Insert Blasphemous Joke Of A Subject Line Here.

Happy religious holiday/fertility festival/excuse for eating a lot of chocolate/whatever! Me, if I'm celebrating anything, I think it's Walking Dead Season Finale Day. (Which seems kind of appropriate now that I think about it. Heh. Sorry.) And yesterday was Doctor Who Return from Hiatus Day, which was certainly cause for celebration for me. (Gosh, that show is fun. Sometimes I forget, and then it comes back and reminds me again, and my life feels much the better for it.)

I went to AMC's website, by the way, and took their Walking Dead "Which Character Are You?" test. It told me I was Rick. I don't really want to be Rick. Although I'm not sure if most of the alternatives are much better. After all, no matter who you are, you're still stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and that is pretty much guaranteed to suck.

My First World Problems

And now my iPod's frozen on me. And I spent all my money on a new coat because my old one needed replacing, and plumbers because my toilet was leaking and my kitchen faucet was coming apart, and an attempt to pay down my credit card bill a little after charging my entire January vacation, leaving myself about $100 for the week for groceries and sundry expenses, only to discover today that this stupid book club I belong to sent me a $70 textbook I didn't want because apparently I never got their "respond to decline your featured selection" e-mail and have charged my debit card for it, so now I have essentially no money at all until I either get paid or get the book returned, unless I want to dip into my savings, which I don't. And my iPod has frozen up on me and will not reset, and and my three most comfortable pairs of jeans all got holes in them at once, and my new favorite TV show just went on hiatus, and I still need to go to the eye doctor so he can tell me I need bifocals after all, which I'll also have to charge on the credit card.

Please send chocolate. Also large piles of cash, an iPod expert, someone to fix the scratch on my car, and a new piar of eyeballs. Thank you.

[ETA: Hey, I got my iPod working again! My life is suddenly looking up! Slightly. Hooray!]

I Guess Nothing Stays New Forever

Gaah, we had ridiculous high winds yesterday, and my trash bin, even though it's sheltered from the wind on three sides, still managed to tip over into my driveway and hit the side of my car, and now the rear driver's side door of my lovely, shiny new vehicle has a small, scuffy little scratch on it. I find that I am disproportionately distressed about this.

It's Been A Long Time Since I Did A Random Links Post. So, Here!

Free Advice for the People in These Stock Photos Who Are Grappling with Technology: Hilarious and clearly badly needed advice.

25 Perfectly Timed Cat Photos: Because however many great cat photos you've seen on the internet, there are always more.

6 Fun Bookish Cartoons: I particularly liked the science fiction one. And the one after that hits a little close to home.

Doctor Who: New Series Trailer: Who returns on March 30, both in the UK and on BBC America. I am excited!

DIY Tardis looks bigger on inside with augmented reality: This is very, very, very cool.

Geeky As It Is, I'm Probably Not The First Person To Make This Joke. But..

I sometimes feel like my life is one long demonstration of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle: when I have the time, I don't have the energy, and when I have the energy, I don't have the time.

(And, yes, that is also going to be my excuse for not blogging more lately.)

Albuturkey!

Apropos my current TV watching, since I'm now making my way through season 5:



Unlike the Doctor Who guys, the Breaking Bad cast can actually bowl. And are also hilarious.

And, man, now I really want to go bowling...

Still Not Dead. Have Some Currentlies.

Current clothes: Weird Al Yankovic "White & Nerdy" t-shirt. Because I am. Gray sweats. Black socks. Giant bearclaw slippers.

Current mood: Reasonably good. I've finally had a few days off after working stupid, stupid hours for the last couple of weeks, and I've gotten at least a little caught up on housework and stuff after neglecting it all horribly, and I am thus starting to feel considerably more relaxed.

Current music: More random shuffle tunes on the iPod. I'm not even sure what it played last. I remember a lot of Rush, though, and some embarrassing nerd rap.

Current annoyance: Credit card bills.

Current thing: Obviously not blogging, that's for sure. Seriously, I don't know how it is that it's been almost two weeks since I checked in here. It feels like I have done absolutely nothing in that time. I know it's not quite true, but it sure feels like it.

Current desktop picture: It's still Rumplestiltskin. I really ought to change it soon, though. He's weirdly distracting.

Current book: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which so far is very good.

Current song in head: For days, it was "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty. Then for about a day and a half it was Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Now I think Nicks & Petty are making a bit of a comeback, which, frankly, is something of a relief.

Current refreshment: You know, I was going to put the kettle on and make tea. But I have no tea, and can't remember whether I actually heated up the water or not. (It's an electric kettle, so it doesn't whistle, it just shuts itself off, and it's not unheard of for me to wander off and forget about it multiple times in a row.)

Current DVD in player: I'm still making my way through the hour-long Twilight Zone episodes, but it's taking me a while, because I don't always want to spend an hour at a time on the treadmill. Most recently watched on the other machine was Frankenweenie, which was very cute, in that dark, Tim Burton-y kind of way. I've also just recently finished season 4 of Breaking Bad. I know some people have already heard me say this, but it bears repeating: This is one of those rare cases where I've heard a show praised to the high heavens, and when I finally get around to watching it, it actually exceeds my expectations. Absolutely everything about it is top-notch. The cinematography is great (and shows off our starkly beautiful New Mexican scenery to good effect). The writing is amazing: all dark and twisty and subtle and complicated and shocking. But more than anything, I'm impressed by the acting, which is phenomenal. Every single major actor just seems to knock it out of the park every single episode. And it's only getting better and better the more of it I see. I am definitely going to have to catch up with what's been shown so far of season 5 so I can finish watching it as it airs.

Current worry: I'm trying not to, thanks.

Current thought: Hey, apparently I left off the current thought last month!

Also, Why Isn't It Spring Yet?

Dear Weather Channel Website,

Dammit, you said it would maybe rain around 1:00, not, "It'll start snowing like a son of a bitch at 10:30."

No love from me or my on-the-line laundry,
Me

Obligatory "I Aten't Dead" Post

It's been long enough since my last update that I probably ought to post something here, but, man, I feel like I have absolutely nothing to say. Seriously, the single most exciting thing in my life in the last couple of weeks has been getting to watch new episodes of The Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time. The Walking Dead is, I freely admit, a flawed show, but I'm enjoying it, anyway, not least because Daryl is enough to make the whole thing worth watching all on his own. And Once Upon a Time... Well, it has become impossible for me to deny that this thing is kind of a magical soap opera, but, after an uncertain start, I've fallen ridiculously in love with it, anyway. It certainly helps that it features one of the best examples I've ever seen of the character type TV Tropes refers to as the "jerkass woobie": the guy you want to punch in the face for being such an asshole at the exact same time that you also want to give them a great big hug and tell them how sorry you are that their life is so awful. Apparently I'm a total sucker for those.

In other news, Nova was supposed to go in for his dental cleaning tomorrow, but when the woman at the vet's office told me I'd need to come in and pick up the antibiotics he'd need to take on Friday or Saturday, she apparently forgot they were closed this Friday and Saturday. Oops. So now he's rescheduled for Thursday, which might actually work out better with my schedule, anyway. (See, I told you. Not very exciting. Hey, just be glad I'm not devoting multiple paragraphs to complaining about said work schedule. Because I could.)

Me vs. Batman

I... I totally fail at superhero movies. Possibly the time has come to admit that. I keep trying to like them, and a lot of the time, I succeed. I mean, I liked The Avengers a lot. For instance. But sometimes the genre just defeats me.

Like Batman. Apparently I just don't get Batman, or something? I found Batman Begins, which everyone else seems to think was brilliant, to be unbelievably boring. I did enjoy The Dark Knight a heck of a lot more than I expected to, though, I think largely because it made the Joker into a really scary and interesting villain. So I just sat down to watch The Dark Knight Rises on DVD with fairly high hopes, and... I made it a little over an hour in. Seriously, guys, what the heck am I missing? As far as I could tell, it was pretty much all blah, blah, blah, angst, blah, blah, I'm supposed to feel sorry for Bruce Wayne but he's just kind of annoying, blah, blah, more angst, blah, blah, really sloooooow plot stuff that I suppose might make more sense if I remembered anything at all from the last two movies, blah, blah, a few one-liners that would actually be funny if delivered with any charisma, blah, blah, Catwoman in lots of slinky outfits, blah, blah, awkward vaguely political commentary about rich people, blah, blah, gadgets that are supposed to be cool but aren't, blah, blah, villain who might or might not be cool if he ever eventually gets any decent amount of screentime.... And then it got to the point where we hear all about how Annoying Angsty Bruce shut down his awesome new energy-crisis-solving fusion reactor because he found out how someone had an idea about how you could use nuclear fusion to make bombs and... and... I'M SORRY, I TRIED, BUT I JUST CAN'T DO THIS ANY MORE. I know, I know that it's the stupidest thing in the world to expect or even want decent science in a superhero movie, but I AM CRYING INSIDE NOW, AND IT HURTS ME.

I feel as if I ought to apologize to Batman fans, and to the world. I feel as if somehow not liking Batman is... is un-American? More than that, possibly un-human. But I just can't.

If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go and watch some old British sitcoms now, instead. That will make me feel better. Yes. That will help.

Currently, It's Somehow Already Well Into February.

Current clothes: A bluish-purplish-gray t-shirt from Disneyland with a picture of Mickey on it. Even though I'm kind of pissed with Disney ever since I realized they still hadn't released the last two seasons of The Muppet Show on DVD. Oh, and also tan jeans. I initially forgot I was wearing pants, that's how upset I am about the Muppets.

Current mood: Very mildly cranky. I just got back from the dentist a little while ago, and that never puts anybody in a good mood.

Current music: Nothing, really.

Current annoyance: A big, giant, fat, numb lip. Also, the new filling on the inside of my incisors feels a little bit rough, and my tongue just keeps coming back to it, like I have to constantly keep checking whether it's still annoying. Which it is.

Current thing: Various kinds of medical appointments, it seems like. Last week, I had a cleaning at the dentist's, and on Monday I get to go back in for another filling. And I have to go and get my blood tested to check my thyroid function again next week sometime. Meanwhile, the cats had their checkups, and then I had to haul Vir back in for a glucose test -- he still doesn't have diabetes, which is good to know -- and Nova has a dental cleaning scheduled later in the month. And I'm still putting off going to the eye doctor. Stupid physical bodies. Who needs 'em?

Current desktop picture: It's still Once Upon a Time's Rumplestiltskin. Oh, I do love me some of those well-acted evil-yet-strangely-sympathetic characters (see also "current DVD").

Current book: Just finished The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs, a fairly fun little kids' book. Next up, Stephen Colbert's America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't.

Current song in head: I think a few minutes ago it was Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Or maybe one of the many, many covers thereof. Or possibly it was just me singing it. In my brain.

Current DVD in player: I've just finished season three of Breaking Bad, which was excellent. Especially the end of the season, which had me going, "Holy shit, Walter!" kind of a lot. On the treadmill, I've just started season 4 of The Twilight Zone, which includes seldom-seen hour-long episodes. Which seems like it ought to be a bad idea, but the one I've watched so far was actually pretty good.

Current refreshment: Nothing. I would like some refreshment, but I am still waiting for the novocaine to wear off. WAAAAH!

Current worry: Entropy is going to eat everything.

YouTube, Some Days I Love You.

The one major downside to finally having a decent, stable internet connection is that I find myself wasting way, way more time on YouTube than I used to. On the upside, though, that means I sometimes stumble across things like this awesome fan-made Doctor Who "50th anniversary trailer." It's like the pure distilled essence of 50 years of Who, concentrated down to seven minutes:

Didn't They Used To Use Fake Versions Of These Things?

Today's moment of utter surreality: watching TV and having my local tv channel break in with a special report, only to experience a brief moment of complete disorientation as I remember that I'm actually watching a DVD.

Man, Breaking Bad really messes with my head.

Sorry, Commenters, It's Back To Proving Your Humanity, I'm Afraid.

Well, that lasted, what, five days? But the spammers have found me, and I'm now getting multiple spam blog comments per hour, some of which Blogger's spam filter catches and some of which it doesn't, but all of which I have to check on. Needless to say, this has crossed the annoyance threshold very quickly, so the CAPTCHA is back on. My apologies for those who have trouble with it. Of course, family and friends can always e-mail me if they have something they want to say but can't or don't want to post here.

Life Is Hard When You're A Crazy Cat Lady.

Today's fun activity: taking the cats to the vet! Aargh. Vir now weighs 29 pounds, which is just freaking ridiculous. No doubt part of the problem is that while I was away on vacation he had the opportunity to eat too much and to steal Nova's regular cat food on top of his diet stuff. Which means that, much as the possibility pains me, I think next time I leave -- which will be in June -- I'm going to have to board him as well as Happiness. Except that he's at high risk for a condition whose name I forget, but which basically amounts to: "cat gets stressed and stops eating for a day or two, cat's body freaks out about the lack of food, and cat's liver goes into lethal shutdown." So I'll actually have to put him in the kennel a couple of days early and check with them to make sure he's eating before I leave. Joy. Oh, and I also need to bring him back in for a glucose test, but I have to do that sometime when he hasn't been eating. Hopefully, he still doesn't have diabetes.

Happiness' blood thyroid levels were great, which should be awesome news, except that they tested it when she was about due for her daily pill but hadn't had it yet, and under those circumstances they'd have expected it to be higher. The vet is a bit confused by that. And worried, because her heart rate is very high, which is a symptom. Although her weight is holding steady, which is good. Basically, who the hell knows? The vet is going to cogitate on it some more and get back to me.

Nova, meanwhile, needs a dental cleaning and might or might not have a bit of a gum infection. But at least he's the right weight.

And while the cats are getting all this awesome medical care, here I am putting off going to the eye doctor because I don't want to spend money on new glasses. Sigh.

And Two More Pics, Just For The Hell Of It.

It occurs to me that none of my pictures have any people in them, so here's a couple of pics from my dad in which I actually make an appearance.

Although I may regret showing you this one:



Well, after all that serious space stuff, I guess we needed some goofy space stuff, right? Right? The kid, by the way, is my step... nephew? That sounds kind of funny, but I think it's right.

And here I am feeding a giraffe at the zoo:



Giraffes, it turns out, have very long prehensile tongues. And they like fruit.

Florida Pics, Pt. 2

More pictures from Kennedy!

Here's a sign proving I really was in the place where all this historic space stuff happened:



And a marker commemorating the Mercury program, and the "Mercury Seven," America's first group of astronauts:



This next photo is one of the two launch pads that were used for the space shuttle. It's sitting idle now, alas, but hopefully it will see action again one day in the not-too-distant future.



Kennedy still maintains two active launch pads. If I recall correctly, this one here is used for Delta IV rockets, while the other launches the still-popular Atlas:



And, much as I hate to end on a downer, this is the site where the Apollo 1 test pad fire happened, killing astronauts Grissom, Chaffee, and White, and setting the moon program back significantly before it had even gotten off the ground:



The pad was, of course, never used again:



I'm not sure why that "abandon in place" is so haunting, somehow, but it is.

And, oh, what the heck. Let's not end on the downer note. This picture was nothing to do with Kennedy, and will probably mean nothing to most of you, but for my former Philly-area peeps... Did you know Florida now has Wawa?!



Truly, I was stunned!


There may still be more pictures to come, as my dad also gave me copies of a whole lot of photos that he and my stepmother took, and I haven't even had the chance to look through them yet. But when I have, I'll very likely share some here, so stay tuned!

Florida Pics, Pt. 1

I took quite a few pictures at Kennedy, so I'll break them up into a couple of posts so as not to overwhelm you all. Here's the first batch!



This is the Vehicle Assembly Building, which is exactly what it sounds like: the building where space vehicles are assembled and readied for launching. It is impossible, looking at this picture, to get a sense of just how big this building is. Hell, it's difficult to really process that even when you're right next to it. So I'll just say that you can see this thing from miles and miles away, and even then, it still looks big.

Here's some shots of the inside of an old control bunker:







Look at all that wonderful old-fashioned technology! Actually, those old reel-to-reel tape recorders -- or at least, ones somewhat similar to those -- are very familiar to me, as we were still using them at NRAO much more recently than you might expect.

And here's the place where I went all, "SQUEEEE!":



That's a replica of Alan Shepard's Mercury-Redstone, on the actual spot where he launched on his historic flight as the first American in space.

More to come later!

Home, Florida, Blog

I have made it home in one piece! The house did not fall down, and the cats are alive, so that's all good. (Well, two thirds of the cats are verifiably alive. I have to go and pick Happiness up at the kennel soon. But I'm pretty sure if she weren't still alive, they would have called me.)

Despite a good night's sleep in my own bed, I am still tired from traveling, not to mention backed up on all those things that inevitably seem to pile up when you're away, so here's just a few additional comments on my trip:

Florida does have quite a lot of wildlife, even if you're not traipsing through the swamp. I saw several alligators, and caught a brief glimpse of a manatee. (I was able to get a better look at some later in an aquarium.) Also lots and lots of birds, including ibis and ospreys. And a giant eagles' nest on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center.

When the temperature drops below 70 degrees, people start complaining that they're cold. Even people who used to live in New Jersey. This amuses me immensely.

I was able to correct a 31-year-old disappointment this weekend! My family went to Disney World when I was ten -- my only previous visit to Florida -- but Epcot was still under construction at the time, so I missed out on it. Of course, geeky little kid that I was, I thought Epcot sounded like the best part of the park, and felt rather cheated. Well, it may have taken me three decades, but I finally made it! Needless to say, I probably would have enjoyed it more when I was ten, but it made me happy, regardless.

And I know I promised pictures. They will come later. I haven't even had the chance to sort through them yet.

On a different note: My dad complained that he can't ever seem to be able to prove to Blogger that he's human, so for the moment, I've disabled the CAPTCHA for comments here. Since Blogger now has some spam filtering, leaving it off might just be tolerable, but if things get too bad, I reserve the right to reactivate it. So enjoy it while you can, commenters!

Space Geek Does Florida

Greetings once again from sunny Florida! I still cannot get over how beautiful the weather is. While most of you in the northern hemisphere are various shades of freezing, I am experiencing weather that is perfect for walking along the beach eating ice cream cones, and have been taking advantage of it to do exactly that.

Or at least, that's the sort of thing I've been doing when I'm not busy getting my space geek on. Which I have been doing a lot. We spent the better part of two days at Kennedy Space Center, and if you ever have a chance to go, I recommend it. On Monday, we went to the visitor's center and did the free bus tour. The highlight for me was the museum in which they have an entire Saturn V rocket. This is the machine that launched the manned flights to the moon, and it is staggeringly, impressively huge. I swear, being in the same room with that thing may be as close as I come to a spiritual experience. They also have a lot of other exhibits and interesting stuff there, including regular talks by astronauts. The day we were there, the featured speaker was Jerry Carr, commander of one of the Skylab crews. Which pleased me, because Skylab is an interesting piece of US Space history, but it's one that's too often entirely forgotten (or if it's remembered at all, it's only for scattering bits of debris across Australia when the station re-entered the atmosphere and burned up at the end of its life).

And then today, a friend of my dad's who works up there gave us a tour. We drove around to see various launchpads, both currently active and historical. At one point we drove directly underneath the pad where the space shuttle used to launch. And I got to stand on the exact spot where Alan Shepard took off on his first flight, a fact about which I can communicate only by lapsing into incoherent fangirl mode, so: SQUUUUUUUUEEEEEE! *ahem* They have a full-sized replica of his Mercury-Redstone rocket there now, which was pretty spiffy. (At some point there will be pictures of this sort of thing, but not until I get home and get them off my camera.) We also visited the site of the Apollo 1 fire, which was more sobering, but, wow, of all the places I never imagined I'd be standing...

So, yes, Space Geek Girl was very satisfied. The only thing I regret is that I was here a few months too early to see the shuttle Atlantis in its new home. The orbiter is here, but it's not yet ready to meet its adoring public, as they're still getting it set up and getting the building that houses it finished. Of course, it would have been even nicer to be here to watch one of them launch. Ah, well. Eventually, there will spaceships taking off in New Mexico...

Greetings From FL!

Greetings from Florida's Space Coast! Which is, of course, the awesomest part of Florida. The weather, as predicted, is beautiful. Even the humidity, at this point, seems like more of an interesting novelty to me than an annoyance, although I may have changed my mind about that by the end of the week.

I actually brought my laptop traveling with me this time, so you might see a few more updates from me, although the folks seem to be planning to keep me pretty busy.

I Am Outta Here!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a week in Florida visiting my dad. The forecast high tomorrow here is 36 degrees Fahrenheit. There, it's 79. Yeah, I think I picked a good time of year to go...

Currently, in 2013

Current clothes: Tan jeans. A blue sweatshirt with a white collar and pictures of playful cats on it that my grandmother gave me for Christmas. White socks. Black belt. Brown leather boots.

Current mood: Man, I don't even know. Things that are trying to bring me up and things that are trying to bring me down seem to be duking it out in my brain, leaving me in a rather unstable neutral state.

Current music: I seem to recall the iPod playing a lot of goofy novelty tunes when I had it on random shuffle while doing laundry yesterday.

Current annoyance: There are many, but to choose just one: I am so ready for winter to be over now. Right after I made that post last month about how unseasonably warm it was, it immediately stopped being unseasonably warm, because, of course, the entire climate of the Earth exists only to inject irony into my life. And I am very tired of darkness and cold.

Current thing: Trying to read all of those books I got last year. Or at least some of those books I got last year.

Current desktop picture: This rather nice wallpaper featuring Rumplestiltskin from Once Upon a Time, as he is my new current favorite character. (I seem to go through them quickly these days.) I'm really amazed how much I ended up enjoying that show, after all the mixed feelings I had about it at the start.

Current book: I've just started And Another Thing..., Eoin Colfer's continuation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I am extremely dubious about about this idea, especially as I was unimpressed with what I'd read of Colfer's previously, but I'm also curious about where he'll go with it.

Current song in head: There doesn't seem to be anything at the moment, surprisingly enough.

Current DVD in player: Disc 3 of season 6 of Third Rock from the Sun. Which, on average, seems less funny than previous seasons, although it has its moments. And in the machine in front of the treadmill is disc 2 of season 3 of The Muppet Show. Which is even crazier than previous seasons. Have I mentioned lately how much I love the Muppets? I love the Muppets. Or at least their classic stuff like this.

Current refreshment: Lemon-mint tea.

Current worry: After a longish period in which the cracks in my house seemed mostly not to be getting much worse, or at least to be getting worse very slowly, the last few months have seen some very noticeable worsening, leading me into all kinds of (probably not terribly plausible) worries about my house falling down, and (rather more plausible) worries about the possibility of more cracked pipes. For several years, I was able to comfort myself with the knowledge that if and when I finally needed to do some foundation repairs, I had enough money saved up to pay for it. So, of course, it had to wait until I don't to start making with the serious subsidence again. Sigh. Oh, well. For the moment it's still standing, at least.

Current thought: I also have lots of other worries. Bah. Well, I'm heading off on vacation next week -- I'm going to Florida to visit my dad -- and maybe that will take my mind off of some of it. As long as my house doesn't fall down while I'm gone.

2012: The Year In Books

As is traditional, a look back at my reading for 2012.

I'm not going to say how many books I acquired in 2012. I did a quick calculation, and the number I got was shocking even to me. Suffice it to say that I fell off the wagon, big-time, thanks to a shopping spree at Powell's, several library sales (including the deadly "bag of books for five bucks" one), and the should-have-been-predictable fact that deciding I'd wait until the new year to reinstate the book-buying quota resulted in out-of-control book-addict me desperately trying to acquire as many books as possible before the end of the year. Oy.

But never mind that. Let's talk about books read. I finished 145 of them this year, including a couple of re-reads. You can see the list here, with the re-reads, a couple of Harry Potter books, at the top. That's fewer than in the last couple of years, and a surprisingly large number of them, at least towards the beginning of the year, were compilations of bite-sized knowledge read in small chunks while I was sitting in quarantine with the kitten.

Here's the traditional list of Best Books I Read This Year, based on the ratings I gave them when I finished them:

Fiction:

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Matched by Allie Condie
Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
The Middleman: The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Planetary Vol. 4: Spacetime Archaeology by Warren Ellis
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks by Joe Hill
The Miniature Wife and Other Stories by Manuel Gonzales

Non-Fiction:

Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins
The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World by Michelle Goldberg
Uncompromised: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of an Arab American Patriot in the CIA by Nada Prouty
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
Lethal Warriors: When the New Band of Brothers Came Home by David Phillipps


There's probably some interesting pattern there, but I don't think I'm going to try to analyze it.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2012 is an interesting year to look back on, for me:

I finally got little Newt all healthy and got her settled in Oregon with my sister, and for once I am not starting the year with another kitten on my hands. Hooray for feral spaying!

After years of putting it all off, I bought a new car, a new TV, and a better internet connection. Which has also meant buying myself some new debt, but I am very, very happy with all of them.

Much less happy-making was the triple-whammy bout of illness I had around September/October, but, looking on the bright side, if the worst health problem you have in any given year is a month or so of respiratory infections, you're really not doing too badly.

I remember making some kind of resolution at the beginning of the year. Something about eating healthier and buying fewer books. I vaguely remember typing the phrase "continence is my watchword." Um... yeah. Both my weight and my pile of unread books are higher now than they've ever been, because I went absolutely nuts with the book-buying, and I seem have been living mostly on doughnuts and cheeseburgers. I really do hope to do better this year, but I will make no resolutions and employ no stupid catchphrases. I'll just actually, you know, try to do better.

Anyway. New cars and kittens and stacks of books and bronchitis aside, I think I've actually had a much more sedate year than just about anybody I know. For so much of the world, 2012 seems to have been just insane, sometimes in pretty horrible ways. So for all the rest of you out there, my wish for you is that if 2013 is interesting for you, it is not in the Chinese curse sense, and that when you come to look back on it at the start of 2014, you feel satisfied and happy.

An Expected Journey (To The Movie Theater)

So, I finally got out to see The Hobbit. Objectively, I'm sure it's a flawed movie. I've heard criticisms about it being too slow, and I'm sure they're valid. I strongly suspect that if I were coming to this story for the first time, I'd find the movie badly paced for the adventure tale it is, and way too full of expository backstory. But, fortunately for me, I have neither the ability nor the desire to be objective. The Hobbit is a story I've loved since I was a kid -- I first read it long before I ever encountered The Lord of the Rings -- and seeing it up there on the big screen looking so awesome, with or without added bits, was an absolute treat for me. The riddle scene with Gollum was particularly thrilling; that was always my favorite part of the book, although I suppose that's probably true for most people.

And, wow, that really, really did not feel like three hours. Heck, I didn't even have to pee when it was over. I could happily have sat there for another hour or two.

When's the next one out, again?

So This Is Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

I'm having a nice, low-key solo holiday this year. I did have an invite up to Albuquerque, which I appreciated, but after working long, annoying hours for the last few days, I'm feeling a lot less like long drives and social contact, and a lot more like lying around the house eating candy canes in my pajamas. So that's what I'm doing. (My pajama pants have pictures of the Grinch on them, so they are appropriately holiday-themed.) I do have a little Cornish game hen to cook up later, as well as pie, and my homemade fruitcake-that-challenges-all-the-stereotypes-about-fruitcake, although there's not much of that left. And, of course, I have opened all my presents, every one of which made me happy and was much appreciated. Many thanks to all the lovely people in my life for their thoughtfulness! And to all of you, whatever you're doing today, whether you celebrate this particular holiday or not, I hope you all have a warm, happy, wonderful day.

More Christmas Cheer (Also Zombies)

A thing that should exist: The Walking Dead Christmas special. (Warning: kind of spoilery)



And, hey, why stop at one Walking Dead parody video? This one also amused me. (Warning: really spoilery!)

Random Links For The Holidays

Your Holiday Gift Guide for Cats—By Cats: Last minute shopping suggestions for your feline! Although some of these are likely to be difficult to obtain. Cats can be so demanding.

The Best Astronomy Images of 2012: Because outer space continued being awesome this year.

And, finally, the reason we're all still here.

The True Meaning Of Christmas: New Doctor Who!

New Doctor Who Christmas special trailer!

'Tis The Season! But Which Season, I'm Not Sure.

You know, it's very difficult to believe that we're coming up on Christmas when I haven't yet had to take my winter coat of of the closet once, and have, in fact, been happily walking around outside in short sleeves for the past week. I'm not complaining, mind you! Well, except for the fact that this is probably a symptom of global warming and some poor Pacific island is about to disappear forever so that I might enjoy nice weather in December. Other than that, though, it's awesome!

This Month's Currentlies Prove I'm Not Dead!

Yeah, I know it's been a while since I posted here. I think it's because nothing the slightest bit interesting has been happening, but let's see, shall we?

Current clothes: This is one of those days where I'm blogging in a bath towel, fresh out of the shower. I really need to go and get dressed soon, though.

Current mood: Man, I don't even know what the word is for my mood lately. But I'm at this point where it feels like there are a zillion different things wanting me to pay attention to them, and even though many of them are perfectly nice things, it's kind of getting to me. I'm also seriously tired of working, and I'm starting to entertain fantasies again of spending a week in a cabin in the forest or a hut on a deserted tropical beach somewhere, with a giant stack of books and the quiet sounds of nature, and absolutely nothing else. That sounds like bliss... except then I can't help thinking how bad my internet withdrawal would be by the end of the week. Modern life is ruining even my fantasies now, it seems.

Current music: Nothing much... Well, the last thing played on my iPod was The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," because, I dunno, listening to it might have gotten it out of my head, or something. Which it actually might have done, but it's back now. Thanks, meme!

Current annoyance: Yeah, see "current mood," I think.

Current thing: Don't even ask me how many books I've bought so far this year. Seriously, don't ask. I'm afraid to count them.

Current desktop picture: I just now switched it over to my traditional December wallpaper, which features a picture of the TARDIS with snow on the roof and a wreath on the door. Maybe this will help put me into a holiday spirit, because said holidays really seem to be sneaking up on me this year.

Current book: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Which is just lovely. It's warm and perceptive and dryly funny and romantic even for a deeply non-romantic soul like me, and very, very British. I may be reading it more slowly than I need to because I don't want it to end, which is unheard of for me.

Current song in head: "Sympathy for the Devil." See above.

Current DVD in player: I just finished disc 3 of season one of Once Upon a Time. Somebody I was discussing this show with said he couldn't decide whether it was "a very good bad show or a bad good show," and I have to agree. It's like it's trying to be both good and bad at once, and the result is more than a little weird. I've gotten surprisingly into it by this point though, based, I think, mainly on the fact that Robert Carlyle is amazing in it. I do not know why he isn't starring in every episode. Also, I'm still making my way through season 3 of The Twilight Zone. Most recent episode: "To Serve Man," which makes no logical sense whatsoever on any level, and yet still somehow manages to be a classic piece of television.

Current refreshment: Nothing since I finished my morning coffee. I ought to start thinking about lunch at some point, especially since I have a doctor's appointment to go to at 1:00.

Current worry: That entropy is trying to eat my house again.

Current thought: I have to confess it here: I love my giant new TV. I had no idea it would make me this happy when I got it; I just knew the old one was starting to annoy me. And it's embarrassing to admit, isn't it? It seems like the height of crass materialism to admit that having a large television brings joy to your life. But, oh, such pretty, pretty pictures it makes for me!

Happy Who Day!

Today is the 49th anniversary of Doctor Who. To celebrate, I ordered that "My other car is a TARDIS" license plate holder people told me I should buy.

Happy Humble Appreciation With Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans!

You know, the idea of "giving thanks," when you phrase it that way, has always been a little problematic for me, non-theist that I am, since thanks imply some sort of thankee. But, as well as really lovin' the whole turkey thing, I've always felt that a regular reminder to take a moment and humbly appreciate the things that you have is an excellent practice. I have quite a lot of things to be humbly appreciative of, but first on the list at the moment is that fact that I'm finally starting to sound like myself again, at least to my own ears. Mostly. Better still, there's some pep in my step again. Yay! Now, if no more stupid germs attack me like that between now and next Thanksgiving, I'll be really grateful. Or appreciative. Or whatever.

Anyway, I hope everybody out there is doing at least as well as I am at this point, and that if you're celebrating Thanksgiving today, you thoroughly enjoy it. Me, I'm heading up to Albuquerque in a little while to spend it with some friends. (See you soon, Captain C!)

Apparently, Cats Should Only Watch PG-Rated Films.

I think the cats are having a certain amount of trouble dealing with the new TV. It sometimes seems to seriously freak Nova out. Not that Nova isn't easily freaked out at the best of times, but, dude, a couple of weeks ago, he ran away from the swooping eagle in the Colbert Report credits. And today I was watching Cabin in the Woods -- which just gets awesomer with repeat viewings, by the way -- and at one point he was staring utterly raptly at the TV. Cool, I think. Cat appreciates a good movie! Then, suddenly, with a little sting of music, a monster attacks from out of nowhere... and Nova starts violently, runs halfway down the hall, and peers nervously back at the TV with his eyes wide and his ears partway back. I actually felt kind of guilty, like a parent failing to wait until the kids are in bed to put the scary movie on. And yet, it was hilarious.

A Small, But Extra-Geeky Batch of Random Links

Morning Roundup: John Barrowman Gets His Butt Signed by Scott Bakula: Yeah... I'll be in my bunk.

Star Trek The Original Series: Every Classic Trek episode ever, in one glorious, giant picture. It's too bad they're not selling prints of this, because I think it would look terrific in my living room.

‘Doctor Who’ 2012 Christmas Special ‘The Snowmen’ Trailer & Prequel Minisode: Oh, gosh. The "prequel minisode" is equal parts hilarious and terribly sad, and the trailer just has me feeling incredibly excited. Yay for the return of awesome characters! Note: there are very definite spoilers for last season here.

Local Color

After having been told repeatedly that I really, really ought to, I have finally started watching Breaking Bad. The pilot was fairly interesting, but, man, watching a TV series set in Albuquerque is just weird. Weird, and distracting. It's kind of hard to concentrate on what the characters are doing when I'm staring so hard at the locations, yelling things like, "Hang on, I've been to that car wash!"

Hey, Three Of Them Were On My Wishlist.

OMG, giant library sale! I got 39 books for $10. I am honestly not sure whether I am more proud or ashamed of myself.

But, geez, you think Black Friday at Wal-Mart is bad... Believe me, it's got nothing on the frenzy of bibliophiles in a dank, book-filled basement when everything's going for five dollars a bag.

Currently, This.

Current clothes: Black jeans (which are probably a mistake, as they'll no doubt be covered with cat hair by the time I have to leave for work). Light gray Doctor Who t-shirt, with the new series logo, a lot of Gallifreyan scribblings, and a picture of the TARDIS on it. White socks. Scuffed brown leather hiking boots.

Current mood: Meh. Despite the cough and all, I don't exactly feel sick, but, to inadvertently paraphrase some song lyrics, I don't really feel well either. Mostly, I've been feeling pretty low-energy and blah lately, and it's kind of bringing me down. I could go on about that a lot, actually, but I'll spare you the pity party.

Current music: Not much lately. I remember listening to some random shuffle stuff on the iPod yesterday, but nothing particularly leaps out.

Current annoyance: Yeah, the cough, which is very intermittent, but still no fun. And my voice still sounds pretty hoarse and croaky, making me honestly somewhat embarrassed to talk to anybody. And I really want to have more mental and physical energy, dammit. And, yes, I'll stop the whining there.

Current thing: I've tried to make my current thing getting all excited about the various cool improvements I've been making in my life, but thanks to aforementioned, probably germ-induced lethargy, mostly it's just been lying around like a lump, instead. Yesterday I spent all evening on the couch watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

Current desktop picture: Still the kids from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Current book: Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. The front cover bills it as "a detective novel in ancient Rome," which I think tells you pretty much everything you need to know. I've only just started it, but so far it's fun.

Current song in head: Well, right now, I think it's alternating between "Flagpole Sitta" and the Big Bang Theory theme song, because my brain is just that suggestible.

Current DVD in player: I did finish season 5 of The Big Bang Theory yesterday. Next up is season 6 of Red Dwarf, because apparently geeky half-hour comedies are just about my speed lately. And because Netflix keeps refusing to send me Supernatural. I'm also back to watching The Twilight Zone on the treadmill. I'm currently a little way into season 3. Unsurprisingly for an anthology show, it's a little uneven. One episode, you get a not-very-good retelling of a campfire story, and the next you're watching an unforgettably creepy little Bill Mumy wishing people into the cornfield. Overall, though, I continue to be highly impressed. So much of what that show did really should feel incredibly trite and corny fifty years later, and yet so little of it actually does. The truly classic episodes are classics for a reason, but there are a lot of hidden gems among the lesser-known ones, too. Less than halfway through the series, and I already feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of the boxed set I bought.

Current refreshment: A nice mug of chai.

Current worry: I hope everyone on the east coast who got first hurricaned on and then snowed on is doing OK.

Current thought: Eh, I'm not doing that badly, really. It could be a hell of a lot worse.

Yet Another Frivolous Purchase I Am Contemplating

Oh, and also: do you think I should get this for my new car? It apparently just got back in stock, and I am debating.

Random Items Of Randomness

A few random thoughts/observations:

1. Geez, you don't realize just how much yelling you do at your TV and/or computer until you sort of lose your voice.

2. The soap dish I ordered does not fit into the hole left by the old one. Looks like I'm going to have to clean the nasty old one off and stick it back in, after all. Yeah, my life is so full of hardships.

3. I'm not going to talk about the election much here, except to say that I'm very relieved that's all over with, at least for another few days until the 2016 campaign begins in earnest.

Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey

Oh, look. I get to set all the clocks back now! On a day when I really, really need to stay up as late as possible to switch over to night shifts and am already up far too early to make that easy. Thanks so much, Daylight Saving Time!

The Sick And The Dead

Alas, the battle is not going well. The enemy forces have been far too opportunistic and cunning. First, the armies of Common Cold began massing against me, without my knowledge. Then I invited a traitor through my gates: Dead Flu Virus, who I thought would be my ally, but who instead served as a distraction at the critical moment while the troops of Common Cold made their assault. While I was still beating back the forces of Cold, reinforcements arrived for them in the form of Bronchitis. And while Bronchitis waged its war of attrition on me, a new threat arose: laryngitis. Although, in the heat of the battle, it's not at all clear whether that particular damage was done by foreign invaders, or by my own attempts to fight the Bronchitis forces. (Meaning I'm not sure if my vocal chords are actually infected, or if I've just coughed myself hoarse.)

The battle rages on, but the damage has been significant, and in the immortal words of Montgomery Scott, "She cannae take much more!" Because my job does sometimes involve talking on the phone, and if my voice gets any worse than this, I'm in trouble. Also, my poor immune system trooopers have a distinct lack of medical support. I was going to go to the doctor today, but apparently when the website lists the hours as "8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday" and then on the next line: "Saturday (Walk-in care. No appointment needed)", that actually means "We will be closed at 1 PM on a Saturday." Not that I expect a doctor to be all that much help, anyway. Whenever I go in with bronchitis, they usually just give me some antibiotics, in the forlorn hope that there might be some bacteria involved somewhere. Waste of antibiotics, if you ask me, but, hey, am I a doctor? I was holding out a vague hope, though, that maybe they'd at least give me some nice narcotic cough syrup or something. Ah, well. If it's not better Monday, I'll try again then. Even though I should be sleeping most of the day on Monday.

In completely different news, but in keeping with the violent battle theme we've got going here, I've been playing the Walking Dead video game, since Steam had it on sale for Halloween. Mostly, I have been attempting to demonstrate that one can survive a zombie apocalypse without turning into a giant ass, contrary to the attitude of certain characters I could name. So far, I've managed to let two people get eaten alive, and a jerk whose life I probably saved punched me in the face. Good times!

Everything Is Falling Apart.

The soap dish in my bathtub is no longer attached to the wall, due to the fact that I am an idiot and used it to help pull myself out of the tub last night. SIGH. Now not only do I have to devote a chunk of my weekend to replacing it, in my own, inimitable, fumbling-around-being-no-good-at-DIY way, but I'm also not going to be able to take a shower for days while various adhesives dry. I really, really want to whine about this a whole lot, but, well, I know people who are currently without power for at least a week after the hurricane, so I guess I probably shouldn't complain too much. Things could always be worse.

[ETA: I take it back. No DIY for me this weekend. Apparently a replacement ceramic soap dish is not to be found in Socorro, and I'm not driving all the way to Albuquerque tomorrow just to buy one. And if I'm going to have to do the work anyway, I'm not putting the nasty, chipped-up old one back in. So it looks like I'm going to be using the old "tape a garbage bag over the hole so it doesn't get wet" trick for a little while.]

Happy November!

Am still coughing. My voice has now been reduced to a kind of ridiculous croak, which would be hilarious, except for how it's really not.

In other news, I just went and voted early, so I don't have to do it on Tuesday when I'm on night shift. So everybody can stop calling me and leaving goddamned political ads on my answering machine, OK? It is now legally impossible to influence my vote, as opposed to just practically impossible, which it was before.

Hack, Hack, Ptui

Cold is still getting better. Cough is getting worse. Anybody know where I can trade in my lungs for a new pair? I think these ones are defective.

It's Couch Potato Time!

I am enjoying my new satellite TV. Mostly. The DVR is a lot more annoying to use than my old TiVo, in just about every possible way, but I was expecting that. TiVo really does have just about the best interface I've ever encountered on anything: intuitive, simple, and extremely user-friendly without sacrificing functionality or treating you like an idiot. Even the remote was very nicely designed, which the DIRECTV one... isn't. Ah, well. So far, I've managed to avoid wanting to throw the new one against a wall, so I think I'll be able to live with it.

On the upside, though, HD on that great big new TV of mine is... Is kind of weird, actually. It's going to take a little getting used to. But in a good way. I also think I'm likely to end up finding the On Demand feature more useful than I expected. Heck, I already have: it enabled me to get caught up on The Walking Dead, so that I can now watch it as it airs instead of waiting for the current season to come out on DVD. (Although that may not necessarily be a good thing, as I suspect this may be one of those shows that works better on DVD, where you don't have a full week between episodes to think about how stupid whatever the characters just did was.) I also discovered you can watch YouTube videos with the DVR, which is kind of cool, although it has the potential to be a dangerous time-waster.

Wow, That Actually Does Look Pretty Scary.

All you folks on the East Coast, try not to die of hurricane, OK?

Well, If I Can't Have A Social Life, At Least I Have TV.

I am feeling a lot better today, which just bloody well figures. Damned germs apparently accomplished their mission of keeping me from having any fun and are now satisfied. Although the cough is being kind of sneaky... I keep thinking maybe's it's completely gone, and then suddenly it'll pay a return visit, give me a nice little hacking fit for just long enough to make my throat hurt, then disappear again for hours. Not that I'm complaining about the fact that it's not worse.

In other news, Project Upgrade My Life to the 21st Century is now very close to completion, as the DIRECTV guy was just here and installed my shiny new HD TV service. Finally, my new TV lives up to its full potential! Now if only there were anything good on... Anyway, now all I need is a gadget to let me stream Netflix to said TV, and my entertainment options will be utterly complete, so that if I'm ever placed under house arrest for some reason, I will not care.

I Am Difficult To Deal With When I'm Sick. I Do Realize That.

Dammit, my cold is getting steadily worse. I've developed a cough now. An intermittent cough, but a bad enough one. The kind that makes your lungs feel all wet and itchy, and can occasionally emerge with enough force to make your head hurt. This particularly alarms me, because once a respiratory infection settles down into my lungs, often as not that means I have six fun-filled weeks of bronchitis to look forward to. Yay. Even more annoyingly, if I'm not feeling better than this tomorrow, I probably shouldn't go to the Halloween party I was planning to attend. Which really kind of pisses me off. I am not generally a big fan of parties, but, dammit, this one I was actually looking forward to, and not just in that "Well, it's good for me to get out and be social" way that usually motivates me to go to parties, on the infrequent occasions when I do. Why do germs keep screwing with everything I really want to do lately? Aaargh!

If you'll excuse me, I am going to go to my room now and pout like a teenage girl over how my life is so unfaaaaaaair.

Not That I Don't Trust Bruce Campbell's Word, But...

So, there's a trailer out for the new Evil Dead remake. Here it is, if you're interested and haven't seen it yet. (Warning: gore! Duh.)



I'm afraid I can't really find it in myself to get very interested in this. If you ask me, the only thing that made the first Evil Dead movie even remotely interesting, other than the presence of Bruce Campbell, is the fact that the gory special effects were so obviously a carefully crafted labor of low-budget love. Twisted, disturbed, ridiculously blood-splattered love. Remake that with actual money and production values (and, if this trailer is an accurate reflection, without the fun, campy humor of Evil Dead 2), and what have you got? What's the point? Other than to remind me that I really need to pick up Cabin in the Woods on DVD, that is.

More Whining About The State Of My Health

Clearly I do have a cold. For the second time in as many months. SIGH. This one's not nearly as bad as the last one, and industrial strength decongestants are mostly keeping the nose functional, but apparently whatever crud I have managed to clear from my respiratory system has gone straight into my brain.

Dammit, I better be over this quickly. I have things to do this weekend. Did I mention I have things to do this weekend?

Also, I'm Up Way Too Damned Early

Gaah, I have a sore throat. Also a stuffy nose, although that might be at least partially due to allergies. The sore throat is definitely not good, though. I'm hoping it's just some kind of side effect from the flu shot, as the CDC assures me that such things are usually brief and mild. If it's a cold, it's got crappy timing, to be incubating just when I decided to distract my immune system with other things. Plus, I've got housework to do today, actual work to do Thursday and Friday, a party to attend on Saturday, and the DIRECTV guy coming on Sunday. Now is not a good time to be sick, dammit.

Speaking of Shiny New Things...

I now have a shiny new internet connection! My god, I just watched a YouTube video all the way through and it didn't stop to buffer once. Can such things be possible?!

Many people just got an e-mail to this effect (complete with typos, sigh), but for anybody else to whom it might be relevant: my SDC e-mail account is going away. You can still e-mail me at my gmail account, or at bettyragan at centurylink dot net.

Next up: new TV service! And then I'm done. No more big changes for a while.

Prophylaxis!

My exciting activity for the day: I got a flu shot. This is actually the first one I've had, despite the fact that my employer offers them for free every year. I usually come up with some excuse, but the fact is, I just really don't like needles. And I figure, hey, I'm not actually all that likely to get the flu in any given year -- I come down with it maybe twice a decade if I'm really unlucky -- plus even getting the shot is no guarantee you won't get the flu, anyway, as you could always catch some weird strain they didn't vaccinate for. Might as well play those odds, right? Well, maybe... although the odds of crashing on any given car trip are also fairly low, and I was still glad enough to hear about all those airbags and crumple zones and things my new car has. And the more I learn about vaccination and public health issues, the more I'm coming to realize that not getting vaccinations for infectious diseases is -- and please excuse the corny turn of phrase -- bad citizenship. After all, if I catch the flu, I might want to die, but if I don't catch it, I can't pass it on to someone vulnerable who might actually die. Which can happen to people with compromised immune systems. So, I went and got the damned shot. It literally took five seconds and barely hurt, other than making my bicep kind of sore, so the fact that I've been wussing out of it all this time is really rather embarrassing.

(On an only very slightly related note, while I was driving in to get my shot, my new car reached its first 100 miles on the odometer. Yay, milestone!)

See! It Is Shiny!

Look, it's my new car!

And In Much Awesomer News...

I am now the owner of a brand new car!!! I did, in fact, end up buying a Honda Fit. it is shiny and sliver! I think it will fit my needs very well. It's a nice, simple, basic, inexpensive car, with all of the (very few) features I want, and none of the extra crap I don't want. Technically, it's a subcompact, but it supposedly has as much cargo space as some SUVs.

I feel like such an organized adult right now. I did research online, figured out exactly what I wanted and how much I ought to pay for it, and went and bought it. So much different from my last car, where I basically walked into the dealership -- walked because I had totaled my previous vehicle and had no other transportation -- and said, "Um, I need a car. What do you have?" Which is precisely what you're not supposed to do. Not that I ever regretted it. To be honest, I'm going to miss that little Neon. It was a good and faithful car that did everything I asked of it and, up until very recently, never gave me a lick of trouble that wasn't my own or somebody else's fault. But it was time for it to go. I don't think I ever realized that quite so much as when I started driving the new car. Mainly because I keep finding myself going way faster than I think I'm going. Apparently, I'd learned to rely on cues like how much rattling and vibration there was, and how much air was coming in through that one window that never quite sealed properly in order to gauge my speed.

Anyway, yay, new car!!! I feel like I ought to be planning a road trip or something.

The Moral Of The Story: It Sucks To Be An Addict.

I've had another test to monitor the thyroid hormones in my bloodstream, and apparently they're a little off of where they should be again. I figured they'd just give me a higher dose of the levothyroxine, but, no, the doctor thinks that maybe I'm just not getting the full benefit of what I'm taking, thanks to the fact that I'm cheating.

See, here's the thing. You're supposed to take this stuff on an empty stomach, when you first get up in the morning. Which I do. ("Morning" for me varies from 6 AM to late afternoon, but the doctor doesn't think that's too much of a problem.) Then you're supposed to wait half an hour to an hour before eating anything. Which I do. Heck, I can't stand the thought of food until I've been awake at least an hour, anyway. Here's where the cheating comes in: I cannot wait that long for my morning coffee. I don't like coffee without milk. And calcium, specifically, is something that interferes with absorption of the hormone. Well, hey, I told myself, it's just a very small amount of milk! The stupid drugs won't even notice! It'll be fine.

Yeah, maybe not. Sigh. The doctor cheerfully recommended that I wait an hour after waking up before drinking any coffee. The man clearly has no idea what he's asking. Dude, my morning coffee is more medically necessary than anything my thyroid does for me!

So, here I am, learning how to drink black coffee. At least until the hour's up and I can switch.

Random Links Through Time And Space

Cookie Monster and Grover take on 'The Avengers,' 'The Hunger Games,' and more...in song!: The "and more" part includes Doctor Who. But even without that, this would be hilarious.

Avid Reader (Antique) Wall Clock: I think I need this clock. That is all.

20 Spectacularly Nerdy Science Jokes: My kind of jokes! Also, I want that periodic table.

Welcome Back, Doctor Who: What do you do when you encounter someone who doesn't like Doctor Who? This!

Doctor Who: P.S. - Series 7 2012 - BBC One : And for those who do like Doctor Who... Here's the unfilmed epilog to "The Angels Take Manhattan." Which now exists on the internet, because apparently the BBC got tons of e-mails from people asking after Brian. It's only a storyboard and a voiceover, but, dammit, it made me tear up a little. I'm actually a bit pissed off that it didn't make it into the episode. WARNING: Massive, massive spoilers for said episode. Obviously.

Connectivity!

Also, I finally went ahead and ordered new internet service (DSL) and TV service (DIRECTV). The good news is, bundling it all with my phone bill, I'll actually end up paying less per month, all told, than I am for my current unreliable internet and staticky basic cable. Yay!

But, man, between what the equipment and installation is gonna cost me, and what I still owe on the credit card from buying that new TV, and the anticipated down payment on the car... Well, let's just say that 2013 will be a very good year not to make any major purchases.

I May Have To Stop Now. All The To-Be-Read Shelves Are Full.

At some point in the last few months, I found myself thinking, "Screw it, I've fallen so far off the wagon that I just won't worry about the book-buying quota for the rest of the year." This... This was a bad idea.

Oh, well. They did give me a nice "Friends of the Socorro Public Library" pen free with all those books I bought last night.

Car Talk

No car shopping for me this week. Today's the only day it really would have been convenient to do it, and today is being devoted to other matters, starting with getting my swamp cooler serviced. Maybe next week? Or the week after? Bah. It's turning out to be remarkably hard to schedule stuff this month. Especially stuff I kind of want to put off.

I have, however, done some more research, and my new top choice, pending hands-on evaluation, is the Honda Fit, which has been described to me as "TARDIS-like" in its interior vs. exterior dimensions, and which has even better reviews than the Toyota Matrix. And it's a bit cheaper. The only advantage I can see to the Matrix, or at least the only advantage I care about, is that it's available with a bigger engine for a little more acceleration, which the Fit isn't. And when I'm merging, I like to be able to merge. Still, unless Consumer Reports and friends have misled me greatly, I think the Fit will be at least adequate on that score. No doubt a test drive will tell.

Mostly now I'm wondering about the logistics of this whole thing. I'm going to have to drive to Albuquerque to go car shopping, which means I'm going to have two vehicles on my hands if and when I actually buy one. Dragging somebody else along to visit car lots with me seems unlikely to be fun for either of us, if I could even find someone willing to volunteer, plus I'll probably be going on a weekday when normal people are working. And I'm dubious whether anybody is going to want my leaky, rough-starting, hail-damaged '99 Neon as a trade-in, even if it does have ridiculously low mileage. Ah, well. If the condition of me spending something like twenty thousand dollars on a new car is leaving my old one in their parking lot until I can find someone to give me a ride up to retrieve it, are they going to tell me no?

Maybe I'll Take The Red Pill.

So, I have been doing some research on cars, desperately trying to figure out what the heck I want to buy. My mother suggested a Dodge Dart as being very similar to the old Neon I have now, which is a car I've been very happy with. And those look perfectly fine, as well as within my price range. But after my experiences wrangling that giant TV back from Albuquerque, and reflecting on all the other times I've fit stuff into that Neon that really should not have fit in a Neon, I've started thinking that it might actually be really nice to go with a hatchback. I'm leaning rather strongly at the moment towards the Toyota Matrix. I read a couple of reviews of it, which were generally extremely positive, with the single complaint that it's "not very exciting to drive." Frankly I prefer my driving to be as unexciting as possible, so that's fine by me. Anybody have any experience with these, or any other useful advice? If I can get myself out of procrastination mode soon enough, maybe I'll go up to Albuquerque later this week and see about meeting some in person.

Seriously, How Are Any Of These People Still Alive For A Third Season?

It suddenly occurs to me that when I said in that last post that I didn't have any songs stuck in my head at the moment, that wasn't entirely accurate, because this one has been drifting in and out of my brain for a couple of days, for very good reasons. I hereby dedicate this song to season 2 of The Walking Dead, while I wait for Netflix to send me the finale.

I Guess I Have To Accept That It's October Already. So: The October "Currently" Meme.

Current clothes: A light tan t-shirt that says "Will Work For Books." Black sweatpants. White socks. Scuffed brown leather hiking boots.

Current mood: Not bad. Definitely awake, which is something, considering what my work schedule's been like lately. Hungry. Very slightly stressed.

Current music: Nothing at the moment. Clearly there should be more music in my life.

Current annoyance: Well, right now, it's that my internet is being all glitchy and slow, to the extent that I'm starting to wonder whether I'll be able to post this at all. Bah. I'm thinking that when I change my TV service, I should just go through Qwest or CenturyLink, or whatever they're calling themselves this week, change my internet service as well, and bundle it all with my phone bill.

Current thing: Procrastination. Not on everything -- I've been getting some housework done today -- but on all the important stuff I really need to do but which involves making appointments, doing advance research, spending large sums of money, and/or interacting with other human beings. Besides changing my TV service, I also have to make a doctor's appointment (and probably a dentist appointment, as well), go car shopping, get my swamp cooler serviced, and figure out when I'm going out to Florida to visit my dad and buy plane tickets. But I keep coming up with excuses to put all of it off.

Current desktop picture: This image of the main characters from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, which you may remember me obsessing over slightly over the last few months.

Current book: A story collection called Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner, which I got a free advance copy of through LibraryThing.

Current song in head: Nothing at the moment.

Current DVD in player: I'm almost finished season 2 of The Walking Dead, which I am enjoying despite the fact that I want to slap most of the characters most of the time. I've also been watching season 2 of The Muppet Show in front of the treadmill. Although less often than I should be.

Current refreshment: Nothing. But I really am hungry. I might go grab some Subway after this.

Current worry: That my car will die horribly on me before I replace it, especially if I keep putting off the car shopping. Now it seems to be leaking something...

Current thought: La, la, la, everything is fine! I have nothing important to do! I'm just gonna get me a meatball sandwich and then do some vacuuming!

Blah

I seem to have no energy at all this week. None. If anybody happens to find it lying around somewhere, please send it back to me. Otherwise, I may be doomed to spending the rest of my life doing nothing more productive than playing video games and lying on the sofa trying not to nod off over books.

In Which Perfectly Predictable Variations In The Earth's Orientation Relative To The Sun Confuse Me Immensely

How is it nearly October already? Why is it getting dark so early? What the hell happened to the summer?!

21st Century, Here I Am!

Boo-ya! Operation Giant-Ass TV has now reached stage six! Meaning my big-picture goodness is now operational. Of course, the signal coming in from my cable is still crap. And my house currently looks like DVDs, bits of shelving, and random packing materials have exploded all over it. But these things can be dealt with. After I eat some well-deserved lunch.

Time Was, We'd Just Buy One, Plug It In, Slap On Some Bunny Ears, And Call It Done.

For ages now, I've been moaning that I need a new TV. I don't even care that much about having HD, or whatever, but the clunky old CRT model I currently have in my living room is starting to drive me crazy. It's just way too small by today's standards. I watch movies on DVD, and I feel like I'm having trouble making out half of what's going on when things get all special effect-y. Worse, it's not a widescreen TV, and it's starting to drive me crazy trying to watch The Daily Show when a good chunk of the picture is cut off on either side.

So, I have embarked on steps towards replacing my old, 20th century TV with a new 21st century one. There are, as it turns out, many, many, many steps. To wit:

1. Buy new TV stand, so I have something to put it on, since the old entertainment center does not have enough space for a larger TV. Also buy DVD shelves to replace the ones attached to the old entertainment center.

2. Buy TV!!! And somehow get large TV home in not-large car.

3. Dismantle old entertainment center, which is kind of in bad shape, anyway, and scrap it.

4. Shampoo living room carpet while we're clearing furniture out of there, because dear lord, does it need it.

5. Assemble new TV stand.

6. Set up TV.

7. Assemble DVD shelves and re-shelve all the DVDs.

8. Arrange for digital cable service, because the ancient basic cable I have already looks crappy on my current TV.

So far, I have completed step 2. I think the rest of it is going to have to wait until the weeked. Sigh. I think there should be a rule that things that cost you a crapload of money should not also have to cost you a crapload of hassle and time.

TMI

I am generally feeling somewhat better today, except that my post-nasal drip has become a giant post-nasal river of slime. I know you didn't want to know that, but, frankly, neither did I. You know what they say about misery and company.

Oops

Also, I accidentally just bought a whole bunch of books on the internet. It's not my fault! I'm sick! My resistance is low!

Unhealthy

Waaaah, I am sick. Monday, I had a sore throat all day, which I tried hard to be in denial about. But by the evening, it was joined by stuffiness over and above what my allergies have been hitting me with lately, and yesterday I woke up with a truly impressive amount of sinus pain and that general feeling-like-crap sensation. You know the one. I ended up going home from work after a couple of hours, where I spent the rest of the day on the couch finishing a somewhat disappointing book, watching eight episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (because there's nothing like fictional characters with really big problems to take your mind off your own more trivial ones), and trying semi-successfully to nap. I think I'm feeling a little bit better today, but that may be due to a) not having woken up at three AM after a nightmare and not being able to get back to sleep, which just made yesterday all the more fun, and b) large doses of Sudafed (the good stuff, not that PE crap). Still, when I get up for ten minutes to do laundry or something, my starts body yelling at me to lie back down. I've already cancelled plans I had to do stuff in Albuquerque tomorrow, to give me another day to rest up and recover. Stupid goddamned germs. Why do they always hit me when I have things to do? I just really hope this is only a cold and not another major sinus infection, because the last time I had one of those, it lingered on for nearly a month, and by the time it was over I had mucus coming out of my eyes.

Ms. Productivity!

Boys and girls, today I cleaned the oven. This is something that, up until now, I regarded as a vague, theoretical possibility, something I'd occasionally heard rumors of other people doing, but never thought to attempt myself. That is, not until I accidentally left it on after removing food from it and realized that it was gently emitting charcoal-flavored smoke. Then I figured it was something I'd probably better attempt.

And now I am once again completely drenched in sweat. Why do I never get the impulse to do crap like this in the winter?

And The September Currentlies

Current clothes: Gray sweatpants. Blue t-shirt from Powell's books. White socks.

Current mood: Hot and tired, maybe with the faint beginnings of a headache coming on. I've been doing a lot of vigorous housecleaning today, and have finally reached the point where I've switched out of "clean ALL THE THINGS!" mode and am instead thinking that it would be nice to change out of my sweaty clothes and into my comfy jammies and spend the rest of the day lying on the sofa watching DVDs.

Current music: Not much at the moment. I've been working on getting caught up on podcasts again.

Current annoyance: Aargh, I don't know. Adult responsibilities, I guess. Although I did get to ditch work today (thus making up for my extreme lack of a holiday weekend), so maybe I shouldn't complain too much.

Current thing: I seem to be in this weird state that usually only happens when I move. I just... I don't know. I want everything to be new. I want to get rid of things I no longer want or need, to replace everything that's worn out or no longer suits my needs, to clean and organize all the things that never get cleaned or organized... Which is great, really, as it seems likely to help me get around to all kinds of things I've been putting off. But it's potentially very expensive, especially if it leads me to finally get off my butt and go car shopping, as well as replacing my old CRT TV.

Current desktop picture: Still the same picture as last month.

Current book: The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. I'm also dipping in and out of the Lost Encyclopedia, not that I expect it to make any more sense of the show.

Current song in head: Nothing at the moment. I think my brain's too tired.

Current DVD in player: Disc one of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Because apparently I need as many different versions of that crazy-awesome story as possible.

Current refreshment: Mint tea. Mmm, hydration! I think I need that.

Current worry: A line from a Warren Zevon song comes to mind: "I thought of my friends and the troubles they had, to keep me from thinking of mine." That pretty much sums it up for me at the moment.

Current thought: I could accomplish more today. Possibly I should accomplish more today. But comfy jammies and anime it is!

Random Links For September

What If?: xkcd answers your weird hypothetical science questions with physics and humor. This week's question: "What would the world be like if the land masses were spread out the same way as now - only rotated by an angle of 90 degrees?"

Also from xkcd, When Will We Forget?. This just makes me feel horribly, depressingly old. That last item is oddly comforting, though.

Gallery – Curiosity’s triumphant first week on Mars: I meant to link to this sooner. After all Curiosity's been there nearly a month now. But what the heck. It's still cool. In fact, some of these pictures are pretty damned amazing.

What Kind of Book Reader Are You? A Diagnostics Guide and Many More Types of Book Readers: A Diagnostics Addendum: I am the All-the-Timer/Compulsive/Voracious/Anything Goes Reader. Hoo boy, am I.

Science confirms ‘Doctor Who-type world, Gallifrey’: That's right! Scientists have found Gallifrey! Or possibly Magrathea. (Or maybe they just like catching people's attention by drawing science-fictional parallels to things. Have you heard about Naked Darth Vader?)

Let's Play Some Bowling!

In honor of the fact that the new season is about to start, here is some Doctor Who celebrity bowling! And they may be good at traveling through time and space, but, boy, are they terrible at this. Except for Karen Gillan, who clearly has some sort of bizarre telekinetic power, because she should not be doing that well with technique that bad.

Farewell, Neil. We Need More Of You.

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Neil Armstrong yesterday. It keeps making me think of this xkcd cartoon, which broke my heart when I first saw it, and is breaking it a little more right now.

In Which I Discover That Amazon Marketing Knows What It's Doing

I signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime about a week ago. I'd been wondering for ages whether it might just possibly be worth it financially, given the number of times I've talked myself into adding just one more thing to my order to get the free shipping, but $79 seemed pretty steep, especially considering that I'm usually not in a great hurry to get stuff. But I was placing a good-sized order that would have been nice to get quickly, and I found myself thinking, well, hey, free trial, why not? Yeah, well, I'll tell you why not. Being able to order anything you want instantly and have it delivered your doorstep two days later for free is insanely addictive. I'm wondering if I should cancel it at the end of the trial period just for my own safety.

I Never Need To Play Scrabble Again.

Was I bragging about scoring a 92-point word in Scrabble a while back? Bah! That is nothing! Check this out: a 158-point word. Pics or it didn't happen? Gladly! I have even scrolled back to the relevant score and highlighted it in red, because that is just how gosh-darned proud I am. Especially since this was a timed game, and I had only 25 seconds per turn.



(I feel I should apologize for "gook," which sounds horribly racist, but the Scrabble dictionary insists it also means "goo." And it was worth 18 points.)

Currently, In August

Current clothes: Farscape t-shirt. Khaki shorts. Black socks.

Current mood: A little brain-tired, maybe even a little headachy. I think I've been spending too much time lately sitting in front of the computer having e-mail conversations on emotionally and politically touchy subjects. It's a good thing to do, especially when it gets you out of the kind of echo chamber so many of us spend our time in these days, but it's kind of draining.

Current music: Just more random-shuffle stuff recently. I think I remember some novelty songs and some Billy Joel and something Celtic.

Current annoyance: My own imperfections, and those of the rest of the world. Stupid real life.

Current thing: Sucking down episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist as fast as Netflix can possibly get them to me, and then pouting when they run out. I don't know what it is lately. When it comes to TV and DVDs, I seem to be falling like crazy for the most improbable stuff.

Current desktop picture: Still the Grand Canyon in moonlight. I really ought to change that soon.

Current book: White Queen by Gwyneth Jones. Which I really need to get back to. I confess, I'm having trouble motivating myself to finish it.

Current song in head: Um, it's in Japanese. And, since I don't speak Japanese, it's not so much the actual song, but a tune with vague. Japanese-like sounds attached to it.

Current DVD in player: There is no Fullmetal Alchemist in my DVD player, because as soon as I finish one of those discs it goes right back in the mail so they can OMG send more right now please! Currently in the other player, though, is disc 3 of season 2 of The Twilight Zone. The episode quality at this point is a little uneven, but at its best, holy crap, it does not get more classic than classic TZ.

Current refreshment: A nice cup of tea.

Current worry: I am attempting to banish worry! Or at least to put it in its place. Honestly, I've just been having way too much free-floating stress and anxiety lately, to the point where it was beginning to -- ha! -- worry me. And the other day, I found a piece of advice online for dealing with this sort of thing: have a designated time to worry, say ten minutes a day, and maybe use it to write your worries down. I'd actually seen that advice before and it seemed rather stupid to me, but holy cow, as soon as I thought maybe I'd try it, the difference was immediate. See, some stupid, stupid part of my brain appears to be convinced that if I don't worry about my health, about the problems of people I care about, about world affairs, about my social relationships, and about whether I'm being as good a person as I want to be, well, that means that I'm not giving these important topics their due. And so I am forced to indulge them, over and over. But apparently if I reassure that part of my brain that its concerns will be given due consideration at the appointed time, hey, it figures can wait, and I can quit stewing and get on with my life. It's like magic! I really, really hope this keeps working.

Current thought: Of course, that means I have to actually follow through with Designated Worry Time. I think my brain is a little too clever to be taken in by false promises. Sigh. Well, maybe I'll go get it over with now. Off to fret!

More Awesomeness From Mars

Ten minutes after I finished answering the comments on the last post, I saw this. Yes, that's a picture of Curiosity parachuting down towards the Martian surface, as taken from orbit. Wow.

Forget The Olympics. This Is Exciting!

Congratulations to the Curiosity Mars rover, and to all who worked on her! I watched the landing live on NASA TV (along with about 200,000 other people), and it looks like it went absolutely flawlessly. The jubilation in the control room was utterly infectious.

Appropriately, Cracked just posted a pretty cool piece on 5 reasons you should be excited about Mars today, which I couldn't not link to.

And, in case you haven't seen it yet, here's JPL's "7 minutes of terror" video describing Curiosity's crazyawesome landing procedure. It's impossible not to marvel at the fact that we can actually make something like this work. Go, human technology! Go, humans!

Wow, That's A Lot Of Daleks.

New Doctor Who trailer! Ooooh, I am very excited now!