a keyboard, a second-grade education, and a powerful sense of entitlement
The 2003 lists are starting to come out - here's The 100 Most Annoying Things Of 2003, and here are The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.
Be sure and vote for Sugarmama's Montana story at BlogMadness 2003. She deserves to win her bracket. Don't take my word for it - go read it yourself.
JETT UPDATE - I got an e-mail from the beloved ubermistress of ABUANTG (pronounced ah-BOO-tang) informing me that the makeover is still in progress. She has a "designer" - I'm as jealous as Britney Spears stumbling across a Newlyweds marathon on MTV! Anyhoo, I've been filling the void left in my life by ABUANTG's absence by working on a remix of my country rendition of My Heart, as well as a lounge version for all you martini freaks. Stay strong!
In the News:
First the Muppet show ends and now this. The Swedish Chef is having problems holding down a steady gig.
Boys are stupid. I'd argue that stupid people are stupid, but guys like this keep reinforcing the stereotype.
The winters must be really long and cold in Sweden, I can't think of any other reason for this. I always thought it was full of beautiful blonde people. Maybe we need to send all the frat boys to Sweden.
First the Muppet show ends and now this. The Swedish Chef is having problems holding down a steady gig.
Boys are stupid. I'd argue that stupid people are stupid, but guys like this keep reinforcing the stereotype.
The winters must be really long and cold in Sweden, I can't think of any other reason for this. I always thought it was full of beautiful blonde people. Maybe we need to send all the frat boys to Sweden.
Rants & Raves got a nice makeover, and it looks good! It's also educational - I now know what a whale tail is. I had always wondered what to call that.
Kevin from Wizbangblog was in Virginia recently and saw one of the cool new PETA signs that they're putting up everywhere that people will let them (which is limited to Virginia so far I think). The management of Hard Times stands by our previous statement.
You know your luck has run out when you ask a woman out and she checks you out on Google, discovering that you're a wanted man. Next stop, jail.
James Brown has entered the scary celebrity mugshot competition with a strong entry. The entire collection, including Andre the Giant(!), is here.
Wired Magazine has a very interesting article about the current "trend" of outsourcing programming and call center jobs to India. I saw this firsthand in Charlotte - the big banks put a lot of American IT people out on the street over the last 3 or 4 years, and sent those jobs overseas. The gist of the article is that this is inevitable progress, another wave of change similar to the ones that washed away the agricultural and manufacturing eras. However, that really doesn't mean a lot to you if you're one of the jobless people. Keep learning and stay flexible, that's about all you can do. And follow the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita - "Do what you're supposed to do. And don't worry about the fruits. They'll come on their own." There's only one problem. Could someone please tell me what I'm supposed to do?
Stole this cool idea from Sugarmama (who stole it from someone else). All the bold states are ones I've actually visited, and the ones that are bold and italic are places I lived for more than 3 months:
1) Alabama 2) Alaska 3) Arizona 4) Arkansas 5) California 6) Colorado 7) Connecticut 8) Delaware 9) Florida 10) Georgia 11) Hawaii 12) Idaho 13) Illinois 14) Indiana 15) Iowa 16) Kansas 17) Kentucky 18) Louisiana 19) Maine 20) Maryland 21) Massachusetts 22) Michigan 23) Minnesota 24) Mississippi 25) Missouri 26) Montana 27) Nebraska 28) Nevada 29) New Hampshire 30) New Jersey 31) New Mexico 32) New York 33) North Carolina 34) North Dakota 35) Ohio 36) Oklahoma 37) Oregon 38) Pennsylvania 39) Rhode Island 40) South Carolina 41) South Dakota 42) Tennessee 43) Texas 44) Utah 45) Vermont 46) Virginia 47) Washington 48) West Virginia 49) Wisconsin 50) Wyoming and 51) DC
Places outside the U.S. -
Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Italy, Cuba, Barbados, US Virgin Islands, Brazil, British Columbia, Panama, Ontario, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, Japan, Cayman Islands
Holy crap, until I laid it out like that, I didn't realize how many places I've been (and lived). I still have eleven states to go, though. Part of it came from being in the Navy, and the rest are places my various jobs have sent me. Australia's about the only place I haven't been that I'd like to visit, although I'd like to re-visit Scotland one day.
1) Alabama 2) Alaska 3) Arizona 4) Arkansas 5) California 6) Colorado 7) Connecticut 8) Delaware 9) Florida 10) Georgia 11) Hawaii 12) Idaho 13) Illinois 14) Indiana 15) Iowa 16) Kansas 17) Kentucky 18) Louisiana 19) Maine 20) Maryland 21) Massachusetts 22) Michigan 23) Minnesota 24) Mississippi 25) Missouri 26) Montana 27) Nebraska 28) Nevada 29) New Hampshire 30) New Jersey 31) New Mexico 32) New York 33) North Carolina 34) North Dakota 35) Ohio 36) Oklahoma 37) Oregon 38) Pennsylvania 39) Rhode Island 40) South Carolina 41) South Dakota 42) Tennessee 43) Texas 44) Utah 45) Vermont 46) Virginia 47) Washington 48) West Virginia 49) Wisconsin 50) Wyoming and 51) DC
Places outside the U.S. -
Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Italy, Cuba, Barbados, US Virgin Islands, Brazil, British Columbia, Panama, Ontario, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, Japan, Cayman Islands
Holy crap, until I laid it out like that, I didn't realize how many places I've been (and lived). I still have eleven states to go, though. Part of it came from being in the Navy, and the rest are places my various jobs have sent me. Australia's about the only place I haven't been that I'd like to visit, although I'd like to re-visit Scotland one day.
Miz Jett is on my list this week for taking her site down while she redoes it. The worst part is that before it poofed, she started this contest where you record a song she wrote and send it to her for fame and prizes. Well, I can't get to the lyrics now, and I already had the studio and the orchestra booked! I'm thinking some gratuitous apology sex is called for, or at least some major groveling. Somehow I don't see that happening though.
UPDATE: Jett's page is back up - well, the lyrics are there. And I'm the only link on her site now. Ain't I special?
UPDATE: Jett's page is back up - well, the lyrics are there. And I'm the only link on her site now. Ain't I special?
I will probably be taking a few days off soon to work on a new project, and one of the things I need is a place to put a new weblog. Hard Times is on BlogSpot Plus, but they aren't signing up new accounts at the moment, and regular BlogSpot has ads and no images. What I'm looking for is the cheapest no-ad place to put a low-bandwidth site. Any ideas? Testify!
Floppy shoes, limber women, and eight dollar snowcones...yes I went to the circus Saturday and it was soooo cool. It truly is the Greatest Show on Earth. The ringmaster cracked me up with his sparkly suit and his cheesy voice. I don't know about y'all, but there's just something about a woman riding an elephant that gets to me.
Diversionz linked to a couple of interesting food-related articles last week:
Filmmaker eats nothing but McDonald's for a month, wrecks his health. It's not really surprising, but it's amazing just how bad for you the stuff is.
Diane Patterson, who attends Northwestern University, was offended because the school honored Martin Luther King, Jr. by serving fried chicken, cornbread, and collard greens in the cafeteria (second letter). She referred to them as "sterotypically black foods". I've got news for you, Diane - those are not "black" foods, they're "southern" foods. My father is a white man who grew up eating collards, turnips, and cornbread crumbled up in buttermilk. Fried chicken was something reserved for Sunday dinners. Your color didn't determine what you had to eat, your economic status did. Since you seem to be looking for a fight, Diane, maybe you should picket the cafeteria if they serve corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day...yet another narrow-minded cafeteria "tragedy".
Filmmaker eats nothing but McDonald's for a month, wrecks his health. It's not really surprising, but it's amazing just how bad for you the stuff is.
Diane Patterson, who attends Northwestern University, was offended because the school honored Martin Luther King, Jr. by serving fried chicken, cornbread, and collard greens in the cafeteria (second letter). She referred to them as "sterotypically black foods". I've got news for you, Diane - those are not "black" foods, they're "southern" foods. My father is a white man who grew up eating collards, turnips, and cornbread crumbled up in buttermilk. Fried chicken was something reserved for Sunday dinners. Your color didn't determine what you had to eat, your economic status did. Since you seem to be looking for a fight, Diane, maybe you should picket the cafeteria if they serve corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick's Day...yet another narrow-minded cafeteria "tragedy".
