There's a window on the door of the bathroom at work.  I don't understand why it's there.  It provides no conceivable benefit.  It can't be opened to let in air.  It's too high up to break and crawl out of if you accidentally lock yourself in.  It's absolutely useless.  The only possible explanation I could come up with is that it makes it easy to see if the light is on or off, providing some sort of indication of power usage.  But that's a pretty stupid explanation. 

In fact, the window detracts from the overall bathroom experience.  To be clear, there are two separate rooms in this particular bathroom:  The part with sinks, and the part with toilets and urinals.  Looking through the window, you can only see the part with sinks, so I guess that's good.  But the problem is that I sometimes don't want other people to see what I do at the bathroom sink.  I'm pretty vain, so I like to make sure there's nothing hanging off my face.  I also like to make sure there's nothing stuck in my teeth, as this can be a conversation (and friendship [and marriage]) ender.  But to the average window-peeping passer-by (your punishment is well-deserved), I probably look like I'm doing some pretty weird and gross things.  And this isn't the kind of reputation I need at work.  I want to be known as "the quiet one who's good at math", not "the weird one who grooms his mustache in the bathroom". #entertainment

Fierce Israeli Guerrilla Hand-to-hand Tactics (F.I.G.H.T.) is a self-defense program based on an Israeli self-defense system called Haganah.  Essentially, it's a way for a smaller person or body (think Israel) to defend itself against a larger, stronger person or body (think the Israel-hostile Arab world).  Unlike other self-defense systems, it doesn't advocate the use of pepper spray, calling for help, or locking yourself in your car.  Instead, it emphasizes the idea of turning the attack on the attacker with fist and elbow strikes, leg and groin kicks, takedowns, joint locks/breaks, chokes, gun disarmament, and knife defense.  A typical training session is usually located at a martial arts center and consists of 1-on-1 practice scenarios where each person learns how to defend against a typical type of attack, such as a front face punch, a rear choke, or a running takedown.  All scenarios are broken down into an initial defense, a point of reference, and an objective.  The initial defense is meant to short-circuit the attacker and usually consists of some sort of block and a punch or kick.  The point of reference is the same or similar for almost all scenarios and consists of some sort of center-clinch headlock or side-clinch arm grab, accompanied by knee strikes and an elbow in the face/neck.  The objective is either to take the attacker down to the ground (to get out of the situation or to handcuff them), incapacitate them (break an arm or leg), or terminate them (break their neck or dislodge their esophagus).  Each practice scenario is meant to train a person's muscle memory so there won't be any hesitation in a real scenario.  Everything is done at less than half speed and intensity so there are no major injuries or deaths.  A typical F.I.G.H.T. practitioner will regularly receive a variety of bumps and bruises, with the advantage being that the person will develop a higher tolerance for physical pain. 

This is what I've been doing twice a week for the past 4 months.  It's awesome.  I originally thought about getting into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu because of my interest in UFC.  But after reading more about it and watching a practice session at a martial arts center, I wasn't that interested in how much it resembled wrestling.  But at the same martial arts center, they had classes for this thing called Israeli self-defense.  I checked it out and haven't turned back since. 

Another part of the reason for my interest in this stuff is that my life has changed over the past few years.  If somebody robbed me in college, they wouldn't have made out with much.  But now I have a car and a house and things in my house, and I feel at least a little vulnerable and protective.  And as the "man" of the house, I feel a strange desire to protect what's mine, including my wife and my cats.  I wouldn't go so far as to buy a gun or keep a butcher's knife under my pillow, but I definitely see the value of knowing how to protect myself if I'm attacked. #sports

I heard an interesting insight recently:  When it comes to group dynamics, some people are writers while other people are editors.  Some people are good at coming up with new ideas and creating things.  Other people are good at waiting for ideas to come up and critiquing them.  Editors depend on writers to make the first move.  Writers hate editors because they're so quick to criticize an idea but can't come up with one on their own. #psychology

Every few days (or hours), another celebrity or public figure gets busted for some sort of substance abuse, whether it's alcohol, prescription medication, or real drugs.  My stance on it is this:  Just admit it and be done with it.  Nobody cares if you're a pill-popping drunk.  So by denying it, you're just letting it gain more momentum.  If you just admit it, people will have more respect for you.  Normal people drink.  Normal people have gotten their wisdom teeth out and have taken amazing pain-killers.  Normal people understand that getting drunk and high are quite admirable goals, except for their negative effects on the body.  If any of us were in your elevated position, I don't doubt we would do the same.  So just admit it:  You didn't feel like doing that interview, so you downed a few 3 Wise Men before you got there.  You weren't feeling up to that public appearance, so you got hopped up on Vicodin and felt like you were walking on air. #entertainment

To be completely honest, I really don't like plays.  Whenever I tell people that, I get reactions full of disbelief and astonishment.  "How could you not like plays?"  It's easy.  I don't like when action is interrupted by song and dance.  Nowhere in the course of my marginal life has anyone ever broke into song during a conversation.  I've never seen groups of people dance in unison.  I can't say I remember ever seeing someone enthusiastically nod their head in agreement with something I was saying, nor has anyone ever grabbed me by the shoulders to tell me something to my face.  The bottom line is that plays are ridiculously unrealistic.  I know they're not supposed to be realistic, but that doesn't make me like them.  I enjoy movies like Star Wars more than I enjoy plays.  The action in Star Wars is so far beyond reality that it almost seems plausible.  Plays are just ridiculous. 

Whenever I explain all these things to people, I usually get a "Well, yeah that's true.  Actually, I sort of feel the same.  But c'mon, you gotta like plays!" 

Nope. #entertainment

Recently, I've been in search of the perfect homemade coffee.  I like Dunkin Donuts coffee enough to murder for it, but sometimes I'd rather make it myself.  A show on the History Channel said that regular drip coffee makers don't retain all the oils and flavors from the beans, so I invested in an apparently superior French press.  I read a few things online that said 3 things: 

1. Coffee goes bad over time.  Use beans within a few weeks of buying them.
2. Beans are better than grounds because they're fresher.  Buy beans and grind them yourself.
3. Coffee is only as good as the water used to make it.  Use filtered water.

Many of the things I read also said to use 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds/beans per 6 ounces of water.  This is what I tried this morning after yesterday's adventure of old coffee with hard water.  And just like yesterday, it was horrendous.  The coffee came out like syrup, and it tasted even worse than Starbucks.  I couldn't put enough stuff in it to make it drinkable, and that's no way to drink coffee.  I obviously need to use fewer beans, so I'm hoping I'll finally have some drinkable coffee tomorrow morning. #food

I've always been dissatisfied when hearing some sort of singing group like a chorus try to sing a pop song.  It always gets butchered.  Somewhere in the history of music education, somebody decided that singing with a British accent is the "right" way to sing.  Ever since then, nobody pronounces R's when singing.  So when a group of singing people gets together and tries to cover music that wasn't originally sung by a professionally-trained singer, it always sounds bad.  I think we tend to deal with it because, eh, it's better than opera or show tunes.  But really, it sounds horrible.  Please stop. #entertainment

For a little while now, I've been realizing one of my desires is to own land.  Not land in a convenient location or with fancy landscaping.  Not land I can sell for a profit.  Not land to build a huge house on.  Just land.  Pure, unadulterated, ugly, muddy, rocky, tree-filled, unkempt, overgrown land.  With no neighbors for miles.  Near no major roads or highways.  Not on the way to anything.  Just land. 

I'm reminded of this desire quite often.  Driving through Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont.  Hiking.  Visiting people who live in really rural areas.  Watching nature shows on TV.  Basically, whenever there's a feeling of "Wow, this is really the middle of nowhere," I'm pretty psyched. 

I haven't always had this desire.  I grew up in a pretty rural area, and it was ok.  I currently live in a less rural area, and it's ok.  I've lived in cities and towns, and I enjoy visiting places with lots of people and buildings.  I've considered living in a major city and doing the whole city life thing.  Who knows, I might still do it at some point. 

I guess this desire goes back to an experience I had as a kid/teenager.  My neighbor's family owned some land next to a farm (or partially owned the farm; something like that), and it was basically exactly what I'm describing.  Rocky, muddy, tree-covered, ugly.  And it was awesome.  We used to go ride four wheelers and shoot guns (not at the same time).  It was basically as hick-ish as you can possibly get.  And I loved it.  There was a shack with some basic necessities, like running water and electricity (heck, that's a novelty).  Other than that, it was just a bunch of untamed land with few to no restrictions (except the hunting club next door). 

This is somewhat similar to my need for survival.  It's a little less hardcore, but it's along the same lines. #nature

From xkcd: 
(via Mental Floss) #entertainment

Geni is a really cool online genealogy organizer.  I'm not really into the whole genealogy thing, and it's partly because I'm a mutt as far back as anyone can remember, and partly because I find it difficult to organize my family tree.  I'm a geek, so everything must be electronic.  This website takes the complication out of it and makes it easy enough for a caveman (sorry, cavemen).  Plus, it's easy for other people to add information without them even signing up or logging in (I think).  If you visit my family tree and you're a member of my family, you can probably add some information about yourself or some people you know.  (via TechCrunch) #technology