CONSIDER YOURSELF A NERD

Dreams

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:08:10 GMT

I had a really strange dream last night--we were fighting World War II again, and my grandfather was in the war, and somehow both grandparents ended up killed. I think. I remember gathering around the kitchen counter in their house with my family and crying a lot. Then Gram was a ghost, and we were at Brandeis, where classrooms had wheelchair-accessible areas that were just big square cellar-like rooms dug on one side of a regular room, with a ramp in between. Anyway, if you pissed ghost-Gram off, she could sort of inadvertently kill you--the normal whitish ghost-glow would become black and she would drain your life. I was trying desperately to protect a friend who had done something stupid and upset her. It was very, very strange.

I have a whole chicken cooking in the Crock-Pot (a variation of Crazy Aunt Purl's turkey breast in the crock-pot for dinner tonight--some homemade stuffing and mashed potatoes to go with it, and we have dinner. I hope. I don't use the slow cooker much so I'm not especially good with it.

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:57:48 GMT

It occurred to me recently that my copy of "Ma Ya Hi" is TRAPPED in Sony format in my Sony music player. I wonder if I can export it to a normal format--I need my Numa Numa!

I also have "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" in there too. And something by Souza.

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:04:54 GMT

Sport-weight yarn is TINY. And apparently I'd better stick to the trick of casting on over two needles, then transferring it to my intended needles... otherwise I cast on so tightly I can't knit it.

My next project is the one for which I re-re-re-learned to knit: a Ravenclaw scarf. I bought the yarn for it FOUR YEARS AGO.

Primaries

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:01:04 GMT

Talk about close.

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:43:55 GMT

Do they not give out "Lookit me I votinated?" stickers anymore, or are those only for the big elections? If I'm gonna get up early so I can get my ass to the City-County Building at 7 AM, I want a sticker.

First photo from fireworks demo

Sun, 04 May 2008 04:37:45 GMT

It's like neon fireworks.

The new camera is not ideal for fireworks photography--the lack of a bulb setting is a serious flaw--but if you get the settings right you can still get some damn good photos. It takes very nice photos, too, and doesn't appear to have any autofocus issues.

Also I managed to snap my left index fingernail off juuuuuuuuust above the quick.

In purusit of gauge

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:12:43 GMT

So when I started the black and grey hat I did it on size 8 double-pointed needles, figuring gauge would be the same as on size 8 straight needles. (It wasn't.) When the hat started coming out obviously too small I cut it free from the skein and set it aside to finish later and then donate to charity or something.

I tried size 10 needles and the gauge came out too big. I tried size 9 needles... and the gauge was the same as size 10. I think. Black is apparently about the worst colour to use for a test swatch, because it's almost impossible to see the stitches, especially when you're holding a gauge measurer up to it.

I tried to find the original hat last night, to see what the actual gauge is (I never actually measured it), but I can't find it. I also can't find the needles it was on, though I did find the one stray one I thought I'd lost out of the set. It can't have gone too far--my current knitting stuff area is a cardboard box on a set of plastic drawers behind the couch. (I need to find something better one of these days.) I'm afraid Q*Bert may have dragged it off, but where to?

And I'm wondering... how big of a difference does one or two needle sizes make in the size of the finished piece? If I use the size 10 needles, will the hat come out humungo? How much smaller will it be on size 9?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:04:42 GMT

We have a freeze warning for Wednesday morning.

I don't feel well. My temperature is 98.9 and my pulse is 92--not normal.

This week is going to suck.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:05:53 GMT

I think we might have to turn the furnace back on today--apparently doozer4200's cold front has arrived. My fingers are cold.

Today I'm going to attempt to make Alton Brown's protein bar recipe, assuming I still have enough dried fruit left after nom nom nomming on it last night. Yum. Also I may make a batch of the muffins on the back of the oat bran box.

I would also like to get some photos of my red hat (which I un-lost yesterday) and some of the nifty yarns that tpau gave me. Then I need to clear the camera's memory chip so it's ready for the fireworks demo this weekend.

Garden time!

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:52:10 GMT

While Charles mowed the lawn for the first time this season (after starting the mower using the trick Bob taught us) I filled the window box with potting soil and planted some lettuce and spinach seeds. In the process I turned on the water to the outdoor spigot and learned that something's wrong with it (probably the gasket, Charles thinks) because it's leaking water everywhere. Time for a trip to Menard's. Maybe as part of this process we can haul out of the cellar the giant useless pipe that leads to the defunct sump. Maybe even as part of this project we can replace the pipe leading to the outside (it just runs along the top of the staircase and then through the wall) and have it actually come out from the wall a wee bit so it's easier to reach. Not that Tom and his father jury-rigged EVERYTHING they did or anything.

Then I pulled up/cut off all the fake blackberries taking over the edge of the garden (they look like blackberry vines to me, but they haven't produced so much as much as a blossom since we moved in... they've had their chance) and pulled some of the largest stuff out of the garden. Next to rake up the dry stuff, pull up the world's largest dandelion, and turn the soil over. I think this year I'm just going to buy plants from Burpee, and stick to tomatoes (Brandywine!) and peppers.

THEN I decided since I had the pruning shears out already, I might as well try taking care of the rosebush next to the house. I cut a bunch of dead branches out and now look like I picked up an unwilling cat. (Did I mention I can't find any of my gloves?) I'm not sure how you tell a climbing rose from a bush rose, or if there's a way to train a bush rose other than just cutting off the branches going in the direction you don't want. Time to do research.

Also we programmed the Prius to open the garage door (not that there's room for a car inside, mind) and are trying to figure out how to program the keypad on the garage since that's one piece of info that wasn't left for us.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:14:34 GMT

Good thing it's Friday and we don't have to get up early tomorrow--I don't think I could do it. Blah.

We are, however, going to Michigan next weekend, so it's time to buy some bigger double-pointed needles and take another crack at the black and grey hat because knitting is a whole lot easier to do in the car than cross-stitch.

I love Engrish.com: So is that what those symbols on the label mean?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:12:40 GMT

Our basil plant in the kitchen is starting to look quite happy again. I'm not sure I dare to leave it out overnight just yet, despite 80+-degree temperatures during the day (basil can't stand cold), but I may start putting it out while I'm at work. Now I just have to learn how to trim it so it'll get all nice and bushy again instead of spindly and leggy like it is now.

My blood pressure has been unusually low (say, below 115/85) pretty consistently for a couple weeks. On one hand this would be good, but I've been having trouble with lightheadedness, especially in the morning, and it gets old. Also my appetite is maybe not what it could be (or it could be my imagination), but if this really is the case, I could at least be losing a little weight. :P

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:57:32 GMT

KITTY TONGUE!

I woke up to kitty paws at some ungodly hour this morning. I didn't look to see whose paws they were--based on the weight I think they were Rocket's--but just pushed them off me because OW.

Remember when Heath Ledger died? God forbid you said anything irreverent about it. I didn't hear anyone getting bent out of shape over the "cold dead hands" jokes when Heston died, though (or maybe I just move in the wrong circles for)--I call discrimination!

Also, why is it in the 80's when it's still April?

April showers

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:29:30 GMT

I got what I hope was my final issue of Better Homes and Gardens a few days ago, and finally flipped through it (and then tossed it in the recycling bin) last night. Among all the ads for products to make you look younger and things related to bladder control (WTF? I DON'T WANNA GET OLD) was an advertisement for Kohler or some other bathroom hardware company. I've noticed a trend in bathroom hardware ads, if not in real life (I don't generally associate with the people who would be paying that much for bathroom hardware): shower spaces the size of small rooms. In this ad it was basically that--a small room with a shower head attached to one wall.

I don't think I'd like a shower like that. I prefer the slightly enclosed feel of your standard shower-in-a-bathtub--a room-sized shower would feel like a high school gym locker room, with all the happy memories THAT carries along with it. You're not supposed to feel exposed while showering! Also, a bathtub-sized shower serves to retain the heat of the shower, which is helpful when you're naked and covered with water. Though I suppose if you can afford a room-sized shower fitted with Kohler fixtures, you can probably afford to heat the hell out of of your house, too.

I also understand that the upstairs bathtub at my grandparents' house has been, or soon will be, replaced. I was never entirely comfortable with that tub, as the drain was indecently open, rather than having a grate over it. This made me slightly uneasy even before I ever saw It. (Guess what movie I saw at an early age!)

And now... off to have a shower.

(The sky gets lighter and lighter earlier and earlier this time of year, and yet I'm having more and more trouble getting up every morning. This sucks.)

wait, what?

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:59:05 GMT

Now a part of your balanced breakfast

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:20:37 GMT

Last month at clinic they said that my protein level was low, but they weren't surprised since I'd been so sick with that awful strain of the flu. This month it was a little higher, but still below the desired level. WTF? The nutritionist asked if I skip meals (breakfast once in a while), and suggested I try protein bars.

I'm not real into what I consider "cheating" food. If you're going to eat tofu, be honest about it and eat tofu--don't eat tofu made to look like meat, which strikes me as hypocritical. You don't eat real meat, but you eat fake meat? Do you decry fur as evil but wear fake fur anyway?

Anyway, they kept trying to give me supplemental shakes in the hospital, but I wouldn't touch them. Protein bars are pretty much the same thing, but solid, as far as I'm concerned, but I picked one up at Meijer a couple of visits ago. It was chocolate and peanut butter, and was supposed to provide 30 grams of protein. (It also wasn't cheap).

I took it with me to work one morning and tried to eat it in the car on a morning when I was really starved, figuring it would help.

The bar was heavy and leaden and somewhat pasty in texture, with nowhere near enough flavour to make up for this failing. I managed two bites and threw the rest away.

I'm still a little mystified by the low protein levels... I'm one of the more carnivorous people I know. My typical workday breakfast, however, isn't real protein-filled--usually it's a bowl of cereal at work because I don't have time for anything more elaborate. Sure, I'd love to have an egg-based breakfast, but it's not very practical, and I'm not sure I could convince myself to get up any earlier just to make a different kind of breakfast.

And now it's time for my protein-ful Sunday lunch: a ham and cheese omelette.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:59:48 GMT

Apparently "New York Style" Chinese means "good food, but the staff have an attitude, and you get shorted something every visit."

Well isn't THIS nice

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:54:55 GMT

New Madrid Seismic Zone

So not only are the tornadoes out to get you, we have a major fault zone just waiting to lay the smack down on us.

I'm moving back east.

But we've got loads to gossip about today!

My first earthquake!!!

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:15:37 GMT

So I spent a week in Los Angeles, earthquake capital of the country, right? Nothing.

It was slightly after 5:30 AM. Charles had just come back from the bathroom or downstairs or somewhere. I was awake because my alarm had recently gone off.

So we're lying there and the bed is moving, short, rhythmic, back-and-forth movement (no comments from the peanut gallery, please), as if a cat is scratching with its back legs. I raise my head... no cats. I hold very still--the movement continues. I meep at Charles in confusion. He feels it too. EVERY SINGLE GHOST MOVIE EVAR goes through my head.

Charles suggests an earthquake. I get out of bed because I have to get up, and also I'm starting to get weirded out. Check a couple of news sites, and indeed, there was a quake about 200 miles southwest of here. I've slept through every other single earthquake either here (there was one maybe... three? years ago, when I was temping at ATA) or in Maine. Huh. Now I'm vaguely curious what it would have felt like if I'd been standing on the floor.

The cats weren't particularly agitated. Q jumped up on the bed looking for attention almost immediately afterwards. Rocket was sleeping on the (clean) laundry, and Chyna was looking for breakfast. Don't know what Calico Guest Kitty (long story) was doing.

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:46:46 GMT

Traffic was shut down northbound on I-69 not too far north of Indy today because apparently Michelle Obama was in town. That's great and all, but could we have planned the visit to NOT SHUT DOWN A MAJOR HIGHWAY DURING EVENING RUSH HOUR? Please? Hello?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:07:28 GMT

I should know better than to try samples in any store I can find by sense of smell alone.

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:17:24 GMT

The weather is awesome. The grass is green. Roadside bracken is sprouting leaves and trees are putting out flowers. Construction signs are appearing in gay profusion. Must be spring in Indiana.

Speaking of gay profusion, Marsh is advertising pansy bowls. Sounds like a football event.

The dingy, dinky Marsh at 86th and Ditch (I miss living on the north side) has a surprisingly impressive kosher-for-Passover section--I'd have figured it to be in a store farther north. I found my Passover Coke and got some regular Coke to compare it with.

While dawdling past the seafood section to see if they had anything good, I was sucker-punched by a smell that I can't identify, but that brings back very vivid memories of hospital food. I high-tailed it to the kosher section after that.

There is now a knitting store on 86th. I must stop in one of these days.

Would pocket lint do bad things to a music player? There is already a fair layer of lint between my iPod and its case.

Random videos, courtesy of the Internet

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:06:11 GMT

If you only ever watch one episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, it must be this one! "They're hitting the ground like bags of wet cement!"

This video makes me laugh every time. Cats are dignified creatures, but kittens are hyperactive little idiots. I love the way they skitter across the floor and smack into the box. "KILL!" Having one Q*Bert was enough... I can't imagine having a whole litter.

Brandeis sent me a card about the Class of '98 reunion. I'm confused.

Not a racing fan, but...

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:36:42 GMT

I think "Holy fucking shit!" pretty well sums this wreck up.

A question for all you iPod owners in LJ Land

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:06:18 GMT

Either my MP3 player is jealous of all the time I've spent listening to that Dresden Files audiobook, or it's a poorly-designed, cheaply-made piece of crap.

I haven't used it much since I got the audiobook on Good Friday; just a few afternoons at work, maybe. I put it in my pocket every morning and bring it work, then plug it in to its charger for the day, then bring it home again.

I noticed after I plugged it in this morning that the display was still on the welcome page, and the "loading" icon was spinning and spinning and spinning. Huh. So I hit the reset button with a paperclip and plugged it in again. It froze again. I reset and started it while it wasn't plugged in. It froze. I held it up and listened--whirrrclick, whirrrclick, whirrrclick, whirrrclick.

I reset it and ignored it for a couple of hours. Still nothing.

I stuck it in my pocket on the way to the doctor's office, and managed to hit a button while waiting for the doctor. It started up and froze. I pulled it out as I was getting ready to leave work and it had run itself out of batteries, so I hooked it up to its charger and left, disgusted.

It's around a year and a half old. The (poorly thought out) volume slider fell off several months ago, and I'm not sure how terminal this little glitch is. God only knows what Sony would want to have a look at it. Meanwhile its much older counterpart, my Discman, which has survived riding around in my car and my bookbag, is still in service, sitting on my desk next to the MP3 player.

So... are full-size iPods rugged? Do they stand up to the rigors of riding around in pockets and cars and bags? I've been eyeballing the 160GB Classic for several months now, but if it's not going to last, forget it.

What The Hell Happened Last Night?
LJ Username
What did you drink?
You wake up in the morning next to:	morgi
...who is wearing:	a large gold medallion
...and rolls over to you to say:	Wanna do that thing with the broccolli again?
...and then:	hugs you for ever and ever until you die

This Quiz by joneccleston - Taken 1116 Times. </a>