Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

— William Butler Yeats

I want to say that I knew this poem, that I passed across it in my years as an English Literature major. But actually, I got it from Equilibrium and I remember it mostly because Boromir said it. Well-referenced is the new well-read.

I met her as Kween Schwa, the St. Norbert’s College homecoming queen nominee from BIG (the frat independent group with which I had become affiliated through constant contact with its members). But almost everyone else knew her as Kat, an endearing and beautiful woman with a smile that could knock you over and a personality as warm as a shaft of sunlight on your floor.

A year or two after everything had quieted down with BIG (for me) she married Jamie, a roguish-seeming friend-of-a-friend. They both knew me only peripherally, having spoken with me during parties or brief pre-show antics. Yet each time I would talk to either of them, there was this genuine feeling of welcome and comraderie that has stuck with me. My good friends from BIG talk of them with great admiration, and I get a sense of why.

Then, today, as I sat home poring over code, nursing a sore neck, and generally feeling run-down, I got an email from a friend. Just a simple “In case you didn’t know…” sort of thing. Call me a softy, but the nostalgia of those two people came a-rushing back.

After listening to her music, however, I’m hit with an even deeper sense of appreciation. Kat seemed down-to-earth when you’d talk to her, but right beneath the conversation level, you could feel that Kat always had something to say. Her music certainly feels that way. Give it a listen. Girl’s got pipes.

Kat Downs : official website

I know it’s chopped up, but anyone who saw that first presidential debate knows it looked pretty much like this on the President’s end. Just a reminder of who is in charge.

No doubt that he’s passionate, but even if he were promoting all of my ideals, I would not vote for this man to be the leader of the free world. It takes more than conviction, more than passion, more than charisma. Call me an elitist, but I expect the President of this country to fare better in a debate than the people I defeated during my brief stint on my high school team. He must always remain in control under pressure. He cannot have an “off-day,” and certainly not one of this magnitude on live television. That’s what I expect.

GRR! How did this happen?

How Bush did. [.mov]

it hasn’t happened yet
(more…)

I LARPed once. It didn’t take. But I might take it up again, if I get these spells.

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: Live-Action Role-Playing Spells I Could Really Use, Right Now.

This is comforting news after the “Behind Blue Eyes” debacle. Mitch Hedberg beats the pope.

BW: Not surprising, really. Can Catholics even use the internet?
SB: They have to use the rhythm method search page.
BW: That thing never works.
SB: I know. Hit “search”…NOW. Oh bluddy hell, look at this mess.

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist

First bite taken indicated possible problem.

Upon further examination…

…I was cheated. And Subway reaped the benefits of Tina’s Burrito Betrayal.

In a related story, Google reports Limp Bizkit before the Who when doing a search for “Behind Blue Eyes.” Not Google’s fault, of course. It’s yours.

Yes! After paying $250 in parking tickets just this month, I wouldn’t be surprised if they only accepted ancient Egyptian money from now on, either. Civil liability, my ass…

OnMilwaukee.com Marketplace: Overnight parking rules adjusted to coincide with Egyptian solar calendar

Also, more from OnMilwaukee: The Buhgina Monologues.

Thanks to the ever-resourceful Czelt-filter.

Don Hertzfeldt has his own site, finally, after being an internet and animation legend for some time.

Bitter Films

My translation isn’t perfect, but I’m pretty certain that the announcers are saying, “OMG WTF is the monkey doing??!?!11”

Monkey vs. tigers [embedded video]