Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite use of Flash technology in a website:
Move your mouse pointer toward the right side of the page. Then back to the left. Then put it in the middle of the bubbles animation circle. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Too bad I can’t buy this stuff yet. I love blowing soap bubbles.
Via your average bear:
Bold the ones you’ve read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (No, but I have read Time Enough For Love as well as Job.)
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson (I’m sorry, folks. As a card carrying techie I’m supposed to love this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. Gibson’s style annoyed me.)
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley (I tried, Lil’. I really, really tried.)
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey * (Pern books are my anti-drug. Well, at least up through Skies. After that, fuggeddaboutit.)
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (Donaldson’s only enjoyable work is the Mordant’s Need set, and maybe the Gap series if you like really grim Sci-Fi.)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams *
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice (Oddly enough, I read Queen of the Damned first. Take pity on my soul.)
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny (No, but I’ve read the Amber series. Ugh.)
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke *
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven (It’s on my list.)
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien (I own an old, old copy… thanks Dad!)
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (At least, I vaguely recall having started it once. Maybe I even finished it. Hmm.)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
I’d issue a call to arms, but I already have two of them. What I need is brains. Whyfor? Because I can’t figure out to what clever use I should put the concert ticket generator!
So. C’mon, you big brains out there. Show us what you’re made of.
One of the subject lines in my “probable spam” email folder advertised something called “Soft Viagra.” Sure, it’s not hard to figure out what they’re talking about, but did they really think things through before calling it that?
Maybe I should go into the consulting business. “Hire me! I’ll give your new product a once-over before you go public, with an eye toward preventing glaringly obvious faux pas and double entendres! Stop being the laughingstock of intelligent people!”
Hmm. I might be onto something.
While I sit here, miserable but slightly better rested in my room at home, I have amused myself (between naps) by catching up on some of my websurfing. Here’s a delightful gem I found at James Randi’s place…
“THE SKEPTIC’S HOROSCOPE for Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius (Jan 1, 2007 ”“ Dec 31, 2007):
“The coming year is likely to present challenges; these trials are when your true character will show. Trusted friends can provide assistance in particularly pressing situations. Make use of the skills you have to compensate for ones you lack. Your reputation in the future depends on your honesty and integrity this year. Monetary investments will prove risky; inform yourself as much as possible. On the positive side, your chances of winning the lottery have never been greater!”
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get some more tea and scrounge up some lunch…
Meet the new year, much like the old year, in which an increasing percentage of my time is spent miserable.
I’ve suffered a head cold for an entire week, with no sign of improvement. Now, thanks to the variety of medications I’ve taken in a (mostly) vain attempt to not feel quite so lousy, I itch. All over. It’s a mild itch, but it travels. You know that itch which, when scratched, immediately moves to a different, random point elsewhere on your body? Yeah, that’s the itch.
So not only has my throat been sore (in the “ow, it hurts to swallow” sort of way) for an entire week, not only have I been coughing and sniffling all that time, but now I’m afraid to take anything for it because I don’t know what medication (or combinations thereof) gave me the allergic reaction. Outstanding. And since I’m such a trooper, I’ve shown up at work without fail each day during this ordeal. (I burned too many sick days in the last few months for my comfort, so of course now I’m even more miserable than I was when I took those days. Go figure.)
As you might expect, what with the pain of swallowing waking me up all through the night coupled with an urge to itch one spot or another on my skin, I didn’t sleep well last night. It’s not like I get a whole lot of sleep normally, so this is just adding injury to insult.
I suppose the good news is that I might be able to afford a new mattress soon. Of course, the last time I made plans of that nature I lost my job…
