'Bred Crumbs

11:59 PM Fear is a funny thing. The way it's infectious. The way it comes back when you think you've shaken it. The way it dogs you even when your head is telling you there's no good reason to let it.

The Internet is a funny thing. On the one hand, it is so often used to spread baseless rumors. On the other, it can be used to immediately trace the suspicious information back to its source -- the misguided Brazilian university denizen, or the irresponsible would-be newspaper that runs giant scare headlines presenting vague, fragmented (though real) possibilities as apparent (but false) certainty.

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Since I have criticized George W. Bush so often in the past, and certainly will again, I should in all fairness and honesty say: tonight, he got it right. He spoke with confidence and clarity (except for the justice/enemies bit; the meaning of that sound bite is lost on me). He pointedly drew important distinctions. He showed signs of actual humanity. All that God talk still makes me nervous, but, for the first time, I can actually get behind him. Which is important now.

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I didn't see David Letterman's post-attack return to the airwaves, but I heard good things about it. I did just see Jon Stewart's. And I can't express how remarkable it was.

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In the interest of forging on, we present ... Geeks Observed in Their Natural Habitat.

The scene: Dinner is being eaten during a Farscape episode, "Jeremiah Crichton," in which our hero is inadvertently abandoned among a primitive people and settles in for the long haul, much like a certain captain in the original Star Trek, but without the amnesia.

Me: He is so Kirok right now.
Robbie: Yeah, but why didn't Kirk grow a beard?
Me: Maybe that planet had shaving technology.
Robbie: They couldn't even build canals; why would they have shaving technology?

Later, when one of the villagers' combat wounds is being treated:

Me: See, they have cauterizing technology.
Robbie: It's a red-hot poker! That's "cauterizing technology"?

And so on.

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While unpacking some boxes the other day, I found a scrap of paper with the results of my attempts to find a good anagram of my full name. Of the few I would share, this is the best and most true:

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01:14 PM This is why editors are needed -- so someone notices before publication that in the middle of your heartfelt essay you typed "automatically" instead of "automobiles." (It's fixed now.)

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09:25 PM Need a chuckle source? There's always the International Male catalog. Just take a look, if you dare, at the "Patriot Leather Ensemble" (click the pic at right to see it in its greater glory). Imagine you or a friend sashaying down to the corner to grab a bagel in that.

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Inexplicably spraypainted in large black letters on the side of the neighborhood Office Max:

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