I think it's a good sign that several of you are now talking openly about your obsession with the Olsen twins. Healing begins with honesty.

Now for anyone out there that likes a little Cherry with his Milkshake it just so happens that I have Ashley Olsen's cell phone number.... One of my friends is really good friends with twins and hangs with them on a regular basis. So here is the scoop, Ashley is really laid back and I guess just gets obliterated on a regular basis but Mary Kate is incredibly stuck up.
My chicken-lipped roommate also has a picture of the twins hanging in the hall because my other roommate...found it too embarrassing to be put in the common room. So the moral of the story is, come out of the closet and embrace the Olsen twins and your awkward love for them because you are not alone.

[penetration station]
Also check out Adam's rant on the U of Colorado scandal. Be warned, it's not for the meek.

I post this comment about interviewing because it's a nice foil to my last piece of advice on interviewing. To be a good listener doesn't mean that you have to agree with everything your interviewee says, or that you should always handle him or her with kid gloves.

When interviewing live it is important to remember that very little of what you get done will escape the editing room floor. Again, share criticisms! It's the knock down drag out fight that makes the show not the constant "yes I agrees". Make sure you voice your own view in order to spark a real conversation. Make sure you use all sorts of different emotional stimuli in order to keep the show interesting (humor, distress, shock, etc.). Take good notes so that you can easily keep track of the point you are trying to make, or even if the interviewee starts to shift their story.

[Fire Down South]

I just watched the last Sex and the City. It was, of course, rife with melodrama and wish-fulfillment. But I'm a sucker for this show; the characters are drawn so well and the writing is so clever. And now it's over. I know you guys don't have HBO so I won't give away too much, but I'll give you two teasers. Samantha gets some new Ugg boots, and Mr. big gets a name.

Tyler just IM'd this link to me. It's a foul-mouthed Flash animation about natural disaster and global nuclear war. But it's funny. Really. (Warning: It takes a while to load.)

COMM 101 Assignment Clarification:
For those of you who were not able to reach your congressperson's office over the weekend, I'll give you until Wednesday to try. Even if no one will talk to you, document your efforts briefly on your group blog.

Since you guys are expert bloggers now, I thought New Jersey students looking for a summer gig might want to check this out:
"One of my teachers reminded me that NJ.com is employing Weblogs to offer homegrown journalists the opportunity to spin their own communities or interests, and from the looks of it, they're growing pretty quickly. And I think this appeal to potential beach bloggers is pretty interesting:

What we are looking for are girls and guys to write about their time down the Jersey Shore this summer in NJ.com's Beach Blog. The shy, the reclusive, the scared-of-what-mom-will-say, the utterly boring need not apply. We are looking for people who will write about the parties, the lame housemates, the sunburn, the shady hook-ups and everything else that makes up summer down the Shore. Bonus points go to applicants with digital cameras and an itch to share their pics."

[Weblogg-ed News]

I thought some of you might want to do this. I may do it on Monday if I have enough $ left this month.
"A Minnesotan got the idea to have congratulatory flowers delivered to a random gay couple on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, and now s/he's trying to start a movement."

He called a florist and they agreed to do it. He told them to deliver to any couple -- it didn't matter who -- standing in line to get married, with his blessing. The card will read simply "With love, from Minneapolis, Minnesota."

Once they understood, they were very touched and thought it was a great idea.

He told another co-worker who did the same thing. And now we want to start a movement. Wouldn't that be cool if people from all over the country, gay, straight and otherwise, started sending flowers to the people waiting in line to get married.

Link (Thanks, Dan!) [Boing Boing Blog]

Here's an interesting erotic site I ran across. Remember, it's all about context....

I feel that I must respond to SP's story about me. And of course, he is correct that I enjoy performing my "short monologe (sic) like stories." Many of these, as you all know by now, are of a personal nature, and that is what makes them (generally) effective. Sometimes I tell them to illustrate a point or to get the attention of my students or to provide a moment of levity. Sometimes there is a pedagogical purpose, sometimes not. I'm usually pretty careful not to tell stories that would be too controversial or offensive. The short response to SP's allegation is that it is true, and that I told the story to one or two classes last year. I tried a lot of different things in my 20's, some to make money, some out of curiosity, some because I was reading the Beats or Rimbaud and wanted to immerse myself in the messy business of being entirely human. I can say that I learned a great deal from the experience, and I earned some summer cash. Here is a picture from roughly the same era. Can you spot me?