journal at ivorysanctuary.com

yeah, just like

2008-08-19T15:46:00.003-07:00

anime me

zok. pow. blammo.

2008-07-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

the Clown Prince of Crime

Hilarious.

I miss critical thinking.

2008-07-29T01:00:00.003-07:00

all the buzz that's fit to print

There's been a lot of buzz on the line recently over new search site Cuil, which is supposed to index more sites than Google. It's clearly the death knell for Google because it indexes even more gabillions of sites and does it with fewer processors and clearly it's better and blah blah blah. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm about to rain on the parade.

1. Do a sample search. Go for it. For example, doing a search for "ivorysanctuary.com" doesn't pop up the "www.ivorysanctuary.com" anywhere in the results. It does offer a few of the sub pages, and after that, it offers tons of robot-generated sites that apparently ganked my text in an effort to make their spyware installers look more like real content.

2. If I was a reporter, do you think I would do at least a couple of sample searches before going along with the start-up company's claims that they were the awesomest ever? I'm not a journalist though, this is just a blog. We all know that bloggers aren't journalists.

3. If I owned a small company, do you think I would at least do a couple of sample searches before announcing to the media that I was the awesomest ever? If you are going to compare yourself to the big guns out of the gate, you need to at least be on par with them in terms of basic spooling of search results. I think this media frenzy is a premature bubble, no one's ever going to hear of this company again.

4. That's not stopping me while I'm on a role, though. That website is fugly. I'm so over poserweb 2.0 and websites done in Trebuchet and if I see another rounded corner I am going to poke someone in the eye with a sardine. And don't even get me started on tag clouds. I wish someone would invent a tag cloud blocker, especially if it would overlay a nice cumulonimbus over the offending site.

5. Clearly I should be asleep.

6. It's actually really creepy how Cuil will take pictures and use them over and over if they are relevant to the content, even if they are not related to the site at all.

In conclusion, it's been far too long since I posted rant-a-blog.

I'm just jealous, and I shouldn't watch television.

2008-07-15T12:20:00.005-07:00

hey, that's my line

Many of you know that I have a Puzzle Pirates character named Shantybones. Well. Look what I saw in Warcraft yesterday: someone is moving in on my style...

In other news, the finale of Celebrity Circus is tomorrow, and so I wanted to give my thoughts on this show before the season ends. Because... you all wanted to hear my cranky perspective. Yes. You did. I don't have cable, but I've been watching the whole thing go down on hulu.com, just like I do for Battlestar Galactica.

Overall, I've got some problems with Celebrity Circus. The people (who aren't really household names, for the most part, at least not in my household) had only six weeks to go from being plebeians to performing full-fledged circus acts. For judges. To be honest, unless you were already a gymnast, there's no way you can get your body in performance shape in six weeks, but that hasn't stopped the network from trying. I feel that circus people push their bodies too hard anyway, but this whole show has been an exercise in unrealistic expectations. And pain. Stacey Dash (more on her in a minute) broke a rib, and Christopher Knight broke his arm in a German Wheel accident that they caught on tape. Now, come on. No one with any sense would put an untrained 50+ year old man in a German Wheel. Period.

Even with all of the pushing and pushing and pain, these guys have only been able to accomplish the most basic technical achievements. Which is to be expected, really. Six weeks simply isn't enough time. Especially in weeks 2 and 3, many of the performances involved people getting hoisted in mid air, holding on for dear life and smiling nervously until they were mercifully lowered to earth again. The editors cover all of the fussy parts by having circus professionals on either side, and panning the camera away when Antonio Sabato Jr gets tied up in the fabric. Ringmaster Joey Fatone "heightens the mood" by constantly reminding us that everyone is performing without a net (they're in safety lines, bitch, stfu).

When they come down, they face the worst judging panel this side of America's Best Dance Crew. (An aside to Mario Lopez-- you're supposed to stand there and look hot, not pretend you can dance. Actually, you too, Cat Deeley. Stop dancing. That's what contestants are for.) In Celebrity Circus, it's clear that the judges are deliberately trying to eliminate or boost a specific person, because often their feedback doesn't even match what the contestant did. Aurelia Cats, an aerial contortionist who judges international circus festivals, seems to delight in shredding the contestants apart, rather than supporting and encouraging them. (Personally, I watched the video on her website and I think she has fading aerialist syndrome... Don't be all catty to newbies on national TV, especially when you can't even bust out the single toe hang, sheesh.) Louie Spence is clearly hamming it up for the camera just like Carson Kressley, and I'll be happy when we can move past that as a nation. The only semi-rational one, ironically playing the straight man in this comic trio, is gymnast Mitch Gaylord. har.

All that said, Stacey Dash is amazing. She's got a level of technique that no one else on the show can even approach, and frankly, I think the judges aren't giving her enough praise. To even go up on a cradle like that is really freaking hard, and you need to be strong and flexible with good technique... she nailed this show, and she should win. If everyone else is getting 10s, she should be somewhere in the 15 to 17 range... seriously. Wee-Man and Antonio Sabato Jr. are strong (good work on that Chinese Pole... that stuff is really hard too) but they look awkward and can't even point their toes. Their lines are terrible. (Also... I have a strong suspicion that Rachel Hunter got so terrified by the first couple of weeks that she became incapacitated by fright, and just waited around to be voted off.)

I'm going to go back and read this again. I think that what this post really proves is that I shouldn't be watching television... it makes me much too catty. I actually hope that this show doesn't get renewed for another season, just because I don't like the level of danger and personal injury that the whole thing has been taken to. Overall, I'd rather have seen non-celebrities who had 6 months to train in a safe and encouraging environment, rather than this kind of dangerous helter-skelter to the finish line.

fogeymeister

2008-07-02T13:38:00.001-07:00

Awesome 80s!

While listening to Internet Radio on 181.fm: Awesome 80s, they've just played two songs in a row from my iTunes playlist. I will shamefully update this post if that number gets higher.

OHOP in the boonies: Oakdale House of Prayer?

2008-06-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Bigpost!

Okay, so a lot has happened this week. First, I went to Yosemite with some friends. We left super early Friday morning from San Jose in two cars, embarking on a successful journey to... Confidence, California, where we saw the other car in our caravan turning around at the Confidence Inn. We sailed past, mocking them for their small bladders, and drove on to a place we called "Overconfidence, California" once we realized we'd been taking the wrong route and had driven an hour out of our way.

teehee.

Yosemite was beautiful, although the altitude and windy roads made both AJ and I a bit nauseous at different points. We set up camp, ate (do NOT drive to Confidence, California and put all of the food in the other car) and immediately hiked to some big trees.

That night, I woke up at about 3:30 and headed to the facilities with my shiny new purple flashlight. I came back to my tent, sat in a camping chair that some friends had lent us for the trip, and took off my sneakers. I started to unzip my tent, when the chair collapsed underneath me. I didn't know what to do, so I burst out laughing. Judy's voice came sleepily from the other tent... "Are you okay?" I didn't know what to say, so I crawled into the tent and went to sleep. The next morning, there was a pile of rubble, where the metal had buckled and canvas ripped. Bears indeed.

That day we biked around in Yosemite Valley, which was awesome. We did our entire day's worth of planned activities before lunch, so the afternoon on bikes was very spontaneous. We are not going to talk about the flies in the bathroom who buzzed so loud it sounded like a malicious hive. I turned around and walked right back out.

Our camp was by a river, and it was really beautiful and peaceful. Except for the part when the neighboring camp came by asking for a shovel so that they could kill the rattlesnake they found in the river. Luckily I was away on a strawberry ice cream run, so when I heard the news when we got back to camp, I immediately sat down and ate the whole thing. I'm extremely snake-phobic. Luckily, I am also extremely strawberry-philic, and by the time the ice cream was gone, no one was talking about the snake any more.

Yay!

It was a really great time, and I'm still waiting on more photos, and we didn't even drive through Confidence, California on the way home.

Last night, I went to see All My Life at the Frameline film festival. My friend Mazen played the lead, and I promised him I would go. It's a really neat independent film about several gay characters in Cairo and the people in their lives, shot both in San Francisco and guerilla-style in Egypt. I did not pre-order my ticket, and I stood with about 5 other people in the "rush" line after they had sent all of the non-ticketholders home, and a last minute minor miracle changed the story from "You're welcome to stand out in the cold, but I suggest you go stay warm," to "We have 6 seats. Go in." Yay!

The film itself was really worth seeing, and the Q&A afterwards was really moving. At one point, the director talked about how oppressing gay people in Egypt is linked to oppressing women and oppressing ethnic minorities, and that it's all the same phenomenon. That totally applies beyond just Egypt, which is why I am saddened to see racism in the gay community or homophobia among ethnic minorities or even gays and lesbians harrassing each other instead of having each other's backs. I'm really tired of the mentality of "ingratiating yourself to the oppressor by kicking someone else." Never works.

I really hope they show this film again. They turned away at least 100 people in the "hoping to buy tickets" line, so hopefully they will show it at the Center or somewhere locally soon.

Anyway, it was a great birthday week for me! As always, my birthday tends to extend a couple of weeks in each direction, so feel free to throw confetti accordingly. Mwah!

can't sleep, bear'll eat me

2008-06-12T17:18:00.002-07:00

cobbler!!

Heading to Yosemite this weekend... be gentle, it's my first time! I'm sure there will be photographs. It's hilarious to me how much I run around in digital forests and other "natural" environments, but I don't know the first thing about being out in nature.

Fun times!

Rule #1: do not run off alone to read my bible.

candyman!

2008-05-15T14:40:00.003-07:00

Yay!

I read some good news this morning. Yay! I have to say, early this morning even before I read the news, I had decided that it's going to be very important for me to hire Christina Aguilera to perform at my wedding. And take my vows from a spot overlooking the ocean. And wear a tiara. And kiss just a bit inappropriately at that point in the ceremony, because you know, we can make our own rules.

Of course, I'd need to go on an actual date first, but we'll ignore that today.

Actually, the thing that is most encouraging to me is that California seems to take the lead on these things, but then other civilized parts of the country follow suit. Example: smoking indoors in public places. So maybe this isn't just an isolated event, but really the beginning of something.

Yay for something to celebrate!

everybody's doing it

2008-05-09T11:23:00.003-07:00

of note

Okay, so these guys have been linked all over the place, including on CNN. Yay for human interest stories instead of real news. In any case, in their super fast cross-country trip, these guys started in Brattleboro.

Of course, I had a brief flash of imagination with them entering Brattleboro, taking a look, and then running in terror through the next 47 states at record speed, yelling "yipe yipe yipe" like a dog in a Pepe le Pew cartoon. Tee hee.

I could barely retain my sanity driving across the country in a straight line at a reasonable speed... I don't know how they did it!

and apparently I am no longer inside of it

2008-05-04T22:46:00.002-07:00

apparently I own a hollow gourd

It's been tough time. Nothing I really want to talk about, but I'm experiencing lots of stress.

I feel like everything is falling apart. I need an infusion of new clothes, especially work clothes, because I'm tired of my colleagues being able to memorize my wardrobe within my first 3 working days at a new position. So I was doing my laundry today, four reasonably-sized loads, detergent and bleach and fabric softener. And although the washing machines downstairs in this apartment complex are brand new, my laundry came out of the dryers smelling suspiciously like dirty laundry. And what's weird is that usually my dirty laundry isn't terribly stenchful, but I now suspect there's an ongoing effect of this demon-spawned device not actually washing my clothes and instead just getting them wet and then partially drying them in several iterations.

So... I apologize to everyone who's been offended or overcome by waves of nausea in my presence... I truly had no idea this was happening.

When I first moved to San Francisco, I was experimenting by trying a laundry service. They promptly shrank some of my clothes (which is a problem for those of us who are 6'5 with wingspan and have to size our clothes creatively anyway), got bleach stains on a black pair of my pants, and ruined a new shirt that I liked. But... I think I am going to have to try that route again. Probably this week.

Anyway, I was standing in front of the dryer (which is conveniently at nose height) when I came to this realization. And... I was already stressed out about what I was going to wear tomorrow because the next few days are big meeting type days, and to realize that the laundry isn't working... I just wanted to weep. And I stood there, and I stared at my still-wet clothes, and suddenly Bobby McFerrin started singing in my ear, "Don't worry. Be happy."

Not kidding.

The scary part was that it all made some kind of tragic sense. "In every life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double." I've clearly lost it. Maybe if I leave it alone, it will come home, wagging its tail behind it?

fetid scum

2008-03-31T12:00:00.001-07:00

comments temporarily disabled

I have temporarily disabled the comment functionality of this blog. I liked the commenting script that I used because it allowed people to post comments quickly and be as anonymous as they wanted to be, without having to register with Blogger or fill out one of those ridiculous skewed character recognition forms.

Over the past couple of months, I've started to get attacks with increasing frequency, and I simply don't have the time to keep manually removing the spam. I think this kind of spambot advertising is genuinely shameful; it reduces the integrity of my website but probably doesn't generate revenue for the "advertisers". I mean... who is going to buy fake Cialis over the internet just because they saw 5 identically misspelled spams in the comments of my blog?

Pathetic.

The first word that came to mind was graffiti, but I don't think that's fair to graffiti, which represents a genuine subculture and form of self-expression. Spambots, though, are just the a drone of nigh-unreadable commercial intent, and the whole thing strikes me as so contemptible that I'm having trouble coming up with a suitable analogy.

Sadly, the problem has also contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for my blog recently. Both comments and my contact form will be disabled until further notice, and I'm probably going to spend some time re-imagining what I want to do with my site.

I love web 2.0! Yay!

try your own!

2008-02-28T17:23:00.002-08:00

late to the party, as usual

I just now learned about Google Trends, which allows you to generate hilarious stock-market-like graphs comparing abstract terms. My favorites so far include Cake vs. Pie, iPhone vs Wii, Art vs. Science, Problems vs. Solutions, and Survivor vs. Project Runway, American Idol, and Library.

In other news, it really feels like spring today... the sun is bright and warm, the birds are chirping, and there is pollen everywhere.

unless you are a candied yam

2008-02-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

unless you are a can of ham

I found my new polling place this morning. I was a bit disconcerted because the address was described as a "garage" and I felt a bit sketched out. (Here Tony, come into this garage, and write your vote down. Don't worry, it will be counted. Honest. Come on in here.) It worked out fine, though, and I even got a receipt for my paper ballot and everything.

I also got to walk 2 blocks of sheer cliff face back to my home when I was done. Yay, San Francisco.

I've really been struggling with this vote, because everything is so close and volatile and... important. I really wanted to allow myself to get wrapped up in the audacity of hope, and vote for a candidate who wasn't business as usual. And yet... I'm essentially a two-issue voter, and I always said that I could never vote for a presidential candidate who was opposed to same-sex marriages. I've said it before, but civil unions are the colored drinking fountains of our decade, and anyone who uses a religious definition of marriage to maintain a structure of oppression is disregarding both the 1st Amendment and Brown vs. Board of Education.

And yet... HRC-style political strategists would probably argue that no viable candidate is going to come out in support of same-sex marriages because of the risk of alienating Christian voters, and that doesn't mean that the candidate is inherently anti-gay. A lot of people would argue that the best strategy for having a civil-rights friendly president is to engage in the "politics of sit down and shut up" by pretending that I don't exist. I've been struggling with this for weeks, and it turns my stomach. In the past, I've even voted for unlikely candidates who accurately represented my views, rather than compromise on the things that are important to me.

In the end, today I chose to sit down and shut up about my own civil rights. But I still want to say that the vote comes with a 756-sized asterisk, and maybe I'll end up drafting a letter on that topic, because every politician loves a good letter this time of year.

where's my Mussorgsky?

2008-01-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

xkcd-inspired mischief

I may have instigated some trouble today. I was reading a Wikipedia article and discovered the sentence, "She has helped many people and is just all around amazing." Unable to resist, I taught myself just enough Wikipedia editing to add: [citation needed].

In other news, I played Guitar Hero for the first time last night. I've never played a timing game like that before, so it was very challenging. My comment in the moment: "I'm clearly at a disadvantage for listening to classical music in my childhood."

cthulhu in the kitchen

2008-01-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

rabbit food

I've been trying to get more interested in salads recently. For me, the perfect salad is flavorful and can be made very quickly, ie before work or before I change my mind and have something less healthy. I'm not very knowledgeable about these things, but I'd like to share some salad recipes I've come up with and then get some good recipes back from others.

The Red Salad
salad greens
savory baked tofu, diced^*
fresh strawberries, sliced
ground black pepper
red onion, chopped and gently sauteed (optional for time constraints, but yummy)
blush wine vinaigrette

The Fake Asian Salad
salad greens
sesame baked tofu, diced^*
sugar snap peas
mandarin orange slices (optional, but they remind me of Margaret Cho)
ginger sesame dressing

If you haven't had enough sesame at this point, sprinkle some toasted seeds on there. I like the fibrousness of the snap peas... I call it a "fake" asian salad because I lived in China for a year and never saw a single salad while I was there.

The Yucky Salad
salad greens (noticing a pattern here?)
thin granny smith apple slices
shaved fennel
walnuts
blue cheese dressing

I don't really know why these flavors work together, because individually, I'd think each of them was "yucky". I like them together, though!

As a side note, I tend to prefer Wildwood Baked Tofus and Brianna's salad dressings but like the rest of this post, I am open to suggestions.

^*Or chopped or cubed or ... something. All these cooking terms... it's too much.

yucky!

2008-01-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

my newest pet peeve

People who talk on their cell phone in public restrooms. A hands-free Bluetooth headset is not an excuse.

thematic palindrome

2008-01-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

woo!

Okay, so the first mistake I made today was bringing chocolate truffles into work the day after people began their New Year diets. I've gotten approximately two interested people, which is a shame, because they are good truffles. Your loss, skinnypantses.

On New Year's Eve I drove down to the South Bay to celebrate the new year with friends. Of course I arrive, ring the doorbell, wait a few minutes, and get no response at all. I dial my friend's cell phone and^* get the "What do you want" tone of voice, followed by, "We're in the middle of a battle in World of Warcraft right now, can you wait outside for a couple of minutes?" I put my things down on the outdoor table and watch in the twilight as a leaf falls from a nearby tree. I shiver in the slight December breeze. This is not the first time that I've been asked to wait outside the front door while someone plays World of Warcraft.

The party was totally fantastic, and included two sets of Mah Jongg tiles. It was really fun to have a broad spectrum of Chinese-American experiences on display: people who could or could not speak Mandarin, or Taiwanese, or Cantonese, and people who could or could not read, and it was super fun and very inclusive of everyone. Of course, I got way carried away when one woman played this tile and hesitated about whether to name the tile in Mandarin or Taiwanese, and I blurted condescendingly to her in English, "That's a five." We both laughed.

I totally want to go take Chinese classes again, since my tones are terrible and my reading comprehension is approx 0%, and I apparently misremembered something I thought I knew cold. On the other hand, I did have a good moment or two.

Of course, then I crashed with friends and we ended up having a spontaneous pajama party the next day, making French toast (yummy) and playing enough Warcraft that I probably shouldn't have cast any aspersions in an earlier paragraph. Yay for driving home in my pajamas.

So now I am stuck with about 3 more chocolate truffles and no one to pawn them off to. Wish me luck!

^*This part is a bit of a dramatization.

it's not extravagant spending if there is no sales tax

2007-12-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

...and hilarity ensues

This year I decided to have a quiet Christmas with a little bit of retail therapy for myself. Then I got carried away and booked myself time at the Golden Haven Spa in Calistoga. Um.

One thing I should point out is that it was only after I made the booking that I looked at where Calistoga is on the map. So... I spent a lot of the day yesterday in the car. Still, it was a really relaxing and fun time, because nothing says "Happy Holidays" quite like maneuvering your pale, naked body into a bubbling vat of sulfurous mud. Ho ho ho! The whole things was quite a process.... First the mud bath with facial mask, then I sprayed myself off with a hose (I was behind a curtain, and the attendant was simultaneously spraying down the rest of the room, which I could imagine might also be effective for hosing down livestock) before dipping myself in a hot mineral water jacuzzi bath thingy. Mmm. Then I got to take a nap (they call this part the "towel wrap") in a room with an awesome candle fountain ($19.95 at Online Discount Mart!) before having an hour massage.

Also, my friends decided to have a spontaneous holiday party that evening, but all of the grocery stores were closed... so I did all of that mineral detoxifying and then we had a banquet of Chinese carry-out. Yay!

All in all it was a great end to the year. How was your holiday?

name that poet

2007-12-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

I heard a fly buzz when I died

This was taken at lunch today. It's the only picture where my eyes weren't closed... and of course I look fantastic.

synthetic holiday cheer, plastic snowflakes

2007-12-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

this is how bad it's gotten

As some of you know, last year I decided to start a holiday card tradition. Of course, being me, I decided that every year I would design my own holiday cards and get them printed, rather than choose a canned card. Part of why I do this is that I prefer a card that is religion-neutral, and the other part is that it gives me a creative outlet. Yay!

Also, as some of you may know, last year I got an exceedingly late start. I told myself, "You need to start this in November. You need to send them to the printer on the weekend after Thanksgiving." Did I follow my own advice? No. And of course my drawing is rusty, so this year's card took so long and was so discouraging at the beginning that I almost gave up. I finished the cards late last night, and as usual, once I was done, I basked in the glow of my work and thought about what I good job I did. I am awesome, I love me. Etc.

It didn't stop there, though. Last night, I was thinking about the card as I went to bed. Half-asleep, I suddenly found myself trying to defend my design to Project Runway's Nina Garcia. "It's not elegant, it's not sophisticated...." she said, and I countered with something about it being intentionally whimsical and fun.

Um.

Anyway, I'm not going to preview the design here in the blog, but if you feel you should be on the list or you have changed your address, get in touch!

gah! I am writing about mainstream entertainment product.

2007-11-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

Heroes on NBC...

...has officially jumped the shark. I was secretly believing that the writing was going downhill since the middle of last season, and there were definitely some scenes already this season that came directly from an Acting 101 textbook. However. I now believe that the writers' ability to craft a plot and develop characters is in such dire need of remedial attention that the producers at NBC would be better off hiring some Livejournal Yaoi fanfic authors than waiting for the strike to end.

You think I'm kidding, but so far we've seen: 1) shirtless Peter Petrelli in handcuffs, 2) shirtless Peter Petrelli tied to a chair, 3) shirtless Peter Petrelli sprayed with an industrial hose, and 4) shirt-optional Peter Petrelli in prison receiving playful electric shocks from a girl he later kisses. Clearly Peter Petrelli is a submissive bottom who was working out between seasons.

Thank my lucky stars for the twin saviors of Project Runway and Project Runway Canada.

Did I mention that I do not own a television?

I think I finally understand why old people talk about old things.

2007-11-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

missed it by that much

As I may have mentioned once or twice, I sold all of my furniture when I moved to Vermont so I don't own very much. Even though I've been in my place over 4 months now, it's still pretty empty and disorganized because many of my things are still in boxes and there isn't much real furniture around.

Today, as part of an attempt to remedy the situation, I went to a big furniture sale at a warehouse in Bayview. This was a way to keep with my No Ikea rule while still having a chance to get some things for my apartment. Usually when I go shopping, I shop for one specific item, or I give myself a very short "allowed to buy" list. However, with prices at 60-90% off, and with me feeling some of the oxygen of being gainfully employed, I gave myself a rather long "allowed to buy" list.

I had a leisurely morning, had some breakfast, and made my way to the warehouse in Bayview. I parked the car at about 11:30, half an hour after the sale opened. Two things happened next: 1) my body immediately decided that it needed to find a bathroom and b) I got into a line that stretched around the block. It took me almost 2 hours to get through the line (but thanks to Yelp.com, I was prepared with an iPod and a new book.) For those of you who like to keep tabs at home-- there was no bathroom available at the warehouse.

I stood in line for two hours and made it into the warehouse (even though I was paranoidly convinced that I was going to get shut out for some reason), and shopped as efficiently as is possible for me. The furniture was very hit or miss, with a significant scratch and dent section, but the pristine overstock section was what served me best. I found a low bookcase that I really liked, and I decided to buy it (casting away a few other pieces of "maybe" furniture, because I didn't love them). I made it through the sales line, payed, and got my pick-up receipt at 2:50pm, 10 minutes before the deadline for same-day pickup.

I was faced with a dilemma: bladder or bookcase? It couldn't possibly be too big for my car, right? So I stood in the (slower than it looked) line for someone to get my bookcase out of the warehouse. They did, we signed some "don't return this to us under any circumstances" paperwork, and I wheeled it to my car, and.... it was enormous. Enormous. Didn't fit in the trunk, didn't fit in the back seat, was too wide to fit anywhere.

It's now almost 4 in the afternoon, I am standing on the street in Bayview with a box that I can't return and is too big for my car, and I've had to pee since 11am.

And finally, after all of these years of self-loathing about my adolescent entertainment products, playing World of Warcraft finally paid off. I summoned Niloc, who had a roof rack on his car, had appropriate cabling, and was able to interrupt his Friday afternoon relax-at-the-café time to come rescue me. (For those of you who play World of Warcraft, this is further proof that Priests are always the first ones to the summoning stones.) Thank you Niloc!!

In any case, once I got home and unpacked the bookshelf (after pausing briefly to use the facilities), I found that the bookcase was ingeniously designed so that it came mostly assembled but was designed with hinges so that once I took it out of the box, it simply unfolded into shape. Neat! But the important part about that was this: even if I had taken the bookshelf out of the box, it wouldn't have been any smaller or fit into my car any better.

For the first time since 2005, I have unpacked my books out of their boxes and put them out in the house. I was surprised at how deeply I was moved to see my books out again. They stretch back to at least 7th grade and give a pretty good scope of the things that are really important to me. Seeing them out in the room makes me feel more like I am at home again than I've felt in a long time. I am actually eager to start having people over now, just to see how they react to my quirky book collection.

(Visitors trying to find the 7th grade book will have a bit of digging to do, though: the 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, while an accurate memory of 7th grade me, is dorky enough that I have stashed it behind one of the panels that hide the first couple of books on each side.)

still. more. nerdular. nerdence.

2007-10-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

rice for all

I did this... until it made me hungry.

one of my favorite topics

2007-09-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

grammatical pet peeves

In Tony's English, the following words are nouns, not adjectives: legion, myriad. Similarly, the following word is an adjective but not a noun: motley.

Please adjust yourselves accordingly.

clap, clap

2007-09-26T11:40:00.000-07:00