Short post becase I'm pretty busy with the end of the fiscal year at work.

I just discovered that we get an extra day off work in January for the presidental stuff right after MLK day. Hello 4 day weekend!

Some news articles I found interesting this morning:
Facebook profiles reveal users' narcissism
(This is definitely true. I can sometimes tell by a facebook profile what I'll think of someone I'm going to meet.)
Workspace reveals political leanings
(Apparently I lean right, because my workspace is super organized and tidy. Though this is in contrast to my very messy apartment, so I'm not sure how that works.)

More next week. Tonight I'm going to see Kathy Griffin with Kate. Should be fun, I like her standup routines that I've heard on cd and that tv show was hilarious back when I had tv.

(from a column in an Alaskan paper)
I thought of that moment when it was announced that Sarah Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter was pregnant. But she can't be. Isn't her mother big on that abstinence-only sex education stuff?

(originally written 9/12/08 but left unposted)
I think the FCC should make a new law where if you say anything factually incorrect on tv, or something legally correct but a moderately stupid person would be mis-lead into believing something inaccurate, then you have to pay a huge fine. Too many dumb Americans believe anything they're told by people on tv. And at this rate McCain is going to win his election by mischaracterizing and outright lying, just by banking on the gullibility of the majority. The FCC should just acknowledge that people are gullible, and it's no longer legal to take advantage of them. The same goes for lying cellphone/electronics/car salesmen who promise things that aren't true.

(I run into Josh in the pantry at work)

me: next month I'm moving into an apartment that's 2 blocks from you.

Josh: that is unacceptable! We can't have this kind of trash moving into the neighborhood!

Is it just me, or is xkcd in a slump lately? The past few have been completely unfunny. I think he's running out of material. I never really liked the ones that start out "My Hobby:" then doing something weird. Please. Nobody has that many hobbies.

Last weekend was Kate R's going away party and my sister from NYC visited. I wandered out and met her at a super loud bar in Adams Morgan and she and Doug got brunch the next day with me and Kate. I was only mildy worried about Kate and Doug not liking each other, but it turns out they got along just fine. And the breakfast food at BusBoys & Poets isn't great. At least the egg burrito isn't. Actually I think I still have half of that in my fridge. I wonder if it's still okay to eat.

(after I make a degrading comment about Spittle's powder coating side-business on his facebook page)
Spittle: I'd appreciate you not bashing my new business on my own website!

I wish places had heated milk to add to your coffee. I'm kinda sensitive to caffine so I douse my cup of coffee in about half the cup of skim milk (I used to use half and half until I started worrying about my heart). With cold milk, like they keep downstairs, my coffee ends up just slightly warm instead of piping hot like i'd prefer. Slightly warm coffee is really kind of disgusting :( I should walk down to Starbucks.

I'm wearing my "Born to Code" GWU computer science t-shirt to work today. Some kid in the elevator was impressed that I went to GWU. That's the first time that's happened. I never thought it was a very impressive school. One of my coworkers likes to brag that he went to an ivy league school, but it's some school that I've never heard of so it doesn't seem possible that it's really ivy league. You'd think that, 5 years after graduating, it would be unimportant by now.

I just got an apartment in Columbia Heights. I think it's about twice as big as my current apartment, though the ceilings are low, sorta like the City Hall dorm back at school. And it's not super expensive. I think it will work out well. I'll have a kitchen and I'll be able to walk to Kate's place!

My sister Lauren is visiting dc this weekend. We'll see how it goes.

(slashdot user's advice about a news story that facebook is tracking all your actions even when you're not logged in. Some people have suggested regularly deleting your internet cookies as a solution.)
Fry all your cookies, but if you share an email address between your Facebook account and someone else, say Amazon, they can connect the dots that way. Thankfully I didn't register my Facebook account with my Hotmail only-for-the-porn account. That could've made for some interesting advertising though...

(originally written 9/4/08 but unpublished)
I've never placed a bet with a professional organization before, but if there was a way I could bet on "either Sarah Palin withdraws her name from as McCain's VP, or if she sticks it out then he loses the election" I would bet a bunch of money on that.

Saw the Dark Knight finally with Kate. I thought it was quite good, much better than Ironman or Superman Returns or any other newer comic movie. Kate was scared and jumped around in her chair anytime something startling happened. I guess It was pretty heavy for a PG-13 movie.

We had dinner and drinks with Puja and Sunjeev, and I learned that there is still another layer of intrigue in the story of how Puja and Sunjeev met. What this new layer will reveal, I do not yet know, it's almost like a tv episode. Also I had a mojito for the first time and it was delicious, though expensive. I'll have to get the ingredients and start making them myself.

I've been working on a case where I've needed to do a little research on the use of ALU accumulators. I wish I could retake my old microprocessors class today, I'd be so good at assembly programming. I don't know why it all seemed so confusing at the time.

After walking aroud Mt Pleasant, I'm thinking of trying to move out there. The streets are nice and green. You can almost feel the negative ions in the air.

whitney: did you tell her i like joe mcmahan?
joe: no
joe: who's that?
whitney: my kenya buddy
joe: oh you like that blond joe guy?
whitney: ya.
whitney: blonde joe
whitney: cute
joe: huh. if you say so
whitney: he says he loves me
joe: aww
whitney: :)
whitney: yes...(sigh)
whitney: i say...well okay.
whitney: but buy me stuff to prove it

Watched Gone Baby Gone a couple nights ago. Pretty good movie. You could tell it was written by a guy because the female lead basically manages to be horribly unsubtle and mess up every single "play it cool" moment, and then she emotionally (and perhaps unrealistically) freaks out at the end. About half way through the movie I started wondering why the main character was dragging his girlfriend around with him to his shady meetings. That part was a little contrived. Ed Harris has a ridiculous haircut, trying to look more like a cop I guess. Casey Affleck is so much easier to watch than Ben Affleck. So much. He kinda looks like the kid from Malcolm in the Middle, but that doesn't bother me. All in all, pretty decent movie. I wonder whether Ben Afflick is really a good director or if directing is just much easier than everyone thinks it is. Or maybe he just got lucky, it's hard to believe that he's good at something.

(Quark talking to Worf)
"You know what I like about Klingon stories, Commander? Nothing. Lots of people die, and nobody makes any profit."