• Past, Present, Future – Round Thirty-five

    PAST: Mickey Mouse, rotary, cordless… what kind of phone did you have in your house, growing up?

    PRESENT: Describe your current relationship with mobile phone technology.

    FUTURE: What do you suppose is next? Implanted cellular technology? Videophones? (Yeah, they’ve been promising that since just about forever, huh?)

    Yes, I have telephones on the brain this morning. We lost service at home yesterday, so I had to wait until I could get in to the office to post this PPF!

    Le sigh.

    You know the drill, folks. As always, thanks for participating and do come again.
    http://greyduck.net/ppf/

  • Fear my pink line.

    Thanks to Megan Denny for this bit of linkage:

    EGM: Kids Play

    My favorite quote? “Tim: My line is so beating the heck out of your stupid line. Fear my pink line. You have no chance. I am the undisputed lord of virtual tennis. [Misses ball] Whoops.”

  • When geeks collide

    Geoffrey and I went to the Portland-area NaNoWriMo meet at Powell’s Books yesterday evening for a couple hours’ worth of writers talking about writing. Of the dozen or so folks crowded around the long table, I was one of only two people present who were successful NaNo 2002 participants returning for another try at fame and fortune.

    Between talk of lesbian vampire cabbages and plot ninjas and crazy dreams and two guys at the door with guns, the group managed to share a decent amount of encouragement, words to the wise and snippets of useful technique. I came away from the meeting sure in the knowledge that I’m at least not the only crazy masochistic wannabe-writer in the city.

    Hey, we take what comfort we can in these dark times, right? Right!
    NaNoWriMo

  • Itty bitty site updates

    In case you’re wondering, no I’m not dead. I’m just busy working and resting, by turns.

    Today I made two minor tweaks to this site. On the right side, you’ll see a new button for DeviantArt which will take you to my DevArt page. (I even posted some new art today, whee!)

    On the left side, way down there, is the BlogSnob advert. Yes, I decided to go ahead and put it back on again. I’ve been meaning to ever since Wander-Lust went away, and just now got around to it.

    This evening marks another get-together for Portland-area NaNoWriMo participants. A report on that, as well as other recent activities, will appear here some time in the next twenty-four hours.

    No, really. I mean it.

  • This should come as a surprise to precisely none of you.

    Found at Strangechord, the BBCi “What kind of thinker are you?” quiz insists that:

    You are a Linguistic Thinker
    Linguistic thinkers:

    * Tend to think in words, and like to use language to express complex ideas.
    * Are sensitive to the sounds and rhythms of words as well as their meanings.

    Other Linguistic Thinkers include William Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Anne Frank

    Careers which suit Linguistic thinkers include Journalist, Librarian, Salesperson, Proof-reader, Translator, Poet, Lyricist

    Go forth and find out what kind of thinker you are, hmm?

  • Are you sure it’s my heart that’s lonely?

    The results of my BBCi “Lonely Hearts” quiz read thusly (tooltip emphasis and commentary mine):

    Describing Yourself

    Younger men are keen to advertise their earning potential to prospective partners. Words like educated and professional give the impression that you can provide for a partner, even if they don’t yet have the money in the bank.

    You picked “Funny, Intelligent”.
    Category: Social Skills

    You really want the world to know what a fun guy you are, which is great. Women rate social skills highly in a partner. They may have evolved this instinct for verbal courtship to keep males around. This was important because males had a natural temptation to abandon a female after pregnancy.

    You picked “Caring”.
    Category: Commitment

    You are offering commitment, which women put at the top of their wish list. Women see you as someone who will stick around and provide for a baby. Some men emphasise this quality to compensate for a lack of wealth and power (which women also find attractive). In evolutionary terms, your preference for a woman who can show commitment is likely to result from a desire to ensure the paternity of your children.

    Describing Your Partner

    This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but twenty-something men have low standards. Once they reach 30, their standards rise because they’re raking in the cash, pushing up their value in the Lonely Hearts market place. However, age and attractiveness rate highly with all men, regardless of their age.

    You picked “Sensual”.
    Category: Sexiness

    Your woman needs to be able to light a fire in your loins. You may be surprised to know that sexiness is low down the list of qualities men request of a woman. Attractiveness is much more important to men because it is an indicator of a woman’s fertility.

    You picked “Confident, Good sense of humour”.
    Category: Social Skills

    Your partner needs to be the light of any social occasion. Beware, her chatterbox qualities could drive you to distraction. Social skills are high on most men’s list of preferred qualities, but attractiveness and youth are the big winners. Women tend to value social skills much more highly than men do.