Random Access

Wednesday: Coda
Today, I was given “The Leash,” as would put it. I’m now in the on-call rotation for servers, one week out of every… six, I think. and I had talked a few months ago about adding me to the rotation at some point, now that I’m working out of the Salt Lake office a few days a week. In the words of Lita Ford, Reel Big Fish and (according to ) Generation X: “It ain’t no big thing.”

After work, I remembered something that Dwim said earlier in the day: “It’s Wednesday…” Now, I knew that it was Wednesday, but I wasn’t following his drift. I made some comment about it being another day closer to Friday. And, as Friday is International Annual Rob Day – not to mention New Black Hotness Day – I was kind of in a one-track mind. Dwim, however, was referring to the fact that:

Wednesday == New Comics Day.

In light of this fact, I headed to Dr. Volt’s to feed the need. I also treated myself to twelve pieces of plastic crack, two singles and two boosters. The singles I picked up were Batman and Dr. Light; in the boosters I got:

• Aztek
• Batman (same as the single that I picked up… go figure)
• Batman (from the Justice Legion A)
• Bouncing Boy (to add to my growing plastic Legion!)
• Bronze Tiger
• Bulleteer (two of them, one in each booster)
• Firestorm
• The Flash and
• Major Disaster

After a stop at the local SuperTarget, I came home to deal with the fact that I was hungry. I decided to make spaghetti; I even made sauce. In an even more rare twist, I made garlic bread from a couple of hot dog buns. It was good, despite burning the little finger on my left hand by being a bit upid-stay.

While eating dinner I watched the last few innings of the World Series – The BoSox opened a six-pack on the Rockies. They set a new World Series Game 1 record also: Largest win margin – 12 runs.

Stray Toasters

• I picked up a box of Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches tonight. I like ice cream sandwiches.
• Zaibatsu
• “Creative counting”
• I am still digging the Across the Universe soundtrack.
• asked what I plan to name the new laptop. I told him that I would probably christen it “Defiant,” like the old laptop, in the same way that the Sao Paulo was renamed/renumbered (fourth paragraph from the bottom) to become the new Defiant.

I should hit the rack.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 24 October 2007
Two down, one in the chamber and one to go.

Last night, I met , , and Pat for dinner at Jitterbug before heading to non-Game Night. I think that I am getting addicted to the Tropical Smoothies there – I had two last night… and could have easily gone for another.

Chris wasn’t running on all cylinders last night, so there was no zombie killin’. *sigh* Oh, well… there’s always next time. Instead, we spent a couple of hours talking comics and related geekery and then played a bit of Justice League Heroes. It was a good way to spend the evening.

I got home and decided to chill on the couch with the October issue of GQ. “The best-laid plans of mice and men,” as the saying goes. I wound up falling asleep while reading the Colin Powell interview. Next stop: 3:30 AM. Right. Bed. Bed good. I slept pretty well. I slept so well that, at one point, I managed to wake up to move (i.e.: “toss off the bed”) a pillow and wound up taking out a cup of water on the nightstand. *grblsnrkx* Way to go, Robzilla.

The day, so far, has been good. We’re having a meeting today, for which we’re being required to dress “business casual” (no jeans). No problem. I even broke out one of my favorite sweaters – It’s similar to this one, but with buttons rather than a zipper.

Stray Toasters

• I had Linus and Lucy, the theme from Peanuts, running through my head a little while ago. I mentioned it to SaraRules. She countered with this article. I volleyed back with this one.
• From KUER’s RadioWest: Mothers Who Know
  

  SALT LAKE CITY, UT (2007-10-22) Earlier this month at the LDS Church’s General Conference, the head of the Relief Society Julie B. Beck praised the power in motherhood. She encouraged women not to postpone having children, and equated nurturing with homemaking. Her words re-ignited a controversy about the role of Mormon women, and within hours, LDS blogs were inundated with responses. Tuesday on RadioWest, Doug talks to LDS women about Beck’s remarks and what those say about women’s position in the LDS Church and culture.

• By way of Wired: When Geeky Goes Bad – Tackiest PC Mods
• Alienware announces Alien Exchange program
• Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime,
  where we’re working in a mine for our robot overlords.
  Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.
• Free Cake.
• The Brothers Brick – LEGO Blog

Namaste.

To borrow a line from Dave Brubeck and/or Al Jarreau, I’m taking five; I’ve had it up to about “here” with TCP/IP for a bit.

Eric wasn’t in the office today and Karl punked out on us, but Jake and I went to pick up and put down heavy things:

• Bench press: 225 pounds / 3 sets, 8 reps each
• Pull-ups: 2 sets of 10 (unassisted); 1 set of five (unassisted) and 6 assisted (90 lbs)
• Rows: 120 lbs /3 sets of 12 reps/rows
• Cable fly: 110 pounds / 1 set, 10 reps; 95 pounds / 2 sets, 10 reps – all sets with a 10-second hold on the tenth rep.
• Curls: 30 lbs (dumbbells) / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Decline dumbbell press: 40 pounds / 3 sets, 15 reps

It was a good – and somewhat tiring – workout.

Stray Toasters

• Did you know that 90% of the total US pumpkin production is within 90 miles of Peoria, IL? I didn’t either.
• By way of : Dr. Frankenstein to Head Medical Group
• I had a fun conversation with about Batgirl and the DCAU the other night, including how the art for the animated Batman series changed when it went from Fox Kids to Kids’ WB.
• Guiding Lines: Women in Comics
• A tip of the hat and a wave of the cane to for pointing out the LEGO Pathfinder Space Ship
• More to Mac sales than a halo
• Smurfs. *heh*
• Also from Gizmodo: Unintentional LEGO Goatse
• Officer Surrenders After Road-Rage Shooting
• The pictures that I hung in the dining room have steam locomotives in them. Somehow, thinking about them lead to the question: Do steam locomotives count as steampunk technology, even if only in the broadest sense?
• Glamguns.com – featuring Hello Kitty AK47, Care Bear Body Armor and the My Little Pony M4A1 Carbine
• I’m craving sushi.
• Blog of comic panels depicting groin punches

Okay. That was a good breather. Back to it.

Tuesday – 23 October 2007
Post work, I had dinner with SaraRules before she made her southward trek. After tossing a few names out for possible eating establishments, we decided on Macaroni Grill. Good choice. We started with Calamari Fritti. For entrees, I went for the Chicken Marsala; she had a “Create Your Own Pasta” dish. Dessert was an incredibly rich – and incredibly tasty – piece of cheesecake with chocolate and caramel fudge sauces.

After Sara left, I puttered around the apartment a bit before deciding to take a stab at hanging two more railroad pictures. I had originally wanted to put them on the north wall of the dining room, but that would have left the west wall rather bare. Instead, I put the new pictures on the west wall, mirroring the orientation of the other pictures. The overall effect looks pretty good. To accent/offset the starkness of black-and-white pictures in a black frame with (barely) off-white mattes, I put one car of my HO-Scale train “collection” (yeah, I’d hardly call four pieces a “collection,” but it fits…) on each frame.

I logged into CoH to see if anyone was on. No luck. I did note, however, that the 2007 Hallowe’en Event has started. So, I did a few transactions at the auction house and logged out.

Not terribly long after that, I decided to call it a night.

This morning, the alarm went off. I reached over… and decided that I wasn’t quite ready to be awake. The “Snooze” button, which I rarely use, was a good friend.

Nine minutes later, the alarm sounded again. This time, I took more definitive action: I turned the damned thing off. I laid in bed, debating the pros and cons of getting up. The cons won.

When I awoke again, a decent amount of time later, I was ready to take on the day.

I think today’s outfit is going to be a little business casual upscale…

• Jeans
• Turtleneck (white)
• Black sportsjacket
• Black shoes

…just because I can.
Next move: Attack the day, like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Monday – 22 October 2007
Another week begins. So far, it’s been good (despite a road monkey on the AF commute)… and it’s a short work week, so I’m not about to complain.

Saturday night, I finished watching Renaissance. It was good. I liked the feel and style of the movie. And I was pleased with the way it wound up; I was a little surprised by part of the ending, but in thinking about it – it made sense. I give the movie a thumbs-up with an okay.

Then, it was off to breakfast with the usual suspects… plus one: put in an appearance.

Sunday, SaraRules and I went to Temple Square to see Music and the Spoken Word – she plays cello, as does my coworker who performs with the Orchestra at Temple Square, so I figured it would be a “best of both worlds” kind of thing. So… off to the Conference Center we went. There were tons of people – far more than usual – also heading to the Conference Center. Odd, but I figured “Whatever…” When we got inside, they were handing out tickets for “Multi-Stake Conference.”

*blink blink*
Okay… definitely not what we’d gone for.

We decided to beat feet and make our way out. The problem: All of the primary entrances were being used for just that: Entrances. (After all, who would possibly want to leave when you could get a little bit o’ Jesus in your day?) So, we found an elevator bay that led to the parking garage and went out that way. Then we made our way against the tide of humanity back to the car. Along the way, we found a crosswalk that had a stone benches in the middle of the street. In case you got tired halfway across? *shrug* Who knows?

All gussied up and with no particular place to go, we realized that we were hungry. I checked the time and figured that Ruth’s Diner was going to be filling up with patrons. So, rather than sit and wait, I pointed the car to I-80 East. Park City. Cisero’s. Brunch. The food was good, as usual. And the drive, there and back, was nice.

Back to Salt Lake and on to the Capitol Theatre to see The Flying Dutchman. I enjoyed production. I was even able to restrain myself from making untoward comments to the lady who sat behind me and kept kicking the back of my seat throughout the performance. I was rather proud of myself.

From there, we headed to Sara’s parents for dinner and football. We watched the Broncos whale the tar out of the Steelers. I’m not really a Denver fan, but any team that plays the Steelers is my “favorite team” in that match-up.

Football Update

• The Ravens dropped a game to the Bills. Bah. *shakes fist*
• The Raiders lost to Kansas City.
• The Bengals beat the Jets.
• The Browns had a bye week.
• The Vikings got branded by the Cowboys.
• The Eagles lost to da Bears.

The Best: Come Together – Round 2
I put The Beatles up against Aerosmith in this match-up.

I picked up a copy of Across the Universe: Music from the Motion Picture a few days ago. I’m sorry, but Joe Cocker, singing an arrangement by Elliot Goldenthal, kicks the bejeezus out of both versions. Don’t believe it? Listen to it (unfortunately, it’s audio only – which is a shame, because the video portion of this kicks much grass) and tell me what you think.

Stray Toasters

• I had a cinnamon roll from the Garden of Sweden for breakfast, along with a large dose of frozen mocha goodness.
• Secret Agent, Salmon and 22 Seconds
• Plantation Dig Reveals Maryland Town’s Painful Past
• I am Ivory Soap sure that I will own new black hotness within the next few days.
• More US Warcraft Players than Farmers
• Salt Lake Gas Prices
• SaraRules, please show this to DJ Viking:

  

  Of course, I could have asked or (or a few others) to show it to him, too… Hm. Maybe I should make it a race: See who can get it to him first. Or, possibly even how many people can forward it to him. That would be amusing.

• By way of boingboing.net: Steampunk Shrew
• Luciana Souza: Revising Pop by Way of Bossa Nova
• 
• Anagram (for Mongo) from Mr. Shortz

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Saturday – 20 October 2007
It’s been a good day, so far:

• SaraRules and I met , theimaginarygirl, Tyranist and Rish to see 30 Days of Night.

  

  According to tig and Tyranist, who have both read the graphic novel, the movie was a good adaptation. It was a good movie and I give it a thumbs-up with an okay.

• Stopped by to say “Hi” to Kate and Perry.
• I came home to find a package from my father – my birthday package. It was chock full of Butterscotch Krimpets. Three boxes of ’em. Mm-hmm, that’s right. Three. And, there were other things in the box too, but none of them were Krimpets – although that’s not to say that they weren’t equally cool.

Yesterday, I did made it not only to the Garden of Sweden, but also to Costco. Yeah, I joined the masses and bought a membership. On a whim, I stopped at the one near 21st South… and ran into one of the technicians from the REC. As he walked down the aisle, we looked at each other with that “I… think I know you…” expression. Recognition seemed to kick in for both of us about the same time. It was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Last night’s Clitorati was also good. Pretty decent turn-out. The conversations were… lively and varied, as usual.

Four-Color Coverage

• Action Comics #855 and #856 – Richard Donner and Geoff Johns give us a new look at Bizarro and how Htrae and its Bizarro inhabitants came to be. But, what does all of it have to do with Jonathan Kent? Best image: Bizarro JLA, including a Bizarro Batman… with a smiley-face on his chest.
• Countdown: Issues 30, 29 and 28 -The New Challengers continue their journey through the multiverse. Jimmy Olsen catches up with the Newsboy Legion… or is it the other way around? The further adventures of Mary Marvel, magically-powered spoiled brat-at-large continue. Karate Kid breaks one off. Monarch puts in an appearance.
• Elephantmen #11 – This issue was a look at the lives of two men. Two men who saw opportunities… and worked to fill what they saw as voids. The issue was written in an overlapping manner, so that common threads in the mens’ stories lead to “crossover” points between their tales. Once again, this was a solid issue in a book that continues to impress me.
• Green Lantern Corps #16 and Green Lantern #24 – The Sinestro Corps War continues. The tide seems to turn a bit when GLs are allowed to use lethal force against the Sinestro Corps. A powerless Hal Jordan takes on Kyle-Parallax. John Stewart snaps off a little somethin’ for Parallax, too.



And Kyle gets a (or “yet another”) a new costume and job description.

• Justice League of America #14 – The JLA vs. The Injustice League, Round 2: Superman and Black Lightning versus… well, just about everyone. And we actually see a subtle, yet still-twisted, side of The Joker’s humor:
  

  Lex Luthor (hologram): Your friends need help. Come and get them.
  Superman: Where are you?
  Luthor: You’re Superman — find me.
  *hologram blinks out*
  Black Lightning: Dammit. I was tracking the resonance of his broadcast frequency, but it’s too subtle–
  Superman: It’s already gone. I was trying to do the same thing. But he did leave us something to work from. His holgraphic projector. *picks up the projector*
  Black Lightning: Superman, WAIT!
  *projector explodes in Superman’s face, splattering him with green paint*
  Superman: AHHHH!
  Black Lightning: Superman…?
  Superman: Get it… OFF me…!
  *cut to Luthor and Joker, watching a video feed*
  Luthor: Kryptonite paint?
  Joker: Who knows? We might get lucky.
  Luthor: Unlikely.
  Joker: True. But you did say you wanted him mad. And in the irritating department, a face full of Kryptonite has to rank right up there with a cavity search from airport security. Not that a rousing cavity search between loved ones can’t be a good time…
  Luthor: Too much information, Joker.

• The New Avengers #35 – The Hood, apparently taking a page from Lex Luthor’s journals, is gathering villains in the Marvel Universe and bringing them together as a… coalition? …society? …league? All of this while Venom symbiotes seem to be taking over New York City.
• Superman #666, 667 and 668 – The first two issues deal with Superman continuing his quest for Arion. And, being Superman, he does manage to find him. Duh. Issue #668 is a “Superman and son” issue: Chris Kent, bored with having to hide his powers, decides to play hooky. The problem with that is that when your foster father is Superman, there aren’t a lot of places that you can hide. Solution: Introduce the kid to Batman and Robin… and while Chris and Robin are getting acquainted, have Batman rig up a miniature red sun projector to help keep Junior’s powers under wraps. He’s the Batman. It’s what he does.
• Superman/Batman #40 – Superman, brainwashed by Darkseid. Batman, beaten to a near-pulp by Superman. Bekka, wife of New God Orion, to the rescue.
• Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman #1 – We learn exactly why it is that Hank Henshaw despises Superman and why he has spent the past few years trying to destroy him. We also learn what it is that he hopes to achieve through siding with the Sinestro Corps.
• Uncanny X-Men #490 and #491 – The X-Men vs. Masque’s band of Morlocks. And, much to their chagrin, Masque discovers why it’s not a good idea to entrap a claustrophobe. Especially one who commands the weather. And especially why you shouldn’t do it while you’re standing in fairly short visual range.
  

  Storm (in a coffin-sized box): Where are we, Masque?
  Masque: ’bout an hour away from yer funerals. But that’s okay… they’ll be prayin’ up there by then, anyway.
  Storm: No… it’s early morning.
  Masque: Yep. Sunday mornin’. An’ the tunnels above us, right below that fancy old cathedral, are loaded with explosives… ready ta blow at my say-so. An’ when the cops find all yer X-Men corpses at the site of the bomb… there’s gonna be no turnin’ back.
  Caliban: Masque cannot mean that! Masque is not evil!
  Masque: Yeah, well maybe evil’s just a point’a view…
  Storm: No, it isn’t. Killing innocents is evil… no matter where you look at it from. *eyes glowing*
  CAPTION: Even from below ground, she can feel the wind and the thunder. The lightning. She calls it to her. And it listens. Like it always has.
  Masque: What?!
  *lightning shatters the chains binding Warpath and Hepzibah*
  *Storm’s coffin explodes*
  Masque: NOOO! What’d you do?!
  Storm: I may not like confined spaces, but it’s been a long time since a wooden box could hold me… so all you’ve done is make me mad.

  

  Masque: Damn you! This ain’t how it happens! *clutching the book of Prophecy*
  Storm: I suppose we’ll see.

  And who’s that certain silver-haired gentleman meeting a former New Mutant in a late night cemetary meeting?

Stray Toasters
None tonight… mayhaps tomorrow.

Namaste.

Friday – 19 October 2007
And so the week winds down.

Last night, I had dinner with lj user=”khayla”. Sushi. Tsunami. But, they were out of Ika. (KHAAAAAAAAN!) Oh, well, another time, perhaps. After that, I went to visit Kate and Perry. Then, a couple of errands and then home to try and make a little sense of the chaos before Ms. SaraRules got in.

This morning, I turned off the alarm… and turned off consciousness for an extra hour and some change. As I drifted in and out of sleep for the next little while, I phased in and out of The Dreaming. During my last excursion, I dreamed that I was playing basketball – I don’t remember with whom, though. Whomever the other guard was, we were approaching the half-court line when he lost control of the ball. I dove and stretched out for the ball…

…instead, I wound up nearly knocking my lamp off the nightstand. Fortunately, I found, I didn’t dive off the bed.

That was my cue to actually get out of bed and start the day.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with Kris for a bit yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise.
• I enjoy Instructables. I’ve found many interesting and fun things on there. However, I think that this item has to be one of the most creative articles on there.
• Whatis.com Word of the Day: Unconference
• I Got Six
• Hmm… I found a non-Rockapella version of Zombie Jamboree on YouTube, done by The Kingston Trio.
• Zombie wedding cake topper
• SaraRules and I are making a sojourn to the Garden of Sweden this afternoon.  *genuflect*
• Darth Vader Rules Hot-Air Balloon Event
• “Did I say ‘overlords?’  I meant ‘protectors.'”
• God’s Mechanics: Vatican astronomer reconciles religion and science
• Prophet 60091…

Namaste.

Thursday – 18 October 2007
I know that I’ve used the line “Waking up and getting up has never been easy,” from Elastica’s Waking Up, many times before, but it was especially apt this morning. I really couldn’t muster the get-up-and-go to… um… get up and go. So, I slept in a bit. And even then, it was still a bit of a struggle. But I managed to do it.

So far, the work day has been good and rather uneventful. And, on the short commute side: I came in to the north office to finish up an item. I got an email from a couple of the AF guys that they weren’t going to make it to the gym today, so I decided to skip today’s drive to Happy Valley.

…and, thus, no workout today.

Stray Toasters

• I picked up Renaissance and Reservoir Dogs yesterday. I started watching Renaissance last night; I would have finished it… had I not been so tired and fallen asleep. Of the… 2/3 that I saw, I like the movie; I’ll probably finish it off tonight.
• “Anything else is frosting.”
• Never mind the b******t, swearing at work is a good thing
• , , … and others might enjoy this: 28 Ways to Interpret a Photo
• 
• Bush Quips He Might Stay in Power (Threat Level Plays Along) on Threat Level
• 8 minus.
• Excellent liquor store name of the day
• Hang Fire Books
• This, in and of itself, is kind of cool. I was talking with SaraRules (with a nod to for that) about possible uses for it. The best thing that I came up with: Drawing a chalk summoning circle outside the front door, with the skeleton partially in/partially out of the circle – as if the spell failed. I wonder how damaging that would be to the fragile psyches of the neighborhood kids…
• Look Like Your Enemy: Create signs that confuse, astound and parody! (Have I mentioned that I [heart] Instructables?)

Namaste.

Wednesday – 17 October 2007
Midweek. Grey. Rainy.

Last night was D&D game night. We… kind of, sort of accomplished some things. In the grand scheme of things. We managed to uncover at least one new mystery. (We would have gotten away with it, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids and your dog!) And, in the words of Jerry Reed, “We got a long way to go, and a short time to get there.” So, we’ll see how things progress.

I wasn’t in the mood to make a trip to Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, so I opted for a hot – and relaxing – bath, with a glass of Pinot Noir and Black Seas of Infinity. It was a good way to end the day.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, for the first time since God was a boy, I had breakfast from McDinkle’s: an Egg McMuffin. It wasn’t hellish.
• Marvel unveiled the new look of the new Captain America. Wizard also had a couple of items about it: 1, 2.
• 
• pointed me in the direction of this: Georgia Russel’s Book Sculptures.
• I have found a new – and horrible – new toy/distraction: IKEA Room Planner.
• Time Bandits map replication
• Sex, Nazi, Burrito and Viagra: Who Googles What?
• I found a community called Mock the Stupid, by way of . Holy monkeys on parade, Batman!
• 10 Wacky Wii Accessories
• “i think i just threw up my appendix”

Wheeeee!

Namaste.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s workout was good. I did another 300 pound 1-rep. It was a little wobbly in the middle, but it came down and went back up. That’s what counts. The rest of the workout proceeded apace:
  • Bench press: 225 lbs / 3 sets of 8 reps (which was more like 8, 8, 4-3-1)
  • Pull-ups: 2 sets unassisted; 1 set of 5, unassisted and 6 assisted (90 lbs)
  • Machine Row: 90 lbs / 3 sets of 10 reps
  • Machine Fly: 120 lbs / 3 sets of 10, with a 10-second hold at the top of the 10th rep
  • Decline Dumbbell Press: 50 lbs / 3 sets of 10 reps
  • Tricep Press and Rope Extensions: 100 lbs / 2 sets of 10 reps (rope) and 1 set of 15 reps (bar)
• This past weekend, I discovered a side effect of working out: I took a couple of sportscoats with me to wear to the plays that we were attending. One was… snug… around the arms. The other was just plain too tight. *sigh* And I like both of those jackets. One should be fairly easy to replace; the other… no idea.
• I haven’t posted a link to this in a while: Echo-X – The Artwork of Echo Chernik
• Hush, hush
  Keep it down now
  Voices carry
• Helloooooo, Caps Lock.
• Tonight, God willing and the creek don’t rise, is Game Night.
• Debbie Harry in The New York Times
• 56
• “Math is hard. Let’s go shopping!”

.eof

Tuesday: 16 October 2007
The Monday work day ended without any monkey-rifficness. I like days like that.

I came home, after a brief stop at the store to pick up a few things. And I did a whoooole lot of nothing. And I liked it. In fact, about the most productive thing that I’ve done is hang a picture in the dining room. And processed the pictures from Saturday’s bowling excursion, including the ones that Darillyn took.

Then I realized something: I had no idea of what I want for dinner.

Papa Johns to the rescue. Amen. Although, online ordering will be my downfall, I fear. It just makes it too easy. Too, too easy. Point. Click. Wait. Eat. Not only that, it even remembers the last couple of things that you ordered. Hello, Seven Deadly Sins…? Yes, I’d like to call-in an order of Sloth, please. Thank you. Can I get that with a side order of Gluttony? Wonderful. Thanks.

Sleep brought odd dreams. Not “bad,” but they definitely scored at least an 8.3 on the weired-shit-o-meter. I woke up from one of them thinking “Nah… I couldn’t have dreamed that. Not even my head is that screwed up.” But, apparently it is. How bizarre was the dream? It had my dad, two sibs, three coworkers, Ludacris and a couple of Harry Potter characters in it. And that’s just the faces that I remember.

This morning started off with a pleasant surprise: An email from my Godmother. The email was a response to a “Reply-All” that I sent in response to one of my mother’s emails, but I definitely wasn’t expecting this. I haven’t heard from her in a while (and I allowed her to slip off my radar), so this was a wonderful way to start the morning.

Stray Toasters

• I talked with Adam last night. He originally called to complain about what he thought was the ending of HALO 3. We wound up talking about a few other things, too. He also wished me an early “Happy Birthday,” as he might not be able to call me on my birthday.
• “Fires burn not so brightly nor as hot. Nor as long.”
• The Grief That Made Peanuts Good
• 
• pinged me; we did some abbreviated catching-up.
• Mind gyms for cognitive fitness
  …which makes me think of:
  Siam’s gonna be the witness
  To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
• Timbuk2 – Build your own.
• 
• By now, the odds are better than even that you’ve seen at least a few pictures of the LEGO® Church. The odds are less likely that you knew (many of) the details about it or its creator/artist. You can read about them here. (And I also like how most people assume that since it’s a LEGO creation, the artist has to be a man. *buzzer* Oh, sorry… wrong answer. Thank you for playing. Here’s some Rice-A-Roni.)
• Has the Gospel according to Goosie returned?!
• 

Hi-ho, hi-ho and all that.

Namaste.

Monday – 15 October 2007
And so, another week begins.

Last night, I tried making the jamabalaya recipe that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. , it’s pretty good; I don’t remember whether I sent you the recipe, so let me know if you’re interested in trying it. Sara and I watched the Seattle SeaChickens take on the N’Awleen’s Saints. When it was all said and done, the Saints went marching in with a win. Post-football, we watched Shadow of the Vampire, a movie that I’ve owned for at least two years, but never got around to watching. That’s a pity, because it was good. It also made me want to see Nosferatu.

The extended commute wasn’t bad. The presence of Utah Highway Patrol’s finest was minimal, but noticeable. And, there weren’t too many monkeys on the road… until I got to Utah County again, go figure.

And… Happy Hatching Day to …

…and also to

The Best: Kiss Me Deadly
Lita Ford vs. Reel Big Fish

Friday, on the way to Cedar City, the Reel Big Fish version of the song made its way into the musical rotation.
On this morning’s commute, the Lita Ford version of the song played.

I like both versions, but the harder-edged, 80s rock sound of Lita Ford wins.

Stray Toasters

• I have jamabalaya leftovers for lunch. And you don’t.
• By way of : Lexi goes “mountain climbing.” Xena used to do this. NOT comfortable.
• 30 Days of Night. Saturday.
• By way of : The Phobia List
• Nyx also had a few helpful suggestions for a potential Hallowe’en costume.
• “Because you are dangerous, you must not enter.”
• Willpower versus gravity.
• Tyranist: What know you of Babylon Fields?
• Which laws don’t we enforce and why?
• I’m contemplating (key word: “contemplating”) the acquisition of some new technical hotness. But, I’m a little unsure of which flavor I want.
• The Life and Death of Jesse James: An Internet Love Story

/lunch

TCP/IP. Whoop-de-damn-doo.

Namaste.

Sunday – 14 October 2007
A lazy Sunday in Cedar City. The day started off slowly – i.e.: sleeping in. After consciousness and coffee (which some might say is a bit redundant) were attained, Sara and I had brunch with and , who were on their way to Las Vegas. It was a fun outing. When they got back on the road, Sara and I stopped in a store where one of her roommates works.

The weekend, thus far, has also been good.

I was a little later getting on the road than I had planned. Work, picking up the car and… traffic. I had hoped to avoid the usual mire of late-afternoon traffic on I-15, which I should have, by all rights. But, there was an accident between the 72nd South and 90th South interchanges that had traffic down to a crawl. Zaz! There was also the usual assortment of road monkeys to be found along the way to Utah County, although traffic was significantly better once I got to the south end of Utah County. As I was coming up to Nephi, a little blue car with Texas plates walked me down and tore past me. With the utmost quickness. I passed that car about three miles south of Nephi. The driver had made a new friend: A Utah Highway Patrol trooper.

Friday evening, I rolled into Cedar… had a VERY quick dinner… and then Sara and I saw a production of The Tempest. I had neither seen a performance of nor read the play before this. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Back to Sara’s to hang out with the roommates for a bit before crashing.

Saturday started with breakfast and cartoons… the way any good Saturday should start. The early afternoon saw us back at the theatre to see Art, a three-man play. An interesting note about this play: All three of the actors were in the previous night’s performance of The Tempest. It was quite interesting to see them in such different roles. Back to the apartment to hang out with the girls and figure out what to do with the evening. Our decision: Bowling! Sara, Darillyn, Steph and I headed to the local bowling alley and had at it. It was fun. Very fun. And, considering that I haven’t bowled in months, I did pretty well: 118, 160, 150. After bowling, I played Apples to Apples for the first time. Interesting and entertaining. I might have to pick up a copy for home.

Football Update
Quick hits:

• The Ravens whooped up on the Rams. As it should be.
• The Raiders are (at this point) nine minutes away from dropping one to the Chargers.
• The Panthers are down by one to the Cards, with twelve minutes left to play.
• The Eagles beat up on the Jets. ‘Grats, .
• The Browns 2.0 roughed up my not-so-beloved-as-they-used-to-be Dolphins. Nice one, , but you can stop beating up on my teams now. Really.
• The Vikings took one away from da Bears. Congrats, .
• The Bengals lost to the Chiefs, in Arrowhead. Sorry, .

Stray Toasters

• I have a couple of bags of cotton candy that shall go towards tonight’s watching-a-movie snackage.
• Sparky. Sunshine. Glitter. Moonbeam.
• 
• There were at least two ‘Toasters that I was going to include here… but I can’t for the life of me remember what they were.

Sara’s done with her homework; time to go play in (what’s left of) the sunshine.

Up out.

Namaste.

Friday – 12 October 2007
And… another week draws to a close.

Another night of not-so-great sleep.  I’m not really sure “why,” I didn’t have anything caffeine-laden before bed.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I kept waking up with the feeling that I was going to be late for something.  *shrug*

The work day has been good – a nice mix of reading and server admin work to move the day along nicely.  And it’s been monkey-free and that’s always a good thing on a Friday.

We (the IT team) had lunch at Pawit’s.  Mmm, Thai.  It didnt dawn on my that it was the same Pawit who used to be at Thai Garden until I walked in the door and saw him standing there.  As usual, the food was quite good.

Stray Toasters
There was something that I wanted to put here… but I can’t remember what it was.

And that’s that.

Time to finish a few things, get out of here and get on the road.

See you on the other side of Sunday.

Namaste.

Just back from the gym. Today’s workout was easily as good as Tuesday’s. I managed to pull off two reps of 300 pounds today. The reps were spaced out: I tried one, to prove that Tuesday wasn’t a fluke, waited for Eric to try one, then did another. The second one was a little slow, but I moved it. And, I increased my standard bench weight to 225 pounds.

• Bench press: 225 pounds / 3 sets of 8 reps
• Wide-grip bench press: 135 pounds / 3 sets of 10 reps
• Decline dumbbell press: 40 pounds / 2 sets of 10 reps; 45 pounds / 1 set of 15 reps
• Dumbbell pull-overs: 40 pounds / 3 sets of 10 reps
• Side bends: 35 pounds /3 sets of 15 reps
• Crossover dumbbell curls: 20 pounds / 3 sets of 10
• Pull-ups: 10

Other than that, the work day has been good.

The day, in general, has been good.

And tomorrow is Friday. Amen.

Stray Toasters

• and I were talking about some of the traffic on his site and I decided to take a look at the traffic on mine. I checked out the monthly stats… and the daily stats… and who’s been looking at the site… and the Top 10 Search Keyphrases and Keywords.

  And that’s where I stopped.

  Because I was laughing so hard.
  Number one search keyphrase: KKK

  *FLOOR* The overall exchange went a little something like this:

  [10:54] : Okay… want to see something odd?
  [10:59] : sure, shoot
  [11:15] : [URL]
  [11:15] : Bottom of the page
  [11:15] : “Search Keyphrases”
  [11:15] : Look at the #1
  [11:20] : HA!
  [11:20] : Yeah.
  [11:20] : 🙂
  [11:20] : something in your closet we should know about?
  [11:20] : These are not the hood and robes you are looking for….
  [11:20] : i love irony
  [11:21] : “this don’t look like no grand wizard”
  [11:22] : Wow.
  [11:22] : Horrible crossover thought.
  [11:22] : and that is?
  [11:23] : I’ve had random songs from The Wiz going through my head. (Listened to the Broadway recording many times as a child… and recently bought it on CD for myself)
  [11:23] : There’s a song called So You Wanted to See The Wizard
  [11:24] : HA
  [11:24] : …which just got reparsed in my head as: So You Wanted to See the Grand Wizard
  [11:24] : that should be your song o’ the day

• NBN Thursday’s Theme Song: Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News
• sent me a link to this video. If the melody sounds familiar, but you can’t quite place it, try this.
• Glitter.
• 30 Days of Night. Next week!
• “Shithead granola-eating douche bags” – Jake on the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (1, 2)
• Hawk, from Applegeeks, has started a non-AG drawing journal.
• How it feels to die.
• This comic appropriately sums up my feelings about the 15-mile construction zone near Scipio:

  

  The Council for Better Driving: Utah endorses this comic.

/lunch

Namaste.