Friday Miscellenia

1) Over the weekend BH was taking a bath and I was incredibly bored. I was trying to decide what book I wanted to read and looking at the many shelves realized how many books I'd acquired over the last few years and never read. I got out a notepad and the fancy pen that BH got me for my birthday and proceeded to make a list. The total got up to about 90 books. Nine-zero. Appalling. So I have a new project this year. Rather than buy any new books (except for series I've been collecting for a while), I'll just read from my old ones. This way I can a) narrow the list of books I have to choose from, b) save money, c) figure out if I want to keep some of them, and d) stop feeling ashamed. It's a big task and there's no way I can read them all this year, but I figure I can read at least half of them.

2) Driving to go pick up Chinese food for BH (who is sick), cursing the people in front of me, I developed a theory that cars make people more Republican. By this I don't mean the sociological argument that suburbanization leads to social isolation and conservatism, which is pretty well-plowed ground. No, I mean the very act of driving a car makes one more right-wing. Think about it. Here's this expensive device which promises to take you anywhere you like quickly and is entirely under your own power - a pretty heady experience. But then the practical reality is that, because of all the other cars out there, it takes forever and you're sitting there idling or going slow. You get angry. You get selfish. You get filled with righteous indignation and decide everyone else in the world is an idiot. You just want everyone to GET OUT OF YOUR WAY. I can imagine that for people who are already predisposed to do so there would be a strong temptation to turn on Rush Limbaugh and have a good 10 minutes of hate. Lucky for me my anger is directed at rich people, but I find that most angry white males direct it at minorities or immigrants or something. Just a theory.

3) I read this article by Matt Taibbi. Made me sick to my stomach.