May 2004 Archives

I've entered a patch of deep ennui. It sucks. I'm bored with everything. And I'm not someone who usually gets bored. There's always something to do or read. Or nap through. But this last week, everything has bored me. It's not the boredom of depression. It's a completely uninspired, apathetic boredom. A real ho-hum boredom. I hate it. It's a waste of time. It's a waste of a perfectly good brain that should be full of ideas. It would be ok, except it really bothers me at work. When I can't make myself do anything I need to do. Because it's so dreadfully dull.

It would seem to be a week of extreme moods. For me, it's ennui. For Evildeb, it's anger. She's not here today. She took the day off due to extreme anger. She is very very upset with the WB for canceling Angel. Coming to work provokes the anger, which usually manifests in a need to poke someone's eye out. Or fight with Dr. Stevil. Or me. I guess she's fine at home. I suspect that this rage has it's roots in something other than the WB's fall line up. Possibly, maybe?

Now Fee, she is sad. And that makes me sad. I don't like it when she is sad. She's one of my favorite people of all time. I'm going to have to come up with a way to cheer her up. In the meantime, maybe some kittiepie would help.

KITTIE PIE!!!

Check out the photo credit. They spelled in wrong tho... it's E-V-I-L-D-E-B.

A building directly across from us, on Lake Union, just caught fire. When we first noticed it, we just saw great billows of smoke, but it wasn't long before we could see the blaze. And who do you think had the presence of mind to take pictures? EvilDeb! That's right. Although, she was chanting "fire! fire! fire!" while she did it.

Here are the pictures, click the thumbnails for bigger images. Really BIG images. Probably too big to see in your browser window. Sorry.

The green house boat, next to the burning building did catch fire, but I don't know how much damage was done. See the police boat, angling up to the buildings, with the spray of water shooting out? He saved the day. I don't think the street fire trucks could have gotten down there so quickly. The fire boat didn't show up until the fire was out.

So my whole dept stood, with our noses pressed to the glass and watched the whole thing. From smoke to ash. And now work seems anticlimactic. I think we should run over there and visit the firemen!!

I finished reading Poppy Brite's Exquisite Corpse last night. Kinda wished I had started on one of her other books, for an introduction to her stuff. This book was not scary, to me, but it was very disturbing. And very gory. I can handle gore, but this sort of went over the top for me. It quickly made me numb, and by the end of the book, while I was still icked out, I was thinking "yeah yeah... have sex with a corpse, ok... sure, fry his thigh and make a sandwich, good thinking." Silly serial killers. I never felt the fear of the victims, so it failed to grip me. It did, however, prevent me from eating anything while reading. Still, I'll probably give her other books a try later. Much later. After my stomach has settled.

I'm going to see a movie tonight called What the #$@! Do We Know. I'm really looking forward to it. I really don't know how to describe it, you should go to the website. But it's got quantum physics in it. I love physics. Don't know anything about it, or often understand it, but I find it fascinating. And it's got stuff about the brain. I love stuff about the brain. Anyway, it's supposed to "rock my world" and I am really excited about that. Mr Moon knows someone that has seen it 8 times. Maybe it hypnotizes you! While it rocks your world. I don't know. We'll see. I'll let you know.

and while I am at home retrieving my glasses...

Today is Pru's second birthday!!

Happy birthday, Baby Kitty.

I am wearing my contacts today. I can't see a damn thing on the computer. They are soft contacts, and in reality, my eyes are too fucked up for soft contacts. Astigmatism and such. The eye doctor says I need spectacles for computer work. Because my eyes are working to hard to focus. This also happens when I am trying to watch a movie. The spectacles would relax my eyes, the way my existing glasses do. I can't believe I need specs to wear when I am wearing contacts. I rarely wear my contacts to work. But it was such a nice sunny day, I wanted to wear sunglasses.

On Sunday, Louise and I went to the grand opening of the new Seattle Public Library Central Branch. This is a big deal. This new library has been getting a lot of press. Louise even saw an article in this month's W magazine. My favorite headline was from the NY Times that read "Library puts on fishnets and hits the disco." Although I didn't read the article because it required a subscription. And I'm against that, as a rule. Anyway, it's a very striking and modern building. Some people don't like it, because of that fact. Because it does not look like any other building around it. So what, I say. The other buildings are boring! Others, like me, like it. And inside? Oh it's wonderful. Nothing traditional about it. There are more computers in that library than you can shake a stick at. The non-fiction stacks are on a "spiral" which means you don't have to keep going downstairs to the next stack. The floors slope down for several floors, in a spiral. It's crazy! There is an auditorium, too. It's huge. For a library. Louise was took pictures, mostly of the flooring, she was very enamored with all the different flooring. But the picts are not up on her website yet. She said she'd put them up last night. But you can see some pictures here.

It was brilliant booky goodness, and it was hard to resist petting all the new books.

As if I were not lazy enough already, with the help of my iPod I can now lie around and "read" with my eyes closed.

If people really do have spirit animals or guides, I'm positive mine must be the sloth.

You know, I haven't felt much like writing, the last few days. It's not like I didn't have anything to talk about. I kept trying to write about Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who has denied a Texas Unitarian church tax exempt status, stating that the UU church is not really a religious organization, for tax purposes because it "does not have one system of belief." And to further clarify, the comptroller's top attorney says "..or any organization to qualify as a religion, members must have "simply a belief in God, or gods, or a higher power,"" I've been trying to write about it for days, because it's made me really angry, and also concerned. The state's court system has overruled her decision, but she is planning to go to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Because, and we quote, ""Otherwise, any wannabe cult who dresses up and parades down Sixth Street on Halloween will be applying for an exemption," Oh nice, comparing my faith with any wannabe cult member. Whom, by the way, would probably be welcome at my church. Because we do have one system of belief, and that is the inherent value in the search for truth, regardless of it's source. And we do have a belief in a higher power, namely the human spirit. We believe in ourselves. That's pretty damn high, when you think about it.

I lost my glasses. They are somewhere around here. I know I had them yesterday. I just don't know where I put them when I took them off... so I'm wearing my contacts. Which makes things a bit blurry.

I was kinda cleaning, which for me means that I was slowly picking things up for about five minutes, finding some book I love and deciding to read it again. And I came across some notes I took while in a two day Project Management class. In which I discovered I am so NOT suited to manage projects. And, I believe project management is responsible for a large majority of the corporate speak out there. Marketing being responsible for the rest of it. Through out the notes, Evildeb and I would write back and forth to each other, in my notebook. Below is an example of me using some of my new proj. managspeak. I think I was telling her I was thirsty, and that I wanted to bail early.

Me: I could be 50% with 72oz. in 3 seconds. Because I'm GOOD with the soda pop. Damn near professional.
Evildeb: You are very efficient. You've optimized your resources.
Me: I might be padding my estimate a bit.
Evildeb: That's ok, if you are in the right Phase.
Me: It's a low confidence estimate. I have no discipline, I want to leave right now.
Evildeb: I was just thinking the same thing.
Me: So, we are in sync?
Evidleb: I'm Justin Timberlake.

it's wedding eve, and I am off to meet my mom for pedicures in a bit. Now, pedicures I love, but somehow my mom has managed to get me signed up not only to have my hair done, but also my makeup? She's very tricky, my mom. I know she does not like how I do my hair. That's because I don't really do it. I have a great wavy mop of hair. And my hair care and style regime consists of washing it. That's about it. And to put some Frizeeze in it, so it doesn't frizz out. That's it. When I "do" my hair, I straighten it. And I was planning on having Sharon straighten it for me tomorrow. But my mom thought it would be fun to go in together to get our hair done. And since I am not exactly an enthusiastic wedding contributor, it was the least I could do. It's still Sharon, we both get our hair cut by her, but I imagine my mom will want my hair "done." I don't know what that means, but I'll let her do whatever she wants. It's her wedding. I don't know how she got me signed up for the makeup. It was done very casually. In fact, right now, all I've agreed to is the eyes.

My hair was looking kinda dull, so, in part, to brighten it up for the wedding and also, in part, to exert a little bit of independence, I colored it light auburn. It's a lighter version of what I've done before. I only left it in 10 minutes. It turned out a little brighter, on the ends, than I anticipated. I don't think Pattie is going to like it. it's a semi-perm, so I'll wash my hair a couple of times tonight and tomorrow. and maybe that will take it down a notch. I like it, but I'm a little concerned about Pattie. I don't think the bright bits would be as noticeable if Sharon put my hair up. Maybe that will be ok. Most people really like it when I redden it. But... most people aren't my mother.

And, to clarify my whiny tone, it will be fun to get our hair done together. And get pedicures. Because my mom rocks. She's weird, but she still rocks.

I found the most wonderful piece of software this morning, it's called Bookpedia. And it's a Cocoa ap made for OS X... it's gorgeous, and easy to use, it looks just like iTunes. You can catalog your books, create wish lists, search the Library of Congress, add to your list by scanning bar codes, and keep track of books and to whom you've loaned them out. That's a real problem for me. It's lovely, and for all of you who have tons of books, are geeky enough to want to catalog them, but use Windows... I'm sorry. I'm sure there are tons of shareware titles that do just that for pc users. I just don't know what they are. And the screenshot of the features shows American Gods in their library, which is just evidence to me that they are people with exceptional taste. I'll have to purchase this fine piece of software. Ooo... and it's made in Spain!

I'm listening to Evildeb talk to Microsoft Tech Support. It's fun! I can hear give the details to a very confusing issue, over and over. And I know she wants to critique their phone support technique, I can just bet.... "No, you shouldn't ask me that now... you should be asking me if anything has changed, on my system, since the last time it worked as expected!!!" The problem is, it's not happening to her, she's trying to find out if they've heard of it. They could just say "no." and get off the phone. We call that a "punt" in support. But Evildeb says "he's trying to do his JOB!"

Well done, MS support phone technician.

You know how you sometimes see certain images, and you say to yourself "my but that certainly is phallic!"? I had an experience like that this morning, here at work. But with a more feminine slant. There was an image on our intranet, a sort of internal design ... and my first thought was to turn to Dr. Stevil and say, "Steve, what does that look like to you?" But then I realized... how would Dr. Stevil know what one of those looked like? [Dr. Stevil is gay, kids... in case that has not been made clear in the past.] However, Dr. Stevil said that his first thought, when he saw the design, was "wow... Georgia O'Keefe would be proud." Once we became open about our feelings, re: the design on the front page of our internal website, Dr. Stevil, Evildeb and I enjoyed a prolonged gigglefest. Followed by a seriously inappropriate discussion.

And out of that discussion, Dr. Stevil told me this story. They now have, on his softball team, a GIRL!! I didn't know they allowed girls on their team, but I guess they do. Anyway, they had a team fund raiser the other day, at some bar, and this girl donned a leather bustier and carried a paddle. She went around the bar and sold spankings! And she made $150!! BRILLIANT!! At a buck a spank, I'm guessing several people took more than one for the team. But that's not the point... do you think I could wear a leather bustier and sell spankings in bars? That would be an awesome second job, doncha think? I wonder if it's legal?

According to my string cheese wrapper, it's the trivia version, cats are indeed smarter than dogs. No surprise to me, I've lived with plenty of both. Cats, apparently, have an IQ that is surpassed only by the monkey, chimp, and humans. Something tells me that that the cats would say, if humans really do test at better than cats, it's because we've done a poor and inadequate job designing the test. Which is probably true. If we were smarter than cats, then we'd have designed our daily lives to include as many naps as they manage to have in daily cat life. And no, I'm not saying this because Pru is atop the monitor, giving me threatening looks to set the record straight.

Nonetheless, smart as she may be, I didn't see her dealing with a migraine this morning. And we have a family in my saying... no brains, no headache.

drawing stripes. in illustrator. i just like stripes.

ooo-kay... guess I'm done drawing stripes for now. The last two turned out kinda pooey.

Real quick... because I have to answer someone's technical questions, as it would appear that they are paralyzed from the eye brows down and the user guide is out of reach, otherwise, surely, they'd be embarrassed to be caught asking questions whose answers are so politely provided in the self help material.... this is very funny!

Doe-02 from the album Pod by The Breeders

I had no idea what that "iTunes" button did on Ecto, the software I use to write my blog updates, but apparently it tells you exactly what song I am listening to right now! That's fascinating! BRILLIANT!! You have to know that I am going to be hitting that button a lot from now on. That is need to know information. I love technology.

Oh, good news abounds everywhere! First, it has been brought to my attention that the Moons have come to their senses and are moving back to me!! They are moving back to Capital Hill! I'm so excited. Maybe I will see them more than once a year now. The drive down to Tacoma just wasn't as much fun as it was in our "youth." So I didn't see them much. Oh, and apparently they are bringing the baby with them! Nice! Can you blame them? She's very talented, I've seen pictures and it appears she can stick her big toe in her mouth! And only 6 mos old! I'm sorry to say that she seems to have some pretty messy table manners with the solid food. Anyway, it's nice they've come to their senses and are moving back. My inability to make it down to Tacoma was all a plot to get them to come to me. And it worked!!

Delicious Demon from the album Life's Too Good by The SugarCubes

Additionally, fabulous friend, and fellow Denver Bronco fan, Kam is considering coming up to Seattle for the Seahawk vs. Broncos pre-season game in August. Wheeeeoooo! During which we'd don the orange and blue, and probably get into fights with smelly, drunken 'hawk fans. But I'm not scared because Kammie has all that KUNG-FU knowledge. And I have a lot of unresolved anger. So I think we can take anyone who gives us grief. After we beat up drunken, mullet wearing dudes from Auburn, we'll go out for sweet potato fries

I Sing The Body Electric from the album Are A Drag by Me First And The Gimme Gimmes.

I'm not getting much done today... productivity has been reduced due to the fact I have moved my dock from the bottom of my screen to the right side. It;s got me all discombobulated. It's messed with my groove.

Sesame Street from the album Television's Greatest Hits 70's & 80's by Stone, Hart And Raposo

Yeah.... I keep getting distracted from the post, and coming back when a new song comes on to hit the iTunes button. So I should just go post it. ok... one more song, only cuz I'm using the new Party Shuffle feature.

Bad Businessman from the album Hot by Squirrel Nut Zippers

Now that I have the iPod, one of the many ways I can overcome my guilt is to take it for walks outside. In the sunshine. Where the healthy people are. So I'm going to start walking around Greenlake. It's one of my favorite places in Seattle. It's got a walking path around the lake that's 2.8 miles. Which is a nice amount of miles. It's a good walk. Everyone will be so proud of me for going outside. And I can say "the iPod made me do it! The iPod changed my life!"

Louise and I were talking earlier this evening, before I left work. We were discussing the grand opening of the New Seattle Public Library's main branch, on May 23rd.

Me: we should go to that.
Louise: oh yes, we should. Because we are just that book geeky. [Louise breaks into her Milton impersonation] The ratio of books to Louises is too big.
Me: [bringing my hands up to hide my face and breaking into my impersonation of... well, me being a tard] yes, but i don't like the people. i like the books!!
Louise, laughing: How come everyone I am friends with does a good fake tard impersonation?
Me: faux-tard?
Louise: yes, exactly.
Me: because you are a faux-tard magnet.

And then I realized I have just made up the best word ever!! Or at least the best word in quite some time. And, what's even better is, it sounds like a photoshop filter. "Oh sure, that's a good picture of him now, but look what happens when we run him through the faux-tard filter."

And we were serious about going to the grand opening of the new main branch of the Seattle Public Library. Because we really are that book geeky. And library geeky, specifically.

I told Evildeb that I would be performing a lot of penance for buying an iPod. A girl in my financial situation should not be buying luxury items. [even if they are an necessity like an iPod] I said many "whippings" shall occur.

Evildeb: oh really? who's going to be doing the whipping?
Me: uh... it'll be self-flagellation.
Evildeb: well... go easy on yourself.
Me: I always do!
Evildeb: YOU SEE!! that's the trouble with you. you are too easy on yourself. We could bring in a third party.
Me: You know... I was talking about figurative whippings. [an example of what I was thinking of would be, say.. i don't get to go blond again, as I was planning.]
Evildeb: mutter mutter mutter dominatrix mutter mutter .. here you go, [pointing to the website on her screen] a whole directory listing the local domanatrixes. I'm not going to open it here, tho. [indicating the workplace]

She's so supportive. Other friends might come up with half hearted attempts to explain to me why it was necessary for me to have an iPod. Not Evildeb. Only two things concerned her, the fact that she doesn't yet have one, and finding someone to spank me. Pretty much everything in the world is seen as something she has or does not have. Nothing drives her more crazy than people having what she doesn't have. I think she was probably in favor of having me whipped, because I dared to have something she does not have. In her eyes, I deserve a good spanking.