A George Orwell Dystopia? Nope. China.

China is making its citizens change their names. An article on the front page of the New York Times today said that "Seeking to modernize its vast database on China's 1.3 billion citizens, the government's Public Security Bureau has been replacing the handwritten identity card that every Chinese must carry with a computer-readable one, complete with color photos and embedded microchips." The computers the bureau uses, however, only read 32,252 of the 55,000 Chinese characters. The result is that many Chinese with obscure characters in their names can't get new cards unless they change their names to something more common. Wow. What's with punching individuality in the face? No mames.

Strangers

I was walking down the street in New York City today, and I saw a man well over six feet wearing a hat. The kind of hat that you see on a guard at a palace in England. That kind of hat. And he was just walking, listening to his ipod, looking very busy. He had a lip ring and the rest of his outfit was very....fit rockstar. You know how those guys like the strokes and hot hot heat wear like slacks and a vest over a buttondown? That's what he was wearing. And then there was that hat. People are strange. That Doors song has been running through my head so often lately. Just for that reason. I keep seeing people like this, looking a little on the insane side, just walking along minding their own business. And i think to myself, people are strange. And then inevitably there's that song.