Don't Pray for People

or if you do, don't tell them:

"[P]atients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested."
-NY Times

Failure To Launch

one-third of young men ages 22 to 34 are still living at home with their parents -- a roughly 100 percent increase in the past 20 years

Sunny Day

Despite the 2 hours of sleep I got last night, today was a somewhat productive day. Among other things I did, I finally replaced a headlight bulb that had been out for a few weeks. In case you're wondering I paid 17.50 at a gas station in Silver Spring.

50 Million Lines of Code

looks like Windows Vista is going to be slow
-Times

"It Could Be A Crackhead"

Leprechaun Sighting in Alabama

happiness lectures

NPR, Harvard

Cylinder Recordings

NY Times
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project (UCSB)

Santa Claus Tops Forbes 15

Ruthless laissez-faire industrialist Santa Claus is ranked number 1 on the Forbes Fictional Fifteen.

Sheep Reason

Have Fun!
(via Mighty Amy)

Vendor Review

Just ordered some laptop RAM from Crucial Technology, which seems to have really good reviews. They're a little bit pricier than the no name discount sites ($40 vs. $20 for 128mb of SODIMM, shipping included), but I didn't want to risk it. We'll see how the RAM works when it gets here.

Update: the RAM arrived and works great.

LSD drawings

the 50s

basement jack

Clark wrote this fiction piece that got published. It's weird.

biblical lit crit update: Mikolaj is crazy.

Multi-Touch Sensing

Neat

Red Line, Glenmont

saw some totally crappy and lame "bands" play tonight at UMCP. then went to Brickskeller for the first time, which was cool. it was too crowded at first so we waited at Soho tea and coffee before a table opened up.

Best Buy Woes

The employee and customer complaint stories at the Best Buy Sucks website make for some interesting reading.

Africa Unite

ate at Dukem tonight. It was alright I guess. no offense, but I don't find Ethiopian food very exciting. seemed very similar to Axum, which I went to a few weeks ago. That was my first time at an Ethiopian restaurant. They say that DC has the largest Ethiopian population outside of Ethiopia.

Be, be, 'fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you're a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying "She's my queen"
-Nas

lyrical refocus

my greatest songs are fleeting. i just sorta play what i feel and let the words come out stream of consciousness stylee. i should probably just record these sessions, so i can work on the songs later on. lyrics are definitely the hardest part. i need to work on more introspective emotional personal stories, feelings type of stuff. it's important for the line of work i plan on going into, or so they keep telling me. i feel like spock or data. learning what it means to be human.

Coffee and Reggae

Reggae music is playing in the background as I type this entry inside Mayorga Coffee in Silver Spring. The sandwiches are a bit pricey but they have free wireless and the coffee's pretty good. And I dig the music. Once a week or so they have open mic nights.

One of these days I'll start playing songs at these open mics. I keep listing myself as an "aspiring folk musician" on all these websites so it's about time. There's also College Perk and the Guerrilla Poets (good folks) and probably a bunch more places in the area that have open mics. Then once I build up a good repertoire and figure out my work schedule, I'll see if I can play some shows, perhaps in other cities too.

I'm also planning to audition to play at Potbelly. You know, they have those people who play in 2 or 3 hour shifts while people eat their sandwiches. Nobody really listens, but it'll be a good way to build my chops and make some extra cash (i hear it rules everything around me).