DC in July

Whichever one of you started this blog, you had a good idea. I'm planning on going down to DC next week. Hopefully, I'll see some of you there. I try to be environmental and use public transport, but it seems like the transit gods conspire against me. Amtrak from Albany to DC is $100 (each way), as is Southwest. (Expedia quoted me a fare of $700 each way; one wonders why they bother.) Greyhound is cheaper but takes eight hours. It costs me $45 or so to fill my tank, and with 35 mpg, it seems that's the way to go. Sigh...

Addendum: I was in PA this weekend, and they had some all caps Clearview roadsigns. It was specifically designed as a mixed-case typeface, and the all caps are actually harder to read than standard signs. Stupid. I did see my first Clearview in NY, which was a good sign.

If you're bored

There's this really cool website TED.com, which is the website from this annual high powered technology and design conference, and they have talks from 5-20 minutes by people at the top of every field, from violinists to astrophysicists, talking about some cool project. Just browsing is pretty fun. I just found this talk about a device that costs 25 bucks, and acts as a refrigerator in third world environments without electricity or gas inputs.

Lessons Learned Last Night

• Hot Dog + Bacon = DELICIOUS.
  
• Vodka + Bacon = Drinkable.
• Tequila + Bacon = Gross.
• First floor apartments with gardens and no locks = Vulnerable to theft.
  

Really interesting article on the courts

On how John Roberts is not a partisan hack but actually trying to change the culture of the court, and how that could prevent the court from messing with universal healthcare and other parts of the Democratic agenda.

Jalapenos + Eyes = Painful

Just thought you'd all like to know.
-a

DC in July

Hey everyone, I'm going to be in DC from July 2-July 14 or so, looking to see as many of you as possible. If you're going to be there, and especially if you're looking for July 4 plans, let me know, we'll figure something out.

I am currently in the midst of my second Tyler Perry movie of the month. My Israeli cousins have awful taste. But at least we're done watching Boston Legal. If it wasn't already at the top of the list of Why They Hate Us, it got catapulted up after a latino man berrates William Shatner in Spanish about how the police killed his fighting rooster, and Shatner suggests that maybe he's speaking A-rab.

so why don't you go ahead and come in on Sunday as well

... for some waterboarding.

Post-Colonial Studies

Some of us are bored, lonely, whiny, etc, and have started planning all these trips to other cities to keep in touch, which is probably not really sustainable on a lot of our salaries. So after sending out some articles, videos, and joke emails to various parties, after many brief, depressing IM convos with people who are bored at home, or interesting ones about all the varied experiences people have already had since June 3rd, I decided it would be good to have this all in one central place.
We could just open it up every morning, like the new york times, looking for entertainment or information. And then if you find out that the Shnekhel turns out to be a real word in Hebrew for a two-shekel coin, or if you run into the manager of the florida lotto on J-Date, or you discover mountain dew's anti-aging properties, you can find a ready audience. This collaborative blog, belonging to the fully-dressed post-college group of Conrad, Joyce and Proust, will fix what ails ya.