I was greatly humored on Friday when I read an op/ed in the Wall Street Journal written in part by Ron Wyden, one of my state’s illustrious senators. Seems he and some other senator (one I didn’t immediately recognize) have recently introduced flat tax legislation to the Senate, and the editorial in the WSJ was to drum up some support. His bill (which includes the term “flat tax” in its name), however, sports three tax brackets.

GG, Mr. Wyden.

…

Yesterday Kevin and Nate invited Brian and me over for pizza and gaming; after wearing our thumbs out on Guilty Gear X2 (still an excellent game) and Capcom vs. SNK 2 (which, as Kevin noted, really hasn’t aged well), we got serious and started playing Mario Kart: Double Dash.

Our preferred track? Baby Park.

…

Tonight I attended (late, as usual—I love naps!) the second of the term’s three ballroom dances.

The oddity of the evening was having one of the dance instructors—the one who’s never been all that impressed by me (probably something to do with being a slow learner of moves and, back then, excessively apologetic)—come up and be quite friendly to me. I didn’t actually think she was talking to me at first, it was so strange. (I somewhat suspect it was because I was chatting with Robin at the time, and Robin’s one of her elite dancers. Enh, whatever.)

Pleasant happenings of the evening included having Robin all but glomp onto me when I arrived, Sofie dragging me out on the dance floor, and chatting while doing a west coast with (engaged) Jenny.

Jenny later asked me, on the sidelines during a rhumba, why I wasn’t out there getting all seductive like. I explained to her how, if I were a character in an RPG, that “getting all seductive like” wouldn’t even be an option on my movelist.

(I believe that explanation is one of the strongest ones I’ve ever given, inasmuch as it is as internally consistent as anything could ever be. Jenny appreciated the humor of it, at the least.)

The other odd event of the evening was having Barry breathe in my face and ask me if it smelled like he had been drinking (it didn’t, nor was it offensive—thankfully); apparently two different follows had both commented to him about that. I dunno; at most, it faintly smelled like he had used mouthwash.

I’m sure we all know how guys who are of age will try to get drunk off of mouthwash. It’s disgusting, really.