Wilkins Ice Sheet

Looks like Wilkins is cashing out.
Hey, fuck you, I always liked the Larsen ice shelf better anyway.
Wilkins...you're a pussy and just part of the problem, clearly.

Disappointing BM

Foot odor?
Bad breath?
Ronald Eller is to blame.

Ronald Eller makes the world a bad place to live.

Ronald Eller

His work reminds us all that things could be so much worse.
http://www.reller.com

He comes to me in my dreams and speaks to me in an ancient language I cannot understand.

I think he's telling me I'm going to die.

I think he works for satan, or possibly The Food Network.

Designed by M.C. Escher

My kitchen is a trapezoid.
Just a little bit.
Or maybe it's the counters and the floor.
Either way I'm not fixing it.

Concession

I want to thank George Bush, John McCain and president-elect Barack Obama for their gracious phone calls this evening.
Yes, I am better at Scrabble than all of you but that doesn't make you lesser Americans. I'm sure you will all grow up to be fine men in spite of this intellectual shortcoming and I offer you wishes for a happy set of upcoming traditional, religious and chronological holidays.
Particularly you George and John; you need to settle in with the family, memorize your "twos", and work on rack management or you really aren't going to be taken seriously again.
Thank you, and may God continue to bless those who believe in that sort of thing.
Any of you guys have any weight-loss advice?

The prophecy

Indeed I have been attacked by ghosts.
It's mostly just an irritant though.
The ghosts are changing key settings on my computer, making it impossible for me to play Half-Life 2.
The ghosts aren't particularly horrifying. They manifest as small, clumsy transparent people - frequently spilling things. Their "scares" are largely ineffectual and cliched. Owing to poor eye/hand coordination and outlandish costumes these attempts to frighten me seem more like slapstick than anything else. They apologize by explaining that when you're dead it's hard to be on your best game and that without access to coffee many of them feel unmotivated and drowsy until well into the afternoon.

This is a ghost?

I go to ALL the horror movies

Horror movies make me feel good because I know I'll never be haunted, hunted, mutated, possessed or subject to alien or paranormal influences.

On the downside the popcorn shells get under my gums and I'm not sure that's doing me any good.

It does promote flossing though.
It's all good.

The TV people say that I may be attacked by ghosts apparently.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/10/31/boo/index.html

Struggle for relevance

As I approach what I recently referred to as my "Firty-Forst birthday"* I struggle for relevance.

Should I evaluate my significance on a human time scale, 10 to 100 years?
If so, then I am one of the supreme consumers on the planet - located in the wealthiest area of the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country.
In order to offset my gluttony on all fronts I have chosen a path of sterility and a humble home well within my means and limited in impact on the world around it.
I pay my taxes and vote for those who seem least irrational.
My employer teaches the young to some extent and, in as much as I contribute to the group's well-being, I would like to think that I'm helping fend off ignorance and superstition without adding to the human clutter teaming around me. In this short-term human time scale I am, I feel, a neutral presence. A genetic dead-end to be sure and passively promoting conservation and rationality but never to an extent that would limit my enjoyment.

On any other time scale I am basically a microbe whose entire remains and cumulative impact will either be swept over by the sea or scoured from the land by glacial advances. Indeed it will be hard to prove that I ever existed in one thousand years. In a million years it will challenging to prove that my species ever existed.

So, in an effort to evade irrelevance I have chosen to evaluate myself on a daily and weekly basis. This week, in the face of potential economic breakdown, I have chosen to not contribute to the panic by preserving my paltry investments in an abstract financial system instead of withdrawing them and instinctively stockpiling food/water/medicine and guns. This coming Tuesday I will chose to vote for a nominally different candidate for president of my nation. Although a meaningless act due to the machinations of the election process I hope to contribute to a landslide victory for the man in my state, at least. His victory will likely end in disaster given all current trends but in this very short-term evaluation I will have made the right decision. This week I also contributed mightily to the distribution of candies to local youths. I'm not sure that contributing to obesity and diabetes among the young can be seen as a good thing but they sure do enjoy it and, in the short-term, that is all that matters. I'll support any initiative for greater health eduction and universal healthcare coverage for these young people if given the chance. So again, hopefully, I have had no long-term negative effect.

To quote a favorite television program "If you've done things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

*41st