Spider Arts

Hey, it's... spider arts.

LOLNephew: NCAA Edition

YES.

"Better"

Block quote time! This one is from the BBC News Online:

According to the Washington Post newspaper, Track was named after the course of the sockeye salmon the family fishes off the town of Dillingham, while her eldest daughter's name comes from Bristol Bay, an area known for its salmon fisheries. The name Willow relates to the state bird, the willow ptarmigan, and a nearby town, the paper says, while daughter Piper shares her name with the family's small plane. Trig is the Norse word for "brave victory", the Post adds.

So it seems I was a little wrong about the origin of the Palin family names. They're not random and "cute," like I thought; they're stupid, like I feared and, in hindsight, should have expected. Does this change my feelings from my post a few days ago? Hell no.

Gastronomical

Over the past three days, I have eaten (in rough order):

• 1/2 of a deep-dish pizza (cheese)
  
• 1 beer (20 oz)
  
• 1 bowl of cereal
  
• 2 beers (16 oz)
  
• 5 rolls of sushi (30 pieces) (!!)
  
• 2 beers (12 oz)
  
• 2 egg rolls
  
• 1 order of pad thai noodles
  
• 1 order of mint ice cream (size: waaay too big)
  
• 1 beer (12 oz)
  
• 1 large slice of pizza (cheese)

Quite frankly, I'm surprised I even have a digestive system anymore. Time to go to the gym.

Track? Seriously?

Barack Obama's camp has declared young Bristol Palin's pregnancy "off limits" for the purposes of the campaign. Ok. Privacy is nice, and while you could certainly make the argument that the teenage pregnancy of a vice presidential candidate's daughter says something about said candidate's parenting skills, Obama wants this campaign to be squeaky clean, so I can go with it. I think, however, they are missing the bigger problem.

Who names their daughter "Bristol"?

I mean sure, it's an city, whatever. But I did some checking: Sarah Palin's children are named Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track, and Trig.

I guess as a huge nerd, I can accept Willow, and Piper is an uncommon but not unheard of name. But Track? Her son is actually named Track? And Trig? Of the first 10 Google search results for "trig," seven return trigonometry sites. Two are unrelated convenience stores and networking sites. The one remaining result is Trig Palin. I'm going to go ahead and say it's a fairly rare name. Rarity is not really a bad thing (How common is the name "Obama" in the U.S.?), but think back to elementary school and every "creatively"-named kid you knew. If you went to a predominantly well-off white school like me, chances are these kids were assholes, and their parents were assholes. Not 100%, but pretty close. It's science. That, combined with pretty much everything else I've read about Sarah Palin, does not suggest someone I want as a VP.

Because, uh, I was totally gonna vote for Walnuts anyway. Totally.

Open Letter

Dear Hipster I Saw At The Arch Today,

Just because yesterday was 94º and today was 72º doesn't mean it's "scarf weather." It means it's 72 degrees. You look ridiculous.

Thanks,
Bob