My wife was in Virginia interviewing for a job. She got the job, so we're on our way out of Florida and on to Richmond, VA in the next 2-3 weeks.
Well, my wife leaves before I do, but then she's got to find a place to live over there while I pack up over here. I have NO FUCKING IDEA how we're going to transport the pets. This is going to be crazy traumatic for everyone.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Home Alone
Yeah, good times right? My wife is out of town for a job interview (long story, not very happy) and here I sit. I've been putting off mowing as long as I can, since we'll be moving wherever my wife finds a job and I'm trying to avoid having to mow more than a couple of times more. Well... that's sort of done, looks like it is going to rain the rest of the day so I'm done for now.
What the hell am I supposed to do? I guess I could start packing and painting and repairing and whatever... but that costs money, and we don't have any of that! Maybe we shouldn't have gone quite so "all out" on our vacation? No SCREW THAT, I HAD A JACUZZI!!!!
*ahem*
Anyways, no money for boxes and stuff until we know what's going on with the new job. Relocation package is there for a reason after all. I've got cable, I've got Internet, I've got books, I've got booze. Life is livable for another day or three.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
hurricane... ummm... whatever it is called,here it is!
This has been fun. I was totally going to watch Hobo With A Shotgun, and then the power went out. Then the power came back on and I couldn't find my flashlight. Then when I tried to turn my PC back on the breaker tripped in my office. Then I had to screw with the modem and router. By the time all that got done... No hobo, no shotgun.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
... and now I'm a gun nut? Maybe?
Been thinking about the handgun purchase. Really not so much, because I know what fits my hand and I'm convinced that almost all modern handguns are ridiculously reliable and accurate at home defense distances. I had discounted one pistol because of its sub-par night sights, and then realized that my most probable target would be an invader silhouetted in my bedroom's door frame. Plus, I've got a super-twitchy dog that barks at any noise inside the house that isn't coming from a cat. If I can't hit a target that size framed that way from 10 feet, I need new glasses much more than I need a handgun. I've got enough experience and plan on adding enough training to my shooting that I will feel confident that anyone who crosses the threshold of my bedroom (once my dog has raised the alarm) will suffer serious incapacitating injury no matter what weapon I buy.
No, my nuttery is in a different direction. I'm getting a bit obsessive over how to maintain handgun safety for the other 9,999 nights when absolutely nothing happens. I need to maintain absolute safety for my weapon except for when I decide to engage a fair target. I need to keep the gun out of my wife's hands, since she's got no experience and is likely to shoot herself in both feet before she could shoot an intruder. I've got to secure my handgun against burglars when I'm not home, since I'd feel responsible if anyone was killed with my weapon whether or not I pulled the trigger. I've also got to be able to get at it relatively quickly if there IS an imminent threat to my household sometime between now and my expected death in 2055.
Buying a safe handgun is easy. I've been looking at the Springfield XDM. It is relatively inexpensive, comes with a pair of 15-round magazines, and is pretty highly rated. There's a teat that sticks out on the back that lets you know the pistol is cocked, and there's a flange on the top of the slide to let you know that there's a round chambered. Good info to have in the dark by feel in an emergency. There's no safety lever on it; instead, there is a safety on the back of the handgrip that is engaged by your palm at the web between your thumb and forefinger that says you've got control of the pistol, and a second safety on the trigger itself that disengages when you place your finger on the trigger and intentionally engage it. It isn't the most safe system, but it prevents accidental discharge if the trigger hangs up on something. It is also super efficient when you've decided you've got to shoot someone immediately. Otherwise, it trusts the shooter to only put his/her finger on the trigger when something needs to be shot, and no other time. For smart people like me, it discourages any unintentional drawing of the handgun, which is always a good idea. It also lets you go from safe to BANG without having to pause too many times to consider the weapon itself.
Speaking of which, how do I go from locked up weapon to engaging an intruder as fast as I can, without making the storage of the handgun a bigger risk than any burglar? Like I said, I expect a robbery some time in the next 10,000 days in the busy metro area I'm looking at moving to. I've got to keep the gun secure for every single one of those days, even if I only use it once. So I need a safe, but a small one within my reach when I'm sleeping. I'd prefer to mount it to at least the wall-studs, or connect the pistol safe to a larger cast-iron safe, or even drive bolts into the floor, so that the safe would become a permanent part of the building. It doesn't seem like a safe is much use if someone can carry it off and cut it open at their leisure. Maybe more problem than I can handle. They also sell biometric safes which are a good idea. It is a semi-ridiculous expense for a safe that reads your fingerprints, but it seems like it would open fast and would be real hard to break into...
... maybe I'm being a bit nuts thinking so hard about these issues. On the other hand, I'm thinking about my safety, my wife's safety, the safety of anyone who might be in my home, and the safety of people who might be potential victims of the same people who might rob me. If you've got to be a nut, I think I've found a better way than the gun nuts who think it is a good idea to shoot first, and second, and third... and ask questions never, and only answer questions when their lawyers allow. At least I'm more concerned about not hurting good people, rather than looking for "bad" people to murder in cold blood.
No, my nuttery is in a different direction. I'm getting a bit obsessive over how to maintain handgun safety for the other 9,999 nights when absolutely nothing happens. I need to maintain absolute safety for my weapon except for when I decide to engage a fair target. I need to keep the gun out of my wife's hands, since she's got no experience and is likely to shoot herself in both feet before she could shoot an intruder. I've got to secure my handgun against burglars when I'm not home, since I'd feel responsible if anyone was killed with my weapon whether or not I pulled the trigger. I've also got to be able to get at it relatively quickly if there IS an imminent threat to my household sometime between now and my expected death in 2055.
Buying a safe handgun is easy. I've been looking at the Springfield XDM. It is relatively inexpensive, comes with a pair of 15-round magazines, and is pretty highly rated. There's a teat that sticks out on the back that lets you know the pistol is cocked, and there's a flange on the top of the slide to let you know that there's a round chambered. Good info to have in the dark by feel in an emergency. There's no safety lever on it; instead, there is a safety on the back of the handgrip that is engaged by your palm at the web between your thumb and forefinger that says you've got control of the pistol, and a second safety on the trigger itself that disengages when you place your finger on the trigger and intentionally engage it. It isn't the most safe system, but it prevents accidental discharge if the trigger hangs up on something. It is also super efficient when you've decided you've got to shoot someone immediately. Otherwise, it trusts the shooter to only put his/her finger on the trigger when something needs to be shot, and no other time. For smart people like me, it discourages any unintentional drawing of the handgun, which is always a good idea. It also lets you go from safe to BANG without having to pause too many times to consider the weapon itself.
Speaking of which, how do I go from locked up weapon to engaging an intruder as fast as I can, without making the storage of the handgun a bigger risk than any burglar? Like I said, I expect a robbery some time in the next 10,000 days in the busy metro area I'm looking at moving to. I've got to keep the gun secure for every single one of those days, even if I only use it once. So I need a safe, but a small one within my reach when I'm sleeping. I'd prefer to mount it to at least the wall-studs, or connect the pistol safe to a larger cast-iron safe, or even drive bolts into the floor, so that the safe would become a permanent part of the building. It doesn't seem like a safe is much use if someone can carry it off and cut it open at their leisure. Maybe more problem than I can handle. They also sell biometric safes which are a good idea. It is a semi-ridiculous expense for a safe that reads your fingerprints, but it seems like it would open fast and would be real hard to break into...
... maybe I'm being a bit nuts thinking so hard about these issues. On the other hand, I'm thinking about my safety, my wife's safety, the safety of anyone who might be in my home, and the safety of people who might be potential victims of the same people who might rob me. If you've got to be a nut, I think I've found a better way than the gun nuts who think it is a good idea to shoot first, and second, and third... and ask questions never, and only answer questions when their lawyers allow. At least I'm more concerned about not hurting good people, rather than looking for "bad" people to murder in cold blood.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
I've got to avoid the gun nuts!
I really hate the gun nuts, really really really I do.
So, the wife and I have been talking about a home defense handgun. Joe being Joe, I've been doing some online searchings to see what sort of stuff is out there, what people recommend, those sorts of things. I was pretty handy with rifles and pistols years ago, but my current skill and knowledge level are both less than I feel comfortable relying on. There's some good information out there from sane and rational gun enthusiasts, but there's also some crazy people with guns out there.
Lots and lots of crazy people with guns, and nobody seems able to make them stop!
Specifically, there's a big disconnect between the reality of home defense and the sort of things that the gun nuts come up with. For instance, a deer rifle with a scope isn't a home defense weapon, especially not because you believe you might have to shoot at people over 100 yards away. There's a point where "defense" becomes "offense" and you become the criminal and the other becomes the victim. Shooting at someone more than a football field away, especially if they are running away from your house, no longer falls in the category of "home defense" in any rational sense. In real life when someone breaks into your home and you chase them off, they aren't planning on coming back to try again. You're probably going to be OK.
The same basic issues comes up with the amount of times you're likely to get to shoot at a home invader. A six-shot revolver is probably going to be enough to run someone off. Burglars aren't likely to want to get into a shoot-out with a home owner who is awake and shooting back. Let's say that six isn't enough... an average semi-auto carries 10-15 rounds or so, and an extra magazine gets you up to 20-30. I'm not sure what Charles Bronson Death Wish fantasy world you're living in that you think you need a half-dozen 30-round extended magazines to fend off a burglar, but maybe someone should take away your guns until you settle down and maybe get on some meds.
I've been reading about people who stash a gun in each room, or who carry a handgun 24-7 including when they're sleeping. Talk about training your whole family in drills in case your home is broken into. All sorts of paranoid delusions about gangs of armed thugs kicking in their door with the intent to rape and murder the whole family and the pets too. That shit doesn't actually happen in real life, does it? I mean, often enough that anyone should be one step away from booby-trapping their house? Most people who get killed in America are criminals shooting each other, or domestic violence situations, stuff like that. There isn't to my knowledge some epidemic of armed gangs breaking into people's homes with the intent to commit murder.
Folks are just fucking NUTS!
So, the wife and I have been talking about a home defense handgun. Joe being Joe, I've been doing some online searchings to see what sort of stuff is out there, what people recommend, those sorts of things. I was pretty handy with rifles and pistols years ago, but my current skill and knowledge level are both less than I feel comfortable relying on. There's some good information out there from sane and rational gun enthusiasts, but there's also some crazy people with guns out there.
Lots and lots of crazy people with guns, and nobody seems able to make them stop!
Specifically, there's a big disconnect between the reality of home defense and the sort of things that the gun nuts come up with. For instance, a deer rifle with a scope isn't a home defense weapon, especially not because you believe you might have to shoot at people over 100 yards away. There's a point where "defense" becomes "offense" and you become the criminal and the other becomes the victim. Shooting at someone more than a football field away, especially if they are running away from your house, no longer falls in the category of "home defense" in any rational sense. In real life when someone breaks into your home and you chase them off, they aren't planning on coming back to try again. You're probably going to be OK.
The same basic issues comes up with the amount of times you're likely to get to shoot at a home invader. A six-shot revolver is probably going to be enough to run someone off. Burglars aren't likely to want to get into a shoot-out with a home owner who is awake and shooting back. Let's say that six isn't enough... an average semi-auto carries 10-15 rounds or so, and an extra magazine gets you up to 20-30. I'm not sure what Charles Bronson Death Wish fantasy world you're living in that you think you need a half-dozen 30-round extended magazines to fend off a burglar, but maybe someone should take away your guns until you settle down and maybe get on some meds.
I've been reading about people who stash a gun in each room, or who carry a handgun 24-7 including when they're sleeping. Talk about training your whole family in drills in case your home is broken into. All sorts of paranoid delusions about gangs of armed thugs kicking in their door with the intent to rape and murder the whole family and the pets too. That shit doesn't actually happen in real life, does it? I mean, often enough that anyone should be one step away from booby-trapping their house? Most people who get killed in America are criminals shooting each other, or domestic violence situations, stuff like that. There isn't to my knowledge some epidemic of armed gangs breaking into people's homes with the intent to commit murder.
Folks are just fucking NUTS!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!! Yeah fuckers!
My wife and I are looking at moving sometime in the next couple of months. One of our best prospects is in Richmond, VA. Which is a super-dangerous city. But we can live really close to work/school for less than what we currently pay plus what my wife's raise will be, which means more money in our pockets compared to now, and less gas money every week. Plus, the neighborhood we're looking at has a nice park for Ginger to play in during the daytime.
Not the best neighborhood ever, even though the houses for rent are huge and ridiculously nice. So you know what that means? HOME DEFENSE HANDGUN.
Yes, handgun. My wife suggests to me that a "home defense sniper rifle" isn't a reasonable idea. She's nuts and doesn't know what she's talking about, but I love her so I'll take her word for it. Now I get to go shopping! Also shopping for a new knife maybe, because VA has a law about switchblades. My #1 knife is a sweet-as-fuck $260 Benchmade auto-open knife. Illegal in VA. I don't think I'd ever get stopped and searched, but I'm naturally paranoid.
So, new knife, and a new fucking handgun! I'm looking at a couple of different pistols, semi-auto in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP ... good times. I'd like to go big, for maximum stopping power. My wife will be getting a whistle and pepper spray. :)
My wife and I are looking at moving sometime in the next couple of months. One of our best prospects is in Richmond, VA. Which is a super-dangerous city. But we can live really close to work/school for less than what we currently pay plus what my wife's raise will be, which means more money in our pockets compared to now, and less gas money every week. Plus, the neighborhood we're looking at has a nice park for Ginger to play in during the daytime.
Not the best neighborhood ever, even though the houses for rent are huge and ridiculously nice. So you know what that means? HOME DEFENSE HANDGUN.
Yes, handgun. My wife suggests to me that a "home defense sniper rifle" isn't a reasonable idea. She's nuts and doesn't know what she's talking about, but I love her so I'll take her word for it. Now I get to go shopping! Also shopping for a new knife maybe, because VA has a law about switchblades. My #1 knife is a sweet-as-fuck $260 Benchmade auto-open knife. Illegal in VA. I don't think I'd ever get stopped and searched, but I'm naturally paranoid.
So, new knife, and a new fucking handgun! I'm looking at a couple of different pistols, semi-auto in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP ... good times. I'd like to go big, for maximum stopping power. My wife will be getting a whistle and pepper spray. :)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
More cooking... is this weird?
It is like 12:30. We eat between 6:30-7:30. I have at least 6 hours to get dinner done. Why have I started now?
Why? Because it is the only way to get the kitchen clean. Sad but true fact, but after I sit down and eat, have a couple of drinks, I'm not interested in doing any clean-up. And I know this, man! Like with most things in my life, instead of admitting a flaw and working on eliminating the flaw, I admit the flaw and then correct for the flaw with a messy work-around. It is like my life is the Enterprise and I'm down in engineering rerouting power couplers and diverting power from the impulse engines to the forward shields.
So, instead of just cleaning as I go, or cleaning after and just sucking it up? I cook in sections, all day or sometimes over the space of two days. Right now I've got parboiled potatoes cooking in butter. When that's done, I'll clean that pan and fry up the minced lamb with shredded carrots and onion. I'll assemble the shepherd's pie, and then stick it in the fridge until it is time to heat it up. Then, having an empty stomach, I'll clean the kitchen and load the dishwasher and even add the soap, but not run it.
I'll run the dishwasher tonight, after we eat, since I'll leave spots for a couple of plates. I'll be pretty buzzed by then, but even buzzed Joe can turn a knob.
Why? Because it is the only way to get the kitchen clean. Sad but true fact, but after I sit down and eat, have a couple of drinks, I'm not interested in doing any clean-up. And I know this, man! Like with most things in my life, instead of admitting a flaw and working on eliminating the flaw, I admit the flaw and then correct for the flaw with a messy work-around. It is like my life is the Enterprise and I'm down in engineering rerouting power couplers and diverting power from the impulse engines to the forward shields.
So, instead of just cleaning as I go, or cleaning after and just sucking it up? I cook in sections, all day or sometimes over the space of two days. Right now I've got parboiled potatoes cooking in butter. When that's done, I'll clean that pan and fry up the minced lamb with shredded carrots and onion. I'll assemble the shepherd's pie, and then stick it in the fridge until it is time to heat it up. Then, having an empty stomach, I'll clean the kitchen and load the dishwasher and even add the soap, but not run it.
I'll run the dishwasher tonight, after we eat, since I'll leave spots for a couple of plates. I'll be pretty buzzed by then, but even buzzed Joe can turn a knob.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
MEAT!
You know, I just wanted to make some tacos. Not sort of deep-fried U-shaped processed corn tortillas stuffed with factory seasoned ground beef/"processed soy protein" and rubber cheese. Not a Taco Bell taco.
No, something a little bit yummier. Shredded beef, slow-cooked all day in seasonings out of the cupboard, fresh diced onion, real cheese on top, maybe a little cilantro and lime. Soft corn tortillas, the sort of food you might get out of a food truck out West, or a little greasy spoon where the whole staff is related to each other. More like this:
So you start with the meat. I bought a chuck roast, about 3.5 pounds worth. Rubbed with roasted cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder. Seared on either side, and then dumped into the crock pot. I cooked up a diced onion, garlic, and a chopped chipotle in adobo sauce, all in the same pan I seared the meat in. A quick deglaze with beef stock, and then all of that goes over the beef.
In a few hours, I'll pull it apart, and serve it up on some soft corn tortillas. I'm left with just one problem: what the hell am I going to do with all the damned leftover meat?
No, something a little bit yummier. Shredded beef, slow-cooked all day in seasonings out of the cupboard, fresh diced onion, real cheese on top, maybe a little cilantro and lime. Soft corn tortillas, the sort of food you might get out of a food truck out West, or a little greasy spoon where the whole staff is related to each other. More like this:
So you start with the meat. I bought a chuck roast, about 3.5 pounds worth. Rubbed with roasted cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder. Seared on either side, and then dumped into the crock pot. I cooked up a diced onion, garlic, and a chopped chipotle in adobo sauce, all in the same pan I seared the meat in. A quick deglaze with beef stock, and then all of that goes over the beef.
In a few hours, I'll pull it apart, and serve it up on some soft corn tortillas. I'm left with just one problem: what the hell am I going to do with all the damned leftover meat?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books list... how many have I read?
There are things missing, and stuff on the list I don't agree with. One's I've read are bolded underlined, and I'm giving myself credit for series if I've read at least half of the books in the series. By my count, that's 59. Woohoo! Yeah!
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Thursday, August 11, 2011
We're moving to Seattle!
... or Virginia. Or Maine. Or Kentucky. Or Oregon.
Yes, this is going to be a nightmare. No, we don't have much of a choice. Please, cross your fingers that we can secure a paid move. Feel free to offer help in the form of cash or cashier checks made payable to me.
Yes, this is going to be a nightmare. No, we don't have much of a choice. Please, cross your fingers that we can secure a paid move. Feel free to offer help in the form of cash or cashier checks made payable to me.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Am I the only one?
Sometimes I wonder... I mean really wonder... how far away from the rest of humanity I really am. I just do weird things.
- When I start a new book, I go to the last page and see what the total page count it. I like to know about where the halfway mark it, half and three quarters. I do the same thing with movies, more or less.
- I talk to my cats and dog in their own language. I'm semi-convinced that they know what I mean and they're just fucking with me.
- Sometimes, mostly when I'm by myself, I sing random made up nonsense songs in a terrible falsetto. Usually there are dirty words and racist and sexist language involved, like in rap songs. Since I'm the world's whitest Puerto Rican, it just makes me giggle.
- I spend a little too much time counting food in my house. I have this weird paranoia about running out of food. It never happens, but it could happen any day. I also stock up on "emergency food" frozen and in cans that can be turned into meals on short notice.
- I own a fancy pencil for special pencil occasions.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Hunger Games... three days, three books, three cheers?
Yeah, those were pretty OK books. Young Adult books are pretty cool, they sort of gallop along and you get to feel like you read pretty fast since the print is a little larger. I take what little boosts to my ego that I can get. I'm still not feeling very well, so there's been a whole lot of me and a book and a bed and the pets taking turns hanging out with me for the last two days.
Speaking of which, I've edited my "books read" list to add numbers... more than a book each week, which is not too shabby when you think about it. This is certainly more books than I read last year or the year before. I don't know why, but I've been mostly checked out from books and movies and music over the last couple of years. The last CD I bought was a Joe Satriani disc from 2008. I used to get three discs at a time from Netflix, and now I get one and it takes me weeks to watch it. I'm back on board with books though.
Maybe I'll start listening to music again... I have no idea what's good anymore, and I think the kids listen to 14 different kinds of poop, so no help there. It would be cool to maybe have something to inspire my guitar playing, which has felt a bit stagnant lately. There are worse things I could do, like heroin, sweet sweet heroin...
... what?
Speaking of which, I've edited my "books read" list to add numbers... more than a book each week, which is not too shabby when you think about it. This is certainly more books than I read last year or the year before. I don't know why, but I've been mostly checked out from books and movies and music over the last couple of years. The last CD I bought was a Joe Satriani disc from 2008. I used to get three discs at a time from Netflix, and now I get one and it takes me weeks to watch it. I'm back on board with books though.
Maybe I'll start listening to music again... I have no idea what's good anymore, and I think the kids listen to 14 different kinds of poop, so no help there. It would be cool to maybe have something to inspire my guitar playing, which has felt a bit stagnant lately. There are worse things I could do, like heroin, sweet sweet heroin...
... what?
Monday, August 8, 2011
crap... literally!
I'm sick, friends and far-off neighbors. Sick with a bad pooping bug of some sort. I caught it from my wife. It is weird, because whenever we both get sick this way, she pukes and I poop and never the other way around. Odd little bit of strangeness. My wife also seems to recover much faster than I do, maybe because she's expelling the sick instead of having it work its way through her whole body.
Anyhoo, not the best way to start off the week. Just not at all, even a little bit.
Anyhoo, not the best way to start off the week. Just not at all, even a little bit.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Yeah! Great day!
So, I've withdrawn from the "skeptical community" for the most part... it is filled with people who are willing to destroy people like me in order to preserve their sacred cows, which is actually kind of sad... by which I mean that I'm kind of sad about it, but it hurts me too much to continue with them. I know that most of them are good people who mean well, but I'm not convinced that they are nice people. It means that I'd be willing to donate a kidney or take a bullet for them, but I wouldn't be willing to share my blanket or my beer. They don't deserve to die because they don't like or respect me and I wouldn't wish any actual harm on them, but I won't go out of my way for their comfort either. That;s because I feel like they would defend me over a real threat or existential attack, but if I don't like their favorite band they'll toss me under the bus.
That's fine... I'm better if I'm away from people who have contempt for me. In happier news, I got a haircut and an iron and an ironing board. I felt all Marine-ish today! My haircut would pass muster, and I haven't ironed anything since I was in the Marine Corps. Oh, I'm good at it, don't get me wrong. I've just avoided it by wearing polo shirts and sending my khakis to the cleaners to be pressed. But I bought a lot of nice shirts for my vacation, that I need to either iron or send to the cleaners, and I'm afraid of that bill. So, tomorrow I'll be slaving over a hot iron all afternoon, making my cool shirts and pants worth wearing.
Also in happy Saturday news, after the haircut and Target for the iron, we went to Books-A-Million, the happiest place on Earth. Do you know that they have books there? They DO! Happy books! I picked up Old Man's War by John Scalzi. It is seriously excellent! If you're a science fiction fan, I'll describe it as Ender's Game in reverse, with elderly troops instead of children. If you're not an SF fan, I'll just say that it is a story filled with cool normal people, well-realized, placed in extraordinary circumstances. It is a real joy to read this book, and it is part of a series that I'll be reading over the next few days.
Anyways and BTW, has anyone else seen the "Catwoman" pictures from the latest Batman movie from Christopher Nolan? He's a great filmmaker, but I'm less-than-impressed at this point. It is going to be a tough sell for me as far as Catwoman anyways. I'm giving Nolan the benefit of the doubt because he and Heath Ledger created the definitive Joker on film. I'm not convinced that Anne Hathaway can deliver the same strength of character for Catwoman. Not for nothing, but the language matters here. She's CatWOMAN, not CatGIRL. She's been best portrayed in the comic books as an equal to Batman. There's often been a whimsy to the character, but she's never been anything less than Batman, and always someone who can stand toe-to-toe with him physically and mentally.
Think about Christian Bale. Think about Anne Hathaway. Does that really make sense to anyone?
That's fine... I'm better if I'm away from people who have contempt for me. In happier news, I got a haircut and an iron and an ironing board. I felt all Marine-ish today! My haircut would pass muster, and I haven't ironed anything since I was in the Marine Corps. Oh, I'm good at it, don't get me wrong. I've just avoided it by wearing polo shirts and sending my khakis to the cleaners to be pressed. But I bought a lot of nice shirts for my vacation, that I need to either iron or send to the cleaners, and I'm afraid of that bill. So, tomorrow I'll be slaving over a hot iron all afternoon, making my cool shirts and pants worth wearing.
Also in happy Saturday news, after the haircut and Target for the iron, we went to Books-A-Million, the happiest place on Earth. Do you know that they have books there? They DO! Happy books! I picked up Old Man's War by John Scalzi. It is seriously excellent! If you're a science fiction fan, I'll describe it as Ender's Game in reverse, with elderly troops instead of children. If you're not an SF fan, I'll just say that it is a story filled with cool normal people, well-realized, placed in extraordinary circumstances. It is a real joy to read this book, and it is part of a series that I'll be reading over the next few days.
Anyways and BTW, has anyone else seen the "Catwoman" pictures from the latest Batman movie from Christopher Nolan? He's a great filmmaker, but I'm less-than-impressed at this point. It is going to be a tough sell for me as far as Catwoman anyways. I'm giving Nolan the benefit of the doubt because he and Heath Ledger created the definitive Joker on film. I'm not convinced that Anne Hathaway can deliver the same strength of character for Catwoman. Not for nothing, but the language matters here. She's CatWOMAN, not CatGIRL. She's been best portrayed in the comic books as an equal to Batman. There's often been a whimsy to the character, but she's never been anything less than Batman, and always someone who can stand toe-to-toe with him physically and mentally.
Think about Christian Bale. Think about Anne Hathaway. Does that really make sense to anyone?
Friday, August 5, 2011
Are pets psychic?
No!
But how smart are they? Smart enough to know we ordered a pizza?
The dog has been randomly barking, like someone is at the door. The cats are milling around the door. It is just really strange. How do they know?!?!
To be fair, the dog knows what the end of a TV show/movie looks and sounds like. She sees the credits roll after 9PM, and she runs to the bed expecting us to follow her. So maybe she knows the word "pizza" and her guard goes up.
But how smart are they? Smart enough to know we ordered a pizza?
The dog has been randomly barking, like someone is at the door. The cats are milling around the door. It is just really strange. How do they know?!?!
To be fair, the dog knows what the end of a TV show/movie looks and sounds like. She sees the credits roll after 9PM, and she runs to the bed expecting us to follow her. So maybe she knows the word "pizza" and her guard goes up.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
WTF?!?
Wow, I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been crazy depressed about a whole lot of stuff, and I've avoided talking about it because I don't want to get even further mired in the mud. It turns out that the "skeptical community" is packed to the rafters with misogyny and sexism, so that's been pretty fun. Obama sold the country a shit sandwich of a debt ceiling deal and is now bashing the progressive base for not helping his advertise said shit sandwich. The world is falling down around me...
... so let's talk Superman, shall we?
I'll admit, I was as disappointed as everyone else at the last flick, Superman Returns. You could tell that it meant well, and I thought Brandon Routh was phenomenal as a stand-in for the late Christopher Reeve. Unfortunately, the writing was crap and the story was crap and you could tell that they made the movie because Batman Begins had done well and not because they had anything interesting in mind. I mean, come ON! Superman is able to lift medium-sized islands and hurl them into space, and his enemy is a crook running real-estate scams? Anyways, at least Routh looked the part. The "S" shield is a bit small on his chest and the reds could be brighter, but otherwise it is pretty standard interpretation of the costume.
Now they've recast all the roles, and are working on a new film called Man of Steel. And, well... here's the new costume:
Well, the shield is bigger. The cape is apparently nine feet long. The sleeves bunch up at the wrist. And if you look at the full-sized image? The suit is apparently covered in fish scales. FISH SCALES! This ain't the Aquaman movie!
And not for nothing, but this guy looks like a heroin addict with an appetite for rape. I know the studios just LOVE "grim and gritty" superhero stories, but this looks like a disaster.
... so let's talk Superman, shall we?
I'll admit, I was as disappointed as everyone else at the last flick, Superman Returns. You could tell that it meant well, and I thought Brandon Routh was phenomenal as a stand-in for the late Christopher Reeve. Unfortunately, the writing was crap and the story was crap and you could tell that they made the movie because Batman Begins had done well and not because they had anything interesting in mind. I mean, come ON! Superman is able to lift medium-sized islands and hurl them into space, and his enemy is a crook running real-estate scams? Anyways, at least Routh looked the part. The "S" shield is a bit small on his chest and the reds could be brighter, but otherwise it is pretty standard interpretation of the costume.
Now they've recast all the roles, and are working on a new film called Man of Steel. And, well... here's the new costume:
Well, the shield is bigger. The cape is apparently nine feet long. The sleeves bunch up at the wrist. And if you look at the full-sized image? The suit is apparently covered in fish scales. FISH SCALES! This ain't the Aquaman movie!
And not for nothing, but this guy looks like a heroin addict with an appetite for rape. I know the studios just LOVE "grim and gritty" superhero stories, but this looks like a disaster.
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