Ones Everywheeeeere!

Oh, Siri...

It strikes me that, if I were so inclined, I could easily find a number of submissions for "The Daily WTF" from where I work. And yet, I'd feel guilty. Not because I don't want to subject my co-workers to that; more that it wouldn't be a challenge. Sortof like clubbing a baby seal.

See? All this new-fangled crap confusing me... I was playing around with my blog a little, and noticed someone following me I didn't recognize. I tried to send them a message, and it asked me to log in to "FriendConnect", which I'd never heard of. And when I signed on, I found I had a message sitting there, waiting for me.

I'm not sure how to find out when the message was sent - when I told it to forward it to my inbox, it put it in with a current time-stamp. I have no idea how long the message has been sitting there. And I have no idea if my reply will reach that person. Well, then.

Let me just say... I don't hate you. I leave you alone out of respect for what I was asked. If you contact me, I would not only be willing but in fact delighted to speak with you again. I miss you terribly, and I think about you frequently.

I hope you see this; I hope this finds you well, and that your life after your move is every bit as much better as you'd hoped. I know things didn't end up exactly how you wanted... And I can just hope and pray that it's close enough and that you're okay.

New Hat...

I just couldn't resist when I saw this last night. In my size and everything. Do you know how hard it is to find a 2XL hat in the Albany area?...

In honor of tonight's Ig Noble Awards, I thought I'd give you a couple of other useful links:

The Journal of Irreproduceable Results
The Fortean Times
The Journal of Universal Rejection

Enjoy. :-)

There's system maintenance tomorrow at my place of employment, and an e-mail went out asking everyone to make sure they're logged off so the changes to login scripts and the LDAP server upgrades propagate properly. A little while later, a follow-up e-mail went out saying "It was brought to my attention that instructions on how to log off your machine may be helpful. To do so..."

I'm just thinking, in this day and age, how many people who use a computer at work *don't* know how to log out of it? Really? The number just *can't* be that high. It really isn't hard.

"That kind of guy."

I just had a fairly amusing conversation with my ex. We'd had an agreement with Aidan that, once he met a certain milestone, he'd get a copy of HeroScape. I have a copy myself, and Aidan really likes it - you get to build terrain out of plastic bits, and then play on it with little guys, and he's vastly amused by the entire process. I'd been in that area yesterday - went to Zombie Planet yesterday and everything, though really for a different reason - and offered to buy it (we agreed to pay half each), but she was oddly hesitant, saying she'd rather get it herself. I didn't worry too much. So I get a call today as she's leaving Zombie Planet, asking if there were other stores in the area that may have it, suggesting she might buy it online; I asked why, knowing ZP happened to have a copy of one of the starter sets. Her problem, apparently, was that the master set there was the Dungeons and Dragons master set (as opposed to the more Norse-themed one I have, the alien-themed one after it, or the super-hero-themed one that came out after that). She said it didn't seem appropriate for someone his age, so I asked why. She said she "wanted him to have a good grasp on reality." When I asked her if she was trying to suggest she should get the super-hero one instead of the D&D one because it was more realistic, she sounded very insulted and just said "No. I just don't want him to become that kind of guy."

I suppose I should probably be insulted, but honestly, I just think it's funny.

Mystic Empyrean

All y'all who like role-playing games should check out this:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/level99games/mystic-empyrean-create-discover-become

Yay free stuff! (tee hee!)

I’m entering to win a Nook Simple Touch Reader from Cheap e-Reads, my favorite site for FREE and CHEAP nook books! You can enter to win here:  http://the-cheap.net

Some of you are familiar with ICD-9 and ICD-10, some of you aren't. Well... Whether you are or not, you need to read this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576560742746021106.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth

Stress Relief at Work

http://cars.failblog.org/2011/09/06/funny-car-photos-armor-windshield-ak-47-gun-texas/

So here's a question for you all: starting from the assumption that a person's life can be broken down into distinct phases, 1) What are they and 2) What are the demarcations between them?

It's sortof a vague question, and it's meant to be. I mean, there's the classic sphinx approach (4 legs, 2 legs, 3 legs); there's the common parlance approach (infant, toddler, child, teen, young adult, middle-aged, old-aged); there's the simple approach (young, old); there's the family-based approach (living with your parents, living by yourself, living with your kids). There's a kindof depressing description I found once in a post-apocalyptic story - love (your parents caring for you), necessity (caring for yourself), duty (your kids caring for you). There's the 5 trees for the Sunrunners from the Dragon Prince series. There's... Well, probably more than I could write.

What "system" do you think demarcates a person's life best, from whatever point of view you choose?

Hurricane Irene

...And no, I'm not going to make a "come on Irene" joke. I've heard enough of them this weekend.

Just wanted to put up here that yes, my family and I are all fine. I was at my parents' house with Aidan and Emily (and Miles, of course) this weekend, and all was fine. It rained, but the power never went out, and the only damage was a tree falling over in the neighbors' yard across the corner of my parents' fence (which he already fixed, for the most part). We were there until yesterday, but the drive home was safe, and the house in Troy is fine as well.

Thanks to all you concerned people who checked up on me. Some of you it took a long time to get back to, and I apologize for anyone I worried with a slow response; but we're good.

Car Ride Conversations

Today's topics: Video Games, Archaeology, Treasure, Star Wars, Lego, Metallurgy, Chemical Reactions, Oxidation, Ninjas Vs. Pirates, and Farm Animals. Yes, I absolutely love my son.

Well, my passport made it to the office safely, and this confirms it. I guess I can stop being paranoid about it being lost in the mail now.

It's been a while since I updated either of my blogs - several weeks. I was updating it while on vacation, and then one day I pretty much got distracted/busy, then I had connectivity issues, then I was home and insanely busy... Then even busier... And then I just looked back and didn't even know where to start. A lot has happened in the past few weeks.

That's okay. Noone complained about lack of blog entries, so I guess noone's too worried. I'll try to get back into the swing of things either way.

Okay, this is awesome!

You all have to try this!

http://thedailywh.at/2011/08/05/early-bird-special-115/

What a way to go...

http://www.ranker.com/list/the-9-strangest-deaths-of-the-renaissance-era/notable-famous-deaths

How to Survive a Breakup, by Sexy Nerd Girl

Surviving a breakup is a lot like surviving a zombie apocalypse; no matter how scary it is, it's gonna happen - at some point.

1) Get armed. It's important to have the right ammo to ward off the dead. You never want to be caught off guard by what's lurking around the corner.

2) Keep moving. Get outside, hit up the mall, go to the museum, or drive as far outside the city as you can. The more you stay locked up at home, the less likely you're going to make it.

3) Be Brave. If all hope seems lost, just keep telling yourself "You can do this!" Otherwise, you might get eaten alive.

4) Don't Forget to Eat. When we're faced with the most earth-shattering, we tend to forget the most basic survival technique of all: food equals energy, and energy equals making smart decisions.

5) Keep Your Friends Close. Your friends are there to protect you and make sure you don't get hurt, even if that means sacrificing themselves. Just know you're not alone.

(To watch the video, do a YouTube search. I don't have the link handy.)

I want to find a good place to find a variety of stuffed animals. Any suggestions? Toys-R-Us? Babies-R-Us? Hallmark? I dunno, they don't really have "stuffed-animal stores".

Okay. This morning, I woke up at 6:15, *just* in time to have missed sunrise. I was, again, pretty pissed. I didn't set an alarm (because I was inside with the kids), but I ended up wishing I had. For tomorrow? I put three alarms onto my phone. Yeah, I may only get 5 hours of sleep, but with luck I'll make it out in time to see the sun come up. I'm hoping, at least.

Today was a nice, relaxing vacation day. Beach in the morning for a couple of hours. Lunch in the camper, then I went and did laundry (since the hamper of my son's and my's clothes was full). Wrote postcards while it was washing, played pinball while it was drying. Came back to the camper and went mini-golfing with my mother and the kids. (I won - Claire's 74 to Aidan's 65 to my mother's 54 to my 46.) Then ice cream with the entire family, back to play in the camper a short while, dinner, and get the kids ready for bed. Then I went over to the office to hang out closer to the wireless (it still gave me a *lot* of trouble), make arrangements for tomorrow, and play pinball a bit.

Oh, and I kicked all sorts of ass at pinball. I bought 12 credits, and won 10 - and ended up with 1st, 3rd, and 5th place on the machine. Yup, apparently I'm actually reasonably okay at Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball.

I'll admit it, though; I've ended up in a really, really strange head space. I know part of why, but I don't know why completely. Parts of it, sure... But parts are still a mystery. I wish I could pin it down. Still, I can't do anything about any of that - not here - so I'm just going to put it out of my mind as much as possible.

It's late, though. It's midnight, and I'm tired. I'm on the phone, but I'm going to take it to bed and go to sleep. Good night.

Today was... Soooooooo hot. The first couple of days here were warm, fine. The humidity was higher yesterday, fine. Today it was unbearably warm in my tent by 6:30 AM; it was a heat index of 110 by 8:30 AM; and it was *actually* up near 110 at 12:00 or 1:00. Humidity was up, and it was just burning down on us all day. Honestly, and I almost feel guilty about this, we just hid in the camper in the AC pretty much all day. We didn't go to the beach, we didn't go to the pool... It just would have been dangerous, especially for the kids.

So instead we hung out; we played board games; we played Lego; we drew; some of us hung out online. We generally had a very good day, if... A bit more cramped than otherwise so far, since there were five of us hiding in the trailer.

The camper's great. It's a... 32', I think? A 5th wheel with three slide-outs. It's nice than my first apartment, and - if you don't include my roommate's room - larger, I think you'll find. But it's just not designed for 5 people, even if two of them are small - not without the "extra space" of being outside. Two people? Sure, they could live in there comfortable. For 5, it's really very cramped.

In the evening, we went to Medieval Times. I'm of two minds on it. See, on the one hand, there was good food; there were friendly people; and, the biggest plus, the kids *adored* it. Aidan was cheering for the blue knight ("Because he's the good guy, and he's my favorite color!"), while Claire was cheering for the Green Knight. Even though he was the bad guy. Oh dear - apparently my sister's kid is evil.

On the other hand, though... Well, it was expensive. I mean, in all fairness, $50/head is really not terribly much for a good meal and a show. But... In addition to that, it was *soooo* damned commercialized. You had to walk past multiple souvenir tables to get from the main entrance to the arena; and they had people walk around twice during the meal to try and sell you glowey swords; and they take your picture and try to sell you copies; and they try to sell you your drinks in souvenir glasses...

Okay, I'll cop to it - I did buy a souvenir glass. We ended up with three, in fact (my parents got one each, too), plus two glowey swords. But in my defense, the glass is actually for the person pet-sitting my cats.

The other thing about the show, and this is a bit more of a personal thing... Okay. I used to fence, and I know a bunch of fencers. More than that, while I've never done a martial art myself, I've studied them to some extent, and I know people who've studied them a great deal, both actively (SCA, for example) and historically. The choreographed fighting was *terrible*. Or maybe I should say, the choreography had the potential to be good, but the execution was execrable. It just made me wince.

That's all right. It was fun - technical flaws aside, I enjoyed it a great deal, and so did everyone else. It was a fun way to spend the evening.

Tonight, we have a thunderstorm with high winds in the area right now, and a forecast for more of them overnight. I'm just going to stay in the camper. The kids will be thrilled, I'm sure... Me? I may even get some sleep. Wouldn't that be nice?

G'night.

I eventually made it to sleep well after 1:00 AM, following a somewhat... Distressing conversation with an old friend. Lulled to sleep in my tent by a sea breeze. I very almost just slept outside on a recliner.

I think I posted yesterday's entry at the wrong time, too. I wrote it more like midnight, not 10:30. Whatever.

Today was the first full day in Myrtle Beach, and it was mostly quite pleasant. Breakfast, then out to the beach for a couple of hours, then back to the site for lunch and hanging around, then out to the pool for a couple more hours, then dinner, and now I'm sitting outside at 11:15 deciding if I want to go to bed or not.

The day was nothing if not simple, eh?

Maybe I'll walk down to the beach.

Well, I'm definitely in Myrtle Beach. The heat is... Well, honestly, not as bad as I'd sortof expected. The kids did *not* want to watch DVDs today, so the car was much less... Restful. In fact... We fed them both a big breakfast, and made sure they went to the bathroom, but I still got "I'm hungry" from one and "I need to pee" from the other within 15 minutes of setting off. Ohhhhh, to have a transporter...

But we got here shortly after lunch, and set up. I took the time to walk to the beach and send a picture to one of my friends at work (heheheh...), and shortly thereafter we all went over to the pool. This place has a huge pool area, with a giant L-shaped adult pool (3'-6' deep); a tiny diamond wading pool (1' deep); a slightly larger rectangular wading pool (1'-1 1/2' deep); and then the "splash zone". The Splash Zone is a large kidney-shaped pool running from 3" to 18" deep, with turret-mounted water-guns, waterfalls, a giant fountain/waterfall mushroom-shaped thing, and this 30'-tall sculpture thing with eccentrically-weighted rotating bucket things that periodically overflow in a torrent of water. It's pretty fun, and the rules specify that noone over 48" may go in there without someone *under* 48" to justify it.

Of course, the same rules also say that noone over 48" may use the water-guns, and that there is no running on the side of the pool, both rules that are regularly ignored.

Let me just say, that having a plaque on the side of the pool that says "Depth 3"; No Diving" amuses me greatly. Darwin would be proud.

After that, it was dinner, then bed for the kids. I walked out and sat at the beach for a while after dark, as three groups (two on the campsite's beachfront, and one further south by the Hilton) were all letting off fireworks. I took a bunch of pictures of that and the moon - none of which, I suspect, will come out, since I was screwing around with odd exposure times and manual focus with neither a tripod nor a cable release.

That's okay. My memory card will hold the better part of a thousand pictures, even at the highest resolution the camera will do, and I always have the option to decline to save them.

It's late, and I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Good night.

Today was a good day. DC to Roanoke Rapids is almost exactly halfway to Myrtle Beach, and splits the trip nicely - important while travelling with 4-year-olds or small terriers, neither of whom crosses their legs very well or handles being trapped in a car for 8 hours happily. 4 hours with a break in the middle, though... That worked surprisingly well, and the trip reminded me of something I'd mostly forgotten: I love being on the road.

I mean, driving sucks. You can't read, you can't sleep, you're constantly harassed by "Daddy! The DVDs fell on the floor!" and "Uncle Robin! My neck hurts from turning my head to watch the movie!" and "When are we going to get there?". I could cheerfully do without actually driving. Even more - if I were by myself, I could throw open the windows, turn up the volume, and let the miles melt away. But even this... Or, in its own weird and special way, *especially* this... Was just awesome. The road stretching out, the cars...

The other thing which is on my mind is an enormous anticipation - I've missed the sea. I'm not a big fan of beaches, mostly because I'm self-conscious about my weight and I don't particularly like sand. The sun? I could do without - I'm already mildly sun-burnt, and could cheerfully have an overcast day that was slightly cooler. But the ocean? I miss it. And soon, I'll be on the shore, and smelling the salt breeze, and... Wow, the nostalgia hit me like a truck today, even though I haven't made it there yet.

And I realize that it's going to be painfully touristy. I mean, we're camping just a couple hundred feet from the waves themselves, but we'll be in the middle of a square mile of campground of people doing the same stuff as us. The beaches will be full of people, the pools will be full of screaming kids, and everything... But, and some of you will laugh at me, but just one day of being up at 5 AM and standing with my feet in the water and closing my eyes to feel the breeze wash over me will be worth every little tiny frustration I have to deal with.

Actually, people who know me will probably think the "Up at 5:00 AM" bit is the funniest piece there. Suck it up, chumps; I'm on vacation and none of you are, and I'll go hunting the sunset at the beach if I want to, dammit! :-P

I did get a call from the nice woman who's checking in on my cats for me, today, around 10 AM. It turns out she couldn't figure out how to turn on my vacuum. I have to admit, I've gone over someone else's house on at least two occasions, had need of a vacuum, and been completely unable to figure it out by myself; so while I did find it funny, it was more of a sympathetic funny than a "hahah, you're, so dumb!" funny. Still, I owe her one for doing it for me. I'll have to find her something nice in South Carolina to bring home.

As an aside, I-295 - the ring-road around... Richmond, is it? - crosses a cool bridge at one point. If anyone has a clue what I'm talking about, let me know. I'll look it up next time I'm on Wikipedia, maybe.

When we got here - the RV Park at Carolina Crossroads in Roanoke Rapids, a painful name if I've ever heard one - my first thought was "Wow, RV wasteland." Actually, my first thought was probably more like "Wow, RV hell..." but I do endeavour to be vaguely polite at least once in a rare while. The place is new - painfully obviously so - and they started off by clearing the area entirely... And the shade trees haven't grown in. So there was no shade at all that wasn't created by our camper, and it was frigging *hot* today. We spent almost two hours in the pool (did I mention I'm sun-burnt?) and the thermometer on the office wall listed 110 degrees *in the shade*. I spent a lot of time praying that it was wrong and reading high, but it was hot enough I could have believed it. It was, however, a dry heat - and I do not say that pointedly, but honestly. Heat I find distasteful but can handle; humidity just kills me. Humidity was very low, and so it was hot, but it was bearably (if not pleasantly) hot.

The real star for the kids, though, was the waterslide. They went down it probably 20 or 25 times each, and we had to drag them - literally screaming, in one case - away from it when we decided the sun and the lack of food were enough. I have pictures and videos. :-D

Dinner was from the Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, and the portions were *frigging huge*. We expected enough food for the five of us with a little left over, and we got easily more than twice as much as we'd really expected. We have a full meal for tomorrow, and the price wasn't particularly bad, either. Not shabby. I may have to argue my mother into trading my fried trout for her broiled catfish, though.

Now, I'm just very tired - the sun, getting up early, the activity, the heat, the good food, it all adds up. I'm actually more awake now at 10:30 than I was a couple of hours ago, but I'm still drowsy... And everyone else is asleep. So I'm going to bed as well.

G'night.

Well, it's the end of my first day of vacation, and I don't have wireless. Actually, the campground *does* have wireless, but the router by this site is broken. That's all right - I'm happy enough to be more disconnected than normal.

Left NY kindof lazily, today; Aidan and I got out at 9:15 or 9:30 or so. Stopped for breakfast at McDonalds, got going. The drive was fine, but it ended up taking the better part of 7 hours to do 5 hours' worth of driving. Being re-routed through the middle of Princeton while trying to get from I-287 to I-95 did *not* help (damn you, New Jersey!).

Got to DC and immediately changed to run off to the pool with my sister, my parents, my niece, and my son. The pool at Cherry Hill is really nice, having a large mushroom thing that sprays water everywhere for kids, and is conveniently immediately adjacent to the cafe/ice cream bar. So we swam, chatted, shot each other with water-guns, ran through the waterfall, and ate ice cream.

Dinner was at a place called the Hard Times Cafe, which was a (self-described) Chili Parlor. I'd never really heard of a Chili Parlor before, but it was a stereotypically western-themed place with chili vinegar (yes, vinegar with red peppers in it) and tabasco sauce on the table, and almost everything on the menu involving chili. Bowls of chili, chili mac, chili nachos, chili poppers... I ended up teaming up with my mother to have an order of Texas Lime boneless buffalo wings smothered under a bowl of hot Texas Chili, and we split it. Was incredibly yummy. My sister paid - something about us giving her a week of peace and quiet being worth way more than a dinner and ice cream.

The kids' conversation on the way there was priceless, by the way.

Aidan: "Where are we going?"
Me: "A place called Hard Times Cafe for dinner."
Aidan: "Do they have pizza?"
Me: "No, but they have chili, and they'll have like quesadillas and tacos and chicken nuggets for you guys."
Aidan: "I love chicken nuggets."
Claire: "I love chicken nuggets too!"
Aidan: "I love chicken nuggets *more!*"
Claire: "No, *I* love chicken nuggets more!"
Aidan: "How about we just say we love chicken nuggets the same? Then it'll be a tie."
Claire: "Okay!"

...If nothing else this trip, the comic relief will be free.

And now it's bed-time. The kids have had an episode of Wallace and Gromit, and are settling in to sleep; I'm quite drowsy but also quite happy. Knowing I have nothing important (well, except for watching the kids) to do for two full weeks is really quite relaxing.

Good night, y'all. Talk with you soon.

Troubled Waters

My ex called me this morning. She asked "Do you have a coast-guard approved life jacket for when he's at the beach?" This question was followed by a long silence.

Okay, I'll admit it - it never would have crossed my mind that you'd *want* to put a life jacket on a kid at the beach (unless you were going boating or something) if she hadn't asked. Well, possibly when we got to the beach if we saw a kid in a life jacket just so they could splash around in the surf. I mean, I never wore a life jacket at the beach growing up, and we were at the beach multiple times a year for over a decade. And I know that my 4-year-old niece has been to the beach (in Hawaii, even) without wearing a life jacket. And my mother's reaction, when I asked her if it'd crossed her mind, was to burst out laughing.

My ex also said that people didn't swim in the ocean before 1920. I just didn't touch that one.

Running awaaaaay!

Nex says "Fuck dat, yo! I'm outtie!"

Me: "I spy with my little eye... Something that is blue."
Aidan: "My shirt?"
Me: "No."
Aidan: "Your shirt?"
Me: "No."
Aidan: "Your pants?"
Me: "No."
Aidan: "My pants?"
Me: "No."
*Aidan Pauses*
Aidan: "No pants?"
Me: "...No?"

Do do-do do-do do-do-do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz8h_q4qvNk

Procrastination

A little unusual...

I don't typically use this blog to post messages to people. Rarely if ever, in fact. Right now, I'm going to. To you whom it's directed, you know who you are, and I ask nothing more than that you follow the link and read what it says. To everyone else, feel free to read or not.

First, no, I haven't forgotten you.

Second, no, I don't hate you.

Third, yes, I still worry about you.

Fourth, you may agree and be scared to do anything for a variety of reasons, or you may disagree, but... http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm There's a "wheel" partway down, and one half of it applies, which is frightening: Guilt & Coercion; Intimidation & Threats; Isolation; and Minimizing, Denying, & Blaming. And you know I'll never say it again if you ask me not to; but he's done exactly nothing to change my mind over these fears.

Any time you want or need to speak to me, nothing has changed. You may not see the comments in what you said that terrify me, but at least one sentence in there sent a shiver down my spine. Be safe.

HexBright: A Brilliant Idea!

http://deviceguru.com/worlds-first-open-source-flashlight/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/527051507/hexbright-an-open-source-light

I Luv Burn Notice...

Okay, this is one of my new favorite quotes ever: "If something looks too good to be true, it's best to shoot it just in case."

Awesome.

An interesting insight.

So last night, someone I knew from way back - my family is friends with hers, she was friends with my sister, our parents still get together a couple times a year... - posted something on Facebook that ended up on my front page when I got home and looked. I hadn't talked with her in years, so I threw her a "Hey, we haven't talked in forever. How are you doing?" We've chatted a little today, and she asked a question that I actually found really interesting.

She asked why I didn't invite her to my wedding.

And no, it actually isn't as ominous to me as it may sound. I thought about it, and answered her, and the answer actually ended up being that in my mind, I was still - even now, 9 years or whatever after the wedding - "Sarah's Little Brother" to her and not "Robin", and because of it, she wouldn't have been interested. No good reason for it - she's never told me that or anything. Just my own, quiet, subconscious assumption in my head.

So... Thank you. It's an insight into myself I'd never had before, and I appreciate your bringing it to my attention. :)

Free music!

Y'all should go to http://www.hipsterplease.com/ and check out his free albums.

Hmmm

Just had a phone call I really need to think about. This isn't a good time to think about it though. *sighs*

Sometimes a cigar...

...is just a cigar.

Bah!

That's not a fortune...

Yo ho yo ho...

"When's talk-like-a-pirate-day?"
"Sepember 19th. Yeah, we already have it all planned out."
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to get dressed up, have a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon, and then go out for dinner."
"Oh? Where're you going for dinner?"
"Arrrrrrbys, of course."

Heh. I guess your priorities are good?

"Have a good day. Try not to kill anyone."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't. I have homework to do today."

Okay, this is really amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIU6Py4K_A

Never heard of it before. But now I want to go there...

"When I looked back from the top, the house seemed to have shrunken there in the darkness, to have become a piece of the desolation, like an empty beer can tossed beside the road. I crossed over and down, heading across a field toward the place where I had parked, wishing I had not looked back."

To me, of all the books I've ever read, that is up amongst the top couple most depressing passages I've come across. It's also an exceptionally good summary, in some ways, of Corwin himself - his life (at least as chronicled in the 10 books of the series) is horrifically tragic... But most of it is really never expressed except as a function of Corwin's own hindsight. His little internal monologue about his involvement in Bleys' attempt on Amber vs. his own attempt, his monologue over his deck of Trumps right at the end of the 5th book, even his discussions with Luke in the Hall of Mirrors in the short stories after the end of the series...

Thirteen Questions

Yes, 13 is a good number. Here. I know one person can answer or come close on *most* of these; quite a few people can answer one or two. I don't believe there's anyone that can answer all of them. Bonus points if you can answer any of them without referring to my blogs (either of them).

A) When, where, and with whom was the last date I went on? Why is it unlikely I'll go on another date with them?

B) Of all the people I've loved or been in love with, who was the first? Who was (or is) the longest?

C) How many and which musical instruments do I play, and - approximately - at what level? 2 answers are acceptable.

D) How many aunts and uncles do I have, and on which side? What are the two reasons why I've given 3 different answers for my number of uncles in the past?

E) When was the last time I played Crimson Skies, and with whom? What was the result? When is the next time expected to be?

F) When and what was the last movie I went to, and with whom? When and what is the next one I'm expecting to go to, and with whom?

G) Who is my best friend? How long have I known them? Where did I meet them?

H) What is my favorite role-playing game? Why? What is my favorite role-playing setting? Why?

I) What MMO do I play now, and in what guild do I play? What was the last MMO I played, in what guild did I most recently play, and why did I leave it? What other MMO(s) have I played previous to that?

J) What animals have I had as pets in my life? Which was my favorite pet?

K) What is my favorite city? What is my favorite country? If I could live anywhere in the world (ignoring such minor things as money, job, and other obligations), where would it be? Why am I not living there now?

L) What sports have I played in my life, and what ones do I play now? Only count ones on organized teams, though as a hint, none of them have been through any school I've gone to.

M) Not counting computers, what game systems do I own now? What is the first game system I ever owned? What game did I buy with it when I bought it?

Have fun.

A Short Interlude

(a portion of a phone conversation with my mother yesterday morning)

Me: "Did I leave my razor there yesterday?"
Mom: "Yes, it's on the counter. I assumed you left it here on purpose since you'll be back Friday. Did you want it?"
Me: "I didn't leave it there on purpose, no."
Mom: "What are you going to do for the week?"
Me: "I don't know... Grow a beard?"

The Big City...

So yes, Saturday was a trip down to NYC with my mother and son. I actually spent most of it just with my son; my mother had a hike thing of sorts with some other people she knows, and debarked at 125th St; so Aidan and I went the extra stop on the train down to Grand Central and then walked up to the park. I have to admit, I find it funny that Grand Central is closer to the zoo than the north end of the park is - Central Park is big, however, you look at it.

It was a good day. Visited all the animals; saw the sea lion feeding; had a long discusson about the differences between penguins and puffins; hung out with a puppeteer who did a little Humpty Dumpty show on the path (it was egg-celent!)... After lunch, my mother came down to meet us, and we took a pedal-cab down to Times Square.

Now, the guy pedaling this little thing was an insane guy called Bob. He had a nasty habit of dashing between cars and in front of other cabs, which invoked an amazingly small amount of honking considering how often they had to slam on their brakes. My mother was terrified; I was greatly amused; and Aidan was uncharacteristically quiet, which I interpreted as discomfort. Bob apparently wants to move up to Albany area, but doesn't want to deal with the snow; when asked what he does in the City over the winter, he said he went to visit his family in Puerto Rico instead. :)

Soooo. Times Square. The only place we actually went into was Toys R Us; we browsed all over, went on the Ferris Wheel, and bought stuffed Angry Birds for both Aidan and my father (yes, my father is addicted to Angry Birds). Then we walked down to 42nd street and back over to Grand Central; we stopped at the Metro Diner almost across the street from Grand Central, at which point I woke Aidan up long enough to confirm he didn't want to eat, and we had pizza. Hopped back over the road to the train, got home... Oh, 7:00 or so when all was said and done.

Generally, a very good day. Though I had a headache afterwards that lasted until Sunday afternoon, which was no fun.

(Pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/neko128/sets/72157626596322595/)

"Learn about electricity, you will!"

Tee hee...

That's no moon!

Aidan's riding the ferris wheel in Toys R Us Times Square!

...The what? Where?

As an aside, did you know Mr. Ferris (of Ferris Wheel fame) went to RPI?

Just finished going through Central Park Zoo. Lots of photos to post later (was playing with autodrive), and one or two may even be good. Almost time for lunch...

Rollin' rollin' rollin'...

Yup, on the train to NYC. Anyone want to start a pool how long it'll be until Aidan gets fractious?

At least it wasn't the dryer...

Time to find out if USB keys survive washing machines!

Random Picturage...

I was looking through my pictures for something completely unrelated and found this one that I really like.



Just wanted to share.

Miniatures World - Of Doooom!

This came up on Slashdot:

http://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/05/12/020235/Brothers-Build-Worlds-Largest-Model-Airport

The link to the actual place:

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

The best comment is this:

All the taxiway and runway lighting is fully operational. Here's the night view. [youtube.com]

This isn't just a static display with a little repetitive motion. The planes land, and taxi to the terminal on the taxiways. They position at a gate. The jetways move into position and mate with the plane. Fuel trucks and catering trucks come up to the plane. After a while, the support vehicles move off, and a pushback truck pushes the plane clear of the gate area. The plane then turns, follows the taxiways, gets into the takeoff queue, waits at the threshold, rolls onto the runway, takes off, and disappears through the wall.

The vehicles run on the Faller carsystem, which is used for road vehicles all over Minatur Wunderland. Guidance is via little magnets that follow a metal rail hidden in the table. There are switches at junctions, and the control system is railroad-like. The vehicles are battery powered, and get speed instructions from a central computer, but steering is mechanical, following the track with the magnet.

The planes use the same system when on the ground. When they're in position for takeoff, a rod comes up through the runway and engages a big pocket in the plane. A second rear rod engages a smaller pocket in the rear. Takeoff is driven from equipment under the runway, which can move and tilt the plane. At the end of the room, the plane flies through a row of strips of "sky" painted material and disappears.

Behind the scenes, the planes then are brought down, and return to driving mode. They move around on a hidden lower level and are staged to simulate various flights. There's also automatic charging for all vehicles, which make stops at hidden charging stations as needed.

The airport is only a small part of the whole exhibit, which has a model railroad with 890 trains and 12km of track. There's a staff of 185 people. It's a major tourist attraction.

A short history...

Y'know, I know it's very funny to make jokes about "Indiana Toll" and "Robin the Cowboy" (...though don't even get me started on how a narrow-brim fedora makes me look like a cowboy, oh ye masses who understand not the hats of which ye speak...), but when exactly is it that hats fell out of style? 100 years ago, a hat like mine was normal wear for a polite middle-class man. In fact, 100 years ago was about when fedoras really came into style, from my research.

You've got it wrong, by the way. I don't do it to turn heads; I don't do it to make a point. I do it because 1) I need something to keep the sun off my head; 2) if I'm going to wear a hat for that purpose, a fedora is my favorite style; and 3) I really do just like the style for myself. Forget you all - go and have fun with your baseball caps. I'm going to do what I think is best in this case, though too much of society snickers down its sleeve at me.

Honestly, it may be my grandfather's fault. He wasn't what I'd describe as a gentleman - he was curmudgeonly and difficult by the time I knew him - but about certain things, he was very... Proper. And when I was younger, I distinctly remember a soft grey fedora he had that matched a specific blazer he used to wear. And somewhere in the back of my head, even though that was a huge minority of the time I spent with him (far, far more of it was him in swimming trunks and flip-flops or sandals, sunbathing or swimming or doing yardwork)... Somewhere in the back of my head, that's really how I remember him - a stately old man in yesterday's polite dress, with a somber but kindly look on his face. How much of that is the nostalgic goggles of youth I don't know, but there you go.

Ignoring baseball caps, the first hat I wore was this ridiculous yellow bucket hat with - if I remember right - a red, white and blue hat band. This I wore for years in Junior High and High School, right up into college. Similar to the pic here. There are a few pictures of me floating around - old ones - of me wearing it. The one that sticks in my mind most is a picture of me at my sister's graduation; I was looking back to my left over my shoulder and scowling. Lena, you'll probably remember it... But I can't find a copy online.

When that hat died, I wore a blue bucket hat for a while - into my marriage, in fact. It was very similar to the yellow one, but colored differently. Pretty much, it was a direct replacement... In a slightly less frightening color.

While I was married, though, I got a Minnetonka fold-up hat - lets say, 2003 - and went through three of those in the last 8 years. They were technically a leather pork-pie, I think you'll find (the crown is wrong and the brim too wide for a fedora), but you can argue it, certainly.

And then, of course, recently came the current one, as of last week: my felt fedora. And say what you want, mock how much you want... I'm happy with it - thrilled even.

Ode to a Nightingale

This is posted for one of you in specific. You should know who you are, even if you think I'm nothing more than a crazy old man.

-----

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness, -
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;
And mid-May's eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain -
To thy high requiem become a sod.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?

-Keats

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

I don't know why, but I've had this song stuck in my head since yesterday evening. I'm not sure what triggered it - this is a song I've always found both depressing and inspiring, and it's usually triggered by certain... Mental patterns, lets say - but there you go. If you haven't heard it, in my opinion it's the best song from Les Miserables.

And yes, this is a song I learned to sing back when I was singing avidly. I've found myself singing it under my breath all morning.

---

There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.

Here they talked of revolution.
Here it was they lit the flame.
Here they sang about `tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.

From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
I can hear them now!
The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On the lonely barricade at dawn.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
That I live and you are gone.
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.

Phantom faces at the window.
Phantom shadows on the floor.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more.

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more.

Something I was expecting finally happened. Not waiting for, in particular... Just that it had to happen, and it finally did. And I discovered I couldn't handle it as well as I feel I should.

I'm going to go hide for a bit.

After a long night of debugging a production, I'm in the office, and I ask "Anyone have $1.25 so I can buy a soda?"

Someone says "Sure!" and hands me the money. Then he says "I always enjoy giving money to keep me up all night."

I burst out laughing. Noone else in the room laughed. I guess I just have a dirty mind.

Lily's Eyes

Neville	Archibald
Strangely quiet, but now the storm
Simply rests to strike again.
Standing, waiting, I think of her.
I think of
her.	Strange, this Mary,
	she leaves the room,
	Yet remains, She lingers on.
	Something stirs me to think of her.
	I think of
From death she casts her spell,	her.
All night we hear her sighs,
And now a girl has come
Who has her eyes.
She has her eyes.
The girl has Lily's hazel eyes,
Those eyes that saw him happy long ago.
Those eyes that gave him life
And hope he'd never known.
How can he see the girl
And miss those hazel eyes?	She has her eyes.
	The girl has Lily's hazel eyes,
	Those eyes that closed and left me all alone.
	Those eyes I feel will never ever let me go!
	How can I see this girl who has her hazel eyes?
	In Lily's eyes a castle
	This house seemed to be,
	And I, the bravest knight, became,
	My lady fair was she.
She has her eyes.
She has my Lily's hazel eyes.
Those eyes that loved my brother-never me.
Those eyes that never saw me,
Never knew I longed
To hold her close,
To live at last in Lily's Eyes!
	Imagine me, a lover!
I longed for the day
She'd turn and see me standing there.
Would God had let her stay!	Would God had let her stay!
	She has her eyes.
She has my Lily's hazel eyes.	She has Lily's hazel eyes.
Those eyes that saw me
happy long ago.	Those eyes that first I loved so!
How can I now forget	How can I now forget
that once I dared to be	that I dared to be
in love alive and whole	in love alive and whole
In Lily's eyes,	In Lily's eyes,
In Lily's eyes!	In Lily's eyes!

Gah...

Wow, today has been a screwed-up day in so many ways. *sighs* Just a quick whine. I'm sure I'll post something meatier later...

Quote of the Day:

"...And that's what you get when you wake up late in the day and realize all your pubic hair is gone."

...No, I really don't know either.

Currents

The air is visible around you, rising up and off your lips in slow currents

And I watch as your face is framed in its slow currents

Drifting curls a trailing path

A long drag becomes a dress of blue and ash

If it is born in flames then we should let it burn

Burn as brightly as we can

And if it's gotta end then let it end in flames

Let it burn all the way down

The air is visceral around us

Turning in its simple steps on slow currents

and I watch as it pirouettes and spins in slow motion

A long drag becomes a slow dance and a halo of ember

If it is born in flames then we should let it burn

Burn as brightly as we can

And if it's gotta end then let it end in flames

Let it burn all the way down, all the way down

And if this is ever meant to end, then I hope it ends where it began

So hot with love, we burned our hands

If this is ever meant to end, then I hope it ends where it began

So hot with love, it burns our hands

If it is born in flames then we should let it burn

Burn as brightly as we can

And if it's gotta end then let it end in flames

Let it burn, let it burn

If it's gotta end let it burn

If it's gotta end let it burn

It ends where it began, so hot with love, it burns our hands

-Dashboard Confessional

It's always the stupid little things...

This time, it was the Count of Monte Cristo. I'd bought it to read with you, and now I can't.

*sigh*

It's here!

<3

Cheap shipping FTW!

Now, I'm really excited. I want to leave work just so I can go get this.

And it's worth noting... I ordered it at 12:18 AM Monday morning (just after midnight), and paid for the cheapest/slowest of 7 shipping options... But it's still out for delivery on the truck in less than 53 hours from the order. That's awesome.

Anastasia: Fine... So you think you're gonna miss it.
Dimitri: Miss what? Your talking?
Anastasia: No! Russia.
Dimitri: Nope.
Anastasia: But it was your home.
Dimitri: It was a place I once lived. End of story.

!

Wow, 91,000 people visited the Tower of London over Easter weekend? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Ocarinas Revisited...

I was wrong - they go up to $2,000 for the work of a particular artist from Taiwan.

http://www.stlocarina.com/102725.html

http://www.stlocarina.com/102723.html

The son of a coworker of mine stopped into the office for a few minutes last week. My coworker told me today, the thing that stuck in his son's head about me? The fact that I was chewing on a toothpick. My coworker then commented that he had never even noticed...

I chew toothpicks every day. I'd have thought he'd noticed. That's all right - I'm sure there're plenty of things I don't notice, also.

I love this park...

Ahhh, that glow, and that odd chill under a breeze. I'm going be *so* sunburnt tomorrow, but an hour and a half walking around the island was worth it.

A beautiful day...

...hanging out watching the boy play soccer. The breeze just makes it perfect. I think today is going to be a park day, after lunch, to sit at Peebles Island and practice.

Le Sigh

It's far to easy to let oneself become attached to something that one shouldn't be.

Future Win!

Batman Beyond FTW! I love this theme song.

Played my first scale (and, actually, my first song - if badly) on the 12-hole Ocarina last night. It's much more... Touchy. It's a soprano instead of a tenor (tuned to the same key, but in a different octave), and has a smaller internal volume than my 6; longer but much narrower. Even with the extra length, though, the 10 small holes on top are more crowded than the 4 larger ones on my 6-hole. My fingers have a habit of slipping slightly off the holes as I'm changing my fingering for different notes; I need to work on that. Next time I buy an Ocarina, I'll take more care to get one with the holes spaced a bit wider for big ham-hands like mine.

(on that note, I spent some time yesterday - at work, and no, I'm not ashamed - browsing stlocarina.com's selection. Their frigging instruments range from $10 to something like $1700. That's an expensive Ocarina...)

I did make some good progress on reducing the breathy quality of my high Bs and Cs on the 6-hole, as well. I was happy about that.

I played a tune labeled in my cute little "beginner's Ocarina" book as "French Folk Tune". I can play it reasonably well on both now. I'm going to work next on re-learning "Lord of the Dance" on the 12 and practice that, though it doesn't actually hit quite the entire octave. This weekend, I'll go through the two books and pull out a couple more songs to learn; then later, probably next week, I'll start working on the sharps and flats on both Ocarinas.

Such a simple instrument, but it actually is making me very happy.

I gave my spare Ocarina to John from work. He looked surprised and pleased. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed mine.

Fuck.

No, not just "fuck", but FUCK.

Fuckety fuckety fuck.

Just shoot me now. *sighs*

Oldie but Goodie?

So today I think I'm going to the Old Songs Festival. It's late June, and looks like a lot of fun. It's a music and dance festival, complete with many, many performers, food, vendors and artists of various types, and things like that.

If anyone wants to come with, let me know, we'll work something out.

Were it tin...

...it still would not a tin whistle be. It arrived yesterday, and I can play a scale and a simple tune on it; a six-hole is pretty easy fingering. The fingering chart on a 12-hole I find quite imposing... But I'll try it out eventually. After I'm more comfortable on this one.

Interestingly, for the first octave, it appears there is no difference between common sweet-potato 4-holes and 6-holes except tuning - the 6-hole is tuned a couple of tones higher, which you then play down from by covering the two underside holes.

I'm going to look into finding a 4-hole for Aidan. He may not make much music, but he'll find making coherent noise far easier on a 4-hole - then he only needs to worry about grip and not covering the underside holes.

The Long Road

I had to fight a very strong urge to just keep going. I want to smell the sea and feel the miles passing under the tires. I didn't want to stop.

*sigh*

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

In Westminster Abbey, there is a single grave covered by a large slab of black marble. It has the interesting distinction, I've been told, of being the only grave in the Abbey that visitors are specifically forbidden to walk on. In it rests the body of a British soldier slain in World War I, chosen in such a manner to specifically make it unknown what battlefield he came from, exactly when he was killed, or even what branch of the military he was from. On the stone is inscribed the following:

BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY
OF A BRITISH WARRIOR
UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK
BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG
THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND
AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY
11 NOV: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF
HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V
HIS MINISTERS OF STATE
THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES
AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION

THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY
MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT
WAR OF 1914 - 1918 GAVE THE MOST THAT
MAN CAN GIVE LIFE ITSELF
FOR GOD
FOR KING AND COUNTRY
FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE
FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND
THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD

THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE
HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD
HIS HOUSE

Around the main inscription are four texts:

THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS (top)
UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN, DYING AND BEHOLD WE LIVE (side)
IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE (base)
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS (side)

I'm glad he wasn't wasting Scotch!

http://www.ispyce.com/2011/04/kentucky-man-invents-bourbon-whisky.html

Foot-in-Mouth-itis: a disease not nearly rare enough...

Wow, I did it again. Monday I - completely by accident - got someone yelled at by their boss because I tried to talk to them at work (not because I wanted to talk, but because of who I was talking to them...); yesterday I managed to ask a question to an acquaintance in the context of her and a former friend of hers... Only to find out that that "friend" had slept with my acquaintances fiance and broken up their engagement; and just now, when talking to a friend, I accidentally said "chatted up" instead of "chatted with" when referring to a conversation I had with his wife yesterday... Nearly causing a great deal of trouble through a simple slip of the tongue.

Y'know, I think I'm done talking for the week. I'm going to go hide in a corner and not answer people so I can't do anything else dumb.

*sighs*

Ocarinas FTW!

Okay - so today, as a follow-on to an otherwise unrelated conversation, I found out the primary difference between a recorder and an ocarina; a recorder is a tubular resonance chamber where the pitch generated is related to the length of the bore and the open holes, which change the resonance frequency by changing the size of the resonance chamber; while an Ocarina always uses the full resonance chamber, but the pitch generated is related to the ratio of the area of the uncovered holes against the volume of the resonance chamber. Because of its nature, the location of the holes and the shape of the resonance chamber have far less effect on the tone than the material of the chamber and the size of the holes... And from an aesthetic and mathematical point of view, I find it fascinating.

I have to investigate this more.

Canadian Rose

I dunno why, but this song always reminds me of a specific person - Samantha. She's not Canadian. She's not from Burlington. We have no "special table". I've never called her "flower"; I've very rarely called her anything besides "Sam". She doesn't taste of Cinnamon, and she has not smelled of cider or rose any time I've been around her. She has never, in my memory, called me ugly. In fact, I don't think she's ever called me American, either. I can't think of a single logical reason why it's associated with her in my head, but it quite firmly is.

Funny how my mind works.

By the way, she tells me that this song makes her think of me, because I played it for her the first time she visited me in NY. That was long ago. I don't remember if I played it for her because it reminds me of her, or if it reminds me of her because of that. Either way.

EDIT: Yes, I know what she tastes like. No, I'm not going to tell you what. Yes, skin tastes unique on people - based on various health and beauty products they use, their body chemistry, and even (in rare cases) what they've eaten recently... So get your minds out of the gutter. No, I'm not going to tell you the context in which I found out. "Recent" is a very subjective thing, so I can't answer that usefully. Geez, don't you guys have anything better to do in the middle of the day? O.O

---

Autumn air it carries me there
Less than an hour to go
Six hundred miles an hour
And still it feels so slow
I'm trying to get back to Burlington
To a square in the center of town
To a spot on a wooden table
Where her feet didn't reach the ground
And when she kisses me it tasted like cinnamon
And her skin smells of cider and rose
And when she looked at me we both got quiet
And my heart beats so hard we were in so close
Once for such a beautiful while that still makes me smile

And she called me her ugly American
And I would call her my Canadian flower
And I don't think that we'll ever get there again
We had such power
And she would call me her ugly American
And I'll remember my Canadian rose
Especially when the fall comes to Burlington
We were in so close

I finally made it this town looks rearranged
I don't know these people anymore
But in the best ways not much else has changed
From the way it was before
And at least they still have this certain table
Where I once carved a particular name
I run my finger through the weathered carving
And I almost can feel the same
And my mouth it almost tastes just like cinnamon
As I ponder what my pilgrimage means
And I try to figure out where Vancouver is from here
And I listen to the leafs
If only for a beautiful while that still makes me smile

And she called me her ugly American
And I would call her my Canadian flower
And I don't think that we'll ever get there again
We had such power
And she would call me her ugly American
And I'll remember my Canadian rose
Especially when the fall comes to Burlington
We were in so close

And every single hope and dream I could ever conjure up
Passionately springs in me and all things are possible
Plausible and perfectly both of ours forever after and every day
At least it seemed that way
Once for such a beautiful while that still makes me smile

And she called me her ugly American
And I would call her my Canadian flower
And I don't think that we'll ever get there again
We had such power
And she would call me her ugly American
And I'll remember my Canadian rose
Especially when the fall comes to Burlington
We were in so close

-Blues Traveller

Holy crap, dictionaries change fast these days!

I send exactly the same, 1-word, text to two people. The first one? Just goes. The second one? It auto-corrects the word to something else.

WTF, iPhone? You like the second person less than the first one?

England expects that every man will do his duty

“MAY THE GREAT GOD, whom I worship, grant to my country and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory: and may no misconduct, in anyone, tarnish it: and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British Fleet.

For myself Individually, I commit my life to Him who made me and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend.

AMEN AMEN AMEN”

-Horatio Nelson, from the deck of H. M. S. Victory, October 21st, 1805

One way to look at it...

• Gas to get to/from the mall: $2.50
• "Daddy, do you have any money for the claw game?": $1.00 (got something on the first try, too!)
• Two adult and one child's tickets: $22.50
• One large popcorn, one large and one small soda, one small fruit punch, one hot dog, one Junior Mints: $30.50
• The hug when he says "That movie was awesome, daddy!": Priceless.

Dammit, I miss my son.

An acquaintance of mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuOxWhhJvxc&sns=fb

A lot of people ask about things that make me happy, or if I am happy, or whatever. In an effort to illustrate one such thing, here's a little story for you all.

There's a used book store called the Book Barn, in Latham, NY. It's a great little place; it has an active and knowledgeable owner, who's very friendly and'll do things like wander off into the shelves to find books for you if you call him up during the day. They have a huge selection of widely varied books, including a comics section. I got a book here for my mother's birthday - an old copy of "The Girl Scout Story", or something like that... But I digress. One of the things they have is a big hutch in the back, which is what I'd descibe as "the old books section" - the newest book on the shelf is probably 30 years old, and many are much older.

In 2010 (January, I think? I can check when I get home if you care), I stopped by. From this shelf, I found a 1917 printing of the 1914 publication "Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds", a collection of poetry and prose by Amy Lowell. It's a little hard-cover book, bound in green and with rough page edges, obviously aging. I bought it for $8.10 (including tax).

I then took my new book, and went next door, to Roman Pizza. There, I bought a slice of pizza and a soda for $2.50, sat down, at dinner, and read poems by a woman I'd never heard of before that day. And that? That was a good day.

As an aside, the book in question is available on Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=L6IqAAAAMAAJ&dq=Amy%20Lowell%20sword%20blades&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

BattleZone

Years and years ago, when I played BattleZone - the original, white or green vector lines on black screen - I always thought to myself, "If I go far enough, I'll reach the mountains." I'd spend hours driving for the horizon, wanting to reach the mountains. I got really good at the game, not because I wanted to play it, because they kept on killing me short of the mountains. It wasn't until years later I found out the mountains couldn't be reached.

Sue me. I was young.

"Anticipation", by Amy Lowell

I have been temperate always,

But I am like to be very drunk

With your coming.

There have been times

I feared to walk down the street

Lest I should reel with the wine of you,

And jerk against my neighbours

As they go by.

I am parched now, and my tongue is horrible in my mouth,

Bu my brain is noisy

With the clash and gurgle of filling wine-cups.

Stupid Achievements in Rift...

To answer your (a specific you, of course) question, yes, there are "dumb" achievements in Rift. See "Cry Me a River", granted for slaughtering large numbers of squirrels, and "Death-Defying Acheesement", granted for completing a short quest chain involving eating poisoned cheese. I don't think there are any "wrong-place-wrong-time" achievements yet, though, like the "get killed by Deathwing" one in WoW.

Noticed

I've gotten two awards in the immediate past, at work, for things that I've done - for my work over the weekend, and for volunteering to fill a hole in the on-call schedule. On some level, it's so silly; just an attaboy and a pat on the back. On another level, though... It's nice to know that at least someone is thinking about it and appreciates what I do. Don't get that type of notice nearly enough - at work or otherwise.

Ahh, well. Back to what I was doing.

Interesting factoid for the day: a single Starburst candy is 1/8th of a serving, and about 20 calories. For some reason, that amuses me.

Dammit...

...I forgot today was April 1st. Time to ignore Slashdot for 24 hours.

Exciting new features!

The ear from a Dungeon Lords imp works amazingly well for opening the shrink wrap on a new board game...

My new favorite way to crash a server...

(...as revealed by one of the developers for Rift on a podcast...) Apparently, during Beta 1 he logged into the game as a GM user, and tried to spawn monsters to "help out"; but he reversed the quantity and the monster's object ID, which tried to spawn several million of the mobs... And the entire server came down.

I'm highly amused.

An end-of-winter's eve...

So it's starting to get late on a Sunday, and - instead of sitting around the house, or vegging out and playing computer games quite yet - I decided the weather was far too nice to pass up and have gone up to Peebles Island to sit at a table and do just a little bit of writing. Not much - after all, soon it'll be sundown, and the park will close - but just a little bit of peace and quiet by the waterfront sounds like an excellent plan to me. The temperature isn't perfect, I'll admit. In fact, it's a bit chilly even for me. Still, that being said, I can't imagine any other way that being at home would be superior right now. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, the birds are calling, and the little things that people do as their days wind down are going on around me. A couple of people are fishing here at the park, and I can see a couple more on the boat-ramp across the river to the east. Two lovers are cuddling at a picnic table near the pavillion, and I passed three pairs walking dogs on my way in (I say "pairs", because at least one pair appeared to be mother and daughter).

Funnily enough, there are seven wireless networks in range of me now, and I'm truly impressed. Two from the Troy Boatyard across the river (I have no idea why they're separate, but there you go); one from a visitor's center, and I have no clue where that is; and several more with unfathomable names. Technology is occasionaly surprising.

Soon, I'll head home. I'll put gas in the car, think about dinner, and decide what I'm doing for the rest of the evening. Hope I find Samantha online, log in to work to see if I can get a couple of things done, play y games for a little while. But for now, I'm out here, I'm at peace for a little while, and I have no worries for just a little bit of my day.

Yeah I guess in the end of it, I had nothing really interesting to say. But a nice interlude-, it definitely is.

Showdown in Vegas...

And the Toll Casino of Vegas reigns supreme!

Damn you, Zombies!

Stop eating my reporter?

I don't know about you...

...but I'm suddenly in the mood for a Scotch sampling session.

Mindful

I went out to my car this morning, and while cold, it was right and clear and looking like a great day. An hour and a half later at work, it was dark and overcast with snow showers. Now it's mostly blue skies (with scattered clouds, of course) and (if still cold) quite pleasant again.

Make up your damned mind! And stop getting my hopes up!

Frothing at the Mouth

I was just listening to one of my podcasts - "Fear The Boot", in this case - and they got very, very badly off-topic and spent most of it talking about artificial intelligence, as there was an AI researcher/scientist (Bob Arens, though the name wasn't familiar to me previously) at the convention. I mean, he was there playing/running games, but still. Anyway. They sidetracked very briefly into the Uncanny Valley, and someone commented that it might be an evolutionary response to things like Rabies, a theory I hadn't heard before. Pretty much, if it looks like a person, and acts like a person, and talks like a person, but isn't *quite right*... The safest response is frequently to run the hell away.

Interesting.

Maybe a gong?

I realized this morning I'd never taken my pills yesterday. I have two alerts on my phone plus a big blue pill case I leave in plain sight, and yet I still forget. That probably had an effect on how I felt last night, too.

*sighs* I need a keeper.

Progress? Or just a progression?

So things have been surprisingly quiet over here recently. I find that I've been kindof drifting - not in a bad way, just... Quietly going through life and cruising from thing to thing. Except for being very tired at the moment (I didn't sleep an enormous amount the last two days) and slightly headachey, things are actually pretty good. So lets see, what's going on?

Well, this past weekend I spent with my son and my parents. All four of us took the dogs out to the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge/Walkway Across the Hudson for a very nice walk. The temperature was slightly on the chilly side, and the wind was up in the middle of the river, but it was still really quite a nice day to go out. Plus, I was happy to use my Empire Passport for the first time! Yay random fun.

Sunday, my son and mother and I worked on more plates and food for my niece's dollhouse. Y'see, we make it out of this clay that you bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 275 degrees, and it hardens quite nicely. I stuck with relatively innocuous things, like bananas, apples, strawberries, and the like. I did make a head of lettuce (which came out... okay), but that's about as advanced as I got. Aidan - being the far more adventurous type - made a cake, a couple of pies, a bearskin rug, an old banana (going brown, don't you know...), and a dog.

The dog, of course, was brown with a pink head and legs.

Monday, I had my son in the evening; played board games, got home at 8 to watch a little TV, didn't sleep nearly enough, and have been feeling it ever since.

Yesterday, I picked up my new (prescription) sunglasses, and bought a new jacket. Met a very nice woman at the store, and had a lovely conversation about her wedding on September 10th. She looked extremely familiar - I'm not sure if that's just my faintly remembering her from the previous time I was in there (which was a while ago) or if I'd seen her more recently at the other store she alluded to working at, or even just somewhere else entirely. Whatever - I like my new jacket. Still didn't catch up on sleep, still feel like crap.

Today? My plans are... Well, mostly, buy something to cook at the supermarker, cook it, and collapse. Because I *still* feel like crap, and I need more sleep than I've been getting.

Very exciting, huh? Bet you're sorry you asked.

At least it's only in test!

"Come on! A whole 0.05% of our users have that set correctly! It can't be all bad.

/facepalm

A-shopping we shall go...

My ingredients list for Saturday:

0.25 cup (0.5 stick) butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1.25 teaspoons curry powder
0.5 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 cups small cauliflower florets
0.5 cup diced red bell pepper
0.5 cup chopped green onions
1.5 cups long-grain white rice
2 cups water
0.75 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1.5 teaspoons coarse salt
0.5 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 2.5-pound boneless pork loin roast, well trimmed
Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)

A step outside

From the mouths of babes...

I just got off the phone with my ex. She was asking about a movie - Aidan's insisting that the "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" she has is different than the one I have (as far as I can tell, the only difference is the one she has is a DVD while the one I have is VHS) - but she also sarcastically thanked me for introducing him to Pokemon. Apparently, she's been refusing to watch it at home.

The part that's hilarious, though? His response, according to her, was "Well, you should just sit down and watch it for a couple of minutes. If you watched it, you'd understand."

She sounded sorta pissed. I just couldn't stop laughing.

RE: Friday News Feedbag

"What's that stuff that's in tomatoes?"
"Ketchup?"

/facepalm

And yes, guys, I strongly suspect that if you investigate it, you'll find far more battles were historically fought in summer than in winter. I also strongly suspect you'll find it has far more to do with the difficulty of moving troops through mud and snow than with tempers from the weather. :)

A little humour for the evening...

Person 1: Knock Knock.
Person 2: Who's there?
Person 1: To.
Person 2: To who?
Person 1: To whom, surely!

-----

Q: What cheese do you use to coax a bear out of its cave?
A: Camambert!

(say it out loud)

Reporter: "Surely you don't want a policy of mutually assured destruction in a parking lot in Tucson."

Senator: "Well, you might!"

267 Steps

Author's Note: this entry was written as one piece, but only the first portion is being posted publically. It is therefore appearing in some form on both my blogs. I suspect this won't really matter to many of you, but there ya' go.

267 steps; 162 seconds. That is what it took, today, to get me from my desk to my car. In that time:

I moved 34.785 miles due to the rotation of the earth. (The speed of rotation is 1674 hm/hr at the equator; that times the cosine of 42 degrees, where Albany is in North latitude, is 1244 km/hr, or 733 m/hr; and that's 0.21 m/sec, times 162 seconds.)

675 people were born (per answers.com and 4.17 birthsper second)

291 people died (per answers.com and 1.8 deaths per second)

Someone working minimum wage at the Subway where I had lunch earned $0.32 (per NY's current minimum wage of $7.25.) Yes, this is significantly less than I make.

The US's public debt increased by $8,491,438.36 (found by taking Wikipedia's increase in 2010 of $1,653 billions and dividing by 31,536,000 seconds per 365 days.)

My cat Boggart's heart beat 432 times (per answers.com's low-end rate of 160 bpm and the assumption he's currently asleep on my pillow).

78,466,909.1 gallons of water went over Niagara Falls (based on Wikipedia's average flow rate of 64,750 ft/sec and 7.48 gallons per cubic foot.)

A The Mystic's Dream...

Browsing through my music, I hit this song and was reminded how much I love Loreena McKenitt. I wonder if I could get my son to listen to Celtic music?

Not terribly PC, but it amuses me...

On Terrorist Threats (by John Cleese):     The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."  Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.  Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.  The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.  The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender."  The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.  Italy  has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."      The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."   Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.   The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so  the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.  Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and  "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

My poor cat. My big adventure yesterday was his first trip to the vet. And yes, blah, blah, I've had him for a year and a half, how could I be so cruel as for it to be my first trip to the vet with him... Okay, lets just take as given how horrible a person I am and move on. He's been having various troubles with his mouth for a little while, including utterly freaking out whenever you try to get close and see it or something similar, so I took him in. The vet checked him out, and said "well, he has really severe gingivitis and a secondary infection in the lymph nodes in his neck."

The vet, of course, could not get the cat to open his mouth, so we were not able to look for a cause to the inflammation and infection. Not that I blame him - he had enough fresh scratch-marks on his hands from other pets that day, and Boggart isn't exactly helpful about your getting in to his mouth.

The vet then was talking about FLV and FIV, because - apparently - feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency disease (or "feline aids", as the vet - but not the assistant - called it) are the two most common causes of a severe mouth infection. And I, of course, hadn't been able to find his immunization records before taking him in, so we had him tested. The test came back negative for both, thank god; but that left us with little more than a mystery and a bill.

So now my cat is on oral antibiotics twice a day (yeah, lets try and imagine how much fun *that* is with a cat who doesn't want someone touching their gums?), and I'm supposed to be away for two days this weekend, and my roommate won't do the antibiotics while I'm gone. And the vet "strongly suggested" anesthetising the cat and getting his teeth cleaned, which I can't afford right now either way. And he's pissed, because last night and this morning I caught him, wrapped him tightly in a blanket, and then fought him for 15 minutes to get 1 ml of apparently-bad-tasting-liquid down his throat.

*sighs*

Time to call the vet and find out if it needs to be a consistent course, or if he can miss Saturday's two and Sunday morning's. Depending on that, I'll figure it out. Just frustrating.

Oh. This is the vet where Elendil was put down, a couple of weeks back; and apparently they only had one vet on duty, and it was busy. So I spent almost an hour and a half in the room where Elendil was killed. *That* did not put me in the best of moods. I should have just asked to be moved.

More randomness

Today's random word: Shining. From the iTunes search...

"Shining", by Phil Wickham, had a nice sound, but I didn't really like it. As an aside, I am bemused that the last 8 or 10 iTunes searches I did for music came up with a Christian artist in the top three results. Odd coincidence.

"Shining", by Girugamesh, was definitely noteworthy; the band themselves are fairly good. However, it reminded me too much of the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack for me to want to spend money on it.

The album "Shining" by Blackjazz just wasn't my style of music *at all*.

The album "Shining" by Neil Greenhaw is in fact yet another contemporary Christian artist. I rather preferred his sound to Phil Wickham, but the lyrics annoyed me enough I'm going to be forced to pass.

"Shining" by The Misfits (from their wonderful album, "American Psycho") again just wasn't my type of music. Very much a pass.

Last on the front page, "Shining" by MTC, from their album "Buddha Lounge 5", was actually quite good. From listening to the sample, it came across sortof as a mix of Macy Gray (that is, the singer reminded me of her) and Portishead or Massive Attack. Going through more of their songs, the Massive Attack vibe got much stronger, though with a bit more... Livelihood. "Cuba Libre", for example, is a song Massive Attack could never make - I think their brains would melt from the beat. All in all, though, very good. I'll have to look in to them more later.