Personal — Comments Off on Crazy dreams of high school
13
Dec 04

Crazy dreams of high school

This morning I had the strangest dream that I had snuck back into high school to masquerade as a student for some unknown purpose. Before I was awoken from my dreams I was in the middle of a class where we had some sort of test and even though I was a new student I had to take the test. It was strange because throughout the dream people kept asking if I was really in high school because obviously there’s no way I could pass for someone that age. I had these big sunglasses that I tried to hide behind. The dream unnerved me.

Maybe my subconscious is churning away due to the automated invitation email I received from a former classmate of mine who is organizing the ten year anniversary of my high school class. The very of idea of this sets my mind to reeling. Has it really been that long? So many things have changed, but in some ways I don’t feel so differently. I think all reunions must feel this way. We are all veterans of our own personal wars, and we return to mark the passage of time. I feel ambivalent about it, but only as ambivalent as I feel about my entire life. There are few people I have kept in contact with from ten years past yet I would hate to miss such a spectacle. I have no idea what to expect… some irony, some sad sentimentality, some gladness for the happiness of others, and maybe some surprise at who has grown and who hasn’t.

General — Comments Off on Good tools
13
Dec 04

Good tools

  1. JR Screen Ruler is a great, free tool if you ever need to measure the pixel size of anything on your screen. I just used it tonight while messing with my layout on the test blog. Here’s a screenshot of it.
  2. If you notice something wrong with the new layout please let me know.
General — 1 comment
10
Dec 04

Whistling

Have you ever noticed that when you whistle other people will also start to whistle? It’s like yawning, but more subtle. Why does this happen?

General — Comments Off on A Sad Day For Metal
09
Dec 04

A Sad Day For Metal

Strange that I mentioned Pantera the other day in light of the murder in Ohio of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, a former guitarist of Pantera:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A gunman charged onstage at a packed nightclub and opened fire on the band and the crowd, killing top heavy metal guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and three other people before a police officer shot him to death, authorities and witnesses said.

Columbus Police Department spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio identified three of the victims of Wednesday’s shooting as Abbott, guitarist with the heavy metal rock band Damageplan, and two other men, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk. It was not immediately clear whether Bray and Halk were associated with the band.

She identified the gunman as Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, Ohio. She said it was not clear whether he had any connection to the band.

Literature — Comments Off on Caught with my book pants down
09
Dec 04

Caught with my book pants down

Damn. Damn. Damn. I’m devouring this book, A Storm of Swords, and I’m quickly starting to realize that there’s no way in hell the sequel is going to be out in time for me to read when I finish this installment.

This series is very good as I mentioned earlier. In thinking about it today, I realized a few things that make it exceptional:

  1. It is character and plot driven. Fantasy novels often get caught up rhapsodizing over the setting, the history, the culture, and fantastic elements of the story and forget about the story itself. In this series the details support and help move the plot forward. Sure, there are swords, dragons, giants, and the other fantastic trappings you would expect, but it is in service to the narrative. The characters make the story come alive and the plot gets you involved as a reader.
  2. On a related note, the details provide richness. This richness fleshes out the world, it doesn’t distract.
  3. The world is fantastic but realistic. The characters are complex. Some “bad guys” do good things, some “good guys” do bad things. There are few overt judgments and no priggish morality. If I may be heretical, The Lord of the Rings was often tedious in its simplistic view of good and evil.
  4. The entire series is wall to wall with action, intrigue, sex, violence, and good dialogue. It is unpredictable. Anything can happen to anyone and any character can die at any time even if he or she seems essential.
  5. The story is told from several different points of view and these points of view are often conflicting. The reader is given an opportunity to think about what’s actually going on, which is rare.

Let’s just say I’m glad to find a good series to enjoy. It’s not heavy reading, but I think you might like it.

Personal — Comments Off on Survey fun
08
Dec 04

Survey fun

During the course of ruining my WordPress layout and messing around with del.icio.us integration I installed one of the survey packages from the Fantastico interface. I wrote up a few quick questions for any users/viewers/readers of the site, so if you have a moment fill it out. It will help me make everything better.

Click here to open up the survey

General — Comments Off on Ugh
08
Dec 04

Ugh

Somehow I screwed up my stylesheet and overwrote it, and of course, my backups do not work.

Update: Yay, I had a copy at work.

Cool Tools / Personal — 4 comments
07
Dec 04

Take my word for it: Razors

Let’s talk about something easily overlooked… shaving. As upwardly mobile primates, we somehow decided along the way that we needed hair removal to maintain an illusion of youth and smoothness. This has been a hassle ever since.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been a daily shaver with few exceptions. I usually even shave on the weekends to prevent the brown and red stubble that looks like wheat smut coating the lower half of my face. Let’s face it, most men don’t look so hot with facial hair. The special few might, but I’m not one of them.

So, after using the Gillette Mach3 for several years I switched to the Schick Quattro, probably because I figured four blades were better than three. For the last couple of weeks I had to start using the Mach3 again because I ran out of blades for the Quattro. Now, I actually prefer it to the Quattro for a couple of reasons. First of all, I like the way the Mach3 head swivels and the angle of the razor itself. Also, it’s light. I feel more like I’m pulling it lightly across my face whereas the Quattro feels heavy and awkward.

Here’s something that annoys the crap out of me. Why are razorblades so damn expensive? This is not some technology handed down by alien benefactors. It’s 3-4 sharp pieces of metal wedged into a plastic bar. Why does this cost 12$ for 8 blades?

While I’m on the subject I’ve also found a shaving cream I’m very happy with. It’s made by Aveeno. It helps you get a better shave and makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It’s bonus that it gives your face a nice oatmeal smell.

Personal / Science — Comments Off on Shooting stars
07
Dec 04

Shooting stars

I’m surprised I forgot to mention this but on Thanksgiving night as I was driving back from my father’s house in the country, Jody and I spotted a meteor streaking across the night sky in front of us. It was so close you could see sparks and fire flying off of it. It must have been bigger and farther away than it seemed because it moved slower than you would expect. I wish I could have seen where it landed. Maybe then I could have found baby Superman. It was strange being out on a country road, in the dark and quiet and seeing something like that happen right in front of you.

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