: The Life and Writings of Thomas Paine
Today's Quote: "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." Calvin Coolidge

Sorry about not updating yesterday, but geeze... I gotta have a life. Okay... I don't have a life. If I had a life, I'd have interesting things to write about. As it is, the reason there was no update was that I really didn't have anything to write about. Cleaned the apartment a little, went to work, ate some ice cream, came home. Whee. But on the other hand, I do have The Best Wife In The Whole Worldİ.
Anyway, Christmas is a week away, and in the tradition of most people, it's time to talk about The Meaning of Life. (which happened to be on TV last night) Christmas is the time when charitable donations are up, people are friendlier, and the world is a happier and more peaceful place. Right? Yeah, didn't think so.
In reality, depression soars, people get into fights over stuff they're trying to buy to prove how much they love someone. Stress levels go way up. People get themselves into tremendous debt, and while charitable donations are up, most people feel like giving something once a year fulfills their obligation for the whole year. "I sent $50 to the humane society and put a can of beans that I wasn't going to eat into the food drive and dropped a couple of quarters in the salvation army bucket. I'm a good person. Now I'm going to drive my Lexus three blocks to The Gap and buy myself a trendy new striped scarf." Basically, what this is saying is that a trendy scarf is worth more to you than helping other people. Between the car, the gas, and the cost of the scarf, you've spent more money for that than you did to help other people. And how many scarves do you already have. Okay, I realize that most of the people who read my page don't need this lecture. Most of us are much closer to needing that can of beans than to buying a trendy new scarf, but it's something to think about. How much does each of us spend on fasion and entertainment and stuff that we reall don't need compared to the amount we give to people who need things worse than we do. Not just time. Money too. I'm guilty. I don't really know anyone who isn't. I'm not saying that until everyone can afford to go to a movie, no one should. I'm just saying it's something to think about when you go to the movie. Maybe every 5th time you would go to a movie, go to a food bank instead. Maybe buy the sweater that's 30% off and drop $5 into the Salvation Army Kettle. Think about it a little. How can you help?

Today's Link: Diesel Sweeties
Today's Music: Dan Bern
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "The man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life" Muhammad Ali

So I found an interesting article today:
Charity Puts Price on Drunk Drivers' Heads

LONDON (Reuters) - A British anti-crime charity said Sunday it
would pay rewards to people who informed police about persistent
drunken drivers over the Christmas holidays.

Crimestoppers Trust said the public can call it toll-free to give
anonymous tips about persistent drunken drivers, which would then
be passed on to traffic police.

The reward of 500 pounds ($800) would be paid only if police then
arrested the persistent offender and won a conviction, the charity said.

Spokesman Roy Clark told ITN television the reward was designed to
target "persistent drunks out there that are a menace to themselves
and...in danger of killing others.

"We hope that people do everything they can to prevent drunks
driving...take their keys from them, put them in a cab."

I, personally, think this is brilliant. I'd turn in a drunk driver for free, but not everyone knows someone who's been involved in a fatal accident due to alcohol. So some people need a little more motivation, and money happens to be a great motivator for a lot of people. The only think I can think of that would make this better would be if the drunk driver had to pay the person (not directly of course.) Make a $1000 donation to the fund that pays these rewards a mandatory part of the sentance for any DUI conviction, and your car is collateral. Hell... impounding the car of any DUI should be mandatory too. Additionally, I think people convicted of crimes that do not get them sentanced to jail time should pay all of the costs associated with thier conviction... the arresting officer's salary for the time between making the stop till they are back on duty, plus all the time they have to spend in court, the Judge's time, the DA's time, food, heat, electric and water for time they spent in custody, rent for the cell, rent for the parking space in the impound lot. In order to make sure that they make the payments, they should have their pay garnished so that they take home minimum wage until the debt is paid. Anyone who feels this would be "cruel and unusal punishment" should have a chat with the thousands of people who obey the law, don't endanger others and still live on minimum wage. Can you think of a more appropriate punishment?

Today's Link: Sinfest
Today's Music: Kings of Convenience
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "He turns his money into light -- To look for her" U2

So... finished the extra-long work week, without going completely insane. That's always a plus. Anyway... I've decided to do a real, honest-to-goodness, up on a soap box, rant today. Aren't you thrilled.
Why does the government make me pay for other people to drive? I pay taxes, a lot of them, so does everyone else. but since I don't drive (my wife's car hasn't moved since thanksgiving) I don't pay as much tax as some people. But I'm sure that more of my taxes go to pay for the upkeep of roads and cleanup of the soot and corrosion from the exhaust of cars and their manufacture than those who drive big, heavy, fuel-inefficent vehicles do to pay for the lake-front bike path and the El. I'm not a person who thinks that cars should be banned or anything. There are professions where a vehicle is a necessity, even a large one. However, insurance salesman is not one of them, neither is soccer mom. Yet most of the really big, really badly designed vehicles are bought by these people. Anyway. You can draw your own conclusions, but I think if the manufacturer of a vehicle classifies it as a truck, it should be classified in all ways as a truck. Special licenses, added taxes and road restrictions should be as enforced on an SUV as they are on a commercial truck. That's all. What would you to aleviate the congestion and pollution?

Today's Link: GPF
Today's Music: Jurassic 5
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "Oh how difficult it is to make anyone see and feel in music what we see and feel ourselves." Tchaikovsky

More work today, my 11th day in a row out of 12. Whee. At least they feed us on Saturdays during the holiday season. All in all a rather un-eventful day. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. Didn't get a chance to talk to him and we're in the middle of phone tag now, but he sounded like he was in a really good mood in the message he left me. So that's a plus.
I finished Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy today. It was good, but I think I'm starting to get a little burned out on the whole Thriller genre, and I wish Clancy would write more about his John Clark character instead of Jack Ryan. But hey... what can you do. Jack Ryan now has Harrison Ford associated with him and I guess if you have an option, you follow the money. I'd like to think that I wouldn't "sell out" like that, but then again, I've been working in a doll store for almost two and a half years, so I guess I don't have a lot of room to talk. If it goes at all in my favor I argue with them a lot. Oh well... a guy's gotta eat. And as long as I'm not an employee of Disney... I've got something of my soul left. Plus they let me do the holiday show, so I get to design a bit. So today's topic of discussion is What would you not do for money?

Today's Link: Yamichi Works
Today's Music: Jack Johnson
Current Book: Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy
Today's Quote: "Art is man's noblest attempt to preserve Imagination from Time, to make unbreakable toys of the mind, mud pies which endure" Cyril Connolly

Yesterday, on the train to work, I noticed a bit of grafitti, It was written in Ball point pen on the plastic seats, so it was a bit smudged, but it was fairly standard graphitti, it said "**** & **** 4Ever" but with one difference... after "4ever" it also said "hopefully." I don't know if this is kind of funny, or kind of sad. It's funny from the standpoint of the realisim of it and the fact that between using a pen that would wash off, and the "hopefully" the person is clearly acknowledging the fact that at the stage of life when you write "4ever" relationships are not generally permanent. But it's also sad, because there's clearly a loss of the faith and hope of youth. I can only wish whoever wrote that the best of luck. You never know. I met my wife when I was 14. And now she's the Best Wife in the Whole Worldİ. So... I guess there's always a chance. I mean, how do you you know when you've met The One It took me 8 years to figure it out. I'm glad I did.

Today's Link: The Onion.
Today's Music: U2
Current Book: Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy
Today's Quote: I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. Kahlil Gibran

So... I'm on the train yesterday to work, and a guy gets on and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. That's very friendly. However... as the trip continues, he begins to get louder and more abraisive, even threatening people and swearing. There were small children on the train. So, I'm wondering if the guy is drunk or crazy or what. However, I also noticed that every time the train pulled into a station and the doors opened he got quiet and waited until people were on the train before resuming his ranting. So maybe he was neither drunk nor crazy.
Would you do that? If you knew nobody would call the police or anything, would you like to, every once in a while, just be completely crazy. Announce your beliefs and ideas at the top of your lungs for the world to hear, whether they wanted to or not. I suppose that's kind of what I'm doing here, however if you don't want to read this you can leave with the click of a mouse. Hmm? So... Tell me... if you were going to get on a crowded train and announce something, what would you say?

Today's Link: WWDN
Today's Music: A3 (aka Alabama3)
Current Book: Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy
Today's Quote: Wow. After I jumped, it ocurred to me. Life is perfect. Life is the best, full of magic, beauty, opportunity, and television. And surprises...lot's of surprises, yeah. And then there's the best stuff, of course. Better than anything anyone ever made up, 'cause it's real. The Million Dollar Hotel

So... Here it is, yet another attempt to make a regular page of rants. Should be fun. Anyway. I'm open to suggestions and such, so here it is.
For my first entry I will respond to my friend Phil's Suggestions that I should "start out by explaining what you did when you got up this morning. this should likely lead you to explain who you are, and why you bother waking up on any given morning."
So here goes:
This morning I woke up and took a shower. Which is generally the thing to do from both a social and a personal well being point of view. Then I made lunch for my wife. (Okay, so I poured some soup into a rubbermaid container and put it and some left-over broccolli into an insulated bag for her.) Then I got dressed. Then I walked down to the grocery store down the block to pick up my weekly produce box. Then I came home, put the produce in the fridge, and came to the computer... where I am now.
I guess, despite Phil's prognostication (does it make me an ass to use that word?) I didn't explain at all who I am and why I get up in the morning. As for the first of those... for the time being, and until I hear otherwise, I figure most people reading this already know who I am. As for the second part. The answer is simply... because life is better than anything else. So I get up. I go to a job I don't like that much, but that is better than a lot of other things I could be doing. And, besides, I have The Best Wife In The Whole Worldİ. I'll try to update this every day.