BLOG NUTS
Why is it that as soon as a nice warm day comes along (in the case for Chicago folk it was last Sunday’s record breaking 80 degrees!) it’s an immediate declaration that its time for spring attire? Since our nice little global warming awakening on Sunday, I have done nothing but where my little jean jacket wherever I go… and yes, it has gone back down into the 40’s…in fact it was within 24 hours that we were seeing the 40 degree difference.

But two months ago, had I seen on the news (which I wouldn’t have, because who needs to listen to those farmers almanac reading Meterologists….yes, that profession is a joke)… that the forecasted temperatures would have been in the 40’s, my little brain would have acknowledged that, oh, 40 degrees is only 8 degrees Fahrenheit above freezing, and I would have immediately thrown on my nice, warm, winter jacket, gloves too!… but no, since our warm day… even 40’s seems tolerable in a little jean jacket.….heck its just a few degrees less than warm, its no biggie. In fact the declaration I speak of was so profound for my friend, “cents” that at these recent temperatures, he felt no jacket was needed…

So yes, Chicagoans are a strange breed. We are out in the 40s with jean jackets, 50’s with shorts, and 60’s well after a long winter of subzero temps, that certainly calls for some t-shirt action (unless you are “cents” of whom since Sunday has declared no jackets until next snowfall…but, little does he know, that could happen any day now…or then again it could be 80 tomorrow…ah yes, you must love this city to live here…and I do…in fact tonight, I am going to a new neighborhood called Pilsen…and if you live on the North Side (above the Ike) traveling to Pilsen is like going to visit a foreign country… I must admit when I heard Pilsen, I was like whoo, scary, south side…yes, that is a common misconception for us northsiders…I say that like I should have a flag outside my house showing pride…haha, but there is so much I haven’t seen or done in this city, so why I am taking the foreign trip “down there”

…hey do I get miles for that?
More updates tomorrow on my exciting adventure..

Sincerely,
I am nuts, he is cents

We have to get back to posting.... its been too long. Its like my friends do it, so why dont I? haha, peer pressure... ah the pressure, of a BLOG!

You know what came to mind when I wrote that last sentence...the part of Pretty Woman, where they (prostitute 1 and prostitute 2) are trying to figure out who it (selling their bodies) really works for...and Julia tells prostitute 2 (cant for the life of me remember her name) to give her the name of just one person it has worked for.... and she sits there, ponders a moment with her fingers pressed against her temples and says...ah the pressure (pause) of a name! Moments later she cries out, in the unedited version...CINDER-FUCKIN-RELLA. Sorry Mom, I posted a fould word.

I could be doing a million other things right now (currently I am seated at the desk in my workplace ..whoops) but I am vicariously rebelling against the man... the man we speak of just happens to be off today.

So in reality if I was strong enough to rebel, I think that would need to take place when he is present...so instead i am sneakily rebelling and posting and surfing and shopping and messaging..and all the other fun things you can do while you are strapped to your chair with the burden of Adulthood and responsibility hanging over my head.

The idea of writing my resignation resounds in my mind daily... being in charge of my own success sounds like a fabulous dream..but then reality strikes in and bills are due, and health insurance is needed, and that corporate slum's only redeeming quality shines through, the promise of check arriving every two weeks. It may not even be enough to cover my needs (which it isn't), but the assurance that at 12:01 every other friday morning money will be there.

Break Time... too much water again.

I just took a little break to the loo, and do you know what I found there....an unused tampon opened, out of package, resting peacefully on the brushed metal paper holder. Unfortunately I had already assumed the stance by the time I recognized what I saw, so I sat there quietly contemplating the actions of my peers. Who does that? How did the rightful owner of most necessary commodity, just decide that she would leave it for the viewing pleasure of the next pee dancing patron. Surely, if I hadnt waited so long, I wouldnt have had to dance my way into the stall at the complete disregard of what surrounded me. Big High Five to my coworkers...thats the kind of high class force we have here.

Maybe if I werent blogging, I would have taken my loo break earlier, and avoided this dreadful scene.

I am off to message, surf, and shop some more...

Sincerely,

I am Nuts...he is cents :)

In Defense of Genocide.

It's interesting, isn't it. This conflict between Israel and Lebannon. Obviously, Israel (and it's primary supporter, U.S.) would like to portray this as part of the war on terror, but when civilian casualities, and Lebanese financial damage out weigh damage done to Hezbollah, it is difficult to see it differently.

This conflict makes me rather sad for humanity. I'm shocked at the U.S. reluctance to call a ceasefire, and I'm shocked that the supposedly realist policy makers in both the U.S. and Israel don't understand that destroying the Lebanese state creates more, not less, room for terror. This does not contribute to Israeli security, and the ability of the Hezbollah to operate for over a month against the Israeli military has immeasurably harmed the deteriant power of the IDF.

That being said, I'd like to draw attention to one thing said by an Israeli general:

"'Our forces there are doing very well,' said Brig. Gen. Alon Friedman, chief of staff of the northern command, on state television. 'We are deepening our hold. We will continue designing and stabilizing the area.'
`There is still resistance'
'It must honestly be said,' he added, 'that there are villages that are not purified, are not clean, and there is still resistance. Probably during the next few days . . . we will see fighting that will not be simple or easy in the villages.'"

Note that this General is not talking about peace or security. He is talking about cleansing the area of Hezbollah, for ideological reasons. That Hezbollah is an extremist terror group, even if that is the IDF's sole reason for action, is a sideshow. The rest of the Arab world will see these sorts of idiotic statements as an acknowledgment of their beliefs in Israeli racism, Israeli aggression, and a validation of the greater war between Judaism and Islam.

This is the closest conflict we've had to true ethnic cleansing since the Yugoslavic war. The rhetoric of the IDF would resonate with Nazi elements of society, if only it hadn't been spoken by Jewish mouths. Furthermore, the Israeli embargo of Lebannon, and the Israeli assault on Beirut's infrastructure is criminal; and in violation of the very UN resolutions that Israeli is pretending to uphold.

I do not see how Israel could possibly believe that this will end well. If peace is not given a chance soon, I expect to see Ahmadnejad's vision of Israel's extermination soon, and I do not expect to see the majority of the world shed many tears. "Start a conflict, and expect to get burned."

For those with an undying belief in Israel's military superiority; consider: What if Hezbollah had actually managed to procure WMD, as American terror analysts have been projecting for a decade an a half? What if Iran had supplied materials from North Korea or criminal ex-Soviet elements of undergorund Russia to Hezbollah? Hezbollah has already demonstrated its ability to launch massive numbers of missiles into Israel, effectively allowing it to subvert anti-missile defenses. Consider if Hezbollah's Zelzal-2 missiles were armed with a chemical or nuclear warhead; after all, they have an effective payload capacity of 1000 kg.

Israel is not safe; Israel can defeat it's enemies, but Israel cannot guarantee it's own security with aggression. It can guarantee mutually assured destruction, but that's no good in a world of extremist who believe in Martyrdom.

I hope that Israel wakes up soon; those in power should realize that it's better to maintain the status quo than push for radical change, because political and military realities are quite fluid, and WMD equalizes the playing field between state and non-state actors.

Israeli aggression, and Israeli attacks against civilians (even if it is only colateral damage) will result in significant long term consequences. I hope Israel wakes up to this risk, and beyond that, I hope that the U.S. is not stupid enough to tie it's long term political future to the future of Israel.

At some point, policy makers need to be ready to cut and run, and politically, we've reached that point with Israel.

Opening up shop...

This blog needs more posts. God knows why I let it get out of hand like this. Back to the grindstone, I suppose.

Politics, technology. Something. We'll see which comes out first.

Lana, tired in amsterdam

And there are the ferragamos. Funny what you'll find if you look. /wink hippofussokrit

Best article title of the year.


"Police whack giant snow penis"


By far the best article title of the year.

This is absolutely great. Some couple built a snowman, and a giant snowpenis in their front yard. Policeman drove by, assumed it was a prank, and decided to whack (it down) for them.

They did it as a favor, however, now they are worried that all the publicity will result in giant snow penises all over town.

Biasotti worries the display might give others ideas. "Now we're going to get snow penises popping up all over town," he said.

Many scholars, of course, trace the origin of the modern-day yule log to ancient pagan totems to virility and sun-god worship. Is that what Sherer was going for?

"We just did it because we were really bored, and we thought it'd be funny," she said. "It was huge."

I, for one, welcome our giant snow penis overlords.

Undating...funny how that adjective/verb has come up three times this week. What is even more coincidental is that it is the premise of a book that was bought for me by one of my "undatees" on Sunday, titled "Adventures of a Salsa Goddess". (Yes, I love salsa dancing and undatees that buy me books).

Funny enough, this book (almost 100 pages in) has mentioned merely two pages about salsa dancing and is pretty much based on a woman over 40 who has never been married, but takes on an assignment as a columnist to hook a man before the end of the year...hmm, I am intrigued yet neither apply to me...or do they (well not the over 40 part), how horrifying...to think I could be 40 and never married. HAH! Knowing me, well maybe you do, but I think i'd be on husband 3 by then!

So the book takes you on this adventure of the woman who goes on "undates"... the relevance, is that its just what seems to work out for my compadres and I these days.

Funny how things seem to work when we avoid labels...many that I know are label whores, Gucci, Fendi, Prada..umm I dont know..Ferragamo, but when it comes to dating...nope- no labels, just friends!

Dating Sucks, relationships are worse, but friends...there is the key to your success...so lets all undate, drink together, dance together...and well, build giant snow penises together until we find the undate that fits like a glove!

Moral of the story, dont buy a book that you think is really about salsa dancing just because it says so in the title!

My first post...woohoo, its a bit intimidating..but not really, becuase in the end what does it really matter what others think of what I write...or what I think for that matter. Just read and enjoy, and comment freely...

And that, ladies and gents, is how it starts. The Redhead Piano bar is generally a great place to hang out, even on a Monday. Absolute craziness; we tried Wrightwood Tap, The Beaumont, Mystic Celt, Blue Bayou, Katacomb, Hunt Club, and every single place was DEAD!

But the Redhead? Absolute Madness. We walk in the door, and there's a catfight at the bar. Sweet-sugary liquor shot goodness. This place is definitely going on my list of 'happening Monday-night spots'.

We have a new member on this blog site.

Hippofussokrit is her handle. This should be interesting, she and I rarely see eye to eye. Perhaps the flaming will get interesting. She's an acquaintance of mine, and felt that she could contribute a little more flair than I would. We'll see, eh?

Another reason not to buy Sony products.

This is utter, utter BS. I cannot believe that Sony tries to pull this crap. To those who may be reading this: I'm sure your already aware, but Sony's been testing various copy protection scheme's on their CDs.

Several of the newest ones actually open up your computer (assuming you are a disadvantaged Windows user) to attack by viruses. Hilariously, each and every one of the fixes released by Sony BMG has included additional security holes. One of them even permitted arbitrary websites to install anything on your system and required administrator privledgies to run.

Frankly, its no longer safe to play AUDIO cds in your Windows PC. Your system WILL get screwed up.

And the music industry wonders why people move to Limewire and the like. Your a lot safer, and your computer will be tampered with less, if you pirate your music rather than purchase it. This says something rather sorry about the state of the industry. Frankly, I cannot understand why P2P is a judicial issue, rather than a political issue. There are estimates that roughly 40 million Americans have used P2P in various forms for improperly downloading copyrighted materials. That number is significantly higher than the number of people required to determine a presidential election. Surely, once illegal behavior reaches such large numbers that it borderlines 'majority' usage, one should reconsider the laws restricting this behavior?

Copyright isn't a god given right. Copyright is a government CREATED monopoly for the sole purpose of advancing the arts and sciences. In a democracy, one would think that the practices of the majority would soon become law, except in cases of gross ethical violation. *shrug*. Doesn't make any sense to me. One day, I hope that some politican realizes that there might be quite a bit of mileage in switching sides from pro-Intellectual Property to anti-Intellectual property.

One day.


Oh, and you RIAA-trolls; its not theft. Never was. It's not codified as theft in law, its not represented as theft by the judiciary. Don't call copyright infringement theft, because it never was, and never will be, unless you redefine the term 'theft'.

Those stupid commercials you now see on every DVD, "You wouldn't steal a car, you wouldn't steal a DVD, why steal a movie?"

No Such Crime. It's impossible to steal Intellectual Property. If I could actually steal Intellectual Property, I could sue the orginial creator for copyright violation. For me to steal a copyright, I'd actually have to end up with ownership over the copyright. And guess what; when I download a movie on Limewire, I don't get that right.

No Theft Involved. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200. Go Directly to Jail.

Everyone's Dancing!

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

Everyone's Dancing!

Here, everyone is on the floor. Mighty fun, small dance floor, lots of people, strong drinks.

As all good nights should go, this is how adults have fun! Met a beautiful, tall Turkish girl. Gave her my phone number, we'll see if she calls. Name has been reserved to protect the innocent.

I really, really need to get a better camera phone. My current one is utter crap.

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

Souk!

This Arabic restaurant rocks. Very fun times. Was there for one of my cousins's friend's birthday.

In this shot, you can ALMOST see my cousin dancing with the belly dancer. Who was incredible, actually. Best belly dancer I've ever seen.

Update!


I've received considerable criticism that I'm not whining enough here. So, I whine.


Recovery going well. Nasal suction is a very bizarre sensation. There's really nothing weirder than having crap vacummed from your nose using suction. You feel like your head is being turned inside out. Once its over, your sinuses and nasal cavities feel remarkably good. It's a very interesting experience, and something I always wondered about as a child; why do I have to blow my nose, why can they just suck out all the snot?

Question:

What hurts more than having a 6" tube of rubber foam pulled from your nose?

Answer:

Having another 6" tube of rubber foam crammed into your nose without any painkillers.

Damn. That REALLY hurt. My doctor is shocked that the bleeding hasn't stopped. "Your one in a hundred." I guess he's happy that it wasn't another severe hemorrhage (however that's spelled). Both nostrils are still bleeding, however the left one was minimal enough that he said it was optional as to whether or not I wanted another sponge.

No Fucking Way.

Anyways, this sucks. I'll have to be a doctors a couple times this week. At least I'm not bleeding out. The continually drip drip drip from my nose is amazingly annoying. If it doesn't stop in the next few days, I'll have to go into surgery again. Hopefully my throat will hurt less by that point. Hopefully, it'll stop.

A picture is worth a thousand words

But I didn't have anytime while I was on the way to the ER, so I'll have to make up for it in words. Surgery went well. Tonsils barely even hurt at all.

Sinuses are still dripping blood. Apparently will do so for the next 48 hours. However, on the way home from the hospital, something went wrong. While we were in traffic. All of a sudden, I had a gusher of a nosebleed. Given the way Chicago traffic works, this meant 1:30 hours till I got to the nearest ER. By the time I got there, my blood pressure was low, may faces (from forehead to chin) was dripping blood, I was beyond paniced, and the car seat was nicely stained. I managed to soak a bath towel.

Very exciting. There was a mirror in the hospital, and nothing is quite as scary as the sight of yourself with your whole face covered in blood, dripping down your neck and chest. That should be a subpoint in a Lacan mirror stage. My mom's playing nursemaid, and she's had to inject a coagulant into my nose every hour to try and get it under control. It's still bleeding; doc says that'll continue for the next two days.

Yuck. Now I need to figure out a good way to get dried blood off of skin. Especially from inside my mouth.

Yuck.

Shadow Dancers

Does anyone else think that shadow dancers are absolutely fucking beautiful? Everytime I see them, I'm blown away.

The beauty of 'flattening' three dimensions to two is that the rules of geometry change so liberally. In any two dimensional projection of a three dimensional scene, all sorts of impossible things happen. Objects can intersect at will; sizes are malleable, and the whole scene is surreal. Yet, the beauty of the human form is maintained; obviously, your watching a person, no more, no less. In a way, a shadow is a puppet. A perfect puppet, one that responds quite literally at the speed of light, instantaneously playing across our screen.

Change the angle of the projection, and the shape of our flat universe changes. All of this math vividly playing across our screen, with sexual overtones divorced from the identity of the dancer. It's almost as if the very essence of the dance is transmitted to the screen; no faces, no skin, no clothing, nothing to come between the observer and the act of the dance. It's an eerie reduction of (wo)man to a tapistry, with sex and rock 'n roll (or jungle house, as the case may be) injected liberally.

Ooooo.... The metaphors are so cheesy you can taste 'em.

Well, I dig it.

I guess the beauty of it is that we aren't really going from three dimensions to two; we're going from four dimensions (don't forget time!) to three; and we aren't playing games with statues. Time stays in our artwork, its the axis representing depth we subtract.

Oh, and don't forget the thumping house, the energy drink & vodkas, and the massed, sweaty crowd of revelers. Is this a cult? Is this a club? Is it both? Whatever-- No time for questions. Onwards!

In other news, creative people have more (and better) sex. Hah. What a surprise....

Tonsillectomy


Tonsils are coming out tomorrow. Deviated Septum being corrected. Possibly some cleaning and drainage of my sinuses, too. I'm sure this is going to be lots of fun. I've read people loose 10-15 lbs when they have tonsil surgery; sounds like a bonus feature, to me.

I guess I'll have lots of time for my boy Mand, in World of Warcraft. Unless of course I bleed to death, in which case the first person to comment on my blog gets all my stuff :-)

I believe the technique my doctor is using is 'Coblation'. I'll post a review tomorrow. Information follows:

Bipolar Radiofrequency Ablation (Coblation): This procedure produces an ionized saline layer that disrupts molecular bonds without using heat. As the energy is transferred to the tissue, ionic dissociation occurs. This mechanism can be used to remove all or only part of the tonsil. It is done under general anesthesia in the operating room and can be used for enlarged tonsils and chronic or recurrent infections. This causes removal of tissue with a thermal effect of 45-85 C°. The advantages of this technique are less pain, faster healing, and less post operative care.

Even better! Who wants to watch the video? Sadly, WMV or RealPlayer required. Smarter geeks will be able to run both on Linux.

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

Underbar.

Get your seats early. This place is a good after-hours bar. Come 2 am, this place gets packed. Like Tai's till 4, but better. I'm surprised I've never been here before, but the crowd is tons and tons of fun.

Don't underdress; you'll be surprised at who walks into this place. I'll be back for sure; good music, good bartenders, great crowd, 4+ am; what's not to love?

Not a bad pickup scene, either. You'd be surprised what 3 foolish drinkers can do with a little bit of charm. If you take a date, prepare to chase some people off; this isn't a meat market, but its crowded and late. Even on a Tuesday.

I met a commodities trader with a name you wouldn't believe. I haven't yet decided whether or not its reasonable blog-ettique to post names, so I'll leave it off. Maybe I'll ask her at dinner whether she minds; I'll have to figure out a way to not creep her out with the question. Let it suffice to say that her name brought on the day.

Oh, and watch out for the nude performance artists. They'll get you everytime.

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

Tiny Lounge. Hell yes. This place was happening at 10 pm. It doesn't take many people to get this place going, and the bartender was amazing. Highly, Highly recommended.

Order the Espresso Martini. You won't be disappointed.

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

The Long Room. Metromix really likes this place, but it was dead; at least at 8 pm.

Fantastic beer selection. Those Belgium ales are delicious.

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Originally uploaded by dollar_nutsncents.

And this is how a crazy tuesday night starts. The city is getting awfully beautiful these days. If only I felt comfortable dragging a digital camera around rather than this craptacular camera phone.

Anyone want to donate a Nokia N90 for.... erm... research purposes?

And they laughed at Bozo The Clown, too


Not sure if anyone gets that, but there's a quote about Einstein, saying they laughed at him, Edison, and others.

One of the fun things about being self-employed is that it can do a huge number on your self-esteem. When business is good, life is _very_ peachy, after all its all on your shoulders. When business is bad, life is very depressing. No one else to blame (except the government, money grubbing bastards ;-) ).

I'm in the process of re-launching our premier odor control process. This is a very exciting time. Once upon a time, the primary person responsible for marketing this compound died, and the project was basically shut down. I came upon it, and was very impressed with our scientific results. 4 months later, after trial packaging, and a few more test results, and a new production run, we are ready to go.

Coming to a porta-potty near you! Chemical companies do interesting things, don't they......

Flickr is pretty cool!

And only moderately beastly to upload to, from Linux, using Picassa. The Uploadr seems to work fine using Wine, which is pretty cool. Now, if I could only get Picassa to pull pictures from my USB camera properly. I get a bizarre usb error:

usb 2-4: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 4
scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 4
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usb 2-4: USB disconnect, address 4
usb 2-4: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 5
usb 2-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
usb 2-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
usb 2-4: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 6
usb 2-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
usb 2-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
usb 2-4: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 7
usb 2-4: device not accepting address 7, error -110
usb 2-4: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 8
usb 2-4: device not accepting address 8, error -110

Very Strange. Then the camera freezes. Must be a problem with kernel 2.6.14, 'cause I'm sure I had it working before.

Fuck this Noise

Misery is for wimps. This night, we go out on the town.

Edit: Outch, Outch. That's my poor, aching head. Mystic Celt->Luxbar->Dublin's Pub.

Drunk people make stupid decisions. Then they end up drunker. That's also how we^H^H ahem, my friends, make dates with people who's names they won't remember in the morning.

I guess thats what has happened to the youth of today. We're a total mess. The cool aura of sophstication? That's an act. So is everything else.

Then again, I highly, highly doubt that anyone will ever find anything on the inside. I'd bet 100 pesos that anyone out there who truly believes that they are 'real' is either evil or full of shit.

The rest of us? We're the floatsam on a jello ocean of emotional ripples and cultural currents.

You know, I just don't get it.

Why women do the things that they do.

But I got a kick out of this heartwarming study.

And I quote:

Levels of the NGF protein in the 39 people (out of 58) still in the same new relationship after a year had reduced to base-line levels. Report co-author Piergluigi Politi said the study suggests that "acute love" fades over time. Looking for deeper feelings beyond the first flush of love was outside the scope of the research

Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and mushy?

Eek. I have a parking ticket

Cayman Net News: Late night police raid for $20 ticket

Now I'm genuinely afraid of what will happen if I ignore my City of Chicago parking ticket. 4 armed policed officers wearing bullet proof vests banging on her walls at 11 pm?

I assume the death squad will be along for me shortly.

I'm going to go pay my ticket now.

P.S. Is it just me, or does blogger produce some really screwed-up HTML? I feel much more comfortable working in "Edit Html" than "Compose". Maybe it's because I'm crazy, that's often the problem. Ho-hum.

Hmm.. My corner of the web.

I wonder if I'll have the time to actually put up some content.

Real men don't keep a journal. They type up the story of their life, and post it on a public server. Yadda Yadda. Something like that, anyways.