i'm a writer, aren't i?  why won't this happen to me?  i thought the one on the left was cute, and i look like the one on the right-- sort of. 

maybe i should get a pipe...

i could be here the rest of the day...

cute quote at wordsmith

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator and writer
(106-43 BCE)

books like these?

and -- user names i saw that i like.

it's like giving in to an addiction... i can't help it.

...What you said in better word is what I think.

nothing could possibly be more complimentary.  if only i could speak french the way she speaks english...  no, if i could just speak english the way she does.  oh. 

she slays me

inspired by blogger's right-click menu extension, i have written three other tiny little scripts to provide me with that same easy access to a few 'utility' sites i use all the time... 

for web searches, it used to be AltaVista.  now i use Google to find everything web (and a hell of a lot non-web).  i just highlight the text (a word, a name, a phrase) and with the rc-menu, select 'google'.  a new window opens with my precious info.  if nothing is highlighted on the page just right click and select 'google' and a prompt pops-up asking you to type in your search string.  same with the other two. 

the online dictionary i use is Merriam-Webster's.  just because it is the most accessible.  it will even try to find misspelled words, and give options based on the search string. 

the latest addition to my right-click assortment is for encyclopaedia (i like that spelling) look-ups.  it searches britannica.com, which always returns several short articles, and sometimes a longer, comprehensive one. 

one of the major benefits of this method for me is that i no longer lose the window from which my search originated-- a cause of me getting very lost sometimes (like Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits). 

if you want these trinkets on your system (sorry, IE only) then download and 'merge' these three reg keys into windows registry-- one each for web search [goosrch.reg], dictionary [define.reg], and encyclopaedia [encyclopedia.reg].  be careful, and back-up your registry first.  when you click on these .reg links you can select 'open from current location', and the merge will happen without fuss.  if you require extra peace of mind, select 'save to disk' and inspect each one from a plain-text editor, like editpad, notetab, or windows notepad.  then merge, close all instances of IE, restart IE, and voila. 

to remove the changes, use [joeRCremove.reg].

the menu options each call a different javascript on burgwinkel.com (about 400 bytes each-- smaller than the previous paragraph) which forms your query into a url string and opens a new window to display it.  i like it.  you can get an idea of how each one will work (before installing) here: 

highlight a word on this page and click one of the following links.  for example, highlight Terry's name and movie above, and click 'google'...  then try it with nothing highlighted.  (these links use this window, the menu extension will do the same as these, but in a new window.)

..google..  ..merriam-webster..  ..encyclopedia.. 

enjoy.  now it's time to ...zzzz

ya know, i have to say something in worship of blogger, and Ev:  in a time when most 'enterprises' offer a plastic smile, and an all-is-well attitude publicly --especially when all is not well --blogger has been honest.  Ev, the guy behind blogger presently and as far as i can tell, the sole occupant of its organizational flow-chart, has been uncommonly up-front with blog users about the blogger-related things that affect them.  blogger is the 'new' kid in town in an economy leaning heavily-- indeed, falling-- into the hands of an already over-powerful and over-rich minority like the industrialist monopolies of a darker economic past.  and Ev prophetically reminds us that there is, or should be, another way. 

unfortunately, the successful business model in the investment culture of today demands style over substance and values skillful self-deception over truth, and it makes no distinction between appearing sincere and actually being sincere-- to its detriment (i hope).  perception is reality, i have been told by those whose profession is marketing.  it follows then that controlling the consumer's perception is controlling reality.  woe be to us, in the most gluttonous nation on earth for swallowing that lie, hook, line and sinker.  haven't we swallowed enough, already? 

i, for one, have heard the lone but welcome voice with which blogger speaks.  its business is push-button publishing, but its message would be the same whether it baked bread or built houses: trust people-- unlike my web host, who assured me nothing had changed, when in fact everything had changed, and unlike my ISP, whose customer service staff has no contact with the technical staff and no clue about what they do.  they both apparently keep their customer service staff uninformed (or even mis-informed) to protect ...who knows what?  and they never put anything specific in writing, even in something as mundane as e-mail.  perhaps they are trying to preserve their place in an overheated economy of overvalued stock and undervalued people. 

but Ev's openness regarding blogger stands in stark contrast to these guarded, suspicion-based behaviors.  when it 'hiccups' he acknowledges that, instead of staying silent.  Silence regarding problems with a product makes a company look dumb, and if that company is huge-- say, like aol, or intel-- then silence makes it look dumb AND abusive.  Thank you Ev for trusting us enough to tell us the real deal.  your trust is greatly appreciated here; i will do whatever i can to reward that trust. 

not in the mood

An army of one? 

This is the pop-up I got when leaving the britannica article about Himmler and Hitler, and the Gestapo.  He's got a cute face and nice lips.  And I'd fuck him in a second.  But I don't trust whatever it is that they're selling. 

I just don't. 

Speaking of the Third Reich, a brief visit to Britannica.com informs that "...the Sturmabteilung was reorganized in 1925 and soon resumed its violent ways, intimidating voters in national and local elections."  Not only that, but the US Army pays for recruitment ads at that page.  It is the same page which describes selection for military service based on physical perfection and racial purity, saying, "With their sleek black uniforms and special insignia (lightning-like runic S's, death'shead badges, and silver daggers), the men of the SS felt superior..."  Oh, my!

The US Army is seeking out young readers of history's horrors, hoping to find closeted 'sturmtruppen' among them. 

Hey, I can try to be a prophet too! 

Qouted on 9/28/00 in the Philadelphia Inquirer Karl Rove (the scariest political insider since the Schutzstaffel) said, "It's going to be the closest race since at least 1960, and it's going to be settled in the last ballot box, in the last precinct in the last state in the last hour of the last day."

He's a prophet.

None Dare Call It Treason an article by Vincent Bugliosi discussing the recent (mis-)conduct of the Supreme Court.

i'm going to get outta here and eat...