The Other Side of The Shadow Knowing in Aqaba

Always Something There To Remind You

... that you can read my most pop culture-riffic thoughts over on my Oomph blog.

The Shadow Knows in Aqaba

World Heritage Sites in Poopy Land

If you go to the wiki about Petra and you scroll down to the very, very last line, you will see something that makes me chortle:

See it? World Heritage Sites in Poopy Land!

This sure doesn't look like Poopy Land to me:

This is a Sandstorm

When I flew into Amman, I actually really-truly thought that perhaps my time in this lifetime was over. The pilots weren't saying anything, and we were circling and circling through the most outrageous turbulence and horrible conditions. People were praying, crying, and assuming crash positions. I took my sunglasses off my head in case of impact, and tried to think happy thoughts. I couldn't see anything out the window - it should have been early evening outside, but it was brown and gray and apocalyptic. I thought perhaps Amman had been firebombed and we were flying into war.



It wasn't war at all! It was just a sandstorm. This photo was taken the morning AFTER the sandstorm I flew into -- so this is a mild sandstorm, relatively speaking. CRAZY TALK.

Scenes from Jordan

Rock-climbing in Wadi Rum (Lawrence of Arabia territory).

I'm Back!

This is me at our hotel in Wadi Musa, right outside of Petra. More photos and stories to come, but, alas, I have six million emails to read and a whole lot of work to do. Didja miss me?

Shalom to Me, Ya'll

I am getting on an airplane to go visit my boyfriend, who has been in Jordan for two months making the new DePalma movie.


Wish me luck. I do not want to be killed by a terrorist nor eaten by a camel. Nor eaten by a terrorist camel! Yegads!

Think happy thoughts for me, e-friends. I'll be back in a week.

MEDIA ALERT: MSBNC TUESDAY AM at 9:25

Yo people! Set your tivo/divo now! I will be appearing on MSNBC at 9:35 (eastern time) Tuesday morning to discuss "Why we hate Paris Hilton."

It's nothing personal, of course. It's just the collective unconscious of the western world.

When You're Weary, Feeling Small

Let's say you were pretty upset about something. And let's say you were so upset that you kind of couldn't stop booting. So let's say you haven't eaten anything all day because you have this booting problem. Do you know what the ONE THING IN THE WORLD that will make you all better is?

Yes. Correct!
The sight of Celine Dion doing the hambone. It's about twenty-six seconds in. Enjoy.

I Can Has Tribbles?

LOLCATS + STARTREK = LOLTREK.

Kickawesome.

I Blog for Ooomph

And, lo, I am awesome.

The Most Awesome, Awesome, Pointless Use of Celebrities in Front of a Green Screen To Ever Appear on a Highly Successful TV Program

MAN! When I was watching Idol last night, the faux VERY BAD lip-sync of Stayin' Alive made me stop being a misanthrope and start loving humanity again. Because this is just so so so very pointless and horribly done and stupid that I love people because people are just so awesomely obtuse sometimes.

Separated at Birth = Sanjaya and Naima

Now I know why Sanjaya's pony-hawk looked familiar! Because it's the exact same 'do the Naima wore in her cycle 4 finale of ANTM, when she won because it's the only time in the entire cycle that she actually looked attractive!

Mourning Uncle Kurt

It's 12:43 am, EDT. CNN is reporting that Kurt Vonnegut just passed away, at age 84. Of course, this was bound to happen. But I am sad, sad, sad. The universe loses a special wit today.

SO SAD!

Seriously, someone rad introduced me to Vonnegut when I was in high school (well, who amongst us didn't have their life saved by reading Vonnegut in high school) and it was the best revelation in the world: there were smart people out there and life wasn't always going to suck like high school. Vonnegut's books picked me up and dropped me, and I am truly sad to learn he's no longer with us. Uncle Kurt and Papa Heinlein - those men really changed my life. And I will never get to have dinner with either of them.

I am tired and I have to be at my new apt at the crack of dawn for the grand painting adventure, so I leave you with this:

Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.
-- Cat's Cradle

and this:

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ” -- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

and, this, my most favorite Vonnegut line, which has become a sort of personal mantra for me whenever i get down, from Timequake:

You were sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do.

My deepest, deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. You will be missed, sir, you will be missed.

But Hodge shan't be shot; no, no, Hodge shall not be shot.

There was this awesome thing on Gawker just a little while ago about the whole tainted pet food crisis and how Ron Rosenbaum had quoted that bit from Boswell's Life of Johnson (and also Nabokov's "Pale Fire" epigraoh) about one of Samuel Johnson's cats, named Hodge: (in response to Johnson discussing someone who was gallivanting around London and killing cats) “But Hodge shan’t be shot. No, no, Hodge shall not be shot.”

Seriously, I think Ron Rosenbaum was double-plus right-on. That's the best way to handle the catfood crisis of 07:

But Hodge shan't be shot. No, No, Hodge shall not be shot.

Just repeating it, like a talismanic mantra (he took a duck in the face at two hundred and fifty knots) (alternatively: he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts) fills me with all sorts of inner peace.

But Hodge shan't be shot. No, no, Hodge shall not be shot.

It's totally the new "stop the widening."

Creepy Creepy Cheney Hiding in the Bushes

Thanks to "Eat the Press" for the link of geniusness. Well played, well played.

The Best Music Video of All Time

Ultra mega wow. This German music video is exactly why the internets were invented.


ULTRA MEGA WOW!

It's this group called Deichkind and according to their Myspace, they're Ghettotech/Freestyle/Hip-Hop. And they "sound like: ELECTRONIC WITH NO LIMIT!" And they're AMAZING.

Thanks to my friend Jason, who remains, as always, the smartest man I know.

UNICORNS!

Granted, I am taking a prescription cough-suppresant that is molecularly similar to heroin, but: ENYA + cheesy stills of UNICORNS = bliss.

Never Trust Robots

Admittedly, it is entirely possible that my high fevers have burnt away all of my brain cells. That may be, but I have to say that this song "We're in Business" by Andrew Thompson is quite possibly the greatest song EVER IN THE WHOLE WORLD.