If you had to make the choice, would it be books or food? Man, we’d love to say books, but to go without Chinese noodles? That’s a rough one. However, as evidenced by our garage (the repository of all that won’t fit in the house) and our office (the place where we lied to bring more bookshelves into the house) and our living room (room where we tuck extra books in unexpected corners) and our bedroom (where the unconfessable is not what you think), we have an issue with books. We take some solace in the fact we’re not alone

Back in the day, when this Worldwide Web thing was so new you could mention it to your friends and get blank stares (huh? why would you want to do that?), we would spend Friday evenings, uh, chatting with likemineded geeks located in San Francisco and Oakland (this was, oddly, the only time they ever got together, albeit in separate locations). This was a lot of fun because it was so unique: hey, ma, we’re talking over the computer! Around this time, Snow Crash was released. Actually, earlier, but the husband read it first — he’s never been one to

We admit it — we expect the worst and hope for the best. When the USA Patriot Act was passed, however, we pretty much stopped at expecting the worst. Don’t get us wrong, modern crime requires modern law enforcement techniques (hence states trying to figure out how to handle drugged drivers…statutes only cover drunk drivers). But when major legislation is passed with no debate and no consideration, it terrifies us. Especially when it’s passed in a state of heightened emotions. We’ve talked about librarians and their opposition to section 215 of the Act. We find it disturbing that our records