Monthly Archives: June 2007

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8880

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Last day at the county gig was really sweet. I’d only been there a few months, but I feel like I’ve made a few good friends. They gave me an ice cream cake and a sweet card – they seemed genuinely sad to see me go. I’ll miss ’em, too. On the way into work, I saw a guy painting a picture of the courthouse… I struck up a conversation with him, and got a pretty detailed history of the area, how things have grown and changed. I really like Calvert County a lot.

Next on the list for the PSP is Hot Brain – releasing on Tuesday. I may wait and get a used copy, depending on how pricey it is, though.

Interesting article on how hard it is to afford living in DC… little wonder I’ll be commuting.

Good news for Jeff… he’s being paid full-time to maintain and upkeep hero machine! I’m glad he found a solid sponsor!

Neil and Bugah are coming up Tomorrow morning for a sleepover – Danny will be here on Wednesday to stay for a week. My new job starts on Monday.

BHK and I still have lots of prep work left to do, so I’ll catch you on the flip side, dear journal!

1 year ago – payday, mango fest, Phoenix uncomfy, Nonja the rude ape, elvis costello green shirt, chess piece poll,

2 years ago – David Sutherland RIP, trunk turtles, Easter walkies, chimp pics, paper toys, gCensus, Mothra Song, superhero TV themes, vet mixup, menstrual superstitions, 250 questions

3 years ago – Queequeg, Lizard (a knight anole) pictures, fixed calamity’s icon,Mycoprotein, Sammy doodle, sites for positive change, yahoo goes fromsix meg to 100meg (now at 1 gig vs gmail’s 2+gig)

4 years ago – Father’s Day, vampire game, wondering about a world free of psychoactive drugs

5 years ago – lovely long talk, South Park Scotto, Tea room, Replacement parts, star trek breast insignia

6 years ago – Predators of man, Apt seeking, Nothing sacred, sql/ado. pet quiz, pizza parlor, writing urge, Big Guy and rusty.

7 years ago – Nothing in particularGeotargetVisitor Map

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8878 – taxes and memes and comics, oh my!

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Google may digitize Michigan State University’s Comics and Pulp Library. (via beaucoup kevin )

With more than 150,000 items, the Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection is a major scholarly resource for the study of popular culture from the 19th century to the present. The initial emphasis was on American popular culture, but materials from other countries are now collected as well. While not the largest of its kind in the nation, MSU’s popular culture collection is one of the most usable because of its early adoption of coherent planning that focuses efforts on a limited number of areas. Prominent in those plans are comic art; popular fiction including dime novels, story magazines, pulps, juvenile series books, detective fiction, mystery fiction, science fiction, western fiction and women’s/romance fiction; popular information materials including almanacs and etiquette manuals; and print materials relating to the popular performing arts. Collection parameters evolve to follow trends in popular fiction, recently expanding to include gay and lesbian pulp fiction. Noteworthy elements of the collection include a nearly complete set of Deadwood Dick dime novels and substantial numbers of Tom Swift and Horatio Alger books. In addition, the Comic Art Collection is a research collection of more than 200,000 pieces serving national and international scholars. The strengths of the comic art collection are U.S. comic books, European comic books, U.S. newspaper strips and works on the history and criticism of comics. Less extensive collections are maintained for African, Asian and Latin American comics; fotonovelas; animation; cartooning; Big Little Books; and comics tie-ins. Materials held include the Yellow Kid beginning in 1895 and the Famous Funnies No. l comic book from 1934. The emphasis is on graphic storytelling in the newspaper comics or newsstand comic book tradition to present a complete picture of what American comics’ readership has seen, especially since the middle of the 20th century.

Why don’t poor people save more money? Because they’re better off not to! At least according to a new study from the National Center for Policy Analysis. The LA Times reports :

Low-income households face “astronomical” penalties for saving, according to the report by the National Center for Policy Analysis. For example, each $1 saved by a single mother earning $15,000 a year could cost her $2.60 in higher taxes and lost government benefits.

I escaped from Starbase Scottobear!

I killed Ambassador Jennylee, Ldy the Dalek, Christin the space pirate, Applelard the awful green thing, Uberbastard the medibot, Inkygypsy the tribble, Suigeneris 56 the awful green thing, Za Pick the psychic agent, Za Distro the tribble, Za Links the cargobot, Hulk Smashy the cargobot and Ambassador Kevin Church.
I salvaged an Evandorkinian artefact, an Acoolsecretaryian artefact, the Log of the USS Creepcake, an FUZZYBUMBLEBEE-160 phaser, an ILLUMINATION-30 plasma rifle, a HERBS-8800 supercomputer, Myid8myego’s commbadge, an MNEWSOM-70 phaser, an FALLENTOAD-60 phaser, an Edbookian deathblade, a Chandraian raygun, a Sedefendendo screwdriver, an Intrepidite screwdriver, a PARKS-9200 supercomputer, Kat78731’s commbadge, the Log of the USS Za Moon, the Log of the USS Fivefootmayhem, a fantasygoatlithium crystal, the Log of the USS Sebab and 331 galacticredits.

Score: 1071

Explore Starbase Scottobear and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own space adventure…

I’m kind of digging this interactive paper concept.GeotargetVisitor Map

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8879 – Happy Birthday, LDY!!!

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Glad to hear good things about moot – he’s going to be a papa yet again, sometime in the coming months ahead, sometime before thanksgiving.

BHK went to visit Misti & co – Em is sick, in the hospital with some sort of tick-borne illness that’s not lyme or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. MN & crew were coming this weekend, but now it may be just Neil.That’s sort of a bummer, but I’m glad that Em is doing better – BHK brought Blink up with her, and Em took a shine to it… so it’s hers now. Apparently she’s won the last two of three games.

WSJ: How the Presidents Stack Up. Not a lot of clear winners in my lifetime.

I have absolutely, positively write my bro another letter before the end of the week.

1 year ago – draggy meeting, sofla mass transit planner, stress reliever ape, waiting, got vista beta, body heat, possum man, free comics, manatees

2 years ago – Lovies for ldy and sedef, tunnel vision, hukilau, danny, bro, speed racer for geico, cvs ood by the lb, dr who, impact font, pink floyd reuniting

3 years ago – Newt Treats, police, sleepies, DIY-WiFi, Horrid teacher name, loud car alarm, RI, Harry Lime

4 years ago – Cartoon Pope blesses ldy, white/brown eggs, fibber island lyrics

5 years ago – Intruders, Out for Thai & sushi, Rent-bump.

6 years ago – perorate, Poi Dog Pondering, Thinking of using share point forjournaling, smart tags, considering a piercing / blooddonation,Wolbachia / Kamikaze Sperm, evil news

7 years ago – April refusing to go to the doc, bronchitis, half-light, new palsGeotargetVisitor Map

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8876 – Fiat Lux: Ordo Ab Chao

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Fiat Lux: Ordo Ab Chao, originally uploaded by musicmuse_ca.

At the Masonic House of Temple of the Scottish Rite in Washington DC.

1 year ago – bangs!, 70s nostalgia, net neutrality, heifer.org, zombie powered car, blondie, smothers brothers, hurricane, tv openings, far out space nuts, 3’s company, tomi’s vette, electrawoman and dynagirl

2 years ago – Going postal, free pie, Global Frequency, Who, Kim Possible, writing, JC & fish sammiches, mouse update, UN food force, Hav, Work Sanity, fridge cleanup, Chloe-pup, sweet farm girl mp3, Hunter-Newt face pics (vs. a paper strip)

3 years ago – Astronauts, Hound Dogs, doodles, $0.21, CoH rough, Camels vs Tigers, Hustler Store on its way

4 years ago – there-music, vampires, Bollywood posters, billy the kid

5 years ago – wondering about hover cars and jetpacks, mad shark, bad tattoos,rainbow in every teardrop, kid at work day, wondering about my own,Freedom force supers, misc bro & Danny get togethers

6 years ago – irenic & potatory, recovering from yuck, idea12, waving, coffee flavored cereals, evil news, html brad hoax, plucking out a worm, l-struck

7 years ago – fooling myself, Superman is JC, site poetry via cmdrtacoGeotargetVisitor Map

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8875 – Carcassonne

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Carcassone (Hunter and Gatherers) is more fun than I’d thought it would be. BHK and I played last night, and we were neck and neck throughout. I suspect that there will be some good tactics developed over the next two or three plays – especially on land development. It’s not complicated at all, and the play is fast. (Not as uncomplicated as blink, which we also played… which might be better suited to play with kids aged 12 and under.)

I wonder how good the other games in the series are? More of the same, but with different art? I’ll be investigating. We’ll certainly be playing at least one game with Danny when he’s up for a visit from 6/20-6/27GeotargetVisitor Map

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8874 – Monday – pictures

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[edit- dang lj is having html issues – kindly ignore the mess at the bottom of this entry]

Latest pictures from the garden. Starting to show progress on the potatoes, hot peppers, grapes, sunflowers, lettuce and so on.

applesgrapesgrapesgardenstitch
beanspeppers
taters!garden1DSCN5300yucca
DSCN5299DSCN5298DSCN5297DSCN5296
rosesunflowerspeppers2peppers3
hydranjahydranja

Latest Newtcam Assortment… where’s Pye?
newtcamjune11yawnnewtcamballnewtcam-couchnewtcamnapnewtonsleepy

Ordinary Jesus fish? I think not! note the upside-down cross! Spotted while looking for work clothes with BHK on Sunday.

Also, my dapper new hat.

Today, for your reading enjoyment, I give you Thaumaturgic Border Protection (355KB PDF), an apparent DHS presentation on the employment of witches, Wiccans, and neopagans to defend America against magickal threats both foreign and domestic. It’s an entertaining read, if you’re into such things. Link

Making a fresh toolkit for my new gig – good to get my updated software in order, etc.

1 year ago – monkey chow diaries, food charities, tip jar, desires, quizzes, code monkey, podcasting

2 years ago – On Call, Rainy, mouse ni the house, drop foot, audio books, Santana, house info

3 years ago – full call weekend, 3-bean salad, adsense, monkey-money, exchange, canceled comics, Saw Ray Iglesias

4 years ago – D issues, sim camera, RIP TG, poem, North Korean Cannibals, rental warnings – things seen, minimizing pain, evil intersection, there -quest

5 years ago – MS Linux? Got my new office chair, fun day out with Dan, Tia’s angry Email, anatomically correct teddy, what’s better

6 years ago – evil news, computer problems, love boat theme, haiku,got lovely post cards, speculate on a fellow journalist’s sexuality, not so evil news, body hot, breakfast cereal poll

7 years ago – Privacy, web cam ftp issues, just figuring out it’s over with AprilGeotargetVisitor Map .

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8872 pretty full saturday

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Woke up bright and early to hit the book sale, but we were waylaid enroute by 2 yard sales – one benefitting local kids charities, and one for the cancer cure walk for life.

At the first yard sale, We obtained a copy of pride and predudice on dvd for $1, and about seven ps2 games (Pac-Man fever is the only one played thus far, but it’s my sort of thing… a bunch of cute mini-games played on a monopoly-style board) for a buck a throw as well. Also obtained were bake sale choco-chip cookies, and an old star trek game for the pc.

2nd yard sale – got still-shrinkwrapped copies of rook, snap, and a wooden gameboard for 7 in one (actually 6-in-one, as there are no chess pieces) – Checkers, Chinese Checkers, solitaire pegs, mancala, backgammon, tic-tac-toe. again for a buck apiece. Bhk got a complete works of EAPoe for a buck, too.

3rd yard Sale – I score a ti-85 calculator, bhk gets some sharp nail polish

Book sale, we snag a big ol bag of stuff, including vegetarian cookbooks, some jim bucher / ray bradbury stuff, and some still-usable technology sourcebooks for about $25. That’s less than $0.35 a lb, give or take.

We swung by Fabulous brew for medocre coffee and slow service, but the pancakes and home fries were yummy. BHK’s Bagel looked pretty tough… it was gnawed rather than chewed by her.

Returned home to dust our loot and peruse more closely – Found out that we were going to miss jimmy’s B-day and Grad party due to a schedule conflict. I feel guilty about that – I hope that we can take him out to lunch and goof with him sometime soon to make up for it. Fobbed off those test doritos on Adam – made with lard, so I don’t want ’em. I suspect the secret flavor is “double cheeseburger” or the like.

Later, we went to see the DC Divas women’s football team crush Boston Rampage – 70 to zero. Had fun shooting the Breeze with TM and her crew. Pictures on flickr, will add to here later. Highlights include cheese thrown into the audience during the 3rd quarter.

yet another random survey Continue reading 8872 pretty full saturday →

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8869 – that 150 question wanna do / been done meme thing.

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via eryx_uk – 


Here’s how you work it. Copy it without the bold and italics. Bold everything that you’ve done. Italic the stuff that you want to do.

 

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

2. Swam with dolphins

3. Climbed a mountain (Well, walked up the side)

4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive.

5. Been inside the Great Pyramid

6. Held a tarantula

7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

8. Said “I love you” and meant it

9. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon (I’d prefer a zeppelin or blimp, though)

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced

42. Had an amazing friend

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow.

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Posed nude in front of strangers

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo (maybe)

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on television news programs as an expert

83. Got flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)

89. Had a one-night stand

90. Gone to Thailand

91. Bought a house

92. Been in a combat zone

93. Buried one/both of your parents

94. Been on a cruise ship

95. Spoken more than one language fluently

96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show

97. Raised children (well, helped extensively)

98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (well, that’s where my wife was!)

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking

103. Had plastic surgery (lip repaired)

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Petted a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Ridden a bike

112. Won money on a T.V. game show

113 Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Petted a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey

135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

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8867 – mon

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A learned person gently comes, steps carefully.

– Shimizu Hiam

Gave my 2 weeks notice at the County today – Starting on the 18th, I’ll be at my new, non-temp gig. I’m really looking forward to it… a few HR things to iron out beforehand – what sort of insurance to choose, etc. I’m looking forward to having my own office again. The commute to Calverton doesn’t seem to be as horrid as most folks make it out to be. I commuted for 90 minutes back when I was in Fort Lauderdale. I’ll miss the gang at the county… really nice crew. I hope my new team is as nice.

Grilled up veggie burgers and dogs for BHK, in-laws and TM tonight.. it was true potluck – BHK did salad, including peppers form our garden, TB brought chips and buns, and the in-laws did the doggies and brought a big ol’ watermelon for dessert. Everyone was nicely full to the brim at the end.

Newest Reads are Fluke and Jamestown – from the cover –

Set in the indeterminate but not too distant future, JAMESTOWN chronicles a group of “settlers” (more like survivors) from the ravaged island of Manhattan, departing just as the Chrysler Building mysteriously collapses, heading down what’s left of I-95 in an armor-plated vehicle that’s half-schoolbus, half-Millenium Falcon. They are going to establish an outpost in southern Virginia, look for oil, and exploit the Indians controlling the area.

The story is of course based on the actual accounts of the first ten years of the Jamestown settlement from 1607 to the death of Pocahontas in 1617. Set against a cataclysmic backdrop, the book features the historical characters—John Smith, Pocahontas, her father Powhatan, John Ratcliffe, John Martin, and John Rolf—but in an act of wild re-imagination, akin to Baz Luhrman’s re-interpretations of Shakespeare (the great playwright of the Jamesown era!), Powhaton is half-Falstaff, half-Henry V (with a psychiatrist consigliere, Sidney Feingold); John Martin gradually loses body parts in a series of violent encounters, while John Smith is a ruthless and pragmatic redhead continually undermining the aristocratic leadership; and Rolf’s and Pocahontas’s romance is conducted by text-messaging, IM-ing, and ultimately telepathy.

Despite the grim sounding circumstances and large quantity of spilled blood, it’s a romantic book, a meditation on history and interpretation, told in language that is endlessly delightful—the jokes, the rhymes, and the rimshot dialogue throw the story’s bleak underside into brilliant relief. It’s a big book—a cross between the terrific maximalist novels of Barth and Safran Foer and the minimalist magical satire of George Saunders.

So Far, Fluke is the more well-written and interesting of the two. However, I’m less than 25 pages into both.

Comparisons of Baltimore vs DC … I do need to make a trip to the Yabba Pot sometime soon.

1 year ago – on call, giza pyramid, bunny hop pic, finger people, cosmos animations, fallentoad song, fantastic

2 years ago – full vs goatee, bro & PO, vs & rr try to hook me up

3 years ago – Local con, ADP fix it, free wifi, bro issues, Crew north, Cartoon stuff, rain, bad case

4 years ago – bro goes to ER, Tony & Caroline bad news, pt issues, brothel free to troops, pirate doodle, kraft offer, FIA hoverboats

5 years ago – fumigation drama, pelican preference, cricket magazine, Google labs

6 years ago – life roles, evil news, Paranormal investigation teams that I’d join, Allen Walton, hobo names, $10 webcam, classic Scotto lunch, nice dreams, mammoth riding.

7 years ago – figured out how to hack the info kiosk as the mall of the deadGeotargetVisitor Map

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8866 sun

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Not so startling revelation – I have absolutely zero skill at playing SSX in any format – no matter what console, or sequel, I just don’t have the chops for it. Puzzle games and first person shooters, I can at least hold my own. BHK totally dominates.

Rainy, lazy day today.

Watched Pirates 2 in anticipation of the third film. Also enjoyed Spies Like us.

convert stuff to other stuff. how many newborn babies would it take to balance the scales with me on the other side? Just about 45., Lengthwise, I’m only 0.1629833488 the size of a T-rex… (or 19.25 human tongues tall)

pizza with in laws, lots of good eats eps

I want more Hawaiian shirts! BHK has me hooked on thrift store Hawaiian shirts. (properly cleaned, of course)

1 year ago – Iron Giant, Swarm, Cim-nim toast, cookie monster graffiti, ping pong kitties, bus stop sunrise, OTR, porch entry, graypumpkin gamecock, x4, on call, fruit pies, podcasts

2 years ago – Celine Dion as MJ, Tragic Darth, Boynton Tasering, great sunset, Firpo, MSK in NM w/UTI, look-around camera, sex-pred lj, chat w/sammy, tyrant in the house?, human trafficking, 20 questions meme

3 years ago – Dan visit and a caveman waitress, speaker scam, call me Q.

4 years ago – isketch, skeletor & gang, Scott-heroes, Wold Newton, I LIKE stuff, ugly Oz from MacFarlane toys

5 years ago – virus spam, moment of zen, gute fahrt, pet psychic, Crossing over guy,newtcam banner (Never did see it in rotation.), homepage design ideas

6 years ago – |337 translation guide, parse, fun turtle fact, ultrasonic cheesecharacteristics, Hello Kitty Douche, lj portal, long distance distress

7 years ago – nothin’GeotargetVisitor Map