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19 July 2009 @ 07:56 pm
My stepson, age 6, on race: "So I'm black AND white. Like Charlie Chaplin!"
 
 
19 July 2009 @ 10:09 am
raw notes )

My walk yesterday was interrupted by finding a garage sale across the street with a lovely red tablecloth and a set of wire baskets for $1 each. It was interrupted again by a blood-sugar crash -- apparently what I'd had for breakfast wasn't quite enough. Ended up nibbling all afternoon. The Rose Garden was pretty, though.

I made fajitas for dinner. Easy except for juicing the key limes.

Played a game of scrabble with Colleen and the YD (who suggested it). Fun; we haven't done that in a while. Colleen and the YD played another while I went back to the office and played with Google Chrome. I miss a few features from Firefox, but the speed boost and tiny resource footprint are worth it most of the time. I'll switch back to FF when I need printing or flash, which appear to be missing in the Linux port at the moment.

Spent a lot of time puttering and decluttering. Made good progress, too, though I'm feeling a little guilty about not doing $work.

You know you're a caregiver when a normal-looking turd in a bucket is a welcome sight.

You know you're getting old when you start collecting pill bottles for storage instead of baby-food jars.

 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: okay
 
 
19 July 2009 @ 07:48 am

... to [info]valydiarosada!!! Have a great one!!

Tags:
 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: awake
 
 
18 July 2009 @ 04:32 pm
raw notes )

Yesterday was marked by a long, tiring, and only somewhat productive day at work -- I'm going to try to catch up over the weekend. I did realize, rather belatedly, that many of the problems I'd been having with git came from the fact that you can't copy a working tree with its repository using rsync and expect it to work afterward: the index needs to be rebuilt with git reset --hard.

Spent some time thinking about time management, and wondering how I'll manage to clear some uninterrupted time for meditation. Something will have to go, probably.

OTOH, if I can stop hitting "refresh" on LJ quite so often...

 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: tired
 
 
Darling Conflikt fans!

I am pleased to announce that Conflikt 3 will be back at the same hotel as last year, along with the same rate! It's the Holiday Inn Renton, $100/night for up to four people in the room, free airport shuttle, and at no extra charge we guarantee it'll be stuffed with filkers all weekend long.

You can book by calling the hotel directly at (425) 226-7700. Tell them you're with the Conflikt group to get our convention rate. Don't call the national 1-800 line or use their website! They don't know nothin' 'bout no filk con.

Conflikt 3 will be January 29-31st, 2010!
Guest of Honour: Tom Smith
Toastmaster: Andrew Ross
Interfilk Guest: October Country

...along with the usual suspects causing trouble in open filk, our fabulous superhero-studded brunch & CD, singalongs, and more. See you there!

Love,
Brooke Lunderville
Publicity Princess
www.conflikt.org

PS: The Pegasus Nominating ballot is now open, until July 31st! Go nominate your favourites for a filk award. If you're stuck for ideas (or want some good suggestions for future dealer room purchases!) check out the Brainstorming Poll results.
 
 
18 July 2009 @ 09:29 am
Phoebe is starting to get that peeing while backed up into a corner in a box of hay is a Good Thing. The BBs are everywhere still, but it was heartening to come home from a lot of activity yesterday to see no urine on the bottom of the hutch and very damp litter in the hay box.

No laptime sans towel for a few weeks, tho.
 
 
17 July 2009 @ 09:16 am
Close the door behind you when you leave,
Let your heart hang easy on your sleeve.
Don't bother with the key, you won't be back this way again,
Turn around, you're free, it's time for something to begin,
And I'll miss you when you're gone...
But the road will draw you on...

Don't let second thoughts get in the way,
I never quite believed that you could stay.
A single kiss goodbye is all I ask you leave for me,
Now darling don't you cry, it's how it always had to be,
And I'll still be here come dawn...
But the road will draw you on.

        And I will always be the girl who used to be the one,
        And you will always be the boy who needs to race the sun,
        And may you walk but never tire,
        May you find your heart's desire
        Among the gypsies of a new fire.

Close the door behind you when you go... )
 
 
Current Mood: blank
Current Music: Seanan McGuire, "New Fire."
 
 
17 July 2009 @ 09:01 am
raw notes )

Spent the day deep in the code mines, and finally determined that the reason my new feature wasn't working was that something earlier in /etc/rc.local was failing. Moved it to the top and it worked. :( Learned about logger(1), which was useful. In any case, the machine in Japan can now tell me its IP address every time it boots, so I won't have to ask for help.

On the other hand, I've spent about 2 days more on this than I intended to. I may have to do some work over the weekend, depending on how things go today. The demo is Thursday.

The last couple of days I've been making about 2/3 my usual amount of coffee, since I've developed a habit of taking a cup to work and forgetting about it. And it's not an insignificant expense.

For our evening out we went to El Torito; service was unusually slow, but I'll put up with that for enchilladas de pollo con salsa mole. The YD came along, having cancelled her usual game night because she wasn't feeling well. A short drive afterwards; just as well as I was getting sleepy. Which reminds me: leftovers for breakfast. :)

Link sausage:

  • Gizmodo and Engadget both pointed me at www.eternaleds.com, where I placed an order for a couple of LED lightbulbs. They're the only place I've seen that has LED replacements for halogen bulbs.
  • Wired Magazine: How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans. Most of this "advice" should probably be taken with a few tablespoons of salt, but it does point out the kind of etiquette issues one should think about these days.

My morning routines seem to be taking about 2 hours these days. Grr.

 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: awake
 
 
So I have five art cards pending delivery from the latest batch of commissions. Here are some statuses...

1. [info]shaycaron, your card is ready for mailing. Please email me at my LJ address—email, not LJ messenger—with the address that I should send it to.

2. [info]dormouse_in_tea, all three of your cards have been inked, and two of them have been colored. I'll be coloring the third and finishing off your envelope sometime in the very near future, and will ping you for your mailing address when that's done.

3. Erin, you haven't been drawn yet. Please don't hit me. I'll get you finished off soon!

So that's the whole current batch. I think I'm caught up with all my other art-related mailing; if there's something I promised to mail to you, or something you bought in a prior art sale that you haven't received, please let me know so that I can get that dealt with.
Tags:
 
 
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Hairspray, "Ladies Choice."
 
 
16 July 2009 @ 10:49 pm
Wee!  
I put the new rabbit, Phoebe, on my lap. Pet pet pet. Nose wiggle. Pet pet pet. Squirm. Shift. Nose wiggle. Pet pet pet.

Pee!!!

She not only peed on me, but dropped BBs like the bombing of Dresden. This is not the first time she's peed on me, either. I gently put her in the hutch and tossed the trousers into the bathtub. I tidied up the mess on the kitchen floor and wondered if she was a wee bit retarded. Ozzy's the Dream Bunny when it comes to litter box matters.

A rabbit rescue in the UK says that you can pretty much forget continence in a rabbit under 14 weeks of age. Oops. I think cuddling will be on a non-porous surface for a while.
 
 
16 July 2009 @ 02:17 pm
Just wanted to let everyone know, that a new version of MemcacheD has been released. We will be rolling this out to the memcache nodes during the week of July 20th to 24th. This should have very little impact on the stability of the website; however users may see a slight increase in load times as the cache is re-populated with entries.

The software has been tested and verified to be working just fine with the application; so we perceive this to be a very minimal risk in regards to updating, and the stability of the website.

Thanks...
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Current Location: falling down the stairs
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: NOFX - San Francisco Fat
 
 
16 July 2009 @ 09:53 am
raw notes )

I guess the most interesting "accomplishment" of the day came in the morning as I was making breakfast. I noticed that my stomach muscles were knotting up, and deliberately relaxed them. The associated anxiety was almost certainly over the evening's test session at work, which I wasn't ready for.

I was, mostly, ready at 5pm, after a grueling afternoon in the code mines. It made for one of the most productive days I've had at work in a long time. I'll need to keep that up until next week, when the stuff will actually get used, because there's still quite a bit that needs doing.

A couple of amusing links.

Bang & Olufsen BeoTime Alarm Clock Caters to Flute Enthusiasts, the Rich (waves at [info]cflute)

When Bang and Olufsen tackles a new type of device, they do it in a very specific way: oddly, stylishly, and with reckless disregard for cost. Exhibit F: The $375 BeoTime, a flute-like, accelerometer-equipped wireless alarm clock.

Wood computer workstation takes up space, looks great, does little else (waves at [info]gmcdavid)

I spent most of my spare time away from computers reading. I seem to recall that that's how I made it through a lot of our parties, a long time ago: sitting in a corner absorbed in a book, interacting only enough to keep up the pretense that I was being social.

 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: productive
 
 
16 July 2009 @ 08:33 am
In a duck's egg, in a duck, on an island
It is hidden, it is holy, it is yours.
It is something you're forbidden to be rid of,
It is the key of bones to open any doors.

It is something that sleeps underneath the breastbone
Of sweet Vassilisa dozing by the fire.
It is something women trade away for safety,
It is violence, it is silence and desire...

        And you can touch the secret
        You can touch the secret
        You can touch the secret
        If you dare.
        Through all the hours of darkness
        You can let it be your beacon,
        You can risk the world to take it
        If you dare...

Won't you dare?

In a story, in a word, in a fable... )
 
 
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Seanan McGuire, "Won't You Dare?"
 
 
16 July 2009 @ 07:47 am

... to [info]mvt!!! Have a great one!!

Tags:
 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: awake
 
 
15 July 2009 @ 11:45 pm
The company asked the employees to take two weeks off this quarter. So, last week, I spent a lot of time rebuilding my garage. I took a day off to go to the fair and let my thumbs stop aching. My younger nephew and his wife flew in Saturday and have been staying at the home of my older nephew and his SO. We've been having lots of fun being tourists.

Sunday, we all went to Tomales Bay and walked to a quiet beach just in time to watch a grass fire across the water at a very safe distance. The fire trucks all came in and were driving all over the field. Airplanes dropped huge orange sprays of fire retardant and a helicopter was getting buckets of water and dropping that. The fire spread really fast, but the teams got the thing out and contained. I think maybe some gophers were put out, but no property was damaged. My younger nephew is a fireman and provided knowledgeable commentary.

Monday was a trip to Napa. The older nephew's SO is a Napa native. Her dad runs a small winery and the family is connected to St. Supery winery. You need an appointment to taste wine there. It was great. The wine was really good and there weren't busloads of loud drunks. They extended a friends and family discount and I scampered off with a few bottles of extra-nummy. Then, we visited Sattui. That is a tourist trap, but they have a splendid deli with a huge assortment of tasty foods. We scooped that up and nipped off the the family winery, which is a small affair, but was lots of fun. Our charming host poured enormous amounts of wine for us while we ate tasty things, patted the cats and visited the neighbors' horses. It was quite a nice outdoor feast. I loved the cabernet and scooped up a bottle of that to enjoy later.

Tuesday, the guys went to SF and I stayed home to work on the garage, play with the new bunny and work on the garage. It was too hot to do much of anything, so the bunny got lots of careful attention, I visited the Berkeley Farmer's market to get tasty things, and I tidied up the fridge for the CSA lamb that [info]ca_snowflake and [info]caramida picked up. It was frozen solid, so my idea to cook for the gang was scuttled. Turns out they were too tired, so I had that gigantic tomato and all those peaches all to myself. Moo haw haw. I'm going to spend some time contemplating what to do with all that yummy lamb.

Today was a trip to Monterey with the younger nephew and his wife. I drove them to his old elementary school. Mrs. Nephew is a school teacher and was showing a lot of interest in all the schools, so I figured this was necessary. Photos were taken and we had lunch at the first restaurant we found at Fisherman's Wharf. The view was amazing. Sardines were running and the cormorants, pelicans, otters and sea lions were having lunch as well. We walked to the aquarium and saw the various exhibits there. It was a bit crowded and they'd been to the one in SF, but they had to admit the bearded sea dragons were pretty neat. I gotta say that Steinbeck square is not the same without [info]mallorys_camera's hot sauce shop. (Sigh.)

Tomorrow, they are heading to Tahoe. I'm going to play with the bunny, attack the garage and maybe hook up with various friends to do yarny/bunny things. I might go to dinner with my old dinner group. I'm considering it because they're meeting at a restaurant a few blocks from my house. Doesn't get more banana sluggy than that...
 
 
Current Mood: pleased
 
 
 
15 July 2009 @ 01:41 pm
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It makes me famished just to think of you there stewing in your hunger. You almost remind me of a bear that's just awoken from hibernation or a political prisoner who's been on a hunger strike. And yet I know it's not a craving for food that you're suffering from. It's not even an impossible yearning for sex or fame or power or money, either. You're starving, you're ravenous, you're mad for something you don't have a name for—something whose existence you don't fully understand and can't quite imagine. But I predict you'll uncover a fuller truth about this thing very soon, and then you'll be more than halfway toward gratifying your hunger.

This makes disturbing sense to me. I just wish I knew what I wanted.

I suspect what I want is "away."
 
 
Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Bits and pieces of everything.
 
 
15 July 2009 @ 07:47 am

... to [info]dmakoi, [info]joecoustic, and [info]brunnhilde!!!!! Have a great one, ladies!!

Tags:
 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
 
 
15 July 2009 @ 07:43 am
raw notes )

It didn't really feel like a notable day, but in fact it was one: not only was it Bastille Day, but I finished ripping the last of the CDs in the folk/filk/rock side of the shelves. A quick check shows 934 CDs ripped, which is only an approximation but likely to be fairly close. It's cheating in some ways, because I still have a sizeable stack of unshelved CDs, and another stack of CDs that didn't turn up in FreeDB and so will require data entry "when I have time".

I also got quite a lot done at work; unfortunately in an area I wasn't planning to spend nearly as much time on, so some other stuff isn't ready when I wanted it to be.

I did get a walk in, and went to bed about 10:30 with Colleen.

 
 
Current Location: Grand Central Starport (o)
Current Mood: awake
 
 
14 July 2009 @ 11:25 am
Come to the fire, little girl, to the fire;
Come to the fire, here to learn.
Come to the fire, little girl, to the fire,
You've so much to hear before time comes to burn.

For you'll be a princess, your tower will be tall,
And they'll lock all the doors when they go,
But they'll leave you a window, it's your choice to fall
To the thorn briers waiting below...

Come to the fire, fallen girl, to the fire;
Come to the fire, here to learn.
Come to the fire, fallen girl, to the fire,
You've so much to hear before time comes to burn.

For you'll be a victim, the witches demand
Days of wild revelry and the night
Will be filled with the sacraments witches command,
'Til you find your way back to the light...

Come to the fire, wicked girl, to the fire;
Come to the fire, here to teach.
Come to the fire, wicked girl, to the fire,
They've so much to hear and it's your turn to teach.
 
 
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: ...oh, take a guess.
 
 
 
 

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