8/31/2005

New Orleans worry

Science tells us that when something leaves - a vacuum forms - and then something else will fill that vacuum. *sigh* I am so worried about New Orleans. I went there a couple of times when I was a kid. It was so awesome. The trolleys; the food; the music; the people. All strange - unique - wonderful. Maybe it’s because I was blessed with a mother who could truly appreciate such things - maybe it’s because I was such an aware kid….but I loved it. Even though on my first trip I had to hobble around on a cast (getting on the trolleys in a hurry was…interesting), I still loved it. It was magical.

But now those areas are under water. Damaged. Floating away, and will never be the same. :-( I had so wanted to take AJ some day - the try to show him some of what I experienced there, with hope it would be better because now I would be over 21 (aha!) - but it won’t be the same - and that’s my biggest fear.

New Orleans now stands a heavy risk of becoming Generica. I shudder at the thought. The scenerio is laid out - the area primed and ready for the corporate vultures to swoop into the dying areas with Devil’s deals. And those poor, poor people will be left with little choice but to agree with them. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the Suits coming in and offering large amounts of funding for rebuilding - and all they have to do is let them build a Starbucks (not too much offense to them, because I like their coffee), a Chili’s, an Applebee’s, a TGIF’s, a Flingers, a Chotsky’s, a … well, you get the idea. The Disney Store, Virgin, Victoria’s Secret, DKNY, the Gap — AUGH! Sure, those at the tourist office will be ready to go - they’ll be creaming their undies - it’s what they’ve been dying for! And yes, cash will flow in - but the true heart of New Orleans will be dead if that happens. You’ll be able to go to New Orleans Square at Disneyland, and it won’t be any different.

So, please, please, please do whatever you can to help the people of New Orleans rebuild it - please encourage all the real people to do their part, too - because if the people of New Orleans have to turn to the corporations for salvation and rebirth - New Orleans will be rebuilt in the corporations’ chosen image.

Sauvent la New Orléans!!

(Hey, I don’t speak French - I did my best - fix it for me if you do know it.)

sparta at 7:06 pm

Comments (1)

She said it ….

Kelley pegged it at Suburban Blight. The sad thing is, we know the answer, don’t we? (a) We are the most filthy, stinking rich people on the planet, and (b) we actually give a sh*t about people, no matter their skin color, religion, politics, etc. I know Canada has pledged some help, and that’s great. And I’m sure Britain will be sending some help. From there - I place no bets. AJ and I will be doing what we can. I encourage others to do the same. Someone said “charity begins at home.” That’s true, but I also remember my uncle saying “no one takes care of you like family.” Ain’t it the truth, Uncle Jimmy…..

sparta at 10:55 am

Comments Off

8/29/2005

Okay, remember those changes I was talking about?

Well, here is one of them. I am going to try to post a new character once a week. Notice the emphasis is on the word try. I am not necessarily going to use this character myself; it’s more an exercise in building good chracterization. If someone wants to use this character, you may write me at goddess[at]alienminds[dot]org. I can’t imagine why I would say no, but I would like to hear your plans for the character - and a little credit couldn’t hurt either, eh? :-) Thanks and enjoy - constructive comments are appreciated, but not necessary. Praise and cash are accepted gladly.

Simelle Treabon

sparta at 12:07 am

Comments (1)

8/28/2005

Major upgrade completed!

Well, I haven’t seen any major problems, but if you do, let me know. WP needed to be updated BIG TIME, so thanks to some help from my hubby (since he’d already upgraded his before and knew what to do) I got that accomplished faster than I thought I would - and with less pain. Yay, hubby! :-)

sparta at 3:12 pm

Comments (5)

My new obsession….

My new obsession is Su Doku! I can’t help myself. I picked up a book about it at Border’s - and I’ve been hooked ever since. The rules are simple, but actually completing the puzzles are another matter.

Sometimes the numbers all just fall into place, and yet other times it’s a real mind bender getting them to cooperate. I love puzzles in general, but these are very nice. I can easily put down the book (well, maybe not that easily….) and walk away and come back to it later. Some mind puzzles aren’t that way.

Anyway - I’d better watch it or Su Doku could end up filling the time I need to do other things - like the site re-vamp…and, oh yeah, writing! :-)

~PJ~

sparta at 12:00 pm

Comments (2)

8/27/2005

Val’s get-together

So it was one year ago that we lost Chuck (see here and here.) I miss him a lot.

Last night Val had a get-together. I think she honestly wanted to catch up with folks, but having something to distract her didn’t hurt either. It was an odd group of folks. Some techies - some not so technies. An architect. Andrew. :-) And suddenly I found myself talking about being a writer - and it was okay. There wasn’t the smirk that implied the rolling of the eyes or the silent nodding of the head that seems to say “Sure you are.” Instead I found frank and honest - interest.

It was a bit overwhelming after having lived for years in environments that sort of looked down upon anyone claiming to be a writer - aspiring to do so for a living. They have the same attitude toward anyone who claims to want to be an actress. Those are nice hobbies, they think, but what are you going to do for money? Well, I don’t know for sure I’ll be able to “make a living” on writing - but I am launching into giving it a damn good try. For so long when people asked me what I did for a living or what I liked to do, I avoided … with some guilt … saying that I was a writer.

My dad will/would never understand - he’s the one who pounded the whole “viable” career nonsense into my head to begin with. My mom would understand. I miss her. She’s the one who got me into a computer class when I was in between 5th and 6th grades. She’s the one who encouraged my reading addiction (heh heh) and my writing. So there I was feeling a bit surprised, but plunging forward by stating what my goals were and so on. After all, it was out there - I couldn’t take it back. I was so happy to have a chance to be myself I could have cried.

So if anything, the memorial get-together for the death of a friend, gave birth to a new sense of confidence. Chuck wouldn’t want me to make excuse or hide my true self. He would want me to stand up and say, “I’m a writer!” And so I do…for my mom…for Chuck…for myself. There are many changes that are going to be happening around here. I hope you like them - I’m excited about them. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Chuck.

sparta at 7:20 pm

Comments Off

These made my day

First - you know it - a quiz:

Grammar God!
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

Congratulations! If your mission in life
is not already to preserve the English tongue,
it should be. You can smell a grammatical
inaccuracy from fifty yards. Your speech is
revered by the underlings, though some may
blaspheme and call you a snob. They’re just
jealous. Go out there and change the world.

How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla

Next THIS.

And … another quiz!


You Are a German Shepherd Puppy




Intelligent, quick witted, and a bit aggressive.
You’ve got the jaw power to take a bite out of anyone you choose.
What Breed of Puppy Are You?

sparta at 6:50 pm

Comments Off

8/26/2005

Lazy Day

For some reason - today is a lazy day. I can’t seem to get going - I can’t seem to leave my computer. Does that mean some thought provoking, uber-post here? Probably not. But it does mean that I might actually get some important web browsing done - which benefits you all indirectly at least. :-)

sparta at 12:34 pm

Comments Off

8/25/2005

Powdered Evil

Okay - so my 4-year old has gotten picky about eating again. Last time we went through this, we got PediaSure, so at least we knew he was getting some vitamins and minerals…and pumped liquids in him as often as he’d drink. No problems. But now, we’re in CA … and PediaSure is about 4x the cost of gasoline! Ack! My sister suggested that maybe Ovaltine would be cheaper. Oh, it is, and the reason why is that IT’S PURE EVIL. Now, I love my sister - and won’t hold this against her in anyway - but there is no way I am feeding that stuff to my child - or anyone’s child - or anyone’s dog for that matter. I wouldn’t give this crap to my worst enemy…although I might ship it to the terrorists. How do you UPS a box to “Osama Bin Laden, c/o Some Hidden Cave in Afghanistan”?

I’m not sure there are words to describe how absolutely awful this stuff is. It looks fake - it tastes fake. It’s … just … yuck! There’s no “rich, chocolatey” taste. It tastes like a soda company tried to make chocolate milk - without using any milk - but using soap instead. Bleech!

If this is what Ovalkwik tastes like - Schlock can have it. Ugh!

(Photo credit: Andrew)

sparta at 12:24 pm

Comments (2)

For my writer friends

I am posting this link to Holly Lisle’s blog for a reason. My reasons are not to expose Ms. Lisle’s worries in any malicious way - but to point out to my writing friends that even the pros get cold feet. And make no mistake, Ms. Lisle is a pro. It made me feel a little better about my own struggling efforts to write. During NaNoWriMo there wasn’t as much pressure - it didn’t really matter how things came out - just as long as they were out…and the “they” totalled more than 50k. :-) I did it…and I like the skeleton of a story that it is. I think my characters are good and engaging. I think some of my scenes are good - some maybe a little forced. I *know* it needs work. But … and here’s where I freeze up … I so like the little tidy things that I have going, that I’m afraid that fleshing it out or correcting ANYTHING will make it fall apart. It’s like some of my oldest son’s early Lego creations. It - to me - is so great - and so fragile. If I am going to make it as a writer (even to one half of Ms. Lisle’s caliber) I’m going to have to “get over it”, aren’t I? I know this - but knowing doesn’t make it easier.

sparta at 11:48 am

Comments Off

8/23/2005

Couple of cool sites

Eric Cheng has some cool pictures. Look at the bottom of the Photography section - check out the screaming turtle. It’s a great picture!

Also found the source for Mysterious People.

That’s all for now!

sparta at 1:40 pm

Comments Off

8/22/2005

Awwwwww - a break from my crazy day

SMOOOOOOOCH!

Okay - I couldn’t help it. I was over at Bruce’s site - and he linked to these cat pictures. They’re soooo cute. John loves kitties - he has 9 stuffed cats that keep him company at night - and he was peering over my arm looking them going “oooohhh” and “awwwww” and “they’re so cute.” I have no idea if John will be a good pet owner - I have no idea if he’ll like a real cat as well as a stuffed one (no jokes, please) - but I guarantee you he’d love to try. Sadly, we cannot have any pets here (indoor or outdoor) - so that experiment will have to wait a little while. Meanwhile - I hope these guys were looking out for Domokun.

sparta at 7:03 pm

Comments Off

Ever have one of those days?

I have a long list of things I *have* to do - and things I want to do. It’s so long, I’ve wandered into the milefield of distractibility. Here’s what I mean: You start working on A, and things are going along, when all of a sudden, you get distracted by something…phone call, husband, wife, doorbell, mail…which leads you to working on B. You think, fine, I’ll finish B, and go back to A. But no…before you can finish…out of nowhere comes Q, and you find yourself devoting your attention to that, even though you know that both A and B are hanging out there…incomplete. Maybe you finish Q - maybe you don’t - but before you can go back to either A or B…C is beckoning. With heavy shoulders you slug over towards C - weary with thoughts that stray back to those other items, still left dangling. And it carries on and on, as you flit from item to item until the day is over, you’re exhausted from having been busy *all day* and yet you have no (or very few) completed things to show. It’s going to be one of those days for me; I can tell. (LONG SIGH) More later. Maybe - I’ve wandered into L’s neighborhood, and he’s giving me the evil eye.

sparta at 4:02 pm

Comments (3)

8/21/2005

Had to share this

From Grand National

(Thanks to Transbuddha.com)

sparta at 11:34 pm

Comments Off

8/19/2005

Recipe I’ve been working on

Calypte Anna au Chocolait

Ingredients:
4 squares of semisweet chocolate
4 dry-roasted Calypte Anna, removing
legs and wings is optional, but most
prefer it.

Directions:
1. Dry Roasting:

Spread fresh, frozen and cleaned Calypte Anna on paper towels on a cookie sheet. Bake at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours until desired state of dryness is reached. Check state of dryness by attempting to crush one with a spoon.

2. Melt chocolate as directed on the package.  Dip each Calypte Anna in chocolate and place on wax paper.  Refrigerate at least two hours.

3. Garnish with beak, serve and enjoy!

Let me know if you try it and how it is.

sparta at 10:14 am

Comments (1)

8/18/2005

Some things I found

Just felt like posting something - and found these as I was wandering around. Andrew would call this a “Multipost.”

SOMETHING #1 is interactive information on Star Wars.

Kids whining about what you’re planning for dinner? Let them pick something from HERE!

I think this is appropriate. I have some place we could aim it. RAMMING SPEED!

Think you have problems with ants, termites, moles, or mice? That’s nothing compared to what’s in store for us 13,000 years from now.

One more reason to love dark chocolate.

SOMETHING #6 involves Twitterpation. Don’t know what twitterpated is? What planet are you from?

And there you go….

sparta at 7:27 pm

Comments Off

Surprise! More quizzes!

I'm Mr. Orange!
You’re Mr. Orange!

Which Reservoir Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Raise your hand if your surprised I put up another quiz. Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. :-) This one pointed out to me at Electric Venom And next we have…..

Take the quiz: “Which Holy Grail Character Are You?”

Arthur, King of the Britons
Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!

That one from a link at Origin of the Soul. Thanks, Dana!

sparta at 1:46 pm

Comments (3)

8/16/2005

An oldie, but a goodie….

I may have linked to Michael Palin’s Full Circle before - but here it is again. I just recommended it to someone - and thought I’d recommend it to the rest. Some of you have seen/read/heard it already, but others may not have. While it is interesting to hear of Mr. Pain’s travels - and the descriptions are interesting - a lot of the places he’s been I would not want to go…nor would I want to go in the condtions he got to endure (and he’s a celebrity). Anyway - as summer winds down, and many of us can no longer make journeys of our own - maybe we can enjoy his.

sparta at 9:58 am

Comments Off

8/15/2005

Phillip Rides His Bike

So, yesterday, Andrew took Phillip out to finally learn how to ride his bike - AND - to do it without training wheels. See results here. The thing that is remarkable about this is that Phillip has been struggling with a balance problem and other issues for some time now. I think Andrew said it took him all of about … oh … 30 seconds. :-) People couldn’t believe he wasn’t riding his bike yet - but for some reason it just hadn’t clicked for him until now. Way to go, Phillip!

[Film Credit: ANDREW]

sparta at 11:09 am

Comments (2)

8/14/2005

LOOKOUT! RUN! GET OFF THE SIDEWALKS!

So, here’s the big news: ALLISON GOT HER DRIVER’S PERMIT ON FRIDAY! And guess who gets to be her driving instructor most of the time? And guess who’s car it is? AUGH! :-) I’m kidding. I actually took her out yesterday - Saturday - for a spin, and she did very well. She’s not ready for the main streets yet, but she’s doing pretty well tooling around the neighborhood. Wish me luck - and send Tums - and maybe … valium …. yes, valium

–”Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”–HHGTG

sparta at 11:34 pm

Comments Off