Slumber

Winter ailments

I woke this morning with a sore throat and a stuffy head and decided it was in my best interest to stay home. Hopefully my day in bed will have helped truncate the inevitable winter cold/flu, whatever it is that I have.

Work is hectic as ever, and I have to troubleshoot a problem with the assay I've been running which will be a formidable task. Today was probably the best chance I'll have for weeks to "be sick" or take a day off so I suppose the coincidence was good.

I had some hot & sour soup for supper and quite a bit of OJ. Hopefully that with another night of rest will put me in better shape tomorrow.

Problems in advertising

Ever see that Wendy's commercial where the premise is the worth of their dollar menu? The babysitter says she makes about six cheeseburgers an hour. I have no problem with that. Then a husband says to his wife, "You look like a million crispy chicken nuggets". OK, here's my problem with that. So the expression usually goes "You look like a million dollars", which is where the commercial is going with this I'm certain. BUT,... but, you get four crispy chicken nuggets for every dollar spent at Wendy's. If she indeed looked like a million crispy chicken nuggets, this would imply that she looks like $250,000. If you wanted to be a stickler for detail, you could include sales and restaurant tax. So, $250,000 * 1.06 = $265,000. (My those nickels and pennies add up!) So telling someone that they look like a million crispy chicken nuggets is actually a significant down grade from the old phrase. Really to be true to the phrase he should have said, you look like 4 million crispy chicken nuggets. Or to be absolutely correct (unless you are in one of those hard-core blue states with no sales tax): Honey, you look like 3,773,584.9 crispy chicken nuggets.

Well, tah tah for now.

Shifting January Winds

Holy freaking bowel movement it is cold outside! I walked back from Oak Grove to my apartment and I thought my eyes were going to freeze shut and my teeth were going to shatter. Come February that groundhog had better not see its darned tooting shadow.

A splendid weekend was had for the most part. I caught Munich yesterday with Kate, which was quite good.. but a real downer. I found myself almost vocally angry at times at the stupidity of society and the lame "eye for an eye" tradition that perpetuates violence. Of course this is the main focus of the movie, and I was surprised somewhat that it was as critical of Israeli and western response to terrorism as it was. Perhaps I'll write more on this at a later time.

Saturday night was concluded sitting in the upstairs dining area of Wendy's on Boylston street. There were wonderful tones of warmth in the air. Despite the bustle of wealthy middle aged women concluding their Saturday shopping, and in light of the club hoppers getting a jump on their night, there was an interesting ambiance of peacefulness that permeated the air. It was a nice evening of reflection and relaxation in the midst of urban existence.

Today I went into work and tried to help myself get in a better position for the coming week. It was actually rather pleasant being there, working without having to be interrupted, and proceeding at a leisurely pace.

I'm dreaming of the next John Vanderslice album I think I'll pick up at Border's tomorrow. Pixel revolt was one of my best finds in a while. I was sampling his other albums tonight on Amazon, and I think "Time Travel is Lonely" will be my next purchase. Its a few years old too. It is always satisfying to find something of this quality that has been relatively un-promoted.

Lastly... On the world political scene, the latest in Nut jobs, and one of the proud members of W's "axis of evil".... The leadership of Iran is hell bent of causing problems. So much for democratic reform and internal social revolution taking hold in that nation. If nothing else, at least the following is being said. Although I think once upon a time the same thing was said about Iraq.

Senators: Military last option on Iran

The wind is howling, and my bed is beckoning me to be consumed in its comforts. Tomorrow morning will likely bring a brisk, bitter, jaunt to the train. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy my slumber this evening.

To those of you with a day off tomorrow for the National recognition of our country's greatest civil rights figure, Martin Luther King Jr., enjoy your break. May everyone else have a pleasant start to the new work week.

Fluorescent Pigs At last

Green with envy?

Neon green pigs are pretty snappy and all, I mean who wouldn't want to be the first on their block to have a trippy glowing swine to take care of the garbage?! But getting to my point, I think its high time to create some other abominations of nature.

Some ideas:

Fluorescent Trees: Imagine a park that has been absorbing sunlight all day glowing brightly upon evening. Benefits would be cost cutting on electric light, and it would attract stoners who would pump money into the local junk food eateries. I'm sure that there might be some problems with photosynthesis. The fluorescence could and likely would interfere with the chloroplasts, but perhaps something can be worked out.

Fluorescent Designer babies: Never lose your child in the dark. No need to waste money on night lights. If college isn't their beef, they could always fall back on a promising career as bartenders in trendy night clubs, exotic dancers, amusement park attendants, or traffic cops for early morning and night operations.

Speaking of these fluorescent pigs, just think: Fluorescent cattle? Does residual protein enter the milk making it fluorescent? Since all organs are fluorescent, could we have glow in the dark hamburgers and steak? Will manure take on a slight luminescence?

I'm guessing that since the protein was actually injected into embryos, it probably will not pass on in future generations. I think the goldfish actually can breed however, which is why the U.S. made them illegal when they came out. I really don't see how a fluorescent fish would have any advantage over wild species. They would be easier prey.

Anyway I'm sounding off for tonight.