Super Mario Galaxy for Wii. Winter Solstice is not for a little while, but she sent me something in the mail anyway. I had mentioned that I had seen that Super Mario Galaxy appeared to be a hot selling game for the Wii. She was looking to get something for my nephew. I had no intention of getting it, myself. So I guess she felt that it would be a safe choice to get me. Something that I wouldn't have already gotten.

I've played it a little bit. Maybe an hour. Initial impression: can't skip though cut scenes. Can't save except at checkpoints. When you do hit a save point, you are asked if you want to save, yes or no. If you accidentally hit "no", guess what? You're screwed. You have to play to the next checkpoint, wherever that might be, or else lose your progress from the last time. This happened to me the first time.

All these cut scenes. What is this, a book? If I wanted to read a book, I'd read Flowers For Algernon. Besides, it's always the same. Running around, jumping, shooting, collecting. Only the pretense changes, and it's ultimately inconsequential, what that is. When it comes down to it, all you're doing is running, jumping, shooting, collecting.

Kind of like porn. Porn with a plot? Get real. But I understand that this is a popular concept with female Homo sapiens. That's the way they are. They like a little fabricated justification with their actual content.

So, I got stuck shortly after the failed save point. I don't know what you're supposed to do, so I'm just running around, looking for what magic action I'm supposed to take. I quit after a few minutes of that. But now I'm up for another try. I've turned it back on, and I've made it past all the preliminary bullshit introduction stuff. It's probably like many other things - you hate it at first, but then you grow a fondness for it. I hear anal sex is like that.

I've ordered it, as well as that other book by that other Naomi. Should come in Wednesday. I probably should have gone to the bookstore and paid cash for it. Don't want to get on the watch list.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mE71OGVN2PXYZ:m3JJK512BA1QPM

I'm taking the day off. I slept most of the morning and afternoon. Still sweating, that "getting over sickness, in-bed" sweatiness. Sneezing. It wouldn't be very nice of me to endanger the well-being of the people I work with, to go in, just because I need to save the sick day. I don't know how many I get a year. I think it's 5 or something.

I tried some soups at the Chinese restaurant Saturday. Pretty good. Sounds good right about now. I think I'll go get some. I wonder how the Chinese restaurants are in Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/greeting_view?s=PQs6HuL5t0Q&p=F457E0AC2DB8BF53

Naomi Wolf. Naomi is a pretty name. Sounds Japanese, like sushi. She looks up. I think that's sexy. Thinking Homo sapiens turn me on. She talks good. I don't talk as good as that. Or well. I think it's supposed to be "well", not "good". I know you're supposed to put the commas and periods inside the quotation marks, because that's the way "it's done" except when it's a question mark, and then it's supposed to follow logic. I just prefer to use logic all the time.

Tired. Bookmarked for later: http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=141219

She's from San Francisco. I'm in San Francisco. We have something in common. I wonder if she will move to Canada with me.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but I hear that other countries are different in a lot of ways. I suspect that in some more advanced countries, sick, contagious people tend to stay at home where they cannot infect all of their coworkers. Maybe that's what those Chinese people wear the masks for.

Anyway, I've got a sore throat. It was earlier in the week that I saw the sick salesperson at the coffee/tea station. She was getting tea, and I was making a pot of my Good Earth Sweet & Spicy tea from Costco. I could tell she was sick, because she had that "sick" look and looked like she could use an antihistamine. I don't recall if she sneezed, or what. But you could definitely tell.

In the middle of the day, I started feeling tired, and my throat started feeling compromised. Now my throat is pretty sore, and my eyes are stingy and watery. My nasal passages feel sensitive, burning, dry. It's all her fault. But she's not entirely to blame, because it's the culture of this society. If you're sick, you go to work, because you're supposed to be tough. Fuck the impact you might have on other people and the people they live with. You're not them, so why should you care? What, do you thing this is socialism? Fuck other people. If you're miserable, you should make other people miserable too. That's the spirit of competition. Being considerate is a sign of weakness.

But maybe I'm making a bigger deal about it than it really is. People get sick. Perhaps they can't be expected to stay away from others. I was thinking of maybe going and getting a burger at In-N-Out. If I don't wash my hands before then, and then press on the ketchup dispenser lever, that could possible result in the spreading of this cold. If I were being considerate, I'd wash my hands, and maybe use a napkin to press on the lever. It would also protect me from other Homo sapiens' germs. But maybe some of the employees are sick. I should really just stay in. I've got cheese and bread in the refrigerator. I think I need more chips though, because I'm down to a quarter of a bag or so. Got to have my chips and salsa. Salsa is probably a good thing to eat when you've got a cold. Spicy things are probably not pleasant to the cold germs. But then I have to go to the store.

Well, it's not like I'm as bad as she was. You probably can't tell I'm sick. I'll probably look like that tomorrow. So I should go right now and get my chips, and maybe something else. Arizona fruit beverages for later.

My rats have a little bit of Ice Age water left. I can fill up their bottle a few times, anyway. I just get nervous when it gets that low. I like to have plenty of spare stuff on hand. Within a week or so, I'd have to go to one of the stores that has Ice Age. But just in case I don't feel like going out of my way, I picked up some Crystal Geyser from the deli while I was getting lunch today. It's spring water from some mountain around here. Not as pure as Ice Age, but at least it isn't chemically disinfected with chlorine or chloramine, with the resultant decontamination byproducts.

Google "rats tap water" gives: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9706/17/nfm/nfm.water/

I was going to suggest searching for "water dbps bladder cancer" or "chloramine byproducts" (which gives: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/13413.php) or something like that. But what's the point? It's like arguing religion. I've learned that there's no point in that. People are religious for a reason. That's the same reason you can't argue with them.

Today I learned what might possibly be the mystery "artificial flavor" in the Good Earth Sweet & Spicy herb tea. It's only a suspicion, really. I've got no real hard evidence. At first, I thought "it's probably something that gives you cancer, because they don't want to say what it is" but after finding http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7140.cfm, I decided that it was probably stevia. It's kind of like marijuana, in the way it's viewed by our government.

I'm not sure why. Could be the government's eavesdropping equipment being overloaded, or something. Usually, youtube videos should play without hiccups, but sometimes it doesn't.

It's Sun Dec 2 09:21:07 PST 2007. I hid my porn for when my parents visited on Thanksgiving. I put the front layer of DVDs into plastic crates in the closet, but there's just too many, so I left the back laer of DVDs in the bookshelf, and put non-porn DVDs in front, or just books, magazines, or junk. I had it somewhat organized, and now I'll have to do it all over again. But not right now. Don't feel like it. Organization is a process, not a product, anyway. It's not like it'll be like "there, it's all organized now." It's like eating. You can't just say "there, I've eaten" because four hours later, you're going to be all "I'm hungry" and people will ask, "I thought you said you ate." But maybe it's just that I'm disorganized. I guess libraries have the Dewey Decimal System. I remember learning about that in school. Meg Ryan had all her videos on index cards and alphabetized. So why can't I organize my pornos into genre, rating, and studio?

I guess I just don't have the nesting instinct. Or maybe I'm not the kind of person who has a psychological need for things to be "in their place" like Rainman. Maybe that Dungeon and Dragon alignment test was right, and it's because I'm chaotic neutral.

Blade Runner is showing at the Embarcadero. I was thinking of going to see it. But that would mean getting out, driving, parking, and walking amongst strange Homo sapiens, some of which probably have the flu. I haven't gotten my shot. I didn't happen to pass by one of those stands somewhere in some store, where they were giving them out. I would like to see it on the big screen, I suppose. New version, too. It's almost compulsory, that I go see it. "You mean, the 2007 director's cut of Blade Runner was showing at the theater, and you didn't go?" And I'd be like "yeah, I didn't feel like making the trip to the theater" and they'd be like "OMFG!"

I've probably seen it like 50 times, anyway. I've got the DVD. I've preordered the new version. Do I really need to go to the theater? No, I don't. I don't know why I feel this compulsion to go out. No pause button, either. Feel like having an Arizona Iced Tea, fruit punch flavor, halfway through? Sorry. They don't sell them in the theater. And they wouldn't pause the movie for you if they did, anyway. Same thing if you have to go to the bathroom.

"Sicko" is in it. I've already seen it a few times, but I've got it playing again. It's just there to make noise, while I surf the 'net and do stuff, and stuff.

In America, "competition" is worshiped as being "the way", and the alternative is called "communism" or "socialism" but really, the opposite of competition is "cooperation" which is not really that bad a thing. I guess people are too selfish and wrapped up in themselves in order to consider anything of the sort. Oh, and as I've noted before, they're dumb as hell. But people work together in other countries, so it's not all people. It's not a fundamental property of Homo sapiens. In the nature versus nurture debate, I guess this would be evidence that nurture at least plays a part. But again, it's not a binary, all-or-nothing choice. Life is a multivariable equation. But I guess a lot of people have problems with even "y=m*x+b". Math is hard. Only weirdo, introverted nerds like to study math. I think the limits of most peoples' intelligence is stretched when you introduce just one variable. Profit: good. Losses: bad. That's about as complex a concept that you will hear from most Homo sapiens while "going to lunch" with them. And they'll be talking about it like it's all profound and deep and intellectual, and shit. I'm still mad at my dad mutillating the edge of my Messermeister Petty. Best little knife, ever. One of my first. My baby.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/26/kindle/index.php

What you knew: Kindle can access Amazon.com and the Web to search Wikipedia via it's free wireless connection.

What you didn't know: You can just surf the Web in general. Kindle comes with a Web browser called Basic Web, which supports cookies, JavaScript and SSL, but doesn't support plug-ins like Flash or Shockwave or Java applets. Basic Web lets you type in a URL, click on links and generally surf the Web like you would on a PC.

What you knew: Kindle connects free to Sprint's EV-DO 3G network.

What you didn't know: Where EV-DO isn't available, Kindle connects via a second protocol called 1xRTT, which is an older 144Kbit/sec. standard. The addition of 1xRTT increases the number of locations where you have wireless access.

Baby announcement email at work. Congratulations. Name, weight, gender, date of birth. "in God we praise, (name typed as signature)." I was a bit shocked at the "In God we praise" part. It's kind of inappropriate. Kind of like "religious harassment". I wonder if I could sue and retire. This is America, after all.

And then I saw these Kucinich season's greeting cards. Send a Holiday Greeting Card promoting Dennis Kucinich! There is no better way to advocate Peace On Earth during this time of war and conflict. I thought it was kind of like the "in God we praise" thing. I mean, I suppose there are people out there who don't "believe" in Kucinich. And if you sent them a Kucinich greeting card, they might get offended or irritated. I mean, how would I feel if someone sent me a Rudy Giuliani seasons greetings card? Or one with baby Jesus on it? I'd burn that card. But what if it had a flag on it? Would that be against the law? I think there's a law against burning the flag. The American flag. Other countries' flags, I think you can burn. Just not the American one. But I'm not sure if they mean a "real" flag or just a cloth one. I don't know if the little plastic ones they sell during independence day for $5 count as real flags. Or if a nice greeting card with the flag printed on the cover is. That's just a card with the image of a flag on it. It's not a flag. It's a card. But the made-in-China mini-flags they sell in the drug store, those are flags.

Certainly, it's a terroristic act in any case. I probably shouldn't even be contemplating such an act, this whole "flag burning" thing. Anybody who even mentions the mere thought of contemplating burning the American flag might possibly be a terrorist.

I still haven't watched American Psycho. I'm kind of bored right now. I suppose I should get out of bed and feed the rats. Then World of Warcraft. Movies isn't a priority. I was just thinking that "American Homo Sapien" might be just as good an idea for a movie. I mean, the fact that Giuliani might even possibly be elected president, that says something right there. It would be a horror movie.

I mean, here we have this little Jesus-like elven candidate, and everyone here in America is supposed to be Christian, but he won't be elected, because people are stupid, and just vote for who the big, powerful corporations tell them to. Who would Jesus vote for, you know? Not that I believe Jesus was God in human form, who came down to be born as a Homo sapien in order to be killed, thereby forgiving us for being sinners, and permitting everybody to go to Heaven even though we're all fundamentally unfit for admission. No, nothing like that. He was just this peace-loving hippie who thought people should be nice and considerate. Jesus is like Ghandi or Mother Teresa. Or Kucinich. But I'm sure that will offend all the God-fearing Christian Homo sapiens who actually believe he was God.

It's probably easier just not to send out any cards at all. "Peace, good health, and prosperity for all?" Peace isn't prosperous. That's a contradiction right there. If you're having trouble with prosperity, you usually go start a war, or something. I think that's how it works.

I got some shitty hand-cranked, made-in-China emergency radio with the weather channels from one of my annoying, ignorant, female Homo sapien relatives. Tomb Raider Anniversary for Wii. Jacket from Costco. Duck feather-filled blanket too shot to cover your feet. Did I forget anything? $100.

Tomb Raider is alright. It's much better on the PC of course. With the Wii, you have to fuk with the controllers. It could be a matter of preference. I prefer the absolute control over your movement that you get with a mouse.

The emergency radio I don't anticipate ever using. If there's an earthquake and a gas line ruptures, maybe it'll create a spark when I switch it on. Other than that, I don't see it performing any other notable function.

It's a nice jacket. I wore it this morning.

The blanket is alright. If it ever gets cold, I'm sure I'd use it.

The $100 is alright. I haven't thought about what I might do with it. Eat 16 times at the Chinese restaurant.

But it's not about how cool the gifts are. What's important is that they felt compelled to get you something. Anything. Anything so that they could say "I got him something for his birthday."

But that's not true. It's probably true for the radio. The game and the money were thoughtful enough. The blanket was probably a case of "gee, I could use a new blanket, so he probably wants a blanket too."

I did feign gratitude for the radio, just like a good little socialized Homo sapien would. She had to have known it was a shitty gift. She probably got it five years ago for opening up a bank account somewhere, or something. It's not like I wanted anything great from her, or anything. I would have been perfectly happy not to get anything from her at all. I guess I feel that this radio is a subtle assault upon me. It's like "Yeah, I'm rich, even though I'm a fukking idiot, because I married a successful businessman, and here's what I think of you: have a shitty Chinese emergency radio."

At least she can say she got me something.

My parents stayed over a couple nights for Thanksgiving. We did some surfing the internet on the Wii and the iBook. I loaded some Election '08 videos on Youtube, and the Candidate Match Game. My mom had me load Paul Potts and "granny road rage".

My parents are not very bright. Fairly ignorant. She misuses my fine kitchen knives all the time. My dad used one of them as a steak knife. The hard plates aren't really good for the edges, you know. It's really amazing, how stupid they are. Anyway, they're not following anything that's happening in the world, and this whole "president of the United States" thing is no different. They've never heard of most of the candidates. I guess a lot of people are like this. It's kind of scary, how many people are so ignorant, selfish, and stupid.

Take the "gay marriage" thing. Someone once said "your freedom ends where mine begins." What do I care what gay people do, as long as it doesn't affect me? It's not like they're smoking on the sidewalk, where I have to pass. It's not like they're standing in the hallway outside my office, talking about their fukking shopping experiences. Seriously, if these fukkers in the hall are against gay marriage, I should just beat the shit out of them.

But maybe they just have a different way of looking at things. A different way of arriving at decisions. While I might think "how will these gay peoples' activities affect me?" these other people might be thinking "Gay people? Fuk gay people. I'm not gay." So if you have a different way of looking at things, you will naturally arrive at different conclusions. And who am I to say that my way is any more "right" then theirs?

No one knows how to make tea. They just leave the bags in the pot. The bottled water dispenser doesn't put out that much hot water, either. You use the coffee drip brewer, not the water dispenser. Otherwise, the water goes room temperature at about 85%. So you have tea bags festering in lukewarm water indefinitely. How can this be? All these Chinese people here, and none of them knows how to make tea? What the fuk? Can't they do anything?

I hate Earth. Well, the actual Earth is nice. It's just all the Homo sapiens on it.