Brain drippings

• I wish I could punch the next person who says "we are a nation of laws." Instead, I'm going to ask them if they know who they're quoting, and what the context of that quote is. If they say they're quoting some dopey pundit or a deranged elderly relative, I'll leave them alone; but if they say it was John Adams, which seems to be the consensus among people who like to repeat one another indiscriminately, I'll tell them that the John Adams quote is from Part the First, Article XXX of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and it goes like this:

In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them: to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men.

(Not wishing to beat a dead horse, I won't point out that "a nation of laws" isn't even the correct wording.)

And then I'll ask them what the hell the constitutional separation of powers in government has to do with whatever they're ranting and raving about. And then I'll ask them to say whatever they're trying to say in their own words, instead of repeating out-of-context clichés they don't understand.

Or maybe I won't, because I swear it's a losing battle.

• I have three computers in my house. Not one of them has a properly functioning DVD player from which I can take a screen capture.
  
  
• I recently made chicken stock from chicken feet. The feet were a bit creepy to work with, but it is the most awesome chicken stock I've ever made.
  

• I eventually resolved my need for an electronic hipster PDA by getting a discontinued Palm on clearance. Yes, I know that's exactly what I was trying to avoid, but there just weren't any reasonable alternatives. Most devices that could handle lists were much more expensive; there was a cheaper brand, but the input method was horrible and the display very small.

• At my old job, one of my coworkers brought a cake to work for someone's birthday. She didn't know the birthday boy well and didn't realize that he had a very strict diet. He politely ate a small piece and told her he couldn't have any more. When we had all had as much as we wanted, he took it into the kitchen for the rest of the company to enjoy. My coworker was highly offended by this and complained bitterly to me that it was very rude of him not to take it home, and that if he didn't want the rest he should have given it back to her.
  
  When I had my birthday, my boss brought a huge, sorta gross (Crisco-heavy) cake. I was already full from lunch and didn't want ANY of the cake, but I managed to eat a tactful amount. After we had all had as much as we wanted, there was about 80% of this huge thing left, which she encouraged me to take home. Nervously (remembering my weird offended ex-coworker, who by the way was eventually dismissed for making people nervous with her increasingly venemous comments about petty things), I said I couldn't take it because it was too big to carry around the subway while lugging my laptop bag too. (Thank you, MBTA, for letting me blame you!)
  
  Instead of being offended, she suggested that we put it out in the kitchen to let our other coworkers finish it off.
  

Cartoony drippings

• I've always suspected that The Simpsons' Principal Skinner had a twin. In one episode, when he's dating one of Marge's sisters, she starts to tell him what it's like to have a twin. She pauses, and Skinner finishes her thought. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like being away from your twin is like missing a part of your own self.
  
  I suppose this could also mean that he and Patty were soulmates, but this seems unlikely since she turned out to be a lesbian.
  
  
• I am even more sure that Peter Griffin is not the father of Stewie Griffin. Evidence: 1) Stewie doesn't look like Peter; 2) Stewie is British; 3) In one episode, Lois says that Stewie looks just like his father.
  
  
• I wanted to keep noting the little opening credit captions in the few "new" Futurama episodes (only four so far that I know of, as a result of quartering "Bender's Big Score"), but couldn't read them because Comedy Central puts these gigantic banners at the bottom of the screen, obscuring parts of the show you're trying to watch. I know it's not important that I do this... it's just a weird compulsion I have because I did it for so long. Also, I just hate those big damn banners on my TV screen.
  
  
• It wasn't until well into the second season of American Dad that I realized that they have a different newspaper headline every week. (Lest you think I'm unusually unobservant, I rarely watched the opening credits.)