hegemony rules

The second entry in an ongoing series.

Oh my eyes and/or ears and/or brain!

(via Slog)

This guy makes me feel very unproductive. And sane.

I find that walking calms my brain, giving me a moment or two to contemplate life’s other questions (like “What am I doing here?” and “Who am I really?”) – ones that don’t revolve around communication theory or new media or whatever other scholarly stuff I’m slogging through for my exams. I especially like walking from my house in Capitol Hill down to Pioneer Square. It’s a long walk, but I love doing work at Zeitgeist and browsing Elliott Bay Books. It reconnects me with myself – and, in turn, reconnects me with the universe. I revel in the peace of mind I feel after this walk.

Thus, it is with heavy heart that I reccount the following incident:

On Thursday, I decided I would walk downtown as usual, and read some stuff at Zeitgeist. After working for a while, I headed back home at 2:00 pm. As I was crossing the street on 3rd and Washington, a woman was crossing in the opposite direction. She was in her 50s or 60s, heavyset and wearing a hat. All of the sudden, she made a beeline for me and hit me. On my head. And then kept walking. I stopped, and yelled, “Excuse me” (I’m not the best at coming up with pithy comments on the spur-of-the-moment), but she continued on and entered the building behind me.

As I was contemplating this unusual turn of events, I was struck by a thought – she just slapped me upside the head! I had never understood what exactly that phrase meant before, but there was no better way way to describe what happened. It wasn’t like she punched me, or even slapped my face…it was definitely a whack at the base of the back of my neck in an upward direction. The two guys who were walking a bit ahead of me turned around and asked if she had just hit me. When I answered affirmatively, they said, “What was that all about?” I said that I had no idea.

I still don’t know what this is supposed to mean. Was the universe using this woman to send me a message? Like I shouldn’t cross the street using the crosswalk? Or was this just a crazy lady who decided she didn’t like the look of me? (I don’t like not being liked!)

Anyway, it happened. I don’t think my walks in Pioneer Square will ever be quite the same.

So, despite not posting that often, I get a lot of spam on this blog. As a result, I’ve resorted to using Movable Type’s MT Blacklist plug-in (thanks, Cameron) to de-spam my blog. Using MT Blacklist, I can de-spam my blog in minutes, deleting comments advertising sites for poker, pharmaceuticals, and gift baskets in minutes.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to specify registered users whose comments I want to keep (at least, none that I’ve found). As a result, I keep accidentally deleting comments from my friends. So, if your comment has been deleted, I apologize. I promise it wasn’t because I didn’t like the content of your message – it’s just because I’ve been trigger-happy on the de-spamming button.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might end this madness altogether? Or is blog spam just the price I’m going to keep paying for my (limited) popularity?

Yes, it’s early for this message, but I’m going out of town for Thanksgiving this year. I hope you and yours (whatever that means) have a great day filled with lots of food and drink and merriment!

And, I am working on the million-plus spam comments that seem to be littering this blog. I have to say that while I find their presence on my site annoying, I do get a little thrill whenever I see that I have 3,233 comments on my blog. It makes me feel way more popular than I really am. (Oh, and for a bit of amusement, read through a few of them. Apparently, spammers have determined that pithy quotes and poetry are more likely to get people to click on their site than simply listing a bunch of keywords.)

Krispy Kreme. Grab some doughnuts, quick!

If you’re feeling really brave, try this heart attack-inducing recipe (created by some R&D guy named “Chef Ron“):

KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUT SUNDAE

INGREDIENTS
2 KK Original Glazed Doughnuts
4 oz – Hot Fudge
2 oz

Unbeknownst to me, there seemed to have to be some minor issues with the commenting features going on with my weblog for awhile – i.e., no one could actually submit comments. While I’ve enjoyed several weeks of spam-free blogging, I’ve been missing the excitement of receiving an email whenever someone posts a comment. I figured out the problem, though, so comments are now back in full force.

Oh, and thanks to L’s friend D for emailing me and letting me know he couldn’t post. If he hadn’t contacted me, I probably would have spent a few more weeks just sitting around thinking that no one was interested in what I was writing – not that it would be the first time.

I’m too busy to write much right now, but check out this cool virtual knee surgery exhibit from COSI Columbus.

I was fascinated. Ok, I was a little grossed out and then fascinated.

“To be an anarchist in Salt Lake City was certainly no easy task, especially in 1985. And having no money, no job, no plans for the future, the true anarchist position, was in itself a strenuous job.”

I’m finally punk rock!

I can’t keep up with anything these days – teaching every morning makes my weblog take a back seat. (Not that it ever has a front seat, ’cause to admit that would be like I was admitting to being the BIGGEST GEEK ON THE PLANET, but occasionally my blog is in a more privileged position – like sometimes it sits in the hump part of the back seat, which, while it’s not the most comfortable area of the proverbial car, is better than hangin’ out in the trunk where it just so happens to be right now….)

Anyway, the comics on this site rock the house. “Remember when Bush flew that fighter jet onto the aircraft carrier after we accomplished the mission? Wouldn’t it be awesome if he landed a rocket ship on the Capitol Dome and delivered the State of the Union speech dressed like an astronaut?” And, yes, folks, we now have official proof that life imitates Sealab 2021.

Check out some ephemera from the 1800s and a bunch of miniature books.

Listen to a bunch of people from around the world read a short paragraph about Stella and her quest to procure several “slabs of blue cheese and maybe a snack for her brother Bob.” Exciting!