I’m on cold medicine!

It’s kind of fun, in an “I feel floaty” way.

ANYWAY! THERE IS MIDDLE-NEWS! AS IN, MIDDLE-DVD!

COMING THIS SUMMER!

[/fangirlcapslock]

Yes, I will buy it. Even though I have it on my iPod. Because it is that gosh-darned good and YOU WILL WATCH IT.

Hmm-a-ding-ding-ding

You ever wonder if your iPod’s trying to get you to kill yourself?

*eyes the device in question warily*

Seriously. I put it on whole-library song shuffle, and it keeps popping up all sorts of songs that make me want to slit my wrists.

[metaphorically slit my wrists, y'all can cancel the intervention]

Oh, great, now it’s playing Crazy Frog remixes. I need to do something to Handsome Dan for infecting my iPod with those. Something with the potential for scarring.

I WANT TO LISTEN TO GREAT BIG SEA, YOU ANNOYING CHUNK OF SILICONE AND ALUMINUM!

You know you’ve lived in Portland too long….

…when you see this on FailBlog and don’t understand why it’s Fail (I mean, I ate there just a few weeks ago!)

see more pwn and owned pictures

Why Some People Can’t Put Two and Two Together

That’s the title of this article in New Scientist. It’s all about dyscalculia, which is a learning disorder.

Excerpty!

Last November, Jill got herself screened for learning disabilities. She found that while her IQ is above average, her numerical ability is equivalent to that of an 11-year-old because she has something called dyscalculia. The diagnosis came partly as a relief, because it explained a lot of difficulties she had in her day-to-day life. She can’t easily read a traditional, analogue clock, for example, and always arrives 20 minutes early for fear of being late. When it comes to paying in shops or restaurants, she hands her wallet to a friend and asks them to do the calculation, knowing that she is likely to get it wrong.

About seven years ago, I learned I was dyscalcic. For those of you who CAN do math, I was 22 years old and had a B.A., and the only reason I passed my math requirement with a D- was the instructor took pity on me.

Wait, wait, more excerpty!

A report published in October 2008 by the British government claimed that dyscalculia cuts a pupil’s chances of obtaining good exam results at age 16 by a factor of 7 or more, and wipes more than £100,000 from their lifetime earnings. Early diagnosis and remedial teaching could help them avoid these pitfalls.

Uhm, I’m still recovering from one helluva weekend, so her I really don’t have much in the way of logic and crap, so just go read the article.

Tears

A conversation, about 11am PST

Moi: Tomorrow’s the third funeral in 10 days. I’m so over funerals.
Coworker: Wow, did you know all these people well?
Moi: Yeah. It’s been hard. I was thinking a little bit about how I’ve cried every day for the last two weeks.
Coworker: Yeah, but…
Moi: *nodding* Today was a different kind of tears.

Afghanistan: An Accordion Journey

In which an American takes an accoridon to Afghanistan, learns about Afghani pop music, and plays at a music festival.

Just watch it. If it doesn’t make you smile, you’re probably a zombie.

Andrew Wyeth, RIP

American painter Andrew Wyeth died at age 91.

Yes, I became familiar with his art and specifically Christina’s World from the Preacher comics. So what?

The Trials of Facebook

Not only have I received a friend request from my boss, I just got one from my MOTHER.

And you can quote me on this.

Across the Universe is the move that Moulin Rouge wants to be when it grows up.

Let Preacher Joe tell you about it.

Resolutions

I didn’t even get a chance to post my resolutions to the Internet before I shattered them into little pieces.

Resolved: I will be more upbeat and professional at work.

Well, first, I showed up today in a button-down shirt that was inside out. Instead of quietly rectifying the problem, I ran around and showed everyone “LOOK! I really can’t dress myself!”

Then I got this email from an expediter:

THIS ORDER HAS NOT BEEN PROCESSED. VENDOR NEEDS REVISED PO WITH CORRECTED PRICING.

My reply was:

Vendor can bite me.