Gravilux Link Using the right and left buttons of your mouse, click or click and drag or click and hold. V. cool. -A. P.S. Also check out the artwork on the related site links at the top of the page.

Dear Madame X and Madame Y, Yes. I *can* hear you when you talk about me. The fact that my cubicle is about five feet from yours should give you some kind of clue. The fact that you always glance over guiltily at me is a sign. The fact that I'm still speaking to you is a miracle. Yes. I am a temp. *gasp* Only losers are temps, right? Must be. I know I went to college for five years to get two degrees to work in your office where, according to your last conversation, I am not qualified ...

I don't claim to be any expert on foreign policy but it would seem that violence is perpetuated by political lines being drawn which encompass opposing factions. (Feel free to say "Duh.") For example: Israel/Palestine and the Gaza strip Chechnya and Russia Hutus/Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi Shiites/Kurds/Sunnis in Iraq It would seem that most of these situations are exacerbated by geographical lines. Generally, one side seems to be dominant and force or oppress other factions into a...

Check out this site. It's called JibJab and it's got a hilarious satire or parody of Bush and Kerry.: Link Click on the "This Land" area. See Bush and Kerry go at it (look for the Dean scream, too). Also, JibJab was threatened with a lawsuit by the holders of the Woody Guthrie song in question, so they sued first for use of fair rights. Link The issue in question is whether the JibJab animated short is a satire or a parody. Some people think it's parody according to the dict...

I'm a big fan of pretty much all forms of poker, and admit that I succumb to the current rage, Texas Hold 'em. Great game. Lots of strategy and mind games-- --which all turn to utter CRAP when playing with beginners. For one, there's beginner's luck. Last night we were teaching, teaching for crying out loud, our friends to play, and H went out nearly immediately betting on pocket aces (and another on the table, so three Aces) when the beginner got a flush (pocket hearts and three hear...

I was in England during the 2000 presidential election and someone sent me this mass e-mail. Maybe you've seen it, maybe not. Anyway. It's funny. NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE To the citizens of the United States of America, In the light of your failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all st...

I was in England during the 2000 presidential election and someone sent me this mass e-mail. Maybe you've seen it, maybe not. Anyway. It's funny. NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE To the citizens of the United States of America, In the light of your failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all st...

I hate teenage girls. Not all teenage girls, actually; just the sixteen-year-olds driving brand new Mitsubishis who toss their burning carcinogenic litter out the window and then flip me off when I honk at them, and insolently flip another smoking piece of tobacco at the light just before they turn off. Now let me say, I have nothing against sixteen-year-olds, or girls, or smokers, and I have only a bit of contempt for parents who buy their kids brand new cars when they get their license...

We're poor. H hasn't been able to find a job yet and yet somehow the bills keep coming even though we're not doing anything except job hunting and eating. (Hmm. We should stop eating.) So today I bundled up my ego and took it with me to a temp agency. Ego came back bruised and bleeding. I put on my best clothes, walk into the air-conditioned “We’ve got your money and we’re using it to stay cold and protect our plastic plants” office, and wait to be told to sit down. Wait an inordinate amou...

Currently there is a US-led offensive in the Iraqi town of Najaf--you have to deliberately ignore the news to not notice that. Najaf is probably what you'd call a mecca, a holy place, and it is home to the Iman Ali shrine and a vast cemetary, the Wadi-us-Salaam (ironically means "Valley of Peace"). And now there are US soldiers, tanks, and helicopters swarming the city, trying to, depending on the way you look at it, put down Shiite uprisings or inflict an an American presence on their way...

Unemployment blog: Day 36. Have taken to wearing no underwear in hopes that will go through underwear more slowly, thereby saving self laundry $. Also is bloody hot here. Scarcely goes below 100 in daytime and below 70 at nighttime. . Magazines not buying my articles. "Ran that one two months ago" (No you didn't, liar; am not stupid, do in fact read magazine back issues for that very reason) "Like your style but we're just not interested right now" Actually, am making those up: rejection s...

Brother-in-law e-mailed me this one today. You gotta wonder if it’s the speechwriters or if, after all, it’s just Bush. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=703&e=6&u=/ap/20040805/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bushism

Brother-in-law e-mailed me this one today. You gotta wonder if it’s the speechwriters or if, after all, it’s just Bush. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=703&e=6&u=/ap/20040805/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bushism

Prior to college I was a pretty good conservative/moderate Christian girl. Post-college I am an okay moderately liberal agnostic woman. All the education, from religion to philosophy to history to literature, has done one thing: Complicated the whole damn world. People on JU often like to point out (with some degree of arrogance, it seems), seeing things in black and white is for simpletons; to be an intellectual, the whole world must be a massive gray area, a continuum from the lightest ...

Dear Grad School Admissions Dean, Why do I want to go to State University to pursue my further education? Well, to be honest, you're my backup school. I'd rather get a degree from an Ivy League but, to be honest again, my GRE scores aren't that great. So I'm hoping you're having a crappy admissions year and won't mind taking me. Sincerely, A.