First of all, I have to comment on the Chevrolet commercial that's been getting a lot of airplay. See, just like every year, the American automobile manufacturing industry, upon which the economy of this country is frighteningly dependent, made too many cars this year relative to demand. The American idea that more/bigger/faster is better won out over common sense once again, and now the companies are trying to realize the added value that the manufacturing process is supposed to bring. They've invested too much money in too many cars that no one wants, so they're slashing prices at this "end of the year clearance event" to recoup what they can from the investment. They will lose nothing, as the earnings from extreme markup early in the model year far outpaces the potential losses now. Labor will suffer either way.

Anyway, on the Chevrolet commercials, they've been playing uptempo rock music to portray their cars as fun, while I can attest the ownership of which is anything but. Regardless, during one of these commercials, they use a Dandy Warhols song called "Bohemian Like You." The first line of the song, and the only intelligible line during the commercial, is "you've got a great car."

A couple of problems exist here. For one, the next line of the song, which is drowned out by the annoying announcer, is "hey, what's wrong with it today?". The "great car" line was meant to be sarcastic. Additionally, the sarcasm about the great car, in the larger context of the song, is criticizing someone for buying into a lifestyle. While the lifestyle being criticized is the bohemian idea, the whole new-car business is engaged in selling a lifestyle.

I wonder if The Dandy Warhols are chuckling at the ironies while they cash their massive check, which, I might note, would be better spent by Chevy on developing a better product that people actually want instead of staking a last-ditch effort to salvage a return on their overinvestment at the end of the model year.

In my Betta Fish naming poll, "Alpha" has jumped into the lead. "Alpha" was inspired by multiple sources: the first two letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha beta, where the world alphabet comes from!), a defunct chain of grocery stores I remember from my first visit to Fresno, California (long story, but it was also immortalized by the band Cake), and the mean kid frat from Revenge of the Nerds. "Alpha" has nine votes.

Tied for second place is "Ted," "Lars," and "Vladimir." "Ted" comes from the hapless lawyer on "Scrubs." "Lars" comes from Lars Fredrikson of Rancid. "Vladimir" comes from Vladimir Lenin. Each of these has six votes. I think I'll end the voting on Saturday morning, so vote now, and vote as many times as you want. I don't care.

Having cable has been pretty lame thus far. We decided to put in 12 bucks a month and get the super-crappy basic lineup, so that we didn't have to mess with the antenna anymore. I forget though, that no matter how much (or little) you pay, you're still stuck with shitty programming and 20 minutes per hour of worthless ads for crap you don't want to buy. The whole idea of renting complete series from the library has been so much more appealing.

We're almost through The Sopranos now. In the first couple of seasons, the post-modern New Jersey landscape was almost a supporting cast member. As the cast has gotten more involved, this environmental role has declined. Too bad. Boobs are still guaranteed with every episode, which is only a good thing. Really, can anyone ever ever ever complain about boobs? I don't think so. Honestly, it's one of the most addictive dramas I've ever seen. Six Feet Under is on deck. We watched the first 37 minutes of the first episode at Amy and Kory's house. Then we got distracted, but I was hooked.

My new profile picture is me with corn. Yes, it's from Indiana. Yes, the corn is real, there're no camera tricks going on there. And yes, that means the cornstalks are nearly 13 feet tall. Crazy, huh?

I want to buy a new hat. I love my hat, I do. I want some different styles, though. Even though I've got a ton of them, ballcaps look like shit with my hair right now. Or, I could just get a fucking haircut and get it over with. Maybe a fedora? Suggestions are welcome.

Amy's hotel has some Big Beautiful Women convention this weekend. I wish I had known about those in my single days, because I would have been a hot commodity. That would have ru-hu-hu-huled.

This is going to be a long semester, I'm pretty sure. I've got to get three articles out for publication, settle on a dissertation topic and write a proposal and get it approved, and finish four classes. Not an easy task. I hope I make it. This will be the make-or-break semester, I think. After this should be a breeze.

And I hope I'm not too hard on my U.S. and Canada class. I think I may be too demanding. Five tests, a Comprehensive (though takehome) Final, a Map Quiz and a detailed Map Assignment, plus execution for missing class... it may be too much, but I'll adjust as necessary.

Today, for the first time since I've been an employee of Kent State University, I finally got internet hooked up in my office. And it's fucking sweet. I had no idea how obnoxious that the constant trek to a computer lab was getting. Okay, I really did have an idea, but getting the internet today made me a very happy person.

An interesting thought I had today: I've crossed paths with a lot of interesting people. I mean think about it.... take the sum of all the people in your life who, today, after years of being apart, you would willingly spend at least two minutes catching up with during a chance meeting. You've probably got a list of 500-1000 people, maybe more. Just going through that list, I've got some pretty extraordinary friends. I have path-crossers who are engaged in all kinds of pursuits, at least one (in many cases, more than one) of each of the following:

Professional musician
Teacher
Writer
College student
Side-show freak
Police officer
Midget wrestling promoter
Orchestra conductor
Artist
Drug dealer
Web designer
Lawyer
EMT
Chef
Doctor
Pharmacist
Automobile mechanic
Aeronautical engineer
Soldier
Cashier
Professor
Butcher
Political adviser
Music therapist
Librarian
Psychologist
Rock musician (as a job)
Actor/Actress
Construction worker
Architect
Marching band director
Emmy winner
Entrepeneur
Roller derby girl
Homemaker
Insurance agent
Parent
Urban planner
Computer techie
World traveller
Tattoo artist
Salesman
Race car driver
On-air television personality
Film maker
Drafter
Exotic dancer
Firefighter
Fashion designer
Gun salesman
Farmer
Model
Baseball player
Preacher
Make-up artist
Recording engineer
Delivery person
Meteorologist
College admissions counselor
Journalist
Liquor store clerk

That's a crazy number of experiences that are somehow within reach, and that's just with defining people with one phrase at a time. Too bad I'm such a penis about keeping up with people. I'm terrible about it, because I'm completely socially retarded. Besides, people who want to keep up with me, they do so with whatever energy they choose.

I've been thinking about getting a weekend or overnight together. I'm not sure where, though. Columbus (zoo, hockey or soccer) or Pittsburgh (zoo, aviary, hockey) or Buffalo (zoo, hockey, chicken wings) or even Cleveland (Little Italy, museums, etc). Time and money will tell.

My climate change class is going to be excellent. It's gotten me thinking the most so far, already. I'm really enjoying it. I wish it was more than once a week.

Today, I read 321 pages. I didn't know until I was finished and I basically thought, "holy shit, I've been reading like, forever." I looked at my pages, and 321 was the number. That's a lot of pages. How I'm coherent at this point is beyond me.

Only 26 days until the beginning of Kent State's hockey season....