/ Social Commentary

Nothing like the smell of naked greed in the morning

NEW YORK (AP) — A worker was killed in the crush Friday after a throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains burst through the doors at a suburban Wal-Mart, authorities said.

At least four other people were injured, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island was closed.

[From The Associated Press: Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down]

What is there to say about this? I’d bet money that people complained that the store was closed. People suck.

/ General

Perspective

When talking about billions or trillions of dollars, it helps to have some perspective: If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In …

Continue Reading
/ Books

And the moon is always gibbous

I’ve been reading a bunch of HP Lovecraft’s stories recently, plowing my way through the second of three Omnibus collections but out by Grafton Books in the mid-80s. For teen boys of a certain type—namely geeks those into science fiction and horror—Lovecraft is a name to conjure by. There is something about Lovecraft’s writing that …

Continue Reading
/ Friends

A Small Rant

When in the world did I become “Pete” to any number of people? Yes there have always been a few people who called me that, mostly my brother, my father and Jon R., but lately it seems that everyone I know from high school and have been reconnecting with since I got on Facebook and moved back to RI have taken to referring to me as “Pete.”

I was never, and will never be a “Pete.” There is no way that I would have let that stand in when I was younger (i.e. a pretentious and annoying teenager), so I’m trying to wrack my brains for an explanation as to why people that I haven’t seen for 20 years have begun using this particular nomenclature for me.

So let’s be clear here: my name is Peter.

Not Pete.

Ok?

Thanks.

/ Photos

A Week of Pictures – Friday

The last in this week’s series of photos. I am considering keeping this habit going, though I might not post them here every day. By trying to find an interesting image on a daily basis, I found myself paying a bit more attention to the here and now of my surroundings. Considering my tendancy to dwell on the past or the future, anything that grounds me in the present is probably something I should cultivate. So here is “Foggy Providence” and “Phone Cord: Reversed.”