6/30/2007

Today is the Viable Paradise deadline

Anxious?

Me?

Nah…..

Excuse me - I need to check my email … again.  ;-)

sparta at 10:53 am

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6/29/2007

Come on, you knew it was true….

93% GeekMingle2 - Free Online Dating

sparta at 3:19 pm

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Hmmm….

58%Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

sparta at 2:38 pm

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Waiting waiting waiting….

…For Godot.

…For Snow in Havana.

…For Guffman.

…To Exhale.

…For an Eclipse.

…For Daisy.

… To hear from Viable Paradise.  But no word yet.  Hopefully soon!

sparta at 2:25 pm

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6/27/2007

One of those moments

Had an event yesterday that brought into focus a difference between my upbringing and AJ’s. Our Time-Share Kitty had cornered a gopher. She taunted and played games with it until she decided to go for the death bite. I heard the squeak. A little bit later - she was on the patio batting around the gopher corpse. Playing with as though it were an oddly shaped, fuzzy ball. Moving it - and then jumping back as if it had moved under its own power - and then pouncing it as if this were a retaliatory strike. You know, typical cat like behavior.

Well, what anyone who has ever had a cat for a pet would say is typical. Me? Well, my family never had pets. I had a goldfish once - I overfed it because we were going on vacation and I didn’t know my sister was going to come and feed it while we were away. No dogs, no cats, no more fish, no turtles - nada. My friends had pets, but you know - most of those were dogs. Which is all well and good, but they don’t hunt and kill something in order to use its dead body for a volleyball.

So, the flip of this is that AJ had both dogs and cats around growing up, and while he found it amusing, it wasn’t the same moment for him that it was for me.

You see, for some reason, watching this cat fling this vacant gopher carcass, cracked me up. Time-Share Kitty is not a kitten - she’s a young cat - and watching her reactions and the way she created her play was hilarious. Morbid, I know, but I coudn’t help myself. I wish I had gotten some of it on film.

And, yes, she was amply rewarded for her gopher kill.

sparta at 3:12 pm

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6/26/2007

Can you relate?

Do you know how frustrating it is to be afraid to check your email and to be afraid not to check your email?

Just curious.

sparta at 7:04 pm

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6/24/2007

R.I.P. 160GB Hard Drive

For those who read my other blogs - yeah, I’m posting the same thing each place - what can I say, I don’t have the time to be original everywhere.

My hard drive died last night - spectacularly or horribly depending on your point of view. The most frustrating thing about this is (shuffles foot a little) I hadn’t made a backup yet this week! So all those new words on Thursday? Yeah - gone. :-( I mean - I wasn’t 100% thrilled with them anyway - but they were there. I usually back up my writing files to a thumb drive after every writing session - but it was late; I was tired; and I thought, oh, I’ll do it in the morning. *sigh* Luckily, I did have a backup and a spare 80GB drive, so the most I’ve lost is anything from about the last week. And a few of those things I have been able to reconstruct. Any new bookmarks from the last week are gone - but if those things occur to me again, I’m sure I’ll find those sites again.

So this is my public service announcement to all writers: no matter how tired you are, back everything up.

And now I’m off to search for a new 160GB drive.

sparta at 11:40 am

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6/22/2007

This applies to writers, too! :-)

From the web comic xkcd:
xkcd Librarians

sparta at 2:23 pm

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6/20/2007

Movie News - Posting #1

th-03121.jpg
Could it be? A horror flick that isn’t based on gore and crappy plot? 1408 holds promise. First of all - it stars two actors who I know don’t agree to just any film that comes along. They pick and chose films because they like something about them. Above that - I happen to like both those actors. Second - the movie is based on a short story by Stephen King. While, yes, there have been SK flops - there have also been a few that were quite good. The Shining comes to mind, as does the mini-series of The Stand.
Anyway - 1408 comes out June 22nd. Hopefully AJ and I will get to go and I can give you all a better review.
p1.jpg
Next up, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. I took the boys to see this movie. And man, it was a ride. Is the plot completely logical? Heck, no. Is it going to win any Oscars? Probably not. But it was a lot of fun. And when it’s summer and the kids are home - fun is what you want. I still think the second movie is my favorite in the series, but this one was worth seeing.

sparta at 3:58 pm

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6/17/2007

Happy Father’s Day!

youngphiljohn.jpg
Happy Father’s Day to the best dad in the world. It’s no wonder your sons think you hung the moon (you probably did); if it’s broken, you fix it - or at least you try. You would do anything for them. You are not afraid to kiss and hug them. You are not afraid to run around the house playing tag or with Nerf weaponry; you’re not “too old” to sit and play video games. And you always give them encouragement in the things they want to try. And I know the constant questions sometimes can get tiring (do you know how many times I hear the word “why” at the beginning of a sentence?) - but you always answer, and you never dumb down your responses because they are young.

You may not be into sports, like other dads. But that’s fine with me, because you aren’t like other dads. If our boys grow up to be anything at all like their father, they are going to be two of the most wonderful men in the world. Even if take after their father’s silliness, too.

8-06_phillip-john.JPG

I love you, AJ - and so do they - and we are all lucky to have you in our lives!

Happy Father’s Day!

sparta at 10:29 am

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6/15/2007

Help Help It’s alive!

My main bookmark folder, unimaginatively titled “Inbox”, is overflowing!  Yes, I have a del.icio.us account - but for some reason, can’t help but stash bookmarks in that folder.

It’s going to take forever to sort through it.  *sigh*  Is there a 12 step program for habitual bookmarkers?

sparta at 11:13 am

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Check out the new spiffy countdown timer!

It’s over ——> that way!  :-)

sparta at 10:23 am

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6/13/2007

PSA: Clean your DS screens regularly!

I had thought my Nintendo DS was going to have to be shipped off for repairs.  I was bummed, and more than a little frustrated about it.  When you touched something with the stylus - the touch point was actually about a quarter of an inch to the right.  I had tried recalibrating it, but it didn’t work.  However, before sending it off to the Void of Repair, I decided to turn to the wondrous Internet, the Great Tubes of Knowledge, to seek possible solutions.  One of the gaming sights mentioned that the touchscreen is very sensitive and that even a small speck of dust caught between the casing and the screen could freak it out.  He also recommended the following procedure:

1.  Try recalibrating.  If that doesn’t work, continue on to #2.
2.  Turn it off and clean the screen thoroughly.  If you have screen protectors, remove them.  Restart it, and try again.  If no luck, move to #3.

3.  Turn it off and using a soft, clean toothbrush, clean the edges.  The best way to do this is to use your thumb to gently press down on the screen - this makes a little space between the screen and case.  Use the toothbrush to gently clean out the area.  Turn it off and try another recalibration.

4.  If it works - great!  :-)   If not, you will have to contact Nintendo about sending it in for service.

I was quite lucky this worked for me.  I hope it works for others.

I will now return you to your lives - already in progress.

sparta at 12:21 am

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6/12/2007

Were they magic pants?

Were they given to him by his late wife?  Maybe they had an intern’s phone number in them?  Maybe there was $1 million in unmarked bills in the pockets?  Well, whatever the reason, a judge crying over lost pants just seems … freaky.

sparta at 11:58 pm

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Nice t.v. ya’ got there; be a shame if I had ta sell it on eBay.

I found this post about mobsters and money, and for some reason, it amused me.

No, not like a clown.

sparta at 8:12 am

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6/9/2007

Need information on how to do something?

Ask me!  ;-)   And if by some chance I don’t know …. Ask an Expert!  This website has a whole array of videos - some in series, some long, some short - detailing how to do all kinds of things.

Some of these are very interesting because they are concise, accurate, and informative. Some are just hilarious.

I leave you to explore……

sparta at 11:30 am

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6/4/2007

Maybe those Google ads need some refinement

I was doing a Google search for something yesterday - and just happened to notice this ad off to the side:

gotcrime.png

Wow. So if your hunting for crime in your area, and don’t know where to find it - just try them!

sparta at 1:13 pm

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6/1/2007

Hello!!!

I’m still alive - I’ve just been very very swamped with projects, children, illness, housework, errands, and teaching.  This summer should be a little better (yeah, right) - and I’m working hard toward creating a schedule that gives me at least a few minutes to touch base with each of my blogs.  :-)

How are all of you?

sparta at 10:10 am

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