The second one is because I didn't quite get what I was going for with the first, but liked the relative simplicity of the first anyway. Didn't quite get it with the second either, but by then I'd forgotten what I wanted anyway when I first had this idea in the shower this morning... The third is just an idea I had while doing the second. The fourth and fifth are deceptively simple.

#2, A fun quiz!

My inner child is sixteen years old!

How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla

That's cool, because I'm actually (ugh) 34...

#3, I love Romano Chicken!! Of all the Italian restaurants and places (that I've tried) that serve a Romano or Parmesan Chicken, my favorite is the Romano Chicken at the Cheesecake Factory.

#4, Music that moved me today: (ok, actually it was yesterday. I get behind on these things...)

• Santa Cruzin', Grover Washington Jr.
• Voodoo Child, Jimi Hendrix
• Reasons to be Beautiful, Hole
• Doll Parts, Hole
• Simple Kind of Life, No Doubt

#5, A distinction has been drawn between geeks and nerds!

• Geek - a person often of an intellectual bent who is disapproved of
• Nerd - an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person

I'm definitely a geek then, I say as I hand code this html... Will anyone now admit to being a nerd?? Here is a really, really good article that finally cleared up a lot of the baggage about these things, that I did not even realize I'd been carrying since high school. Paul Graham: Why Nerds are Unpopular It's one of those rare things that is so good I want to recommend it to everyone I know! Here is another one so good I want to recommend it to everyone I know: The Fourth Turning

#6, You can think what you want. Everyone always does anyway. We have such a strong desire to be understood, and for our motivations to be understood. In the end, anyone will think whatever they want. Some people feel you would know yourself best, and want to believe your explanations of your motivations. Some people have already made up their minds before they talk to you, and it's unlikely that you'll convince them of the way you see things. Either way, people believe whatever they want to.

You have far less control over what people think of you than you probably think... But then again, "control" itself is a complete illusion anyway.

#7, It's very telling that reporters refer to the things they report as "stories"...

#8, If I were going to sell my soul for some musical skills, I'd want to be a ragtime master, to be able to play Pretty Boy Floyd on the guitar, and be able to play a whole lot of funky bass grooves. And the trombone.

#9, Yiddish and Italian have got to be the two most fun languages you could speak! They both so expressively embody such an exuberance!

#10, One thing I have learned is that you have to take weather forecasts with a grain of salt. Meteorologists always exaggerate the potential severity of the weather -- understandably to err on the side of caution. Even so, they seem to have an inflated view of the importance of their message. It's as if they'll feel personally responsible for anyone who might die as a result of the weather -- as if their blood would be on their hands personally!