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August 31, 2004

Rocket Jones: A Cornucopia of Ted

I enjoy reading the 'about' section of others' blogs and web sites. One of the more enjoyable reads I've come across is from Ted @ Rocket Jones. Here are a few tidbits:

• I’ve had my rights read to me several times. Once on my back with a police dog standing on my chest.
• On our first date, I took my wife to see the Blues Brothers. She thought I was weird because I watched the movie.
• After the movie, we bought wine and I played guitar and sang to her under the stars until dawn.
• I punched a doctor once. I’ve been thrown out of doctor’s offices twice.
• Once I helped kidnap a bride coming down the steps of a church. We grabbed her, threw her in our car, and spent the afternoon driving from bar to bar and avoiding the groom. We dropped her back off at the church that evening, drunk off her ass. (Yes, one of us knew her)
• I prefer brunettes or redheads. My wife is a blonde.
• My wife knows me so well that she can point out women that she knows I'll find especially attractive.

Read more about Ted here.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

August 30, 2004

Here and There

This week:

August 30-September 3: New York, New York
Republican National Convention
Here's a link to the CNN Convention Blog

August 30-September 6: Black Rock Desert, Nevada
Burning Man Festival
The Vault of Heaven is the theme at this free-form participatory art event.

September 3-September 5: Lenox, Massachusetts
Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Performers include Harry Connick Jr., Savion Glover and Dave Brubeck.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (6)

August 28, 2004

The Truth About Blogging

"...blogging is like renovating: you find it endlessly fascinating, but no one else gives a shit." - Simon @ Simon World

Simon offers up helpful hints for those new to blogging in Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. It's an entertaining and witty must-read, whether you're a veteran blogger, a yearling or a newbie (or just curious about blogging.) (Spotted @ G'day Mate)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)

August 27, 2004

Love Note

If you have my weblog listed on your linkin' luv list, please change the URL from www.squipper.com/weblog TO http://dustingmybrain.com

grassy ass. ;-)

Posted by me, of course!

Links of Amusement

You know you're from___ when...

New York City
upstate New York
New Jersey
Houston

Britain
Canada
Sydney

(complete list)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

I See Naked People

"This is New York, of course we have naked people on Eighth Avenue." - Mayor Michael Bloomberg

A group of AIDS activists stripped naked in front of the [Republican National] convention site, demanding that President Bush make good on his promise to help HIV-positive people in the world's poorest countries. Two clothed members of ACT UP climbed atop a media van parked on West 33rd Street, across from Madison Square Garden, and held a sign reading "W: Drop the Debt. Stop AIDS." Then nine others, standing in the street, removed all of their clothes; a tenth protested in her underwear. Police said they arrested 11 people. They were variously charged with public lewdness, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment. The men and women stood in the buff for about 10 minutes, locking arms and blocking West 33rd Street as they chanted, "Drop the Debt. Stop AIDS." The same slogan was stenciled in black on their bodies. - Yahoo

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

Photoblog Status

Though I've yet to work out the kinks in the photoblog archives (links removed in their entirety until I decide whether or not to have them,) I've got the photoblog and its RSS feed in working order.

Also removed from the page is the list of recent posts and categories. The comments function remains in off mode... at least for a while, but I did put my Gmail address on the page, which means if you feel the urge to rave about one of the photos, you can email me your sunshine. :-)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

August 26, 2004

Damned American Bastard Idiots

From the 'tell us how you really feel' department...

Updated 8:11 p.m. See CNN excerpt below:

It was damned bastards last year, "idiots" this year.

Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war. She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defence system. "We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators. Parrish, who had to apologise for her "bastards" remarks last year, at first denied using the term idiots, and when reporters pointed out they had her remarks on tape, she said: "I don't mean Americans are idiots."

"The world respects Canada. If we were to join this then it will be giving credibility to what they're doing," she said. Parrish then begged reporters not to use the remarks: "Please guys don't put that on tape," she said. "I already got into trouble once.... Really, please, I've had enough trouble." Reuters[UK]

... and this excerpt from CNN, quoting Reuters:

Four hours later, however, she hardened her line.
"The last one was a really stupid thing to say," she told Reuters. "Bastards is an inappropriate word. Idiots is a term people use in everyday conversation," she told Reuters. "They tortured people in Iraq, they (the Iraqis) have no weapons of mass destruction. Could somebody explain to me whether you think they're idiots or geniuses?" The top spokeswoman for former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Francoise Ducros, had to resign in 2002 for calling President George W. Bush a moron. Chretien's successor, Prime Minister Paul Martin, has pledged to put relations with Canada's largest trading partner on a warmer footing. Martin said after Parrish's latest remarks that the debate about missile defense, intended to guard against attacks from what the United States calls rogue states, was "very, very important."

"There is no room in this debate for that kind of language," he told reporters, waving his hand dismissively. "You're going to get very strongly held views but let me tell you those strongly held views have got to be expressed in language that is acceptable." But Parrish refused to back down. "That's Mr. Martin's opinion," she told Reuters. "No, I'm not going to apologize.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (5)

100th Birthday of the Banana Split

I love banana splits but haven't had one in a long, long time. Recently I've had a mega craving for one but have managed to sidestep it and forget about it. Then I read that today is the 100th birthday. Dang! Now I'm tempted to go buy the fixings and have myself one for dinner... ;-)

The traditional banana split: An oblong glass dish holds a banana sliced lengthwise. The banana cradles a generous scoop of chocolate ice cream, a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of vanilla. Chocolate syrup (or fudge topping) is poured over the chocolate ice cream, strawberries over the strawberry ice cream and crushed pineapple over the vanilla. Then comes the whipped cream. Next, a bright red maraschino cherry is dropped on each scoop. Chopped nuts are optional, but the best ones would have pecans. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

August 25, 2004

This and That

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Al @ Fulton Chain. Al has been quietly working behind the scenes to get this blog up and running for me. He's got the patience of a saint and I am extremely grateful for all his help. Thank you so very much Al!

Note: Al emailed me these instructions: "take that stupid thank-you off your page. I didn't do anything..." to which I replied, "with all due respect Al, please stop being a dick." He is just way too humble, and unlike other folks who make it look like they've done ALL the work themselves, I believe in giving credit where it's due, so there! Meanwhile, back at the farm...

Tweaks
There's still some tweaking to be done -- the archives for the blog as well as work on the photoblog, but like anything else in this space, it's a continual work in progress. With that in mind, please bear with me as I know some things still don't work properly. The blog is generated via Movable Type 3.01D and I'm still getting used to using this version of MT. Don't hesitate to let me know what isn't working or showing up as well as what browser you're using.

Thank You Very Little
One more thing to mention -- one of the more irritating things about the hosting company I used for the squipper.com weblog and photoblog was when I changed my password. I changed it and was subsequently locked out of my own files and they've yet to fix it. I had planned to place a redirect from squipper to this blog, but I can't do that as long as I'm locked out of my control panel. And no surprise, my emails to the hosting company generated 10 responses from them that all say the same thing -- we'll let you know when it's fixed. Yup. And I won't be sitting here holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)

The Poop

Two books that are perfect gifts for some male friends of mine:

The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts and Everyone Poops

Speaking of poop ...
Men seem to be enamored with theirs. At least a few of my male friends have commented to me more than once about the bodily science projects they had produced. (Way too much information!)

I don't get the fascination over one's own excrement. One can't help but wonder if men think that farting and pooping is a sport where it's necessary to report the statistics at any given moment to anyone who's within earshot. Are points awarded for sound level, odor, length and girth? I'm sure you guys have come up with your own rules and categories. Ew.

It seems to be a male sport where admiration for one's toilet exploits is the ultimate achievement. And yes, us women know all about this secret society of olympian poop performers, whether we want to or not.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)

Hey Man, a Hippie Dictionary

Groovy...

The Hippie Dictionary by John Bassett McCleary

The book is chock-full of pointed editorializing, slang and swear words culled from the vernacular of the 1960s and 1970s hippie youth, who questioned authority and created their own counterculture. ... the book's entry for the term "hippie" says, "The true hippie believes in and works for truth, generosity, peace, love and tolerance. The messengers of sanity in a world filled with greed, intolerance and war."

If McCleary sounds enamored with the era, it's because he is. A self-described aging hippie, he experienced an epiphany at the age of 24 -- during 1967's "summer of love.""I saw Janis Joplin sing 'Ball and Chain' at the Monterey Pop Festival' and it changed my life," he said. After that, he took to sporting striped bell-bottoms, experimenting with drugs and sex and hitting hippie haunts around the world. - Reuters

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1)

Escape from the Republican National Congestion

Thousands of New Yorkers will work from home or leave the city to avoid next week's Republican convention and the tightest security in the history of U.S. political party gatherings. Memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are still fresh and some residents and workers have chosen to avoid the street closings, traffic congestion and police searches that city authorities decreed to secure the Madison Square Garden venue.

During the convention, the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security are responsible for the Garden, which sits above Pennsylvania Station, the busiest in the country with 500,000 daily train and subway passengers. To meet this additional security headache, some suburban train services have been changed or diverted and police plan to search every train. They will deploy up to 200 hundred bomb-sniffing dogs at the convention and other city buildings. At different times of the day, more than 20 blocks on the main avenues and streets around the Garden will be closed. - Reuters

I keep forgetting that this is standard operating procedure now, the new normal.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)

August 24, 2004

Here, Have a Cocktail

Welcome to my Tuesday brunch. Here, help yourself to a glass of Merlot, a can of beer, soda or juice. While you're busy moseying 'round these parts, feel free to indulge in some grapes, seductively offered on sterling silver platters by my houseboy and housegirl.

For your appetizer today, I've decided on slivers of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese imported from Italy. Lunch will offer up the choice of barbeque (for those who go by the nickname of 'bubba') ribs, chicken and coleslaw imported fresh from Rudy's in Austin, Texas, hamburgers smaller than the size of your hand, or pizza from the local pizza joint. I suppose I could have prepared some broiled salmon, but really. I do have other things to do these days, like getting my hair cut and going for a manicure and pedicure. Then there's the massage... I digress.

For the ladies, a lusciously large fresh salad with tiny morsels of chicken should satisfy your hunger. We'll finish it all off with a dessert selection of fresh berries with a homemade whipped cream topping, gelato or creme brulee'.

Don't rush off after dessert though. There's more wine and beer and non-alcoholic beverages to inhale, and both Zoe and Kat have promised to do a fan dance for the guests. ;-)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (10)

Hot Steamy Nights

Welcome, Denita. We aim to please on this blog.

As I lie on my bed, thinking about you, I feel this strong urge to grab you and squeeze you, because I can't forget last night.

You came to me unexpectedly during the balmy and calm night, and what happened in my bed still leaves a tingling sensation in me.

You appeared from nowhere and shamelessly, without any reservations, you lay on my naked body...you sensed my indifference, so you applied your hungry mouth to me without any guilt or humiliation, and you drove me near crazy while you drained me.

Finally, I went to sleep.

Today when I woke up, you were gone, I searched for you but to no avail, only the sheets bore witness to last night's events. My body still bears faint marks of your enthusiastic ravishing, making it harder to forget you.

Tonight I will remain awake waiting for you...

... you fucking mosquito.

Resurrected from my August 2003 archives. Original source via Zoe @ MBIAT

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Rocket Chicks

My name is on a rocket. Kat's (Mostly Fluff) name is on it also. No shit. Ted @ Rocket Jones writes:

I needed to build a rocket for a certain size of motor that I fly because everything in the fleet was either too light or too heavy. Besides, I needed to say thanks to some very special ladies.

Ted asked us to be Hot Jets cheerleaders for his online fantasy football team, and both Kat and I said yes, along with some other ladies he recruited. He built the rocket, put the name of each Hot Jets cheerleader on it, and will launch the rocket on Saturday for its maiden flight. How cool is that! Thanks Ted!

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 23, 2004

The Things I Find

I was going through some paperwork today and came across an email from '95 that I printed out. One of my geek pals sent it to me upon learning I'd be working with Adam Curry. Here's what the email said.

By the time you get this, you will be at work. Here are the do's and don'ts in case you have forgotten:

• Leave the boys in the computing department alone. They are not your playthings.
• Leave your cleavage at home. This is a reputable firm, not a Vox* meet.
• Steal lots of pens, staplers and stationery. Remember you have friends who supported you.
• Brush up on your coffee skills in case someone asks.*
• Stop cracking that gum.
• Remove those layers of makeup. We don't want to scare the clients away.
• Please do not punch Mr. Curry when he calls you honey.* That could affect your future.
• Tune yourself into the office politics because there will be.
• Feel free to call on me to remove your enemies. See previous.
• Don't forget to put pictures on your desk of A., C., JL., and myself.*
• Remember that just because you are blonde, it doesn't mean you don't like math.
• Have a nice day.

* Vox meet as in Mindvox, the BBS I was a member of at the time.
* I guess he thought I'd be the company waitress. Heh.
* Adam never called me honey. Squip, yes. Honey, no.
* My geek pals and their nicknames, which would only make sense to us.

Funny how I print out emails like that. Humor, or some pearl of wisdom, and even some with enough dirt in them that I could... well I could, but I don't plan on it anytime soon. Let's just say it's all in print and I'll leave it at that. Some of those emails are terrific fodder for a book. And yes, nothing is impossible. :-)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)

August 15, 2004

Oh Joy

... oh thank you very little.

Update:
... comments aren't showing up/registering here either.

In an absolutely splendid turn of events, I received an email this morning alerting me to the fact that this blog was generating a blank page. It's not as if I'd been fidgeting with this page at all today. Hadn't touched it, didn't go near it at all. So what had been here earlier today (yesterday's entries and other posts) had been replaced by a blank white page. *shrug*

Then there's the email problem. Since the beginning of this month, I've not received one piece of email to the squipper dot com email address. Before that happened, I'd average at least 200 pieces of spam per day (not that I miss spam) along with other email. Now I don't get any email to that mail account.

I'm really tired of emailing Wolverine Hosting to ask them to fix the email account. I'm weary of waiting for some sort of response from them. In the big picture of life, this is petty crap and other things are much more important; however, it is petty, annoying little crap.

So... ARGH!!!!!!!! Ahhh.... Now that I've screamed, I feel much better now. ;-)

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (2)

August 14, 2004

Today's Quote

"Iím sick of investing time in deleting 'comments' from poker sites, genitalia enhancement sites, and genitalia stimulation sites. Not that Iím opposed to genitalia stimulation. I just think it should be returned to cheap motel rooms, where it belongs." - Dale Keiger @ scribble, scribble, scribble

Posted by me, of course!

Blackout: August 2003

A year ago today: rolling blackouts.

Computerworld: One Year Later, IT Prepares for Next Disaster

The Committee on Energy and Commerce: Task Force Statement

Shaw Power Technologies' Analyzing the Northeast Blackout 2003

Posted by me, of course!

Hot Steamy Nights

As I lie on my bed, thinking about you, I feel this strong urge to grab you and squeeze you, because I can't forget last night.

You came to me unexpectedly during the balmy and calm night, and what happened in my bed still leaves a tingling sensation in me.

You appeared from nowhere and shamelessly, without any reservations, you lay on my naked body...you sensed my indifference, so you applied your hungry mouth to me without any guilt or humiliation, and you drove me near crazy while you drained me.

Finally, I went to sleep.

Today when I woke up, you were gone, I searched for you but to no avail, only the sheets bore witness to last night's events. My body still bears faint marks of your enthusiastic ravishing, making it harder to forget you.

Tonight I will remain awake waiting for you...

... you fucking mosquito.

Resurrected from my August '03 archives. Original source via Zoe @ MBIAT

Posted by me, of course!

Weather

Charley, Prince of Gales and other items from a Slate summary of what's in U.S. newspapers today.

Latest Charley status can be found @ the National Hurricane Center.

Posted by me, of course!

August 12, 2004

Juicing the Image

My hand's been slapped more than once for juicing my photographs via Photoshop. Ever since I discovered the curves tool, I really haven't been able to keep my hands off it. It's a drug for me, a dreamy tool that instantly lightens or darkens an image. Outside of the obvious uses for this tool, I've used it for experimenting, and include an example of such a test below. In this image, I used the curves tool to deepen the overall image, which wasn't bad in its original format but a bit too light. The photo was taken about 15 minutes before the sun really began to set, and the evening was both hazy humid and windy.

After infusing the photograph with curves juice, I often end up with a nasty bout of pixelation. Since I'm still a newbie when it comes to using Photoshop, I'm sure you photo mavens out there know how to avoid this (yes, I realize that if I don't use the curves tool at all the photo won't end up with pixel chunks) ... however, I'm interested in knowing other ways around that problem. Regardless, I still like the end result for this particular photograph.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (5)

The 5-Question Game

I played this game a while ago and found it again on DearieMe. Here's how it works: leave a comment that you want me to interview you. I'll email you 5 questions which you must post and respond to on your blog/site. That's all there is to it. If you don't have your own blog/site and still want to be interviewed, leave me a comment and I'll post the questions and responses here.

Here are the interview questions Pogo (well, what SHOULD I call you? wink, wink) sent to me while I was out of town and my email and blog were unavailable:

How did you end up where you are now?
I boarded a plane from NYC to Detroit, got off in Detroit, boarded a plane to Austin. Voila!
(I'm sure that's not what you meant when you asked.)

Have you got to where you want to go yet?
Not yet. I still need to get to Belgium and Greece (and the UK... I recall something about cocktails with Tom aka Dragon.)
(I'm sure that's not what you meant when you asked.)

What's the daftest thing you've ever said?
Oh, the pressure of that question! There are so many to choose from, I think other folks can answer that. Feel free to step up and comment, those of you who have heard me say daft little ditties.

Tell us the recipe for your favourite homemade dish
Sorry, my recipe for awesome meatballs is under non-disclosure. :-)

What was the best musical experience of your life?
When I was in the elementary school chorus and learned I was the tone-deaf one. :-)

Posted by me, of course!

August 11, 2004

Yeah Whatever

When words escape there's just no yanking them back, is there.

And speaking of words, Greg @ Mr. Helpful has succumbed to the pressures of comment spammers and disabled his comments.

Updated...
I suppose after a tremendous amount of thought and pondering, Greg chose not to give in to dastardly spammers and enabled the comments function again. Meanwhile...

I'm just about done with turning off the comments function on my photoblog, as it's been hammered with comment spam also. As Greg put it, easy come, easy go.

Blah blah blah, and that's all I have to say right now.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)

August 9, 2004

So What Else is New

The squipper email address is still not operational for some bizarre reason - but thankfully I've got other email addresses that work just fine.

The blog is (obviously) back up but I've been working on the other one here and there.

The photoblog is also up and running again, though I noticed that the dashed border boxes I'd put in around the photos were out of alignment. I've no idea what I put in the code to make one border much larger than the previous - but I made an error somewhere along the lines, putting the border box on steroids. ;-) I removed the borders until I return to it and make it work. At times I don't mind trying to figure out the code and tags, at others I just have no patience for it. Sheesh.

Other than that, it's just another day.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (3)

A Great Read

Joe Larson's Velvet Dreams.

Posted by me, of course!

Today's Observation

The "cloak" you've been wearing is see-through.

Posted by me, of course!

August 8, 2004

Futzing Yet Again

I scrapped the index and stylesheet code because I couldn't get it to work the way I wanted. Granted, the links would look much better to the far right at the top of the blog body, but I'm weary of playing with tags. For my next trick, I'll try to make it all validate after fixing all the things that need proper repair.

And why am I doing this again?

Posted by me, of course!

August 6, 2004

Testing

Trying it on for size.

Hmm... clean, neat, just the way I like it. Would be a shame to have to add a nav bar to the top of the blog box, but I think it would be a good idea (and a good place) in order to leave the sides virginal. :-)

Posted by me, of course!

August 5, 2004

Just FYI...

What a fun time! Not.

Just so you know what's not been going on 'round these parts, I returned from Texas on Monday to find the blog gone *poof* and all my email. As of this morning, my email has returned (though I do wonder where the gazillion pieces of spam are, as I've not been able to get any email since last week) and I can access the blog as long as I don't type in the 'www' ...

Be that as it may, once I've got all my files backed up I'll be moving the blog - not only to a different host (thanks again Al!) but also under a new domain name of dustingmybrain.com ... so I'll keep y'all informed once everything is done and moved to its new oceanfront villa.

In the meantime, if you sent me email in the last week or so and didn't receive a response or it bounced, my apologies. I've been doing the aggravation dance with my hosting company for the last few days and hopefully will be caught up with everything RSN. For those of you who have checked here on a regular basis, thanks for hanging in there! I do appreciate it and as I wrote, hope to be back in full swing soon. Who knows... maybe I'll have some additional tidbits to post later on. :-)

P.S. Thanks also to Oz, who dug into the mysterious disappearance of my hosting company and posted a request for any/all info on his blog.

Posted by me, of course! | Comments (4)