I got things to say.

I've wanted to address several things in the last few days on this blog, get some ideas and commentary out. Now it's been so long I hardly know what to say. Thus, this is likely to be a very opinionated and diatribesque blog.
Take for instance Boston and Aqua Teen. I'm sorry, Boston, if none of you are smart enough to go to an official and say, "This is a cartoon character; has anyone called Adult Swim?" or even able to recognize a Lite Brite, then you can't really complain about terror as a result of your ignorance. Where is the voice during a crisis that can say, "Are we misinterpreting this?" That doesn't mean you have to stop investigating the incident-in-progress for danger. But it does mean someone also has to investigate the mundane possibilities. The network is not required to check its ad strategies with you, nor does the marketing strategy warrant a hoax-of-terror felony charge. This smacks of parents getting super-scared about their children and then punishing them more harshly as a result of their fear, regardless of the actual offense--particularly when said children were not trying to scare anybody. Boston, accept that your assumption was wrong and investigate your response, not a simple ad ploy that was actually pretty clever, considering the nature of the character involved.
It's a damn Lite Brite, Boston.

Here's why I already am highly skeptical of Top Design: I did watch it, but I find modern design to be cold and soulless. I look at the rooms everyone came up with and say to myself, where is my clutter going to go? If I can't get comfortable with a blankie on it, it doesn't belong in my house. I'm chilly enough without your super-mod fabric and shapes all over the place. I might look in on this show now and then, but I'm certainly not making it a priority. It doesn't feel like home to me.
P.S. Congratulations, Ilan, and also to Sam for saving a dish for Marcel on national TV.

Yesterday, I was teaching in the Art building. As I came down one of the stairwells that has both a door to the outside and a door to the inside, someone was SMOKING IN THE DAMN STAIRWELL. He wasn't even right next to the outside door, but close to the inside door. This is illegal. Wildly. PUT ON YOUR COAT AND GET OUT OF MY FACE, JERK.

I think that will be it for today. Some good things have happened too, like several days without grading, a nice reading, and some vindication I can't really talk about because it's confidential, but I just wanted to get some stuff off my chest. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember, just one month until spring break.