|
|
You are viewing the most recent 20 entries July 25th, 2008renniekins @ 10:29 am: Cats in Charge
 It is a bit chilly in my office today (chilly for me, I mean, not for any normal person), and I am wearing shorts. My legs are cold. I could pop upstairs and add a layer, but so far I haven't. I know it'll get warmer as the sun comes nearer my west-facing window, and I'll just be changing clothes again. Instead, I thought I'd close the open window. But here's the thing: the cat was sitting in his cat hammock, looking out the window and enjoying the light breeze. (He wears a permanent fur coat after all.) I wanted the window closed, but I knew it would displease the cat. I thus compromised and closed the window partway, leaving just enough room for a cat's head. It's clear who is in charge here. He didn't even ask me to leave the window open -- I just knew he'd be unhappy otherwise. Tags: kitties
matt_arnold @ 09:14 am: The Dark Knight
 I am a week overdue in telling you about The Dark Knight. This is the best movie I've seen this year, in a summer when my expectations are unprecedented. You remember I said that in order to avoid bankrupting myself on theater tickets, I would only see this season's crop on video, in second-run theaters, or as a gift from a friend, as an excercise in moviegoing self-discipline. I've held to that. Jen asked me months ago to pick one film as a gift from her, and on the strength of the trailer and its predecessor Batman Begins, I selected The Dark Knight. The plot was superb. Usually I hope against hope that a summer blockbuster's story will at least make sense, and this one did, but I had no idea what was going to happen. It tied everything together with themes about whether or not there is any real courage. Heath Ledger performed the Joker as if from beyond the grave. Aaron Eckhardt was just amazing as Harvey Dent. The supporting cast was stupendous. It's not often I get to see Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman for the price of a single ticket! I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I clapped, I was on the edge of my seat. No, I mean it, all of those things, out loud. How often can you say that about a movie? My favorite line was delivered by Morgan Freeman to the accountant. If you've watched it, you know the one. I realized at that moment how strongly we were sympathizing with the Batman, very concerned for his well being. Was not Morgan Freeman's delivery perfect to put it in perspective? So very funny. Where on earth could the Nolan brothers possibly go from here? 1. The obvious choices seem impossible. Nobody wants to see the Penguin and Riddler. Those characters, like most Batman villians, have been done with such campiness so often that it became their identity. They get no love. No crime lord in the Nolanverse will be named Oswald Cobblepot. But he doesn't have to be. This is forgetting that the Gotham of Nolan is one of re-invention. In Batman Begins, a villian wore a burlap sack on his head, and it worked. Don't say that they can't make a trick umbrella seem plausible. The problem is merely a failure of imagination. The best evidence I can show you is that the comic book Doctor Octopus was a chubby guy in a leotard with a bowl haircut, but the costume design and the performance by Alfred Molina in Spider Man 2 made it into what was, at that time, the best superhero movie ever . I don't want Spider Man 4, I want a film titled Doctor Octopus. I am that much of a Doc Ock fan now.
2. The villians from The Dark Knight again. Right now, Heath Ledger has a sacred aura with fans, so this may be risky. But if anybody can find a replacement for him, it's the creative team that chose him in the first place.
3. Minor villians. I think this is most likely. Batman Begins had Scarecrow and Ras Al Ghul, remember? I pored over the Batman's Rogue Gallery growing up, and even I said, "Ras-al-what?" Well, OK, Clayface will never happen, but there is no reason not to do a realistic version of Killer Croc. That way maybe the third movie will be about Batman again.
que_sara_sara @ 07:49 am: today's spam headline of the day
 From "Geurt": Attack Of The Zombie Negroes: Dick Cheney*blink*blink*Message reads: Cheney Visits Afghan President – Shoots Him In The Face Followed by a link that I know better than to click on. You got any good ones lately? Current Mood:  amused Current Music: none, I forgot to turn it on tommytoony @ 12:36 am: You Should Be Dancing
 By now, I'm sure most of you are familiar with Matt harding and his "Where the Hell is Matt?" websiteWell if you haven't, no worries. Here is his latest; you'll get the jist soon enough. A wonderful clip. We all need to do more of this...just keep on dancing. I'll keep on providing the music....
wolfger @ 12:09 am: Twitterpated
 Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
July 24th, 2008matt_arnold @ 09:44 pm: PyOhio Program
This is the PDF for the program I designed for PyOhio. It's Ohio's regional conference about Python, a free and open source programming language. It takes place Saturday of this week. Alas, I will not be able to attend due to conflicts. The program is to be printed on one double-sided 11"x17" sheet and folded twice.
rainbowravenx @ 01:01 pm: Stuck in Toronto
 So, WEMF absolutely Rocked. (more later) Seeing David and meeting Dale, and seeing Ontario and a bit of Quebec was awesome. Meeting MA was cool. Carver is adorable and sweet, and Natalie was cool too. That being said... We are now stranded in Toronto. Because , suprise, suprise, my car died. Now Amy wants me to leave all my camping stuff and my car that I still owe over $800 on in Toronto. She swore she'd get the car taken care of if it didn't make it. She swore my car was better off for the trip than hers. She said everything would work out just fine.... And now that it's not, she's conveniently forgotten that she said that. So now, i'm fucked. I should have known this trip was a bad idea ...fuck that I DID know taking my car on this trip was a bad Idea. I told her it was a bad idea, but let her talk me into it anyways. And I gave in because it was the last WEMF, and she already had tickets. God I'm such a fucking retard ! Any ways, that's where I am, for anyone that actually noticed I didn't make it home yesterday. ~Bella Current Mood:  frustrated Current Music: some chill out mix jer_ @ 12:20 pm: Happy Birthday to Me!
 Yesterday was my birthday. I also happened to be the first time I've celebrated my birthday in some 12 years or so. Contrary to popular belief, I don't dislike birthdays, it just has always seemed a rather odd thing to observe; a commemoration of something that I literally had nothing to do with--my birth. My mother would seem a more logical choice of people to solemnize on this auspicious occasion, being the person that went through the discomfort and inconvenience of pregnancy for over 9 months before suffering the (apparently) agonizing pain of child birth simply to create me. Even my father would be a more obvious choice, being at least a participant in the creation of me. I had remarkably little to do with it. During childbirth, they don't yell for the child to climb, they yell for the mother to push. So I don't dislike my birthday. I think my feelings toward it would be better described as bemused disregard. At best, I find birthday wishes awkward in that "where does the conversation go from here." It is my experience that any conversation that begins with an allusion, no matter how oblique, to my mother's birth canal can lead nowhere good. As such, all birthday wishes seem to follow the same pattern... Other Person: Happy birthday!
Me: Thanks.
*long, uncomfortable pause followed by some awkward filler*
Other Person: So, feel any older?
or
Other Person: So what did you get?
or
Other Person: So, today you fell out of your mother? Awkward. So my birthday began with a series of birthday wishes via my central point of contact, my Blackberry. By the time I got up for brunch, I had received a half-dozen or so texts, IMs, emails, or phone calls wishing me a happy birthday. I met ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) matt_arnold for a nice birthday brunch, during which several more messages came in. By the end of lunch, I had pretty much resigned myself to the inevitable... people were going to wish me a happy birthday, so I just needed to sit back and enjoy it. I wandered over to sheryl67 & rbradakis's place and hung out with them, helped paint for a bit, then had dinner when atdt1991 and blue_lucy arrived. When she got off work, my baby, ellalthea joined us, and what started out as a day of painting and prepping a room turned into an impromptu "birthday" thing with a bunch of people that I love (and Neil Gaiman's Blog) that included food, Key Lime Pie (my favorite), presents (I got a hardcover of Warren Ellis's new book, Crooked Little Vein), awesome company (the inclusion of Neil Gaiman's Blog almost, but didn't quite, offset the lack of my kids... but the B's totally filled in!), and modified rules Rock Band (modified how, you ask? In the best possible way, I reply). Before long, a strange thing happened. I really started to enjoy it. I mean REALLY started to enjoy it. Not the hanging out, but the "for me" aspect of it. At some point, once my mind had made the transition from "this is a celebration of my birth" to "this is an arbitrary date chosen to celebrate my EXISTENCE", I started to dig on the outpouring of Jer love. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I never considered myself one of "those people" who got into the attention and such associated with these things (not, mind you, that I'm anything but a whore for attention, but I am a completely different sort of whore for attention). As it turns out, I am exactly one of "those people". It was awesome scrolling through my friends list and seeing the birthday wishes. It was great to be utterly and completely loved for a day before I go back to my mildly curmudgeonly ways and everyone can go back to tolerating me :P Thank you all for making this so fantastic. Best... birthday... evar! Now, for the homework part of the exercise... I don't have all of your birthdays. I have most, but not all. If you are reading this, be it on LJ, RSS, Facebook, or elsewhere, please comment with your birth date. All replies are screened, so if you don't want the world to know, or if you don't want to celebrate, I simply just won't show it, just let me know; but I invite you to let the world know and enjoy a little bit of what I enjoyed last night. (Except Neil Gaiman's Blog, that's for me!) Current Mood:  loved , life
tommytoony @ 11:48 am:
For all you Kanerds and LARPers out there.... 
tommytoony @ 02:48 am: Morning Musical Log - Volume 435
Grateful Dead - "Terrapin Station"( Lyrics )
wolfger @ 12:08 am: Twitterpated
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
July 23rd, 2008signkat @ 11:02 pm: My Daily Twitterings
 A day in the life....Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
jer_ @ 10:13 pm: You're so vain... you probably think this blog is about you!
 In honor of my birthday, Neil Gaiman's Blog and I had dinner at Che Bradaki. Neil Gaiman's Blog was such a delightful conversationalist, but it would appear that Neil Gaiman's Blog doesn't find me in the least bit funny... but hey, I'm eating dinner with Neil Gaiman's Blog, so who cares, right? After a delicious meal, Neil Gaiman's Blog and I adjourned into the living room for a viewing of Mirror Mask. It was a little odd, watching the movie with Neil Gaiman's Blog, since it is Neil Gaiman's Blog's movie. The evening was over far too soon, and Neil Gaiman's Blog had to leave to do what Neil Gaiman's Blog does. I should stop, though, before it starts to look like I'm just name dropping Neil Gaiman's Blog. Peace! PS Neil Gaiman's Blog, Neil Gaiman's Blog, Neil Gaiman's Blog, Neil Gaiman's Blog. Current Mood:  accomplished Current Music: Tori Amos - Caught a Light Sneeze zenturbo @ 10:39 pm: IT IS DONE!!!
 The Paperweight is no longer in my possession. I just signed the papers and the buyer just drove off. I got boned bad and they insisted that I drop the price another $100, but to me, it was worth it. They wanted to put a part in to get it home and I kept telling them they just need to put $10 of fresh gas in it. Fine, don't listen to the petrochemist. **sigh** Now time to crack out the smudge sticks and the Citra-Solv. I want all essence of that albatross GONE!! Edit: Looks like his theory on it being the coil was wrong. He just called asking me for a name of a towing company. Goes to show that I do know a thing or two. Current Mood:  resigned cosette_valjean @ 09:12 pm:
 The joys of internet dating To a kind and lonely heart. Hey, sexy, you want to ride me? You are everything I want...maybe. Quickly, write me, I am begging. I, however, refuse to return the effort. The first real life contact Was a married mafia man. I happened to fall in love. How sweet the words he wove. So many lies...where was fact? After sex how quickly he ran. I unconsciously made him pay. Guilt and care consumed him. Now he has vanished. Why is my heart still vanquished? Then the next guy had a way Of making me feel like spam. I was everything he prized. Right up until he learned my size. Now I often chat with a broken divorcer Who expresses concern about my weight. Will he still be my good friend After he sees me end to end? Men have very little luster For females who do not stimulate. The second real life encounter May not amount to much. In email, I asked him after a date What his last name was outright. He ignored my pointer. He made no mention of such. Seems to me he will disappear. At least to me he is not dear. Now two more men have arrived To ask me to be open and alive. I begin to have frustration Being an open book to blind men.
zenturbo @ 04:07 pm: Well, It Was Fun While it Lasted....
I just got my new marching orders....I'm heading back to my old job in the lab starting Sunday night. I will be shadowing the workers and getting a rapid review. Lucky for me, I was able to push it off until then. They wanted me to start Friday evening, but I have plans this weekend that would of been very difficult to cancel. Still, this is a good thing b.c. going back to the old schedule means I can pretty much head out to war Friday afternoon like I was expecting to do. Current Mood:  blah que_sara_sara @ 03:49 pm: *huff*puff*pant*pant*
 The Good News: I can walk the half-mile to Starbucks, get a coffee and walk the half-mile back to work in just about 20 minutes (no more than 25) The Bad News: I have on a pair of Birks that are not as comfy to do that in as the ones I wore to the art fair were. Guess which ones are not going to ren faire.... Current Mood:  hot Current Music: Come Monday, Jimmy Buffett que_sara_sara @ 01:55 pm: I needs some opinions
 In that horridly aspie-ish way that I have I can't decide between two different ways of answering an email I received and I would like your opinion on which one I should pick. No, I don't want a third option of "this is how someone who's brain doesn't work like yours(mine) would do it", this is under my skin because of how my brain works and I want to use one of my two answers. Here's the background: I've been getting letters from my credit union that I can get a good deal on my insurance though a company because of my memebership with the cu. Kewl. Now that dad's retired I don't feel any guilt checking out other companies. Went and got the on-line quote yesterday for both auto and renters insurance, asked on at least one of them for a phone call Wednesday morning in the hopes I'd get it today. Yesterday I got an email from an agent basically reading "please answer this message so I can talk to you about this potential policy". That's where my issue comes in. It's horribly worded and just says "answer me" but doesn't tell me what to answer. Oh, and it does tell me to ask if I have any questions... but I don't have any yet since I'm still waiting for the "counter offer" from Doug. (who has until tomorrow afternoon if dad dropped the quote sheet off today like he said he would) So, in the poll where you don't get to click buttons but just answer in the remarks should I; (A)send a message saying, "Hi! I'm answering your email."? or (B)send a message saying, "this was a very difficult email to answer and here's why..." (see somebunall reasons as to why above) What do you think? Current Mood:  confused Current Music: Come Monday, Jimmy Buffett renniekins @ 12:51 pm: Food Brain
 I've been trying to eat healthier recently. This is really hard, especially when I'm on the road! However at the very least I can try to eat better when I'm not traveling. In an effort toward this, I've been intermittently trying Seattle Sutton. This is a program that makes meals - fresh ones not frozen - that you pick up from their shop twice a week. They provide 21 meals a week, which I can't manage to consume in a week. Between travel and hanging out with friends, I eat away from home several times a week. However I can usually eat those in two weeks, so long as neither are a co-lo week. So I've ordered from them a few times, this week included. The food is generally not bad. In fact some of it is quite good! My lunch today was only so-so, but yesterday's dinner was yummy. The challenge is to eat just what they give me, and not extra things. Especially when they give me something I don't like.... I've been trying to re-train my brain. I want it to find healthy food yummy, and unhealthy food yucky. For example there was squash on the side of a meal recently. I don't like squash. But it's not awful, and I think it's supposed to be good for me. So I ate it anyway. I tried to convince my brain, "Yum, squash!" It didn't really work, but I ate the squash and it wasn't awful. Just not tasty. Hopefully there were vitamins in there. I'm also trying to visualize bad-for-me things, like a plate of french fries, and tell myself, "Ugh, covered in grease." Same with brownies and such. "Yuck, too sweet." It's not entirely working, and my brain is not fooled. But even trying to take steps toward thinking about food in a healthier fashion seems like a good idea. I also tell myself that, if I'm eating one of my Seattle Sutton meals, I can't eat anything else unless I eat all of the fruits and veggies the meal people provided. It's like making a child eat, but it also makes sense after all. We make children eat their vegetables because we want them to be healthy. I want ME to be healthy to! My tendency to leave squash and fruit on my plate and supplement my hunger with a granola bar is probably why my weight isn't where I want it to be. If I were really hungry, if there weren't other options, I'd eat that stuff. So I shouldn't eat anything else first. It's a theory. A challenging one, and one that obviously won't change my mindset 100%. But even changing it a little, or reminding myself to think more carefully, isn't a bad idea. So far I'm only really doing this on days when I'm at home, but anything is better than nothing, right? On an unrelated note: ALPACAS! Tags: alpaca, diet, food
que_sara_sara @ 12:41 pm: just finish typing one and another will show up....
 I wasn't intending to do another horoscope post right now, but once again the DailyOm landed in my lap and it seems especially timely right now. Life’s rigors may loosen their hold on your mood today, leaving you feeling blissfully content. Because your personal and professional affairs are likely in order, you may find it easier than usual to relax and enjoy yourself. The fulfillment and happiness within can inspire you to seek out your loved ones and enjoy the comforts of your home rather than go out on the town. This can be a positive time to reconnect with friends and relatives you seldom see because of schedule constraints. You may discover that you can easily slip out of your worldly roles such as employee or commuter and into more personal roles such as confidant or sibling. If you find yourself facing an unexpected and stressful situation today, your contentment will likely help you approach it with aplomb.
It is only when we are content that we can truly take pleasure in the joys of our homes and loved ones. Anxiety can cut through happiness and make the activities you once enjoyed seem empty and meaningless. When you are content, however, nothing can interfere with or distract you from your pursuit of pleasure, and worldly matters will never interrupt your domestic bliss. You can devote the whole of your mental energy to having fun and being sociable because you have left stress at the threshold of your literal and figurative personal sanctuaries. Your relaxed satisfaction will further set the mood and inspire the people around you to be similarly at ease. As you slip into a contended mood today, the pleasure you normally feel when enjoying your domestic sphere will increase. I would say that I do have most of my affairs in order right this moment. I got an answer I wanted to hear today (yet another post to type), my checkbook is balanced and not going *sproing* before I get paid tomorrow, and I'll be able to pay all my bills tomorrow too, my house isn't such a mess that I don't want to go home, I'm not really lacking for anything but a bit more food in my frige; life's really pretty good right now despite how much I bitch about stuff. I would also say that I have mostly slipped out of the "employee" role and into the role of "writer" for the day and I hope like hell I don't end up in trouble for it. (I'm still testing and handling things as I get them, but I've needed to write this much for a while now) I don't believe I've encountered anything really stressful today; unless you count all the testing issue emails I've received for the whole day coming in one 10 minute span... As for being "blissfully content" I think I just might be. If I dig down inside myself, below the part of me that's just completely out of control chaotic right now, I do feel quite content with my life in general. What I have right now is this huge layer of "god I'm not happy" and "I don't like anything" and "I can't keep up with everything" and "I'm not remembering anything I think I should" and on and on and on. This layer is sitting on top of everything I see when I look at me right now... I feel it everywhere and I feel that just can't escape it. I suspect this is what's manifesting as if I haven't eaten forever even though I know I've eaten and had drink other than water today. I have let the overwhelmed and trapped feelings get on top of where I feel I really am and take control of what I do feel. Of course I have to decide where the line between "content" and "tolerating" really is, but that is a subject I'll think about another day. Today I need to work on moving the chaos level off the top of me. Current Mood:  peaceful Current Music: One Particular Harbor, Jimmy Buffett , life, self
Powered by LiveJournal.com
|
