So, I'm working on a project at work that requires me to look at lots and lots of Twitter accounts. Most are boring, some are less so.

I came across this one and I thought it was really great. It apparently comes from the song "Going Back to Georgia."

I’m working on a paper that I would like to see published. As an aside, I want to have 2 quotations from the great Phineas Taylor Barnum. While trying to find the exact quotation, I stumbled across this one, and I really, really like it, so I thought that I would post it, so I would never forget:

Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.

-- P. T. Barnum

I have a TV in my cube at work, and it stays on CNN pretty much all the time. They are talking about the dude that killed a deputy, who the police just killed. The reporter stated emphatically, "They [the Florida police] shot him dead several times."

Brilliant.

Washington, DC is never short on colorful and interesting people. Honestly, if you are a writer who gets his (or her) inspiration from people, then the District of Columbia is a goldmine.

I have been riding the Red Line on the Metro for nearly 3 years now, so I know exactly which car to be in and which door to stand by to expedite my transfers or arrival home. Unfortunately, my timing isn’t always such that I can easily get to the right door and still make the train. Sometimes, I will just say the hell with it and stay where I am, other times, I will switch cars at each station until I get to the desired car. I did the latter this morning.

The train pulled into Fort Totten, and I got out and headed to the next car. Some dude comes barreling up the escalator and runs at full speed toward the door. He nearly knocked some young woman over as he pushed her out of the way to get on the train before her. Clearly, this guy was way more important than anyone else on the train. Then he slammed into me from behind. No apologies or anything. He tried to squirm his way around me, but there were people in the aisles, so he couldn’t. The person in front of me was going pretty slowly, so I couldn’t go anywhere. This was not good enough for the guy behind me. He is still walking at high speed and pushes into me. Naturally, I turn around and, while I don’t say anything, I give him the ole What-the-Fuck-Asshole glare. At this point, just for the record, the doors close. There was absolutely no need to muscle his way on to the train, and he’s already ON the damn train, what’s his friggin’ hurry at this point.

Now, I need to pause a moment to give a little background. Jo Cose was cursed with 2 things that are being wasted at the present moment: intelligence and a burning desire to learn. As such, I consider myself to be a veracious reader (albeit a slow one), and, like many who commute by mass transit, find the 30 minutes (yea, I know, I’m lucky that way) in the morning and evening ideal reading time. I am currently reading Made In America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States, by Bill Bryson. That, however, is for another post.

So, to recap, I am walking slowly down the aisle because the person in front of me is walking slowly down the aisle. Although I had my book in hand, I had stopped reading it while I switched cars. I wouldn’t look down at the book again until I had reached the far end of the current train car. Meanwhile, I have a very rude, very impatient man behind me who just walked hard into me. As you will no doubt recall, I have just turned back around from giving the man the What-the-Fuck-Asshole glare. This guy, however, is much better at this than I, and gave a retort worthy of the best of them. I’m sure that he felt he got the last word, and I just didn’t care enough to argue; it really wasn’t worth it. He says very loudly, “You’d move faster if you weren't reading a book. This ain’t no dame lieberry!”

As most of you loyal readers know, Jo Cose is not a very political person, but as the bumper sticker that RC loves says, “If you aren’t outraged, you’re not paying attention.” The Dude sent this to me yesterday, and I thought it was worthy of being posted: Read more »