There's more than one creosote-- [link] including the fragrant bush and the byproduct of fire.

Hey, Jesse--did you play the cowgirl game I got you?

and who got so easily addicted, because they hadn't had generations to get used to tobacco use -- sort of a reverse of the situation with the high rate of alcoholism among Native Americans

Wait--so now that Europeans have had a long time to get used to the use, why still addiction? And vice versa with the alcoholism? Wrong kind of learning?

My take on this whole thing is that we are completely underestimating the kind of time hungry people had on their hands.

I don't think it's about the time hungry people have on their hands--more the desperation. We're a "I'll try anything once" sort of a species, and we'll try anything nice more than once. And if it's not nice, try make it nice. Or start a support group.

My teaching was evaluated today at krav. I was expecting to be evaluated on Wednesday, and so wasn't prepared. But I picked the brain of one of the more senior instructors, and threw everything I had at it.

He really liked it! So much so that he wondered if he'd caught me on a bad day last time (he never said it was bad--just that I was an acquired taste (You think I'm harsh and sarcastic? What's your point?). This time, he barely had any nitpicking to do.

So cool. I never teach in front of him, so I forget what he likes. Mostly, I just did what *I* liked, and it worked out more than okay.

Anyone up and about? I'm working on application stuff for UCIrvine and I need to write a statement of my teaching philosophy and wow and I just not in the groove for getting this done.

I have to actually play the cowgirl game, sadly (?).

So now I wonder what other stuff people tried soaking in lye, etc.

Kristen: I know, right?? I understand if it's all new staff or whatever, but you'd think the actors would mention the past storylines. I saw it once and I remember! They lived it for a week or whatever! Feh.

I have to actually play the cowgirl game, sadly (?).

Huh. I wonder why?

Early wake up this morning. When I wake up inadvertantly at 4, it generally ruins my day. Good thing I'm at a training where I can sit and just be extra bitter. Last time, I wore my extra bitter t-shirt, but I have since given that to ita.

I want that shirt! Oh and the other shirt! Is the other shirt even a shirt? It should be...

And want to go back to sleep as well. Have emailed parents though about part 1 of the holiday travels. I'll tick that in the win column. Kinda.

Cass, it's a great shirt, but since I'm not actually extra bitter (though the women's PE department at my school is currently sporting these as a warning), I figured I'd get bittersweet which is more truth in advertising.

I was woken up at 4:30 by random yowling. He does this, I don't know why. I yell at him until he wanders into the bedroom and settles down. Then I go back to sleep. And yet? I can sleep through alarms, fire-truck sirens, my mother....

My Dad would wake up in the middle of the night if a cow was mooing in distress - something that was almost impossible for the rest of us to hear from the house even when awake.

Al Gore is awesome:

Al Gore did a terrific interview with GQ this month, which covered quite a bit of ground. The discussion of 9/11 was particularly noteworthy.

GQ asked, for example, whether we’d be safer today if he’d won the 2000 race. Gore said, “Well, no one [can] say that the 9-11 attack wouldn’t have occurred whoever was president.”

GQ followed up, “Really? How about all the warnings?” That’s when it got good. The description of Gore’s speaking style appears in the original:

“That’s a separate question. And it’s almost too easy to say, ‘I would have heeded the warnings.’ In fact, I think I would have, I know I would have. We had several instances when the CIA’s alarm bells went off, and what we did when that happened was, we had emergency meetings and called everybody together and made sure that all systems were go and every agency was hitting on all cylinders, and we made them bring more information, and go into the second and third and fourth level of detail. And made suggestions on how we could respond in a more coordinated, more effective way. It is inconceivable to me that Bush would read a warning as stark and as clear [voice angry now] as the one he received on August 6th of 2001, and, according to some of the new histories, he turned to the briefer and said, ‘Well, you’ve covered your ass.’ And never called a follow up meeting. Never made an inquiry. Never asked a single question. To this day, I don’t understand it. And, I think it’s fair to say that he personally does in fact bear a measure of blame for not doing his job at a time when we really needed him to do his job.

“And now the Woodward book has this episode that has been confirmed by the record that George Tenet, who was much abused by this administration, went over to the White House for the purpose of calling an emergency meeting and warning as clearly as possible about the extremely dangerous situation with Osama bin Laden, and was brushed off! And I don’t know why — honestly — I mean, I understand how horrible this Congressman Foley situation with the instant messaging is, okay? I understand that. But, why didn’t these kinds of things produce a similar outrage? And you know, I’m even reluctant to talk about it in these terms because it’s so easy for people to hear this or read this as sort of cheap political game-playing. I understand how it could sound that way. [Practically screaming now] But dammit, whatever happened to the concept of accountability for catastrophic failure? This administration has been by far the most incompetent, inept, and with more moral cowardice, and obsequiousness to their wealthy contributors, and obliviousness to the public interest of any administration in modern history, and probably in the entire history of the country!”

When Gore gets on a roll, he’s really, really good.

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