That trusted brand, Crayola

Yesterday, in the break room at work, I found this ultra yellow-colored Crayola crayon. So I took it and kept it in my back pocket all day. I tried to convince people to sign their credit card receipts with it. However, I was informed by Mom Iha that a legally binding signature is done only in blue or black ink.


Today, I found half of this 10 rose pink crayon (clearly no Crayola). I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.


Delaware is the Blue Hen state and I like the smell of gas. This, from Missouri Tim.

An idea for the future

I've got a few ideas about how to start using this blog a bit more effectively. For example, I got a good copy of the Divine Comedy today and am thinking about turning this into a forum for discussing my reading of it (could I possibly make this anymore boring?).

Just an idea.

Ginger Chews

Are there, in fact, loads of things that have been floated to Mars? A dishwasher, for example? And if there's a dishwasher, is there then a sink? And if these things have, in fact, been floated up to Mars, then how did they get there?

Interesting Word Fact
Vampyrarchy: Derisive description from the 1820s for a parasitic group of politicians. Vampire entered the English language in the 1730s from such Slavonic words as the Bulgarian vampir. Myths about vampires were abundant in Europe, especially its eastern regions. In earlier times, pronouncing someone dead was so often the result of guesswork that a device called a Bateson's Belfry was sometimes installed in coffins; it could be rung from six feet under if the deceased awoke unexpectedly after premature burial.
From Jeffrey Kacirk

And, from Ginger Strand in the February '06 issue of "The Believer:"
"During Michigan's timber boom, big lumber outfits hired freelance 'timber cruisers' to scout out the best stands of white pine, which were usually mixed in with less desirable hardwoods. The cruiser would take note of the exact location with a compass, then scurry back to the nearest land office and buy the deed. These lone rangers of the timber industry were said to be able to find their way to a stand of choice pines by listening - in a light wind the upper branches of the white pine rustle in a soft but completely distinctive way that an expert can hear from miles off."

The Vitamin Supplement

Aside from the corporate headquarter's ploy to monitor the spending habits of all its customers, I really enjoy the health food store (http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/) where I work. In general, the other employees are fun, the discount I get is rather fantastic, and there are tons of aged hippies to laugh at.

Other benefits of employment: the obvious pay check; breaking my frightening addiction to television (Lost, in particular); eventual health insurance; lots of free food (all the expired yogurt you can muster!); and we generally get to play the music we want.

Setbacks: living at home and working in a grocery store.

Things to live for: the World Cup (June 9, baby); the eventual time and money to head to LA to visit Brother; working out at the YMCA and the knowledge that I will be so buff someday it blow your mind; possibly getting into grad school (assuming I can get all my freaking letters of rec back and sent off).

Up for a challenge: what if I became a vegan? I mean, just for the hell of it. Just to see what it's like. Benefits: pretty healthy living and increased knowledge of the food industry and what makes what. I'm not a vegetarian for any reassons in particular (though I find the longer I am one, the more I feel strongly about it and find it ever more difficult to even think about eating meat).

In other news, I've been rather consumed by the Prophet cartoons controversy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/4677976.stm) (remember, I've got link issues with the blogger and ibook). I feel strongly that it was the wrong thing to do to publish these cartoons. The initial offense - publishing a picture of the Prophet - is pretty offensive to Muslims (of which there are many in Europe - get used to it). Added to this, though, is the portrayal of the Prophet as a terrorist, implying that terrorism goes straight to the root of Islam, is an inherent part of the religion, that Muslims are, innately, terrorists. This particular image is not all that different from, say, a cartoon of Moses as the head of a bank, rubbing his grubby hands over a pile of money. In other words, it's racist (for lack of a better term) and hate-filled. Those are, in brief, my thoughts on the subjects.