Finally, finally back

Goodness, I'm sorry for you loyal readers out there; even if I can count you on one hand, you are as important as you would be were you just a handful in a sea of millions. Hm, that was oddly and unintentionally poetic. Anyone else need a song?



The Supremes - Mother Dear

It's been a long time, yes, and I've been consumed by school, apartment stuff, psycho landladies, deadbeat ex-roommates, and fruit flies. It's true, I'm even starting to feel bad as I realize I've murdered a fruit fly on every flat surface in my apartment.

Something big has happened though, at least as far as the subjects I normally discuss go. I've been reading the appropriate blogs and it seems as though the Iranian authorities have more or less clamped down (I feel like "clamped down" is the only way to describe it at this point) on the major unrest, and now the opposition will have to conduct itself in a more low-key manner. Unfortunately, low-key is not usually a defining characteristic of social and political upheaval and revolution, but hey, anything can happen.

But wait, something MIGHT happen, not necessarily related to the post-election unrest, but related to US-Iranian relations. Or maybe Everybody-Iranian relations. This has been a big week. On Wednesday, Iran submitted a package of proposals for talks with Western nations, which the US scoffed at because they didn't even mention the nuclear issue. Ahmadinejad was reported to have said, "We were kind of hoping they'd forget about it, what with all that healthcare hoopla going on." Well, there is a lot of hoopla around healthcare at the moment, but unfortunately, it hasn't distracted US leaders from the nuclear issue.

What's weirder is that only days before submitting this package, Iran vowed that there would be no further discussion on the nuclear issue, but now that the US has apparently accepted Iran's offer to begin direct talks, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said that there is a possibility of talks about the nuclear issue. Come on people, let's be adults and make some real decisions here and stop teasing and messing with each other. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at that first meeting, though. How awkward.

In other people-acting-stupidly news, two rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. Invoking the age-old "eye-for-an-eye" principle, but forgetting their basic arithmetic, Israel responded by firing eight rockets into a fruit plantation near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Why anyone would still fire a rocket into Israel at this point is seriously beyond me. I really don't even have anything else to say about it; I'm just that confounded.

I want to write more, but since I have to go start my homework (assassinate me), I want to leave you with this interesting post from one of my favorite blogs discussing the history of the "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign. It's about tailoring messages for specific audiences and it's especially interesting if you live in Texas.

Alright, I promise to write more often. Really.