no. 97 - The Haitian Earthquake

If you are looking for a way to help with relief efforts in Haiti, I suggest considering Partners in Health. They have a long and established history of providing aid in Haiti.

You may donate to their cause HERE

Or you may send your donations directly to:

Partners in Health
P.O. Box 845578
Boston, MA 02284-5578

no. 96 The Demon of Forsaken Resolution.

It's January two. Has this demon reached you yet?

no. 95 - Tattoos

Permanent, bad art on your body.

This sums up my problem with tattoos. They are ugly. They are permanent. The permanence muliplies the aesthetic offenses. More often than not the art of the tattoo resembles the restless doodles of a sullen but talented junior high school boy. What is impressive in an 8 graders notebook is not so impressive when engraved in the skin.

They are bought on a whim and they remain forever.

In most cases they become objects of regret. I knew this when I was twenty and I warned my friends against them. I am even more sure of it now having watched an entire generation get "inked."

I have never understood the appeal.

A few friends have tattoos I do understand. They have them as talismans or reminders, and their meaning and permanence intertwine. But these are the rare cases.

Most tattoos are picked from a book or a Google search and inscribed by artists whose best qualities are their ability to copy a picture onto a fleshy hide and to not judge your decision to put something like this on your body forever:





But maybe the problem is me. Perhaps I lack a commitment to that kind of art.

no. 94 - The Miss California USA organization

That Carrie Prejean has failed to repay her boob loan is only half as bad as the fact that "officials" at the Miss California made a boob loan.

At least it is clear what they perceive as the competitive qualities of a Miss California contestant.

no. 93 - Broad Daylight

Nothing good ever happens in Broad Daylight. No one every tells you about the lovely picnic they had in Broad Daylight. (Unless brazen youths stole the food). There are no tales of parades in broad daylight, unless they are full of Nazis. (Nazis, marching down our little street, in Broad Daylight!)

The things that happen in broad daylight are street attacks, rapes, abductions and murders.

Look at this list of 10 things that happened recently in Broad Daylight:

• Shooting near a kids' dance studio in Vancouver
• Brazen sex trade in Detroit
  
• Jogger attacked in Scotland
  
• Police shootout in the Philippines
  
• Magritte painting stolen in Brussels
• Woman mugged in Duluth
• Armed robbery and shootout in Manila
• Men in Mexico kidnapped from their homes
• Two police officers shot down in Rio de Janeiro
  
• Attempted robbery just outside Boston
  

ALL in Broad Daylight!!

Obviously the problem is international. Broad Daylight emboldens criminals. There is something dangerous about this peculiar kind of sunny. The weather service really needs to get on this. If there is even a 10% chance of Broad Daylight in my area, I would like to be warned.