Ephemera

You see some really bad ideas being worn by women. General case in point is the tube top. Is it just my imagination or is that thing making a comeback? What's worse, it's seems to be making a comeback among women who should least be wearing it. I.E. women who need way more support than that garment provides. A more specific example I saw today that got me thinking about this was a bib overall skort. I wish I was making this up. The garment was basically bib overalls cut down to shorts length with an extra flap of material across the front to make it look like a skirt. Then, pointlessly, the designer added a zipper down the front from the "neckline" to the waist. I'm sure the girl wearing it thought I was transfixed by her because I couldn't help staring. I hope she doesn't read this and discover my real thoughts: "Which is more ridiculous, the person who came up with that, or the person wearing it?"

Posted by Hitch at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's see, what was the big excitement of my day? Oh yeah, I bought some really neat post-it note thingies. They're little arrow flags that I can stick in books as permanent bookmarks or point to specific paragraphs that I need to find frequently. I'm always fumbling through my HTML books to find mark-up I can't remember. Now I can mark the sections I use a lot. Okay, so I'm a geek. I think Office Depot is one of the neatest stores around. I love that place.

Posted by Hitch at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Overall, today was pretty inactive for me. I got thinking about something though. I'm one of the few people I know who's out on the Internet without a nickname. (Khitch isn't so much a nickname as a conservation of keystrokes.) I do it because I don't have anything to hide. I'm not (even if I should be) ashamed of anything I do on the net. Some people I know have good and legitimate reasons for concealing their real names and identities. But for the most part people seem to think hiding behind a false name relives them from any accountability for their actions on the net. If they really understood the nature of the net though, they'd know there's no real privacy in anything you do out here. The best advice I can offer is, "Be nice and don't embarrass yourself."

Posted by Hitch at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm constantly amazed by things I hear. In the wake of the recent tragedy in Oregon there has been a mind-boggling reaction in Georgia. A state legislator has announced he plans to introduce a bill that would allow teachers to report to work armed. Apparently his solution to students bringing guns to school is to have the faculty return fire.

Posted by Hitch at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've come to realize that I don't get very personal in these entries. I still not that comfortable with sharing my private life in such a public forum. But I would like to take a moment to thank a couple very special people for being friends and being there when I've needed them lately. I think they know who they are. Thank you both, you're the greatest.

Now back to my regularly scheduled pithy comments:

I wish the news media would stop trying to scare people. Case in point: The $175 million Powerball jackpot. The media keeps saying that your chances of winning are about as likely as the Earth being struck by a large meteor. Given the fact that it's very likely that somebody will win tonight, and the general public's understanding of probability. People are likely to panic thinking this is a sure sign of impending doom.

Posted by Hitch at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wal-mart needs to hire new spin doctors. Until a few years ago they tried to claim all of their merchandise was made in the U.S.A. This was shown to be not true. Since then they've tried to recover from that embarrassment by emphasizing the products they have that are American made. This is not always as effective as they'd like. Case in point: yesterday I was in Wal-mart. (Yes I realize I've been spending too much time in retail establishments lately.) Near the front door, hanging from the ceiling was a large banner: "The 2 cup plastic measuring cup -- domestic production of this item resulted in the creation of 6 jobs in Elk Grove, IL." Wow! Six whole jobs! Is this the best example of putting America back to work they could come up with. Frankly, if I was an executive at Wal-mart, I'd be ashamed if that was the best I could claim.

Posted by Hitch at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was at the mall today. There's a lot to criticize about shopping malls, but in Georgia heat and humidity there's a lot good to be said for any large, enclosed, air-conditioned space. Well I was reminded of something I saw there a few weeks ago and never got around to writing about. I saw a group of men in their mid to late 20's standing in front of a shoe store apparently discussing the relative merits of athletic shoes. While they were talking, a police officer approached them. (We live in a day and age when an active police presence is required in shopping malls.) Anyway, the officer spoke briefly to the men and walked away. I was too far away to hear what was said, but the gist of it was apparent when a couple of the men, in response to the conversation, pulled their pant's leg down from where it had been pulled up to their knee on one side. I realized that the officer had told them to do this because this particularly goofy fashion statement has been adopted by gang members. I don't know if I find it more surprising that the police have to tell people how to dress in public, or the fact that these men complied with the request without creating a scene. I just throw this out as something to think about.

Posted by Hitch at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that Tomorrow Never Dies is out on video, a guy I work with tells me that even though he's never seen a James Bond movie, he's thinking about renting this one. Just to see Teri Hatcher. (Don't ask -- it's a Superman thing.) I told him not to worry too much about it. She has a fairly small role and dies early. (Sorry if I just gave anything away.) She plays just another in the long line of women who've gone to bed with 007 just to wake up dead. You might think women would learn better, but really how are they going to find out? After all it always gets covered up, and it's not really a Jerry Springer type topic: "I had sex with a British super-spy and got killed for it."

Posted by Hitch at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was notably unremarkable. I guess some interaction between a premature Friday the 13th and hump-day creates a bland and uninteresting day. A space holder as it were. A bit of padding to keep the weekends from running together. I wrote yesterday about the total lack of any sense of accomplishment in my job. I guess the up-side of that should be the freedom from mental challenge allowing me to spend my time in meditation, contemplation, and introspection. Well today that didn't work. I basically just vegetated today. As, I guess, is evident from what I have to say here.

Posted by Hitch at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing you won't see much of here is reports on my productivity. Basically my days are not very productive. I work long hours at a job that doesn't actually accomplish anything. On my best days I fight a semi-successful holding action against stupidity. For the most part though, I just put in the hours until I can leave. The job is draining and leaves me with little motivation to do much in my spare time. Thinking about writing this has caused me to re-assess some things. I need to make some serious changes in my life.

Meanwhile, I noticed something in the parking lot today. We've all seen a car cruising down the highway with it's turn signal going for mile after mile. Many of us have been guilty of this ourselves. You courteously signal a lane change, but don't turn the wheel enough to cancel the signal and don't notice that it's still on for too long. Today I saw a car parked in a parking space with one turn signal going. How unobservant do you have to be to do that?

Posted by Hitch at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the example and encouragement of a very special friend of mine, I have decided to start writing a journal. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this. I don't have any wonderful stories to tell. No pretty stories that take place at a lake, with boats, and friends, and noodle salad. Then again, I've never had to drive my homosexual neighbor, who's just been beat to a bloody pulp, to Baltimore to try to borrow money from his parents. So we'll just see what comes out when I start committing my (ahem) daily thoughts to the web.

I've been indulging in one of my bad habits -- reading the ingredients labels of foodstuffs. Most recently it was carbonated beverages. I was somewhat surprised to learn that one of the ingredients in a popular drink is brominated vegetable oil. Yummy! More surprising was another drink that features "glycerol ester of wood rosin." Now how did the marketing department resist the slogan, "Chock full of rosiny goodness?"

Posted by Hitch at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)