Random Access

Sunday : 15 January 06
I slept in again today. It was nice… and apparently, I needed the sleep/rest.

came over and we watched the Steelers – Colts game. I got a call from my uncle at halftime. Steelers fan, go figure – his team had a very comfortable lead at halftime. During the second half, however, Peyton Manning and the Colts mounted an impressive comeback. AND… they almost sent the game into overtime. An errant field goal kept that from happening, though. Pittsburgh won. And I got another phone call from my uncle. Imagine that.

After the game, I decided to get a start on cleaning up around the house.

Unfortunately, it never really got past the decision stage. I got distracted by bright, shiny objects known as “anything that doesn’t qualify as ‘work’.” It’s amazing how many “anythings” that you can come up with when you’re trying to avoid something. (“Oh, look… a photo album!” “Look, LEGO!” “Look, SVU is on!” “Look… look… look!” You get the idea.) So, I guess I know what I’ll be doing over the course of the week. Oh, na. We had dinner at Sampan and then came back here to watch Unbreakable. I really like this movie. Couldn’t be because it appeals to my inner – and not-so-secret- comic book geek, could it? And, it has some interesting trivia, too.

Tomorrow (Monday) is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Not “Human Rights Day.”
Not “Civil Rights Day.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Even Google gets this right…

For more information about the day, you can check out http://www.mlkday.org

Here is my soapbox diatribe from a couple of years ago that explains why I think that it is important to know – and to note – the distinction.

Stray Toasters

• I forgot to mention something Friday: continued our friendly crossword competition during the Clitorati gathering. A couple of weeks ago, I tried doing the crossword upside-down to make the “race” a little more challenging – it was a fun way to work the puzzle. This past Friday, Ms. Lightning had bit of a headstart on me, so I got my pen and started in on the puzzle. I started working on it right-side-up. I did alright. About fifteen minutes into it, I flipped the puzzle upside-down to allow a couple of others to help me work on it. And then it clicked. Almost immediately, I started getting answers to clues that had stumped me when the puzzle was “properly” oriented. I finished the puzzle in 37 minutes. And ahead of and .
• VH1 Classic aired Rush: Live from Frankfort tonight. I managed to catch part of it. It made me smile.
• 
• Eight.
• This I Believe: A Duty to Heal
• While going through a couple of my old photo albums this afternoon, I realized something: The 70s really weren’t all that pretty.
• I’m not sure if the following is true, but it looks neat: Carving a giant derelict building into a Star Wars AT-AT
• Snow. *sigh*
• : I love your new Pinky and the Brain icon
• Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye
• I was pleasantly surprised to hear Indigo Girls’ Closer to Fine on the radio this evening.
• From the (and I’m not making this up) Cuss Control Academy: So What’s Wrong with Swearing?
• Gatorade powder. I’m really liking this stuff. One container has enough to make two gallons of the drink… for about the cost of one gallon of the bottled liquid. It’s a keeper.
• Larger iPod Screen Rumored

I should call it a night.
In fact, I think that I shall.
Right now.

Namaste.

Saturday : 14 January 06
I don’t know exactly “why,” but I didn’t sleep well last night. Well, this morning. Whatever. I woke up at 5-something, 6:30 and 7:15. I’m not sure if I was worried about ovesleeping to take to the airport or what. *shrug* But, I got up… took her to SLIA… dropped her off.

I hung out with this morning and then we headed to coffee with Perry. Bad Ass Coffee Company. On to Dr. Volt’s to pick up this week’s four-color shwag. From there, it was on to b’Ogden for a pilgrimage to Mecca The Bookshelf. I left there with far too many pieces of plastic crack (28, to be exact… two of which went to ). I called Patryck to see if he wanted to grab a bite to eat; he did. So, we did. We ate at the Grey Cliff Lodge. If you’re in the Ogden area, check them out – they are five miles up Ogden Canyon (on the way to Pineview Reservoir).

Back to SLC for a while and then it was on to breakfast. Small turn-out, but quite fun.

Stray Toasters

• I considered going to the office to pick up my glasses today. But, I didn’t. *shrug* If worse comes to worse, I’ll just have to make do without them until Monday. *shrug* Oh, well.
• 15 Tech Concepts You’ll Need to Know for 2006
• “Freedom Flowchart” –
• This looks like an interesting sofa. said that it would make a good “movie sofa.”
• Picking Up the Pieces: How James Frey flunked rehab, and why his fakery matters (Frey wrote A Million Little Pieces)

Quotes of the Day
Gleaned from tonight’s breakfast at Cheer’s:

• : “She had Sharpei titties!”
• Chelsey: “How fat was she?”
  Patryck: “Ginormous!”

• : “I don’t have a penis to point me in the direction of ‘cute.'”

And now, it’s snowing.

Namaste.

Friday : 13 January 2006
You know what’s better than knowing that it’s Friday and that your work week is at an end? Knowing that it’s Friday and leaving work a little early to kick off the weekend. And, I did that very thing.

I played a little City of Villains this afternoon. It was the first time in a long while that I took Dhoruba into the streets and buildings of the Rogue Isles. I was invited to join a team shortly after I logged in. I joined the team and we were in the middle of a mission (actually, we were close to the end of the mission…) when my connection to the mapserver died. *pfft* Great. I can’t tell you just how thrilled I was about that.

Clitorati was good tonight. Good turn out. Good mix of people. Tons of randomness. Lots of fun.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to a reboot – and the fact that I had forgotten that I had started a post earlier in the day – I lost a few ‘Toasters that I was going to use tonight.
• From Buzzscope: Man of the Hour #5: Modern Mythology
• I think that I left my eyeglasses at the office this afternoon. All things considered, this isn’t a horrible thing. But there’s one tiny problem: I just took out my contact lenses. This not-so-loosely translates to: “I can’t see very well.” Fortunately, spellcheck should catch most of the errors that I am bound to make while attempting to type the rest of this entry.
• I’m taking this as proof that someone at IKEA is a gamer.
• For : Hundreds of fan-art versions of Batgirl
• Isaac Hayes will be performing in SLC in a little over a week. That could be fun to see.
• Freedom to Tinker
• What in the Nine Hells were they thinking when they came up with this?

Quotes of the Day
All of the following came from tonight’s Clitorati gathering:

• From two separate but concurrent conversations that Land integrated:
  Conversation 1: “I charge $75.00 an hour… and I’m cheap.”
  Conversation 2: “That’s what porn stars do…”
  Land: *blink blink*

• “Jesus is not laughing.”
• “Stick of Jesus” (misunderstood from the comment “Stick with Jesus).
• “Raisins have ridges!”

Namaste.

<break>

Orgy – Opticon

</break>

Thursday : 12 January 06
“No Bad News Thursday” went of without a hitch.¹ The work day was relaxed, but good. Today’s workout was pretty relaxed, too. And I even remembered why it is that I’m not fond of incline bench presses. And what it all boils down to is: I need to do them more often.

After work, , , , , and I got together for dinner. It was a nice way to pass the evening.

Stray Toasters

• I have bitten my lip – in the same spot – at least three times today.
• “Excellent.”
• This is very interesting: The Prejudice Map
• Because IMDb occasionally includes videogames in their listings, I asked a friend if he would be listed on the site. He didn’t think so. I checked: He’s not. But, I did find him – at least two other of the usual suspects – on this page .
• Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper (more colloquially known as “USA Today”) had an unintentional porn headline: ‘Cosmic booty’ coming to Earth
• Ass Skittles
  Boobie Hat
  Crotch Cooler
  (not necessarily in that order)

• : “Rasputin?” Dare I ask?
• Given yesterday’s conversation, I decided to take the “Are You a Heretic?” quiz.
  

  You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you’re not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Monophysitism 83% Donatism 67% Nestorianism 67% Pelagianism 58% Apollanarian 58% Gnosticism 50% Arianism 50% Socinianism 42% Monarchianism 42% Adoptionist 33% Modalism 33% Albigensianism 0% Docetism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

• SciFi to air new Doctor Who
• “What the Hell does a broom have to do with anything?!”
• I have the theme from Superman: The Animated Series running through my head.
• …that is better than having Can You Read My Mind, from Superman: the Movie, running through it. That’s not to say that Can You Read My Mind is a bad song. Quite the contrary, in fact. I like it. Of course, I like a good deal of John Williams’ work.
• …and now, She Caught the Katy has supplanted them both.

Namaste.

¹ – No monkeys were harmed in the making of this entry.

Wednesday : 11 January 06
Today wasn’t bad. It was grey and overcast, but the precipitation held off until evening.

Work was good. A little more relaxed, emphasis on “lax,” than usual… but still productive. I also got involved in a religious conversation with a couple of the guys on my team. The twist: This time, I did most of the talking. They had some questions about the Baptist church, so I obliged them with what information that I could. I think that it went well.

I came home and made spaghetti sauce. It’s been a long time (been a long time, been a long, lonely,lonely,lonely,lonely,lonely time… yes, it has…) since I made spaghetti sauce. I don’t think that I used as I usually do. But, it still tasted pretty damned good. And now, I have something to take for lunch other than just TV dinners – not that I’m knockin’ the $1-a-day meals. I’m digging the savings: Ten dinners for the cost of a lunch and a half. Yeah, I can live with that.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
Having been away for too long, I took to the streets – and the skies – of Paragon City tonight. I had a mission in Croatoa: Put to rest the spirits that were haunting an office building. I teamed up with Locutus Silens, an old teammate, and we proceeded to exorcise the building.

By mission’s end: I had hit Security Level 28.

I went in search of War Witch, to train for my level and to gain a new power: Whirlwind. It’s not a damaging power, but it sure serves up a heaping helping of “Get up off me!” And in a hurry, too. I tested it out against a few (unlucky) Fir Bolg who were wandering the streets outside the Croatoa train station. I could get to like this power. Very much.

Stray Toasters

• Saving the world is more important than cleaning one’s room, isn’t it?
• It seems that Mother Nature has blown a cold, silent kiss over the land behind the Zion Curtain.
• Inside Line: 2006 Detroit Auto Show – Chevrolet Camaro (concept car)
• 20 | 20: Twenty People. Twenty Seconds. “Describe something you like.”
• Nikon to Stop Selling Film-Based Cameras This Year
• Nine.
• Dearly beloved
  We are gathered here today
  2 get through this thing called life

  Electric word life
  It means forever and that’s a mighty long time
  But I’m here 2 tell u
  There’s something else
  The afterworld

  A world of never ending happiness
  U can always see the sun, day or night

  So when u call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
  U know the one – Dr Everything’ll Be Alright
  Instead of asking him how much of your time is left
  Ask him how much of your mind, baby

  ‘Cuz in this life
  Things are much harder than in the afterworld
  In this life
  You’re on your own

  And if de-elevator tries 2 bring u down
  Go crazy – punch a higher floor

• Latest iTunes Raises Privacy Concerns
• *braces*
• Idaho ponders having prisoners sleep in shifts
• Snicker-snack.
• 10 worst album covers of all time
• If you haven’t checked out Dude Studios, do so. And watch the intro animation!
• How to Dance Properly
• Zoom!

Namaste.

<groove>

Tupac – Ghetto Gospel
Rush – Summertime Blues
Aladdin Soundtrack – One Jump Ahead
Schoolhouse Rock! – Naughty Number Nine
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer

</groove>

What’s in your mid-week morning playlist?

Tuesday : 10 January 06
Today was a good day. Work was good. My workout went well… even though I’m still working to get back to the point I was before the holidays. But, as the Jeffrey Ingram song said: “Everything Good Takes Time.”

Tonight was Shadowrun night. Back to the main story arc that I started many moons ago. The ‘runners joined up with the sister of ‘ character for a raid on the company whose presence has been seen or felt in many an odd corner. And did I mention that ‘s character works for this company? (Gotta love the plot twists.) If all goes as planned – as it rarely does with this gaming group – this story arc may wrap up in the next few weeks.

Stray Toasters

• I am craving sweet potato pie. (On the plus side, I have a great recipe for it.)
• Near the end of the day, I was working on a report. In it, I had intended to type “LCD Monitors.”
  Instead, I typed “LDS Monitors.”
  I caught the mistake before sending in the report.

• Sometimes, in my bed at night
  I curse the dark and I pray for the light
  And sometimes, the light’s no consolation.

• Variant Monopoly Rules
• By way of comes The NFL Misery Index
• Spaghetti sauce. I should make some… soon.
• I really like this tagline.
• Aliens Pewter Chess Set

Namaste.

Today must be “Eclectic Playlist Day”

• Drowning Pool- Bodies
• Jackson 5 – A B C
• Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity
• Rush – Time Stand Still
• LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
• MC Hammer – Addams Groove

What’s your player serving up for you?

Monday : 09 January 06
Today was a Monday. Not manic. Not a “Rainy days and…” Just a Monday.

I set about finishing up something that I had started on Friday. I had figured to have it done around 10 A.M. That may have been the case in a perfect world. Since we aren’t quite there, yet… I was working well past 10 A.M. on it. So far past it, in fact, that I am still not done with it. *sigh* But, I did get it close to the finishing point. I should have about an hour or so left to work on it tomorrow.

Tonight was ‘ D&D game. Yes, we just played last week; but this will be it’s normal schedule, opposite the Cthulhu game. No one in our group died. It was an all-around good session and people seemed to be in good spirits.

Tomorrow night: Shadowrun. Because nothing says love like sending half of Seattle’s Lone Star contingent after your players.

Stray Toasters

• I feel kind of slow on the draw for only recently discovering the links between Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice and Frank L. Herbert’s Dune.
• “The Devil dolphin made me do it.”
• – Disney lets girl into Winnie’s world
• {{{ hug }}} for (Zig-a-zig-AH!)
• SciFi announces Dark Kingdom
• “A rough guide to the state of the Internet, circa 2006” –
• Thanks to those of you who put in your 2¢ for Building a Better Human.
• Books bound in human skin
• – This I Believe: When Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things
• “What would it take to get you to date my sister again?”
  

• 10 mph
• I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to stick quarters in the cats at 2 A.M., but I’d like to meet them and give them what-for.
• Just a spoonful of sugar
  Helps the medicine go down…
  In the most delightful way!

• Five-year-old gets drunk at Applebee’s
  This puts an entirely different spin on their “Feeling good in the neighborhood” campaign.

• Underworld #1 sneak preview
• LEGO + Star Wars = This

That’s close enough for jazz.

Namaste.

---

Just when you thought that the post was over….

I just had a horribly geeky thought.

I have five ‘Mechs from WizKids’ MechWarrior game on my XBox… next to about 30 HeroClix on my satellite receiver.

I looked at the ‘Mechs… then looked at the ‘Clix and wondered how difficult it would be to adapt the game systems for a “Who would win” battle.

*shakes head*

I am pretty sure that means that I’m long overdue for a visit to The Dreaming.

<groove>
      – Yoko Kanno & Seatbelts – Tank!
      – Snoop Dogg – Undercover Funk
      – Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
</groove>

How are you setting off your Monday?

(And if you haven’t checked out the Building a Better Human poll, shake a leg.)

Sunday : 08 January 06
I slept in again today. Way in. Noon. And I only woke up then because my phone rang.

After dealing with the necessary hygiene rituals, I helped to lobotomize her PC. It’s amazing how a clean Windows installation can eliminate a multitude of sins. That was followed by driver and program installations. When all was said and done, her iPod decided that it would charge from her system after all.

I headed over to ‘s to hang out and to watch the Steelers and the Bengals square off. I was hoping for a Bengals win – partly because Marvin Lewis was a former defensive coach for the Ravens and partly because I get enough guff from my uncle and Bret about how great the Steelers are. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The Bengals looked like they were going to do some damage… and then decided to call it a game… at halftime. Ben Roethlisburger and company dominated the second half. Dominated.

The rest of the evening has been quiet and relaxing. And that is not a bad way to wind up a weekend.

Stray Toasters

• My Palm Pilot has returned to the land of the living!!!
• Thank you to Ms. for the Dragonology calendar!
• Batman was on ABC Family tonight. I haven’t seen the opening of the movie since… probably since the movie was in theatrical release. I heard the opening theme and came to a realization: Warner Brothers used the movie theme as the theme (or at least the basis of it) for Batman: The Animated Series. Yep… I’m smart. And observant, too!
• 50 Fun Things To Do With Your iPod
• “There is beauty even in the darkest times.” –
• After realizing that I’m only two figures away from completing my Justice League ‘Clix set, I was looking at eBidet and seriously considering picking up the Manhunter and Flash ‘Clix.
• Along these lines, I find that I want to replace my Green Lantern icon. I was surfing for pictures when it finally dawned on me: I have a capture card and various episodes of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited on my hard drive. It’s not like it would be hard to capture a still image and use it. Yep, I’m smart.
• …and then there’s this, to be added to the Covet List.
• I love the members of my sibko. Adam sent me a series of text messages today, culminating with:
  

  “…it’s up to the big bro to look out for the little one, and I take my job very seriously.”

  Since I’m almost fifteen years older than him, I’m taking that to mean in terms of stature – he’s a few inches taller than me. Either way, it put a smile on my face.

• Oprah got snowed. Details here.
• I have a copy of Locomotion on my desk. I looked at it a moment ago and the next thing to pop into my head was the song by Little Eva (or Kylie Minogue, for the Gen Y’ers in the crowd).
• I am amused by the tagline for Marvel’s Nextwave: “Healing America by beating people up.”
• One humanoid escapee
  An android on the run
  Seeking freedom beneath
  A lonely desert sun

• I’ve been giving more thought to compiling my “Building a Better Human” CD. I have a lot of songs in mind to use, but I could use some suggestions on what to use – or even to add to the list.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Saturday : 07 January 06
I slept in this morning. It was sublime. While I recall having a couple of unusual dreams, I don’t remember what they were about. There’s something in the back of my head that’s telling me that it’s better not to remember the exact content.

invited me to a late breakfast with her and her boys. After breakfast and a couple of errands, we headed to Nickelcade. I didn’t play many games, but I did get in a game of air hockey. Selah. We hung out and caught an episode of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. I don’t think that I have been truly shocked by a cartoon in a long time. Until today. The episode was called “Seeing Red.” In it, Terence came up with an imaginary friend of his own, named “Red.” While trying to explain what he meant when he told Red to “smash” something, he defined it as:

“Kill! Destroy! Maim! Rape! Crush!

Waitaminute.

Did I…. actually hear him say… “Rape?!” *boggle* I thought that I might have misheard it until the same line came up again, a few minutes later. I was flabbergasted. Sure, it was said fairly quickly, but this is a kid’s cartoon, after all. Cartoons – from Looney Toons to Tom & Jerry – have long hidden little “Easter eggs” in their stories. But, as I said above: “This is a kid’s cartoon!” Amazing.

Tonight’s breakfast gathering was quiet and small, but good.

Stray Toasters

• I received a call from Adam this evening. Kind of random, but nevertheless good.
• I also got a call from my father – he was just calling to say “Hi.”
• While out today, I picked up one (and only one) piece of plastic crack: Superman (unique). Mine looks just like this, except that the “S” shield on his chest is black and red and the one on his cape is all black. This now means that I have Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman ‘Clix. DC’s Trinity. And, this also means: I have the classic (and animated) Justice League, with the notable exceptions of The Flash and Martian Manhunter.
• 1 – 2 – 3…
  4 – 5 – 6…
  7 – 8 – 9…
  10 – 11 – 12…
  Ladybugs twelve, at the Ladybug Picnic!

• Mushroom.
• The Simpsons: Behind the scenes of an episode
• From Universe Today comes What’s Up 2006 – 365 Days of Skywatching
  

  This is a FREE 407-page downloadable book containing What’s Up material for every day in 2006. You can download the book to your local computer, go to the day you like and print off the page to take outside with you nicely formatted. It’s also got tons of other material including general skywatching advice, equipment selection, and hundreds of beautiful photographs.

• Utah Theater Cancels Brokeback Mountain – I wish that I could say that I was surprised by this.
  (Thanks to for pointing this out.)

Friday : 06 January 06
It’s been a good day followed by a good evening…

…but I’m about to punt a certain iPod nano into next week.

*sigh*

It’s late and I am tired. I’ll deal with this later.

Namaste.

Thursday : 05 January 06
Another “No Bad News Thursday” comes and goes without incident. I wasn’t sure if last week was a fluke, but apparently working a short week doesn’t affect “NBNT” too adversely. I consider this a good thing. The work day was good. I didn’t go to the gym, though; I tweaked my right shoulder somehow on Wednesday and it didn’t quite feel up to the task of weightlifting.

One not-necessarily-amusing (but later thought to be) thing was: I bathed my desk in coffee this morning. I was reaching for something, tipped over my travel mug and two to two-and-a-half cups of liquid caffeination poured out over my desk. It was everywhere. On the “up” side of things, nothing was ruined nor did anything short out. And, my desk is probably the cleanest one in the office.

After work, I had dinner with . We considered catching a movie, but nothing looked overly appealing. So, it was off to the in-the-process-of-closing Nickelcade. *shakes fist* Instead, we opted to see if we could find something entertaining on TV.

Stray Toasters

• For the first time in a long time, I almost typed “Stray Taoists.”
• : I have your labels.
• Handheld Radar Scope detects people through concrete walls
• st00pid, monkey-squeezing Comcast! *shakes fist*
• Dinosaur! RRRRR!
• From Wired: My Bionic Quest for Bolèro
• A couple of weeks ago, PowWeb increased users’ disk space to 12 GB. Without raising their hosting fees.
• “Uh… well, I guess if everyone else has done it….” –
• Vehicle Design and the Physics of Traffic Safety (.pdf file)
• LEGO Group Unveils LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Robotics Toolset
• I need to pick up a catalog/schedule for Sundance. Soon.
• : Death Comes to Dillinger looks like something in which you might be interested.
• Jane, divided
  But I cant decided which side I’m on

• Concept vehicle: Dodge Tomahawk (additional info here)
  Take a Dodge Viper.
  Strip off everything but the wheels.
  Add handlebars.
  Go. Fast!

• Woman marries dolphin (Yes, you read that correctly.)
• After getting my hopes up about the upcoming JLU season, it seems as though the show won’t be back until Spring/Summer ’06. *twitch*

Namaste.