i swear i am not looking at porn at work

1:08pm: Embassy message for Americans in Korea
am still on the list - just forwarding info that may be important. most westerners may find this relevant.



The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea. Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other Americans you know.

The U.S. Embassy urges American citizens throughout the Republic of Korea to exercise caution during demonstrations and vigils protesting the resumption of American beef imports and the policies of the Korean Government. The protests, which began eight weeks ago, have become more violent in recent days. Korean authorities stated on June 29 that they would crack down further on violent protesters. They have begun using water cannon and fire extinguishers to stop the advance of demonstrators and have stated that they reserve the right to use tear gas.

Up to this point the demonstrations have not been overtly anti-American in nature, but American citizens are nevertheless strongly urged to avoid the areas of the protests and to exercise extreme caution if within the vicinity of demonstrators. The center of protests in Seoul has thus far been Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, with demonstrators frequently attempting to move north along Sejongno toward the Blue House, the Presidential residence.

American citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul will continue to keep the American citizen community informed of any changes in the overall security situation via this email system and the Embassy websites at http://seoul.usembassy.gov and www.asktheconsul.org.

The Embassy encourages all U.S. citizens to register their presence in Korea with the American Citizens Services office at the U.S. Embassy or via the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_registration.html or http://www.asktheconsul.org/.

---------------------------

If you did not receive this message directly via the U.S. Embassy’s warden email system, we encourage you, as an American living or traveling in South Korea, to register with the Embassy through the State Department’s travel registration website, http://travelregistration.state.gov.

Americans without internet access may register in person at the Embassy. Registration is a voluntary way of telling us that you, as an American citizen, are in Korea, whether for a long-term stay or for a short visit. In the event of an emergency, we use registration information to communicate with you. This could include a family emergency in which relatives in the United States request that the Embassy contact you. Registration also automatically signs you up to receive our emailed monthly newsletter and periodic warden messages about safety, security, and other topics, such as voting.

If you choose not to register, you may still subscribe to our email warden message system simply by providing your email address on the Embassy’s website at www.asktheconsul.org.

For the latest security information worldwide, Americans should regularly monitor the State Department’s website at travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the Unites States, or, for callers from outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Embassy Seoul Contact Information:

American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
32, Sejongno, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-710, Korea

Tel: 02-397-4114 (operator available 24 hours a day)
Fax: 02-397-4101
DSN: 721-4114
Website: http://www.asktheconsul.org/
Email: seoul_ACS@state.gov

End text.

1:21pm: couch/spare room surfing?
hello austin folks,

there is a vague possibility i may just go out of town again here for 2-3 months, and am trying to figure out how to do that and have a place to land when i get back. if i were to do so, anyone have a spare room or good couch available for me and my traveling companion, miss lucy (a dog, fyi) in say... october?

just putting out feelers...

4:22pm: i wonder if this means i get free tuition?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/India.god.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

1:21pm: this week's special comment
i don't always agree with olbermann, but this week's special comment... wow.

http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/14/1020413.aspx

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zvNn1raVikw (part 1)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fcNAt6mfRFA (part 2)

11:55pm: dim sum
on sunday.

ring me up!

5:40pm: on the air tonight...
then lovejoy's.

am just sayin...

12:11pm: car question...
for you what know about cars and stuff...

i have a 2000 honda crv, standard/5-speed. in the last few weeks i have noticed a ... hesitation, i guess, when i hit the gas. like the same feeling you feel when it's about to run out of gas. any clues what this might be before i take it in somewhere and they tell me i need a new thingybopper? :)

am guessing it might be fuel pump? or... ?

also, suggestions as to where to take it would be gratefully accepted, you riceburner owners...

5:15pm: me at the Agency
or a reasonable impersonation...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/04/29/vo.thailand.dozing.bear.cnn

3:22pm: truth in television
as seen on madtv, miss leona campbell explains the electoral process to george bush (paraphrased):

'say me and my friend are at my house. we are both running for president of my house, and there are 10 people who will vote.

now, i only got three votes, but i win because the people who voted for me were standing in the kitchen.'

12:08pm: jerks on replay...
in a sluggish economy
inflation,recession
hits the land of the free
standing in unemployment lines
blame the government for hard time

we just get by
however we can
we all gotta duck
when the shit hits the fan

10 kids in a cadillac
stand in lines for welfare checks
let's all leach off the state
gee!the money's really great!

soup lines
free loaves of bread
5lb blocks of cheese
bags of groceries
social security
has run out on you and me
we do whatever we can
gotta duck when the shit hits the fan

-the circle jerks, "LAX" 1983

2:09am: true love
my pup, miss lucile "lucy" c.c. larue, did just walk two full circles around me, laid down and put her head in my lap, burped and then looked up at me and let out the loudest, stinky dog fart ever. and then she did her doggie smile and started wagging her tail like mad. i think she really loves me.

10:32pm: got fax?
i need to fax a bunch of pages early tomorrow (saturday) morning... anyone here in austin have a fax machine and up say around 8? :) it's to an 800 number... ping me here or give me a ring!

thank *you*

3:57pm: tonight & tomorrow
i am outta here tonight at 5:30 (am off thursday night too). am on the air tomorrow night. if you come, you get delightful parting gifts! ;)

4:33pm: the kids are not alright...
( more on why cobain's death still hurts me... a mini-dissertation )

2:24pm: fourteen years ago today...
i felt the first heartbreak over the death of someone i'd never met.
strangely, it still kinda stings.

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994)

What else should I be
All apologies
What else should I say
Everyone is gay
What else could I write
I don't have the right
What else should I be
All apologies

In the sun
In the sun I feel as one
In the sun
In the sun
I'm married
buried

I wish I was like you
Easily amused
Find my nest of salt
Everything is my fault
I'll take all the blame
Aqua seafoam shame
Sunburn with freezeburn
Choking on the ashes of her enemy
All in all is all we are

8:29pm: done.
am over it.

am done waiting for friends who never show up or who call and cancel (if at all) at the last minute.

you care at all about the friendship? you call me. am done being the tryer.

i totally admit i am late, often, but i try to call if that is the case (with some pretty bizarre exceptions), or at least give some reasonable notice if the time/date isn't workable. and if it's just that there's too much in the way, i (hope) i say so and try to do something elsewhile.

my evening/weekend times are precious. i don't often get nights or weekends off. ever. so when i call someone and make plans, it's because i really want to see them in the extremely limited time i have. they all know this.

this isn't just tonight by any means, so don't feel targeted, just the culmination of being real fucking tired (and hurt) of not being thought enough of by the people i thought were my close friends. i guess my compass has been way off.

over it.

i'll hang out with my dog. she never dumps me last minute.

so you call me. if i can work it in, i would love to try to hang out. if nothing better comes up. :\

1:11pm: moving on from moveon
years ago i signed up for the moveon.org list when certain members of congress and the media would just not let go of the clinton scandals, virtually trapping our country in a stupid debate about whether our commander in chief got a blowjob and lied about it or not, while there were far more pressing issues that should have been addressed. i agreed, it was time to move on, and get back to the business of running a country, and not digging around in our president's drawers (literally and figuratively). i do believe that moveon did do some good in getting the point across to the powers that be that a significant number of americans were over it, and it was indeed time to move on.

through the years they have championed some issues that i thought were important, and have gotten some things brought to the forefront when there were members of our political machine trying to push them to the background. for that, i admired and supported the organization, on-line and monetarily.

the petreas ad was something i thought a bit juvenile and wrongly aimed, in some ways, but i also figured i was not going to agree with everything a group its size and make-up would do, and so i grimaced and stuck around...

i was a little uncomfortable with their whole-hearted endorsement of obama, but again, i realize that a large number of their community also supported this candidate and so as long as their organization remained about issues and not individuals, i was ok with it. but since just before the endorsement and now so much more so, this organization has been all about drinking the kool-aid. moveon has gone from being a tool of social action and method of spreading information, to a (self-proclaimed) political action group, with a very specific agenda, which includes, ironically, the idea that if you are not with them, you are against them.

so i unsubscribed, and let them know thanks, but no thanks i am much happier thinking for myself. good luck with the whole mob mentality thing.

2:39pm: how not to play the resume business game...
i was poking around to see if i could find someone who does resume tailoring and sent a couple emails to prospective tailors... this is one of the responses. other than not spelling my name correctly and making up new words, this looks like a score!



Hi Mandaly,

Sure. I can help you with your resume. What you'll want to do is email it to me and then we can set-up a phone interview so we can discuss your resume needs, direction and background a little more indeptly. I interview clients between 10:30am - 1:30pm. What would be a good day and time for you?

Best wishes,

J

1:15pm: well actually, i've met your match

if you know me at all, you know i have a special distaste for folks who habitually start sentences with "well, actually..." (and also for people who misuse "literally" and "nauseous", but that's a different rant). it asserts that they know (it all) and i don't, and now they are going to impart their unsolicited and probably unimportant wisdom upon me. beyond the annoyance factor, it is generally a civil discussion killer - they've got the iron clad answer and so there is no point continuing. sometimes it's fine in a discussion if opinions and facts are being tossed around ("i heard that obama was a fanatical muslim!" "well actually, no, he isn't.", etc.). it's real annoying when people feel they must use it all the time. i refer to those people as "Well Actuallies" and tend to avoid engaging in any conversation with them if i can help it. if you hear yourself use it more than once in a conversation, you should probably check your pedant/butthead meter...

but today, i discovered a new menace: "By The Way". it's not unlike people who say something rude, then cap it with "just kidding!" to cover their ass. By The Way has a kind of false friendly tone, making the speaker sound as if they are just helping out, adding a little information, when in fact, when used as i heard it today, it's just as bad, if not worse, than a Well Actually. this guy used it as a preface: "by the way, you know republicans are all out voting for obama" and in mid-sentence "because, by the way, there's no way he will be able to beat mccain." and as a suffix "the election is all wrapped up, by the way!". this guy said all these things while smiling in this sort of grand paternal way, but with the air about him that he was telling his compatriots something a) they didn't know and b) important that c) any of them gave a rat's ass about. it occurred to me that i had encountered By The Ways in the past, but have only noticed them recently.

we must practice eternal vigilance against these scourges on the conversational landscape!

Current Mood: irritated

12:54pm: multiple choice...
a) ralph nader hates america
b) ralph nader is insane
c) ralph nader has more money than sense
d) all of the above

1:43am: political bah humbug
tonight, i told several people my hopeful plan: in a last ditch effort to bring in all the people too freaked/confused/unsure by obamillary, mccain will offer, and edwards will accept, the vice presidency, they'll run on a ticket of hands-across-the-aisle-ness and win, and within six months mccain will die/be institutionalized with alzheimer's, and edwards will be where he should have been all along.

now i said this, half-kidding, to folks who were also watching the debate, and except for the radical obamillary folk, which were blissfully few, i would say most all people nodded in agreement that that would be A Good Thing. in fact, i'd say the look on a lot of peoples' faces watching the debate was one not dissimilar to that of someone who has just realized they have brought the drunk freakazoid to the party who hops up on the table and pees in the punchbowl, rather than the charming person they met before they got a couple drinks in them.

jesus christ, primary folks, what have you done?

when it was important, you got all wrapped up in the high drama and were blinded by the shiny sparkley of what might be or the nostalgia of what was, and let the guy go who probably would have been the most capable and steady hand to steer our little boat out of this shit-storm. he isn't politically sexy, or even particularly exciting, but he is a real person who had solid plans.

si se puede blah blah blah.

now i really worry for this country.

2:45pm: Friday. Dot's Place. 11:30am
you already hate your arteries anyway. prove it.

2:01pm: am off on friday and monday...
who's playing hookey with me? :)

2:57pm: in today's episode of The Agency...
R: Hi you. What are you up to today?

me: oh! it's very exciting. i counted up some power cords and put them in bins and now i am making up an inventory off all the different power cords. there are THREE kinds!!!

R: Oh. I thought you were working @ The Agency?

me: i am. this is what i do when i am not being fmaous on the tv. i count things. a few weeks ago, it was piecesof paper. you should have SEEN the pie chart i made for that!

R: ...

R: Don't you have some sort of educational background that would indicate some sort of higher functioning activity?

me: dude. you don't know how hard it is to make a pie chart out of this stuff. next stop: animated .jpgs to accompany the charts, demonstrating how each cord was counted and then carefully coiled and tossed into the bins.

R: Please tell me you are joking.

me: i cannot tell a lie. i gotta go make sure there are the right number of paperclips in the studio. bbl!

8:22pm: a request
the trend for persons in the media of spanish or latin descent to 'spanishize' spanish words when they otherwise speak with a flat, unaccented, middle american accent is one that has bugging me for a while. for instance, while listening to "latino usa" on npr, the hostess, maria hinojosa, made a statement like, "thank you for listening. i am maria EE NA OH SAH for LA TEEN OH usa." like maybe i didn't get that she is of some spanish heritage, so she made sure all the spanish words were said with a distinct spanish accent, just in case, ya know, i didn't know. i was instantly annoyed, but then i thought, "hey, maybe she's just really into her ancestry!"

so here's my proposal. this is going to take some work on your part. you need to research your family's heritage, and then find all of the words in the common english language with origins in your family's ethnic/cultural background, and then start saying only those words in your best approximation of that appropriate accent. actual english descendants are gonna have a little trouble finding those exact words because that language is such a hodgepodge, so i just suggest you start randomly saying words with a thick english accent of appropriate class to your family's background.

i don't know any american indian words that are common to the language other than skunk and bayou and moccasin, but i'll try to work those in with as flat, droll of an accent as i can. also, you can be sure i'll be irishing up the "guinness" and my last name.

get to it!