It may sound harsh, but it's my policy and I stand by it: If you don't like Star Wars, and I'm not asking you to love it or be as huge a dork about it as I am, but if you don't at least like Star Wars, man, I don't even want to know you.

Banzai Beard Bonanza: Day 74
I hate to admit this, and it has taken a long time to get to this point, but the beard actually looks pretty good. As I suspected, my face kind of works with a beard. Some people can wear beards and some can't. Apparently, I can. And by that I mean I look better when most if not all of my face is obscured.

My appreciation to Zach Nie! for the loan of his The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm DVDs. Both were excellent and I eagerly await seeing more. Why live real life when you can watch it on TV?

Vote For Kodos... Sorta: The Homefront
So, explain this to me. After dinner we were sitting around watching 60 Minutes, and good ole Morley Safer (Morley!) was giving a report on prescription drug prices and the reimportation of drugs from Canada. I commented that the piece was more editorial than it was journalistic, that it was pushing a particular side of the issue. My mother asked me what I though of the issue. I told her that the bulk of research for new pharmaceuticals is done by the American pharmaceutical industry - "Big Pharma" - and that if the profits of those pharmaceutical companies were cut, it would naturally follow that the money they devoted to research would also decrease. I am both a horse's arse and a bastard, and I admit that, but in this case I swear to you that I was being reasonable and just giving her my opinion, which she had requested from me. She turned to me in a rage and yelled at me that she didn't want to talk to me about anything political anymore! But , Mom... No! She's sick and tired of me thinking I'm smarter than everyone else and yelling at her! She's sick and tired of my radical conservative agenda!

... wait...

What in the name of all that is good and pure just happened? She asked me for my opinion; I didn't raise my voice in the least (honest!); and immediately before she requested my opinion, Morley had been talking to Dan Burton, a Republican congressman who supports the reimportation fo drugs from Canada. What the hell...? And how can I have a radical conservative agenda, I'm more socially liberal than she is: she opposes gay marriage, I'm all for it. I'm pro-choice, pro-gun control, and I support huge increases in international aid. Mom, have you gone out of your mind? You asked my opinion and I gave it to you, without reference to a single politician or political party, in a conversational tone of voice.

I know that I've said before that my mom isn't stupid, but I'm afraid I was just being polite. This is far from the first time this has happened. I understand that living with my dad, with his gun collection (which he's only had since after 9/11, when he began hating Muslims) and devotion to Fox News, can be very stressful, but it is unacceptable for you to punish me for his political leanings. You married him, not me. I didn't have any say in the matter. I wasn't even around until nine years after you met him. And whenever she asks my opinion, I give it to her, citing evidence and logical deduction for why I hold those beliefs. Note: this happens when she asks me for my opinion. By Lucifer's beard, if you don't want to hear what I have to say, don't ask me!

And anyway, what in Bog's name does prescription drug reimportation have to do with politics? Political leaders on both sides of the aisle support and oppose the practice. I did nothing to provoke her attack. Let me put it this way: if she weren't my mother, I wouldn't want anything to do with someone like her.