I spent all last week reading about the degradation of the earth...Global warming, acidic oceans, bacteria blooms, Amazonian Rainforest draughts, etc. I was pretty depressed thinking about the hard times ahead.

Then a bunch of my friends take El Stu to Las Vegas for his bachelor party...we saw boobies and tons of rich people (and/or the people wanna be rich) and walked through all these faux opulent palaces all swarming with activity...the air thrumming with commerce, sex and desert heat.

I was standing in the buffet line at Treasure Island when I turned to Frito and said (only half seriously), "It's gonna be SO awesome when god destroys this place!"

matildaben and I had brunch at a restaurant that serves southern food, and features breakfast all day. When we were leaving, I saw this large-ish woman eating a dish that seemed to be a mountain of potatoes and cheese, mostly. She was in a wheelchair. I thought, "That can't be good for someone who doesn't move around a lot," and felt intensely sad when I realized good food was probably one of the few physical pleasures this woman still has.

The new song by Five For Fighting called "The Riddle" makes me cry every time I hear it. I don't know why.