Category: Life

  • This Day In History

    I’d like to thank some automated system at Lycos for being among the first to wish me a happy birthday this morning.

    Happy Birthday greyduck

    The My Lycos team sincerely hopes you have a special and
    wonderful day.

    Check out these interesting facts related to your birthday…

    And some of the facts include that I share a birthday with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (the jurist son, not the author papa) and Alan Hale, Jr. (a.k.a. The Skipper). Insert “Hey, little buddy!” joke here. And what is it with the Juniors, eh? Oh, but it gets better!

    1917 – Start of the February Revolution in Russia.
    1948 – The Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution.
    1950 – The Soviet Union claimed to be in possession of the atomic bomb.
    1965 – First U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam.
    1983 – President Reagan called the USSR an “Evil Empire”.

    What, no cool inventions? No signings of treaties or cessations of hostilities? Bah.

    So, pretty much the only cool thing about the 8th of March is that it’s the date on which I entered the world. Take that, History Of Mankind! Neener, neener.

    (Well, okay, that “religious instruction” thing isn’t so bad. But still. Sheesh.)

    Update: Further research by way of the History Channel website adds that it was on this date in 1957 that Egypt opened the Suez Canal. I’ve also learned that I share a birthday with Lynn Redgrave, a Monkee and an Eagle. Yay! Oh wait, I don’t like the Monkees and I loathe the Eagles. That Redgrave chick ain’t bad, though.
    This Day In History

  • A year older. Not a damned bit wiser.

    Some time tomorrow I turn 31 years old. This is an earthshaking bit of news, to be sure. My plans currently include dinner at Outback Steakhouse tomorrow night and, er, not working Saturday or Sunday.

    Yes, that’s it. I hasten to point out that this still beats any number of prior birthdays, thank you.

    I was going to engage in some soul-searching, but I took a peek in there and realized that there’s nothing pretty to be found. So you’re all spared that agony. Count that among your blessings.

    Here’s to another year survived, and a future twelve months of the same goofy crap I’ve filled my life with the past twelve.

    Oh yeah: If by chance some rich person ends up here, I’d like to direct them to my Amazon.com Wishlist. Thank you.

  • Addendum to Elsewhere

    Sunday was a blast, as it always is when Mari (and Doug) and Lilith (and Geoffrey) and I get together. Mari’s account covers most of the bases, so I’m just going to add a couple of tidbits.

    The chair is indeed comfy. It also features a dizzying array of possible massage combinations, most of which I can’t imagine seriously using. (The alternating-sides mode is just wrong.)

    There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having your breakfast and lunch in one meal, provided it’s done tastily. I applaud Red Robin for offering a burger that includes a fried egg and several strips of bacon. Yum.

    I’ve discovered what could be a problem for my photojournalism goal: I’m loath to snap pictures of people around me, especially family and friends. I know how much I hate being in front of the camera, so I naturally tend not to want to inflict that on others. Mari came to the rescue, however. If you can call it that.

    We love the camera. The camera loves us. Yeah.

    To finish up, let me state for the record that cheesecake abdomens are weird. Tasty, but weird. Thank you.

  • RoboTussin

    So Wendi brought home some store-brand “Tussin” liquid cold medicine yesterday. Great idea, since we were totally out of such. I took a dose in the morning, took another dose right before taking my five-hour nap (during which I did not sleep) and I took one more right before going to bed at night.

    I did not sleep at all last night, nor in fact have I slept in the last 24 hours. I have, however, engaged in a lot of twitching, sweating, tossing and turning.

    “Honey, that Tussin stuff… it’s non-drowsy isn’t it?”

    “Oops.”

    I’m at the office today, yes. But I’m wobbly, woozy and generally in less than peak condition. Conversation with me may be Twilight Zone in quality. You’ve been warned.

    Tonight, no strange liquids. I am so tired.

  • Bah. Stupid cold.

    The cold that I’d thought was mild, that I thought I’d beaten, has decided to settle into my throat and lungs for another go-’round. Yippee, fun.

    I’ll be online intermittently through the day, because hey, what else am I going to do with my time? I’m sure as hell not watching daytime broadcast television.

    My only true worry today is that it’s the 24th. For the last two months on this date the Snap! Server has crashed. I’m hoping that I don’t get any panicky phone calls from the office.

    Stay tuned for some tidbits of randomness, including (*gasp*) my answers to the PPF

  • Tidbits on a sickday, and my PPF answers.

    I just wanted to rattle off some quick and silly tidbits, but first I’d better appease those who say that I need to answer my own silly survey. Fine then.

    Past – My first “serious” kiss took place outside Dad’s apartment as my very first girlfriend was about to leave for home. Ah, Megan Webb, where are you now? If I had to speculate, I’d say she married that Tim guy she dumped me for and probably lives in Longview somewhere. Yeah, that’s about it.

    Present – Romance, to me, is an unexpected warm-and-fuzzy. Impractical and silly, yes, but whatever it takes to put a smile on her face. That’s what drives me, folks; I have to make people smile. A therapist would probably go on about my need for validation, but to hell with therapy. I’m not that poorly adjusted, dammit.

    Future – What does one do with money but spend it? I can see her coming home, seeing giftwrapped presents placed strategically around the house, each one with her name on it. The practical gifts are first, like towels and tools and that griddle she’s been wanting for just about forever. Later come dolls and pictures, and last comes jewelry and some sort of big-bang present to end all presents. No, I don’t know what that would be. I’m a firm believer in inspiration when it comes to romantic giftgiving.

    To elaborate, I’ll tell you about Abigail. A few years back we had the Christmas blowout, which is to say we spent way, way more money than we had any right to. I was given a bit o’ cash with which to hunt down a good present for Wendi, and I wandered up and down the length of the mall. I could have picked out any number of things along the way, but I wanted inspiration.

    And then I noticed the Geppeddo doll kiosk. Wendi loves dolls, so I took a closer look at the available selections. All kinds of adorable doll designs caught my eye, but I wasn’t inspired… until I saw this one design.


    “A doll in a plain white wedding gown,” you ask, “when there were more colorful and intricate dolls on display?” Yes indeed. You see, Abigail there reminded me so much of how Wendi looked on our wedding day that I couldn’t not choose her as the perfect Christmas present.

    That’s what I mean by inspiration.

    Okay, some tidbits.

    • This makes three attempts to find the perfect “now-playing” feature, but I’m now using Currently Hearing to display my Winamp usage.
    • On a related note, I rearranged a few things on the site. I removed the “freshness date,” tucked the music display and blogchalk under the calendar, and so on. What do you think, sirs (and madams)?
    • Yes, I have an Amazon wishlist now. Think on it as the bastard offspring of wishful thinking and pure untainted evil.
    • I’ve made a couple of lame attempts at night photography with the camera, but so far I don’t have anything worth sharing. Don’t worry, I’m still playing with the thing. The Gallery will expand anon.
    • While the idea of spending March tweaking my novel has some appeal, I don’t think I’m going to participate in NaNoEdMo. Sorry. I’d much rather spend my time working on a new, better novel. And this time, I’m going to actually plan the damned thing in advance. For one thing, I’m going to read and re-read Holly Lisle’s Forward Motion and actually follow some of the advice found therein. Good stuff, that.
    • And last but not least… it’s almost 1:00pm and my phone hasn’t beeped at me. Here’s hoping the Snap! Server lasts the day. For that matter, here’s hoping I last the day.