Mindless Philosopher

Pandering to the all-important swing vote of OB-GYNs, Bush promised yesterday to allow the docs to “practice their love with women” if elected.
Adam Nagourney then inquired as to whether such love-practicing was necessarily consensual?
LOTD: Win $100,000 by registering to vote or already being registered!

Haven’t blogged in a while. Unfortunately, I think that’s the way it’s going to be until November 2nd. So, if you’re one of those frequent checkers (I don’t have too many…), you can start checking less often.
Party was a great success, expecially considering I was under the weather during the weekend. Special shout-out to co-worker Jen who helped make all the dishes. She loves cooking so much that she had to be dragged out of the kitchen towards the end of the party to get thanked. Anyway, over 30 people showed at various points in time, some of them decided to mingle (*cough*TJ crowd*cough*), and we even entertained some young kids. And now I have tons of left-over dip…what could be better?
In addition to the presents I received from my wonderful guests, I treated myself to some luxuries as well. I bought an external DVD burner. I have already sucessfully downloaded and burned The Phantom Edit, which is an undergound edit of Episode I with a lot of Jar-Jar taken out. I’ve always maintained that Epi I is a good flick without Jar-Jar; now I have proof. (Episode II, unfortunately, is another matter entirely; but the IMAX cut was a good start). If you’re even curious, I’ll be happy to have you over and watch it with you (or let you burn a copy). Unfortunately, the edit was done with the VHS version, so the quality isn’t the best–although we did seem content with VHS for two decades.
On the topic of video quality, I was walking around Best Buy yesterday and HDTV is a lot cooler than I thought. They were showing Finding Nemo–which I have seen in several different formats–and the amount of detail you chould see was amazing. But when I went over to some shots of the olympics in HDTV, it still didn’t look that great–I think because I’m so used to seeing people at a very high resolution (ie, whatever our eyes are). In conclusion, HDTV: great for cartoons, okay for sports. (And do you really need HD for the rest of TV? Sitcoms? Nightly News?)
LOTD: Hello. My name is Obi-wan Kenobi. You killed my Master. Prepare to die. I’m really suprised I didn’t think of this indpendently.

Just a couple of links today:
A funny letter to the President from Michael Moore. I think I remember from high school that this is called burlesque.
The next link has nothing to do with my upcoming party, but What A Crappy Present is an enjoyable read. (Related to the extremely useful RIAA RADAR to determine to whom you money is going.)

My brother is an international champion! No, he didn’t win Olympic Gold in juggling, but he did help make a pretty awesome robot. His team from MIT won RoboCon, an international robot competition in Japan. He won a trophy and a hat. Wow, nice hat.
As for my less-impressive existence, the past week mainly consisted of trying to get Bush out of office (shocking, I know). West Wing Wednesday was actual Olympics Wednesday. In a reminder that new WW episodes will air shortly, I hear that Alan Alda will be guest starring next season. One wonders if he knows Sorkin left. (Hey, Alan, the shows not that good anymore.)
The weekend mostly consisted of work. Some scrabble, soccer, frisbee, jigsaw puzzle, and Dreamery thrown in there too. In actual news, I’m throwing my birthday party this weekend. Thus, if you’re in the DC area and are reading this, you’re officially invited. Email me for details. It’s true, I don’t eat meat or drink alcohol; will we have fun? Yes. Co-worker is helping me with the menu, to be published thursday. This will be a bring-your-own-dead-animal party. Roommate is helping with providing the alcohol, so don’t fret in that category. And since my famous vegetarian reubens are apparently an acquired taste, I’ll be sticking with veggie burgers.

The New York trip was fantastic. A much needed break from work, if only for 28 hours. Seth’s musical (see below) was surprisingly good, even though the plot climaxed at the end of act one. If it gets picked up (knock on wood), he’ll work on act two (I even gave him some ideas). Incredible acting + catchy tunes + political satire = good musical. It’ll win Fringe awards, no doubt.
Besides the Spickner Spin, we visited landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Cast Iron District, and the Chrysler Building. We stayed the night at Thirty-Thirty for an exceedingly reasonable rate. The most exciting part of the entire trip: we found free street parking right outside the hotel and didn’t have to move the car at all!
Tonight co-worker showed me around Del Rey, a lovely neighborhood in Alexandria. We had dinner/dessert at the Dreamery, which does not sell ice cream–it sells custard. If you’ve never tried custard, beware: you’ll always think ice cream is second rate post custard consumption.
At the Dreamery, we worked on a jigsaw puzzle and watched cute kids enjoy their custard. The experience led me to the thought: Why do I have to find a woman that would want to spend the rest of her life with me just to have a kid? That seems like an exceedingly difficult proposition–though perhaps not a steadfast prerequisite. On the other hand, a friend informed me I wasn’t “balanced” enough to handle (a) kid(s) on my own, so perhaps society has its reasons.
Woah, this is way too much post-11/2 thinking for me…okay back to state targeting.

Traveling for NYC for the one-night, one-day to see The Spickner Spin–compsed by my good friend Seth.
But, before I take my leave, here’s what appears to be an actual radio ad by a Republican running for Congress in North Carolina. Warning: Contents are not for the sane of mind.
Radio ad [485 KB]

Been quite busy at work, hence the lack of blogging. The week in review:
Friday night I went miniature golfing in Arlington with a co-worker. We took two buses to get there, and after putting and some time at the batting cages, walked back to civilization. It was perfect weather for such a trek. Along the way we stopped to eat some scalding egg drop soup at an not-quite-sketchy Chinese place.
Saturday morning I worked; mid-day I went on a shopping spree with PD at “The Shops at Georgetown” courtesy of the post-convention $100 gift certificate that everyone at my office received. Successfully bought things for everyone but me, which I considered a minor accomplishment.
Then it was time to party hop. First stop was a Deaniac’s birthday parties. Hung out with lots of old DfNHers. There were plenty of interesting conversations including one where I almost leaked sensitive information to The New Republic. Oops.
After perpetrating a misdemeanor, we come to our second party of the evening: a co-worker’s boyfriend’s birthday party (August is a popular bday month) at anIrish pub. There wasn’t a whole lot of excitement going on there, but we stayed and chatted for a reasonable amount of time. Listened to this guy w/ his guitar cover lots of good songs, including a childhood favorite of mine: “Friend of the Devil.” (The song includes the apropos line of “If I get home before daylight I might get some sleep tonight.”)
Sunday was work and the completion of Peasant’s Quest, which I recommend to all. (Not to brag…well, okay, to brag, but I got all 150 points the first time around. Wait, is that something I should be proud of?)
Alas, tonight I was working so late that by the time I met up with WW crew, they had already completed the episode. But new people were there tonight so that was exciting. Perhaps next time I’ll plan my Wednesday workday a bit better.
LOTD: Go front vowels!

A few people have been commenting to me about the selection of Feminist books on the right side of the blog (which desperately needs updating). Well, last Friday, I picked up The Second Sex. Previously, I had only read the Introduction (it was included in a different text). Most of my life I had considered myself a feminist without really knowing what that meant. These three sentences by Simone de Beauvoir truly enlightened me.

In the midst of an abstract discussion it is vexing to hear a man say: “You think thus and so because you are a woman”; but I know that my only defence is to reply: “I think thus and so because it is true,” thereby removing my subjective self from the argument. It would be out of the question to reply: “And you think the contrary because you are a man”, for it is understood that the fact of being a man is no peculiarity. A man is in the right in being a man; it is the woman who is in the wrong.

Maybe that fact was obvious to most people, but I was pretty much oblivious. For that reason, I felt the need to share. Here, btw, is the rest of the Introduction.

Found this interesting article about the boiling summer during which I was in the womb…my Mom has always reminisced bitterly about the weather that summer. I guess the heat was pretty bad if the Post decided to write about it 24 years later. Mom probably didn’t like it either when I waited an extra two weeks until I decided it was time to pop out.

My fulfilling weekend started by getting out of work at a decent time (in celebration of a great convention!). Went up Connecticut Ave to watch Spidey at the Uptown (again); but, this time we sat in the front row. Tobey’s head is quite large from there. Spriderman was a lot less frustrating to watch than I, Robot–which I watched last weekend. The whole premise was extremely uncreative, and Susan Calvin didn’t even solve the robot psychology puzzle like she does in the book. Just the opposite, we had to wait for the villian to inform us of the details and motives of the evil plot. Blech.
Saturday I went to the MLS All-Star game courtesy of the resource of a co-worker. Was heading over to the tailgate area when I ran into this fair they were having for the fans in front of RFK. Got some cool autographs for my Dad and the ticket supplier. Lockheed-Martin was giving away freebies; when I walked up to their booth they asked if I knew what they did. I replied “Yeah, you make things that kill people.” Hrmm, perhaps I need to learn how to be more diplomatic. Their response was that they make things that save people… Yeah, sure ya do.
After consuming veggie burgers in the parking lot we watched the East beat the West 3-2 in an extremely hot stadium. But on the plus side we got some sun (a bit too much in some places). Went home, napped, played monopoly; a good day.
Sunday was work, which is where I am now (I did go home in between).
LOTD: Alex’s Lemonade Stand