The new MySpace won't let me add or change songs on my profile, so it seems I will have Ar Duvall on there in perpetuity. This seems fitting, as I actually met them on MySpace and often enjoy their blogs and profiles. I'm even friends with their wives! All from the Space. So let it be. It is like a fly trapped in amber in an Eqyptian Tomb.

Things I have done this week that I have never done before:



Made soup with no cans involved

Bought a camera

Got cable tv

Didn't succumb to the MP

Got a cheerful phone call from my accountant

I'm feeling quite mature and grown up despite my sister pointing out that my wardrobe is more than 50% tube socks and t shirts.

Next week: Roller Coaster in the woods, Pennsylvania, and National Christmas Center!

Last night I went to an event centered around my friend Jenny's book Abortion and Life. The night, like Jenny and her book, was amazing.



Jenny's book is about moving beyond the encampments of "pro-life" and "pro choice" and creating a national conversation about abortion. A conversation that includes everyone&8212;men, the medical community, everyone who is touched by this issue&8212;which is pretty much all of us.

It's a challenge to talk about these things, rather than drawing a line in the sand. People in the audience were clearly shocked when Jenny talked sympathetically about Sarah Palin. She also talked about how abortion is so much more complicated than ever, with new procedures and interventions that are deemed by some to be abortions and others are not. She talked about how she interviewed a doctor who performs third trimester abortions and he said that he almost fainted the first time he did one&8212;and that his residents faint regularly.

She also touched on the old school common ground approach. That we can all agree that the root causes of unwanted, unplanned pregnancies--female poverty, rape, incest, inadequate information about birth control, a true understanding of what abstinence means&8212;can be worked on even as we stop shouting and start talking.

I was really touched by Jenny's call for a respectful discussion that centers on sharing our own personal experiences, which is how feminism began. We need to talk less about the issue and more about ourselves. I know that this will be a challenge for me, as much as it will be for anyone on "the other side."

I really urge everyone to buy this book or get it at the library, no matter what your position ..ion rights is.

In other news, I was completely overcome with disgust yesterday when I realized that Tracy Ullman is probably an American citizen.

UK tackles binge-drinking culture

September 17 2008 at 02:23PM

London - Britain has identified nine types of problem drinker, from depressed solo tipplers to macho boozers, as part of efforts to fight the country's notorious binge-drinking culture, officials said on Wednesday.

Alcohol-related illnesses and accidents cost the National Health Service (NHS) in England some £2,7-billion a year, without counting the cost to police and others of excessive drinking habits.

Authorities hope that an information campaign, being launched first in England's north-west on a trial basis, will help counter the widespread attitude that a good night out must involve getting excessively drunk.

"This will be a tough one to crack. Research found many positive associations with alcohol among the general public - even more so among those drinking at higher-risk levels," said a spokesperson for the department of health.

"For these people, alcohol is embedded in their identity and lifestyle, so much so that challenging this behaviour results in high levels of defensiveness, rejection or even outright denial."

The nine types of problem drinker identified by the department are:

"de-stress drinkers": those who use alcohol to calm down at the end of a hard day. Typically middle-class men and women;

"community drinkers": driven by the need to belong. Usually lower middle-class men and women, who drink in big groups;

"hedonistic drinkers": crave stimulation and want to lose control. Often divorced people with grown-up children, with exhibitionist tendencies;

"macho drinkers": tend to spend most of their spare time in pubs. Mostly men of all ages;

"re-bonding drinkers": use drink as a way of keeping in touch with friends;

"conformist drinkers": driven by the need to belong and seek structure. Typically men aged 45-59 in clerical or manual jobs;

"boredom drinkers": those who drink to pass the time and relieve monotony;

"depressed drinkers": craving comfort, or feeling of safety. Can be of any age, sex or socio-economic group;

"border dependents": these regard the pub as an alternative home. They visit regularly, at all times of day, weekdays and weekends. Tend to drink quickly.

According to official figures, some 50 000 young people end up in hospital due to drink problems every year in England.

Figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are collated separately, with health powers devolved around Britain's nations.

"This is a totally fresh approach to helping people understand the effects of their drinking habits and help them make changes for the better," said Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo. - Sapa-AFP

I google-image-searched "hypocrite," just cause, and found this.




party on.

David Foster Wallace is dead. So sad. I didn't read a lot of his stuff--none of the fiction, in fact--but I loved the non fiction. Do yourself a favor and get "McCain's Promise: Aboard the Straight Talk Express with John McCain and a Whole Bunch of Actual Reporters, Thinking About Hope." He explains why people love being lied to almost as well as Erich Fromm. Then go give Obama some money.

The guy who allegedly carried out the anthrax attacks did this thing in his will. He wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered, but he was worried his wife, who is super Catholic, wouldn't do it. So he put in his will that if she didn't do it, he would leave $50,000 to Planned Parenthood! I am charmed and sort of shocked by this! So diabolically clever to blackmail someone from beyond the grave. (Although, since he committed suicide, could he be buried in a Catholic cemetery anyway?)

It kind of reminds me of the only episode of Dawson's Creek I ever watched, the last one, where Michelle Williams tells Joey Potter that she has to finally choose between Pacey and Dawson, it is her dying wish. She says it with these totally serene evil grin that is completely awesome.

I've been thinking now about how I can fuck with people in my will! It is a thrilling prospect. The problem is figuring out what is good to threaten them with. Honestly what could I do that would really bother Josh, who is obviously the person most in need of my directives? I suppose I could say I am going to leave money to some Foundation for Numeracy but it won't really get him where he lives. It is a sad thing to think I might miss out on this great opportunity.

I finally saw Christmas on Mars yesterday! Seriously, after eight freaking years! I remember I interviewed Wayne Coyne in 2002 and he was all "We'll be done by the end of the year." (I also interviewed Stephen Drozd, who was less optimistic, and correct, as it turns out.) But who cares, it is out now, and combines two of my favorite things: Christmas and Outer Space!

It's screening at this teeny theater underneath the KGB Bar. It is about the same size as the club where I last saw the Flaming Lips play live in... 1988? Christ. I was late, and had gotten lost (the wrong address was printed on my passes), and drenched in the rain, and had a terrible day, and was in tears when a guy in a Santa suit opened the door to the theater and said "Merry Christmas!" with a big smile. I'd only missed the beginning, which is an interview with Wayne and not that interesting anyway. I won't spoil the rest for you but it was pretty fantastic. I wonder what other ppl will think. I will say that if you are short and go see it at KGB, bring a footstool or something, because my feet could not reach the floor and I'm 5'7". It was a little odd.

Then I met a lovely lady who continued the brightening of my day, and on the way home I bought my first Halloween cobwebs!



Soundtrack

I remember my very first MySpace blog!* I wasn't sure about the whole blogging thing, but you know what sealed the deal for me? The mood cats! Those cute little typing, running, smiling, feeling cats that show up next to your mood. What a delightful experience, after choosing a mood like "grateful" or "exanimate," to sit back and wait to see which delightful kitty would appear and what it would be doing.

But for months now, the cats have been gone. Am I the only one to notice this? I thought it was just my crappy computer but I don't see them on anyone's blogs any more. WTF? While it is true I no longer post anything all that interesting,** I can't really express myself without them.

Here's my garden, though.



*Note that I commented on my own blog there, using the old Orangesleeves account! Haha. Ah, 2004.

**Although I am wholly obsessed with Clark Rockefeller. And I am getting my private investigator license. I got 35 bug bites in one weekend recently! Perhaps now you will never know of these things.

Robb Speice, can you make me this? CAN YOU?