I'm back home and snuggled in bed after my grueling Thursday of work bracketed by teaching spin classes.
Thanks guys for your comments on my previous post, and to Ruth for her sweet email. :-)
I just watched LOST, and if Boone dies I'm gonna be real upset. He's got such pretty eyes.
Well I'm sleepy, so its off to dreamland.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Happy Birthday, Blog!
As of Friday, this blog will offically be three years old. I'm a bit surprised, though not that much I suppose. I have kept journals on and off over the years, and the blog has been the perfect conduit for me, since I can add to it from so many locations. (It's like .Mac and my calendar, which I keep on three computers and the iPod; it all syncs very nicely.)
Anyway, this anniversary -- in addition to re-reading Caring For Your Introvert, (one funny and very true line is "Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone."), reading an article about shyness in this week's Time magazine, finding someone else's pictures of last month's cruise online and seeing myself in them -- has sent me into a little bit of a mood.
As the last shrink I saw (I only went to him once) said after I babbled for an hour and a half, partly about how uncomfortable I was in social situations: "I don't think you have social anxiety; I think you don't like to be around people."
Back when I lived in Dupont and used to go out to a bar once in awhile, on more than a few occasions a total stranger would come up to me and say in a friendly (and not even a come-on) way "Smile!" or something like "Try not to look like you're having such a bad time." And it's true still, in the pictures from the cruise at a couple of the dances I appear to be scowling. I don't do this consciously, and I don't even think I was having a bad time. I've tried smiling in the mirror and even my 'smile' isn't really a smile; it's just the way my face is constructed. But that's just part of it: my natural expression can only be interpreted as a frown. And a fairly off-putting one, apparently.
But I enjoyed my cruise for the most part. There were a few times I would have liked to have someone with me, but mainly as a prop to go to the formal dinners with, or to dance with at the parties. The rest of the time I was quite content alone on my chaise lounge with Harry Potter books 2 through 4. Interestingly my roomate mentioned that even his friends had noticed me and that I was alone all the time. I wasn't sure what to think of their apparent fascination with me. I was not the only person on that ship by myself.
And the thing I said to my previous shrink three and a half years ago that essentially ended our professional relationship of several years was my tortured "I want to learn to be happy being alone." Followed by her almost indignant "I don't believe you mean that!"
She was obviously getting bored or complacent anyway, so I told her that I felt like this was no longer helping me and fired her.
I haven't been on a real 'date' in years. I thought I was in love with Andreas, but that was misguided (and impractical: he lives in Switzerland! Probably intentional on my part). Ryan was my last real 'date' as in romantic date with butterflies in the stomach, and that must have been four years now. I have little or no desire to date; it all seems like so much work. (I don't slut around either, in case you were wondering, so quit clucking your tongues. I do spend some time with my friends Lukas and Tim and Ion and Danny... you figure that out). Sometimes I feel like I should be worried about my isolation. I have very few friends. I don't really speak to my parents (my choice), though my sister and I keep in touch via email. I really have no 'support structure' to speak of, and I don't feel like I want one. But what about when something bad happens? Most of the people I know are in a relationship or seem to be desperately seeking one, while I seem to only want one in a completely abstract sense. I've lived alone for the past 24 years and I don't know if I could go back to having a 'roomate.' Even my longest relationship (if you could call it that) only lasted 11 months and I would sleep at his place on Saturday nights; that was it. And that was more than enough for me. But maybe I can lay some of the blame at his feet on that one.
Back to the blog. While I do like getting comments, I think I write this mostly as a convenient personal journal for myself. (And I do have another blog for my darker and more personal thoughts; don't bother looking for it). But even now I am having a good time going back on my onld entries. Though i need to be careful about links. Those source pages can be so impermanent.
Well, I'm done rambling; I have to get up at 5:00 for my spin class tomorrow.
Anyway, this anniversary -- in addition to re-reading Caring For Your Introvert, (one funny and very true line is "Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone."), reading an article about shyness in this week's Time magazine, finding someone else's pictures of last month's cruise online and seeing myself in them -- has sent me into a little bit of a mood.
As the last shrink I saw (I only went to him once) said after I babbled for an hour and a half, partly about how uncomfortable I was in social situations: "I don't think you have social anxiety; I think you don't like to be around people."
Back when I lived in Dupont and used to go out to a bar once in awhile, on more than a few occasions a total stranger would come up to me and say in a friendly (and not even a come-on) way "Smile!" or something like "Try not to look like you're having such a bad time." And it's true still, in the pictures from the cruise at a couple of the dances I appear to be scowling. I don't do this consciously, and I don't even think I was having a bad time. I've tried smiling in the mirror and even my 'smile' isn't really a smile; it's just the way my face is constructed. But that's just part of it: my natural expression can only be interpreted as a frown. And a fairly off-putting one, apparently.
But I enjoyed my cruise for the most part. There were a few times I would have liked to have someone with me, but mainly as a prop to go to the formal dinners with, or to dance with at the parties. The rest of the time I was quite content alone on my chaise lounge with Harry Potter books 2 through 4. Interestingly my roomate mentioned that even his friends had noticed me and that I was alone all the time. I wasn't sure what to think of their apparent fascination with me. I was not the only person on that ship by myself.
And the thing I said to my previous shrink three and a half years ago that essentially ended our professional relationship of several years was my tortured "I want to learn to be happy being alone." Followed by her almost indignant "I don't believe you mean that!"
She was obviously getting bored or complacent anyway, so I told her that I felt like this was no longer helping me and fired her.
February 23
Dear Diary,
Asparagus for dinner again. I hate asparagus. Does this mean I'll never grow up?
--- Laura Palmer's Diary, Last Entry
I haven't been on a real 'date' in years. I thought I was in love with Andreas, but that was misguided (and impractical: he lives in Switzerland! Probably intentional on my part). Ryan was my last real 'date' as in romantic date with butterflies in the stomach, and that must have been four years now. I have little or no desire to date; it all seems like so much work. (I don't slut around either, in case you were wondering, so quit clucking your tongues. I do spend some time with my friends Lukas and Tim and Ion and Danny... you figure that out). Sometimes I feel like I should be worried about my isolation. I have very few friends. I don't really speak to my parents (my choice), though my sister and I keep in touch via email. I really have no 'support structure' to speak of, and I don't feel like I want one. But what about when something bad happens? Most of the people I know are in a relationship or seem to be desperately seeking one, while I seem to only want one in a completely abstract sense. I've lived alone for the past 24 years and I don't know if I could go back to having a 'roomate.' Even my longest relationship (if you could call it that) only lasted 11 months and I would sleep at his place on Saturday nights; that was it. And that was more than enough for me. But maybe I can lay some of the blame at his feet on that one.
Back to the blog. While I do like getting comments, I think I write this mostly as a convenient personal journal for myself. (And I do have another blog for my darker and more personal thoughts; don't bother looking for it). But even now I am having a good time going back on my onld entries. Though i need to be careful about links. Those source pages can be so impermanent.
Well, I'm done rambling; I have to get up at 5:00 for my spin class tomorrow.
Doug-Doug
Well, the Cycle Stud® is up to his old bad habits. Today he strolled in five minutes late. And to add injury to insult, apparently the management won't open the spin room until an instructor is present (and there was no way I was going to get involved in that by announcing my instructor status and opening the door so we could actually go in and get our bikes set up before His Studliness deigned to arrive). And then he didn't even ride, so we weren't treated to his glory in bike shorts and skintight jersy. Bastard.
THEN he ends the class five minutes early and smirks "Didn't class seem to go by fast today?" I went mainly to go to his abs class and see what he does. Picked up a couple new exercises, but overall I wasn't impressed. I did notice a greater percentage of guys today...
THEN he ends the class five minutes early and smirks "Didn't class seem to go by fast today?" I went mainly to go to his abs class and see what he does. Picked up a couple new exercises, but overall I wasn't impressed. I did notice a greater percentage of guys today...
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Caring for Your Introvert
Many thanks to Jeff for calling this to my attention, because this is me all over: Caring for Your Introvert by Jonathan Rauch.
The New Issue...
...of the Sports Clubs magazine, Strong, is now online. Yum. Note the spinning instructors. Of course, we all look like that. ;-)
I'm almost as disappointed as Doug that they didn't feature him, though. He really is as hot as any of those guys.
I'm almost as disappointed as Doug that they didn't feature him, though. He really is as hot as any of those guys.
I Wonder
What is Michael Phelps doing right now? Curled up in his bed at school in Ann Arbor, fast asleep? What does he wear to bed? Does he have jammies? Burning questions at 3:00am eastern time...
Where to give?
I'm trying decide how to divvy up my charitable contributions this year, and in addition to the usual suspects (The Ocean Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, Rainforest Alliance, and maybe Marine Mammal again), I'm thinking of an actual human -- related charity: Americans for the Arts.
Or I could just give it all to Earthshare and let them sort it out. But that's an extra level of bureaucracy, and their radio ads featuring Harrison Ford in a dead monotone are kind of creepy.
Or I could just give it all to Earthshare and let them sort it out. But that's an extra level of bureaucracy, and their radio ads featuring Harrison Ford in a dead monotone are kind of creepy.
Monday, March 28, 2005
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
This was mine:
You will swallow some tacks. You are a little
weird, maybe not so much in a good way. Buy a
yellow tie and wear it on your head.
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla
You will swallow some tacks. You are a little
weird, maybe not so much in a good way. Buy a
yellow tie and wear it on your head.
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla
Saturday, March 26, 2005
How do Bulemics do it?
Disclaimers: 1) This post is not intended to disparage, mock or belittle bulimics. They are people like us, with an illness. And apparently with esophagi lined with titanium. 2) This post contains some ickiness, but has no sexual content, so I'm sure it will be okay with the Parents Television Council.
Let's start at the beginning. Thursday afternoon, after my lunch of Caesar salad from Au Bon Pain, I was hanging out at the front desk with Kathy and Pixie, and I mentioned that my stomach felt a little funny. Pixie looked at me, screwed his cute little face into a grimace and said ominously, "Bet it's bad anchovies in your Caesar dressing."
That, boys and girls, is what we in the literary world call foreshadowing.
Thursday night at about 2 am I was rudely awakened by my hurting tummy. I felt pain and bloating, like I had indigestion. But I almost never get indigestion. Then I heard the gurgling. This was very disturbing, because I could hear different gurgles coming from no less that four separate areas of my abdomen. My body was like some mad scientist's lab, or the home of several Aliens. The pain persisted so I got up and found some old TUMS (expired of course) and drank some water. The pain persisted and I had that weird feeling like I kind of needed to burp, but not exactly... then I kind of needed to do something else.
I stumbled to the bathroom and knelt before the porcelain god, praying for it to be over soon. I was reminded of the time I was eleven and woke up like this and called for my mother... oh let's not get into that.
I was also reminded of when I was in 'health class' in 9th grade (can you believe we didn't have health class until high school back then? I remember our teacher, a fairly young guy who seemed to think he was hot stuff, always wore rather tight pants. I just remember him as being kind of a Guido, and he had a moustache. I was much more interested in Mark Khan, though at the time I didn't know why. Oh, and health class was segregated! All boys or all girls. How funny. If I hadn't been so naive I would have enjoyed it more. Anyway, one of the teacher's well-remembered pearls of knowledge was that according to surveys, 90% of guys masturbate; then he smirked at us and said "and the other 10% are lying. There's nothing wrong with doing it." Obviously we had no Mormons in class. (Ooops, that was kind of about sex. The Parents Television Council will be red-flagging my blog now.) Another thing I remember my teacher talking about, strangely enough, was throwing up. He said that when he felt sick and knew he was going to toss his cookies anyway, he didn't believe in waiting around. So he would stick his finger down his throat and...
Well, as I crouched over the porcelain god, whimpering like a baby, squinting under the unnatural glare of the bathroom light, I decided that my 9th grade health teacher had a point.
God that hurt. In fact it hurt more than I remembered, like breathing fire. Not to mention the taste. How do people do this on a regular basis?
Ugh, why is lettuce apparently so hard to digest? Porcelain god, make it go away!
Sweating and shaking, I crawled back to bed, only to do encore performances several times through the night. The heaves are almost as much fun. I tried to pretend that I was just working on my abs.
So I spent all day Friday in bed -- punctuated by hurried trips to the porcelain god, as the bug worked its way through my system. You know what I'm talking about. The chills were great fun, and then there is the fun experimentation with just exactly what you can keep down. A few sips of water by around noon... doing ok. Maybe water with a bit of sports drink... how about a saltine? Noooooooo!
Well, I got partway caught-up with Point Pleasant and Crossing Jordan. Thank the gods for TiVo, so I'm not forced to watch daytime tv.
Let's start at the beginning. Thursday afternoon, after my lunch of Caesar salad from Au Bon Pain, I was hanging out at the front desk with Kathy and Pixie, and I mentioned that my stomach felt a little funny. Pixie looked at me, screwed his cute little face into a grimace and said ominously, "Bet it's bad anchovies in your Caesar dressing."
That, boys and girls, is what we in the literary world call foreshadowing.
Thursday night at about 2 am I was rudely awakened by my hurting tummy. I felt pain and bloating, like I had indigestion. But I almost never get indigestion. Then I heard the gurgling. This was very disturbing, because I could hear different gurgles coming from no less that four separate areas of my abdomen. My body was like some mad scientist's lab, or the home of several Aliens. The pain persisted so I got up and found some old TUMS (expired of course) and drank some water. The pain persisted and I had that weird feeling like I kind of needed to burp, but not exactly... then I kind of needed to do something else.
I stumbled to the bathroom and knelt before the porcelain god, praying for it to be over soon. I was reminded of the time I was eleven and woke up like this and called for my mother... oh let's not get into that.
I was also reminded of when I was in 'health class' in 9th grade (can you believe we didn't have health class until high school back then? I remember our teacher, a fairly young guy who seemed to think he was hot stuff, always wore rather tight pants. I just remember him as being kind of a Guido, and he had a moustache. I was much more interested in Mark Khan, though at the time I didn't know why. Oh, and health class was segregated! All boys or all girls. How funny. If I hadn't been so naive I would have enjoyed it more. Anyway, one of the teacher's well-remembered pearls of knowledge was that according to surveys, 90% of guys masturbate; then he smirked at us and said "and the other 10% are lying. There's nothing wrong with doing it." Obviously we had no Mormons in class. (Ooops, that was kind of about sex. The Parents Television Council will be red-flagging my blog now.) Another thing I remember my teacher talking about, strangely enough, was throwing up. He said that when he felt sick and knew he was going to toss his cookies anyway, he didn't believe in waiting around. So he would stick his finger down his throat and...
Well, as I crouched over the porcelain god, whimpering like a baby, squinting under the unnatural glare of the bathroom light, I decided that my 9th grade health teacher had a point.
God that hurt. In fact it hurt more than I remembered, like breathing fire. Not to mention the taste. How do people do this on a regular basis?
Ugh, why is lettuce apparently so hard to digest? Porcelain god, make it go away!
Sweating and shaking, I crawled back to bed, only to do encore performances several times through the night. The heaves are almost as much fun. I tried to pretend that I was just working on my abs.
So I spent all day Friday in bed -- punctuated by hurried trips to the porcelain god, as the bug worked its way through my system. You know what I'm talking about. The chills were great fun, and then there is the fun experimentation with just exactly what you can keep down. A few sips of water by around noon... doing ok. Maybe water with a bit of sports drink... how about a saltine? Noooooooo!
Well, I got partway caught-up with Point Pleasant and Crossing Jordan. Thank the gods for TiVo, so I'm not forced to watch daytime tv.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Terri Schiavo's Parents' spokesman
Guess who it is? Randall Terry.
Sound familiar? Read on. He's distorting the truth, implying that Terri recognizes people, smiles, etc., when trained doctors say that she does not; that these resposes are meaningless and she has no higher brain function. These people are using her to forward their own agenda. There's a shocker.
Sound familiar? Read on. He's distorting the truth, implying that Terri recognizes people, smiles, etc., when trained doctors say that she does not; that these resposes are meaningless and she has no higher brain function. These people are using her to forward their own agenda. There's a shocker.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Blalock Disses Enterprise
Juicy! From Scifi Channel News...
Jolene Blalock, who plays T'Pol in UPN's canceled Star Trek: Enterprise, told the Toronto Star that she's not happy with the upcoming series finale, which airs in May. "I don't know where to begin with that one," she told the newspaper. "The final episode is ... appalling."
Blalock declined to elaborate, but otherwise had praise for this season's storylines, many of which hearken back to the original Star Trek series.
The fourth season "was a treat, a joy, to do," Blalock said. "It was an unexpected surprise to have the scripts that we did. And I am grateful and thankful for that. It was fun to come to work again."
Enterprise's fourth season was overseen by producer Manny Coto, an avowed fan of all things Trek. "It was certainly much better than spending another season doing what we had been doing," Blalock told the newspaper. "It said a lot about the potential of the show."
Enterprise has wrapped production in Los Angeles and the final episode, "These Are the Voyages," with guest stars Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis, airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT May 13.
Scientists Recover Tissue From T. Rex
Jurassic Park
here we come!
"The lack of humility before nature being displayed here, staggers me."
Dr Ian Malcolm
here we come!
"The lack of humility before nature being displayed here, staggers me."
Dr Ian Malcolm
How Lame
From what I can tell of the story line of this movie The island, it's a complete ripoff of the awful 70's movie Parts: The Clonus Horror which Mystery Science Theater 3000 did their usual hilarious viewing of on the SCiFi Channel a couple years back.
The Commercialization of Public TV and Radio
It really seems to me that a sad, creeping commercialisom has come to Public TV and to
NPR.
I say this because, though I don't have as much experience with Public TV any more (most of the kind of stuff I loved on that station is now available on the History Channel or Discovery Channel), but I remember watching masterpiece Theater as a kid back in the *cough* 70's, where at the beginning they would just say "Made possible by a grant from Mobil Corporation." They would show a logo, and that was it. Now if you watch the Lerher News Hour, you get honest-to-goodness advertisements, several of them. So what is the difference between this ant commercial TV? Only an ever-shrinking matter of degree.
And now to my biggest current beef, WETA's recent conversion from News-and-classical music to all neas all the time, every hour (except when we, inexplicably, play live opera on Saturday afternoons and that awful Mary Cliff show on Saturday nights). WETA went to this format because they said that talk shows retained listeners better. They (as far as I know) did not consult with contributing members before killing off their entire classical music schedule. In fact, I believe I read that member contributions were up, though their share of the DC listening market had been slipping. The reason they switched was not to please their paying members, but to increase their market share. Why is that important? To attract more coporporate contributors, who, of course want more people to hear their increasingly elaborate non-advertisement 'corporate support announcements.'
Gee, this strategy sounds like exactly what an ad-supported station like, say
WGMS would do. At least they still play classical music.
So I wonder how long it will be before we hear those same annoying Mattress Discounter jingles and South-African accented diamond hawkers on WETA?
NPR.
I say this because, though I don't have as much experience with Public TV any more (most of the kind of stuff I loved on that station is now available on the History Channel or Discovery Channel), but I remember watching masterpiece Theater as a kid back in the *cough* 70's, where at the beginning they would just say "Made possible by a grant from Mobil Corporation." They would show a logo, and that was it. Now if you watch the Lerher News Hour, you get honest-to-goodness advertisements, several of them. So what is the difference between this ant commercial TV? Only an ever-shrinking matter of degree.
And now to my biggest current beef, WETA's recent conversion from News-and-classical music to all neas all the time, every hour (except when we, inexplicably, play live opera on Saturday afternoons and that awful Mary Cliff show on Saturday nights). WETA went to this format because they said that talk shows retained listeners better. They (as far as I know) did not consult with contributing members before killing off their entire classical music schedule. In fact, I believe I read that member contributions were up, though their share of the DC listening market had been slipping. The reason they switched was not to please their paying members, but to increase their market share. Why is that important? To attract more coporporate contributors, who, of course want more people to hear their increasingly elaborate non-advertisement 'corporate support announcements.'
Gee, this strategy sounds like exactly what an ad-supported station like, say
WGMS would do. At least they still play classical music.
So I wonder how long it will be before we hear those same annoying Mattress Discounter jingles and South-African accented diamond hawkers on WETA?
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Cold
It's been one of those evenings.
I tried to set up my Airport Express to stream iTunes, but I think I accidentally told it to act like the DSL router, and it kept trying to log on, until I had to turn it off. Looks like I'll have to reset and start over.
Then I realized that the dumb DVR wasn't recording LOST even though it is supposed to record even repeats, and it isn't recording Housewives. I think it's because the times are not exactly the same every week, and I had it reset it to record every episode no matter what time. TiVo is so much smarter.
And then my latop, which I'm using now, accessed my neighbor's wireless network (which I've been quietly riding on the last few weeks) but I couldn't actually connect to the web. This couldn't be related to the Airport because the laptop was asleep the whole time. Vexing.
On top of that, I'm cold. I've been feeling colder lately and I don't know why; I know it started even before I was in warm Florida and the Carribbean. I generally keep my place at 65 degrees and that has been fine, but right now I'm freezing, even in bed with a robe on. What's up with that? Of course at work it's between 70 and 75, sometimes warmer. Good thing I can wear t-shirts.
Okay, enough bitching from the Synaptic Discharge. I'm going to finish my glass of wine, turn off the ineffective heater and go to sleep. I gotta get up at 5:00 am tomorrow to teach a damn spin class.
I tried to set up my Airport Express to stream iTunes, but I think I accidentally told it to act like the DSL router, and it kept trying to log on, until I had to turn it off. Looks like I'll have to reset and start over.
Then I realized that the dumb DVR wasn't recording LOST even though it is supposed to record even repeats, and it isn't recording Housewives. I think it's because the times are not exactly the same every week, and I had it reset it to record every episode no matter what time. TiVo is so much smarter.
And then my latop, which I'm using now, accessed my neighbor's wireless network (which I've been quietly riding on the last few weeks) but I couldn't actually connect to the web. This couldn't be related to the Airport because the laptop was asleep the whole time. Vexing.
On top of that, I'm cold. I've been feeling colder lately and I don't know why; I know it started even before I was in warm Florida and the Carribbean. I generally keep my place at 65 degrees and that has been fine, but right now I'm freezing, even in bed with a robe on. What's up with that? Of course at work it's between 70 and 75, sometimes warmer. Good thing I can wear t-shirts.
Okay, enough bitching from the Synaptic Discharge. I'm going to finish my glass of wine, turn off the ineffective heater and go to sleep. I gotta get up at 5:00 am tomorrow to teach a damn spin class.
Sorry Bill
I feel bad that I completely forgot William Shatner's birthday yesterday. Happy belated, Kirrrrk, my old friend!
(link courtesy of Scifi daily!)
(link courtesy of Scifi daily!)
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
What's old is new...
Many years ago, in the dim past of Mac OS 8 and software company shakeups (anyone but me remember Kai Krause and Kai's Power Tools?) there was a company called Metacreations that came out with low-cost versions of several apps, including Ray Dream 3D and Painter Classic. They also were, I think, the owners for some time of one of my most favorite programs of all, Bryce.
Ray Dream was fun, but Painter was just amazing to me (I can only imagine what the new version of Painter must be like) with its ability to simulate real painting.
So, over the weekend I got another email from some poor soul asking me with I wold ever get around to doing the map of Kulthea's eastern hemisphere. Guilt overcame ennui and I sketched it out. Then I got ambitious. I dug out the old Wacom tablet I had also bought years ago and never installed...
So here I am at work, new software for the tablet seeming to work fine (Scroll wheel! Right-click! Eeek! PC powers!), and I just copied over Painter Classic from my poor old PowerMac 8600 (well it does have a G3 card in it) and started it up (running in Classic, of course) and seems to run just fine.
Painting time!
(Was that a geeky enough post?)
Ray Dream was fun, but Painter was just amazing to me (I can only imagine what the new version of Painter must be like) with its ability to simulate real painting.
So, over the weekend I got another email from some poor soul asking me with I wold ever get around to doing the map of Kulthea's eastern hemisphere. Guilt overcame ennui and I sketched it out. Then I got ambitious. I dug out the old Wacom tablet I had also bought years ago and never installed...
So here I am at work, new software for the tablet seeming to work fine (Scroll wheel! Right-click! Eeek! PC powers!), and I just copied over Painter Classic from my poor old PowerMac 8600 (well it does have a G3 card in it) and started it up (running in Classic, of course) and seems to run just fine.
Painting time!
(Was that a geeky enough post?)
Monday, March 21, 2005
Outing
So Enviroboi was shocked that I didn't even mention going out two nights in a row in my blog, so here it is. Thursday, I joined a throng of Enviroboi's friends to celebrate his birthday at the fabulous smoke-free gay bar Halo, where I had four enormous martinis, but it was happy our and 2-4-1. Whee! I managed to stumble home before my coach turned to a pumpkin (Metro closes around Midnight on school nights) and wasn't feeking too bad on Friday morning.
By the end of the day I was a bit fatigued, but I was convinced to go out to Chadwicks, since it was going to be with Kathy, Marine Ryan and Pixie (and his alleged girlfriend). Unfortunately though Chadwick's is not smoke free, and everyone else in the group smokes, so my eyes really started to bother me. I had a couple beers there, and it wasn't a bad walk home over the Key Bridge. Besides, I had class Saturday morning of course...
By the end of the day I was a bit fatigued, but I was convinced to go out to Chadwicks, since it was going to be with Kathy, Marine Ryan and Pixie (and his alleged girlfriend). Unfortunately though Chadwick's is not smoke free, and everyone else in the group smokes, so my eyes really started to bother me. I had a couple beers there, and it wasn't a bad walk home over the Key Bridge. Besides, I had class Saturday morning of course...
Another weekend...
... gone! *POOF!*
How does this happen? Actually, I know exactly how this happens, I just don't like to think about it. I goof off. I try to do things but I get distracted. Though I did make a dent in the hours of stuff sitting on the TiVo...
And I did teach again both mornings (cute blond guy who loved my class last Sunday was back -- yay -- and I had twice as many people this Sunday as last; what's with that? Maybe the rain brings them out.
Anyway, my mission for this week is to:
1. Finish the silly Shadow World Monopoly game
2. Finish the first draft of the D&D D20 Shadow World Atlas layout.
3. Finish the sketch map of Kulthea's eastern hemisphere that i started Saturday and publish it.
4. Publish another chapter of Shadowstone
To do that last one I may need a morning off for. I think I deserve it.
How does this happen? Actually, I know exactly how this happens, I just don't like to think about it. I goof off. I try to do things but I get distracted. Though I did make a dent in the hours of stuff sitting on the TiVo...
And I did teach again both mornings (cute blond guy who loved my class last Sunday was back -- yay -- and I had twice as many people this Sunday as last; what's with that? Maybe the rain brings them out.
Anyway, my mission for this week is to:
1. Finish the silly Shadow World Monopoly game
2. Finish the first draft of the D&D D20 Shadow World Atlas layout.
3. Finish the sketch map of Kulthea's eastern hemisphere that i started Saturday and publish it.
4. Publish another chapter of Shadowstone
To do that last one I may need a morning off for. I think I deserve it.
Andre Norton
My sis alerted me to the fact that SF and Fantasy author Andre Norton died last week.
From the time that I first read The Zero Stone when I was home from school sick one day, I was hooked on her books, and I think it was her that got me into Sci-Fi and Fantasy reading. Through Junior High and High School I read her stuff voraciously. I still have an entire shelf filled with (sadly, yellowing) paperback copies of her works.
From the time that I first read The Zero Stone when I was home from school sick one day, I was hooked on her books, and I think it was her that got me into Sci-Fi and Fantasy reading. Through Junior High and High School I read her stuff voraciously. I still have an entire shelf filled with (sadly, yellowing) paperback copies of her works.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Stargate Annoyances
Well, first on Stargate SG-1, they had the team go back and see Ra, as in Ra from the original Stargate Movie with Jaye Davidson. In the movie he was always surrounded by a retinue of nubile young men and boys, all scantily clad of course. Well now suddenly Ra was attended by young women. What, was the movie too homoerotic for you guys? Would it have killed you to be consistent? The movie had young boys, older boys, (even a few scarily young boys) In fact, even the Jaffa warriors' outfits in the movie showed a lot more skin. But there were all male; no girls and certainly no women! Be consisitent and dont try to hetero the old fun homo movie! Bitches! Stop it!
Second, why did you HAVE to kill off the totally hot brit, mixed race science guy in Atlantis? I Loved him! Why not the dork Russian doctor? Argh.
Second, why did you HAVE to kill off the totally hot brit, mixed race science guy in Atlantis? I Loved him! Why not the dork Russian doctor? Argh.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
The Vernal Equinox
Tomorrow is the Vernal Equinox, astronomical and Astrological significance.
Maybe I'll orb over to the Manor and see what the sisters are up to. I wish Chris was still around though.
Maybe I'll orb over to the Manor and see what the sisters are up to. I wish Chris was still around though.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Spirit gets a dusting!
A wandering dust devil gave the Mars rover Spirit a nice cleaning, allowing its solar panels to juice up much mroe efficiently. Interestingly, something similar happened to Opportunity a little while back. Both Rovers are still fully active after more than a year on Mars, chugging along beyond four times their planned life span!
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Poor Pixie
Regular Synaptic Discharge (it sounds grosser than it is, really) readers will remember Elf and Pixie, the cute-as-a-button bike couriers we contracted. Things were going okay at first. But then there was the snot rocket incident, followed by the wine bottle confessional, and finally, the last straw, the blue polyester leisure suit crisis. It was too much for Elf. He packed his bags (and, apparently, Pixie's LPs) and boarded a bus for Phoenix (and free inpatient detox).
That left Pixie alone with his puppet-show schemes and rock-star dreams. And a lot of rent to pay. I would have offered to hire him to do some personal services at my place (you know, cooking, housecleaning, backrubs) but I knew he wouldn't want to tarnish his professional bike-courier reputation. And I don't take rejection well.
But Pixie is still with us and doing ok. We don't talk about the candle wax incident though.
That left Pixie alone with his puppet-show schemes and rock-star dreams. And a lot of rent to pay. I would have offered to hire him to do some personal services at my place (you know, cooking, housecleaning, backrubs) but I knew he wouldn't want to tarnish his professional bike-courier reputation. And I don't take rejection well.
But Pixie is still with us and doing ok. We don't talk about the candle wax incident though.
Riddick 2: Electric Boogaloo!?
Hey it was worth it just for that picture of Vin's abs.SciFiDaily: Riddick 2: Electric Boogaloo in the Works
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
How Many...
...of these blogger cliches have you indulged in, fellow bloggers?
Sadly, I'm guilty only of the most boring ones.
Sadly, I'm guilty only of the most boring ones.
Beware the ides of March
CAESAR:
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.
It's been a rough morning, with T.Kevin's Synapses definitely Discharging in overdrive. I can almost hear the cascading snip-snap of theose neurons firing...
Well, not really, but it's kind of cool to think about.
Anyway, getting into work almost 2 hours early to output a job only to find that the client didn't send it complete, then trying to blog and not being able to get into Blogger for an hour or so, and the continuing frustration with my Sony DVD player and Sony online 'support.'
What about your DVD player, TK, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.
When I got my fabulous 50" Sony LCD tv, I also bought a SONY DAV-C770 DVD Dream(TM) System. As you might see if you read the Amazon reviews, it has some problems. At first it works fine, but after mine is on awhile, it starts skipping and freezing if you go back to the Scene Selection or Main Directory. What's also scary is that it is one of those systems that sucks the DVDs inside where they mysteriously move around in the machine. It looks like my fears of them getting trapped in there forever are not unfounded, though this hasn't happened to me... yet.
So should I just toss the whole thing and get a new one? The speakers have special plugs that only work with that system, so everything will have to be replaced. Maybe I can just plug another DVD player into the "Dream" system; I wonder if I will get the full sound?
Oh, and their troubleshooting page on the web site didn't work properly on the Mac, but when I tried it on the PC here at work it showed up fine. Of course. Though it wasn't all that helpful; it basically said 'clean your DVD.' Yeah right, that that didn't occur to me.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Toxic Mix
Today's new Spin Mix:
I just love that Britney remix!
We did intervals starting with Go West, cranking right up to heavy resistance, then one minute of low resistance recovery at the start of the next song. Not a whole lot of people but they seemed to enjoy it. In fact this youngish cute blond guy came up to me after class and asked my name and said it was a great class. Sigh.
Walk Like an Egyptian / Bangles
Go West / Pet Shop Boys
Heartbreak Hotel / Whitney Houston
Footloose / Kenny Loggins
Absolutely Not / Deborah Cox
Mamma Mia / A*Teens
Toxic / Britney Spears (Lenny Bertoldo Mix Show Edit)
Steppin Out / Joe Jackson
Love Walks In / Van Halen
California Dreamin / DJ Sammy
How Can I Keep From Singing / Enya
I just love that Britney remix!
We did intervals starting with Go West, cranking right up to heavy resistance, then one minute of low resistance recovery at the start of the next song. Not a whole lot of people but they seemed to enjoy it. In fact this youngish cute blond guy came up to me after class and asked my name and said it was a great class. Sigh.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
More Michael Phelps
Stargate
A sad but sweet extended episode last night. (Spoilers follow)
Samantha's father/Selmak was one of my favorite characters. I was sorry to see him go, but it seems like the Tok'ra have kind of run their course (another favorite was the very cute Tok'ra Martouf).
I was almost thinking that a certain personal situation wasn't going to work out either, but it looks like it will. Seems rather neatly wrapped up and back to basics with the System Lords: Replicators gone, Anubis battling Oma, Daniel Jackson returning in the flesh (so to speak). Hey I'm not complaining, they can give me gratuitous shirtless Michael Shanks anytime they want.
I do wonder what happened to the System Lord Yu's hot little Asian First Prime. It wasn't looking good when the Sam Carter Replicator showed up at their meeting...
Samantha's father/Selmak was one of my favorite characters. I was sorry to see him go, but it seems like the Tok'ra have kind of run their course (another favorite was the very cute Tok'ra Martouf).
I was almost thinking that a certain personal situation wasn't going to work out either, but it looks like it will. Seems rather neatly wrapped up and back to basics with the System Lords: Replicators gone, Anubis battling Oma, Daniel Jackson returning in the flesh (so to speak). Hey I'm not complaining, they can give me gratuitous shirtless Michael Shanks anytime they want.
I do wonder what happened to the System Lord Yu's hot little Asian First Prime. It wasn't looking good when the Sam Carter Replicator showed up at their meeting...
Growing Up Gotti update
From the guilty pleasure department: I caught another episode of Growing Up Gotti last night (I FF through the Victoria parts; this is not called Victoria's Ego Trip after all -- though there was an interesting part where she auditions for an off-broadway show and is carried around by a bunch of hot shirtless guys while her faggy, whining assistant drools) and it was about John (the 'troubled middle son') wanting to take up boxing. But the best part was while he was 'training' and he and his moronic posse decided that they would try step aerobics (one of his buddies apparently suggested it because of all the young women in the class). Hilarious! They could barely step on and off the platform in time with the instructor, much less do the arm motions. Made me feel less spastic.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Weight Watchers recipe cards, circa 1974
Thanks to Enviroboi for drawing attention to these hilarious (and yet, in some disturbing way, sad) cards. I guess the captions (be sure to read the web page titles too!) are hilarious, but the actual recipes and the lurid photos make me feel eerily almost sad at how pathetic they are.
Am I weird?
Equally disturbing is that I think I have linked to this site before...
Am I weird?
Equally disturbing is that I think I have linked to this site before...
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Gosh, you are brave.
"Shall we get terribly, terribly drunk?"
Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) to his English prep-school lover James Harcourt (Cary Elwes)
Another Country (1984)
Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) to his English prep-school lover James Harcourt (Cary Elwes)
Another Country (1984)
I knew it!
After seeing the trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I knew that the voice of Marvin the android was none other than the wonderfully droll Professor Snape -- I mean, Alan Rickman.
DVD update
Only to reinforce my contention that rewatching shows over and over is like comfort food (and I guess like reading a book again and again; why do we do that?) I watched the Stargate SG-1 Episodes 2010 and Absolute Power (there is this one scene when Jack visits Daniel Jackson in his mansion, and there is a camera shot from about knee level behind Daniel, he has his hands in his pockets and it is so obviously set up to show off his quite excellent ass in his khakis...)
Well then. What to watch tonight?
Well then. What to watch tonight?
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Why Buy DVDs?
Actually this is just part of the larger question: why do we want to watch certain movies over and over and over? I've learned from experience that I actually absorb a tremendous amount on the first viewing of a movie; subsequent viewings don't glean a lot more data or help me catch many details missed the first time.
So why is it I could watch Star Trek: Wrath of Khan or First Contact again, even though I've probably seen the latter ten times an the former at least twenty? is it some kind of audio-visual comfort-food? It's not like the ending is going to change.
So I own the first six seasons of Stargate on DVD; I have 5 of 7 (hah hah) seasons of Voyager; and I've watched the 2-hour finale (or parts of it; the forced Chakotay/Seven romance still sticks in my craw*) now probably a dozen times. I've watched Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring probably 20 times too, including several in the theater.
So why do we like to watch the same thing over and over? Anyone? Bueller?
*what is a craw, anyway?
So why is it I could watch Star Trek: Wrath of Khan or First Contact again, even though I've probably seen the latter ten times an the former at least twenty? is it some kind of audio-visual comfort-food? It's not like the ending is going to change.
So I own the first six seasons of Stargate on DVD; I have 5 of 7 (hah hah) seasons of Voyager; and I've watched the 2-hour finale (or parts of it; the forced Chakotay/Seven romance still sticks in my craw*) now probably a dozen times. I've watched Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring probably 20 times too, including several in the theater.
So why do we like to watch the same thing over and over? Anyone? Bueller?
*what is a craw, anyway?
Curse you, WETA!
Ah the wonderfully, wickedly wry Richard Thompson weighs in on the final betrayal of DC's NPR classical station.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Rover Replicators
There was always something about the mars Rovers design that seemed strangely familiar to me, with their wing-like solar panels. I finally realized that that shape reminded me of: the Replicators from Stargate! I would say that the Stargate designers did it on purpose, but the Replicators have been around much longer than the rovers.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Mood Spin
I just love my Saturday spin class! I was very depressed Thursday night after class where only 5 people showed up, and I peeked at attendace when Kelly subbed for me. She had 16 people last week, that bitch!
But today I had 16, almost a full class. I peeked at L.'s attendance and he had maybe half that while I was gone. My last Saturday class before vacation was 14 (and I made sure to tell them I would be back in 3 weeks). And today I had several people come up and tell me what a good class it was and two ask where/when I taught besides today. Definite ego boostation.
I wonder how much of this may be me. Thursday nights I'm tired after work and probably don't bring as much energy to the class. And Saturday has been my fave for awhile, so maybe it's building on itself.
I also wonder if I should be doing more to cater the music to the club and time. Saturday mornings at Cap Hill are young women and a few guys in their thirties, and a couple of guys I think are family. Thursdays at Clarendon (Northern Virginia) are couples, young guys and not as many young women (that club overall on weeknights is lots of 20-something straight guys, UVa grads by their workout clothes). Maybe I need to have edgier music for them, more rock (bleah) and not so much Boybands and Pet Shop Boys and Cher. Thoughts, gentle readers?
But today I had 16, almost a full class. I peeked at L.'s attendance and he had maybe half that while I was gone. My last Saturday class before vacation was 14 (and I made sure to tell them I would be back in 3 weeks). And today I had several people come up and tell me what a good class it was and two ask where/when I taught besides today. Definite ego boostation.
I wonder how much of this may be me. Thursday nights I'm tired after work and probably don't bring as much energy to the class. And Saturday has been my fave for awhile, so maybe it's building on itself.
I also wonder if I should be doing more to cater the music to the club and time. Saturday mornings at Cap Hill are young women and a few guys in their thirties, and a couple of guys I think are family. Thursdays at Clarendon (Northern Virginia) are couples, young guys and not as many young women (that club overall on weeknights is lots of 20-something straight guys, UVa grads by their workout clothes). Maybe I need to have edgier music for them, more rock (bleah) and not so much Boybands and Pet Shop Boys and Cher. Thoughts, gentle readers?
Diaz warns Timberlake over Britney!
As you regular readers of the Synaptic Discharge know, I have a rather inappropriate obsession with young (hell, he's like 24 or 25 now!) Justin Timberlake. Though the passion has cooled somewhat, I still check in on Mister Nasal Voice's antics now and again. Last I heard he was going to propose to that old cow Diaz on Valentine's Day, but his bleach-blonde, chain-smoking trailer-trash mother forbade it. Now it appears that Justy has been calling his old beard Britney a little too much for Cameron's taste.
Tee hee. I wonder what they talk about?
Who has the most redneck mother? (That's a toughie)
How hot was that guy she married for like 55 hours and did they really do all that wild stuff he says they did?
The details of Kevin Federline's, um, assets? (I know I've mentioned that Doug-Doug-Cycle-Stud has a rather strange fixation on Kevin Federline; what's that about?)
That's hundreds of anytime minutes right there; no wonder Cammy has her panties in a twist. Or maybe Justin's high-pitched giggles are making her nervous. Finally.
Tee hee. I wonder what they talk about?
Who has the most redneck mother? (That's a toughie)
How hot was that guy she married for like 55 hours and did they really do all that wild stuff he says they did?
The details of Kevin Federline's, um, assets? (I know I've mentioned that Doug-Doug-Cycle-Stud has a rather strange fixation on Kevin Federline; what's that about?)
That's hundreds of anytime minutes right there; no wonder Cammy has her panties in a twist. Or maybe Justin's high-pitched giggles are making her nervous. Finally.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Bad Dream
I just remembered an unpleasant dream from last night, perhaps inspired by my depression/anxiety regarding stupid spin classes.
In my dream, I was at some outdoor restaurant with a friend (it reminded me of a patio restaurant that *N Sync was at in their video This I Promise You in San Francisco), and I saw my old roomate Paul W. at another table, I think with his wife. I've mentioned him before in this blog. I had a sort of crush on him, and I think there was some kind of sexual tension going on when we lived together, just us two. But ah well. Anyway, I saw him and stood up and said "Paul!" and he saw me and stood and we kind of walked up to each other and I was going to hug him or at least shake his hand, but he had this weird angry look on his face and he said in a low voice "Don't ever try to talk to me again."
It was awful. There was all this hate (fear?) in his voice that I didn't understand.
In my dream, I was at some outdoor restaurant with a friend (it reminded me of a patio restaurant that *N Sync was at in their video This I Promise You in San Francisco), and I saw my old roomate Paul W. at another table, I think with his wife. I've mentioned him before in this blog. I had a sort of crush on him, and I think there was some kind of sexual tension going on when we lived together, just us two. But ah well. Anyway, I saw him and stood up and said "Paul!" and he saw me and stood and we kind of walked up to each other and I was going to hug him or at least shake his hand, but he had this weird angry look on his face and he said in a low voice "Don't ever try to talk to me again."
It was awful. There was all this hate (fear?) in his voice that I didn't understand.
iPod troubles
And I thought this was my fault, but it seems like a lot of people are having Firewire issues.
I used my laptop to charge my first-generation iPod while on the cruise and when I got home and tried to plug it into my desktop (G4 cube) it would hang on 'do not disconnect', iTunes would not come up automatically, and when I opened it manually, it would freeze. I then tried running the iPod update on the laptop, but still plugging into the Cube would wreak havoc. Sometimes now booting the cube, it hangs and says it is looking for connected disks (looking for the iPod when it's not connected, apparently) but it sounds like I can at least take care of that by resetting the firewire ports (disconnecting everything).
It always scares me when I get some weird hang that I don't understand. Sometimes I almost miss the old OS9 days when I understood all the ins and outs of extensions and control panels. Unix is way beyond me.
I used my laptop to charge my first-generation iPod while on the cruise and when I got home and tried to plug it into my desktop (G4 cube) it would hang on 'do not disconnect', iTunes would not come up automatically, and when I opened it manually, it would freeze. I then tried running the iPod update on the laptop, but still plugging into the Cube would wreak havoc. Sometimes now booting the cube, it hangs and says it is looking for connected disks (looking for the iPod when it's not connected, apparently) but it sounds like I can at least take care of that by resetting the firewire ports (disconnecting everything).
It always scares me when I get some weird hang that I don't understand. Sometimes I almost miss the old OS9 days when I understood all the ins and outs of extensions and control panels. Unix is way beyond me.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Must Not Stress...
Work really isn't usually that stressful for me, even though this is considered a high-stress sort of job (well the architects do sometimes piss me off, come to think of it but fortunately I don't deal with them and their blimp-like egos often).
And it has been nice the way people have been coming up to me and saying how happy they are that I'm back and how hellish it has been the last two weeks without me. (Poor Ryan has been here 12 hours every day and weekends). Of course, it reinforces my feeling that I'm not getting paid enough for this gig.
Anyway, that is more of an aside. I am stressing about teaching, especially the gruelling 6:30 am Spin/7:15 am abs class I'm doing on Thursday mornings now. I need to dig out my abs notes (though I got some ideas from Jeff Costa on the ship... oooh, think of the ship... Jeff...) oops. Well anyway, the last couple classes went fine, and hell I've been doing these spin classes for six months now, so I shouldn't get all stressed, but I do.
And Mitch would say "only do it if it's fun." Hah, that's a good one.
And it has been nice the way people have been coming up to me and saying how happy they are that I'm back and how hellish it has been the last two weeks without me. (Poor Ryan has been here 12 hours every day and weekends). Of course, it reinforces my feeling that I'm not getting paid enough for this gig.
Anyway, that is more of an aside. I am stressing about teaching, especially the gruelling 6:30 am Spin/7:15 am abs class I'm doing on Thursday mornings now. I need to dig out my abs notes (though I got some ideas from Jeff Costa on the ship... oooh, think of the ship... Jeff...) oops. Well anyway, the last couple classes went fine, and hell I've been doing these spin classes for six months now, so I shouldn't get all stressed, but I do.
And Mitch would say "only do it if it's fun." Hah, that's a good one.
I Do Not Like Green Eggs & Ham!
On this day in history in 1904: Dr. Seuss (a k a Theodor Geisel), was born.
Some Seuss trivia:
* Never had any children of his own.
* Before working on the children's books that would make him world famous, he made sculptures of fantastic animals in the form of taxidermist-mounted heads. Some of the creatures' surreal details would later appear in illustrations in his later books.
* Two of his works have been translated into Latin: "The Cat in the Hat" ("Cattus Petasatus") and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" ("Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit").
* His first children's book, "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" (1937), was rejected by over 20 publishers.
* Died in 1991 of jaw cancer.
Source: humor.about.com
Some Seuss trivia:
* Never had any children of his own.
* Before working on the children's books that would make him world famous, he made sculptures of fantastic animals in the form of taxidermist-mounted heads. Some of the creatures' surreal details would later appear in illustrations in his later books.
* Two of his works have been translated into Latin: "The Cat in the Hat" ("Cattus Petasatus") and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" ("Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit").
* His first children's book, "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" (1937), was rejected by over 20 publishers.
* Died in 1991 of jaw cancer.
Source: humor.about.com
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