While walking today, I had one of my hands in my pocket, where I had a cold thing of grape juice (Mmmm... grape juice.. my favourite drink).. The cold of my left hand felt different than the cold of my other hand out in the air.. the right felt somehow more harsh, although it was just as cold. Perhaps, in retrospect, it was the wind, although at the time it reminded me of something I heard about exposure to cold, dry air creating a visual effect of aging, over time. The thought, in sum, was that people living in cold climes tend to age faster, skinwise, than in warmer places.. Whether this is true, I'm not sure -- the memory is too faint.

I dropped my bike off at the bike place again, and asked them to give it as much fixing as they could. It'll apparently be close to $100 to get everything fixed.. but it's a good bike, I'm used to it, and according to them, replacing it with an equivalent bike would be about $250. It'll be done on Wednesday..

So, I'm now registered as a Democrat, or at least will be when the snails finish their duty. When I was younger, I once had a conversation with a friend. At that age, I knew nothing of politics, and didn't even know what party my parents associated with... and at school, we were holding mock elections. So, a young Pat and a young Melissa, in elementary school, were having a very cute discussion.. she knew her parents were Democrats, and I guessed, based on zero knowledge, that I might be one too. "Who wants a Vice President with the name of Bush?", we quipped. I was disappointed when I got home and asked what party we were (my parents, at the time, said that they were Republicans, although I was too young to take a position), and the next day, when talking with her, I said "I found out that my family's Republicans.. but hopefully we can still be friends?". I still am amused at that memory...

So, the appeal of Dean... Why does the idea of him being president give me warm fuzzies? Is it simply by contrast to the idiot at the helm now (pbuh)? No, I don't think so -- the idea of an intelligent Republican at the helm, like Dole, would certainly be a step forward, but I don't think Dole could excite me (stop snickering) as much as Dean.. neither of them are religious freaks (unlike Lieberman, whom I loathe almost as much as BushJr), but Dean's not likely to bow to them in any fashion. We know Dean's appreciative of gays, and we also know that Dean has made a life for himself outside of politics. The guy's gone through med school, something really worthy of respect -- doctors and academes, like lawyers, are people who've proven themselves intellectually, and unlike the latter, in a way that's considerably more noble. I know there are plenty of other ways to prove oneself, but the fact remains that most of our politicians are people who are after the money and have the integrity of a businessman. Dean also has passion.. he gets angry, and there's something honest in that. He has his sights on BushJr, and I hope he manages to undo all the damage the bastard has done if he wins the presidency. Yes, I know he very likely won't, but one can hope, eh? If I had a choice to have a 100% guarantee that Dean would win the presidency if I were to voluntarily reduce my salary by $10k, I'd do it. I realize that this very likely will be the most I ever care about a particular election, or a particular candidate..

After getting the registration form from the lady in Shadyside, I went into the other, new Coffee Tree down there. Impressions? It's very big, and has a slightly bigger variety in food, and the plugs are much more plentiful.. unfortunately, it's hard to find a place to sit -- despite it being at least as three times the size of the Squirrel Hill one, there are not nearly enough tables. In a way, I guess it's analogous to the communities in which they reside -- Squirrel Hill is cozy, small, and not as commercial. Shadyside is very commercial, and does its best to give an air of luxury, but somehow it doesn't seem to be human-sized, and so it's not very natural feeling. Following the metaphor, a theoretical Oakland Coffee Tree would be dumpy, crowded, and smoky, close to the street, letting in the cold and noise.

Here's an article about complaints over the display of the Enola Gay in a museum without any of the negative context. Personally, I'm of the opinion that it should not be displayed at all -- its dropping was an unparalleled atrocity, it's development a bloody shame, its use a mark of shame for the United States.

Here's an interesting take on zoning laws, suggesting that in practice, they end up creating sprawl. In fact, looking at the place where I did much of my growing up, Brecksville, I can see a lot to complain about. It was practically impossible to get anything by going on foot -- cars were made absolutely necessary by the design of the town. The housing area I lived in certainly was quiet, but it was also sterile.. people didn't walk to get anywhere. One of the great things about Pittsburgh, at least where I am in it, is that I really can (and do) bike or walk almost everywhere. I didn't use my car today. I didn't use it yesterday. I'm actually not sure when I last used it -- it might've been last wednesday, so I could quickly get from the Zets Pizza night place to the movies afterwards. If I had wanted to, I could've eliminated that usage too. That's the mark of good community design. Was it possible in Columbus? Sort of, but not as easy. If zoning laws are, in fact, aiming to seperate areas of function from each other, aiming to produce a Brecksville, then I agree with the author that they're a bad thing.

I happened upon a really really cool site while looking at that -- it pokes fun at really ugly architecture, once a month. I'm adding it to my "Often Visited" section of my bookmarks..

Freed from strong church control, religion evolves rapidly. That's pretty entertaining.

Businesses worry about China versus Taiwan... but "believe that in the end, money, not missiles, will rule". MONEY versus MISSLES. Yeah, it's good we have our priorities straight. Hey, asshole money-fetish greedy bastards, why don't you come speak to a few Taiwanese and Chinese people I can gather, and then let them talk to you about their families and friends over there who might be killed, as soldiers or as civilians, in a war. You need a lesson in priorities.