Overheard: Older Asian man (gray hair) working the post office counter, singing along to barely pubescent Vanessa Carlton on the radio.

Must visit: Airlinemeals.net

For you unemployed types out there -- fill in your data, then click the results link (it's at the top of the form) to see how long your peers have been on the market.

The double-decker buses roll around in my neighborhood all the time because of the excellent views from the mountaintop. Once in awhile you can see into the windows and see the faces -- usually older people or foreigners, all gazing out at the scenery. I have never seen more bored-looking people in my life.

I enjoyed X-Men 2 (review won't appear until day before opening, alas), but here's what bugs me:

In the trailer, there's a scene with Mystique (the blue chick) sliding forward on the ground, through a doorway that's opening up. This scene is actually in the movie, but it's played backwards in the trailer! Mystique is sliding backward through a door that's closing (makes more sense, no?) and flipping off her pursuers in the process. I can't tell if you can see the extended finger at the beginning of the sequence in the trailer.

False advertising!

Last chance: only 45 first editions of Half Mast left on the planet. After that, you're saddled with a sorry second edition, which won't have as many cool typos.

Thanks to all who replied to my request for information about bloggers who have passed on... here's the full story. Sorry I couldn't include them all!

I swore by these books (a three-volume set, published 1982) when I was a kid. I recently unearthed them from my parents' house. I highly recommend them for anyone looking to put their kids at work doing something productive.

Extremely impressive story about investing. I love it.

I hereby offer my freelance services as a proofreader of Chinese restaurant take-out menus. Affordable rates, inquire within.

Why do all the ads for Bulletproof Monk say "BULLETPROOF" in big letters, then have the real title of the movie in small letters elsewhere on the poster (usually at the bottom)?

My crazy day:

- Headed for Sonoma Film Festival for lively panel on film criticism which lasted about two full hours. Lots of fun, there will probably be pics online somewhere in the near future.
- Had lots of wine on the way home.
- Later, at Safeway, a man in a cowboy hat was singing The Who's "Squeeze Box" in the frozen food aisle.
- Realized I felt really sick; could only eat soup for dinner.
- Daughter Zoe maybe said "dada" a few times -- her first word! I'm not sure if the "hi dada"s that followed were legit but it's making me feel better.

No easy way to say this, but:

Do you know of a blogger who has passed away and left his blog behind as a kind of electronic memorial? (Or one whose blog was removed after the death?) I'm doing research for a wired.com story and need more examples. Consider this a way to immortalize your loved ones in electronic print. I promise it will be a tasteful article.

Best. CN <-email me here

Reminder: I'll be on a panel at the Sonoma Film Festival this Sunday at 12 noon. Check out who else is on the panel... If you're in the wine country this weekend and want to hear a bunch of self-obsessed film critics talking about themselves, do drop by.

If you think the DMV is bad, try spending an hour at your local Social Security Administration office (don't ask...). Not only are the employees as slow as tree sap, the only reason people are here is that something has gone dreadfully wrong in their lives. One woman, who must have been 85, was there with her sister, who must have been 82. Her Social Security checks had been cut off because the SSA assumed she was dead. Why? She had moved to Croatia for the last three years and had been moving around a lot because her house kept getting destroyed. And she was planning to go back there.

You could have a worse fate.

She is a talented child.

A little humor, Al-Jazeera style. No, I have no idea what a lot of these cartoons really mean since i don't read Arabic. But it's fun to wonder.

Yoiks! Good luck, Chris!

Netflix's top recommendation for me (joke?):

Hoop Soldiers
Enter the world of no-holds-barred, caged basketball when a young attorney returns to her hometown to investigate the sudden death of her brother.

Joke.

No joke.