Degenerative Mathematical Inheritance (causes tumor)

I should have saved that title for something more interesting than what I'm about to write. These types of phrases only come around now and again though, and I usually find myself trying to come up with writings that fit the title, rather than titles that fit the writing. My mind tries... maybe I have one of this infliction.

So, this evening I took a trip to the University Bookstore near here to listen to Chuck Klosterman (pronounced with a long 'o,' actually) read from his new book. A small audience was present near the sparsely stocked children's book area. A little was read about the importance of having a nemesis and arch enemy. Why is it again that authors get get paid to march around the country and read from their books? Most people there have read the passages already, and even if they immediately purchased the book then, sales would only be boosted by a grand total of 100 or so through the duration of the tour. Of course, the reading could stimulate further conversation, but I'm guessing that wouldn't usually be a major hurdle, as again, most people have at least a clue as to what the author's wrote before, and again, if they didn't they probably wouldn't ask questions with the fear that the question they ask would clearly indicate that they didn't know the author. Anyway, some good questions were asked, and the guy can talk a lot; like he's on some type of amphetamine. And yes, he makes music references as much as you'd imagine.

I couldn't help but imagine running into him somewhere. In general, I thought about encounters with cultural figures. By cultural figures I mean anybody that has exposed themselves publicly as someone - wrote a book, been a politician, performed, etc. My conclusion seems to be circular. You really can't run into these people and be like, "hey, how's it going - I know you." In real life you don't, however, politicians should pretend to respond positively to this. So you don't know them, but you know them. You don't have a connection with them, but you do. You know they're just regular people, but you also know they aren't. For example, an actor or actress. You only know them in their performance mode - Michael Keaton is Batman to you. However, for authors, especially ones like Klosterman (with a long 'o'), you know way too much about them personally. You want to give them some friendly tips and shoot the breeze about Guns n Roses. And that might be okay, but at the same time, it seems so lame for both parties involved. You feel ashamed to even think about talking to them, knowing that the only thing you could discuss with them is what they once wrote about. At this point in the thought process, you realize that no matter how you approach these people, it's just plain lame, and if you try, you'll just end up being a stalker before you ever realize what happened. Believe me. Been there, done that. So, the final advice of ultimate judgment is don't just go walking up to Mark Borchardt and ask about how Mike Schank is doing. He doesn't appreciate it, and he will call the cops. On the other hand, for people like Klosterman, that are self-described as self-indulgent in their writing, probably love talking about their writing. Especially when they're holed up alone in some hotel thinking about the same crappy (or awesome) life they keep writing about. Well, bottom line is I'm not playing russian roulette with the old stalker gun.

About the Moser-bot. I have no more information, but I worked out some calculations. It turns out the robot had a power factor of 11 and a strength adjustment of 43 degrees. This information clearly proves that the bot exerted way too much power in blanket curtain teardown operations. Sorry for the inconvenience of repair to all those who paid.