The other day I had to buy a new headset for my cordless phone and it got me thinking. I have one headset to emulate the mouse on my computer. Another headset to give verbal commands. Yet another for the phone. Most of my interaction with the world around me occurs via my head. You could probably cut it off and put it in a jar a la Futurama and I could still have a fairly productive life. But I think I’d miss my body and all of the sensations associated with it. People often wrongly assume that I have no capacity for sensation, like someone with a spinal cord injury. In truth, I can’t imagine what that must be like. Sitting here, I can feel the smooth varnished wood of my desk under my left hand. In my right hand, I can feel the rough textured surface of my thumb switch. I do live in my head quite a bit, but I’m grateful that I have a body that can experience all the pleasures, both crude and sublime, that this world has to offer.
Looks like I’ll be going to a Monday night Packers game in November. W00t!

I’ve never been a huge fan of Joe Lieberman. He is always so eager to seem like Bush’s slightly more liberal Jewish uncle. After reading his statements in this NYT article, I like him even less. I’ve decided to firmly back Dean. If he wasn’t in the race, the Democrats would be a nonstory. Dean is no radical liberal, but he’s the only candidate that seems to have a clue about grassroots organizing, which is what Democrats will need to do to have any chance of winning in 2004.
I started writing the background and character sketches for my comic. I haven’t had this much fun writing in a couple months and I’m looking forward to the actual scripting. Even if it never sees the light of day, it will be interesting to try writing for a different medium.
I wonder if I can copy this guy’s idea to get a date with Garbage lead singer Shirley Mansun.

I spent some time browsing through the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy earlier today. It makes for interesting reading, even if it is a little heavy on the Dead White Males, especially in the Literature section. Cultural literacy is a bit difficult to define, I think. Couldn’t it include things like baseball, The Simpsons, The Godfather, etc.? Or is pop culture literacy something different from serious, academic Cultural Literacy? Discuss amongst yourselves.
I belong to a labor union and right now we’re in the middle of contract negotiations with the state. It’s not looking good. Minnesota has a big budget deficit and the state is proposing cutting our wages and jacking up health insurance premiums. The last state worker strike was just two years ago and I don’t think it will come to that this time, but you never know. If we do go on strike, I’ll have to start thinking of other ways to keep the money coming in. Blogging is fine and dandy, but it won’t pay the bills. Maybe now’s the time to launch my career in the adult film industry. I know I can write at least as well as some of the writers currently in the business. I’ll talk to Susannah and see if she can introduce me to some people.

I moved to Minneapolis 8 years ago from…wait for it…Green Bay, Wisconsin. I grew up in Green Bay and it’s a town that will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a place where the mullet is still acceptable fashion and Color Me Badd is still played in the clubs. Of course, it’s also the home of the legendary Green Bay Packers. In Green Bay, football (the American kind) becomes the official religion of the town for four months of the year. On autumn Sundays, church attendance dramatically declines and the shopping malls are practically empty. The fire hydrants are painted green and gold, the official team colors. No, I’m not kidding. I can’t think of any other place in the United States that has its identity so intertwined with a sports team. It can be a bit much, to be honest. But I am a Packers fan and always will be. So on a whim, I called the Packers ticket office today and discovered that disability tickets are still available for several games. A road trip may be in my future.

In honor of my Australian readers, check out this on-line exhibit.
I wanted to comment briefly on the whole RIAA business. The strategy of suing one’s own customers seems dubious at best and it won’t do much to reverse the industry’s current economic woes. I can’t understand why RIAA doesn’t fully embrace the possibilities inherent in the Internet. I will gladly pay a small fee for a song if the quality can be guaranteed. For me, the MP3 format has changed the way I listen to music. No more asking someone else to dig through my collection and insert the disc. Now everything is just a click of the mouse away.
One of my fellow Minnesotans is harassing the Bush economic team. I love the job-hunting advice he gets from Secretary Snow: “Just wait.”
I’m debating whether to go to the Howard Dean Meetup next week.