+ Newspapers in my home state may be folding. (Quote: “Soon Jersey residents will have to go back to getting all their news from Springsteen lyrics and Kevin Smith movies.”)

+ Knit historical tyrants.

+ This tool that analyzes browser history is 95% certain I am female.

+ We haven’t done a Polygamist Watch in a while. Check out these photos in the Times about the women of FLDS. Also, practices are being defended in court. Also, Warren Jeffs got indicted.

+ When Batman was gay.

+ Corollary: How awesome was The Dark Knight? I know, right?

+ This will make you happy:

This is really old news, but I just read about a science museum in North Carolina that, back in 2005, opted not to show an IMAX movie about undersea volcanoes because they were afraid they might offend people who don’t believe evolution. Yes, folks, a science museum. “People who don’t believe in evolution” are not so much on my list of people I need to be careful about offending, particularly if they decide to go to a science museum where odds are high they will be exposed to, you know, science. I mean (and I can’t believe I’m making this argument) it’s not like school; people can opt not to see the movie.

Also, the guy who does Garfield minus Garfield got a book deal that will coincide with Garfield’s 30th anniversary. Actually, wait, that’s pretty awesome.

Just a heads up, I’m expending most of my blog energies on Books to the Sky, my new blog about guilty-pleasure reading. I have some posts in the queue here about John McCain and reproductive rights and terrorist fist bumps that I hope to get up over the next couple of days, so stay tuned if I haven’t already alienated all of my readers.

2 things:

This artwork about two boys who love the NYC subway is awesome.

As a former employee of the Gap, I can say with some authority that it’s true that a stint there will induce OCD in the sloppiest of people. I spent enough hours board folding when I worked there that I have folding shirts down to a science. It actually took me a long time to cure myself of the habit of folding shirts in stores that were not the one I worked in. So, yes, they are a little crazy about the folding at the Gap, BUT I wouldn’t have it any other way because most Gap stores are very neat. I hate shopping in messy stores.

I’m totally late to the party on this, but HBO recently aired a documentary called Resolved.

You can view the trailer by going to the official website. Jezebel has a clip up that that explains what those kids are up to.

And, yes, I did that. I spoke just as fast as those kids and was a part of the culture for all four years I was in high school, and I kept on going in college and even coached and judged for a while, both high school and college level, afterwards. I had to quit with great reluctance a couple of years ago because I couldn’t take the travel anymore, and I miss it a lot, so it’s fun to run into things like this. It’s all coming back to me! (Proof: I was interviewed for an article about debate way back in 1997.)

But, yeah, high school debate is a cult. It’s got its own language. It’s incomprehensible to outsiders. It’s competitive as hell. It’s a lot of fun.

See also the awesome movie Rocket Science, maybe the most accurate cinematic portrayal of debate I’ve seen.

Things will continue to be sparse around here until probably next week, but! I have a new project, a quasi-literary endeavor, a blog about guilty-pleasure reading that I’m calling Books to the Sky. There are some posts up now, so go check it out.