welcome to downtown coolsville

Ages ago, someone on my flist posted a link to a site full of pictures of heavily tattooed people in casual wear next to pictures of the same people in their work clothes. I can't remember the name- Corporate Ink? Ink Inc?- but Google ain't giving me shit. Anyone have the URL?

Questions for... well, everyone, I guess:

1) How big is the gap between Asperger's Syndrome and high-functioning autism? (From what I understand the two overlap a lot. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

2) What is the Baptist Church's official stance re:stigmata? (Any info about the Baptist Church would be useful, actually- I know very little about it.)

3) What does it feel like to have a nosebleed? (I've never had one.)

4) How do you know when "coffee" is not just coffee but coffee? (Because I just made plans to go for coffee with a friend, but I think said friend may be under the impression that these plans are for coffee instead of coffee. And, um, that could be problematic!)

5) How much does Thomas Hobbes suck? (Like, a lot, right?)

This list brought to you by the Gerald Doesn't Wanna Finish Hir Philosophy Paper Wildlife Fund.

ETA: From the essay I am currently writing on Hobbes' theory of the state of nature:

"Hobbes would have us believe that people tend not to murder their children because of the power of law and the state, but this is nonsense: anyone who has ever been in the same room with a fussy baby for more than ten minutes is sure to wonder why its parents do not simply drop it into the nearest lake and tell the authorities that dingoes ate it."

I don't even care if I am grossly misrepresenting Hobbes here,* I am not cutting that sentence.

* I am, but only because I don't like him.

( Longquiz is long. )

ANYWAY. What I really logged in to ask: can anyone rec any rock/metal-esque bands who play (or are influenced by) traditional Celtic music? I ask in the name of NaNoWriMo SCIENCE!

(Extra imaginary Internet points if a fiddle is involved.)

On the last day of 2008 I went for a drive with my sister and my father. She had a camera, I had a pen, and he had the wheel of the car.

It was a snowy day. We slipped when we walked.

There's a place called Cape Spear where you can stand on the rocks and look out across the ocean and see England if you squint. There was a high wind and spiders sleeping under the lighthouse, dreaming of summer. The fog was too thick to see the gulls, but we could hear a helicopter miles out to sea. It was a lonely happy sort of place, the kind of place that makes you want to jump off the rocks and turn into a bird.

When we got back into the car we smelt like salt and pollen and lights at night.

I tried to capture the feel of it when I was choosing songs to drive to. I don't know how well I did, though.

U2- Running To Stand Still
Joel Plaskett- Love This Town
The Arcade Fire- Keep The Car Running
Basia Bulat- I Was A Daughter
De Capulet- The Paradigm
The Decemberists- Engine Driver
Wintersleep- Jaws Of Life
Stars- Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
The Killers- Read My Mind
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Cheated Hearts
Death Cab For Cutie- The Sound Of Settling
Tracy Chapman- Fast Cars
The Used- On My Own
Leonard Cohen- Suzanne
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Wolf Parade- Shine A Light

Later that night Older Sister and I wandered into a sketchy bar with a man playing folk songs and "Drunk Girl" on the jukebox, where they gave us free champagne as the year changed.

Goodbye, 2008. I'm not gonna fucking miss you.

Some things that make me happy right now:

This brilliant insight in John Mayer's songwriting process. I've kind of hated John Mayer ever since that fucking "Daughters" song, but it turns out he's kind of funny! And self-deprecating! "If I can't get the girl why don't I just tell her I'm John Mayer?"

This All-American Rejects sea shanty cover of "Womanizer."

Sir Terrence of Pratchett. :}

The Making Of "America's Suitehearts." Cassadee continues to charm the bejeesus out of me.

iamsupernova's Suicide Girls picspam. (Not safe for work for reasons of boobies.)

The fact that baby platypi are called "puggles."

Also, I'm about forty pages into House of Leaves and I already want to write something just like it.

(Random question: Does anyone have any pictures of crows, especially sketches/cartoons/paintings/etc? My Google-fu is sadly lacking tonight.)

... is this tiny baby in footie pajamas laughing so hard he falls over.



TIIIIIIIIIIINY BABY. *seal clap*

No, Ma, I swear I'm childfree! Really!

What is making you grin like a doofus right now, flist?

Three questions.

1) Assume you're making two mix tapes, one themed "Winter" and one themed "Women and Robots." Theoretically, what songs would you put on each?

2) I've noticed that when a lot of Americans on the left side of the spectrum rant about American politics, they tend to preface everything that they say with "I love America, BUT..." or something along those lines. I've noticed far fewer Canadians doing this- maybe because we normally don't express much feeling for our country at all other than mild exasperation. Is this a nationalist thing, or do you just honestly love your country way more than the rest of the world loves theirs?

3) Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sam from Garden State, and Gretchen from Donnie Darko. Shag, Marry, Push Off A Cliff?

(This applies only to the people on my flist who like girls, of course. The rest of you... um, Watch A Movie, Go To Disneyworld, Punch In The Face?)