«Fuck Texas»

If Texas wants to secede from the union, I say let them! Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

They can declare Christianity as their official national religion, make prayer and creationism mandatory in schools, homosexuality illegal (punishable by death of course), erase Thomas Jefferson from history, and execute death row inmates with a vengeance only surpassed by their god... And all the nation's fundamentalists can move there and be with their own kind¹.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can finally get on with our lives unimpeded. Texas would become some sort of militant extremist Christian country, and the rest of the US would become more like Europe. Win-win for all!

Of course, the world would be fucked... If Texas secedes, Chuck Norris would become Supreme Arch-Theocrat of Texas.

^1: You know I hold no personal contempt toward you, Looney.

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«Stat Chart»

Here's how I honestly rate myself on this chart¹. You can get the blank chart here if you wish to fill it out for yourself (use MS Paint or something). If you do, leave a comment with a link and I'll edit this post to include the link in a list. Click a chart to view full.


Here's a short explanation of why I ranked myself as I did in each category:

Health: I'm a pretty healthy person, more so than most people, I think.
Strength: I've got average strength, nothing special.
Stamina: Above average, I'm able to ride a bicycle up steep hills, for example.
Intelligence: The average person will rank themselves above average, so there you go.
Perception: I can notice little things, but I'm no Adrian Monk².
Creativity: I'm just not that creative of a person. I really struggle to come up with something every day for my blog.
Charisma: I don't seem to be that good at making friends, especially in real life.
Social Skills: Social anxiety has an iron grip on me.
Confidence: Leaves much to be desired. It's why I'm still unemployed.
Face: Average looks, I'm not in a position to boast, really.
Body: I'm not fat. That fact alone puts me well above average.
Style: Meh, I don't keep up with styles. I do my own thing.
Humor: I'm no funnyman, and often times jokes are lost on me.
Passion: I could almost live in a Vulcan society... Almost.
Empathy: I care about the species as a whole, as well as individuals.
Spirituality: lol. Strong atheism doesn't mesh well with spirituality. Show me some evidence.
Discipline: I'm quite good at saving money, I don't drink too much, among other things.
Luck: Lady luck has never been a friend of mine. Although I haven't had exceptionally bad luck, either.

Participants

These people have participated and sent me their chart:

Six Legions

Vid

Vanity Lindsay

^1: Some of you may recognize this chart. I take no credit for creating it, and I do not know its origins.
^2: Adrian Monk is a TV show character played by Tony Shalhoub, he was a private detective. The series has now ended.

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«Frankly, I don't Give a Damn»

Here's how much I'm into football.

Before I started yesterday's Caturday post, I did a Google search to make sure the Super Bowl was football. I thought it was, but I've never paid enough attention to it to be sure.

Without performing another search, I couldn't tell you all the teams are even in the Super Bowl. I only know the Saints because it's being made out as a historical event that they made it this far. I think the Saints are form New Orleans, but I'm not sure.

I don't even know enough about the Super Bowl to know if it's just the top 2 teams that play in it, or if it's a tournament of more than 2 teams. I don't even know where it's happening.

I don't even know any of the rules of football.

Why am I so ignorant about football (and sports in general)? Because frankly, I just don't give a damn. I never have.

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«Holiday Bell Ringers»

You know what I'm talking about. This time of year you'll find them standing at the doors of establishments like shopping malls and grocery stores ringing their little bells for donations.

I've always wanted to walk up to one of those people and ask, "If I give you money, will you stop ringing that GOD DAMNED BELL?!"

I've just always been too kind, soft-spoken, and shy to actually say it to their face. I've mumbled it under my breath, though. I tell you, there's some things about the holidays I really hate...

Bah, humbug.

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«The Mare's Nest»

It looks like I've been spotted by another blogger over at The Mare's Nest. It's a Sims 3 blog that appears to cover other Sims 3 blogs. First off, let me say I'm happy to have been noticed, and I am in no way complaining. Anyone talking about my site is a good thing. That being said, I do have a suggestion for a fellow blogger...

The Mare's Nest has a notorious way of not actually linking to the site they're talking about. So for example, on the page Master Marf, or Master Barf?¹ they say this site is worth keeping an eye on. However, they only have a screenshot of my top banner. If you click on it, it just shows a larger version of the image. There's no link to get here.

Sure, people could do a quick Google search for my site and it's the first result. But let's be honest... Most people are too lazy to search for a site. It is a hassle for the readers and is easily remedied.

Now, I'm not demanding reciprocal links. I'm just saying it would be a good idea, for the convenience of your own readers, to link to the webpages you talk about. You can use the nofollow tag if you're really worried about passing along "link juice"² to potentially untrustworthy sites.

I probably would have contacted them more privately about this were I able to find a way to do so. They have commenting disabled and I didn't find a contact link. So I wrote this here, in the hopes that it would be found by the intended person. Although I think it's good advice for any blogger out there: link to the sites you talk about!

Yes, I read on The Mare's Nest where they say they are trying to avoid "pandering to the whims of their readership." That's fine, I just hope they are still open to friendly suggestions.

^1: The joke of changing Marf to Barf is as old as the name itself, from back when I came up with the name in 1999. Damn, I just realized that was 10 years ago.
^2: "Link Juice" is a term used to describe how Google and other search engines use links to rank and index pages. The more "link juice" your site gets, the better it ranks.

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«The Fat Lady»

I was behind this fat lady in the express lane at Safeway. She had a box of ice cream sandwiches. Could the fat lady wait until she paid for them? Of course not. She opened the box and started stuffing her face. They were half gone by the time she bought the (then) half empty box.

Seriously, is this really what America has come to?

And I'm referencing not only the fact that she was obese and stuffing her face with fatty sweets. There's also the point to be made of the need for instant gratification. Also one could argue it's also an example of consuming something before it's paid for; much the same mentality that got everyone in debt...

The more I think about her, the more I realize she's the perfect symbolism for America.

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«I've Been Awarded»

I've received a blogging award from Monique. See? I've seen these and other similar awards displayed on many other blogs. Now I've been awarded.

Now, before you read any further, I do appreciate the thought. I would like to thank Monique for that. Now with the little disclaimer over, I hope I don't offend Monique too much with my next point...

What's the requirements for such an award? Why does seemingly everyone willing to display one have one (or many)? What's the point (other than for an individual to show personal appreciation for a blog)? It's kind-of like the Emmys, and Oscars, Nobel Peace Prize, and whatever else celebrities award each other with. There's so many awards, and so may people have them, that they all loose their meaning and importance.

I'd like to re-affirm I do appreciate the thought. However, I don't plan on displaying the award in my sidebar. I might make a separate awards page if I end up collecting a few more. Yeah, right. Like I'll get any more rewards after how ungrateful I sound here...

As far as my jury duty: there was a trial for Tuesday, but I called in and it was canceled. So now I have to call in on Friday, June 13 to see if the one for Monday, June 16 is going to go as scheduled. Only because I want to do it, I'll probably go through the entire month without having to go in at all.

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