YouTube reported today that they hit 100 million viewers in the month of January. In a related story, the US reported 598,000 jobs were lost in the month of January, the most in one month since 1974.

Also in the news: Robin Williams undergoes emergency heart surgery. No, really? A guy who had a very public cocaine habit has HEART TROUBLE! Shocker.

Terrell Owens was released by the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday. This may be the worst thing to happen to the Giants so far this off-season. I can't say I feel bad for T.O. If anyone deserves to be out of a job (especially these days) it's him. I fear that he won't be out of a job for long, however. I only hope he signs with the Patriots.



Enough current events.

I had jury duty this week. Wow. The excitement! The glamour! Participating in our judicial process! Let me tell you something, dear reader: Law and Order is full of shit. Real jury duty is nothing like that. I was called for one jury panel, and sat there for 4 hours while the judge asked the same 20 questions over and over and over again. Then either he or one of the lawyers would ask for a juror to be removed, and the process would start all over again. I was so relieved when the plaintiff's council finally asked that I be removed, I almost ran out of the room. Then I spent the next 2 days sitting in the jury room, waiting to be called again. It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't have a TV in the room, tuned to the View. And Rachel Ray. And Regis and Kelly. Apparently, the 8th amendment only applies to convicts, and not to jurors.

A few other observations from the week: historic downtown Paterson NJ is incredibly scenic. And by scenic I mean "it looks like a war zone." This part of the state obviously missed out on the economic renaissance of the 1990's. I'm thinking they missed the renaissance of the 50's. There is one up side: you can save your money in these tough economic times, and instead of that trip to Mexico or Puerto Rico, just go to Paterson!

I noticed something else: remember how, in high school, all the kids wanted to sit in the back of the bus? Eventually, the pecking order was established and the cool kids wound up there; at least until they could drive. Well, as we get older, we apparently switch priorities, and now jostle to be first on the bus so we can sit up front. This gets us off the bus first. My question is: why are we in such a hurry? You're just going to have to wait somewhere else.

"Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate."

Chuang-tzu