It probably doesn't help to preface this post with a tale of running crying to our webhost's helpdesk — but still, last night's happy hour represented a new frontier in personal geekiness.

"So," says Jeff, "I'd kind of like to see the first season of The Wire."

Well, my good friend, allow me to ignore you and start playing with my cell phone. I'll browse to the pirate bay, find and copy a torrent link to the clipboard, SSH to the server at home, wget the .torrent to the directory that Azureus checks every 15 seconds and BANG! It's sort of like I've accomplished something. The illusion is nearly almost convincing.

This is some kind of threshold. I know things probably can get nerdier, but I'm not yet sure exactly how. Hopefully I'll figure it out before I apply for this.

ALSO: It turns out that Movable Type 3.2 chokes on entries that include the word "wget". Which is pretty stupid, if you ask me.

That was a scary five minutes.

These are pictures from the open house tour that took place in my neighborhood. Q: What do these smiling middle-aged WASPs have in common? A: They are all in a much higher economic bracket than I am.

I thought I was the one who was supposed to be doing the gentrifying, goddammit.

BAH!: Movable Type seems to be broken for some reason. I didn't do nothin! Trouble ticket submitted, etc. Hopefully I can at least post this update.

UPDATE: Yes. Yes I can. No new entries, though.

You're Virginia!
Part of the old school, you like both historical sites and crazy amusement parks. You like saying the word Commonwealth but couldn't really explain the concept or how it applies to your life. You like five-sided shapes, five-cent pieces, and possibly anything else having to do with the number five. Every now and then, you discard chaff from yourself that you just don't feel you need. And since you've been wondering... yes, there is a Santa Claus.
Take the State Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

if tommy, descended straight from general lee himself, takes this quiz and doesn't get virginia, robert e. is going to be rolling over in his grave.

yes another post about the fucking panda i'm sorry but what do you expect when i'm sitting around all day with nothing to do except watch the fucking cam oh my god i need to get out of the house

check out this excerpt from a washingtonian buzz column:

We waited in line outside the zoo’s panda exhibit while the 11:20 group went in. Some kids, but mostly adults—like the journalist from Beijing who said he’d report back home that the pandas were being well taken care of, or the woman who said she’d become so addicted to Animal Planet’s pandacam that it was interfering with her work, or the blonde in a black butterstick T-shirt, the ones for sale at several gift shops around the zoo where you can buy all things panda.

black butterstick t-shirt?

is somebody selling counterfeit butterstick tees??

you know what? i have to give nip/tuck a hand. it has somehow done the impossible: made me obsessed with its plotline even though i have never actually seen a single episode of the show. the buzz surrounding this season's events was unavoidable, and when i hung out with my little brother over thanksgiving, he gave me the run down on all the happenings so that i now somehow now most of the characters, their dalliances, the deal with the carver, etc. the runup to last night's season finale had me all atwitter: what would happen to kimber? could the carver really be quentin, as obvious a choice as that was? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME THAT I WAS SCOURING THE NET FOR INFO EVEN THOUGH I'VE SEEN MORE EPISODES OF SANDRA LEE'S SEMI-HOMEMADE THAN NIP/TUCK and sandra lee makes me want to kill myself? where are my priorities? and is julian mcmahon scorching hot or what?

anyhoo, i've been thinking about asking for the first couple of seasons worth of dvds for christmas. will i love it? will i hate it? will i lock myself in my apartment for two weeks watching it, eating nothing besides kraft singles and oatmeal because that's all i've got in my kitchen back in chicago? inquiring minds (aka mine) want to know.