Seven Degrees off Bubble
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Misha" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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09:13 am
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On Personal Rituals
So I finally got off my duff and made my Season Anklet this weekend; many thanks to "Getting Things Done" and 42folders.com for my new and improved productivity.
To any of you who enjoy warm weather, grilling out, and fun that involves sun, water, sand, the Greater Outdoors Metropolitan Area and late nights... it's official. Go out and be Seasonal!
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09:51 am
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OMGFire kinda mornings
Some days, I wonder if everything I see, do, perceive and interact with is really just a metaphor, a method of communication that my waking mind can perceive of things going on as my soul is traversing some dark and hostile netherworld. Like all of the frustrations and minor annoyances are just the local representation of punishments and trials I'm suffering on another plane.
Don't you dare judge me. You know you've thought it. And even if you haven't, it's what gets me through those days... so there.
Anyway, this morning is one of those days. I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus (one that parked on me until about 15 minutes ago, when it slowly started to roll away), I was 15 minutes late to my weekly meeting with my boss, found out there that Heavy Industries Y had hired another candidate for the job I was applying for (which was mitigated by my boss mentioning that he had an offer letter drafted for hiring me himself... I'm guessing I passed that particular trial). I got to work to find my laptop constanly cycling trying to Network Boot, because it no longer recognized the Hard drive, and when I tried to text-message my boss about that point, I discovered that my phone had mysteriously turned off it's antenna for reasons all it's own and - even after the reboot - still won't send or receive Text messages. The jury is still out on whether or not it's sending e-mails, as I can't log into my PC to check my e-mail. So I'm standing at a clients server rack to post this because I feel I need to give a very important warning:
If I see anyone who looks like ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) vrax today, I'm going to beat him with a tire iron.
Because after all of this and whatever trials my soul is going through, I'll be DAMNED if I'm gonna get stalled out beating the Guardian of the Way.
And now that my "temporary" insanity defense is secure, I need to get to work.
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12:05 pm
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GAAAAH!
How the HELL did I manage to miss Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day?!?! GAH! I mean, sure there was all the hubbub about the OSBP going on, and that's kinda dominated my Internet Awareness for the last few days... but STILL!
Oh, well, my TechnoPeasantry offerings will simply share a feature with the rest of my on-line offerings...
Late.
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03:38 pm
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Art Lessons and Splurging
So... yeah. I've been thinking about drawing (and the learning thereof) all day today. Big surprise, I know; I spend a weekend at a Con around a bunch of webcomicy people I read and love and I'm thinking about trying to learn to draw again.
ANYWHO, the question I would like to pose is this: I want to learn to draw (whether to resurrect Cheshire Grin or not) and the times I've tried the "Smart-ass, Teach Thyself" method, I keep falling off the wagon. However, there are lessons coming available in August. They are in the neighborhood of $18.50 each. HOWEVER, you have to pay for 32 lessons up front, bringing the grand total to about $600, and the total time expenditure to 2 days per week from mid-August to mid-December. Do I save up and drop the $600 or just try to wing it again, constantly chanting the mantra "If you draw it, you will improve... if you draw it, you will improve?"
These are the things I ponder.
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10:39 am
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PenguiCon in Brief
The quick-and-dirty rundown of my PenguiCon, from my perspective:
1 - The Open Source Boob Project = Very Yes (I'm too lazy to link, but check out the Ferrett's LJ for details)
2 - After (or during?) a long conversation regarding poor media portrayals of AI and the nature of civilization/The Robot Wars, Aaron Diaz and I veered into a happy discussion of the Pros and Cons of living in South Alabama. It was a completely random and wonderful diversion.
3 - There is a subtle distinction between Southern Style Geeking Out and NorthEastern Geeking Out. And the lovely and talented Jennie Breeden is a master of the former. It was good to relax back into the familiar. Plus, I got to meet freakin' Jennie Breeden!
4 - Don't wait until Sunday to go to shop the dealer room. Because 40 million other con goers are doing the same thing for their own reasons, whatever they may be. Regardless, you will be arses and elbows in there and not even be able to get to the tables.
5 - When a 3rd year Medical Student is presenting a panel on "How to Kill a Character" and the there is a large scrawl on the sign saying "There will be BLOOD!!!"... don't sit in the front row.
That's the short version. Perhaps more details to come. Perhaps not
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09:32 am
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For anyone who is interested...
Teh Misha has now (mostly) successfully used a sewing machine! The Winter Cloak project is now almost complete. Just need to reinforce the claspy-area and install a couple of wooden toggles. But the cloak and hood part are done. Expect piccies when I manage to finish and get un-lazy enough to snap photos.
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09:51 am
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How NOT to start your day - Part 1 of 1
Getting a call when you haven't even walked out the door in the morning (while running ON TIME, even!) that the entire network is down at Heavy Industries Y kinda sucks.
Getting to Heavy Industries Y to find that the Server Room - which is supposed to be 68 degrees AT ALL TIMES - is now a tropical 95 degrees REALLY sucks. Especially when the only reason the temp isn't still climbing is because half your servers are off, having tripped their circuits because their exhaust fans were pulling so much power.
For any of you techies out there who are curious, it was a loose snap-in Molex connector on the air-conditioner that was installed about a month ago. A quarter-inch of space in a plastic connector brought an entire production facility to a STANDSTILL. Let this be a lesson to all of us.
Oh, and Ferret, Gini, Cat, and Dmitri (whose LJ usernames I'm too lazy to check the spelling off and put in as tags): My wonderful girlfriend did some shopping and I now have my outfit for That Thing(tm) we're doing at That Place(tm) Next Week(tm).
It R Hawt. :-D
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10:50 am
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Can I fall over yet?
Unfortunately, that's a rhetorical question, because I *CAN'T* fall over just yet. I still have a few Citrix issues to work out, then an interview with a company that I already work for (although at a double remove), then some more trouble tickets, then I get to run home, pack for the weekend, scarf down some local approximation of food, then drive to Columbus with T., rush to our plane, and take off for Philly for the weekend.
*THEN* I can fall over.
However, the morning's adrenaline rush of trouble tickets and emergencies? DONE! And I even got my timecard in on time!! A few hours early even! Which doesn't QUITE make up for the fact that I got LAST weeks time card in about almost exactly a week late (about a minute before this weeks time card, in fact), but it does make me feel better.
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02:29 pm
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That kind of day...
Which kind of day?
The kind of day where you're tired and stressed and open your e-mail to scroll back to read a little pick-me-up, and the message sitting on top of your Inbox is a death announcement. Not for someone you KNOW well, mind you - not THAT kind of day - but for someone in your extended network that shares many people in common with you.
Besides, someone DIED, for Dog's Sake!
That kind of day.
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10:21 pm
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Grrrs...
My entire evening's work has been completely de-railed. Why, you may well ask?
WHY?!?!
Why, INDEED!
Because the sewing machine I borrowed to finish everything up with is missing a bobbin.
A sixty-five friggin' cent BOBBIN is standing between me and WIKTORY!
And why do I feel the need to blog about this? Look at the date.
APRIL FOOLS!!!
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Actually, no, really. The prank here is that the above April Fools is not, actually, an April Fools prank. I really am stymied in making a wool cloak by lack of a sixty-five cent bobbin for the sewing machine T.'s mom loaned me.
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02:30 pm
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To blog or not to blog...
So I spent time with insanely wonderful people this weekend (theferrett, yuki_onna, zoethe, justbeast, and my own nearest and dearest babymonkey just to START the list). And no, that's not meant to be summary, just a note so that I could point out how these people always leave me with a sense of "Gods DAMMIT! Why aren't you WRITING more?!?!" even when they don't say specifically THAT. So... here I am, blogging about my weekend.
Friday Night was the Night of the Living Drive. And much driving was had.
Saturday was like Whoa. Hanging out with babymonkey's family and a bit of clothes shopping in preparation of evening festivities that had a dress code I had NOT packed for. And then on to the festivities themselves: justbeast's birthday dinner at the Russian Tea Room. Now, for those of your who have not ever attended any kind of Russian banquet, let me give you the quick and dirty version. You walk in and sit down at a table that is piled nearly to bursting with food, vodka, and cognac. You then begin to eat and drink. If you run out of food, vodka, or cognac, they bring more. And you WILL run out of food, vodka and cognac. Because there will be exactly 4,387 toasts, during which you will be expected to drink ALL of the vodka that the birthday boy's uncle has poured into your shot glass (and the birthday boy's uncle seemed to be violently opposed to filling a glass anywhere EXCEPT to the utter brim). The food - while tasty and intriguingly exotic - is really just there to keep you from dying of alcohol poisoning.
There was much eating.
There was much drinking.
There was much dancing.
There was a COMPLETELY unexpected and unprompted rendition of the Numa Numa song by the Russian house band, which turned the night from a truly awe-inspiring thing into something for the record books.
I wish I remembered more of it.
Sunday morning, there was a hangover.
There was also something else of Sunday morning that I find myself hesitant to talk of here. There are things that happen in our lives that occur in a space outside The Fields We Know, in a sacred place that looks like our mundane world, but is actually separated by Will and Intent into a boundary area that can not be translated. As Greymalk said in A Night in the Lonesome October, "This place is not that place; Leave it there." And so I am inclined to do.
However, after the Boundary time and the Relief from the Hangover (which involved two Aleve, a liter of water, a half-sleeve of Saltines, a cold shower and a few iffy moments hovering over a toilet), there was also an AMAZING breakfast at the Original Pancake House, a nap, dinner at Thai Fun, a bit more laundry, and more drinking, fellowshipping, and Rock Band over at theferrett and zoethe's house, all dedicated to the greater glory of justbeast and his make-much-of-ness. Well, except for the laundry and the nap. Although the nap was mostly dedicated to recovering from PREVIOUS making-much-of's of justbeast, and so was peripherally involved. The laundry was just laundry, though.
And yea, verily, we played Rock Band well into the night, even though justbeast and yuki_onna had to skedaddle. Something about justbeast having to WORK in the morning or some crap. Which I found vaguely amusing, since his boss was one of the revellers who stayed on. Although, if you think about it, it did kinda make sense. I mean, it's not like he could have called in with a decent excuse this morning if his boss had been at the party WITH HIM at midnight last night, right?
Anyway, I digress...
Rock Band was played, Moi Droog was made much of, and time was spent in a boundary area and the entire weekend was over far, FAR too quickly.
And here I am, on a chill and rainy Monday morning, trying to hold it all in my head, a talisman against the encroaching threat of mundania.
I need more such.
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12:30 am
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That thing from Westerns... you know, that sound...
So, I'm tired, it's late, and I'm feeling more than a little lazy, so I'm going to put you, the nice people of Internetland to work for me:
You know in Westerns (okay, usually Western spoofs), when you've got the still, dry landscape, maybe a tumbleweed or two blowing around, and our hero - the unshaven, square jawed fellow in a serape - lights a match on his chin and it's the only sound to be heard except the rustling of the wind...
... and that "Oo-ee-oo-ee-oooooooooooo... doo-DOO-doo..." soundtrack?
You know that bit? "Oo-ee-oo-ee-oooooo... doo-DOO-doo..." Yeah, that one.
What the HELL is that called?!?!
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11:00 pm
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Shamelessly stolen from Flaggy
HOLY CRAP! So this is what Walruses get up to when they aren't looking for their buckets!
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09:42 am
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Those damned questions
Allright, because I haven't done it in a while and because there are some new people on the flist and because I haven't posted in a while and because everyone else is doing it...
...and because I *CAN*, dammitol!
You get five questions. No more and no less. Any question you ask, I will answer honestly, regardless of subject matter (unless my answer will put someone Not-Me in an uncomfortable situation) and as completely as I can manage.
So get crackin' you New People and Not-So-New-People-Who-Didn't-Get-It-Out-Of-Your-System-Last-Time!
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09:34 am
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Crap!
So I'm having a conversation with my brother last night and we had a funny (though fairly typical for us) exchange of banter and I said "You realize that I'm totally blogging that..."
Only I can't remember what either of us said. Poof! Totally out of my head.
I hate when that happens.
But it was funny as hell! You guys have NO idea what you're missing.
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12:36 am
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High as a Fly and trapped in Amber
So I've been wracking my brains for the last three days, trying to remember what I was up to on Thursday, two weeks back. It wasn't a particularly IMPORTANT day in the course of things, but it was a day in which I seem to have forgotten to turn in a time summary to Mr. X. So now, at the start of a fresh month, he's trying to send out invoices and he doesn't know who to charge my time to for that day, because I was a dumb ass and didn't send my daily time report in that day.
Problem is? I drew a COMPLETE blank. I *THOUGHT* I remembered once or twice, only to realize that the stuff I remembered doing was done on a different day. That PARTICULAR day? Nothing. So we pulled out the time card I submitted to Le Companie and tried to puzzle it out. Well, Wednesday AND Thursday of that week were short days (6.25 hours each)... only... why? OH YEAH! Wednesday was my dentist appointment! That meant I was at Heavy Industries Y all day, good, and the next day... nothing. COMPLETE blank.
For THREE DAYS I wrack my brain about this and come up with zip, zilch, nada.
Tonight, when Mr. X is breathing down my neck, REALLY needing those hours to send invoicing, my lovely and brilliant girl friend reminds me: "Hey... wasn't that the day you cut your toe and bled all over the place? So I look back into LJ-land and - sure enough - there's the entry. And I remembered where I went for my first two client visits and a hazy picture of the rest of the day unrolled behind it.
This sent my mind at ease on two points: One, Mr. X could now send out his invoices. And Two, my memory isn't as bad as all that... I was just so high on pain meds that nothing lodged in long-term memory!
And people say you SHOULDN'T blog about work, in case future bosses see it...
http://mishamish.livejournal.com/181361.html
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12:10 pm
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Educational Experiences
There's an old saw that "You learn something new everyday." Well, I'm WELL ahead of the curve, as I've learned three four SEVERAL things today, and it's only just barely NOON! To wit, I've learned...
1) When experiencing the wonders of Vicodine for the first time, you should not be trusted to set your own alarum clock. No, no... I haven't gone all Rush Limbaugh and started abusing 'scriptions or nothing. I just had some dental work done yesterday in preparation of a root canal and the dentist is a kind and loving individual who didn't want me in massive pain between times (even though my current pain levels are WAY below what they were) and he prescribed it. But, prescribed or not, Vicodine and setting alarum clocks DO NOT MIX! I'll probably have babymonkey check my alarum clock handy work tonight before turning in.
2) I really like saying "Alarum Clock." It's funny to say! See "Vicodine" above.
3) Broken ceramics - say, the kind you would get when you have a broken toilet lid - have REALLY sharp edges. And when you accidentally kick it while rushing around in the bathroom - say, because you're running late because you misset your alarum clock - it makes a mess of your toes. It didn't hurt much, though. See "Vicodine" above.
3a) I bleed like a stuck pig.
3b) Bleeding feet are a pain in the ass to deal with. Especially when you're trying to get ready for work in a hurry.
4) If you can't find the pair of socks that you JUST HAD, RIGHT IN YOUR HAND... don't forget to check on your shoulder. Because sometimes you think it's a good idea to put your socks on your shoulder while you look for your shoes. And then, even if you look in the living room and the bathroom and the office and the bedroom AND the kitchen... you will not find them. Unless you check your shoulder. Because that's where they are.
4a) I don't look in the mirror much.
4b) Finding a pair of socks on your shoulder at your second client visit of the day is just REALLY funny. See "Vicodine" above. Luckily, I never took off my coat at my FIRST client visit.
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09:12 pm
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For those of you who don't know her...
Little girls may be made of Sugar and Spice and everything nice, but in the case of SJ Tucker it's mixed with 2 parts Awesome, muddled in 3 parts Win and served with a chaser of OMGWTFBBQ. If you do not know her (or know of her), go IMMEDIATELY befriend her LJ and buy all of her CDs.
From the LJ of s00j:
The Lost Girls Pirate Academy at last has its official Alma Mater.
Deliver me, Mother,
to sword and to sail,
to taste of the clouds and to live on the sea!
Deliver me home,
second star to the right,
and it's strong, brave, and happy I'll be!
Deliver us home to the dear Jolly Roger
to live learn and fight through the night and the day!
We'll soon make you proud as the boldest of buccaneers,
riding the waves through the salt sea spray!
Deliver us unto the care of our sisters
who never will fail to haul that line,
to hoist us high like a sail to the west wind,
and carry us home with the tide!
We witness this day hand in hand with each other.
We turn to the west and it's proudly we sing!
We pledge to our ship, to our captain and all:
to never grow up and never give in!
(copyright SJ Tucker 2008, all rights reserved, all wrongs walk the plank.)
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09:25 am
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Just so you know...
I swear by all that is holy and unholy that I get pulled over for more non-speeding crap that anyone else I have ever known. No joke! Back before the first of the year, I got pulled over on I-71 for "Aggressive Driving" during this targetted enforcement thing about a mile south of one of my clients offices. Of course, the officer WOULD have just given me a warning, but... given my hassles with the SSA and finding a copy of my birth certificate (and my inherent laziness and tendancy to turn a blind eye to hassles I don't like dealing with), I was driving on an expired license. So he ticketed me for that instead. I paid the fine, moved on with my life.
This weekend? I got pulled over because I supposedly crossed a double-yellow line. Well, actually, I suspect I got pulled over because the officer in question was bored and/or pissed off about something. A rough transcript of the conversation:
Me: "Is there a problem officer?"
Officer: "Back in that curve, you crossed a double-yellow line, then crossed the striped line."
Me: "Wha'? Really? Because I don't remember doing that..."
Officer: "Are you calling me a liar?"
Me: "No! No. I'm just confused because I don't remember doing that."
Officer: "And I'm saying you did. Are you saying I'm lying?"
Me: "No, not all... Look, we seem to be getting off on the wrong foot. I'm not trying to be argumentative..."
Officer: "Yes, you are."
Me: "... Uhm... Okay... I'm sorry, I'm not intending to be. I was just confused because I didn't remember swerving..."
Officer: "I never said you swerved!"
Me: "..."
It went downhill from there.
Anyway, in the interim between those two events, GUESS WHAT I HADN'T DONE!! Yeah, deja vu all over again. So, tomorrow I've got a mandatory court date for driving with an expired license.
Today, I'm calling the BMV to schedule a road test, then I'm kicking in the door to the SSA with my birth certificate in hand and I'm not leaving until I have either a new SS card or some kind of waiver that will let me get a license.
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02:31 am
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My New Life's Resolution
Lady Caroline Lamb once gave a memorable (and by all accounts thoroughly accurate) assessment of Lord Byron as being "mad, bad and dangerous to know."
I think I'm now making it my life's mission to earn just such an characterization myself. I don't care if anyone ever says it of me or not. I just want to live in such a way that I deserve it.
By the gods, if I'm going to be damned for a lamb, I may as well be damned for a Ram.
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