2001/09/15

We're taking our kitten to the vet today for his post-adoption checkup.

It's funny how these little errands in life all seem invested with extra meaning. Every good thing you do, every bit of order you add to the world, is a small but profound response to recent events.

And it feels good to concentrate on something else.

Later...

On the way to the vet we drove by a mosque. The people were all out front standing and sitting in chairs and waving to traffic. They had signs like "Islam = Peace."

Lots of people driving by honked and waved. We did too.

How to tell you're a geek... When you type Islam == Peace at first, then remember that it was just a single = sign.

And still the single = seems wrong to you.

Which reminds me of one day a few years ago hanging out with UserLand employees Bob Bierman and Doug Baron. We were talking about how easily, or not easily, we tan in the sun.

Doug mentioned that he sometimes uses SPF 16 and sometimes SPF 32.

Which of course don't exist -- those are powers of two. We laughed.

I keep trying to think of jokes. Not about the events, but just jokes, because humor is good, right?

But it's hard.

In my brain I start out like this...

"Two men walk into a bar."

Okay, then what? Two men, so what?

"Two men walk into a bar, sit at the counter, and order beers."

"Then they start crying."

Okay, that's not working. Let's start over.

"Three men -- a WASP, a Jew, and an Arab -- are stranded on a desert island."

Well?

"They start crying."