The Occasional Ginsberg

A Rant on Expectations of Health Insurance (Answer to Last Entries Comments)

2009-10-23T10:14:00.000-06:00

I'm just going to throw in something that will probably make people angry.

Pure insurance, the most fundamental concept, doesn't generally include compassion and is not conceived to take on risks that have pre-existing conditions. Houses that have fucked up plumbing systems, bad fire hazards, etc. etc. will not be covered by a company. Business that run the risk of hurting tons of people will not be accepted by a company.

The differences between a house and a person is that house isn't alive and the only real obstacle to getting it insurable is the cost to fix it up. A business can change its practices to become insurable.

A person, on the other hand, when they get injured or many diseases, it's stuff that doesn't go away. A body can't get fixed up or necessarily change how it functions to make it insurable. Then there's genetic cases, etc. etc.

As my dad says: "Insurance is not a charity. These companies are in it to make money." These companies are for-profit companies, they're not non-profits or charitable organizations. They are beholden to their stockholders, their policyholders and the almighty dollar. And for the policyholders, they need to make sure they have money ready to pay eligible claims.

Even if they weren't for-profit, the other issue with pre-existing conditions and such is that without underwriting, declining, exclusions, etc. etc., premiums go sky high!

In the case of homeowners policies, they do not cover damages from floods. The government has to pick that up through the National Flood Insurance Program under the Department of Homeland Security (the NFIP was before Homeland, but that's just a part of history), and even NFIP policies have maximum limits of $250,000 on dwelling limits against floods.

The reason why homeowners policies don't cover flood and NFIP policies put a maximum limit is that floods and water damage are huge losses. If homeowners policies covered floods, premiums on the policies would be almost as much as the cost of the home. There would be no point to getting the insurance if the cost of it is the cost of your home pretty much every year.

If health insurance covered everything and accepted everyone, premiums would be sky high. It would essentially be a scheme of funneling healthy people's money to help sick people. That's not insurance. Insurance is essentially a gamble of a company accepting premiums from a lot of good risks & paying out when one of the good risks has a loss and hopefully a catastrophic loss, not a small loss. That's why there's deductibles, to discourage people making small claims & wallowing away the reserves of insurance companies or, in other words, money that other insureds paid to build up those reserves.

I still think healthcare needs some major reform and that there needs to be some resort for majorly sick people, people who have been raped, etc. etc. Nonetheless, that would be charity or some kind of government program, not private for-profit insurance.

Yeah, I think there have been some corrupt insurance companies and executives and other insurance companies have done some dumb shit (ahem, AIG). I think things get lost in the bureaucracy. I think there's a whole bunch of things that deviate away from the ideal that need to be corrected on the level of automation, processes, quality control, information management, decision making, etc. etc.

Nonetheless, I don't believe for-profit insurance companies are the place to make things better. In many ways they have done much good for their insureds. Insurance companies act in some sort as a form of collective bargaining to bring the costs down on in-network providers, which is probably the major benefit they've provided for people. I think this automatic collective bargaining has actually contributed to making people a little lazy about not doing their own bargaining, and that's what the new HSA-compatible plans are supposed to address.

As an attempt at controlling costs and trying to advance relationships between doctors and their patients, I actually think HMOs work as a good model. The consumer end user doesn't like the lack of choice, however. We also don't have enough doctors in the field to make HMOs work well.

In all honesty, I've read in industry magazines that all the different programs in private health insurance are still being explored and in something of an embryonic stage. The people have a demand for it, so the companies and the think tanks have pretty much put stuff together as a patchwork to give them something. Of course it won't necessarily work right because they need time to work out the kinks and issues.

Basically, in the long run, when the private insurance companies work right, I don't think they're meant to address the far out cases that generally get brought up in the news or the cases that stand out as the stories that seem typical. Yeah, some of the cases are dumb shit & the insurance companies do dumb shit because they're a bureaucracy.

In the long run, though, unless my conditions do get met, I believe that helping people that can't get private insurance pay their health bills should be taken up by the government or by some sort of charitable organization. Health insurance is just not conceived originally to address those cases.

And being in the insurance industry, I can also cite the case of Massachusetts as an attempt to both cut costs and to try cutting down on the cases of people trying to take advantage of the insurance industry by trying to get it when they need it to pay for something. That is not the intent of insurance. Intent of insurance is to have it before anything arises that needs to get paid.

It's not a black & white issue. There's expectations on both sides and both sides have also abused their responsibilities in the matter.

I really just had to get some of that out after having been exposed to people this morning having expectations for insurance higher than reality can meet.

New debate, old fucking news.

2009-10-19T19:29:00.003-06:00

I think it's time for some good old fashioned discussion, so this time we'll be chatting each other up about the healthcare debate. I'll begin by throwing this out there: it's pathetically stupid to even call it a debate. Cuba, poorer than dusty shite, can afford healthcare for all it's citizens but we're too strapped? How much did we give those bastard banks for their bailout again? And why can we still afford two wars and the damn Pentagon?

Please remember, I've already made up my mind and I can give you the answers to all those rhetorical questions. I want to read what you think...

just do it, do it justice

2008-11-04T09:30:00.003-07:00

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day! Remember to vote--not just for Barack Obama, but for Congressional, state and local candidates as well.

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

Obama's VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
League of Women Voters site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php
Obama's voter hotline: (877) US4-OBAMA (or 877-874-6226)

What should I do before I go?

After you've entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.
Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.
Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/

What if something goes wrong?

Not on the voter list? Make sure you're at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
If you're voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Try to get video of the problem and submit it to VideoTheVote.org

Want to do more?

Text all of your friends: "Vote Obama today! Pass it on!"
Volunteer at your local Obama office. Find an office here or here.
Make calls from home for Obama.

Now everybody go vote!!!

Are Our Lives Our Careers

2007-09-28T09:43:00.000-06:00

The other night, I met a friend for a coffee. I'm a administrative/sales assistant and customer service rep at an insurance agency by day and writing is my main career. She's an event marketer with some ad design assignments by day and singer-songwriter is her main career. We met on the job as event marketers for this one company before we left it for various reasons.

For a first half hour or so, we spent most of our time talking about our day jobs, what we do and some of our accomplishments. We moved onto talking about our old supervisor who we both worked under at the job where we met. Afterword, we discussed our main careers, which then diverged off into talking about our educations, financial issues and histories, a little bit about what happened after we got out of college (a lot about my history between school and start my day job in isnurance) and as the night wound down, we started talking about the industry trends an forecasts for our particular main careers along with an ending tangent on how we think educational systems in our society should work, how education shapes people and how the lack of interest in reading really works against my main career.

All very interesting, but my main point of issue is how it took us something like half an hour to forty five minutes of talking about our day jobs and the awkwardness at times of try to connect again. Our jobs aren't don't really cross that much, industry-wise and there would really have to be a lot of educating each other about our respective jobs if we wanted to have extensive conversations about both our jobs. Possibly the most annoyingly tragic part, though, is that these day jobs consume so much of our time, attention and energy that we have to play catch up day job-wise before we can even broach the discussions that interest us, which includes our main careers.

We would probably have a very different conversation if we saw each other on a more regular basis or e-mailed more often. Last time we met up was probably about a month ago, and we've been so busy with our day jobs and main careers that e-mailing and blogging has become more of a luxury than something that can become a daily routine. At least, that's how it is for me.

Things have to be this way for the both of us since we haven't gotten unqualified success in our careers (at least she's gigging -- I haven't even presented a written article or story except to writing workshops). I just get so frustrated how much the day job can become a barrier from both career success and the ease of entering deeper and more interesting conversation with some element of comfortable grace.

I can't wait for getting my career going. . ..

Shaw's Playing It Simple and One-on-One

2007-09-24T19:24:00.000-06:00

So. . .um. . .yeah. . .Shaw's put the smack down on being the center of the hub. He's his own man. Did everyone know Shaw's the Man?

If you contradict me about Shaw, you'll have to go through me first.

Shaw's the Man.

Something About the World Doesn't Feel Right

2007-02-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm disappointed in it.

It doesn't rock enough.

I think it needs more rock.

Anyone else agree?

To upgrade or not to upgrade

2007-01-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Yo! Team!
This blog is lagging in ways beside the regularity of posting: Its and "old blogger" blog in a world of declining support and increasing buggyness. I was loath to switch my blogs but it got so that the "publish" buttons were not doing anything. Not that new blogger is perfect, mind you. The conversion will mess with our settings, e.g. RSS feed will default to "FULL" even if we had set none or short. But sooner or later we gotta make the leap. A cursory check of ET showed me that newest posts, stuck in the server under old blogger did show up and oldest posts back to the dawn of blogging [my personal dawn that is] had all come over in tact.

What say you?

Pawn Shop.

2007-01-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

I think pawn shops show us what banks and credit card companies are really like.

Flotsamisms.

2007-01-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone been to a pawn shop lately?

Yo!

2006-11-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

What's up?

Now Soliciting Comments...On Patriotism And The Pledge

2006-09-12T19:48:00.000-06:00

Thought this group might have some fun weighing in on today's blogtopic: Teaching the pledge of allegiance to middle school students.*

*though I wouldn't touch the whole "under G-d" thing in a public school setting with a ten foot Huppah pole...

Naked People In Brattleboro

2006-08-25T20:28:00.000-06:00

Hey, did any of you catch this front page article in the Boston Globe?

Groups of young people have been congregating in a downtown parking lot and enjoying the warm summer weather without clothing, and that bothers some local residents...

The lot in question? Harmony.

Darcie and I actually encountered the naked people in question last Friday when we went out for our anniversary. It made the experience of being in (usually casual) downtown Brattleboro in wedding dress and tie just that much more surreal.

WWGD?

2006-08-03T18:43:00.000-06:00

What Would Ginsberg Do?

I think he would keep over in his grave from the shame that we didn't engage in some freeform spontaneous poetry or discuss.

SHAME ON US!!!!

=D

A Supermarket In California

2006-07-20T01:10:00.000-06:00

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for
I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache
self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went
into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families
shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the
avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what
were you doing down by the watermelons?

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,
poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery
boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the
pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans
following you, and followed in my imagination by the store
detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our
solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen
delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in
an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?
(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the
supermarket and feel absurd.)
Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The
trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be
lonely.

Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love
past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher,
what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and
you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat
disappear on the black waters of Lethe?

Berkeley, 1955

America

2006-07-18T18:37:00.000-06:00

America I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can't stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind.
America when will you be angelic?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave?
When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?
America why are your libraries full of tears?
America when will you send your eggs to India?
I'm sick of your insane demands.
When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks?
America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.
Your machinery is too much for me.
You made me want to be a saint.
There must be some other way to settle this argument.
Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister.
Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?
I'm trying to come to the point.
I refuse to give up my obsession.
America stop pushing I know what I'm doing.
America the plum blossoms are falling.
I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for
murder.
America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies.
America I used to be a communist when I was a kid and I'm not sorry.
I smoke marijuana every chance I get.
I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet.
When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.
My mind is made up there's going to be trouble.
You should have seen me reading Marx.
My psychoanalyst thinks I'm perfectly right.
I won't say the Lord's Prayer.
I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations.
America I still haven't told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over
from Russia.

I'm addressing you.
Are you going to let our emotional life be run by Time Magazine?
I'm obsessed by Time Magazine.
I read it every week.
Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore.
I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library.
It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie
producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me.
It occurs to me that I am America.
I am talking to myself again.

Asia is rising against me.
I haven't got a chinaman's chance.
I'd better consider my national resources.
My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals
an unpublishable private literature that goes 1400 miles and hour and
twentyfivethousand mental institutions.
I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underpriviliged who live in
my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns.
I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go.
My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I'm a Catholic.

America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his
automobiles more so they're all different sexes
America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe
America free Tom Mooney
America save the Spanish Loyalists
America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die
America I am the Scottsboro boys.
America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they
sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the
speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the
workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party
was in 1935 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother
Bloor made me cry I once saw Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have
been a spy.
America you don're really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take
our cars from out our garages.
Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our
auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.
That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers.
Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help.
America this is quite serious.
America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set.
America is this correct?
I'd better get right down to the job.
It's true I don't want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts
factories, I'm nearsighted and psychopathic anyway.
America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

What is your favorite sitting position...

2006-07-04T12:36:00.000-06:00

and why?

What is your favorite sexual position...

2006-07-03T21:29:00.000-06:00

and why?

Quiz Night

2006-06-26T22:42:00.000-06:00

Does the word "spunk" make you feel dirty?

I had a dream a few days ago...

2006-06-24T22:47:00.000-06:00

Somethin' about world conquest and jelly beans.

Feel Free

2006-06-22T12:46:00.000-06:00

Feel free to start an iniative to take on something that annoys you by creating your own entry or getting in touch with someone to give you admin priveleges.

Complain

2006-06-16T21:20:00.000-06:00

I want to hear your complaints. What annoys you about the world? What would you like changed?

Shaw in the Hospital

2006-06-15T18:59:00.000-06:00

Hey folks,

Shaw's in the hospital. He said that he should get discharged tomorrow, and that he should be all right. It was his heart again, but he had gotten under a lot of stress because of work and his car.

It's kind of late on the East Coast now, so I don't think he can get calls. If you want to try calling him to give him your good intentions, leave a a non-anonymous comment here. I'll give you the hospital number.

Otherwise, why not send him an e-mail of good wishes, get better, stop stressing out and to stand up for himself at work (if you want, say that I told you to say that. . .he'll understand).

I'll respond to other conversation soemtime later tonight.

Hello? Hello? Anyone There?

2006-06-14T17:23:00.000-06:00

So. . .other than Amy and me, who else checks this blog regularly?

Is There a Point to All?

2006-06-12T18:45:00.000-06:00

So is there a point to having this free form discussion blog if we all have our blogs and sometimes, like me, have three?

yes but its a much smaller point.

I have four or five blogs because you can make one on whim. All but one languish.
Having a blog is kind of like getting pregnant. In a moment of hope or passion you conceive a new address from which you will address the world with a new voice or chorus of voices. Then the daily grind of feeding the little beast dawns on you.

Should we put it up for adoption?

The End?

2006-06-11T22:03:00.000-06:00

Would anyone notice if this blog disappeared?

Broadcasting Wind

2006-05-15T01:57:00.000-06:00

I've made it to Chicago and have set up the Internet in the apartment.

Now let's just hope things continue working well.

Crap! It's late. I should be getting to bed.

why am I, of all strayz, posting this?

2006-05-12T07:08:00.000-06:00

AMY IS WALKING!

IMMMM BAAAAAAAAAAACK

2006-05-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

WHOOO HOOO!!!!

MADE IT BACK!!!

THIS MEANS WAR!

2006-04-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

MOFOS!

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-19T21:59:00.000-06:00

WHO THE FRAG CUT ME OUT OF ALTERING THE SETTINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM STILL THE LAST BLOGGER STANDING

2006-04-19T21:58:00.000-06:00

Who NEVER EVER DELETED HIS OWN POSTS!

HA!

For the Sake of Decorum

2006-04-14T07:28:00.000-06:00

I deleted that last posting I made.

Before everything devolves:

2006-04-09T03:19:00.000-06:00

I was going to save this for next month, but let's get some culture up in here before its too late

Nay, profanation to keep in,
Whereas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.

Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen
To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green,
And sweet as Flora. Take no care
For jewels for your gown or hair :
Fear not ; the leaves will strew
Gems in abundance upon you :
Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept ;
Come and receive them while the light
Hangs on the dew-locks of the night :
And Titan on the eastern hill
Retires himself, or else stands still
Till you come forth. Wash, dress, be brief in praying :
Few beads are best when once we go a-Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come ; and, coming, mark
How each field turns a street, each street a park
Made green and trimm'd with trees : see how
Devotion gives each house a bough
Or branch : each porch, each door ere this
An ark, a tabernacle is,
Made up of white-thorn neatly interwove ;
As if here were those cooler shades of love.
Can such delights be in the street
And open fields and we not see't ?
Come, we'll abroad ; and let's obey
The proclamation made for May :
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying ;
But, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

There's not a budding boy or girl this day
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.
A deal of youth, ere this, is come
Back, and with white-thorn laden home.
Some have despatch'd their cakes and cream
Before that we have left to dream :
And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth,
And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth :
Many a green-gown has been given ;
Many a kiss, both odd and even :
Many a glance too has been sent
From out the eye, love's firmament ;
Many a jest told of the keys betraying
This night, and locks pick'd, yet we're not a-Maying.

Come, let us go while we are in our prime* ;
And take the harmless folly of the time.
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short, and our days run
As fast away as does the sun ;
And, as a vapour or a drop of rain
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,
So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drowned with us in endless night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

*emphasis added

mind if I sit here next to you [and slightly displaced in time] at the keyboard, Nora?
We've never met but since that pesty Shaw yoked us all into this blog, well, hi!

Now I could comment but being able to edit instead is edgy and courts dysfunction
and Shaw probably likes to preside over such a melee.

As to the Herrick. One of my early [gradeschool] influences. "times winged chariot..."
and all that really appealed to my unhealthy and unusual sense that time was short
and perhaps my best years had already been. The poem you put up here makes
me curious to read more Herrick and see if the "Quit living like you had a spare life
or two for when you are done fretting over this one" theme is all the man had.
----

No problem. Nice to have you here, um... you.

I love it that you were moping around grade school wondering if your best years had already been. Some of us are just born in an acute state of nostalgia.

Herrick was an interesting poet. He was a priest, a friend (and follower) of Ben Jonson, and writing when Puritanism was sweeping England. The poems of his that I've read tend towards celebrations of seasonal rites (like going a maying and wasailling) that were soon discouraged. In that, as you noted, is the call to enjoy the earth as it is, rather than holding out for the heaven to come. In Herrick's cosmology, nature isn't viewed as a punishing force or corrupted by original sin (as it was by the Puritans), but as something to be celebrated. So there was a political edge to his call for the reader to just have fun and enjoy the world already.

But let's have some more of that gloomy passage of time...

To Daffadills

Faire Daffadills, we weep to see
  You haste away so soone;
As yet the early-rising Sun
  Has not attain'd his Noone.
        Stay, stay
    Until the hasting day
        Has run
    But to the Even-song;
And, having pray'd together, we
    Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,
  We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
  As you, or anything.
        We die
    As your hours do, and dry
        Away
    Like to the summer's raine;
Or as the pearls of morning's dew,
    Ne'er to be found again.

SHAW IS THE LAST BLOGGER STANDING!

2006-04-07T00:13:00.000-06:00

WRONG!

NONE OF YOU FOLKS POST POSTS.!!

I AM THE LAST BLOGGER STANDIN'!

HA!

One more word and those animated gif backgrounds will MAKE A COMEBACK!

Shaw can suck it!

[Update 3:40 p.m. EST: Shaw's got some nerve claiming to be the last one standing when, of the last handful of posts, half originate from boyhowdy.

As long as this place remains wikifiable, I swear, I'll fight to keep it a communal sandbox.

- the mystery bloggoggogoogogoogogoogogoogoogle.]

/unauthorized edit. Nyaa, nyaa.

Electric

2006-03-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Mostly for Shaw, I'm passing along this great media-saturated post on the Electric Company from the Panopticist (also famous, and deservedly so, for magazine cover parodies).

Quick, Spidey, someone's trying to steal this 1000 point font!

Includes video of a young Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader, and hey, did YOU know that Zero Mostel, Joan Rivers, and Gene Wilder were the voice team for the animated Adventures of Letterman?

Check all that apply...

2006-03-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Are you cukoo for Cocoa Puffs?
Do you sometimes feel like a nut?
Would you walk a mile for a Camel?
Do you just do it?
Do you have it your way?
Are you worth it?
What can Brown do for you?
Are there more bars in more places?

Was that easy?

Unbelievably Fucking Fun

2006-03-14T01:19:00.000-07:00

A game. It's simple to the point of elegance, easy to understand, challenging but gratifying even in the early stages, and really quite beautiful. The cats think it's the best game ever.

Mono.

(What, like you had something better to do today?)

(Cross-posted.)

Post #100

2006-03-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

Partee! Partee!

Let's celebrate the 100th post.

Woohoo!

Partee! Partee!

So, what's your favorite way to partee?

Life Under Pressureand twelve other syllables, just because we can.

2006-03-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Be brief. Be Dense.

Tell us as much as you can about your life right now. In a single haiku.

Go.

Sleety Friday Poll

2006-03-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

What completely innocuous and perfectly allowable phrase drives you up the wall?

Mine (and no ill will is intended towards the poster who used this two posts down): "Please Advise."

I don't know what it is about it. Maybe it reminds me of every administrative job I've ever had I've been absolutely horrible at: Your reports are three weeks overdue. Please advise. Or maybe it's that I used to work with a woman who unfailingly mis-spelled it: I have not recieved your promised email on functionality. Please advice. Whatever it is, it sets my teeth on edge, and is the number-one guaranteed make-me-curse-the-corporate-workplace phrase.

Anyway. I know I can't be the only irrational one here. What's your least-favorite phrase?

RIP Don Knotts

2006-02-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Are you there, God? It's me, Barney...

He laid the groundwork for a hundred comedic second fiddles, and his movies made more fun than money, but from Limpet to Chicken to VW Bug sidekick Don Knotts defined the small bumbling man with the heart of gold for more than one media generation. Heck, he even got the girl on occasion.

Comprehensive CNN obit here. Shrine and performance archives here. Legacy everywhere.

Goodnight, Mr. Furley. We'll miss you.

X-posted to my personal blog, because I know you don't come visit as often as you'd like.

Please Advise

2006-02-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Something serious tonight.

I almost posted something in my blog tonight that gives away a whole mess of my personal life -- stuff I've managed to keep out of the blog so far, like my parents' recent break-up, and my mother's increasingly psychopathic behavior.

It would be hurtful. It would be disastrous. But it needs to be said to my mother, and -- sas she has increasingly come to treat the minds of others as if they were merely tenuous constructs of 2 dimensional devil's advocacy, and since she has gone into her own world much more than ever, I fear that saying it publically is the only way to make sure she hears it.

I have put the post-I-didn't-send in the comments.

Please discuss.

Please.

Because I don't trust therapists, because she is one.

Morbid Questions Can Be Fun

2006-02-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at dawn you go to the gas chamber.
Please give us your request for your last meal.

Engrish Make Me Happiness

2006-02-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

Oh, dear lord.

And wtf is with the square milk?

More here, too.

Leave a, commet! You speaker.

Worst. Valentine's. Day. Moment. Ever.

2006-02-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Whatizit?

You Gotta See This

2006-02-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

X-posted in longform here.

The Digital Dozens: Yo Mama So N00b...

2006-02-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yo mama so n00b she gots whiteout on her monitor.

Yo mama so n00b she tried to order a book online and lost her credit card in the floppy drive.

Yo mama so n00b she buys a printer 'cause the dude at Staples recommended it.

Yo mama so n00b she licks the back of her screen before sending email. (alt: buys stamps for her email.)

Yo mama so n00b she printed out a bunch of blank word documents because she was running out of printer paper.

Yo mama so n00b she sticks her floppy disks to the fridge with magnets so she'll remember to bring them to work.

Yo mama so n00b she gets up to close Windows.

Yo mama so n00b, she'll never find this or any of your other blogs, so feel free to blog about her with impunity.

Feel free to add your own in the comments, fellow 1337 haxxors...

Ah, Crap

2006-02-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

There are always too few genuinely groovy old guys in the world. Al Lewis was one of the oldest and grooviest, but now he's dead. Is it too much to hope that the vampire schtick was true?

1923-2006

(cross-post)

On Behalf of Pete Seeger

2006-02-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

If you had a hammer, would you hammer in the morning?
If not, when?
Would you hammer out a warning?
If not, what?
All over this land?
Or where?

Jesse's sick....

2006-01-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Send him some get wellishes...er, ishers

State of the union...

2006-01-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

If you were to give a State of the Union speech, what would you say?

How do YOU write about sex?

2006-01-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Adrienne said: "If I was to write a novel with sex in it, I would say something like, 'They got in between the sheets. Hubba, hubba. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.'"

How do you write about it?

It's a question, kinda

2006-01-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Finish the sentence:

I always try to allow...

WHAT THE $!#!##!@#

2006-01-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

I thought you guys LOVED it when I was being serious and HATED it when I was all goofy!??!

I ask a serious question: ZERO comments

I go goofy: a million comments

...

WTF BBQ b right

QUESTION

2006-01-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

WORK

FAMILY

FUN

FRIENDS

Which do YOU put first?

Second?

Third?

Fourthseese...

Earnistine's Journalistic QuestionablesRubber baby buggy bumpers

2006-01-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

1. Who is Earnistine? Is she related to Ben?

2. What does "dreanchable" mean? Make up a definition, if you must.

3. When will the good sis Novenapop admit wonder into her daily grind?

4. Where can I buy crusty bread with whole cloves of garlic baked in now that my suermarket has stopped carrying it?

5. Why is this guy blue?

6. How many of you are in no way surprised that I always write the longest entries in this damn bloggiethingie? Damn loggwhoreeea. Also, damn speellcheek.

Perfection

2006-01-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Shaw says that I shouldn't try to be perfect.

I half agree with him.

I think I should try to excel at what I do but trying to be perfect will kill me, as it would anyone else.

What do you think?

As Requested...

2006-01-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

VS.

Disgust...er,I mean, discuss!

STILL A TIE

2006-01-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

ITS MR. PIBB VS. DR. BROWN'S CEL-RAY

WE NEED A TIE-BREAKING VOTE!

WHICH IS IT?

SODA DEATH WARS PART ONE

2006-01-14T00:46:00.000-07:00

VS.

2006-01-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

Laugh Yer Face Off

Behold, the best blonde joke in the history of the universe. Seriously!

Go, read. And you have to read all the way to the end. That's vital.

Win valuable prizes...

2006-01-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

It seems to good to be true, but Blingo claims to give actual prizes just for using their search engine interface, which is almost as clean as Google, and is actually powered by Google. They make their cash from Google ads, ironically. And Blingo only counts your first ten searches a day as "entries", so there's no odd urge to overdwell on the site.

100 bucks in visa card dollars? iTunes gift certificates? iPod shuffles? Anyone want to give it a try?

Just click below to sign up. Oh, and tell 'em boyhowdy sent you.

Confusing Commentary Cue Free-For-All

2006-01-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Created as a totally impossible way to gather data for Shaw's contention that certain kinds of posts get comments, while others don't. Or not. Go ahead, make my blog.

Telemarketers have an advantage over you because they have a script, so here's a script to use with telemarketers. (Bonus question: Honestly, do you really care what kind of toothpaste your telemarketer uses?)

Levis have just made jeans an accessory to an iPod. With built-in controller loops and a hidden pocket for the 'pod itself. (Bonus question: Is this better or worse than the Geigerpod?)

Because Alito is unwilling to commit right now to upholding Roe vs. Wade forever regardless of judicial context, CNN reports, "Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat...said he could only conclude the nominee would overrule the precedent if given the chance." (Bonus question: Who is more in need of a course in logic: Schumer, the Governator, or Bill O'Reilly?)

Will someone explain why Bjork ordering from Ikea is funny?

If you find this post annoying, feel free to report me to the Feds. (Bosun question: swab the decks, you tar!)

Metabonus points to anyone who can establish clean rules for which content Shaw posts here, and which he chooses to post in his own blog. Shaw is exempt from answering this one, because, according to the newer thinking in sociopsychology, people are generally both wrong and arbitrary when trying to explain why they do what they do.

Heck, metabrownie WTFBBQ points for everyone. I'm feeling particularly generous. Might just be the quit-smoking, bronchial asthma delirium, though.

If a man gave you 4.00 to buy toilet paper...

2006-01-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

What would you do?

Abigail Josephine Foor Hudnall!

2006-01-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

She was born on 12.30.05 at 9:16pm weighing in at 8 lbs. 11 ozs.! She's perfect and healthy and pictures are soon to follow. Stay tuned...

The NUMBER ONE WORD OF THE YEAR

2006-01-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

integrity

let's use it in a sentence, shall we?

I'm not too busy to blog...

2006-01-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

I just really wanted to see more folks post up here than me.

Stay tuned for more flash animations!

#2006 in a series

2005-12-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

Feliz y prospero año nuevo, folks.

Cops!

2005-12-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

COPS!

THEY'RE NO GOOD!

WE HATE THEM!

COPS!

Time for

2005-12-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

a new post.

Cuz one week without a post is bad for bloggin'.

Anyone else wanna post something?

Time for...

2005-12-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Because its still MONDAY in some parts of the world!

What song did I mosh to?
KEG PARTY By James "chunka chumbawumba" Kochalka

What did I mosh on?
A bunch of old reporters notepads I found in my bag.

Why did I stop?
Because it turned out I still needed some of those notebooks, and now some of those notepads smell like my feet. Eww...

Your turn!

Remember
Name the song you moshed to
What did you mosh on?
Why did you stop??!?!?

Your turn!

Yet Another Christmas Question

2005-12-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

The local news -- and the global, it seems -- is that the increasing tension between social behavior and religious behavior is manifesting itself in the holiday season with a vengance.

To wit: on everything from my local township's online forum, where some folks are mad that the local town tree is all dolled up but must suppsedly be referred to as a "Holiday" tree, and several people have started a campaign to respond to some local salesfolk not wishing them a Merry Christmas by proclaiming, loudly and to the poor wage slaves who cannot do anything about it, that they heretofor will never again shop there because, after all, this is CHRISTMAS DAMMIT OMG, to a recent Newsweek poll which reports that 35% of respondents are offended by the term "Happy Holidays," PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO FIGHT OVER WHETHER IT IS APPROPRIATE (OR INDEED ABSOLUTELY NEVER OTHERWISE) TO REFER TO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF THIS SEASON AS "CHRISTMAS" - RELATED.

The question, then, is this:

What the fuck, man? Just...what the fuck?

I suppose one could restate this as: Why do issues like this never get dealt with with intelligence and aplomb, and, more importantly, why are the loudest voices in every debate the ones which represente the polar, unthinking, neanderthal ones (everyone must celebrate MY holiday vs. no one can ever pretend to assume that anyone in front of them might celebrate MY holiday)?

But I don't think such restatement is truly necessary.

What's the next question?

2005-12-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

???

Do you believe in Santa Claus?

2005-12-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

And if you don't, what the hell do you tell your kids?

What was your favorite all-time toy you got for Christmas?

2005-12-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

Mine?

I was a privilaged kid.

I had the old school Kenner Star Wars toys.

While today's children have to deal with lame-o imitations.

Are You Satisfied?

2005-12-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

In the deep midwinter (which we do have in California, I promise) it's nice to remember the things you're thankful for. So: what's keeping you warm this winter? New job? New baby? Same-old sweetie? The realization of a long-held goal? Family? Friends? Kickass boots? Your ironic sensibilities? The fact that you're smarter than all those bastards? Spill!

Jesse Lex Needs Luvin'

2005-12-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Jesse Lex on his blog said that "there was no romance in E-mail anymore".

Let's all prove the guy wrong...

CLICK HERE TO SEND YER Luvin' TO JESSE LEX!

Even if you are a man, even if you are straight or whatever or even married, send Lex some luvin'....let's prove the guy wrong

When you think of Richard Pryor...

2005-12-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

RIP, funnyman.

Interestingly, had Pryor NOT died today, former Sen. Eugene McCarthy's death would have been the featured article on CNN's frontpage. Kudos to CNN for having the right priorities...

When you think of John Lennon...

2005-12-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

What do you think of?

Self Destruction

2005-12-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

I enjoy the fact that we all have access to the self destruct button on this Blog.

Now no one can really say, "You don't like it here? Go to some other damn Blog." The person who doesn't like it can just go "Screw you," then click on the self destruct button.

Now, that's democracy. =D

Misty, watercolored

2005-12-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

While many of us have The School That Dares Not Speak Its Name in common, not all of us knew one another while there. And then there's those who went to school somewhere else entirely, and spent their halcyon days bitching and moaning about some other academic administration and the budding lameness of some other student body that just isn't as active or engaged or eccentric as it was [insert value] years ago.

So, in the interests of fostering community, I propose we adopt a certain meme that's been making the rounds of the bloggosphere, namely:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL MEMORY OF YOU AND ME.

It can be anything you want--good or bad--BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

For our purposes, post a memory about any member of this blog, regardless of whether you knew them or not. And please, no genuine reminiscences.

I Want a New Job

2005-12-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

And I want it to involve a lot of stomping around and yelling at people.

Anyone know of any openings?

It's Time To Name This Blog

2005-12-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

Now that it's gotten to the point where the most frequent topic of discussion is what the hell the name of this blog is, I think maybe its time to once and for all just name the darned thing and get it over with. I honestly think that the original name "Stray Roundtable" was good, but I could be wrong. What should be the permanent name of the blog? Should there be a permament name of this blog? Discuss...and maybe we'll vote on all of the suggestions next week.

Okay...I give up.

2005-12-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

"butter to turn out than to gay away..."????!!!!

WTF? Someone help me understand this new subtitle, eh?

news from the darker corners of That College

2005-12-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Do y'all remember Connie? Cleaning crew Connie? With the glasses and the strident tone, but not really such a bad person once you got to know her? Well, bear her in mind for a few moments. The digression will make sense a paragraph or two from now.

The day after Thanksgiving, there was a baaaaad accident on Rt. 9; they road was closed down or restricted for seven hours. A car was driving near Auger Hole Road just past Marlboro carrying a young woman, her fiancee, and her five-year-old son. The car hit a patch of snow, slid out into oncoming traffic, hit a semi head-on, got bounced back into traffic then back across the road where the car hit the embankment. The woman was the only person who was wearing her seatbelt; the other two occupants -- her fiancee and her little boy -- were killed.

It's really just too horrible to contemplate. I would think I'd really rather have died along with them if I were her... though hopefully she won't feel that way for the rest of her life.

Turns out, though, that the young man in the car -- the driver's fiancee -- was cleaning crew Connie's nephew.

Dunno why I thought anyone would want to know that. The accident's been lingering in my mind for the past few days, though -- there's something about having been in a bad wreck that makes it much easier to imagine what any other would be like. Maybe I'm just trying to exorcise a few minor demons.

Wear your seatbelts, kids.

By the way...

2005-12-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

The guy who's currently posting as scruffy_guitar is Ethan. He's a current student at That School, a nice guy who'd have fit in very well with us if he'd been born about ten years sooner.

Say hello, Ethan...

Advertising

2005-12-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Does advertising persuade you to buy a particular product?

Does advertising persuade you to "buy into" a materialistic culture?

Worst holiday song....ever.

2005-11-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Belongs to...

Christmastime Is Here

Top that...you can't.

Question Reguiring a Great Deal of Thought.

2005-11-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

IF CHRISTMAS WERE A HOLIDAY, WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE?

KIDS

2005-11-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Are they wonderful?

Or are they annoyin' little boogers.

Discuss.

OMG ROFL !!!1111!!!Fishsticks!

2005-11-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

God Hates Figs.

Not a typo.

Comment, ca?

2005-11-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Yep. Still powered by Poopy.

Most Unusual Travel Experience

2005-11-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have plenty of 'em, but the weirdest one was being on a red-eye flight from Seattle to Georgia. I was in the middle section, the movie was some Ben Afflack/Sam Jackson vehicle. This girl next to me fell asleep on my shoulder.

Her husband was not amused.

So, I sat for about four hours with a girl on my shoulder in fear of my life of the husband next to me. I didn't move. I kissed the ground when I was in Georgia, and had some weird-ass fried gook at the airport.

What was your most unusual travel experience?

01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00100000 01110011 01100101 01111000 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 011000

2005-11-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

01001111 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01101000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100111 01110101 01100001 01100111 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101001 01100011 01101000 00100000 01101111 01101110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01111000 01111001 00111111

Conversation Starter No. 1362 1/2

2005-11-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Pat Morita died today, and all CNN could come up with was his role in the Karate Kid (later, they half-redeemed themselves by changing the headline to "Happy Days and Karate Kid star Pat Morita dies," but too little too late, if you know what I mean...)

Anyway -- got me wondering about the way this would translate to even the lesser-famed ones such as ourselves.

When you die, what embarrassingly successful-slash-well-known yet entirely unrespectful venture of YOURS do you fear will end up in YOUR obit headline? True stories only, please...

VOTE BOOP!

2005-11-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Playboy dot com (yes, again, I do read it for the articles) is holding a poll for the sexiest cartoon 'toon drawn. And as of right now, Boop is second to last in the polls. Which is a crime. How the hell is Penelope Pitstop sexier than Betty Boop?!?

I played all the sound clips on the page, and Betty is the one that still melts my heart.

So,vote for Boop. I think she's sexier than hell...even for a 75 year old.

.... .- / .... .- / -.-- --- ..- / ... .--. . -. - / ..-. .. ...- . / -- .. -. ..- - . ... / - .-. -.-- .. -. --. / - --- / - .-. .- -. ... .-

2005-11-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

.. / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / .-.. .. -.- . / - --- / .-- .. ... .... / .- .-.. .-.. / --- ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / --. ..- -.-- ... / .-- .... --- . ...- . .-. / .. ... / .-.. . ..-. - / .- / .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / - .... .- -. -.- ... --. .. ...- .. -. --. --..-- / .- -. -.. / .. ..-. / .. / -.. --- -. .----. - / ... . . / -- --- .-. . / .--. --- ... - ... / .. -. / .- / ..-. . .-- / .-- . . -.- ... --..-- / .. .----. -- / --. --- .. -. --. / - --- / ... - .- .-. - / -- .- -.- .. -. --. / - .... .. ... / .- / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / -... .-.. --- --. / ..-. .. .-.. .-.. . -.. / .-- .. - .... / . .- --. .-.. . / -.-. .-. -.-- / ... --- ..- -. -.. ... .-.-.-

What is your favorite Thanksgiving MEMORY?

2005-11-23T00:38:00.000-07:00

Mine is coming home from college for a quick holiday, me and my folks eating dinner, and doing everything we can to avoid an endlessly hungry dalmation and maltese from gobbling up the grub before we could.

Of course, the dalmation got most of the food anyway...thanks to our short short dinner table and my dalmation's big big snout.

What is your favorite Thankgsiving memory?

MIAH KING!

2005-11-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Come on down!