Bleh!

It's a cold wet rainy day! Good thing I have my hot cocoa, my cats, and a SYNOPSIS THAT NEEDS WRITING to keep me indoors!

no one dishes out the geek insults like Weird Al...

Listening to "All About the Pentiums."

I'm down with Bill Gates, I call him "Money" for short
I phone him up at home and I make him do my tech support
...
I should do the world a favor and cap you like Old Yeller
You're just about as useless as jpegs to Hellen Keller
...
You say you've had your desktop for over a week?
Throw that junk away, man, it's an antique
Your laptop is a month old? Well that's great
If you could use a nice, heavy paperweight
...
Got a flat-screen monitor forty inches wide wide
I believe that your says "Etch-A-Sketch" on the side
In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user
You've got your own newsgroup, "alt.total-loser"
Your motherboard melts when you try to send a fax
Where'd you get your CPU, in a box of Cracker Jacks?
Play me online? Well, you know that I'll beat you
If I ever meet you I'll control-alt-delete you

awww I love zee romance!

The video maker wrote this: "I made this video to try and show that gay, lesbian and bisexual people are just that, PEOPLE! We want the same things you want, love, safety, freedom and respect. Love, it's a beautiful thing! And EVERYBODY should feel free to feel it, share it and express it with whomever they see fit."

I love this song.

Fernando's shadow

Ever present, even when he falls asleep on the couch...

anyone need a good blog idea

I've got two.

First--my friend Swissgirl takes photos of cats whenever she goes on vacation. Someone could start a blog of Cats On My Vacation. People could send in their photos.

Second--How My Favourite Character Lived. You could start a blog where each day/week you take a character people love, who has been killed off in a book/movie/comic etc., and figure out how they survived... all farfetched ideas welcome. Like Susan Sarandon who said, regarding the possibility of a Thelma and Lousie sequel: "We bounced!"

my insane and bigoted boyfriend comes to life on the Space channel!

If you're curious about Watchmen, but don't plan to read the comic... you can watch the comic! Space is going to be showing the cartoon version starting June 9. It's an animation of the original illustrations, overseen by the illustrator. As Mr. Scott would say: It's excitin'!

sometimes life just feels like one long to do list

- paid rent
- load of laundry
- running the dishwasher
- made almond cookies for ma bday

chorey chorey chorey

Alright, today I made an appt with my headache doctor, and washed up/vacuumed the kitchen and my bedroom. Now I shall eat pasta and hopefully do no more chores!!

chores chores chores... menowz

Another chore done: My new ipod battery arrived in the mail today, and I installed it. Right now my ipod loses most of its charge when just sitting around. So I can walk to work with it, it sits for 8 hours, and then it doesn't last more than 5 minutes into my walk home. Hopefully now I can frolick with it!

It cost $30 (they send you the battery, and the tools and instructions to replace it), but that's still cheaper than buying a new player, and anyway I'm happy with my mini. I like the size, GBs, the design, the scrollwheel, etc. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you like poking around the insides of things... which I do. (Now I know how my ipod looks nekkid!)

Next chore: More job applications have shown up online. Let's gooooo!

Just came back

from seeing Step-mommy to her car. It's so nice when she comes to visit--we love the Step-mommy, as do all our cats.

Unfortunately, her visits make Haley nostalgic for her home on the coast. When I got back to the apartment and opened the door, H went running down the hall: "Grammaaaa take me with youuuuuuu!"

(OK actually she runs down the hall every time I open the door... but it was funnier to imagine her crying out: Grammaaaa take me with youuuuuuu!")

A farewell to pancakes

Waiting for Step-mommy to finish getting her stuff together, then she's off to the airport. We had a pancake morning send-off.

with 3 cats, someone's always standing guard

Sherringham at 2 AM

No we have no Step-mommies today

Well almost. She'll be gone by noon. :-( Sniffs sniffs.

let them eat cakesicles

There are trends in the baking world. Cupcakes have been all the rage in the last couple years, but now get ready for...

Cake pops! Cake Popsicles! OMG! Too cute. Must try one day. TOO CUTE. To see the Mistress of Cake Pops, go to Bakerella.

another chore bites the dust

Driver's license/health card renewed.

Passport renewal packed up, ready to take to the post office (to send registered mail.)

I think it was life coach Debbie Ford who once said that having a bunch of undone "to do's" saps your energy, and I completely agree.

Speaking of energy, I'm ready for a nap. Having worked 2 day shifts, followed by the step-mommy visiting, then the blood appt yesterday, I've somehow started waking up earlier in the day. But then I need my nap in the afternoon (as opposed to at 8 PM.) Friend Gilby once perfectly described why naps are so tempting: Going to bed feels like a chore; taking a nap feels like a luxury.

No bloodsucking today

Got up early today, had to go to Victoria Hospital for a blood appointment. The last time I got phlebotomized was in January 2008... cancelled an appt in Feb 08 because I was sick... never rescheduled.

I did not get a shaming from the doctor, however, because it turns out my results in Jan 08 were good--my ferritin (which reflects the amount of iron in your system) was back in the acceptable range.

So they just took a blood test, and I'm to go back in 6 months. Yay! No monthly appointments for now! Hemochromatosis is easier managed with women, because we dump some blood each month. So my doctor's only treatment advice for now? "Keep having periods."

Fernando came to my appointment with me... we had to wait 3 hooouuuurs. And even though I'd nagged him to bring a book with him, he didn't want to read it because it wasn't *the right atmosphere.*

After we went for breakfast, and ran into Jen & Chris (a couple we know because of the church they and Fernando grew up in, but who are now tattoo moguls.)

Noisy dwarves

Some little twerpy kid is riding around on, like, a moped. A moped for 7 year olds?? This seems like a terribly stupid idea, to put a child on something that goes that fast. (Now his dad's following him on his motorcycle.)

(Look at the left side of the picture, in the middle.)

But what's worse (because I don't really care whether this parent kills his own child) is that the moped is NOISY. And he's riding it up and down the parking lot, baaack and forth.

Nombly: "Let's sic Haley on the dwarf."

Sitting out on the balcony day 2

Sunny with a cool breeze today

Sitting out on the balcony...

It's actually a bit too cool, but I wanted to try out Step-mommy's laptop lapdesk. I don't find it advantageous when sitting on the couch, because it puts my wrists into a more carpelly tunnelly position, but now I'm seeing what it's like if I sit out on my swinging chair.


Now that I have a better router and a new battery, I can enjoy computering on my balcony again this summer. :-) ...Nombly too.


Oops, there's a dude sitting up on his balcony, so I'll turn off my music. Oh wait, he's smoking... if his smoke blows my way I'll have to retaliate by turning the music back on. ...If only I knew what kind of music he hates.

Well, if my feet are flat on the ground then this is a nice laptop table. But usually my feet are propped up on my trusty log-stool. And then the lapdesk put the computer too high.


The neighbours are putting in their air conditioner. Fernando will be ready to put his in soon... after the 28 degree weather we had this week.

Nomblys attention arrested by the air conditioner installation.

Ahhh the vacay begins.

And the cats seem to know it.

Step-mommy is here for a couple days, then she'll head out to see her family in the townships. Right now she's off with a friend, Fernando's sleeping, and I'm watching Jam and Jerusalem with the kittehs.

I finally bought a new battery for my laptop--I've been using the power cord for ages now. Forgot what a laptop is good for! Anyway it's been delivered, and is charging up. I've also ordered a new battery for my second-hand ipod, because it doesn't keep a charge longer than 20-30 minutes. Apple doesn't make ipods in such a way as to buy a new battery, but I ordered from an online company that sends you a battery, tools to open the casing, and directions. It should hold power for 10 hours after that.

So I'll be mobile again! ;-)

Now I've just got to decide what to cook today. Cause I'll have time to cook this week. mmmm Yay! Right now I'm yearning for Cornish pasties, since they're making them on Jam and Jerusalem. But I'm so bad at pastry.

doesn't my $15 watch impress you dahling??

Exercise, from the Tierney Lab at NYT (on the topic of whether high end fancy brand purchases make us happy.)

List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever bought that gave you the most happiness. Count how many items appear on both lists.

- treadmill
- previous computer
- current computer
- my university degrees

This is hard. There aren't many items I've paid over $1000 for, in my life. There's a few things in the 100s. There are some things in the hundreds, like my dishwasher, or trip to London.

Most Happiness:
- both computers
- dishwasher
- trip to London (including the camera I bought for it)
- my degrees, on good days
- innumerable books, albums, songs, and some movies

One commenter on the site said this:

"Some interesting questions came up:

Paying big tax bills didn’t make me happy, but staying out of jail did.
Paying for accidents and illnesses didn’t make me happy, but not doing so…..
Most of those houses and cars didn’t make me happy, but not having them …?
Grad school didn’t make me happy, but - en passant - it kept me out of Vietnam.
That early retirement was huge. Should each investment that enabled it make the list?
And so on. I suspect that we’d learn more from lists restricted to consumer stuff (plus expeditions!)"

blab blab blab

Something else on the to-do list that I just to-doned--some teaching job applications. Vanier and Dawson posted their continuing education positions for the fall. I would be quite happy to teach cont ed... evening shifts, and "mature" students! ;-)

Once in awhile I think about my blogs, and wonder what they would look like to a prospective employer. I'm not overly worried about it, but I do try to keep that standard in mind when posting. Not that I try to raise the level of my vocabulary and only post Deep Messages (as the last lolcat posting shows), but I try not to be too personal either. ...Which is probably why this blog isn't terribly exciting. I'm not going to write about a fight with my hubby, or a crappy thing that happened at work! (And, oh yes, I have to think about my reputation at my current job as well.)

One of my nom de plumes is in the email address I put on my CV, so in theory I have traceability. But if I google it, the first listings have nothing to do with me. My real name brings up some innocuous links. My other plume-name brings up my facebook public profile, which contains next to nothing, this blog, a comment I left on a firefox add-on (which the developer answered, and I never realized it!), and my never-used myspace page.

What can they learn from this blog? That I'm mathematically foolish... better not apply to teach stats courses. ...That I like cats. ...That I have trouble going to bed early. ...That I have an ant problem. (Actually, I don't anymore. After the last attack we cleaned the Sticky Cupboard, killed the next 3 ants who showed up, and they've left us alone since. I guess when scouts don't return, the troops get suspicious.)

Okay enough blathering. Goodnight!

Chores chores chores

This past weekend:

- battery for watch
- new *underthings*
- poster paper & markers for project
- lunches for the week
- picked up prescrips
- ordered new ipod battery
- ordered new laptop battery

Still to do:

- driver's license renewal
- passport renewal
- headache pills renewed
- got blood appt on Monday (put up with shaming from doctor for waiting a year)
- gotta put in a bunch of Feliways
- work stuff before my week off
- clean apartment for Francey Visit!
(I was going to clean on week off, but now the stepmummy's coming a few days before!)

Sigh. Oh la oh la. Well that's what spring is for. Must be time for some lolcats...

The Story of Me in: British series!

Getting back in a Brit series mood. So much good Britty tv, so little life.... My mother got me into all this stuff. One of my great inheritances. Bless you muthah.

Watching Wallander--a Brit series based on a series of Swedish mystery novels. It is sooo nice seeing Branagh doing something good again.

Gavin & Stacey

Foyle's War

Muscle Tribe of Danger! and Excellence!

Jack Black - Michael Cera playing their usual selves, in a Biblical context. Pretty sure I'll need to see this.



(And as one commenter pointed out: McLovin' at 1:49!)

meh meh meh

heavenly geekness!

I have informed Fernando that he should attend Worldcon in August--I'm going to buy his membership this week. It's not cheap, but having Worldcon held in the city where you live is probably a once in a lifetime event. The guest of honour is Neil Gaiman, and it's where they hand out the Hugo awards (to read some nominees, go here). It's all veddy exciting.

5 me's

My new fave game on facebook is the 5 Things application. I highly recommend. Here are some of mine...

5 Must Haves in my dream home:
composting, cat walkways, green energy, wall to wall bookshelves, big windows
(obviously the windows and bookshelves can't be on the same walls)

5 Things I want to do before I die:
I realized... there's almost nothing. I'm sort of a take-life-as-it-comes gal. The one I know for sure, to be published. I'd like to do my San Fran trip. I'd like to get my apartment clean (don't want to leave Fernando with a messy apartment.) I'd like to meet Oscar Wilde (anyone have his fax number?) And I'd like to see Wonder Woman finally turned into a goddamned movie!!

5 Things that always make me happy:
Sunny weather with clear skies and a cool breeze; Star Wars; writing; cats; people I love.

5 Movies that made me cry:
Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, The Rescuers, The Joy Luck Club, and ET.
(I would rewatch the Joy Luck Club, but will never watch any of the others ever again.)

5 People you want on your side in a bar fight:
Rorschach: he elicits fear as soon as he steps into a bar
Spike: he would enjoy himself
Echo: who knows what skill she'd suddenly whip out!
The Borg: really, you could dispense with everyone else if you had them
Yoda: if I wanted to fight, but maintain a moral center as well.