My new incense stand is working out very well. I think I'm going to be using a lot more incense in the future.

I have a pair of strange dreams that I'm just going to record here for myself. One is ... weird in a possibly sensitive way, the other is .. different. Sorry.

Yesterday, on the way back from Coffee Tree, I, as usual, stopped to check my pulse, blood pressure, and weight on the public machines. The machine now claims that my weight is 154 pounds. This is strange, but I suspect that the machine isn't working quite right -- a few weeks ago it thought I was 180. Then again, using someone else's scale showered me at 160 about a week ago. I think what I really should conclude is that I have no idea what the heck I weigh right now, but if consensus of 2 independent scales means anything, I'm probably closer to 160 than 180. My new scale should be waiting for me at work tomorrow, I think. I guess maybe it might be that depending on how much water I've had, when I've eaten, and last used the restroom, maybe my weight really can vary significantly, but 25 pounds seems a bit much. Chances are good that I'll put my weight readings on my BLOG, and will do them daily, just for laughs. Why not? :)

Dubin is thinking, perhaps jokingly, about gathering a few of old friends together bacn in Cowtown for a grand political debate, and is trying to balance right and left in this (theoretical?) meeting. Marf is amused that I now might be called leftist.

At the risk of terrible lameness, I am preparing to clear the spare partition on my laptop and put Windows on it because I want to try out Second-Life. Yes, Eric, you've convinced me to give it a try. It may be that my laptop's video card isn't good enough, in which case Windows will be swiftly removed.

• sigh* So much for purity.

I'm reading "Secret Origins of the Bible", which is a slightly popularized version of the traditional biblical scholarship, attempting to understand how Judaism came out of its parent religions through textual analysis and historical information. It's interesting, but I have a tough time accepting arguments on post-facto data. That's the nature of history though, and the story he paints seems more plausible than Judaism being invented without such influences, I just wonder how much the details can be trusted.