War. War is stupid. And people are stupid. And I think you know the rest.

Fedward says that I my monitor is pulling too much current. I tried unplugging the brick, but that still didn't get the machine to start. As long as I have a notebook, I can manage, so fixing it won't be the biggest priority in the world. On the other hand, I like my old machine and the way it was set up, so I will resolve whatever issue sooner rather than later.

I guess.

Did you see how Congrefs has regranted itself the okie dokie to accept such things as golfing vacations as long as they appear in the guise of a charitable event?

The Shrubministration wants to spend all our money to put Saddam Hussein out of his misery (Bush's misery, that is) and Congress just wants to have fun on some lobbyist's dime. I get the feeling that we're going to have a war because a lot of "hawks" feel like we're due for one. Besides, if there weren't all this bidness going on in the Middle East, what would there be to do?

I'm not cynical or anything.

My neighborhood was clogged with anti-war demonstrators over the weekend. I'm against the idea of war, but I can't get behind a symbolic protest at the Navy Yard, especially when the people protesting block access to places I need to be. (That's right, I had to pick up a refill on some Percocet at a CVS. I know where my bread is buttered, and if any of the peaceniks were going to offer me pain killers, we could have talked.) Plus it was like 11 degrees here when they assembled.

I'm for peace as much as anybody. (Well, I'm against war, and that's enough the same thing that it counts.) But I am also for staying warm.

When I finally did go down to our sad excuse for a drug store, I spotted a sign in the slightly drooping hands of a youngish girl, she might have been 14, but probably younger.

It read War is Bad. And I thought of Culture Club. The girl with the sign has possibly never heard that song.

Anyway, a Style Section Postie pointed out the next day that "Patchouli Girls now span three generations." And I guess that's true. And I guess that it makes everything all right when you come right down to it.

In America, there is always room for a Patchouli Girl to spin her skirts around, no matter what the air temperature, or the wind chill.

before - after