Tomorrow morning at 7:45, Leigh and I fly out of DFW airport to Sin City itself, Las Vegas. The casino we’re staying at has a Krispy Kreme in-house. Since they have free wifi I plan on posting the entire trip. Stay tuned, because what happens in Vegas, will in fact NOT stay in Vegas.

• Debate Pw0nn@ge
  Her laugh after the burning retort by Obama is priceless. I want that as a ringtone.

One of the things I dislike most about teaching is the grading. Sure, I love standing in front of a group of impressionable minds, spouting off nonsense for fifty minutes as if I know what the hell I’m talking about. That’s a pure blast.

But at the end of the semester, when all the papers have piled up and my brain feels like doo-doo flavored Play-Doh, the very last thing I feel like doing is sitting down with a buncha student papers. First off, not many students actually improve in their writing through the course of the semester. Oh some of them do, but for the most part I can predict a grade just by looking at the student’s name, which is why I consciously avoid looking at the heading of each paper lest I am too easily biased. Also, by the end of the semester I’ve seen the same mistakes over and over again, and I can get pretty cranky. Truthfully, it’s the little shit that just send me into a right tizzy.

WE’VE COVERED COMMA SPLICES OVER AND OVER! FOR FUCK’S SAKE GET IT RIGHT!

I think next semester I’m going to strap on a katana before each class starts. Whenever someone screws up I’ll whip out the blade and smash it down on their desk, slicing their books and papers in twain in the process, while screaming “DEATH AWAITS YOUR NEXT GRAMMATICAL MISTAKE!”

Until then, I think I deserve a beer. Domo arigato gozaimashta, Mr. Bar-man.

• Christmas Ideas
  It’s Val Kilmer’s fault that anytime anyone asks me “Is your name Mark Gifford,” I respond with, “I hope so. I’m wearing his underwear.” Anyway, I’d wear these slippers so often people would think I actually had bunnies for feet.

But since most of them are poor they can be bought. Which is bad for the rest of the world. The bad thing is that the judiciary committee doesn’t really understand the importance of terms like “source-code” or “decompile.” These are important terms in this conversation.

• Karl Rove & Plato
  This is only funny if you know why Plato hated the Sophists.

Yes, I know there has been a dearth of posts lately. The end of the semester has turned by brain into a big wobbly mass of oatmeal. I turn in my final grades at the end of the week, so hopefully my brain will return to normal after that.

Until then, here’s a story that’s not only heart-warming, but one that also adds to my list of “Why Neil Gaiman is the Coolest Author Around.”