ERIC DEMANDED THAT I BLOG. So, several random items:

How much would I give to havethis app for the PC? So much for having twelve different online comics bookmarked! I haven't found anything close yet. Note the difference between this "scraper" app and subscription-based services that do the same thing, such as ucomics.com (not dignified with a link). App good, subscription bad. Repeat.

Barack Obama, a Dem running for an open Senate seat from Illinois, got a boost this week when records from his opponent's divorce/custody case were unsealed. Jack Ryan's ex, hottie actress Jeri Ryan, said in an affidavit that Jack took her to sex clubs and tried to pressure her to have public sex, etc. etc., sordid details crossed out. I agree with MarKos: we shouldn't judge politicians on the basis of sex scandals except to they extent that they moralize and preach.

Jack is going to take a hiatus from blogging to deal with "real life." I don't see this a some sort of bellwether--Jack is compulsive enough that he'll be back. But it's bittersweet. Jack is my blogfather, which I guess makes him Eric's grandblogfather.

So Linda linked to some famous blogger I've never heard of describing her poignant experiences Googling old friends, to one great result. So I should share my Google story: in high school, I had a torrid and tormented relationship (it was high school. Is there any other type?) with one Trina. I broke up with her, being s terrible and loathsome 15-year-old, and she and I did not get along well for the balance of high school, occasional hook-ups in the auditorium balcony being the exception. College came, and we went our separate ways. I found a girlfriend in my freshman dorm, and married her for a short time after college. I went to law school, met a fellow las student, and was with her for a few years. Meanwhile, no contact with Trina.

I went through a (not a phase) change--I decided that I had known many people that had probably turned out to be pretty neat, but with whom I had lost touch just by passage of time. So I called up Jim, and he and I had a pleasant evening of it. He mentioned that that very same Trina was in fact living here in Portland, and working as an urban planner. That was enough for me--a little bit of Googling revealed that she had done a triathlon in Washington the previous year (one in which my ex-wife had competed. Eeeks!); that she had worked on a paper co-authored with folks from Livable Oregon, then one of my firm's suite tenants; and that she had graduated from U of P. She wasn't in the phone book, but a quick peoplefinder search gave her phone number. I called and left a message. She called back. We met for a drink.

So uber-sweetie Trina and I are getting married in 32 days exactly. Google rules.
- posted by thegusdad @ 6/22/2004 12:48:00 PM