So it might be a little tawdry and kitschy to publicize this but hell, I have wanted to use the words “tawdry” and “kitschy” to describe myself for the last six months and why not let folks know that Mako and I have a little piece on the politics of free and open source softwarein the latest issue of M/C?

It is a short and simple argument:

he ability of FOSS to act as an

So as if it were not bad enough that the cute little rodents in my kitchen (a pair of adorable mice, yet to be named ..) have started to crap all over my drying dishes as revenge (yes, revenge, ever since I started being ultra clean they engaged in guerilla warfare: crapping all over the place), now they are flesh eating ants in our house. I got bit by one today and my wrist doubled in size. Ok not that much, but it still swelled….

Chicago urban mega-opolis of the midwest, with towering buildings, incessant traffic, grime and grit, more trucks than should be allowed on planet earth, pavement in nearly every corner and crevice, is also infested with so many bugs, that I am surprised there are not more entomologists stationed here. There are these asian lady bugs that sting the hell out of you when you least expect it and then there are the creepiest centipedes ever. They are so creepy that every time I see one, my heart stops a few beats and I think that I must “escape Chicago.”

Occasionally you see the ultra cool fire fly but otherwise, Chicago is home to the “creepy bug” (and look, I lived in the tropics, and I still find Chicago to have more creepy bugs)..

Anyway, before my apt becomes home to all sorts of questionable non-human species, anyone have advice on how to trap my cute mousey friends without killing them? The humane traps are indeed fully humane, in otherwords totally ineffective…

The other night I had dinner with my friend who told me a heart wrenching story that confirmed everything that I despise about American psychiatry. A couple of years ago while she was in graduate school her sister, only in early twenties was diagnosed with cancer. She returned home to Europe to be with her sister while she underwent incredibly life sucking and painful treatment. Her sister did not live and my friend’s pain already so raw was magnified 10 fold. My friend unsurprisingly was devastated.

Once back in Chicago, she went to see a psychiatrist who put her on anti-depressants which seemed like an appropriate remedy in so far the depression was really getting in the ways of day to day functioning. Now of course, it was only super normal for her to be devastated and beyond function; what is less normal is that we don’t give people adequate time and room to grieve in our society. Pain must be personal and it must be brief, so you know we can get to our

Since there is some new news about the Walmart Class action suit and I keep getting comments on my blog entry on the class action suit, I thought I woul post the actual page for the suit (thanks Debbie). Here is a snippte of the exciting news:

NEWS FLASH
June 22, 2004: Federal Judge Martin Jenkins certifies “historic” class, the largest civil rights class action ever certified, on behalf of over 1.6 million women who have worked at Wal-Mart anywhere in the United States since December 26, 1998.

Now we just need to get Jack Black to compose a song about the evil-doings of Walmart, and I am sure the lawyers representing 1.6 million women (Jack, can you imagine the upsurge in your fan base?) will rawk out with this one…

Somehow I find it hard to beleive that if you quit smoking by the time you are 35 (and you don’t have a charred set of lungs/heart when you quit), you won’t suffer any ill effects of smoking… Indeed our bodies can be amazing regenerating machines of miraculous proportions but as someone who sucked on cigarettes pretty consistently for 6 years, I still can’t believe that all that smoke, tar, metals, pesticidies, fillers, and whatever else is in those white sticks has not severely damaged my body…

But I take the news as good and transfer it as a subliminal message (ok not so subliminal) to dmh, you have less than 10 years and you might as well try now

As stunning is that I discovered a brand of chocolate that is so yummy that without disgust, I can actually eat it unswettened.

Since I no longer eat sugar (long story but believe it or not, sugar was much harder to quit than smoking), and since I lust for chocolate, I have been on a quest to find a brand of unsweetened chocolate that I could actually enjoy as is or mix with a little bit of stevia.

These chocolate makers based in Berkeley even made a chocolate perfume!. Hmmm I am not so sure I want to smell like a “walking chocolate bar” (which they think of as: “Lush, rich and primal, CACAO is the ultimate hedonistic gift for men and women”) but you never know, it could smell really divine….

All right… I am ALL for a science focused on wacky, crazy, mysterious, arcane subjects like mammal mating habits:

However, a group of scientists from Atlanta, Georgia, have discovered a way of damping their ardour. Vole reversal, if you like. By injecting them with a so-called “love gene”, the previously sex-mad beasts are transformed into soppily monogamous creatures devoted to and inseparable from their partners.

I am the first to admit this is absurdly fascinating stuff, especially since it has to do with the “VOLE,” a small rodent I had no knowledge of until today…

But the tenor or let’s say the “theraputic desire” of this type of research strikes me a bit odd and (creeping toward politically suspect terrain too). I really don’t think I need to analyse why this is so ( just read the article for yourself or for that matter infer from the title of the piece Tale of vole reversal and a possible cure for promiscuity) because it is obvious that the loose and easy assocations made between ALL ANIMALS and ALL HUMANS (mostly of the male gender, at least in some articles) are going to be suspect to a cultural anthropologist. Not to mention that I find the uber-medicalization of such things distasteful..

Yet, this little slice of news has piqued my interest in animals and their torrid sexual habits. You see, I was also recently introduced to another fine animal specimin, the echidna.

Now given its weird anatomy and features (see below), my question is….

not whether it is monogamous or “fast, loose, and dirty” but how the heck does it *even have sex* in the first place? I mean he can’t even stand up! And from the look on his face, I just know this poor echnida has yet to be deflowered. Poor little one needs some action….

[enrico] I admire the capacity of the antropologists to build a complex narration over anything!

All right, so due to massive inteventions, I have rid my blog of the “Not Wholesome” image. Too many people were apparently disturbed, so I have replaced it with its polar opposite the cutest ever Puerto Rican street mutt, (sato) until I find something more appropriate…

But in terms of shocking, I found out that our lovely Hooter’s ladies are now in our lovely friendly skies……. I tried to book a flight to see how much a flight cost but all I got was “system error.” Hmmm, solid airline…

Every once in a while I like to take a moment for retropsection and ask