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The Evolving Word is designed for three purposes: miscellaneous rambling (a token gesture, as there are a million sites designed for this), my creative publishing, and thoughts and news on words -- origins, differences, anomalies, etc.
Enjoy it, or not; comment, or not; but do not ignore it. Or ignore it. Whatever.
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The EvolvingWord Multimedia Links Page
Due to popular demand (or my own crazy internal logic), I have created a page that links to all stories with multimedia content. This is done specifically because the Honda Ad, Cog, has been the most popular article yet. For one stop access to all multimedia-related stories, click here.
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MVFF Part 2
Posted by joel on Tuesday, October 11 @ 01:11 PM PST (1235 reads)
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Last year I made a promise to review every movie that I saw at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Based on my utter failure to do that, I make no such promises this year.
I do, however, want to share some thoughts about some of the movies I have seen this year.
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I Own a Mac
Posted by joel on Tuesday, October 04 @ 10:21 PM PST (1165 reads)
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I almost categorized this under "Politics", since that is how heated the whole Mac vs. PC debate can get. If you think that you have ever been caught in the middle of a deathmatch, afraid for your own life, try joining me as I discuss this issue with teachers, in almost any school district.
You'd think that the prospect of a resolution to this issue rivals "peace", "ending starvation", "curing AIDS" as worldwide focus topics go.
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Musings
Posted by joel on Monday, October 03 @ 09:55 PM PST (1172 reads)
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It seems almost a waste of valuable Internet bandwidth to write this, but I am going to anyway:
Having a kid changes things.
We haven't had our child yet, being only at the halfway point right now, but I can sense one palpable change already: The majority of our conversations seem to revolve around this unknown child. We expected that, of course. I can't imagine bringing a child into this world without obsessing over every little thing. We try to make the world perfect for our children, and that takes a lot of effort.
So things are changing, and it is an interesting thing to participate in.
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HELLO? Hello? hello?
Posted by joel on Tuesday, September 27 @ 10:31 PM PST (1254 reads)
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It really seems like I should post something here.
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That Didn't Last Very Long
Posted by joel on Tuesday, October 19 @ 10:00 PM PST (1530 reads)
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It was just over a week ago when I had idealistic notions that I could separately review each movie that I went and saw at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I jumped right into a review of the 5@5 from two Fridays ago and added a quick review of Friday Night Lights, which I saw outside the fesitval. Then time just went all crazy on me.
I have seen a large number of movies, some long and some short, and I really have no ability to spend time reviewing each one separately. So instead I am going to do quick capsule reviews of each short movie and each feature that I have seen so far. If you have any interest at all in the highs and lows of my MVFF experience, read more and see what I think.
Oh, and some of the short movies that I can't remember and might not have been shown are in the program, so I include them in case I remember them later on...
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What Most Of Us Are Thinking
Posted by joel on Saturday, October 16 @ 12:23 AM PST (1457 reads)
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BYOO. Bring Your Own Opinion. You may or may not like Jon Stewart. You may or may not like The Daily Show. You may or may not know about either. If you haven't seen The Daily Show, you are missing out on an opportunity to laugh at the most outrageous aspects of modern politics and news delivery. An unapologetic liberal, Jon Stewart nevertheless seems to be interested in pointing out the "absurdity" of partisan politics. His interviews may be softballs, but as he points out, the show that leads into his is about puppets making crank calls.
And now he has fought back at the media that he mocks on a daily basis. His interview on "Crossfire" earlier today is quickly becoming classic. I have posted it here for the enjoyment of all.
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Friday Night Lights
Posted by joel on Monday, October 11 @ 10:04 AM PST (1609 reads)
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Since I am trying to write about all of the movies that I see at the Mill Valley Film Festival, I thought that I would write about other films that I am seeing during this time. I really shouldn't be seeing much else, since the Festival takes up so much time, but there are always opportunities for extra entertainment and I take advantage of them when possible.
After the 5@5 on Friday night, my wife and I went to see "Friday Night Lights" with a couple of friends. One of those friends used to play high school football in Texas and so had a particularly keen interest in seeing this movie. While we haven't spoken at length about his experience with football in Texas, or about how it is depicted in this movie, I feel like he was able to identify with many of the basic elements that are covered. His experience, along with the little I know about high school football in Texas, assures me that the excitement and awe at the way football is treated in this movie is genuine. And this is what part of the greatness of this movie is made up of.
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Take These Chains From My Heart
Posted by joel on Sunday, October 10 @ 12:00 AM PST (1510 reads)
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Because literally no one is begging me to do this, and because I enjoy meeting the needs of my own made up audience, I would like to throw up some quick reviews of each film that I see at the Mill Valley Film Festival. As much as anything, it gives me the opportunity to remember all of the movies that I saw. That way, when I am old, feeble and delusional, I will have some way of recalling what a crap-fest "Vern" was, or how powerful "Birthday Boy" was.
Read more to see what I thought about last night's fare.
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Religion and politics
Posted by joel on Wednesday, September 29 @ 09:23 AM PST (2919 reads)
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I respect reasoned opinion. I may not always agree with it, but if you make an argument that is well thought out I will respect your right to those opinions and I will fight for you to have those opinions. This is, of course, the beauty of our freedom. Joe Schmoe can believe that a beer bottle is his savior and unless he hurts someone else, we pretty much let him do what he wants. We may laugh at him and call him names, but that is also our right.
There are times, though, that I just don't understand the logic behind an argument. Some opinions seem to masquerade as factual, reasonable dissertations on important topics, while really just an outlet for frustration and anger. When people I respect and love offer up these types of arguments, I have a hard time not offering an opposing viewpoint.
When Jon posted this article on his website, I had to reply. Rather than take up his space with my rebuttal, I figured that I would post it below for your enjoyment. Please feel free to disagree, throw things at me and call me names. That's the stuff that good times are made of.
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11 Days of Movie Bliss
Posted by joel on Wednesday, September 22 @ 09:58 PM PST (1556 reads)
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A good 10 years ago (or more, I really can't remember and don't feel like doing the research), Ontario Mills opened. An outlet mall unlike any before it, it promised to be the hub of shopping activity for the western Inland Empire.
This fact alone explains why I felt the need to move.
That issue unimportant at the moment, alongside the opening of Ontario Mills was a new AMC theater and a new Edwards theater. Literally across the parking lot from each other, one had 30 screens and the other 22. 52 screens of movie nirvana. Until it became clear that not one of those screens would be used for anything unconventional. Every single screen would be used for first-run, wide-release movies, completely shutting out anything independent, anything cutting edge.
So I moved. And now I live in a city that hosts its own international film festival. I went from an area where "culture" meant Krispy Kremes to an area where theater, music and film thrive. While I will discuss the other aspects of living here later, I want to spend a few minutes writing about the Mill Valley Film Festival.
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I Love the Past. It Cracks Me Up.
Posted by joel on Friday, September 17 @ 08:56 AM PST (2028 reads)
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People are great. Just in general -- people are the most inventive and hilarious humans around. If it weren't for people, and their incessant need to live and breathe, this world would be a lot less funny. I am brave enough to say, even if it could be an unpopular opinion, that most of the world's top-rate humor comes from people.
This week's installation of "People -- The Things They Do and The Many Ways We Laugh at Them" includes the tremendous story of "Saddle Men". Don't know what Saddle Men are? Fortunately, you have come to the right place. Read on, intrepid humor-desirer, and be entertained by the sheer brilliance of people.
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All Sorts of Crazy
Posted by joel on Friday, September 10 @ 04:01 PM PST (1638 reads)
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Maybe I deserve it. I haven't posted here in an unacceptably long time, and someone was bound to notice. Many of you are faithful readers, coming back again and again, desperately hoping for some small nugget of wisdom from me. And here I am, high and mighty, thinking that I can withhold these gems without repercussion.
Really, it kind of serves me right. I ignore this place and someone goes off and hacks into it.
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My Wife -- A Pretty Cool Chick
Posted by joel on Thursday, June 24 @ 02:44 PM PST (2945 reads)
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Many of you know my wife. Many of you may not know my wife. I feel bad for the latter, as you would be undoubtedly better off for having known her. Among her many achievements, she is a successful fourth grade teacher who has recently had herself immortalized in the local newspaper.
A dedicated and creative teacher, she instituted a new program at her school for GATE children this year. It combined elements of language learning, career exploration and general knowledge and skill building into a comprehensive program to challenge high achieving students. The culminating event was a mock trial. Students took on various roles and simulated a trial of Hansel and Gretel. Not only did it goes amazingly well, but the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin was there to report on it. You can read the text of the article here, or you can read on to see it here.
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I Can Relate
Posted by joel on Thursday, June 17 @ 05:07 PM PST (1609 reads)
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So I am checking out aintitcool.com when I come across an article about the new contestants of "Last Comic Standing". Having watched most of the first season of this reality show, I took a peak at the information contained within. Much to my surprise, Gary Gulman, a 6'6" Jewish man, had this to say:
"They always say the same thing: 'How tall is the milkman?' At this point I just along with them, 'Yeah, my mom was with the milkman. She only dates guys with professions that no longer exist. That's her thing, yeah. She dated the milkman for a while, before that she was involved with a cobbler. They chimney sweep, chim-chim-cheroo. The town crier, hear ye hear ye. She dated the blacksmith for a fortnight, just a fortnight. She even dated the muffin man; do you know the muffin man?"
If you only knew how hard I laughed when I read that.
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The BIG News (aka Let's Change Things Up a Little)
Posted by joel on Friday, April 16 @ 10:00 PM PST (1633 reads)
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I was born in Los Angeles and spent my first three years on this planet in Glendora. Ontario was my home for nearly seven years, until Alta Loma became my town of residence when I was ten. I moved out when I was 19, living in San Dimas, Irvine, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga and, finally, Upland. My wife and I have been here for somewhere around 3 years.
And now it's time for something completely different.
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That Defining Line and Our Need to Define It
Posted by joel on Friday, April 16 @ 10:00 PM PST (1535 reads)
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While reading through this article about the extinction of language, I stumbled across another fascinating article that relates directly to language and cognition issues that I am currently studying.
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Frontrunner for Quote of the Year
Posted by joel on Friday, March 19 @ 06:00 AM PST (1782 reads)
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I don't comment very often on general news stories, but I couldn't let this one go by.
In a nutshell, a couple watches "The Passion of the Christ", argues, slaps, stabs and generally causes chaos. The sheriff's deputy, though, has the best line in this whole article: "Really, it was kind of a pitiful thing, to go to a movie like that and fight about it. I think they missed the point."
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I Am So Popular
Posted by joel on Tuesday, March 16 @ 10:29 PM PST (1678 reads)
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As the last post acknowledges, I have been away for a while. After posting a few minutes ago, I decided to drop in on my HTTP referrers. These are other websites that people came from to visit my site. I wrote about this in this story, where I described how devious marketers are using these to boost their Google popularity. I hadn't, until recently, noticed some of the absolutely hilarious search terms used to get to this website. Read more to check out some of my favorite.
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All Queued Up and Nowhere To Go
Posted by joel on Tuesday, March 16 @ 10:18 PM PST (1645 reads)
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Yes...another extended break from this website. But for good reason, I swear! More on that later...
One of the problems that I have had is that I end up with a ton of stuff I want to share. I read the stories, save the sites, think the thoughts, and eventually totally miss an opportunity to appear on the forefront of blogging news. Instead I usually read about my interesting finds in other locations, many other locations, and talk myself out of throwing something up here.
Well, no longer...At least, no longer with some of the old stuff. I really can't make any promises about the new stuff that I come across. That being said, read more to get a quick compilation of interesting things...
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Nuthin' Like Kickin' a Man When He's Down
Posted by joel on Thursday, January 22 @ 05:09 PM PST (1669 reads)
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WR Hands Over Money, Jewelry
Do you think his accosters yelled, "Just Give Me the Damn Money (and Jewelry)!" as they robbed him?
(see this book if you don't know what I am talking about)
As I think of other things to say about this, I will document them below.
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Help Me, Obi Von Babel
Posted by joel on Wednesday, January 21 @ 10:13 PM PST (1757 reads)
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From where do the languages and the peoples come? Did it give a Urvolk, an original language or did exist the diversity from the outset? These questions and the search for answers were a component of thinking from humans and world to all times. In this monumental standard work become the substantial positions, which describes tradition chains and lines of development from theology, philosophy, linguistics, history of art and literature, political history and culture history, Ethnologie and geography represented and in their connection. Developed so a universal history of human thinking, which remained in its kind uniquely and to today basis of the research.
Thus goes the Google translation of an Amazon.de (German) description of a book I really, really want in English.
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Pictures of Stuff and Things
Posted by joel on Sunday, January 18 @ 07:05 PM PST (1768 reads)
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After a long delay, I have begun adding more pictures to the Evolving Word Photo Gallery. This place is for both sharing photos of stuff that happens, and for showcasing some of my favorite pictures that we have taken. In the photo gallery, you will find pictures of happenstance and direction, of spontaneity and design. These represent a sliver of our lives and glimpse of our vision.
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Greatest. Prank. Ever.
Posted by joel on Wednesday, January 14 @ 10:03 PM PST (1836 reads)
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I don't need to say much about this story. Read it. Laugh. Thank me later.
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A Little Housekeeping
Posted by joel on Friday, December 12 @ 12:36 PM PST (1666 reads)
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While still 2 months away from the one-year anniversary of The Evolving Word, I decided that it was time to make a change. I had been using one hosting company for the site, but they proved to be unreliable and ill-prepared for the challenges of hosting. After numerous delays, downtime, and other technical glitches, I figured that it was time to switch.
So now I am hosted with midPhase, and I hope to have a much better experience.
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Fun With Numbers
Posted by joel on Friday, December 05 @ 12:13 AM PST (1672 reads)
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I have many fascinations. My library of books is a schizophrenic mess of history, physics, philosophy, linguistics, technology, cryptography, religion, and biographical books, just for beginners. I have treatises on mythology, encyclopedias of angels, essays on cognition and numeracy, and textbooks about filmmaking. Currently, though, my most prized non-fiction possession is an 1100-page tome titled, "Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers"
Why do I read this? That is a great question, and one that I only barely have an answer to.
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Because Some People Are Just Scum
Posted by joel on Monday, November 17 @ 10:36 PM PST (3990 reads)
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This is one for all of you techies out there, and anyone who is interested in the ways that porn profilerates on the Internet.
So I'm checking out my HTTP referrals for this website. These are indications of where visitors came from to visit this site. For example, if you were at The Nickel Arcade and clicked a link to visit this site, I would see an HTTP referral from "www.nickelarcade.net". If you click on the link above to go to the site, Nickel Arcade will now have an HTTP referral from me. Pretty simple, and sometimes pretty cool.
In the hands of pornographers, though, it can be a devious and deceptive tool.
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''Aquafina'' is My Middle Name
Posted by joel on Friday, November 14 @ 10:03 AM PST (2524 reads)
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I have no middle name. A bow to originality, perhaps, by my parents, bestowed upon me a void between the first part of my name, Joel, and the last part, Hames. I have intermittently thought about my lack of a centralized moniker, wishing here and there that I had one. In the end, though, it is somewhat unique and very, very easy to go through life with only 9 letters comprising my entire name.
I did, once, try to come up with middle names that fit. Maybe I was planning on adding one, as my mom once suggested I could do. Or maybe it was just an entertaining exercise. I remember names such as "X", "Hammer", "Long Dong", and "The Supreme Ruler". I remember glottal sounds, whispers and various types of coughs, sneezes and farts as substitutes for a middle name (though I was unsure how to spell any of those last sounds).
What I didn't consider, though, was any of the names in this article.
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The Ringing in My Ears is Vaguely Familiar
Posted by joel on Thursday, November 13 @ 09:56 PM PST (1805 reads)
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Few things bring back memories like the music that accompanied many of the games I played as a kid. Oh sure, talking about old sitcoms like Night Court, remembering the pages of Stephen King books I read when I was 10, the slightly soured smell of perfume from my first girlfriend -- these all bring back memories of one sort or another.
There are, however, a few periods of my life when I dove into video games with a fervor almost unmatched in modern history. Infocom games were my drug and I was their bitch. StarFlight introduced me to more than one sunrise. Pitfall, Demon Attack and Adventure (and maybe River Raid) spoke to me, enticing me to run further, faster and jump higher than ever before.
So when, in my travels, I happened upon this site, I had to stop and spend way too much time browsing around. Below are some of my favorite tunes from this mecca of musical memories.
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| Tuesday, October 21 | | · | Chicken Scratch for my Five-Way |
| Wednesday, October 15 | | · | Cog Missing |
| Monday, October 06 | | · | Wow, Where Have I Been? And What Is This? |
| Saturday, August 30 | | · | Continuance of the Whole Evil Thing... |
| Wednesday, August 20 | | · | Am I Evil Or Not? |
| Wednesday, August 06 | | · | Electronic Crimes Task Force |
| Tuesday, July 29 | | · | Romancing the Rosetta Stone |
| · | The Weblog Review |
| Tuesday, July 22 | | · | Fun With War |
| · | Wha??? Who??? Huh??? Him??? Why??? Oh God, Why??? |
| Monday, July 21 | | · | English?? We Don't Need No Stinkin' English! |
| Friday, July 11 | | · | I Am Howard Dean |
| Tuesday, July 01 | | · | You Can Say Anything and be Better Off Dead While Looking Pretty in Pink |
| Monday, June 23 | | · | Incan Thinkin' |
| Saturday, June 21 | | · | Hey, I've Been Scammed! (Again!) |
| Thursday, June 19 | | · | Do You Have An AMD Dimensional Warp Generator Laying Around? |
| Wednesday, June 18 | | · | It's Over...It's Finally Over |
| · | The Wrong Side of Right |
| Tuesday, June 17 | | · | Action = Thought / Willingness |
| Wednesday, June 11 | | · | Introducing Your Charlotte ... Egos! |
| · | And The Winner Is ... |
| Monday, June 09 | | · | I'll Show You My ''V'' If You Show Me Yours |
| Friday, June 06 | | · | Are You Aimlessly Wandering Though A Pit Of Despair? |
| Wednesday, June 04 | | · | Someone Should Ban The Saying ''Say it Ain't So-Sa!'' |
| · | What's Wrong With The Following Sentence? |
| Tuesday, May 27 | | · | The Best Word Ever |
| Thursday, May 22 | | · | Brunching Shuttlecocks: 1997-2003 |
| Tuesday, May 20 | | · | Is This Your Kid? |
| Monday, May 19 | | · | Hey, I've Been Scammed! |
| Saturday, May 17 | | · | A Little Movie About a Big Bomb |
| · | You Are Being Watched...And Taped...And Edited...And Laughed At |
| · | There's a World Of Movies Out There |
| Friday, May 16 | | · | If You're Bored This Weekend... |
| · | We're Going to Party Like it's 1958...Again |
| Wednesday, May 14 | | · | Cliché Becomes Reality |
| Friday, May 09 | | · | There was NO REASON for you to call my house and yell at my children. Still, A+ |
| Thursday, May 01 | | · | Fodder for Jerry Springer? |
| · | We're Gonna Party Like it's 1958 |
| Wednesday, April 30 | | · | Could a Picture of My Big Toe Win? |
| Friday, April 25 | | · | How Much Does Freedom Cost? |
| Wednesday, April 23 | | · | Tomorrow...Today |
| Thursday, April 17 | | · | Horrific and Hilarious Cat Fun |
| Monday, April 14 | | · | 606 Takes...605 People Gone Insane |
| · | 10,000,000 Cases by August |
| · | Eschewing Popular Opinion |
| Tuesday, April 08 | | · | Things Happen...Even When We Are Not Looking |
| Friday, April 04 | | · | An Easy Way to Lose Your Appetite |
| Wednesday, April 02 | | · | The Language (Part 3) |
| Tuesday, April 01 | | · | The Downside of Mortality |
| · | It's All Just a Bunch of Numbers |
Older Articles
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