Mouse Farts in a Wind Tunnel

July 4, 2003

Nice and fluffy rice makes everyone irresistible to smile!

posted by el goose on 7/4/2003 12:13:52 PM | link

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July 3, 2003

Does anything matter?

If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters. If a president's sex life matters, surely a president's use of global force against some of the weakest people in the world matters. If a president's word in a court of law about a private indiscretion matters, surely a president's word to the community of nations and the security of millions of people matters.

And if not, why not? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us as citizens, as thinkers, as there must be with some facet of the government. If wars that the public says are wrong yesterday -- as a majority of U.S. citizens did of a unilateral attack on Iraq -- suddenly become "right" the minute the first bombs drop, what kind of national morality is that?

And your response, you so-called-by-the-right Christian nation?

posted by el goose on 7/3/2003 02:58:31 PM | link

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June 30, 2003

Massive case of buzzyhead today. I wonder what caused it. I drove home from my mom's the other night through miles and miles of Ohio countryside pollen and my sinuses haven't recovered yet. Maybe that's it.

I decided not to go to the AG after all, because it's pretty far away (St. Paul) and for more than a couple of days. It sounded like it would have been fun, but there wouldn't have been anything I could do if I got overwhelmed except hide in the hotel room. Or renting a car to drive home. I haven't been away from home at all since the big splat, so this ended up seeming a bit too much.

Instead, maybe I'll take three days in the early fall and go up to Mackinac Island. That sounds good. I know that the family went there at least once when I was little; I have vague memories about it. What I mainly remember is that Mackinac Island was where that guy experimented on the other guy's stomach. Translation:

In 1822 William Beaumont, an army surgeon, while serving at Fort Mackinac in Michigan Territory had the opportunity, through a hunting accident to treat Alexis St. Martin. St. Martin, a Canadian voyager, was shot in the stomach and his wound healed in such a way as to leave a permanent opening in his stomach. Dr. Beaumont took this opportunity to study the process of digestion.

I didn't remember the details until I looked them up, but the whole idea of looking in someone else's stomach to observe their digestion of food just fascinated me as a child. I remember one souvenir that I has was a little book about it.

There are real reasons that I majored in biology in college.

I have to get back to work on the DAM website. I put the basic structure together and then didn't feel like writing any copy, so all I have is a bunch of blank pages with little remarks to remind me what is supposed to go there. As is usual for me these days, I forgot about working on it, then did a lot, then got to a point where I couldn't get anything much done. It would have faded into the background completely if I hadn't shown it to a couple of people who were over to dinner about a week and a half ago.

One of them already asked me if I've worked on it any more. That made me want to scream. That came in the middle of a week of self-imposed pressure and stress anyway, when I was all but paralyzed with terror and indecision.

And people wonder why I never leave my house and never go to social functions. Because invariably someone will say something to me that will make me want to slash my wrists. Or their throat.

posted by el goose on 6/30/2003 09:52:36 AM | link

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