Good lord, so very few people can make it. I'm going to have a fridge full of booze.

Booze'll keep until your real housewarming party!

Ugh this day is taking forever.

This is from an article [link] about the shooter:

Isolation is the root of the problem, said Carolyn Wolf, senior partner at Abrams Fensterman, a New York law firm that specializes in mental health issues.

In a society where online social networks often replace interpersonal social networks, people become detached.

"The Internet allows for isolation. As a result we have less interpersonal communication and fewer opportunities to identify this behavior and intervene before something as tragic as this happens," Ms. Wolf said.

As people separate themselves from each other, they become less keen to simple human mannerisms -- facial expressions, voice tones, behavioral cues -- that indicate when someone is having a problem. And because dealing with a problem face to face is becoming ever rarer, many do not trust themselves to confront someone who seems distressed, even if they recognize warning signs.

"People probably noticed weird behavior but didn't really know what to do with it," Ms. Wolf said. "People don't trust their gut instincts as much as they used to because they're not interacting as much as they used to. So they second-guess themselves or they decide not to deal with it."

That's right. The internets did it.

One, if I started posting my plans for punishing the world because I haven't had sex this century, I trust that one of y'all would try to do something about it. Two, I would be more isolated without the internet. I was not social person before the internet. Three, no one did anything about Charles Whitman or Richard Speck before the web was a gleam in Berners-Lee's eye. When in human history have people thought, "That guy is acting kind of weird. I'd better do something before he starts randomly killing people?"

Isolation is the root of the problem

Bullshit. Plenty of people are isolated, and they manage to not go out and shoot up aerobics classes just fine.

stands with Steph.

ugh Palin in NY

this is the kicker:

The party — which arrived without a reservation, according to Michael's Manager Danny DiVella — requested a table in the front of the restaurant, as a crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the group.

She loves the attention so much. She has no discipline.

me too

man that burns my toast

I don't blame isolation or the internets, goodness knows. But I do think that we as a society need to do much much more to reinforce the recognition that other people exist. And not just the other people you like, or are related to, or know personally. That the stranger sitting across from you on the bus is as tangibly present and real as you are. Same with the people half way across the world that you've never seen. That even without your contemplating their existence, others exist.

I know y'all know that others are real, I am not complaining of anyone here. But I feel like there's a pervasive denial in this culture of the reality that what we do and what we say touches on other people.

wow, I'm devastatingly late for my crime spree then. Although I have been occasionally disturbed by my surface similarities to, say, Robert Bardo. We're both from Arizona, iffy job and romantic histories, and we both have a stable of famous strangers we love SO MUCH. Only I'm not the angry kind of crazy, and my parents didn't beat me up. And I think everyone here could take me, too, of course.

Why do Craigslist people suck so much?

Why do Craigslist people suck so much?

Too much exposure to these?