Tomorrow is Free Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins, from 6-10.

How many people do you know who live in a state not bordering Texas, but have friends and/or other valid reasons for visiting not one, not two, not even three, but 4 different cities in that rather large state at least once within a year?

Hi, pleased to me ya. My name's Kristin.

The Garden Gnome Project. It's all for a good cause.

Girls Just Want to Be Mean

I don't remember things being this way when I was in junior high or high school, but perhaps I was just below the radar of the girls who acted this way.

Warning: Instant message content ahead:

Booboolina: Whatcha doing at home?
Friend: waiting for the repairman to come fix my dryer. sometime between 12 and 5. =\
Booboolina: you have a dryer at home? does that mean you also have a washer at home?
Friend: i do! i'm nifty that way. =)
Friend: at least, i'm nifty till it breaks and i have to hang dry everything. =(
Booboolina: but don't you feel all natural and scratchy and stuff for that?
Friend: yes. it's a very natural, organic experience. reminding me of why i avoid natural, organic experiences.

Yet another sentiment you don't hear too too often:

I've had the hots for Dick VanDyke for quite some time. He's lookin' good for a 78 year old. He can put his dentures in the same glass as mine any old time. (on my nightstand) He's a hottie.

.... Is it getting warm in here?

The Mousetrap, 04/27/02

Neato games: Orisinal : Morning Sunshine [also via RobbieB.com]

Holy snake pit, Indian Jones! [via RobbieB.com]

The Blind Date Blog front page is up, although none of the links are functional as of right now. Too bad I'm not single, I might feel guilty for not participating.

My friend Niklas and I were talking the other day and discovered a variation of a saying b/w the United States and Sweden.

He says, "You can't teach an old dog to sit."

I suppose Americans figure that's not inclusive enough, and we say "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

On a related note ... today is the day that they build big bonfires in Sweden, and everyone sings songs to herald the beginning of summer and the ending of winter (where did spring go?), and then they go drinking. He told me that you can spot the students because they wear hats like these, but more like these, with the little fringe-thingy hanging off the side.

I had an ex who was a botanist, and I loved being able to point at any flower, tree, bush, etc. and say, "What is that?" and be fairly certain that he would give an answer. Since knowing him, I've wanted that sort of knowledge about our natural world, but never found put the time in to learn. What a wonderful thing the internet is, then that there's a site that not only asks What Tree Is It? , but gives answers too. [via 50 Cups of Coffee]

Anniversary, what it means to some people to be married for 34 years.

Just to show I'm at work at 8:00 a.m.

Yay! Tom's been published!!

Shopping trips get very short when you forget your wallet.

This is what I'm talkin' about: Why are Librarians So Sexy? The answer to so many search engine referrals ...

{ fray day 6 } a celebration of true, personal stories has been scheduled for September 14. Be there, or be square.

And no one wants to be square.

Snail story that doesn't belong anywhere. Worth the read, as much a warning as a good piece of writing.

I've heard recently that a number of people can't read my site at work because their filters have found something offensive in my content. I'm not sure if it's the perceived bad-wordiness of my domain, or the referrers on the right, who seem to have a penchant for defying the modesty of the Olsen twins, but I apologize.

Next site I develop will have a blameless domain name and I'll never mention the Olsen twins. I promise.

Another opportunity to do something good: Rebuilding Together. [via Kevin]

So You've Decided to be Evil, an Evil Plan Generator. [via 3Bruces]

Happy Birthday to Heather. Go send her a card or something.

The damn shirt is here. I'm slightly mollified.

I'm leaving now.

:: Enigmatic Mermaid ::

Just a note to depict how very frustrated I am right now: I am in a wedding tomorrow. I have to be in Fresno tonight by 7:30 p.m.

I went to the David's Bridal in Milpitas on Wednesday to pick up my bridesmaid's dress. It fit fine, but there was a stain on the shoulder of the shirt. The alterations manager told me she would take care of it the next day if I wanted to drop in after 4. So I went in yesterday, after 4. There was no shirt. Someone had sent it off to the dry cleaners. The alterations manager told me to wait a few minutes, someone was going to get it and would be back in a few minutes. 45 minutes later, I told them I had to leave. I was supposed to be in the City in a short while, and now I would be stuck in traffic.

It shows how angry and frustrated I was that I bothered to mention this to them.

They said they would have someone deliver it to my office today, checking to see how early I got in, so they could deliver it as quickly as possible. I just got off the phone with them, and they have my shirt, but they haven't a clue where the woman is who was supposed to deliver it (presumably the district manager who had sent it off to the dry cleaners in the first place and then took over an hour returning it to the store while I waited).

I'm really pissed off right now. I'm trying to tell myself that it's not a big deal, to calm down, later on I'll laugh about this. But for some reason, I can't. I want my goddamned shirt, and I want to be on the road early enough to miss the 5 o'clock oh-my-god-it's-the-weekend-we-have-to-leave-town traffic.

Too much more of this and I'll probably write a letter, or something.

Languages of USA [via Nubbin]

And finally, last night's activities were attended by a few bloggers. Ed writes a much better review of the events than I ever could. For my part, let's just say that the food and drink were excellent, Kevin is a gracious host, ACWLPFB is a neato bookstore, and the author, for all his professed nervousness in front of a crowd, did an excellent job, both with the reading and fielding questions later on.

By the way, if you're feeling generous, I've added the book to my wishlist. You might get one for yourself while you're at it. It's a good 'un.

PS: Jish and I did not leave in a cloud of dust - we would have stood in line to get books signed if we'd thought of buying the book before the reading - deciding to buy the book when there are already 50+ people standing in line ... well, we hadn't had dinner yet and it was getting late. But I did manage to get Women, a book I've wanted since I saw the museum exhibit in January, for a mere $24, instead of the $75 it was selling for back then. There's many benefits to waiting.

The more sobering part of a Friday: Reaper

A Friday morning chuckle: Capital F

I am well-known for my non-confrontational nature. Truly. I own a truck with at least 10 vertical scrapes along the passenger side front panel because the jackass who used to park next to me when I lived in an apartment in San Francisco would open the door to his huge van till it hit my car, and then slide his equally huge bulk out of the van, causing the door to dig these marks into my paint job. I knew he did it. I even saw him do it. Did I say anything? Did I do anything? Nope. I just got real mad, worried my (then)boyfriend, and plotted what I would do if ... if ... if I had any spine whatsoever.

So yeah. I don't pick fights with people. I rarely even tell them when I'm upset with them. Not only that, I get nervous and upset when other people do anything remotely confrontational that doesn't even involve me! I can't watch fighting on tv for very long.

These last few years have been a learning experience for me in the business world. For the first time, I have a retirement plan, I have responsibility, and I go to meetings. Meetings are tough for me sometimes. I still haven't learned to stand up for myself unless someone else has already made my point for me. And when there's confrontation, it can make me curl up in my chair and hide my head (not quite figuratively).

Even when there's no confrontation, I get stressed out by meeting interactions. The one action that most bothers me is talking over someone else. In my world, this is extremely rude and shows a lack of respect for others' ideas. And if the other person gets too upset, they might turn into Rambo.

Today I was in a meeting, and three of the 5 people talking would not allow anyone else to finish a sentence.

I'm still a little tense.

A Paean to Grad Students

A piece on balance in graduate school. [via Brian] A very relevant piece, for those of us who endured it. Relevant to anyone, I think, who is trying to make more of themselves while also trying to maintain the day-to-day lives everyone else leads.

Personally, I had a hard time in grad school. A really really hard time. Returning to school meant moving away from everything I knew: my first apartment, my boyfriend, my college friends, a good job, and moving to a place I detested, enduring with practically no support network, hating the job I took because I thought I couldn't find anything better. And to top it all off, the boyfriend broke up with me about 2 months after I left.

Every damn week, I thought about quitting. I disliked school. Rather, I disliked homework. Classes were great. I liked going to class, listening and taking notes. It was the projects that always hung over my head that bothered me. I could never do anything without thinking "You know, there's that book/paper you should be reading/writing." Always. It leeched the pleasure out of everything I did for three years.

But I didn't quit, because quitting would have made all the pain I had gone through meaningless. That, my friends, was the only reason I stayed there. Not because I was passionate about the work, not because I even liked the work. But because I had already put too much effort into it to turn away.

I'm happy I stayed with it, and finished, but that last semester was the toughest of all. I was seriously depressed, constantly running through scenarios in my head in which I wouldn't have to finish, but it wouldn't be my fault. Most of them involved serious injury to myself, or a devastating illness. I was shocked later to look back and remember the thoughts that went through my head on a minute-to-minute basis during those months. And I had friends, a good job, and a family that supported me, both emotionally and financially. I cannot imagine what other people go through who don't have that.

People who go through graduate school deserve respect, regardless of their circumstances. Most of the people in my program were returning students - people who had been out of school for 15 years or more and wanted to improve their circumstances through education. Some of them drove from as far away as Sacramento to San Jose to attend classes. I had it easy by comparison, and I'm very aware of this. I wish them all well, and I hope that they felt the experience was worth the effort they put into it.

A course in Swedish cursing

This will come in handy around the office, where I'm surrounded by Swedish programmers who like to speak in their own language ... I'm sure to curse and rail in such a way that no one else in the office can understand them. [via DivingRocks]

I get my daily dose of harrumph! Don't you?

Tonight there's a Read and Feed, co-sponsored by CentralBooking.com at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books. Please come and see/hear all about Jonathan Safran Foer's debut novel, Everything is Illuminated.

More importantly, come and support CentralBooking.com, get some good grub, and feel all cultured and sh*t stuff.

Details:
A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books
601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
415-845-9495
Thursday, April 25, 6:45pm

In the words of Kevin, our intrepid leader, "Reception kicks off at 6:45, Jonathan hits the stage around 7:30, and the whole shmeer usually lasts until about 9."

First Lines, A Sort of Literacy Test

Fun, fun, fun! [via Twistypants]

James pointed to an article on Evolutionism Propaganda that defies words. Let me just give a tidbit here for ya:

Take for example Apple Computers, makers of the popular Macintosh line of computers. The real operating system hiding under the newest version of the Macintosh operating system (MacOS X) is called... Darwin! That's right, new Macs are based on Darwinism! While they currently don't advertise this fact to consumers, it is well known among the computer elite, who are mostly Atheists and Pagans. Furthermore, the Darwin OS is released under an "Open Source" license, which is just another name for Communism. They try to hide all of this under a facade of shiny, "lickable" buttons, but the truth has finally come out: Apple Computers promote Godless Darwinism and Communism.

There are many more gems from this stereotyping, unthinking, paranoid author, but I'll let you find them yourself.

Finally, someone gets my tagline.

How come everyone acknowledges the need for and the benefits of a specification document, but no one feels the need to write one? Or at least to order someone else to write one?

Presenting ... lil gabby brown - And the captions are the best (my favorite is the Spock one).

Another sentiment you don't hear often:

Let me change and mutate into an shriveled old man, but do it slowly so I can at least meet a woman to shrivel with me. Together, we shall eat prunes and read runes and sashay over dunes in white robes while not wearing underwear in glorious arid climates with many oases.

--TimO

We should all be so lucky to experience this (of course, if you're a woman, then you want to mutate into a shriveled old woman, finding a man to shrivel with you ... but the idea's the same). Good luck, Tim!

A solution to cell phone rudeness. I like it. [via JillMatrix]

Bummer. Dooce.com is no more. [via Tim]

As it seems as though many people around me are having kids, or are hooking up in anticipation of having kids, the new neato site of the day is raising hell : a new genre in parenting. I like it.

Change of a different sort is in the air. I'm taking steps to take control of my life, to make changes that matter to me. Hopefully, this will result in a healthier, wealthier (or at least not as in-debtier), more efficient, and better corresonded Booboo.

I got up and in to work an hour ealier than usual. This means I can leave an hour earlier at the end of the day. Which means I have more time to do other stuff. And I'm definitely ditching the cable.

In a state where we're sorta country (who thinks of California as country? But we are about as west as you can get on the mainland, and we do have horses and cows in abundance, hence the need for "cowpeople"), with a lot of wannabe cowpeople, the term transwestite applies very often here too.

Only it's not just during big events. Oh no. Go into any small town a sufficient distance from a city and you'll find people like this everywhere. All the time. Mostly at country bars. [via Shannon]

Something you don't hear very often:

.... I could delight in the notion that presidents, prime ministers, famous actors, brilliant scientists, talented writers, professionals, millionaires, etc... could see my face daily in their mail, if not lick and stick it on an envelope directly....
-- Min Jung

Via Ilana

"...Those who fight as terrorists rule as terrorists. People who deliberately target the innocent never become leaders who protect freedom and human rights. When terrorists seize power, they invariably set up the darkest of dictatorships--whether in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or Arafatistan..."
-- Benjamin Netanyahu, The Root Cause of Terrorism

Oh yeah, and this week, from April 22nd to 28th, is TV Turnoff Week.

Hard to do, as I'd already been thinking about several shows I want to see this week.

On the other hand, I really need to get to the gym and make use of that rather sizable fee that I give them every month. And my outside plants needs to be tended, and my room needs to be cleaned, and, and, and ...

Darn it. I was free of the tv for a long time ... I think I went back partly out of loneliness and partly because my apartment is so well-suited to watching tv - the couch and comfy chair are positioned directly in front of the tv, the light slants in without a glare on the screen, and, well, it's the first thing I think of doing when I get home from work.

No more. The tv will not be turned on this week. I have too much else to do with my life to spend it in front of the boob-tube (a term my mother uses often).

A fascinating overview of vintage cigarette & tobacco ads, aptly named "Truth in Advertising". [via Twistypants]

Hoopla is back, sorta. Hopefully not to be sold out from under her again: The Historical Present

As Dave says, "Weird."

Don't ask, don't tell, in action. And congratulations to the happy couple. Sounds like it was a great time!

I saw an Indian movie this weekend, Lagaan. I don't think it was supposed to be a historical account of anything but the trials and tribulations of the Indian population during the British occupation, but it did educate me in one respect. I now know how the game of cricket is played. This makes me feel better about the game, as I used to see it as just a wimpy form of baseball. Good movie.

I'm still wondering how to feel about the fact that my announcement, such as it was, garnered a mere 21 comments (thanks, you guys!), while his got him 61.

I guess this is what it means to date an internet rock star.

Hey, wait. Does that make me a groupie?

I haven't even read anything yet, but I love Geekafied.com. As someone who'd like a new design in these here parts, I love this one.

Anil has updated the KICK page and it looks great. The only thing I'd ask for next year is a sunscreen sponsorship. You know, for those of us who forget to bring it with us.

Apparently, I also peaked during the 80s. Funny that, I thought the 90's were my best decade. [via Derek]

After reading this, I'm going to add Andre to my A-List.

FlightTracker is my friend.

The blog about the blog:

I find myself without a darn thing to say today. That happens when there's nothing to complain about. All is well. More than well, in fact.

Swell.

So, what would you like to talk about?

The Mousetrap

I was a plum, now I'm a raisin. Raisins are sweeter.

Dr. Kamaraj Answer's

Sample:

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 06:00:57 -0500
Name: sam, Age: 21, Gender: M, Place:
Question: 5
I have one ball. There is any problem in sex in future life ?

Answer

No.

[via Davezilla]