You might think it's an Onion article, but it's not!

President Bush's economic stimulus package, which appears so far to have been ineffective in stroking the economy to life, is giving an unexpected raise to the porn industry.

From an Adult Internet Market Research Company press release:

An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country.

According to Kirk Mishkin, Head Research Consultant for AIMRCo, "Many of the sites we surveyed have reported 20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were first sent out, and typically the summer is a slow period for this market."

That really cracks me up and makes me happy personally.
Why? Because the idea of sending people checks when there are so many people out there uninsured, and our entire public education system is crumbling is absolutely insulting.
I made damn share when I got my stupid check to use it to immediately pay down a credit card.

I could go into great an exacting detail why this whole stimulus check BS is absolutely worthless and justa gimmick to boost approval ratings (a FAILED gimmick btw), but I think i'd rather just stick with this article and go: HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

-C.

I actually like the 4th of July, a lot.
It's one of the few holidays I care about, the others include:
Halloween, New Year's Eve and my Birthday.

The rest, including Christmas and Thanksgiving and what not, all mean very, very little to absolutely nothing to me.

yet, this is now going to be the second 4th of July that is mostly cruising by barely observed by me.

When I was younger, I would be ecstatic for weeks in advance, rapt in attention at the idea of fireworks and fun.
The very idea of such thing was enough to put a huge smile on my face.
Now? It's cruising by, and i've barely registered it.

Granted it's a welcome reprieve from work, where every solid second from about 8AM Monday on was full of stress, high pressure and impossible situations.
Really, that's it though.

I made some amorphous plans with Isaac to do a BBQ over at his place with my BBQ (it's my BBQ, I keep it over there, because it's stupid to have such a large thing taking up so much space in my apartment when I rarely use it), that ended up falling through. no big deal...

I guess Daniel briefly resurrected the idea, but brilliantly decided to do it almost exactly during the hours of Awexome Hour, which meant not only could I not attend, but there is a whole extra bevy of people that would not be in attendance at my DJ Night. FREEDOM HATERS ONE AND ALL!
(also, I love the thoughtfulness of my friends in making plans, as this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened)
It also turns out that most people don't make plans at the last second, so that fell through too.

Anyway, I think part of the fun of the 4th of July for me has been taken away by the constant and escalating banning of fireworks, first roman candles and bottle rockets, then sparklers, etc.
Until, well... you really have to drive out into the boondocks to even find a fireworks stand anymore. Blame July being the super driest month of the summer (see: http://www.iscaliforniaonfire.com), idiotic people who don't understand about explosion safety, and the (unfortunate) liberal kneejerk reaction of banning anything remotely fun in the name of safety. To paraphase Patton Oswalt "It's Saaaaaafer... MERH!"

Yeah, explosions in the sky are super rad, but there's nothing like the TRIUMPH OF THE INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT in lighting some off yourself.

It really is too bad, because on paper I still really enjoy the 4th of July a lot, but it isn't the same anymore and I kind of miss that.
Perhaps I wouldn't feel that way if i wasn't so overworked and my personal life so busy that I rarely have a moment to myself.

I suppose that like many things in life, if I don't take the organizational reigns myself it don't happen.

Awexome Hour will be saluting FREEDOM tonight though, which should be a great time.
And I think i'll be stopping by early style for the BBQ at the Miz as well.

4th of July it isn't the same as it used to be though.

-C.