Random Access

Wednesday – 09 June 2010
Mid-week is upon us.
That means that it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday, as well.

SaraRules flew out to L.A. last night. For the next five four days, I’m a bachelor. (Hopefully, I won’t destroy the house or turn it into an unrecognizable mess.) After dropping her off, I stopped in to say “Hi” to Perry, Kate and the kids. And, despite being near Hobby Lobby, I refrained from going in. But, I did go to the Lowe’s next door. I figured that I needed paint and (in theory) they had the color I was looking for.

Theory: 1
Practical Application: 0

I couldn’t find the paint card for Swiss Coffee… which apparently meant that I was S.O.L. for getting paint — the paint mixing system could identify the color, but couldn’t “reverse engineer” it without the barcode from the back of the paint card. FAIL. So, I wound up driving to another Lowe’s. I had to hunt for the color card, but they had it. And, a few minutes later, I was on the way out the door with two gallons o’ paint.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4051

Stray Toasters

• The Blackest Night HeroClix Starter Set (FINALLY) gets released today.
• Our new living room set arrived yesterday; it goes quite well with the color we chose for the room.
• Packing tape spiderweb
  • More information about the installation can be found here; click “Enter” and look under “Projects.”
• Sculptures made out of Rolodex cards
• 
• Play honors life of early African-American Latter-Day Saint, courtesy of
• Polish inmates help restore Jewish legacy
• Here’s a little something to get your Wednesday moving…

• Border Agent Shoots, Kills Mexican Boy at Bridge
• Top Gear Season 15 Returns June 27th
• Robert Schumann: A Romantic Hero
• Digitizing the past and present at the Library of Congress

Namaste.

Monday – 07 June 2010
It’s my mother’s birthday.

As my friend, Melody M., noted about it being a Monday: “Here we go…”
Which, in turn, reminded me of Here It Goes Again:

OK Go – Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.

Yesterday afternoon, SaraRules and I headed up to Park City… okay, “Kimball Junction”… to do a little shopping at the outlets. It was a beautiful day, with lots of sun and blue sky. The shopping wasn’t so bad, either. On the way home, we detoured through Emigration Canyon. After some down time at home, we went back to the in-laws’ place for cake presents, as the second part of ‘s pre-birthday:

After we got home for the evening, SaraRules put Doomsday in the 360 and we watched that before calling it a night.

Stray Toasters

• Once again proving that too much free time on my hands is not necessarily a “good” thing, I took this picture because it made me laugh:



• 3 Campaign Ads That Aren’t True; 1 That’s Amazing
• Apollo 12 art caper: Does the moon harbor a tiny museum?
• Thanks to SaraRules for pointing this out: Cake Wrecks author coming to Utah
• Apple and Google square off over smartphone supremacy
• 
• Historic Route 66 bowling alley shuts down
• I just pre-ordered LEGO Universe.
• Adobe acknowledges critical security flaw in software
• 
  Of course, this comic doesn’t help with the indecision I’ve been feeling over starting a new Shadowrun campaign…
• How Times Have Changed, Ex-Playboy Bunnies Say
• Obamas attend Ford’s Theatre gala

Namaste.

Friday – 04 June 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” day.
And I technically¹ have The Leash this week.
Today is also National Doughnut Day; I brought in doughnuts for the team – or those of us who are here – today.

Last night, SaraRules and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s, so I could get this week’s four-color paper crack. It was a light week and, with Green Lantern-like willpower, I avoided “supplementing” my haul with miscellaneous/extraneous goodies. After that, we headed over to the local Cafe Zupas for dinner… where I was treated to a rather pleasant surprise: Vivi (who used to be our favorite waitress-turned-manager at Applebee’s) is that location’s manager. It had been at least…. two years, probably closer to three… since I’d seen her.

After dinner, we headed home and hung out. SaraRules quilted; I started putting things away in my office. She was more successful at being productive than I was, but I made some progress. I took a break from working on the office at 2300 to watch the summer season premiere of Burn Notice. It was a good episode and has set up a potentially interesting arc for this season.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3857 steps

Stray Toasters

• A few songs from The Little Mermaid Soundtrack (it’s one of my favorite “modern” Disney movies… deal with it) have made their way into this morning’s random play. I’ve been remembering how we’d listen to these songs when I worked at the USPS… and – especially in the case of Les Poissons – sing along with them while working.
• Broken Bells – Ghost Inside

• McDonald’s pulls 12 million Shrek glasses
• By way of my friend, Joe: If Google Released SkyNet
• Sephora is opening their first full retail location in Utah this morning at Fashion Place Mall.
• Chumbawamba: Tubthumping

• Most U.S. Catholics say nuns should speak up on public social policy
• Zombie Workout: Get Fit Enough to Fight the Undead
• Commercially Available ATM Skimmers
• I need to find a copy of Brassed Off.
• 
• Good Enough: Celebrating 25 Years of The Goonies
• Annie, are you okay?
  Annie, are you okay?
  Are you okay, Annie…?
  Um… NO.  If you have to ask more than three or four times – let alone over fifty times – it’s a pretty safe bet that, no, Annie is NOT “okay.”
• The Luxury Spot

Namaste.

1 – “Technically,” because we’re trying something different: We’re forwarding the system notifications to our individual cell phones, rather than carrying the on-call phone and our personal phones.

Thursday – 27 May 2010
Good NBN Thursday/Technical Friday to all.

Last night, I had the pleasure of accompanying SaraRules, OnlyAly and Jana to Ballet West’s Innovations performance. Before that, we – along with – had dinner at P.F. Chang’s.  I had the Lemon Scallops, which were quite good. bowed out of seeing the performance, so it was just me and the ladies and the arts. SaraRules and I ran into Melia (USUO’s President and CEO) and Thierry Fischer, Utah Symphony’s Music Director as we entered the theatre. We enjoyed each of the pieces, though we enjoyed some more than others. Among my favorites were:

• Outward – a nice jazz/modern dance inspired piece that I really enjoyed, and
• Descent – a Danse Macabre, including a well-choreographed waltz – that was very nice.

Added bonus: One of the costume designers for Descent was Christopher Larson, who also designed the glass flowers that SaraRules and I had at our wedding – her bouquet and my boutonniere:

After the performance, the four of us went over to Capo for some post-ballet gelato. I had a combination of Peanut Butter Brownie gelato and Heath Bar gelato; they were very good.  (I can see why SaraRules is such a fan of the place.)

All in all, it was a very nice change of pace and a good way to spend the evening.

Chew on This: Food For Thought

Transience and limits are at the core of our nature, and you can consider that a curse or a blessing. Our lives are less than atomic flickers on the scale of the cosmos, but they would be equally infinitesimal if they lasted 10 million times longer, and they would still be infinitely precious to us. You have the chance to enjoy some morsel of the 10¹⁴ years that the sun and stars will last. You should.

John Rennie

Workout
Yesterday’s step total: 4,918 steps.

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday not only saw the acquisition comics, but sushi, as well.
• Once Hopeful, Northern Afghanistan Is Disillusioned
• Meetings!
• What Not to Do if You See Someone Stealing iPhones
• LEGO has a new VIP Program.
• Eggshell art
• 
• From the “No…. really?!” file: Tanning Beds Substantially Raise Skin Cancer Risks
• How One Russian Man Is Building His Own Personal Subway System
• From NPR’s All Songs Considered: Bettye LaVette: Tiny Desk Concert

Namaste.

Thursday – 20 May 2010
This week’s NBN Thursday has kicked off with a mixture of clouds and sun… although the sun seems to be winning out.

Last night, SaraRules and I opted to take the easy way out for dinner and let someone else do the cooking. We settled on Pawit’s Royale Thai. Good call on our parts. The food was very good and quite satisfying. The later evening was spent relaxing — quilting for SaraRules, reading this week’s rather good four-color haul for me.

Workout
Yesterday’s step total: 3189 steps.

Stray Toasters

• I just signed up for a subscription to Model Railroader Magazine.
• Danger, Will Robinson!  Danger! Danger!
• Can Health Care Save Detroit?
• Precious artworks stolen in Paris heist
• 10 Amazing Classic Electronic Toys and Their Modern Equivalents
• 
• By way of and the “Men in Black” file: Ninjas rescue student from muggers
• …and, with that in mind:
• My former classmate, Miranda, pointed out What the Fuck Should I Make for Dinner
• Military robot presentations seen as potential life savers
• 20 Things You Didn’t Know About… Robots, courtesy of Spydr
• 
• Sorry, but I’m just not a fan of John Romita, Jr.’s artwork. I wasn’t a fan during his run on Uncanny X-Men; I’m not a fan of his current work on The Avengers.
• Crews stumble on 2,000-year-old clay coffins in Cyprus
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Wedinator
• …which reminds me: Cake Wrecks

Just have to get through the workday grind and by this time tomorrow, we’ll be on our way to the Right Coast. Selah.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 18 May 2010
Not many of the leaves are brown, but the sky is grey.

Today is my cousin, Ryan’s, birthday:

Last night, SaraRules fixed Sloppy Joes for dinner. Very tasty!  After dinner, we went for a walk around the neighborhood; we covered roughly 1.67 miles in about 40 minutes. While out, we checked out some of our neighbors’ lawns and landscapes for ideas that we might like to employ in our own yard.

Upon returning home, SaraRules put in some time quilting, while I set about wiring a wall plate in the family room for coax and Ethernet. I noticed something just before I started running the wires: The Ethernet cable I was using was the 568a configuration… a variation which I had never made. Once I figured out which of the strands were different, wiring the plate was pretty easy. I apparently did it right, as the 360 found Xbox Live without too much ado. We wrapped up the evening with an episode of Human Target and some ice cream.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
There are many wonderful things to be done, and only you can do them.

Workout
Last night’s walk helped keep up the step total: 6,318 steps.

I’m going to try to get back into the gym next week, after we get back from the Right Coast.  We’ll see how that goes.

Stray Toasters

• Improv Everywhere: Who You Gonna Call?
• Enrico Caruso, and Confessions of an Operaholic
• 
• A couple of items from SaraRules:
  • Downey vs. Rourke: A Tale of Two Comebacks
  • Sir Ian McKellen mistaken for a tramp as he rehearses for new play
• LEGO + science(!) = Stop-motion LEGO documentary about early microbiologists
• Legendary Jazz Pianist Hank Jones Dies at 91
• Periodic Table of Superpowers
• “Recruited.”
  I’ll elaborate on this later.
• Awesome Star Wars Wedding Cake
• Daft Punk: Da Funk (original audio remix):
• Law & Order (TOS) is going off the air.
  At least we still have Law & Order: The Next Generation and Law & Order: Voyager…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Blowgun woman: “I like to hear people say ‘ouch’ “
• After taking on The Covenant and The Flood, UNSC ODSTs and Spartans seem like they can take on just about anything… but are they ready for this?

Namaste.

Tuesday – 11 May 2010
It’s another rainy day in the Valley. And, it’s cold. Okay, maybe not “cold,” but it’s definitely cooler than I would have hoped for in mid-May.

Post-work yesterday, I headed home to see if there had been any sign of activity on Comcast’s part. Nope. I called the local office – again – to attempt to get more clarification. Stephanie, the CSR with whom I spoke, is the first person – in two weeks – to actually inform me of the following:

1. The date they give for line burials is a tentative date. The actual service date could be anywhere from a few days before the date to a week or so after the date.
2. The people who come out to do the digging are not Comcast employees; they are contractors.

I was “a little” stunned by this information… and wished that I had known it a week-and-a-half ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.

I also found something that pretty much sums up how I feel about Comcast and their “service” at this point:

Jules: Oh, man, I will never forgive your ass for this shit. This is some fucked-up repugnant shit.
Vincent: Jules, did you ever hear the philosophy that once a man admits that he’s wrong that he is immediately forgiven for all wrongdoings? Have you ever heard that?
Jules: Get the fuck out my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit never had to pick up itty-bitty pieces of skull on account of your dumb ass.
Vincent: I got a threshold, Jules. I got a threshold for the abuse that I will take. Now, right now, I’m a fuckin’ race car, right, and you got me the red. And I’m just sayin’, I’m just sayin’ that it’s fuckin’ dangerous to have a race car in the fuckin’ red. That’s all. I could blow.
Jules: Oh! Oh! You ready to blow?
Vincent: Yeah, I’m ready to blow.
Jules: Well, I’m a mushroom-cloud-layin’ motherfucker, motherfucker! Every time my fingers touch brain, I’m Superfly T.N.T., I’m the Guns of the Navarone! IN FACT, WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOIN’ IN THE BACK? YOU’RE THE MOTHERFUCKER WHO SHOULD BE ON BRAIN DETAIL!

Yep. That’s it, in a nutshell.

After the Comcast conversation, I headed down to visit Kate, Perry and the kids. They were doing well. Then, Perry, his oldest son and I snuck off to the new Hobby Lobby. Their model railroading section wasn’t as robust as the South Jordan store – which isn’t too beefy itself – but I think they just need a little time to get all their ducks in a row.

The rest of the evening was rather laid-back and uneventful.

Stray Toasters

• Top 10 Motivation Boosters and Procrastination Killers
• I have two new icons

• and

• The Most Erotic Rendition of the Spider-Man Theme Ever Performed
• Students dive into mystery of Civil War submarine Hunley
• Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi
• 
• Funny history of programming languages
• Style is not something that comes in a bottle
  Style is more like Jackie O. when she was doin’ Aristotle
  Style is not a logo that sticks 2 the roof of one’s ass
  Style is like a second cousin 2 class
• A sorceror’s farewell: RIP, Frank Frazetta, master of fantasy illustration
• Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Oil Leak Could Be Stopped with a Nuke

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers…

Namaste.

Thursday – 06 May 2010
This NBN Thursday finds me feeling much better than I was feeling yesterday. By the time I left work, my sore throat had invited its friends “aching,” “lethargy” and “weakness” to come over for a visit. When I got home – after a rather abbreviated trip to Dr. Volt’s – I was only too happy to soak in a tub of hot water and read a few items from the day’s four-color haul. After dinner, I spent the better part of the evening in bed. I slept for a couple of hours. I read more comics. I medicated. I hydrated.

This morning, I feel about 90-95% of baseline normal. This is a good thing.

Stray Toasters

• Dressed for Success, the Frugal Way
• Cutting Libraries in a Recession…
• Women under 50 ‘face work stress risk’
• 
• Facebook Glitch Brings New Privacy Worries
• The Little Bang: Small, simple drawing show offers big rewards
• Ms. Amy, you might (just *might*) want to click here.
• Profile in Style: Kelly Wearstler
• 
• Gay Couples Challenge Defense of Marriage Act
• Nigeria swears in new president
• My Demotivators (Cluelessness, Indecision and Insight)arrived a couple of days ago. I forgot to bring them to work… which just means that I have more time to figure out where I want them to go.
• A little something for your Thursday: The Brian Setzer Orchestra – Jump Jive and Wail:
• Editorial: Video Games and Free Speech
• I, Zombie: A Jug of Wine, A Lobe of Brain and Thou
• Mayan Plumbing Found in Ancient City

Namaste.

Wednesday – 05 May 2010
It’s Cinco de Mayo.

Even WizKids has jumped on the bandwagon.

It’s also Comics (and possibly Sushi) Wednesday.

Last night, SaraRules had Book Club… which meant that I was “Bachelor for an Evening.” I headed up to the local B&N to do some drawing. I started coloring on a pic that I’ve been working on (well, “off-and-on”) for a few weeks. Mixed results. I had done a lot of graphite pencil-work on it and the colored pencils weren’t exactly dealing with all of it well. I may reconsider my tack and start the picture anew. We’ll see.

After that, I went home and started playing HALO 3: ODST. (What? You think a little something like “no Internet” is going to stop me from getting my game on?! Hah!) I picked the game up a couple of days ago, but hadn’t cracked it open until last night. It’s got the classic HALO feel, but with a few twists. I like it. (I haven’t found the sniper’s rifle… yet… but, I’m getting good at the headshots with the pistol.)

Stray Toasters

• Sore throat != fun
• New (and as-yet unmet) neighbor deciding to wait until 0610 this morning to move his empty trash can from the curb to its resting place between our houses != fun.
  • On the other hand, it gave me an early start on the morning.
• Day of Prayer Becomes Culture War Skirmish
• Homes can be lost by mistake when banks miscommunicate
• Obama’s plea for civility is exactly right
• This image…

  

  …is available as a t-shirt from SPLITREASON.

• DJ Spooky and Chuck D remix “By the Time I Get to Arizona” in honor of anti-immigrant law
• Google moves into online travel business
• Do Not Look at These Dirty, Filthy State Seals
• By way of BoingBoing (and ): A small announcement – as told through Science Fiction

• …and, with that in mind: Stop-Motion LEGO Star Wars Trilogy in Just Two Minutes

Namaste.

Monday – 26 April 2010
Last night was our first night sleeping at the house. It made sense to sleep there as (almost) all of our stuff is there now… including/especially the bed. It wasn’t the most sound sleep I’ve ever had – I woke up a few times, for no reasons that I’ve been able to discern – but it is nice to be out of the shadow of the pending move.

Now comes the “Where did I put the [fill-in-item-name]…?!” portion of the move.

And figuring out what kind of desk I want.

Stray Toasters

• I spoke with the parental units yesterday; they are doing well. After mentioning the work I want to do in the basement at the house, I think that I have volunteered to finish my mother’s basement. We’ll have to see how that works out…
• Ms. Nyx forwarded a couple of interesting items:
  • Antwone Fisher: What guys need to know to be men
  • Hong Kong architect turns shoebox apartment into 24 rooms
• Amy sent a link to Stephane Halleux’ artwork.
• I found a CD I’d been missing for the past couple of months… in my trunk. *facepalm*
• 
• Sony to end floppy disk production, by way of
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man Goes to ER after One ‘Wicked’ Sandwich
• As Lost Ends, Creators Explain How They Did It, What’s Going On
• I missed the NFL Draft. All of it.
• Blood glucose meter attaches to Nintendo DS
• By way of : The police get involved in the lost iPhone case

Quote of the Day
Today’s QotD actually comes in two parts, both of which are courtesy of Anne (one of the graduating MFAs from SaraRules’ program) to two other MFAs:

1. You need Jesus. Or a midol and a snickers. Whichever.
2. There really is only one way to give a PowerPoint presentation in your senior capstone class: still drunk.

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Thursday – 22 April 2010
It’s another NBN Thursday in the valley and it started off with… well… I wouldn’t go so far as to say “flurries,” but there was “some snow” falling when I left the apartment this morning.

It’s also Earth Day.

Last night, SaraRules and I packed up a good portion of the things in the kitchen. I’ll probably tackle the pantry, the remains of the office and some of the bedroom closet this evening. Have I recently mentioned that I’ll be happy when all of this “moving” business is done?

Stray Toasters

• Guess who has Sloppy Joes and Thin Mints AND a fortune cookie in his lunch today!
• Today is a Three-Meeting Thursday, apparently.
• Environmentally-Friendly Clothing
• pointed out Daring Fireball’s take on the 4G iPhone leak; it’s a good read.
• New Zeus version targeting Firefox users for bank fraud
• 
• I heard a remake of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time on the radio during this morning’s commute. I had no idea how many times this song has been covered; this morning’s version was by a band called Quietdrive.
• Hearing that song made me think of other covers, which somehow made me think of C+C Music Factory’s cover of U2’s Pride (In The Name of Love):

  ….which, in turn, led me to their cover of Aretha Franklin’s Pride/A Deeper Love

• Ben Roethlisburger has been suspended for six games, though he could possibly be out for only four.
• ….and it seems as though the Steelers are possibly looking to trade Big Ben… to the Raiders.
• Checkmate
• Yesterday’s comic haul was light, but good. I’m planning another Four-Color Coverage review… but after The Great LEGO Brick Debacle of 2010, courtesy of “some setting changing/being changed in WordBook, I’m a little leery of doing so.  Tests shall have to be run.
• Clerks Find Papers from 1881 Gunfight at OK Corral
• New Fringe tonight.
• New Burn Notice …in 6 weeks.

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 April 2010
To quote Bjork: “It’s oh so quiet…”

The only real sounds I am hearing at the moment are the clock on the wall, birds chirping and my typing. Of course, it’s seven-thirty on a Sunday morning, so it’s kind of expected, to be honest. But, I’ve already had eight (8) hours of sleep, so I believe I’m up for the day… unless a nap creeps in somewhere.

Yesterday’s flooring work totally kicked my trash. On the other hand, SaraRules and I learned a very useful new skill: How to install a floor. (Hopefully, it won’t be a skill we have to put into practice too often.)  For those who didn’t see the before and after shots, you can click here to view them. After all of the work we’ve put in over the past couple of weeks, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: We’re moving next weekend. That will be good. Not only because we’ll finally be in the house, but also because it means that we’ll be done with splitting our time between trying to get the house ready/trying to pack up the apartment. It begins to wear you out, after a while. But, in the words of Sam Cooke:

It’s been a long time coming,
But I know a change is gonna come…

And I can’t wait.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules and I went to ColdStone last night for dessert. It was good.
• We also watched The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It was not so good. I would love to be able to blame its non-greatness to the fact that I was tired – and started nodding off on it – but I can’t. Not even the fact that it had Doctor Who‘s Tom Baker (Doctor #4, my favorite Doctor, by the way) and former Bond girl Caroline Munro and special effects by Ray Harryhausen could save this movie.
• Wajeha Al Huwaider, a woman, driving in Saudi Arabia
• A few points about style and fashion:
  • How to Shop Like a Grown-up (women)
  • Building Your Perfect Business Wardrobe
  • The GQ Guide to Dressing for Less
• 
• Why We Can’t Do 3 Things at Once
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Cookbook misprint costs Australian publisher
• Rising Fuel Prices Could Chill Summer Vacation Plans
• Infected XP owners left unpatched
• I’m liking Delicious Library 2.4 for Mac. It’s still not “perfect” for cataloguing my comics collection, but it does a pretty good job, nonetheless.
• NYC to Close ‘Rubber Rooms’ for Teachers in Trouble
• The Dogs of War: Apple vs. Google vs. Microsoft

Time to see what the day holds.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 13 April 2010
Happy Birthday to John:

Yesterday was a long day. Eleven hours and change in the office — what started as a small fire turned into “The Towering Inferno.” That was followed by over three hours at the house, the majority of which was spent climbing ladders and painting. On the “plus” side, I got Beef Lo Mein and Shrimp Fried Rice for dinner. Win! I hit the rack about 11:30 PM… and was quite happy to call it a day.

This morning, I stayed in bed for about 20 or so minutes after the alarm went off, but I managed to drag myself out of bed and get ready to face the day. So far, coffee has a good companion this morning.

Stray Toasters

• Painting: Phase One is now 95% complete. SaraRules is going to do a small section in the kitchen tomorrow night and that will wrap up all of the pre-move painting. Next project: Replacing the dining room floor.
• By way of comes: The Bridge at Hoover Dam
• Lehman Used ‘Alter Ego’ to Transfer Risks
• Birthday cake == good
  Zombies == good
  Zombie birthday cake == Double-plus good
• If you’re in the Salt Lake City metro area and looking for something to do this evening, why not go to see the Grizzlies take on the Las Vegas Wranglers?  It’s Game Five of the playoffs and tickets are only $10.
• Sezen Aksu: The Voice of Istanbul (not Constantinople)
• Soap in Carbonite, courtesy of
• 
  I wholheartedly agree with the middle panel.
• Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags
• Nation’s soaring deficit calls for painful choices
• Future Tech: Driverless Audi set to climb curvy Pike’s Peak
• 

• The Brave and the Bold set drops tomorrow…
• Is it fair to patent genes? ACLU takes on biotech over issue
• Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket
  

Namaste.

Friday – 09 April 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday. It’s quiet in the office. Hopefully, things will stay that way.

Last night, we took a break from housework and had some down time. It was nice. We tag-teamed dinner: Spaghetti with sauce and garlic bread.  After dinner, I was feeling a little antsy, like I should have been doing something… but I couldn’t put my finger on “what.” I opted to get out and do a little shopping. I hit the local Eddie Bauer store and picked up a new pair of jeans. I wandered over to Nordstrom’s to look for a pair of braces. I’ve wanted a new pair of leather ones for a while, but hadn’t put a lot of effort into getting them. And, unfortunately, Nordstrom didn’t have any, so the hunt continues.

I headed back home and watched Project Runway and Fringe with SaraRules. And, we also split a caramel apple, dipped in crushed Butterfinger candy bar bits. Helloooooo, decadence! I started winding down early, so I made a (relatively) early night of it.

Stray Toasters

• For as-yet unexplained reasons, I had Lady Gaga’s Telephone running through my head when I woke up this morning.
• Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, for my friends who have to maintain gluten-free diets
• Music world mourns godfather of punk
• Coal Miner’s Son Remembers ‘A Hard, Dirty Job’
• Peroidic Table of Imaginary Elements
• 55 catastrophic Star Wars costumes, by way of
• sent a link to Photo-manipulations by Erik Johansonn
• 
• Vegetarian-friendly iPhone App Will Tell You if Any Dead Animals Are in That  Sandwich
• Comic Book Cartography
• Off-shore Energy Clash over Undersea Sound
• I’ve posted links to the Top Gear segment featuring the Bugatti Veryon vs. Euro Fighter Typhoon drag race (…like the one I just posted). Somehow, I don’t think that this Veryon would hold up as well in that race as the one in the video.

That’ll do for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 08 April 2010
NBN Thursday rides again!

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I knocked out the last bit of the primer-ing. I need to touch up a three-inch strip near the ceiling in the living room, but other than that… it’s done. We set a timetable for what we want to do and when we plan to have it done. We’re in a good enough position that we’re taking the next couple of nights off from house-prep. Come Saturday, painting begins!

After we left the house, we hit the local Five Guys for dinner. Next, it was back home for some couch time. Okay, couch time for me; quilting time for SaraRules. I finally got around to watching the season finale of Burn Notice. (YES, I know it was on a month ago. Sue me!) I followed that up with an episode of Human Target. I’m slowly but surely getting through the backlog on the DVR…

This morning, I had The Blues, by Tony Tone Toni, running through my head. When I got in the car this morning, I was treated to Word Up. And, quite frankly a video with Reading Rainbow‘s Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge as a fedora-wearing detective can’t be all bad (if you overlook Larry Blackmon’s bulging red codpiece, that is…)

Stray Toasters

• From the “…it’s like red, but not quite” file: I decided to break out my pink dress shirt this morning. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I’ll get at least one “I’m not sure that I could wear a pink shirt” comment from one of the guys in the office.
• Va. Offers Fresh Lesson in History’s Power to Sting
• This appeared in my email this morning:

  

  God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I know where I intend to be on 05 August.

• My affinity for the SR-71 Blackbird is pretty well-known. So when I saw this article, The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird , on Gizmodo, I was instantly hooked. I went to look up the book that Maj. Shul wrote, Sled Driver, and was in for a bit of a surprise when I saw the prices that were being asked for it.  That doesn’t mean that I didn’t add it to The Covet List, though. (Or, it would make a great birthday present, if anyone is wondering what to get me this year.)
• sent a time-sinking link to some rather cool LEGO sculptures. There goes productivity for the morning…
• Yet another Demotivator that I like:



• ‘Passing’ Across the Color Line in the Jazz Age
• From the “Weekend at Bernies” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: Women try to take body on plane at Liverpool airport
• Comic Book Resources has an article about Robert Greenberger’s upcoming book: Wonder Woman. Amazon. Hero. Icon.

  

• The Mythology of Spending and Mental Anchors
• Q and Data Examine the Next Generation Padd

Namaste.