Happy Chewbacca!

And now a carol to celebrate the most joyous of holidays.

L.I.A.R.B.Y.R.D.

Get Your Cyborg Name

Name My Laptop

So the new laptop is nearing a month old and I haven't decided on a name yet. I really wanted just to keep the name of the old laptop, Ian, but was informed last night is was major major bad mojo to keep the same name for computers. Fine. But I need a name.

I'm bouncing between a sci-fi name (Khan is a front runner) or a traveler/explorer name, which is where Ian came from. (Ian Wright, host of Globe Trekker. I love that guy.)

So, here I am, typing on a spiffing new machine with no name. Help.

I love Alton Brown

Alton Brown (one of my heroes) was on NPR this morning, making eggnog with liquid nitrogen. You know, if you want to freeze the nog for ice cream. Yummy. I am almost inspired to make my own eggnog this Xmas. Almost.

As a side note, received mystery present from Clare. Yeah! And I totally ignored the label that said "chocolates." Totally ignored it.

Ninja Day!

Today is the most glorious of holidays, it is International Ninja Day...when non-ninjas (nonjas) such as myself can pretend to be a ninja without fear of punishment from real ninjas. Don't believe me? Go ask a ninja yourself.

I'm a winner, baby!

50,437!!!

On a side note, Kansas City has nearly 12 inches of snow on the ground. Big storm. Kind of glad I missed it.

And yes, I will update the lab with the rest of the novel. But not tonight. My plans tonight are to watch television like a zombie. Mel likes comedies...and brains...

47993!

Ack! I'm so close it makes my head hurt.

Maybe if I realyl buckle down tonight, I can cross 50k. But one thing is clear, I am no where near finished with the story line of this thing.

43K

Just crossed the 43k mark. I had a three thousand word day!

And hanks to Omouse, who leaves encouraging messages on my answering machien and Verve who leaves encouraging messages in my email.

I can do this!!! Yar!

New Ian goes wireless!

I just finished installing my spanking new wireless network.

I tried to do it yesterday but Earthlink has a tricky trick they use to get you to pay an extra $7 a month. Del spent nearly four hours last night trying to hook up the network. He's awesome for trying.

So today I called Comcast to see what they would charge for a modem and networking...As it turns out, even with the Earthlink tricky tricks, they are still a little cheaper. So I ponied up the money and here I am cruising the interwebs from my kitchen table. Cool. The $7/mo also includes up to 4 wireless devices and 10 wired computers. So I feel like having a "use my bandwidth party".

I just crossed 40k during lunch. If I can do another two thousand tonight, I think I can do this.

Live! From the New Ian!

Santa Chewbacca came early this year. I got my spanking new laptop today, a HP dv2000. It rocks.

Right now we're fighting to get the wireless network installed. Apparently, Earthlink has made it very difficult. Del is helping. Actually, to be fair, Del is doing all the work and I'm "helping". I feel like a monkey with a stick compared to him. Thank you, Del! You're great!

We've no internet access on the network at the moment so I'm piggy backing on a neighboring network. Cool.

Word count is 38k as of this moment. I felt the need to celebrate. Now, back to writing.

Those damn rolls (Thanksgiving Story1 )

Mom made a batch of refrigerator roll dough last night. You know, the fantastic roll recipe. This morning, I get u at 7 to make the rolls (as was the task assigned to me.) Only one problem, the dough did not rise. It was rock hard.

Damn. Mom had a moment of panic. "We don't have time to make a new batch!"

"We do." So I mix together a new batch and stick it in the frig. Of course, I though Mom did something wrong. Had to have left out an ingredient.

Now it's two hours later and the dough didn't rise! I know I didn't do anything wrong. I have no idea why it wouldn't work. Maybe's there's something in the air...something that kills yeast. Who knows.

Now Fran's off to the market for rolls. I'm all bummed about the rolls.

Hi from Kansas!

Just a quick word. I'm currently at my mom's, stealing a cuople minutes on the computer.

Word count is 32,500 approx. I haven't been doing as much writing as I would like.

Oh, I'm staying that night at Mom's new house. It's very nice. Very blue. And for some reason, I'm staying in what i refer to as the "Jesus Room." There's a freaking picture of Jesus on the wall and the Lord's prayer. It's weird. Not a single item of religious parafanlia has ever graced my mother house but know Jesus will be watching me sleep. Creepy.

Thanksgiving

It's 4:45 AM and I'm leaving in thirty minutes to catch a plane home. I got that quesy stomach feeling I get every time I fly.

I'm taking a laptop to do some writing. I've already let the family and friends know that I will be writing two hours a day. Nothing shall disturb me. I will not fall behind on word count. But, I will be sans internet. No updates. I'm still at 28k. I haven' t been able to write with dentist appointments and packing and all the other crap that seems to pop up in Nanowrimo.

Delmar had a good idea. Nano should be in January. There's a 3 day weekend and no major holidays (besides New Years) to worry about. I'm ready to petition a Nanowrimo January.

Anyway, Andy will be all alone this trip. He origianlly planned to go but with the new job, now has zero vacation time. It's funny, when he had vacation time, he never used it. Now he does have it, all he does is complain that he has nothing of the thing he never used before.

Hrothgar's been sleeping on the suitcase. He always seems mad at me when I go on a trip. Aethel doesn't know what's happening yet but she seems really excited that both monkeys are up so early andis following me around meowing.

Happy Thanksgiving. See you in a week.

I'm am in ur hard drive, stealing ur internets

This made me laught so much I literally cried. I think my favorite is "im in ur couch, stealing ur change." And I enjoyed the sammich one, also.

23k, by the way.

Week Two Freak Out

Wednesday, the start of Week Two, I had a minor melt down. With work, not getting home until 5:30, the phone ringing, cooking dinner, taking Andy's car to the mechanic, and the phone ringing again...All my writing time evaporated. I was left with a paltry 60 minutes. And I'm leaving in a week to go home. I have to pack. I have to clean the fucking apartment. I have to buy all those crappy little toiletries you need for a trip. Fuck. I was in full panic mode.

And I wasn't like I couldn't not answer the phone and talk to my mom, it's my mom for crying out loud! I have to talk to her. It's just...I seriously was going to change the message on the answering machine to "Hello. It's Novemember and NaNoWriMo. Unless a fmaily member has been born or has died, I'm not answering the phone. Talk to you in December."

My plans were thwarted by not being able to find the manual and figure out how to record a message. Sorry. I know this bugs Omouse as the pre-recorded computer voice is a little stark. Creepy, actually.

The good news is after my Freak Out, I channeled all my energy and wrote three thousands words the next night.

Having crossed the 20k mark, I feel a little more confident, but I want to be at 30k next Friday before I leave for Kansas. I'm not planning on getting much writing done so I'd like to have as much done as possible. If I do a thousand words a day, I'll be very happy.

20,208!

Lots of updates in the lab. So stop bugging me about not posting.

Liberty Memorial

Today is Armistice Day (which you know) and NPR had a really interesting interview with a guy who'sbeen recording the last living World War One vets. There's only 14 left in the US. The youngest is 106. The oldest is amazingly 115. And there was a mention of Kansas City's Liberty Memorial.

The Liberty Memorial is a beautiful piece of art deco. It is also the largest WWI memorial in the country. Unfortunatly, when I was live in KC, it was also falling apart and in a seedy part of town. I'd always see it from th highway, barricaded by fencing. Apparently, huge chunks of concrete were falling off so there was fencing to prvent hapless people getting hurt.

When I moved away in 2002, it was just starting a restoration. And now it's done! Apparently, as of 9/20/06 it became the National World War One Museum. Cool. Unfortantely, it will be closed from 11/13 to 12/2 - the days when I'm actually going to be home.

Damn it! I think I'm never actually meant to go to the Liberty Memorial, which sucks because I voted for the two-state tax to fix the damn thing. I think I may still go to the memorial, just to actually get close to it.

17028!

I can't believe it...I've almost caught up to Omouse. Of course, she didn't write last night.

Andyway, I had a Week Two Melt-Down. I'll write about that little misadventure when I get home this evening. Right now it's 7:55 (a.m.) and I need to eat breakie and go to work. I was just so excited about catching up, I had to post immediately.

Oh, and I have a legal question posted on the forums. Help me! Becuae if you don't read the post, I'm just going to ask your opinions anyway.

Week Two

It's the start of week two and I'm ahead (12777) of the minimum word cournt. Not as far ahead as Omouse, but pretty good for me.

Yesterday was election day and I took great joy in not voting for Rick Santorum. Apparntly, so did lots of people in Pennsylvania. Last night, after the polls had closed, I got the final telephone survey. Silly me, I answered. Anyway, they wanted to know the reasons I did or did not vote for Santorum. I said, "Because he's bigoted and filled with hate." And it's true. I embarressed he was my senator. But not anymore.

Guess What I've Been Doing

I posted three new sections of the Nano novel in the Lab. Check it out, Omouse, and stop bugging me about posting.

Oh, and Omouse is on my machine leaving a message RIGHT NOW but I'm too busy posting to answer the phone. Sorry.

10779, by the way. I plan on gaing some ground tonight. Too busy at work to get anything done. You know, I was working.

10484

Just a quick blog to brag about my word count: 10,484! It's such a nice change to be ahead of the word count.

And on another note: lactose-free eggnog rocks!

Tomorrow I'll post what I've written.

It's here!

It's Nano time! I'm at 3000 words thus far and Omouse and Iambe have left me in the dust.

I think I love this book...

NaNo starts in three days I just read a review of a book that I can not wait to read: Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. It's got everything: medieval setting, the plague, mysterious vanishing village and aliens crash landed on Earth. How cool is that?

Alas, it will wait until December when I get the luxury of reading again.

a drug-dealer free day

So, since this summer the drug dealers in my apartment complex have...changed. Not to be naive, I know there's aloways some drug traffic anywhere, but before he dealers were teenagers and not very threatening. Now we have gang members and they scare me. Constant complaints to the building management didn't seem to do anything. Management didn't want to evict these guys, despite the constant police activity, and the people moving out. (I took this to mean that someone ion management was working with the gang.) Frankly, I'm at the end of my rope and will move when the lease is up. Andy can complain all he wants about moving boxes, but I am not going to live here anymore.

There is good news, however. Last Thursday there was a bust and a raid on the gang member's apartments. Lots of people were arrested, including someone in management. (I knew it!)

It's only been two days without our scary dealers but I can feel the difference. No group of guys lurking outside the building all the time, no matter the weather. No cars driving up and down that crappy, pot-hole riddeled road, stopping to buy. No arguements in the parking lot. No people shouting. It's quiet. It's nice.

Here's an article about a nervous reporter that tagged along with an undercover cop. I'm sure being with an undercover cop is frightening, but this guys is overly dramatic. There are no junkies hanging outside in the parking lot, harrassing people. Most of the traffic happens at either the gas station next door (which I will not use anymore) or cars will drive down pot-hole ridden road I affectionatly call the "surface of Mars." Anyway, this reporter paints my apartment complex way worse than it is. As I was reading it, I recognized features of the buildings but I keep asking myself, "Where was this guy?"

NaNoWriMo's almost here!

It's nearly November and that means I have a few days of sanity left before trying to write 50 thousand words in 30 days. Here's some motivational reading.

oh no

I've come to the horrible realization that none of the beverages in my home are caffinated. And NaNoWriMo is but scant days away! I need caffine!

It's been awhile

I haven't posted in bit. Lots of things have been going in Pennsylvania.

First, Andy got the job at Temple University. Yea! He now takes the train in every morning and actually ten minutes away from my office. We tried to do the dropping him off in the morning thing and it's just too much of a hassle. Plus, I'm not always in Center City at the end of the working day. I wouldn't be able to pick him. However, Andy is enjoying the new job.

At first he was nervous about leaving Nexmed, he's been there for nearly nine years. But as the days got closer to the end, I could see the tension dissolving. On the last day he wore a Hawaiian shirt. That weekend he was so happy. Positively bubbling over with joy. He was a cliche of joyfulness.

The first day at Temple, however, Andy went back to being a bundle of nerves. He could find his shoes, which was obviously my fault. He couldn't tie his tie. Every little thing was a major catastrophe.

He's been at Temple for a week now and he's starting to chill. His blood sugar is down. Yesterdya morning it was 95. 95! If this keeps up, he may be able to reduce some of his medication. Which only proves that I was correct is saying that stress made his blood sugar insanely high. I take my victories where I can.

NaNo is fast approaching. This morning the two plotlines I've been fighting with magically came together. It was awesome. I'll post my story ideas on the Lab, but not now. It's late. I'm sleepy.

All my NaNo minions...I mean, friends...collegues, really...Anyway, I've made a nice little NaNo mix tape CD and will put it in the mail. Or just give it to you, which ever is easier.

Talking About Chewbacca

Chewy has a blog. This delights me in so many ways.

Updates! Get your updates!

Check out the photos I uploads on the UKC Gals page. I love having high-speed. I let's me put up this.


Jenny says: Roar! Follow the links! Leave a comment! Roar!

You win again, Gravity!

First off, I hate the City Line Ave Hilton in Philadelphia. It has no garage. Can you imagine a "world class" hotel with no garage? You have to park down this hill in an unpaved lot. Last Thurday, when I was there for a conference, it was raining. So I had to walk to the Hilton in the rain, which did not endear it to me. And just to finish my rant because this is not a rant about how much I dislike the Hilton, but I just need to let you understand my frustration when the events of last Thursday become clear.

The Ladies' bathroom in the Hilton does not have locking doors on the toilets. Oh my god. Twice someone walked in on me. And it wasn't just my unfortunate stall. It was all of them. I hate the No-garage, no-privacy Hilton.

Jule and I were attending the same conference. She has warmer feelings for the Hilton, largely because she found a parking space up front and also found the only toilet with working locks. So for lunch, we walked rougly a block to the Chilis. It was the nearest thing in walking distance. Lunch was fine. Pleasant. Jule even thought the waiter was cute.

On the way back, it was raining (still) and I was talking about how the secretary had the same meeting as I did this morning but she never came back after the 10.30 break. Jule saw her leave the hotel.

Then I fell. No warning. No moment of tottering, wobbling and grappling with gravity. I just fell forward.

Somehow I threw aside my umbrella and held out of hands and did a little roll to my right side. Jule said the roll was really impressive. I guess it saved my from falling flat on my nose but I ended up in the wet grass and mud. The right side of my clothes was sopping wet.

The first words out of Jule's mouth was "Workman's comp!"

I looked back at the sidewalk to see why I fell but there was nothing but acorns. Must have slipped in on the wet acorns.

Was I hurt? One first inspection, my right knee and both hands were scrapped. The knee was bleeding but not badly. I went back to the nonlocking toilets and tried to clean up. The nice thing about attending a social worker conference is that everyone is ready to help. One woman had some wet wipes. Another had a bandage. Awesome.

Clean and not bleeding any more, I went off to my next meeting. Only later did I notice that my right foot was scrapped and bruised.

The next day my foot was an interesting shade of purple-yellow. And it hurt to walk. On put pressure on my toes. It took me to Sunday to figure out that maybe I hurt my foot when I fell on Thursday. I just knew I broke something. A toe, a hair line fracture, something.

So I went to the doctor. Probably tendonitis, a strain and pulled muscles, not a broke bone but x-rays were ordered to be on the safe side.

I hate the Hilton. I didn't even fall in front of the damn hotel so I could complain about their sidewalks, I fell in front of the city's reservoir. No use complaining to Philadelphia. The city can't be bothered to do anything, much less keep sidewalks acorn free.

Another Musical Movie

I am by no means a Broadway expert...but I love musicals. And I'm getting just a little sick and tires of this trend of adapting movies into musicals. This one is a movie I genuinely enjoyed but I'm so disgusted by the idea of a musical I'll never go and see it.

Just like 2001!

Finally got a high-speed internet connection. It's aewsome. And now I'm a little embarressed I waited so long to get one.

Andy's all excited. He can't wait to play a MMORPG. Namely, this one.

Just like working in 1995!

I got the internet at work. Finally! I just stumbled across it accidentally. I don't think I'm meant to have it, actually. PCA did some work on their servers this week and now the internet magically appeared. I suspect it will disappear in a few days. Still, it's cool while it's here.

Sick

Andy brought a cold home about two weeks ago the way other kids bring home frogs and what to know if we can keep it.

On friday he wasn't feeling good enough to go for dinner but on Saturday he was okay to go to a movie. So by Sunday when he was all stuffy and coughing, I assumed he was being overly dramatic. I now regret secretly making fun of him behind his back. Yes, I'm a bad wife. I believe my sick husband was faking it.

Monday he stayed home from work, so that was my first hint he really was ill. This man never stays home. Ever. I made soup and he slept most of the day. Tuesday he was back at work but still coughing.

Wednesday I woke up with a sore throat. Thursday my ears hurt. Weird. Sinus pressure, I guess. By the end of the working day, I couldn't hear a damn thing my head and ears were so stuffy. Andy went out a brought back soup from my favorite resturaunt. Friday I stayed home. This is the day that Natalie also went home from work early with similar symptoms. Saturday my lungs ached and it was difficult to breath. Sunday I had to work but I spent the day coughing and looking pathetic. Monday wasn't much better but I actually started to feel like a human being again.

Andy's cold kicked my ass. I'm sorry for not believing him.

Strange Craving

This morning I woke up with a strange desire to possess this or this.

I can't explain it.

Andy's Theory of Time Travel

Walking out of the grocery store, armed with contra band candy for Snakes on a Plane, I noticed a disgarded toothbrush package. Joking, I said, "Someone really couldn't wait to brush their teeth." Three steps later, we spy the toothbrush, tossed to the ground.

Strange, I thought. The person must have decided they really didn't need a toothbrush that bad.

Andy reached a totaly different conclusion.

He said, "Someone came running out of the store, ripped open the package, and brushed their teeth while running, allowing them to jump forward in time."

"What?"

"Plague was invented to prevent us from time travelling."

"You're a crazy man."

"Well, you only brush your teeth while standing still. Try running and brushing and see what happens."

Snakes on a Blog

Saw Snakes on a Plane Saturday. It was cheesey and corny and fun. Here's a minute by minute account, so you can shout out "Snakes on a Pilot!" as you see fit.

Inspiration

I found site that has cool, classic Star Trek inspirational posters. Awesome. One of my favorites: Diplomacy: Words don't always solve problems. Sometimes you just have to punch and alien in the face. And Logic: Not as prevalent as you wish it were.

To complete the geek out: Five Minutes Star Trek Episodes and the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

Pod Creature

My latest creation...In case you can't tell, it's a cover for my MP3 player. It's a moneky. A monkey, I say! I know it doesn't look very monkey like but I totally made it without a pattern and I love the mismatched eyes.

Liarbyrd's Book Review

I'm about fifty pages from the end of The Time Traveller's Wife. I'm having mixed feelings about the book. I'm not sure I like it.

Anyone who knows me knows that there are three things I love in a story: zombies, mummies, and time travel. Not all at the same time, but that'd be cool.

So the premise of the book: Henry DeTamble can spontaniously and uinconsciously travel in time. Sometimes forwards, usually backwards to places he's already been. He always shows up naked (because clothes can't trael thrugh time) and usually nauseous.

Henry has been appearing to Clare since she was six. Clare will grow up to marry the Present Henry when she is a twenty-something. And this is where I start to have misgivings.

Hnery loves Clare. That's apparent on the page. When he's away in another time, he just wants to get home to his wife. Sometimes he gets lucky and he finds his wife, but she's still a child. So he'll spend an innocent, pleasant afternoon helping her with her homework before being jerked back to his present.

Clare love Henry but sometimes only becauses she knows she must, because she knows they will be married at some point in the future. I don't feel as convinced by her half of the narritive.

And Clare is desperate to have a baby. She makes herself and Henry miserable in her almost crazed need to give birth. (They have difficulty because Henry's genes are barely human and Clare has miscarriages.) Maybe it's because I don't have a need to make little people, I don't feel "hollow inside" the way Clare does....but I really don't like her and her shrill baby longing, which is more than half of the book. But maybe it's because I'm prejudiced against women who got to see fertility doctors because I just do not understand that need to make babies. Maybe I'm too hard on Clare, I don't know.

But I'm getting near the end. This is pretty much Henry heavy, he's a narrator, which makes it a stronger piece of story. Henry dies somehow. (not sure how just yet.) He doesn't know yet but he jumped to the future and and everyone is so happy to see him, it actually made me cry. And that's another part of this book that bothers me. My emotions are all over the map here. I destest some characters but the story is so compelling I can not put it down and it's made me cry in a few passages. I've actually had to put the book down because I couldn't see through the tears.

So here I am at the end of the book, still not sure if I like it, still not able to put my finger on exactly what bugs me, and so emotionally manipulated I can't stop reading.

I made this!

Omouse taught me to crochet.

I totally made this kiwi colored scarf. It's not funky of wierd or lopsided or anything. It's a simple scarf. I'm so proud of myself.

Toynbee Tiles

OKay, this is weird. Apparently, in an act of street art or who knows what, there are these tiles around Philadelphia:Toynbee Tiles. Not just Philly, but in other major US cities, including good old KC, and even in South America. However, the most are in Philly so it's speculated that it originated in Philly.

These messages are bizare. No one knows what they really mean. And no one knows who the perpatrator is.

Butthis is the weird part. I was listening to the radio and the morning jocks were discussing the phenom and they speculated about the creator of the tiles. They named the guy, Mr. X (let's say). It sounded familiar. The guy also died in 2003. They mentioned his widow...And the bells started going off! Mr. X was my client until his death in 2003. I can't really say his name because of confidentially and stuff, but you can read the links. I swear, it's my former client.

Was Mr X really the creator of the tiles? Who knows. I seriously doubt it but I didn't know the family for long, only about six months, so I really can't say.

Damn, I've got to go on a tile hunt now.

Doctor Who Ammendment

Now that I've seen the last three episodes of Series Two, I will admit that...I was wrong. Shocking.

The last half of the series was better than the first. After the Cybermen episodes, it seemed to hit it's stride. That said, there were some sour notes and episodes that were rubbish (New Earth, Idiot's Latern, Fear Her).

But the series finale...I'm ashamed to said it made me cry. Jackie ends up happily with Pete...Micky's around. What his status is with Rose is uncertain, but I like Micky, so even Platonic Micky is better than No Micky. But Rose doesn't have the Doctor anymore and it broke her heart. Made me sniffle, too.

So, in conclusion: I don't take back my harsh criticism of the weak story telling that plague Series Two, but it did stick the ending. Now that I can see the entire structure of the story arc...The episodes with reoccuring villians or themes (Cybermen, the Void space, Torchwood) were enjoyable. And the way all the plot lines tied up nicely at the end was terrific. Good job.

Side Note: Andy Suggested making our own happier ending with little drawings of Rose and the Doctor glue to popcicle sticks. "The Doctor managed to save me, now I'm not trapped in an alternate universe!" Or some such rot.

Doctor Who series two

As much as I loved the first series of the ne Doctor Who, I've been underwhelmed by series two, with the new New Doctor (David Tennant.) At first I couldn't put my finger on what was different, other than the obvious: a new new Doctor. Tne I realized, the writing of the episodes of not good. It's just not. The episodes are uneven and frequently Plotonium is used in the last five minutes for the Doctor to save the day. And there is nothing as cheap as Plotonium.

The first episdoe, "New Earth" made no sense. People who can spread disease by a touch can't neccessarily spread the cure by a touch. It doesn't follow. Plotonium.

"The Iron Claw" was okay. A bit too much of the Doctor being chased through Victoriana by a werewolf for my taste. And Rose kept trying to make the Queen say, "We are not amused." Someone needed to smack her.

"The Girl in the Fireplace" was a good idea, but it got bogged down by sticky sentiment. And, how creepy are the clockwork robots?

The Cybermen episodes were merely okay. They weren't fantastic.

I did enjoy the "Impossible Plant/Satan Pit" episodes, if only because it was a simple, straight forward, fight a monster story. No clever tricks. No social commentary. Just the Doctor and Lovecraftian-like telepathic squids in space with something horrible in a pit under the planet. A good, solid story. And I like saying "Squids in Space!"

But "Love and Monsters" is a truly great episode. It was fun and clever but not cloying and sentimental. True, the Doctor and Rose where like guest stars in their own show, but it was a good story. No plotonium. No sentimental sticky spots. Plus, there's a Scooby Doo like chase scene that had me laughing out loud.

I'd have to give the second series a B. Good but not fanastic. Frankly, I expected more. Previous work has been exceptional and I can tell you are not work to your full potential.

Please thuroughly revise Series Three, to remove the weak plot points and unnecessary use of Plotonium, before submitting it for consideration.

Bloomsday

Another June 16th, another Bloomsday.

The bulk of action in James Joyce's Ulyssess takes place on June 16, 1904. It's a mountain of a book, but I really felt like I accomplished something when I finished reading the damn thing. I even liked bits.

At my uni, they did public readings outside the student union from morning well into the night.

This year Bloomsday is cancelled in Dublin due to the funeral of the prime minister. My favorite qoute on the subject is "You can't cancel Bloosday. That's like saying you can cancel Monday or Tuesday."

I heard on the drive home on NPR that the grandson of Joyce was trying to stop public readings of Ulyssess because of copywrite issues. The Rosenback Museum in Philadelphia has the original manuscript of Ulyssess and is planning a public reading today, Bloomsday, regardless of the young Mr. Joyce. And apparently Stephen James Joyce is also being sued for copywrite abuse, trying to supress publications about his grandfather that he does not like, and possibly distroying correspondence of interest to scholars.

In this New Yorker article we learn that Stephen James Joyce once turned down the requet of an academic from Purdue because he considered the name of the sports team, the Boilermakers, vulgar.

Sounds like a class act.

Joyce's unpublished work enters public domain in 2012.

Happy Bloomsday.

George Washington Did What??

Little known fact:

George Washington crossed the Delaware to wrestle a whale. True story.

Actually, this steams from Delmar being underwhelmed by the size and majesty of the Delaware at Washington Crossing State Park and scoffing that G.W. could just jump across if he had a running start. He was not impressed a was lead to believe by many public school history books that the Delaware was a wide, majestic river.

Here's a poem that only raised expectations. And a mug with the famous painting.

I thought the Delaware was decent sized. So I said, "Two other boats didn't make it over that day. And the water was freezing."

Not impressed.

"Would it helped if he wrestled a whale on the trip over?"

"Yes! George Washington wrestling a whale. That's a President."

So I thought the nonsensical idea deserved an illustration.

Hey Baby, You Look Pretty to Me

After a long day of work, I'm unpacking the laptop/breifcase, etc from the car and some guy (dark skin, tall, thin, not unattractive) comes up to me and says, "Hey Baby, you look pretty to me."

I hesitate. You look pretty to me. That's a rather backhanded compliment. I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, but all I could think was, "And to everyone else but you, I'm a dog. Thanks for tossing me a bone."

I say, "Thanks." Totally skipping the "for the bone" that was my innner monologue.

"I saw you yesterday but you were in a hurry."

"I was on my way to work." I take my sunglasses off, waving my wedding ring in front of my face.

"What's you name?"

"Melissa."

"Felicia," he says.

"Um, Muh-Lis-Ah," I say slowly.

"Fuh-Li-Ci-Ah," he repeats.

Great. I look pretty to him and he thinks my name is Felicia.

Still, I always appriciate the odd chat-up.

Mum's in Town

Mum and BIll came into town this week. I played the role of dutiful daughter and tour guide. As a result, I am exhausted.

Highlights include:
Winning $40 clams in Atlantic City.
Immediately spending $30 of those clams on a pink knock-off Burberry bag. Styling.
Having Mom lecture me about curteous driving as I push my ways through rush hour traffic in a minivan.
Lunch in Chinatown and introducing Mom to dim sum and bubble tea.
Thrift store crawling. My family loves a bargain.

Now that she's gone, I miss having my mother around. It was nice.

Next vacation idea

Okay, it's weird. But how cool would it be to go to Dracule's Castle for our next trip?

30

Yesterday morning I wake up and Andy says, "Do you know what day this is?"

"Wednesday," I say, failing the entrance exam for Spy Girl Camp. (It was a bit early for guessing games.) I was still in bed, for crying out loud.

"No. Today's your last day of being in your twenties."

I was tired. And groggy. My eyes started watering. "Shut up! Why would you say that to me!"

"Life begins at thirty," Andy says.

"Shut up, shut up!"

"I'm trying to make you feel better."

"You suck!"

And that was the tone of the day. Everyone at work knew I was turning 30 so they tried to make me feel better about it, which can only make a person feel worse. The way people are acting, it's like I was going to have all my hair turn white and develope instantanious arthritis.

Thankfully, this morning (the 30 morning) Andy didn't try to make me feel better. However, I did anounce that I was spending 30 in jim-jams.

"Wait," he said, "all of your thirties?"

"Just 30."

"Good thing I didn't get you a girft certificate to a clothing store." I did get a gift certificate to a bookstore. Cool.


But now it's my birthday and I'm 30.

It's just a weird concept to wrap my head around.

But I can say that it was WAY more traumatic finding my first white hair at 25. I was getting my hair cut and I was so surprised I stated to tear up in the hair-dresser's chair.

Playing catch-up

At lot has happened in the month since my last post. I know. I'm terrible at these things. Everytime I sit down at the keyboard, my mind just kind of dries up and I can't think of anything to write.

For our anniversary. Andy and I upgraded to a king-size bed. It's beautiful. And comfy. And it's so large, I can stretch out my arm and not hit Andy. Cool. And the snoring has been reduced to a rumbling in the distance, as opposed to right in my ear.

I had the prep work done for my bridge this week. I am now wearing a temporary bridge. It hurts. And feels funny in my mouth. My tongue hurts, which is just plain weird. And it hurts to talk.

I have started to re-write the nano 06 novel. So far I've added a character named Florida. I'll post in the lab when I have something more than one page long.

That's all I got for now.

Observations about the dentist

Yesterday I had a baby tooth removed, step one in a month long process of getting a bridge put into replace the chip tooth removed last August. And while in the office with the oral surgeon, two things caught my attention.

Removing my baby tooth with a fancy dental tool that looks like a pair of plyers should not be considered Oral Surgery. Sure, the plyers were shiny and sterile, but they were plyers. The dentist estientially just pulled the tooth out. (Which was something that also amazed me, how easily my baby tooth came out, like it could fall out at any time.)

The other thing was the conversation I had with the oral surgeon that filled my heart with dread.

"So, today we're taking out your baby teeth."

"Uh-huh," I agree. "It's for my bridge. The baby tooth isn't strong enough to support a bridge."

"And they'll put an implant on the other side?"

"What other side?" I only had one tooth missing on the right side. That was it.

"The other baby tooth."

"I only have one baby tooth."

"You have two. We're removing your baby teeth."

"Tooth! Just one! The one next to the big hole in my teeth!"

The surgeon looks at the x-ray. "Oh, I see. We're removing bicuspid 29. Did you know you have two baby teeth? Both your biscuspids."

I didn't know that. Congenative bicuspid failure, he called it, but only for my lower teeth. Apparently that's really unusual.

Mostly I was terrified that the surgeon didn't know what tooth he was removing and would have likely taken out both baby teeth if we didn't have the necessary social banter.

Back out in the front of the office, Andy was waiting for me. The surgeon says to him, "Did you know your wife had two baby teeth? You'll need to keep an eye on the other one."

I have a face full of gauze and can't say anything. I'm not really sure what I would have said. Maybe something on the nerve of the surgeon telling my husband to look after my teeth when I just proved myself more than capable of protecting them from a surgeon who was just going to willy-nilly pull teeth from my head.

So now one of my baby teeth is gone. I feel fine. Hungry. No solid food for a day until my jaw stops hurting. Right now I can open it wide enough for a spoon of pudding. And my face is pretty puffy. By tomorrow I'll be back to normal.

That's Our Idea!

So I stumbled on this really good book, Polaris, by Jack McDevitt. It's a sci-fi mystery with archeology, which is everything I love in a book minus the time travel and mummies. Actually, the book was very much like Indiana Jones in space. It was awesome. So I picked up the sequel, Seeker.

God Damn, it's about finding a colony ship that went missing. That's Omouse's and my idea! Damn.
I know there are no original ideas, but this book was publish November 2005, right during Nano. And I really did think the lost colony in space idea was fairly unique.

I haven't finished reading it yet, but if it ends that the colony finds the fountain of youth...I'm not sure what I'll do. Probably get another McDeviit book to see what others ideas of mine he's already written.

Thrift Store Finds

Last Saturday the Natalie and I decided to go cruising the trift stores in Philly. We love thrift.

As I'm getting ready to leave, Andy holds up a bowl and says, "If you find one of these bowls, get it."

He's holding Fiestaware, which it collectable and does not turn up often abandoned at the Goodwill. And this isn't a regular bowl that comes with a place setting, it' the large pasta bowl. I say, "Umm...sure." Thinking to myself, Yeah, right. I'll find one of those bowls when pigs fly.

The first shop, the first shelf I looked it...A dark teal bowl. Exactly what Andy specified and in a color I like. Damn. I mean, the chances are slim for finding any Fiestaware, let alone the freaking pasta bowl in dark teal.

I think that bowl pop into existence that morning, when Andy said I should pick up the bowl if I found one. It didn't exist until that moment.

Plus, the bow was marked for $2, so it was bargain.

Party like it's 01-02-03-04-05-06

Thought this was cool, a mathematic freak.

Looking for a new phone

Sadly, my cell phone, the trusty Sanyo SPC-4700 is dying. It was never pretty or slim, but it had a speaker phone and was very reliable. Recently, it's been turning off for no reason, sometimes when I'm in the middle of the call. It drops calls, has bad reception, etc. It's just old.

So I'm ready to let it retire. I tell Andy and he says, "You know how I feel about phones."

"They should make calls?"

"Nothing fancy."

Oh, but I wants fancy I do.

Andy only wants a phone that makes calls. I would really like a cool little phone that people won'tlaugh at when i take it outo f my purse. Is that so much? And yes, my co-worker Jule has laughed at the size of my aging cell phone relic.

I'm in love with this one. It's so cool. I totally don't need it, but it's sweet.

And then there's this one. I start to tell Andy about and he wants to know why I have a whistful tone in my voice like I'm talking about a My Little Pony. "Because it's pretty," I say. "And I'll feed it electricity and it'll poop ringtones."

I'll probably get the cool blue one. Propably. I'm still looking for one in pink. That'd be sweet.

so tired

I've been meaning to blog for ages now. I had so many things I wrote it down on a sticky so I wouldn't forget but I left that at work.

First off, Andy got re-hired! Cool. Same job, same pay, same everything. Being unemployed sucks so I'm glad we could avoid it.

Secondly, we got laptops at work. I have mixed feelings about the laptops. Sure, they take up less space on the desk, but the screens are so small. I have a hard time reading the teeny-tiny type on the database. And there's no internet. So that just put me in a grumpy disposition anyway.

And I'm so tired. Jule and I have been working extra hard in the office. The New Guy is now the Former Guy. He came and went so quickly I don't think we got a chance to break him in. He was with us for nearly six months. So we've been trying to catch up all the cases he never seemed to find the time to visit or the paper work to do...You see where I'm going. The New Guy couldn't handle the fast pace of everything we have to do, leaves, and now Jule and I must, in addition to our own cases, clean up his mess. I'm tired. I can't wait for the New New Person.

Okay, that's all I got toay.

Snow Day

I love the fact that I get snow days at work. There's nothing nicer than laying in bed and listening to all the school closings, knowig I don't have to leave the snuggling warmth of my coccon of blankets.

17.5 inches fell Saturday and Sunday in my 'burb. I didn't bother going out yesterday but today I think I'll put on my boots and head to the library. Exciting, no?

Lost revelations

While cruising a Lost forum, I found a link to Uncyclopedia, which seems to be Wiki's evil twin. And it has the funniest Lost entry every. Oscar Wilde is a cast membre and the everyone is on Gilligan's Island. A bit silly, but fun.

And then it got to the final conclusion of the show in sesion 130:


The Final Truth

It will be revealed on the final episode (season 130) that none other than the great Chuck Norris is behind the entire series. Father to the entire cast, Norris downed the airplane with a roundhouse kick, which caused the plane to crash in Norris's swimming pool. The entire time, it was just Chuck Norris fucking around with the survivors with the aid of his Time Travel-capable cock.

Chuch Norris! It's so obvious!

(And Verve has pointed out that Facts about Vin Disel appeared on the net about a year before Chuck Norris. And my response is we need to make facts about Steve McQueen. Fact number one: Despite being deceased, Steve McQueen continues to do his own stunts.)

Dumb thief tricks

Ladies and gentlemen: my home town. As you can see, they ain't raising no rocket scientists. (And I recognize the cop in question. Basehor's so small, there's only three cops to begin with.)

The Ides of March

It finally happened. Andy got the pinkslip today. His last day is march 15.

In a way, it's nice it finally happened. Now we don't have to be tip-toeing around the subject, saying, "If you do get laid off..." Now we know. Now we do not have the axe hovering over us.

And we have a month and a half until termination. That's good. Gives us plenty of time to find a new position so there's no lapse in insurance. (I really hate US healthcare. It's designed to screw the people who need it the most., but that's a different rant.)

the ungrateful whining of a social worker...

So today at 2.30 pm the office gets a call from the Neighborhood Energy Center. Tthe city, our local congressman, and Venezula are providing heating oil at a 40% discount. Fantastic. Sign me up. I've heard about this, too. They have a similar program in Boston and New York. I've all excited about it because 40% is a lot of money and Chavez is offering the discount to make El Presidente look bad.

One problem. The delivery has to be on Saturday. Why? On account of the news crew and the congressman being there for the publicity. (It is an election year, after all.) And the person purchasing the oil has to live in the 19144 zipcode.

Okay. Still fantastic.

And they need the name of the person in an hour.

And this is a one time offer. The oil is only available on Saturday. Not after.

Not that really annoyed me. I'm not going to sneeze on discounted oil (and it's a big discount) but one time only? Do they not realize that it's the end of the month and the seniors don't get their social security checks until the 1st of February? No one's got a couple hundred bucks laying around to afford the oil. If it was next Saturday, after people get their checks, then I'd have some people. And if it was a larger service area than one zip code, I'd have a lot of people.

I know Venezuela is offering discounted oil in Boston and New York and from what I can tell it's not just a one time only thing. It seems to be an on-going program. I don't know why when it's comes to our city, it's one day only.

And that's what really makes me mad: the very narrow scope of the program. With all the requirements, it's not really helping anyone. I hope our congresman has someone to trot out in front of the cameras on Saturday, because we sure couldn't find that person.

Chuck Norris Facts!

Things I learned today at Chuck Norris Facts:

Unlike most other humans, Chuck Norris can acutally travel through the Internet, exit at your PC, and kick your ass if he wants to.

I did not know that. And my favorite: Chuck Norris doesn't churn butter. He roundhouse kicks the cows and the butter comes straight out.

Chuck Norris freakin' rocks! (If didn't say that, he can come through the internet and kick my ass.