Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.

- Aldous Huxley

Via Rate My Ink

Today's recommended comic book reading is The Exterminators by Simon Oliver & Tony Moore.

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Today's word of the day is "whimsy."

Whimsy

1. capricious humor or disposition; extravagant, fanciful, or excessively playful expression
2. an odd or fanciful notion.
3. anything odd or fanciful; a product of playful or capricious fancy

Well they are very frightening for me because their stupidity is so flat. You look into the eyes of a chicken and you lose yourself in a completely flat, frightening stupidity. They are like a great metaphor for me... I kind of love chicken, but they frighten me more than any other animal. 

- Werner Herzog on Chickens

DC Pierson's debut book, The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To, explores both the promise and pitfalls of insomnia along with the power and problems of imagination.  Pierson's novel looks at the world of two high school outcasts, united through the fake worlds they create, who quickly find themselves in situations that are rapidly getting out of control.  And while there's a lot of humor in Pierson's book - particularly in his (through the narrator, Darren) observations on human behavior - the book itself isn't just a lark: it's about regret, stupid drama, hormones, first experiences and finding out about who you really are - even when that answer isn't exactly to your liking.  In short, it's about growing up.

Insomnia is a helluva thing.  Your mind rattles on, refusing to let you slip away into the land of fantasy and confusion promised by falling asleep.  And while you may find yourself pursuing some random tangent or another - like finding out everything you can about the long forgotten cartoon show Kissyfur - you rarely get up to anything really productive.  You may read more, or watch more television or movies, but you're not working diligently on a cure for disease or a practical version of the flying car. 

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Today's word of the day is "devotee."

Devotee

1. A person who is greatly devoted to something
2. A person who is extremely devoted to a religion; a follower
3. An enthusiastic follower or fan

Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come.

- Matt Groening

Song: "True Love Waits" by Radiohead

Event: College.  Yes, ALL of college.

"True Love Waits" was the perennial b-side for Radiohead fans.  Performed live for many years, the achingly depressing song of a misspent existence wouldn't be officially released until the I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings EP in 2001.  (Yes, nerds - it was available on various bonus discs in various other countries, but you know the point I'm trying to make)  The song tends to be performed acoustically (as above) and is a much more stripped down number without all of the various production trickeries of Jonny Greenwood that Radiohead has employed since 1995's The Bends.

And when I hear the song, besides noting how heartbreakingly sad and perfect it is, I think of days full of naps, marijuana smoke, bullshit conversations and extensive philosophy readings.  In short, I think of college.

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Today's word of the day is "dread."

via GeekWeek

Dread

1. to fear greatly; be in extreme apprehension of
2. to be reluctant to do, meet, or experience
3. Archaic. to hold in respectful awe.

In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.

- Alexis de Tocqueville

Today's word of the day is "repose."

Via Picture is Unrelated

Repose

1. the state of reposing or being at rest; rest; sleep.
2. peace; tranquillity; calm.
3. dignified calmness, as of manner; composure.
4. absence of movement, animation, etc.

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.

- George Bernard Shaw

Via University of Otago

As the Senate sends the Health Care Reconciliation Bill back to the House to make minor adjustments/vote on it, I find myself expectantly looking to Comedy Central at 11pm, but finding only the emptiness and bitterness that comes with a rerun of The Daily Show.  But some part of me keeps hoping against all rational thought that Jon Stewart and his team have randomly decided to come back to comment on the insanity of the situation, the dickishness of all involved and the hyperbole of the media.  But instead, I find only week-old jokes about Chris Dodd's wattle.  And then I realize how often it seems that The Daily Show goes on a break and some large news story happens that gets the media abuzzing and falling overthemselves to declare things in the most superlative and unsubstantiated ways possible.  Some of these news events seem planned to coincide with the infotaining show's leave of absence, while others are just bizarre coincidences.  It seems like it's quite often that Stewart and his crew are unable to lend their rational, deflating voice to the partisan squabbling that clogs up much of the airwaves.

I'm not one of the large demographic of people that gets his news from The Daily Show.  I tend to frequent New York Times and Huffington Post for that.  However, I am someone who turns to The Daily Show's invaluable army of interns and media libraries as they expose all the various instances of hypocrisy that I tend to miss while I avoid cable news channels.  And it seems I'm not the only one who deeply misses Stewart's clarifying call for accountability and civility.  The Huffington Post generated this list of the 12 largest news stories that occurred while Daily Show was on a break.  And so, in light of this collective longing for the humorous and insightful critique of our government and media, I humbly propose that The Daily Show develops...The B Team!

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Today's word of the day is "lamentable."

Lamentable