Oh, and by the way, all you United States folks: postage rates go up to $.37 on Monday.

I just wrote up a bunch of greeting cards to use up the remainder of my old stamps. *sigh* Pretty soon, it'll be cheaper to call someone, or just drive across the country to see them, than it will be to write them a letter.

So much for motivation. Not to say I didn't get stuff done, but it wasn't the stuff that I had in mind, such as revising the resume and submitting it somewhere. Instead, my apartment is the cleanest it's been since I moved in. And I visited some friends. And went to a comedy show last night. All of you who considered going and didn't really missed out on something fun. Oh well, maybe next month.

As for watching The Dark Crystal, we learned that the pod people are modelled on potatoes and Augra is "so ugly she's beautiful," according to Frank Oz, who was under her skirts the whole time. Oh, and Jim Henson sounded even more like Kermit than in the Labyrinth video. Very disconcerting.

Motivation has finally hit. Stuff will get done today, darnit!

So this Friday, a friend of mine is doing a stand-up show at Caffe Sapore at 8 p.m. He's great, I don't think there's a cover (although I could be wrong about this), and it looks as though the place has more to offer than alcohol. Please come and have a good time!

Six inches forward, and five inches back, I've got an angy inch.

You know, I thought that was a children's cartoon for the longest time. Imagine my surprise.

We saw Minority Report yesterday and it was good too, although the story needed just a bit of work. For instance, what about his security clearance always being valid? And that bit with the doctor ... kinda anti-climactic, eh? But very exciting. I haven't jumped so much during a movie in a long, long time.

It is most alarming to turn on the ol' computer in the morning and find out that your site is all screwed up. I'm sorry to anyone who encountered the 5% column on the left (you know, where all the content is), and the 95% "sidebar" on the right. Hopefully that won't be happening again.

Samtosa Yoga: Neighborhood yoga in a relaxed environment

Samtosa Yoga opens July 1st, 2002

Samtosa Yoga offers Ashtanga-based and freestyle vinyasa yoga in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Our mission is to provide a non-intimidating space where newcomers and experienced yogis alike can build core strength, increase cardiovascular health, and reduce stress.

I tell ya, if I could afford it, I'd go.

That Maggie has a real gift. Chagrin and Men I Have Loved had me laughing with tears in my eyes, and nodding as I related to her experiences. A treat.

Jishanoo and I went to see the skulls exhibit at California Academy of Sciences yesterday. It was fascinating ... may have to go again on the first Wednesday in July, since it'll be free that time.

Anyway, we wandered into the other parts of the museum and found the aquarium. We went into the roundabout, which is way cool. The point of this post? As we watched the fish swim around and around and around, we overheard a child exclaim "It's just like a movie!"

Other highlights: tide pools, penguins, an awesome exhibit of x-rays in the Department of Ichthyology, and the Far Side Gallery.

Pictures, as always, will come when I get the time and bandwidth to post them.

Speaking of smoking as a social activity, Ed is quitting:

I don't entirely bemoan those who partake of the habit. Indeed, having recently been a member of the Smoking Club, it's very easy to see the attitude of the smoker a few hours from casting my own die. But I will say that I now realize that smoking was probably one of the stupidest and pointless things I've ever done. Hopefully, six months from now and even a lifetime down the road, I'll be one of the 5% who managed to quit forever rather than die trying.

Good luck, Ed.

You know, there really needs to be something that non-smokers/drinkers can do to facilitate socializing with total strangers.

Let me explain.

The man and I went to a party last night. We walked in, he got a drink and we went outside to get out of the crowd. I was not feeling my most social, and I didn't know anyone there except Jish and one of the hosts, who was running around managing this 200-300 person affair. What it came down to was that as soon as we got there, I was ready to leave. But for friendship sake, we had to hang out for at least an hour before bailing, so we found our "party spot" somewhere near the door and the two kegs that had been set up outside.

And despite not knowing a soul, and making little or no effort, we got to talk to a fabulous group of Frenchmen, and a couple of other partiers simply because we were right next to the alcohol and near among all those who had come outside to smoke.

And my point is that there is nothing like smoking and drinking for meeting people. I hang out with a lot of smokers, and they are always meeting people who need a cigarrette or a light or just someone to talk to as they freeze their asses off (or maybe that's just in California). I'm not sure that drinking in and of itself is such a help, but camping out next to the source of the alcohol is certainly a good tactic. Even better if you have some in your hand, as then people can ask you about the taste/source/type/etc.

Those of us who don't drink much or smoke simply don't have these ready-made situations in their lives. They have to rely on an outgoing personality, the ability to make smalltalk, or ... or ... or something else. Oh well. Any suggestions?

Le pachyderm shopping

Wow. M&M's has a great site where you can see which country voted for which colors in the new color contest. Try the "Choose a Country" option, it zooms in on the country you choose. [via Brad]

We were discussing our first experiences with the web last night, and it surprised me how clearly I could remember my first time.

It was the summer of '96, and I was trying to prepare for grad school by learning more about computers (and by that I mean, learning more about them than how to use the word processing program and play Minesweeper and Solitaire). One of my roommates was actually online, and I'd heard a lot about this here internet and world wide web and such and decided it was as good a time as any to see what the hype was about. So I asked her if she'd let me play with her computer for a bit. She sat me down, dialed in, pulled up a browser and said "there you go."

I sat there like an idiot, staring at the screen. The concept of hyperlinks wasn't so hard to grasp, but the idea that people spent days sitting in front of computers, just reading seemed pretty idiotic to me. I expected it to do stuff, wow me to no end. But all I saw was pages and pages of text. Hell, I figured, if all I wanted was to read, I have at least 3 bookshelves full of stuff I enjoy reading, and I can do it on the couch, or in bed, or anywhere else I wanted to. I didn't have to sit here, always conscious of how much time I was spending, reading from a screen.

I was unimpressed to say the least. Which is why it seems so amusing that sitting at a computer and reading is about all I want to do these days.

On that note, I'm going outside now. Because I can. And I have a lot of books I haven't read yet.

Happy birthday to Suzan (yesterday)! The party was fab, the guests were wonderful, and the food was pretty good. You picked a good 'un, Kevin.

You know, I criticize others for preferring security over freedom (hence Shrub's ludicrously high approval rating and the continuing errosion of our freedoms in this country), but at the same time, I find myself failing to live fully or originally, without the strength of will or motivation to do much about it. I had hoped that this "time off" would force me to examine what I really want to do with my life, but all I seem to be doing is wondering what kind of job can I get, not what do I want to get. And I don't know how to break out of the need for the security only a bi-weekly or monthly paycheck can give me. *sigh*

Well, when it gets to be its worst, I guess I can look at Sarah's list of what she doesn't want her life to be, and know that someone somewhere knows what she wants.

The special features of the Labyrinth DVD are fascinating. So far, we have discovered that one of the choreographers used "black moves" for the dance sequences, "little people" played the parts of the larger puppets, they used 18 motors and 5 people for Hoggle, Terry Jones wrote the screenplay, Cheryl McFadden (yes, Dr. Crusher on the Star Trek: The Next Generation series) did most of the choreography (she also choreographed The Dark Crystal)and lots of other cool cool stuff. Wow.

Oh, and when Jim Henson narrates parts of the "making of" documentary, he sounds like Kermit.

Susan found some great links that outline what the real problems in this country are:

Masturbation, Americans For Purity, and figs.

We went to see the The Galaxy Girls last night. Despite knowing it'd be a late night, I figured I didn't have a job to go to today*, so what difference would it make?!

Anyway, it was a great show. The theme was One Hit Wonders, and we got to hear a lot of great songs performed in a way that I'm sure not many people would imagine. But you can't help but appreciate the talent and show(wo)manship that goes into each number.

The blogging contingent was strong, with Jish, Bill, Min Jung, Heather, Lance, and Todd there to clap and yell and throw tips up on stage. It was fun. You should go to the next show. It's worth the effort.

*Btw, I will stop feeling sorry for myself pretty soon here. I promise.

Is it possible to describe how weird it is to be cleaning up your desk while your boss? looks on as he tries to install Linux on the machine next to you?

No. I don't think so.

25 Things That I Find Good, not necessarily in this order [Inspired by Sarah, who was inspired by Sarah]

1. My honey
2. My dog
3. Thanksgiving
4. Pansies
5. John Wayne
6. Big tall clouds
7. Sprouting seeds
8. Finishing household chores and seeing a clean house
9. Daffodils
10. A good job done painting both fingernails and toenails
11. A 4 year old's giggle of delight
12. An old movie and some popcorn
13. My grandma's house
14. Being able to see the changes in depth of the sea by the colors on a bright and sunny day
15. A good deed done for itself
16. Naps
17. Google
18. Time spent with good friends
19. Non-profit organizations
20. Community
21. Swimming pools
22. Hummingbirds
23. Old pictures of my family
24. Crossword puzzles
25. Snailmail

Yes, there are more, but I have a lot on my mind right now and will fill these in later. Alligator.

The Struggle For Gay Rights is a Struggle for the Rights of All

The fact is that most victims of such crimes--gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, male or female--aren't lucky enough to live to tell about it. Matthew Shepard wasn't, but for whatever reason, I was. After nearly three years of struggling with what happened to me and the reasons it did, I thought this important week in the struggle for rights--not just for gays, but for all humankind--presented the perfect opportunity to share my own story of a severe violation of those rights. That violation was based in large part on the perceptions of two attackers who chose only to see me for what they assumed I was because of the place I was in. That's all it took for me to become a target, my actual sexual orientation notwithstanding.

As a result of most states' stance on gay rights, hate crimes will continue to invade our society like a cancer, as will the lingering perception that those who look, talk, walk or speak differently don't deserve to live under the same protections that many of us take for granted. Frighteningly, the chance that you will experience an incident similar to or more tragic than the one I survived is a fact of your life and the lives of your children and loved ones. If nothing else, think about that this week, then decide if the struggle for basic human rights for all is worthwhile.

[via Michael]

Jill has a meme going: Five Six things that pick me up when I'm feeling blue.

1. A footrub. On both feet.
2. Crossing Delancey
3. A one-on-one, no-looking-at-the-clock-to-see-when-it's-time-to-go conversation with any one of my 4 closest friends.
4. Baking chocolate chip cookies.
5. An afternoon with my grandma
6. My honey

So sweet.

My brother used to wake up like that. But we didn't handle it half so well.

*yawn* Not starting this whole unemployed thing very well. I put Matrix in to watch at 10 p.m., not my brightest moment. But my kitchen is clean and my nails are painted, and that's what counts, right? Tired of whining - that last post makes me cringe with embarrassment. But there are lots of comments, so I won't erase it. Just try to get past it.

So, um, yeah. Next time, try not to freak out your neighbors by using some sort of blowing device that makes sparks fly up from the bbq you're having in the middle of the apartment complex (read: right next to my porch), will ya?

And remember, there is no spoon. Roger out.

PS
Happy Flag Day!

Well, I feel like I've been rendered jobless today. I may be brought back into the world of full pay and bonuses within a short time. But no one's sure about that, despite everyone desperately wanting it to be so. This is just the kind of limbo that can rob me of all motivation and leave me truly unemployed at the end of the 4 weeks of enforced "vacation" that I now have.

I must admit, I knew this was coming, despite the shiny veneer of denial that I have maintained in front of everyone for many a month. Even so, the more I think about it, the more depressing it becomes, and the more I think about having to find another job, the worse I feel.

However, I am determined to take this as an unlooked-for (to say the least) opportunity to examine my goals and ideals and search out a job that can maybeperhapshopefully provide some satisfaction in those areas.

In the meantime, I'll be cleaning my personal stuff off this computer, working on the site, playing games, and making lists of what I have to do with all the free time I'll have next week. And the week after. Ugh ... and the two weeks after that.

Oh, and if I've bought tickets for anyone recently, it would be great to get the money for those as soon as possible. The credit cards still need to be paid, regardless of my career situation. Thanks!

Happy Birthday to Leia!!! You should buy her something, or at least send her a card.

It's important for those of us who rely on visual corrective devices to get through our days to remember where the hell we put those devices the night before when we ill-advisedly applied a mud mask right before we were going to go to bed and couldn't wear them while we did the crossword and waited for said mask to dry and so put them down in some place other than the usual spot they end up in when we retire for the evening.

Very important.

For the first time since I went to Ireland back in June of 1988, I am up on the World Cup scores, especially Sweden's standings. I can go all day in ignorance, hearing and immediately forgetting the scores on the radio, but I can't pretend not to hear my co-workers re-hash how wonderfully both Sweden and Argentina played last night (the game started at 11 p.m.), and how happy they are that their team is going on to the next round.

Dodge Magazine #2 [via RileyDog]

52 projects

Way cool. [via RileyDog]

Apparently the breasts are beating the liquor. I wonder which would win here in the U.S. And I wonder which tactic Mr. Shrub would use. 'Cause you know he would. [via GDOC]

What is with the commenting on blog entries within the source code? Maybe I'm too simple, liking to take things at face value? Or maybe I'm just lazy and would rather look for the hidden meaning in the words I'm reading, rather than assuming there's more information to be had, if only I go to the trouble of pulling up the source code and scrolling through all the other bs before finding the entry I was reading in the browser?

Sometimes it's cute and witty and I feel like I'm in the know. Most times, it's just a pain in the ass. And in some cases I've heard of recently, it's just plain sneaky and hurtful.

So there. (Btw, there are no comments hidden in this, or any, post on my site, just so you know and don't feel like you have to go hunting through my code to find more information on what I'm really trying to say. Or trying not to say. Or whatever.)

A HumpDay laugh: Austin Powerpuff [via Davezilla]

And Lonely Astronaut [via Spinster Librarian]

I am watching How Green Was my Valley at the moment. There is much singing in Welsh in this movie. There are some good drinking songs too. And a very young Roddy McDowell.

You know, it's damn hard to wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 every single morning so that I can be in to work by 8 a.m.*, but it is so worth it when 3 p.m. rolls around and I know that I have only an hour left of work.

*Why, yes, it does take me that long to get ready. Never one to rush a morning better spent in bed with a muffin and a book, I like to wake up leisurely (aka, turn off the alarm a few times), take a nice shower (min 20 minutes), pick out clothes (instead of grabbing whatever's on the floor and putting that on), eating a breakfast that requires heating and some preparation and that I can eat with one hand so the other can hold the book. This all takes approximately an hour and a half, then add 20 minutes to get into work. When I start taking the train, I'll have to get up even earlier to maintain this decadent lifestyle.

For the ballot to choose the AFI 2002 Top Love Stories, I submitted the following:

Crossing Delancey (1988)
Gone With The Wind (1939)
Grease (1978)
The King And I (1956)
Love Affair (1939)
Moonstruck (1987)
Murphy's Romance (1985)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Say Anything… (1989)

They may not be the best, but they're my favorites, and I've seen each and every one of them at least twice, if not 5 or 6 times.

South Park Studio. I'm not even a big fan of SP, but I found this to be worth at least 2.5 minutes of fun. [via Brad]

The Morning News is my new favorite rag. So far, Maggie (and again here), Mena, Heather, Leslie, and Kevin have written excellent pieces for them. It's worth it to discover new neato reads among the other authors.

Decoding the Bureau: a guide to common F.B.I. phrases, complete with their English-language translations [via Enigmatic Mermaid]

Jish and I went to Moss Beach last night to see the partial solar eclipse. Turns out we didn't see much as we'd hoped, as you're not supposed to look directly at the sun. Go figure.

But we did get some neat shadow images with the use of a few pieces of cardboard and a safety pin. And a much better image with the binoculars on the cardboard. Not till this morning, as I was listening to the radio, did I hear about the use of a collander as an eclipse shadow tool thingy. Next time, it's all about the collander.

The best picture we could get, taken by Jishanoo:

Very Important questions, and how not to answer them. [via JillMatrix]

I find it interesting that my Internet Explorer crashed while I was trying to navigate the Apple site for their new ad campaign. [via Kevin]

Can you believe it? These are sold out. Darn it. I thought I had found the perfect father's day gift. [via Tamityville]

m y d o g m e g is back! With a new design! Yay!

www.catandgirl.com [via Anil]

My parents are off to Italy today. Lucky ducks.

The point of this post, though, is that I called them yesterday to check in one more time before they left, to make sure that Grandma was being taken care of while they're gone, someone responsible is being left in charge of the house, they're all packed up, etc., and I found out that my grandma had surgery last week for skin cancer. Yup. Turns out she is left with an inch and a half incision in her arm where they did what they had to do.

What can I say? WEAR SUNSCREEN.

Other sunburn-related resources:
An Introduction to Skin Cancer
Skin Cancer: An Undeclared Epidemic
Thwarting Skin Cancer with Sun Sense
Prevention of Skin Cancer
The CDC site for skin cancer
The Relationship of Skin Cancer Prevalence and the Increase in Ultraviolet-B Exposure due to Ozone Depletion
These are just a few of the results that come from a search on sunburn skin cancer.

Being brown is not a defense against sun damage. No, it's not. You may not be as likely to get it as I am, but it does not mean that you are immune. No, it doesn't.

Did you know that although tanning salons will make much of the fact that they use only the less harmful form of UV radiation, they use so much of it that it's worse for you than if you spent as much time outside?

"There is no such thing as a safe tan," said Dr. Whitmore. "A suntan is the skin’s response to an injury and every time you tan you accumulate damage to the skin, as well as accelerating the aging process and increasing your risk for skin cancer.

Repeat



Weird Sunset: On Monday, June 10th, the Moon will glide in front of the Sun as it sets over parts of North America. [via 3Bruces]

About half the time, it's an unfortunate cirumstance of the universe that what goes down must eventually go up. However, for just about the other half of the time, what goes up must come down. Depending on your point of view, this can be a very good thing.

Oh no! According to the NYTimes, there's A Rift Among Bloggers. Before anyone freaks out thinking this is something new, something serious, something we haven't ever seen before, a note: in this article, the rift the writer chooses to focus on is the us vs. them feelings b/w war bloggers and "regular" bloggers. Whatever. Seems to me it's as much about who's "in" and who feels left out as it ever was (remember the term "A-list"?). I haven't followed this latest incarnation of the us/them debate, so I can't say who started pointing fingers first, but as usual, it sounds adolescent and typical of high-school popularity contests.

Bleh. I thought I left high school when I graduated. It would seem that not everyone else feels the same. [via Derek]

Crucial for anyone enduring a relationship with someone who becomes a bitch for one week every month, and those of us (ahem!) who don't really keep track of things as they happen: RedFlag v1 [via Kevin]

I know this has made the rounds, but I saw it again and felt it was worth posting again: Eugene Mirman. [via James]

So we went to Molotov's last night to celebrate Jish's birthday. The plan was to be there at 8 and share a few drinks. Funny thing is, we got there around 7 and discovered that a punk band was scheduled to play there that night.

D'oh.

Not that we have anything against punk rock or the people who like to listen to it, but the place was jammed from wall to wall, and there was a sizable crowd hanging out outside (you certainly didn't have to be inside to hear the music). So we sat around, somewhere to the left of the punk rockers (who were sporting quite a range of mohawks, btw - one woman had three pink spikes, with the buzz-cut in between colored blonde with a leopard print) and watched for "normal-looking" people.

Fortunately, it was as the band was beginning to pack up their instruments (and more than an hour after we said we'd be there), that people started to show up for our shindig and it turned out to be a really nice evening after all.

We're just hoping that there weren't people who had driven by the bar earlier, saw the crowd, and decided it wasn't worth the effort after all. Thanks to everyone who did make it - it made sitting outside for an hour and a half worth the wait.

I want this music collection, but I can't afford it. Will you get it for me? Pleeeeeaaaaaase?

Weird Sunset: On Monday, June 10th, the Moon will glide in front of the Sun as it sets over parts of North America. [via 3Bruces]

In case you were wondering, La Fondue in Saratoga is a wonderful, wonderful restaurant. From the 2 1/2 hour dinners, to the food you cook yourself and the extensive selection of sauces they provide for dipping, to the metal plateware, to the Listerine and Tums provided in the washroom, it is a feast and they take care of you every step of the way. Yes, it's expensive, but it's all worth it.

Happy Birthday, honey.

I have figured out why it's better to have blog posts arranged so that the reader is faced iwth the most recent at the top, while comments should be arranged in the opposite manner, so that readers have to scroll down to reach the most recent.

Because blog posts are generally individual reading items. They may relate to a former post, but more often than not, they don't. So there you are, you don't need history, you are looking simply for the genius inherent in each tiny morsel of wit.

Comments, on the other hand, are a discussion between the writer and the readers. Most often, each comment is a reaction to the one before. The more comments, the more likely this is to happen. Therefore, it is best to start out with the oldest first, so that the reader can have the background to each comment that is made, rather than reading something and thinking "huh?", and then reading farther and finding the basis for the remark.

Nobody wants to think about the possibility of AIDS, but better to know you're safe right? A step-by-step guide to getting tested, and some good comments as well.