My favorite excuse for not posting in a while: “I just don’t enjoy it as much as I convince myself I do.” (source)

I have a new goal in life: to put my elbow through a Picasso and remain capable of making a joke about it.

The new Firefox (2.0) is out. I dove for it as soon as Slashdot announced it was out, a concession to nerd herd mentality (I want this phrase to catch on), and I’ve regretted upgrading since. Firefox 2.0 has annoying Safari-like Xs in the corner of every tab to close it instead of just one on the right, which means I have to move my mouse around to close a bunch of tabs, an unacceptable effort.

Have been incredibly scattershot of late.  I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams.  As I’ve gotten older, I feel like I’ve figured out how to be happy but not how to be effective — the ends without the means?  It’s catching up with me.
Went to an appointment with my professor Admiral Inman, the eternally intimidating, last week. Was scrupulously polite in fear that he order an air strike on my house.

I’ve been trying to decide what I should be spending my time on — class, mock trial, the Global Investment Group, docenting for the Blanton, learning to dance. Everyone has a different opinion. My mom thinks of all activities in terms of resume bullets before the eyes of some tired admissions officer at Harvard Law. Michael is suspicious of any activity that causes me unnecessary stress, which is a lost cause, since I am a jangly box of nerves during the week. Ben, an economist at heart, infects me with considerations of satisfaction gained and marginal benefit vs. cost. And then I don’t want to ignore the biggest picture — the final product, Anush ten years from now, whose killer resume might belie her deep self-disgust. In conclusion: I’m going to find time to become a better dancer.

• Number of beetles that right-wing entomologists have named after Bush Administration officials: 3
• Percentage of U.S. megachurches that “always” or “often” use electric guitar or bass in services: 93
• Percentage of Iraqis who say they approve of insurgent attacks on U.S.-led forces: 47

Just remembered today in Philosophy that my university library gives me free access to Harper’s, my second-favorite after The New Yorker. Spent class happily trolling through old Harper’s Indexes.

• Salary ofthe White House’s new Director for Lessons Learned : $106,641
• Months that an Idaho man has checked out his library’s copy of The Joy of Gay Sex, to prevent others from seeing it : 7
• Number of additional copies that the library has received unsolicited since this was first reported : 7
• Amount it costs the U.S. Treasury to manufacture and distribute a penny: 1.4¢
• Rank of atheists among minorities whom Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry: 1