I may only be a dilettante Buddhist but it's handy to pull out when I need it; like this afternoon at Target when I forced myself to practice Right Speech instead of tearing my cashier a new asshole. She was talking with other customers and the cashier next to her about the shooting at Park Place Mall today. In her opinion, the shooting was " ( Read more... )

I wouldn't mind seeing Silversun Pickups at KFMA Day but the rest of the lineup leaves me pretty cold. Besides, I have one piddly little final project I need to do this weekend. Also, why are the times on that web site listed backwards? Are they planning to rock so hard that they will go back in time?

On May 1, 2007, a new law went into effect in Tucson that prohibits smoking within 20 feet of the door to a public building. Turns out my office has long had a rule prohibiting smoking within 25 feet of the doors but it was not really enforced until the new law came along. Fig. 1 shows the population density of smokers around my office, indicated ( Read more... )

Well, I intended to work on my paper this morning but I was distracted by a thunderstorm. No, really. It rains so rarely here that when storms pop up unexpectedly, everything just kind of stops and you feel compelled to watch it rain ( Read more... )

Someone on my friends list the other day posted about running into his ex at a bar. He mentioned that the ex took off his overcoat. I thought, "Who the hell wears an overcoat to a gay bar?" That must be an East Coast thing. After living in Tucson for almost a decade I kind of forget that the rest of the nation (with the possible exception of ( Read more... )

The Blue Angels can suck it.

Apart from the noise, which is very annoying, especially when you're at work and on the phone with "Steve" in Bangalore, there's also the pollution and the wasting of fuel.

Fuck off, Blue Angels. I'm sick of you.

Well, I decided that I couldn't wait around all night for the rain to end so I dug out my trusty slicker and headed for the car. Walking down the sidewalk, I thought some of the rain drops looked awful big. And white. And, holy shit, it hit me. It was snowing ( Read more... )

Through the exchange of valuable artifacts and sensitive pieces of information, I have come to possess knowledge that has changed my vote on a few of the ballot initiatives. Note as follows:

Prop. 101: Vote NO
Someone explained to me exactly what this means and it is a bad idea. It looks good in the short term but could have implications down ( Read more... )

I am now going to tell people in Tucson how they must vote next week on the ballot initiatives. All you Tucsonans pay attention! Feel free to print this and take it to the polls with you.

( Your voting instructions )

I love Tucson.

I love pinball.

Imagine my delight when rebeccahines informed me that there was a vintage pinball machine called "Tucson"!

Imagine my disappointment and disgust when I saw a photo of the backglass.

( Clearly this does not put Tucson's best foot forward. )