Okay, so I kinda wanted to play along, but I quite dislike Stephen Colbert and did not want to post his picture on Wesoteric in any manner that remotely suggests otherwise. Now, I've always hated his show. I don't even like "The Daily Show" (I think the clips Stewart airs generally speak for themselves, such that his his comments and funny faces afterwards are totally unnecessary and kind of insulting, as if I'm supposed to think that what is essentially scrunching up one's nose after someone else lets a really rancid fart constitutes intelligent comedy), but Colbert's show just fucking sucks. What put him "on notice" in my opinion, though, was encouraging people to vandalize Wikipedia. I'll go on record and say that I think Wikipedia is probably one of the greatest things I've seen in years -- an online encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute his/her knowledge about any subject, resulting in a potentially limitless source of information about a wealth of topics. But it only works insofar as people are including information that is true. (Or at least what they believe to be true. Frex, this "Pee-wee's Playhouse" entry refers to Roger as a memorable one-off, whereas I know for a fact that Roger was in at least one other episode. It's an honest mistake, though.) So I really don't think it's funny that Colbert encouraged people to intentionally falsify entries on the site (about elephants of all things; I love elephants). To someone who strongly values the sharing of knowledge and information, that's like encouraging others to sabotage the construction of a spiral staircase leading to Heaven.

But also -- while Stephen Colbert would've been at the top of my list, at least at the moment -- I couldn't come up with seven others. I mean, I could've filled it with largely trivial stuff -- Colin Baker probably would've made it (I really dislike the sixth Doctor; dissing Peri's weight is not cool), and I was also going to give a slot to people who break ninja bobbleheads and seem determined to avoid watching Grave of the Fireflies at all costs. More serious inclusions would've included President Bush (duh) and conservative Christians. I might've thrown BET in for good measure too.

But I'm really tired and didn't feel up to explaining each of my choices -- which is undoubtedly what I would have felt compelled to do. And I still dislike Stephen Colbert. So instead I made this:

I think that works nicely, yes. (And since the Dalek covers up the text, the meme is available here.) Until next time, then!

I stole this from De. I didn't get officially tagged (:cry:), but I'm gonna do it anyway since I think it is NEAT. I will also forego the tagging part and extend the meme to anyone who wants to play. 🙂

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog/Live Journal along with these instructions. (So does that mean we're supposed to be posting sentences 6-9 or 5-8??? I will cover all bases and post 5-9.)
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

There was a knob, with a dial on it, sort of like a clock with one hand. Only there were no numbers for the dial to point at. Right now the dial was pointing at a strange symbol that looked something like a Chinese character, but different -- some alien letter. To the right and left were straight lines. To the left, the lines got wider and wider apart.

The book is Marco's Millions by William Sleator. Other nearby books that would have been the meme selection but for a few inches are The Pocket Treasury of American Folklore and Who's Next: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who. There are also several Barney and Madballs books patiently awaiting Scary-Crayon reviews (if you're interested, see the existing reviews here and here), but none of them have 123 pages. There's also The Pogo Stepmother Goose by Walt Kelly, but in addition to being a collection of comic strips and illustrated stories its pages are not numbered. Which makes the table of contents significantly less helpful, but at least one knows which stories are in the book. 😛

Ja ne!

So I probably won't be posting too much in the following days, weeks, months, whatever.. I've got some decisions to make. I've been looking at these graduate programs and even the program overviews are confusing and intimidating the hell out of me. See, I'm the kind of person who likes to fully comprehend a thing before I take it on, and I don't know what it means to defend a dissertation or understand what half of these requirements would entail -- and even though these things wouldn't take place for at least another three or four years, that length of time itself strikes me as utterly unfathomable.

Also, I'm seriously considering the fact that I'll never get to do the things I want to do most in my life, so should I just give up on those and aim for a career I could handle and maybe enjoy to a point but would never really love? Or should I just go ahead and exit stage left now, because why suffer through a life in which I'd be perpetually just going through the motions? Nothing really seems worth it anymore. Hell, it never did.

Anyway, before I disappear for however long and possibly longer, here's a survey/quiz thing that Mickey posted and that I said I'd answer. Here goes: (more...)

So I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight. I've got a job interview (or something) at 8:00 AM and I've still got to fill out the rest of this application form and iron the suit that I dug up (yes, they want me to wear a bleeding suit and tie) and cut my hair. An interview, you say? Yes! While I'm planning to relocate to NYC in the near future, I'm sending resumes out both there and locally -- and if I can land something good in this area, I can see sticking around for another year or so. I'd still move out, though; probably close to DC if not in the city itself. So anyway, I've got to prepare for that (though somehow walking in there without having slept a wink seems counter-productive in that respect), and I also want to send out a cover letter and resume for another job in NYC tonight -- among some other duties that I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment but will hopefully come to me at some point tonight. Rah.

Anyway, here's a quiz (!) gacked from pretty little Wendy-go:

Which Star Wars character are you?

Kinda on point for a quiz that didn't offer answers that I felt were particularly applicable to me. (Except for that part about being a loyal companion who gives a 100% effort when I'm needed most, 'cause no one ever needs me!) Interesting. (more...)

It's been a while since I came across a quiz that didn't use tables, so here we are -- gacked this one from Ebs over on LJ. So, what kind of novel should I write...?

LITERATURE! - You have a story... Oh yes you do! You are
not quite sure what it is, but it burns! It burns to be poured
onto the page! Write! Write I say! And thrill us with your
unique view of the world. YOU are your own inspiration!

What Kind of Novel Should I Write?
brought to you by Quizilla

There we are, then! And in case you're wondering, I'm probably staring at the crude sharpie drawings of pimps and hookers and misspelled gang slogans on a Metrobus at the moment of this posting (ugh) -- I'm testing out the scheduled post feature.