Movies that girls can't shut up about

There's two movies that American girls can't shut up about, as two men they will forever (openly) fantasize about
'Dirty Dancing' (with Patrick Swayze) and Labyrinth (with the dude with the crazy hair).

That's what I told Hui. She'd never seen either of these, so tonight we started with Dirty Dancing.

Last week, we saw 'Citizen Kane' which had a 100% approval rating from 'Rotten Tomatoes' which aggregates movie reviews from the most widely known critics in the world. i.e. the likes of Siskel and Ebert. I refuse to say 'Siskel and Ropert', because... who the hell is Ropert? I grew up with Ebert, thank you very much. Well Citizen Kane had a 100% review rating, and the movie totally sucked balls. It represents what's wrong with artsy movies, as do directors like Stanley Kubrick. We recently saw this movie called, 'Sleeping Beauty', and it also sucked balls, and I was convinced I'd see 'Stanly Kubrick' in the credits, so I watched the credits and finally googled it. Don't watch either of these movies expecting that they'll get good later, they don't. 'Sleeping Beauty' had a 50% rating, when it should have been something TERRIBLE like a 10%.

From now on, I'm just going to watch movies according to what girls consider to be unforgettable and just can't shut up about.

So tomorrow, we're going to watch Labyrinth with David Bowie!

Feeling Lonely?

I have survived for up to a year at a time without feeling lonely. Then a moment comes where I'm in the same room with someone that has adorable behaviors and a shining personality...

It all comes at once, and I can suddenly feel that I've been lonely for a very long time.

One goes home in a classical style that matches movies. It's dark, cold, and raining. I want to forget that I'm lonley, but I can't. I also want to do something about it.... but...

Those amazing people aren't interested or were already taken, because they're amazing.
And then the whole game of meeting people with any intent at all, whether that intent be lust or true love... that's heavy and screws it up anyway, and I don't want to play that game.

Meeting people, impressing them, spending ridiculous amounts of time and money, or sending 1,000 emails in a single night because women on classifieds sites have a 1 to 1.5% response rate... It's all demeaning. I don't want to lower myself to crap like that. I'll stay single.

If I can keep myself busy, then in a few days I won't remember that I'm lonely, and maybe that crushing weight will disappear for another year at a time. In some ways, I don't like being around nice people. They remind me that I'm lonely, and that's kinda painful.

USB 2.0 is a lie?

I am starting to wonder if USB 2.0 is a lie. It came out years ago. Wikipedia says 2000 (12 years).

In 2013, I've plugged in a lot of USB devices. My computer always tells me, "Whelp, this could be faster, if only you had inserted that device into a nifty and new 2.0 port."

I know what you're thinking, but I buy a new computer about once every year. It's not the drivers, it's not the motherboards, and it's not the devices...

The cake is a lie. For ONCE in my life, I want to plug in a flash drive and see it operate at 2.0 instead of 1.0 speeds. You know... just once would be great.

I ask, is it just me or is emergent technology a lie for everybody?

Hold on to your pants, 3.0 is on the way!

2013 Resolution

Someone else's quote [fixed]:

Purpose, motivation, and happiness... doesn't last. But neither does daily hygiene. You can't go a month at a time between inspiring yourself. Imagine your quality of life if you would regularly inspire yourself. - That's it, my 2013 resolution. I know, it's a bit late. A job (or anything worth doing) is better off late, than on time and half assed.

Finding Drivers

I own this


To get drivers, I go to Belkin.com
Then I look closely so that I can search in the 'support' section to find drivers.

This thing has about EIGHT sequences of numbers and letters which could be the MODEL number.

Try one, nope. Try another, nope, try another, nope... you get the gist of it. Why does every company make model numbers hard to locate, and completely indistinguishable from all of the other little numbers which mean SHIT and are utterly useless?!

Finally, I put in the right model number, and I find a product page. "NOW we're getting somewhere!"
I put in the 'version number' (at least that one was somewhat labeled), and now I'm seeing links to download either drivers, or software.

I click. It takes me to belkin.com

WTF?!!!

I go back, in disbelief.. Yup, the links just link to the HOME PAGE. WTF!

So now I use GOOGLE, at least now I know the model number. I find a page that has drivers.
Guess what? That page is on BELKIN.COM !!!!

Yup, they can't even set their links right.

I sent them a letter using a feedback form, which I could only use as a desperate last resort because their website doesn't list any EMAIL addresses for feedback in English. They just list phone numbers and company addresses. Useless, that's like telling people to fuck off - They did have a little link to serve those people who want to 'submit an idea'. I let them have it.

I'd love to be able to triumphantly declare that I'll never buy from them again because they're stupid, but so is every other tech company on earth. This problem happens with EVERY damn company. There's not one that gives a shit about users being able to find drivers long after they've thrown out their installation CDs or turned them into coffee coasters.

It's so bad... you can install a device, and look it up in 'Device Manager', Windows won't even be able to spit out a product name half the time. This is what humans do to each other. We design good products and then we do this.

Kennedy Salad

Lemon juice + salsa + pesto.
Try it.

I wonder if this is low calorie compared to other dressings?

Innocence lost

People say when one gains carnal knowlege, that they are no longer innocent.
I think that's one of those sayings which is completely off the mark, and is perpetuated because if you don't really think about it, you just might find that is'very easy to just agree with.

"When live gives you lemons, make lemonade." - Easy to agree with, but try telling that to someone who just lost their spouse to something tragic. There's no wisdom in it then. It certainly isn't universal, but it didn't contain the necessary context and limitations to make it so.

How much of our lives do we believe certain things that aren't universal, taking them as some universal article of faith?

So let's revisit "innocence lost", that one bugs me.

It isn't lost. However, knowledge is gained. There's this idea that once someone knows sex, they have to become an incurable sex maniac. Their innocence is lost, and they will try to sleep with every neighbor's wife, and begin seducing young children like a predator (or a Catholic priest). Obviously, the whole thing is grossly out of context.

Innocence isn't lost unless you're talking Adam and Eve and you believe that 99% of all sex is a sin. In that case, yeah it might be lost. Once Little Johnny learns to masturbate, that game is over and he'll be a sinner for the rest of his life, because... it's human nature, and it's awfully gooooood.

Innocence lost... For me, I recently had a connected experience, that's why this has been buzzing in my mind. I happened to have sex with 'the fantasy girl'. The one who has a figure that belongs on a three page foldout, and is a master and lover of 'sin', if you'll call anything sexy a sin. My entire life, my mind had told me that the sexier someone is, the better it'll be. What I learned is that sex is sex, and the mind lies about that one.

Innocence lost? I do feel a little guilty for what amounts to a one night stand. Guild passes. The whole innocence lost thing revolves around a change in behavior, how will my behavior change?

Well, like I said, the mind lies about "sexy is better sex". If anything, this would improve my fidelity to anyone that I am ever with because I know that if some gorgeous figure flashes her tits and tries to allure me with the perfect body, and... everything else that goes with the sexiest woman imaginable.... well, they'll get turned down because sex is sex is sex, and a rose is a rose is a rose. The greatest illusion I ever believed in was that sexiness is better sex or different sex. It's absolutely the same. That's the real story of this post. Sexiness is a bit of an illusion.

Innocence isn't gained or lost by knowing or not knowing anything... unless you're a religious nut job.