I was not expecting identical cousins.

So the Festival of Paperwork that comes with a name change officially began today with a quick trip to the Social Security office at lunch.

Aside from the wildly unnecessary touch screen (press 1 if you have an appointment, 2 to take a number), the high point was discovering that Patty Duke appears to have reprised her role(s) as Patty and Cathy Lane to spread the word that Social Security retirement forms are available online. The posters were a hoot, and there’s even a little video here.

(Look, I know The Patty Duke Show started airing 17 years before I was born and that I’m too young to know it, but I was a pre-teen Nick at Nite junkie. It was a sickness. Deal.)

~*~

I’ve been reading Jim C. Hines‘ Red Hood’s Revenge a couple of chapters at a time before bed. I’m about halfway through, and thus can’t give much of a review beyond saying it’s awesome and telling everyone to buy it (preferably along with The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid’s Madness so you can enjoy the whole series properly).

It’s awesome. Go buy it.

~*~

Links! Links down the side of my face!

Gyles Brandreth has apparently been writing the answer to a question I didn’t realize I had until this week. Oscar Wilde! Solving mysteries! I’ll just be over here planning a book binge (and hating Brandreth for having this idea before I did).

I’m withholding judgment on the whole Lady Gaga bisexuality thing until I can find a full English language version of her interview in Gisele (and possibly more commentary; context and editorial bias can do some hilarious things to nuance), and even then I’m skeptical that it’s my place to police her sexuality. Regardless, the girl gets props for having a hot drag king persona. Boy howdy, I’d hit it.

So when you hear “merit pay for teachers,” that sounds pretty good, right? Yeah, not so much. Waldo explains what’s wrong with the system they’re trying to impose, and why it won’t actually help the kids (and teachers) who need it most.

This is probably one of the best anti-rape ads I’ve ever seen. Read the commentary, too. Memo to Scotland: I love you.

A friend sent me this guide to writing a synopsis without going insane ages back, and I keep forgetting to share it. So here it is.

Hey, check it out. The LGBTQ community has a history. A long, long, history. And there are pictures. (Now give us our damn rights, already.)

Randomly, the installation of “piano stairs” appears to reduce escalator use because piano stairs are awesome.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com

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