The old apartment looks move-in ready, and the new one like I'm just about to flee the Nazis.

The good news is, I have one day sober! Now that the big event is over, I'm treating my body more like the temple it deserves.

So I ordered new return address labels, and was considering getting a pattern. My all-time favorite labels had this hideous clown head on them that made me laugh every single time. Anyway, they had various colors of awareness ribbons, and I thought hmm, maybe ol' First Amendment blue. (Aww, the Constitution, I remember you so fondly!) But you really don't hear people talk about their First Amendment ribbons, so I wanted to check that's still what it means. Well, it turns out the awareness ribbon phenomenon has spun completely out of control!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awareness_ribbons
And does Tony Orlando get a royalty on every one? Unlikely! So sure, I could get the blue ribbon, which does still, theoretically!, raise awareness for First Amendment on the Internet. But frankly, I don't need people hassling me for trying to raise their awareness about hydranencephaly, and while I suppose, without knowing all the details, I support the release of Basque terrorist's (or freedom fighters'?) kidnap victims, I don't think my profile is high enough to be of any real use.

So I went with the giant H.

I've been thinking about last names and got to wondering if Smith is the most common last name in America because smithies had characteristics that made them successful in the breeding pool. I think I may be on to something. The smith was the engineer of his time. When most people worked the land for food, the smithy could actually see something he didn't like, fire up the old forge and change it, he was the village technocrat. Where was the Seventeenth Century Microsoft? Over yonder, under the spreading chestnut tree!