Quitter

I am now officially a grad school dropout.

I've lived in DC for six years. I've had two internships and two real jobs. I'm halfway through a masters program at Georgetown University.

Naturally, I've changed quite a bit since I first arrived, wet behind the ears and right out of college, naive to the cruel ways of the real world. I'm older, heavier, even more cynical than I was before, been married to the same woman in two ceremonies on as many continents, made new friends and lost touch with old ones.

Things I've learned:
-The political class of this country consists of two kinds of people: those who read Orwell's 1984 and thought to themselves, "You know, that Newspeak's not a bad idea," and those who rail against the first group and are listened to by practically no one.
-I hate, HATE, being told what to do and how to do it.
-What to look for when you're interviewing someone.
-I perform best when doing a multitude of things during the day, not doing one thing all the time.
-A Chulius without a creative outlet is an unpleasant Chulius.
-Working full time and going to school at night part time sucks ass.
-Republicans love to cruise public restrooms for dick.

After much careful thought, I've decided that my future is going to take me away from here at some point in the relatively near future. Money need be saved, stock taken, and then it's off to do my own (as yet, undecided) thing before I dig myself deeper into student loan debt for a degree I don't want and really can't imagine myself using.

So, adios, G'town. I can't really say it's been fun.

The Worst Enemy

Ryszard Kapuscinski, in my opinion one of the greatest journalists of the 20th Century, died yesterday at the age of 74. His writing and reporting, usually about subjects and places that the West had little interest in, revealed much about the human condition, about the ways that people survive hardships and war. That his works maintain such impact even when translated from the original speaks to his skill.

I recommend his works to everyone. I've read both The Soccer War and Another Day of Life, and both are truly incredible. For anyone who's interested, I've included a passage from The Soccer War below.

















SILENCE. People who write history devote too much attention to so-called events heard round the world, while neglecting the periods of silence. This neglect reveals the absence of that infallible intuition that every mother has when her child falls suddenly silent in its room. A mother knows that this silence signifies something bad. That the silence is hiding something. She runs to intervene because she can feel evil hanging in the air. Silence fulfills the same role in history and politics. Silence is a signal of unhappiness and, often, of crime. It is the same sort of political instrument as the chatter of weapons or a speech at a rally. Silence is necessary to tyrants and occupiers, who take pains to have their actions accompanied by quiet. Look at how colonialism has always fostered silence; at how discreetly the Holy Inquisition functioned...

Today one hears of noise pollution, but silence pollution is worse. Noise pollution affects the nerves; silence pollution is a matter of human lives. No one defends the maker of a loud noise, whereas those who establish silence in their own states are protected by an apparatus of repression. That is why the battle against silence is so difficult.

Mischief

The Samness explains all.

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

I just hope he doesn't tell his fans to kill me

The power of Warren Ellis is truly awe-inspiring. Or is it the power of Katie West?

There's only one way to settle it, of course, and this way involves high voltage electrical cables, Tabasco, a `68 Mustang fastback (forest green), and a special edition copy of Visitor Q. Time and place to be announced.



(Some links not necessarily sfw)

Back after a long hiatus

L8r Sk8r
Originally uploaded by Chulius Caesar.

So, now I'm married. NonScarlett GF is now officially NonScarlett Wife. It was a really nice ceremony, family and friends were in abundance, the food looked pretty good. There's so much to report, I hardly know where to start.

Jackie the Mick fulfilled his duties as best man with aplomb. Aplomb I say. If ever you're in need of someone to throw you a batchelor party, I can certainly recommend you ask him to be your best man.

Alas, there has been and likely will not be any honeymoon, at least for the foreseeable future. Back to work and school for me, and the missus has to play Suzie Homemaker until the federal government decides it's okay for her to work.

There will be another post in the near future, with further details once they return to my scattered little brain.

Oh, we also got a BIG ASS TV. And you didn't.

The Time For Retardation Has Passed

Antennae
Originally uploaded by Chulius Caesar.

Enough time has elapsed that I am now able to post the pictures from my most recent sojourn to the Old World on the old flickr. Sally forth and enjoy.

So I was watching "Fellowship of the Ring" again...

and it gets to the point where Frodo's been stabbed by the badasses in black and he's all "ooh I'm hurt wahwahwah" and then Liv Tyler comes along and runs away (like a girl, natch) with the wee one. She's looking foxy in her elf-ears and semi-transparent clothes and a light goes off in my head. Wasn't she pregnant recently? And didn't she say that she'd pose naked after she had the baby? The answers, of course, are yes and yes.

Time to pay the piper, sweetheart.

Moving along...

Not a whole lot up with your beloved Imperator. I had gradschool orientation a few days ago. And it felt really, really weird. It's been four years since I was in school, and a lot of the people in my program are of the super-motivated variety. As most of you know, I am not one of those people. Then they start sounding off about how they went to Columbia and Stanford and so on. And then I feel like someone with a blazer is going to take me aside (they always wear blazers...fuckers) and say: "Mr. Caesar, I'm sure you understand we find this very embarassing, but it seems there's been a bit of a mistake. You actually should not be here and I'm afraid these two burly gentlemen with barcodes tattoed on their necks will have to 'escort' you off the property. Oh, and we're keeping your money too. Ta!" That feeling makes me want to set something on fire.

The day of my wedding approaches evermore close. That's a bright light in an otherwise pretty dim corner of the world. NonScarlett GF will arrive in all her glory, goats will be sacrificied, and linens will be bought. Speaking of linens, should anyone be of a mind to buy something as a contribution to NonScarlett GF's dowry, may I suggest something from here (bwo boing boing). I haven't passed this by the future missus yet, but I have a feeling she'd approve. And that feeling also makes me want to set something on fire.

Revisiting this earlier post: Fox has fucked me again. Not only do they have a show starring Carrot Top's less endearing cousin, they moved the best program to grace broadcast television in many many years to Monday night. Why is that so bad? Because Monday night is the ONLY NIGHT OF THE WEEK I HAVE CLASS. Maybe the memo about the world stopping and starting at my convenience got lost. But you and I know that's not what happened. Rupert Murdoch thinks I'll just bend over and take it like a prag in gen-pop. That's why I'm saying this now: I'll see you in Thunderdome, motherfucker. You know the rule. Two men enter, one man leaves. Seriously, I need to get tivo or something.

And Natalie Portman has a mohawk. She hasn't been this hot since she was ten years old. As Dennis Leary said, "I'm going to hell for that bit...and you're all coming with me."

Finally, here's a few bits of goodness from screenhead:

• Commercial adveritizing as it should be.
• A LOTR remix that one could put on European radio and absolutely no one on the continent would think you are making a joke.
• Finally, a flash-animation retelling of Star Wars Episode IV. Words can't accurately describe this one, but suffice it to say I have a huge kill-boner right now.

That is all.