Listen to Robb Benson sing about the Kingdome, whose new CD you can get on the 30th or 1st of August.
Economics of Religion and Pay or Pray? The Impact of Charitable Subsidies on Religious Attendance
I think my grandma is going to cash out pretty soon. It's sad, but I just don't think I'm sad enough. Perhaps I'd be more sad if it were some tragic, amazing accident, and not a consequence of having been alive since around when Russia got rid of the tsar/czar (which I read is derived from "Caesar", like "kaisar"), since I guess we've been wondering when it's going to happen for a while. It's strange to see her sort of drift off, though. My parents never told her a lot of things about me. I think she was/is disappointed that I'm such a lamer when it comes to girls (because I use the word "lamer", perhaps?) because I never really lived up to my end of the primogeniture bargain.
I've been very not-busy the past few days, but the things I idle myself with make me feel like I'm really busy and I have a lot to do. I don't. Things like baking. Making a loaf of bread is seriously maybe - MAYBE - 30 minutes of total activity. Making sorbet is about 10 minutes. But I've managed to convince myself I've accomplished something. We prefer self-delusion to despair.
There hasn't really been any good movie screenings lately, so I've been watching old ones. Like "Network" - I love that movie. Howard's monologue seems like something a crazy priest might say before getting a couple married. Can you say "BEST WEDDING EVER"? Instead of talking about commitment and love he says, "I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crying in the streets. All I know is first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, "I'm a human being. God Dammit, my life has value." So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out, and yell, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!""
It's been hot as balls the past few days. I'm sort of excited to get back to my climate controlled office, instead of hanging out in climate controlled grocery stores all weekend.
