2002-05-26 - 8:55 a.m. baby, baby, ain't it true? I'm immortal when I'm with you... My neighbors have a ritual. Every Saturday night, they go out and get really drunk, then stumble home around midnight. They proceed to put on some sort of 60s tinkly cocktail music or some unidentifiable mainstream rock music, and drink even more until the wee hours of the morning. When they bring home friends, it's loud and irritating. When they come home alone, they inevitably get into big raging fights. I hope they think very carefully before moving forward on that wedding planning... In consideration of their inevitable hangovers, I'm letting my iBook pick what tunes I'm playing today...otherwise it would have been all JAMC and Ministry all morning...heh heh. Since they woke me from a deep sleep and gave me a hard time getting back to sleep, they are lucking out. Today's NY Times has an article on the GenX and GenY love for "mean tv" that includes mentions of all sorts of evil blind date TV shows even *I* haven't come across in the middle of the night. I don't think America's love of reality TV has anything to do with us being mean or enjoying the embarrassment of others (though both those things may be true in some cases). Rather, I think people are able to relate to the regular people they see on the TV - they could be us, or our friends, family, neighbors. Yeah, when someone is acting in an uncivilized manner on a daytime talk show, we may feel smugly superior for a moment or two - right until we recall that horrible, cliched, talk-TV worthy incident in our own pasts... This same issue has a piece on a DNA and genetics-concerned exhibit in Seattle that also namechecks Technolust (sic) which certainly fits in with the discussion of genetics and art. The mention of the installation that has participants sign a waiver then play "roulette" to determine what potentially toxic or benign substance they get to inhale reminds me of my work place and its sickly air. Everyone is constantly sick, and fumes from other floors always magically find their way to our air ducts. This was especially pleasant when someone on another floor last week caught something plastic on fire. What a delightful smell. Anyway, I wonder if the building management has printed a miniscule waiver somewhere (perhaps in micro writing in their logo on our building passes?) that says we are taking our lives into our own hands whenever we enter the building (which is, of course, true.) I've skipped over the article in the magazine section on the devastating effects a nuclear attack would/will have on the U.S., and all their possible scenarios (like Disneyland, Times Square, etc.) It's been horrible enough reading the news headlines when I'm online. I really can't stomach reading any more of it. Yet I know we can't get away from it. any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09