Well, this was my last day in Connecticut.  I haven't been able to sleep, so I've been up all night looking at things online, finishing packing, that sort of thing.  I went to get a Big Mac at the fast food place on I-91.  Pretty desolate, about two people in the place, but the fries were fresh and hot.

Today was an odd day.  I don't like this process of leaving, saying goodbyes, trying to, I don't know.  There's an impulse to sort of make a statement of one thing or another when you're leaving people, and I don't like the feeling.  My leaving is kind of weighing on my mother - I don't know what to say to make her feel better.  This does seem, for some reason, far more final than my leaving for college.  It's very sudden.

I ate a boiled lobster at Lenny's today, first time I had had that in, what, a decade, I think.  Very good, I should've eaten them more often - there's some sort of odd, weird green muck in the central chest cavity of the little beast.  It tastes like low tide, very strange flavor.

Choosing a car is an odd experience, almost character defining in a way.  I'm excited about having one, finally.

I'm just bringing a duffel bag and a backpack to Los Angeles.  I'll probably have my mom send some more books, I guess some other things, later, but, really, I don't need anything beyond what's in the luggage that'll be flying with me.  I like physical things, goods (not to slight services), but I find it fairly freeing in a way to discard or disregard most of the stuff I've purchased over the past 10-15 years.  It's like starting with a clean slate - ill advised purchases, gone, regrettable book or course choices, irrelevant, so on.  I'm not, of course, planning on becoming some sort of anti-materialist; this just gives me the chance to define myself through a whole new set of products.

I'm enjoying the progress in the Middle East.  Seems like things are working, that recent international actions may have moved the groups towards being more willing to compromise, which is cheering.  I imagine that Bush would have to get the Peace Prize if his roadmap lead in some part to a peace between Israel and Palestine - deeply ironical for most of Europe, which is what would make it so entertaining.

Ah, hell, now I'm getting tired.

Stone

Are Macs supposed to be cheaper than PCs?  I don't follow, I guess.

I hate waiting, so time consuming.  A couple of days ago, I hit a high point in my Scrabble playing life- you know how when you play seven letters at once, you get a 50 point bonus?  I've never (well, perhaps once) done that, cleared the rack in one turn.  In the most recent Scrabble game I played, I was able to use all of my letters not once, but twice- in succession, one after another.  The two words were "defusing" and "growler".  Good fun, I mean, I lucked into it, but it was a neat little aberration.  I AM SO BORING, but, I don't care, it was neat and I love the game.

Guess that's it.

Stun

Edward Law sued the Wildside Adult Sports Cabaret last month after visiting the West Palm Beach club in May and June.

The lap dance room is only accessible by a short flight of stairs, according to the suit. It also alleges that the counter around the stage where strippers dance is too high, making it difficult for Law to see the stage and set down his drinks.

``This is an industry that is high profit and knows about ADA and is ignoring it,'' attorney Anthony Brady Jr. told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. ``I have no sympathy for them violating ADA.''

Law also sued another West Palm Beach strip club, The Landing Strip. He charges both clubs with violating ADA standards for bathrooms and parking spaces.

The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money in attorney's fees and asks that the clubs comply with federal disability standards. Bret Rudowsky, Wildside's general manager, said Law could have received a lap dance elsewhere in the club.

Law declined to comment. He has also recently filed ADA lawsuits against an Orlando restaurant and a Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop.

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Okay, what the fuck is a quadriplegic going to do with a lap dance? I can sort of appreciate the whole sue-tastic aspect of being a quadriplegic, but, I wonder if this guy picked out this specific case for practical joke purposes. Quadriplegic...lap dance...quadriplegic...lap dance...

Stone

The ketosis that occurs from a low carb diet is referred to by Dr. Atkins as BDK (Benign Dietary Ketosis). When you remove carbohydrates from your diet (not 100% removal, but removal so you're only intaking 20-40 grams per day as opposed to the government, hear that?, government, what?, government "required" carb intake of 300 grams) your body uses its own fat stores for energy, and yes, the breakdown of your lipids does produce ketones which are eliminated in your breath and urine.

Now, this ketosis is not bad. It STOPS once you have no more weight to lose. I'm still on a low carb diet after 2.5 years now, and I don't think I've lost weight in 1.5 years of that time (after I average out all the tiny weight gains and weight losses I've had since then). So you're probably under the assumption that ketosis will break down muscle and organs an all that other good stuff. It won't. If it did, I believe I'd be dead after two years on this diet.

Now enough of that. Lio, consult with your own personal physician, or do your own medical reasearch and then work up a diet that works best for you. Don't listen to what the government tells you that you "should" eat, don't listen to medically uneducated people like myself (although my experience was positive, I have a computer degree on my wall, not a medical degree), or even less medically educated people like Spo. That's all. You looking better and feeling better is for you and you alone, and you should do it the way that's best for you. If that's a low carb diet, great. If that's a low fat diet, great. If that's no diet and working out at a gym like a maniac or running 10 miles every day, that's great too. Do what's best for you, and fuck everyone else.

So Speaks The Gatekeeper...So It Shall Be!