Didja miss me?

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Now this is getting creepy!

I am now also the 1,111th visitor to my own blog. Creepier and creepier! If you haven't yet, visit Manolo's Shoe Blog today. It's Sex & the City for the Soul! Better than Chicken Soup. . . I s'pose.

Sorry I haven't more time for you this week

We had an event last night which totally wiped out my psychic energy for the past week. Thankfully, I have the day off. Unfortunately I also have 1,000,000,000 things to do this weekend, so of course I'm off to the movies. Well, give me a break! I have to have some play time, right? Then I'll get down to work.

Wonders of the Law

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12292252%5E2902,00.html

Financial news of the world

The Guardian did a story on a British company charging 50%-70% interest on a new credit card it plans to market to the poor. Don't you think at some point, people won't pay their bills simply because you have quickly doubled or tripled what they've spent? I suppose the idea is not to be embarassed when you go somewhere and everyone else whips out their card to pay for dinner or something.

To find customers, Vanquis will trawl through the files of private credit rating agency Experian - it holds data on almost everyone in Britain - to identify individuals rejected by other lenders often because they have run into debt problems in the past.

My favorite part of this is their writing style:

It expects the typical customer to have an income of half the national average. Provident Financial's executive directors last year earned from £376,000 to £583,000, while the chief executive saw his pension fund rise from £916,000 to £1.3m.

You wouldn't get that understated comparison in most American papers. Facts speaking for themselves, rather than us being beaten over the head with them. After getting into the habit of being bludgeoned with facts, information, and pre-drawn conclusions, it's no wonder we have to be repeatedly assaulted in a similar way. I'm sure we're pretty much deaf to subtlety by now.

WILCO 2nite!

They're playing at our old theatre called The Orpheum tonight, as part of their new album tour. (That's where I wish Jill Scott would play when she's here later this month, but unfortunately she'll be at the FedEx Forum, which is huuuuuge. Not at all cool for a neo-soul show.) I have busted out the old albums (Being There, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) since I don't have the new one yet. Not sure if I'll get it, either, cause I don't know how good it is. Anyone out there have it yet? Let me know if it's worth it.

4.1 on the Richter scale

So we had an earthquake today. We were oblivious, walking the dogs, when it happened around 8am. Our neighbor (whom I've never met) came trotting up to us, asking if we felt a tremor -- you can't imagine how stupid you feel not to notice an earthquake, even a small one. Later I talked to one of our volunteers who said only people at her job who were sitting down felt it. What a wimpy quake. Thank goodness. Interesting fact -- the Richter scale is a logarhythmic one, so that an increase from 4 to 5 is tenfold. The energy release variation is roughly 3 to the power of 10, so you can see why I'm thankful for a 4.1 instead of. . . anything more at all, I suppose.

Life overwhelms

Sorry I have neglected you lately. Life has begun to overwhelm me in that way where you get frozen when you have free time. I can't seem to make the most of every second without adequate downtime. I woke up at 1am and my mind began racing, but aimlessly. Then I started obsessing about not being able to get a full night's rest. I took almost 3 hours to get back to sleep.

Crazy news of the weekend

Kite-flying can kill. Beware!

THIRTEEN people have been killed and more than 500 injured during an annual kite-flying festival in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. Seven people with severe head injuries died in the city's General Hospital alone, and about 220 people were admitted with a variety of injuries including broken bones, hospital officials said.

The two-day festival of Basant, marking the start of spring, began with thousands of revellers perched on rooftops.

What I want to know is: why does spring come so early in Pakistan? Ah, crap. I must go walk giant dogs now since it has rained all day long. Ciao!

Recommendations sought

For the Big 3-0 in a couple months, I'm going to N.O. to laissez le bontemps rouler (party or whatever). Any suggestions for hotel, clubs or restaurants while we're down there? Comment here, or send me email if you know it. Here are some of my favorites: Restaurants: Irene's, Deja Vu (not a strip club, no) Clubs/Bars: Toulouse, Pat O's, someplace attached to a hotel I'd know if I saw it Hotels: You tell me. Haven't found a great one yet Attractions: Liked the Garden District, walking tour, historical kinda stuff. People watching is fun there -- haven't had my palm read yet. Scared to?

Are you bored?

Go look at my dragon friend, then. I'm off to walk dogs; be back later.

Which cult movie character are you?

Find out today! Let me know if this link doesn't work -- it's a little long. Sorry for the blog blackout once again. If you care, I had a fabulous weekend. More on that later as time permits.