Pluggers? More like DRUGGERS!

Every time I think Gary Brookins* can not get more blatant with his advocacy of prescription drug abuse, he does it again. Let's set aside the fact that everybody totally uses expired medication in real life (even liberal elites), okay? How is this a joke? When Plugger Jean Krauklin turns up hospitalized because she consumed some pills that had gone bad or something, where will Gary Brookins be then? Probably still laughing his ass off all the way to the bank to cash his Plugger checks and use the money to buy shit at Wal-Mart. God I hate Pluggers. Past evidence of drug addiction to be found here, here, here, and here. *BTW: Check out his political cartoons for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Apparently there's something going on with the economy or something?

Ace Energy: Taurine buzz + recycled '40s pin-up imagery

So another of the discount energy drinks I procured during the recent trip to Big Lots! was an Ace Energy Drink. Apparently Ace uses WWII-era pin-up ladies and warplane imagery to get across their mission (according to the website):

For individuals who value their own unique personality. Ace Energy originates upon American tradition, but thrives on today’s custom culture lifestyles, Inspiring you to be an ACE in whatever it is you do. To those who appreciate American music, custom cars & choppers, or a day’s hard work, Ace Energy delivers effective endurance for finishing the job. A nostalgic imaged can encourages a unique lifestyle. Whether you are a soldier or a civilian, life demands energy.

That definitely describes me. Well, I picked out the energy + juice (10 whole %!) kind and utilized it while writing a mediocre response paper the other night. Review time! ACE ENERGY + JUICE TASTE: 2.5/5 asterisks It promises "juice," but tastes mostly like any old fruity carbonated energy drink. Definitely drinkable, but nothing special. EFFECTIVENESS: **** It had me relatively motivated about my summarizing duties and kept me alert late into the evening/writing project. MAKES ME WANT TO DO HARDER DRUGS: *** Little bit of hyperness and shakiness = the constant desire for more. OVERALL: 3.2 asterisks rounded up to 3.5 for the re-appropriation of sexy classic pin-ups.

Nonexistent pre-babies

1. I read on Feministing last week that you can now purchase an "Unborn Babies for McCain" t-shirt. Besides the fact that I'm pretty sure "unborn" is a made-up word, I'm not sure I would take political recommendations from non-sentient beings. 2. That reminded me of the beginning of this hilarious Flight of the Conchords video: That is all.

Chester A. Arthur Limerick Time!

Julia said this was a rough one, but I think she did a beautiful job of capturing our nation's twenty-first President in this classical poetic form:

By the spoils system Pres. Arthur vowed not to be swayed

As politics was becoming an utter charade

He chose note to conform

And ushered in civil service reform

To the chagrin of the Stalwarts, who felt rather betrayed

That xkcd guy is once again strumming my pain with his fingers

I totes felt this pain about a month ago. Thank god for local unsecured "default" network:

Chester A. Arthur: Possibly Secretly Canadian-Born President of Civil Service Reform

Young Chet sure was dreamy.

Chester A. Arthur was a man who not only possessed the ability to grow magically awesome hair on his face, but was able to rise above the spoils system that brought him to power and left his one term in office a beloved figure.* He was born in 1829 (or 1830) in Vermont (or maybe Quebec) to an Irish-born preacher and his Vermontian wife. He grew up in New York state and went to Union College where he partook in that great patriarchal tradition of college fraternity membership (Psi Upsilon). He got a master's degree in something and then spent some time as a school principal. But, of course, since he wanted to go into politics, he decided to study law. He passed the bar and began practicing in New York City. During the Civil War, he did some stuff like quartermastering in the army or something and he was promoted a few times before finishing his military stint in 1862. At some point Chet (as his friends and family called him) fell in with Roscoe Conkling, a finely-bearded man and Republican operative. Old Roscoe got him an in with President U.S. Grant, who appointed Arthur to the position of Collector of Customs for the Port of New York. Apparently there was a lot of money in this job, but the future prez was far less corrupt than most of his predecessors had been. After Rutherford B. Hayes came to office in the late 1870s, he threw Arthur out of the Customs House and replaced him with one of his own guys. Arthur went back to practicing law while his pal Roscoe worked on getting Grant nominated to run for a third term. Well, shenanigans at the 1880 RNC ensued and James "Dark Horse" Garfield was nominated instead. Garfield's people wanted a Stalwart (someone from the pro-spoils faction) for VP, and Arthur was enthusiastic about being their second choice. A close election eked Garfield and Arthur into the White House in 1881, though apparently they were not friends. Roscoe kept calling Chet and being like, "Hey, when can we get our pals new government jobs, yo?" And Garfield was like, "STFU, asshole." But then in July some guy shot Garfield and claimed he had done it in the name of patronage and to make Arthur President. Chet really kind of felt bad about this, since the guy was crazy and had nothing to do with him. So once Garfield finally died of complications from his wounds, Arthur defied the Stalwarts (and the rest of his party for that matter) by pushing through serious civil service reform. Also, he was a good dresser. But totally like President Bartlett, Arthur found out he had a fatal disease** and didn't tell anyone. He was pretty blase about running for reelection because of it, and he actually ended up dying of a cerberal hemorrhage in 1886. Other facts about Chester Alan Arthur: -Because of his fancy clothes, he was known as "the Gentleman's Boss" or "Elegant Arthur." -He was a widower who vowed never to remarry. -Supposedly he had, like, 80 pairs of pants and would change into different pants multiple times a day. I speculate that this had more to do with an incontinence problem than a penchant for fashion, though there does not seem to be any historical basis for such claims--I just like making them. -Before moving into the White House, he insisted on getting rid of all the old furniture and totally redecorating. I don't want to stereotype, but Chester A. Arthur may have been gay. -He was an avid fisherman who caught big fish sometimes. Fish are gross. Objectively. *Except for by his party, the Republicans. Also, Democrats. But non-politicians totally thought he was the cat's pajamas. **Some kidney thing.

DISCOUNT Energy Drink Review: Turn Left

Were you aware that Big Lots! sells random off-brand energy drinks? For under $1, no less? Well, get your energy-craving little ass over there and check out the beautiful selection! One of the fine beverages I selected on a recent BL! outing was the Turn Left Energy Drink.* This is a NASCAR energy drink. Need I say more, friends? To the review! TURN LEFT ENERGY DRINK TASTE: 2.5 (out of 5 possible asterisks) It essentially tastes like Red Bull. Meh. EFFECTIVENESS: **** "It's Liquid Horsepower--How Fast Do You Want To Go?" says the can. Well, I don't know that I'm really moving that fast, but I seem to be awake and alert and multitasking to make the rest of this Lukacs article less painful, so it's pretty good; though I don't think I could outrun a racecar right now or anything. Unfortunately, because that would come in really handy. GATEWAY DRUGGINESS: ** No shakes or anything, just regular alertness. I won't be moving straight to meth from this. Too bad. OVERALL: 2.83 asterisks, though I have to say it was especially good for $.70. *Will link later. My office computer doesn't have Adobe Flash Player and I have to get administrative access to install it blah blah blah.

Yeah, I'm TOTALLY reading my Lukacs right now

Young Georg tries on the mustache for size. And is all slouch-y. So for my (admittedly awesome) communications class on cultural Marxism, we're reading a big ol' chunk of History and Class Consciousness. Large swaths of this work are completely incomprehensible, despite appearing to have been translated into English from the German or the Hungarian or whatever it was originally written in. But I can feel my smarts growing. You too can watch them growing by reading all my really good sentences. Anyway, a few tidbits to share: -The train just went by (it's maybe a half-mile away) and it is serious about constant whistle-blowing. Apparently drunk college kids wander onto the tracks sometimes and get hit. -I saw a nurse practitioner at the student health center last week, and I'm not going to lie, she was a little bit judge-y. I mean, she works at a university, I don't see where she gets off. Just because she happened to have encountered me at the tail end of Lauren's Ridiculous/Awesome Summer of Promiscuity™ and I didn't feel like counting up an exact number in front of her right then and there doesn't mean she can give me shit about "taking risks." This is why the Sexy Gay Jesus invented condoms. We've been over it.* I think it was a little over the line for her to tell me when I left that she was glad I was in a relationship now instead of "trying to get in one." Trying to get in one? How about, "enjoying being single"? or "I knew I was moving"? or "mind your own goddamn business"? Fuck you, judgmental health center lady. I bet she was disappointed to find out that I didn't have chlamydia OR gonorrhea.** -Only a couple people came to my CSI: Miami season premiere/birthday bash the other night, but Caruso did not let me down. Unlike everyone I know here in town who apparently had "homework" or "a family," an "illness" or "somewhere to be on Tuesday morning." Whatevs. Thrift Store Champion and a couple other diehards made it awesome. Although, take note: do not ever make a "Miami Punch" that involves three bottles of Cold Duck (Annn-dre) per batch. It is gross and will make everyone feel ill. Especially when they eat 2958798 lbs. of Doritos/cookies/pretzels/cake because only four people are at the party and they might as well go at it. Ah, birthdays. *Although she did tell me that condoms with spermicide on them don't do much besides irritate vaginas. So guys, quit buying that shit, it doesn't help; it only hinders. **She also kept asking me if I wanted to take a pregnancy test.

Short birthday message

On this, the 25th anniversary of my birth, I realize that I have much to be grateful for. Pretty much #1 on that list would be joy that I've never had to spend a birthday in Family Circle land.

History Limerick Returns!!!

Julia with the poetic 411 on McKinley:

There ne'er was an imperialist like Willy McK

Shouldering the "White Man's Burden" was hardly child's play

He Remembered the Maine

As native peoples were slain

From Cuba to Guam to the San Pedro Bay*

*In the Philippines, not in California, duh

Short Circuit: Great '80s Movie, or GREATEST '80s Movie?

After a discussion of its awesomeness, Thrift Store Champion secretly (and adorably) Netflixed Short Circuit I & II and bought some Andre champagne* (Annn-drae) to go with the viewing. We watched the first one last night, and it was just as amazingly terrible as I recall. Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, some guy pretending to be Indian, and amazing special effects. Rent it today. But first, enjoy the fabulous video from the theme song "Who's Johnny?" by El Debarge: OMFG Steve Guttenberg cardboard cutout. *I did a cursory google search for a website, but perhaps $3-5 a bottle isn't bringing in enough profit for them to hire a web designer. Though you'd think the sheer numbers of college freshmen and unclassy grownups (like me) who drink it would keep their numbers going strong.

McKinley: America's Most Spineless Veteran President

William McKinley looks suspiciously molester-y for someone without a mustache. Also, he's sitting in every single picture. Lazy-ass motherfucker.

William McKinley was one of America's many Ohioan Presidents. Born there in 1843, he had many, many siblings. Like, eight. Remember, they didn't have TV back then, kids. He went to school at some "Poland Academy," which apparently had nothing to do with [insert ethnic stereotype joke here]. He went to college for one semester, but then it was totally time for the Civil War! So he joined up and became a commissary in the Union Army. This meant that essentially he served the food. He was promoted several times due to his bravery while serving food near the battlefront. I think it would be a miracle to even look at food without vomiting in the middle of all those primitive amputations and shit. Ew. But so anyway, after his heroic turn as a military waiter, McKinley went to law school and then started doing legal shit in Ohio. Apparently McKinley had served as a waiter under the awesomely-bearded command of future President Rutherford B. Hayes. Ruthie, as no one but me probably ever called him, got McK the hookup and helped him win a seat in the prestigious House of Representatives. He distinguished himself by establishing a ridiculously high and eponymous tariff that totally fucked over his party in the 1890 midterm elections. Then he became the Governor of Ohio and made an effort to "help people" during that decade's serious economic crisis. At some point, Mark Hanna AKA 19th-century Karl Rove, talked him into running for President, and they trounced William Jennings "Cross of Gold" Bryan in the 1896 election. Early in his first term, McKinley presided over the annexation of Hawaii, did some boring civil service reform stuff, blahblahblah SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR! Or as, I learned in my history class this week is more inclusive of the various belligerent parties, the War of 1898. Let me summarize how this shit went down: Spain: "I am totally still an awesome colonial power. I'm going to put the Cubans in concentration camps and shit and nobody can do nada." Cuba: "Hey! Knock it off, assholes!" American politicians: "Let's prove we're manly men like our dads who fought in the Civil War and totes get in on some military action in Cuba."* McKinley: "Maybe we shouldn't rush into a war, guys." American politicians, the media, etc.: "What are you, a girl? Let's go fight 'em!" Meanwhile the Maine mysteriously explodes in Havana harbor. Obviously we blamed the Spanish. McKinley: "Let's find out what really happened." Everybody else: "Where's your backbone? Let's shoot 'em up!" McKinley: "Fine." So we totally got into Cuba's fight for freedom and then screwed them over, took over the Philippines and proceeded to kill them for, like, ten years or so, and just generally joined the Colonial Club. (Let's not forget Guam!) Everybody was pumped after the war and stopped questioning McKinley's manly values/military experience. He beat "Goldie" Jennings Bryan again in 1900 and didn't really do much in his presidency as far as I can tell before he was shot in September of 1901. Despite being at a fancy exposition with modern technologies displayed all over the place, the doctors were afraid of the x-ray machine and didn't have electric lights. So they were pretty much poking at his insides with forks in the dark looking to get out the bullets. Things were touch-and-go for about a week when they thought McKinley was getting better. But then he died suddenly of GANGRENE. Apparently McKinley was a very private person and we know little about his personal character. And now he's dead, so there's not really much we can do about that at this point. But we named a bunch of shit after him, like Mount McKinley, and at least one mezzanine. For a long time everybody was like, "Hey, remember the Spanish-American War? Wasn't that sweet? Like withTeddy and the Rough Riders and whatnot?" Now it's more like, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't have done that." But whatevs. God bless Cuba. *I just read Kristin L. Hoganson's Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-Americanand Philippine-American Wars. AWESOME. I am now officially smarter.

Update: Still figuring shit out

What I said in the title. BUT ALSO: Upcoming: The return of Thursday History Blogging!! I'm in a goddamn U.S. history class (it's on war and gender OMG awesome), I think I should be able to come up with shit to write about. Also, my weekend starts after 5:30 on Thursdays, so if I don't get to it before my fake class I have that day that THIS is a semester-long assignment for, I'll do it after. But maybe after a nap. We'll see. I've started going to my actual office occasionally to do actual work for my graduate assistantship, so perhaps I can start using some of that time to fuck around on the internet more and bloggity blog blog. Anyway, I keep thinking me and the internet will get back together, but I've really enjoyed our time apart. Even so, the blog needs to get back on the momentum train, so I am officially fishing for compliments to encourage me to get me back to regular writing. Officially.

"It's like they hate miracles"

Via Jezebel, I came upon what can only be deemed the Best Video Ever. I cannot get these amazing images out of my head. When Thrift Store Champion and I start reproducing immediately we're going to look into awesome baby wheelchairs.

Quote o' the Day: Vengeance of God Edition

"Also, there have been many hurricanes! This is either because of global warming or God’s rather imprecise attempts to drown the gays, depending on who you ask." -Josh Fruhlinger in this week's Cartoon Violence at Wonkette.

Shenanigans, beards, boys

I took no time at all to acquire a drunken bearded Ohioan boyfriend. That's where I've been. It's pretty fucking awesome. Check in again soon.

What I learned in school today: Marx just wanted to spread some sunshine to the proletariat

Some random guy with a bust of Karl Marx.

As you all know, I am from America. In case you are unfamiliar with America, it is the awesomest, most reddest-whitest-bluest country ever.* And it is full of delicious, delicious capitalism. However, it turns out that some of that propaganda patriotism I learned in school may have misled me about Karl Marx and communism. First of all, who could demonize somebody with such a fucking awesome beard? Second, it turns out Marxy Marx is just a big softy. Who knew!? Out of context quote from Capital: "It is, however, just this ultimate money-form of the world of commodities that actually conceals, instead of disclosing, the social character of private labour, and the social relations between the individual producers." Pretty much Karl is like, "Let's stop relating to each other through objects and money and these various abstractions that distract us from holding hand and singing 'Kumbaya' while really valuing each other's labor." But he would have said it in German. Through his sweet fucking beard. And then he would have stroked Engels' mustache before writing some more impenetrable theory. My new bearded friend Thrift Store Champion had this to say about Karl's facial hair just now: "I think he had all kinds of stuff in that beard." Probably leprechaun jewels. *Don't forget to Never Forget™ tomorrow, fellow Americans!

David Caruso is better than substantive blogging

My weekend has been filled with magical drunken shenanigans fed by Sparks Plus 4-packs, pie-baking, and daytime energy drink-homework attempts-nap progressions. Anyway, the season premiere of CSI: Miami is my birthday, so in its honor, we looked up the awesomest awesome awesomeness of David Caruso magic. ENJOY IN MY BLOGGING ABSENCE:

Republicans can has nomination speeches too: another attempt at live-blogging

Brian Williams just told us that several minutes for applause have been built into the schedule by the Republicans. Stephen Colbert will be so happy--look at that green screen! Protesting veterans in the back. Okay fine, not a green screen, it's grass. Whatevs. He keeps getting interrupted by the cheers of "U.S.A.!" He has seven children. READ: Working penis. He wants us to accept the Grinch. John McCain's mom could kick my ass. Maybe she does steroids. "We'll go at it." We're congratulating Obama about some sort of undefined achievement. Some awesome lady is protesting. She had her sign stolen. Code Pink women being dragged out of the auditorium. But McMaverick calls it "ground noise and static." Fuck you, war protesters!! Sarah Palin blahblahblah. He just did some sort of creepy crouching and laughing thing. Yuck. "I understand who I work for." YOU. Me? You're fired. He fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. When? I bet the Indians wish he'd just stay out of their business, they've got enough problems. John McCain is a genius at Iraq. Did you know if we hadn't intervened with the surge, our troops might have been demoralized!! Examples of everyday Americans. Good job, campaign research staff! Did you know that if you send John McCain some jewelry, he will wear it every day. I'm totally sending him like three pink sparkly rings and a tiara. Latina! Keyword! We're all God's children. A CULTURE OF LIFE (dog whistle). PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Judge who don't legislate. Crazy lady in sparkly yellow suit OMG LOVE IT. The only job that won't go away: one at McDonald's. He thinks schools should have competition. CHOICES! Okay, Milton Freedman, Jr. I think the teleprompter just told him to smile. It was scary. DRILL DRILL DRILL DRILL. Is John McCain a dentist? Iran. Please stop talking about Iran. Please stop. Please, please stop. "I'm not afraid of them." He sounds like an eight year-old claiming that the Freddy Kruger movies don't scare him. Awesome other sparkly outfit. My One Friend says, "Is she wearing a python?" John McCain thinks it's awesome that he remembers Pearl Harbor. He wants to keep other families from risking their lives like his has, except for when he starts/perpetuates lots of wars and stuff, of course. I am getting bored. Or maybe it's the beer I'm drinking. He's advocating stealing ideas from other people. He was blessed to be tortured. So those terrorists should be fucking grateful. P.O.W., P.O.W., P.O.W. Even in his shittiest moments, he tried to preserve a semblance of masculinity. I think it's gross when people anthropomorphize things in a gendered way. Like America as a "her." So many cowboy hats. Misspellings of maverick as "mavrick." Morans. FIGHT WITH ME. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. Cheerleading. Just like George Bush. STAND UP STAND UP STAND UP for a standing ovation. Finally. God bless fucking America.

John McCain is apparently running for President

First: a cheesy video about his life. John McCain is a mama's boy. Duh. He didn't die in the military or as a P.O.W. because "maybe he had more to do." There is an old man reading from John McCain's book. Is this supposed to be interesting? Constant torture and isolation "could have" produced someone bitter or angry. Totally not like John McCain at all. "Country first." Personal relationships last. Inspirational photos of troops in Iraq. "NO ONE cherishes the American dream more than John McCain." Could we measure that in a bar graph? Anybody? Phallus Strength.

CINDY MCCAIN IS GIVING A SPEECH SO I AM WATCHING CSI INSTEAD

Fucking terrifying. OMG she has 455 rows of pearls around her skinny neck. Also I'm creeped out that she said John "showers" their family with care and attention.

Pluggers: It's been too long

What the fucking fuck?! Do people do this?! Is this some sort of backlash against the whole "peanut allergies among children are becoming more common lets try not to kill them blahblahblah" thing? Do they get off on choking hazards? God I hope that Giant Lady Chicken Plugger gets a couple of those legumes stuck in her windpipe. Though she's probably dissolved ten to fifteen tablets of her opiate and/or barbituate of her choice already. Fucking Pluggers.

Semi-Live Blogging of Sarah Palin's RNC Speech

I turned on the TV and saw Sarah Palin givin' a little speech to the RNC. And I decided to respond to some offensive shit while it happened for you to read later. ALMOST-LIVE-BLOG! Apparently John McCain has "sheer guts." How about "sheer ambition?" A better name for a celebrity scent, though, eh? Her son is named Track? But she's down with him getting shot at in Iraq because McMaverick is "exactly the kind of man she wants as Commander-in-Chief." Republicans are bad at chanting "McCain." Her children have terrible names. Have I mentioned this? BTW: Cindy McCain looks like the fucking Grinch. Is her baby's name "Trig?" Like trigafuckingnometry?!! That's worse than fucking Tagg. Standing ovation for children with disabilities. The future Second Gentleman is a world champion snowmobiler or something. He has single-handedly destroyed Alaska's wildlife. Before ANWR drilling! OMG Cindy McCain is terrifying. People in small towns are both more honest and harder workers than anybody else. "They're always proud of America." Always? HOCKEY MOM (dogwhistle--esp. in Minnesota).* "I guess a small-town mayor is kind of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." FUCK YOU SARAH PALIN. Also, we should all start telling working class people that they bitterly cling to guns and religion to their faces. SAN FRANCISCO (dog whistle) She's not a member of the Permanent Political Establishment. Six months only gets you a provisionary membership card, dontcha know? John McCains mother looks confused. And I don't care how old she is (113?), that jacket is a no-no. Cindy McCain looks like a Disney villain. She is always wearing something ridiculous (and expensive). Republicans want to challenge the status quo? Really? Motherfucking pearl necklace. Of course. She put the "luxury" governor's jet on ebay? Alaska has a surplus? Alaska has 15 citizens. But she fucking loves vetoes. Blahblahblah gas pipelane blahblahblah "energy independence." "Dangerous foriegn powers!" IRAN (dog-whistle). TERRORISTS. VENEZUELA. AMERICANS, OWN GAS, GAL FROM THE NORTH SLOPE OF ALASKA. Ow. My ears hurt. American American American American. Barack Obama sucks because he's only authored two memoirs. Lazy bastard. Apparently we should all be claiming victory in Iraq. Still. OMG Cindy McCain just smiled and part of my soul just died. Barack Obama is Captain Planet. America needs more energy. America needs to fucking go on an energy diet. Also, reading suspected terrorists their rights is a WASTE OF TIME. Besides, the only people who can translate the Miranda Rights into Arabic are gay, so it's probably for the best. Taxes. Taxes. Taxes. Small businesses. Way to mention Ohio, SP. Small farms in Minnesota. Barack Obama wants to raise your taxes, apparently for no reason. And no one will benefit. "Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd." Also, he advocates violence. Boo Harry Reid. He doesn't like McCain, so we should. MAVERICK. Blech. "The American Presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery..." AGH!!! CINDY MCCAIN BROKE MY TV!!@@! John McCain was in the military blahblahblah he has a bigger penis than anybody else in America. Except Cheney (this goes without her actually saying this). P.O.W. journey. (Cut to old Minnesotan WWII vet nodding.) They showed a black guy! He looks skeptical. Is he a cameraman? That ho just blew a kiss to a war veteran. Standing ovation! Another black guy. He's totally about to cry. He may be an actual delegate. People who have been tortured are apparently better qualified for everything. We should probably just take everybody at Guantanamo Bay and have them take over a few government agencies. Amiright? JOIN OUR CAUSE. JOIN OUR CAUSE. Cindy McCain is next to Giuliani. A creepy combination, to say the least. A commentator called her a tough cookie. Fuck that noise. "She certainly did talk to small-town America." Okay, I have to get away from these commentators before they dive into the spin room. Also, I need to do some reading for my pop culture class. We'll see how that goes. *I got to help explain the concept of dog-whistle politics to my communications professor tonight. It was awesome. Also, I said so much smart shit about Marx.

Homesick for Saint Paul but not for tear gas

I'm still kind of disconnected from the news what with having had a five-day weekend full of drunken shenanigans and now lots and lots of Marx to read, but My One Friend (New BFF K) has cable and we caught the Daily Show tonight and I saw that the RNC decided not to dance on the graves of the victims of Gustav. So, you know, that's something. Also Facebook showed me that a number of my friends participated in some St. Paul protesting, and no one appears to have been arrested. However, I know some crazy authoritarian shit has been going down in the Cities, and it's fucking scary. Zachary found some video from inside the action. I will do my utmost to surface from my debauchery interspersed with book-readin' and do some real blogging soon.

I can has podcast?

Shortly before the big move and my subsequent (hopefully temporary) absence from the tubernets, the sister called and interviewed me for a podcast they're doing on blogging at the BYU Writing Center.* She asked me some questions about blogs in general and then about my experience writing Blonder and Thinnerrrr and I rambled about much of the crap I have rambled about on this here blog and hopefully didn't turn out too dumb-sounding.** Anyway, the promo is up and features some of my awesome awesomeness regarding blogging. I'll let y'all fans know when the actual p-cast is up. *'Cause I'm totally, like, an expert, and not just conveniently related to her. **I mean, I know I sound like a genius in writing, but Lauren = has never been particularly articulate in real life talking. "So... yeah."