Words Are Weapons
A post I began last night before beig so rudely interupted by a busted wireless connection (I really am looking forward to reconfiguring our computer arrangements as we begin the migration south to the new house). A re-install and reboot later, all is well but the post was vaporized in the melee.
I will attempt to recapture it and add in some of the latest news I've just learned.

Words are weapons. They're the balm by which the sting of insults can be soothed away. Words are power. Words evoke memories. They can be scathing and raw. Words can cut straight to the bone faster than any blade. Words can generate actions far beyond their power. Words are weapons but they can be either laser guided sniper bullets or they can be clumsy neighborhood levelling MOAB's (that's Bush speak for Mother of All Bombs, the Iraqi superstar shock and awe bombs). Words, when used precisely, can generate a clear picture, can lead a mind through a story and can resolve mysteries.

But too often, words are used without any guidance whatsoever. When people speak, they lay their words out end to end with little regard for the precision, the syntax of their thoughts. The thoughts are jumbld and unclear, the intent is blotted out, the meaning smeared and the image is blurry and without strong meaning.

When words are used properly, they convey everything that needs to be conveyed and leave out those parts that are inessential. Picking your words carefully does many things. Among them, it makes you a more clear speaker because you're measuring your responses, because you're working through a definite response. Precision in the use of words results in stronger arguments (not the kicking and screaming kind but the philosophical argument where two people engage in a discussion of the merits of two sides of a debate which does not, generally, entail kicking and screaming).

The addition that I've just found out this morning is the swan song for one of my newer and favorite blogs, illmatic. Kat is shutting the doors on this most excellent and often laugh out loud blog of hers. Her reasons are certainly valid, she's concerned about hurting people she knows and she's concerned about disclosing information that she would rather share with strangers than the involved parties. There is always that fear that a family member will stumble across the blog and find out all manner of terrible thing that their sibling or child has been up to. In some ways there is a similarity between illmatic's demise and what Sedalina did to her blog a few months ago, she sanitized it of distinquishing marks because she had a real fear that someone in her company would find the blog and ream her on it. Or, her housemates might find it and freak because they were regular features of her writing. Its a real fear and one that I've dealt with myself. But my family already knows about my blog, my wife read my blog before we ever met in person and my friends know and understand that this space is mine, for me. Getting upset with me about my blog is like getting angry with me because my eyes are green (or blue or hazel, depending on my mood), its fruitless. And sometimes, my blog has been a reason for my mom to write me an email to check in and make sure that things are okay.

So, Kat, you will be missed, hon. You were damned good and I fully expect you to use your superpowers to write the Great White Northern Novel. At the very least, you could do guest spots on all of your friend's blogs. That would be kind of cool, like a travelling circus almost.

And to the rest of the world, remember that your words are powerful. Use them with discretion. Carelessly formed sentences are like walking around blindly shooting a gun into the darkness, eventually you're gonna hit something you wish you hadn't. Use your words carefully and they'll be your strongest allies against the ever growing forces of darkness and evil.

Morning Drive Observation
There are people out there on the roads right now that believe that they are just too cool for words (the acronym is TCFW). One guy I saw this morning was too cool for stop signs. Anyone who's been to Santa Cruz knows the roads and knows that there are some pretty stupid and poorly designed intersections. One is on the far side of the bridge leading into downtown. I saw a latino dude in his Camaro or Firebird just drive right on through like it wasn't there. And its a good thing he was lucky enough to not hit a biker coming from a side street. The blatant disregard for the safety of others is reason enough to follow this idiot and report him to the cops. But, as I was going the other way, I will have to rely on the karmic and cosmic scales of justice to catch him. I just hope he doesn't kill anyone in the meantime.

Today's Health Tip from iWon
Tea and Sympathy
Here's the hot tip on how to lose weight without a heavy-duty program of diet and exercise.
Take a cup of green tea with hot pepper.

Two studies prove this theory.

In the first, done by the Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory of Laval University in Quebec, Canada, researchers found that eating a teaspoonful of hot pepper before meals reduced the amount people ate. And the hot pepper seemed to have an effect on the nervous system so that the people not only ate less, but also used more energy.

As for the green tea, the department of physiology at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, reported that if you drink three cups of green tea a day, you'll burn more fat.

Bad Web Sites
There's nothing that makes a website suck more than having a very poorly designed and executed search engine. Internet.com is a great site with awesome content but their search engine sucks ass. Search and sort by date and it starts with the oldest articles? WTF? Search for my company and it kicks back all kinds of articles that have neither term I was searching for in them? WTF? Why are they wasting my motha-fuckin' time?