ask a silly person...

Today is...

2010-02-28T18:48:22Z

Got the ughs.

2009-09-08T14:35:35Z

Not only is my body full of crud, so is this computer (resisted ad-aware and the first registry cleaner so far...)

Status

2009-09-05T14:26:07Z

Haven't been reading regularly for a long time, and I just cleaned out my friends list from groups and people whose user names I couldn't connect to people. No offense is meant to anyone, and please ping me and give me something so I can remember who the person is behind the user name if you're bothered by a dropped subscription. :)

Reading Jag #?

2007-11-24T16:25:24Z

Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution
by Randal Keynes

Not cutting this one, because the long review is in my 'blog (linked to title). A good read, but only if you're interested in Darwin.

Santa is a sad and lonely man, looking for the love he lost years ago...

2007-11-16T17:05:03Z

scooterbird thought I was being very existential, but it was the only thing I could possibly say when we saw that santa in the jewelry store window at the mall yesterday. I'll have to get a picture and iconize it... it was just amazing.

Almost as amazing as this Fox News Porn video

Yes, the "theory of everything" looks like a cool alternative to string theory. Nope, I can't really follow it. Found one debunking article on the blog of a string theorist who seems to be a climate change skeptic. The rest of the ST blogosphere seem to be either his colleagues or bemused/intrigued in some degree.

It's just an odd morning...

efbq @ 2007-11-12T09:35:00

2007-11-12T14:37:08Z

Happy Birthday dinec42

efbq @ 2007-11-07T07:57:00

2007-11-07T12:58:29Z

Happy Birthday papertigers

Best wishes and X-post

2007-11-06T14:59:15Z

Happy Birthday aramintamd!

I've got a knit/crochet poll and the planned intro for scooterbird's podcast up at Penumbral Lore today, for those of you who don't have the lj feed but like polls and sound clips... :)

efbq @ 2007-11-05T07:28:00

2007-11-05T12:38:11Z

Happy Birthday archangelbeth!

Blood from a turnip...

2007-10-29T22:39:31Z

Well, the last time I was able to give blood was in 2003. Since then, my hematocrit levels have been way too low - not low enough to be a health hazard, just low enough that I can't give.

...then I started getting calls about giving platelets because my blood type is REALLY needed for them. So I've been gamely keeping appointments and trying.

Well, today was one of those appointments. Kept it even though my internal calendar was a bit off, and hormones said NFW.

The Red Cross is now using a new gadget to check hematacrit levels. Today was the first day for it, and the technician couldn't get it to work at all at first... in the end

I GAVE PLATELETS TODAY!!!

I suppose she could have made a mistake with the new unit, but since the red blood cells got pumped back into my arm I can't see how it's an unreasonable risk.

Sore though. An hour is a long time to be hooked up to a suction pump.

Changing things around...

2007-10-27T13:25:12Z

Hey, all.

Some news about me and my lack o' posting coming up, but first - some books

Absurdistan
by Gary Shteyngart

My mother has been in this book club for something like 30 years now. At 72 she's the youngest member. I've been hearing stories about it forever, and tried to go once before. The problem was that I couldn't force myself to finish the book (I think it was "The Wizard of Menlo Park"). So, this time I decided I'd wade through it no matter how bad it was.

Started off terrible... I can sit through a 2 hour movie where I dislike the protagonist, but a book is a major time investment, and, for me, a much closer connection.... and Misha just wasn't likable. So full of self love/self loathing, and whining about it constantly. I could see where the humor was supposed to be, but it was just mean spirited nastiness. I hung in there, because the book club itself just sounded like fun.

By the end of the book I was getting something out of it. The targets for lampooning were more deserving. Misha actually began to grow as a character. It was and OK book with some good bits.

Then it came to the end. The entire story was building towards 9/11, when I was sure the protagonist would be flying back into New York, but it just stopped on the 10th, with no way for him to get home. Very strange.

The book club, however, was delightful. This months hostess is an artist, living in a beautiful home in Bannockburn, with an indoor garden and walls covered with light and form. Her living room was incredibly furnished, with no two chairs seeming to come from the same style or period, but they formed a friendly, and comfortable, whole (except for the folding chairs...)

Lunch was exquisite, with breaded salmon (I think, like I know from fish) and squash stuffed with cranberry sauce, and the company was delightful. I've been invited to come back, and, if the temp job fails to come through I definitely will).

Knit One, Kill Two
by Maggie Sefton

Have I mentioned before that mysteries are my 'popcorn reading'? Well, examples like this are the reason why. Light and fluffy, but no substance. Fun, but no story to get in the way of the formula.

This particular mystery is one of a subgenre - the cooking mystery. I kid you not, there are a number of mystery series in which the author includes a menu in each book. Maggie (who, apparently, learned to knit while she wrote the book) also added a couple of beginning knitting patterns at the end of the book, the very ones her protagonist was working on during the story. It was all very cosy.

Since this was the first book of the series, I actually misidentified one of the continuing characters as a potential suspect, but couldn't come up with a motive. I also misread the little old ladys introduction, and thought she was a lesbian. She wasn't, which was a shame, but I'm sure the author thought it would disrupt the ultimate cozy atmosphere she was trying to build if any of the characters were unexpected.

The set up? The protagonist has inherited her aunt's cottage, next door to the old farm house she grew up in, which has been converted to a yarn shop and cafe. Definitely going for the "I want to live there" button. A place where everything is impossibly cozy, life is slower and simpler, and, oh yea, occasionally murder threatens paradise and audience identification character has to save the day... There are a slew of books like this, usually with some form of animal companion and/or recipes. This book has both.

Quick and fun. Somethiing to pick up when my hands are tired from knitting... or one of the other knit/murder series.

I've been wanting to wean myself off of LJ for a while. Not because of any problem with FList, not even (really) because of time-sink factor, but because the last Six Apart kerfluffle pissed me off, and I don't trust them anymore.

So I've started another blog. Many of you have already seen it on scooterbirds LJ. It's called, somewhat pretentiously, Penumbral Lore; Shadows of Science, and ednoria has graciously set up an RSS feed account called penumbrallore (which wasn't working at first and seems to be fine now).

It's going to be a place for more musings, less personal information. The subtitle is "comments on the intersection of science and !science", so you have an idea of the kinds of posts I'll be making. You are all very much invited to subscribe. Word of warning - I've joined NaBloPoMo, so the expected post frequency is a bit high...

This account will gradually be transitioned to 'read only', but I think I'll keep up with the book entries at least until the end of the year.

two books

2007-10-08T01:39:47Z

Ghost Dancer
by John Chase

For some reason, I've gotten sucked into listening to podiobook 'thrillers', so I decided to pick up one for a read. This one is about a mad genius who's gotten his hands on one of Tesla's lost notebooks, and is building a super weapon, out for revenge... Can't go wrong, right?

It wasn't terrible, but I've got to admit that it's just not my genre. I found a lot of what are probably classic thriller 'bits' just annoying and predictable. Although not done 'stupid', the Al Queda connection and the utter incompetence of the authorities were just annoying to me, although I could see why they were necessary plot elements. The 'love conquers all' bit at the end was surprisingly well handled, but I couldn't buy the fact that the villain's unwitting widow would end up with the millions.

If you're looking for a popcorn read, it's worthwhile. I think I'll keep looking around, though.

Interworld
by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Evidently written to sell the idea as a cartoon series, the book is fast moving and fun. A bit bloody for a YA book, but no more so than a lot of anime targeted at the same audience. If we all go out and buy a copy, maybe an animation studio will pick it up... and mangle it entirely. :(

Very cool book, though. Much happy.

Hippo Birdee!

2007-10-03T13:11:32Z

Happy Birthday lli and koralleen!!!

Weaning myself off of Six Apart...

2007-10-01T02:05:48Z

As I said before, I'm beginning to back off of LJ and Six Apart after the last Big Kerfluffle. I've started a new journal - http://shadowsofscience.blog.com/ for some subset of post geekery. You are all invited to check it out... It should even be easy to set up an .rss feed if you want to read it on LJ.

Don't expect a tremendous outpouring of stuff now. Part time temp job starts tomorrow, and scooterbird is starting a one month contract (NOT for The Exchange, just a sub contractor position) at the same time.

Life will be hectic for a while to come.

See a play, save the Cafe

2007-09-28T12:03:42Z

tonight only, at the New Deal Cafe, OutOfTheBlackBox Theatre presents 365 Days / 365 Plays. The performance is free, but the New Deal will accept contributions... :)

efbq @ 2007-09-26T06:46:00

2007-09-26T11:01:21Z

For anyone who needs a dose of cute this morning, (that means you, whimmydiddle "Animals at Play" is an amazing slide show of inter-species play...

efbq @ 2007-09-25T12:33:00

2007-09-25T16:37:05Z

Happy Birthday kenwestervelt

Not exactly a meme, but...

2007-09-25T15:05:19Z

Yes, I'm asking you to take leftie-style eco action. The linked site walks you through how to get off a bunch of junk mail lists, and generates the letters you need to mail (or supplies you with links to web sites for those companies which will do it for you online.

Probably worth while. Yes, there is a referral in the link - they give prizes to people who get the most sign ups.

efbq @ 2007-09-24T20:23:00

2007-09-25T00:26:44Z

bloody fucking hell

efbq @ 2007-09-24T09:24:00

2007-09-24T13:44:27Z

Cell
by Stephen King

First of all, I really enjoy King. It's not the blood and gore which keep me reading, it's the way he writes people - he really brings across complicated motivations, and makes it possible to sympathize with some pretty unsympathetic characters. I was totally blown away by the end of the book - the final decision, and how people react when there are no 'right' choices. I do reccommend this book.

Having said that, I was bothered by the lack of speculation on what caused the 'pulse'. There were only two people who put forth any sort of 'answer' - and it was the SAME answer. Everybody said 'terrorists', no one said 'alien invasion' (which it looked a LOT more like). NOBODY said 'evolution doesn't work this way' - even though one of the characters might have had the background to... I don't mind that King had a single answer in mind, but it doesn't ring true that the survivors would.

Death on the Cliff Walk
by Mary Kruger

When a book has a title which starts with "Death on..." or "Death in..." it immediately leads me to expect a mystery a la Christie. Nothing too gorey or over the top, a certain sort of drama and peril. This one fit the mold quite nicely.

It's set in Rhode Island in the "gilded age", and Kruger delights in describing the conspicuous consumption of the upper classes in a summer resort town. The mystery was light, and fast moving, 'without too much plot to get in the way of the story'. The romance, if predictable, at least didn't get stupid. It was a fun book.

I didn't buy her picture of high society, however. I can certainly see the dismissal of the murders when only maids were involved, but as soon as the heiress died I can't imagine it being waved off in favor of parties anymore. Nor can I see that the socialite aunt of the protagonist would have thought her fiance 'eminently suitable' - he had neither family name nor personal fortune.

I had the murderer picked out pretty early, because I recognized the formula the book was written in. I didn't buy that he'd play tennis that well, given his childhood injury (which 'everyone knew about'), and I don't follow how the connection between him and the fifth victim didn't come up IMMEDIATELY if it had been in the files... Wasn't the hero poring over the files every time someone died?

So, fun read. Not great writing.

efbq @ 2007-09-22T14:15:00

2007-09-22T18:23:50Z

Clay
by David Almond

This is a bizarre little coming of age fantasy shelved in the YA section of the library. Some interesting discussion of good/evil god/nihilism, but basically left me going "WTF?". The antagonist might be the antichrist, or just a strange, messed up kid with excellent hypnotic skills. The protagonist is just a jerky teen aged boy. Nobody wins in the end. Not bad for a quick read, if you're in the mood for a downer. Which I was, apparently, since I kind of liked it.

Does anyone know of a cel phone plan which can or will feed two separate numbers into a single cel phone?

So THIS is what it feels like

2007-09-21T11:24:35Z

For the first time in about a week, I woke up feeling mostly human. Not too headachey, muscles and joints murmuring rather than yelling.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Ironically, today was as early as the doctor could see me... (not for the coldcrudthing, but it would have been addressed if I was still nonfunctional.

Not going so well...

2007-09-19T17:35:17Z

I was grouchy and cranky all yesterday afternoon, but I made it to DD#1's 'back to school night' despite that.

Turns out there was a reason for that. Woke up in the middle of the night last night in various sorts of pain - upper back, mostly, but tummy HURT on top of that. Kept dozing off and having all kinds of not-good dreams. The high point was that Koob was able to express himself very eloquently in writing (complaining about a purple back which was missing). In another dream I met Franklin Habit (he of The Panopticon fame. I knit him a sweater, but it got ruined. He outed his brother-in-law to his nephew by giving him a really beautiful knit gypsy skirt for Christmas, with a note on it saying "For Jack; ask Kate". (By the way - Franklin does have a sister, brother in law, and infant neice - as far as I know none of them cross-dress.)

On a cheerier note, there's a trilobite on the sun - (article here).

I've begun to make progress on the O2B2 website, but the next part of the update will require creativity and energy, and I'm not sure I'll have it on hand today. It needs to be done by tomorrow afternoon, so there's time yet.

DD#1's HS team was creamed in soccer yesterday. DD#2 has been pulled off the Track & Field team until we can figure out why her ankle keeps folding (I'll be leaving here shortly to drive her to the orthopedist).

Oh, as chickenhat says

ARRRRRR!

It be Donate to the Pirates Day...

(Thanks for the link and the pic!

efbq @ 2007-09-18T07:28:00

2007-09-18T11:29:21Z

Happy Birthday ednoria!!!

Fun fact...

2007-09-17T10:56:26Z

This week in 1969, Scooby Doo debuted on CBS Saturday morning lineup.