MILF and Cookies?

Just curious -- When did MILF slip into mainstream lingo? The WB website now streams online videos of many of its t.v. shows, both old and new. The advertisement on this site for The Gilmore Girls is "MILF and Cookies." I was a bit taken aback by such causal usage this term for a show that's pretty wholesome. (By the way ... is there a male counterpart to MILF or do we just assume that all men are fuckable regardless of progeny or age???)

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

I'm slightly disturbed by the fact that a Highlights activity has become a metaphor for my life. Last week I experienced a series of events that made it perfectly clear that the thing not like the others is me. I realize that I like to be contrary and fitting in has never been high on my priority list, but I have now reached a new level of "otherness" that is becoming rather uncomfortable and will need to be addressed in some serious fashion. Unfortunately, I can't blog about the details, despite the fact that some of these stories are amusing. (I really need to reconsider anonymous blogging.)

Or perhaps I am just feeling this way today because I am lightheaded from the asphalt fumes seeping into my office from the construction just outside my window. (Go ahead and mock me, former colleagues, for I have become the hedgehog!)

Boo-F'in-Hoo

Poor Elliot Spitzer is angry. He's apparently misunderstood. His political legacy is being challenged by the new top dogs; the new NY governor doesn't associate with him much; and he has to work 9-to-5 like an average Joe. Yeah, my sympathy well is just overflowing for this guy. Obviously, in just six months Spitzer has "paid for his sins" and deserves the respect that his former position afforded him. Wow! How unbelievably arrogant! I doubt his wife has forgiven him yet, but apparently we're supposed to forget about he prostitution, corruption, embezzlement, etc. and remember him as a man of integrity who "would have" done great things for New York. I mean, as long as he says he's contrite, then why shouldn't be believe him?

Why I Love the NYTimes

Because they write articles that reference people like Alexis de Tocqueville -- what more could a social scientist ask for?!? My favorite quote from this article about the flaws of American exceptionalism is:

"Palinism -- a philosophy delivered without a passport and with a view (on a clear day) of Russia."

The Class of 2012

Although I have been eagerly awaiting the new Beloit College Mindset List, I have to say that this year's list didn't shock me as much as it normally does. Does that mean I'm still hip? (Probably not, just for using the expression hip.) Anyhow, these are the few things that I did find interesting about the generation born in 1990:

• GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
• Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
• Caller ID has always been available on phones. (And yet it's not available on my office phone!)
• They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
• Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born. (OMG! I still remember Windows 3.0!!!)

Open Mic

I generally like open mic nights. I used to appreciate them a lot when I worked in Ann Arbor. Albany doesn't have a lot of such events, but every once in a while you can stumble across one. Now finding a good one is another matter. I'm currently sitting at one of the local coffee houses where I like to work during off hours -- free internet, iced chai, a comfy couch -- not a bad place to be when you have to work on a Sunday evening. But tonight I stumbled upon a rather bad open mic evening. Two middle aged guys with guitars who can't sing especially well. And, of course, I forgot my headphones.

I can't understand much of what they're singing, because there's a lot of mumbling, but I swear that there have been at least two songs so far about dead mothers ... lovely. There was also a song about marriage that I don't think was terribly flattering, but again I can't understand much of what they're saying.

Now they are trying to harmonize. Wow -- it is not going well. I don't know how much longer I can sit here typing my sarcasm into the computer and still resist giving dirty looks or, better yet, singing tips! I seriously hope these guys have real jobs.

When Technology Dumbfounds People ...

It leads to clogged email in-boxes! One of the professional groups that I belong to, which shall remain nameless, is so technologically challenged that it is pathetic. The group has a few hundred members and they have serious communication problems because they do not know how to leverage technology. And I'm not talking about anything sophisticated here!

They tried a web site. It was pretty simple, but it had some basic information. It hasn't been updated in about three years, despite constant newsletter announcements that it will be updated shortly. In my naive years I even offered to help update the website, but was told they already had someone to do it.

Then they tried a listserv about a year or two ago. I have no idea what happened to it. I don't believe I ever got a message through it.

And now ... a new listserv. I would like to point out that listservs have been around for well over a decade and they are pretty darn easy to use. It's just email, people. And yet ... Yesterday someone sends out a "test" message on the listserv. He wants to know if other people got his message. Said message goes out to about 400 people. Many of those kindhearted people decided to reply to the listserv to let the sender know that they received the important "test" message. (Sigh) Finally, the listserv administrator sends out a message reminding everyone that they are replying to all with their pointless messages, thereby clogging everyone's email. Nice. Thanks. I would have said so myself, but I wouldn't have been so polite.

So this morning I have a gazillion emails with the subject line "avoid cluttering the listserv" and everyone thanking the listserv administrator for reminding people not to clutter the listserv! Good grief! (If I were the listserv administrator I would delete all of those people.)

Divine Messages

God to Sarah Palin: Send troops to Iraq to kill on my behalf.

God to Moses: Thou shalt not kill.

Hypocrisy? Hubris? It's amazing how someone could so casually manipulate religious teachings to suit a political agenda. (Don't even get me started on how God is requesting the pipeline in Alaska!)

Plea Bargain

This morning the Detroit mayor finally pleaded guilty to felony charges in return for a reduced sentence. I don't think it's a bad deal, especially considering how much money would have been wasted if this had gone to court and how Detroit politics would be held hostage until this was resolved. I just hope that he actually serves real jail time (4 months) and not Paris Hilton jail time. Kilpatrick isn't allowed to run for office for the 5 years that he's on probation, but I suspect he'll become the next Marion Barry. (Although I hope not for Detroit's sake.)

You Gotta Love

your friends who travel to Europe and buy you blog-related gifts! Apparently the faux kaffiyeh is all the rage in Paris.