This afternoon, several of us went out to lunch at a great, great ethnic Russian restaurant nestled deep inside Pike Place Market and well-shielded from the cold weather. As we were waiting for our food, the Russian-language radio feed playing from the open kitchen space played Ya Soshla S'Uma, the original Russian version of Tatu's All The Things ( Read more... )

So, the other day I'm in a fairly large "adult" toy store, one of those upscale places than sells JimmyJane and LeLo and all sorts of uber-expensive vibrators and lingere and sex toys. And I notice there are all these signs on the wall, indicating the kinds of people they love to sell to:

• ♂ Male. Okay, that makes sense to me.
• ♀ Female.
• ♂♀ ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

The other day, Omaha and I were at a restaurant, and as we sat there I listened to the conversation behind me, one which encapsulated everything that's wrong with humanity in one utterly unreflective sentence: If it brings out the beauty of life, why the fuck would you care if it's true?
Along the way, I also learned from the babbling young woman ( Read more... )

I was in a cafe' near my house yesterday, and saw a poster on the wall in the back, where the community notices are hung. It was a fairly large poster, very well-designed in a dark gunmetal gradient with vector floral arrangements on the top and a beautifully chosen serif font printed large in goldenrod, and it read: "Return to Security!" The ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Reader's Digest "Life Is Funny" joke:

Overheard: Little girl reading a book about knights: "Mom, what's our family crest?"
Mom: "Poor people being crushed by a boot."

Can someone tell me why this is "funny," rather than trenchantly, obviously, painfully true?

( Read more... )

Anna North tells it like it is in an essay about Scott Adams's recent dickishness: Just because some men commit rape doesn't mean all other men are only restrained from it by the artificial strictures of society. In fact, the fantasy of a hyper-willing female partner, one who is both exceedingly desirous of sex and exceedingly satisfied by a man's ( Read more... )

There are several different classes of bumper sticker. There is, of course, the allegiance-to-a-cause bumper sticker, epitomized by the various political and religious bumper stickers. Subclasses include the more threatening evangelical ones like, "If you're living as if there is no God, you'd better be right!" and the positioning oneself as a do ( Read more... )