again with the blarg

divka @ 2012-05-30T11:36:00

2012-05-30T15:36:39Z

Hi, LJ. I'm probably about...six months...behind on reading your posts. Sorry about that.

I'm still alive, though.

2012 movies: #1

2012-01-02T19:32:15Z

So, I haven't posted a lot lately. I hope to improve this in 2012.

We bought annual movie passes to our local independently-owned movie theater this year. My plan is to keep running track of all the movies we see. For the curious, the pass costs the same as about 12 regular priced movies at this theater (which I believe has cheaper tickets than most DC-area theaters.)

Yesterday, we saw "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows". It was definitely amusing but not a "must see." The plot is a bit muddled in the beginning and I got a little tired of the slowed down fight scenes by the end. It is a fun little action film, all in all.

Scarf Progress

2011-10-26T16:59:34Z

I keep delaying posting my scarf progress because I never remember to take a photo.

And now the site that hosts the scarf-o-matic tool is down. So, failure there. I'm about 50% done, though!

DW Scarf

2011-09-26T23:48:51Z

Since lelek has now joined me in scarf insanity, I feel I should post another scarf update:

Although, I haven't even started knitting tonight. Hopefully I'll knock out some more rows tonight.s

Scarf Progress

2011-09-21T15:33:22Z

Scarf Progress

2011-09-13T15:04:32Z

Slowly, the scarf creeps along.

Scarf Progress

2011-09-09T13:27:19Z

It is your very first update on my Tom Baker scarf progress. And...it isn't too impressive. But I started!

Anyone else doing any winter craftwork?

LJ

2011-07-29T00:23:01Z

LJ is making it hard to want to stick around. And this is coming from someone who really wants to stick around.

Lendle

2011-05-31T14:37:21Z

I know a few of you are Kindle users--so, it is worth mentioning that I have joined Lendle. Essentially, it is an e-book lending service. You actually get a small kickback for each loan that adds up into Amazon gift certificates.

You can make "friends" on the site--but it doesn't seem to be terribly useful. It is easier to search for the books you want and borrow them from whoever has them up for grabs. But if you want to be friends on the site then let me know.

Pretty nifty site: lendle.me

A little test

2011-03-03T15:34:52Z

I downloaded the LJ phone app and this is my first time testing it. That should tell you something about how boring the class is that I'm in right now.

Is anyone watching the show Idiot Abroad by Ricky Gervais, by chance? I think the point of the show is supposed to be to laugh along at Karl with Ricky. In reality, it has made me feel sorry for Karl and confirmed my belief that Gervais is kind of a huge jerk.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Random Thing

2011-02-25T16:28:26Z

During my drive to work yesterday, I was way too close to a mattress flying off someone's car. That would have been an unfortunate way to die.

I do have a relative who was killed by a log falling off a log truck, oddly enough. That is a little more impressive way to go than a mattress, though.

Hmmm..I see an issue here

2011-02-18T18:21:15Z

The Washington Post ran an article this morning about local cafeterias getting rid of trays. In part, this is mean to keep students from piling more and more food on their trays.

They also ran an article about the University of Maryland's new competitive eating team.

America is a strange place when it comes to food.

California's First Dog

2011-02-17T15:29:02Z

As long as I'm spamming you with corgis this week, California's new "First Dog" is a corgi.

Article is here

The cute, it burns...

2011-02-17T00:13:57Z

Dogs

2011-02-04T14:34:17Z

Someone walked by my house this morning with one of each of my favorite kinds of dogs. One of these and one of these.

My husband pointed out that I looked really happy when they went by. Who wouldn't be? They were adorable.

There's a small herd of corgis that live down the street from me--one house with four or five of them. One of these days I'm going to stuff one under my coat and run away with it.

Icon Meme

2010-12-06T20:03:59Z

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of Icon Squee!

The following were chosen by katje0711:

This is Dwight from The Office having a bad day. He is slumped over in the stairwell at his office--and I think we all have days like that, right? Dwight is one of those characters that goes back and forth between being very sympathetic and completely unlikeable. I've swung back to feeling positive about him, lately. I don't use this icon much, though.

That would be Neil Patrick Harris acting like a crazy person. I think this is from SNL, but I honestly can't remember now. I made this a while ago.

Jayne from Firefly. I love Firefly and I love Jayne--and sometimes you need an icon that expresses your rage, right?

This is an image from Dollhouse. Essentially, the "Dolls" are people who have entered a contract which allows a company to temporarily wipe their personality/memories . They are then "re-filled," so to speak, with a custom designed persona.

The conversation the text references is:
Adelle: Because you're only seeing part of it. I'm talking about a clean slate.
Caroline: You ever try and clean an actual slate? You always see what was on it before.

Ah, another Dollhouse icon. That is Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) at the top there. Without giving too much away, he's essentially a Doll that's gone a little haywire. This was a particularly great episode of Dollhouse.

30 Days of Posting Meme: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

2010-12-02T18:31:42Z

30 Days of Posting Meme:
What did you want to be when you were growing up?, requested by katje0711

The main thing I remember wanting to be was an archaeologist. I think this was probably due primarily to the Indiana Jones films and not any particular interest in the science, initially. Although, once I become interested, I spent a lot of time reading about ancient cultures and archaeology and palentology--and all those sorts of things.

I also had a great interest in animals and thought about being some sort of zoologist. We used to have this big box of animal information cards. I wish I remembered who made those or where they came from. I just recall that they were in a big red plastic tray. Did anyone else have these? I used to read through those over and over again, trying to memorize things about different types of animals.

Now I'm going to have to track down information about those cards. My set is long gone now, like most of my childhood stuff.

Edited to add:

I looked up the cards. What most people my age would have had were Wildlife Treasury cards...but we actually had these Safari Wildlife cards. I loved those things. Although, I swear ours were in a red tray and not a blue tray.

It almost makes me want to eBay a few sets for fun.

30 days of posting: Day 3

2010-11-18T20:33:08Z

30 days of posting: Day 3

Fashion!, requested by likelikehighway

Oh, dear. This is an interesting topic. I would say I have a vague interest in a fashion--but not one that is executed in any manner.

I like things that have a late 50's and early 60's retro feel or, alternatively, modern Japanese fashion. Do I buy or wear any of this stuff? No, not at all. I work in a lab and most of my clothes seem destined for disaster. I wear solid color tops and jeans or corduroy pants. Exciting, no?

With starting this new fellowship program, I've felt compelled to start dressing more nicely. I certainly make enough money to do so and actually have opportunities to dress up outside of the lab for work. I haven't really DONE anything about it though.

My body is changing right now because of roller derby -- I'm back to wearing pants that haven't fit since grad school. So, that is one more excuse to put off purchasing fancy stuff. Excuses, excuses...right?

I do read fashion blogs, though, while I ponder doing something about my wardrobe. Here are some of the ones I have in my RSS Reader. I've love to hear if anyone else has ones they read:

Fashionista
FaceHunter
Style Bubble
The Sartorialist

I still need more post topics for this meme. Submit them here.

30 days of posting: Day 2

2010-11-17T23:56:40Z

I never promised this would 30 days of posting in a row. I think 30 quality posts periods is a good goal so that is what you're getting.

Day 2: The highs and lows of your new Kindle, requested by spicedogs

After a great deal of internal debate, I bought a Kindle a few weeks ago. My primary motivation was to put a stop to the giant piles of books that were accumulating around the house. I have only had it a short time so I'm still learning a lot about what it can and can't do. I'd love to hear from other Kindle owners if there are things you love and/or hate about it too.

Here's what I like about the Kindle:

1. Believe it or not, my absolute favorite feature is the built-in dictionary. If you encounter a word in the text you don't know, you can guide your cursor to the word and the Kindle looks it up in the dictionary for you. I can not tell you how much I love this. In addition to helping build my vocabulary in general, it is useful for looking up random things like British slang words or historical references that go over my head.

2. The thing is slim and you can jam it in your bag. You can fit dozens of books on it, not to mention PDFs of papers. I always have something on me to read no matter where I end up.

3. No one has a clue what you are reading. This is ideal if, like me, you find yourself trapped in endless breaks during meetings at work where you have to kill 15 minutes.

Here's what I dislike:

1. Would you believe the first book I bought--a popular press title--has all sorts of random typos in it? It has a glitch where the title shows up randomly in the text every so often. I hope this isn't typical.

2. I still, in some sentimental way, miss having copies of books around. I know the whole point was to keep them from piling up in the first place but I still haven't gotten used to not having a hard copy. I can always buy a hard copy of things I really want, of course.

30 Days of Posting: Day 1

2010-11-12T19:09:15Z

30 Days of Posting: Day 1
"Why I Likes Roller Derby," requested by white_aster

I think this can best be divided into two sections:

Why I Liked Roller Derby Before I Ever Played
If you've never been to a roller derby match, you need to correct this issue right now. Roller derby is amazing to watch--fast, rough, skillful, and all out crazy. I think a lot of people have two simultaneous reactions to derby games: 1) Wow, I want to do that, and 2) I could never, ever do that. But there are women (and men, in some league) of all ages, shapes and size out on the track kicking ass and taking names. I could probably find a great player who fits the approximate dimensions of anyone reading this post. She or he could probably kick your butt--but you'd be about the same size and general appearance before that.
It is also pretty intuitive, unlike other sports. You can sit there and sort out for yourself how the game is played fairly quickly, at least on a very basic level. Don't get me wrong--there are endless amounts of rules to be learned. I don't know them all but I can still play without knowing them. I occassionally get a penalty without even knowing what I did, but such is life.
I think there's an added bonus in that it is a sport that is primarily associated and dominated by women. In fact, men who play roller derby take a lot of crap--even from the women who play the game. That's a whole other post there, though. The point here is that roller derby is not a sport where women play second fiddle.

Why I Like Roller Derby Now
This sport is unbelievably fun, even when you're going head-first into a wall. There is nothing that feels better than rolling fast and squeezing your way through a pack of players bent on knocking you down.
Every setback comes with half a dozen new accomplishments. On top of that, this is a sport that welcomes and encourages newcomers. We have women who have been playing for years and women who walked in the door not knowing how to skate. As long as you show up and work hard, you'll get to play.
I have a new set of friends who congratulate me when I do something awesome but also tell me when I'm slacking off or screwing up. There's honesty in derby.
There is, however, no "sorry" in derby. You have to train yourself out of the reflexive need to say "sorry" over every little thing. Many American women (and probably men too, but I have no idea) spend way too much time apologizing for things that aren't their fault. A similar point can be made about the need for aggression and force--again, two things not really drilled into little girls in the U.S.
I feel stronger, even when I'm face first on the floor after trying to do three minutes worth of push-ups and failing. I feel skillful, even when I'm watching women who are so much more naturally talented that I am. I feel like an athelete, even when I was always the clumsy one.

Derby is awesome.

You can contribute topics for me to write about here. PLEASE! I need more.

30 days of posting

2010-11-11T22:23:43Z

I'm completely ripping this idea off from first_seventhe because her results from this meme have been great to read.

I feel like I haven't been posting about much of substance lately. Hopefully this will rectify this situation.

I'm starting a list from 1-30 in this post. One number for each day I will be posting.
Leave a comment with a topic you'd like to see me cover. (Check out first-seventhe's post for inspiration.)
I'll update the list as people come up with stuff, in order as people comment. (If I get a few that are similar in topic, I may shuffle them for variety's sake.)
Please feel free to leave more than one suggestion because it will help me fill up this list.
The list will stay open until it is full.

The List:

1. "Why I Likes Roller Derby"
2. The highs and lows of your new Kindle.
3. Fashion!
4. .Your job and why you love it!
5. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
6. Is there a certain smell that reminds you of a happy time?
7. When did you join LJ and why? A little background on how you heard of it would be nice too.
8. If it isn't too related to the fashion topic... Why do you wear so much corduroy?

Fight Back New York

2010-10-21T22:07:04Z

I love both these guys...

Awww

2010-10-08T17:05:15Z

Johnny Depp seems likes a nice guy:

Pirate Johnny Depp at UK School

Not only did he show up but he put on the costume too.

Odd

2010-10-06T20:25:05Z

Someone just walked by in the parking lot outside my lab's window. He was wearing a striped beanie with a propeller on top.

Derby Name, teaser update

2010-10-05T15:28:24Z

Well, I submitted my derby name and number to my team captain. Once it is officially approved, you will all be the first to know.

Until then...we wait!