Tax Hell

I'm sure nearly everyone in the States is breathing a sigh of relief that April 17 is behind them. Why does the government make us do this every single damn year? Big Brother probably knows more about our finances than we do. Why doesn't the IRS stop pretend it needs us to send in all this paperwork? Just automatically withdraw the measly $3 I owe the state, and deposit the $14 the federal government owes me! Then I can buy my next two grande lattes at Starbucks knowing I'm only spending my tax refund money...

Oh, I forgot.

The reason I wanted to update in the first place: I saw K'Naan at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio on March 30. He was opening for Stephen Marley and his brother Jr. Gong. The Marleys were alright.

K'NAAN, if you happen to be one of the three people reading this, you should know that I think you were awesome. I didn't think you were awesome before. I thought that your voice was grating, and your lyrics completely lacking in irony. But you sound way better live, and sometimes unironic, unselfconscious singing from the heart is moving. I nearly cried during "Blues 4 the Horn", (which has a theme similar to The Arcade Fire's "Haiti") and happily bopped my head with the audience of largely doped-out kids for every beat in "Smile". I'm sure "Soobax" will grow on me, since I bought the album and it's on heavy rotation at home, in my office and at the lab.

Thank you!

And thank you to the Somali cabdriver who wouldn't take my fare after the show. That was really sweet.

Ahem

It's not like I didn't know that this thing wouldn't get updated much. But still, four months? Holy cow. My sole excuse is that nothing much is happening in my life. Really. Aside from the occasional life-altering decision or three, I've had a blessedly mundane winter.

Speaking of life-altering decisions and cows (how is that for a segue?), I've been seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. I do experiments with mice, and we (that's to say, I) often have to kill them. It's the worse part of doing research, and I feel so guilty about taking innocent lives. So I came up with the brilliant idea of restoring some kind of karmic balance by not eating meat. Everyone I've told this to has at first acted surprised to discover I actually eat meat, and then predicted grimly that I will starve to death. I told my supervisor last week, and ever since he's been hounding me, telling me it's a terrible idea, that I will completely blow my future by being too weak to study or conduct proper scientific research. He's not heartless; really, he's a sweet, caring person. It's just that his priorities tend to be somewhat skewed occasionally.

Anywho, are there any vegetarians in the house? How difficult can it be to prepare a balanced meal without killing poor defenceless animals?