What is a famous split infinitive?
Oct 19 - Neverwhere, not Never-When!
Can you juggle? If you can, your brain may have been.... rewired. Take a look here to find out more... cool stuff.
Today I had a bit of 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' while watching TV... leading me from Heath Ledger's A Knight's Tale all the way to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere! As it turns out, the blacksmith 'Kate' in the film on TV tonight is one Laura Fraser, whom I always liked in the film. Checking things on IMDB.com, I discovered that she had also starred in the BBC production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere way back in 1996, which I've since discovered on YouTube.com ... amazing!
I've started to turn on a sunlamp that I bought a few years ago, to better keep my energy levels up in the darker winter months. I'm only using it during 'regular' daylight hours, and I hope that after a few weeks I'll be less tired early in the evenings than I am. According to my doctor and a few sources, a few hours of light therapy a day should do the trick.
Oct 20 - Audio Books
Brian sent me a link today to an audio novel of note: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I enjoyed it immensely, for quite a few reasons - not the least of which is that it has given me ideas about how to release my own work into the wide world. It is similar to the author's current work-in-progress, a novel based on pledges from the world at large - you can check it out here. Looks like it may be the wave of the future for publishing: find someone you like as a writer, and pay them to write a book for you. Nice idea, eh? There's a lot more to discover at Audible.com... thanks again, Brian!
Though my skill resides more towards the written art forms, I have to say I really, really wish I could carve pumpkins like these guys. Wow!!!
Today was frustrating in some ways, annoying in others and only occasionally relaxing. I spent the morning trying to win a few things on Swoopo, but apparently a lot of other people with today off were also interested in the items I wanted, so nothing jelled - but I didn't lose more than a few dollars, as it was so very crowded. The afternoon was spent trying to get my Xbox Live account to work properly: the Xbox360 just doesn't want to connect in less than ten tries on a good day. I've discovered that if I 'Test Connection' then go back to the login screen, it sometimes works more quickly. Posts on the 'net indicate this may be a function of my 'Lite' internet connection, so come the new year I'm thinking I'll have to go back to the 'Standard' monthly rate, despite the extra cost.
Oct 21 - 12 hours of stress
I was late for an early start today, thanks to forgetting to charge my organizer battery - the downside of tech. Fortunately things went very well, and the store was open only 30 minutes late after the audit was complete. I'm certain I didn't impress my district manager while she waited for me in the rain, but live and learn. In the evening I took the bus into Victoria( with some colourful company in the surrounding seats )to attend a business conference, which turned out to be a bust for marketing work. Still, I had some company from the company, so my co-worker and I traded pointers about the finer things of being professional until it was time to leave. Again, live and learn.
So, I'm fairly stressed out about work - moreso this morning than the rest of the day. I found this link where 5 tips for de-stressing at work are given - I liked the one about using company resources, as many of us pay for health services we never use, myself included. I'm still not sure about massage therapy, but since acumpuncture worked well on my leg( and improved my circulation to boot! )then I am willing to give it a try.
At least the night ended well: I received a call from Pierre tonight, who is interested in having me lend my skills to help him with his web business. Huzzah!
Oct 22 - Handy Halloween
For some reason, I can't stop staring at my hands today. A while back, friends of mine( you know who you are )told me that my thumbs are rather on the short side. Looking at my hands, I see them as perfectly proportioned... yet today I found myself sneaking looks at people's hands. It was weird, but I managed to stop by the end of the day, though a few looks were made at TV hands in the evening. That's genetics for you.
Ten days until Halloween, and I still just don't know if I am going out or not. So why not have a look at some of the incredibly cool costumes out there! One great place to go is WTFcostumes.com, which categorizes all the entries - check out the Transformers Bumblebee costume!
Neat! Collectables of various kinds dot my shelves, though few of any real monetary worth( maybe to posterity in future years? )so when something out there catches my eye, I have to mention it. Today, it is the head prop from the short-lived TV series The Tick. Cool, huh? I mean, it's blue!
And: a black hole... in your pocket?
Oct 23 - How I got my sense of humour...
Windows 7 was released today... anyone else out there non-plused by the ads so far? They make me want to take a step back, not to join these people in their purchses... in the meantime, I am backing things up. I'm also going to be trying out a few backup progames, like Macrium Reflect - Free Edition... it's free!
On the subject of Zombies: today was also Zombie Fest in Monroeville USA, site of the film that started it all at the Monroeville Mall: George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. 2,000 walking 'corpses' took to the halls and walkways of the mall to celebrate today - I wonder if deoderant was banned, for a more 'authentic' experience? Maybe there were a few superhero fans in the crowd - surely someone has to be buying copies of this kind of zombie comic lately.
Last but not least: today it was also announced that there will be a live-action version of Ghost in the Shell... huzzah!
Oct 24 - Yikes! Deer me!
Almost a tragedy today: on the way home from work, my dad hit a deer with the car. In actual fact, the deer was hit first by another car and tossed into my dad's path. Fortunately, the only damage was to the car: my dad managed to keep control and move out of traffic to stop safely by the side of the road. The car was able to be driven home, but needs extensive repairs - from what I can tell, only the hood and the front right quarter panel / headlight need replacement, but internal damage has been done to the engine and components.
Check out the picture... there's still some fur from the deer in there, sadly. But better it than my dad. One more bullet dodged, of many over the years...
Borderlands seems to be the game-de-jour right now, with an interesting mix of constant combat and co-op online multiplayer mahem. It has some good reviews, and the price is right at Wal-Mart at the moment, though 'Limited Quantities' means they keep selling out... the same at the local Best Buy, unfortunately.
Yet the game lacks a critical component that is among my Top Five for apocalyptic video games: vehicular combat! Thankfully, an old favourite game of mine has bee released once again into the wild: Death Rally. Back in 1996, this was insanely popular... and it's back, but just for the PC, again validating the need for more than just a console in your media arsenal.
Oct 25 - Sunday slips away...
Just your usual Sunday: sleep in, a solid breakfast and then some COD4 until mid-afternoon - yesterday I managed to get a 15-kill streak for the first time in, what, a year? And I did it solo, no team-mate friends by my side... which made for a lack of conversation and jokes, let me tell you. Maybe that was the ticket? If so, I'd rather talk to my friends.
I've also been assisting the downstairs neighbours, who though nice people keep reminding me why I've chosen never, ever to be a tech support call rep. I may still consider giving lessons, seeing as I don't mind one-on-one teaching, but it's still something I'm thinking about for my ever-rare spare time. Geeks and retirees?
On a Niagara news note, I saw today on Facebook( hi Shawna! )that there was a large fire in NOTL - sad news for the historical buildings now lost, and for the folks who are now homeless, without any insurance to boot. Bummer.
And still no sign that these are shipping soon... one more week until the end of October, and they're still on pre-order.
Ah well. It seemed like such a good week on paper to start with... but it ended with me wanting very much for the next 2 months to be over with.
Oct 19 - Neverwhere, not Never-When!
Can you juggle? If you can, your brain may have been.... rewired. Take a look here to find out more... cool stuff.
Today I had a bit of 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' while watching TV... leading me from Heath Ledger's A Knight's Tale all the way to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere! As it turns out, the blacksmith 'Kate' in the film on TV tonight is one Laura Fraser, whom I always liked in the film. Checking things on IMDB.com, I discovered that she had also starred in the BBC production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere way back in 1996, which I've since discovered on YouTube.com ... amazing!
I've started to turn on a sunlamp that I bought a few years ago, to better keep my energy levels up in the darker winter months. I'm only using it during 'regular' daylight hours, and I hope that after a few weeks I'll be less tired early in the evenings than I am. According to my doctor and a few sources, a few hours of light therapy a day should do the trick.
Oct 20 - Audio Books
Brian sent me a link today to an audio novel of note: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I enjoyed it immensely, for quite a few reasons - not the least of which is that it has given me ideas about how to release my own work into the wide world. It is similar to the author's current work-in-progress, a novel based on pledges from the world at large - you can check it out here. Looks like it may be the wave of the future for publishing: find someone you like as a writer, and pay them to write a book for you. Nice idea, eh? There's a lot more to discover at Audible.com... thanks again, Brian!
Though my skill resides more towards the written art forms, I have to say I really, really wish I could carve pumpkins like these guys. Wow!!!
Today was frustrating in some ways, annoying in others and only occasionally relaxing. I spent the morning trying to win a few things on Swoopo, but apparently a lot of other people with today off were also interested in the items I wanted, so nothing jelled - but I didn't lose more than a few dollars, as it was so very crowded. The afternoon was spent trying to get my Xbox Live account to work properly: the Xbox360 just doesn't want to connect in less than ten tries on a good day. I've discovered that if I 'Test Connection' then go back to the login screen, it sometimes works more quickly. Posts on the 'net indicate this may be a function of my 'Lite' internet connection, so come the new year I'm thinking I'll have to go back to the 'Standard' monthly rate, despite the extra cost.
Oct 21 - 12 hours of stress
I was late for an early start today, thanks to forgetting to charge my organizer battery - the downside of tech. Fortunately things went very well, and the store was open only 30 minutes late after the audit was complete. I'm certain I didn't impress my district manager while she waited for me in the rain, but live and learn. In the evening I took the bus into Victoria( with some colourful company in the surrounding seats )to attend a business conference, which turned out to be a bust for marketing work. Still, I had some company from the company, so my co-worker and I traded pointers about the finer things of being professional until it was time to leave. Again, live and learn.
So, I'm fairly stressed out about work - moreso this morning than the rest of the day. I found this link where 5 tips for de-stressing at work are given - I liked the one about using company resources, as many of us pay for health services we never use, myself included. I'm still not sure about massage therapy, but since acumpuncture worked well on my leg( and improved my circulation to boot! )then I am willing to give it a try.
At least the night ended well: I received a call from Pierre tonight, who is interested in having me lend my skills to help him with his web business. Huzzah!
Oct 22 - Handy Halloween
For some reason, I can't stop staring at my hands today. A while back, friends of mine( you know who you are )told me that my thumbs are rather on the short side. Looking at my hands, I see them as perfectly proportioned... yet today I found myself sneaking looks at people's hands. It was weird, but I managed to stop by the end of the day, though a few looks were made at TV hands in the evening. That's genetics for you.
Ten days until Halloween, and I still just don't know if I am going out or not. So why not have a look at some of the incredibly cool costumes out there! One great place to go is WTFcostumes.com, which categorizes all the entries - check out the Transformers Bumblebee costume!
Neat! Collectables of various kinds dot my shelves, though few of any real monetary worth( maybe to posterity in future years? )so when something out there catches my eye, I have to mention it. Today, it is the head prop from the short-lived TV series The Tick. Cool, huh? I mean, it's blue!
And: a black hole... in your pocket?
Oct 23 - How I got my sense of humour...
Windows 7 was released today... anyone else out there non-plused by the ads so far? They make me want to take a step back, not to join these people in their purchses... in the meantime, I am backing things up. I'm also going to be trying out a few backup progames, like Macrium Reflect - Free Edition... it's free!
On the subject of Zombies: today was also Zombie Fest in Monroeville USA, site of the film that started it all at the Monroeville Mall: George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. 2,000 walking 'corpses' took to the halls and walkways of the mall to celebrate today - I wonder if deoderant was banned, for a more 'authentic' experience? Maybe there were a few superhero fans in the crowd - surely someone has to be buying copies of this kind of zombie comic lately.
Last but not least: today it was also announced that there will be a live-action version of Ghost in the Shell... huzzah!
Oct 24 - Yikes! Deer me!
Almost a tragedy today: on the way home from work, my dad hit a deer with the car. In actual fact, the deer was hit first by another car and tossed into my dad's path. Fortunately, the only damage was to the car: my dad managed to keep control and move out of traffic to stop safely by the side of the road. The car was able to be driven home, but needs extensive repairs - from what I can tell, only the hood and the front right quarter panel / headlight need replacement, but internal damage has been done to the engine and components.
Check out the picture... there's still some fur from the deer in there, sadly. But better it than my dad. One more bullet dodged, of many over the years...Borderlands seems to be the game-de-jour right now, with an interesting mix of constant combat and co-op online multiplayer mahem. It has some good reviews, and the price is right at Wal-Mart at the moment, though 'Limited Quantities' means they keep selling out... the same at the local Best Buy, unfortunately.
Yet the game lacks a critical component that is among my Top Five for apocalyptic video games: vehicular combat! Thankfully, an old favourite game of mine has bee released once again into the wild: Death Rally. Back in 1996, this was insanely popular... and it's back, but just for the PC, again validating the need for more than just a console in your media arsenal.
Oct 25 - Sunday slips away...
Just your usual Sunday: sleep in, a solid breakfast and then some COD4 until mid-afternoon - yesterday I managed to get a 15-kill streak for the first time in, what, a year? And I did it solo, no team-mate friends by my side... which made for a lack of conversation and jokes, let me tell you. Maybe that was the ticket? If so, I'd rather talk to my friends.
I've also been assisting the downstairs neighbours, who though nice people keep reminding me why I've chosen never, ever to be a tech support call rep. I may still consider giving lessons, seeing as I don't mind one-on-one teaching, but it's still something I'm thinking about for my ever-rare spare time. Geeks and retirees?
On a Niagara news note, I saw today on Facebook( hi Shawna! )that there was a large fire in NOTL - sad news for the historical buildings now lost, and for the folks who are now homeless, without any insurance to boot. Bummer.
And still no sign that these are shipping soon... one more week until the end of October, and they're still on pre-order.
Ah well. It seemed like such a good week on paper to start with... but it ended with me wanting very much for the next 2 months to be over with.
