Weblog Sin Pies

By Charley Daniels

Someone was talking about Christmas truces the other day. I apologize for not remembering who it was. At the time, I thought, “Wow, that’s a really great story.” And I meant that, although I must admit I was a bit skeptical about how true it was.

I mean, soldiers from opposing sides in a war go from killing each other on Dec. 24 to singing carols and giving each other presents on Dec. 25 and then back to killing each other on Dec. 26. It sounds like a movie plot that you would find ridiculous. And it ends sadly, true, but that middle bit is the part we should try to focus on and maybe even emulate — and not just on Dec. 25.

The link above mostly verifies the truce story, and that makes me happy. Granted, it’s from Wikipedia, so you never know, but the references seem legit. Aside from that, I’m going to just go ahead and believe it. I’m going to have a little faith this x-mas eve day. And thanks to Cardhouse for reminding me to read about that.

Probably won’t be much posting from me for the rest of the year, but you all have my permission to make it the greatest week of 2007. In fact, I order you to go out with a bang. I predict that 2008 will be the best year of my life, and I hope you’re similarly optimistic. If you’re not, I hope 2008 proves you wrong, because if every year isn’t better than the last, what the hell are we trying to do here?

By Charley Daniels

Feeling better today than I did yesterday. That’s mostly because today’s a new day, and it will be free from workplace injustice and/or shenanigans. First question I’ll ask future potential employers: “At what level of shenanigans does your business operate in a typical week? Mmm hm. And around the holidays?”

I don’t generally like button-fly pants, but there are definitely some pluses.

Today is Jaxon’s birthday; we’re going to feed him some booze and make him tap dance. He probably won’t, though. Some birthday.

At the publication where I work, I think we use too many semicolons. Someone smart once said that people overuse the word “irony,” which is definitely true. That person said that usually what people mean is “coincidence” or “unlucky” and that real irony is harder to come by. I’m paraphrasing and maybe even embellishing, but I think I’ve pretty accurately represented what was said.

Anyway, semicolons are the same way: Where they’re actually needed, I think, is harder to come by than you would guess based on our usage. Will I say or do anything? No, because there are so many things that are more important. But I’ll still think about it, and I’ll notice it; I just won’t care. I used two semicolons in this blog post. I used them properly, though neither was necessary, and I’m not sure either did much for the meaning, readability, or quality of the post. See what I mean?

By Charley Daniels

Happy Friday, ya’ll! These are some important things I thought about during work today:

In the kitchen: Can someone tell me what a honey dipper does that can’t be accomplished with a spoon, fork, knife, or another utensil that you already have that is useful for multiple purposes?

On the street: This blog post on Wired.com about Apple violating California law is interesting, but mostly because it made me realize how stupid the laws are. From the post:

Under CA law, products that expose consumers to the phthalates found in the iPhone and iPod cords are required to be accompanied by a warning.

Okay, yeah. I live in California, and I see those warnings everywhere: “Products used or sold on these premises may contain chemicals known to the state of California to make your legs fall off and kill your favorite uncle*.” But who pays attention to that? In Los Angeles, if you avoided places that had those signs, you couldn’t go anywhere. You probably couldn’t even go home. The result? For better or worse, we’ve stopped paying attention. We’re very, very warned. We don’t care.

Fanboy: Sarah, who sits two cubicles over from me, is on the phone with Jason Lee right now. If I were to run over and grab the phone so I could tell him how awesome he is, I’d probably be fired. Essay topic: Would I be able to collect unemployment for losing my job under those circumstances?

Jason Lee, Jason Scott Lee, Jennifer Jason Leigh: Three actors who should definitely be in a movie or TV show together, or they should at least go out for coffee sometime.

By Charley Daniels

Rough day at la casa de Sin Pies. Should be like this right up until it gives (as in, “something’s gotta give”). In the meantime, check out these comics, some of which I read religiously, some of which I was recently directed to by my buddies Robert and Kiala (though their sites have nothing to do with comics. They told me through different electronic media. AIM and Twitter, to be precise. I’m totally naming my band “Aim and Twitter”).

In no particular order:

They all have deep archives for your procrastinating pleasure. Enjoy! I’m going to go find something frosty and pure to dull the pain. Leave your webcomic suggestions in the comments!