So I got back from my trip to Alexandria MN last night. Drove 1200 miles in four days.

I was really looking forward to the drive through Wisconsin, as it is very pretty in the Summer. But not so much this time. The grass along the highway was all brown and I saw lots and lots of very dry cornfields. I saw a Madison paper that said the area's corn crop will be a total loss this year, and talked to a guy who said it's too late for rain to save the corn and soybeans. Rather depressing.

Now I want to get a bumpersticker that says, "How's that global warming denialism working out for you?" but I think that't too long for a bumpersticker.

My two favorite things about Dita von Teese are 1) her real name is Heather and 2) she's naturally a blonde.

I would love to see Dita Von Teese go forward in time. Like, cyborg forward. It would be a great mindfuck.

There is a person on this conference call that always announces her name to this con call software, although it's not apparently used anywhere, but the call we have on Mondays, where it announces you when you join and when you leave? She never tells it her name.

I cannot fathom this behaviour.

I am also trying to work out the rationale behind "You're racist if you saw anything potentially racial in this! OMG!" Are there extra points to be gained if you move through life and never notice anything racist? And you get dragged down in the muck if you do? To the people it matters at all, it seems to matter *so* much. It keeps perplexing me.

Va-Va-Voom Vintage: Dita Von Teese on Burlesque, Fast Cars, and Old Lingerie | Collectors Weekly

Thank you in advance from Tim. He will flip over this.

I am also trying to work out the rationale behind "You're racist if you saw anything potentially racial in this! OMG!" Are there extra points to be gained if you move through life and never notice anything racist? And you get dragged down in the muck if you do? To the people it matters at all, it seems to matter *so* much. It keeps perplexing me.

Is this the same argument as "I'm colorblind, I don't see race"?

I am also trying to work out the rationale behind "You're racist if you saw anything potentially racial in this! OMG!" Are there extra points to be gained if you move through life and never notice anything racist?

Those are people who are really invested in this being a "post-racial society", because if there's still racism around, then they have to question their assumptions and the ways they benefit from being (presumably) white in this society. And they are in fact convinced that they are being oppressed, for being white/male/Christian/Republican/etc.

Oh my motherfucking GOD. My manager has just moved the Friday part of the release to NEXT WEEK. I could possibly take Friday off after all............

My boss is not going to the all IT "event" this afternoon. My manager says she's not invited. I am surmising it's "IT Games", like "Hunger Games". But co-worker insists it's Survivor. Is it bad for morale for me to stick to my vision?

Dude. Friday. Off.

Whoa.

I'm scared to ask.

I should go walk down the stairs and work of my BatEnergy.

Thank you in advance from Tim. He will flip over this.

No prob.

Now I want to hang out with Dita Von Teese so we can talk old cars. And perhaps how awesome she looks in her outfits.

Once I vaguely considered buying a '64 Mercury, partially because it was k. d. lang who was selling it.

I swear--I said "I see sub (SUB) text in 'chasing and killing a black man with a pack of wild dogs' suggested by guy whose name is pronounced 'raysism'" and homeslice went ballistic. I'm trying to explain that I'm not saying he's racist, or the post is racist, or he owes anyone an apology or anything--just that there's a reading of those words that has a racial (not even racist) subtext.

He's been frothing at me for a day. I should walk away instead of trying to calm him down, because it's patently not working, but he's really invested in yelling at me that he never said the guy was killed (he said mauled) he never said they were dogs (he said wild dogs) he never said the guy was black (he said he was Usain Bolt).

At this point, should I really believe him when he says it wasn't racist? I'm not trying to poke holes in his reliability--he's doing all that heavy lifting.

he never said the guy was black (he said he was Usain Bolt).

But how is he supposed to know Usain Bolt is black if he doesn't see race??