Monday, January 31, 2005

 

Killer Bees

So the horrible winter storm sort of materialized, but it warmed up Sun. night and it rained from early Sat. evening into early Sun. morning and all the ice melted. So pretty uneventful winter storm. I was really looking forward to sliding around on the ice Sun. Night too. In a Rubbermade storage unit, not in my car. Especially after getting pulled over in a parking lot by 2 sheriffs. Came out of freakin nowhere.

I had just taken Joan to work cuz I'm nice like that, and she had to be there at 3 but we arrived and were informed that the store was closing at 6 so she didn't need to be there. We shopped a little, then I wanted to do a little more sliding and general tomfoolery, so I chose the Old Navy parking lot. Big pretty empty, stores closed and not too many light posts. I do one nice slide and come to a stop and about 200 feet from me I see a sheriff creeping up. Fuck. So I stop and hop out. When he gets behind me, another one comes up too. He says what I'm doing is dangerous, what if I hit a car or a sign, I would get sued. He asks how old I am. 25. We were all 25 once. 3 cops standing there. Pretty sure 2 of them were no older than 25, but whatever. Then he tells me that I should go to a boat ramp to do that. Some have open parking lots above the ramp and some are relatively flat. Some are not. So he runs my license and plates, comes back clean thank you very much, and he lets me go. Yay!

So get home and then check my ebay auction. Poop. They cancelled my auction because of "search manipulation". I put "Not Fender Ibanez" in my auction title for my Carvin bass. I had seen these technique in other auctions and it works pretty well. I searched for Fender bass guitar and saw my bass. But apparently this is against ebay policy even though I see it alot. Fine, so I relisted it and it's doing okay again.

So I figured these 2 incidents were either small karmic backlash for something, or I was getting too high and they needed to knock me down. Either way I'm glad they were small karmic occurrences and nothing really major.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

 

I love Southern snow

Um, Boston. I have some bad news. All the crap that is down here right now, is coming up to you. But instead of the icy/rainy/snowy crap that we get, you get full fledged snow. And it's slow. So it'll help you cement that January snow record and get a good head start on that February record.

I believe it was Catt who didn't appreciate the jackasses that mess up the pristine snow covered parking lots by sliding around. To that I say, get up earlier. I was too excited this morning and couldn't sleep, so on my way to work at 8:30 am, I decided to get in my morning jackassery. Went to the little clear parking lot over by the botanical gardens and played slideways for a few minutes. See, the reason that front wheel drive people do this is we never get to experience the awesomeness that is oversteer and sliding the ass of your car around next to your car instead of behind it. Yes it's dangerous but that's why you do it at slow speeds and in empty parking lots and not going to 7-11 (which don't exist down here, I think the closest one is Ohio).

The technique is simple. Go into a turn, low revs in 2nd gear, start turning into the turn, pull e-brake, enjoy ass out craziness, repeat. I did link a couple of slides but that lot is too small to really do anything really fancy. Rear wheel drive, and all-wheel drive cars to some extent, get to enjoy oversteer any time they want. But they have different techniques to drifting and only newbies use the e-brake to drift in a RWD car. My personal favorite is a rally inspired technique called the Scandinavian flick, which I assume was first used by Scandinavian drivers to set up their cars so they can slide around the snow/ice and not plow into the side of the road. It involves quickly turning the wheel AWAY from the turn and then turning into the turn. But I've never tried it, so basically I have no idea what I'm talking about. But that's my theory.

So this "wintery mix" is supposed to linger all day. I still can't even think linger without that Cranberries song popping into my head.
You got me wrapped around your finger,
Do you have to
Do you have to
Do you have to let it linger.
Such soothing music. Cranberries = Not good driving music. Cranberries = soothing, relaxing, sleepy-time music. Or bath music. Not that I do that. But only because my tub isn't big enough. But I do love me a good bubble bath. Only Mr. Bubbles though. None of that Winnie the Pooh stuff. Hey, does anyone still do the shampoo hairstyles? Like mohawks or flock of seagulls? I suppose the most well-known example would be in the shower scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. "They could be fascist anarchists; it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car." Ah, such an excellent movie. That and Adventures in Babysitting are two of Joan's favorite movies.

But this crap is suposed to last all day so I can do a little more slippin and slidin. YAY! And I'm going to post pictures with the full realization that the Northeast has gotten 56 feet of snow in the past 2 weeks, but dammit, this is all we get, all year and I'm fucking excited! So please don't laugh at my 1/2 inch of snow pictures. Or at least mock in a funny, creative way so that everyone can enjoy.

And guess what someone said to me yesterday. Go on, guess. They said, "Cold enough for ya." WTF? Why? Why do people say this? It makes no sense, daffy bastards.

Friday, January 28, 2005

 

I love Matt Groening

I truly do. He is the creator behind my 2 favorite animated series of all time. The Simpsons and Futurama. And yes I Tivo every episode of both each day. Or one each per day. And then I watch an episode while I eat breakfast. Beats The Today Show any day. Sorry Katie, but you're still a hottie.

Our house is a mess. It isn't ridiculous, but give it a couple more days and it would be. I did put the clean dishes away last night, so that helped. I need to clean the bathroom floor which I'll do tonight.

As a guy from a family of four with one female, aka Mom, I have not had much exposure to menstruation. I understand it, the sloughing off of the lining and all that, but I hadn't ever experienced it. But what about past girlfriends? you say. To which I remind you of my loser status and my magic number of 4. So exposure from that front is limited, but holy shit, move in with one and you get a front row seat to the monthly joy. It really freaked me out the first time we had sex while Joan was on her period. I'm just not used to seeing that much blood down there. Blood in my pubic region is bad. Doctor bad, so it caught me off guard. I still don't see how you can bleed that much for that long and not die. But I'm getting used to it. Waking up to blood spots on the sheets. Bloody underwear. The whole nine yards. No I don't get embarrassed when I have to buy tampons, but it is something I would rather not do.

So add "No monthly shenanigans" to the list of pluses for homosexuality. Another item on the list, garnered from Seinfeld, include the doubling of the wardrobe, which is pretty awesome really.

Update: I was thinking about this over lunch and thought, what if the gay couple adopts a baby girl? Presumably neither one would have very good knowledge about menstruation but they would be the ones to teach their daughter about the wonderful journey into womanhood. But once again I couldn't come up with a solution to the problem. Maybe a short class on it during senior year of high school? Should it be entirely up to your mother? What if she didn't live with you or died early on?

Thursday, January 27, 2005

 

Iron like a lion in Zion

I love Bob Marley's music and all raggae music. Is it the calypso drum? The smooth happy beats? Does it remind me of sitting on a beach? Whatever it is, it moves me. It's simple fun music and I think that's why I and millions other like it.

Joan gets home yesterday and tells me that one of her coworkers was at a Pro-Choice rally on Mon. and Tues. in DC and was at one last Sat. in Columbia, SC as well. That's awesome I say. To which Joan looks confused. Oh, I meant to say Pro-Life. Oh, well that's not as awesome. But is interesting. So I should bring up abortion next time I visit you at work? And I'm only half kidding.

I haven't had the nutty experiences that Sloth has had being an escort for the Planned Parenthood clinics, but her story are truly amazing. And very revolting.

Personally I don't think I could have an abortion, but that is very much a game time decision for me. And with all the contraceptives out there, I'm not planning on having to make that decision. But the way I look at it, there are already millions of malnourished and unwanted babies in this world, why do we want anymore? This planet can barely support the 5+ billion people on it as it is and I don't see the value of bringing more people on to it.

And I've never really discussed abortion with a pro-lifer. It should make for an interesting discussion. Yes I was raised Southern Baptist, but that topic is waaaaaaaay too taboo for a sermon. As is homosexuality.

I gotta go sell more goggles and labcoats.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

 

So he's against voting?

Lots of work today, so not much. But I did sell that Yashicaflex for $35.50 to a chemist in Michigan at Central Michigan Univ. Yay Chemistry!

But here are the links to my ebay auctions so you can see my profiency in html. And feel free to bid. These items would make great late/early Christmas presents.

  • Bass guitar

  • Bass effects pedal

  • A few PS1 games


  • Here are a couple more issues that I got via email from NORML. I subscribe to all state alerts because nothing ever happens on this front in the Bible Belt with the exception of the Sovereign Nation of Alabama, who is trying to tweek their sentencing because they see that their prison population is skyrocketing and it's mostly due to low level drug offenders. But I do appreciate South Carolina's efforts to counteract this too.

    In Alaska, a law passed in 1975 states that as protection of personal privacy, a person may have up to 4 ounces of marijuana in his house. But the governor now wants to overturn this law, which was appealed and upheld in 2003.

    And in Columbia, Missouri, where they voted to make marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority for the city, while also voting to protect Columbia's medical marijuana patients from arrest. As expected, the passage of these municipal laws has angered some of Missouri's most ardent drug warriors, including some politicians in State Legislature. Now one of those officials, Senator Chuck Gross (R - St. Charles), has introduced legislation to punish Columbia residents for exercising their right to vote for sensible marijuana policies.

    Senator Gross' bill would prohibit public schools from participating in sporting events that take place in cities that have deprioritized marijuana possession or that allow for medical marijuana. This is nothing more than a mean spirited attempt to punish the voters of Columbia for daring to challenge the drug war establishment, and to serve as a deterrent to other cities that might consider similar initiatives in the future.

    So once again, if you live in AK or MO and support NORML, then go here and contact your state senators.
  • AK and MO NORML alerts

  • Tuesday, January 25, 2005

     

    Willie sent me an email!

    I just got an email from Willie Nelson. No he wasn't asking for donations or tax advice, but he was asking for support for Texas State Representative Harold Dutton (D-Houston) who just introduced Bill 254 in the Texas State Legislature that would decriminalize marijuana for personal use. It recommends that minor pot crimes be issued a ticket instead of arrest and prosecution.

    Jersey also just introduced a medical marijuana bill and New Hampshire introduced a similar bill to the one in Texas. So if you live in any of those three states and want your voice to be heard, contact your local reps. and let them know that you support these bills.

  • Support NORML in TX, NH and NJ!


  • These next few weeks are gonna suck. We're doing fundraising for the Chemistry Graduate Student Organization (CGSO) of which I am the secretary. We're selling goggles and lab coats to the general chem people who have lab. It's such a scam, but it gives us money. I just need to figure out a good way to use it. Like pay for the officer's health insurance. That'd be sweet. We can also work the concession stands at basketball games and the CGSO gets 10% of our total sales. And I bet if we split up that money equally between all the people who worked and put it towards their health insurance bills, we would have too many workers. Not a bad problem.

    I'll post to the Book Club later today. Still waiting on my Fierce Invalids to arrive. Almost done with a collection of Asimov's short stories, then might try his book that Sid suggested, or maybe switch authors. Maybe a gay/lesbian author.

    Monday, January 24, 2005

     

    Woohoo!

    This weekend was a blast! So many cool cars and great roads. Yes I was jealous that I wasn't driving, but I'll get my shot one day.

    And I also got my ebay pics up finally, so you can see what kind of crap I'm loading off onto people. Not really, it's nice stuff. Well at least the bass guitar is.

    So go check out my websites.
    This one for ebay stuff. And yes I'm selling some porn.
  • Seth's ebay stuff

  • Sandblast Rally 2005, pics and videos


  • Enjoy!

    Friday, January 21, 2005

     

    What are yooou doing this weekend?

    Wow, that's sounds great. Now shut up and listen to what I'm doing. (I love those people. "I can't wait until he stops talking so I can talk again.)

    I'm going to the Sandblast Rally 2005. It is part of the Eastern States Rally Championship and is sanctioned by NASA. Not that NASA, the other NASA, National Auto Sports Association. It used to be sanctioned by the SCCA, but they're pansies and couldn't afford the insurance, so they got out of the rally business that they had been in for 30 years, but that's their choice.

    But I was watching a video of last year's Sandblast and it looks really sandy. I saw some gravel but it was mostly sand, so of course then I was extremely jealous and wanted to drive in it instead of working it (hehehe, working it), but then was looking at the NASA requirements and it's a full roll cage and since I don't have money for a roll cage or the $400 entry fee, I'm watching and helping out and not driving. It's ok, there will be other rallies.

    I have poor communication skills. I assume too much. I assume that people will read the website link I sent them and look around and see the schedule for workers over the weekend. And by assuming that, I assume that the other guy going with me knows that the schedule is to get to the Econolodge in Cheraw, SC at 8 pm for the workers meeting and then wake up and work the rally all day, and then sleep there Sat. night and come back Sun. morning. I assume too much and don't communicate enough. When I asked him what time he wanted to leave on Friday, he was taken aback. I thought we were leaving Saturday morning? Um, no. So apparently his plan was to leave at 4 in the morning from here, be outside all day and then drive back at 7 pm. Apparently I don't have speed in my blood cuz I need sleep. I have a bad habit of falling asleep at the wheel, so I guarantee that I would do some sleep-driving after a day like that. But he said that he doesn't have a problem with that and now we're taking his car too. So I'm not going to do much driving at all this weekend, but that's okay. I've driven down there before and it isn't the most exciting drive in the world. And now I can sleep and not die.

    So think snow thoughts for tonight and tomorrow and pics will be up on Sunday.

    Thursday, January 20, 2005

     

    Recycling

    I went to a seminar last night that was given by the president of the American Chemical Society, ACS. It was pretty good. Entertaining, but he went waaaaaaay basic at the beginning of the talk. I assume that most chemists and educated people know what polymers are so you don't really have to go in depth on the "basics of polymers". That and he just covered plastic recycling and did mention glass, but that's it. He didn't touch on paper or steel, but I assume both of those just involve shredding and/or melting. I'll do some online research on those.

    But I left my notes at home so I can't do a good enough job of recapping, but the things I do remember are:
    Glass colors don't mix. If they do, you might as well grind it up into sand.
    Plastic colors don't mix. Your red-orange Tide container shouldn't mix with my blue ALL container. But if it does, no problem since laundry bottles are actually two layers of "virgin" plastic over a middle layer of recycled plastic. Very interesting.

    And the 4 steps of recycling are collection, separation, processing, resale.
    Currently the problem to recycling is supply of things to be recycled. Not "there isn't any recycling around here" or "We can't recycle that" but "we don't have enough stuff."
    Another problem is the advent of the single serve plastic bottles. These are everywhere, but when you used it for lunch, you threw it away instead of taking it somewhere to be recycled. Not you, but the general you. I know you recycle.

    So I guess I did remember more about it than I thought.

    Recycle!

    Wednesday, January 19, 2005

     

    $20, for a cheeseburger?!?!?!?!

    So here is the aforementioned "job" post.

    My first real job was my summer after my freshman year at college. I was a night shift room service attendant at the Sheraton Civic Center in lovely Birmingham, Alabama. I completely lied and said that I was looking to get into hotel management and this was a good way to start. Hotels are cool and if someone gave me one, I would run it, but only if it was small and on the beach.

    So I got hired and realized that I was the only white kid working there. This didn't bother me but being the sheltered little suburbanite that I was, it honestly took me about 2 days to learn the slang, accent and euphamisms of my co-workers. So after acclimating to the job and workers (after all I'm an introvert, it takes me a while to warm up to people), it was a great experience and I am now a much better tipper than before.

    Basically the job was: sit around drinking water or juice from the dispenser, occasionally eating a roll that we had in the warmer, phone rings and the receptionist takes the order and prints out an order and it simultaneously sends the order to the kitchen so they can start making it. But it was a good idea to check and make sure they got the order, just in case. Then we would grab a tray and a fancy paper placemat. Get their glass of water, silverware, tiny salt and pepper shakers, basket of rolls, butter, oh and a flower in a vase to class it up. Then we would wait on the order. Or if it was soup or dessert, we would make it ourselves. I had one or two people bitch about how their soup wasn't hot enough, so I began to ensure that never happened again. We had an industrial microwave in our "waiting/prep" room, and I would put the soup in for a good 3 minutes. I could barely touch the bowl when it was done. I feel sorry for the people who dug into that soup too fast.

    So after the order was ready and nicely plated, we would grab a silver plate topper, put the tray onto a cart, and put the food into the "hot box" which was a metal box with a lit can of Sterno, and wheeled all of that to the service elevator and delivered it piping hot to our customer. And sometimes got a tip. Hopefully. I had a few good nights, some awful nights, and mostly mediocre tip nights. But I wasn't really smooth at the beginning, but I caught on and got better.

    All of you know that room service is expensive. The cheapest thing we had on our menu was the cheeseburger or chicken sandwich. They were both $10.95 I think, but add in tax, delivery charge, and 18% gratuity (goes into a tip pool and is equally split depending on hours worked) and those sandwiches cost $19.89. How do I remember that price so well? Because after someone hands you a $20 and says "Keep the change" you tend to remember that 11 cent tip. Thanks Baller. I should've changed that dime into pennies and thrown them at his car from the roof.

    It was an awesome job really. The fast nights were crazy and the time flew by, and the slow nights were fun because you had to make some fun. Once on a wicked slow Sunday night (yes, 3 orders in 7 hours is wicked slow) the manager left for a hot date or something, so we sat around, played some cards, talked, the cook made some mashed potatoes with sauteed onions and some wings, which was amazing, and enjoyed our "time off". It was great.

    Tuesday, January 18, 2005

     

    Huh?

    So I realized this morning that Joan pushed the fender into the Focus' door and now it squeaks when the door opens. Or did. I pulled on the fender and it moved enough to not rub the door, but she scraped the paint off down to the metal in a few spots. It's small, I can't even see it from a few feet away, but damn is it there up close. So I might give one of those touch-up kits a try.

    So I was bidding on some rims for my car on ebay. And I was top bidder but forgot about it and didn't check it until this morning. I had bid $275 and the item closed at $202. But I got an email saying that my bid had been cancelled. Whaaaa? So I sent them an email and if I don't hear from the seller in a few days then I will email ebay and ask them what's up. Weird.

    Monday, January 17, 2005

     

    Marooned off Vesta

    That is the title of Asimov's first published short story. Pretty good. I'm still amazed at how well he writes the future considering he wrote from 1938 till the early 60's.

    Joan and I were walking into the mall yesterday and we parked across from a Buick. Inside the car was an elderly couple. The man got out, straightened his jacket, got something from the backseat and walked towards the mall in front of Joan and I. I noticed it was a "Casual Corner" dress bag and assumed he was returning it. I also realized he was returning it for his wife who was waiting in the car that was still running. A few scenarios ran through my head as to why she was waiting in the car, but most of them made me sad, so I stopped thinking about them.

    I'll stop now. Go read my quiz results. Please.

     

    Fine, here's the damn quiz

    3 names you go by:
    1. Seth
    2. Sethy
    3. Monkey

    3 screen names you have:
    1. silonius
    2. gyrokus
    3. Elijah (but this one was only so I could put something on arcade games, ELI, other two are made up by me)

    3 things you like about yourself:
    1. Calm
    2. I like to read.
    3. I’m a simple person.

    3 things you hate/dislike about yourself:
    1. Not in the greatest shape.
    2. I’m not perfect.
    3. I don’t seek creative outlets.

    3 parts of your heritage:
    1. British
    2. German
    3. Scottish

    3 things that scare you:
    1. Living Office Space, so cubicles.
    2. Other people
    3. The first step off of a high ledge, like rapelling or jumping into water.

    3 of your everyday essentials:
    1. Joan
    2. sleep
    3. me time

    3 things you’re wearing right now:
    1. Long sleeved shirt, kinda like a Charlie Brown shirt, Christmas present from an aunt
    2. Nike shoes, thanks Indonesian kids!
    3. hard contacts, and one is slightly a different color than the other, but the colors are drown out by my beautiful natural blue eyes.

    3 of your favorite bands/artists (today): (i'm going to assume "today" means "at this moment" and go from there.)
    1. The Doors
    2. Nirvana
    3. drunk people singing in bars

    3 of your favorite songs at present:
    1. Hurt by Nine Inch Nails
    2. I wanna be sedated by The Ramones and the remake by The Offspring
    3. Not gonna get it by Tatu (those hot Russian lesbian chicks) yes I like pop music too.

    3 new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
    1. rock climb consistently
    2. Buy car parts to make Focus a better car and install them myself
    3. Not procrastinating

    3 things you want in a relationship (love is a given):
    1. a best friend.
    2. a few shared interests
    3. Social conscience (and someone who WON’T WRECK MY CAR!)

    2 truths and a lie:
    1. Virgin until I was 20.
    2. Never eaten at Krystals.
    3. I am able to control sea creatures using my penis, kinda like a joystick.

    3 physical things about a love interest that appeal:
    1. beautiful eyes
    2. long, glorious legs
    3. Junk in the trunk


    3 things you just can't do:
    1. Like country music.
    2. Use time efficiently.
    3. Turn off my TV. (but I’m getting help, currently Isaac Asimov is helping me)

    3 of your favorite hobbies:
    1. driving
    2. rock climbing
    3. camping/hiking

    3 things you want to do really badly right now:
    1. Go home. The university is closed because of MLK Jr. day.
    2. Magically obtain my PhD.
    3. Eat the bagel sandwich I brought for lunch. And carrots.

    3 careers you’re considering:
    1. Chemist
    2. Rally driver
    3. Business owner (I’ll tell you what business later)

    3 places you want to go on vacation:
    1. Japan, and Joan has a cousin who lives there so free room!
    2. Scandanavia, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Paris
    3. Australia or New Zealand

    3 kids names (either boy or girl):
    1. Seven, thanks Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld
    2. Madison, Joan’s choice
    3. Evil One, after The Evil One herself, maybe pronounce it Evilone, or maybe Enolive. I like that. Enolive.

    3 things you want to do before you die:
    1. Travel for at least 3 months straight.
    2. Live on a tropical island.
    3. Not live in the United States. Again.

    3 people who have to take this quiz now:
    Anyone who wants to. I’m not forcing my blogger regime on anyone.

     

    Why oh why didn't I pick the BLUE pill?

    Happy MLK Jr. Day! If you haven't visited one recently, I suggest making a trip to your nearest civil rights museum.

    And a friend sent me this story:
  • Pentagon Spurned Plan to Initiate Enemy Homosexuality


  • I think this plan would've really helped all the anti-gay people with their argument of homosexuality is a disease, but I'm glad they didn't waste millions of our dollars trying to develop this "Gay" chemical cuz I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have worked. Just a hunch though.

    Guess who called me again this morning? Yep, my wonderful Joan. But this time is was a little before I left the house, so I wasn't that grumpy. Good sleep last night.

    So she calls and says Do you love me? Oh shit. She either wants something or did something. Of course I love you, what do you want? Do you really love me? Yes, really a whole lot. What?

    I scraped the car this morning. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! She says it isn't that bad. No paint or anything. I'm calling bullshit on that and going to have a look see.

    So I get over to Joan's place of employment and see my poor little Focus crouched in the corner with white paint making a nice line right in front of the driver's side fender and right behind it. I think she only bent the fender flare a little, so no big body repair, but DAMN she messed up the paint. So I'm gonna see what I can do with it tonight and am hoping that she'll be okay. But I did see in her manual/warranty card that her paint job is guaranteed for 12 months, soooooo I might be able to swing a new paintjob. There are stone chips and spots from those stupid berries that fall on our cars. And now this.

    So Joan's punishment is she can't drive Focus for 1 month. At all. EVER. I considered taking away her key, but if I'm a spaz and lock myself out, I'll need back-up. So she just can't drive it. It isn't like we don't have 2 other cars anyway. For a while. Until something happens with Saturn (Clio) like she's sold or runs away to join the circus.

    Yet another instance of someone furthering the stereotype that women can't drive. Way to go Joan!

    Friday, January 14, 2005

     

    Clash of the Titans

    So I'm sure some of you have heard about the Cassini spacecraft that is currently orbiting Saturn. It was launched way back in 1997 and took it 8 years to get out there. But it made it and launched a probe onto Titan, Saturn's largest moon. So far very little is known about it. Its atmosphere is 3 times as tall as ours and 1.5 times as massive. The surface temperature is -292 degrees F(-180 degrees C) and has pools of liquid methane. But of course Huygens is designed to withstand all of this and is beaming back all of this information to Cassini who is beaming it back to us.

    And Saturn is also visible now until the 23rd. It's near Castor and Pollux, stars in the Gemini constellation, and it's near Orion's belt. But the NASA website said even with a crappy department store telescope you can see the rings of Saturn. And it'll be a yellow/golden star to the east. It was cloudy here last night, so I didn't see it, but I'm gonna check tonight.

    But here's the CNN article:
  • Huygens lands on Saturn

  • Thursday, January 13, 2005

     

    Tuna melts

    I am currently reading Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" and must say, so far I'm impressed. It's set in the future about robots and is very well written. I can actually see myself on the surface of Mercury worrying about this crazy robot that is supposed to go get selenium, Se, from a pool of it, but since the guy didn't stress how important it is to them, then the robot won't go near it for fear of endangering himself. Awesome. Super awesome.

    I also have another book of his that is a collection of 12 of his short stories. But I think I'm gonna be a big Asimov fan. And he wrote these books in the 1930s-50s. Amazing. I just hope the future is gonna turn out like these guys think it will. And throw a little Futurama and the Jetsons in there and I'm gonna like the future. We, as humans, have so much potential and sitting around watching Jerry Springer is not going to help us reach it.

    No one is commenting, but that's okay. I do write this mostly for me and a little for you. I just hope blogger.com stays up for a long time and I don't have to go about saving my archives. I've never had a journal before but I'm finding it's a good outlet for thoughts and ideas.

    Speaking of ideas, I have two great ones for the making of lots of the money. I'll share later, and I'll get to those job posts too.

     

    Aaaaaaaah! Class in 4 minutes!

    So this will obviously be short.

    I don't like talking to people in the morning. Morning time is Seth time. I like to be alone and quiet with my thoughts. I'll talk to Joan in the morning a little, but that's just cuz I know that I won't see her much throughout the day. But I was in deep thought mode driving to school when my cell phone rings. So I turn Jim Morrison down and answer it. It's Joan wanting me to deliver her cell phone which she almost always forgets at home. So I gripe and turn around and tell her that I'm on my way. She says no, you'll be late for class. Well you don't care about that. (that was mean, but it's early) Yes I do, now go to class and bring me my phone later. Okay.
    That call really caught me off guard. I'm not used to having to interact with people this early. Usually if I'm at school at 8, no one else shows up till 9 or so, so it's all me time.

    Class!

     

    Nudity just for Catt

    Whoa, I'm really not gonna post those pics I just found. But I'll link them. Just make sure you have a bucket nearby. Even after saying that, I know you're gonna go look.

  • Nudity

  • More Nudity


  • Really, really sorry about those but blame Catt. She asked for it.

    Anyway, the point of my grumpy post above, besides that I'm grumpy in the morning, was that I had a good post cooking in my head but that phone call really threw me off and I forgot.

    But April over at Riley's world asked her Question of the Week which was what was your worst job and what was your best job. I've never really had a "bad" job. I've had ones that sucked, like stock boy for Illuminations candle store. But I realized that jobs are a subject that I've never really broached. So I'll be doing that for the next few days if nothing better or more pertinent springs to mind.

    The first one I'll cover was my first "real" job. Working room service at the Sheraton Hotel in Birmingham, AL. That was the job I had the summer after my freshman year at college.

    But I have things to do, so I'll cover it tomorrow or later today.

    And if you resisted the urge to click on the links above, good for you; they're just pictures of some guys hairy asses. The second one is looks like thin fur.

    Wednesday, January 12, 2005

     

    Hehehehe

    This is for the Evil One
  • Interpol concert, Dec. 19th


  • If your screen is dirty, go here (no nudity, sorry)
  • Free screen cleaning


  • Jeff Tweiten, Freak in Seattle already waiting in line for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. If you're in Seattle, please find this guy and incessantly mock him for me.
  • Not a cool Star Wars geek

  •  

    Homecoming

    Saw this on the ol' CNN.com

  • Bob Marley to be moved to Ethiopia

  • Apparently the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, gave some land to the Rastafarians, 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Addis Ababa. Marley was a devout Rastafarian and since his spiritual home is there and not Jamaica, his body will be moved next month. He would've turned 60 on Feb. 6. He died of cancer in 1981. And there will be a benefit concert to raise money for the poor families in Ethiopia.

    I am really glad that some of my favorite bloggers came back and posted some. And I'll need to move Crash's blog link out of the dead blog section. He said that a publisher contacted him about, I assume, publishing his stories, but that it would've taken lots of editing which costs money, so they put the idea on hold and now he has free time to blog again. Yay! He's the employee for a gangster, sort of link to your left.

    Slothy also came back, which makes me super happy. Cuz she's awesome.
    Vader also posted a little, and I'm sure once Colorado Springs settles down some, she'll be back on with a vengance.

    Rob over at Clublife, also came back renewed and refreshed from his blogging sabbatical, which is great. And he's actually having post ideas pop into his head, which he said hadn't happened in a while cuz he felt so burnt out. Yay!

    So a big WELCOME BACK! and WE MISSED YOU! to those gals and guys.

    I like the friends I have now, but I feel like I need some diversity. I've never had a Jewish friend and I've never had a lesbian friend. But I think I want the lesbian friend most of all. Basically it is because I have been watching "The L Word" on Showtime and want to know how accurate of a portrayal it is. Obviously all lesbians are not super hot and super skinny people, but their interactions, attitudes and actions are very interesting.

    I'm very intrigued by LGBT culture, but have no access to it except for the mass media. And somehow I don't think Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a healthy portrayal of gay culture. So I think I'm going to try and expand my horizons somewhat and go read some books by gay authors and maybe a gay culture book or something along those lines.

    I came upon this train of thought by trying to come up with suggestions about what book to read next in the Bloggerland Book Club. And I can't wait to discuss "The Photograph". Why didn't Kath tell anyone besides Mary about her miscarriages? Why did she kill herself? Should Glyn have just left well enough alone and not wanted answers? Why did Kath marry Glyn? Why did Nick suddenly want Kath? So many whys.

    But train of thought, in college I had to take a class that was basically literature and history mixed into one class and the teachers had the leeway to make it whatever they wanted. My professor was a Quaker feminist and she had us read books by mostly minority and women authors. I remember reading one book about the ritual circumcision of women in Africa and how the main character overcame this and blossomed into a beautiful, strong, healthy women.

    So if anyone has any suggestions for books or authors that you think I or the book club should read, please let me know.

    I remember Vader doing a post on strong women, think I'll go archiving and try and dig that up.

    Tuesday, January 11, 2005

     

    The suspense is terrible. I hope it lasts.

    My apologies to Gene Wilder and anyone who knows what that quote really is, if it's wrong. I haven't seen that movie in a while, so I couldn't remember the exact wording. And I'm really looking forward to the remake.

    I have about 25 pages left in The Photograph by Penelope Lively. For some reason, I keep forgetting that the book is set in England, not that it really matters, but I kept picturing these New England houses and locations and then someone would say Gloucestershire, and I would remember, but I'm over that now. I flipped through and saw "Conclusions" was the title for the last chapter and I'm hoping that the book is finished up nicely with a nice tidy bow and all my questions and concerns are addressed. I really like the nice little package stories, no plot holes and I have no nagging questions.

    The most recent one I can recall was the movie, Garden State. Great story, but I wondered how his mom's necklace was lost. Was she buried with it? If so, who the hell dug it up? If she wasn't buried with it, how did it leave her possesion? I realize these are minor topics and that it was a story about the relationships between people, but I couldn't help notice that one little thing.

    Another I remember, the exact opposite of "nice package" (hehehehe), was the movie "Suicide Club" a Japanese independent film which was, after some internet search looking for answers, apparently a commentary on the prevalence of suicide in the youth of Japan. But holy shit it made no sense at all. None. I wish they would put a little sticker on movies like that so I wouldn't expect any conclusions or any problems to be resolved and so I could sit back and appreciate the movie for what it is. Art. A piece of moving art that is visually appealing. And if I so desire, then I can research it and try to find what the director was trying to say, or I can try and find meaning from it myself. I just want a little warning, that's all.

    As Catt noticed, I didn't post yesterday. Took the day off. Calm before the storm. Classes start tomorrow. I'm taking one class. Crystallography at 8-9:15 am Tues and Thurs. Yuck. I hate 8 am classes. Always have, always will. I had chemistry in high school at 8 am. First class of the day and I liked chemistry and the teacher, so I tried my damndest to stay awake and usually did, but guess what happened in the next class, Geometry? Yup, slept like it was my job. I barely remember anything that happened in that class. But luckily geometry was easy and I still pulled out an A or B. Sorry Mr. Rogers, nothing personal.

    Friday, January 07, 2005

     

    Riding Giants

    If you have not heard of this documentary, I implore you to check it out. But only do so if some part of you loves the ocean and/or surfing because otherwise you probably wouldn't care alot.

    It is the history of surfing and big wave surfing. Big wave surfing is different from surfing because it seeks out the largest wave rideable. No contest, no prize money, just you and a board. Strapped to your feet and getting towed into it by a friend on a jet ski because the waves are so big and fast that you can't paddle fast enough to catch it.

    The history of it was really enlightening. I didn't know that surfing really has come into its own in the past 40-50 years. Before that it was just a few Hawaiians doing it. And before the 60's, it was just a few other people who did it. They said that before the Gidget movies came out around '63 or so, there were about 5,000 surfers. After the movies popularized it, that number exploded to 2-3 million. And big wave surfing was only in Hawaii, at the North Shore, then Waimea, then Mavericks were discovered in Cali at Half Moon Bay below San Francisco, then the jet ski was used and "tow-in surfing" was started and Peahi was surfed, and then Teahupoo (or Chopu) in Tahiti. And I'm sure there are still others out there waiting to be found.

    But what amazed me was that Jeff Clark was surfing Mavericks by himself for 15 years until he could convince someone else to go with him in 1990. That is mind boggling to have one of the hugest, nastiest breaks in the world to yourself.

    I'm gonna look for pictures in a second to show you the size and mass of water involved in these waves.

    I'll admit that I really do strive to find the spiritual side of things, as corny as that may sound. Surfing, rock climbing, and motorcycling are all activities that are peaceful to me. It's just you, the wave/rock/bike and road and that's it. That's all there is. Okay, let me stop right now and tell you that I have never surfed. Ever. I tried a few Christmases ago in the Dominican Republic, but I was too out of shape for it and couldn't even paddle out. But ever since I have been around the ocean, I have really been drawn to it. It's always there, washing in and out, no matter what I do. It's nice to know it's there, just like the mountains. They'll always be there and always have been, but I get to enjoy them and experience them during my short time here. And that's why I like hiking and camping and going to the beach. I haven't really experienced big waves. I think the biggest I've ever seen and been in was around 10-15 feet, which are big waves, and that's also why I like the mountains and the ocean; if you don't respect them, they will fucking break you in half and not even think about it. But as long as you respect it, they'll respect you.

    Ok, picture time. (That last sentence sounds really familiar, I think I'm gonna have to go archiving and see if I've talked about that before.)
    Wow, this is just what I was talking about.


    Those two are of Peahi in HI, aka Jaws.
    This one is Mavericks near San Francisco, CA.

    This shot is why Mavericks is so nuts, those rocks are in front of where some of the larger waves break.

    This is Teahupoo in Tahiti.





    Enjoy and don't think about how cold it is outside. If it is.

     

    Egami Rorrim

    Think redrum for the title.

    I watched I, Robot last night, and yes Isaac Asimov is rolling in his grave. Never read the book but the Evil One said it is completely different and I believe her. But it got me thinking about the future and technology and whatnot.

    And Chicago is NOT going to look like that in 30 years. No fucking way. We barely have robots that can walk.

    But they had cars that can drive themselves, which I think would only encourage people to drink more, but the bars could have waitresses with breathalyzers and only serve you if your BAC is less than 0.2% or something. Or we could have licenses to buy drugs and alcohol, or the stores would perform background checks on the customers before they are allowed to buy anything, and anyone with a history of violence would not be allowed to purchase it. Or it would be on the bottles.

    But that is all just fantasy. The reality is we have to work within our current system and technological constraints. And I don't have a great solution. But I really think the ignitions with breathalyzers need to catch on.

    Subject change:Joan always comments on how people who lived in the medieval ages or the 1800's are filthy and disgusting. True but they had no running water, so give them a break. And how she can't imagine how anyone had sex, which is also true. Imagine the smells during that but only if you're near a trash can or toilet. And that is why she is so thankful to be alive now. To which I counter, yes but you wouldn't know any better. It's not like she'd be walking down the muddy dirt road and say, Man I can't wait until they paved this thing. She would have no idea that she was super dirty and that those smells can be cleansed away and that the meat sitting out for 3 days should've been kept cold. But she seems to think that she would somehow know. Yes we like arguing over stupid things, but it's better than arguing over important things. But we do that too cuz you have to.

    Angela sent me this link about Cannabis and driving. I haven't read through it yet, but I plan to this weekend or maybe this afternoon, but right now I have to go run some UV-Vis.
  • Cannabis and Driving

  • Thursday, January 06, 2005

     

    Drop it like it's hot

    We installed Eibach lowering springs on my friend's Subaru WRX last night. About a 1.3" drop in front and 1" in the back. Looks really good and should handle better once he gets it aligned. A relatively easy install really. I think the worst part was we mixed up the front struts and installed them on the wrong sides and had to remove the seats to get at the top of the back ones. Not bad at all. But it gets me jonesing for doing stuff to my car. But all in good time. I actually have to list my eBay stuff and I've decided to just list my kayak and a few other things locally. No newspapers, just flyers around campus and probably drop one off at the local outdoor store.

    Two quick things that were spotted this morning:

  • Stupidest warning labels

  • My favorite is the thermometer one. Yuck.

  • Street racing gone bad

  • Be sure to scroll down below the pictures to get the whole story.

    If you all haven't checked out jack's blog recently, please do so.
  • jack's blog

  • He posted a story about how he was waiting at the airport, spotted a hippie with an 8 yr old in the car, tokin up before picking up his wife and then driving 6 hours to his destination. He alerted the airport police and they did nothing and an interesting discussion has taken place in the comment box. And hopefully this will encourage jack to do his "why marijuana is bad" post, which a few of us have been waiting on for a while. Ok, maybe just me, Vader and the Evil One, but I'm sure there are others.

    And I posed the question, because people were making statements about how awful it is to smoke and drive, which is very true, but I asked then if they were equally against alcohol since it also impairs driving and hurts others. So far only one person has responded that she is definitely against both.
  • Angela's blog

  • She shared the story of how drugs and alcohol tore apart her family and is definitely against alcohol as much as weed. And I am grateful to her for sharing and am deeply disturbed by what happened in her family and is happening in families all over this country.

    Then why don't we outlaw alcohol also? And anything else that is harmful to us and others? Because it wouldn't work. People want to get fucked up, and they're going to, whether we want them to or not. That is why I feel our money is better targeted toward education, prevention and treatment of those social sicknesses rather than try and stop them all together, which Prohibition and the past 40 years have shown us, our current methods are not working. Even a little. But I do think that kids are smoking less, which is wonderful and give props to the government for making the tobacco companies sponsor educational and informational campaigns against their product.

    People would still smoke if we did what Dennis Leary suggested. Put them in black boxes with skulls on them, call them cancer sticks, have HUGE letters "YOU WILL DIE IF YOU SMOKE THESE!" And people would still smoke. Why? Because they want to. And dammit, this is America, if you want to smoke a carton a day, eat nothing but McDonalds, you can. And if you pay taxes, all the better.

    So I think the solution, or at least a better way to go about all this, is to educate people and treat people who want to be treated for their sicknesses. Because the first step of rehab is after all, realizing that you have a problem and admitting it.

    And we really need to develop those ignitions with the breathalyzers on them. And maybe add a blood test to it too. That would be a great day.

    Wednesday, January 05, 2005

     

    Dakar 2005



    I also realized that the Dakar rally is going on as I type this. From the overwhelming response I got with my WRC post yesterday, I can tell that my readers share my interest. Okay, maybe 1 other person does, but my blog yada yada yada.

    The Dakar rally is a race from Barcelona, Spain to Dakar, Senegal in Africa and through the desert. Yep the Sahara desert. Check the route out.
    That is one crazy race my friend. I watched last year and guys were crying, bleeding, yelling and generally completely breaking down emotionally, physically and psychologically. It's 16 days of GPS navigating through Iberia and Western Africa. And they do this on motorcycles, dune buggies, cars and big trucks, kinda like small semis.

    But for the NASCAR fans, Robby Gordon was leading for a while and is still near the top somewhere. And Colin McRae, of WRC fame, is currently leading the race, but they're only on day 5 or 6 so anything could happen.

    And for anyone in this country that wants to watch it live on TV, good luck. I'm sure some European stations are carrying it, but we have to wait until Jan. 22nd and watch it on OLN, so I think I'm going to stop looking at updates and try and avoid seeing who wins, not that I wouldn't watch/TiVo the race anyway.

    Back later with a more general interest post.

    Tuesday, January 04, 2005

     

    I love WRC!

    For those who don't know what WRC is, let me tell you. It is the premier racing league in the world, maybe compareable to F1. It stands for the World Rally Championship. The cars are all based on production models like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Subaru Impreza, and Ford Focus. They are all 2.0 Liter engines, turbocharged with restrictor plates that limit power production to around 300 hp. They are all 4WD cars with active limited slip differentials, meaning they are ridiculously expensive and controlled by computers, but I think the FIA, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
  • FIA

  • is changing those to passive to make it cheaper for private teams to be competitive.

    The cars are meticulously engineered to withstand the enormous amounts of abuse thrown at these cars. Tons of different tires, gravel, snow, tarmac, mixed, etc. and I think either made by Michelin or Pirelli, at least those are the two that are worn by the top teams. Last year Sebastian Loeb won the drivers championship for Citroen in their Xsara WRC car. He and the car are French seen here in Germany So he won the driver's championship and Citroen won the manufacturer's championship. The drivers come from all over the world (but not here) but mainly Asia and Europe primarily. This season should prove to be quite exciting, just like all the others. But to catch a glimpse you must have Speedvision or whatever it's called now. Speed Channel I think. Here is the list for the rallies, I plan to watch all from the edge of my seat.


    Monte Carlo 21 - 23 January 2005
    Sweden 11 - 13 February 2005
    Mexico 11 - 13 March 2005
    New Zealand 8 - 10 April 2005
    Italy 29 April - 1 May 2005
    Cyprus 13 - 15 May 2005
    Turkey 3 - 5 June 2005
    Greece 24 - 26 June 2005
    Argentina 15 - 17 July 2005
    Finland 5 - 7 August 2005
    Germany 26 - 28 August 2005
    Great Britain 16 - 18 September 2005
    Japan 30 September - 2 October 2005
    France 21 - 23 October 2005
    Spain 28 - 30 October 2005
    Australia 11 - 13 November 2005

    Almost forgot
  • WRC

  •  

    Black Tuesday

    We're still in mourning over our tragic loss, but his grave is close so we can still visit whenever we need to.

    Oh, Smoove D, the camera I have is a Yashicaflex and not a Leicaflex. Whoops, sorry to get your hopes up. But I'm taking pics of my eBay stuff today and I'll hopefully have most of the auctions up by tonight and I'll provide links so you can see what kind of crap I'm trying to load off onto people. But some of it isn't crap, I just don't use it anymore. Like my Carvin bass guitar. It's so pretty and deserves to be played, not stored under a bed. Still not sure if I'm going to put my kayak up on eBay or just try to sell it here at school. We'll see. I think I'll look at some other kayak auctions and make my mind up after that.

    The university is officially open today, which means everyone is supposed to be here for work. Of course most grad students never left, so it just means there advisors now have to be here. A friend of mine told me that he is going to graduate this August. We got into grad school here at the same time. And he's getting out in 4 years and a summer. Pretty fucking sweet if you ask me. And yes I'm jealous, but he didn't switch groups and his advisor is by far one of the coolest in the department. But it gives me a good kick in the pants to start the new year with, and with that, I'm back to work!

    But I might drop in later....

    Monday, January 03, 2005

     

    RIP Henry

    Henry The Hamster was buried last night at 9 pm in our front yard. It was a short service with only close family members attending. In lieu of flowers, donations to your local Humane Society are appreciated.

    Henry The Hamster, circa June 2002-Jan. 2, 2005, he will be loved and remembered always.

    This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

    NORML

    View Products
    Freedom is NORML

    Google
    Search WWW Search silonius.blogspot.com
    Who Links Here