12/28/2005

Some things are strange, but cool

Blatently borrowed from Paperback Writer it’s: Organic HTML. Enter a URL and see what you get!

sparta at 1:18 pm

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And now for something completely different: 2006

Okay - well, it is a bit early for that headline, isn’t it? Still, I am ready to press on to next year already. This year has seen some good and bad things happen to our family, but hopefully next year will be more of the good and less of the bad.

Christmas here was pretty darn nice. How was yours? Get anything good? Come on, come on - you have to share - what was the best? :-) I received lots of books this year - and I’m quite happy about it, thank you. A very cool Swatch watch was a gift from John. Allison contributed to my Border’s habit, and AJ gave me an “I Should Be Writing” hoodie. Plus -
a bunch of other stuff - all very nice! Thanks, everyone!

Thinking over any New Year’s resolutions? I don’t really think of them in terms of resolutions - resolution: something that has been resolved; resolve: to separate, change by disintegration, to vote upon, to deliberate. Think about it - when most people state their resolutions, they are stating positive goals - and IMHO resolve (and all its derivatives) is a negative word. Therefore, I don’t use the word for myself at New Year’s. I prefer - goals, objectives, projects, or at the very least, aims. Much more positive, don’t you think? I mean, it is in human nature to use any beginning or ending as a time of reflection. The New Year starting - which by its existance means the old one is ending; the beginning of a school year, the end of a school year; a wedding, a funeral…and so on.

My New Year’s goals mostly center on my children and my writing…and my Borders/Amazon habit, of course.

sparta at 12:16 pm

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12/25/2005

Something interesting I found today

In Japanese families - celebrating New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is as big a deal as Christmas here.

And here is another interesting link I found. If you go to the shrine, you can get an Omikuji - which is like having your fortune told. The idea is to think of your wish/prayer, and then click on the link. In real life you would think of your wish/prayer, and then choose or receive your omikuji, then open it. Good fortune to you!

OH, and Merry Christmas again!

sparta at 2:22 pm

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12/23/2005

Happy Birthday to Me!


Today is my birthday! Yay Hooray! :-) Andrew and the kids are taking me up north to this Greek restaurant I love. I would have rather gone at night because they have this couple who comes in and plays Greek music. Then the owner goes out on the dance floor and does this “hold a table in your teeth” thing. After that, he teaches everyone traditional Greek dances. BUT… Allison has to work tonight, and she had told Andrew how bummed she was that she couldn’t be there, so Andrew told her he’d ask if I minded lunch instead. Maybe we’ll go up on the Friday before our anniversary. ;-) I’m really hoping they have lemon soup today!

ANYWAY….to anyone else reading out there who has a birthday today…..

H ~ A ~ P ~ P ~ Y ~ B ~ I ~ R ~ T ~ H ~ D ~ A ~ Y ~ ! ~ ! ~ !

p.s. For those who read both my blogs…sorry for the double post, but for super cool or important things, I just have to!

sparta at 10:41 am

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12/22/2005

Christmas links

Create a snowflake: Mine is #180096 Not quite as satisfying as kicking sugar plum fairy butt, but relaxing.

Remember snowglobes? Don’t have one handy? Sure you do, right here. For something interesting - let it sit for a minute and watch the girl building the snowman. :-)

Okay this has nothing really to do with Christmas, but it has penguins in it!

If you have any interesting links to share - e-mail them to me or post them here! :-)

sparta at 11:28 am

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The Iron Chef

CWO3 David J. Longstaff

sparta at 10:12 am

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12/20/2005

Holiday Fun

I just love ballet, don’t you?

Nutcracker vs. Sugar Plum Fairies

Stuff your relatives!

Um’kay - where’s Macauley when you need him?

sparta at 2:50 pm

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Freedom report

Freedom Report.

Interesting information. Go see.

sparta at 2:27 pm

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Video Link

Some of the best SNL in a while

Enjoy!

sparta at 10:22 am

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12/16/2005

I’m going to be on the radio!

I have been asked to to joing Ann Arbor, the Wed. morning DJ on radio station KFJC (89.7 FM), and read an excerpt of my NaNoWriMo novel! How cool is that? :-)

You can tune in on January 4th at 7:20 A.M. PST! For those who miss it - I might be able to forward you a recording. :-)

sparta at 10:31 pm

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Yeah - you all knew it….


How evil are you?

sparta at 10:16 pm

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GOOD NEWS!!!

My niece just got engaged!! The wedding will be sometime next year!!!! YAY!!!!! (Now, what do I send this guy for Christmas?)

sparta at 10:52 am

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AUGH!

Christmas is in 9 days! I’ve barely started my Christmas shopping! EEK! Shopping at this time of year drives me crazy. My problem is that I see *SO* many things that someone would like - I have a difficult time choosing what to get - and I can’t always afford both/all. And then there’s that strange and awkward moment of “What do you want for Christmas, PJ?” You know, because well, I might need socks, but I’m not going to have someone buy me socks, and some of the things are hard for someone to choose for you - or you’d have to be there to make sure they’re the right size - or to be honest, you know the item(s) are too expensive for their budget. That’s usually where gift cards come to the rescue - but there are still a lot of people who don’t like them. Too impersonal, they say. Well, I hope they get over it eventually because I have learned with my nieces, nothing is better right now than CASH (cash, check, gift card). They are young (in their 20’s) - have very particular tastes - and live 2,000 miles away. In their eyes, CASH ROCKS!

Also, my brother-in-law (sister’s husband, not those on my hubby’s side) is very very very hard to buy for. He is a good ol’ country boy, and therefore not into gadgets like the rest of us. Makes it quite difficult. And, we have a new puzzle to solve….(see next post)…..

What makes your Christmas holidays difficult? Share.

sparta at 10:51 am

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12/12/2005

Christmas music

UPDATE: UM: Click on “Radio” - then look for “Holidays”. I think there’s about five or so.

Okay - so I wanted Christmas music but I couldn’t dig out my old tapes - don’t have CDs of it really - and although I have vinyl…there’s no way I’m getting those records out with the kids around.

So, I went looking…..could you find it free and on-line? Well, of course you can! :-)

iTunes radio has a couple of feeds - and there are a few websites devoted to it - and there’s this: KOIT. I never listen to this station normally - but it’s all Christmas music, all month. :-) You have to sign up for their dorky listener’s club or whatever it is, but I am using one of my lesser accounts, os it’s no biggie.

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=holiday
http://www.web-radio.fm/christmas/

Get into the holiday spirit! Trim your tree! Sing those carols! My wish list is on Amazon! Bake cookies! I also take gift cards! Fill out those Christmas cards!

There’s been a lot of things going on in the world lately that have reminded me that life is too short. So enjoy Christmas - because your loved ones are with you! because you’re alive!

~PJ~

sparta at 2:45 pm

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12/7/2005

This weekend

This weekend we had guests - I’ll call them “Bruce” and “Grace” - because that’s their real names - a good time was had by all.

Went to Dark Carnival - said I wasn’t going to spend any much money - ended up blowing over $40! Eep!

Still, I didn’t buy anything that was on any of my Christmas or birthday lists - so, not much guilt.

How was your weekend?

sparta at 12:01 pm

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Interesting Things #1

In my wanderings, I come across some interesting things, here’s a few:

This vid called Jerusalum uses clips from BSG (new). When you’re in the directory, you’ll have several versions to choose from QT-6, Divx, and wmv.

More BSG vids

Caryn’s Corner has a few vids from BSG, Firefly, and more.

BSG vid again

Hmm - I think I finally noticed a trend. I wasn’t able to view most of these myself yet (I am going off comments and screen shots from others) - although Jerusalem worked fine. I suppose I’m just subconsciously anxious for January to get here - okay, maybe not so subconsciously…. ;-)

Anyway - enjoy.

sparta at 11:55 am

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12/2/2005

TGIO NaNo Party

So, last night I took the BART into San Francisco to attend the Bay Area’s TGIO (Thank God It’s Over) party.

It was so cool.

Let me state, that while I am not the celebrity groupie type, there is something to be said for being able to tell people you partied with one of the creators of NaNo. Yes, Chris Baty was there. I talked with him - I danced near him - and I was one of the few who got to listen as he read an exerpt of his story. How cool is that?

To everyone who participated, congratulations!

To those who didn’t, we’ll get you next year! :-)

I am going to start cleaning FTBRW up soon and then make it available for download. Either here, or one of my other sites. I’ll let you know when it’s ready…well…I’ll let you know when it’s available, let’s leave it at that.

:-)

~PJ~

sparta at 10:54 am

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12/1/2005

Hey! Long time, no see!

Been busy with NaNoWriMo for the past month - and posting has been light - but now that it’s over - hopefully I’ll be back to my old posting self.

How have you all been?

~PJ~

sparta at 11:35 am

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