Random Access

Tuesday – 07 September 2010
The abbreviated work week begins.

The morning commute was accompanied by the radio, which had this in the mix:

Last night, SaraRules and I headed to the local Home Depot – my third trip for the day – to pick up paint supplies to start work on the guest room. As soon as we finish with it, we’ll be done with the upstairs interior. For now.  We’re considering replacing the railing at the stairs to the basement with a half-wall.  We’ll see how that pans out.

I also managed to get in a little time in Nova Praetoria, the “other” setting for CoH: Going Rogue. I like the fact that you get to choose between being a Loyalist (supporting the emperor) or a Resistance member (fighting against the oppressive regime)… or even straddle the line between them. My character is currently a member of the Resistance. Whether or not he remains one will depend on how the story plays out.

Stray Toasters

• It would be nice if the weather could figure out whether it wants to be hot or cool.
• Petraeus Wanrs Against Planned Koran-Burning
  I find it sad that people can’t figure out that this is invective and offensive.  It seems a far way from the “Do unto others…” that I was taught in the churches of my youth.
• 8 Incredible LEGO Mods
• And here’s a little classic Ms. Jackson for your day, too:
• North Van dad-to-be’s final act saves family
  And if the name “Brian Wood” sounds familiar to gamers, it’s because he was the lead designer for Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes.
• By way of : Conventions: Another day at the office for celebs
• 
• 8 Weight Loss Secrets from Around the World
• 1930 Art Deco Henderson
• The Ravens (finally) released QB Troy Smith over the weekend; he was picked up by the 49ers.
• Researchers Say Happiness Costs $75k
• xkcd Comic Wedding Cake

Namaste.

Monday – 06 September 2010
Today is Labor Day.
I hope that everyone has a safe – and very enjoyable – end-of-summer whatever it is you choose to do.

In honor of the day, I woke up early… well, “early-ish”… and, with the help of , worked on my sprinkler system. I had a few heads that needed to be replaced, one that needed help and just some general maintenance all around. This involved two (that’s right: TWO) trips to the local Home Depot. But, two-and-a-half hours and some elbow sweat grease later, it was done and things were working the way they were supposed to.

Yesterday was another lazy long-weekend day. We slept in. I played a little CoH: Going Rogue — I created a new character; SaraRules did some quilting. Later in the day, we headed over to SaraRules’ parents for dinner and a movie.  Last night’s fare was Clash of the Titans, the new one. Again, it was a decent action flick. And the in-laws liked it. Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• The 4th Annual Utah Symphony|Utah Opera Web Sale is under way!  Get big discounts on this season’s upcoming events.
• Hey! That’s My Cape — Too Many Batmen Could Spoil the Cowl
• Speaking of comics, I’m enjoying getting back into Fables.
• How to open a new book
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: 8-Foot Shark Caught in Potomac River
• TRAIN!

Shortly, SaraRules and I will be heading out for lunch with some of the usual suspects and then seeing The Expendables again.

I should probably finish getting ready.

Namaste.

Sunday – 05 September 2010
So far, it’s been a nice and quiet day.

I slept in.
I decided to take a relaxing hot bath.
I finished Fables Vol. 7: Arabian Nights (and Days), which has been languishing on the bookshelf.
All the way around, I think that qualifies as a good way to kick off a Sunday.

Yesterday, SaraRules and I went for a walk along the Jordan River Parkway. We started at the 6400 South entrance and walked up to the 5400 South pavilions. We figured that the round-trip was somewhere between 2.75 and 3.00 miles.

Later in the evening, we met up with OnlyAly, and Jana and went to see the Real Salt Lake match against the New York Red Bulls. (Pictures here) I even ran into Tyranist and his wife, as well as my former coworker, Carilyn, at the stadium. RSL pulled out the win, which tied them for MLS’ longest consecutive home game win streak — 22 games. Added bonus: It looks as though we’ve converted a few more people into soccer fans.

Back at home, SaraRules and I watched Renovation Realities and Family Renovation before calling it a night. Schadenfreude at its finest.

Stray Toasters

• I need to look into replacing a couple of sprinkler heads.
• Mad Men’s glamourous gift to the world
• The Ultimate Casual Shopping Guide for Fall
• During my latest bout with geekiness, I put a couple of WorldWorksGames buildings in the middle of my train layout.
• Demon children want you to eat
• From the “It’s Probably Me…” file: What’s “wrong” with this picture?

  

  (Hint: Compared to the other items displayed, is it really “news” that someone’s not going to be a judge on American Idol next season?  How about if it’s someone that we’d barely heard of before she became an AI judge?!)

• Flying Cars? Conveyor Belts? The Future of I-95
• How to Wear White after Labor Day
• The NFL 2010 season starts on Thursday!

If I’m up early enough, should I go to the driving range tomorrow morning…?

Namaste.

Saturday – 04 September 2010
Day 2 of the 4-day weekend is upon us.
It started out rather lazily – sleeping in and then stretching out on the sitting room sofa and reading comics. I’d pretty much call that a “win-win” start to the day.

Yesterday was a fairly lazy day. The morning was uneventful. A little before lunchtime, I headed down to visit Kate and Perry and the kids (or at least the kids who weren’t in school…). From there, I headed downtown to shoot a spot for an upcoming USUO video for new Thierry Fischer, the symphony’s new Music Director. It was fun. We’ll see if I make it into the final video or wind up on the cutting room floor. Then, I headed over to the USUO offices to say “Hi” to SaraRules.

Then, I did something that I haven’t done in over 25 years: I bought a new train set. (Yes, I do have a LEGO train set, but that was purchased for me.) My new acquisition was the Lionel Chessie System Merger Special Freight Set. Growing up in Maryland, Chessie System was the ‘road that I grew up around. (That and Norfolk and Western, to some degree.) Pictures of the unboxed set can be seen here.

To say that it’s “a little difficult” to find Chessie locomotives and rolling stock around here (Union Pacific territory) would be a minor understatement. Something that I didn’t realize before getting the itch to get back into model railroading – but makes perfect sense – is that hobby shops carry ‘roads that are appropriate to their geographic location. Therefore, I can find UP and BNSF stock with no problem, but finding things that are more common east of the Mississippi is a little more scarce… unless you special order them, in most cases.

Leaving The Train Shoppe, I gave a call to see if he wanted to come over and watch a few episodes of I Love Toy Trains that I’d recorded. He did. And, thus, we did. One of the episodes featured a layout owned by Tony Lash, that takes up over 2,800 square feet.  (Transcript of the show can be read here. You should read the first few paragraphs, at least.)

Two-thousand eight-hundred square feet.

I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.

Just to put it into a little better perspective: His layout is larger than our house. Yeah, it’s that big. And it was AMAZING. Seriously.

After watching ILTT, it was time to head out for evening entertainment — SaraRules and her dad went off for a “daddy-daughter date” to see Machete (which she said was pretty awesome), while and I headed off to Clitorati. We had a good turnout; by the time we went to get dinner, there were 15 of us.

When we got back home, I unpacked the track, transformer and locomotive from the Chessie set and assembled it in the family room. And I was immediately transformed into an eight-year-old kid again. Yep, just watching the locomotive going around the oval elicited that much nostalgia… and was that much fun.

Stray Toasters

• Death in Space
• Invoice cake sent to People.com
• TRENDING: How Christians spoil sex
• Seven Famous Movie Flaws That Were Explained in Deleted Scenes
• 
• The physics of breaking stuff with your fists
• What are the perils of being a lefty?
• No, Facebook Places Is Not Tracking You
• Best Exploitation Flicks: Machete‘s Over-the-Top Ancestors
• Zombies get “red light camera” tickets, too
• “East Meets West”: flying carpet sofa

And with that, time to find some trouble to get into!

Namaste.

Friday – 03 September 2010
It’s my 9/80 “off” Friday.
I consider that a good way to kick off a long weekend.

Last night was rather quiet and low-key. The highlights included: Mowing the yard and watching more of Mad Men, season 2. I’ve been trying to follow a tip I saw on DIY Network (I really watch that channel FAR too much…) and have been cutting the grass in different directions each time I mow. The landscaping in the front yard makes it… difficult… but I persevere. The back yard isn’t nearly as annoying to mow, fortunately. And, I also got the mower back behind the gazebo — there was a LOT of ivy/ground cover growth — to see what I was dealing with back there.  Uneven ground. A couple of stumps. A raised planter box.   Yeah, it needs a little attention.  We’ll see what we can do about that.

Stray Toasters

• I just finished chatting with my mother… on Facebook. She seems to be enjoying retirement… for the most part.
• USUO 2010 Fourth Annual Web Sale
• Cinnamon Chip Bread for breakfast!  WIN!
• The crap we put up with getting on and off an airplane
• 
• Preschoolers being radio-tagged
• The Ravens played the Rams last night… and lost. I didn’t see the game, as it wasn’t televised, but ESPN’s Game Center told the tale of the tape.  And these reporters’ comments clarified any further questions. Oh, well… at least the regular season starts soon.
• 
• August jobs report: Signs of life for employment
• Homeroom Security: book about the insanity of zero-tolerance classroom policies
• From the “WAY Too Much Free Time” file comes: Keith Goldman builds Logan’s Run

Time to see what kind(s) of trouble I can get into today…

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 September 2010
Another NBN Thursday kicks off.
And it also kicks off a four-day weekend, as today is my “Technical Friday.”
Maybe I’ll leave a little early to get a jump on the long weekend…

Today also marks the anniversary of the first use of an ATM in the United States.

Last night was Game Night with and Jack and company. It was fun, but our party got our collective recta handed to us, for the most part. Not zesty. We survived, but it was touch-and-go for a while.

After the game – and a stop at Home Depot, to pick up a hacksaw – I headed home and read the day’s four-color haul. It was a good way to wrap up the day.

Stray Toasters

• The art of James Hance
• Leaders Call for Peace as Mideast Talks Begin
• I just found out that a coworker of mine – one whom I like – is… a Steelers fan.
  I’m not sure if we can be friends anymore.
• I Lost 100 Pounds (And Found Out What the World Thinks of Fat People)
• Tony Blair on Clinton, Bush and the American Character
  

  Americans can be all that the rest of the world sometimes accuses them of: brash, loud, insular, obsessive and heavy-handed. But America is great for a reason. It is looked up to, despite all the criticism, for a reason. There is a nobility in the American character that has been developed over the centuries, derived in part, no doubt, from the frontier spirit, from the waves of migration that form the stock, from the circumstances of independence, from the Civil War, from a myriad of historical facts and coincidences. But it is there.

• New River Gorge Bridge attraction not for the faint of heart
• 35 New Hidden Logos of 2010 – Messages Revealed!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Trapped Chilean Miners Denied Pay While Underground
• 
• Young, Single & Childless: Women Who Earn More Than Men
• Fall Clothing for Men: 21 of Your Most Pressing Fall Style Problems, Solved
• F.C.C. Seeks More Input on Wireless Internet Rules
• Annihilating the Ivories: A Solo Piano Workout Mix

Meetings! Yay!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 September 2010
A new month begins.

Today is Comics (and maybe Sushi) Wednesday.

Today also marks the 36th anniversary of the The SR-71 Blackbird setting the record for flying from New York to London in the time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds… a record it still holds.

Last night, most of the Clitorati crew met at Desert Edge Brewery for dinner with , Michael and Hannah. It was a nice to see her – and meet Michael and Hannah – even if only for a couple hours. I had the Paella-style Chicken and Sausage Pasta, which was very good.

This morning finds me in the south office. I had a meeting with the landlord and the sbuilding manager about some changes that we’d like to make in our server room. I mentioned two ideas that we had considered; they countered with a variation on one of those plans… that might be somewhat less expensive than we had originally thought. We’ll see how their quote looks when it comes in.

Stray Toasters

• I broke out my grey glen-plaid suit this morning. White shirt. Blue/black/white tie. White pocket square. I’ve been getting the usual “Are you bucking for a raise/promotion” questions. I’ve been countering with “No, I have a meeting with my bishop.” The quizzical looks – since pretty much everyone down here knows that I’m not LDS – have been totally worth it.
• knew that I’ll probably never be a Browns or Indians fan… but I can give their home city a warm nod, if for no other reason than this: Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman
• Lovecraft is missing, and all R’lyeh breaks loose
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: NFL player Troy Polamalu gets $1m hair insurance
• Chewbacca, Han Solo and R2D2 drawn as if part of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh
• In New York Ballet Companies, Corps Is a Thrill
• I like how this garage-to-office conversion turned out.
• 
• Wesley Snipes Was Almost Geordi LaForge
• After Years of War, Few Iraqis Have a Clear View of the Future
• The Wilderness Downtown – this comes by way of . It is a very cool blending of technologies. Put in the real address that it asks for – it’s totally worth it. And don’t close any of the windows that pop up!
• 8 Surprising Household Deodorizers
• Method to Grade Teachers Provokes Battles

Namaste.

Monday – 30 August 2010
Today is both a Monday and a rainy day.
I think that the only “win” to be found here is that it’s a short work week. Despite that, here’s Today’s View:

This past weekend was good. It was equal parts fun/productive and lazy. Saturday, I ran a ‘Clix tournament at Dr. Volt’s. (Pictures here) The theme was “Family Reunion,” wherein each team had to have at least two (2) figures that were related to each other. It made for some interesting teams. I went with a Wonder Woman-themed team:

Wonder Woman (Diana Prince)
(gallery bb-figure-018)

Wonder Girl (Donna Troy, Diana’s sister)
(gallery cr-figure-038)

Wonder Woman (Artemis)
(gallery jl-figure-037)

They held up rather well, going 2-1.  (It didn’t really matter too much as I was just playing bye rounds, but it was still fun.) And, I got to use my new WW figure, to boot… which I need to get a good picture of.

Saturday evening, I fired up the grill and cooked burgers. We ate under the gazebo. It was good. Later, we ran a quick errand to Hobby Lobby – we were looking for frames for the artwork we bought at the Park City Arts Festival. We also ran into Sinister and his wife, while at the ‘Lobby. He told me of a possible monkey wrench in our Sunday plans, so we made a contingency plan.

That night, we watched The Dirty Dozen. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it and SaraRules had never seen it, so I added it to my Netflix queue a few weeks ago. Halfway through the movie, we stopped for a snack intermission. While scooping ice cream, I had a niggling suspicion about the movie…

… I went back downstairs to confirm or deny it.

Myth: Confirmed
Yep, I had bought the movie a few months ago.
*facepalm*

We laughed about it, as we started watching the second half of the movie, which was quite awesome.

Sunday, I got a call from Sinister correcting part of the mix-up from Saturday evening’s conversation. The original plans were for he, Jeremiah, and I to meet at Chris’ for a big JLA-Avengers ‘Clix match. Jeremiah wasn’t able to make it, so we had to call for a stunt double…

…and our stunt double had a conflict.

…so we called in a second stunt double, Johnny. He was able to fill in and save the day.

…and, thus, we gamed.  Sinister and Johnny played the JLA – and a well-fielded JLA, at that – while Chris and I played The Avengers. 2,400 point game. There were good (and bad) dice rolls from both sides of the table. When we finished – we had a time limit – Chris and I had managed to beat down most of the JLA’s big guns and were working clean-up duty on the rest; I lost four of my nine figures, while Chris lost no one. Good game.

Back at home, SaraRules had prepared a nice stew-like dish, served over polenta. It was very good and also marked the first time that I’d had polenta, to my knowledge. After dinner, we watched George Romero’s Survival of the Dead. It was… disappointing. Even SaraRules commented,”That sucked.”

We cleansed our entertainment palates by watching a couple of episodes of Mad Men, Season 2. That helped immensely.

Instant Replay: Football
The Ravens took on the Giants on Saturday. I didn’t get to see the game, but I did keep track of it via NFL.com’s Game Center. And the Ravens pulled out a big win over the Giants, 24 -10.

Stray Toasters

• Revisiting Black History on Martha’s Vineyard
• Three months until Burn Notice returns…
• Too Few Women in Tech? Stop Blaming Men
• This kid, at the 2010 Baltimore Comic Con, could be in my Corps any day:



• Original Kermit the Frog puppet donated to Smithsonian
• Hip-Hop History, Recreated by Those Who Invented It
• Parts of the valley are starting to look like locations from Stephen King’s The Mist.
• 
• Protest at military funeral ignites a test of free speech
• Clean People Feel Morally Superior
• 7 Inconsistencies in ‘The Fresh Prince’

Namaste.

Thursday – 26 August 2010
It’s Thursday. I was informed of something that might push the day outside of the “NBN” envelope. That – coupled with who told me and what they told me – bring the phrase “People suck” quickly to mind… and serves as a reminder that some people practically beg to be curb-stomped.

Despite this, I shall try to maintain an NBN Thursday state of mind.
(As opposed to a New York State of Mind.)

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Pawit’s Royale Thai for dinner. As always, the food was very good. We started with their Por Pia Sod spring rolls (most excellent) and I had Pad Thai for my entree, while SaraRules had a salad whose name escapes me.

After dinner, it was back home for couch-time with comics! Yesterday’s haul was pretty good. I am really enjoying Justice League: Generation Lost, a “reunion” of sorts of the Justice League International. Another good storyline has been the new Wonder Woman. J. Michael Straczynski has done a good job of reinventing the character (even if people aren’t fond of her new costume). And the Legion made two appearances this month — in their own title and also in Superman/Batman #75.

After reading about superheroes, I went back to work on my HeroClix Wonder Woman mod. The new figure from The Brave and the Bold is… boring:

(gallery bb-figure-018)

So, I decided to try and make something a little more… dynamic.  I’m combining two figures:

Phantom Girl, from the Legion of Super-Heroes Starter Set

(gallery ls-figure-005)

…and Mary Marvel, from Crisis:

(gallery cr-figure-041)

I should (hopefully) have pictures to share of the finished product soon.

Stray Toasters

• Blogging and Tweeting, Egyptians Push for Change
• Jo Chen’s Wonder Woman Pencils from Her Mystery Project Astound
• Trader Joe’s: Successful, but Secretive
• Looking at Islamic Center Debate, World Sees U.S.
• The best way to get back at your superhero ex: Become a supervillain

(Plan B, by Mitz)

• I like this layout.
• Tutorial: Creating a Retro Sci-Fi Poster
• Interview with “Love and Capes” creator, Thom Zahler
• Sci-fi movie posters from an alternate universe
• It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned him, but I really like Brian Bolland’s artwork. Check out this cover he did for the upcoming Zatanna #5:

• “Wheelchair of Death”
• Geek Art Loves Daniel Clark
• And another work emergency arises.  I think that we understand the problem, now it’s just a matter of arriving at a solution.

Time to save the world… again.

Namaste

Wednesday – 25 August 2010
It’s midweek, which means it’s Comics (and maybe Sushi) Day!
The “and maybe” is because the usual suspects all seemed to have punked out today. Oh, well.

Today is also ‘s birthday:

Last night, SaraRules and I had a lazy night about the house. I worked on a HeroClix mod, while she read. After a bit, we gathered to finish up Season one of Mad Men. (Sidebar: I think I may have just had an item from Season 2 or 3 item spoiled for me. Bah!) I went back to working on my figure, but somehow wound up starting to organize the past… year-and-a-half’s comics, which had neither rhyme nor reason to how they were being stored.

NOTE: About two years ago, SaraRules spent nearly a full week organizing my comics. There were something like 2,500 when she did. And that number doesn’t include the nearly… 3,500+… others still on the east coast. (Although, I think that some of those are in some semblance of “order.”) She did a bang-up job, too.

The problem with starting to organize the comics last night was: I started close to midnight and got sidetracked by reading a few. D’oh! And, after calling it quits for the night, I went back to working on my mod. Yeah, it made for a late night/early morning.

Stray Toasters

• I have just run out of my Honey Nut Cheerios stash at work. This must be rectified. But, I was at least able to get a full bowl of cereal before it ran out.
• Vienna Philharmonic’s Summer Night Concert 2010 is being broadcast tonight on PBS. (Check local listings for time)
• After Mozart’s Death, an Endless Coda
• I have found an event I can totally get behind: Saturday is Read Comics in Public Day.



• Here’s another event… but neither I nor my Green Lantern costume will be in L.A. on Friday.
• What your email address says about your computer skills
• The Term Life Insurance Blog has a number of informative – and highly amusing – infographics.
• Exhibit brings Hendrix, Handel together in London
• 
• Eastern States Dominate in Winning School Grants
• The Legacy of Hurricane Katrina
• Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime

Namaste.

Tuesday – 24 August 2010
aLast night, SaraRules and I went to her parents’ house for dinner (homemade chicken pot pie = WIN!) and football: Arizona Cardinals at Tennessee Titans. For a preseason game, it was a pretty good game… if you’re a Tennessee fan. They worked on both sides of the ball. And worked well. Vince Young looked good in the game, much more composed and poised in the pocket and able to make decent connections with his backs and receivers. They’ll be a team to watch this season.

On the other side of the field, the Cardinals still looked like a team trying to figure out who they are without Kurt Warner. Matt Leinart couldn’t get anything going in the three series that he played. Former Cleveland QB Derek Anderson looked decent, but wasn’t able to put together a scoring drive either. Former BYU QB Max Hall looked rather solid and put together the Cards’ only TD-scoring drive. It will be interesting to see how the team fares with their star receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, back in the game after his knee heals.

After the game, SaraRules and I headed home and wound up the evening with a couple of episodes of Mad Men. We are both enjoying the show quite a bit.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
I have had a couple of teachers and administrators in the family and a few of my close friends are teachers, as well. Teachers often get blamed for all of the ills – perceived and actual – in the halls of our schools, but seldom get the credit for trying to do the right thing for their students. (Drive to Overhaul Low-Performing Schools Delayed, NYTimes) I have both heard and seen first-hand how they deal with students and some of their students’ issues.

Case in point: I was talking with one of these friends earlier and he gave me the Cliff’s Notes version of one of the problems a student of his was facing — it was more “mountain” than “mole hill.” He told me that the student wound up literally crying over the situation.

What many people don’t realize is that teachers – at least the ones that I consider “good teachers” – don’t just shut out their students when the afternoon bell rings. They don’t just see their jobs as ending when the last school bus pulls out of the lot. They get involved. They do what they can to be supportive of their students. In short: They care.

If only more people cared about the teachers and administrators who spend time with their children…

Workout
I have no idea what yesterday’s step count was, as I broke the pedometer as I was heading home from work. Bah. I might have to look into getting another one.

Stray Toasters

• I would ask if it’s too early for office monkeys… but I don’t think that there’s such a thing as “too early” where they are concerned. Unfortunately.
• I discovered this song, by Cee Lo yesterday. It’s definitely NSFW, but it is also pretty damned good:
• Scant Progress in Effort on Old Racial Killings
  

  “Everybody put me on the back burner for years and years,” said Mr. Allen’s son, Henry C. Allen, 65. He had hoped the cold case initiative would change things, but said the response has been slow. He said the legwork had been done. “Here’s the people you can contact, here’s their phone number, here’s their address,” he said. “I don’t have the authority to go knock on their door, but you do — and it still don’t get done.”

• By way of Nyx: Koala survives highway ride wedged in car
• Why Coffee Is Getting More Expensive
• Of Mosques and Men: a new Liberty Street message
• lightning != lightening
  • light·ning (noun)
    1: the flashing of light produced by a discharge of atmospheric electricity; also : the discharge itself

    2: a sudden stroke of fortune

  • light·en (verb)
    light·ened | light·en·ing
    1: to make light or clear : illuminate
    2: archaic : enlighten
    3: to make (as a color) lighter
• 
• 1980s T-shirts
• Another addition to The Covet List: WorldWorksGames’ Mayhem: Under Construction
• New Orleans Levees Nearly Ready, but Mistrusted
• A couple of songs about a certain midwestern state:
  • Rockapella: Indiana
  • Jackson Five: Goin’ Back to Indiana
• Nordstrom Links Online Inventory to Real World

Namaste.

Monday – 23 August 2010
Back in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain again.
Back at work again.
And, for some it’s “back to school” day.   (Students, Welcome to College; Parents, Go Home)
(I didn’t encounter any school buses on the morning commute, though.)

We got back from Idaho last night. The trip was fun. (Click here for pictures.) And, it was the warmest and driest of the three trips to Redfish Lake that I’ve taken with the in-laws. I consider that a major win. That… and the fact that we had a cabin this time, rather than just tents. I was especially glad to be indoors when, on the second day, the campground manager was going around telling people that there had been a bear IN the campground the night before.

This year, I also took my bike. (The same bike that’s been languishing, unused, for the past two years.) I went for a short ride on Friday evening – about 3 or 4 miles. It felt pretty good. Saturday, while the family fished on the Yankee Fork River, I decided to take the bike and head further into the canyon. My intention was to head for either the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge or Custer, the town just beyond the dredge.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Just as I started, a snake slithered under my bike. (Most people who know me know that I am NOT a fan of snakes. At. All.) I was proud of myself for not squealing like a little girl. (Very proud, actually.) But, perhaps I should have taken the sign as a portent of how the ride might go…

Part of the way down the road, I realized that my memories of where the dredge was, relative to where the family was fishin, did not coincide with the actual geography. Nor did it jibe with the topography. However, I did come to realize – or at least be strongly reminded of – a few things:

1. I haven’t ridden my bike – or done much cardio – in a long time and thus am “a little” out of shape.
2. I am not fond of uphill rides… especially when I am out of shape.
3. I am not fond of riding into headwinds.

Any of those three things is “not fun.”
All three things together had me sucking wind by the time I hit the first (and not very tall) hill.

I nearly called it quits halfway up. I decided to stick it out and make it up the hill. Once there, I figured that it couldn’t be too much further to the dredge. I was right… more or less. But, that also added another (minor) uphill climb on the return trip. I reached the dredge and turned around; that was a 4.5-mile trek in. The headwind on the way back was not fun. But… I made it.

Saturday, SaraRules and I also visited the nearby Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. That was pretty neat. After that, it was back to the campsite to meet up with the family and decide what to do about dinner.  We opted to go into town; we ate at Sawtooth Luce’s, a pizzeria and sub shop. The pizza was good — the sauce reminded me of Garcia’s pizza back in West Lafayette. After that, it was back to the campsite for roasted marshmallows and general hanging out before heading back to the cabin for bed. And a shower. Oh, blessed indoor running water…

Sunday, we got the cabin and the campsite cleaned up and said our farewells to Redfish Lake and Stanley, ID.  SaraRules and I headed back through Sun Valley (and a brush or forest fire), while the others headed back through Challis and Arco — they wanted to get in a little more fishing.

Last night, SaraRules and I also watched The Losers, based on the DC/Vertigo title of the same name. We both enjoyed it, although I’m curious to read the TPBs and see how the story and/or the characters differed from their four-color print counterparts. (Added Bonus: I’ve noticed that I’ve been enjoying Chris Evans‘ acting, from the Fantastic Four movies to Push to Scott Pilgrim to this.)

All-in-all, it was a good (though brief) vacation.
And, waking up for the alarm – and the return to work – this morning was not exactly “fun.”

Workout
Friday’s step count: 3,600-something.
Saturday’s step count: 9,394
Sunday’s step count: 3203

I’m not sure about the actual counts for Friday and Saturday, as they included bike rides and I’m not sure exactly how well the pedometer tracked motion for those rides.

Stray Toasters

• By way of comes these cute costumes for a set of twins.
• Great documentary films for younger viewers
• Improv Everywhere: Black Tie Beach
• A Hotel Where Some Guests Have Been Dead for Years
• 
• By way of my friend, Peggy: Kirby: Intolerance, not atheism, is dooming America
• The Open Road Wasn’t Quite Open to All
• Saboteur: A fashion makeover for Silicon Valley

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 August 2010
It’s the NBN Thursday before my 9/80 “off” Friday…
…which is only made better by the fact that I’m working a half-day. Boo-yah!

Today is also, apparently, National Aviation Day.  Who knew?!

Last night was D&D game night with and Jack. It was fun. We had a “somewhat socially awkward” member in our group.  (Yeah, yeah, I know.  “Socially awkward” and “game-playing geek” pretty much go together like Ronald McDonald and Grimace.)  *shrug* It happens.

BUT… the “best” part of the evening was catching sight of one of the players at another table…

…dressed in a white shirt and black pants (okay, so far)…

…and, um, “adorned” with glitter.

Yeah. Glitter. All over his arms and a TON of it on his face. “Go, Team Edward.”  We weren’t quite sure if it was sad or hysterically funny. (We went with “hysterically funny,” just to be safe.)

Post-gaming, I hit up the local blue-and-yellow electronics purveyor to get my copy of City of Heroes: Going Rogue. I looked at a few other things, too, but managed to subdue the urge to walk away with “one of everything.”

Back at home, I found SaraRules and Meliko hanging out. Other than pictures, Meliko hadn’t seen the house, so she’d come over to check it out. She approved. *whew* We took her home (i.e.: “dropped her off at the in-laws’ place”) and visited with the ‘rents for a bit.

Workout
Wednesday’s step count: 4,409

Stray Toasters

• I have not yet read yesterday’s four-color shwag, so don’t go giving away spoilers. Thank you.
• American Lives: James Baldwin, “Lifting the Veil”
  

  The writer James Baldwin once made a scathing comment about his fellow Americans: “It is astonishing that in a country so devoted to the individual, so many people should be afraid to speak.” As an openly gay, African-American writer living through the battle for civil rights, Baldwin had reason to be afraid — and yet, he wasn’t. A television interviewer once asked Baldwin to describe the challenges he faced starting his career as “a black, impoverished homosexual,” to which Baldwin laughed and replied: “I thought I’d hit the jackpot.”

• Who Elected Me Mayor? I Did – an interesting article about Foursquare
• Of the items from The Covet List that I noted yesterday, I not only picked up CoH: Going Rogue, but also the Dark Phoenix statue. Two down, three to go…
• Medevac industry opposing upgrades wanted by NTSB
• What would a steampunk smartgun/smartgun link look like?
• Hindu Deities Conjure Magic in Movement Downtown
  



• For New Orleans cops, scandals linger
• Illinois Unconvinced Corruption Culture Will Fade
• Drug Made Infamous by Date Rapes Gets Second Look for Fibromyalgia
• 
• Towns block chain restaurants to save charm
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: American to Charge for Easy On/Easy Off Planes
  (Or, as the original link put it:  “Stupidest Airline Fee Ever? ‘Express Seats’ Gets Our Vote”)

Namaste.

Tuesday – 17 August 2010
It’s another good-looking day here in the valley.

And, because it was playing on the radio, during this morning’s commute:

Last night, and his son, Josh, came over to watch football and play with LEGO, respectively. We watched the Giants take on the Jets at the New Meadowlands Stadium, home to both teams — last night, the Jets were the “home” team. Both teams looked good, but the Giants seemed a little more hungry for the win… or perhaps they were just out for revenge after the hit that QB Eli Manning took near the end of the first half. Either way, the Giants came away with the win: 31-16.

Workout
Monday’s step count: 4,648

Stray Toasters

• My sister-in-law is coming to town tonight; I need to find some suitable four-color print entertainment for her.
• I also need to figure out what’s wrong with the water cannon sprinkler in the front yard – it’s not working properly. I spent about ten minutes last night trying to suss it out in the dark. Yay for home ownership!
• 
• astronautdinosaur.com – The Art of Scott Listfield
• Where Have All the Giant Robots Gone?
• Dress Code: When You’re Sick of All Your Clothes
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Rochdale man ‘took 200 fireworks on US plane”
• 
• Study finds fraud, abuse in MD energy program
• Musical Interlude:
  • Museum Acquires Storied Trove of Performances by Jazz Greats
  • Your Favorite ‘Great Unknowns’ in Jazz
• Dexter Has Nothing on These Serial Killers
• U.S. Said to Plan Easing Rules for Travel to Cuba

Namaste.

Monday – 16 August 2010
Another work week begins.
At least it’s a great-looking day out there.
And there’s football tonight.

Today’s musical selections come by way of songs heard on the morning commute:

No Doubt – Just a Girl

Oingo Boingo – Weird Science

Yesterday, SaraRules, and I went to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It was a LOT of fun. I’d say that it was one of the best geek movies I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever. SaraRules said that “…it looked the way I would expect a comic book to be translated into a movie.” I’m not a huge Michael Cera fan – he’s a little like Will Ferrell to me, very hit or miss – but I really enjoyed him as Scott Pilgrim. It was also amusing to see Brandon Routh as one of Ramona’s “Seven Deadly Exes,” and a “super” one at that. It nearly made me laugh out loud when he was flying. All-in-all, it was a fine bit of summer cinema.

After the movie – and after I spent a little time in Paragon City – we headed to the in-laws’ for dinner and a movie. Sunday dinners with the family are made additionally fun by some of the stories told over the dinner table. After dinner, we watched Kick-Ass, which was just as enjoyable this time as it was the first time we saw it.

Workout
Sunday’s step count: 3,640

Stray Toasters

• Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: $76k for emergency appendectomy
• Major archeological find at site of Civil War prison
  (Mjolnir?  Cap’s shield?  The Ultimate Nullifier?   Oh, wait… wrong Civil War.)
• Use Coffee Grounds to Clean Sticky Tools
• My Darker Competitive Side
• 14 Warm Weather Style Tips: Use Now, Repeat All Summer

Namaste.