Sixteen days

I just noticed that it's been sixteen days since I last talked through my blog. I've definitely had a cycle of not talking going on, although I'm not sure what's up with that. I'm not depressed in the usual sense of being depressed that my friends would have picked up on a few years ago. I'm turtling though, or at least I was, drawing into my shell. I've only noticed it in the last few days, but it's been happening for at least a month or more.

I think that this is a reaction to the lack of my usual social life for the last decade or so. I'm used to having some pretty intense friendships always ready to connect. I've been able to ignore that for most of this year in Ann Arbor because of my new wife, my new family, and a new city. But it is clearly missing and I'm starting to react to it. Well, turtling isn't a very productive reaction to building (or maintaining) friendships, is it?

Viceversa

I really like this kitchen knife holder. On a 1-10 scale of conversation starters, it has to rank at least an 8.

Happy Birthday

Talking to you over the phone is such a poor substitute for what I got used to over our--what, nine years?--together. Frankly, there is no substitute for spending time with you. Being with Gabo gave me my archetype for the word friend. You gave me my archetype for the word family. I don't know, really, what having a sister would be like, but I don't really think it could be stronger than what I feel for you. I love you, and am so proud of you, my sister. I need to be with you again, if even for an hour, just so I can give you a hug and fall into talking while we walk.

Happy Birthday.

USATODAY.com

Seeing this list of Super Bowl 39 ads, I was struck by how many advertising messages one could be infected with during a football game. Or see during anything really.

I'd like to see a similar list for billboards along a highway, perhaps just driving from Ann Arbor to Detroit.

Same-Sex Marriage ban overturned in NY

Hurray!
The New York Times > AP > National > Judge Rejects N.Y. Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge declared Friday that a law banning same-sex marriage violates the state constitution, a first-of-its-kind ruling in New York that would clear the way for gay couples to wed if it survives on appeal.
...
State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the New York City clerk could not deny a license to any couple solely on the ground that the two are of the same sex.

The city Law Department issued a statement saying only, ``We are reviewing the decision thoroughly and considering our options.''
....
The judge noted that one plaintiff, Curtis Woolbright, is the son of an interracial couple who moved to California in 1966 to marry. She said California then was the only state whose courts had ruled that interracial marriage prohibitions were unconstitutional.

Bombing for Choice

This blog has a Google Bombing campaign for moving abortion and Roe v. Wade Google searches away from inaccurate pro-life websites.

Bombing for Choice: Geekery Today 2005/02/01 :: Rad Geek People's Daily
While doing a bit of Googling for a citation of the decision in Roe v. Wade, I was reminded of a rather unpleasant fact: anti-abortion nuts have, up to this point, done a pretty good job at getting their agitprop ranked above factual information about Roe v. Wade and abortion in web searches. (On a related topic, see Crisis Pregnancy Centers Move Online.) As of 1 February 2005, the top search result for "Roe v. Wade"; on Google (the one you'll get from "I Feel Lucky") is not the text of the case; it's an anti-choice advocacy site called RoevWade-dot-org (I won't link it here, lest it throw off the Google Bombing); a one-stop shop for anti-abortion myths such as Post-Abortion Syndrome, the abortion-breast cancer link, and more, along with a heaping helping of wit and wisdom from everyone from "Feminists for Life" to Dr. James Dobson. You can find similar wingnut sites at the top of many other abortion-related Google searches.

Therefore, I propose that we do something about it. Specifically, I suggest we start throwing bombs.

Tip of the hat to Mark for pointing me to it.

Pop, Soda, or Coke?

The Pop vs. Soda Page

I still can't believe they have a county-by-county colored map.

The Comics Curmudgeon

The Comics Curmudgeon

Nicole, if you haven't discovered this, it's waiting there patiently just like it was for me. The only blog I've seen that I would almost be willing to pay for. It actually comments on meta-comics sometimes!

Evolution vs. Norse Mythology comic

So, when do we start putting the "teach Norse mythology equally" stickers on science books?

Science vs. Norse Mythology