tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111290872024-03-23T12:30:59.377-06:00Sucking at Geography Since 1972<p>Welcome to my little exercise in <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2005/08/01.html" title="The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few.">circumlocution</a>.
<br> <br>Want to tell me privately that you hate what I just wrote? Fine, be that way. Write me at <a href="mailto:geosuck@gmail.com">geosuck@gmail.com</a>.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.comBlogger523125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-91011107376967050262008-12-12T16:14:00.003-07:002008-12-12T16:35:30.485-07:00A Couple of Rock Band 2 NotesFirst, has anyone seen this Rock Band show that VH1 did leading up to the release of Rock Band 2? I hadn't seen it until I tripped over it on InDemand just now. Sebastian Bach and Alice Cooper judged a competition to whittle 15 RB2 players down to (I don't know? One band? Two bands?) Weird. The "episodes" are really short, and I wish they were full-length 22 minutes instead of the 7-8 minutes they are.<br /><br />In other news, I played a little RB2 over the B's nap today with the sole and vain intent of gold starring as many songs playing Vocals on Expert as I could. I got a few! (Some of them are DLC and not RB2 songs, and these don't count the DLC that I'd already gold starred in RB1, as I didn't re-do those.) I am confident that many of these that I succeeded on would be the LAST ones you all would guess.<br /><br />I now have gold stars on:<br /><br />1) Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)<br />2) Drain You<br />3) Give It Away<br />4) One Way or Another<br />5) Hangin' On the Telephone<br />6) Today<br />7) You Oughta Know<br />8) Limelight (Original)<br />9) Tom Sawyer (Original)<br /><br />Yeah, um...hmm. You gold star what you can, you know? Not necessarily your favorite stuff. You Oughta Know is actually ridiculously easy to gold star on vocals. I got a 97% and I didn't even think I was perfect on when to use overdrive and I still got the gold stars. Thanks Alanis!Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-29426629776983036242008-11-30T20:58:00.003-07:002008-11-30T21:46:13.943-07:00Third Birthday Party<a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 15px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-009691596598832763 visible" href="http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf"></a><object align="middle" width="370" height="500"><param name="FlashVars" value="ids=thirdbirthdayparty&names=thirdbirthdayparty&userName=lostonpurpose&userId=72944086@N00&source=keyword&titles=on&displayNotes=off&thumbAutoHide=off&imageSize=medium&vAlign=mid&displayZoom=off&vertOffset=0&initialScale=on&bgAlpha=80"><param name="PictoBrowser" value="http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="bgcolor" value="#DDDDDD"><embed src="http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf" flashvars="ids=thirdbirthdayparty&names=thirdbirthdayparty&userName=lostonpurpose&userId=72944086@N00&source=keyword&titles=on&displayNotes=off&thumbAutoHide=off&imageSize=medium&vAlign=mid&displayZoom=off&vertOffset=0&initialScale=on&bgAlpha=80" loop="false" scale="noscale" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" name="PictoBrowser" align="middle" width="370" height="500"></embed></object><br /><br />The party was great. Everyone was lovely to come on out and help us celebrate and it made the day very special for B. She was so excited to have everyone over.<br /><br />(If you are reading this post in a feed reader, you are missing the widget in it that has all the pictures.)Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-35078100865978582842008-11-29T23:35:00.002-07:002008-11-29T23:42:01.375-07:00I Did It!I will post tomorrow about the B's lovely third birthday party. I haven't had time to go through the pics yet, though I will say that it was great and I really appreciate everyone who came comin' on out to have a slice of Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake.<br /><br />On a much more selfishly personal note, I have written more than 50,000 words for a novel exclusively during the month of November. I undertook the <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo </a>challenge this year and committed to reaching the suggested goal of 50k words in one month, or a pace of just under 1700 words per day.<br /><br />I am happy beyond belief to report to you all that I just went over that 50k mark a few moments ago, trying to squeeze it in before the NaNo servers get slammed tomorrow with people trying to verify their word counts to be dubbed an official "winner" of NaNo. The official count as of this moment is 50109, but my book is probably only about 60-70% complete at that point. I will finish it, but possibly not at the clip that I've been trying to keep up with in the past 29 days.<br /><br />I think I will leave OpenOffice closed for at least a few days and bask in the gloriousness of not typing as fast as I can between 9:00 p.m. and midnight every night, trying to get my words out after I put the B in bed but before the official end of each day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyqWEm0bKr5V_k9vYRRdVxnguhzld_E2SfEBbw2eXkgVZn9nQezNeLxAA95MuiYf4RN4HnMOkJF9fi262_Cu3otsunfEHqP3Iq5x_x1CjwVHtqLn1awPZnac15TfT0J3s61DkLQ/s1600-h/you_won.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyqWEm0bKr5V_k9vYRRdVxnguhzld_E2SfEBbw2eXkgVZn9nQezNeLxAA95MuiYf4RN4HnMOkJF9fi262_Cu3otsunfEHqP3Iq5x_x1CjwVHtqLn1awPZnac15TfT0J3s61DkLQ/s320/you_won.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274336988530832562" border="0" /></a>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-42677491292485926542008-11-20T23:01:00.003-07:002008-11-20T23:02:36.380-07:00Neat Surprises Just Before You Go To BedI would just like to say that the new theme feature in Google's Gmail (if you don't have a themes tab under your settings, you soon will get one as they roll out the new feature) ROCKS. That is all.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-48958315961680931032008-11-16T18:21:00.005-07:002008-11-16T19:04:14.726-07:00Okay, Let's Think of a New Way to Market ToysMy daughter is tall. She's always going to be tall. I wouldn't be shocked if she was the tallest <span style="font-style: italic;">person</span> in her class for the rest of her life. That's person, and not just tallest girl. I know this will cause her some moments of pain, but there's always something.<br /><br />I don't want to be too egotistical here, either, but I have an inkling she's going to be one of the "smart kids", and will catch some flack for that over her academic career.<br /><br />She's going to be different in enough ways that might cause her some trouble over the course of her life. Given that, I really wish we could start this evolution away from being so stuck in our ways as far as gender typing is concerned.<br /><br />It's time for us to let go of all those primitive preconceptions, relax, and let our kids explore the whole world with fewer needless labels. Nothing they play with when they're three or five or seven is going to make them anything other than what they intrinsically are and will be no matter what.<br /><br />I am so sick of this obsession with "boy toys" and "girl toys". Yes, I understand that there is a phase that most kids go through when they first begin to understand gender and they become either hyper-feminine or hyper-masculine while they try to wrap their brains around this new idea and what effect that has on their place in the world. I just don't understand why we take this one phase of child development and blow it out of proportion. Kids are obsessed with gender roles for a year or so. Their parents, many times, are obsessed with them from the moment they discover the gender of their baby until, oh, ever.<br /><br />Here is just one manifestation of this phenomenon:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWcSTfGnqLrRztIGlEGob2zotIBgi-CRB9essCkpuJOPpBiskjK1Po3565dvlupi5tAiNyq25GN2vMI8jCi_KeMzixPUVvxxmyQo87CyDiCMqG8tjBOSfdFM7ak_qz8fJEF8vtQ/s1600-h/screwyoumarketers.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWcSTfGnqLrRztIGlEGob2zotIBgi-CRB9essCkpuJOPpBiskjK1Po3565dvlupi5tAiNyq25GN2vMI8jCi_KeMzixPUVvxxmyQo87CyDiCMqG8tjBOSfdFM7ak_qz8fJEF8vtQ/s320/screwyoumarketers.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269434934139979682" border="0" /></a>First, here's something subtle you might not have noticed. There is one more item in the "boy" list than the "girl" list. This tells me that things left off of the girl's list were left off on purpose and not due to space constraints.<br /><br />Also, this graphic (taken from a major online retailer) appears on their 3-4 year old toy guide page. At ages 3 and 4, many, many kids are not this gender specific. Their parents might be, pushing cars on little Johnny even though he might be asking for a doll (a perfectly normal form of pretend play, especially if he has a younger sibling) and putting princess hats on their daughters who might be more interested in trains or blocks. The fact that they're pushing such baldly obvious gender typing on kids in an age group that predates the typical age range where awareness of gender roles comes into play just shows how much of the gender differences and gender gap is nurture and not nature.<br /><br />Further, the very idea that the only toy that boys and girls can agree on is "music" and that universal things like "building sets and blocks" are the exclusive playground of boys is frankly, offensive.<br /><br />There's an expression I hate that says, "Boys will be boys and girls will be either." In other words, boys play with boy toys and girls play with girl and boy toys. Maybe you think that this means that girls are able to look at their world from more different and varied points of view, but I think it's more true that the toys seen as exclusively for girls exist in a sort of "not good enough for a boy" gulag, looked down on by the boys who play with the sort of toys that introduce them to a more realistic version of the world (compare playing with cars and trains during imaginative play and playing princesses, and then consider which one is more likely to prepare them for the world we live in.)<br /><br />When you further consider that the foundations for interest in math and science are laid in play with blocks and interest in things like dinosaurs (which spark trips to natural history museums and the like) and trains (which can be turned into an interest in mechanical engineering as they grow older and want to know how things work), labeling those things "for boys" is a disservice in every way to our young girls.<br /><br />I was once kept out of an algebra class in the eighth grade by a male math department head, despite the fact that I had the highest score in my grade on the test used to place us in the "right" math class. His excuse was that he "thought I'd want to be with my little friends." The principal backed him.<br /><br />My friends were guys. I didn't know a single person in the eighth grade pre-algebra class I took, which bored me so much that it's the closest I've ever come to getting trouble for spacing out in class and not paying attention. My friends were boys, by the way, because they didn't seem as affronted by my interest in math and science as the girls were.<br /><br />Maybe it was because the girls were brainwashed by gender stereotyping, and my insistence on ignoring the boundaries made them uneasy. Maybe we would never have gotten along anyway, and it was immaterial.<br /><br />But you know what? As long as we keep brainwashing our kids to stay safely in their assigned gender roles, we're never gonna know.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-49136082274278445312008-11-14T16:02:00.002-07:002008-11-14T16:36:00.909-07:00Why I'll Be Buying Some Presents from Amazon.Com This YearThe end of last year, frankly, was a mess. We were getting the house ready to sell, we were getting ready to do some holiday traveling, and some horrible things had recently happened in our family. We weren't putting up a Christmas tree for several reasons, some due to the stock advice not to put up anything personal in a house you're trying to sell, but also partially because we weren't in a frame of mind to celebrate.<br /><br />Everything I did around then just seemed more difficult. The last of the weights that were pushing down on us just fell at the end of last month, in fact, when the house finally sold. Things just weren't going well, and I just kind of knew that things would be a struggle for us for awhile. The last thing I needed was a new problem, the sort of random thing that can happen to anyone.<br /><br />I bought a digital photo frame for my parents for Christmas, loaded it with pictures of our daughter, me, and the mister, wrapped it up, and sent it. I reused a shipping box that had held something I purchased from Amazon.com, a lovely boxed hardcover set of Calvin and Hobbes that was the mister's present last Christmas, bought at such a steep discount on their Friday sale that I doubt they made that much profit on the sale. I carefully covered over the shipping info from Amazon to send the box to my parents, taping a piece of heavy construction paper with their address on it over the top of the box.<br /><br />What happened to cause the random problem that I needed like a hole in my head was this: somewhere between Missouri and Virginia, the piece of paper ripped somehow and the address information was separated from the box. It still apparently had the sticker that was printed by the shipping machine I used at the post office that directed it to the right zip code, but the street address was gone.<br /><br />When too much time went by before the package reached my mom and dad, I dug out the receipt with the tracking number on it and set about trying to find the package. It had a weird status when I checked it online, and I ended up making phone calls that ended with the postmaster of the post office where the package had apparently been at one time, but no one seemed to be able to put their hands on it.<br /><br />I was so upset over this package being missing. Part of it was the money, because it was a kind of expensive present. Part of it was the work I'd put into choosing the pictures and putting them on the memory card, pre-programming it so it would be easy for my parents to use. But part of it was that it was one more damn thing that wasn't going well.<br /><br />I made, at the postmaster's suggestion, about three more calls to him while that post office tried to figure out what had happened to this package. I was losing faith that anyone I knew would ever see it again. I even began to wonder if someone had opened the package, unwrapped the present, saw it was a larger-ticket item, and decided to keep it.<br /><br />Then one day, my doorbell rang. I went to the door and found a package UPS had left on my doorstep that had shipping labels from Amazon, along with a neon yellow sticker on the outside saying something about an item that was being returned to me because Amazon didn't know why it had been sent to them.<br /><br />I opened that box and found MY box inside. That box had clearly been through a LOT, dinged and ripped and dented, but inside THAT box was the digital photo frame. It wasn't wrapped (I imagine Amazon had to take off the gift wrap to figure out what it was) but all of the pieces were safely inside the box.<br /><br />There was a note inside the box saying that they had sent me back my item because they couldn't locate an RMA involving that item. I thought it through for a few minutes and then figured out what must have happened.<br /><br />The USPS must have seen the old shipping label on the box, the original one from Amazon when they sent me the books I'd ordered. Having no other solid info to go on (I'd ripped off the part with our address), they sent the box to Amazon in the hopes that the puzzle would untangle somehow.<br /><br />Amazon then got a box with an item that I don't even think they sell, but they looked up the shipping information from my original order, probably the UPS tracking number that I'd sharpied over but was probably still readable from the barcode. When they got the shipping info, they sent the box to me at their cost, along with their note about not having a matching RMA request.<br /><br />I felt horrible that Amazon had incurred a cost in helping to get this box back to me. I went on a mission to find someone in their customer service to explain the whole debacle to, finding someone in the right department after a few stops and starts. I explained what had happened, how they'd come to be in possession of a product I hadn't even purchased from them, and that I wanted to reimburse them for the shipping costs.<br /><br />The lady sent me an email back in our little chain of replies back and forth that basically said, "Don't worry about it. Just think of us in the future when you're shopping online. Happy Holidays."<br /><br />I'm not a member of Amazon Prime, and while I've bought my share of things from them in the past, I doubt I'm even in the top 70% of sales for private individuals. There was nothing in my account that could have persuaded this woman or Amazon in specific to give me special treatment. This was just how the company treated me when I approached them to tell them how they'd helped me. They did me one last favor and told me to forget the shipping cost, which was extremely generous, considering that they were the last step in a chain that helped me find this gift that went astray and get it back to my parents.<br /><br />That, both the effort they took to ship the box back to me and the kindness of their customer service agents, means that I am now going out of my way to find the presents I'd like to buy on their site. That's how you turn a customer into a devoted repeat customer. I'm happy to thank them with my purchases and my loyalty. Thanks again, Amazon, for making a really difficult holiday season that we had last year just a little less stressful.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-69650583250467338712008-11-09T21:39:00.004-07:002008-11-09T22:20:48.368-07:00Possible Breakthrough?Even with all the news from the election swirling through the media, I can hardly believe that the only place I saw this story was Slashdot.<br /><br />The work of a doctor named Gero Hutter <a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/09/1558241">may have saved the lives of millions of people</a>. If these findings can be replicated on a larger scale, there's another man who has shown this week that he might be able to change the world.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-3491882724349481162008-11-08T15:33:00.003-07:002008-11-08T15:34:17.328-07:00Campaign AdsAh, now that the election is over, I just realized that I can go back to being annoyed at those inane Mac vs. PC ads.<br /><br />UGH.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-40958174801173528162008-11-07T13:36:00.003-07:002008-11-07T15:02:51.319-07:00Two Speeches from 11/04/08<a href="http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/297357/Obama_victory_speech" title="Wordle: Obama victory speech"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmhqXmuCbvY8Nh1fBX0CtdvrrJPgKkFHpHpW3nkQYD4DKLyMgNCAkMR-r_qThk7JIteAk3zXTq8mDo6teMnxubJ9vFdkPoIwXZlGtvmn_d2x-CAwb1CLJ_MWcKv-z7FN292kIug/s320/obamavictory.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266017657775885266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/297215/McCain_Concession_Speech" title="Wordle: McCain Concession Speech"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_8MgDj6LO3WKqntQcjacmki1Vorc2bI6I-II2MExQZOkWW6R8BuzocMJrxiFgriNE6UBCvaEG8JryI3eOk3SncKyopn326n3Nipv-B0vkz1Gp2lCee3NN4mo7Q1QT-XS_Zcvaw/s320/mccainconcession.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266017556057555922" border="0" /></a>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-60743977626802735772008-11-04T09:40:00.001-07:002008-11-04T09:43:23.291-07:00This Service Brought to You By Google and Me!<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://general-election-2008.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/results-gadget.xml&up_state=us&up_race=President&up_countdown=1&synd=open&w=350&h=400&title=2008+Election+Results+from+Google&lang=all&country=ALL&border=%23ffffff%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%2399BB66%7C0px%2C2px+solid+%23AACC66%7C0px%2C2px+solid+%23BBDD66&output=js"></script>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-51843211713773125852008-11-03T11:02:00.003-07:002008-11-03T11:20:19.149-07:00Tomorrow it will be OVERWhatever we have in store for us for four years, the best thing I can say at the moment is that tomorrow, it will at long last be done with.<br /><br />That all being said...<br /><br />Anyone saying that Barack Obama hasn't released his "real" birth certificate? I get to kick you right in the face, because not only is it the stupidest lie I've ever heard in my entire life, it is the dumbest possible knock on a candidate I can think of. Argue platform or qualifications, but when you have to degenerate to trying to allege that he isn't a natural-born citizen when he has provided the same documents that all of the other candidates have, you really can just kiss my ass.<br /><br />Though I am about as far from a Sarah Palin fan as you can possibly get, the same goes for people who are out there yelling that they think her most recent baby was actually her daughter's. It just doesn't matter. It's a smokescreen. An obfuscation, just like so much of the utter sewage that has been flashing across our televisions and thrown out from the speakers at political rallies.<br /><br />Elections should be about the platforms and capabilities. If you want to try to paint someone as a remorseless liar to try to knock their character, do it with something IMPORTANT. Something that matters. Something that can be proven, not just a nasty allegation that you can throw up like last night's rum and coke and hope that enough other people believe you that you can use it to engineer the outcome you want. It's just ugly smearing, and honestly, it does little else other than make you, personally, look like a complete moron.<br /><br />I really just can't figure out why people aren't pointing those laser-sharp capabilities to decide if someone is lying or not at their campaign promises or at the allegations they throw at the other candidate. I guess that would be thinking, and darn it, thinking is hard work. Why not just pick something easy and start screaming, without any evidence at all, that it means that person is a dirty liar that we can't trust?<br /><br />Don't you people who indulge in this ugly business see that this turns the electorate at large into the equivalent of the average Jerry Springer audience? Talking points get lobbed out into the fray and no one seems to spend any time thinking about them, if they make sense, and if they are accurate portrayals of whatever the candidate is talking about. People are too busy repeating the easiest lies they've heard, the ones that let them stop thinking about rather tough issues and go back to watching reality television.<br /><br />Every four years, I get physically ill at what has happened to democracy in America. Why is it this way, when there is a better way? When did we let go of the curiosity and thirst for figuring it all out that we had when we were toddlers? If your random voter had to prove that they've given as much thought to their decision to vote as my daughter does to telling me which lower case letter we're showing her on her flash cards before they could cast that vote, I think a lot of people would have to go home from the polls and do a little reading and thought before they were allowed back.<br /><br />Someone wake me up on Wednesday morning, please, and tell me that this every-four-years bad dream is finally done.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-20981309867742515472008-11-01T13:22:00.002-06:002008-11-01T13:35:15.129-06:00Yet Another "Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!" MomentI'm not going to say I've never talked into my phone while driving, but I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm not going to say I've never used it while out and about, say inside a store to call someone to ask a question about what to buy or something. I understand that some people are bothered by other people doing this, though that is a head-scratcher to me. That, at least, isn't endangering anyone, and it's the same conversation you'd presumably be having if the person was with you. I do know that some people think that's rude, though, but I think they're missing the mark. If you're going to be exasperated with mobile phones, pick the right target. Pick the target that has a body count.<br /><br />Text messaging is getting out of fucking control. Studies have shown that merely talking into a phone while your eyes are STRAIGHT AHEAD at the road still impairs your driving, specifically your reaction time and concentration. The fact that there are morons out there driving while staring AT THEIR PHONE typing in a text message (don't try to tell me you can do it without looking, because that's complete bullshit) is absolutely insane. You would think that's about as insane as it can get.<br /><br />You'd be wrong.<br /><br />Because now, train engineers who are on the job are doing it. Well, <a href="http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/deadcall.asp">at least one, anyway</a>. People are dead because some moron was typing in "i duno wut im doin 2nite, u?" or some other similarly literate missive when he should have been watching the tracks to see the red "stop" signal light that would not have put his train in the path of the train that had been given the right of way.<br /><br />Put the phones down when you need your full attention directed at another task. I am so sick of seeing people glued to those stupid things when they should have their mind on what they're doing. There is nothing, nothing that can't wait until you aren't driving (especially driving a freaking TRAIN) to take care of.<br /><br />The fact that anyone needs to say this is completely maddening. You aren't immortal, people, and nor are the people whose cars you're going to crash into.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-53053847270164888592008-10-30T16:12:00.004-06:002008-10-30T16:17:19.638-06:00Homeowners No MoreFor those of you privy to the more mundane aspects of the day-to-day stresses and strains of my family, I would like to announce that the house that was on the market since last November 27th is now officially no longer ours.<br /><br />It perhaps didn't happen in quite the way we'd like. The outcome wasn't perfect. It is, though, the outcome we have, and I am grateful that it is finally at an end. For all its faults, this end is a relief, and one we needed before we could ever, ever move on unfettered.<br /><br />Now the barking dog next door is someone else's problem.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-53755704856030889332008-10-27T19:47:00.004-06:002008-10-27T21:06:11.840-06:00Playing to the CrowdYou have to appreciate a group of people who see a need and then fill it. I was watching our local ABC television station, and as the last "ad" in a group of commercials, they put up video of a hummingbird feeding on a lovely purple flower and the text "Election Ad Break" at the bottom of the screen. Soothing music played in the background. It was wonderful.<br /><br />Well played, local ABC affiliate. Well played. Thank you for giving us a break from the constant ads that all of us, whether we've voted yet or not, are sick of listening to.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-86100297596598011822008-10-22T17:14:00.001-06:002008-10-22T17:15:17.416-06:00Can't Take It AnymoreLet's just have the election already and get this OVER with. It gets uglier everyday.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-8809351488507133522008-10-17T10:53:00.002-06:002008-10-17T10:55:27.781-06:00Denver QuestionDoes anyone know of an independent computer parts/electronics store in the Denver area?<br /><br />You know. Not a Circuit City, Best Buy, or Radio Shack. There are some smaller computer repair places, but the ones I've called don't seem to carry very many parts in stock. I'll order what I need if I have to, but I'd much rather go the instant gratification route if possible.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-14373778696061565562008-10-15T08:47:00.005-06:002008-10-15T09:15:37.403-06:00This is HILARIOUSFrom this <a href="http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/stifled-by-copy.html">Wired</a> article:<br /><blockquote>After seeings its videos repeatedly removed from YouTube, John McCain's campaign on Monday told the Google-owned video site that its copyright infringement policies are stringent to the point of stifling free speech, and that its lawyers need to revamp the way they evaluate copyright infringement claims.<br /></blockquote>So, the presidential candidate from the party that just introduced a US Copyright Czar post similar to the oh-so-effective Drug Czar post, a new post that will certainly be used to stifle Fair Use and fine people ridiculous amounts of money for doing the equivalent of making a mix tape is now crying that his videos where he appropriates music from artists that don't support his candidacy are being removed even though the use of the music is Fair Use.<br /><br />Well, cry me a river. If you won, I'm 100% sure you'll sign every piece of legislation lobbied for by the RIAA and the big entertainment companies, regardless of any Fair Use considerations.<br /><br />From his own "tech policy" (which mentions little to none of the concerns of the tech workers of America, I might add):<br /><blockquote><span class="issues_maintext"><strong style="font-weight: normal;">John McCain Will Pursue Protection Of Intellectual Property Around The Globe.</strong> Intellectual property protection is increasingly an issue for U.S. innovators operating in the global economy. John McCain will seek international agreements and enforcement efforts that ensure fair rewards to intellectual property.<br /></span></blockquote>Kids, this is code language for "Hey RIAA guys, I've got your back, so don't worry." It's not "Hey moms, don't worry about posting to YouTube that 17 second clip of your five year old dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" because I'll make sure that they understand Fair Use." John McCain didn't give a rat's about Fair Use until the music he used without permission caused his campaign videos to get caught in the copyright takedowns that his political party is a vocal supporter of. In fact, he still doesn't care one whit about the Fair Use rights of you and me. He thinks that he should get special treatment, and the rest of us should still be nickle and dimed:<br /><blockquote>[W]e believe that it would consume few resources--and provide enormous benefit--for YouTube to commit to a full legal review of all takedown notices on videos posted from accounts controlled by (at least) political candidates and campaigns.<br /></blockquote>So we're not ALL entitled to legal Fair Use. Just politicians. Let me know when we officially convert to a caste system so that I can read about which of my rights I get and which ones are only available to castes above mine.<br /><br />This would all make me laugh if it didn't make me want to cry a single perfect tear of frustration.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-58499598296975329602008-10-13T10:20:00.002-06:002008-10-13T10:33:49.960-06:00No, Really..."No Thanks!"I got an email from my cellular provider last week. Apparently they've been wringing their hands together, worried that my current mobile phone isn't everything my heart wants and desires. Now, I am on a very simple plan. A modicum of free minutes, nationwide long distance, and that's about it. No built-in text messaging plans, no web access plan, nothing like that. Nor do I really send text messages or use the web access built into my phone, and not just because it's not covered in my plan. I just don't use or need it. So there's nothing about my usage patterns that would make them think that I require a new phone or new packages to add to my service.<br /><br />However, there is now a year left on my contract (I should have long since been out of contract, but there was some shuffling that went on last year before we moved and I knowingly consented to a two year extension to make them easier and less expensive) and I guess they're staying up nights fretting that I might leave once the contract is up. You know. IN A YEAR.<br /><br />(Note to cellular providers: if you all didn't suck at least a little bit on service, pricing, and general customer service, you wouldn't have to use contracts to lock people in. They'd stay on their own. It's a terrible way to do business, it truly is.)<br /><br />So I ignored the email last week. I don't want a new phone. This one calls people when I type in numbers and press send, and it lets me talk when other people type in my particular numbers and my phone rings, and that's all I'm really looking for out of, you know, A PHONE.<br /><br />Apparently they were so concerned with my lack of immediate contact when they made their generous offer to charge me money to replace something that still works fine and lock me in for three more years instead of just one more short year of my life, and they sent me a text message to alert me to this wonderful deal that awaited me. In the text message, they lovingly described what I was entitled to indenture myself to, and then at the end, they included a brief, annoyingly txt-speechy description of how to reply to the unwanted text message to tell them that it was, shockingly, UNWANTED.<br /><br />I worked out the instructions and replied back to get them to never text message me again, and I got a CONFIRMATION text message that I had to reply to AGAIN to confirm that I didn't want such vital messages as "please give us $79.99 so that you can throw a working piece of equipment in the trash in the name of keeping up with everyone else's pieces of beeping plastic."<br /><br />I replied to that one, and my phone has now blessedly stayed silent. FOUR text messages to say, "No, thank you," and get them to actually go away.<br /><br />It could be worse, though. They could have had a telemarketer call me and insinuate that I'm a dinosaur because I don't want a phone that will play MP3s at me and show me my email and generally annoy me because the main function of the phone has been nearly lost in the morass of other functions that are built into the damn thing, and the whole thing will cost me three or four times what I currently pay per month.<br /><br />In fact, I think they would have done that, but I already opted out of marketing calls. That's what must have gotten them so concerned. They must think only a terribly depressed person wouldn't want to hear about their amazing offers. I really should be grateful that they care.<br /><br />Really, I think I'll see if another company has better coverage out here among the horses and switch when my contract's up next year. So THEY can annoy me with emails and calls and text messages anew, I'm sure.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-21098659035504690402008-10-12T15:35:00.004-06:002008-10-12T15:52:22.393-06:00Let Me Help You OutI have two suggestions for a couple of websites. I see no better way to voice them than my sparsely-visited blog, because surely word will get back to them somehow, right?<br /><br />1. Alton Brown. Your personal website and the Food Network website offer no way to contact you. You seem like a personable guy, so I can only assume this is because you feel you would get too many comments to respond to personally, so you've left off a contact link to keep people from being disappointed.<br /><br />That's too bad, though, because I have a really good show idea. I define "really good" as "I need the hell out of this information, and I think he's the right guy to present it." I mean, yes, it's full of self-interest, but...well, it's really just full of self-interest.<br /><br />I (somewhat) recently moved to a location that is considered "high-altitude". All my life I've vaguely noted the high-altitude directions on the recipes that include them, but it never occurred to me that one day, I would be the one needing them. Baking here is a mess. Pretty much anything with a mixture of wet and dry ingredients seems to be affected, and nothing seems to come out quite right, even when you have high-altitude instructions. Cookies are flat. Brownies too. I haven't even attempted a cake or bread or something a little more complex, but I can only assume that they would also be affected by the curse of the mountains.<br /><br />Yes, there are other sources that lay out the concepts behind high-altitude cooking, and I've tried to get into several of them enough for the information to sink in. It's either my usual state of sleep deprivation or the fact that they're as boring as plain white rice, but I can't stick with any of them long enough to learn anything.<br /><br />What I figure I require are puppets and skits and some sort of illustrative use of styrofoam balls and yarn. Surely, if Alton Brown can't teach me how to make good cookies at altitude, it is a lost cause.<br /><br />But I can't ask him to do this show, because there is no known way on the internets to get a message to him. If I had a homing pigeon, I would use its services. If anyone reading this post can find a link I couldn't find, I will bow to your superior internet kung-fu if you take pity on me and leave it in the comments.<br /><br />2. Very simply, to all brick and mortar store websites: you are not allowed to have a website unless I can go there and find out when your store is open. If you have a store locator and there are no store hours on each location's individual page, you fail and you have to start again. In this information age, I shouldn't have to pick up a phone and derail one of your employees just so they can tell me that they'll close tonight at 7:00. That is 20th century thinking, which would be great if that was the century we're living in, BUT IT'S NOT.<br /><br />Let me know when your outsourced website vendor figures their shit out and puts ALL the basic info on your website, because that's when I'll bother to go there again. When I make a wasted trip to your site, all you do is teach me not to waste my time in the future. In this economy, I don't think you can afford to do that. Just some love from me to you.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-34893077256891541612008-10-11T14:22:00.005-06:002008-10-11T16:07:39.089-06:00CraftinessI finished two projects recently, making some new toys for the B out of some pretty basic supplies.<br /><br />Project 1: Lower case letter puzzle<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2931714223/" title="About half done putting letters in the puzzle by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2931714223_ea7db4ecac_m.jpg" alt="About half done putting letters in the puzzle" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />We have a Melissa and Doug upper case letter puzzle that helped me teach her the upper case alphabet pretty quickly, but I'm always worried that we'll lose a letter or two and you can't get replacement letters for those puzzles. As much as I love our Melissa and Doug puzzles, I decided to try to make a basic one that would be easy to make replacement parts for if something went missing in the depths of the house that only a two-going-on-three year old can find.<br /><br />I used clear packing tape, a cardboard box, one sheet of green construction paper, a sharpie, a pen, a pair of scissors, some glue, and an exacto knife. I drew the letters with a sharpie on the smaller pieces of cardboard salvaged from the old moving box that had come apart, making them nice and round and easy to read. Then I cut around the letters, trying to make the silhouette of the piece look as much like the shape of the letter as possible without getting too ornate. (Because then making replacement pieces would seem difficult when it's time to make them, and the likelihood of getting it done would be lower.)<br /><br />Then I took the two long sides of the cardboard box body and cut them to the same size. I put the green construction paper over the piece that would be the "bottom" of the puzzle and taped it in place. Then I laid the cut-out letters on the piece that would be the "top", trying to arrange them evenly from side to side and top to bottom. I drew around the pieces with the pen and then used the exacto knife to cut out squares that were just larger than the pieces. (I used all the scrap cardboard under the piece to keep the exacto knife from cutting, for example, the carpeting, or my leg.)<br /><br />Then I glued the two pieces together, the piece with the holes on the top and the piece covered in green construction paper underneath. I taped the sides for good measure, and ended up using the packing tape over the top (cutting out the holes with the exacto knife) just to make it more durable.<br /><br />I drew the letter in each hole so she could match up the shapes of the letter pieces with the puzzle, and she was ready to play!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2932572936/" title="Contemplating a letter by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/2932572936_f0b1fcc9e3_m.jpg" alt="Contemplating a letter" width="160" height="240" /></a><br /><br />Total cost: We actually already had all of the parts I used for this project around the house. It was probably about a dollar's worth of tape, a little bit of household glue, and then a cut-up moving box that had fallen apart under the weight of the items in it when I tried to move it from one place to another in the garage. So basically, this one was free because of what I had around the house.<br /><br />Project 2: Felt play food<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2931728181/" title="All of the food I made by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2931728181_2042bf3ea0_m.jpg" alt="All of the food I made" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />I saw a post on the CRAFT magazine blog where someone had made some play food out of sheets of felt, and I thought I'd give it a go, especially since I finally got the front bedroom, where we are storing a lot of boxes and things, straightened out enough to set up my sewing machine.<br /><br />For this, I just got some different colors of felt sheets at the craft store and then cut out food shapes freehand. Then I went to the sewing machine and sewed them together with appropriate colors of thread, stuffing some with polyfill to make them puffy and leaving others just a flat two-ply of felt.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2932586658/" title="Food close-ups 1 by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2932586658_52d2bf591c_m.jpg" alt="Food close-ups 1" width="240" height="160" /></a><br />Left column: bread slices<br />Top right: bacon<br />Bottom right: pepperoni pizza slices<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2931727903/" title="Food close-ups 2 by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/2931727903_acefbf845c_m.jpg" alt="Food close-ups 2" width="160" height="240" /></a><br />Top: carrot<br />Middle: lettuce<br />Bottom: tomato, slice of cheese<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2931727815/" title="Food close-ups 3 by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/2931727815_f07d3e00c0_m.jpg" alt="Food close-ups 3" width="240" height="101" /></a><br />Left to right: orange, banana, apple, watermelon<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/72944086@N00/2931728395/" title="B surveying her felt food by lostonpurpose, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2931728395_e1d49cdef6_m.jpg" alt="B surveying her felt food" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /><br />Total cost: About 8 sheets of craft felt at 20 cents each: $1.60 + tax. One bottle of puffy fabric paint for the tomato: $1.49 + tax. I also want to go and get a bottle of orange to make lines on the carrot, a bottle of black to put seeds on the watermelon, and white to put a little shiny highlight on the apple and the orange. I already had the polyfill, but that's not too expensive if you needed to buy it, and I already had a set of different colored spools of thread that came with my sewing machine when I bought it. If you didn't have the colors of thread you need for the different foods, that part could add up a little because those spools of thread are always more than I think they'll be whenever I look at them in the store. But still, a lot less than buying play food from a store, and most of that stuff is plastic and not really as fun to play with than fun, soft, squishy food.<br /><br />So there is a record of my recent craftiness. Both projects were fun and the B seems to enjoy the end products, so it seems like time well spent.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-17404313745475886192008-10-08T15:32:00.002-06:002008-10-08T15:37:14.474-06:00BlechWhy are my glasses getting so schmutzy lately? I don't remember cleaning them this often before, and finding so much crap on them each time I clean them.<br /><br />Is it the altitude? Am I messier than I used to be? Am I fussier than I used to be? Did something else change?<br /><br />I just don't get it.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-74351618157422039142008-09-26T12:45:00.007-06:002008-09-26T14:57:55.477-06:00Yo Melora MeloraLet's say, hypothetically, that you have a child who saw a commercial for the utterly-surreal kid show "Yo Gabba Gabba", so you put it on for her so she can watch it while you try to pick up the wreckage of toys in the house.<br /><br />Then let's further say that you looked up at the television and saw someone you could swear is a dead ringer for Melora Hardin, known to many as "Jan" from <i>The Office</i>. And you think, "That can't possibly <i>really</i> be Melora Hardin dancing with these weird characters and singing songs and stuff."<br /><br />But really, truly, the person looks and sounds exactly like her. So what would you do? Would you be thoroughly freaked out to google "Yo Gabba Gabba", find the official site, and then find this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGg4NyPBHd3fxwiFWAzFT3WSpE3m0DCOQHcvKuTE02mU_D4VPhpv6LOrDpzdviUiuiuKKkxnc8Una4PkkPYvtW_SZjsFPhzv6yW_7Gg3uNr1pq3hdEWW6tCTP_UI1_asMb_WWAw/s1600-h/yogabba.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGg4NyPBHd3fxwiFWAzFT3WSpE3m0DCOQHcvKuTE02mU_D4VPhpv6LOrDpzdviUiuiuKKkxnc8Una4PkkPYvtW_SZjsFPhzv6yW_7Gg3uNr1pq3hdEWW6tCTP_UI1_asMb_WWAw/s320/yogabba.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250404681131418738" border="0" /></a>I mean, I know people guest-star on shows for kids. Goodness knows that most of the people who were celebrities when I was very young or before I was born are known to me mostly because a lot of them were on <i>Sesame Street</i> when I was a kid.<br /><br />What's weird about this is that I don't think they called her "Melora" or anything, so any adults watching with the kids who recognize her from something else she's been in were really left stumped unless they went and looked it up like my obsessive nature forced me to do.<br /><br />Looks like I can catch Amy Sedaris if she wants to keep watching it, but I'm not sure it really held her attention. Perhaps that's all for the best.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-15501216941826362062008-09-26T10:53:00.003-06:002008-09-26T11:02:24.353-06:00Palin Was Picked Because......I honestly think John McCain wasn't and isn't bothered by the amount that it's clear that she's in over her head. I think *this* is because he doesn't believe there's a woman anywhere who could do any better. We're all not as good as men, so isn't any random female Republican politician as good as the next?<br /><br />(And if you're about to argue her abilities or credentials with me, go to YouTube and watch that interview she just did with Katie Couric. Or any of her interviews, when they've allowed her to speak, for that matter. Her lack of readiness for the job she is up for is beyond any argument at this point.)<br /><br />There were better women for the job, and I can't believe there are any women left out there who are willing to support her merely because she's a woman. The very choice that was made is insulting to all of us. The Republican ticket picking her is a slap in the face to any woman who would normally be proud to see a woman up for such a vital and important job.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-77027747007229160252008-09-18T16:02:00.002-06:002008-09-18T16:06:24.491-06:00What's Cindy's Last Name?!?I drowsily looked up at the television one Saturday morning a month or so ago and the credits for "The Early Show" were rolling. I saw this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfwKiJ5h8VZs0Xeh9OhFlYo0ViwIU_Ybfo9NBMwV3Hb_bVUcSLWDqni-cLq6yh0m953yd053XjA4b5bm5NNAVUwmrwuNkIubts6h-1qBdtsF9ALqbK8L1wUKP-14A8gaQuQS1mw/s1600-h/P9184090.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfwKiJ5h8VZs0Xeh9OhFlYo0ViwIU_Ybfo9NBMwV3Hb_bVUcSLWDqni-cLq6yh0m953yd053XjA4b5bm5NNAVUwmrwuNkIubts6h-1qBdtsF9ALqbK8L1wUKP-14A8gaQuQS1mw/s320/P9184090.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247485531002457458" border="0" /></a>Poor Cindy. Surely someone knows her last name. She's a stage manager, for heaven's sake. It's not like she doesn't work with a bunch of people if she's <i>managing</i> the <i>stage</i>.<br /><br />(And thank goodness I got around to snapping a pic of this so I could finally clean this off of our TiVo.)Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11129087.post-42582999314534743992008-09-15T12:44:00.003-06:002008-09-15T13:07:58.526-06:00To the Airline IndustryReading a story on the Consumerist today about United raising their charge for a second bag from $25 to $50 reminded me of something else.<br /><br />After staring at Google maps for about fifteen minutes last night, the mister and I determined that we will be driving to Wisconsin from here the next time we go to visit, which will probably be sometime around the holidays. Yeah, between gas and a couple of hotels there and back, it will probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of what flying would cost. Yes, that's true, but that's not what this is about.<br /><br />We won't, however, be supporting an industry that insists on continuing to treat their customers like cattle, nickle and dime us and act like we should be thankful for the opportunity, and the overall airport security system that believes that acting like bullies and treating everyone like a criminal is an acceptable way to keep the peace.<br /><br />When you drive, you're on your own terms. You stop and eat if you want to (paying what you choose to pay for a wide variety of foods which are either in the car with you in a cooler or the stuff that's available at restaurants along the way). You take as much or as little as you can fit in the car you've chosen to own, and no one has the right to stop you and paw through your things to take away dangerous things like water, sterile feeding tubes, knitting needles, or tweezers. No one can check your name against a list of people to determine if you have the right to travel on the conveyance you've already paid to use. (Don't get me started on how easily a terrorist can get fake ID and subvert the no-fly list.) Even if something goes wrong with your car, you still have control over how it gets resolved and what happens to you in the interim.<br /><br />No one hates being stuck in a car for long trips more than me, and I'd still rather drive just about anywhere than take a plane flight, even if the stupid thing was given to me for free.<br /><br />I'm sure this information comes as no surprise to anyone reading this, as you've all undoubtedly heard me complain about the decline of the airline industry and the violations of privacy and decency endemic in the TSA "system" before, but when I see things getting worse and not better, you can believe that I'll probably just keep bitching about it more.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07905052753751613948noreply@blogger.com0