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Just some off-the-cuff observations, and whatnot. Welcome, and enjoy your stay.
Monday, February 03, 2003
2/2/03
Happy Birthday to Me! 34 today.
You're one year older, one year wiser,
Rock 'n roll star, king, czar, and a kaiser.
A room full of friends, a mouth full of cake,
Every present is for you and it feels pretty great.
You're the man of the hour, the V.I.P.
You get the first slice of the p-i-e,
But first blow out the candles and make a wish.
Put a smile on, cuz it's your birthday, bitch!Go Scotto, it's your birthday
Go Scotto, it's your birthdayGroundhogs seek sex, not shadows
I did see my shadow this morning... I'm going to go out to breakfast with Danny, and probably will let him use the all-in-one printer, because I don't have the room for it.
Thanks for
's nice Ecard, and all the swell emails and lj-replies about my b'day! From the Archives.
A year ago today - I'm 33, and a reprint of's nice piccie (see above), A blah birthday until the end , Daredevil summary for (with now broken image links), a lovely ending to the day. Two Years ago, I'm 32, Candlemas, Groundhog's day, Imbolc, Thesmophoria, all manner of ecards, first appearance of the moonmama bday drawing.
From one of the first days of my brother back from Hawaii:
Today's Highlight in History:On Feb. 2, 1653, New Amsterdam — now New York City — was incorporated.
On this date:
In 1536, the Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War, was signed.
In 1870, the "Cardiff Giant," supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y., was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.
In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.
In 1882, Irish poet and novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin.
In 1897, fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. (A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site nine years later.)
In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.
In 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill departed Malta for the summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
In 1971, Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda, following a coup that ousted President Milton Obote.
In 1996, dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly died at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home; he was 83.
Ten years ago: In a speech to the National Governors' Association, President Clinton pledged to transform welfare into a "hand up, not a handout" by giving recipients training and then requiring them to work.
Five years ago: President Clinton unveiled a $1.73 trillion budget claiming the first surpluses in 30 years and pumping billions to schools, health and child care. The government released statistics showing deaths from AIDS fell by almost half during the first half of 1997, a decrease attributed to increased use of powerful combinations of medicines.
One year ago: Inside the World Economic Forum in New York, foreign economic leaders criticized the United States for protectionist policies while outside, thousands of protesters demonstrated against global capitalism. Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers star John Stallworth were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The NHL World All-Stars rallied to defeat North America 8-5.
Today's Birthdays
February 2nd · Singer Shakira is 26.
· Actress Lori Beth Denberg is 27.
· Rapper T-Mo (Goodie Mob) is 31.
· Rock musician Ben Mize (Counting Crows) is 32.
· Rock musician Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) is 37.
· Actress Kim Zimmer is 48.
· Actor Michael Talbott is 48.
· Model Christie Brinkley is 49.
· Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is 54.
· Actor Brent Spiner is 54.
· Actress Farrah Fawcett is 56.
· Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 57.
· Television executive Barry Diller is 61.
· Actor Bo Hopkins is 61.
· Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash ( news) is 61.
· Comedian Tom Smothers is 66.
· Actor Robert Mandan is 71.
· Actress Elaine Stritch is 78.
2/1/03
Happy Chinese New Year!Year of the goat / sheep! The goat is a symbol of warmth, understanding, creativity and untidiness... I'm all for that.
- For good luck, the house should be cleaned before New Year Eve. *Whoops*
- You should try to repay your debts by this time. *Done*
- If you haven't taken a shower, don't bother. Doing so washes away your good luck. *Ok... But I'll shower first thing tomorrow! *
- It's a lucky sign to hear a song bird, red-colored bird, or a swallow. *Hmm.Any cardinals or red parrots around? *
- Do not use scissors as this may cut off your fortune. *No razors for me today! *
- Wear red for fortune and prosperity, do not wear white.
- The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year.
While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.
The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth.” Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them. On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.
On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.
On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.
The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.
The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which is to be held on the 15th night.A year ago - moon/Menstruation connection(or not), dreamy-dreams, elephant talk, pictures, including Newt in a box. Man lives in an airport for 11 years, cousin stuff
Two Years ago - Got Birthday arranged to be off, dreams, schedule, shrunken head apples, my first b-day card
First pictures with palm cam
in the three default resolutions & colors, tiny file sizes. Newt's got a pouty-puss on!
Where does the food go? Two growing boys, can gobble up quite a load of groceries.
I'm off to pick up some more, until later, dear journal.
[update- back already, and mah cubbards are stocked to the gills.] My Veggie burgers had a free pizza-burger in each container!
sad news- Space shuttle Columbia breaks apart in flames about 203,000 feet over Texas, 16 minutes before it was supposed to touch down in Florida. All seven aboard were killed: William McCool, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, who was Israel's first astronaut.
Last few moments before I turn 34... or more than that if you take into account that I was born in the morning, not at midnight.
Looking for some more ebooks to put on queue for palm-reading. I'm thinking Kipling, and Howard Pyles Book of Pirates.
I'm thinking of her scent, and the touch of her skin...*rowr* Maybe it's time to read song of Solomon again.
Like a goblet, indeed.
1/31/03
Last Day of January... Seemed slow at the time, but now I wonder where it went. Tomorrow is the new moon, which means it's also the Chinese New Year. Water Goat. (Is Goat or Sheep more popular?) Speaking of which - Hee... Just switch to Linux "I'm Steve, and I'm a Supervillian". Orbiting brain-lasers & Genetically engineered cyber-goats, indeed.Instant Kama sutra, anyone? (Probably not safe for work) Or just "fun with shadow puppets" Personally, I think it's more likely to be considered appropriate than a guy dressing up as a girl bunny with a vinyl fetish, but whatever floats your boat.
Literary Joke of the day...
Charles Dickens walks into a bar, orders a martini. Bartender says, "Olive or Twist?"
Got the Jornada to work and do its thing, but I really should get a serial to usb cable for convenience's sake. Too many plugs in my machine! With usb, I can at least "hub out" to more devices, or plug and unplug in a more civil manner. (Plus, my laptop doesn't have a small serial port on it.)
Surprising response to the poll. More people answered it than I expected.
"Hey Sangey! Got a job yet?"
"You bet, Bob! I sell ceremonial skulls to monks over in Sikkim!"
"Great! See you at the Pancake Breakfast next Saturday?"
"Dern Tootin'!"On the pleasant surprise side of today -
Sappho got me all sorts of cool goodies for my birthday!
In a Dragon Tales Bag, to boot!
- Time Eyewitness: 150 Years of Photojournalism in paperback, The stuff from 1880 to 1920 is especially neat.
- A bunch of gray and green army men.
- A giant size copy of mad magazine.
- A jar of gravel and fossils from the peace river, including a nifty ray's tooth, and bit of turtle shell. The stuff from the river is so rich with fossils you can just sift through a handful and come back with a tiny shark's tooth or the like. A very nifty, and thoughtful gift. I'm a big fan of the Peace River.
- A chip the cat beanie baby.. (Newt will adore that!)
- A third-hand Electronic Hand-Held Trivial Pursuit -- The Best of Genus Edition... She didn't want it, and neither did her mom. But when folks think trivia, they think Scotto!
- A pack of Big Red Gum is it my breath?
- Many Packets of Pez Candy.
- Two cool rubber lizards (about 2" long), that will fight well with the army men, or be treated cruelly by Newt.
- Charles Kuralt's American Moments - Hardcover. I've not dug too deeply into this one yet, but I really liked his spots "On the Road" and on "Sunday Morning".
Hmm... Charles Kuralt says something strangely appropriate.
There is a rhyme by Clarence Day which says what I want to say. "Farewell my friends, farewell and hail, I’m off to seek the Holy Grail. I cannot tell you why. Remember, please, when I am gone, ‘twas aspiration led me on. Tiddly widdly, tootle-lou, all I want is to stay with you. But here I go."Goodbye.
Oddly prophetic synchronicity, there. Goodbye, January. Goodbye Year of the Horse... Goodbye, Moon. Goodbye to much of what is behind us now.
Hello to the New!
I found a teeny-weeny shark's tooth!
Cool Fossil #3.
1/30/03
I dreamt about hiking in the mountains with a my sweetie and some dream-folk last night... We had Jetpacks to get past the more difficult areas, and for safety. A pair of the people we were with fell, the packs kicked on, and held them in place, flashing red and blue until a park ranger came by and reset them. The ranger wrote some sort of ticket for reckless behavior, and went on his way. We pitched camp, and I got to watch the sunset holding my sweetheart... a very good feeling. And we had s'mores!I would like to be able to remember more details, but that's the lot of 'em.
got my jornada tonight...boo booed by setting a password, and it doesn't seem to want to let me in now. ramma-frazzen. here we go, Hard reset HP Jornada 420, 430, and 430se, Remove the batteries and press RESET for 5+ seconds.
got it.
Aside from that, the day was hectic, but went ok. Island boy is back.
1/29/03
Nice evening tonight. Brother came by at about 9:30, and we talked and hung out for about three hours. We talked about a lot of things, including our cousin Russell getting married. He's so young! We both remember being on "change his diapers" duty. He's 21 now... unreal. I think he should complete his university time before hitching up, but I imagine he'll be a happy husband. He's been seeing the girl next door to him for an age now... classic romance. It was nice talking in depth. I've convinced him to read Red Dragon.Drowsy now... and I never did get to supper... just a skip now, I guess. Make up for it with a healthy breakfast tomorrow.
Night night, dear journal.
dreaming of my love
orange cat slowly wakes me
the day is still youngTom out front Gave my Bro a palm VII, and me an office jet 6110, since he got a new printer and palm. The guy must be loaded. My main concern is making sure that the bro doesn't use any of the online stuff with the palm until we've gone through the manual and keep everything on the freebie level. (I don't want Tom or the bro to get billed for our experiments.) All the manuals and boxes and software, too. Good deal!
Not bad, considering my only complaint is "Where do I put this thing?" Newt loves the new box in the house.
Bro also gave me my birthday present early... I wasn't expecting one at all. It was a wooden box with a quilted star design on top. Like this, only with dark wood around the edges., and dark joints. It's the one in the center.
My Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea paper journal arrived today. It's very keen...better than I'd hoped. So nice, in fact, I think I'll give it to Kev as a present. I know that he'll appreciate it more than I will, with the goofy end-papers inside. Ex Libris Anonymous has a few really cool ones there... I'll probably get another for myself and maybe for my sweetie, too.
Island Boy was out of work again today, but bearing his load wasn't so rough. Sappho did the video files, which is what I really dislike, though for no real reason, since I repaired the "fix by hand" aspect programatically.
1/28/03
Today, barring accidents, I'm going to take a picture of someone smiling again and post it to my journal tonight. Anyone who wishes to join me is encouraged to do so, and to please tell me where I can see it. (Or post it directly in comments.) I think a Meme of Smiles would be a nice one.Jell-O Death Mask kit. I like this.
Tests of other layouts -
A year ago - Took a day off With Danny (some non-gothic graveyard pictures), Patton Bomb Talk, Giant photo of Newt in Evil Overlord Mode, bad spoonerism humor.
Two Years ago - Virus hoaxes, Rooting for the Ravens. Little dancing man
Hint to the guy at the bus station this morning... if you have a can in a paper bag, everyone is going to assume it's a beer.
If it wasn't so wasteful I'd drink non-alcoholic beverages in a cans wrapped in paper bags... break the stereotype!
Lots of hubbub to do at work today... poor Island Boy had to go home...I wouldn't wish his migraines on anyone, so I got to do Certs, as well as deal with three new client projects... looks like I'm going to be pretty busy again now. The Slow period had it's perqs, but I look forward to digging in and working with fresh stuff.
The stone of Elagabulus: "When he [Elagabulus] finally came back to Rome with his mother and grandmother, he brought back with him a black stone. This was the cult symbol of the god Elagabalus [or Elagabul]. Herodian describes it as being round at the bottom and coming to a point at the top with lots of spikes sticking out that were supposed to make it look like the sun." Elagabulus is a contender for the title of Weirdest/ Worst Roman Emperor of all time, by the way.
With this idol of an odd eastern god, perhaps Elagabulus' murder at the hands of Roman troops did not prevent the conquest of one quarter of the world's population by a major power, via the vector of the Roman Empire. One wonders where the idol is today... Perhaps the idol of Elagabul waits patiently in some forgotten storeroom, awaiting a 21st century eccentric to provide it with a direction once more.
1/27/03
Odd dreams last night… a lot of movement and travel. There were many sensations of high speeds and if not flight, a sideways plummet. Swift Free-fall. I don't recall a vehicle. Gadzooks... Speaking of movement, this morning blasted past. Off to work! Until Later, dear journal.Work got the sql slammer virus this weekend...I'm surprised, as usually we're up to date on our service packs...I guess this one slipped past the guards. Ah well... all better now! Kev & Sappho got the poo-end of the stick on that one.
I'm proud of my brother... looks like he's about out of the reeds. He's got a good job to start up with this weekend, and it looks like he'll be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for it. It'll be nice to see him drawing a decent paycheck.
Got half my w-2 today... I need to check and make sure it was done right. I should wait until I get the half form when we were being leased help rather than an actual subsidiary of RC.
Sappho mentioned that she wanted me on her team, should she ge ton a trivia game show. :)
