Texas may have become the largest singles meet in the nation—without anyone realizing it. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a clause in the 2005 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage may have, in fact, banned all marriage. Subsection of B of the amendment reads, "this state or political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage," the wording of which, Radnofsky argues, "eliminates marriage in Texas." Current Attorney General Greg Abbott's spokesman said that the amendment is "entirely constitutional," and Radnofsky admits that it's unlikely that marriages will be disassembled based on the clause. But she still believes the wording is a "huge mistake." "Whoever vetted the language in B must have been asleep at the wheel," she said.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Yes, this is for real.
If you'd like to be both horrified and amused this Friday morning, check out Mattel's new Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken Doll.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
But you knew that already
Chocoholism really is an addiction. New research suggests that junk food may be as addictive as heroin. In research that will soon be published in the U.S., a neuroscientist found that a steady diet of sausages, fries, and cake programs the brain to crave more junk food. Dr. Paul Kenny found that rats on an unlimited junk diet needed increasingly more stimulation to register the same amount of pleasure as rats from the other groups. The research suggests that obesity and drug addition have common roots.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
50 Nerdy Things To Do Before You Die
Shamelessly stolen from "The Park Bench: A Gathering Place for Nerdy Women"
I do hope to do # 44 (and maybe #43) next spring....and I think my sister will go with me. #19 is, of course, my dream job. I've only done #18 on this list so far, though I can identify friends who have done some of the others. Not as nerdy as I sometimes think I am.
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50. Have a fashionista compliment you on your outfit.
49. Get married on a replica of the starship Enterprise at the "Star Trek: Experience" in Las Vegas.
48. Be bold and take your action figures out of the box, value be damned!
47. Visit the grave of pioneering comic book artist Jack Kirby.
46. Live James Joyces' Ulysses by attending the Bloomsday Festival in Dublin. (Reading Ulysses first -- or at least buying the Cliff's Notes -- might be good here, too.)
45. See all of Shakespeares' histories performed. Yes, even the crap ones. (Helloooooo, King John!)
44. Visit the yet-to-be-made Harry Potter theme park.
43. Visit the yet-to-be-made Harry Potter theme park and try not to cry tears of girly joy.
42. Defeat King Koopa (Super Mario World). Just once, damn it!
41. Have martinis and make witty comments at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, preferably at a round table.
40. See at least one game at all existing Major League Baseball ballparks.
39. Make a tour of Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles. After that, make a tour of The Big Lebowski’s Los Angeles.
38. Draw a map of a nonexistent or fictional place.
37. Visit DC Comics’ office.
36. Check out the computer labs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, future birthplace of HAL-9000.
35. Go to the Superman Festival in Metropolis, IL.
34. Have dinner with Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin) and Linda Carter (Wonder Woman). Denigrate Gil Gerard.
33. Visit the respective castles that inspired Frankenstein and Dracula.
32. Match or out-do Eugene Andreev's record-setting freefall from an altitude of 83,523 ft (25,457 m).
31. Build your own lightsaber.
30. Visit Riverside, Iowa, future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.
29. Watch the sunset from inside the "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" dinosaur.
28. Convince literary critic Harold Bloom that Tolkien's Ring trilogy belongs in the canon just as much as that stuffy old Faerie Queene. Plus, hello, hobbits!
27. Go to an underground sing-along screening of the Buffy Musical. (When Buffy is outlawed, only outlaws will sing-along to Buffy.)
26. See the butter cow at the Iowa State Fair.
25. Spend an entire weekend watching Miyazaki films. Subsequently achieve outstanding bliss.
24. Witness a live space shuttle launch. Extra points if you're piloting it.
23. Create an elaborate, unnecessarily detailed wiki about a fictional universe or series of stories.
22. Smuggle your soul into a futuristic robot. One thousand years from now, mock the suckers who fell for cryogenics.
21. Kill a zombie.
20. Kick Eric Clapton's ass in "Guitar Hero."
Anne's dream job> 19. Become an editor and get paid to correct other people's grammar errors.
Did this one!> 18. Make a pilgrimage to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida, and pet his six-toed cats.
17. Learn advanced Klingon.
16. "Accidentally" get locked in a bookstore for seven or eight days.
15. Watch 24 hours of "24" without falling asleep or hallucinating about Tony's soul patch. Seriously. It can't be done.
14. Understand a Tom Stoppard play on the first viewing.
13. Visit the International Space Station and go for a spacewalk.
12. Join the 501st Stormtrooper Brigade.
11. Memorize enough digits of pi to be impressive but not weird.
10. Be part of the first Wii Sport Olympic team. Be satisfied in the knowledge that your groin pulls will only ever be virtual.
9. Make out with Joss Whedon, writer of the television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse.
8. Gain at least one bionic limb or superpower
7. Feel again like you felt the first time you saw "Star Wars."
6. Correct Alex Trebek on the pronunciation of something French. Consequently hold him when he cries.
5. Figure out what the hell "Lost" is about. [This item also works for "The Prisoner," "Twin Peaks," "Cloverfield," and the popularity of Oprah.]
4. Solve a New York Times crossword puzzle...with your eyes closed. Just kidding. Doing one in pen with no mistakes in under 10 minutes is good, too.
3. Defeat those brainiac kids in the Scripps Spelling Bee Contest.
2. Get something published in The New Yorker. Have editor David Remnick call and ask where you've been all his life.
1. Live to see the day when smart and witty wins out over hot and shallow every single day of the week.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Pulp Fiction
Great literature is like broccoli. As teenagers, we are force-fed this stuff because it's good for us. But by and large, we're not quite ready to appreciate it...and for many, it turns us off of reading for a lifetime.
It is only later, when we try broccoli souffle (the Colin Firth mini-series of Pride and Prejudice) or some brocolli and cheese (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, maybe) that we start to look at classics -- good literature -- in a different light. And perhaps revisit some of those books that we gagged on on our youth. They're a lot more tasty now (and books like Madame Bovary make a lot more sense when you know what 'adultery' actually means).
But adults will never get to that point if they give up on reading when they're 15.
That's why I think high schools should revise their reading lists. Add in a little more "brain candy" like Harry Potter or the Vampire Diaries....books kids will actually read through and WANT to talk about. It gets them interested in the written word, and helps them discover the joys of our language. Sure, they might go their whole lives not knowing the details of The Canturbury Tales, but how far has that ever gotten you? Really?
I'd rather see a few more lifelong readers in the world than know that everyone in town slogged through "The Scarlet Letter" in high school. I'd like to see people at the library getting books instead of DVDs. I'd like for more of my own friends to enjoy a good book.
And while we're at it, I'd like to see fewer intellectuals shake their heads when they catch me reading a little "brain candy" myself. Some of those books are mighty tasty.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Feeling smart
In case you were wishing you'd gone to MIT, or are just simply curious about their curriculum, you're in luck! MIT has a new website with lecture notes, exams and videos from ALL of its 1900+ courses....all FREE online:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
This is not a joke. The university is simply sharing the knowledge.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Old-fashioned communication
Today I was trying to reach my colleague Katie. I needed information from her for a project. I started out with an e-mail and, after 2 hours of no reply, sent a follow-up email.
Another two hours later, I looked on our in-house version of instant messaging (Microsoft Communicator), but she was "away." Frustrating. I then IM'ed another colleague to see if she had the info (no) or knew where Katie was today (no).
Finally, I sent a text to Katie's mobile asking for the data.
A few minutes later, my phone rang and it was Katie, asking "why didn't you just call me?"
Quite frankly, it never crossed my mind.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Express yourself (but use spell-check first)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Not all police stories are bad....
Dallas’s police department changed the way it lines up its suspects for identification. Instead of the common “six pack” method where the victim looks at six photos at once, detectives (blind to who the suspect is) started showing the photos one at a time, reports the Associated Press. This small change, according to the AP, can lower misidentification rates by 39 percent.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
To Do List
For those of us who (still) write reminders on our hand. Even comes with a skin-safe, washable ink gel pen: 
