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It's a "sales tax holiday" in the fair Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (Sidenote: I love that I'm in a Commonwealth rather than a mere State) a bit of an annual tradition. Like Bush's tax rebate, its meant to give a boost to retailers during a down time. It's an odd bit of psychology, people go gaga over not having to shell out to the government, even people who wouldn't shop around for a 5% savings otherwise.

SCREW THE SCHOOL SYSTEMS! I GOTTA GET MINE! TODAY!

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Quotes of the Moment

So! The Tao is a mysterious female! No wonder I love it so much! What could be more enthralling than a mysterious female? A mysterious female is delightfully enchanting for two reasons: (1) She is a female; (2) she is mysterious. Yes, femininity and mysteriousness are certainly two of the most entrancing things in life. But combined! Good God, what could be more divine? The two in conjunction are far more than twice as intriguing as either one separately. That is to say, a mysterious female is more than twice as attractive as either a female who is not mysterious or a mysterious something which is not female. So it is no wonder I love the Tao so much!

I enjoyed the repetition and general goofiness of that passage. I also like this poem of his:

Most people hate egotists.
They remind them of themselves.
I love egotists.
They remind me of me.

I guess both of these bits might leave an odd impression out of context, but overall there's a sense of playfulness and tweaking of assumptions in the book that's very enjoyable.

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Articles of the Moment
Two topical pieces from Slate: Let's Get Rid of August, and a explanation of why all these records are falling along with a proposal for calculating "world record inflation".

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Perhaps tonight was not the best night to catch a game at Fenway.

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Olympic Ping Pong I can see, possibly thanks to the movie "Forrest Gump". Olympic Badminton? Still seems like a stretch.