Tuesday, June 27, 2006

For Which It Stands

Bravi to the 34 Senators who saved us from the worst amendment of all time! Boo to the 66 who thought it would be a good idea to amend our Constitution to limit our freedoms. To outlaw flag-burning/defacing would be the least American thing in the world. This country is so great because we're allowed to speak out against our leaders, allowed to speak out against our laws, and, yes, allowed to speak out against the principles this country was founded on, even through the fairly offensive means of flag-burning. The soldiers who fought under our flag didn't fight for the Stars & Stripes, per se, they fought for what they stand for: freedom, justice, and democracy.

If we should allow Nazis to march (we should), if we should allow Pat Robertson to say Ellen DeGeneres caused Katrina (we should...she didn't...or I'll never believe James Hansen again), we should allow people to burn the flag. And the fact that most people supported this amendment reminds me how much I disrespect the average voter. All these mofos with their "us-them" mentalities. Our goal in life is not to squash the enemy...it's to strive toward better things. Sure, that sometimes involves squashing the enemy, but that's not the end, just a means.

In any case, here are the 34 Senators (including Joe) who aren't a disgrace to America:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

Monday, June 26, 2006

We Are Family

Since the last post was depressing, I'll follow it up immediately with something lighter. Yet another study came out today (done by the same people who've done all the previous studies to the same effect) showing that men who have multiple older brothers are more likely to be gay. With every older brother, your chances of being gay increase by about a third. Interesting stuff. One theory for why this is the case says that mothers eventually develop a certain immune response to all the foreign testosterone in the womb. So the boys don't get the typical amount of androgens at the point where the brain might develop an interest in the fairer sex. Nobody claims this accounts for the entirety of homosexuality (I mean, there are TWINS who have different sexual orientations...albeit fewer identical pairs, so genetics are involved). Still, here's a question:

Of the gay men you know, how many fit this pattern? When I mentioned this to V a week ago (before this specific study came out) he said it fit very well with the guys he knows. I'd always thought it didn't really fit, but then I realized, while I do know a bunch of gay men without older brothers, I can't think of any that have straight younger brothers. Maybe I'm not thinking of someone totally obvious, but here's the round-up, as far as I can think in this tired state:

Gay men I know with no straight younger brothers:
Greg
V
Mike L.
Lebowitzes
Perhaps other twins
Eric H.
Eric S.
Romero
Sergi (gay enough for my data)
Billy R.
Trevor McG.

Gay men with younger brothers whose s/os I don't know:
Jason F.
Chris P.
Steve B.

Assuming all three "don't knows" are straight (no idea), that probably means nothing. If only one is straight? I don't know. There are also a lot of gay dudes I know from college but don't know their sibling situations at all. Oh well, please let me know of gay men you know with definitively heterosexual younger brothers.

Well, Bah

First, a question: Given everything we know about the NSA domestic spying program, is it unethical to bait them? I mean, sure, it's probably totally unconstitutional (blah, blah, blah), and sure, there's a good chance they may eventually use the information they've gleaned for matters other than national security. But assuming their intentions are pure (you can do it!), should we really be wasting their time by writing emails saying, "Crusaders for Zion are da bomb!" Because it really is so tempting, but given that this program may actually help national security, I think it's wrong to bait them. But we can see how seriously I take this by, oh, the presence of this blog entry. By the way, I'm convinced that every terrorist emailing in English (why?) has put the word "bomb" back instead of whatever codeword they were using and preceded it with "da" and followed it with several exclamation points. They're totally going to blend in with the 14 year old girls in the minds of the government. God, I hope not...

Second: I was groped on the way to work today. ARGH. I was walking along, admittedly spacing out a little more than is perhaps prudent (but it was 9:15 am, not exactly a crazy hour), and all of a sudden there's a hand on my breast. I flicked it off with my wrist and gave the guy the same "what the fuck?" look I give to cars that cut me off when I have a walk signal. I kind of wish I had, like, stood up for womankind and done more (e.g., broken his arm, told the traffic cop, etc.), but I was mostly just embarrassed that I looked vulnerable and interested in getting to work and reading about science. I was minorly shell-shocked for the rest of the walk.

In any case, it didn't improve my view of men at all. I'm not entirely convinced men don't walk around wishing they could touch anyone they find the remotest bit attractive. Clearly they don't touch them, because they know that's very wrong and inappropriate (and even the ones who do only do it when they believe they're not going to get into trouble). But that doesn't convince me that they don't all have that impulse. I kind of think they do. And it made me realize more than ever that I'm not with the vast majority of people who believe your goodness should be judged based on how adept you are at overcoming your sinful impulses and living ethically. I think your goodness is determined by whether you have those impulses or not. Your ethical character is how you act, but that's not what I look for in people, at least people I want to be close to. I want the people on the streets to be ethical, but I want my friends to be good. I want to like most of their impulses.

This is, I think, why I'm generally repulsed by most men (at least the straight ones). I don't care how they actually treat me as much as what their ultimate goal is...what they're aiming for. And I feel like every guy I've ever met has a big sign on his head saying "Looking to hook up," "Will make small-talk to make out," "Will buy dinner to get laid," or whatever. Ew to it all. I think I make fun of asexual people so much because in some weird way I know I'm one of them. No, I'm not actually asexual, but if I'm not interested in having sex (or anything approaching it) with any real people, I'm not THAT far off.

All right, this entry has far surpassed the TMI level, considering everyone I work with has this url. GREAT. Don't mention it at the office kids. Right-o.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Wordplay

Just saw Wordplay with Brad and Adam. Those people put me and my mad x-word skills (finished puns & anagrams last week!) to SHAME. Now I'm inspired to write, although I have to think of a great theme and go from there. But first, today's puzzle while watching my funny news. I feel like a loser for not doing them every night. Yay, puzzles!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

How To Be A Thrifty Addict

Prices vary from place to place...we've all seen gas in rural America or even New Jersey and nearly wet ourselves. Prices can also vary within one area between items of different quality. A couch, for example, can cost anywhere from, oh, $100 to $10,000. Then again, depending on the price, you'll be getting a vastly different couch. The $100 couch, if it's not used, will be ugly, small, uncomfortable and it will probably fall apart in two weeks. The $10,000 couch will be obscenely luxurious and every time you sit down you'll fall asleep. If the rest of your living space isn't beautiful, it will stick out like a sore thumb. But is there really THAT big of a difference in quality between different varieties of drip coffee? I've made up a bar(ista) graph for Manhattan:Since the names are a little hard to see in the jpeg, I'll review: Gray's Papaya: $.25, Cart at 42nd and 9th: $.50, Cart at 22nd and 5th: $.65, Tartare (an independent shop on 9th b/w 45th and 46th): $1.00, Slave to the Grind (best coffee shop everrrrr): $1.50 (I think), Starbucks (in Manhattan): $1.79.

This is a pretty serious gradient of coffee prices! The most expensive (but really nothing special) is over 7 times pricier than the cheapest! That's over 3.5 times more expensive than the cheapest one that isn't a "special deal."

You may have seen the New York Times article on saving money post-college. It says to cut out your $3.50 latte in the mornings. Well, you don't need to cut it out to save money...just switch to drip coffee, preferably of the fitty-cent kind. And even if you're stuck on quality coffee, get it at an independent place, if you can find one near you. The $1.79 at the 'bucks is simply absurd. And so not worth it.

That's the most domestic advice I've ever given. Tally-ho, my sweeties!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Statues

On Sunday, the American Theater Wing gave out the Tonys...to many of the wrong people. A jukebox musical (although supposedly the best of the genre) won for best original musical, and Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone got dicked over by the dude who plays Frankie Valli and LaChanze. Admittedly, I haven't actually SEEN Jersey Boys or The Color Purple but, first of all, I'm so sick to death of people winning for impersonations--fuck Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, fuck Jamie Foxx in Ray...hell, fuck Johnny Depp in Pirate of the Caribbean; they're all great actors, but why give them their top accolades for channeling real people?--and second of all, I hear from my most trusted sources that neither of them was as awesome as the Sweeney Todd folks.

But despite the slightly unfortunate outcome, the evening was stellar. I dragged V and brought Adam to Greg's party in his apartment. The guest list was: Greg, me, V, Adam, Megan (Greg's roommate), Mike (Greg's other roommate), Rob (Mike's boyfriend), Ashish and Rachel (Greg's friends, a couple), Stephanie N. (awesome glee clubber whom I don't see enough...and Greg's friend), and Courtney and Marcello (roommates, and friends of Mike and Rob). I think that's it. It was great...what can I say? Watching theater with some of my favorite dorky men...making brilliantly hilarious catty comments with Greg and Vaughan...eating the delicious finger foods...staring at Mike's seriously overpumped arms...what else could one ask for in an evening? Well, deserving winners, I suppose, but not much else. Good times, great oldies.

But no KOOL 96.7! It's gone with the wind (say it with the long I). There is now no New York oldies station, and that's really, really depressing. I suppose my classic rock station is now as oldies as it gets. Shame, that.

So, today's been one of those hideously annoying days of perpetual pseudo-deja vu. About once every 45 minutes my mind quickly remembers a scene...whether it's from a dream or real life, I can't quite tell. But before I can actually place it or absorb what it is, it's gone, and I can't remember the glimpse I got. It's really quite frustrating. I know from experience (this happens from time to time), that try as I might, I will never be able to figure out where the scenes are from (they're all from the same thing, I think). I just need to accept it for the day, and I'll wake up feeling normal. Still, it's always disturbing when your body or mind betrays you. It's like feeling seriously nauseated...a constant you always count on is suddenly disturbed beyond your control. While the snippets feel intimately familiar when they come into my mind...who's to say they're actually from something, even a dream? It's wholly possible that they're just made up but have familiar feelings associated with them. It gives you perspective on how much of consciousness is controlled by hormones and not by actual thoughts. Creepy.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Pull the Switch

So, we got new interns at Seed this week. I'm pretty sad to see the old interns go...they were a very cool crowd, and hopefully I'll keep up with at least one or two of them. Anyway, one of the new interns is none other than Emily search foil Anthes, former Editor-in-Chief of the YDN. This is frickin' hilarious. In theory, I have a higher position at this company than a girl who spent her entire college life competently slaving over an (I'll admit it now) high-quality daily paper. Of course this is all a big farce...she just needs an internship to get her MIT science writing master's degree, and Seed has a very active internship. But it's still kind of funny.

So, when I was in Florence, I bought a tiny leather journal to write spare thoughts in...things I want to use for songs/plays/whatever later on. I left it at home, so here's my spare thought today: I think there should be a character who's confined to a wheelchair but has otherwise made himself so physically outrageous, through tattoos, piercings, etc, with the singular goal of having that be the first thing people say about him, instead of "he's confined to a wheelchair." I guess in my mental image of him, he failed.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Does Anyone Else...

...conflate Elliot Stabler and Eliot Spitzer?

Come on! They even sort of look alike. And they're both, like, upstanding men of the law.