Coffee

Coffee is very important.

I say this because my coffee today is absolutely disgusting. I have grown accustomed to the delicious espresso makers that seem to abound here in Austria, where people can appreciate a good cup of coffee.

This coffee, which admittedly only cost me €0,30, is absolutely disgusting. It was like drinking - well, bad coffee. You've all had it before, so you know what I mean.

I'm afraid I've become a coffee snob. Good thing I live in Seattle. :)

May 15 Gas Out

Why this won't work: it's stupid. Okay, so there are more complicated reasons. But when I first saw this on Myspace, I thought it was another bad joke. Because I just saw a front page article on it on msnbc.com, I've decided that it's clearly not a joke.

Why is this idea stupid? A number of reasons. 1) Not buying gasoline for one day won't damage profits at all. It just means Americans will fill up their gas guzzlers the day before or after, thereby ensuring that profits remain stable. 2) The idea itself assumes that we're stupid enough to believe that we, a nation of perpetual consumers, will have any impact on anything by changing habits for one day.

This is like just about every other American idea - fix it quick'n'easy. The only way to make a real dent in the profits of large oil companies is to reduce the total amount of gas consumed, not reduce the short term amount of gas consumed on May 15. In real world terms, what this means is that you should ride a bike, bus or train, or carpool, or go shopping for a more fuel-efficient car. Now that would actually make a difference. For those of you who already are, kudos to you. For any of you driving a vehicle getting less than 20mpg (which is still pretty lousy), get a different car.

'Little Children'

This is my review of Little Children. **Warning, spoiler ahead**

When I left the movie, I was feeling slightly sick and was NOT pleased with the way I had spent my money for the evening. The movie is completely disturbing, and really upsetting in a lot of ways. After a while, I decided that meant that the director and actors did a fantastic job getting their message across because if they hadn't, it wouldn't have been so disturbing.

The basic story is of Sarah, a stay at home mom who used to study literature, and Brad, a stay at home dad whose wife is trying to get him pass the bar exam and finally start working as a lawyer. They meet at a playground, and through a series of meeting and getting to know each other, start an affair. Meanwhile, a man, Ronnie, arrested for indecent exposure to a minor moved back into their neighborhood to live with his mother. His storyline intersects with theirs, but everything hinges on the children.

For Sarah, it's when she finally realizes how much she cares about and loves her daughter, Lucy, and that changes her perspective. For Brad, it's finally feeling alive again after years of marking of time after his mother's death and during his marriage - he's also a dedicated father. For Ronnie, it's trying to manage his 'illness' - aka, the desire for a 10 year old 'girlfriend' - and the steps he takes to control it after his mother's untimely death. For Brad's friend, it's the 13 year old boy he accidentally shot while he was a police officer. For Kathy, Brad's wife, it's the little boy whose father was killed in Iraq and how he and his mother are now dealing with that.

The message of the story, as I saw it, was a combination of "suffer the little children" and "if anyone harms one of these little children, it would be better for him to have a millstone around his neck and then tossed into the sea." I'm also assuming this is where the name comes from. The theme seemed to be how we, as adults, have failed to protect the Little Children, and the price we pay for not doing so. However, the movie ended on a hopeful note and the narrator said that while we can't change the mistakes of the past, we have a choice in what we do in the future.

Overall, brilliant movie, good casting - Kate Winslet is fantastic, has a perfect American accent - and the movie set out to do what it set out to do. But if you do see it, don't buy the popcorn.

I always liked the name 'Anne'

My pirate name is:

Captain Anne Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

part of the fidius.org network

p.s. I find it absolutely hilarious that I saw that anotherkindofnerd had a pirate name quiz on her site after I posted a rant about the drunken pirate picture lady.

Say what?

I just came across this article, '‘Drunken Pirate’ sues school that nixed degree.' It is about a woman who has sued her school for not granting her a teaching degree right before graduation.

The school's reason? She had a picture of herself drinking on her myspace. 'Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states.' How is posting a picture of yourself drinking (the woman is 27, the picture is from 2005, making her well within the legal limit for drinking) contributing to underage drinking? Especially when she's not even a teacher yet, she was simply training to become one?

I realize that it's important to make sure that teachers are held to high moral standards, since we're letting them raise our children while we're busy doing something else. But give me a break - a 25 year college student at a Halloween party, drinking? And this is grounds for refusing to grant a degree? If I were her, I would be suing for a whole lot more than $75,000 in damages.

But, the world is clearly not so bad of a place. After all, if a man shows up drunk to his own wedding, at least the bride knows she'll get a sober groom anyway.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Today I read a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (actually, it's supposed to be all lower case and is 1) a tribute to Sherlock Holmes and 2) shows something about how its narrator sees the world). I read it because one of the classes I assist in is reading it, and parts of it looked funny and interesting. The basic plot line is that a 15 year old, Christopher Boone, with Asperger's Syndrome (a high functioning version of autism) wants to discover the mystery of who killed Wellington, his neighbor's dog.

Parts of it were funny and interesting, and it was such a fascinating read that I read it all in one day. There were times when it was so cute, and the things he did were so crazy that they were absolutely hilarious. There were a couple times that I had to stop myself from laughing out loud.

By the end, though, I didn't want to laugh anymore. It wasn't funny. Not at all. In fact, I started crying on the train. One of the functions of Asperger's, and autism in general, is that people with the disorder don't understand human emotion like regular people do. Christopher can understand the meaning of happy, sad, frightened, and safe, but not much else. This is why he likes dogs and cares about Wellington's death - dogs too, only understand these basic emotions, and most importantly, they can't lie since they don't talk. His therapist, Siobhan, tries to teach him how to follow what people mean (since people rarely say what they mean or mean what they say) when they speak, and it's heartbreaking to read about his struggles.

The part that made me cry was his relationship with his parents, especially with his father. Without revealing too much, since you really should read the book - it's absolutely fabulous - the lack of ability to connect emotionally leaves Christopher completely at a loss to understand or appreciate his father's point of view. The book was so well written, I could just about feel the way that Christopher's actions would have been like a knife to the heart that didn't stay put but kept sawing back and forth. Christopher, of course, has no idea of the pain he's caused his father because he doesn't see the world in at all the same way.

It gave me a tiny, tiny window into what parents with autistic children must go through every single day. To have a child, a child you love more than anyone or anything else in the world, be completely incapable of returning that affection would be the most horrible thing in the world that I could ever think of. They all have my deepest respect.

All in all, it was a brilliantly written book, and I disagree with the reviewers on amazon.de who said that the second half of the book trailed off. The second half of the book is when you begin to see how difficult Christopher's understanding of the world is for his parents to cope with. This is when you get out of the "fun" and the "mystery" part of the book and finally see how this child's unique abilities are both a blessing and a curse for the two people who love him most. When you have time, go read it.