I think at least part of the reason for the MeMeMe generation, at it seems to have been named (though really that applies to all youth generations at least as far back as the Boomers), is that focus on Experiences over Doing. Experiences are nice, and can even be good teaching tools that lead to future changes and Doing, but Experiences end. All that's left are memories and souvenirs. If that doesn't lead to Doing directly, memories are pretty empty, at least in the short run. That leads to a constant desire for more Experiences, because Experiences are Doing, in the short run, even if it isn't Doing much. And once we get to Doing long term, we don't have much time for Experiences, and that can lead to bitterness.

Are you me? I think I'll join in on your pity party.

...Though at least I put together my own avatar.

AdBlock Plus is a must-have extension for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera (and their derivatives). It is very effective at blocking almost all ads (some video sites have found ways around it though - Hulu just laughs at ABP, and Blip gives you a waiting period longer than the ads if it detects any ad blocking). And if you want to allow a certain certain site to have ads to assuage your conscience (or even all sites besides the ones you pay for), you can set that up easily.

NoScript is another good one, this one for blocking scripts running on a site. It can be problematic, though, as it can be tough trying to guess which scripts are needed for the actual content, and which are just bloat/ads/trackers/malware, so it's not recommended for all.

It's so ten years ago, but it still amuses me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuW53xh-gj8

Weird Al's music videos are usually pretty good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM8PT1eAvY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnTocdD7sk

And there's some good fan stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnZA3gFE-0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGswG0QtWg

And here's some Flight of the Conchords.

I had the good fortune of having at least OK teachers/professors my entire academic life. I don't know how that happened; I've had some I disliked (mostly English teachers), but they weren't bad teachers, I just disliked them personally.

I guess the worst one was my 9th grade PE teacher. We were graded on three things: attendance, "citizenship"/participation, and the weekly mile run. My first semester I had perfect attendance, and I was one of the fastest runners in the class. But I made the horrible transgression of wearing a blue jacket, when that wasn't one of the approved colors. That semester I had a really gnarly breakout of some skin condition - weeping, oozing, crusty rash, fluid-filled blisters, the works (I figure it was either a nasty outbreak of eczema, or shingles) - and thus I wanted to hide it - even wearing jackets in 100F+ weather. My family was poor, and I didn't want to burden my parents by requesting a jacket of a different color (they would have - we weren't that poor - but I didn't know that). I ended up getting a B- that semester, just for that wrong color.

Here's one from just a couple days ago! To set the scene: It's the Trek BBS, and the thread is a question on whether there has been an imperial democracy in Trek (obviously comparing it to the modern US, of course). The thread had gone back-and-forth over what democracy really is, was the US really a democracy before the Voting Rights Ace, etc. I chimed in to say that the US, GB, etc are actually republics, not democracies, and, well, see for yourself: (next post, as the whole thing needs to be seen; the poster has a pure red flag for his avatar, and I think he's the one that generally has the hammer and sickle...)

Part of the reason is that the money supply isn't increasing as much as the Fed is printing. Banks are sitting on the cash - not only decreasing (or not increasing) velocity, but also preventing the money multiplier effect of loaning the cash. If banks were acting as normal, the money supply would be a lot higher, and inflation probably would be, too (though hyper? who knows).

I actually got both my tie pin and tie clip in one of those bundles, too. But yah, washing doesn't do you any good until you get home. Sometimes that can be a few more hours of social/professional times.

That's funny for reasons that are quite the opposite of COC-compliant.

[Cont]

Two: A good tie isn't expensive, if you know where to look. I have about 250 nice, silk, stitched-pattern ties, and I paid maybe $30 for the lot of them (And that is only the third I was able to move with!). Almost all required some maintenance, like the above, as most came like this:

(That's 1000lbs of ties, highly compacted; 95% were complete garbage.)

Now, most folks can't get that sort of deal, but Ross and Burlington both have nice, name-brand ties for significantly less than MSRP. Used clothing stores, thrift shops, and the like, can also have nice ties (though not very often).

One: It's easy to clean them, even silk ties. There are any number of ways. Most expensive, though least labor-intensive for you, is dry cleaning. A few bucks, at most, if they are ripping you off. Or, you can put them in a garment bag (even silk ones), and throw them in the laundry. "Dry clean only" is mostly a suggestion. However, DO NOT put them in the dryer. Lastly, you can wash them by hand - get a white solid bar laundry soap (most latino groceries have them), or Ivory, get a toothbrush, and go along the grain. After either of those, you are going to have to iron the tie, which is a thing you can do! Even with silk ties!

If the color of your tie runs, it was probably junk, and if you paid a lot, it was for the brand, not the quality.

Thanks for reminding me how much I hate dubstep.

She's good, though. And I always approve putting a violin in a rock band.

Since when was tolerance acceptance? I thought that was a leftist way of thinking.

Also, this is a drinking club. They should just get rid of that too, eh?

Your dad has a toilet in the front hallway? Is it just to go with the pictures, or is it actually functional?

The whole movie of the original The Producers is great, so just picking a random scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y6ueYqVgXg

This was, I believe, Gene Wilder's second movie, and Mel Brooks's first. Unlike many of Brooks's later movies, this is good, clean fun. Or at the very least, it's tame (by our modern standards).

This movie is basically made of awkward comedy. The original clip I wanted was when they meet their director for the first time, but I can't find that on the YouTube. But here's everyone's favorite musical number.