Random Access

Friday
The day started off all right. Again, it was a little slow due to lack of caffeination, but that was okay.

I got a call from ‘s dad a little before noon; he had some free time in his schedule and said that he could come over to take a look at our evaporative cooler. So, I came home. He gave me brief lesson in “Swamp Coolers 101” and then we went on the roof to look at the unit. We came down, talked a little about what it would take to switch over to central air and took a look at the furnace… which would most likely have to be replaced in order to accommodate central A/C. But, all-in-all, things looked (and worked) pretty well.

Back to work.

On to Borders for coffee and chat. As we pulled into the parking space, I noticed the third sign of the Apocalypse: Speaker stands in the cafe. *braincramp* We ventured in. captured the singer in pencil. We had a small group tonight, but it was nevertheless fun. We adjourned to Cheers: North for a bite to eat afterwards.

Stray Toasters

• ‘s dad pointed me in the direction of Animusic. I think that I’ve seen the site, or at least animations from it, before. But, it was still pretty cool. As a rebuttal, I showed him the Drew Cope taiko drumming Flash animation; he liked it.
• I read Ultimate Fantastic Four #8 while at Borders; the writing continues to draw me in. Warren Ellis, go figure.
• From Salon: Defunct Domain Names
• Jack Black… as Kyle Rayner? No. NO. NO! According to an article that showed me on Ain’t It Cool News, it’s true. Nail. Coffin.
• They Might Be Giants interview in Newsweek.
• From the Comics2Film DCG: Nice.
• As this is in MacNewsWorld, there might be a tinge of bias here: Are Mac Users Smarter than PC Users? I use both (and Linux), where does that put me?
• eHow: More than 15,000 How-to Solutions
• By way of Backwash: 15 best break-up songs of all time

A little after three… but I don’t want to go to bed. I’m tired, but not quite ready to call it a night. I probably should. But I don’t want to. Even though I don’t have anything that really demands that I stay awake any longer. I wonder how much more waffling I can do on this…? If I stay awake, I could play a game. Or watch Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: The Next Generation Stargate: Atlantis. But, I taped them, so I can watch them at any time. I could watch the sunrise over the Wasatch. Or dream of a more vivid one. Decisions, decisons…

I’ll suss something out and go from there.

Namaste.

Thursday
Today was a *blah* day. I came home at 3 and hung out with the Sissy and the twins. And took a nap. At least, I tried to – sleep was intermittent.

The nap was good, considering that I didn’t get to bed until 4:00 this morning… and couldn’t get to sleep until nearly 5:00, thanks to the Lightning. He decided that 4:15 was the perfect time to start pouncing my legs and feet. This piqued Presto’s curiosity. Of course. Soon the two of them were wrestling. On my legs. Yay. Of the nap, the kits came over and napped with me: Presto was on the seat, next to my right leg; Lightning was on the back of the chair, just above my left shoulder.

And, speaking of Presto: Maybe our joy at the twins’ use of the litter box was a tad premature. Living up to his name, Presto made a gift magically appear. Right before our very eyes. In the family room. We weren’t happy about this. I took him up to the litter box. A short while later, he actually used it. We were happy about that.

I got a call from my father shortly after we got in. He wanted me to relay a message to my mother: Nathan Carter, Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts at Morgan State University died this afternoon. He and my mother had worked together on a few occasions. And beyond that, they were friends. I called mom and gave her the news. She asked if I had called my Godsister (she used to sing in the MSU Choir and I think that Dr. Carter was her advisor) with the news. “No, I haven’t.” So I do. She didn’t know. And it apparently came as a surprise; she took it as well as could be expected. Oy. I find no joy in being the Harbinger of Ill Tidings.

NPR Stories
Talk of the Nation: Debating the Merits of Class Action Lawsuits
Talk of the Nation: A History of Intelligence Failures
Talk of the Nation: Writers’ Views: On War
All Things Considered: Dr. John Celebrates New Orleans on ‘Dis, Dat’ CD
All Things Considered: Air Passenger Screening Program Shelved
All Things Considered: Georgia’s ‘Faster Pastor’ Race

Stray Toasters

• Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo. Tonight’s stars: Ron Livingston, Penn Jillette, Angie Dickinson, Kathy Griffin and Jeff Gordon. It was fun to listen to the table banter. And, I’m picking up more on how to play Texas Hold ’em.
• The Puttin’ on the Ritz bit with Stewie and Chris on Family Guy made me laugh. So did the riff on Stephen J. Cannell.
• g0t conspiracy theories? AboveTopSecret does.
• As if we needed other reasons to goof off at work: AddictingGames.com
• Powers of Ten
• Celiberal: Celebrity Liberal Whine List This was listed as “Pinko Commie Celebrities on Backwash.
• And, on the other side: Protest Panties
• Also from BW: Writings on the Stall
• Qwest’s nuts roasting on an open fire…
• From The Ad Council: Campaigns that Have Made a Difference
• It seems as though Jessica Simpson will not be Alison Blaire (Dazzler) in the upcoming X-Men movie, after all.
• …and McG, who helmed the Charlie’s Angels movies, will not be in the director’s chair for the next Superman movie. Thank God. Brian Singer, director of the X-Men movies, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the job.
• As soon as I saw this cover for an upcoming issue of Daredevil, Led Zepplin’s Fool in the Rain started playing in my head. (, if I find out that you had something to do with it, there’ll be Hell Toupee Hell to pay!)
• Here comes a world o’ hurt…
• sent this to me this afternoon. It’s an interesting concept.

It’s early and I have to get up later, so I should probably call it a night.

Namaste.

But they’re marching to Bastille Day
La guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Free the dungeons of the innocent
The king will kneel, and let his kingdom rise

Wednesday
Miracle of miracles: Lightning wasn’t staring at me this morning when I woke up! Instead, he was curled up, asleep, on Jess’ pillow. Very cute. Of course, the three-ring circus had me up at 3:00 and at 5-something. But they were only brief moments of consciousness.

Research + lack of caffeinated liquid = Ass-draggin’ Rob.
The day passed very slowly. But, I seemed to perk up around 5:30 PM.

Jess and I met for a quick jaunt to Costco (and some quality people-watching). Then we came back here and she met the twins. (, what’re you waiting for…?)

NPR Stories
Talk of the Nation: A Life on the Right: William F. Buckley
All Things Considered: On the Beat in Chicago’s South Side
All Things Considered: Free Speech and Religious Hatred
All Things Considered: Ghost Hunters in the Thick of Night

Stray Toasters

• I was looking through the new issue of FHM and saw articles about Cuddle Party and Banana Guard. The things that people come up with…
• Five Ways to Kill a Man by Edwin Brock
• Mina: I don’t want to watch you drink blood, pervert!
  Lord Fluffy: Are you kidding? It touched the floor. Disgusting.
  Read the rest:

• Ray Liotta is rumored as a candidate for the role of Doctor Doom in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. For info about the FF and the not-so-good Doctor can be found here (click on “Fantastic Four” under “Browse By Families.”)
• : Teen Titans Season Three begins Saturday, 28 Aug 04.
• : Click here
• One of the many joys of being in a house (and having my office in the basement) as opposed to an apartment: I can listen to music/watch TV at varying degrees of loudness and still not disturb Jess while she’s sleeping.
• When I See an Elephant Fly, from Dumbo, is one of my favorite Disney songs. It’s silly and fun. That’s good enough for me.
• Lilo & Stitch: Quotes, Trivia and Goofs
• And in an odd aside: Kevin McDonald (one of the Kids in the Hall, who also provided the voice of Stitch) appeared in Outkast’s Roses video. When I read that, it made me chuckle.
• Was (not Was)
• I worked in retail for a few years before I started working for the USPS. I remember approaching a customer (a professor at one of the local colleges) and asking how he was doing. His response: “I’m wonderful. Do you know what that means?” I said something to the effect of “You’re doing well…?” He looked at me, smiled broadly and said,”It means I’m full of wonder.” I don’t remember what he bought that day, but I remember that he was one of the most pleasant and cheerful – and full of wonder – customers that I had the pleasure of helping.

Thought for the Day
A week ago, I wrote about friends and why I think that they’re important. Over the course of the week, I’ve been thinking about that and family and the concept of “home,” as well.

There are a couple of old sayings: “You can’t go home” and “You can’t choose your family.” I never really understood the former and I never really gave the latter a second thought until a few years ago. After appointing a few brain cells and synapses to the matter, I came to a conclusion: Both of those sayings are wrong.

You can go home. Dorothy did it in The Wizard of Oz. Superman did it (he went to the debris field that used to be Krypton). Hell, even MacGuyver went home. You can go home anytime you choose. But, the person who returns to the place that was once “home” will not necessarily be the same as the one who left. Or, “home” may not be the place that it once was; it may be somewhere completely different or unexpected. The Temptations and Rockapella pretty much nailed this concept with Papa Was a Rolling Stone and My Home, respectively. I’ve called a lot of places home: Maryland, North Carolina, Indiana and Utah (As a kid, I would have never imagined that “Utah” would wind up on the list…). And of them all, there’s no place that I felt that I couldn’t return.

Family is important. We may not always agree with them – we may not even like them – but they are ours. And we’re stuck with them. For better or worse. Till death do us part. Amen. Genetics, go figure.

I believe that you can choose your family, too. I’ve met people who have transcended from “friend” to “family.” I grew up with some of them. Some, I’ve know for many years. Others, I’ve had the good fortune and/or Providence’s grace to meet and we just “clicked.” Just like a genetic family, there are times when we don’t agree. Or, there may be occasions when we drift apart, due to physical distance or emotional differences. But, they’re still “there.”

One of my high school yearbooks had a saying in it: “I am a part of all I have met.” That’s true. So is the converse: “All I have met are a part of me.” Some have become bigger parts, some minor. Parts and counterparts. It’s good that we don’t always see eye-to-eye, because how else would we learn about each other? Or ourselves?

What happened to our innocence,
Did it go out of style?
Along with our naivete,
No longer a child.
Different eyes see different things,
Different hearts beat on different strings.
But there are times
For you and me, when all such things agree.
   – Different Strings

Stitch: This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It’s little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.

Namaste.

Tuesday
All three cats took it upon themselves to play “alarm clock” at 7:00 this morning. The twins were wrestling and Sissy was… doing something noisy. At least it wasn’t the usual 5:00 start-up. And we did manage to get back to sleep. When the alarm went off, I woke up to Lightning staring me in the face again this morning. He had this “I’m awake, why aren’t you?” look. It was cute.

Sissy isn’t growling nearly as much around the kittens. They have taken to not only eating their food, but Sissy’s as well. They have also discovered that we are greatly pleased by their use of the litter box.

The work day wasn’t bad, either: I made the server to bow to my will. After that, the rest of the day was cake.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: Reducing the Cost of College
Talk of the Nation: The Politics of Hair
(Note: This is not to be confused with The Politics of Dancing, by Reflex)
All Things Considered: West Point and the Meaning of Honor
All Things Considered: Iron Mike and a Possible Senate Run
All Things Considered: Remembering Joe Gold, Gym Owner

Stray Toasters

• sent me this gem from The Straight Dope.
• sent me this from BBC News.
• Ken Jennings, the reigning Jeopardy! champion, has won over $1,000,000 in thirty consecutive days on the show. And, he’s still going.
• : Click here.
• Thanks to for pointing me in the direction of Monsters In Motion, which led me to this.
• and can duke it out over this.
• The year is 1987, and NASA launches the last of America’s deep space probes. In a freak mishap, Ranger 3 and its pilot, Captain William “Buck” Rogers, are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems, and returns Buck Rogers to Earth… 500 years later.
  If you’re (at least) in your early to mid-30s, you’ll probably remember that as the opening narration to NBC’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. It’s back.

• Must remember to ask Santa for a 14.4 Volt drill set
• Every sperm is sacred
  Every sperm is great
  If a sperm is wasted
  God gets quite irate.
  (Ah, Monty Python…)

• Bjork’s music is eclectic. I like it.
• “And now… finally. Take my hand and swear eternal loyalty to Zod.”

Namaste.

Monday
I woke up this morning with Lightning staring at me. Six inches from my face. He and Presto have taken to sleeping on the bed with us, which is cute, but can make it interesting to get into bed – Lightning seems to fall asleep on my side of the bed right in the spot where I normally lie.

I spent the afternoon fighting one of the servers at work. And, I was far from being in the mood to deal with it. Tomorrow, I’ll either bend it to my will or reformat the damned thing. Or throw it out the window. On the highway. At high speed.

Tonight’s been pretty lax. The kittens seem to have adjusted (more or less) to Sissy. The converse, however, is not true; she still sees them as curious little invaders on her turf. She’s taken a couple of swats at them. I think that it took about a week for Sissy and Xena to stop hissing/swatting at each other.

I watched The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians for the first time in nearly 20 years last night. Wow. I looked up the series’ information on IMDb. I didn’t realize that former Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson provided the voice for Cyborg. (Yes, there was an animated Cyborg before Teen Titans.) Also, one of the “User Comments” said that it was one of the best-written incarnations of the “Superfriends” version of the JLA. Some parts of the show were a little dated, but I would have to agree that it was good.

And, while I can’t find corroborating references, I am 97% positive that I saw Andrea Romano‘s name in the credits. Why is that important? She was the voice director for Batman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Superman: TAS and Justice League.

G.I. Joe came on after Super Powers Team. The episode that aired had the team being watched/harassed by investigational reporter Hector Ramirez from the television program “20 Questions.” (Nice spin on Geraldo Rivera and the 20/20 news program.) He identified the team as America’s specialized anti-terrorism squad. Granted, it was only a cartoon, but what if there was a similar real-world analogue? It would be interesting to see how they would be utilized today.

NPR Stories
Talk of the Nation: Why We Draw
Talk of the Nation: Accordion Players: The U.S. Military Wants You
All Things Considered: Studying the Perils of Crossing Railroads
All Things Considered: Zapper Could Bring End to Car-Chase Era
All Things Considered: The Status Quo of ‘Happily Ever After’

Stray Toasters

• My site/email host is being a piece. I’m not sure what’s wrong – and it’s probably relatively minor – but it’s a bit annoying.
• I think that it’s funny that there were some things that I wanted to do when I got home, but after cooking dinner the motivation to do them seemed to have evaporated.
• Forwarded to me by Nyx: MoveOn.org: United, Not Divided
• By way of Backwash: A Look into the Dark, Depraved World of Breakfast Cereals
• I don’t know what to make of this one: Ore-Ida Funky Fries
• …or this (scroll down)… which led me to Electric Tiki Design.
• It looks as if a Neon Genesis Evangelion live-action movie is in the works.
• The Periodic Table of Funk
• Evil, evil DC Direct. They make bright, shiny things that I covet.
• They even make something that might want.
• And a little something for , too.
• Ouch. (for )
• Happy landings! (for )

It’s almost 2:00 AM and I’m getting the urge to have a snack. Not good. Maybe some corn chips will fit the bill and I’ll get to bed in fairly short order… assuming that Lightning left me a place to sleep.

Namaste.

Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions for the kittens’ names.

had an early front-runner with “Elric” for the white kitten, although , knowing my affinity for Rush, countered nicely with “Syrinx.”

But, the orange kitten was still a challenge. A couple of people said to wait and see what his personality was like before settling on a name – maybe things that he did would suggest a name. The thing that kept bubbling to the surface was his hyperkinesis. He’d bound from place to place, especially on the stairs. He climbed on the couch like he was part spider, but “Spider-Cat” just didn’t seem appropos. I toyed with the name “Ricochet” and Jess seemed to like it.

But we weren’t settled on “Elric” for the white cat. Then ‘s Rush suggestion came back to mind. From there it was a short jump to “Presto.” Jess liked that. One down, one to go. I looked at other titles. Given the orange kitten’s frenetic tendencies, I wanted something fast (No, I didn’t consider “Red Barchetta.”) I came across “Chain Lightning” and figured that it was about as good as it got. A cat named “Chain” would be a little odd, but a cat named “Lightning” we could deal with.

Two cats, same litter.
Two names, same CD.

That worked.

And so, I give you:

and

Sunday
Uber-lazy day. I slept in until 11:00, although I’m not really sure that I can call it “sleeping in” when I didn’t get to bed until a little after 5:00 AM. *shrug* The kittens slept on and around the bed. They seem to like “hiding” in the box spring. But they can be coaxed out fairly easily. Sissy, on the other hand, still seems to be a bit put off by them. Oh, well.

Thanks to those who have participated in the Kittens’ Names poll. So far, my favorite for the white kitten is “Elric,” submitted by . I’m still a bit up in the air about the orange one, though. ( will probably find amusement in the fact that the name “Carabas,” crossed my mind.) A few people have asked about some of his personality traits and said to consider naming him based on that. The thing that comes to mind is how he was playing on the steps last night. He was… hmm… “hyperkinetic” is the only word that really fits. Watching him jump around, I was concerned that he might have been bitten by a radioactive spider. Fortunately, I haven’t noticed any web-spinning.

The day has been good:

• I lazed around the house this morning and early afternoon.
• I finally got the X-Men lithos hung. I still need to determine where the Darkseid cel is going.
• I had lunch with Jess and Mary, followed by short excursions to Lowe’s and Shopko.
• Picked up my “Free Slurpee® Day” Slurpee.
• Talked with my uncle.
• Talked with Dad, Rana (she’s stateside again) and Adam.

I’ll most likely spend some time getting the office situated and I might even see about doing something to the living room and family room. Maybe. Depending on how industrious I’m feeling.

Stray Toasters

• By way of IRC: How to make friends by telephone
• Recipezaar

‘s here. So I’m off to be social.

Pax.

…but I corrected in an edit to the post: Both kittens are male.

And, so armed, feel free to make naming suggestions in the poll in my previous post.

Also, it’s July 11th.
That means it’s: 7/11 Day at your local 7-11 convenience store.
Go get your free Slurpee!

After taking Jess to work, I took a keyboard over to . She wasn’t awake, so I had a nice chat with .

I left there and stopped at ‘s parents’ house. They were having a garage sale. I talked with them for a while. Rich gave me a sink and countertop… which will be used in the bathroom-to-be in the basement.

I came home for a bit and didn’t do much. Jess called a little after that and said that she wanted to leave early. We had made plans with Shelley (from Cheers) to pick up a playmate for Sissy after she got off work, so this was a good thing. I picked her up and we were on our way to Shelley’s. I had no idea that she lived on the outer edges of BFE, but we found the house without any problems.

Shelley and Gary’s cats had a litter of five. We were looking for one that would be a good fit with Sissy. Jess had mentioned wanting a white cat; one of the kittens was mostly white when some orange markings, the others were orange (tabby). We brought home two kittens: The white one and an orange one with white on his paws and stomach.

<edit>
Reason #238437 of “Why not to make a post when you are exhausted”
You forget to include important details.

Both of the kittens are male.
</edit>

We brought them home. Sissy hissed and postured. The kittens seemed pretty nonplussed about the whole thing. We showed them where the litter box and the food were… and they were off.

And so were we.
Bowling (high score: 173) and breakfast were good.

When we got home, the kittens were hiding under the bed until I coaxed them out and Sissy was in another room. We figure that this will go on for a couple of days until they all get used to each other.

NPR Item
All Things Considered: Remembering the Pride of Baltimore

Stray Toasters

• By way of Nyx…
  
  This made me laugh: “I didn’t realize that it was “Gibberish Day” in Crazy Town.”

• “Mormadan”
• People watching at Cheers.

I’m sure that there was more that I wanted to add, but it’s almost 5:00 AM. Whatever it was will wait until after I’ve had some sleep.

Namaste.

Friday
I took shipped some packages for this morning. Here’s today’s friendly tip: Unless it’s a matter of life and death (or the making or breaking of a business), do not ship things “Three Day Select.” Use “Ground” and let the recipient wait the extra day or two. It’s not worth the extra expense.

Work was decent; I managed to be productive.

After work was coffee. There was a good turnout and the conversation(s) were varied and good. I started a drawing and had critique it; it needed a little work. She had me go back over it… upside-down. As one of the architects I worked with used to tell me: “It’s good training. Builds character!” Post-coffee dinner was good, too.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to this earlier. Good reading.
• …and on the other side of the coin, ST:TNG and X-Men actor Patrick Stewart “…has accused Hollywood of featuring ‘extremely irresponsible’ scenes of violence directed towards women.” Read more about it here.
• If you’ve seen Trainspotting, this should be familiar. Here is a take on it… with a Star Wars spin.
• A BIG “Thank you” to for repairing my Gambit statue!
• : Go to the concert.
  (This public service announcement was brought to you by the letter “R” and the numbers “3” and “0”)

• Fish don’t fry in the kitchen;
  Beans don’t burn on the grill.
  Took a whole lot of tryin’,
  Just to get up that hill.
  Now we’re up in the big leagues,
  Getting’ our turn at bat.
  As long as we live, it’s you and me, baby
  There ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

• “Target has taken a large bite!”
• As much as I enjoyed the McG eye candy pieces that were Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, I was glad to see that X-Men helmer Brian Singer might be in the running for the director of the burgeoning Superman movie project.

Quote of the Day
Our dinner conversation took a tangent (not to be confused with an arctangent or a cosine) towards the civil rights movement. I was making a point and used Rosa Parks as an example. looked thoughtful for a minute and then rejoined the conversation with:

So.. when she’s getting into a car, does Rosa Parks have to call “Shotgun,” or is it just automatically assumed that she gets it?

didn’t quite know how to respond. In fact, she seemed a bit worried about how I would react. It made me laugh. A lot. That seemed to ease her mind.

And with that…

Namaste.

Thursday
I think that yesterday’s moving activities may have caught up with me. I am tired. Really tired. A level of tired that I don’t achieve very often.

The day was good. And it ended in the company of , and . Not a bad way to end the day.

NPR and Other Stories
I had forgotten that I had wanted to listen to Talk of the Nation yesterday – Lynn Neary did an interview with Bill Cosby about the furor that has arisen over his criticism of African-Americans’ language, decorum and parenting skills. Fortunately, they record the shows; thus, I was able to listen to it this afternoon.

Talk of the Nation: Internet Porn and Kids
Talk of the Nation: Summer Camp Stories
Talk of the Nation: NEA Study: Adults Are Reading Less
All Things Considered: Tres Chic Tres Chicas
All Things Considered: Summer Reading Picks for Kids

Stray Toasters

• For reasons that I have yet to figure out, Mozilla Mail decided that it would be amusing to download all of my email except for the ones that go to my primary account. At first, I thought that it was just a little odd. Then I decided to do some checking. There were over 75 emails waiting to be downloaded from the server. *braincramp* Fortunately, that little episode is over and all email is downloading properly.
• I got Pegasus on IRC this evening; geek mode has officially gone into overdrive.
• : You may get a kick out of this.
• From Slate (by way of Slashdot): The Man Who Knew Too Much.
  He’s Salt Lake City’s newest citizen in the spotlight. He’s been on a 26-game winning streak on Jeopardy!. Each show is thirty minutes long, so I’m not sure how his “fifteen minutes of fame” averages out.

• Slashdot Poll: Favorite Sesame Street Character
  For me, it’s a toss-up between The Count and Cookie Monster. But I think that Cookie Monster has the edge.

• : I think that you’ll appreciate the absurdity of this.
• Best use of a Land Shark joke in a webcomic:
• I just finished watching some of the movies of Jumping Spider courtship that posted earlier. I can’t decide if they are doing Goth-fu or breakdancing.
• New Justice League and Superman: TAS DVDs out on 19 Oct 04. That’s just one week before my birthday, if anyone needs ideas for a suitable present.
• : I’ll swing by with the keyboards; I think that we can find something to fit the bill.
• Presidential candidate John Kerry is being cited… in a Catholic heresy case?
• Artbabe – The art and comics of Jessica Abel.

Time to call it a night before I nod off and wake up with keyboard imprints in my forehead.

Namaste.

Wednesday
I spent the better part of the day with loading a good portion of her earthly belongings into a U-Haul truck, unloading them and then loading them into an ABF cargo truck. We went from a ten-foot truck (packed pretty tightly) to five linear feet (floor to ceiling, packed very tightly) in the semi. Five. Linear. Feet. All those years of playing Tetris finally paid off! We were hot, sweaty and very grimy/dirty after it was done, but it’s packed and will be on its way soon.

: One of the bulkheads that they brought actually said “BAD” on it. When we asked about it, the guy looked at it, shook his head and said: “Why would they put that in with the good ones? *sigh*” He went back to the depot and brought us another one. Not only that, he set it up for us. How cool is that?!

Coming home, a car that pulled into the circle just ahead of us. Then it pulled into our driveway. Just ahead of us. It was a couple of gentlemen (in their… 40s or 50s) from the local wardhouse. *sigh* Not something that I needed/wanted when the only thing that was on my mind was a cool, refreshing shower. But, I talked with them for a couple of minutes. They were nice; one of them had been on vacation in Maryland not too long ago. A few minutes later, they left and I was shower-bound.

And then, there was coffee with the Wednesday night crew. And it was good.

Stray Toasters

• After moving ‘s stuff today, I think that I’ve gotten my workout for the next couple of days. A full-body, no stone left unturned workout.
• In the afterlife
  You could be headed for the serious strife
  Now you make the scene all day
  But, tomorrow there’ll be Hell to pay

• That wasn’t a vampire.
  

• Mmm. SportsCenter
• James Doohan, best known as Scotty from ST:TOS, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
• Saturn’s use of Pac-Man in the new commercials for the Vue is innovative and amusing.
• I just saw the short trailer for the live-action Thunderbirds; I went to the official site to see the long trailer. The movie is a new spin on the old “supermarionation” series. It was directed by ST:TNG‘s Jonathan Frakes. Even though the person who reviewed it on IMDb didn’t seem to like it and even though it might be geared for a younger audience (and maybe some older fans), but It looks interesting. Curiously so. I might just have to check it out.
• FeardotCom is on HBO. *claws out eyes* Here’s why…
• told me about a site called Rom & Me at coffee tonight. Obsession is one thing. This is a couple of steps beyond that. *twitch*

Thought of the Day
I remember when I told my family and friends that I was planning on moving to Utah. There were more than “a few” raised eyebrows. My mother was more than a little worried, but she was supportive. My father encouraged the move, telling me that it was better to do it and see what came of it rather than not take the chance and spend my life wondering “What if…?” My friends had mixed opinions, as well, but they backed me, too.

When I got ready to move, my mother and some of my friends came over and helped me pack and even get things taken to Amtrak (I didn’t have a lot to move and it was inexpensive). On my last night in Greensboro, they helped me pack the car and then we had pizza, sat around the now-empty apartment and talked. It was difficult to say goodbye to people that night. But it was a good time. It’s good to have family and/or friends around for more than just their company. They keep us grounded. Or are there when we need someone to talk (or vent) to. Or to help us when we need it.

Helping this afternoon reminded me of this. She was set to load/unload/load the trucks by herself. There was no way that I was going to let that happen – especially after so many people made themselves available to Jess and me when we moved from the apartment into the house. More than that, it was important to me to help her because she is my friend. She needed help; as her friend, it was the least that I could do to make myself available to provide it. Period. It took the two of us about six hours to get all of the moving done, but it was time well spent. And I was glad to do it.

Blue skies and safe journey, .

And with that, good night.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Warm, sunny day with high clouds.
I got too little sleep last night. I forgot until roughly five minutes before I went to bed (far later than I should have) that Jess had a follow-up appointment this morning. *sigh* And, on top of that, Sissy the Wonder Kitty decided to start making noise again this morning; but she waited until a little after 06:00. Oh, well… no rest for the wicked.

The middle part of the day was decent. I picked up for help with some art products pictures. (I might swing by tomorrow for the gaming pics – I’ll call you or something when I have a more concrete idea of if and/or when.)

The post-work part of the day has been relaxing and peaceful. And lazy. Very lazy. And I’m not complaining about that. At all. Especially since I’m helping load what’s left of her stuff onto a moving truck tomorning.

NPR and Other News
Talk of the Nation: Ethical Wills
All Things Considered: Aspiring to Motherhood: A Single Woman’s Story
All Things Considered: Centenarian’s Foiled Effort at 100-Meter Dash Record
All Things Considered: Rationing Patient Care

USA Today: Oregon teen first woman to win national technical drafting title

Stray Toasters

• I’m still trying to find an economical flight for my mother to come out here this month. I can find flights with no problem. “Economical” ones? Those are a rare and elusive breed. Almost mythical. But, I’m still searching.
• Kobe Bryant is now talking to the Nuggets? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Jerry Buss, the Lakers’ top kick, just bend over backwards to get rid of Phil Jackson and do a couple of other things that Kobe wanted to entice him to stay? Maybe he’s just looking for a shorter commute to the courthouse.
• From Slashdot (and the WAAAY too much time on your hands file): Professor Creates His Own Cisco Manual
• …does whatever a spider can! (except shoot webs out of his butt)
• A ten-disc DVD boxed set of The Matrix trilogy?! For £44.99. By Christmas. Do we really need that much bullet time? Honestly…
• Breast Implant Attack
• I crave tasty iced creams.
  (Good thing that we have some in the freezer!)

• I’m still not used to the fact that Pegasus talks to me. It’s a little disconcerting to be doing something on one of the other computers and hear a voice tell me that something just completed or started or wants to change a setting.
• I finally caught up on my Basil Flint reading.
• On Talk of the Nation, they played a clip of a remix of Outkast’s Hey Ya… with Howard Dean’s now-famous yell in it. Replaying that in my head brought a smile to my face many times this afternoon.

Time to get proactive about that ice cream.

Namaste.

Monday
I went to work for about… an hour and a half. Mainly to check a couple of things that technically could have been saved until tomorrow, but I figured “What the Hell.” No biggie.

was here when I got back. She dropped in on her way home from running. Kate (from Cheers), Perry and Max (her husband and son) came over and spent the afternoon. Perry and I talked about comic books, movies, computers, Justice League, law and law enforcement, BattleMechs and lots more. And, as an added bonus: We had frozen mocha goodness, too.

I finally hooked up the G3 and monitor. I can tell that I’ve been assimilated into the Borg collective Micro$oft mindset. I kept thinking in terms of WIndows when trying to figure out where things were/”should be.” I was trying to set up the TCP/IP settings, but I couldn’t find them. Because they were right in plain sight! *braincramp* A few minutes (and a lot of pings) later, it was online. I haven’t tried using AppleTalk, but it can at least get to the Interweb.

<geek mode>
And, here’s further proof of just how much of a geek I am: My computers are named after ships from Star Trek. I actually went to startrek.com and looked at the entire list of ship names from all of the series to find one for the G3. And find one, I did! (And I was verrrry close to naming it Botany Bay.)
</geek mode>

Stray Toasters

• Perry and I also talked potential Halloween costumes. I mentioned that I am considering going as John Stewart (Green Lantern from Justice League Unlimited). He said that if I did, he’d go as Hal Jordan. I’m in.
• I saw a couple of fireworks this evening. Three.. three.. THREE days of fireworks! *sigh* Only in Utah.
• Jedi Negotiation Tool
• : Not sure if I told you or not, but I will do that drawing.
• Thanks to my little sister, , I can have my cake and eat it, too! Or in this case: My Spider-Man and Lego. Click here.
• A possible sign of the Apocalypse: MSN’s Slate Recommends Firefox over IE
• I want a snack. But, I’m not sure what I want.
• Jessica Simpson may possibly be Dazzler in X3. Hmm…
• Snack = grapes.
• From the DCG: Dawnstar, by Kevin Leung
• Coach K is staying. *whew*

I should put some thought into getting ready for bed.

Namaste.

Sunday
I hope that everyone had a good – and safe – Fourth of July.

I slept until 10:30-ish. Not too bad, considering that I didn’t get to bed until after 4:00 (again). The morning was productive: I finished hooking up the A/V equipment and finally found the power supply for the computer speakers. All that’s left is to set up the printer and hook up the G3.

I also had a nice conversation with . It started with us talking about Fourth of July celebrations and the reason that I get so bent out of shape with how much more hullabaloo Pioneer Day gets as opposed to the Fourth. From there, we touched on my issues with the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here. And then on to Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. Then I asked her about peoples’ opinions of Bowling for Columbine. I’ve heard that Michael Moore has a… knack… for spinning his movies to elicit certain responses. I figured that since she knows some of the kids and their families from Columbine, she would be a good person to ask how well or poorly the movie was received in the Denver area. She was. Her main comments:

[10:41] : I watched that, merely out of curiosity. Lots of misinformation contained in it.
[10:41] : I don’t think he did a very good job on researching the information.
[10:56] : I don’t think that Michael Moore talked to the right people when he “researched” his project.
[10:57] : It makes me somewhat leery of seeing his new movie.

had mentioned a similar problem with his film, Roger & Me. It was something to think about.

The usual suspects and I saw Spider-Man 2 today. (And, according to his co-creator, Stan Lee, the correct way to spell the name is “Spider-Man,” with the hyphen… just for the record.) It was fun. Again, it was a comic book on film. Sam Raimi did a bang-up job with this one. I was happy all-around with it. And, the elevator scene: Classic.

Following the movie, , , and I went to Borders for a bit. I did a bit of drawing/sketching. It’s been too long since I’ve done that. It felt good. We then headed off for a bite to eat.

, , and I then made an impromptu excursion to Park City to see fireworks on the day that they were intended to be seen. *sigh* Life behind the Zion Curtain… (I wonder if festivities for Mormon Christmas Pioneer Day – which will be on a Sunday next year – will be held on Saturday or Sunday?) But I digress. We got to Park City, found convenient parking and headed to the No Name Saloon. 32 ounces of Hefeweisen goodness. Mmm. And on a Sunday, no less! Double the pleasure! We walked down Main Street and found a spot to watch the pyrotechnics – it was a good display. We’re considering skipping the SLC ones next year and just going up for the Park City show. We followed the fireworks with pints of Guiness at J.B. McGuire’s (or something like that). Then we fought traffic – and my wanting-to-be-empty bladder – back to SLC.

Stray Toasters

• Happy Birthday to the July gang:
  • / (Belated! Sorry.)
• From came this.
  Star Wars + Lego = amusement.

• The HCC now has room to move around! Hallelujah! Yes, there are still a lot of boxes to go through, but I can navigate the room without having to do my impression of the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic). I still need to figure out where to hang my lithographs and animation cel. And the rug. *sigh*
• “Ridiculous clothes,” glass frogs and fur jock straps and bikinis.
• : I’m need to pick your brain about printers again. 🙂

Quote of the Day
: new birth control campaign from my roommate this morning “Don’t have kids, they will pee in your bed”

And with that, good night.

Pax.
Namaste.