Remember that old fable of the tortoise and the hare? Basically, the faster hare is overconfident and loses a foot race to the slower, but steadier, tortoise. Somehow, the moral to this story is: "slow and steady wins the race."

I beg to differ. The race was not won by the tortoise; it was lost by the hare. The moral should read: "don't fuck around when there's shit to be done." Or something like that.

When the last century turned, the general populace went with 1899 —> 1900 as their official transition and the intellectual establishment went with 1900 —> 1901 as theirs. The establishment won. Almost every turn of the century party was held on december 31, 1900.

As the next century transition looms, the general populace is again backing the 99 —> 00 transition while the establishment is holding fast to the 00 —> 01 switch. Who's going to win this time? The establishment doesn't stand a chance. Why not?

a. Important cultural events are no longer determined by the establishment. Pop culture reigns supreme.

b. 2000 is such a nice, round, even number that people can't resist it.

c. The whole Y2K computer issue lends more weight to 2000 being an important and noteworthy milestone.

d. No one really listens to scientists.

As for me, I won't really be celebrating anything. After all, the year 2000 is based upon some date that a monk chose way back when for the birth of some guy in some podunk town in the middle east. It's no big deal....except for the whole Y2K computer thing. Ask yourself where Jesus is when the world goes dark and the bank says you don't have any money.

This is not a diary. A diary is a personal, private thing that I don't feel comfortable sharing with you. Alas, I've occasionally let this thing turn into a diary. I've also shared information about other people that wasn't appropriate. I've used notes to send messages to people "in the know".

Not anymore.

To that end, I've removed some material from here. Personal material that was (maybe) appropriate at the time, but as I look back on it, was not such a good idea. Some of you might protest, saying that I'm tampering with the past. It's not fair of me to go back and change my journal entries like that, right? It's not "fair" and "sporting". Well, fair or not, it's done.

You like to help, right? Sure you do. Here's how you can help Jason out in three easy steps:

1. First, determine whether or not your Twin Cities-based company needs a full-time professional Web designer with lots of experience and talent. If yes, continue on to step 2. If no, ask your friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. You gotta know someone.

2. Go check out my online resume/portfolio located at:

http://www.kottke.org/forsale/index.html

3. Give me a call or drop me an email. It's that simple.

Remember folks: helping is fun for the whole family!

The most perfect thing happened to me this morning. I'm walking down the stairs towards my front door. I stop to look out the little window in the door to see how bad it is raining out. Just then, this girl comes into my frame of vision from the left. Suddenly, she stops short and goes back to take another look at the back of my car...specifically the "kids love satan" bumper sticker. She looks and then continues on, laughing. I thought it was pretty fortunate of me to catch that little moment of time.

Thursday nights aren't what they used to be. Since Seinfeld is gone and I stopped watching ER, I don't watch TV on Thursday nights anymore. No Cheers. No Cosby Show. No Family Ties. No Night Court. Not even a Different World (ah, Jasmine Guy, where are ye now?). A long tradition is over. Must See TV is no more. Long live Fox Sunday nights.

Except for That 70's Show.