Attention Deficit--Look, a Bird!

Fanime!

2009-05-31T05:38:16Z

Fanime was tons of fun this year! capeswirlinggrl and I cosplayed Krahe and Tutu from Princess Tutu. It was so much fun we're planning to do it again at AX. The masquerade was awesome, especially because I know some people in it (Go, Minna no Nur Puppy!). The AMV's were a mixed bag this year, but the winning ones (R0bo7s and Life of a Dog (Part 2)) were definitely enjoyable. We poked our heads in to Nescaflowne and watched some D-Grayman (yay!) and sat in the back of Yaoi Bingo, where we couldn't see anything. I got in too late to see ensuing's panel, but "Cosplay-Overdoing It" was fun, except when one of the attendees keeled over (I think she's OK, she did leave the room under her own power).

Next year's cosplay: Twelve Kingdoms. capeswirlinggrl is thinking about going as Kourin, and I think I'll be one of the sages who raise the Kirin. Also, I promised jennmenchi I'd help her with a Yoko costume, so I guess I'd better start sewing now.

I'm happy with the costumes, except that the gravity-defying hair kind of gave up defying gravity partway through the day.

The ribbons are blue, I swear!

The home networking song

2008-12-31T04:41:00Z

The printer is connected to the computer,
The computer's connected to the router,
The router is connected to the modem,
And the modem is connected to the wall.

When it doesn't work you install drivers,
Reset the modem and the router.
Then you call up tech support in India,
And you throw the phone at the wall.

Princess Tutu

2008-05-04T05:25:53Z

I finally got around to watching Princess Tutu, and it's even better than I thought. OK, I'm only one disk in, but it's awesome so far. I guess I set my expectations low because I don't usually like magical girl shows much. However, Tutu doesn't rely heavily on spells, the voices aren't too squeaky, and the dance outfits don't look trashy, so my usual objections are moot. I don't like Mytho's English voice, but the Japanese voices are OK. The characters are fun, especially the eccentric minor characters. The only thing bothering me is: Did the anteater girl drop out, or what? She's hard to miss, but I don't see her in the background. Speaking of characters, I took a quiz and guess what: I'm Mytho. (No way am I cosplaying him, though.)

Which Princess Tutu character are you? Version 1.0

You are Mythos (Mute). Selfless and Compassionate, you give freely of yourself to save those who are weaker. Now, if only you'd stop throwing yourself out of windows in only your sleepshirt.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Salmon Dance

2008-04-24T05:42:38Z

Just when I think I've seen everything on YouTube, somebody posts educational hip-hop salmon...or something.

Blood+ and Benny Lava

2008-03-28T04:25:45Z

It's been a slow week at work, so I've had time to mess around... Mostly, I've been watching Blood+. The characters are excellent, which is something I have learned not to count on in shows with "Blood" in the title. I made the mistake of glancing at fan fiction too early in the series though, and one of the descriptions said, "This is set after Riku dies." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I guess I shouldn't expect everyone to live happily ever after in a vampire-ish series, but man, the character are so good that there are even "bad guys" who I don't really want to see killed. And speaking of unrealistic wishes, I want a Chevalier, preferably a Hagi, but Solomon's not too shabby, either. For anyone who hasn't seen the show, a Chevalier is an immortal bishonen who can do cool things like fly and fight monsters and who exists only to protect and obey some lucky girl. Muahaha. OK, there's more too it, but still.

Also, I've been watching something that isn't Engrish, but has been subtitled to resemble it:
My loony bun is fine Benny Lava

UPDATE: The Nipple Song is pretty good, too (but it has more dirty words).

A karma free diet

2008-03-15T06:47:44Z

One of the first CDs that ever fell into my possession was Skyedance by Alasdair Fraser. It's not quite the soundtrack of my childhood, but I've had it long enough to give it plenty of nostalgia value. I never heard any of his other music, though. Yesterday, I read in the paper that he was to give a concert in Sebastopol tonight, so I resolved to go. First, though, I stopped for dinner at Govinda's. As I was eating warm, delicious food, I glanced through the tall windows and across the well-tended lawn. There stood two homeless people clinging to one another as a police officer walked toward them. They spoke to the officer, who made a call. Then, the homeless man suddenly fell to the ground and turned red, nearly purple. "A heart attack," murmured the other patrons. "A stroke," someone said. The lady, his wife maybe, helped him sit up and held him. He collapsed a second time before the ambulance arrived.

Govinda's advertises a "karma free diet" and prepares healthy, vegetarian food that people needn't feel guilty about eating. But I felt like Marie Antoinette, eating while someone suffered nearby. Of course, there was nothing I could do: My first aid training is beyond rusty, and qualified people were on the scene almost as soon as I figured out what was happening. Still, I needed to do something. Then it came to me; I could skip the concert and donate the money I saved to an organization to help homeless people.

The concert was wonderful. I am a horrible person.

Happy Birthday!

2008-03-09T19:01:09Z

ensuing is a whole year older and wiser! I was going to list famous people like I did with jennmenchi, but I looked on Wikipedia, and there was nobody worthy of sharing with the likes of ensuing.

Happy Birthday!

2008-03-06T23:05:16Z

Happy Birthday to geniuses Michelangelo, jennmenchi, and Elizabeth Browning.

Video killed the... productivity...

2008-02-16T01:59:42Z

The following informational videos are available on YouTube. Anyone desiring to broaden his or her mind while risking serious bodily injury, property damage, and multiple lawsuits should attempt these feats:

*Self defense instructional video
*How to care for your horse
*How to play string instruments
*How to sprain every muscle in you body
*How to lift your car without a jack

Oh, and HAPPY CHOCOLATE-ON-SALE DAY!

Toasters!

2008-01-26T04:58:57Z

For some reason, I keep seeing weird toasters online lately. Here is a sample:

Panda: Does it come with the sound effects?

Clear: Too bad it doesn't really work...

Hair Loss Remedy: OK, this is getting out of hand.

In other news, I finally gave up on AT&T and got and ISP that allows me to (gasp) connect to the internet. Woo! Sneaking on at work just doesn't work as well as having it at home. Then, I saw a store going out of business, and I ended up getting a laptop with Vista, which would have supposedly made the AT&T connection work. Oh, well, DSL Extreme is cheaper, and it hasn't given me half the trouble (yet).

In other other news, I've been trying all week to decide if I'm sick. I feel like I have a fever, but I checked a couple of times, and I don't. My appetite comes and goes, and now I have a powerful cough. WTF? Maybe I should just get some sleep. Goodnight.

Back from the dead...

2007-09-12T03:00:41Z

Wow, I have really neglected to post. Hm, I wonder if I can summarize a summer in one post...

School, San Fransisco Pride Parade, school, AX, school, Yellowstone National Park, Geysers, grizzly bear with four cubs, job hunting, Asian Art Museum, Japantown, job hunting, work at school.

Here are Yellowstone pics by a friend.(Mine aren't digital.)

Somewhere in between all that, I downloaded lots of anime including Afro-Ken, which has a dog with a rainbow 'fro instead of a plot, and Sexy Commando, which I have been meaning to finish since MNA ran out of subtitles and stopped showing it. Ani-Kuri15 varies in quality, but the episodes are only one minute, so there's not much to lose there. I downloaded all of Violinist of Hamelin, but only time will tell if I get bored enough to watch it...

Now that I'm employed, I'm thinking of getting a laptop. But having made that decision, one is presented with a plethora of options: Which operating system? Windows would be most compatable with the computers at work which are running XP, but now that Dell is offering one that comes with Linux, I feel like I'd rather support that. I know Mac is good, but I've gone through the painful part of the learning curve with two major operating systems now, and I don't look forward to doing it again. Also, how much do I have to spend on better RAM, processor, etc. so that it won't be obsolete before I can afford another one? That's hard to predict, and probably depends on the answer to the first question. *sigh*

PS: Why is this so funny? Maybe it's just me...Hover Cat and Monorail Cat

OK, it's not as angsty as it looks...yet.

2007-05-18T04:35:07Z

Why does Darker Than Black have to be so awesome, and why aren't there more episodes out? OK, maybe when the novelty wears off it will seem less awesome, but man, I want his coat. And him, while we're at it. Or maybe his powers?

Well, I guess I should say stuff about my life while I'm posting. My car got rear-ended, and I had to get a cheap, half-assed fix because the insurance would have totaled the car over a broken tail-light cover (the bulbs were fine) and a dent in the bumper cover (the frame was fine). Mike, I feel your pain. Then, my roommate lost her job. And THEN I had the greatest idea for a contest where I could win a laptop--the day after the deadline. And my Fanime costume (Raquel from Scrapped Princess) is barely started.

And yet, awsome anime just makes it all seem OK! Wooo!!!!!!11111oneoneoene

Virtual pet

2006-09-01T23:02:09Z

Ain't it cute? And no maintainance; that's my kind of pet.

Dapper Drake

2006-08-03T06:39:37Z

Long time no update, but I made (ahem, edited) a new avatar, so I feel accomplished anyway. Now all I need is wallpaper for my new operating system, Ubuntu Linux. I feel all 'leet 'cause I'm using Linux, except that I have to get help every time I want to do something. I'll get used to it, though, and if I really wimp out, I still have my Windows drive. Actually, I can access my Windows files, so I could use old wallpapers, but who doesn't want a few new wallpapers? Anyway, Ubuntu has been taking a lot of the time I'm not using to get my car fixed and arrange to move to Santa Rosa and work and all that boring stuff... hence the lack of posts here, email responses, etc.

In other news, I saw the new Superman movie, and thought it was kinda fun. Not the movie of the century or anything, but it got me on a Superman fan fiction kick, and some of it's OK. I'm pretty good at steering clear of Mary Sues and such, so it's been fun. Lots of them are just trying to get Superman and Lois together (and I don't read SupermanXAnybodyElse, slash or otherwise), but I like this story pretty well, too.

On the humor front, I present the following badly formatted web page (Tip: If you see nothing, zoom in lots.)
Important security information

Geo-centric

2006-07-19T05:48:05Z

Ah, internet access. Alas, how many topics I've thought of to write about, but lost for the lack of a decent internet connection. Maybe I'll resurrect some of them later.

Anyway, the big news is that my car got hit while I was coming home from work yesterday. No one was significantly injured, and the car's not totaled or anything, but it's a real inconvenience. OK, details from the beginning:

On my way home from work, I make a left turn that I have known for years is dangerous (there is no turn lane, traffic is going 55 mph (or more) and there is a curve in the road that goes around a hill just before the intersection, so you don't see it coming. However, I cannot avoid this turn without adding roughly 2 miles to the trip I make five days a week. Ten miles a week is nothing to sneeze at, so I make the turn as carefully as I can.

Yesterday, the sun was at such an angle that the driver behind me (we'll call him "Bob" (because that's his name)) could not tell whether my tail lights and turn signals were on or off. Thus, he did not see me signaling, although I make it a point to do so fairly early. So Bob did not notice that I was doing anything other than driving near the speed limit, and he continued to drive near the speed limit until he was very close behind me.

I wasn't paying him too much attention, because he was pretty far behind me to begin with, so I assumed he had time to slow down. As soon as there was a break in the oncoming traffic, I started to turn left, but this was about the same time that he realized he was going too fast to slow down for me, so he had to make a split-second decision: hit the back of my car, swerve right onto a narrow shoulder, or swerve left into the other lane, which he perhaps also notices has no oncoming traffic. He choose the latter option.

At this point, as you may have noticed, we were both headed left. This quickly became a problem. There was a short, sharp scraping noise (not exactly like anything else I've ever heard elsewhere) and my head hit the side window. I was surprised but not scared or confused. It's hard to explain, though. I think I know a little bit how veterans feel when they say "You weren't there, man. You don't understand 'cause you weren't there." Well that's what I feel like telling people who try to analyze the accident for me, anyway. I was there, man.

So Bob, the car behind Bob, and I all pulled over. The occupants of the car behind us had called 911 and they stayed long enough to see that we were all in decent condition. I looked around in the nooks and crannies of my car and found a pen and a scrap of paper to exchange insurance information. Then I got out of the car and kind of stood there shaking. I actually love talking to people, but it takes me a lot of effort to start in normal circumstances, and what does one say to a stranger after a crash? Anyway, I started by looking around, giving back a piece of bumper that hadn't been part of my car before the accident, and borrowing Bob's wife's cell phone to call AAA.

The damage was mostly body stuff, but the left front wheel looked like it might not be at the correct angle. The rear view mirror was nowhere to be found, but my dad later recovered about five pieces of the hubcap. The panel next to the hood is toast, and the door's got a noticeable scrape, but the engine didn't make any funny noises or anything, so I think it's OK.

The next detail may seem strange to those of you who have never lived in a real Small Town (and in my fairly sophisticated classification system, San Luis Obispo is a Small City--it isn't rural just because there are cows at Poly and no opera houses). Anyway, the Small Town Effect kicked in and my parents drove by and recognized me and my car, so they pulled over. My folks got Bob's insurance information while I was still being transferred hither and yon by AAA. Then a sheriff's deputy and two firetrucks showed up. One of the firefighters poked me a bunch and it didn't hurt unduly, so I signed a release form. The cop ran my license in case there was an outstanding warrant or something (this is Lake County, after all) and left after we all agreed we didn't need a sheriff's report. (I know he ran my license because my coworker has a police scanner at home and heard part of the incident.) Bob apologized for hitting me and left to drive the rest of the way home, since he isn't local and his truck still worked.

So then my parents and I waited for the tow truck. We got sunburned. We watched the horses in the field by the road. I realized I did have my cell phone after all, it was just under the seat. We looked for more pieces of my car. We watched three tow-trucks go by without stopping. The 90-minute period in which AAA predicted that a tow truck would arrive expired, and I called again. I entered numbers, got transferred, got put on hold at least twice, and eventually "The shop is backlogged; it'll be 30-40 more minutes."

Then the Small Town Effect kicked in again, and some regular customers from work drove up to see what was going on. I told them everything was under control, and I'd still be coming to work. They left. My brother showed up after he got off work (because we called him, not because of the S.T.E.) and drove home with my mom. Then the tow truck came and I left with my dad in my brother's car.

Anyway, it took my about three and a half hours to go seven and a half miles home, not an experience I'm eager to repeat.

I thought at the time that my sunburn was my most serious injury, but my neck and back are kind of sore today. I think I have a bit of sideways whiplash or something, but I'll live. Dealing with insurance companies and auto repair is giving me a worse headache than the impact did, though.

I guess I'm lucky it wasn't worse, but somehow, that's not very reassuring.

42 is a good score, I guess

2006-06-30T02:29:45Z

Yay, I beat my dungeon:

I escaped from the Dungeon of Ladygrizelda!

I killed Scaper84 the kobold and Capeswirlinggrl the leprechaun.

I looted the Dagger of Anime, the Armour of Dumb Jokes, the Sword of Origami, the Armour of Bishonen, the Dagger of Origami, the Wand of Cats and 42 gold pieces.

Score: 42

Explore the Dungeon of Ladygrizelda and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...

I couldn't beat ensuing's dungeon, but capeswirlinggrl has an easy one--the only monster you have to kill is me! ;)

A dream is a wish your heart makes? Oh God, I hope not...

2006-06-28T12:54:15Z

Woah, I just woke up from a weird dream. My brother and I were being held at gun point by Draik (sp?) from ROD TV and some 300 pound pasty-faced guy with a famous political blog. Max was getting married to a guy who was a composite of two guys I know named Keith, and we were at his wedding trying to think of ways to escape without getting shot. My brother's car got stolen part way through the ceremony, but I wasn't able to use it as a distraction to get away. I also didn't get to jump through a stained-glass window, although I thought that that would be awesome. I think I actually got away by waking up.

Sorry, Max, nothing personal. I just found out that an aquaintance is living with a girlfriend and not a girl friend, but I haven't met the girlfriend, so I guess I needed someone to stand in for them. Or something.

Earth destruction indicator

2006-06-03T07:53:36Z

In the event that the earth is destroyed, the icon below will turn red. In that event, please check with the International Earth Destruction Advisory Board (IEDAB) for furthur instructions. Thank you.

Back to the grind...

2006-06-01T04:34:44Z

Fanime rocked in a major way, but I'm relying on other people for pictures, because I stink at taking them, and I didn't bring a camera. It looks like most people are still uploading, but here's a shot of me (left) as Maetel, standing next to Queen Emereldas. The hat kept falling over my eyes 'cause it's made of stretchy fabric, but I was pretty proud of my costume. Actually, some lady asked us (Emereldas and I) where we bought our costumes (we made them), which is the best costume complement I've ever received. Next year, though, I think we need to go for characters who have better poses and younger fans ^_^;;

I got lots of swag: pencil boards, doujinshi (clean), manga, sticky notes with two men kissing, bracelets said to ward off stinky guys, star-like candy like Shima gets in the first episode of Stellvia (ingredients: sugar, artificial color...and nothing else) and Hello Kitty sewed to a small couch, among other things. The Hello Kitty stuff might be swap meet fodder of the future, but I'm mostly happy with my stash. I'd scan the pencil boards and whatnot, but I'm too lazy to go to school or bug ensuing.

The programming wasn't bad: The Masquerade was good, although the people behind us booed all the walk-ons 'cause they wanted action, and it did run kind of long. The AMV's were not all spectacular in my humble opinion, but my apartment-mates and I have kind of latched onto Hold Me Now. It's got dancing ducks, evil ballerinas, and a song that sounds good loud--what more could anyone want? I also like the "Stop watching anime and go outside" one, but I haven't found a place to download it. We also watched Nescaflowne (which I highly recommend) and some Host Club. Boo on Fanime for scheduling The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya at 2:30 in the morning--I need to see more of that show. We didn't see any guests of honor, but this year's were not anyone I really was hoping to see, so no harm done.

On an unrelated topic, here's the time-wasting website of the week: Silly Patents

Public Service Announcement

2006-05-17T03:32:47Z

Are you tired or listless? Do you suffer from boredom? These are symptoms of Acute Cuteness Deficiency (ACS). If you think you may be suffering from ACS, talk to your doctor about clicking these smiley links:

^_^

^__^

^___^

You Are A: Parakeet!

This popular bird is kept as a pet in homes all over the world. Originating from Australia, parakeets like warm weather and lots of seeds and fruit. They are also known for being messy and quite loud! But you cannot look at one without falling in love.

You were almost a: Monkey or a Squirrel
You are least like a: Groundhog or a Duckling Take the Cute Animal Test!

Dungeonman! With graphics!

2006-05-03T06:04:53Z

This game is too much fun! Not only are the graphics and sound effects excellent (for very strange definitions of the word "excellent") but the narration style is very amusing. For instance...

"If that plague of locusts hadn't screwed up the harvest forthwith, I'd totally hook thee up."

"Not to creep thee out or anything, but these are some seriously creepy, thickly thuckled woods."

Not Neutrality

2006-04-29T02:43:21Z

It seems Congress is weighing whether to support Network Neutrality, that is, whether to prohibit telecommunications companies from controlling which content their subscribers can access on the internet. I'm too tired to rant about it, but here are some links to more eloquent articles on the subject: First, I present to you my favorite, which is from the New Yorker. BusinessWeek has pro and con articles. (Notice how the con article says in the first paragraph that there is no problem with telecom. companies interfering with content but later mentions "...the case of a small company last year that tried to block Internet voice calls." Yeah, that doesn't count as a problem, except for the people who faced it.) But moving right along, Save the Internet is an organization dedicated to fighting for Net Neutrality. Save the Internet can tell you if your representative supports Net Neutrality or not. Unfortunately, it looks like the text of the actual bill isn't up on THOMAS yet, but maybe next week...

If you've read this stuff, and want to ask Congress to support Net Neutrality, please sign this petition.

By the way, last time I linked to a petition, it was kind of a joke, but this one is real.

Quizzes are so much fun when they aren't graded!

2006-04-20T04:46:54Z

Sort of inspired by ensuing. She did a different quiz on this site, but this one's more fun, if you ask me. "What doesn't kill you should be petted until fluffy" indeed!

What type of Fae are you?

Mua ha ha!

2006-04-15T21:11:10Z

Maybe I made the pieces too small, but that just means you can kill more time...

Puzzleness!

Update: Maybe this one will work better...

Fair and balanced news you can use!

2006-04-08T03:48:13Z

Here's the most scientific defense of intelligent design yet: Intelligent Design is Involved in the Origin of The Species (IDIOTS for short) describes a carefully controlled experiment with amazing results. The spontaneous creation of Noodleous doubleous clearly cannot occur without divine guidance. Also, check out their reference to dihydrogen monoxide, a dangerous substance which could be lurking in your own home. Shocking!

So you want to make a difference in the fight against dihydrogen monoxide? Great! Let's start with a little background. Translating the chemical's name from chemistry-speak to English, we get something along the lines of two-hydrogen one-oxygen. This is still awkward, so some people prefer to abbreviate it by using H for hydrogen and O for oxygen, and it's trendy this spring to put the numbers after the elements, but it's politically correct to leave out 1's (we wouldn't want the proportionally-challenged elements to feel any worse about their low concentration). So you might see dihydrogen monoxide abbreviated as H₂O in the debate about its use and misuse. Now that you know a little about dihydrogen monoxide, here's a petition you can sign to make the world a better place.

In other news, some debate whether or not Vietnam War II: Iraq is worth the cost in lives and resources, but now a new concern emerges: Is it worth the cost in awesome? (Warning: much of SomethingAwful.Com is not work-safe, so click at your own risk.)