Damned Water Should Just Stay Where It Belongs.

Man, flood insurance is expensive.

I Feel Ooky.

I've been fighting off some kind of infection for about the last week and, sadly, last night the invaders finally overran the defenses and forced my body to run up the white flag. I woke up at 4 AM with my head stuffed to overflowing with snot and what felt like a couple of golfballs in my throat. Somewhat to my surprise, I eventually managed to get back to sleep -- hey, it is possible to prop up enough pillows to get your sinuses to drain, if you're willing to let your neck pay the price! -- and woke up a few hours later feeling marginally less death-like, but every cell in my body is still bitching about being disease-ridden. Ugh.

All Right, I Lied. It's Been a Stressful Day at Work, and I Must Take Pointless Personality Quizzes to Unwind.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||| 26% Stability |||||||||||| 43% Orderliness |||||||||||||| 53% Empathy |||||||||| 36% Interdependence |||||| 23% Intellectual |||||||||||||||||| 76% Mystical |||||| 23% Artistic |||||||||||||| 56% Religious |||||||||||||| 56% Hedonism |||| 16% Materialism |||||||||| 36% Narcissism |||||| 23% Adventurousness || 10% Work ethic |||| 16% Self absorbed |||||||||||| 50% Conflict seeking |||| 16% Need to dominate || 10% Romantic || 10% Avoidant |||||||||||||||||| 76% Anti-authority |||||||||| 36% Wealth |||| 16% Dependency |||||||||| 36% Change averse |||||||||||||||| 63% Cautiousness |||||||||||| 43% Individuality |||||||||||| 43% Sexuality |||||| 23% Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 63% Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Food indulgent |||||||||||||||| 70% Histrionic || 10% Paranoia |||| 16% Vanity |||||||||||| 43% Hypersensitivity |||||||||| 36% Female cliche |||||| 23%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

I love the list of words and phrases it associates with me:

does not make friends easily, secretive, introverted, reclusive, observer, dislikes leadership, somewhat socially awkward, does not like to stand out, dislikes large parties, values solitude, solitary, avoidant, ambivalent about fitting in, not dominant, unassertive, suspicious, prudent, unadventurous, worrying, weird, intellectual, frequently second guesses self

I'd quibble with "suspicious." I have no idea where they got that from. The rest of it's just about spot-on, though.

OK, Last Post for a While, I Promise.

Impenetrable Prose and Poesy links to this site, where you can look up the #1 hit song on US or UK charts on any given day, including the day of your birth and "your life's theme song which is the No.1 on your 18th birthday."

The top US song on the day I was born apparently was Carole King's "It's Too Late," a song which I have always found inexplicably irritating. Possibly I heard it one two many times while still in the womb. The #1 song on my 18th birthday was "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red, which I find I cannot call to mind at all, perhaps because at 18 I was still in that teenage period where I refused to involve myself in any activity "the popular kids" indulged in, such as listening to the radio.

Parts of This Are Actually Frighteningly Apt.

He... Helium. You scored 29 Mass, 26 Electronegativity, 38 Metal, and 0 Radioactivity!

That's odd, our tests indicate that you did not just take this test. In fact, we're not even sure you exist. Oh, wait, no, somebody just found indirect evidence of you in the deep Earth and in the Sun. Okay, so you're real, but man, you need to get out more. Actually, you're pretty cool, always doing your own thing, but we kinda wish that you would interact with us a bit more. On a positive note, I think some research lab in Berkeley has managed to put you into a psuedo-stable relationship that, if you're kept very cold, you won't walk away from... or maybe that was Xenon. I forget.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 36% on Mass You scored higher than 40% on Electroneg You scored higher than 14% on Metal You scored higher than 1% on Radioactivity

Link: The Which Chemical Element Am I Test written by effataigus on OkCupid Online Dating

Wow, Talk about Rapid Developments.

It seems The BBC has already commissioned a second season of the new Doctor Who... and Christopher Eccleston has already bowed out of doing it. Cripes, at this rate, we're going to run out of regenerations frighteningly soon...

You Know You're Going to Be Packing for a Long Time When...

...you fill up a decent-sized box with books, and the label reads "Hardbacks: Adams to Asimov."

Cheese It! The Vampire Cops!

So, now that I've finished the series run of Angel, I've turned my attention to that other vampire detective show. I was a really big fan of Forever Knight for a very brief while, but I originally saw a lot of it out of order, so it'll be nice to watch it through from beginning to end on DVD. It actually is quite interesting to watch this and Angel in such close proximity, and I'm sure there's a fascinating post to be made comparing and contrasting the two shows, their take on vampire lore, the way they deal with the concepts of guilt and redemption, and all kinds of great stuff. But I must be in a deeply shallow mood today, because the only comparison that I find truly worth making right now is that Geraint Wyn Davies is six thousand times hotter than David Boreanaz. No question.

House Update

I'm feeling a certain degree of stress-reduction, because it looks like we've gotten over the last hurdle when it comes to things that could end up breaking the deal -- not that I thought it was going to -- and it seems like this whole house-buying thing is really, truly going to happen. The i's haven't been dotted and the t's crossed yet, but we did that thing where I -- with, I admit, some prompting, because I'm far too prone to shrugging my shoulders and going, "eh it's OK" in these kinds of situations -- made up a list of things the sellers ought to fix, based on the building inspection. Most of 'em were pretty simple, and the one I was most concerned about turned out not to be an actual problem at all, and they've now pretty much got it all taken care of. So, whee, I'm headed for homeownership!

However, I'm now really starting to stress about the insurance. I tried calling Geico for a quote a few weeks ago, and they proceeded to ask me these incredibly detailed questions, not all of which I knew the answers to, so they suggested I call back after I'd had the inspection done. Well, that took a lot longer to arrange than it was supposed to, so it was some time before I was able to call back. I went through the questions again, only to be told -- with an apparently genuine show of regret -- that they couldn't insure me because the house has these old wall heaters, and the insurance provider they agent for is really picky and won't insure any house without central heating. Great. My sister, who's in the insurance biz, suggested contacting an independent agent, rather than wasting my time calling different companies myself trying to figure out which of them would insure me. Fortunately, we do have one of those in town. She wasn't in when I called her yesterday, but her assistant took all the same information and told me they'd get on it first thing in the morning. Still haven't heard back from her yet, though, so I'm thinking if she doesn't call this afternoon, I'm going to give her a ring. Especially as I suddenly realized that I forgot to mention that I'm also going to need flood insurance. Aaargh! I really am starting to stress about this, because I've got this paperwork I've got to fill out for the title insurance, and they want the details of my homeowner's insurance ASAP. Possibly sooner than possible, actually, because there's this big ol' warning in bold letters on the form saying that they need this stuff two weeks before closing or there's probably going to be a delay on my closing date. I'm supposed to close on the 15th. *bites nails.*

Meanwhile, of course, I've got about six thousand pages of paperwork from the mortgage company to go over. Half of which are probably more requests for my insurance info. Sigh.

This'll all be over soon? Right?

[Note: I wrote this around noon, but Blogger proceeded to crash hard, and I wasn't able to post it until now. I've since spoken to the insurance agent's office again, and they're supposed to have me taken care of by tomorrow. *crosses fingers*]

Music... In My Pants!

I encountered this very silly meme... somewhere. The rules are: Generate a random playlist on your favorite music-playin' gadget. Take the first twenty tracks. Write down the song titles, and add "in my pants" on to the end. Giggle at the results.

This seems to be vaguely related to the ancient practice of adding "in bed" to the end of fortune cookie statements, and more closely related to the list of Star Wars quotes which was floating around the internet quite some time ago, in which various strategic words were replaced with "pants." It's probably funnier if you're British, because British "pants" = American "underpants," but some of the results end up being hysterical on either side of the Atlantic. I'm, uh, not sure mine qualify, but what the heck. (Oh, and I've taken a few small liberties with the song title formats and the question of exactly where the additional phrase gets inserted. It's funnier that way. Sue me.)

The resulting song list:

Triangle in My Pants
Empty-Handed Heart in My Pants
Uncle John's Band in My Pants
Yoda in My Pants
I've Got a Theory in My Pants/Bunnies in My Pants/If We're Together in My Pants
Miscellany in My Pants
If You Could Read My Mind in My Pants
Wond'ring Aloud in My Pants
I Will Follow in My Pants
The Time Machine in My Pants (Part I)
God Part II in My Pants
Fast Food in My Pants
Shiny Happy People in My Pants
It's Still Rock & Roll to Me in My Pants
See Me Feel Me in My Pants
Can't Fight This Feeling in My Pants
The Quest for the Holy Grail in My Pants
A Common Disaster in My Pants
"Scorpio" End Credits in My Pants
Come Calling in My Pants (His Song)


(Feel free to take a trivia point for each of these whose artist you can identify. Some of them are a lot easier than others. And a couple aren't even actually songs.)

Hey, Kids! It's Random Links!

It's been a little while since I've thrown a collection of random links up here, but I happen to have a particularly good batch this time:

Motivation: "Motivational posters" featuring comics characters. Much cooler than the official ones. I particularly like Spider Jerusalem.

Bad Tolkien art: Tolkien fans, be sure to have anti-nausea medication close at hand.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie site: Features trailers, and all kinds of other cool-looking stuff, most of which I haven't had the chance to check out yet.

All Your Base Rhapsody: Way more entertaining than it has any right to be. And here I thought that phenomenon had run its course.

Clive's "Who is Doctor Who?" Site: If you've seen the first episode of the new Who -- whether because you're British or because you're an Evil Internet Pirate -- you have to check this out. Be sure and click on "Contact Clive": the "reader sightings" are the best part. (Warning: may contain spoilers for aforementioned episode.)

Lazy Bunny

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate! Me, I'm not celebrating much. I had an invite to dinner with a friend and his family in Albuquerque, but I still seem to be shaking off this cold or whatever it is. I don't feel sick exactly, but I don't quite feel well, either, and I figured a bit of rest and recuperation and, you know, not infecting people would be preferable. I'm really hoping whatever-it-is blows over by tomorrow, because I've got all kinds of House-Buying Business to take care of. Assuming people are around tomorrow, that is.

Search Request Weekly

Here's the latest batch:

"easter bunny pics" nude: You want to see him without his fur?!

kira nude patch free: Quark might be able to set you up with that, but it ain't gonna be free.

spandex story "tranquilizer dart": That sounds like an interesting story.

school hard buffy foreshadowing spike: Was there Spike-ish foreshadowing in that one? I can't remember.

elizabeth ragan: ...Is not my name. I had it put on some "certificate of achievement" or something once in elementary school, though, because the teacher steadfastly refused to believe that "Betty" could be my real name, no matter what I insisted.

"sleep is for tortises": Easy for a Time Lord to say...

Stark "Damage damage damage": Man, I love that scene.

werewolf scientfic evidence: Let me know if you find any. Or your missing "i," for that matter.

trailer park trash ascii art: Somehow, I doubt ascii art is a particularly common pastime among those who might be described as "trailer trash."

snow cold nude pics: Well, yeah, I imagine you would be cold if you were nude in the snow!

funny "boob milk": Because any phrase with "boob" in it is automatically hi-larious!

writing-to-speaking exercise: I assume you don't need to be a gym member for that.

teen pressing her boobs on teddy bear porn: Dude, that teddy bear's going to be traumatized for life!

chiana teachings: Chiana can teach us many things. Like how to kick, kiss, or cry our way out of any situation. Though the "kiss" part probably works better if you look like Chiana.

star trek earworm: Well, that fight theme does tend to get suck in your head. Bum-bum-bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum-ba-BUM-BUM! Oh, wait. You mean the Ceti Eels, don't you?

how to throw log pics highlander: I believe in Scotland throwing a log is called a "tossing the caber." They're an interesting people, the Scots.

Tyr for watchman of the goal: Oh, I'm sure he'd make a great goalie.

trekkie virgin: Come on, no way I'm going to believe you've never seen an episode of Star Trek.

trip and tpol sexy: I suppose they are, but that doesn't excuse the gratuitous "decontamination" scenes.

coaster pov videos: Look out! Here comes the glass! It's about to sit right on us!

chilly people pics nude: They're probably out in the snow with those other folks.

This Might Not Be a Good Sign...

My throat hurts a little, and I'm coughing up big gobs of phlegm. Also, I'm tired, but that might have to do with it being 4:30 AM.

Please, please, please let me not be getting sick. Again. I really don't need that right now.

I Know, Just What We All Wanted to See, Another Stupid Quiz. But It's a Geek Quiz!

The Simple Geek You answered 72% of the questions as a geek truly would.

You don't seem to sway in either direction, however you still seem to have some latent geek attributes within you. Maybe you're interested in computers but not a gamer? Maybe you've got geek hobbies but none of the awkward social tendencies. You may be slightly geekier than you thought and in denial! The simple geek usually has various quirks that friends may make fun of, but in general can be considered a fairly normal person. Your geek attributes make you less likely to conform to society. The popular kids don't hate you but the geeks don't either, so it's a respectable demographic. In a nutshell, you answered enough questions with geek tendencies and enough questions without geek tendencies that it's difficult to pinpoint your exact alignment.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 74% on geekness

Link: The True Geek Test written by ambientred on Ok Cupid

Actually, I took a lot of hits because I wasn't into video games. And they didn't ask about the science fiction at all!

Completely Random Thought #634

The store didn't have the kind of dish soap I usually buy, so I picked up some cheap-ass no-name brand or other that claimed to be "apple-scented." It doesn't actually smell much like apples, but what it does smell like, with uncanny accuracy, is a doll my sister had when we were kids. It was one of the friends of "Strawberry Shortcake." Anybody remember those? They were these little food-themed dolls which were somehow impregnated with weird chemical scents meant to vaguely mimic the odors of said foods. I think that particular one was called "Apple Dumpling," or something.

Now, every time I do the dishes, I get this really weird hit of childhood nostalgia. It's kind of freaking me out.

And Yet, Somehow, "Skinny Homeowner" Still Isn't Really My Self-Image.

So, I met with the real estate agent again today, this time to go over the results of the house inspection and draw up a list of things the sellers are supposed to fix. Gaah, I'm getting so sick and tired of going back and forth and filling out paperwork and having meetings. I just want it to be over. And I keep getting this sour, clenched, stress-feeling in my stomach whenever I deal with this stuff. It's silly, I know, but I can't help but feel worried that I'm making a huge mistake, that I'm buying a crappy house. What I am buying, in fact, is an old house, one that's far from in perfect condition and has a couple of problems, but I know that. I'm OK with that. It seems perfectly livable, and the price means that I can easily afford the mortgage, so it works for me. But I still can't shake the worry that there's going to be some overlooked problem that's going to cause the house to collapse under me in a year or two, or that a decade or so from now I'm going to want to sell it and everyone will laugh at me because no one less stupid than I am would want to buy such a place, let alone at what I paid for it.

I'm sure once it's a done deal I'll feel much better. A soon as I can tell myself, "That decision's been made, now the only thing to do is live with it," I can relax. Living with my decisions, I can do. I've got that down. Actually making the decisions, though... Aargh. Well, with any luck, it should all be over with in about three week's time. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In more news that will be of interest to no one but me, the other thing I've done so far today is to go out and buy some new jeans. I finally came to realize that my "fat jeans" are now too big on me to be entirely comfortable, even with a belt. So I want out and bought a couple of pairs in the next size down. (Though, come to think of it, maybe I should have also bought a smaller belt.) I've lost something like 25-30 pounds in the last year or so, which absolutely amazes me because, historically, I've not exactly been Ms. Willpower when it comes to food. So, yay, me! I should take myself out to dinner to celebrate. Heh.

But I Want It!

I have every episode of Farscape on DVD already, and I told myself that, no matter how huge a fan I am, it'd be stupid to buy them twice. But I find my resolve wavering. Somebody, convince me that I really don't need to get the new Starburst editions. Please.

I Got Something for Your Circuits to Receive, Buddy!

OK, so, for about the past couple of years, I've been repeatedly getting this message on my answering machine. It'll go for months, then stop for a while, then start up again. Sometimes they'll call two or three times a day. It's a recorded message for somebody with a name that sounds like "Ken Armantes" regarding a "personal business matter," with a phone number and sometimes a list of hours (something like 8 AM - 9 PM Eastern). Caller ID says "Georgia," and that's it. If I actually pick up the phone, there's no human being there. I've always figured it was a collection agency, looking either for a guy who used to have my number (which I've had for years), or who gave them my number so they wouldn't call him. I mean, who else has that kind of persistence and won't say why they're calling?

It was a minor annoyance for a while, but it's now long, long since passsed the "mild annoyance" stage and edged into "annoyance large enough to make me want to smash something" stage. Because I got a new phone for Christmas, and the ringer on the damned thing won't shut off even when it says "ringer off." Which means if someone calls when I'm trying to sleep, it wakes me up. Which, when I'm on the night shift, really, really sucks.

So, when it woke me up today (again!), I finally got fed up and called the damned number. I got a recorded British voice thanking me for calling "Circuits Receivable" and telling me to press 1 for a representative and 0 for an operator. OK, I hit 1 and got a "How can I help you?"

In a voice carefully modulated to convey displeasure while concealing homicidal impulses, I said, "I've been getting a message on my answering machine, up to several times a day, telling me to call this number--"

"Can you hold?" she says, and cuts me off.

I wait for a while. I get tired of waiting (in part because I have the sneaking suspicion she's never actually coming back), hang up, redial, and hit 1 again with the intention of opening with a lightning-quick restatement of the problem and an "I don't need to be put on hold. I need you to stop calling me." It rings about 20 times, then just... stops.

And now I'm wondering. Does anybody have any idea WTF this is? Is it a collection agency? Is it some kind of weird phone scam? Googling for "Circuits Receivable" turns up very nearly nothing.

I'm starting to wonder if I can call the cops on these people for phone harassment or something.

Yeah, I Could Use Some Brains Right Now.



(Warning: site requires Flash & takes a while to load.)

Search Request Weekly

goth ticklish feet: Sounds like a good way to really piss off a goth.

buffy/angel: meant to be: Hate to break it to you, but no they weren't. (And I actually kind of like the fact that on that show Eternal True Love, uh, isn't.)

rabbit & top hat template for birthday party invitation: Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a rabbit in a top hat!

etymology "hell's bells" history meaning: My guess would be that it doesn't mean anything, it just sounds cool because it rhymes. But now I'm wondering.

teller's kinky bedroom penn: I imagine there's all kinds of kinky things you could do with magician's stage props.

nude dwarf photos: Perhaps Bashful, in an attempt to overcome the image conjured up by his name, will decide to pose nude in Playgirl.

How many feet do astronuats must be under in order to travel in space: I'd quit worrying about the height requirements and just hope they don't ask you to pass a spelling and grammar test.

blogspot porn bloopers: This blog's pornographic bloopers will be available on the DVD release.

soolin nude: Hmm, maybe I should start collecting search requests for nude Blake's 7 characters. It's been ages since anybody came here looking for a nude Farscape character.

sadies first time: Don't worry, Sadie. The internet ceases to be intimidating after you've used it for a while.

Farscape season 4 confusing: Yeah, it kind of was, wasn't it?

nude pictures of neanderthal from the past: As opposed to those much less sexy modern-day neanderthals.

blog betty: Yes, blog me, baby!

disturbing ugliest nude pics: Sorry, I really don't want to look at your vacation photos.

tv soap opera star in bondage screencaps: Boy, the soaps really have gotten racy, haven't they?

sims 2 fanfic legolas aragorn lady: Does it count as fanfic if you get your sims to act it out for you?

giles wanderer class: What's Giles doing on the Scorpio?

who's the boss slouch socks: Wow, those are probably a collector's item on ebay.

unplug computer: You do that. Go outside and get some fresh air. It'll do you good.

This Was a Bit Better Than Most Such Quizzes I've Seen.

You scored as atheism. You are... an atheist, though you probably already knew this. Also, you probably have several people praying daily for your soul. Instead of simply being "nonreligious," atheists strongly believe in the lack of existence of a higher being, or God. atheism 83% agnosticism 79% Paganism 63% Satanism 58% Islam 46% Buddhism 46% Christianity 29% Judaism 25% Hinduism 13% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

It's also pretty accurate.

Fandom Finds a Way

I'm currently working through a network of contacts to get copies of the new Doctor Who sent to me from Canada when it airs there. It's really very exciting.

Another Blogger Heard From

I'd like to welcome my good buddy, Peter Chattaway, to the wonderful world of blogs! Peter always has interesting and intelligent things to say about film, religion, and (especially) religion in film. His new blog is FilmChat, and he's already posting like crazy and making those of us whose recent blogging consists of lame quiz results and complaints about our allergies look bad.

I'm Not Sleep-Deprived Any More (Yay!), But I'm Still Doing Quizzes (Boo!).


See what amusement park ride you are.

Yeah, that sounds like me.

Angel Flies Away (note: post contains vague allusions to story structure, but no explicit spoilers)

Well, I've now finished watching season 5 of Angel, which means I'm finished with the entire series. *sniff* I have to admit, I started out regarding it as a somewhat inferior spinoff -- interesting and occasionally very entertaining, but not nearly as clever and satisfying as Buffy. But, while the quality was often pretty uneven, it really, really grew on me, and I'm very sorry to have come to the end of it.

I do think the beginning of season 5 was one of the show's weaker periods. Admittedly, season 4 was an incredibly tough act to follow. I loved the fact that the entire year was one long continuing story, with each episode acting very much like a single chapter in a novel. It worked marvelously well, and my love for that sort of intricate story arc is such that seeing them go back to an extremely episodic format -- apparently at the network's behest -- couldn't help but be disappointing. Especially as it felt like four years' worth of character development was falling by the wayside, as the writers were suddenly being strongly discouraged from referring back to past relationships and events. Plus, the fact that, for at least half the season, every episode had to have someone or other explicitly expositing about what the show's new premise was got old really fast, especially when watching episodes back-to-back on DVD. But, as happened in several past seasons, I had just gotten to the point where I was thoroughly reconciling myself to the fact that this particular set of discs wasn't going to be as good as I'd hoped when, bam!, the plot twists started coming fast and furious, and things got really intense and interesting. I don't know whether the network backed down on the "no ongoing storylines" rule or whether they knew at that point that they were cancelled and just didn't care, but the last few episodes of the season were damned good, and introduced an element or two that make me really wish they'd had another year in which to explore them all.

I gather the ending was extremely controversial, and I can understand why, but personally I loved it. I thought it was wonderfully appropriate, both dramatically and thematically. But, I admit, I seem to have somewhat non-standard ideas about the best way to end a TV series.

Boring Updates on the State of My Life

I ended up going home early last night, at about 5:30 AM. (In the snow, which has mercifully melted by now.) I was just having trouble keeping myself propped upright any longer. Got about seven hours of pretty solid sleep, which was a major improvement on, well, every other night this week. So I feel slightly better today. My brain's still fuzzy, as are the linings of my mouth, nose, and sinuses, but I feel slightly less like crap than I did yesterday.

I've also talked to my realtor again. Right now, I'm waiting for the home inspector and the loan officer to get back to me, and then I guess I can start packing.

Right now, I think it's time for some food and maybe the few remaining episodes of Angel.

WTF?!

Now it's snowing! Two days ago it was spring!

Hmm. Maybe this'll kill off some of those damned pollen-bearing plants.

I Am So Very, Very Not Happy.

I feel like complete crap, have I mentioned that? I've getting been insufficient sleep for days because I'm constantly waking up in a fit of sneezing, and I feel all drug-out and brain-dead and... crap.

So, I called work and said, listen, I'm probably not going to make it in tonight. And, well, OK, but, man, you know the boss is going to be unhappy, because the guy who's always taking off with one illness or family emergency or another is off again, and we've got this huge important project we're in the middle of, and she's already bringing in people from other departments to cover his shift because she wants to get it done, and...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, fine, I'll go into bloody work. I mean, I'm capable of sitting in front of a computer -- I'm doing it now -- and my job doesn't necessarily require that much mental agility, or at least it shouldn't tonight. And I probably wouldn't be able to sleep if I stayed here and tried it, anyway, right?

But, hell, I want a fucking Employee of the Month medal or something.

Told Ya To Expect More Quizzes. It's Really About All I Feel Up To.


What Cylon Model are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Still likin' the new Battlestar, by the way.

I Think the Zombies Got Me, After All, 'Cause I Sure Feel Like One.

Got about six hours of sleep this time before I woke up sneezing. Well, no, that's not actually true, but fortunately the first time I managed to get back to sleep. I suppose that's kind of an improvement, but I'm still starting to feel like I'm destined to walk through the rest of my life (or at least the rest of the spring) in a groggy haze of sleep deprivation and/or antihistamine fog.

I really should probably call my real estate agent, since I'm up, and see about getting an appointment to get the house inspection done and stuff, but at the moment I'm not sure I can form coherent spoken sentences.

Aargh. Damn it, I have things to do which require the use of my brain!

Search Request Weekly

Not too many this time out. Sorry.

nude trekkie pictures: I don't think your typical Trekkie is necessarily someone the world wants to see nude.

verbosity turn on: Well, this is one darned sexy blog.

PICTURES OF THE BREAST BARRING BY JANET JACKSON AT SUPERBOWL 2004: So, that'd be a shot of a bunch of FCC execs sitting around a table agreeing that breasts are not acceptable halftime material, right?

homonymophobia: Personally, I'm afraid of people who don't know the difference between "there," "their" and "they're."

car model Rupert Giles drives: The phrase "car model" immediately made me think of those scantily-dressed chicks they have at car shows, so reading the rest of that phrase sent my brain to an interesting place.

Wayne pygram appearance: It's considerably more normal without the Scorpius makeup.

Buffy smut talk fanfiction: Smut and talk? Demanding, aren't they?

Sims-make your sims boobs bigger: Clearly you need a Sim plastic surgeon.

related literature of chatbot about periodic table of elements: Sounds like kind of a limited chatbot, if that's all it talks about. Then again, I remember finding one online that could only talk about milk.

Sleep Deprivation Leads Me To Post Stupid Quizzes. Expect Lots.

Trekkie Nerd Congratulations! You scored 90%!

Congratulations - your designation as a Trekkie Nerd means that you are statistically more likely to be a virgin, socially inept, live at home in your mother's basement and have no chance of scoring a chick like Seven. Still, if knowledge of temporal paradoxes, the repercussions of the Janeway effect and an intimate knowledge of Klingon history made big bucks, you'd be a millionaire. Ah, tis the sweet irony of life.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Trekkies

Link: The Trekkie Test written by MadameBoffin on Ok Cupid

I'm sure everyone is shocked.

Kill All Plants!

I swear, this is the single worst allergy season I have ever experienced. Never before have I felt quite the same desperate desire to rip my nose off and tear my sinuses out my face. Unfortunately, the antihistamine I just took (on top of my regular prescription allergy pill from yesterday, because, yes, I'm just that desperate) did not enable me to get back to sleep, but is only serving to greatly intensify the effects of sleep deprivation

And I have to work tonight. Pardon me while I tear and my hair and wail.

Hey, I'll Take It.

You made it. Barely. Congratulations! You scored 36!

Whether it was the fact that you could run faster, or were just plain lucky, you made it out alive. Even you aren't sure why. But you're sure as hell not going back, or risking your ass for anyone else from now on.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 5% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid

Yeah, I Own a Book or Two.

Vocabulary Vixen! Congratulations! You got 16 correct answers!

You sexy thing! You probably own a book or two. You can communicate in complete thoughts and your knuckles don't drag while walking down the street. Now promise me you will use your word power for good not for evil.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 42% on wordpoints

Link: The BIG WORDS ARE SEXY Test written by MissMariah on Ok Cupid

House Update

So... I made an offer. They made a counter-offer. I accepted. Some papers were signed. And, assuming nothing horrible is revealed during the inspection, it looks like I've just bought a house.

I feel vaguely nauseous. In a good way. Mostly.

Good Things and Bad Things

Bad Thing: The scroll button on my mp3 player isn't working properly. I'm not completely sure what happened to it, but it was in a side pocket on my backpack, and probably got smashed into something. Sigh.

Good Thing: I found fairly detailed instructions online about how to fix it.

Bad Thing: I realized once I got the case open that this was, in fact, a somewhat trickier procedure than I was really up to undertaking, at least in my current brain-fried state. (Thank you, allergy season, for my annoying lack of adequate sleep.)

Good Thing: I got the case back on without damaging anything further.

Could Be Worse Thing: Probably 90% of the player's operation can be accessed without using the scroll wheel, even if its a little less convenient.

Good Thing: This means I was still able to listen to the commentary track for last week's Battlestar Galactica that I got off the official website. OK, how incredibly cool is that?

(Oh, and, no, no word on the house situation yet. I'll let you know when I hear something.)

It's That Time of the Month

Yes, that's right, time for the "Currently" list again. Somehow, I never quite get tired of this, even if the rest of you probably do.

Current clothes: A black t-shirt that says, "So many books, so little time," blue jeans, brown belt, white crew socks.

Current mood: Tired. It's allergy season, so I got woken up early this morning by a head full of snot. Yum.

Current music: Most recently, Out of Time by R.E.M.

Current thing: Um, buying a house.

Current desktop picture: You know, it's still the same as last month. Well past time I changed it.

Current song in head: "Goodnight Saigon" by Billy Joel.

Current book: Knight Life by Peter David. It's got kind of a fun premise: King Arthur returns and runs for mayor of New York City. But I believe it's the first book David wrote -- or at least one of his earliest -- and, while he's revised it heavily for the current edition, I think his inexperience at the time still shows. So far, it's kinda so-so, but I can't help thinking that, in the hands of a decent director, it'd make a pretty cool movie.

Current video in player: A Farscape tape. I'm sure this shocks everyone.

Current DVD in player: None at the moment. In a little bit, it will be disc 4 of Angel season 5.

Current refreshment: Cranberry juice.

Current worry: This whole house thing has me all kinds of nervous.

Current thought: I'm hungry. I should post this and go get some food and watch some Angel.

Just Call Me Captain Wrack![*]

So, uh, there's this copy of the first episode of the new Doctor Who series that was leaked onto the internet... And all right, normally, I don't download stuff like that, less from any desire to be a good, non-copyright-infringing citizen and more because it takes forever and because I'd usually rather wait and see it in its proper time and place. But the buzz is that there very likely isn't going to be any US distribution for the show in the foreseeable future; apparently Sci-Fi turned it down. (Sigh. Skiffy, Skiffy, Skiffy. And here you were actually starting to regain some of my respect by putting all that great Battlestar Galactica stuff on your website.) So, yeah, I gave in. I downloaded. And I watched. (And, no, don't ask me where I got it from. I'm not going to tell you, and I'm pretty sure it's gone by now, anyway.)

I gotta say, watching the opening credits roll and realizing that I'm actually watching new Doctor Who!! was enough all by itself to induce some kind of embarrassing geek orgasm. As for the episode itself... Well, I'm not going to offer any spoilers, but let me say this: I was worried, especially based on some of the press photos, that they were going to completely ruin the show. I mean, come on, the Doctor in a leather jacket? A collagen-lipped pop-star companion? Aaargh! They're gonna make it all "hip and modern" and ruin everything I loved about it! Right?

Well, as it happens... no. It does have a very contemporary feel to it. You'd never, ever mistake it for something produced in, say, 1980. (And, man, how utterly bizarre is it to see modern CGI effects on Doctor Who?) But, y'know, with a show like Who, there's no point in being a purist. The show's constantly changed in style and sensibility since 1963. That's part of the show, really. Times change, Doctors change, storylines evolve... It's OK, as long as the stuff that's really at the heart of the show stays the same. And, from what I've seen, I do think it's in the hands of people who understand what the heart of the show is. Future episodes could still suck, of course, even though I found the first one entertaining enough. But I'm not sitting here wailing, "But that's not Doctor Who!" And I was a little worried that I would be. So, yay! Big, big, yay!

I gotta say, though, Christopher Eccleston is going to take a little getting used to.


[*] And anybody who actually gets that rather convoluted reference gets a jelly baby.

Oh, Give Me a Home...

I just made an offer on a house. God, I feel so... grown up.

An (Un)Alarming Development

I have always been somewhat skeptical of people who claim they don't need an alarm clock, that if they have to be up at a certain time, they just "tell themselves" when to be awake, and it happens. But lately more often than not when I'm on morning shift -- and thus relying on an alarm clock instead of just getting up whenever I'm rested, the way nature intended -- I find that I'm waking up a little before the alarm goes off. In fact, I set my alarm late enough that I'm cutting it a bit fine with getting showered and dressed and in to work on time, and my brain seems to be waking me up just enough earlier to make things less rushed and more comfortable. In other words, I'm waking up at just about when I know I should be setting the alarm for, instead of when I'm actually setting it for.

It isn't that I'm waking up just because I've had enough sleep, either. I didn't get to bed until about 11:30 last night, and I still woke up at 6:45, which is somewhat less than my preferred eight hour minimum. More than that, it wasn't a gradual "I've had enough sleep and now I'm ready to be awake" sort of awakening. It was a sudden jolt into wakefulness, exactly like someone had shaken me roughly by the shoulder.

So, either the Invisible Man is hanging around my bedroom making sure I'm up in time for work, or my brain has learned a really interesting new trick. And I'm honestly not sure which theory weirds me out more.

I'm Multi-Faceted!

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Search Request Weekly

tiny toons emoticon: Very useful for when you absolutely need to convey the fact that you're making your Plucky Duck face.

claustrophobia "eighth doctor": As I recall, they did give him a touch of something like that in the books after he got stuck in a prison he couldn't get out of for two years. Given that he generally escapes from places in two minutes (assuming he's really trying), I could see how that might rattle him.

bradbury midi OR mp3 OR ogg OR wma "Something wicked this way comes" -Herbalizer -Iced -WARLOC: It's the implication that there were a lot of iced herbal warlocks coming up in the search results that gets me.

the-most-annoying-website-ever: Aww, come on, the blog's not that bad!

sneezing bloopers: Oops! Missed the hankie!

sometimes you eat the mongoose, sometimes the mongoose eats you Kipling: If Kipling didn't say that, he should have.

purchase Star Trek TNG Sweatpants: Like I don't have enough Trek-themed crap already.

Ben Browder Bare Chested Pic: Hey, I can't fault their taste, really.

Self-pics embarrassing: All my self-pics come out embarrassing. It's just impossible to hold the camera correctly when you're shooting yourself.

stories feminine swap mirror period lab: Sounds like there might be an interesting science fiction tale in there, but darned if I can quite figure out what it is.

bungee jumping grannys: Hey, more power to 'em. Me, I've got too many potential years to lose.

spock and kirk make love wav: Such interesting results you get from bugging Kirk's cabin...

pitbull attack mpg download: I think that was a Fox special.

philly cheesesteak exercise: Alas, it requires a lot of exercise to work off a Philly cheesesteak. Not that they aren't worth it.

"never too old" AND miniskirt: I hate to break it to you, but, yes, it is possible to be too old for a miniskirt.

lemony snicket porn fanfic: Oh, my brain just went bad, bad places. Excuse me, I must now go and scrub out the inside of my skull.

Tentonese Apparel: Now, that's what I'd call a specialty department.

Native bread banik: Alas, I fear the Banik's native bread-making processes may have all been lost when their planet was enslaved.

ophiucus traits: Well, it's made of stars...

UPS blog: I think this one's sort of counted, lately. Depending on what kind of UPS you're talking about, I guess.

star trek nurse chapel action figures: Why do I imagine poor Nurse Chapel's not exactly the most popular action figure in the toy store?

I Just Need to Convince My Cats of This.


Decent Cat Parent: You treat your cats very well
and are deserving of praise. You might want to
pick up a few extra cat toys & treats during
your next shopping trip...


What kind of Cat Parent are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Enterprise Ain't Free

So, apparently three anonymous Trek fans have collectively pledged three million dollars to a campaign to get Enterprise renewed. All I can say is, man, some people have a really messed-up sense of priorities. Where the hell were these guys when Farscape needed money?!

(Heh. The really disturbing thing is, I truly can't decide whether I'm being tongue-in-cheek about that or not. Um, if I'm brutally honest... probably not.)

My Exciting Computer Saga, in Handy Numbered Format!

Or, how to drive yourself completely crazy in 22 steps:

1. Notice that computer is behaving a little flakily. It keeps getting that "this system has recovered from a serious error" message (aka the Most Useless Error Message Ever), and it's lost its wireless connection. Grumble.

2. Go off for meeting with real estate agent. Leave computer on.

3. Come home a few hours later. Try to wake up computer. Discover that it appears to be in a coma. Power-cycling doesn't help. It's clearly getting power, but is sending nothing to the monitor (which is working fine), and the power button, instead of being green, as in normal operation, is red, as when it's in power-save mode.

4. Panic. Call computer geek friend. Leave message on his machine.

5. Have sudden thought on the way to work that it might be a UPS problem. Desperately desire to test this theory but can't because, you know... work.

6. Go to work. Use work computers to bitch and moan on internet.

7. Come home. Discover answering machine message from geek-friend's wife saying to bring the computer over and they'll look at it. Vow to buy said friend dinner sometime. Unplug computer from UPS. Plug it into power strip not connected to UPS. Rejoice! Then swear loudly at Socorro electric company, UPS manufacturers, and self. Also discover that lack of wireless connection is due to problem at ISP. Feel much, much better. Send computer geek friend relieved-sounding and mildly self-deprecating e-mail.

8. Jump through all the necessary hoops to get that damned "serious error" message to stop. Grr.

9. Go to Wal-Mart to buy new UPS. Discover that the one in Socorro doesn't carry them. Go to Radio Shack instead. Buy one of only two units in the store. Listen to Radio Shack guy badmouthing Wal-Mart. Say good-bye to $70.

10. Chuck out old UPS. Set up new one. Discover that "new" one has apparently been sitting at Radio Shack for a long, long time, and that power shutdown software comes on a 3.5" disc and apparently does not work in XP.

11. Debate taking UPS back to store. Decide, screw it, the battery apparently works fine, and the software isn't strictly necessary if you're smart enough never to walk off and leave anything unsaved. Make mental note to check and see if manufacturer has any current software available, anyway, once wireless connection is back up.

12. Spend a couple of days enjoying computer, minus the wireless connection.

13. Forget to turn computer off before going to bed. Arise in morning, discover that computer is once again having very similar problem. Swear loudly at stupid Wal-Mart-hating Radio Shack guy for being infinitely lamer than anybody at Wal-Mart. Plug computer back into power strip. Feel intense dismay when nothing changes.

14. Go to work. Use work computers to bitch and moan on internet.

15. Come home. Try everything again. No change.

16. Unhook every damn thing from back of computer, rendering it suitable for transport to geek-friend's house. Take computer to living room, try plugging it in there. Green!

17. Take computer back to computer room. Unplug power strip. Plug in different power strip. Plug computer into new power strip. Turn it on. Green!

18. Unplug computer from power strip. Plug it back into UPS. Turn it on. Green!

19. Look puzzled.

20. Hook everything back up. Successfully boot computer. Note that wireless connection, which was expected to be back up by now, is cutting in and out. Feel annoyed.

21. Realize several minutes later that wireless connection is cutting in and out because connector is loose. Feel stupid.

22. Use home computer to bitch and moan on internet.

Poor, Poor Pitiful Me

Remember my computer problem that turned out not to actually be a problem with my computer? Yeah, well, now it's doing something vaguely similar again, only this time it appears not to be the UPS. Unless the UPS is capable of some kind of spooky action at a distance, which I'm not sure I'd entirely put past it. Sigh. I'll poke at it some more when I get home, and if it doesn't miraculously fix itself, my plan is to run screaming in panic to a computer-geek friend. Everybody should have at least one computer-geek friend.

On a completely unrelated topic, I wish to express my opinion that menstruation is the single stupidest thing evolution ever invented. Even stupider than wiring our eyes in backwards.

Also, if my allergy pills say to take them once a day, why is it they seem to quit working after about eight hours, damn it?

I am so not having a good week.