the first rule of fight club
is you do not talk about fight club. i finished my series of lensman books by e.e. smith (classic epic sci-fi from the 40s), and wanted something completely different to read. i went to my bookshelf, stretched out my hand, and what popped out but my good buddy chuck palaniuk or however he spells his name. why must i always pick out books to read that involve disease or general ickyness just before i get a cold? reading outbreak with the flu was pretty exciting. and getting a cold while reading the stand was interesting, especially since it hit me just as i got to the part where the captain tripps virus is spreading rapidly and killing people.

i blame travis, of course, since he had a cold first. this must be the 10th christmas in a row i've gotten sick. i think i'll blame jesus, actually. :)

my friend kari just sent out another email update of her exploits in southeast asia. turns out she did go to bali for a few days, and is now in singapore. sounds like the economy in bali, which was already in the shitter, has now been flushed and is buried under a rancid pile of excrement. i'm sure this is exactly what the terrorists had planned when they blew up that night club. dirty americans, who needs their money anyway. i don't know, but around 10,000 rupees to the dollar doesn't sound great to me. apparently economics wasn't covered very well in jihad school. maybe they should talk to my friend doug, who once wrote a paper on the correlations between fluctuations in the value of the bhat (or whatever the thai currency is) and the amount of prostitution in thailand.

never try to wash any part of a cat. even if he refuses to clean some kind of goo off of his own foot, do not attempt to wash it off, even with help. it's easier to run around the house, looking for any spots on the carpet, counters, linoleum, and furniture, and removing the goo from there, than it is to wash it off the cat's foot.