• Naguib Mahfouz. “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”

What a sad, sad day.

People who read this post also read …

• Dead Guys I Like, Part 7
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 4
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 8
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 6
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 5

(Possibly) related items

• Dead Guys I Like, Part 8
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 7
• Dead Guys I Like, Part 6

BBC’s take on the craziness … Arabic t-shirt sparks airport row.

Better yet, read about it (and tons of other important news and information about the Middle East) straight from the horse’s mouth … er, hoof? … at Raed Jarrar’s blog.

Raed really gets to the heart of the matter when he says:

It sucks to be an Arab/Muslim living in the US these days. When you go to the middle east, you are a US tax-payer destroying people’s houses with your money, and when you come back to the US, you are a suspected terrorist and plane hijacker.

Limiting the term of suckage to “these days” is diplomatic beyond description … I can’t imagine there’s been a period in my lifetime when it hasn’t sucked to be an Arab—Muslim or otherwise—in this country. Christ, could it really be time for an “Arabs are people too” t-shirt?

(Possibly) related items

• Dead Guys I Like, Part 6
• You Might Be a Gen Xer …
• Wine and Sweet Words

I’ve already made known my irrational love for all things Google. Sure, they show signs of Microsoft megalomania at times, but—god love ’em—their stuff doesn’t suck. And most of it is free, free, free. At least for now.

So, while I strive to keep my cynical, anti-corporate street cred intact (well, as intact as possible when I bring you this here post from the inside of jeans from Target), I have a hard time not screaming it from the mountain tops. I love Google.

I had a point. Yes. So, right now I am obsessed with Google’s Web analytics tool, aptly named Google Analytics. No, I don’t have terribly massive traffic on the site. I don’t have ads or the associated revenue, nor do I have any goals to track, funnel or otherwise bend to my will. [mooah-ha-ha-haaa] Still, I can’t stop looking at it.

I especially love the Geo Location report.

You can drill down and see the town and province of a visitor’s ISP. I’m learning tons about geography.

But then there’s the mother of all freakin’ reports … the Geo Map Overlay.

Okay, for starters, just the name has more cool than your run-of-the-mill hipster … even in his small-E Levis and vintage Members Only jacket, or whatever the kids are wearing these days. Also, it’s pretty damned cool to see … literally see … who’s reading this schlock … well, see dot-like representations of the companies who are paid by people reading this schlock for Internet service. Six of one …

Ah, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a simple farm girl who’s wowed with fancy graphs and thinks Google makes a mean Web app, but I find it a bit like traveling. I don’t think it’s what those mean girls in junior high meant when they said I got around, but … fuck ’em. After all, a little bit o’ Crazy Monkey Gurl just went to Launceston, Tasmania and Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. That’s quite somethin’, really. When you think about it.

(Possibly) related items

• 575 Words Not about Cheese
• Willkommen zum neuen Jahr
• Wine and Sweet Words

To call my posting habits lately “spotty” would be beyond generous. Thing is, my humor as of late has been rather foul. It’s hard to be witty … or silly even, I’d settle for silly … when you’re channeling Dorothy Parker‘s more cynical, bastard stepsister.

5 Things Contributing to My Dour-ocity

• Entourage season three … the end is nigh
• another woman is married to my soulmate and, in all likelihood, she’s not nearly as horrid as someone married to your soulmate ought—on principle—to be
• a lot of people seem to think Fergie has talent … so much so, she’s apparently now Black Eyed Pea-less. but really, London Bridge? Jesus H. Christ, what’s filthy pop music coming to? how hard is it—seriously—to come up with a clever double entendre for fellatio?
• Pluto may not be a planet after all … WTF!?!
• I just entered a new chronological demographic and, lemme tell ya, it sucks over here. I don’t wanna listen to mix stations for the rest of my life. okay, I don’t wanna have to … er, well … I don’t want anyone to know. It’s a personal choice, all right?

4 Things Worth Gettin Outta Bed For

• my car is currently averaging just under 50 mpg … who’s the crunchy tree-hugger now, bitches?! oh, yeah. still me.
• swearing probably does not corrode society … effin’ a, Cotton, effin’ A
• T-Mobile will now disable voicemail on mobile accounts … I’m goin’ off grid, baby
• last, but not least, there’s you … my readers. a proper shout out is long overdue:
  • Damascus, Riyad, Dawhah (Qatar) and Tripoli … ahlan wa sahlan
  • Cape Town, Johannesburg and Monument Park … welkom or ngiyanemukela
  • New Delhi, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar … svāgata karanā
  • Veracruz, Guadalajara and San Pedro Sula (Honduras) … bienvenidos
  • Shah Alam and Juru (Malaysia) … mengalu-alukan
  • Okinawa … uerukamu, Dobele (Latvia) … apsveikÅ¡ana, Sofia and Gabrovo (Bulgaria) … Добре дошъл (pronounced dobry doschel … I think)
  • Humble, Texas (US), Rome, Georgia (US), Maidstone, Kent (UK), Auckland (New Zealand) … holla

(Possibly) related items

• Fifteen Years Hence
• Good Morning, Sunshine
• Shorts: You Read My (Fucking) Mind