I watched a movie called Equalibrium this weekend. Apparently, it didn't come to many theaters and it wasn't really promoted, therefore, people haven't really heard of it. It's not really even out on vidoe yet but my roommate works at a video store and she brought home a demo copy. Though I was skeptical at first, it was actually pretty interesting. It was sort of along the lines of The Matrix or Gattica. It had a lot of philisophical symbolism, and while I picked up on some of it, it's been a while since I've studied any philosophy so I want a second opinion: any of you out there in blogdom who are philosophical types should watch for this movie to come out on video, rent it, analyze it and tell me about it. If I agree with your analysis, I'll make you some cookies.
Three cups of coffee and a Tylenol PM are not the ingredients for a good night's sleep or a happy Monday morning. However, if you want to have some interesting dreams, this might be just the recipe you've been looking for.
I was trying to think of a top ten list to post on my page, but I couldn't come up with ten things to list under one heading. Instead, I'm just going to list ten things that have potential to make it to a top ten list. You'll have to think of your own topic to go with them.
10. Words that rhyme with "ointment"
9. Carpet? I wouldn't even let my pet in my house!
8. If chemical weapons were outlawed, only outlaws would have chemical weapons.
7. So-called "cheese" not individually wrapped.
6. If loving Gilbert Godfrey is wrong, I don't want to be right.
5. New! Chunky-style Sprite!
4. Free pair of tube socks with every new account.
3. Soccer really just a primitive form of foos-ball.
2. Boutros Boutros Boutros Gali.
1. Slimfast that doesn't taste like milk with dirt in it.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team or some nucler weapons, but at the very least, you need a beer." - Frank Zappa
I can't think of anything good to post today. I started writing something, but it just wasn't working for me. Maybe it will make the cut tomorrow.
For today, I'll just send you elsewhere. I have a short list of links on the lower left side of my blog (beware, they dissappear sometimes!) but there are several other blogs that I frequent. Here are a few of them: Kristen, who has a funny story right now about United Airlines. As someone who has had numerous airport difficulties, I feel her pain. Another blog to check out belongs to The Dane. I especially recommend his humor analysis, which you can access by going to the bottom of the March archives (March 6, to be exact). I usually have things to say about his posts, but I never comment because it seems like everyone else that comments knows each other, so I feel like I'm invading a private conversation. (I hope no one feels that way when they come here. Contrary to what my mother taught me, I like talking to strangers. I also enjoy running with scissors. I'm quite a rebel...but that's another story for another day.) I also hesitantly recommend Sarah Hatter Dot Com, which I accessed via Rick. I don't have any idea who this girl is, but she's a pretty good writer, though she regularly has something posted with which I disagree. I have other sites that I visit, but I'll save them for another day when I have nothing to post. If anyone else has blogs to recommend, here's your chance.
Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have anything of interest for the masses today. I'll try to do better tomorrow.
If I had to name a super-power that I already have, I would say it's either my super-human capacity for wearing more than 20 pairs of shoes in one week or my abnormal ability to win paper/rock/scissors two out of three times, but if I could choose any super-power that I wanted, I might consider "Teleportation," but in the end, I'd have to go with "Super Bendy Thumbs", 'cause, man: think of the possibilities.
So this guy comes in the bank, offers to replace my chipped windshield, waive my deductable, AND he gave me a $50 gift card to Walmart! He's fixing some of my co-workers' windshields too, but I'm the only one who scored the gift card. It must be my lucky day.
"The British have never been a spiritually minded nation, so they invented cricket to give them some notion of eternity." - Lord Mancroft
Well, I wasn't going to say anything about the war, but I have to say one thing: what's up with people complaining that the war is going to last "longer than we expected"? It hasn't even been a week! The market is down, public sentiment is down, news casters are down...all because this might last longer. Americans are so short-sighted. Honestly, as far as the history books are concerned, this war will most likely be considered to be a continuation of the Gulf War. We need to grow up.
"Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his son the hardships that made him rich." - Robert Frost
Americans use euphemisms all the time. That's what being politcally correct is all about. We euphemize people who are handicapped ("mentally or physically challenged"), people who get fired ("got a pink-slip"), and peope who are bums ("homeless"). I can understand (to some degree) being sensitive to people, but do we really need to be sensitive to cars? Why must we call a used car "pre-owned"?
And how about those job euphemisms? "Sanitary engineer"? He's a trashman! If I were a real engineer, that would be offensive to me. Now we have to call a janitor a "custodian." Most janitors are aware of the fact that they are janitors. Who are they kidding? A spade's a spade.
While PC euphemisms can be irritating, I have to admit, there are lots of euphemisms that I really enjoy. For example, there are a lot of ways to describe someone who is stupid: off his rocker; a few bricks short of a load; a few fries short of a happy meal; not the sharpest knife in the drawer; not the brightest crayon in the box; rode the short bus; depriving a village of an idiot.
And why is it, if we're supposed to be so sensitive, that we have so many euphemisms for death: kicked the bucket; bit the dust; cashed in his chips; kicked the oxygen habit; checked in to the Wooden Waldorf; mailed in his warranty card; married OJ....and the list goes on.
Pretty much anything bad can be made to sound pleasant (or at least better than it actually is): being old, sick, drunk, crazy...in fact, there once was a guy who wasn't very bright, so he went out and got lit. He was over the hill, but under the weather. He didn't really like to play games (he wasn't exactly playing with a full deck), but he was tossing his cookies. This man was a little short on funds: he was out of work, he lived in Section 8, and he let his car go back to the bank. His life was out of order and he was going to end up doing some time. But then he found out he was HIV positive and not long after that, he bought the farm. By the way, he was not light in his loafers...it was a blood transfusion. [/life]
"You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." - Al Capone
10. dogs riding in the back of pick-ups with their ears flapping in the wind
9. the way women squeal when they see each other in the store
8. the way you can tell someone they're being ugly and they know they're being corrected, not insulted
7. sweet tea
6. Tony's and tabasco are as common as salt and pepper
5. since we can't have Starbuck's, we have a Sonic on every corner
4. the way saying "bless her heart" makes everything alright..."She's so buck-toothed she could eat corn through a picket fence, bless her heart."
3. grown men named Jimmy, Billy, and Bobby, as well as Jim Bob, Billy Bob, and Joe Bob, and the classic "Bubba," and no one finds this strange (in fact, we have a Soul Food/Italian restaurant called "Bubba Luigi's")
2. Gas is actually cheaper here than it is in most places ($1.56 at the Kangaroo today)
1. two words: Johnny's Pizza
I can't believe I left this off the list: the real #1 -
Drive-thru Daiquiri's
I saw an ad for a Ford Focus yesterday and it made me realize just how difficult it must be to come up with a name for a car. Ford, more than other companies, seems to have the most trouble in this area. They do okay with their SUVs. They've got a theme: Excursion, Expedition, Explorer, etc. However, their cars need some help: Focus is pretty bad - focus on how low your car payments are and maybe you'll forget you're driving a three cylinder. Likewise, the Ford Aspire (which I don't think they make any more), could only aspire to be a real car. And how about the Ford Probe (also discontinued): yeah, it looks okay, but the seats sound kind of uncomfortable.
I'm sure it's difficult to come up with a good name for a car, but marketers get paid lots of money to do just that. I mean, I drive a Camry, and I have no clue what that means, but I'd rather have it that way than drive something called the Dodge Impact (which was the original name of the Neon). If I were about to drive an Impact, I think I would have to make sure it had airbags first.
What's the deal with car commercials? Has a yelling salesman ever made you want a car more? Does it make you think, "Oh, he's screaming. He must really mean it." The same goes for furniture commercials: Why all the yelling? I know you sell couches. The fact that you're saying it loudly does not make me rush over to your store. It only makes me mute the TV.
"A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers." --Sebastian Chamfort
1.LIVING ARRANGEMENT? I live in a cute little apartment with Emily
2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Thank You, Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse
3.WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? my mouse
4.FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Trivial Pursuit
5.FAVORITE MAGAZINE? In Style
6.FAVOURITE COMIC? Seinfeld
7.FAVOURITE SMELLS? gingerbread
8.LEAST FAVOURITE SMELLS? bandaids/crystal pepsi (they smell the same, you know)
9.FAVOURITE SOUND? a knock on the door
10. WORST FEELINGS IN THE WORLD? when people say "we need to talk" and you don't really know what they want to talk about, but you are sure it isn't good.(i.e, confrontation)
11.WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? can I afford to hit the snooze?
12.WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP? MUST SLEEP!
14.HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? 2
15.FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Ansley Grace
16.WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE? love...true love (is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT, mutton, lettuce, and tomato, where the metton is nice and lean...etc etc)
17. FAVOURITE FOODS? it's hard to say, but I would love something from Copeland's today
18.CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? dark chocoalate
19.DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? yes, but I'm usually too scared of a ticket to actually do it
20.DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? umm. no
21.STORMS -COOL OR SCARY? Cool, unless I am driving
22.WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? well, I shared a Nissan Sentra with Aaron for a while, but MY first car was an '89 Honda Accord (I loved that car)
24.FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? rum and coke
25.WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN? Taurus
26.DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? Yes
27.IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE? personal shopper
28.IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR? I would like to be blond for just a day, but I think I would look really funny
29.EVER BEEN IN LOVE? nope
30.IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? half full (on most days)
31.FAVOURITE MOVIES? The Sound of Music is my actual favorite, but I know that makes me sound cheesy. It just makes me happy.
32.DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? no, but I'm pretty speedy, considering I don't really know how to type
33.WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? several pairs of shoes and a bolt of fabric that I was going to make curtains with but never did
34.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE NUMBER? eleventy-billion
35 FAVOURITE SPORT TO WATCH? baseball
35. WHO ARE YOUR SIBLINGS? Aaron , 25 and Rachel, almost 21
36. HAIR COLOR? pretty darn close to black
37. EYE COLOR? greenish brown
38.WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TONIGHT? go to the store, watch Survivor
I drove by a convenient store yesterday and I noticed they were advertising 20 oz. cokes for $1.20. Is that supposed to be good? Just last month they were $.99. I always thought Coke was made in America, but maybe it's imported from Iraq.
"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base."
So, I'm taking this continuing education class out at dingy old ULM. I originally wanted to take "Principles of Banking," but not enough people enrolled, so I ended up in "Law and Banking" (or "Law and Baking" or "Lawn Banking," as I said when I had a cold) instead. It's supposed to be a 10 week class that meets once a week for three hours.
I was expecting a little bit of a challenge, but it's turning out to be the easiest class I've had since high school. So far, we've never had a class longer than and hour and a half (and that was only because the teacher was half an hour late). Class has been cancelled twice. We have a mid-term tonight and he told us everything that will be on the test. I'll probably spend more time driving out to ULM than I'll spend in class tonight.
Part of me is happy that the class is so easy, but the other part of me is dissappointed by the lack of challenge. I guess I am learning a few things, but it's nothing I couldn't have learned by reading the text book alone. Oh, well. It's the first class I've ever taken where I get 50 bucks if I get an A, and 50 bucks is.....well, 50 bucks.
"As far as I'm concerned, you may take Pliny the Younger and put him where the monkey put the nuts." --P.G. Wodehouse
*telemarketers
*Richard Simmons
*hotdogs
*Cathy (the comic strip)
*1-800-COLLECT commercials
*AOL
*Coca-Cola Fridge packs
*8 hour lipstick
*Norah Jones
*wireless internet
*paper toilet seat covers
*Starbucks
"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." --Albert Einstein
"His brain was as slick as his eyeballs and the truth would no more soak into it than rain would penetrate tin." --Flannery O'Connor
Matt and Emily and I watched The Karate Kid last night. Man, I must have watched that movie 1000 times when I was a kid. I remember thinking how old Daniel-son seemed to be. What a twirp! Even though it's probably been 15 years since I last watched it, I remembered most of the lines. Matt knew most of song lyrics though, so I didn't feel quite so bad. It was really fun to watch. I think I had a grin on my face the whole time. It's classic 80's.
Is "classic 80's" an oxy-moron?
"I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me." -- Dave Barry
"High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead." - Christopher Morley
I know this guy who, whenever he gets change back, thinks of a historical event. For example: if he got $14.92 back, he would think about Columbus coming to America. If he got $10.66, he would probably think of the Norman Conquest. (Obviously, this works best for amounts under $20.03.)
Whenever I try to think of a date to match my change, I usually draw a blank...but it does make me think: at least one person (and probably hundreds of people) that are my direct relatives were alive then. They were just living their lives, minding their business. I have no idea who they were. I can narrow it down to a country, at best. They probably gave little thought to the fact that the things they did every day would in some way impact the things that I do today. In turn, I'm reminded that the things I do today could have great impact on hundreds of people in the future...kind of intimidating, huh?
If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough,
and if OUGH can stand for O as in Dough,
and if PHTH can stand for T as in Phthisis,
and if EIGH can stand for A as in Neighbor,
and if TTE can stand for T as in Gazette,
and if EAU can stand for O as in Plateau,
then the right way to spell POTATO should be: "GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU"
This is the second half of my Moscow to Texas road trip story which I started the other day (see below). Thankfully the rest of the trip was much less exciting.
5/23, 7:15 pm, 30 miles past Casper, WY
I've now graduated to Deacon's car. Remy is sleeping in the back. Bray is driving my car accompanied by Rachel. Bray is a close driver. It's cooling down now (plus the a/c works in this car) so my sunburn is feeling better. I had a Gatorade. It quenched.
7:25 pm - The Great Tractor Dump! 11 miles north of Douglas, WY. I always thought it was in Kansas. Maybe the "Happiness is a crock of beans" sign is here too.
8:45 pm - We're gaining on Cheyenne, "Little America". It's only about 135 miles to Denver now. We hope to make it to Colorado Springs tonight. Remy's trying to sleep, but he's not very good at it. It's dark. I can't write any more.
5/24, 10:50 am, New Mexico
We made it to Colorado Springs last night around midnight, but I couldn't sleep until almost 2. We slept until 6:30. Man, was that refreshing. We've made it through Colorado and are almost in Texas. We've got a day full of Texas ahead of us. I've sunken to drinking Red Bull so I can have some wings. This part of N.M. is lovely. I hope I can say the same thing of west Texas, but I have my doubts. Deacon is driving my car now. We're going very slowly due to silly New Mexicans in a minivan. I want to be home.
11:41 - we're still in N.M. (barely) - we just passed the great cow dump. There were millions of cows. It smells like the fair.
West Texas Haiku
Texas teaparty
Refreshing beverage for cars
Mining for black gold
8:45 pm - We're in the home stretch...I'll be driving through Ft. Worth.
5/25 - We finally made it home last night and we're all still in fellowship. I drove from Ft. Worth all the way to Nacogdoches. Rachel and I split with the guys in Kilgore, Tx, so they could head to Louisiana and we could go to Nacogdoches. Thankfully, our drive was much shorter. I was hallucinating for the last hour of the drive, but I had to press on. I was supposed to go to Monroe today for the conference, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. My car isn't looking to appealing to me right now.
Someone asked me this morning if I had permanent makeup or if I was just lucky. Lucky? It's not easy being this very, very, ridiculously goodlooking all the time.
"Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea."
This is my journal from the last time I drove from Idaho to Texas (and by "last time", I hope I mean "the last time ever"). This journal does not reflect everything that happened to us. Only the things that crossed my mind while my journal was out were recorded. Some of the content was editted because when I'm travelling with a big group of people, I don't always think happy thoughts.
May 21, 2001, 2:30 pm
Location: Superior, Montana
Destination: Nacogdoches, Texas
Travel Companions: Rachel, Deacon, Remy, Bray, three cars and tons of stuff.
We're on the side of the road in Superior. It all started at 6:30 this morning. I got up and was ready to go on time. Deacon and Rachel were ready to go on time. Remy and Bray were not. We were scheduled to leave at 8:00. We left at 9:45. Now their car broke, so we're sitting on the side of I-90 waiting for the tow truck. At least it's scenic. We're right beside the Clark Fork River which is surrounded by mountains. Rachel is taking pictures. Deacon is reading the atlas. Remy is trying to get comfortable. Bray is littering. I want to have a picnic but we only have 6 bananas, pretzels and a bagel. We do have a basket though. Handy, huh? We'll be lucky if we make it to Missoula tonight. I'm getting sunburned. Remy wants to go swimming in the Clark Fork.
3:15 - still on the side of the road. Apparently, the tow truck got "stuck in traffic." In Montana? Right. Bray is counting the cars that don't change lanes for us. He's keeping tally marks on the guard rail under the heading "JERKS" (so far we have 13). Hopefully, the tow truck will be here soon. I want my mom.
Final "JERK" count: 100 (plus the tow truck driver)
2 hours later: in Missoula. We finally got the tow truck. Now it's broken down. We're on the side of the road again. Rachel likes to read the signs out loud. It's great. I'm really sunburned. I think we're going to have to live here. Remy has been wearing the same shirt for over a week. What a bum.
It's now 6 pm. We're still on the side of the road with the broken tow truck. Deacon and Bray are throwing rocks at gophers. The tow truck driver is not mechanically inclined, but at least he cusses a lot.
5/22. 5:10 pm. Still in Missoula - after the tow truck broke we stood outside for another hour. Then, my battery was dead. We stayed in a Super 8 that reeked. We had to buy a new battery and cables for my car ($100.00). After waiting at the mall all day long, we found out Remy's car is totalled. Now we're at the Mazda place boxing up their stuff in my extra crates so we can mail it home. We have to wait a few hours now until the Greyhound place opens at 9 pm. Then we'll ship it and move on again...if all goes as planned. (Like that will happen.)
5/23, 1:10 pm. Big Timber, MT
We would have been home right now if we had been on schedule. But no, we're 500 miles from Moscow. This has definitely been an adventure. Remy is driving now. We're hoping that since he changed shirts our luck will change. It hadn't changed as of last night. We went and had a few brews and saw a movies while we waited for the Greyhound to open. Then Remy and I went to the bus station. The guy that worked there was an idiot. It took over an hour to mail 12 packages. We were hoping to drive on to Butte, but it was 12:15 am by the time we were ready to go, so we spent another night in Missoula, but not at the less-than-Super 8.
It's a beautiful day in Montana, but Bray and I are still severely sunburned. Well, we'll get Wyoming over with today. It just might be my last time ever in Wyoming. I wouldn't be too upset about that.
2:00 - Montana is the road construction state. We were slowed down again. Unfortunately, at the last stop, Deacon turned off my gas pump without putting gas in the car. Remy noticed it about 10 miles out of the gas station. We had to stop again and pay $1.85 for gas. At least we didn't run out. I can't handle the sun. Remy is practicing "zen driving"...he's all about the flow. Hopefully this day will be anticlimactic.
Road Trip Haiku
Buffalo, Wyoming, 4:42 pm
Endless Wyoming
Sky as big as Montana
I miss Idaho
II
Curvacious highway
Looking at the vast expanse
More cows than people
to be continued...
"Blessed is he, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving, in words, evidence of the fact." -- George Eliot
Yesterday, as I was looking for something in my room, I came across my travel journal which has been with me on many a road trip. I'm really pleased that I started keeping such a journal early on in my raod trip days because I find them really enjoyable to read over. I found stories from several Idaho to Texas drives, two or three Texas to Virginia drives, and several Moscow to Seattle spring break trips. It includes such favorites as: my drive to Moscow with the Amos family; the time Robbie got hit by a deer in Kansas; and the most infamous "were going to be in Montana for the rest of our lives" trip, complete with road trip haiku.
I intend to publish some of these stories on my blog for your reading pleasure. Some of you may find them boring, but I enjoy them, and hey, it's my blog. Get ready.
Oh I just couldn't. Hell, she's only sixteen.
I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
Duct tape won't fix that.
Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael.
Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
We don't keep firearms in this house.
Has anybody seen the sideburns trimmer?
You can't feed that to the dog.
No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
Wrasslin's fake.
Honey, did you mail that donation to Greenpeace?
We're vegetarians.
Do you think my gut is too big?
I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
Honey, we don't need another dog.
Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
Spittin is such a nasty habit.
I just couldn't find a thing at Walmart today.
Trim the fat off that steak.
Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
The tires on that truck are too big.
I've got it all on the C drive.
Unsweetened tea tastes better.
Would you like your salmon poached or broiled?
My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams.
Does the salad bar have bean sprouts?
Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
I don't have a favorite college team.
I believe you cooked those green beans too long.
Nope, no more for me. I'm drivin tonight.
Checkmate.
I saw the most spectacular rainbow I have ever seen yesterday (and I've seen some other really good ones). It somehow made all the rain the we've had for the last few weeks seem delightful. Thousands of years after the great flood, God continues to give us the promise of His faithfulness.
"Sometimes I've believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfast." --Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
From time to time, I have a vivid dream about my job. I wouldn't characterize it as a nightmare, but I always wake up feeling stressed out. When I waited tables, I would have a dream at least once a month that involved me coming into work, having 10 or more tables waiting for me, getting the wrong food from the kitchen, making my tables mad and having no one to help out. Once I started working at the bank, it took a while for me to start having bank dreams. It started when I began opening new accounts and it involved a waitressing/account opening combo: I was taking people food and trying to get them to open accounts, sign papers, etc...you know, instead of, "would you like an appetizer?", it was, "would you like a savings account?". Well, yesterday, I watched Scream and my friends warned me that I might have nightmares. Of course, Scream is not scary, so instead of having a getting-killed dream, I had a banking dream. I dreamt that I came to work and had 50 customers waiting for me and no one to help me. I had stacks of money everywhere (unlike real life) and all my customers were furious. My coworkers were no help (thanks a lot, Troy!). I woke up all freaked out. I really didn't want to come to work this morning.
Don't get me wrong: you can't tell from the last few posts, but I really like my job...really.
Are there any dream interpreters out there? I think it's just my obsessive-compulsive nature coming out, but I need some rest!
"Golf is an ineffectual attempt to direct an uncontrollable sphere into an inaccessible hole with instruments ill-adapted to the purpose." --Winston Churchill
Is an "anti-socialist" someone who doesn't like parties or someone who doesn't like Canada?
"Oh, are you from Wales? Do you know a fella named Jonah? He used to live in whales." --Groucho Marx
I don't really like to watch or read the news. I can't remember ever watching the news when I lived in Moscow and I never felt too out of touch with reality. The fact is, most news items are nothing more than space fillers. If something big and important is going on in the country, I'll hear about it. For example: I lived in Moscow when the whole Bush/Gore tied election thing was going on. I never watched the news or saw a paper, but I sort of new what was happening and once it was settled, I knew the outcome and that's all I really needed to know. Had I been a law student or a politician it might have mattered if I watched it, but as it is, I don't think I would have gained anything by watching every breaking news moment. Contrariwise, I had full access to the news during the 9/11 attacks. In fact, I think I watched the news for six straight months. It was on at the house, it was on at work, it was on anywhere I went. While I don't want to belittle the importance and sadness of that event, I don't see how 24 hour news stations helped anyone. There was rarely new information, but I watched all the time, just in case there was. Maybe all that footage was helpful to the American public since we have such a short cultural memory...but even with all that, how many people have forgotten in little over a year? Now, we're facing war in Iraq. I know that, and I don't need to watch the news to know that. There is always some little development that the news reporters are eager to tell everyone, but I can't help but wonder how much Saddam Hussein and co. watch and learn from CNN and MSNBC and CNBC and Headline News. Maybe it hurts us more than it helps. As my old friends Simon and Garfunkel said: "I get all the news I need on the weather report", and even then, it's usually wrong.