Random Access

Thursday – 08 July 2010
Good NBN Comics Thursday!

Last night, SaraRules and I met her parents and aunt and uncle for an evening at Abravanel Hall. Utah Symphony was putting on a ZAP (Zoo, Arts and Parks) concert, benefitting The Road Home. The Symphony performed an encore presentation of their Patriotic Celebration concert. It was quite good. After the concert, we – along with – headed over to Capo Gelateria for gelato. Nice way to cap off the evening.

Today has been relatively uneventful, not to say that it hasn’t been busy-ish. And meetings. Yay!

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 6,458

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been looking at Wikipedia for storylines from DC and Marvel to (hopefully) give me more team ideas for this weekend’s tournament. I discovered that I can actually pull off a few variant teams that could be fun to play… assuming that I actually wind up playing bye rounds.
• made a comment about being “Espresso powered” this morning.
  I think that makes him “Coffeepunk.”
• Printing in 3D
• Someone in the neighborhood near the office has a blimp. Not Goodyear-sized; this one is more like something you’d see at a basketball or football game — maybe about 10 to 12-feet-long.  Still, it was odd seeing it in the air this morning.
• Is THE LAST AIRBENDER Shyamalan’s Last Chance?

  

• SETEC ASTRONOMY
• The Sartorialist
• Thanks to for posting a link to M.C. Escher in LEGO
• eBacon != virtual Kevin Bacon
• 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling

Namaste.

Friday – 02 June 2010
It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday, but it should be even more of a ghost town around here than usual, being a holiday weekend and all.

Timecards: Approved.
Issue Tracker: Checked.

There are a few other things I need to do today, too… but motivation to do them is hard to find.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to see The Last Airbender.

There’s been a lot of hullaballoo as to whether M. Night Shamalamadingdong Shyamalan could:

1. …pull his head/ego out of his ass and direct a solid film (The Sixth Sense was 10+ years ago, buddy.)
2. …pull his career out of a downward spiral or
3. …do both

I’m not entirely sure that this is the movie in which he does that… but he seemed to be trying. Somewhat. The acting was rough in too many places. SaraRules noted that Sokka didn’t get as many humorous/sarcastic quips in the movie as he did in the series. And, for a man who’s directed young actors — and for more mature actors who have been in a number of productions — there didn’t seem to be a consistent hand guiding the action at times. They had to rush through a lot of things, of course trying to compress twenty-two 30-minute episodes into an hour and forty minutes kind of dictates that.

That said, I actually enjoyed the movie. The effects were quite good. I think that they conveyed the weight of Aang’s burden a little more realistically in this movie than in “Book One” of the series. (Take that last sentence with a grain of salt: I’m the same guy who thinks that Ang Lee did a good job of explaining what Bruce Banner is eight kinds of jacked up – before he became big, green and destructive – in 2003’s Hulk.)

Was this a perfect movie? No.
Was it a good movie?  Yes.
Why? Because it was entertaining.

To be honest, I think that bringing the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender to life would have been a daunting task for any director to undertake. There are certain expectations that people have with favorite characters and stories. I also think that this movie suffered from the “double whammy” of:

1. Since this is based on a cartoon, people expected it to have the same light tone of the cartoon. It didn’t. And, I don’t think that was necessarily a “bad” thing.
2. M. Night Shyamalan as the writer/director. Audiences haven’t been happy with his films since… Signs, perhaps. (That’s unfortunate because The Lady in the Water really wasn’t a bad movie. I think that people just expected the then-usual “M. Night Shyamalan twist” near the end of the film and there wasn’t one.) I think that there’s been something of an expectation of failure – or at least some very serious trepidation – with this movie because his name is attached to it.

No director is going to get everything “just right” for everyone. No one. Joel Schumacher didn’t do it with his Batman movies. Bryan Singer didn’t do it with his X-Men or Superman movies. The various directors of the Harry Potter films left things out that annoyed some viewers. Sam Raimi didn’t with his Spider-Man movies, although he was doing alright until Spider-Man 3. Shyamalan didn’t do it with this one…

…but he got enough right for me.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4420

Stray Toasters

• I broke out the Ray Rice Pro Bowl jersey today. It’s red and white with a blue collar and has stars, for that pre-holiday patriotic touch.
• shirt.woot.com is not, in fact, selling the shirt I thought that they had brought back to the marketplace. Bah.
• Lady Gaga vs Ace of Base
• I have a couple of additions to The Covet List:
  • This and
  • This
• 30th Anniversary of Airplane and Don’t Call Me Shirley (An Airplane Quiz)
• By way of NPR Music: A Mix for America
• Mel Gibson’s new racist rant and Mel Gibson Reportedly Hurled Racial Slurs
• Base jumper survives parachute error

Namaste.

Wednesday – 30 June 2010
Today is Comics and Sushi Wednesday.

It is also the last day of June. That means that when the day is over, the year will be half over. It seems like it just started…

Last night, just after work, SaraRules and I had a surprise visit from her mother… and her grandparents. We knew that the grands were coming to town, but didn’t expect to see them until today. (Good thing that the house was fairly clean and straightened!) They were on their way home from dinner and, as we were on the way, they stopped in to see us. We sat around and chatted for a bit before they continued on.

A little later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to the Salt Lake Art Center for the opening of:

As described on the Salt Lake Art Center site:

As part of its summer programming, the Salt Lake Art Center is exhibiting Contemporary Masters: Artist-Designed Miniature Golf, 18 fully-playable works of contemporary art like you’ve never seen before. Contemporary Masters features original creations by top artists from Utah and around the nation that explore diverse ideas (the current immigration debate, the fragility of personal identity, and the meditative value of Donkey Kong) in equally diverse media, including woven fabrics, video installations, and shredded paper. Deftly exploring the intersection between art and play, Contemporary Masters reminds us that art can and should be a part of our everyday lives.

The exhibit runs all summer and the admission is free – the SLAC does accept donations in their lobby, though. Some of the holes are challenging, to say the least. It is a fun outing and a different way to look at – and experience – art.

When we got back home, SaraRules found Blindness – which was referenced in the article on dystopian 21st Century visions from Monday’s post – on Netflix’ Instant Queue. It was an odd movie. It started off with a man going spontaneously blind. The movie follows him – and others – as his affliction is visited upon others. Julieanne Moore stars as the lone protagonist who retains her sight, hiding this fact from those around her. This movie provides an interesting character study, as well as an interesting social commentary on how quickly things break down when the conventions to which we are accustomed no longer hold true.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4,302

Stray Toasters

• A few months ago, I had a catastrophic hard drive failure at work. On the “plus” side, I had another rig that I could move into the then-dead machine’s place. On the “minus” side, I lost a LOT of company email… or at least I thought I had. I was able to recover a good portion of the lost email. That is a “good” thing. Today, I found an “even better” thing: I was able to find and recover a year-and-a-half gap of mail that I thought was totally gone. Win!
• LEGO for Grownups (a TED talk)
• Sites that ban you from linking to them. Still. In 2010.
• DC Comics has proclaimed this “Wonder Woman Week,” as the Amazon princess’ title hits Issue #600 today. Along with this, new writer J. Michael Straczynski (as in “The guy who created Babylon 5“) is giving Diana a retconned background and a new costume, courtesy of Jim Lee:

  

  • The Source (DC Comic’s blog) also had an interesting essay from Wonder Woman’s most famous portrayer, Wonder Woman Can Save the World, by Lynda Carter, as part of the celebration
• Best Summer Dance Music
  Sidenote: I don’t get all the flak people are giving Lady Gaga/her music. She’s a bit outlandish, yes. Guess what: It’s a persona/image.  Deal with it. And as for the music?  It’s pop music… it’s supposed to be light, fun, and danceable.  If you’re looking for “deep meanings,” you’re barking up the wrong tree.
• Deliver Bad News in a Good Way
• Bad Day for Bengals, Steelers
• 
• 10 Great Racetracks as Seen from Space
• Here come the Men in Black…
• Mad Dash as Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Arrives
• Daly, Conroy Return in “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse”
• Since Eclipse just hit theatres, I figured I’d re-repost this:  Why Breaking Dawn Must Be Made into a Movie

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 June 2010

Another working day begins… although mine began a little later than usual. Since I wasn’t feeling 100% yesterday and last night, I decided to sleep in a bit this morning. And it was good.

Today is also, apparently, Camera Day.  With that in mind, here are a couple of shots from around the office:

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Citris Grill with the Pin-up Girl Espresso crew for a farewell dinner for Monica – one of the (former) baristas – who is moving to Oregon this week. I had the Wood Fired Chicken Breast, with roasted potatoes and green beans and a Guinness to wash it down. The food and the company were both quite good. Christy, another barista, attempted to put me on the spot at one point and asked: “Who makes the best frozen mocha?” I politely declined to answer. Hey, I don’t want someone putting “extra stuff” in my mochas from now on, because I said that someone else made a better mocha than they did. I might be a little crazy, but I’m not stupid. All told, it was a nice way to spend the evening… and we got to check out a new (to us) restaurant, to boot. Win-Win.

And, speaking of Pin-up Girl, Jim brought this back from Seattle over the weekend:

She’s a 1946 Pontiac. At some point, I’ll try to get some interior shots, too

Chew on This – Food for Thought: Foursquare

I’ve started… using/playing (?)… Foursquare. I would blame SaraRules, but I don’t like sleeping with one eye open. She has joked “There goes the marriage….” because I keep jockeying for her “mayor” position at Pin-Up Girl.

I’ve found Foursquare to be an interesting application/game. The “competition” of becoming mayor is kind of fun (and a bit silly, too), but the social aspects of the app are also interesting. For example: If you check in at a local haunt, Foursquare will notify your other Foursquare-unsing friends that you have checked in at Locatino X. That notification also includes the following: “Swing by and say hi!”  While that might not be the most appropriate thing to do, based on where a person is checking in, it is an easy way to set up impromptu gatherings – almost like a flash mob – if you’re heading to your favorite pub or coffee shop.

So far, it’s been fun. We’ll see how it goes.

Workout

Yesterday’s step count: 3,502

Stray Toasters

• I need to figure out “what pictures” are going “where” in my office.
• The Modern Slavery Problem
• MarknTyme posted a link to something that could be either incredibly awesome… or chock full of FAIL. Take a look at just what it is here. And for more information about it, go here. And, if that’s still not ringing a bell, see if this jogs your memory.
• posted a link to a cute video, shot and edited on an iPhone 4: Apple of My Eye.

  (Yes, this was pretty much an automatic “Win” for me, given the subject matter.)

• How bad are your past sins really?
• A few musical notes:
  • Snoop Dogg: Oh, Sookie
  • The Many Voices of Lauryn Hill
  • Gogol Bordello: Tiny Desk Concert
• 
• Owning a pet AT-AT walker is a ridiculously heartwarming experience
• Secret Stash 2010
• Officers claim they don’t need law to stop photographer taking pictures

Namaste.

Friday – 18 June 2010
It’s almost the weekend. Hallelujah.
And, for the record: I’m in love on the other days of the week, too.

Yesterday was delightfully NBN-tastic. I couldn’t have asked for a less-bothersome day if I tried. As an added bonus, I went to lunch with coworkers to celebrate someone’s birthday. We went to The Dodo. I had their French Dip Sandwich, with a salad and their sinfully delicious Caramel Coffee Cake for dessert. Talk about “food coma-inducing.” After work, I hung out with Perry for a bit before meeting SaraRules for dinner. The night wrapped up with the new episode of Burn Notice.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Let’s hear it for stepfathers, too

This is a timely and poignant article. I had feelings similar to Justice Sears’ children when my mother first remarried. I was never a really outwardly rebellious kid, but there were often thoughts of “But, he’s not my father…” in the back of my head. And, I know that it caused “a few” odd looks when I would introduce people to “…my Mom and dad… and my mom and dad,” when both sets of my parents would show up at events.

Over the years, I’ve come to not only accept my stepfather, but to appreciate and love him. This isn’t to say that we haven’t had our disagreements — that’s the occasional nature of parents and their children, but he has been a good husband to my mother, a good father to my sister (and myself) and an all-around good man to our family.

If you are part of a blended family, please don’t forget to take some time to call your stepfather, too, this Father’s Day.

And, now it’s time for the breakdown…
Today’s music mix – that’s right, today you get variety – includes songs that celebrate the end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend:

• Just Got Paid – Johnny Kemp
• A Couple Days Off – Huey Lewis and the News
• Weekend (C-4) - FLCL Soundtrack
• Working for the Weekend – Loverboy
• Weekend -Wet Willie
• The Weekend – Michael Gray

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3306

Stray Toasters

• I’m still digging the Evo.
  (The NES and Sega Genesis emulators I’ve found for it don’t hurt, either…)
• Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me Daily News Quiz
• 
• I’m so into you
  But I’m way too smart for you
  Even my henchmen think I’m crazy
  I’m not surprised that you agree
• Something more people need to think about: Rules for Using the ‘Reply All’ Button
• World’s Weirdest Hotels
• I discovered that the Kilowog figure I got the other day wasn’t the one I thought it was. And, to be honest, I think it’s better that I received the one I did — it’s more in scale with my other GLs.
• ‘So’ Pushes to the Head of the Line
• 
• MarknTyme sent me links to a couple of neat items:
  • Artist Builds Amazing Vintage Racer from Cardboard and Hot Glue
  • Man Builds Detailed Model Cars from Discarded Aluminum Cans
• I’ve been reading more of Teenagers from the Future… and, with one exception, I’ve really been enjoying it. The exception, an essay about architecture – which is ordinarily on interest to me, was incredibly dry and boring.
• FCC to tighten Internet rules

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 June 2010
So… it seems as though today is actually my mother’s last day of work.  She had told us “the 16th” when we visited last month, so that’s what I went with. *shrug* Whether it was yesterday, today (or even tomorrow), she’s put in nearly 40 years in the public education system, which is a long time to work in any one job.

I’m also hoping that today actually is an NBN Thursday. I think that last week’s deviation from the norm has affected this week… at least, that’s what I’m attributing the week’s problems to. Last night, SaraRules and I came home from work to find water in the basement. On the floor.

*braincramp*

It wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.  It appeared that the feed tube for the swamp cooler disconnected from the pipe that goes to the roof and sprayed over the floor in the unfinished portion of the basement. Fortunately, most of it stayed in the area where there’s a floor drain. Thank God.  The rest of the water flowed onto another part of the floor that goes under the stairs that lead to the main floor (concrete slab) and a little got onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs — about ten or so square feet of carpet.

*grblsnrkx*

I headed back to work to get the ShopVac that I had borrowed from my father-in-law, while SaraRules headed to Target to get a couple of fans. We vacuumed water out of the carpet and padding. Twice. Then, we set up the fans to dry things out. We’ll see how much – if any – vacuuming we need to do tonight.

All things being equal, I consider it no small blessing that the water was confined to a couple of areas and that the “damage” was not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 5,937

Human of the Day
My mother.

Stray Toasters

• This morning’s musical selection was co-selected by SaraRules:
• Oh, snap!
• By way of SaraRules: Redoing those ’80s ‘Dos
• ‘The Golden Ticket’ Is Finally Unwrapped
• The newest addition to my Green Lantern Corps arrived yesterday: Kilowog
  

  

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: B.C. school yearbooks to be reprinted after teacher cut out student’s photo
• Poster for a notional ‘Left 4 Dead’ movie
• 
• CD on one side, vinyl record on the other
• The Bell Tolls: Injuries, money factor in expanded NFL season

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 June 2010
Today is not only (Sushi and) Comics Wednesday.
Nor is it just my mother and stepfather’s anniversary.
Today also marks my mother’s last-day-EVER of teaching.

I hereby declare today “Triple-Win Wednesday”.
I also declare my mother today’s Human of the Day.  (Yes, I’m biased. But, it’s my blog; I’m allowed to be.)
And for today’s musical fare: Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine:

Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with the in-laws, including the brothers-in-law and Swiz. Grilled Salmon. Salad. Asparagus. Homemade rice pilaf. Mojitos. It was a good dinner, all around. And, for dessert, Logan and Swiz made mini-pecan tarts, which were very tasty.

Back at home, SaraRules and I enjoyed a quiet (read: “uneventful”) evening. After the headaches of Monday evening, it was a very welcome change of pace. We wound down the night with last Thursday’s episode of Burn Notice.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3,987

Stray Toasters

• There were numerous articles in the news yesterday about lightning striking the statue of Jesus near I-75 in Cincinnati yesterday. That reminded me of two things:
  1. Captain Marvel Jesus
  2. Big Butter Jesus
• I saw an ad on Facebook for Pretzel M&M’s which somehow led me to the thought “Pretzelcoatl.”
• ‘Godfather of the Dead’ George A. Romero Talks Zombies
• The new “Hope” trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released/leaked.
• Miniature sit-com sets
• After talking with the service techs who came to the house to work on the swamp cooler, I feel quite justified in my opinion that our home’s previous owners were perfectly satisfied to half-ass their way through a home “improvement” projects.
• Sperm whale feces ‘helps oceans absorb CO₂‘
• 
  
• Shortest-possible Monopoly game
• New FDA website lets public find drug safety info

Namaste.

Saturday: Coda
Today has been a very good day.
And, it’s not even over, yet.

This afternoon, and I had an excursion that took us up to Ogden. Or “b’Ogden,” as some people have referred to it. Ostensibly, we went to check out the Ogden Art Festival. What really happened was this:

We first went to a place called Wonderful World of Trains & Hobbies. It was located a small, remodeled house; most of the first floor had been turned into a store… with railroad layouts all over: Two shelf layouts; a middle-of-the-floor layout with six (6) tracks, done in three (3) different gauges; a small Lionel Thomas the Tank Engine layout on the floor for kids; and a couple of BRIO-scale Thomas the Tank Engine sets on the floor, just to the sides of the main entrance.  I think that I was able to wipe the drool from my chin before anyone else noticed.  I think.  They had something for just about every level of model railroading enthusiast:

• Garden (G) Scale
• O Scale
• S Scale
• HO Scale
• N Scale and even
• Z Scale.

and I spent nearly an hour just ogling the merchandise and being amazed at the variety of items displayed.  I found an old C&O caboose that I couldn’t pass up (partly because it would go decently with my engine and tender combo and partly because it’s rare/odd to find things with B&O/C&O/Chessie System road markings in the middle of Union Pacific territory). That also meant that I needed a section of track to display it on… which also meant that I needed a section of track for the Maryland boxcar I got at the Train Expo a few months back.

Dale, the employee on duty, was knowledgeable, courteous and friendly — an unfortunately rare combination to find in some hobby shops. Aside from the caboose and track, the place had many other items that would go nicely on The Covet List. If we hadn’t made it to anyplace else in Ogden, stopping in that store made the entire trip worthwhile.

From there, we headed up to Union Station. We dispensed with all pretense and immediately headed into Warren’s Train Shop, the model railroad shop in the station. Most (99.5%) of their items were HO Scale, which neither of us are looking to get into. That didn’t stop us from browsing, though.

After we finished there, we headed into the main part of the station to finally see the Arts Festival. It was a small affair, but there were some interesting pieces. Of particular note for me was a piece called Father, done by a high school student. It wasn’t that the painting was phenomenal or amazing (though it was very good), but it was the attached description that made the piece even more moving.

We came back to SLC to meet OnlyAly for dinner at the Midvalley Old Spaghetti Factory; I hadn’t eaten at an OSF in many years. I had the Italian Sausage with Meat Sauce over spaghetti. The dinner and the company were very good.

I should be preparing to finish sanding and painting the last wall, but that doesn’t sound particularly fun. Meh. It is something that needs to get done. So, I’ll do it. Soon. Or, in the words of St. Augustine:

…but not yet. Not yet.

Namaste.

Friday – 11 June 2010
It’s my 9/80 day off, thank Heaven.

Yesterday was… “a day.” Or, it might be more apropos to say that it was “half a day.” After we got a solution for the morning disaster in play, I stopped at Pin-up Girl Espresso to get my second – stronger – frozen mocha of the day. While waiting for it, I talked with Jim (Pin-up Girl’s owner) about how my morning had gone. He noted: “…there is no news that cannot be cured with a shot and a beer.” When I said that doing shots (and drinking beer) at the office was generally frowned upon, he suggested that I have them when I get home. I had decided more or less against taking the advice, as it was bound to be detrimental to my plans to paint later in the evening.

A short while later, called. She invited me out for dinner. And beer.  Right then. When the universe gives you not one but two signs that you should have a post-work beer, you might want to follow up on that. We met  at Hopper’s for dinner. And beer. And, it was good. , as always, proved an excellent dinner companion. We commiserated over how craptastic our days had been. It was a nice way to end the day.

After dinner, I came home. I remembered to water SaraRules’ garden, as she had asked. While I was outside, I also took a look at the… landscaping… in the front yard and tried to figure out how best to execute our plans for it without simply leveling the whole thing and starting over from scratch. I have a couple of ideas. (And none of them require – or even include – “commercially unavailable” explosives or corrosives.  Maybe next time…) I’m just not sure when we’ll move from the “theory” phase to the “practical application” phase.

Back inside, I moved the DVD cases back onto the family room’s north wall and started moving furniture so that I could paint the west wall. That’s about the time that I remembered that there were a couple of spots on that wall that needed some pre-painting TLC. I attended to them as best I could, but that also meant that I couldn’t paint that wall, as I needed the spackle to dry first. *sigh* Okay… two walls get painted today (or tomorrow).

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4308

Stray Toasters

• I talked with my sister-in-law (Sib-3’s wife) last night. It appears that they are expecting their second child later this year.
• Guess who’s wearing their black jerseys for three home games this year…
  Here’s a hint:



• Is it a bad sign that I’m actually enjoying some of the new books that Marvel Comics is putting out during “The Heroic Age?” Granted, the X-books have been good, but I’d almost sworn off of all Avengers-related titles. And now… they’re… good. (There’s got to be a catch or a “Gotcha!” coming soon…)
• Diversity in the USA: A county-by-county map
• O-E-O-E-O!
• I’m not sure where this falls, with respect to coolness or over-the-top geekiness, but it definitely pings on the Weird-Shit-o-Meter: By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon with special guest George Takei (.pdf)
  Let’s go over that again, one piece at a time:
  • An evening of Shakespeare… Okay, good.
  • An evening with George Takei… Also good.
  • An evening of Shakespeare with special guest, George Takei… Still doing fine.
  • An evening of Shakespeare in Klingon with special guest, George Takei… YeahbuhWHAT?!?
• I missed Burn Notice, because I thought it came on at 2300 MST, rather than 2200 MST. Fortunately, I had the DVR set for “Season Recording,” so I can still catch it.
• 
  • …and in a related note: She-Ra Figure, from MattyCollector.com
• Army inquiry finds 211 graves mishandled at Arlington Cemetary
• Hey, Microsoft…? When are you going to have a rectal craniotomy and figure out how and when to get a Blu-Ray drive into XBox 360 owners’ hands?
• Is This the Craziest Bridge Ever Designed?
  And, what happens at high tide?
• Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi–bobbidi–boo
• Not all the oil in the Gulf is coming from BP’s spill
• I’ve picked up Teenagers from the Future again, after a rather lengthy hiatus.  I’m still enjoying it.

And, with that, I’m off to meet Perry for coffee.

Live long and prosper.

Thursday – 10 June 2010
Happy birthday to my kid sister, Kristen!

I say “kid sister,” as opposed to “little sister,” because she’s about 4″ taller than me. Because of our age difference, there was a LOT of friction between us when she was a toddler. (Most of which was due to me not wanting to have to deal with a younger sister… but some of which was due to her being a holy terror.) She has, however, grown up to become a lovely young woman and one I’m very happy and proud to have as my sister.

As for NBN Thursday, this one has been shot. Apparently, it was shot somewhere around 0600 this morning… but I didn’t realize it until almost 0830. We had a fairly major hardware issue at work. Thus, did the scramble begin for rectifying the situation. (Not to be confused with Situation.) At this point the recovery process is under way and things should hopefully be back to “normal” in fairly short order.

After work last night, I mowed the lawn as part of “Bachelor Night #2.” As I was finishing up the front lawn, my father-in-law stopped by. He was coming to offer some advice/insight for handling a couple of projects in the basement. After he left, I went back to mowing, racing an impending thunderstorm. I managed to finish both the front and back yards without getting electrocuted. After that, I realized that I was hungry… but wasn’t sure what I wanted to eat. I wound up making spaghetti. Hey… comfort food, go figure. After a rather late dinner, I set about painting a wall in the family room. I went with one of the short walls — it had the least amount of obstruction and pre-painting prep work to do. I checked it this morning; it looks pretty good.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 6303

…and I’m fairly sure that there’s some calories burned in mowing the lawn, too.

Stray Toasters

• The day has gone from overcast (with scattered drizzle) to partly cloudy/sunny. Hopefully, it’s not too naive to hope that the weather is a good augury for the rest of not-NBN Thursday.
• Blackhawks foil Flyers in OT to win first Stanley Cup since 1961
• Maybe it’s just me, but this sounds like an excellent marriage compromise:

  

• I had a random idea yesterday: Why not see what comics were out in my birth month. More specifically: See what titles that I currently read had issues out at that time, buy a copy and frame it. I checked The Comic Book Database and noticed that they had a “Search by Cover Date” option. I put in my birthdate and let the CBDB go to work. It found a number of issues, but I found one that caught my attention: An issue of Green Lantern. Next stop, eBay. I found a number of sellers who had the issue… many of whom had it for a rather reasonable price. So, I bought one. Now, I just need to figure out where it’s going to go.
• Stop-motion paper Super Mario Brothers
• AT&T Discloses iPad Security Breach
• I need to remember to make a flier for next weekend’s ‘Clix tourney…
• The Vader Project
  • …and in a related note: Darth, Interrupted: Does Vader have Borderline Personality Disorder?
• MAME (not Mame)… on my Evo?  Really?  Hm…
• That reminded me of Was (not Was):
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: US sex-for-tickets woman sentenced to year’s probation
  My question: Had she done this in Nevada, would it have been legal? (Short answer: “No.”)
• NuPenny Toy Store in Portland, Maine

Namaste.

Sunday – 06 June 2010
Today’s been a good day… and there’s still lots of day left!

Last night, SaraRules and I went to see Splice. We’re of different minds about the movie: She thoroughly enjoyed it, whereas I enjoyed it… up until the last 30 minutes, where it went completely off the rails for me.  Up to that part, it was fine — a nice sci-fi/horroresque movie. It had very good special effects. It had psychological twists. It had moral and ethical issues. All-in-all, a decent start and first two-thirds of the movie.  But the end fell flat for me.  And, as I understand it, that was what SaraRules found the most intriguing about it.  Oh, well… maybe the director’s cut will be better for me. *shrug*

This morning, we got up and headed to the in-laws’ for a pre-birthday brunch for . Grilled bacon. Sweet potato muffins. Fresh fruit. Scrambled egg casserole. All of which was very tasty. We’re going back this evening for cake and presents and whatnot.

We came back home to do some cleaning around the house. Necessary evil.  In a little while, we will head to the Tanger Outlets in Park City.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 5587

Stray Toasters

• Yesterday, SaraRules and I got new telephonic hotness: HTC Evo 4G. We’ve had them less than 24 hours, but we’re both digging on them. We also got gel cases for them: pink for hers, black for mine. SaraRules noted, after we’d picked them out, that “…we got them in our signature colors,” as they match our respective MacBooks.
• Autism finding could lead to simple urine test for the condition
• From the “Color Me Not Surprised” file: Gizmodo Not Welcome at 2010 WWDC
• Screenshots vs. Multi-tasking.   🙂
• I shall soon have two new additions for my display case’s Sinestro Corps shelf.

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote came from none other than pre-birthday guest of honor, :

‘Muffins,’ spelled backwards, is ‘Sniff ‘um.’

This was proclaimed across the breakfast table this morning… and was met with hails of laughter.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 June 2010
Good NBN Comics Thursday to all.

Despite every intention to do so, I didn’t get a nap yesterday afternoon. That worked out alright, as I managed to make it to bed at a decent (for me) hour… and slept pretty much until the alarm went off at 0630. Of course, this means that I didn’t make it to the gym this morning. S’okay, I needed the rest.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 6104 steps

Stray Toasters

• I just bought and downloaded the two new Rush songs, Caravan and BU2B.  I like.
• Craig Ferguson’s Twitter feed amuses me.
• By way of Nyx: BPGlobalPR Billboards
• By way of everydave: Model Train Stuff
• 
• United States’ First Megaplex Closing Before End of Year
• Five things you don’t know about your airline ticket
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Imperfect Umpire Blows Pitcher’s Perfect Game
• 
• Jobless claims decline
• Agent of S.T.Y.L.E.: The Fashionable World of Krypton
• She’s got electric boots a mohair suit
  You know I read it in a magazine oh oh
  B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets…
• Vermont allows monkeys to be service animals
  (Apparently, no one in Vermont saw Monkey Shines.)

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 June 2010
Midweek and all’s well.
Today is NOT Comics and Sushi Wednesday, however. There may be sushi, but comics will not arrive in stores until tomorning. Of course, that just means that NBN Thursday will be that much better.

Last night, I spent some time at the local B&N, doing some drawing. I’m not sure how soon it will be done, but I am rather happy with the direction this piece is taking. While at the store, I indulged in a Mocha Frappuchino…

…which may have contributed to my staying up later than planned — I was up until 0100 this morning. Granted, I wound up watching my first Doctor Who episode in more than fifteen years, but still… I hadn’t planned on being up quite so late. Serendipitously, I managed to catch “The Eleventh Hour,” the first episode of the newest Doctor’s incarnation, Matt Smith. It was… fun. My friend Dana has been telling me that I should watch the show for months now. I might just have to add it to the DVR’s queue.

After getting to bed somewhere around 0120 or 0130, I woke up this morning at 0543. *sigh* When I woke up around that time yesterday morning, I told myself that if I was up again that early this morning, I would go to the gym. The decision to actually get out of bed and do something was much harder to make this morning, though. But, I persevered and went to the gym.

Workout

• Elliptical: 5 min, avg speed 5.5 MPH
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press (decline): 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

For the second trip to the gym in a row, I couldn’t get on the fly machine that I like… and I didn’t feel like trying dumbbell/bench flies. Maybe next time…

Yesterday’s step count: 3250 steps.
I already have nearly 2000 steps logged today.

Stray Toasters

• I assembled my new desk/drawing table (except it’s the birch finish) last night. Now, I need to decide where I want it to go…
• Honey-Nut Cheerios.  Win!
• I still covet this… but I really don’t feel like paying what people are asking for them on eBay.
• Bill Nye Reviews Ideas for Solving Gulf Coast Oil Spill
• By way of Nyx: Premakes – The Empire Strikes Back
• LEGO Printer: I Made This!
• The iPad and Dolphins (for real)
• At NYC science fest, physicists ask ‘What if we’re holograms?’
  My opinion: That would be Truly Outrageous.  (Yeah, I went there.  Deal with it.)
• For Ms. Melodywise:  Shingles!

  

• As part of the marketing for Issue 17: Dark Mirror, City of Heroes opened a “Declare Your Loyalty” contest. The winning entries can be viewed here.
• 0543… what was I thinking?!
• LEGO ship in a bottle!

Namaste.

01 June 2010
Welcome, June.
May is now in the rearview mirror.
Let’s hope that it takes the wintry weather with it…

Yesterday, while relaxing was also productive: The lawn was mowed. The garden was worked on. The trim in the sitting room was cleaned up (No more red paint!). And, my office was painted. Not only that, our excursion to The Garden of Sweden netted me a new desk/drawing table.

We also had dinner with the in-laws yesterday. Grilled steaks with sweet potatoes and yams, salad and fresh corn-on-the-cob. Dessert was brownies with ice cream.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 2948 steps
Of course, I neglected to wear the pedometer while I was mowing the lawn yesterday.  *sigh*

Stray Toasters

• Official Synopsis Revealed for Green Lantern movie
• Now that my office is coming along, I’m looking forward to finishing the rest of the basement… and finding room for a model railroad layout! I want to do O-Scale, but I believe that it will probably include some HO-Scale as well. I’m not sure exactly where I’ll put the LEGO train and/or the Rokenbok monorail, though.
• 44 million stolen gaming credentials discovered
• 
• ‘How Sweet It Was’: The Cultural Impact of Gospel
• Massive sinkhole swallows building in Guatemala City in wake of Tropical Storm Agatha
• The Theme from S.W.A.T., which I contend is still one of TV’s coolest TV theme songs. Ever.
• A Love Craft: Art Inspired by Monsters, Madness and Mythos
• Adventure Comics #12 preview
• I restarted  American Psycho again last night. I got distracted from it by… well, a lot of things. This time, I should be able to plow through it.
• US sculptor Louise Bourgeois dies aged 98
  • No Doubt: Spiderwebs
    
• From Elvis to Lady Gaga: Playing with Shock Value in Music
• Why Science Needs to Step Up Its PR Game

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Saturday – 29 May 2010
It’s a grey and overcast morning. It’s also supposed to be a bit cooler today, on the order of 10-15F cooler. (And, naturally, as I type that, the sun decides to put in an appearance…)

iHurt. That is my explanation/definition for how I feel after yesterday’s workout. It’s aftermath of that whole “take a month or two off before going back to the gym” thing. I believe that a pair of ibuprofen caplets are in my future.

Yesterday’s excursion to Hobby Lobby was decent. I bought a couple of things, but nothing major. However, the store was a-flurry with associates adding merchandise to the shelves and reworking items according to new planograms. To be honest, it was nice to see “more stuff” on the shelves, as the store looked a little… threadbare… in some spots when it opened.

After the HL excursion, I also went to The Train Shoppe. It seems as though it is becoming a traditional 9/80 day off stop. I picked up a couple of books, two pieces of track to display the old C&O steam engine and tender I bought a few months back, and I ordered a new toy: Chessie System Merger Special. It should arrive in late-July.  Hopefully, I’ll have figured out a place for it to go by then…

Clitorati was good last night. I got to the bookstore a little early, so I could do a bit of drawing — I had an idea for a new song lyric-to-drawing and wanted to get started on it. Marci (a coworker) joined us for the first time in many moons; and we even had a newcomer, Monica. Hopefully, we didn’t scare either of them away permanently or scar them too deeply.

Today, I’m not sure what’s on the docket. I may head over to Dr. Volt’s and see if anyone’s up for a pick-up game of HeroClix this afternoon. This evening, SaraRules and I are going to the symphony for the final concert of the season; tonight’s program includes Mahler and Mozart.

Stray Toasters

• I fired up City of Heroes and downloaded the new patches yesterday. I may spend a little time in Paragon City this afternoon or tomorrow.
• ‘Human remains’ found as police probe ‘Crossbow Cannibal’ case
• “I ain’t no hiya back girl…”
• You Built What?! A Real Iron Man Suit
  (Technically, it’s a War Machine suit… but why quibble?)
• BrikThulhu Rising (from BrikWars), by Mike Rayhawk



• Terps beat Orange, will play for title
  • Maryland’s Official State Team Sport: Lacrosse
  • Maryland’s Official State Sport: Jousting
• A Century of Aviation, from the Wright Brothers to Stealth

Breakfast is just about ready.  I should clear off the table.

Namaste.