The Candy Phenomenon
Current mood: amused
It never ceases to amaze me how much candy is consumed in the workplace. Has anyone else noticed this?
Here in my office there is candy everywhere. On tables outside people's cubicles. On shared endcaps for people who have community-cubes. Outside the big bosses' office.
Also, there seems to be some unwritten rule that whenever there is a meeting, event, or what-have-you, someone is required to bring some huge bag of candy for everyone to munch on during the meeting.
It's really pretty amazing how much candy gets consumed in here on a daily basis. Thank Jebus my sweet tooth doesn't show up until late at night. I don't have the money to invest in a new collection of pants!
Currently listening :
The Nightfly
By Donald Fagen
Release date: 25 October, 1990
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Printer Survey
Printer Survey
Current mood: curious
Hi all,
I'm finally breaking down and planning to buy a printer after many years of just mooching off the one at work. With school and my new digital camera it would just be really handy to have one at home.
But, with so many options out there, I'm not even sure where to start, so this is an appeal for recommendations. Basically, I just want something under $200, that is small and doesn't take up too much space. I'm concerned about photo quality, as I have a 7.0 MP camera now and would like to print full-sized 8"X11" prints without sacrifing too much quality. And, as a Mac owner, something geared towards OS X, not Windows, is highly preferred. Bluetooth would be even sweeter.
If anyone has any suggestions, let 'em fly!
Currently listening :
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
By Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Release date: 02 May, 1995
Current mood: curious
Hi all,
I'm finally breaking down and planning to buy a printer after many years of just mooching off the one at work. With school and my new digital camera it would just be really handy to have one at home.
But, with so many options out there, I'm not even sure where to start, so this is an appeal for recommendations. Basically, I just want something under $200, that is small and doesn't take up too much space. I'm concerned about photo quality, as I have a 7.0 MP camera now and would like to print full-sized 8"X11" prints without sacrifing too much quality. And, as a Mac owner, something geared towards OS X, not Windows, is highly preferred. Bluetooth would be even sweeter.
If anyone has any suggestions, let 'em fly!
Currently listening :
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
By Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Release date: 02 May, 1995
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Senate Debate
Senate Debate
Current mood: irritated
Well, I watched the Senate debate last night between Maria Cantwell, Mike McGavick, and Bruce Guthrie. My immediate reaction, besides the obvious fact that our electoral system is extremely favorable to the independently wealthy (all 3 are multi-millionaires and using much of their own money to finance their campaigns), was that I am absolutely sick of political-correctness. Everyone had to keep their "polite gloves" on and this was basically more of a soundbite trade-off than a real debate. I truly feel that the PC movement has crippled our language.
Cantwell: Poised, calm, courteous to the moderator and crowd, offering decent suggestions but refusing to make any real claims or intrepid plans. She was more content to just sit back and go after the administration, which looks like it will be enough to win. I was impressed, however, at how much more she felt like a real stateswoman. The other two really came off as your really political uncle who gets into debates at Christmas dinner.
McGavick: Truly a terrible candidate and a snapshot of the Repubs' strategy to win this November. I can't even count on my two hands how many times he used the words "radical Islamic terrorism" as the debate progressed. It's obvious his party is playing defense here and that their only real strategy is to scare the bejesus out of voters. I was absolutely dismayed at the glibness displayed when discussing drilling in ANWAR---although Cantwell made a very strong argument that it wouldn't have much of an effect on gas prices and the real solution is alternative energy, he completely dismissed all of that with a wave of his hand and promised he'd push for drilling from day one. This extremely short-term view of the world is one of the biggest problems with this party.
Guthrie: The Libertarian candidate was obviously out of his league, as he stuttered repeatedly and didn't make very good arguments other than the one point I was 100% behind him on: a choice between 2 parties doesn't represent America's diversity and the bipartisan system is strangling our democracy one election at a time.
I will not be voting for any of these three candidates. With the exception of Kerry in 04, I have never voted for a Democrat or a Republican. I refuse to play the "lesser of two evils" game as I wholly believe this is how the 2 parties keep radical new ideas from entering the body politic. I could write a whole blog on this topic alone (and perhaps I will), but suffice it to say that nothing will really ever change until we are presented with more real choices. No wonder 60% of eligible people don't even vote. If you think about it that way, you realize that our government only represents 40% of the country.
This time around, I am going with Aaron Dixon, the Green Party candidate, who coincidentally was arrested yesterday during a protest against his ban from last night's debate. He wasn't allowed into the debate due to his inability to meet the debate criteria (read: CASH ON HAND), and he and a large group of other disenfranchised-types tried to crash the debate. This is the kind of democracy I love and will gladly give my vote to support. Hands-on, grass-roots, storming the castle kinda stuff.
Hopefully everyone is registered to vote. And hopefully everyone will consider looking at other options than the two big parties. Make your own choices, but realize that any vote for a democrat or a republican is a vote for the status quo.
Currently listening :
Limit
By Pastaboys
Release date: 05 October, 2006
Current mood: irritated
Well, I watched the Senate debate last night between Maria Cantwell, Mike McGavick, and Bruce Guthrie. My immediate reaction, besides the obvious fact that our electoral system is extremely favorable to the independently wealthy (all 3 are multi-millionaires and using much of their own money to finance their campaigns), was that I am absolutely sick of political-correctness. Everyone had to keep their "polite gloves" on and this was basically more of a soundbite trade-off than a real debate. I truly feel that the PC movement has crippled our language.
Cantwell: Poised, calm, courteous to the moderator and crowd, offering decent suggestions but refusing to make any real claims or intrepid plans. She was more content to just sit back and go after the administration, which looks like it will be enough to win. I was impressed, however, at how much more she felt like a real stateswoman. The other two really came off as your really political uncle who gets into debates at Christmas dinner.
McGavick: Truly a terrible candidate and a snapshot of the Repubs' strategy to win this November. I can't even count on my two hands how many times he used the words "radical Islamic terrorism" as the debate progressed. It's obvious his party is playing defense here and that their only real strategy is to scare the bejesus out of voters. I was absolutely dismayed at the glibness displayed when discussing drilling in ANWAR---although Cantwell made a very strong argument that it wouldn't have much of an effect on gas prices and the real solution is alternative energy, he completely dismissed all of that with a wave of his hand and promised he'd push for drilling from day one. This extremely short-term view of the world is one of the biggest problems with this party.
Guthrie: The Libertarian candidate was obviously out of his league, as he stuttered repeatedly and didn't make very good arguments other than the one point I was 100% behind him on: a choice between 2 parties doesn't represent America's diversity and the bipartisan system is strangling our democracy one election at a time.
I will not be voting for any of these three candidates. With the exception of Kerry in 04, I have never voted for a Democrat or a Republican. I refuse to play the "lesser of two evils" game as I wholly believe this is how the 2 parties keep radical new ideas from entering the body politic. I could write a whole blog on this topic alone (and perhaps I will), but suffice it to say that nothing will really ever change until we are presented with more real choices. No wonder 60% of eligible people don't even vote. If you think about it that way, you realize that our government only represents 40% of the country.
This time around, I am going with Aaron Dixon, the Green Party candidate, who coincidentally was arrested yesterday during a protest against his ban from last night's debate. He wasn't allowed into the debate due to his inability to meet the debate criteria (read: CASH ON HAND), and he and a large group of other disenfranchised-types tried to crash the debate. This is the kind of democracy I love and will gladly give my vote to support. Hands-on, grass-roots, storming the castle kinda stuff.
Hopefully everyone is registered to vote. And hopefully everyone will consider looking at other options than the two big parties. Make your own choices, but realize that any vote for a democrat or a republican is a vote for the status quo.
Currently listening :
Limit
By Pastaboys
Release date: 05 October, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
New 7 Wonders of the World
New 7 Wonders of the World!
Current mood: geeky
Oooh, a cool worldwide vote to determine the new 7 wonders of the world! This is right up my geekish geography/history/sociology alley! They're doing this since only 1 (Ancient Pyramids of Giza) of the original 7 are still standing.
Go to www.new7wonders.com and vote for 7 of the 21 finalists:
1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece
2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia
4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico
5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 Colosseum, Rome
7 Easter Island Statues, Chile
8 Eiffel Tower, Paris
9 Great Wall, China
10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey
11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12 Kremlin/St.Basil's, Moscow
13 Machu Picchu, Peru
14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15 Petra ancient city, Jordan
16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
17 Statue of Liberty, New York
18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom
19 Sydney Opera House, Australia
20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21 Timbuktu city, Mali
Currently listening :
Fabriclive.21
By Meat Katie
Release date: 10 May, 2005
Current mood: geeky
Oooh, a cool worldwide vote to determine the new 7 wonders of the world! This is right up my geekish geography/history/sociology alley! They're doing this since only 1 (Ancient Pyramids of Giza) of the original 7 are still standing.
Go to www.new7wonders.com and vote for 7 of the 21 finalists:
1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece
2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia
4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico
5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 Colosseum, Rome
7 Easter Island Statues, Chile
8 Eiffel Tower, Paris
9 Great Wall, China
10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey
11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12 Kremlin/St.Basil's, Moscow
13 Machu Picchu, Peru
14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15 Petra ancient city, Jordan
16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
17 Statue of Liberty, New York
18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom
19 Sydney Opera House, Australia
20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21 Timbuktu city, Mali
Currently listening :
Fabriclive.21
By Meat Katie
Release date: 10 May, 2005
Monday, October 16, 2006
Calling All Geeks - Nov. 19th!!!
Calling All Geeks - Nov. 19th!!!
Current mood: optimistic
OK people, for those interested, you're welcome to join me and a small group of folks for the first day of Wii-goodness. Yep, I've got my pre-order all set for the new Nintendo, and I want to cram as many people into my studio as possible for a day of geeking out, boozing it up, and general fun. This is the first console I'm buying brand new since the Super NES (yep all the way back in like 1991 or something), and I'm actually really excited.
I don't play video games as much as I once did, due to today's absurdly long, over-complex, and ultraviolent games. I just don't have the time. But the Wii is geared towards people like me: games you can pick up and enjoy with other people from time to time. The prototypical view of a gamer is an overweight, mid-20's male, buried under mountains of fast food garbage, jamming buttons together at frenzied pace in the dark at 3AM in the morning. I think this system is trying to change that, by attempting to appeal to women and the older generation through more group-oriented and less-complex games that just about everyone can enjoy. So, based on that premise, I'm going to give this one a try.
So, anyone (male, female, old, young) who wants to come is welcome on the 19th! BYOB, BYOP, BYOF. Email me for details. I'm excited to try the new controller---imagine swinging a tennis racket by actually swinging your arm rather than pressing a bunch of buttons. Or boxing with lifelike moves. I suspect it will lead to massive amounts of trash-talking. Sweet!
Currently listening :
OS_0.3
By Luke Fair
Release date: 21 June, 2005
Current mood: optimistic
OK people, for those interested, you're welcome to join me and a small group of folks for the first day of Wii-goodness. Yep, I've got my pre-order all set for the new Nintendo, and I want to cram as many people into my studio as possible for a day of geeking out, boozing it up, and general fun. This is the first console I'm buying brand new since the Super NES (yep all the way back in like 1991 or something), and I'm actually really excited.
I don't play video games as much as I once did, due to today's absurdly long, over-complex, and ultraviolent games. I just don't have the time. But the Wii is geared towards people like me: games you can pick up and enjoy with other people from time to time. The prototypical view of a gamer is an overweight, mid-20's male, buried under mountains of fast food garbage, jamming buttons together at frenzied pace in the dark at 3AM in the morning. I think this system is trying to change that, by attempting to appeal to women and the older generation through more group-oriented and less-complex games that just about everyone can enjoy. So, based on that premise, I'm going to give this one a try.
So, anyone (male, female, old, young) who wants to come is welcome on the 19th! BYOB, BYOP, BYOF. Email me for details. I'm excited to try the new controller---imagine swinging a tennis racket by actually swinging your arm rather than pressing a bunch of buttons. Or boxing with lifelike moves. I suspect it will lead to massive amounts of trash-talking. Sweet!
Currently listening :
OS_0.3
By Luke Fair
Release date: 21 June, 2005
Friday, October 13, 2006
I Don't Have 5 Arms! (Nor Do I Want To)
I Don't Have 5 Arms! (Nor Do I Want To)
Current mood: exhausted
Wow, the past couple of weeks of work have been insane! Not in the same way as the Rack, (which often made me want to drink cyanide and crawl into a dark hole), but still crazy nonetheless.
There's an old saying that goes "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." That's basically what's going on at the moment--- we're nearing the end of the quarter and all the buying offices are trying to catch up at the last minute. And since everything needs to go through me, it's really creating the proverbial bottleneck.
The good news is that it doesn't mean I need to work a minute later or do anything special. That's what I love about this job---I'll bust my ass to get as caught up today as possible, as I always do, but when the clock strikes "8-hour shift," I'm out the door and on to my weekend. None of this "bringing it home with you" bullshit. I guarantee I'll never get into that again, even if it means living cheaply for the rest of my life.
I've made the firm lifelong decision that free time and lack of stress are more important to me than money, and I resolve never to go back on that decision. More power to those people willing to put in the long hours to get ahead, and I hope that the fruits of their labor are sweet and spiritually rewarding to them. The economy relies on people like that and I don't discount their contribution.
But for me, I guess I'm just not a true Capitalist. I'm satisfied with living simply and don't feel the deep desire to "get ahead." Guess it's just one of those pinko socialist tendencies I occasionally display. As much as I love the good ol' USofA, sometimes I just don't fit in.
(On a side note, the next 3 Depeche Mode remasters just came out. OMFG, A Broken Frame sounds like a totally new album!!! Quite a step up from the shoddy worn-out cassette I played a zillion times as a 12-year-old...)
Currently listening :
A Broken Frame
By Depeche Mode
Release date: 03 October, 2006
Current mood: exhausted
Wow, the past couple of weeks of work have been insane! Not in the same way as the Rack, (which often made me want to drink cyanide and crawl into a dark hole), but still crazy nonetheless.
There's an old saying that goes "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." That's basically what's going on at the moment--- we're nearing the end of the quarter and all the buying offices are trying to catch up at the last minute. And since everything needs to go through me, it's really creating the proverbial bottleneck.
The good news is that it doesn't mean I need to work a minute later or do anything special. That's what I love about this job---I'll bust my ass to get as caught up today as possible, as I always do, but when the clock strikes "8-hour shift," I'm out the door and on to my weekend. None of this "bringing it home with you" bullshit. I guarantee I'll never get into that again, even if it means living cheaply for the rest of my life.
I've made the firm lifelong decision that free time and lack of stress are more important to me than money, and I resolve never to go back on that decision. More power to those people willing to put in the long hours to get ahead, and I hope that the fruits of their labor are sweet and spiritually rewarding to them. The economy relies on people like that and I don't discount their contribution.
But for me, I guess I'm just not a true Capitalist. I'm satisfied with living simply and don't feel the deep desire to "get ahead." Guess it's just one of those pinko socialist tendencies I occasionally display. As much as I love the good ol' USofA, sometimes I just don't fit in.
(On a side note, the next 3 Depeche Mode remasters just came out. OMFG, A Broken Frame sounds like a totally new album!!! Quite a step up from the shoddy worn-out cassette I played a zillion times as a 12-year-old...)
Currently listening :
A Broken Frame
By Depeche Mode
Release date: 03 October, 2006
Monday, October 9, 2006
The Crazy Life
The Crazy Life
Current mood: productive
Man, after 2 weeks of this working full-time and going to school at nights M-Th thing, I'm having a hard time adjusting! I think I'll be OK, it's just tough for someone like myself to not have as much "me" time as I'm used to. But, I'm not complaining. It's for a good cause and I think I can keep myself motivated. It's just going to be a long winter... :)
Anyway, I've made sure to keep friday nights and saturdays free, so that is a good thing. But sunday has become homework day. Yesterday I spent a little over 6 hours total. It was almost like another day at work! And then of course, this morning, I'm back at work!
Ya know what would help? If someone wanted to pay my rent for me. Any takers? C'mon rich myspace cruisers! There's gotta be someone out there who wants to sponsor me. I promise I'll give you mad credit when I'm successful and famous.
OK, back to work I suppose. I have a pre-calc exam tonight. Wish me luck!
Currently listening :
High Land, Hard Rain
By Aztec Camera
Release date: 09 July, 1991
Current mood: productive
Man, after 2 weeks of this working full-time and going to school at nights M-Th thing, I'm having a hard time adjusting! I think I'll be OK, it's just tough for someone like myself to not have as much "me" time as I'm used to. But, I'm not complaining. It's for a good cause and I think I can keep myself motivated. It's just going to be a long winter... :)
Anyway, I've made sure to keep friday nights and saturdays free, so that is a good thing. But sunday has become homework day. Yesterday I spent a little over 6 hours total. It was almost like another day at work! And then of course, this morning, I'm back at work!
Ya know what would help? If someone wanted to pay my rent for me. Any takers? C'mon rich myspace cruisers! There's gotta be someone out there who wants to sponsor me. I promise I'll give you mad credit when I'm successful and famous.
OK, back to work I suppose. I have a pre-calc exam tonight. Wish me luck!
Currently listening :
High Land, Hard Rain
By Aztec Camera
Release date: 09 July, 1991
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