I’ve been listening to their new album, Dark Rift, and find it suitable for both working out and for programming. It’s basically electronica, with some pop thrown in. My favorite song on the album is probably “Goth Star”, but the other tunes are really growing on me. Altogether, the whole album is enjoyable — a rather rare phenomenon these days.

Songs of note: “Solid Gold”, “Trance Doll”, “Cyclical Cyclical”, “Dark Rift”, “Dimensional Rip III”

Hey, if you don’t like my usage of the word “tits,” then you definitely won’t like some of the other words I use on this blog.

Anyway, I was playing scrabble with my girlfriend last night and watching Penn and Teller when they brought this completely naked woman on and…shit, I lost where I was going with that. Just thinking about that moment is a distraction. I wasn’t too proud of my immediate reaction at the moment either, which was to exclaim “woah!” and completely forget to make my move in the game. Luckily, S is a forgiving girl, and understands that naked girls are guys’ kryptonite. Seriously. It has taken some serious work on my part not to gawk at every pretty CLOTHED thing that I see when out with my gf.

A lot of girls don’t get this. They don’t understand why something like a human body would trip up guys so much. Well, think about this way: guys think about sex anyway, WITHOUT any visual stimuli. And we are very visual creatures. So we see almost anything and start thinking about sex.

Here’s some examples:

If we see a girl wearing a skirt and uncovered legs, we start thinking about her panties. Like Will Farrell on Old School, we wonder if they’re plain ‘ole cotton panties, some lacy thing, a thong, or something cool that we never knew existed. If we see a girl wearing a skirt and covered legs, we think about what her legs look like, which then leads to thinking about her panties. If we see any cleavage, whatsoever, watch out - we’re thinking about the girl’s breasts. And I’m STILL trying to figure out why I love a well-formed ass so much, but I do. So girls, if you’re wearing tight pants, leggings, or anything else that shows off your ass, well, you’ve been warned. Guys have looked at that and thought about you naked.

I find this interesting, especially in the working world, since you’d think that everyone would dress professionally (ie non-sexually). But women and men have a different definition of what constitutes “professional.” Ok, to be fair, that’s a grand generalization. Not all women are like that. But there are still lots of girls, at my work and elsewhere, that dress in ways that make guys think about the stuff I discussed above. A woman wears what is, in her mind, a sensible and respect-deserving ensemble: the skirt and a tucked-in shirt. But, lo and behold, she’s left some buttons unbuttoned on her shirt. So now when she turns one way or another, people get a peek at what’s beneath. Her legs are checked out. So is her butt. Most of this “examining” is done so as to avoid detection, of course, but it is done.

Why do guys do this? I think it partly stems back to the days when we were first developing sexually. Our hormones were raging, and we would do whatever we could to get a peek at a woman’s naked body. Remember Porky’s? Well, not much has changed, except we’re more discreet about it now. If you think about it though, why shouldn’t a guy check out a girl if he doesn’t get caught? Sure, some would argue, we have a higher, logical brain that distinguishes ourselves from animals, but we are still animals. And animals eat, and sleep,and fight, and fuck. Humans do a lot more than that, but at our core, that’s what we are: eaters, sleepers, fighters, and fuckers.

Love you S! ;)

Link: How men perceive women’s work behavior

It’s not all that often that you get a check that you’re not supposed to cash until the next day, but in reality the bank won’t cash it anyway since it’s post-dated by FOUR (4) days. I guess it doesn’t matter; you’re still going to look at that check and think about how much it should be for since it represents a 15% pay cut due to unilateral furloughs imposed by an indecisive and impotent leadership. What sucks too is that, even with furloughs going bye-bye this June, we will still probably face a 5% permanent pay cut as a result of the budget deficit. That’s if we’re lucky - the governor has already said he wants to increase our pension contributions by 5% as well. This might be a tricky proposition since it entails all kinds of extra legal hurdles (pensions are guaranteed to state workers). Do you think the governor is really going to settle for 5% pay cuts? Naww…he’ll try for something else. I foresee layoffs, and either a 10% pay cut OR a 5% pay cut and one furlough day per month (down from 3). So maybe we’ll see an extra 100 bucks in our paychecks; I don’t know.

This does not even include the possibility of going to minimum wage if the state budget is late.

Ughhh…this much uncertainty in a paycheck makes it hard to plan for future video game purchases. Ohh, and yes, S, other responsible things as well. I’m definitely, definitely responsible. ;)

Link: Legislative analyst backs plan to cut California state workers’ pay
Link: The State Worker: Minimum-wage threat looms again

It does really look like a big iPod, but then again, I think it’s supposed to. If the onscreen keyboard works well, then that’s awesome. If not, and you have to rely on that crappy-looking external keyboard, then that sucks. Isn’t the whole point of these things that you have something you can put in a case, quickly, and take out and use, quickly? Plus, it looks fragile. How am I supposed to safely transport that on a plane? At least with my netbook, I can fold the thing up and put it in my bag without too much worry it’s going to split in half or have the screen cracked. But, we’ll have to wait and see, I guess. Other than the concerns above, it does look pretty cool. The eBooks app looks tantalizing, and having a computer that can double as a TV would be cool.

No public option…no ban on pre-existing conditions…I’m starting to think that all we, the working folk ( who already have health insurance), are going to get is higher taxes.

Link: Democrats consider dropping insurance ban on pre-existing conditions

A great, straight-up “indie” band, these guys blend some Interpol-esque guitar with moody vocals and chaotic drums.

Songs of note: “Vox Humana”, “Cover Me Slowy”, “Agoraphobia”, “Backspace Century”, “Operation” - there’s a lot more so check ‘em out!

The moral of the story? That’s right - don’t use glue to close a wound, especially with a feisty dog.

Link: Dog sitter kills pet with horrific surgery

This is just another reason you don’t want a morbidly obese significant other. They don’t even need a weapon to hurt you; they ARE the weapon!!!

Link: Overweight Woman Sentenced in Boyfriend’s ‘Sitting’ Death

Ok, why the fuck do you call me for website support and you’re not even in front of your computer? Why the fuck do you do that? Are you deliberately trying to waste my time? Do you think I’m just sitting around, waiting for your call? You have taken a half hour of my time with something that could have been resolved in five minutes. And then you keep telling me that you’re old and you have trouble figuring this stuff out. Hmm…I have an idea for you…figure out an alternative. There are non-computer solutions for what you need that may be easier for you. Ok, now type this address into the address bar. No, that’s not it. Type this in. No, that’s not it. Ok, clear everything out in your address bar. Ok, now put in a “w.” You got that? Ok, now put in another “w.” [the rest of this has been redacted because I didn't want to infuriate anyone else.] Ok, you’re in. Now click on the button that reads “Email me my certificate.” No, don’t click on that. Did you click on the “Email” button? Did you click on the “Email” button? Wait a minute, did your computer just restart?!? What the hell?!? No…don’t explain what the problem is with your computer…I’m not interested…dammit…well that sucks that your grandson installed Firefox on your computer and now it’s all jacked up…what do you want me to do about it? Ok, call me back when your computer’s restarted.

Time elapsed: 35 minutes.
Anger status: rising. Rising!