Random Access

Monday – 05 December 2011
Another work week sets upon us. And the day has been fairly busy, so far. I guess that’s a good thing. “Idle hands…” and whatnot.

The weekend was good. And, as weekends tend to be, too short. Highlights of the weekend included:

• Spending time with the girls, while SaraRules! went to her quilt club.
• Getting to judge a ‘Clix tourney for Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection.
• Sunday morning breakfast at Millcreek Cafe with SaraRules! and the girls
• Added bonus: Christy, one of our former Pin-up Girl Espresso baristas, was there!
• A trip to The Garden of Sweden.
• The Ravens won.

All those – and a few other – things combined for a good weekend.

Another thing from the weekend: Sunday was National Cookie Day. As readers may (or may not) have noticed, I’ve become “something” of a fan of RubySnap cookies. They’re pretty amazing cookies. ‘Nuff said. SaraRules! took the girls there on Saturday and picked up a couple of this month’s cookie, Noelle: a sweet potato maple with milk chocolate & pecans, topped with a dallop of maple cream and a pecan half.

Wow…

SaraRules! and I both agreed: It was a seriously fantastic cookie. If you haven’t tried RubySnap cookies, I’m strongly suggesting – pretty much near insisting – that you do yourself a favor and stop in. Get a Noelle and see for yourself. You can thank me later.

Stray Toasters

• Kennedy Center honors five in performing arts
• Xbox Live Challenges Cable Box
• The New Xbox 360 Software: It’s Not About the Games
• 
• From Knee-to-Knee-to-CD: The Evolution of Oral Tradition in Mountain Ballads
• By way of my friend, Melissa: The Power of a Wink
• Plunging Deep (in Pockets) to See Titanic at 100
• 
• LEGO Christmas Tree, by way of
• By way of my MiL: Filling the Void: Looking for the Next Denzel, Sam, Morgan and Will
• How Music Affects the Brain and How You Can Use It to Your Advantage

Namaste.

Thursday – 01 December 2011
It’s NBN Thursday and the start of a new (and, if you’re in northern Utah, very windy) month.

SaraRules! was right about yesterday: It ended with cheesy macaroni Hamburger Helper and comics. And little girls who went to bed rather easily. Which made it rather easy to enjoy the aforementioned comics. And dinner. And the rest of the evening.

The girls slept until 4:30-ish this morning. Which put them right at the “sleeping for 8 hours” mark. This was a good thing. Sara got Diana unswaddled and changed while I prepped bottles. When I was done with bottles, I took them to the nursery, got Vanessa and put her on the changing table…

…and then the lights went out. (Cue: Vicki Lawrence. Yes… THAT Vicki Lawrence)

Fortunately, we have flashlights and candles aplenty. Still, I think that it freaked the girls out a bit, as it was instantly pitch black. Vanessa wound up settling down fairly easily; Diana, not so much. She was fully awake by the time she was done with her bottle and it took her the better part of 30 minutes to settle back to sleep.

The power was out at least until I left for work at 8:15. SaraRules! checked on the Rocky Mountain Power web site; they said that the outages in the area are so bad that customers could be without power for up to 48 hours. I have doubts that we’ll be without power that long, though.

I know that some might say that these events might automatically put the kibosh on “No Bad News” Thursday. But, I’d beg to differ. Why? For reasons including, but not limited to, these:

1. Everyone was safe.
2. We had already fixed the girls’ bottles.
3. The house was – and would remain – warm through the morning.
4. We had light (flashlights and candles).
5. We had running water.
6. Our garage door opener has a battery back-up, allowing it to open during power outages.

Blessings. Providence. Good fortune. Luck. No matter what you choose to call them, each of those things were in our favor. Thus, the day was still good.

And that’s how I spent my Thursday morning!

Assuming that the power’s on at home tonight, Chris is coming over to hang out and play dolls.

Stray Toasters

• Truth, Jawlines and the American Way: The Changing Face of Superman
• Kerry Callen‘s ‘Super Antics’
1. Number 1
2. Number 2
3. Number 3
• 6 Central Banks Act to Buy Time in Europe Crisis
• Some Grandmotherly Advice on Social Media
• Can LEGO be considered art?
• Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone declared to hot for tourists
• 
• World’s First Sex School Opens
• From the “D.M.S.R.” file: Sex, Love and Evolution: Making Hits on the ‘Billboard’ Charts
• I Bet You Can’t Guess What This Commercial Is About Until It Tells You
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Indian snake charmer releases cobras in tax office protest
• The Dark Knight

And, according to my mother-in-law, power was restored at the house shortly after SaraRules! left for work. Amen.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 November 2011
Not only is it the middle of the week… or new comics day… or the date that Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was released… it’s also the last day of the month. A month that seemed like it just started a few days ago. How the time flies.

Last night, SaraRules! and I attended the opening night auction for the 2011 Festival of Trees. We were looking for something – not a tree – to add to our holiday decorations; we settled on looking for a centerpiece for the living room table. We found – and bid on and won – one that will go nicely with the tree we got last year:

We also saw a number of really nice trees and gingerbread houses. More pictures can be seen here. If you have a chance to visit the Festival of Trees, do so. It runs through Saturday, 03 December 2011; admission is:

• $5.00/adults
• $3.00/children age 2 to 11
• $4.00/senior citizens.
• Children under age 2 are free

All proceeds benefit Primary Children’s Medical Center, so it’s a very worthwhile cause.

After the Festival, we picked up the girls, took them home and put them to bed. Then SaraRules! kicked me out of the house… to go to Guys’ Night Out.  (Have I mentioned: “Coolest wife ever” recently? She is.) It was nice to hang out with the guys over beer (Black and Pumpkin!) and food. It was a good way to wrap up a rather good day.

Stray Toasters

• Today was (another) suit day: Black suit, white shirt, black/pink/grey tie, pink pocket square, black shoes.
• A Christmas Card from The Middleman (Part One)
• Improv Everywhere has unleashed a new bit of mayhem:

• I received an amusing spam this morning from the INTERNATIONAL POLICE AUTHORITY. Here’s the first bit of it:
  

  We, office of the international police authority (IPA) hereby write to inform you that we stopped a diplomatic lady by the name Mrs. Vernon Wallace here in  (John F Kennedy International Airport) New York with a consignment box filled with United States Dollars.

  In the course of interrogating her, she said that the consignment box belongs to you and that she was sent by one Edward Somto to come deliver the consignment box to you not knowing that the content of the box is money.

  Now, the diplomat is under detention in the office of (INTERPOL) security, and we cannot release her until we carry out our proper investigation on how this huge amount of money managed to be yours. So, in this regards you are to reassure and prove to us that the money you are about to receive is legal by sending us the Award Ownership Certificate showing that the money is not illegal.

  Boy howdy! INTERPOL “rescued” free money for me?! Where do I sign?

• The Ormes Society Supports African-American Women in Comics
• By way of my friend, Janie, and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Pike church takes stand against interracial couples
• The Math That Saved Apollo 13
• The Answerphone Of Cthulhu is hard to resist:

  

• A Timeline of the Best-Selling Christmas Gifts…Ever
• Line Grows Long for Free Meals in U.S. Schools
• Cyber warfare developing into larger threat for U.S., its allies
• 
• Let’s put this Civil War Steampunk musical on Broadway
• The Fall Checklist for Men

And, that should be good for now.

Namaste.

Monday – 28 November 2011
Waking up and getting up has never been easy…

…especially after a five-day break. But, we do what we must. The alarm went off and up I got. On the plus side: I have fourteen (14) working days until Christmas break. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I can make it.

The weekend was a good one. There was some productivity. A good bit of laziness. And the upstairs Christmas tree (and some lights) are up. I might work on the downstairs tree tonight during Monday Night Football.

And, I neglected to post a picture of the girls in their Thanksgiving dresses. That shall be rectified now:

Stray Toasters

• It’s after Thanksgiving. I’m alright with Christmas music in stores and on the radio now.
• SIDENOTE: Lexus has a series of commercials in which Person A gives Person B some gift that plays a melody – apparently the Lexus “theme” – just before presenting Person B with a brand new car. My hang-up with the commercials is this: WHO THE HELL (outside of these commercials) KNOWS WHAT THE LEXUS THEME IS?!
  Seriously. The only reason I can (somewhat) recognize the music now is because the damned commercials aired eleventy-seven billion times over the past five days.
• Cyber Monday to bring increase in online threats
• 
• New Translation of Catholic Mass Makes Its Debut
• Would the World Be Better Off Without Religion?
• Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Giggle Loop
• In Egypt, Long Lines for a Vote Clouded by Army’s Role
• Christmas Gift Idea: The Zombie-Killing Weapons Used on ‘The Walking Dead’
• For SaraRules!: Sex Pistols imagined as a Hanna-Barbera cartoon
• Fugazi Rises Again, in Online Archive
• From the “Purple Monkey Dishwasher” file:

  

• Eating Canned Soup Makes BPA Levels Soar
• Invasive species are blight on U.S. landscape
• If Ghostbusters was a Dr. Seuss book

Namaste.

Monday – 21 November 2011
A new (and greatly abbreviated) work week is upon us. Today is my “Technical Thursday.” Which, I do believe, technically makes it a No Bad News Technical Thursday. So, it is written; so shall it be!

This was a good weekend, all around. Saturday, the girls and I had a few hours’ of Daddy-Daughter time, while SaraRules! went to lunch with a friend. While we didn’t get to as many places as we (okay, okay… as “I”) would have liked, we did manage to put in an appearance at RubySnap. (Natch!)

Yesterday, I was on the fence about sleeping in. At first, I decided to stay up (around 7 AM), about an hour later, I decided that it wasn’t worth it an crawled back into bed. And the girls woke up 20 minutes later. Thus, did the day begin. We had a good day. There was some errand-running. And football-watching. And, after the girls were asleep, TV-watching.

Speaking of the little ladies, here’s a dose of cuteness:

Vanessa (left) and Diana

Added bonus: The girls slept through the night. ALL THE WAY through the night. After we got them up and fed them, I decided to head into the office a little early, so that I can work a little extra time and not have to burn any leave for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Instant Replay: Football
Not only did the Ravens play yesterday, but it was televised here! So, Vanessa and I watched most of the game; SaraRules! and Diana came down to watch the second half with us.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 31
The Ravens hosted the 0-5 Bengals……and, without Ray Lewis, came away with a win. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it still goes in the “W” column.Former Ravens K Matt Stover was inducted into the Ring of Honor. And, with this win, the Ravens are (once again) #1 in the AFC North. Sorry, and .

.

Oakland Raiders at Minnesota Vikings
27 – 21
The Raiders traveled to Minnesota and beat up on the (already downtrodden) Vikes.Congratulations, SaraRules! and .

.

Stray Toasters

• What Would Steve McQueen Wear Today?
• Hero Complex Holiday Gift Guide for 2011
• Reliable. Durable. Automatic. Kicker.

  

• Danger Mouse co-creator Mark Hall dies
• Quicksilver Comes Out to Magneto on Facebook
• I just had a very long “Monkey!” moment with someone who doesn’t ordinarily warrant the “monkey” sobriquet.
• Taking First Class-Coddling Above and Beyond
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Cockroach Chaos at 30,000 Feet! In-flight Infestation Leads to Lawsuit
• 
• Black Friday employees push back
• Romanian hacker accused of breaking into NASA server
• Orchestra Keeps Up Hunt to Fill Its Top Job
• 25 Worst Passwords 0f 2011

Namaste.

Friday – 18 November 2011
It’s my working Friday. At least it’s the “quiet” Friday in the office.

Last night was “Baby Bath Night” and it went pretty well. Vanessa went first. She was a little dodgy when I put her into the tub, but she settled in nicely once I started talking to her and splashing her a bit. She actually held up rather well, until it was time to towel her off. Then the sad face – and a little crying – made an appearance. All in all, though: Success. Diana was pretty much smiles throughout the process… although, I did get a couple of quizzical looks from her. Both girls went to sleep (fairly) easily, too.

After the girls were abed, SaraRules! and I decided to watch some television. As I was about to head downstairs, I had a revelation:

I wanted a snack.

Ice cream…? No.
A RubySnap cookie…? No.
Triscuits and string cheese…? No.

Then it dawned on me. I wanted popcorn. But… the girls were asleep. And the popcorn popping on the apricot tree would possibly wake them up. I found a suitable workaround to abate the noise and tasty popped corns were mine!

Stray Toasters

• I think that I may have just tracked down a school mate that I’ve been trying to find for a very long time.
• so much win
• Rules of concertgoing, and why it matters
• Nude Blogger Riles Egyptians of All Stripes
• By way of Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing.net:

  

• Pilot gets stuck in bathroom, sparks terror scare
• Steampunk LEGO inventions
• Stuck Up!: 100 Objects Inserted and Ingested in Places They Shouldn’t Be
• 
• From the “Whoops!” file: An Entire MMO Was Accidentally Erased From the Internet
• 2011 Celebrity Style Hall of Shame
• Medieval Foes With Whimsy

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 November 2011
Three down, one in the chamber and one to go. Hallelujah. While this hasn’t been a “bad” week, I was irritable/edgy from Sunday through yesterday. The best part: There was no reason to which I could attribute it. Just… bad mood. Period. *shrug* So far, today’s been good and I don’t feel as angst-ridden as the past few days. I consider that a good thing, especially as it’s No Bad News Thursday.

And, there’s football tonight!

Last night, and came by to visit. They caught us up on the latest goings-on. It was a nice way to spend the pre-putting-the-girls-to-bed part of the evening. After the girls were down for the night, I read most of last night’s four-color haul and then joined SaraRules! for an episode of TopGear.

Stray Toasters

• Tomorrow (Friday) is Take a Model Train to Work Day!
  I’m not sure if I’m going to bring in a new/different train, as my LEGO train is still here from last year.
• Imagining Housing for Today
• 4th Annual Machinima Expo
• Oregon Tests iPads as Aid to Disabled Voters
• Cookie-stuffed Cookies
  I think that this must be the “turducken” of desserts.
• Chief Sponsor Wavers on Web Censorship Bill in Charged Hearing
• 
• As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain
• Prime viewing ahead for Leonid meteor shower
• Congressional report slams TSA as bloated, ineffective

I believe that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 November 2011
I realized this morning just how glad I am that it’s midweek and that only two more days separate me from the weekend. Not that it’s been a bad or particularly long week; I’m just ready for the weekend.  (Cue: Loverboy)

Last night, while Wonder Woman SaraRules! was off saving the world with the Justice League at a Junior League meeting, Sanaz came over to help me watch the girls and get them ready for bed. The “care and feeding” part isn’t so bad when solo, but trying to get both girls to bed by oneself would be “a bit” much. And the help was greatly appreciated. Diana knocked out fairly easily; Vanessa, however, got a bit of a second wind after her bedtime feeding and fought sleep for a solid 20 minutes before finally following Morpheus into The Dreaming.

On the plus side of SaraRules! not being home for dinner: It was a veritable “Feed Yourself Free-for-All” night for rounding up victuals. Thus, I had Beef Lo Mein. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT
• SOPA infographic
• A Special Day at the Office as Krzyzewski Sets a Record
• Incredible LEGO Daily Planet Pits Superman and Young Justice Against Brainiac
• For :

  

• Middle Class Areas Shrink as Income Gap Grows, New Report Shows
• Thanks to for pointing out this SMBC comic.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: The problem with fecal transplants
  Yes, you read that correctly: “Fecal transplants.”
• A better astronaut recruitment video
• Yeah, add this to The Covet List: Ford’s new Mustang Shelby GT is first 200 MPH muscle car
• 
• Ergonomics training. Yay.
  It’s mildly amusing to be taking training after having taught it (at the USPS)…
• Apple Appoints New Chairman and Elects Disney’s Chief to Board

And it’s new comics day!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 15 November 2011
Pretty much hit the ground running today.  The girls were up at 5:30 to eat; by the time they were done, it was just about 6:00. Rather than: A) try to get a 25-minute nap or B) sleep through the alarm until (at least) 7:00, I decided to stay up and get ready for work. I was in the office a hair before 7:00. Less than a half-hour later, I was helping to prep a half-full server rack for shipping.

Bonus: The rack had no wheels.

Added bonus: We had to move it out of our office space, into our lobby, downstairs, across sheets of masonite — which we had to leap-frog — from our building through the building lobby to the attached building.. out the door and onto the truck.

Yeah. Today was most definitely one of those “We do more before 9 AM than most people do all day” kind of mornings.

Fortunately, there was coffee involved, as well.

Tonight, SaraRules! has another Justice League meeting. Thus, I’ll be getting a helping had in putting the hatchlings to bed from my sister-in-law.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, while Monday Night Football was showing commercials, I flipped over to The Sing-Off. Interesting show. I didn’t see all of the groups compete, but I enjoyed the three groups I did see. The group Vocal Point (from BYU) were voted off the show by the judges. This prompted A LOT of response from people on Facebook, apparently. Negative response. “I’ll never watch the show again” response.

  I don’t get it.

  Just because a person/group/entity/whatever that [you] like gets voted off a television show, is that really a reason to foreswear the show? To me, it’s kind of like vowing never to watch … NCIS after they killed off Mike Franks. *shrug*

• Missiles to protect London 2012 Olympics
• What to Wear and What Not to Wear to an Interview
• Tomorrow is American Censorship Day: Fight SOPA
• By way of my friend, Christine: League of Ordinary Gentlemen: Patient BW, DOB 2/16/1971
  , you might want to take a look at that.
• 
• Anonymous vows revenge over Occupy Toronto threats
• Hispanics Reviving Faded Towns on the Plains
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: PETA targets Mario over raccoon suit
• 
• Dresdan Codak
• Batman: the Least Believable Superhero
• On the Orbiting of Species
• Designer Lipstick: A New Splurge
• 
• Foreign Office reveals weird requests to consulates
• Will Cloud Computing Make Everything (and Everyone) Work Harder?

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from a Newsarama interview with John Hodgman:

Hodgman: One of the things I love in comics is serialized storytelling, but that can be a pitfall if you rely too much on what happened last week.

I’m not trying to start feuds. I’m really just expressing feelings of existential anxiety about where all superhero comics are.

And now I really do have to go…

Nrama: Okay, any last thoughts before you go?

Hodgman: I still love everything that Paul Levitz writes. Long Live the Legion!

And that’s that.

Namaste.

Monday – 14 November 2011
Today is definitely trying to be what most people would define as a “typical Monday.” Fortunately, I started the day feeding the girls, so I’d already chalked the day up to being a good one. And, speaking of the little ladies, I snapped this picture yesterday:

Vanessa (top) and Diana

When I got to work, I was asked to generate a document for a project… and base it on one that another coworker had created for a similar project. That’s fine. Except for one (not-so-minor) detail: There are part and serial numbers involved. And, it’s “a little” difficult, based on the information provided, to tell which numbers are specifically required in what places.

*grblsnrkx*

So, I grabbed the proverbial “low-hanging fruit” first and input the items whose information was easiest to get. From there, I just mirrored what my coworker did in his documentation. (So if mine is wrong, his is as well.) And then, it was done. Amen.

This past weekend was good. Quite good, in fact. Friday was my day off and it was my first full day alone with the girls. And, I think it went pretty well. We met Nyx, Carrie, Tim and Leo for coffee at Jitterbug. From there, we stopped off to say “Hi” to SaraRules! for a few minutes. And, I was compelled to stop at RubySnap. Compelled, I tell you. Then we headed home to wait for SaraRules! to get off work.

Saturday, after the girls had breakfast, SaraRules! and I took them to their first train show. I wasn’t as enamored with this year’s show as with last year’s, but there were still some neat things to see. I also didn’t come home empty-handed: I found a seller who had an Atlas O turntable – an item that I’ve been coveting for the past year – for a price that I couldn’t ignore. I also picked up a print from an artist that I first saw at a train show in Ogden last year. From there, I headed up to Dr. Volt’s to judge a ‘Clix tournament. (There were an even number of players, so I didn’t get a chance to play. Oh, well.)  Then, back home to help SaraRules! take care of the girls. Once they were asleep, SaraRules! and I resumed watching 13 Assassins… but didn’t quite make it to the end of the movie, as she had a raging headache. So, I finished up the night with a bit of Gears of War 3.

Yesterday, we decided to venture forth for breakfast. This time, we went to Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks. Unfortunately, they were out of coffee cake.

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

The rest of breakfast was good, though. And the girls, as usual, got a lot of attention. After breakfast, we took the long way home, by way of Parley’s and Emigration Canyons. The rest of the day was pretty lax, though some chores were done along the way.

Instant Replay: Football
The Ravens gave up a win to the Seahawks. That is all that shall be said about that.

Stray Toasters

• Sweet Christmas! The Greatest Luke Cage Stories Ever Told
• Google’s Lab of Wildest Dreams
• Ex-porn star reading to LA students causes stir
• The CLAD Report: Winter 2011
• What Are the Odds?

Namaste.

Thursday – 10 November 2011
Hello, NBN Technical Friday!

Last night, while SaraRules! was at her Justice Junior League meeting, ‘s mom, Lori,  came over to help me watch the kids and get them ready for bed…

…as did Josh.

…and Jessica and Corey.

The girls soaked up the attention. It was great. And it truly proved the adage: “Many hands make light work.” Thus, not only were the girls well taken care of, but I got to spend the evening in good company. As an added bonus: Jessica prepared a delicious pot roast, with carrots and potatoes.

This morning, the girls woke up around 5:00. By the time they were back in their bassinets, I had a decision: Catch about 45 minutes of sleep or go to work early. I chose sleep. And that turned into nearly an hour-and-a-half of sleep. Which was good, to be honest.

Not too long after I got to the office, I got a call from my mother-in-law about something beeping in the kitchen. And it was startling the girls a bit. I suspected that it was the fire alarm, whose battery SaraRules! and I hadn’t gotten around to changing. So, back home to avert the girls having meltdowns and help get them ready for breakfast. (Fringe benefit: Mid-day cuddles from the girls!) And then, back to the office.

Tonight, Chris is coming over to play dolls ‘Clix.

Stray Toasters

• Recycling in Antarctica
• Russians Fight to Save Mars Probe After Mishap
• A random thought occurred to me the other day: How many Hanna-Barbera cartoons featured kids in bands?
  I’m not sure that I got them all, without looking anything up, this is what I came up with:
  • Josie and the Pussycats
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids
  • The Partridge Family in Outer Space (I’m totally not making this one up.)
  • Jabberjaw
  • The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
  • The Impossibles
  • Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm
  • The Banana Splits (not a cartoon, per se, but still an H-B property)
  • The Bugaloos (a live-action show that was part of the Banana Splits show)

  Can anyone think of any others?

• 
• Adobe kills Flash on mobile devices
• Mayhem at the Manor, for
• Why we get the future of tech wrong

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 November 2011
Middle of the week. And the day started with the twins needing to be fed. (Oddly enough, most of my days seem to start like that now…) And let’s be honest: Starting the day holding a cute little girl is far from a bad thing.

Last night was a fairly low-key evening. The girls got their baths – without much/any fuss – ate and went to bed. Once we were certain that they were down for the count, SaraRules! and I went downstairs and finished watching the episode of TopGear that we started a few days ago. When it was over, we (finally) watched the new episode of Burn Notice. I also rounded out the evening with an episode of Young Justice.

Tonight, SaraRules! has a Justice Junior League meeting, which means that the girls are stuck with me for a few hours.  Fortunately – for them and/or me, I’m not sure which yet… possibly both – lj user=”suzie_lightning” ‘s mother is coming over to meet the little ladies and hang out for a bit.

Stray Toasters

• Mississippi Voters Reject Anti-Abortion Measure
• How Birth Control and Abortion Became Politicized
• introduced me to The Karen & Ellen Letters. Wow.
• “Family Circus” Creator Bil Keane Dies at 89
• As I mentioned a couple of days ago, SaraRules! is reading a book called Conquistadora:

  

  I apparently dropped a pair of nail clippers on it yesterday. This morning, I glanced at the book and, from the angle I was looking, the face/clipper combination reminded me of Trap Jaw (from the old Masters of the Universe cartoon). It made me laugh.

• Adversaries, allies stealing U.S. trade secrets
• Are Cookbooks Obselete?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Police find mummified corpses in historian’s apartment
• Presidential Candidates Explained Through Dungeons and Dragons Character Sheets, by way of
• Health Law Survives Test in Court of Appeals

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 November 2011
Midweek. New comics. Fire drill. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Last night, the girls were… agitated… for some reason. They were fussy and restless through bedtime, including during bath time, which they had – until last night – been getting better about dealing with. They were so cranky that we skipped post-bath story time and went straight to “Here’s your bottle. Go to town!” Wait. That’s not entirely true. Nose drops came before feeding… and they’re not fans of nose drops under the best of conditions, so last night’s dose was far from welcome. But, the bottles seemed to make everything better.

After the girls were abed, SaraRules! and I sat down to watch a little TopGear (UK). It was a good way to wind down the evening.

Stray Toasters

• A Last Bastion of Civility, the South, Sees Manners Decline
• Birdman of Columbia (…and for those who are interested: lyrics)
• U.S. House endorses ‘In God We Trust’ – but what’s its history?
• Is ESPN the main force behind realignment in college sports?
• NASA developing tractor beam
• Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons with Cherry Brains
• Is Licorice Dangerous?
• Hating Incumbency and Incumbents Too
• Asteroid 2005 YU55 will zip by Earth next week
• Design for drugs in NYC – Exhibition will explore the graphic world of pharmaceutical products

Namaste.

Monday – 31 October 2011
It’s Hallowe’en.

• Improv Everywhere: Who ya gonna call…?
• Free Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft for Nook and Kindle (…and in .pdf format, too)
• …and, of course:

Many people have been posting “Happy Hallowe’en” on their various social media outlets. Thanks to them, I have had the “Silver Shamrock” jingle (from Halloween III: Season of the Witch) running through my head for the past 3+ hours. It’s been about as annoying as the time I had Escape stuck in my head for three days…

The weekend was good, but a bit long and tiring. SaraRules! messed up her back sometime Thursday night/Friday morning. As such, I was the point man for taking care of the girls for most of the weekend. Fortunately, they took a modicum of mercy on me — they weren’t extremely fussy or irritable. (Thank you bouncy chair and swing!)

 
Diana (left) and Vanessa (right)

But, by the time we were putting them to bed last night, I realized just how tired I was and how ready I was for them to be down for the count.

On the flip side, I was still home when they woke up this morning, so I got kid cuddles before heading to work.

Last night, we also headed up to SaraRules’ parents’ house for dinner, Disney’s Ichabod Crane and Hallowe’en cookie decorating. It’s tradition! (And, it’s pretty fun, too.)

Stray Toasters

• Stuff That Defines Us
• Dammit, MTH Trains! I have kids now and not as much disposable income as before. Stop putting out sets (1, 2)  that I want to immediately put on The Covet List!
• Penn Jillette’s 10 Commandments for atheists
• It took me a moment to get the joke, but it did make me laugh:

  

• World population hits 7 billion
• Visualizing How a Population Grows to 7 Billion
• Dining Etiquette 101, courtesy of Nyx
• NASA Is Considering Fuel Depots in the Skies
• Psychiatrists Call Out DC on Depictions of Mentally Ill
• 
• Products R Us: Are We ‘Brandwashed?’
• Cable Is Holding Web TV at Bay, Earnings Show

And that’s that… for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 27 October 2011
Another NBN Thursday finds me back at work. Fortunately, it’s my “Technical Friday,” so it’s rather bearable.

I had a great birthday yesterday. Thank you to all the well-wishers and to the family and friends who helped me celebrate it. I started the day hanging out with the twins. A little after 1100, Bonne came over and took over kid wranglin’ duty, so that I could have a few hours to run all over Hell and half of Georgia. And I did. I traveled north to Clearfield (Almosta Junction) and Ogden (Union Station and The Wonderful World of Trains). I didn’t pick up anything at Almosta Junction… although, I thought hard about it. I did pick up a new signal bridge and a Norfolk Southern hopper car at WWoT. I also squeezed in trips to RubySnap and The Chow Truck before heading home.

Back at the ranch, I hung out with the girls again. (Translation: “I fed and changed them.”) Then, it was time for a quick trip to Dr. Volt’s. Then, back home for cake and ice cream with a family and a few friends.

All-in-all, it was a great way to celebrate a birthday.

And, tonight: Belated birthday dinner with SaraRules!

Stray Toasters

• Chainsaw!!!
• October 30 is Women of Wonder Day, Benefiting Victims of Domestic Violence
• Women of Wonder Day 2011 – official website
• U.S. Naval Academy: First to teach cybersecurity as requirement
• China Reins In Liberalization of Culture
• 
• Infographics:
• The Anatomy of an Agency
• The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement
• HTC working with carriers to push Android bug fix
• 
• Most Stylish Musicians of All Time
• Stephen Spielberg defends worst scene in ‘Indiana Jones 4’
• Facing Hardship, Jobless Still Say They Have Hope

Namaste.