Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Brick

So my mood improved lastnight to the point that I could enjoy the company of friends (yes, I have friends) - we went to the movies, and saw Brick.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has really turned into something, mumbling his way through stylized detective-novelesque lingo and getting the crap kicked out of himself on his way to finding the truth about his ex-girlfriend's disappearance. Quite an actor, him. Anyway, the flick was quite good - film noir in high school, with a mafia overtones and shades of Clockwork Orange. Oh, and look, Lukas Haas as The Pin! I may see it again, just to catch the stuff I missed.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Feh.

I'm feeling melancholy, and it's as if my emotional state is having a direct effect on the weather patterns. Last week was all warmth and sunshine, but this week is far more tumultuous. The clouds seem furious and all the colours seem to have drained from the world.

Or perhaps the weather is having that effect on me instead - grey world = grey Koshka? More logical perhaps, but it doesn't seem as right.

I've always known I'm essentially B-Ark Material, and today has been highlighting that knowledge - I am run ragged, and yet I feel utterly useless.

I'm retreating into a little world of my own it seems, consisting of me, my knitting and The Metatron™. Through it I uncurl fronds to distant lands and dream of other places, other times, but instead of cheering me it's making me acknowledge all the things passing me by.

Gah, this is getting too morose. Must go shake myself loose.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

It's wet out.

Yup, it's wet out there. Definitely spring. We had some really beautiful days this week, bright and sunny and really warm. Of course it cooled off yesterday and it's been raining off and on since lastnight. I should go out, I've been in the house all day, but it's so grim looking out that I'd rather stay in and vegetate.

Actually I've been pretty productive in the past few days - got a lot done on the scarf, did a bit of cleaning (not much of course), fixed a hole in a sweater, you know, around the house stuff.

Also dove into the Dr Who audios again - listened to Neverland, Zagreus and Scherzo in the past few days, phew! It has left me somewhat drained, they're especially emotional stories with lots of anguish.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Eastery goodness

I have lots of chocolate running through my system. Still. Not a bad thing you know.

Anyway.

My Easter visit with my parents was really good, lots of not doing anything, which is what vacations are really about. Dad got the knitting machine working again and I found instructions online for it, we went bowling (I beat my Dad at one game too - granted, it was a bad game for him...), bought a few cheap DVDs - Undercover Brother, The Astronaut's Wife and Johnny English - oh, and Dad gave me Narnia!


Mum also gave me a ring that she bought a few years ago, it's really beautiful and very shiny.

Yeah, it's all shiny actually.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Kids These Days

So when did I get so old?

I'm visiting my parents this weekend, so I took the Niagara Falls train after work yesterday. Going through Hamilton our car was hit not once, not twice, but THREE times by kids throwing stuff at the train. The second hit shattered one of the windows. Luckily they're double-paned windows with about four inches between the panes, and the glass is safety glass, but come on.

All I could think was I hope they catch those little buggers. Because kids think they can get away with anything. Why? Because that's what we teach them.

In February some kids threw a brick off an overpass for fun - the driver of the car it hit has to undergo reconstructive surgery now, and would have died if her brother hadn't been in the car to take over the wheel when the chunk of concrete came through the window and opened up her face. As far as I know they've never caught the person who did this - and if they do, if the person's a 'young offender', they'll get off with a warning or a slap on the wrist.

We're taught, on a daily basis, that someone else is always to blame for the things we do. Are you overweight? Don't exercise or start eating right, just sue McDonald's. Does your kid start fights? Must be the other kid's fault.

And why are they suddenly smoking? I mean, my parents have an excuse, they didn't know it was bad for them. They can blame the tobacco companies for misleading them. But now? Come on, in Kindergarten they showed us the pix of the healthy lung and the smoker's lung, and that's all it took. (The picture I attached here is, of course, of a smoker's lung - wouldn't that image be enough?) Kids now are growing up knowing you will DIE, your will get emphysema and cancer and all kinds of stuff, and they do it anyway. Then they get sick and want to SUE.

Me, I know there are things that are my own fault. I can complain about McDonald's being full of junk, but I'm the one who goes there, they don't chase me down.

Gah, I feel so old.

Later

My Dad found my old Knit Magic machine in the basement (like the picture, but with no yarn, or tension adjuster). Of course it never worked when I got it (hand-me-down from cousins I think) but I couldn't part with it. And it won't work now of course, it's really stiff. But I want to take it apart and see how it works. Maybe I can fix it, then if I need to do anything in a tube I can just crank the wheel and presto! Maybe I'll feel less old playing with this plastic toy!

I know I can get the equivalent now, relatively cheaply, but it's just that I want to make this one work...

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Online radio

There's a lot out there right now, so much to choose from! And so much is free!

I love my Launch station. I've been listening and rating music for long enough for it to get pretty familiar with me (I'm a Ratings Master, with a current total of 23,181 ratings - yes, I'm a bit obsessive). They also have tons of other stations to listen to. Pretty good bang for something I've never given any money to. Not that I don't want to, but my home computer's a mac and they don't support OSX. Also, lately it keeps telling me that every 7th or 8th song I'm listening to is The Battle Of Epping Forest (which is a good song, but that's not what's playing, and it's throwing my last.fm stats off!). Sorry guys, once you support OSX and fix your tagging issue I'll send you money, but until you do you won't get a dime from me.

Radio Io is another great place to go for themed stations. Limited free access and better access with subscriptions. Personally, I flip back & forth between the 80s, 70s, Eclectic and Rock stations, and they're adding new ones all the time - I notice there's a new History station and they've even added an all Grateful Dead station, if you're so inclined...

Podcasts are also pretty damn cool - I've been listening to CBC feeds, Strongbad e-mails, the Crazy Daisy hour, Harry Shearer's radio show, They Might Be Giants... and I'm even considering trying one for myself. Ah, the internet's a wonderful thing.

But what's new on the horizon? Pandora is a great recent addition to the online music world - six years ago a bunch of musicians got together to create what ended up being the 'Music Genome Project' - they've listened to music by over 10,000 artists and categorized each track according to its tendencies (vocal harmonies, for example), and created a great interface for listening and customizing stations. Also offered in free and subscribed versions.

Upshot? I haven't listened to an actual radio myself for months. I can't deal with the commercials, the sycophantic DJs and the lack of specialization. I'm just too spoiled now.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Ice Cream profile

The Cardamom Addict pointed me towards this test. What kind of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream am I?

Apparently, I'm...

CHOCOLATE THERAPY!
I scored 81% SWEET, 74% CHUNKY, and 81% UNIQUE!
chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies & swirls of chocolate pudding ice cream

Apparently, I ooze sweetness, just like this ice cream flavor. But there's much more to me than that... I tend to view things differently than other people and I like to engage myself in creative, challenging activities. I'm spunky, but not too wild, which is nice. Those who understand me tend to get along with me very well, appreciating all that I have to offer... and I offer a lot :)

The Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor Test written by weered1 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Fisherman's Cable ScarfLater

Oh, and you may be wondering where my knitting has gone to - don't worry, I'm still a maniac, it's just been so busy lately I haven't finished any projects to take pix of. I present evidence of my first real cable project, which is both easier and harder than I imagined. Easier, because once I got the error in the pattern sorted out it's easy enough to follow, and harder because I keep losing track of where I am in it and having to frog back!

Although I have to say I love the technique of slipping the first stitch in the row, the edges look great - I'm going to have to remember that for future projects!

On another note, my favourite discovery of this past weekend: Homestar Runner Podcasts of Strong Bad e-mails and Teen Girl Squad!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

To Lunch or Not To Lunch?

I had a meeting over lunch hour on Friday. Lunch meetings suck, did you know that? Really. Not that I don't like having food with a meeting if it's over lunch hour - it's just that, for me, the important part of Lunch Break is the Break part, I like to get away for an hour and not think about work. I can stay super late if I get a break in the middle.

So anyway, I spent lastnight setting up my flickr account (there's a link on the right side of the blog) and semi-populating it. Apparently there's a limit to how many you can upload in any given month so I've only put up a few things really. Also spent some time populating my iPhoto and organizing it - I had NO IDEA I had so many photos on The Metatron™! Took forever - but it was good, I forgot I had lots of those shots.

So today my recent ex-roomie came over for a visit with his boyfriend, I was so happy to see them! I told the girls at work that I'll probably see more of J now that he doesn't live here, and it's already true *grin*.

Went for Dim Sum with a bunch of folks, only two of which I knew, but that was really nice actually, I liked everyone a lot and, even though I didn't eat too much, I liked what we had for the most part, so all good there.

And since I have no self-control, I went up to Futureshop and bought Space: Above And Beyond! Well, that's a lie really - it finally came out in the fall and I've put it off buying it until now, so maybe I am learning some restraint...

Later
I've spent the evening listening to The Ceremony Of Innocence, the interactive CD-ROM of the first three of Nick Bantock's correspondence books. Not actually playing it, mind, as I need Classic to play it, but listening to the individual entries from Griffin and Sabine. I've been going through withdrawl for a while for it actually, I think it might be four or five years since I've gone back to it.

Aaaah, it was wonderful. Really, Paul McGann and Isabella Rossellini are two of my favourite ever people, and I could listen to Paul's voice for eternity (you all know my opinion of the man, right?). But it really makes me realize that I just don't write like I once aspired to.

I once wrote letters that were long and effusive, I had a journal to keep track of who I sent letters to and when, so I wouldn't keep telling them the same things over and over again, and I was known for it. And now? E-mail. And it's never anything exciting either. In my defence I have to say that the last missives I sent off either never arrived at their destinations or were diverted for months before finally finding their homes (which makes me quite upset and frustrated with Canada Post, to be honest).

I'm not sure what I should do about this. *sigh*

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Publy goodness

Monthly Who pub night. Which is also monthly Sonic Boom Trip night. New money hemmorage items: The Beatles (1), Van Morrison (Moondance), Sting (...Nothing Like The Sun) and Sparks (Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins) - pretty good for $40, yes?

On to the pub, which was good - did more socializing than usual, all Graeme's fault who actually made me leave my cozy table and come to the back where everyone else was *grin* - and now I've got a fez and a dalek scarf to make - more to add to the ever-increasing pile of stuff to do, gah!

Oh, oh, oh! And I discovered there are two other people on this planet who liked Doctor Doctor (the TV show, see the post weekend accomplishments a few previous), let alone even knew what it was! Wow!

Oh, and I'm a total heel as I've forgotten absolutely EVERYONE's name - and also a wimp for not just admitting it and saying "dude, I've forgotten your name again" - I mean really, people know the way my brain is, they'd understand if I copped to it.

Of the last gang of people I was talking to tonight I can remember exactly TWO names - the rest? Uh, Brenda? Tim? uh, Ryan? Uh... feh.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Teething problems

Okay, so now I'm new again to having my own place alone.

This morning I woke up, opened the bedroom door and was blasted with cold air. What's up with this? I look into the second bedroom to find the window almost completely gone - if it wasn't for the wire my ex-roommate was using to hold it closed (the crank was busted, another story) it would have been down on the deck in a million teeny sharp pieces! That wind lastnight was something...

I let the office know, and they sent someone around today while I was at work - they couldn't completely fix it so quickly, but they've shut it and I've got to leave it that way until such time as they can replace the assembly *sigh* but I'm glad to have such a quick response time!

So anyway, after work tonight I went to see V For Vendetta on the IMAX screen, yay! It was quite a heavy-handed movie and had a lot of self-importance, but I fully enjoyed it. And anything on the IMAX screen is fun, full stop.

Monday, April 03, 2006

A weekend of accomplishment

First of all, I named the new iMac this week - it shall be known as The Metatron™ for now, unless that name grates on me...

Okay, Friday we saw Thank You For Smoking - this movie must be seen, it was great! The lesson is that it's not the person who is right who wins, it's the person who argues the best. I've always known that, but it was nice to see the vindication *grin*

And I finally did the co-op newsletter - for the first time since September! Wow, slack no more, me, I'm gettin' pink again!

Saturday was moving day for Jody, he's in a new place now but it's not too far away so I'll still be able to visit with him and stuff - might see him more now than when we lived together really! And I managed to get everything finally transferred over to the Metatron, yay!

So, feeling all accomplishy, I started my HUGE project of rescuing things off the slowly deteriorating VHS tapes in the racks upstairs - first disc done! Doctor Doctor, The John Larroquette Show and Flying Blind are all (relatively) safe...

Oh, and I went to my first members' meeting in almost a year, lookit me!