well, i went to the national zoo earlier today to try to knock off the baby cheetahs. not knock them off in a big game hunter type sense, but, you know, to check 'em out, ooh and ahh, and leave all happy and full of cuddly fuzzies. but it pains me to report that the national zoo is A BUNCH OF FUCKING LIARS. though their web site promises the babies will be on view every day from 8 a.m. till 1 p.m., today that was not the case, and i was only able to see the older batch of cheetah kids after having pushed my way through 23 million screaming children, perhaps knocking a few over in the process. oh well. i'm going to consider it crossed off anyways. i saw the last group of baby cheetahs when they were still tiny and fuzzy and squishy, and i spend enough time watching the baby cheetah cam that i think i can call it done. if you're interested, you can see a batch of photos from my trip to the zoo a few months ago here.

i wanted to stay longer at the zoo, but after seeing the papa panda and a few other close by exhibits, i hightailed it to the starbucks across the street, got a drink, and sat outside in the gorgeous weather for an hour or two reading my current book, the historian. it's really good so far - it mixes mythology, history, travelogues, and totally awesome vampires together in a lovely, suspenseful mix. hopefully i'll write a real review of it when i finish.

A new sleep wonder drug is making headlines after significantly improving the performance of sleep-deprived monkeys.

Color me unimpressed. Any number of stimulants can accomplish the same feat. The authors dismiss the equivalency of existing drugs by noting that caffeine and its compatriots

"...may be limited due to their potential for addiction and/or their potent stimulant actions, which can distort cognitive and sensory processes at doses required to counteract the effects of sleep deprivation."

But of course you can't ask a monkey whether the drug you just administered made him feel spaced-out. And despite its specific inclusion in the list that precedes this quote, Modafinil/Provigil is well-known for not producing any of those effects.

So basically we've got a novel stimulant that may offer advantages over existing drugs — but we don't really know that yet. I've got to say, the way the pop-science press chooses stories completely mystifies me.

no, matt yglesias is not a particularly sweaty man. this picture was taken after i, horror....threw a cup of water at him. no doubt he had said something VERY objectionable at susan's going away party, as any social gathering where susan and i are at lately turn into a raging, screaming debate about women, men, and why men are retards, but really. catherine. i have NEVER done something like that before. i mean, i hit a lot, and yell, but throwing water had, up until this point, been a line of incivility that i had not dared cross. oh well, too late now. actually, this could serve me well. i've always wanted to throw an alcoholic drink in a man's face after he does something particularly rude, and i think the water-throwing incident may help me gain courage towards that end. now i just need a particularly rude man to say something terrible to me in a bar where i am drinking a martini.

anyway, yes, we were at susan's going away party, and it pains me to write it, but she heads off to the wilds of georgia (republic thereof) tomorrow. the authors of this blog had thought about writing some sort of tribute to her awesomeness, but the inarticulateness sure to accompany it wouldn't have done her justice. but you should all know that if you haven't known susan, your life is probably lacking. we'll miss you, dear. make 'em eat shit and die in georgia!

The novelty's worn off, guys. I get that your boss will give you a better evaluation if your list of Q1 accomplishments includes "viral", "blog" and other words he wishes he understood, but this is getting ridiculous. Vis: Microsoft's latest website, which implies that something will be happening on September 27 at noon. Nobody thinks the Xbox360 will be out before November, so this is probably an announcement of a pending announcement. A metannouncement. Aren't you glad you paid attention to it?

In other XB2π news, you might have heard that two flavors will be offered -- one for $299 and one for $399. The pricier bundle comes with a removable 20GB hard drive, a wireless controller, a headset, and a bunch of cables and other unexciting shit. Disappointing, and irritating, but I'll cave: the nerds are worried that the system will be neutered without the hard drive (there'll be no backward-compatibility without it, for one thing). The most irritating part? Larger capacity drives will no doubt soon be released (and bought by me, should a modchip be developed). The smart money's also on some clip-on MP3 hardware turning this into a portable player.

IGN's got a story up that attempts to take the sting out of the gouging. Here's the only important part: a chart showing past console launch prices, adjusted into 2005 dollars.

i'm a-getting the list a-started. and stuff. to do today: see the baby cheetahs at the zoo. to do wednesday: grab a cocktail with sommer (and anyone else who is so inclined?) at the hay adams. thursday or friday: head down to georgetown, probably on a run, do a climb on the exorcist stairs, collapse in sweaty heap. saturday morning, i might try to go to eastern market, but yall know what is saturday night: ME. and my party, that is. the going away one. you best be there. it'll get started around 9 or 10.

anyway, if i get all that accomplished this week, what i have left is: the byzantine monastery in NE, watching planes at gravelly point, and getting drunk by 6 pm at the 25 cent beer happy hour at asylum. if at any point you want to join up in the demolition of the list, let me know.

christ. i never thought i'd see the day where i wasn't annoyed by a "guerilla marketing" campaign. but apparently, that day has come.