Life in balance. Five people dropped me from the folks they read on lj this week, and five added me. In addition, I removed two people that haven’t posted in the last three months, and added two, myself. (that’s my rule of thumb… don’t add unless folks are removed. I think about 100 authors to read is plenty diverse, and I can’t keep on top of more than that.)

There was a time that I thought I’d never go over 40 authors on my linked list… but now, I think this many is just right… some folks post very rarely, but with very high quality work, ( like , , , or for example – all great to add, and it’s like a present when they post. a rare gift, found when you least expect it. from once a week, to less than once a season), or with lives that post more frequently that I’m keen to stay on top of. has a great kind heart and fantastic photos entered regularly.

I really like my friend’s list. entertaining, enlightening, very little lj drama, talented artists (be it 2-d, 3d, digital, or other), a few *very* close friends, short stories, good poetry, bad poetry, haiku slams, people growing up, baby & kitty pictures, news links, real day to day life, programming reference, and some real intelligence. There are a lot of different points of view, and a ton of kind, generous hearts. I can look at each person on my friend’s page and know right way why they’re on my list. Thanks for sharing your stuff with me!

Something I like to do is to sneak and read the people that’re reading me, too. I’m really sort of surprised at the diversity here. There’s a couple of people that are a stone’s throw from me, and others that are on the other side of the planet…I look forward to the regional search reactivating. (I sort of have an urge to make a planet corkboard, and stick pins where everyone is. (sort of like guestmap, only it traces folk’s IP, and sticks the pins automatically. sort of like this)

I’m anxious to see the community break 500 members… when I put it together about a year ago, I had no idea that it would take off as well as it has. I’d say about 3 or 4 entries a day, and approximately 5 replies per entry, if my math is right. I think that counts as a healthy community. (heck, I’d be happy with 1/10th the posts…the replies are what really makes the community work…a nice support system has developed)

bonus of having someone else bringing you goodies from the grocery store…. sometimes you get good stuff you never buy yourself.

Yummies that I got… english muffins (for breakfast) toasted up nicely with butter and strawberry preserves. the other side… I had pudding!

I can’t recall the last time I had either of them. good comfort food. Additional bonus, I’m getting my laundry done for me, too.

I wonder how many folks solved the mystery at http://cloudmakers.org/ … showed me a link to it ages ago (before AI ever came out, I think), and I’ve been messing with it, off and on for months. When I get bored, or the thought comes to me. Taking it at a leisurely pace, it’s a nice diversion. I just remembered to look into it again. It’s a great idea for a slow-paced game. lots of research, and a nifty storyline.

Blue’s Clues…you know you can replace the word blue in any song with Newt? Same for the word “you”. Newt Skiddoo, you can too! *Berrrwarw!*

Random Scotto Factoid – I used to watch Godzilla Movies like eating goldfish crackers. Even to this day, having a giant rubber monster movie playing in the background is very soothing to me. Especially if it’s Gamera or Godzilla. Badly dubbed Kung Fu flicks and Zombie movies also do the trick.

Be happy for me, I feel good and have pudding.

Streetsigns of the world. Beware falling rocks!

This is sort of what I think of when I wonder what a gay bar fight would look like. I think it’s the spandex, pvc, and slick hair. A gay BDSM club, maybe.

(Mind you, I think of a straight bar-brawl having cowboys and pool cues, with beer bottle head-smashes)

Thoughts of her brings warmth, like standing in sunlight on an otherwise chilly day. The softness of her hair, the sharpness of the eyes, the edge of her wit brings me so much joy… Her wisdom, a balm to me.

I’m picturing us out on a walk, having lunch in the crook of a tree, sharing soup in a thermos. We don’t have to say a word to one another… just taking pleasure in the nature around us, holding hands, looking at the deer walk past us below as we lay next to each other, cozy and happy.

I’m feeling nice.

wow… it’s been a while since I’ve been to the stats page. Always a fascinating read. only 35% is registered as male? I remember when it was 54%! This is the place for 17 year old boys to meet girls!

I’m going to make an uber lj link entry here, so I can refer back to it. (I’ll be putting it on my backup blog, too, so I can see it if lj’s down.)

• stats – http://www.livejournal.com/stats.bml
• news – http://www.livejournal.com/users/news/
• community news – http://www.livejournal.com/users/comm_news
• development – http://www.livejournal.com/users/lj_dev
• insanity poem – http://www.antispin.net/~martine/cgi-bin/insanity.cgi?scottobear
• admin console – http://www.livejournal.com/admin/console/
• how to delete “removed journals” from your friend’s list – http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=2964217
• meme tracker – http://www.livejournal.com/meme.bml
• style browser – http://www.livejournal.com/styles/browse/
• lj override info – http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=ljoverride
• override useinfo link – http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=7642095
• friend comparison – http://forbidden.dough.net/~archon/cgi-bin/ljfrcomp.cgi
• status – http://status.livejournal.org/
• lj maintenance – http://www.livejournal.com/users/lj_maintenance
• what cluster you’re on – http://www.livejournal.com/misc/whereami.bml
• poll creator – http://www.livejournal.com/poll/create.bml
• lj change log – http://www.livejournal.com/users/changelog/
• popular interests – http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?view=popular
• lj faq – http://www.livejournal.com/support/faq.bml
• terms of service – http://www.livejournal.com/legal/tos.bml
• abuse reports/ reporting – http://lj_abuse.livejournal.com/ (for violations of TOS)
• nifty stuff – http://www.livejournal.com/community/lj_nifty/
• fake journals – http://www.livejournal.com/users/fakejournals/
• degrees of separation cool! – http://www.petekrawczyk.com/lj_connect/
• that cool dotchart thing, for big lists! (warning, may be a little complex for some users) http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?itemid=24468851

LiveJournal Connect! Enter your username in the left box, someone else’s username (or a * for a random one) in the right box, and press the button! -> Coded by sachmet

You should have seen your face! You looked like you were inverting the bald-headed four-legged flambé.

A friend of mine’s brother is having a weird problem. He bought a house last year to remodel and then sell, and has been living there during the project.

Three times now, someone has stolen bolts from items in his yard. That’s right, bolts. Once was a couple of bolts from his motorcycle, for example.

Recently he was working in the yard with some piece of gardening gear… maybe a leaf blower, I forget. It had two tubes joined by bolts that formed the main attachment. The phone rang and he put the thing down. Inside the house he talking on the phone for a minute, drank a soda, and then went back outside again. When he picked up the blower, the tube fell apart… the two bolts that held it together were gone. In the ten minutes or so that he was outside, someone stole the bolts off the thing.

He bought the house from a run-down little church next door. The church had been using it as rough living quarters for about a dozen political/religious refugees from Ethiopia, but they were ejected from the property by the police for health reasons. The pastor of the church decided to sell the house to raise money for some church improvement projects. After selling the house, the pastor announced he was retiring to do missionary work in Zimbabwe. A couple weeks after he left, the guy with the missing bolt problem ran into the pastor’s brother in the neighborhood and asked if the missionary post had started yet. The pastor’s brother looked baffled and said, “No, we’re buying a used-car dealership together.”

You should have seen your face! You looked like you were inverting the bald-headed four-legged flambé.

A friend of mine’s brother is having a weird problem. He bought a house last year to remodel and then sell, and has been living there during the project.

Three times now, someone has stolen bolts from items in his yard. That’s right, bolts. Once was a couple of bolts from his motorcycle, for example.

Recently he was working in the yard with some piece of gardening gear… maybe a leaf blower, I forget. It had two tubes joined by bolts that formed the main attachment. The phone rang and he put the thing down. Inside the house he talking on the phone for a minute, drank a soda, and then went back outside again. When he picked up the blower, the tube fell apart… the two bolts that held it together were gone. In the ten minutes or so that he was outside, someone stole the bolts off the thing.

He bought the house from a run-down little church next door. The church had been using it as rough living quarters for about a dozen political/religious refugees from Ethiopia, but they were ejected from the property by the police for health reasons. The pastor of the church decided to sell the house to raise money for some church improvement projects. After selling the house, the pastor announced he was retiring to do missionary work in Zimbabwe. A couple weeks after he left, the guy with the missing bolt problem ran into the pastor’s brother in the neighborhood and asked if the missionary post had started yet. The pastor’s brother looked baffled and said, “No, we’re buying a used-car dealership together.”

A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar.
The bartender says. “What is this, some kind of a joke?”

For a project, I want to include a listing of a bunch of magical ingredients: stuff like bat fat, fly tears, etc. (Got going with this list)

I’d like a bunch of these, and I’d like you to create them. This is an open solicitation, and you can pass it on to anyone. 🙂

Each ingredient should be no more than a dozen words or so. I don’t want a ritual or a procedure, just an ingredient. Don’t write them in the form of a sentence, but a phrase. So for example:

Fly tears collected on the night of a full moon.

is fine. But:

You need to collect fly tears on the night of a full moon.

is not.

Have fun!

On that note, I’m going to beddy-bye. nightynight.

The little orange guy that lives with me is named

Newton

His name is not:

Neutron, Neptune, Neon, or Newman… I’ve had confused people call him all of those. (I don’t really mind, but I do correct them. You know… Fig Newton? Sir Isaac?)

nicknames I have seen that I like for him are –

Newt (Also: Noot, Gnut, Nute.. all pronounced the same), Nudie-Newtie, Nudist (He is naked, after all), Noodles, Jellybean, Dreamsicle, Fuzzybutt, Fuzz-bucket, Slacker, Moose, Nut, Goober, Monkey-boy, Ape-Cat, Monkey-kitty, Flying Monkey-Kitty, Shark-kitty, Newtie-bear, Newtzilla, Nude Beach, Uber-cat, Beastly, Newfie-Slayer (in honor of tarpo), babe magnet, Neutered, Golden Boy, Little Piggy, Stinkpot (when he was still on formula his dung was the stenchiest… I’m glad that passed, pardon the pun), Lovey-boy, Stripey-snack-cake, New Zoo Review, Son, Boyo, and sundry others that aren’t coming to my addled mind right now.

Random scotto factoid – I once wanted my own radio station, callsign WMBT- The Wombat. Once I get my backups done, Big Brain (Now Queen Bee) will be Broadcasting via Shoutcast. A childhood dream come true! I want to get Newton’s purrs recorded at full bass… I think it’d be neat to hear it broadcast.

The super-unsinkable tugboat. keen! I bet that was quite a ride.

Watching TV… learned about baby penguins! So cute. Animal Planet is the way to go for daytime tv. Pet stories, Wildlife Emergency, that’s my baby. I’m glad my sweetie turned me on to the channel. I’d love to get a job working with that company.

On an unrelated note –

Labia is plural for labium.

I want pancakes, preferably buttermilk or blueberry, with a side of home fries.

Hmm…my brother is coming by tomorrow to help out around the house. Taking my laundry and bringing some supplies. I found that he had more troubles than I knew on the Island when he was there… I’m glad those times are mostly behind him. I’m going to help him out with rent until his IRS check comes in later this week. I drew myself up fairly tight with the phone and power bills, cab rides and meds…It’s just as well I’m staying in this week.

I’m feeling a little mopey today, but that’ll pass. I think it’s from poor sleep, and being perhaps over-anxious about the meds, and the situation in general. I’m fortunate to have a few beacons to help me on my way. 🙂 Newtie is being very good about snuggling and purring. My back’s doing pretty well at the moment, and I’m curled up comfortably.

Something that just made me laugh… a guy’s name… “Dick Hyman“… master of jazz piano. I’m so juvenile, sometimes.

Expert Judgement on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

The Brain Trust at Sandia National Labs is attempting to design an entire landscape around the nuclear waste dump of the great Southwest – one that will say “go away” to humans for the next 10,000 years, regardless of changes in climate or culture. Among the more descriptive proposals are: Landscape of Thorns, Menacing Earthworks, and Forbidding Blocks. Artists’ concept sketches can be found near the middle of the document.The more I read this, the more I got visions of Mordor, the land of Scorch (from Wizards), the ancient complex of the Great Ones under Antarctica from Lovecraft’s The Mountains of Madness, and strangely enough, the rock formations from the ’80s movie Dune. Creeeepy.

Ancient Domesday Book Outlives Electronic Version

In 1086AD, somebody thought it would be a good idea to write down all kinds of stuff about the King in a book. That document has endured for nearly a thousand years and is of great interest to historians. In 1986, somebody thought it would be a good idea to make a modern-day equivelent, preserved in the latest, indestructable technology, for the next millenium’s historians. That document lasted about 15 years, and is now almost completely unreadable.

Contrast our ability to preserve and disseminate our culture to the kind of legacy we’re leaving for the next 10,000 years. Remember how the futuristic Legion of Superheroes always says that few records survived from our time? And you thought it was just so that DC didn’t have to give away the endings…