Last evening, I was driving down 13th St, and on a block just north of Cardozo High School, I came across several police personnel and vehicles along the side of the road. Traffic was getting by in both directions, but it was going quite slowly, as we had to squeeze by. As I passed by the scene, a police officer stepped out from between the cars and headed toward the driver side of one of the cop cars. He was a youngish-looking guy, and he was dressed in what looked like SWAT gear, including a kevlar vest and helmet. That made me kind of do a double take, and I wondered what was going on. I figured it was some sort of drug bust, and continued on to my destination. Several hours later, I headed back up 13th Street on my way home, and I found that several blocks of the street had been closed off, including the block the police were on earlier. I wondered again what had happened, and when I got home, I tried to find out what had happened. There was no information then, but there was this morning.

There was indeed a drug bust. Not too long after the bust, a 9 year old boy was shot in the face while playing on the sidewalk. The worst part is that this was one of three shootings (with 4 people shot) within a span of about 15 minutes last night.

Just another sad night in the district.

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Copied from my post on dc.metblogs.com

I don't usually rant about how much I hate being PC, because I think that "Politically Correct" has become too charged a phrase, and immediately brings to mind people who supposedly intend to suck the joy out of everything by making it satirically neutral, a la Harrison Bergeron. I especially hate comedians who bitch about political correctness, because they're too damn lazy to figure out how to be funny without resorting to racism or stereotypes, but that's a different story.

Nevertheless, there is one thing, and only one thing about political correctness that irks me so slightly. "Partner." People who refer to their boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/lover/friend with benefits...basically anyone that they're not involved in a business relationship with as a "partner." There's no real reason for this, I just don't understand it. Are the terms "husband" and "wife" really so offensive? If so, wouldn't it be better to keep using those terms, especially if you're in a non-traditional relationship, to remove the perceived sexism/property rights in them? Is having a "boyfriend" really such a bad thing anymore? Maybe someone could explain this to me.

On a side note, I'm just about done with my thesis so woo to me. I just need to submit it for final review, which I'm hoping to do before Monday.

I found out yesterday that eating too many jelly beans can cause your tongue to feel raw. I also found out that it is possible to pull a muscle in your tounge after yawning in a weird way. That sucked. It hurt to talk or swallow for a few hours. I've actually pulled a muscle in my touge before, after I formed my tongue into a 'W' shape and held it like that for too long. Really, though, it really hurts to pull a tongue muscle, and it extra-sucks because you can't do anything about it but wait out the pain.

This is really neat. Shows you the difference digitally enhancing pictures can make. They show all the different steps they take to make a normal girl look like a cover girl. Found on popgadget.

It boggles the mind that "The Pacifier" was the highest-grossing movie this past weekend.