It's been a while since I've done a random links post. Let's see what I've got...
How the Media Will Report the Apocalypse: Pretty darned funny stuff. Also, probably disturbingly close to the truth.
39 Test Answers That Are 100% Wrong But Totally Genius At The Same Time: OK, this sort of list has been around since before there was an internet. But some of these are also pretty darned funny.
The Best Astronomy and Space Photos of 2013: Phil Plait's usual year-end round-up of amazing space pictures. The universe, it is a very beautiful place.
lol my thesis: People sum up their theses in succinct and entertaining ways. This may be my new favorite time-wasting site on the internet.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
For Some Reason, This Sort Of Thing Only Happens When I'm On Day Shifts.
Last night I woke up at 3:30 after a nightmare in which my mother was attacked by zombies, and I found myself facing the prospect of a post-apocalyptic future with no coffee. Finally, I managed to get back to sleep, only fall into another dream in which I was back in high school and trying desperately to finish writing an essay right before class on the day it was due.
What the hell, brain? What did I do to you?
What the hell, brain? What did I do to you?
Monday, January 06, 2014
First Of The Year Currenties!
Current clothes: Fuzzy blue pajama pants with moons and stars on them. My (now somewhat tattered) "Oops, I bought another pile of books!" sleep shirt. Red plaid robe. Fuzzy brown slippers. Perfect blogging attire!
Current mood: Okay, but not fully awake yet. I'm still working on my morning coffee. Well, "morning" coffee. I'm aware that it's 5 PM, but this is my life.
Current music: Nothing in particular. I think the last album I listened to was Still Got Legs by Chameleon Circuit. Because I am a giant nerd. But you knew that.
Current annoyance: I've been working ridiculous amounts of night shifts lately. This is not a great time of year for that. I know I often complain about the giant nuclear skyball as if it were my enemy, but the truth is, when I barely see it for two weeks, I miss it a lot. Maybe we're actually frenemies.
Current thing: Working endless amounts of night shifts.
Current desktop picture: Still the wreath-bedecked TARDIS. I should change that. It's well past being seasonal now.
Current book: The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival by Stanley Alpert. The author was kidnapped and held for more than 24 hours by some robbers looking to get money out of his bank accounts. On his birthday.
Current song in head: Last night Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" would not stop playing in my brain. Fortunately, it seems a bit quieter in there now.
Current refreshment: Coffee. Ahhhhhh, coffee!
Current DVD in player: I just finished disc 2 of season 2 of Millennium. And... Eh. I've been told I should keep watching it through the end of season 2 (although no further), that it gets pretty great in here somewhere. But so far, I'm not seeing it. Lance Henriksen is always interesting to watch, and the show is stylishly done in a way that makes it easier to watch than, frankly, it should be. But... But it's mostly just such a humorless, pretentious mishmash of cryptic nonsense, with a worldview I take exception to and no sense that it has any idea where it's actually planning to go. It's like all of the things that annoyed me about The X-Files, minus all the things I really liked about The X-Files. But I am continuing to give it a chance to redeem itself. For some reason.
Current worry: I am very likely going to end up having a hysterectomy, and, while, frankly, getting this damned organ out of me and never having to deal with its bullshit again is a happy thought, the idea of dealing with the recovery period and the state of near-helplessness that involves is worrying the crap out of me. If I'm not allowed to lift anything over ten pounds for six to eight weeks, what the hell do I do if one of my cats gets sick? I'll be physically incapable of taking them to the vet. And, hell, I can barely wrestle them into their carriers when I need to. Forget someone they don't know and trust as well doing it. This possibility is really upsetting to me. I don't ever want to put myself in a position where I can't properly take care of myself and my animals and fulfill my responsibilities, you know?
Current thought: Forget it. I have not had enough coffee yet to go tackling my worries now.
Current mood: Okay, but not fully awake yet. I'm still working on my morning coffee. Well, "morning" coffee. I'm aware that it's 5 PM, but this is my life.
Current music: Nothing in particular. I think the last album I listened to was Still Got Legs by Chameleon Circuit. Because I am a giant nerd. But you knew that.
Current annoyance: I've been working ridiculous amounts of night shifts lately. This is not a great time of year for that. I know I often complain about the giant nuclear skyball as if it were my enemy, but the truth is, when I barely see it for two weeks, I miss it a lot. Maybe we're actually frenemies.
Current thing: Working endless amounts of night shifts.
Current desktop picture: Still the wreath-bedecked TARDIS. I should change that. It's well past being seasonal now.
Current book: The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival by Stanley Alpert. The author was kidnapped and held for more than 24 hours by some robbers looking to get money out of his bank accounts. On his birthday.
Current song in head: Last night Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" would not stop playing in my brain. Fortunately, it seems a bit quieter in there now.
Current refreshment: Coffee. Ahhhhhh, coffee!
Current DVD in player: I just finished disc 2 of season 2 of Millennium. And... Eh. I've been told I should keep watching it through the end of season 2 (although no further), that it gets pretty great in here somewhere. But so far, I'm not seeing it. Lance Henriksen is always interesting to watch, and the show is stylishly done in a way that makes it easier to watch than, frankly, it should be. But... But it's mostly just such a humorless, pretentious mishmash of cryptic nonsense, with a worldview I take exception to and no sense that it has any idea where it's actually planning to go. It's like all of the things that annoyed me about The X-Files, minus all the things I really liked about The X-Files. But I am continuing to give it a chance to redeem itself. For some reason.
Current worry: I am very likely going to end up having a hysterectomy, and, while, frankly, getting this damned organ out of me and never having to deal with its bullshit again is a happy thought, the idea of dealing with the recovery period and the state of near-helplessness that involves is worrying the crap out of me. If I'm not allowed to lift anything over ten pounds for six to eight weeks, what the hell do I do if one of my cats gets sick? I'll be physically incapable of taking them to the vet. And, hell, I can barely wrestle them into their carriers when I need to. Forget someone they don't know and trust as well doing it. This possibility is really upsetting to me. I don't ever want to put myself in a position where I can't properly take care of myself and my animals and fulfill my responsibilities, you know?
Current thought: Forget it. I have not had enough coffee yet to go tackling my worries now.
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
2013: The Year in Books
Happy New Year!
It's become kind of a tradition at this point for me to put up a post about the reading I've done over the past year. And, hey, far be it from me to break with tradition!
You can find the complete list of my 2013 reading here, or, if you prefer a more visual representation, here. I read a total of 144 books this year. That's one fewer than in 2012, but, hey, not too shabby. And I acquired... Well, let's just say "some." Or, OK, "a lot." I don't so much want to look at the numbers on that.
Here's my also-traditional "best books of the year" list. As usual these, like the rest of my reading, are rather varied:
Fiction
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Non-fiction
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Allison Bechdel
The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Godwin
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Humor
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543 by Zach Weinersmith
Judging by that list, I'd say it was a pretty good year in books! Now to see how much of the TBR Pile I can manage to get through in 2014...
It's become kind of a tradition at this point for me to put up a post about the reading I've done over the past year. And, hey, far be it from me to break with tradition!
You can find the complete list of my 2013 reading here, or, if you prefer a more visual representation, here. I read a total of 144 books this year. That's one fewer than in 2012, but, hey, not too shabby. And I acquired... Well, let's just say "some." Or, OK, "a lot." I don't so much want to look at the numbers on that.
Here's my also-traditional "best books of the year" list. As usual these, like the rest of my reading, are rather varied:
Fiction
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Non-fiction
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Allison Bechdel
The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Godwin
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Humor
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543 by Zach Weinersmith
Judging by that list, I'd say it was a pretty good year in books! Now to see how much of the TBR Pile I can manage to get through in 2014...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)