People can say what they want (and often do) about my home state of New Jersey, but today has only made me that much prouder that I'm from a sane, progressive state.

"Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The Court holds that under the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes. The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to same sex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process."

It would have been better for them to not leave it to the legislature whether or not to call it "marriage" officially, but *applauds* allthesame.

Positive recent development (for me, anyway):

I'm writing again. I had been struggling with writer's block for way too long, and I've had the same story kicking around my head for even longer. I just hadn't been able to put it down on paper effectively for the last year.

Well, it looks like I'm having something of a creative resurgence. I've started back from the beginning (I have a tendency to rewrite...and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite), and I've managed to write a prologue that has me very pleased. I have about half of the first chapter done, and I'm feeling pretty energized about it. But I also only write things that are a little...epic (the nice way of putting it) in scope, so I'm not allowing myself to get too confident in actually finishing something for once.

But, so far, so good. I'm trying to take it one page at a time. It's my hope to get something published by the time I'm 80. :D

Oh, and I still suck at naming stuff.

Having now heard Tool's new single Vicarious like...20 times...I can fairly assess that it kicketh a fair share of ass.

May 2nd can't come fast enough.

Some excerpts from the article (on our plans to attack Iran):

The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack.

...

A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

...

The House member said that no one in the meetings “is really objecting” to the talk of war. “The people they’re briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?” (Iran is building facilities underground.) “There’s no pressure from Congress” not to take military action, the House member added. “The only political pressure is from the guys who want to do it.” Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”

...

One of the military’s initial option plans, as presented to the White House by the Pentagon this winter, calls for the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites.

...

He went on, “Nuclear planners go through extensive training and learn the technical details of damage and fallout—we’re talking about mushroom clouds, radiation, mass casualties, and contamination over years. This is not an underground nuclear test, where all you see is the earth raised a little bit. These politicians don’t have a clue, and whenever anybody tries to get it out”—remove the nuclear option—“they’re shouted down.”

Yes, in fact, they are that crazy...

naniwa, can I borrow your tin-foil hat?

Gripped from geoduck

( heh )

Having now completely poured over Berserk volume 9, I think I can finally rest easy that my favourite manga will get an entirely uncut release here. I know they've said it would be unedited before, but then, they hadn't really released a volume where any real editing might be necessary. So, of course, being the paranoid little fucker that I am, I was using this volume (because it gets really explicit for quite a long time) as the test that would demonstrate to me just how committed they were. Thank you, Dark Horse, for not letting me down.

After initially thinking it would cost me an arm and a leg, I found a $188 plane fare to Michigan (to visit family) over the Thanksgiving holiday. Phew.

I'm slowly finding out that travel is not nearly as expensive as I previously thought it was (if you look hard enough). And to think, all I needed was a girlfriend that lived on the opposite side of the country to figure this out. ^_^;

Entirely unrelated, I posted a look at Makoto Yukimura's (Planetes) new manga, Vinland Saga, over at mangacast. Vikings rule.

Well, I applaud the Phillies for their effort today. They had to win, and they did convincingly. Kudos to J-Roll for extending his streak. I hope this announces his arrival as a true lead-off caliber hitter.

The end of the Chicago-Houston game was heartbreaking. I was so convinced Macias had a hit off the bat after quickly going 0-2, but it was not meant to be.

In the end, they did it to themselves. Had they even won one game against the 'Stros this year, it'd have been them in the Wild Card. It does give me hope for next year. I'm praying the Phillies oust Wade and Manuel. Whoever they find to replace Wade needs to go crawling on his hands and knees to Jim Leyland, apologizing to him for the treatment by the previous front office, and offering him a blank check. Pleeeeeease. :D

If you see this, post a Shakespeare quote in your journal:

taH pagh taHbe

- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

*looks left*
*looks right*

What?

Ganked from jpine

Innnnteresting.

( Results behind the cut... )

Found in jpine's LJ:

My vacation is finally upon me... :D I'm totally ready to be out of work mode for a week and into crazy drunken tourist mode. So, I guess, Vegas was the perfect choice...heh. I'm going to try not to gamble too much, and since I'll have someone to keep me company, I'll venture to say I'll be successful..at not losing too much of my money, anyway. Besides seeing the Cirque du Soleil show "O," our only other sure place to visit is the uber-dorky Star Trek Experience, so the rest of the time should be spent kinda winging it (although I guess we have a general idea of other things we want to see). Anyway, I'm bringing my camera, so I'll probably post pics. I most likely will be absent from them because I would appear blazingly drunk in all of them, and I wouldn't want to tarnish my pristine image or anything.

Oh, and fallenangelfish, have fun at Otakon. It's a shame I won't be there to bug ya. The rest of my friends list, have a safe and pleasant week! :D

Gripped from kevinroc

the Cutting Edge (60% dark, 47% spontaneous, 33% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | DARK Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't in and of themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top. Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 67% on dark You scored higher than 56% on spontaneous You scored higher than 47% on vulgar

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

For the record, I do have a very dry delivery :D And I'm a lot funnier in person. ;)
(at least, that's what I tell myself)

Well, naniwa asked me to be one of the maintainers of mangacast, and I happily accepted. My contributions will most likely stay in the form of text for now, as I'm sort of ignorant to the whole podcasting thing (and I don't even have a microphone...heh), and I'm not too fond of my voice, or at least confident in the ability to create informative and listenable podcasts.

In any case, check it out. Hopefully, for my part, I won't make an ass out of myself. :D

First of all, thanks to jpine for urging me to pick up Tokyopop's release of Dead End. Christian loves his seinen, and Christian loves the bizarre, and this one hasn't disappointed. I still have some issues with the art at times, but the look works for the grimy, pulpy feel of the story, and besides, any story with Stitch Head in it, is fine by me. I have the urge to be him for Halloween this year, but I don't think guyver83's workout plan will have advanced me that far...so maybe I'll settle for an avatar. :D

Also, manga related, I just want to reaffirm my opinion that 20th Century Boys kicks some major ass. I've finally had some time to catch up on a few volumes, and it never fails to completely awe me. Easily my second favourite manga behind Berserk.

Oh yeah, Bleach...a certain new revelation about a shinigami of Captain class completely blew my mind. I wanna see his Ban Kai so bad it hurts. :D

And finally, my best friend (since second grade) showed up today after I haven't seen him in a little more than a year. I swear, if I didn't know his family were all built like that, I'd think he was swiggin growth hormone. He's friggin' HUGE, and not in a fat way. Kinda cool that that crazy bastard is local again, even if he is now working on his second divorce...Some people. Heh.

Work sucks. I mean, it's good to be busy, but it's really starting to wear on me.

( more bitching :D )

Heh, well I haven't updated in awhile. My life's boring, what can I say?

Alright, I'll preface this by saying I'm by no means a fan of Fox News or their pet liberal monkey, Alan Colmes, but this is just too rich.

Neal Horsley, a rather well known far right kook extremist figure was a guest on Alan Colmes' radio show. This is a man who encourages terroristic acts of violence as an acceptable means of ending legalized abortions. This is a man who preaches a litany of hatred for homosexuals. I personally think it's rather sad reflection of our society that an idiot like this gets any airtime or recognition at all, but you know, these are the times we live in.
(and yes, I'm aware of the irony of saying that, and then posting about him, but...I'm a hypocrite, I 'spose)

With that intro, I give you this snippet:

AC: "You had sex with animals?"

NH: "Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule."

AC: "I'm not so sure that that is so."

NH: "You didn't grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?"

AC: "Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?"

NH: "It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed
from the reality... Welcome to domestic life on the farm..."

Expanded upon here. o_O

Well, thank you Andrew's workout for demonstrating how out of shape I really am... And to think, at first glance I actually thought it might be too easy, heh. Well, I finished it, but missed the target time (20 minutes) by one minute. Ouch. On to having some running kick my ass tomorrow. :D

So, I'm waiting in front of the deli counter for the nice lady to finish making my dinner, and I suddenly become aware that my footing is strange. So, I look down and realize my boots don't match... Nice.