Troubletown's E-Z Guide to Today's Economy seems accurate, and is a perfect encapsulation of the economic reasons why fleeing this country might be a good idea. (I'm still looking for a nice encapsulation of the cultural reasons getting the hell out sounds like a better idea all the time...)

[spotted at Robot Wisdom. Wanna learn more? Read this from Molly Ivins.]

Also recently spotted in my neighborhood. (Click to embiggen.)

Recently spotted in my neighborhood. (Click to embiggen.)

Just a couple hours ago, I got out of the shower and stumbled into my bedroom to discover that for the third time in as many weeks, my 15-month old cat had pissed all over the recently-vacated bed. Frown. Perhaps she's trying to tell me something. Perhaps she's trying to say, "No, look, stay home and do laundry. Don't go in to work. You know you don't want to go."

Yeah, perhaps that's it. Because now, here I am at work, and I cannot think of a worse place on the entire planet to be on this beautiful July day.

This has been making the rounds the last couple of days, but perhaps you have not seen it: La Pâte à Son is an amazing, goofy, wack-ass music making machine that will gobble up a whole bunch of your time if you're not careful. (Shockwave required.)

A coupla weeks back, the new SFGate CultureBlog had a little writeup on a book called PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. They offered a snippet that got me intrigued. A sample:

Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment you wake up. Through some magic you don't fully understand, you're still breathing and your heart is beating, even though you've been unconscious for many hours. The air is a mix of gases that's just right for your body's needs, as it was before you fell asleep. more...

The English translation offered at this Russian news site ain't exactly perfect. Excellent.

Drunk man has tried to scuffle with a bear in a zoo in Ukraine and has been heavily hit. . . . [The man] decided to show his force, jumped over the gate and started to pretend a trainer. In response, the bear weighing 270 kilograms [595 pounds] seriously hit the man. more...

[Spotted at Fark. Blurry bear photo from PDPhoto.org. Thank you for visiting mahnamahna.net, where we do the wacky measurement conversions for you.]

Animal experts in Croatia say a bear has learned how to trick people to let him in by knocking at the door. They believe the 35-stone [490-pound] brown bear probably learned the trick while nudging a door to get it to open. more...

[spotted at Follow Me Here; previous Bears In the News: here and here]

Here we have a list of the "10 Things Every Single Man Must Own." Far be it from me to use this as a checklist, but I'm amused to discover that though I seem to have the "right" ideas, I'm more frugal than I "should" be:

1. A top-notch coffee/espresso maker. They suggest a $230 Delonghi. I've got a nice Krups that cost me less than half that, and which I consider to be as close to top-notch as any residential coffee/espresso maker need be, despite its lack of stainless steel. Check.
2. A lamp in your bedroom. Check. How else would a civilized person read in bed?
3. Swiffer Sweeper + Swiffer Cloths + Swiffer Wet Cloths. Check, check, and check.
4. A comfortable couch. No. This I do not have. My couch is too small to be truly comfortable, but that's all the room will fit, so that's that, for now.
5. Nice underwear. Check. No further comment.
6. A key-ring that can fix, cut, and open anything. They suggest a Leatherman Micra, and I have to admit that thing looks pretty damned sweet, but I am fond of my smaller, simpler Swiss-Teck Utili-Key. It's saved my butt more than once. Check.
7. $150+ jeans. Not $150, no. But I have spent three figures on a pair of jeans, and it was worth it.
8. $200+ dress shoes. Again, no. I have nice dress shoes, but they didn't have the inflated price tag that would make me a true winner.
9. 300-thread-count cotton sheets. No. But I did buy a new down comforter just yesterday. The bed gets the attention it needs.
10. The Joy of Cooking. Yes. A copy liberated from my ex! Check.

[There's also 10 Things Every Single Girl Should Own. Spotted at the J-Walk Blog.]

...but there will be new wisdom posts. And other sorts of posts as well. Yes, new posts here. Sometimes blogs stall, as this one has. I have some ideas about why, but those will be the subject of another post, perhaps, assuming I can get this thing cranked up again. Right now, though, Jon Carroll has some things to say about wisdom.