thought for the day

Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time. -Stephen Swid, executive (b. 1941)

Lizard people rule!

from gawker comments

hulu.com

This website is awesome! Who needs cable?

44 things

44 Odd things about you!

Learn 44 things about your friends, and let them learn 44 things about you!

1. Do you like blue cheese? yes

2. Have you ever smoked? yes please

3. Do you own a gun? no

4. What flavor of Kool Aid is your favorite? grape

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? yes

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I think of hot dogs, no thank you

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Holiday, an old movie w/Cary Grant

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? diet coke, i know it's bad for me but I love it

9. Can you do push ups? maybe two or three

10. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? a necklace my dad gave me

11. Favorite Hobby? reading

12. Do you have A.D.D.? not really, just poor concentration

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? can't decide. NO wait, that's it: I hate that I can never decide.

14. Middle name? Erin

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?

A. I should really go to bed

B. I don't photograph well

C. It's a lovely weekend!

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. diet coke, beer, water

17. Current worry? homework

18. Current hate right now? homework

19. Favorite place(s) to be? is asleep a place?

20. How did you bring in the New Year? I don't remember, it must have been really awesome or terribly dull.

21. Where would you like to go? Europe

22. Name three people who will complete this. ?, ? and ?

23. Do you own slippers? yup.

4. What color shirt are you wearing right now? green

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? no, too slippery

26. Can you whistle? yes

27. Favorite color(s)? plum and black

28. Would you be a pirate? perhaps, if the money was right

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? country music or show tunes

30. Favorite girl's name? Aurora

31. Favorite boy's name? Archibald


32. What's in your pocket right now? nothing

33. Last thing that made you laugh? a reference to a ninja costume, i believe

34. Best bed sheets as a child? black

35. Worst injury you've ever had? Cut open my chin falling off a bar stool (in my case alcohol was tangentially involved.)

36. Do you love where you live? I love it, but I'm not in love with it.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2

38. Who is your loudest friend? Jenna

39. How many dogs do you have? 0

40. Does someone have a crush on you? maybe

41. What is your favorite book? something Jane Austen-y

42. What is your favorite candy? chocolate with almonds

43. What song do you want played at your funeral? Dancing Queen by Abba


44. What are your favorite sports teams? none

life is essentially good

At least this week. I'm enjoying about half of my classes.

stupid day

So far today, I forgot to resave a file with the correct extension, to bring a book and or handout, because I would need them, and what else? It seems like I've forgotten more than that. Oh right, the due date of that other assignment (the one whose file extension needs to change so it can be printed)

Perhaps I am getting old.

Let's call it growing up. I'm in the computer lab of a college (well it's kind of a college) and this guy next to me was telling his friend about how fucked up and wasted he got this weekend and how the cops took him home and how surprised he was they didn't take him to detox. It didn't sound fun, it was really sad. Maybe I would have felt the same way ten years ago.

halloween

Not sure what to be for halloween. JB 's having a bday costume party on 11/1. I have a cape, I have many bridesmaid dresses to choose from, I have some vague ideas about what to be. I should just choose the cheapest thing I can find.

a post at last

........If your morals make you dreary, depend on it, they are wrong. -Robert LouisStevenson, novelist, essayist, and poet (1850-1894)

i was just bitching to whackly about having shorter hair...

and how it makes me mad not to be able to put it in a ponytail. I thought this was important enough to share with the world.

oh noes!

Whackly's prophecy has partially come to pass. I had too much to drink last night because I am stupid. No polaroids have surfaced. However, I think Doordolt's neighbor was trying to cop a feel off me (and all the other ladies in his vicinity other than his very patient & tolerant wife.)

new stuff at my job

Ok, I'm rapidly forgetting why I volunteered for this, but this week I started training in my company's collections department. Oh, yeah, I was trying to impress my boss and I was bored in my previous extra department work, and I knew I'd eventually end up working there, so I might as well make it my choice. That is why I volunteered.

My boss has us rotate into different departments for a year or so, 4-8 hours a week, for various reasons that are essentially valid. I simultaneously agree and disagree with these reasons; my complaining would be merely for my own pleasure, and I'm not ready to look for another job, so here I go.

I've made a few calls but only had one actual customer contact so far. I am going into this knowing that I probably won't like it, but I know negotiating and not being such a wussy pushover are skills I can use. Hell yeah. Any tales of collections from anybody out there?

Hey, would you like some slightly awkward conversation with your pasta?

I have this 12-stepping friend who made amends to me today. I was amended? I don't know the lingo. Anyway, it was all right, and sounded fairly genuine (pardon me if that sounds unconscionably cold or unreasonably cynical).

Defanging incivility or something like that

I got this in an email from Utne. Interesting article. Now, this interests me in spite of the fact that I don't get comments, much less malicious ones, and I am not a gay. Here's the question they pose:
Is it a blogger's responsibility to keep comments and forums civil? Or is it his/her duty to let comments play out as they will, unmoderated?
Read More >>


My thought is you can moderate your blog if you want. If you do, you run the risk of overediting contrary opinions or viewpoints. If you don't, however, you are a tiny bit responisble for the bile that ends up on your site. Any thoughts?

Rock Band is a fun game, huh?

I like it even better than Guitar Hero. I mean, I've only played Guitar Hero twice and Rock Band once, but I feel pretty confident about this. However, when I was the singer, I was surpised to remember that I really can't sing. Oh well!

I am going back to school. Now it's on the internet, and I can't unsay it! I applied for financial aid and everything. I swear, this admissions counselor lady I talked to should like, give motivational seminars. I think I signed up for a triple major or something, it's kind of a blur.

Quotes we've heard before

"Fall seven times, get up eight." - Japanese Proverb

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." - Chinese Proverb

"Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never." - Winston Churchill

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson

hardy har har!

I pulled a succesful prank today. I am quite proud. I made it look like 1/2 our department called in sick, when about 1/3 of it was already going to be gone. I even got my boss in on it in advance, so when her assistant left her a semi-panicked message, she called back laughing her ass off, instead of anxious and pissed off. She was on her way to a funeral so she could use the laugh, you know? Or it was really inappropriate to pull her away from her family for something so trivial. Let's say not the second one, hopefully.

The 2 ladies who get there first in the morning were my targets. It was awesome. They actually bought it, had no thought that it was sort of coincidental that I had food poisoning, W had a broken leg, and the new girl had the flu -- all on April 1st. I was worried they'd be genuinely mad once they found out I had gotten them, and in fact I think JB was about 30 seconds away from crying when I got there. So I had prepared a small gift for each of them, to bribe them back to liking me.

I am way too proud of myself and will probably get my comeuppance soon enough.

Signature

The following comes from my brother's email signature (the middle bro). He's pretty cool.


There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. --P.J. O'Rourke (1993)
There is no freedom without the freedom to say no.
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain

How about that reality television

I have always dislike reality tv. At least 99% of it, anyway. But this year I've gotten into the Biggest Loser, and was so thrilled tonight that the girls made it above the yellow line! Ok, so that probably makes no sense if you don't watch the show. But if you know, then you know.

Oh, and Dan was finally punished for his hubris. Good times!

IT Dept Hates Me

Nah, maybe not so much hates me. Thinks I'm a technical hypochondriac.
This is not a big deal...
Here I am, with the best intentions in the world, transferring a call on line one to somebody's voicemail. Then line two rings, and I can't hear the call I'm trying to transfer. So I can't tell when voicemail picks up and because I can't risk to put putting somebody to the wrong line, I put the 1st call on hold so I can get rid of line two and transfer the poor person on line one.

Whatever, I can live with it. But somebody told me to send a work order to IT, and 3 weeks later they come to me to check on it. And look at me like I'm a new species of crazy while I try to describe it, sputter, and give up. Whatever!

I have a mental block when it comes to a certain level of technology. Like, anything more complicated than the basic level. I discovered how to sort shit in excel and you'd think I'd found gold. Then I forgot how to do it. The mind rebels!

hey yo

I feel like things are looking up for me a little bit, but of course that means something shitty is about to happen, right?

Oh yeah.

One last thing -- when did my parents turn into the old couple on Everybody Loves Raymond? I guess my mom isn't much of a meddler and the dad on the tv show isn't as openly racist as my father, but in many points the similarity is striking.

Final thoughts

So I've been working on a website at work, and it's kind of cool and fun except that it's just become part of the same shitstorm of frustration and willful bunglage that is work. I think I just invented the word "bunglage". It means that everything tends to go to shit as much as it possibly can - when things go to shit when you hoped they wouldn't but knew they probably would, that, sir, is bunglage. From the latin, bunglar: to bungle, that which sucks or is lousy. But I am no lexicographer, my dears! Bungle, bumble, bugle. I have typed it and thought it too many times and it has lost all meanings. Oh shit, I googled it and it's not really my invention. Okey dokey, I can live with that. I found this blog when I did my search. Coolness.

It seems I can't make a move on the website without some infelicitous (awesome word that I didn't invent) happening. I finally managed to tab the lines of code in line with the IT departments requirements, but a long line of text has fecked up the column widths. Everything is spaced all funny on this little insignificant page, and I just hope I remember how IT guy told me I should fix it when I go back to work on Monday. I think so. I'm just going to abbreviate the long line of text.

Anyway, shit happens, right? I'm clearly running out of steam here, and no matter the paucity of my social engagements, I should be able to find something better to do with my Saturday evening. Ta ta for now!

Further ramblings

I have gotten even sicker of the presidential race. At least I'm learning to be ashamed of this, because I should really want to participate. Here's what I feel, and I'd like to hear your opinions as well: I think Hillary, Barack or John McCain would probably all do a decent enough job. My most favoritest would be Prez Hill, Veep Barack. Or maybe vice versa. I'm sure many of you disagree, but I could give a crap. lol. I respect your opinions and whatnot, but barring some really good persuasion, or unless Bill C and Barry go strip club hopping together, that's gonna be my ticket.

One of my favorite things on NPR is Science Friday, on All Things Considered maybe, hosted by Ira something. This week they talked a bit about the disheartening news about using food crops for bio diesel. Which I mean, hello? Did anyone else hear that and think, god, why is that news to me? What I'm saying is, why didn't I/everybody else already think of this? If we use corn to make fuel, then we will have less corn for food. Other countries will need to grow more food, they will need more land to grow that food... hey, look at that rainforest! But we should be using less corn for food anyway. And eating less meat (it takes a lot of pounds of grain to feed a cow, to get one pound of beef. why not just eat the grains? I guess if you have celiac disease, that would be a good reason to go for the steak). Just a bit less, say one day a week, have like tofu or garbanzo beans instead. It's an idea, if you are giving up steak for Lent anyway why not give it a try?

Anyway, after covering the bad news they talked about new developments in sustainable biofuels, like perhaps using algae or some nonsense to make ethanol or even oil. That was pretty cool. I like hearing about science things, even though it's not really my thing.

You know, perhaps a blog is the wrong place for this next topic but I'd like to get away from the navel gazing, introspective, self-absorbed thing. It's very dull. LOL. I say this after how many tens of thousands of words, how many hundreds of uses of "I" or "me" on this page? Perhaps it's more honest to talk about oneself rather than pretend that what one writes can be truly independant of oneself? Oh, but exceptions present themselves immediately -- anybody else worried about this type of thing? No? It's boring? Then forget it.

I haven't been good about keeping up with people, except that I talk to Whackly about once a week. I think I'm doing ok with others then I sort of look up that it's been say, 2 weeks, or 4 months since I've spoken to them. I'm sure when I figure out the internet access shit that will get better, but in the meantime, if I've alienated anyone please don't take it personal.

So I tried blogging from my cell phone but no dice. For the last 3-4 weeks I haven't even been able to check my email from the damn thing.

Hi all. Happy February. I'm going to ramble on for a bit

I'm all moved in and comfortable in the new place. I knew it wouldn't be hard to just move downstairs, but it was even less stressful than I thought it would be. I think I blogged a long time ago, about how I need to get rid of a lot of stuff. I found in moving that I really have cleaned out quite a bit of junk, but there's still more that needs to be done. I need time to get used to the idea of parting with stuff. Stuff goes back and forth between the "keep" and "donate" piles a few times before meeting a final fate.

Some of my former coworkers probably remember recieving a blue fleece vest with our company logo on it. Do any of you still have it? I did until yesterday, and I only gave it up to give it to my mom. I still have lots of clothes to get rid of, things that are probably fine but I just don't wear. Then there are the books, a small but useless assortment of knicknacks and decorative items, and papers. Lots of papers. Old bills and insurance crap, printouts of whatnot. While I am generally a miserably untidy person, the stuff is pretty well stowed away at the current time.

I quit smoking, again. 32nd time is the charm! Nah, really like the fourth or fifth time. Sadly, I have been giving myself a loophole: that maybe after 6 months or so, if somebody else is smoking and they offer me one, I'll indulge. But I hear that isn't the best way to handle such an attaching, inveigling habit as this. So don't offer me one, in the unlikely event that I'm around you. As far as habits go, it's not the worst, but it's bad enough and not worth the trouble.