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June 23, 2004
I'm a Sex Symbol!
... and fertile too, according to today's horoscope:
Your allure as a sex symbol has never been more evident; the mere sight of you gets people panting. If you're already in a relationship, you need to remind your lover of your
physical needs. Invest in some sexy lingerie, get a makeover, and go on a romantic holiday. Sprucing yourself up for your partner will elicit a passionate response. Having a child
is also a possibility, as you're very fertile. Adjust your behaviour accordingly.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)
Searching for Friends via Bluetooth
Customers of a service in Singapore called BEDD that uses Bluetooth wireless communications are able to scan strangers' phones for their personal profiles. Users download the BEDD software to a compatible phone, complete a brief profile of themselves and include a description of who they want to befriend or an item they want to purchase or sell. The software automatically searches for and exchanges profiles with other phones that are within a 65-foot radius. Matched users are given each other's contact details. Reuters story.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
Bowie Hit in the Eye with a Lollipop
Halfway through his third song at a Norwegian music festival, an object came flying out of the crowd and hit David Bowie in the eye. It was a lollipop, probably sent as a message of adoration since Norwegians call the hard candy "love on a stick."
Bowie wasn't seriously injured at Friday's Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo. He backed off the runway, hunched over, and was assisted by his set crew. Within moments, he was facing the crowd of 7,500. Swearing at the unknown culprit, Bowie said he only had one good eye. The other eye had been damaged in a childhood fight.
"Lucky you hit the bad one," Bowie said, demanding to know who threw the lollipop. No one standing in the cold and drizzle came forward. More at David Bowie.Com
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Photoblog News
I've managed to post at least one new photograph per day in the photoblog. One of the things I've had difficulty with is photo compression in Photoshop. My aim is for a compression where the photo's load time is around 10-15 seconds maximum; but in working in black and white, a recent photo I tried to compress resulted in heavy duty pixelation. I don't know how to fix it where the quality is decent and the load time isn't extreme. Suggestions appreciated.
In other PB news, a professional photographer recently critiqued my photographic efforts. For me, I was just happy that the photographs I've taken came out decently, but when you receive an honest review by someone who knows much more about photography than you do, you see what else is in the photograph -- pixelation, horizons off, off-focus, etc. It's like going to photography class. :-)
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Baby News
Congratulations to Dana @ Note-It Posts on the birth of her baby boy Thomas Nelson!
Posted by me, of course!
June 22, 2004
Upcoming Events
Montreal June 30-July 11
Montreal International Jazz Festival
Link: www.montrealjazzfest.com
Prescott, Arizona July 3-July 5
Frontier Days and World's Oldest Rodeo
Link: www.worldsoldestrodeo.com
Vail, Colorado June 27-August 4
Vail Valley Music Festival
The New York Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic
Link: www.vailmusicfestival.org
Brooklyn, New York June 26
Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Moby will be King Neptune
Link: www.coneyislandusa.com/mermaid.shtml
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
Hello Amsterdam!
Not too long ago I had a lovely chat with a tall, handsome blonde about Europe, looking much younger than you really are and anti-aging face cream. I recall daily orgasm was mentioned as well and other amusing commentary. Doesn't everyone have conversations like that with a former boss?
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)
G'Day Australia!
So there I was minding my own business last night when I decided to fire up iChat. I noticed that a certain Aussie was present, and sent that person an audio chat invite. Nevermind the fact that we could have simply typed back-and-forth to each other. Since the technology was there just waiting to be used, why type when you can speak. Besides, I get a certain amount of pleasure knowing that I'm chatting with someone who's a day ahead of me without paying extra to do it. It was great fun matching up the voice to the name. I love iChat.
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Today's Quote
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you
get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.
- Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
Posted by me, of course!
Beemer Owners: Plug In Your iPod
Apple Computer Inc. on Monday unveiled an adapter that lets users of its iPod digital music player connect them to stereo systems in some BMW and Mini Cooper models and use buttons on the steering wheel to play their music libraries. Apple and BMW AG said in a joint statement that the adapter, priced at $149, would work in BMW's 3 Series, Z4 Roadster, X3 and X5 SUVs and the Mini Cooper, and will be powered by the car, not the iPod's battery. - Reuters
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Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Al @ Fulton Chain!
Posted by me, of course!
June 21, 2004
The Book Quiz
I certainly went off the beaten path to arrive at this quiz. I found it on Rob's blog @ wordsimageslife, who, after doing a drive-by on MY blog, found it over @ GDay Mate.
You're The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
by Douglas Adams
Considered by many to be one of the funniest people around, you are
quite an entertainer. You've also traveled to the far reaches of what you deem possible,
often confused and unsure of yourself. Life continues to jostle you around like a marble,
but it's shown you so much of the world that you don't care. Wacky adventures continue to
lie ahead. Your favorite number is 42.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Hey, how'd they know that? ;-)
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Concepts for Future iPods
Designs for future iPods by iPod users: @ iPod Lounge. There are a number of brilliant ideas that were submitted by Pod users, and one can't help but wonder if Steve Jobs and company are paying attention to what Apple's customers want. [story @ Wired News.]
Me? I just want a basic, normal ON/OFF switch for my Pod. As it is now, in order to shut it off, you have to press and hold the Play/Pause button, and it usually takes a few tries before it kicks in. The buttons are so touch-sensitive that even if you sneeze, the damn thing turns on again. ;-) *sigh*
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Today's Quote
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." - Matt Groening
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
Mobile Phones
For the last week or so my cell phone has displayed the unwelcome message of NO SERVICE. As I'd been pondering the idea of terminating my AT&T Wireless account, this helped me make that decision. Not only did I decide to cancel the service, but I also chose not to have the cell phone number ported over to another provider. To me, the number isn't all that vital; those I want to have the new number will get it. I had received a few calls some weeks ago from AT&T Wireless reps; however, their focus was more on getting me to sign up for an extensive contract along with a new phone and not on what the customer (me) wanted. The rep even went so far as to tell me that I was considered a "high risk" to them -- that since I've been a long-standing customer that there was a good chance of me going elsewhere. You'd think that my status as a customer would have them doing back-flips to keep me. Instead, AT&T managed to lose another customer, not only through their ignorance of doing what they could to keep me as one, but also with the recent service problems. In place of AT&T, I headed for a nearby T-Mobile store, and am set not only with a less expensive plan but also a new phone and number. It took all of 15 minutes at the most.
When travelling around Europe, I found a decent way to avoid the high cost of using a U.S.-based mobile service there. Years ago I made the mistake of obtaining a rental GSM phone from AT&T, only to return to the states to a phone bill of $1,000. The calls I'd made within Europe to another European location would jump across the ocean back to the U.S. and then return to its ultimate destination. There had to be a better way.
Prior to a trip abroad, a friend of mine in Germany purchased a mobile for me (a permanent address was required for service) and each time I'm there I buy phone cards for it. This way, there's no surprise $1,000 phone bill upon returning to the U.S. It's worked out quite well and the good thing about it is at least I'm controlling the cost and not the service provider. In addition to the cost savings, on my last trip, my friend suggested I switch the chips from the German mobile (a cumbersome, old model mobile) to my smaller U.S. mobile. All worked splendidly.
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Australians Get Naked
Olympic athletes bare all.
Link: http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,9892726%255E949,00.html
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June 20, 2004
Al = 1000
After he left a comment under my Father's Day post, I asked (begged, pleaded, cajoled, lured?) Al @ Fulton Chain to leave another one. Who better to be commenter number 1000 (Isn't that special) than Al. Thanks for humoring me!
Gotcha. ;-)
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Father's Day
Always a bittersweet day for those of us who have lost our dads. Six years later, I still think about my dad every single day and miss him terribly. The pain of losing dad has been replaced with cherished memories. Even though they're no longer here with us in the physical world, our dads continue to walk along side us. Their spirit and soul live on, and they never lose their importance, their direct effect on our lives.
Happy Father's Day to all the terrific dads I know. I hope you have a great day -- mowing the lawn, chauffering the kids around, taking the youngest to the pool, firing up the barbeque -- or something. Hopefully you'll just be sitting back and relaxing in a lawn chair -- or something. ;-)
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June 19, 2004
In Other News ...
Evidently Michael Jackson lost his pants.
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iTunes Rockin' in Europe
Hey, it's a start with the UK, France and Germany... if we could only get the Apple folks to Australia ... then Oz @ GDay Mate would be happy. Until Apple extends its iTunes arm Down Under, Oz will make do with gift vouchers he'll use while in San Francisco for the Apple Web Developers Conference. Go get 'em Oz!
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June 18, 2004
Today's Quote
Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in
opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself
on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.
- Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)
When Dads Write About Their Children
Al @ Fulton Chain has written
a lovely post about his three children.
Link: http://fultonchain.net/article/101/graduation-day
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
I Chat
Me: ... I'll show you my cpanel! (afterthought: hmm... that sounded obscene.)
Response: If I didn't know what a cpanel was, I would be shocked by your offer.
*Giggle*
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3 Percent Less Loopy
I went to sleep early last night and woke early. The loopiness meter indicates that I'm now 3 percent less loopy this morning.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)
June 17, 2004
I'm Not Really Here
Last I left off, I was chatting away with Kat Friday evening and we were busy dissecting her soon-to-be, brand-spanking-new home for her blog. I tried to do what I could though I knew I was way out of my league attempting it since she was using WordPress. A quick note to Oz @ GDay Mate seemed to be the only solution since he's been using WordPress also. From the looks of it, Kat did just fine with her new home. In the meantime...
The next day I took off for greener pastures and planned to return early in the week -- but I didn't. Something about being out of the city during hot and humid days had me tied to a lawn chair. It may have had something to do with that tooth I cracked when I fell the other day, but I'll never tell. Did I mention the black eye? Oh not mine. A neighbor was chopping wood and ... oh nevermind.
So I didn't take the laptop with me and quite frankly, I didn't miss it. However, being away from a computer for five days means being unable to delete the daily spam. Well! 1200 pieces of spam later and I'm about ready to get rid of email for the rest of my life. Here's my cell phone number - just call me instead. The festival of spam I returned to was not to be believed. Regardless of the patience required to go through each piece so I didn't delete REAL mail, this exercise in junk removal is time-consuming and a real pain in the ass. Did I mention 1200 pieces?
I found one piece of real email alerting me to the fact that the kids haven't been behaving lately. (I use the word "kids" simply because though I know we're all adults, you acquire the title of "kid" when you act your shoe size and not your age.) We all have opinions, we're all entitled to voice those opinions whether we like what we read or not. As with anything else, if you disagree with what someone else writes, go right ahead, voice your opinion, but hey -- be polite about it. It won't kill you. I ask only one thing: be nice. Life is way too short, and though I'm not jumping into the middle of anyone's issues with anyone else, there's a way to get your point across without being a jackass. Today's advice: don't be a jackass.
Other than that, I just remembered I took some pictures while at the dentist's office (I wasn't really there) and zoomed into the mouths of unsuspecting patients (no, I didn't.) Seriously, I forget exactly what I did except this morning, when I volunteered to play a distant relative of Paul Bunyan and yanked a dead fig tree out of the ground... in 90 degree temperatures with high humidity. It's still humid now and I'm a bit loopy from all the heat and strenuous activity. My friend Ken phoned from Oregon and told me the story about waking up to find a mouse in his shorts (no joke) and I just about lost it. Hmm... maybe I did lose it. I do hope I'll be better tomorrow. :-)
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June 11, 2004
No Guard on Duty
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June 10, 2004
Top 10 Things Overheard at J-Lo's Wedding
10. Do you, Jennifer Lopez, take...I'm sorry, which one are you again?
9. We're gathered here today because Jennifer Lopez is apparently trying to break some sort of record
8. Her ass looked like the ass of a princess
7. You may now divorce the bride
6. Even the minister is rolling his eyes
5. I always cry at Jennifer Lopez's weddings
4. Wow, season one of 'Sanford and Son' on DVD! What a thoughtful gift, Dave!
3. This was fun - - see you at her next one
2. Hey, small world - - I'm a divorce lawyer, too
1. Honey, why does the cake read 'Ben'?
Source: CBS/David Letterman Show
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June 9, 2004
Je hebt het niveau van een poffertje
Though I posted this last June, something I read reminded me of it, so here it is again.
I found a site called Insult Monger (Swearsaurus) that lists swear words and phrases in a variety of languages. The link I include is for swearing in Dutch -- Dutch language swear words and their English translations. My favorite: "Je hebt het niveau van een poffertje" (You're equipped with the intellect of a little pancake.)
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International Weblogger's Day is Today
... because webloggers express.
Thanks to Daisy for the reminder!Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)
June 8, 2004
I'm Your Venus
Today marked the transit of hot-lovin' Venus. More from those NASA hotties here and a piece from Slate that includes photos.
Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)
Party Pod
I've got music to wind down, wind up, bump it up a level, blow my eardrums out, sleep, etc. Lately I've been sucking songs out of the iTunes Music Store that could easily portray me as a disco-loving, '80s big hair chick. Perhaps, (since I recall seeing a photo of the evidence not too long ago,) but it's this type of music that puts the butt in motion (wink, wink.)
From the current playlist:
Instant Replay -- Dan Hartman
Relax --Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Genius of Love -- Tom Tom Club
Dazz -- Brick
Situation -- Yaz
Everybody Dance -- Chic
Stomp -- Brothers Johnson
Let's Groove Tonight -- Earth, Wind & Fire
and to really throw things off, I added a bit of Prince with "Let's Go Crazy."
Never said I was sane. She's a Super Freak, Super Freak ... ;-)
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Photoblog News
Now available in RSS -- subscribe to my photoblog and stay current on all photo postings. As of this writing, only one of the photos actually shows up in the feed. I've no clue where the rest are ... but I'm still working on it. Of course, you can always just visit the photoblog directly, and the hell with RSS and the feed. {wink}
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June 7, 2004
Tongue in Your Ear
... we went for a long walk in the park. Sincere apologies to the courting couple lying in the long grass. It must have been a bit of a shock to find a wet, excited dog bouncing up and down on your chests trying to lick your faces. But you were very sweet about it and didn't mind too much when she managed to insert her tongue in your left ear... - Daisy @ Chasing Daisy
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How many J-Lo marriages will it take...
... before one sticks?
J-Lo "reportedly" got married to Marc Anthony over the weekend. If this is true, I can't help but wonder how long this one will last. Her track record precedes her (this latest one is husband #3,) as she jumps in and out of them quite rapidly.
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It's That Time Again
It's the beginning of June and for me, the start of this month carries with it all sorts of memories. Take last year, for instance. There I was, minding my own beeswax, when my socked foot slipped off the top stair and I went into full hydroplane mode. And lo and behold, I've lived to tell the tale. If you never read the recap, feel free to dig into the June '03 archives and pop on down to June 8.
Anyway, as I was saying, here it is a new June, it's busting out all over and I am as well. Contrary to what YOU are thinking, I don't mean busting out like THAT. It means my clumsiness is busting out all over. Where should I begin? *ouch* *ouch again.* <--- See, that's my right index finger speaking.
So there I was... uh... in the bathroom. I suppose I was in a bit of a hurry... next thing I know, my hand went *smack!* into the cabinet under the sink and red stuff was oozing from the knuckle of my index finger.
And there ya have it. I guess we can refer to this as a now-annual event. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen in June. ;-)
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Scratching My Head
Updated
I should have provided more information about The Four Corners for those who may not be familiar with this area in the United States. (Sorry about that!)
The "Four Corners" is the name given to the only point in the USA where four states meet, namely southeastern Utah, southwestern Colorado, northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico.The name is also often applied to the surrounding region.
The actual point where the four states meet is marked by a monument which can be accessed by a clearly marked short spur road from US160. The spot lies within a Native American reservation, and there is a small Native American market/trading post adjacent to the monument. - more at Four Corners Monument
Photos of Monument Valley, etc. can be found here.
------------------------I know I came here to say something but now I can't remember what it is. Hmm... something about travel... Mountain Time... one of the Four Corners... approximately 2 1/2 weeks from now... weird.
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June 3, 2004
Today's Quotes
What a splendid head, yet no brain.
- Aesop
Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.
- Ambrose Bierce
I believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.
- Arthur Hays Sulzberger
Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated.
- Robert S. McNamara
Nature abhors a vacuum. When a head lacks brains,
nature fills it with conceit.
- unknown
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June 1, 2004
A Year's Worth
NOTE: I thought of tossing this one into my handy-dandy refuse pail since it's a tad bit tardy, but then I said you-know-what to myself and, well, here it is. Read it or ignore. :-)
I completely overlooked the fact that this blog reached the one-year mark on April 29. Granted, it's only the format that's a year old, not my writing on the Web (which stretches back to '93.) As some of you know, I used to maintain a full-blown site years ago. Evenutally I didn't have time to maintain all of it and whittled it down to a single page. One day I received email from Adam Curry, who had kept up with my writing over the years and he suggested I get myself some good 'ol blog software. So, that single page morphed into this once I had Movable Type up and running. For a non-techie, I'd say that using MT and fully understanding it took me a year to grasp. Blogging has been an interesting excursion where I've continued to learn new things and come across new places to visit on the Web.
Visitors and Comments
The first comment left on my blog was from Adam, who inquired as to whether or not I had an RSS feed. Since it was Adam's suggestion I get blog, that means I came blame him for EVERYTHING. Right, Adam? ;-)
In the next comment, left by someone in the UK, I learned that the name "squipper" (the nickname given to me by Adam) is also a name for Royal Air Force
survival equipment fitters. (who knew?) Around that same time,
I had stumbled upon Zoe's blog My Boyfriend is a Twat, and it has been a barrel of
laughs (and monkeys) ever since.
It also means that we had an anniversary that we both conveniently overlooked (yeahyeahyeah, happy anniversary petunia.) Nevermind that
neither of us got flowers from the other, though she tells me I'm due for Belgian Waffles, and I suppose I should send her some little trinket from the jewelry
collection. A year gone by? Yeah, she's due. Petunia, run along now and pick something out for yourself.
I digress.
Thankfully Zoe took pity on my newbie status and graciously dropped off her cheeky, pouncy-poofy remarks on a regular basis. Kat @ Mostly Fluff, who came 'round these parts in the latter part of the year also hopped on the DMB bus... and she's still coming by! (Now THAT's a friend.) There were other folks who popped in, but they practiced the comment drive-by shooting -- that is, leaving a comment and bolting, never to be heard from again unless I wrote about them in a blog post. Eventually I had other new visitors and comments, but over time I noticed that my writing voice changed (as Greg @ Mr. Helpful can confirm, since he read my prior-to-blog writing.) It took a while before I figured out that my writing voice had become stifled.
Put Down the Mouse and Step Away from the Computer
There were a couple of times when I thought it best to shut down the blog and work on other things. The first time I took the blog down, a friend called me an hour later demanding to know where it went (hey, I didn't even know he read the blog!) The second time I didn't announce it, I just put a single page in its place along with a redirect and then the shit hit the fan.
That last poorly-executed attempt at blog execution resulted in numerous protests from those I've come to know over the last year in this space. Even the ever-elusive Land o' Lakes man himself wrote me an almost threatening email that by taking my blog down I made him sad and that I'd better do something about it. Who knew that a single story about a rubber dress would keep a reader forever? Greg @ Mr. Helpful inquired about my mental health, wondering if he could, indeed, be... uhm... helpful. And then there's Ozg, who sent a lengthy email but ultimately just wanted my archives back up. [insert big smile here.] Some looked to Zoe for answers, expecting her to write up a blog post about my departure when she didn't even know about it. NOTE: I could keep mentioning others who wrote me but then we'd be here all day. Obviously I gave in to their pleas and begging and put the blog back up. Even though I knew that I didn't have to post something every single day, and Lake Boy mentioned that, it took Wendy @ allseasons to remind me of it and really drive the point home.
Data, Thanks and Blah, Blah, Blah
So where do we go from here? Oh, I don't know. I've got some really terrific blog visitors and frequent commenters and am grateful for each one of them. They're all unique and talented
and witty and kindhearted people, and I'm very lucky to know them. From a data mining point of view of those on my blogroll:
- The majority are parents
- The majority are from countries outside the U.S.
- There are more men than women (IMHO, only the best female bloggers are listed.)
- Of those who responded to my "when is your birthday" post, most were born in September.
- The majority of comments made during the last year were from Zoe with Kat @ Mostly Fluff following in second.
So thanks for ...
the guffaws, talking with your mouth full of food, not answering my emails, not tipping me off to remove my email address from my blog and instead letting me just lay here
swimming in spam, surprising me when I least expected it (wipes tear from eye), keeping me on your blogroll even though I know you know that it doesn't get more
boring than this, and thanks to the rest of you lovely, talented and adorable folks who stop by from time to time. (You too Nick, since you love picking on me in your blog posts.) Grassy ass, it's been a trip!
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