Category: General

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Continue reading IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

Tomorrow is the day that we worship Will Smith and Bill Pullman for protecting our “right to live” (life) from space aliens who use that evil symbol of homosexuality, the upside triangle as their front door. Thank you Roland Emmerich for showing us that even a stripper can be redeemed if she gets married to a good upstanding soldier moments before the world will end. Oh and also that the first person to die should the apocalypse arrive will be a flaming gay man who is obsessed with his mother.

By now, I’m pretty sure everyone knows that I don’t believe the movie Independence Day is a harmless summer blockbuster, but instead a insidious piece of right-wing conservative propoganda under the cover of an action movie.

Luckily, tomorrow, we also celebrate the fact that Roland Emmerich and Will Smith have the right to make shitty movies, and I have the right to point out that their movie is shitty.

Happy 4th, everyone!

We’re going tubing. Now this would be enough reason for us all to get together, but the real reason, the real cause for celebration are the 30th birthdays of Amber, Day and Kent.

The house is open for partying the entire Labor Day weekend, but we’ll prolly throw a honest-to-goodness, keg in a cooler, Leslie cooks real food, we actually get to use the deck with the tiki torches, party that Saturday. Bring yourselves, bring other people, come tubing in North Georgia with us.

Any questions, let me know here or call or email.

Photos that Amber took during last Mardi Gras were accepted into the 2005 Art + Commerce Emerging Photographers Festival.

In her own words:

“I guess it pays to skip work, spend money you don’t have and drink until you are thristy again. (a la Sheryl Crow). Go figure.”

Way to go Amber, we’re very proud.

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant
Lusby, Maryland
10:00 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate the Secretary of Energy joining me today. He’s a good man, he knows a lot about the subject, you’ll be pleased to hear. I was teasing him — he taught at MIT, and — do you have a PhD?

SECRETARY BODMAN: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, a PhD. (Laughter.) Now I want you to pay careful attention to this — he’s the PhD, and I’m the C student, but notice who is the advisor and who is the President. (Laughter and applause.)

President Discusses Energy Policy, Economic Security

What an asshole.

I think these sandals are just about the coolest thing in the whole wide world.

I promise to use them only for good, never for evil. Ok, maybe I will use them sometimes for mischeif, but mischief is not like hitch-hiking on Satan’s highway or surfing in the devil’s ocean. It’s more like shooting out the streetlamp of blind faith with a holy BB gun.

Shoes of the Fisherman

ps I wear a size 9-10.

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there!

Yesterday I researched the local staffing (temp) agencies in the area. Not surprisingly there were agencies that looked as if they couldn’t staff a PhD and others than looked as if they would be a good match. I sent in my application and resume (the application had questions such as, how long did you work a pallet jack (2 years!) and if you were ever a receptionist, how many phone lines did you work?). This morning I got a call back and have to go in tomorrow to fill out paperwork and complete their test on computer skills. Despite the fact that I’m very proficient in computers, I’m still worried. I’m not that fabulous at making graphs and anything requiring numbers floors me.

Wish me luck. I can’t wait to begin making money again. And the nicest part of a temp agency is that I get paid weekly. Yay.

I got back last night from a conference in my old home of Boston yesterday. I had hoped to make continuous updates to the site from my hotel, since at $145 a night I expected free high-speed internet access. No dice. I supposed I could have charged the 33 cents a minute to the fine people of Georgia along with everything else, but my conscience got the better of me and I toughed it out with no internet. It was horrific.

Here’s some highlights of my trip:

1. A lady on the plane told me about the weather, and how bad it has been. She said, “It’s been raining so long that it has really taken a toll on people’s moods.” I commented that the general mood of New Englanders is pretty lousy to begin with. She took slight offense until she found out I had lived in Salem and Medford and told me I was allowed to tell the truth about New England since I had lived there. However, it began a little North-South battle. She then pointed out the kid sitting a row ahead of us and said, “That kid must be from the South, he’s in his barefeet.” Which in fact he was, having taken off his flip flops. I countered with “I bet he’s from New England since he’s got his feet up on the seat in front of him. He’s got New England manners.” When he turned around we both saw the Red Sox cap. I was the victor.
2. Tedi Bruschi is doing great, I stopped by his house on the way to the hotel from the airport to see how he was doing and to drop off a peach cobbler that Warrick Dunn gave me to give to him. That Warrick is a great cook, and all around nice guy. Tedi says he will play next season and will continue to be my favorite Patriot.
3. I went out to Harvard Square to meet JS, a friend from library school. We stopped by the Harvard Bookstore where David Sedaris was doing a book reading. It reminded me that despite its terrible weather, crabby people, and expensive rent, Boston is a pretty cool place to live. They broadcast the book reading on speakers to the street, and quite a crowd showed up when Sedaris started talking about “cocksuckers,” “fucky-fucks”, and lesbian pornography. Funny, when he was reading a fable about a baboon and a cat, no one that was walking by stopped to listen.
4. Every male from the ages of 15-35 in Boston wears a Red Sox cap. I saw no less that 7 life-size cardboard stand-ups of Johnny Damon around town.