A Good Dose of Fun Stereotyping

http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=823359685 LOL!!! I was amused. Too bad I can't embed the video in my blog... I'm pretty sure that the little boy in the video is pretty much me, circa 1990.

Another jaded soul...

So... You have probably heard the news about Cindy Sheehan stepping out of the public limelight and stopping her crusade as "the face of the anti-war movement". She released a statement entitled "Good Riddance, Attention Whore", detailing her reasons for getting out of the political frey: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23018 If the title doesn't clue you in, one of the most depressing things about this letter to America is it's utter bitterness. The message itself isn't filled with material that is all that surprising, but the jaded nature of the letter is a slap in the face. A cause for a moment of serious reflection. So, let me back up here a bit for those of you who might not know my policical leanings. I don't agree with Cindy, I think that an immediate withdrawl of US forces from Iraq would be disasterous and would reflect poorly on the nation. Those friends who I discuss political philosophy with can tell you that I was always against going to Iraq before it was fashionable, but now that we are there, to immediately abandon the post would be irresponsible and I believe that it would further weaken US relations and reputation in the world. This isn't too say that I can't respect what Cindy was trying to do. Striving for peace is always a noble cause in my book, even if I sometimes find that the belief in a path to peace requires one to be idealistic to the point of naivete. Cindy had a cause and pursued that cause whole-mindedly, even obsessively. While her message was sometimes garbled by excessive finger-pointing and scape-goating, we might find it reasonable to forgive her in light of the mudslinging that was directed to her. And her considerable losses along the way. It is sobering to see that this, her final message directed to all of America, is one of bitter regrets and despair. I, for one, hope that when she is able to step back a while and reflect, she might see that her voice was heard by many. To recognize that her influence may have reached further than she knows. To focus on the positive relationships she found and not to merely have come to regard the majority of the population with distain. I hope that our political system is not as flawed as Cindy believes, or as I sometimes fear...

Wahoo!!!

An accomplishment! I have just finished reading my first novel in what must be at least 2 years at least! Passage, by Connie Willis. It was not a particularly phenomenal book, but it is probably the first one I have read in a very very long time! Hooray for the little accomplishments!!! It was even a long one, almost 800 pages of somewhat intriquing text! Yesterday I even got out of the lab for long enough to go on a hike with Usman up near Boordy vineyards. What is the world coming to? My boss would be so dissapointed in me..

MY HUMPS -- ALANIS MORRISETTE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4moXgu6aqfI
Thanks for tiping me off about this Aleks! I love Alanis... Now I love her even more. This video makes me laugh everytime.

Duran Duran - Ordinary World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEN6v5xjr_U
So... I've had this song stuck in my head all day long, and the remix too. So, now that I have infected all of my lab mates with the song, I will infect you... gentle reader... Lord knows why they put this song to Spiderman though... weird...

Ordinary World, the remix...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTpx2-YARbg

Great Week!

Wow! I've really had an amazing time within the last week or so, much to my own surprise.... After a 5.5 hour talk with the boss which streched to nearly 8:30pm last Sunday and which detailed the major failings of my project and a need to switch to a new one ASAP, I was prepared to really be in a lousy mood. I was just sure that all of my standard frustrations and neurotic inclinations would come bubbling to the surface. But then, apparently to no ones surprise but my own, it never happened... The last week has been filled with a lot of really wonderful events in my life and a generally positive outlook. I have taken more time to be social and step outside of my head, rediscovering that I am surrounded by some really wonderful people here. I've reconnected with some friends who I haven't seen in years and kindled friendships with other fantastic people that I met here in "The Greatest City of America". Things are great in my relationship, looking good with my family and if not great at work, at least there is a new perspective at lab and a chance for growth in a new direction. Even the weather has been oddly gorgeous... Now, if only my dog would stop pissing all over the place... :oP Damn Zook...