It pays to remember friends who are far away. Not for your own sake so much as to know that they know that they are not fogotten. Go get 'em, Edmond!

When do you see a white girl who's darker than a black man? When Britney Spears stands next to Michael Jackson. [via Brad]

Help fight against domain poachers. It'll make you feel better.

I have been to two of the the top 100 Bay Area restaurants. I think this will be my guide next time I'm looking for some good grub. [via GDOC]

I was offered the job!

I have been walking on air for the whole evening. Their benefits package rocks. They give everyone 23 PTO days, right off the bat. And the compensation ... well, let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised.

I may move to San Francisco. Maybe.

I am the media queen today. I made an order at Amazon.com on Monday and received it yesterday. Contents: 2 dvds, 3 cds, and 1 book.

At least I won't be bored for the next few days.

Congratulations!

Thoughts about moving:

Moving is a lot like drinking too much. I have all these bruises I can't explain, and I don't know where any of my sh*t is.

According to some, I am more entertaining than the tv.

I had a minor panic attack this afternoon. I have no idea where it came from. I think it was a combination of the fact that there's a large something loose in my apartment and I don't know where it is or where I'll find it next, hopefully-getting-the-job stress, and claustrophobia caused by not leaving the house at all till 2:30 p.m.

So I took a drive, which didn't help much, as I decided 101 was the best way to get where I was going. But I ended up at my appointment a few hours early, and walked along the Bay Trail for a while, watching the airplanes take off and land at SFO, taking pictures, looking at birds, and trying to relax. I have found that the key to relaxing, however, is to find a nice squooshy piece of lawn (dry, of course) where you can just lie down and look at the sky. I found some, and did that, and I felt much better by the time the ants got the better of me and I returned to my car.

Capping it all off by listening to great music, even if it's only the "hooks," winning $100, and calling one friend and getting to talk to two makes things look up considerably as well.

The first problem still exists, which is giving me some stress, but I've decided not to live my life in fear. At least till he pops up somewhere unexpected again. Sometimes deciding when you're going to be scared is all you can do.

I've always hated peas. Maybe this is why.

Separated at Birth - Kurt and Ewan

Scary. [via Fujikosmurf]

Despite all that I have to be happy about, or hopeful for at the moment, my musical tastes tend toward the ... well, the less calm end of my collection. On random/repeat right now:

U2's Rattle and Hum
Faith No More's The Real Thing
Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory
Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Live On
Queensryche's Empire

I wish I had a cd player in my truck so I could take this with me, instead of relying on the inconstent offerings of the radio to maintain my mood.

Sell the Public Libraries Um. No. I don't think so. [via Spinster Librarian]

Does anyone want to come over and "take care of"* a spider for me? I'll feed you.

*"Taking care of" can include just putting it outside. I am not an advocate of killing things, I just want them out of my apartment.

Well, it's happened. I have fallen into the habit that it was my one goal of unemployment to avoid. I have started sleeping in. Not that I'm getting more sleep than before. I just don't go to bed till the wee hours, and then can't seem to make myself get up when the alarm goes off. All this 'cause I took a nap the other day. It's kinda sad when the time comes to get up and all I can think is "why?" I think that might be a bigger problem to fix than the unusual sleeping pattern.

100 Words Every day. Neato.

Go read riley dog. I was just there and saw several things worth my time (as I do each time I visit), such as Barbara DeCesare's written word pieces and an extract from Hand Over Fist. Well worth the time indeed.

Apparently, Vasaline in the hair is a bad thing. I'm glad I didn't find this one out on my own.

Unfortunate side-effect of unemployment: time begins to mean little, which corresponds to being late to appointments. Like now. I'm supposed to be somewhere right now. Oh well, here I go ....

Congratulations to Charles and Denise, who were married on Friday!! Sounds as though it was a beautiful ceremony, to start off a beautiful life together.

Yay!

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday. He's in the Army and left about 6 weeks ago to be stationed in Kosovo. I hope that he's not too lonely (my sister doesn't get to join him till he gets re-stationed in Germany next year), and that his friends over there make his birthday a happy one, considering the circumstances.

Happy birthday, Matt!

Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body

This science-in-disguise exhibition will answer questions about many of the slimy, oozy, crusty, stinky things characteristic of the human body. Based on the best-selling book Grossology, the 6,000-square-foot exhibition has more than 20 interactive displays and games, including a human skin wall, gas attack pinball, a vomit center, and a 30-foot 3-D slide through the digestive system. You wont want to miss this grossly-informative visiting exhibition!

This looks like a way cool exhibit. It would be neato if this came to SF. I'd go. [via Brad]

Jay's back. For a few days, at least. We raised the toast and looked at his pictures on his computer (for how could he be on the ground for more than a few hours without booting up?).

Hi Jay!! Looking forward to your return from Burning Man/Seattle.

Can you believe that I actually forgot one of the jobs I've held since I moved to this area? I know that grad school was a busy time, but I didn't think it would completely efface the memory of the three years I spent working at Stanford.

I hate filling out job applications.

Looking for a nice restaurant with some atmosphere, we came upon Le Charm (say it with a French accent and you've got it). The entrees were alright, but the appetizers and the desserts were woooonderful. Yum.

I think I've mentioned once or twice before that I would be nowhere without my friends. I wouldn't have graduated from grad school, I wouldn't have landed my first real job, I would have nothing to do on Saturday nights, etc.

Case in point: Dinah done got herself a new job. Second thing she does after scaling the 90 degree learning curve? She puts in a recommendation for me for an open position in their customer services department. So I submit a resume and talk to the nice HR lady and make an appointment for an interview. Since then, Jish has taken care of me: printing out resumes; putting them in a nice leather folder (with his initials on it); providing a graduation-gift-pen to write with; giving fashion advice on what I should wear; capping it all off with driving me to the interview and waiting for me to finish. All this with a sense of humor to keep me from throwing up from the tension. He's my hero.

The interview went well. Or at least I think it went well. If it went well enough to get me hired, I'm taking all y'all out to dinner. Maybe not all at the same time, but eventually ...

Yesterday I was all giddy and excited. Today I'm so nervous I can't think straight. Tomorrow I'll be fine. (And hopefully employed again.)

Heh, heh, heh. My fetish chuckle for the evening: put your little foot right there [via BlueShoeDiaries]

I have a job interview!! I have a job interview!!

Only one among the many weirdo search requests that led someone here (I'm still not sure how): irish weddings and dentures

Ahhh ... Blessings.

Insomnia: \In*som"ni*a\, n. [L., fr. insomnis sleepless; pref. in- not somnus sleep.] Want of sleep; inability to sleep; wakefulness; sleeplessness

My definition? The inability to sleep when you want to, accompanied by the inability to stay awake when you want to. Being buzzed by mosquitoes at 1 a.m. doesn't help.

I wish I had a real internet connection so that I could enjoy the beachy lands of questionable taste. As it is, I will have to rely on my imagination and the kind offer of the use of someone's dsl or t1 in order to get anything, um, substantial, out of it.

By the way, in addition to those items featured on this page, may I also add men who decide it's a good idea to wear shorts with black socks pulled up as far as they'll go? *shudder* [link via Melly]

Well, I fucked something up on the post about chocolate, and people can't add comments any more. Or at least I can't. So anyway, here's the comment I was going to leave: Ok, consider this a warning that this article contains information that you won't like, especially if you like chocolate. So if you want to maintain your blissful ignorance, then it's up to you. But if you don't, then you can't blame me.

There. That's all I wanted to say.

A Tale of Two Cat Doors.

They say ignorance is bliss, and I agree. I wish I still ignorant of this. Bleh. Just like the chocolate and cockroach conversation I had a while ago (remember Jish?), there are some things I simply don't need to know.

I think it's way cool that although my name appears on this site only a coupla times, I come up first in a Google search.

I have never before found it so hard to say sorry. I'm glad I finally did, though. Things are a little easier now.

On a different note, due to the above issue (among others), I did not make it to the Galaxy Girls show tonight, and I apologize to anyone who was persuaded to go on my recommendation for not showing up. I hope you had a great time anyway, as I am sure you did.

Tonight, I actually got to use the quote from the movie The Truth About Cats & Dogs "We can love our pets, we just can't LOVE our pets." It was quite a thrill, let me assure you.

Poor Daisy. As I sit here, surfing the 'net, I leave one hand hanging over the arm of the chair and she slides her head under it, making it easier for me to pet her. We sit like that for a while (clicking links and checking email really only takes one hand) and I notice that periodically she starts to lay down. But as soon as she realizes that this will take her out of the reach of my hand, she comes back up. She's done this 3 times in the last 15 minutes. The "torture" for both of us comes to an end when I decide I have to blog about it and I tell her that I need both hands to type. She looks at me reproachfully and leaves. It's good that I'm leaving tomorrow, or I'd start wondering who the bitch is here.

So one of my tasks this week while dogsitting at Home has been to scan in as many of the pictures in my grandmother's collection of photos as possible. Being the vain person I am, of course I am mostly concerned with those photos featuring yours truly. And the conclusion I've come to is that, barring a short stint from about 1-3, I was a very unattractive child. Granted, it was the 70's, so some excuse could be made for the clothes and the hairstyle. But really, there's not much that could have been done about the gap-toothed grin and the glasses I started wearing by the time I turned four. It sure is a good thing I had the family I did, or my childhood would have been a very different story.

Stereotypes Are A Real Time-Saver

I'm a busy guy. And, while I'd love to, I don't have the time to get to know every person I encounter in the course of my daily life. So thank goodness I have a handy little device at my disposal that helps me know how to deal with just about anyone I come across: stereotypes. Yes, stereotypes are a real time-saver!

[via Turbanhead]

The back of the photo merely says "4 generations."

Appearing: My great-grandmother in the print dress (hers is a great story, too. I'll tell it one day here); my mom with the dark hair; my grandma in the pink dress; and me. I'm the one with the striped shoes and the confused look on my face.

I want you all to know that I had a heck of a lot more hair in a very short time after this was taken. Really. I scanned that photo also today. Maybe I'll post it one of these days.

Whoa! [via Mermaniac]

Ever wondered how to say something like "Blood is Squirting Out of My Ears" or "I Work the Shake Machine at Foster's Freeze" in sign language? Wonder no longer!

The Big Book of Sign Language

Reproduced for the first time since its initial printing in 1972, Rotten Dot Com is proud to present its revised, expanded, fully up-to-date illustrated manual of contemporary American sign language, sometimes referred to as "finger spelling".

Funny as hell. [via Leuschke]

From Ed

"I ran across a book recently which suggested that the peace and prosperity of a culture was solely related to how many librarians it contained. Possibly a slight overstatement. But a culture that doesn't value its librarians doesn't value ideas and without ideas, well, where are we?" -- Neil Gaiman, The Sandman

I think the fishies are up to something. [via JessaJune]

I have been getting asked if I'm my brother's mother since I was 24. I'm not particularly sensitive about my age, but I really wish that people would stop assuming I'm that much older than I really am.

Either that, or stop assuming I started bearing children when I was eight.

And this graphic ain't bad either. Go 'Zilla!

Several years ago, I taught my younger brother how to make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Since then, I don't think he's learned how to make anything else. He'll be 22 next month and he still lives at Home.

Tonight this is standing me in good stead, since there's nothing else to eat in the house, I'm feeling too worn out from a day of driving to go to the store, and he was going to make some for himself anyway. Yay!

spinning-jennie has a new look. Yay! Off to update my links ...

But wait ...

Julien starts kindergarten in less than two weeks even though he was born only yesterday. Will someone please explain to me how this happened?

Lessons learned today:

Don't apply a facial mask when you're hot. It never dries completely, and it's a bitch to peel off of sweaty skin.

Don't try to straighten or blow dry curly hair when suffering from pms. Your hair will only do as it always does and you'll just end up really frustrated. My hair is now wavy and slightly frizzy. Yay.

AllRecipes.com is a kick-ass site. You can save recipes you like, and it will also make up an shopping list for as many recipes as you desire. Oh, and you can adjust the recipe for serving size too, which I find just plain cool.

Where Did Cain Get His Wife?.

This is a question that evolutionist use to try and stump Christians and make them believe that there is no credibility to the book of Genesis. However, it demonstrates three things about evolutionists. 1. They simply repeat things that they hear from other evolutionists about the Bible while being ignorant of the matter themselves. 2. They do not understand the gene make up of humans. 3. They assume that all things from the beginning were the same as they are today.

....In Genesis 5:4 is says ..."and he (Adam) begot sons and daughters". Cain married his sister of course. Who else would he marry.

I don't consider myself much of a scientist, but this all sounds rather suspect to me. The comments are the best, though. You must read the comments. [site link via Davezilla]

Just because Shrub ain't my favorite person on the planet: Money [via Spinster Libarian]

Due to a severe lack of interesting material, Booboolina.com would like to bring you today's ToDo list.

sweep porch
water plants
change hummingbird food
vacuum
dust
iron

Comments and complaints can be addressed to the management.

On being unattached., 8.8.2002.

On the other end of free, JessaJune and I are going to see Varekai in February.

I know it's months and months in advance, but we wanted 4 tix close together and placed somewhere where we could see what was going on. You can find tickets for the show in San Francisco starting in November, and in San Jose starting in January. If you're interested in going when we do, let me know and I'll give you the info.

I know nothing about the show, but I can assure you it will be worth the money.

You know, I asked a while ago if anyone would like to redesign my site for me. Tom jumped at the suggestion and we have been trading emails for many months now. Once, a few months ago, I got all antsy, and Jish helped me put together a temporary design so that I could look at something other than a black site. Soon after, Tom sent me the finished files. That was in June. It is only through my own laziness and whathaveyou that I have not posted the new and improved design. I don't want you to think I am without resources. I am merely without the will to use them.

Thanks, Tom, for all your hard work. I'll get your design posted one of these days. Really, I will.

Penguin Classics quizzes. As Gail states, "a painful reminder of how much you’ve forgotten since high school."

When taking mail to the post office, it's important to PUT THE ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPES!!! Preferably before you walk a mile to get there, clutching the change necessary to send a card all the way to Canada, in addition to the cards and your keys.

Oh well, I needed the exercise anyway.

For all those freaks looking for, well, stuff titled britney exposed!, well, there you go. And there you are. That's all I'm throwing you, so be happy with it and stop asking for more. [via glassdog]