Friday, November 04, 2005
Quite Possibly One Of The Greatest Video Clips Ever
Cat lovers, prepared to be offended by the Zero G Cat.
Slow Day
It's a surprisingly slow “Monday” here at work, so I thought I'd make use of some of my spare time to post a quick update.
I should probably do some work on the novel instead, but the fact that I have a deadline makes the novel feel kind of like work, and you know how I feel about work. I mean, hey, I'm at work writing this, so that should tell you something.
In any case, I’ve sort of been neglecting Threshold in favor of the novel (and that’s only going to continue for the foreseeable future), so here’s a bonus Friday entry to make up for it.
…
Okay, so you honestly haven’t been missing much, though that’s hardly surprising.
Still, there have been a few stray thoughts here and there that have been in danger of going undocumented.
For example, it’s worth mentioning that I owe a debt of gratitude to Kathleen for sharing an amusing anecdote about a domestic dispute between some neighbors which not only provided me with a name for my novel’s protagonist but also the very first sentence.
I’m especially appreciative of the name, as names tend to be my Achilles Heel when it comes to writing (well, names and getting up enough motivation to actually write).
So thanks.
On an entirely unrelated front, the other day I was flipping through the channels and happened to catch the tail end of a new Liz Phair video.
I have to say that Liz is looking really damned good these days.
She’s always been a reasonably attractive woman, but in the video (and in a recent “Tonight Show” clip I found online when trying to find a copy of the video), she’s looking as though she’s definitely improved with age.
Her skin looked so smooth and her hair was thick, shiny, and lustrous.
I’m guessing that she must be getting plenty of HWC these days.
And the way she’s looking, she’s bound to get plenty more, so it looks as though she’s created her own self-perpetuating beauty cycle.
Hmm…I guess that pretty much does it for the undocumented events/thoughts of the week. So maybe I really haven’t been neglecting Threshold.
In any case, I suppose I should find something work-related to do…
I should probably do some work on the novel instead, but the fact that I have a deadline makes the novel feel kind of like work, and you know how I feel about work. I mean, hey, I'm at work writing this, so that should tell you something.
In any case, I’ve sort of been neglecting Threshold in favor of the novel (and that’s only going to continue for the foreseeable future), so here’s a bonus Friday entry to make up for it.
…
Okay, so you honestly haven’t been missing much, though that’s hardly surprising.
Still, there have been a few stray thoughts here and there that have been in danger of going undocumented.
For example, it’s worth mentioning that I owe a debt of gratitude to Kathleen for sharing an amusing anecdote about a domestic dispute between some neighbors which not only provided me with a name for my novel’s protagonist but also the very first sentence.
I’m especially appreciative of the name, as names tend to be my Achilles Heel when it comes to writing (well, names and getting up enough motivation to actually write).
So thanks.
On an entirely unrelated front, the other day I was flipping through the channels and happened to catch the tail end of a new Liz Phair video.
I have to say that Liz is looking really damned good these days.
She’s always been a reasonably attractive woman, but in the video (and in a recent “Tonight Show” clip I found online when trying to find a copy of the video), she’s looking as though she’s definitely improved with age.
Her skin looked so smooth and her hair was thick, shiny, and lustrous.
I’m guessing that she must be getting plenty of HWC these days.
And the way she’s looking, she’s bound to get plenty more, so it looks as though she’s created her own self-perpetuating beauty cycle.
Hmm…I guess that pretty much does it for the undocumented events/thoughts of the week. So maybe I really haven’t been neglecting Threshold.
In any case, I suppose I should find something work-related to do…
Thursday, November 03, 2005
End Of The Week Wrap-Up
At 7,363 words, my novel is about a thousand words short of where it should be, thanks to some serious procrastination yesterday.
I wrote some interesting passages today, and I'm finding myself very interested in seeing how my protagonist is developing.
I hadn't really given her too much thought going into it because her role is primarily to serve as a focal point around whom the action happen.
In any case, my work week is nearly upon me, so I thought I'd just crank out a quick update.
I wrote some interesting passages today, and I'm finding myself very interested in seeing how my protagonist is developing.
I hadn't really given her too much thought going into it because her role is primarily to serve as a focal point around whom the action happen.
In any case, my work week is nearly upon me, so I thought I'd just crank out a quick update.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
It Would Give The "Dream House" A Whole New Meaning...
A link at www.neilgaiman.com brought me to this custom-made Death Barbie.
More of his custom Barbies can be found here.
One of these days, when I'm not either A. Procrastinating B. Trying to find a place to live C. Working on my NaNoWriMo novel or D. Working on other pictures, I will crank out a picture that will demonstrate just how perfect my beloved Rachael Leigh Cook would be as Death in a live-action movie.
Hmm...there's got to be some kind of pun to be had in the idea of a live-action movie about Death...
More of his custom Barbies can be found here.
One of these days, when I'm not either A. Procrastinating B. Trying to find a place to live C. Working on my NaNoWriMo novel or D. Working on other pictures, I will crank out a picture that will demonstrate just how perfect my beloved Rachael Leigh Cook would be as Death in a live-action movie.
Hmm...there's got to be some kind of pun to be had in the idea of a live-action movie about Death...
3,118 Words Or At Least It Had A Nice View Of The Mountains...
So today’s launch of my NaNoWriMo novel got off to a fairly auspicious start with 3,118 words. Based on my days off during the month of November, I have a total of 18 confirmed days in which to write, meaning that I have to write at least 2,777 words each day.
So as I said, it’s an auspicious start.
It was also a pretty brutal start. I hadn’t really intended for it to start off so dark and vicious.
I mean, I knew there were going to be dark elements but, even so, it was a bit rough.
It’s not totally vicious or anything – we’re not talking “American Psycho” or anything – but it was still pretty brutal.
Amid the darkness, though, I was surprised to find a little bit of humor. I wasn’t really planning that, but it seems to fit.
Beyond writing I did a little more work on my LoFiaPlTLiMo (Local Find a Place To Live Month) project.
In that regard I drove down to a housing development that I discovered a couple of weeks ago.
Based on the costs and the location, it seemed too good to be true.
Turns out it was.
Essentially it turned out to be the overpriced trailer park that I was afraid it would be.
So that’s ruled out.
As I said, it’s a shame, it was actually a little bit closer to work, and the commute would be much more of a straight shot than what I have now (though if I wanted to shell out $6+ a day on the toll road I’d have even more of a straight shot now).
Once I got there I was put off immediately by the condition of some of the “houses” (basically, you pay way too much for a manufactured home, and then have to pay$700+ a month in lot rent on top of what you’re paying for the house), and my trepidation only increased once I got to the sales office and found that their level of professionalism was located somewhere well below sea level.
I will say that the young receptionist was extremely cute. She also had very nice boobs, which is actually one area where I had no complaints about the less than professional atmosphere as she kept bending over in front of me in her already low-cut top that had been deliberately torn in the front to make it even more low-cut. I tried not to stare too openly, but she seemed to be totally oblivious to the view that she was giving me, so…
Despite this pleasant display, I opted to forego taking a tour of the available properties (which seemed fine with the Property Manager, who clearly had no interest in showing me around or trying to sell me on the place), and so I simply took the packet and left.
Before heading down to check out the trailer park I met Kathleen for lunch.
A couple of Saturdays ago Brian mentioned that in the evening Kathleen was going on a “ghost tour” with a bunch of hot flight attendants.
(My own personal experience has taught me that, much like hot cosmetologists, hot flight attendants seem to exist only in the movies. In all the times I’ve flown I’ve seen one flight attendant who was even reasonably hot…and she’d probably hit the peak of her hotness ten to fifteen years earlier.)
So today I commented on the fact that she has apparently taken my directive (to go out and find hot chicks for me) to heart.
She stated that there is, in fact, one girl that she’s been working on, throwing out the occasional reference to me when she’s talking to her.
I believe that I will actually be meeting her next month, as, on Kathleen’s request I’ve taken off a Saturday so that I can be her girlfriend for the day and check out some big craft show (or something), and the girl will evidently be accompanying us. By way of preparing me for the day, Kathleen gave me this piece of advice: don’t be weird.
Not sure I can manage that one, but I’ll do my best.
Among the many things I hate in life, waiting is very close to the top.
In particular, I hate waiting at home when there’s somewhere I have to be. After all, with the knowledge that I have to be someplace hanging over my head it’s hardly as though I’m going to accomplish anything, and it’s hardly worth sitting down to watch a movie or something.
Even though there are generally fewer options for passing the time, I’d much rather wait at my destination than wait at home, so I tend to arrive early whenever I have to be somewhere.
This is, of course, exacerbated by the fact that in Northern Virginian you can never really be certain how long it’s going to take you to get somewhere. After all, depending on traffic and construction, it can take upwards of a half an hour to travel five miles.
So, factoring that in, by erring on the side of caution, I’m usually even earlier than I would be in a place with more predictable traffic patterns.
Of course, most people tend to be late, so it makes things even worse when I’m meeting someone.
Like today, when I was supposed to pick Kathleen up in front of her building at 11:30.
Of course, I went into this knowing that for Kathleen 11:30 can mean anytime from 11:35 to 11:40.
Bearing that in mind, I made a conscious effort to be late.
I did this by holding off on taking a shower until well after 10, leaving my apartment after 11. At a minimum, I had a 10 minute drive to pick Kathleen up at HQ, so I still would have been early even if I got caught in an early lunch/late to work rush (yes, people really do role in to work that late around here), so before I headed to HQ I stopped at the bank to cash in some change. I operated on the assumption that there would be some old lady in line ahead of me at the coin counting machine cashing in seventy years’ worth of pennies.
Turned out I was the only person there, and the whole process took about two minutes.
So even after stopping at a grocery store to use the bathroom along the way I was still early.
In any case, I want to squeeze in a few more words to make up for writing time that will be lost to a meeting tomorrow before I call it a night, so that will do it for this entry.
So as I said, it’s an auspicious start.
It was also a pretty brutal start. I hadn’t really intended for it to start off so dark and vicious.
I mean, I knew there were going to be dark elements but, even so, it was a bit rough.
It’s not totally vicious or anything – we’re not talking “American Psycho” or anything – but it was still pretty brutal.
Amid the darkness, though, I was surprised to find a little bit of humor. I wasn’t really planning that, but it seems to fit.
Beyond writing I did a little more work on my LoFiaPlTLiMo (Local Find a Place To Live Month) project.
In that regard I drove down to a housing development that I discovered a couple of weeks ago.
Based on the costs and the location, it seemed too good to be true.
Turns out it was.
Essentially it turned out to be the overpriced trailer park that I was afraid it would be.
So that’s ruled out.
As I said, it’s a shame, it was actually a little bit closer to work, and the commute would be much more of a straight shot than what I have now (though if I wanted to shell out $6+ a day on the toll road I’d have even more of a straight shot now).
Once I got there I was put off immediately by the condition of some of the “houses” (basically, you pay way too much for a manufactured home, and then have to pay$700+ a month in lot rent on top of what you’re paying for the house), and my trepidation only increased once I got to the sales office and found that their level of professionalism was located somewhere well below sea level.
I will say that the young receptionist was extremely cute. She also had very nice boobs, which is actually one area where I had no complaints about the less than professional atmosphere as she kept bending over in front of me in her already low-cut top that had been deliberately torn in the front to make it even more low-cut. I tried not to stare too openly, but she seemed to be totally oblivious to the view that she was giving me, so…
Despite this pleasant display, I opted to forego taking a tour of the available properties (which seemed fine with the Property Manager, who clearly had no interest in showing me around or trying to sell me on the place), and so I simply took the packet and left.
Before heading down to check out the trailer park I met Kathleen for lunch.
A couple of Saturdays ago Brian mentioned that in the evening Kathleen was going on a “ghost tour” with a bunch of hot flight attendants.
(My own personal experience has taught me that, much like hot cosmetologists, hot flight attendants seem to exist only in the movies. In all the times I’ve flown I’ve seen one flight attendant who was even reasonably hot…and she’d probably hit the peak of her hotness ten to fifteen years earlier.)
So today I commented on the fact that she has apparently taken my directive (to go out and find hot chicks for me) to heart.
She stated that there is, in fact, one girl that she’s been working on, throwing out the occasional reference to me when she’s talking to her.
I believe that I will actually be meeting her next month, as, on Kathleen’s request I’ve taken off a Saturday so that I can be her girlfriend for the day and check out some big craft show (or something), and the girl will evidently be accompanying us. By way of preparing me for the day, Kathleen gave me this piece of advice: don’t be weird.
Not sure I can manage that one, but I’ll do my best.
Among the many things I hate in life, waiting is very close to the top.
In particular, I hate waiting at home when there’s somewhere I have to be. After all, with the knowledge that I have to be someplace hanging over my head it’s hardly as though I’m going to accomplish anything, and it’s hardly worth sitting down to watch a movie or something.
Even though there are generally fewer options for passing the time, I’d much rather wait at my destination than wait at home, so I tend to arrive early whenever I have to be somewhere.
This is, of course, exacerbated by the fact that in Northern Virginian you can never really be certain how long it’s going to take you to get somewhere. After all, depending on traffic and construction, it can take upwards of a half an hour to travel five miles.
So, factoring that in, by erring on the side of caution, I’m usually even earlier than I would be in a place with more predictable traffic patterns.
Of course, most people tend to be late, so it makes things even worse when I’m meeting someone.
Like today, when I was supposed to pick Kathleen up in front of her building at 11:30.
Of course, I went into this knowing that for Kathleen 11:30 can mean anytime from 11:35 to 11:40.
Bearing that in mind, I made a conscious effort to be late.
I did this by holding off on taking a shower until well after 10, leaving my apartment after 11. At a minimum, I had a 10 minute drive to pick Kathleen up at HQ, so I still would have been early even if I got caught in an early lunch/late to work rush (yes, people really do role in to work that late around here), so before I headed to HQ I stopped at the bank to cash in some change. I operated on the assumption that there would be some old lady in line ahead of me at the coin counting machine cashing in seventy years’ worth of pennies.
Turned out I was the only person there, and the whole process took about two minutes.
So even after stopping at a grocery store to use the bathroom along the way I was still early.
In any case, I want to squeeze in a few more words to make up for writing time that will be lost to a meeting tomorrow before I call it a night, so that will do it for this entry.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Jedi Master AND Dance Master
This video clip is supposedly an "easter egg" from the "Revenge of the Sith" DVD.
Even if it isn't, it's still pretty damn funny.
Even if it isn't, it's still pretty damn funny.
Monday, October 31, 2005
All Hallow This
So it’s Halloween (or, to be a bit more traditional/goth/pretentious, “Hallowe’en”).
I actually went to a Halloween party yesterday after work, though I didn’t dress up, as I wasn’t about to get sufficiently into the spirit of things by going to work in costume, and I wasn’t going to take the time to change afterwards.
The party was held by Scott and Stacy at their house.
Once I was there I did put on my best “good sport” disguise, though, and played along, to a certain extent at least – I said my best good sport disguise, which doesn’t mean it’s an especially good one – with their various Halloween games.
At the end of the evening prizes were given out in different categories. You can see my prize for “Cutest Costume” – thanks Vicki – at the top of this post.
Before I left I was sure to ogle Scott’s monitor – the 24” version of my 20.1” monitor – and my covetousness of it has only increased as a result.
I will say that I do still love my monitor, though, but it’s only natural to want to take a look at what else is out there…
I was pretty tired by the time I got to the party, as, despite potentially gaining an hour thanks to the time change, I didn’t get much sleep.
For one thing, I decided to take advantage of the hour I was gaining by staying up and watching the new episode of “Smallville” that my DVR had recorded on Thursday.
With fast-forwarding through commercials, this still would have meant getting about an extra half an hour of sleep.
I even toyed with the notion of skipping my workout on Sunday morning, thereby giving myself another 45 minutes, but decided against it.
That is, until my friend Kevin, in the midst of one of those “seemed like a good idea at the time” events, decided to give me a call – at 1:30 in the morning.
Now I’m not pissed, nor am I finding fault with him (after all, there have been plenty of occasions on which I’ve been bored and felt the need to talk to someone in the middle of the night), but even though I didn’t talk to him for very long, after I hung up I had a great deal of trouble getting back to sleep, so even though I did decide to skip the workout in order to get more sleep, I didn’t gain much.
Nor did I get much sleep last night. No matter what time I go to bed, I seem to be habituated to waking up at around 8:30 on Monday mornings.
Of course, now what had been 8:30 is 7:30.
Still, since I was awake I opted to get up and go for a walk.
After I got home from my walk I decided to head out once again and get myself a smoothie from across the street.
While I was walking back my phone rang.
It was the realtor I’d called last week about the condo for rent.
We made plans to meet in the afternoon for me to check the condo out.
After clearing up some confusion (We were supposed to meet at a Starbucks at a shopping plaza. The problem was that – big surprise – there was more than one Starbucks there), we headed over to the condo.
It was very nice – two bedrooms, hardwood floors – and I was inclined to take it.
However, he noticed that I was a bit hesitant and asked me about it.
I mentioned that while in the version of reality that exists in Northern Virginia, $1,275 a month for a two-bedroom condo is extremely reasonable, I’d really prefer to be working on buying a place rather than renting, though it’s my belief that such a thing is impossible.
He advised me to not be so sure, and had me get in touch with a financing guy he does a lot of work with.
I had actually talked to him last year, and after checking my credit he advised me to give it about a year and check back.
I had done so, but given the way housing prices had skyrocketed out of control I decided that it probably wasn’t worth bothering.
I may have been mistaken in that regard, it seems, as it’s likely that I can get a loan.
The real question, though, is whether I can get a big enough loan.
So that’s what we have to try to find out next.
I’m not holding my breath, but I’m a little more hopeful than I had been.
Once again tonight I didn’t’ get any kids coming around trick or treating.
It’s not like they’re avoiding me; kids just don’t go door-to-door at this apartment complex.
And after all, it’s not like I’m such an irritable old crank that I wouldn’t actually give kids candy. Hell, I’d even give them good candy, not cheap-ass suckers or PAL bubblegum (Do they even make that anymore?) or something equally shitty.
Of course, for the sheer hell of it, and as something of a “trick,” instead of candy I’d be somewhat tempted to give out a Jack T. Chick tract like this one (or this one).
But experience has taught me that there won’t be any knocks on my door, so I don’t even bother stocking up on candy (or tracts).
Speaking of Jack T. Chick tracts (and random unexpected contact from friends I seldom hear from) my friend Joel e-mailed me this link the other day in response to my ironic appreciation of Jack’s work.
It’s pretty amusing, but a deliberate attempt at humor isn’t anywhere near as entertaining as the unintentional hilarity of Jack’s deadly serious little bits of fundamentalist nonsense.
While I’m throwing out links, by way of apology for the ill-timed call, Kevin sent me this Halloween-appropriate link.
Delayed Gratification Dept.
I first moved to Virginia from Tucson nearly three years ago in late November of 2002. In response to having to once again deal with actual seasons, I asked my mother to knit me a sweater. She got started on it shortly thereafter.
After some significant delays in its completion I actually got the sweater today.
It’s very nice, and while it’s not a color I would have picked (pretty much any color beyond black or gray is a color that I wouldn’t have picked), it is a nice color.
As they say, better late than never, and it is in time for the rapidly cooling weather.
So thanks (finally) mom.
Speaking of delayed gratification, this may be my last significant entry for a while, as tomorrow marks the beginning of my month-long literary journey as I participate in National Novel Writing Month.
Here’s hoping that in the course of 30 days and 50,000 words I’ll come up with the coherent plot that I’d intended to come up with ahead of time.
For any of you out there with any kind of literary inclination, I highly recommend participating. There’s something very gratifying about actually writing a complete novel.
For my part, I’m hoping that this year I’ll get to experience the gratification of writing a complete good novel…
Once I’ve completed it I’ll make it available for your consideration in some fashion, most likely as another blog.
The working title, for anyone interested, is “God is in the House,” though that’s about as much detail as I’m prepared to provide at this point (and yes, I do have more details than that...just not a lot)
In the meantime, continue to watch this space, as I will be sure to make at least occasional updates.
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