So according to the Associated Press, Washington state senators are up in arms because their building is undergoing renovations, which means they will temporarily be losing their special dining room with their elite French chef. They're so upset about this, they wrote a letter which states (in capital letters, mind you) that "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE."

While the senators do pay for their own meals which cover the operating costs of the cafeteria/restaurant, so it's not like the taxpayers are paying for their food, it's still a little outrageous that these people would be so offended that they'd have to eat the same food prepared for the rest of their co-workers in the Senate building. Pardon me, but isn't our government made up of representatives by the people, for the people and of the people? Are these state senators forgetting their lowly roots?

More importantly, aren't there other issues that should occupy their time that have a little more impact on the community rather than their dining room? AP reports that the Washington state senate just cut $685 million from the state budget, which resulted in the layoffs of hundreds of state workers. This raises unemployment levels and puts a strain on the economy, not to mention the impact this will have on those workers' families. Shouldn't the senators be working on a way to help these people rather than helping themselves first with something as ephemeral as a private dining room equipped with its own French chef?

Government workers are frequently referred to as "public servants," and that's exactly what they are. They serve us. I don't know where or when that was lost, but somewhere along the way, these representatives achieved perks and income levels and lavish gifts that most of the country only dreams about as they go to sleep in their cramped apartments and wonder where the money will come from to fix the car so they can get to their jobs or feed their children.

It still amazes me how ordinary people seem to have nothing better to do with their time than memorize the vagaries of the law. Case in point, I rode my bike down to the beach and back last night. Since traffic was a bit heavy and I didn't want to be sandwiched between a line of parked cars and a steady stream of BMWs, I rode on the expansive and mostly empty sidewalk for part of my trip. As I was nearing the end of my trip, I was a bit tired (see previous entries on being out of shape) and about to attack a hill on Wilshire Boulevard.

Just before the hill, I was accosted by an old man and his cane. The old man shook his cane at me and said, "Riding on the sidewalk is a criminal offense! Get into the street!" Since I was concentrating more on the impending hill, I said "thanks" and rode on. Of course, from behind me as I rode on, I heard "Hey!" and then finally "HEY!!!!" as if deigning to ignore his dictates would cause him to have a coronary. At that moment, I swore that his one word carried the entire message of "I'm going to write a letter to the editor of our local paper and go crusading in front of the City Council to stop the likes of you!"

Basically, my stance was this: I wasn't too pleased about the prospect of riding in traffic, and since there was plenty of room on the sidewalk and it was sparsely populated, that's where I was going to be for my own safety. Plus, if the cops were really concerned and it really was a criminal offense, chances are that one of the three police officers I rode past while I was on the sidewalk would've stopped me to tell me about this law.

So I rode on. And oddly enough, I arrived home at the same time as the Roommate.

In other news, yes, it's true, Virginia: The White Stripes are a divorced couple, not brother and sister.

The power of suggestion is indeed strong. After watching a scene of "The Simpsons" where Homer attempts to out-eat a trucker by putting away a 16 pound steak, I had to run down to the fridge to polish off a hamburger I'd cooked up earlier tonight and put in the fridge for dinner tomorrow night.

Culture has indeed become formulaic, which is something I mourn. It occurred to me when I put a sampler CD in the player today and a song came on. Within ten seconds, I knew exactly how the entire song was going to sound. And the scary thing is, I was right. It sounded exactly the same as at least half a dozen other songs currently on the radio. Ugh. Mediocrity is permeating America.

So the lawyer defending the owners of two Presa Canario dogs alleged that the prosecutors were "attempting to curry favor with gays and homosexuals" since the victim happened to be a lesbian and this big a deal wouldn't have been made had she been straight. Let's see -- I'm a dog, and I'm suddenly confronted with a person. Do I (a) stop to determine whether or not she might be gay, (b) think that perhaps PFLAG might have something to say about this, or (c) just go ahead and maul her regardless of who she is?

Okay, folks, I know it's been a while and I've been getting e-mails from people asking if it's still going on. Yes, it's still going on, it's just been on hiatus while I've been getting my life in order. I'm going to make a serious attempt at organizing another round this weekend, so you should have your assignments this coming week. I promise, I'm gonna try. Thanks for your patience.

The diet will have to wait. Today, I was faced with the forces of Temptation and lost the battle. People at work were ordering from Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, so I had to partake of this L.A. mainstay. I have no clue who came up with the idea for combining fried chicken and waffles, but it's damn good.

Let's cut right to the point, shall we? My roommate is stealing cable.

When I "interviewed" with him when I first came to meet him and see the apartment, I specifically asked about cable -- I'm a media junkie, plus now that I'm working for an entertainment publication, there are certain things on cable that I need to see. He told me that as a courtesy to his roommates (his exact words), he "takes care" of the bill. I thought that was awfully generous.

Then I move in, and a few days later when I asked him about getting HBO and possibly upgrading to digital cable, he confessed that he's been getting cable for free for 2 1/2 years in this apartment and didn't want to do anything to upset that. Of course, he followed that statement up by saying that if I wanted to look around at somewhere else -- to which I thought, "if he wants me to move out because he's not going to get me HBO, there's some problems." He said he can't afford cable so he doesn't want to make it legit, which I have some problems with because he's throwing around cash by eating out often and shopping at expensive upscale grocery stores. Either way, he called someone he knows who knows someone who works for our cable company to see about hooking us up with HBO. The guy told him that because they were doing work on the network in our area -- in order to upgrade the system to digital -- the free cable might get cut off. Two days later, I saw the flyer the cable company left in our building entrance saying they were going to be working in our area over the next few weeks so please excuse the possible service interruptions.

I'm a little uncomfortable with stealing the cable, which some might consider hypocritical based on my MP3 downloading. However, the legal issue of whether or not downloading MP3s is an offense is still being debated, while stealing cable is actively being prosecuted as an illegal act and a federal offense. So I came up with the idea that since he's leaving on Monday for two weeks, I'd call the cable company and order cable for real. When he comes back, I'd tell him that the cable company came to our door and said that while they were doing work in the area, they had discovered we were getting free cable and offered us the option to either sign up for paid cable or risk prosecution -- something that it does say on the cable company's website. In the end, I'd get my cable and when the digital upgrade is available, I could get it along with the cable modem so I can completely drop my phone line and DSL which'll save me some cash in the end. However, I worry about the roommate's reaction when he comes back. I figure this is the easiest way to do it without bringing down too much of the thunder.

Opinions? Discussions? Other more feasible ideas?

In other news, one of our neighbors has a car horn that plays "La Cucaracha," and someone just called my cell phone and insisted that no, they weren't calling the wrong number and I should know the person they were asking for.

The DMV was actually relatively painless. I was in and out in less than 45 minutes, temporary license printout in hand. Yes, I passed the written test which kind of surprised me because it was based on a bunch of esoteric California driving laws that are detailed in their driving manual, which I haven't seen. No, they weren't common sense questions, they were specific questions like "You have completed an XRTC-12 form and returned it to the DMV within five days because you: (a) sold your car, (b) got in an accident with damage over $500, or (c) are moving." Huh?

The thing that was most distressing to me (as it is for most people) was the picture. They made me take off my glasses, which I basically only take off if I'm sleeping or showering, so the picture is definitely not what I expected it to look like since I hardly ever seen myself without my glasses on. The other thing is that I realized just how tubby I've become over the past few weeks.

As I've said before, one of two things happens when I get stressed out: I either stop eating entirely or I eat everything in sight. Guess what I've been doing? So now I have to find myself a gym so I can lose some of this tubbiness because over the past few weeks, I've been hoovering everything in sight and I've gained a lot of weight. It shows. Ugh. Though, understandably, since I've been under a ton of stress what with moving across the country & starting a new job & finding a place to live.

Work beckons!

It's dinner break at work, where we're all staying late because it's Tuesday and we all stay late on Tuesday because Tuesday is publication night. Did that make any sense at all? Well, this does: they're feeding us, as they do every Tuesday. This job is going to completely thwart any efforts I might be able to make towards losing any weight. Tonight's fare is Mexican. Have I mentioned recently how much I love my job?

In technology-related news, some Germans came up with the Painstation, an over-the-Internet version of Pong where, if you lose, the system inflicts pain upon you in the form of punches, electroshocks and heat. Those wacky Germans... I was going to say something to end that paragraph along the lines of "Leave to Germans to come up with a way to turn a game into something painful," but I figured someone would throw a fit because I was making a gross stereotype. But stereotypes are all around us, and it's a matter of not perpetuating the stereotype if you want people to stop believing it. If blacks want recognition as not being ghetto, then they need to stop perpetuating the stereotype among themselves with things like "Cita's World," a program on BET where a computer-generated character introduces videos while dressed in kind of a trashy outfit, speaking in complete slang and using improper English (I guess it's supposed to be Ebonics) and a bad accent. It basically sounds like that Shaniqua character Ellen Cleghorne played on "Saturday Night Live."

Now, BET is presenting this not only to their own audience, but to the entire cable-watching community at large. People who have no experience with blacks are going to think that this is the way they act all the time. People who see this who do interact with blacks may think that because it's okay for them to interact with each other this way, anyone can interact with them this way. (Which leads to that complete double-standard that I don't understand -- blacks can call each other "nigger" and it's a term of affection, but if a white person says it, blacks go nuts. If you don't want anyone using the term, don't use it yourself, people!)

Why are people scared of blacks? Maybe because a good portion of America gets their exposure to black culture through rap, where artists these days mostly seem to talk about screwing their bitches, shooting their enemies and drinkin' 40s with their homies. Well, if that's what you present to the public, that's what they're going to believe! It's that simple! It's like telling someone, "If you don't want people to think you're an asshole, don't act like an asshole!" This is such a "duh" thing, yet most people just don't seem to get it.

And I'm not just talking about blacks or Germans, this applies to all ethnic groups. I'm sure I probably exhibit some characteristics of a group that I'm a part of. Well, in order to knock down some of these stereotypes, I've definitely tried not to do the same stereotypical things so as not to perpetuate the behaviors & stereotypes unless it's a group that I intentionally want to display characteristics of (e.g.: being a liberal and with particular views on certain topics, being outspoken and forthright, being American).

Getting back to the Germans, though... [wicked smile] Seems that a group of Germans who were supposed to be providing translation services to the U.N. went to the wrong city for a conference. They were supposed to go to Monterey, Mexico, but flew to Monterey, California, instead. Sounds like they need to translate a little better for their travel agent.

The wonders of California still are impressing me. Again, the grocery store is the impetus behind this post. They have fruit here I've never even heard of! Tonight, I bought a "pluot" (don't ask me how to pronounce it, I have no idea), which is a cross between a plum and an apricot. I also looked up the forecast online to check out the weather for the next couple of days, and it had the prediction for tonight -- then the next entry was "Tuesday through Friday." Woooooo!

I recently was alerted to a Yahoo listserv of all these people I used to go to camp with. They're all talking about a reunion now after 10 years. I dunno... it seems kind of strange. I wonder how we'll all compare 10 years later. I wonder how different we'll all be. And again, I'm so glad that I went ahead and took this risk to move to L.A. and so forcefully pursue this job. It makes me feel so much better about myself and the direction my life has taken, and it definitely gives me an ego boost to proudly say that I'm where I want to be and doing what I want to do. I can face the rest of the world on my own terms now. Sorry that I keep coming back to this. I still just kind of can't believe that I actually did this, since I've never done anything like it before. As Bill says, "Life is fine with bread & butter, but sometimes your soul just needs that chocolate cake with ice cream."

Say what you will about the movie Fear, about its bad plot and Marky Mark's bad accent and the stupidity of it all. It's got a great soundtrack.

So Operation Anaconda is over and it was, according to the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks, "an unqualified and absolute success." Woo hoo!

Uhh... yeah. [raises hand] Can someone tell me what the point of this "operation" was? What were we looking to accomplish? 'Cause if we were looking to bomb the hell out of some desolate land, then yeah -- complete and unqualified success. With a big gold star. Otherwise, I'm still at a loss to understand what the hell's going on over there.

Basically, what I think this boils down to is the fact that everyone's really losing the appeal of the War on Terrorism. So if the government says that we have some great campaigns over there, maybe it'll win a spot on MTV again! Oooh! Then we'll care again!

Face it. The economy's doing better. The scars are slowly beginning to heal. People are starting to think that things are a little ridiculous as far as the Farce Known As Airport Security. The War on Terrorism is fading into Obscurity.

Pardon me while I point and say, "I told you so."

My dresser was delivered. I have finished Unpacking Wave #3. I just have to set up the heavy-as-hell desk and the rather comfy desk chair I got this afternoon, then I'll do Unpacking Wave #4 of all my paperwork and pretty much be all done. I still have to hang my pictures though.
- I bought the Heaviest TV Set in the World Under 30" today. The guys at Best Buy laughed at me when I said I had to haul it up two flights of stairs. We'll see what happens when I attempt to bring it up a little later.
- The new Korn song makes me want to scream gibberish like Beavis.
- I discovered that not only did I pack my winter hat and gloves to bring with me to Los Angeles, but I also packed my thermal underwear. Can someone offer a rational explanation as to why I did this? I certainly can't. Then again, I can't understand half the things I do anyways.

That's the second time today I've heard a screech of tires outside and then an abrupt *smack*. I witnessed the aftermath of the first, as I went outside to wait for a friend who was picking me up to go to breakfast, and I saw the involved parties standing over on the side of the road exchanging their vital info and examining the damage to each others' cars. Dammit, this is not a main street I live on, it's got stop signs like every 25 feet. Drag Race Central is supposed to be far from here.

I bought a do-it-yourself desk today. Thankfully, the roommate was around so he could help me haul it upstairs because the thing was damned heavy. I almost threw my back out -- but then again, I was the one on the hauling end and he wasn't doing much to help compensate for the stairs. But at least it's up here now so I can start putting it together while I await the arrival of my dresser which is being delivered this afternoon. Hopefully, I won't have much more in the way of back issues since sitting on the floor typing at the computer is killing me. All I need now is a chair and a TV. A biiiiiiiiig TV. Bwahahahahaaaaaaa...

I have this thing for women in overalls. I don't know why. I just think they look abominably cute in them.

However, the woman in this story was not wearing overalls. She was actually dressed pretty nicely, and I think it was because she was on a first date with the guy she was sitting with. My friend and I were having dinner last night in some Mexican restaurant that I described as "having atmosphere" (meaning that it's relatively cheap but the food was good but the distinguishing factor was the fact that the inside of the place was decorated like you were sitting in a cave with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and the entire inside covered in rock). When he left to go to the bathroom, I noticed the fairly-attractive woman sitting at the table across from ours and, as is my nature as a mild busybody (also known as "yenta" in Yiddish terms), I eavesdropped a bit on their conversation. Seems that they were just getting to know each other, which led me to believe they were on an initial date, and I was sorry to hear that the guy was just getting ripped apart. I mean, she was just tearing into him. They were talking initially about gender roles. She was completely shredding this guy about his opinions on female roles in the workplace, and it was plainly obvious that this guy couldn't hold his own in a debate, especially not against someone who has thought about these things, formed opinions and wasn't afraid to express them. He just seemed like one of those shy, ephemeral people who just kind of drifts through life, and that's when I stopped feeling sorry for him and started feeling sorry for me.

I just started wishing that I was in that conversation. That I was the one whose brain was being challenged, because I am so completely turned on by an attractive woman who challenges me to think. I honestly believe that while I was unemployed, my brain turned to mush and I was lacking insight into a lot of things because I had become stupid. Either way, I'm thankful that I'm now employed and am socially interacting with people who make me think. My IQ is slowly going back up again.

But getting back to the conversation at hand. They progressed onwards to the topic of personal assistants, which the woman likened to mild slavery -- an indentured servancy, I suppose -- and he just kind of shrugged off as "it's a job, and people want to have PAs and other people need jobs." At this point, my friend came back to the table and the couple left shortly thereafter.

Bugger all.

It was a typical Southern California afternoon. We had an earthquake (no, seriously, it was around a 4.6), I drove all over creation, made some calls on my cell phone, saw the vanity plates (my favorite from today was "ISAIDSO") and did some shopping. I found myself a dresser which will be delivered tomorrow, bought some DVDs at Best Buy, did some TV shopping (though Fry's was out of the models I was interested in so no go today and I'm going to wait until tomorrow when the new fliers come out for Best Buy) and the highlight of my day was when I actually saw a DeLorean.

Many of you remember the car from Back to the Future. I've seen only a handful of them in real life with my own eyes -- maybe 5 at the most -- and today I was privileged enough to drive next to one for the better part of a few miles. I tried not to stare, but it's a little hard to be inconspicuous and non-obvious in a situation like that. All I can say is... cooooooooooooool..

In other news, I'm going to have to trade in my comforter. I think I'm allergic to the one I have now. It sucks because I've been feeling like I have a low-grade cold for the past few days, and I think I finally figured out why. So tomorrow, I need to make a special trip to Bed Bath & Beyond. Woooooo.