If anyone has not yet filed their taxes, may I recommend CompleteTax.com? This was my first time filing my own taxes, and I put it off for months because I had no idea how to do it. This site, however, made the entire process, from start to finish, incredibly simple and clear. Federal filing is free if you make under $30k a year, and their state filing is only $9.95. They even email you updates about your filing and refund statuses.

I'm not sure how it happened, but apparently I can be expecting a pretty large refund in about ten days. The question is, do I responsibly deposit this sudden money away with the rest of my savings, or find something huge to squander it on?

I know what I'll end up doing, of course, but the alternative is still fun to think about.

Points of discourse, in no particular order:

Having caved to the cult of MySpace, this essay made me wonder briefly how high school might have been different if MySpace or Facebook had existed all those many years ago (ie. about five). Not very, is my guess, but still.

The mystery of the sudden death of my first Razr has apparently been solved, or at the very least brought to light.

Can I take a second to flagrantly whore a product? GameTap is a $15/month online service that provides access to hundreds of games which download (often immediately) and play over your broadband connection. The interface is not only easy to use but downright beautiful-- and as that screenshot shows, they have motherfucking Bubble Bobble. Since joining GameTap I've lost more hours to this game than I care to admit, although it remains as embarassingly difficult now as it did when I had it on NES. New games are also added weekly; this week's update included Crazy Taxi, which I'm also enjoying. I'll warn that the program is just this side of glitchy, with occasional freeze-ups and blackscreening, but then my computer is just this side of antique, having been purchased almost two years ago. Regardless, I still strongly recommend GameTap to anyone with even a remote interest in gaming.

Erin's birthday was on Saturday and the theme this year was to dress as "something or someone you would find in Hell." Evan and I went as-- what else?-- Wal-Mart employees. We cut the vests out of two large cotton t-shirts from the store in question, did the breast logos with paint pens, and made the badges in Microsoft Word; we even hemmed both vests. Evan had the brilliant idea of carrying around highlighters and asking to check receipts. The costumes seemed to be a big hit, and a few people even thought they were real: the truest sign of success (albeit a somewhat depressing one)! Other costumes included a used-car salesman, a pedophile (with a bonafide Dollywood fannypack filled with candy), missionaries, Ghandi, an aborted fetus, Waldo, a rock star, an AD&D player and Ashlee Simpson. I'm starting to think Hell must be a pretty interesting place.

This just might be the greatest idea ever.

My weeknightly workouts are still going very well: I'm noticing some major improvements and have even gotten a few unfished-for compliments. If I'd started this a year ago like I always thought about but never actually did, how far along would I be now?

On a more serious note, up until three days ago I was planning to make a long update about Ginny, the stray kitten we rescued in the office last month, and about how I was diligently taking care of her every day, and how healthy she was becoming, and how much I loved her-- except that someone else in the office abruptly gave her away without telling anyone, much less asking. Because there's nothing I can say about this that wouldn't come out of anger or hurt, and because nothing would change the fact that the situation is now out of my control, I don't see a reason to say anything else about it. I'm just trying to be happy that someone else is getting the chance to love her and take care of her, because she is truly a wonderful little thing. Here are the rest of the photos I have of her.

Today is Evan's and my six-month anniversary! Holla!