January 30, 2007
eclecticism: March of the Sinister Ducks
Oops, I realized that I never put this up last year. Here it is for the people that asked for it.
Idiot in Motion
I've had problems with carpal tunnel in the past, though luckily not bad enough to need surgery. Just bad enough that sometimes I have to wear a brace and sleep with a different brace.
On Sunday, I played volleyball. And served the ball, as I had been taught in High School—which is to hit it with force, underhanded on the heel of my hand. We practiced for three hours or so, so I served the ball repeatedly.
Monday, surprise surprise, my wrist felt like someone had hammered a spike into it. The sad part was that it took me nine, ten hours to put the cause and effect together. I figured it out just before bed and dug my night brace out before going to bed and followed that with some ibuprofen. I don't know if it was one or the other or both, but in the morning, I could probably even have juggled without needing an EMT on standby.
More stupidity is surely to follow...
January 26, 2007
Me and My Big Mouth...
Once he stopped laughing, I was able to get the message for a co-worker in English.
Caffeine Monkey on My Back
I finally broke down and had a Diet Coke with lunch. Here's hoping that the weekend detox will help me. I'm hoping that the only monkeys on my back will be the kids jumping up and down on the Uncle Jungle Gym. (I think I got that from my friend, Al, but I don't see the text on his blog. Must have been an email or something.)
*Yawn*
January 25, 2007
Dresden on iTunes
I'm not sure if I want to do that again. I think I may be happier whining about missing a show I want to watch and catching it on DVD next year.
That said, I liked The Dresden Files. Much like the TV show, Bones, it varies in many major areas from the books that the series is based upon. That said, I think I like it and I think it could stand on it's own well. The main character was easy to look at and the character has a similar mix of hard-boiled and caring to the character of the same name that Butcher has written.
They removed some of the things that I loved about the character in the conversion to the small screen: difficulties with technology, the beloved VW, and the sort of wizard's cave of an apartment. Hell, they even changed Bob, the skull. But I can see why some of these changes had been made and I'm certainly willing to see where they go with this.
January 24, 2007
Fun With Bush
And it won't take anywhere near as long to listen to the damned thing with all the applause breaks.
Snow!
I woke up this morning to a crisp tinge in the air. Glancing out the window on the way to the bathroom, I spotted a surprising whiteness. Confused, I leaned against the window and blinked at the darkness. There was snow on the ground. Not much, but enough to pull a flimsy blanket over garden and cars.
I tried to take pictures on the way to work with my camera phone, but the drizzle in the air and the long shadows managed to defeat the meager light of my phone's flash. You'll have to make do with my description.
At quarter after six, the snow was still mostly pristine, only a single pair of prints marred my path for a block or so until bikes, commuters and luggage crushed the snow to slush. It wasn't much snow by New England standards, but by Old England it was enough for drivers to slow to single digits and for the tube to ground to a halt.
Ah, winter.
Update: Added a picture and a link to a BBC story about it.
January 22, 2007
RadioTimes linking to Randi
I just love how this stuff actually gets a higher profile over here than in the States and wish the States would catch up.
(They also had a link to Stephen Colbert at the Washington Correspondents Dinner last year.)
Made my morning.
January 20, 2007
January 15, 2007
New Glasses
These are my new glasses, which unfortunately, can't do anything for the vacant and vaguely confused look on my face.
Next Saturday, my other pair of new glasses comes in so you can see me in that, as well.
Update: Changed the picture, because it looks like it was compressed a bit and I suddenly look much more angular.
January 12, 2007
More Monkey News!
TSA: Service Animals
But I think the Daily Kos sarcasm is far more important here:
Daily Kos: Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!
Monkey Helpers
· The monkey handler should carry the monkey through the WTMD while the monkey remains on a leash.
· When the handler and monkey go through the WTMD and the WTMD alarms, both the handler and the monkey must undergo additional screening.
· Since monkeys may likely draw attention, the handler will be escorted to the physical inspection area where a table is available for the monkey to sit on. Only the handler will touch or interact with the monkey.
· TSOs have been trained to not touch the monkey during the screening process.
· TSOs will conduct a visual inspection on the monkey and will coach the handler on how to hold the monkey during the visual inspection.
· The inspection process may require that the handler take off the monkey’s diaper as part of the visual inspection.
It's also important to check the monkey's shoes for explosives and make sure they're not on the DHS "No Fly" list. And if your monkey misbehaves, well...be creative.
January 11, 2007
Dresden Files
Yet another reason, why I wish I was home with my ReplayTV:
The Dresden Files on the SciFi Channel.
I am so going to be bugging my friends regularly to find out how this is turning out. :) Expect my calls.
January 6, 2007
Secretive US Government? Where did you get that idea...
Bush Admin Makes White House Visitor Records Disappear(And yes, I did get a word of the day calendar, why do you ask?)
By Paul Kiel - January 5, 2007, 4:43 PMWhat do you do when there are public records showing the details of visits by a corrupt lobbyist and his associates? If you're the Bush White House, you do what you do best: make them disappear!