A bit of Yahoo fun tonight. Got hit on by some "attorney" (yeah, right) who happened to have hit on me about a year back. He used the _same_ trite lines he used a year back (charming the first time = pathetic the second time. get some new material, already.) I also recalled how easily he got enraged when he was questioned or challenged in any way (and he's hitting on law students WHY?). So, being me, I decided to have a bit of fun. Edited transcript follows (full transcript available upon request), name changed to protect the loser:

ImaLoser: do you need a new penpal.... do you like poets.... are you allergic to lawyers
imbrium44: hello
ImaLoser: hi
ImaLoser: so you wanna be a lawyer..... should i warn you, or should i encourage you to finish
imbrium44: oh doesn't matter much each way
ImaLoser: so would you rather tell me about yourself, or read one of my poems about law school
[�] imbrium44: sorry to disappoint, I know everyone expects horror stories about law school, but I have none
ImaLoser: well, law school is fun
ImaLoser: it is being a lawyer that sucks
[�] ImaLoser: my motto is this... if anyone tells you they love being a lawyer, they are either psychotic, or a liar
imbrium44: perhaps it is just the field in which you work?
ImaLoser: nope
ImaLoser: i know lots of lawyers
ImaLoser: i know a heck of a lot abou a heck of a lot
imbrium44: do you now?
ImaLoser: did i tell you i am humble????
ImaLoser: it is my best quality, my humility
ImaLoser: lots of people go around pretending to be humble, but they got nothing to brag about
[...] ImaLoser: but me, i got lots to brag about, so in comparison, i am overly humble
ImaLoser: hey, what is yoru second grad degree going to be in
imbrium44: international relations
ImaLoser: so you want to deal in international trade, where there really is no law
imbrium44: no, I don't particularily want to deal in international trade
[�] imbrium44: so if you hate your job so much, why do you continue to do it?
ImaLoser: i said i did not love it
ImaLoser: i said it sucks
ImaLoser: i never said i hated it
imbrium44: then why continue to do it? why not chuck it all and buy a farm in montana?
ImaLoser: most jobs suck, that is why they call it a job
ImaLoser: you need money for a farm, even in montana
[�] imbrium44: yes, but you could do that on a gas station attendant's salary...in montana
[�] ImaLoser: you are sounding a little like ronald reagan, when he held up the newspaper back in the 80's, and said, "you want a job, check out the wantads in the newspaper"
imbrium44: but certainly better than much of the coasts, where even attorneys can't afford 1 acre
imbrium44: so perhaps you're tied to the status and prestige as well?
[...] ImaLoser: so you really think a bank is going to loan a gas station attendant enough money to buy a farm..... and then the bank is going to loan the start-up capital so that the new farmer can work the farm...... and then the bank is going to wait around until the crops come in to collect its money..... ??????
[�] ImaLoser: you are republican, huh?????
ImaLoser: you probably call yourself conservative, huh
imbrium44: not a bit
ImaLoser: i bet you do not last fives years practicing law...... nope, not five years....... no offense, but you have no idea how hard it is........
[�] imbrium44: yes, my poor fellow. but if you hate it so much, quit
ImaLoser: you are so wrong....... about the bank...... why do you think john mellencamp had to put on a concert called farm aid..... why do you think the government gives out billions of dollars a year in welfare to farmers.... and, what crop is the farmer going to grow in montana???????
imbrium44: I don't care for people who complain but do nothing to solve their situation. It's like the woman who stays with the rich abusive man because she otherwise couldn't afford designer clothes
imbrium44: it isn't an argument I find appealing or swaying, sorry
[�] imbrium44: ahhh farm subsidies!
imbrium44: so do you know much about the CAP? How do you feel the entry of the ten new states will affect it?
ImaLoser: good luck........ you are going to need it when you get out in the real world.... goodbye.....
imbrium44: laugh bye bye mike esq
imbrium44: you'd already talked to me about a year before, I recalled your amusingly patronizing attitude quite quickly
imbrium44: next time, do remember on whom you've tried your trite, tired out hit-ons. good BYE

And, with my closing line, I blocked him.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=405949§ion=news Yes, Michael Jackson, go ahead and antagonize the DA.... Cutest quote: "Indeed, a profile of Sneddon on the official Web site of the National District Attorneys Association mentions that 'he's the only DA in the nation to have an angry song written about him by pop megastar Michael Jackson.'"

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap11-15-163124.asp?t=apnew&vts=111520031650 "Milwaukee postal workers find live alligator chewing through shipping carton." What intrigues me most is the explanation that "alligators longer than 20 inches are not allowed to be sent through the mail." So seems you can still buy a 20 inch alligator off ebay and have it shipped via regular mail.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/11/13/lawyer.kidnap.ap/index.html You knew working at law firms was a tough job, but did you think it'd be this tough? "An attorney accused of burying an associate alive under the floor of his Manhattan apartment..."

Thought of the day: Luxembourg: A buffer zone in which to park your tanks.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/06/putin.ap/index.html While doubtless Khodorkovsky didn't pay his taxes, he's hardly an exception. No one pays taxes in Russia. Selective enforcement for political ends. The Russian government doesn't seem to have adapted to operating with the light of international scrutiny shining in. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

http://www.msn.match.com/msn/article.aspx?articleid=89&TrackingID=516311&BannerID=544658 Horrid, historically inaccurate article. No idea where he got his information about Elizabeth I of England , but he's obviously gotten her confused with Catherine II "The Great" of Russia. While some fringey group claims Elizabeth had scads of lovers, that is a highly controversial minority opinion. Catherine is a much safer target and the one I'd choose myself for making stupid assertions of the kind he makes. I hate idiots. Would e-mail the author if he didn't hide his e-mail address (obviously out of fear someone would correct his shoddy research).

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-09-174712.asp?reg=mideast&vts=11920031753 Yick. Bad baby formula. Can�t you see some execs saying, whoops, forgot the Thiamin, gee, do babies really need that? Nah�.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters11-09-180601.asp?reg=europe&vts=11920031810 The Romanian film industry. Is good that they�ve been able to expand to sorts of movies other than just gothic horror. As I commented earlier regarding Vampire wineries, vampires are Romania�s biggest claim to fame, and certainly the one with the most mass appeal. They need to beat that horse till its good and dead and then keep beating. If the Dracula theme park gets built, I'd go visit. Am still trying to find more Vampire wine...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/08/peru.inca.reut/index.html A lost city found near a lost city. Why is anyone surprised? Lost things cluster together, it's the law.

Have been reading Bill Bryson's book "Made in America" for quite some time - keep it by the bathtub as it is excellent for reading in snippets when I'm not in the middle of a longer book. One bit struck me as especially funny in the discussion of early American table manners and how they were ridiculed by the Europeans. The author points out that the Europeans had a rather dubious claim to good table manners themselves, and quotes an 1840's French book on etiquette: "If your fingers are very greasy, first wipe them on a piece of bread." *giggle*

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/07/international/asia/07INDI.html?ex=1068786000 On population control in India. There is much to be said for not over populating the world, but some of their proposed methods are idiotic: "Some states have considered denying educational benefits to third children." Yes, create a permanent underclass having lots of kids, that's a plan. Also some discussion of removing town council-type politicians from office for having more than two children. Stupid.
This sounds much more reasonable: "But critics of the laws call them gimmicks. They point out that the countries, and even Indian states, that have most successfully limited population growth have done so more by increasing education and work opportunities for women, improving health care and providing a wide range of contraceptive choices. " But of course, the key lies in greater social problems: "'Everyone wants a small family � two children,' explained her husband, Rajaram Sonkar, as their girls flitted around his small shop. 'But if you have a daughter, you have to keep going.'" I have to say, I'm tempted to punish people with that attitude, too. Once women get equal status in terms of educational , career and financial opportunities, the cultural emphasis on male children will shift. Another irritating quote: "Like tens of millions of Indian women, especially across the northern Hindi belt, Ms. Bai was never schooled. She was married off at 15, and had her first child soon after. She said that she did not know how to prevent a pregnancy, and that in any case, the number of children she would bear was for her in-laws to decide." Yick.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters11-06-193548.asp?reg=pacrim&vts=11620031956 And who says international law is all boring? Warning: slightly suggestive content.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2090675/ Supreme Court fun. For those of you who haven't been to law school, that hypothetical game playing is basically what you do, all day long.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2090622/

Cute little sequence today of a Djali/Bryansk squabble over territory, namely a flokati rug in front of my big bookcases.

The DMZ:


Sortie rebuffed:


Rout and full retreat by invaders, territorial expansion by defenders:


Fortifications (my favorite part is that Djali's ears clearly show annoyance, a Mongol outside the Great Wall):

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/parenting/11/02/grown.up.ap/index.html Fits in with my own observations, age 18-22 were college years, I didn't really start to do anything interesting until maybe 27. Of course, that was the dot com roller coaster, which was financially lucrative and gave me a lot of great "stupid business decisions" to share... ;)

Made the cats a new cat bed today out of a beautiful wood basket my mother gave me a while back. Put a soft dark blue towel in there, in decent shape but unused for ages (I've got a lot of towels, I went through a period of buying high quality bath sheets, so now my regular bath towels sit around looking pretty in the linen closet). Besides, it matches my bedroom decor, which is mostly royal/navy blues with touches of gold and silver, while my bathroom is now done in sage green with touches of gold. Basically, the recipe for the cat bed was: basket + towel + pinch of catnip. Just add one cat. Gypsy gave the basket a whirl, sitting in it for a few seconds, but Djali noticed her almost immediately and started to repeatedly swat her on the butt. Then he tried to bite her. The butt-swatting was a refreshingly unambiguous command of "get *your* butt the heck out of *my* bed." Outweighed, Gypsy finally left. Djali sat in it about two seconds before getting bored and wandering off to eat (Djali's life is a series of naps punctuated by meals, or perhaps a series of meals punctuated by naps, with occasional bouts of Gypsy-harrassment thrown in). Life is like that sometimes, you only want something when you see someone else enjoying it. Especially if you're a cat. All things are mine, in a cat's world view. As far as they're concerned, everything I own (except the vacuum cleaner), my family and friends, a neighbor boy, the rabbit, etc. belong to them. *chin rub* Watching two such sweetly selfish creatures interact can be quite amusing. As with the basket. At any given moment, either two cats want the basket, or no cat wants it. I considered making another bed, but no solution there. From experience, Djali will always want the basket Gypsy is in. I can draw a parallel here to world affairs, but it's just too obvious.