Public service
2006-04-15— Posted by: allegra
I’m sorry, but you can’t say anything bad to me about Mormons ANY MORE. LDS ladies knit these sweaters for fairy penguins, who have survived an oil spill. Aren’t the sweaters adorable? And the penguins too, of course.
Without caffeine….
2006-04-15— Posted by: allegra
Would life still be worth living? Pic is a caffeine molecule, scanged from SFF.net.
Happy feeding noises
2006-04-15— Posted by: allegra
Had Maggie and Glenn, Jim, Jan and Nita over for dinner last night. Ah, so yummy! Paul barbecued chicken and pork to absolute succulent perfection, and prepped the brussel sprouts. (First barbecue of the season is always so wonderful, and Paul had an intensely campfire aroma for snuggles last night, which is not offputting in the slightest.) I put together the spaghetti squash, the salad and the taters; I love trotting out to the back yard to harvest chives, it’s a wonderful feeling, thank you neighbour Cleo.
I am now sitting amidst the pointy knives of perplexity; in a hissy fit, I mislocated something belonging to Paul, and now I have absolutely no clue what I did with the chain he ordered for Dick’s (down the alley neighbour) chainsaw. I foresee a $40 charge to my credit card shortly, because Katie and Paul and I have torn the house apart looking for it and it’s, like, gone. What the hell could I have done with it? I mean, I hid it GOOD and proper.
Paul and Keith departed for Seattle and Norwescon less than an hour ago – the weather is drippy but not disgusting so they should have an okay trip.
Jan and Jim are here and we’re waiting for the Camembert to warm up. Aren’t we just sitting in the lap of luxury.
Maggie brought grandchild pix – Jonathan is three weeks old. And gorgeous, really. (I commented THANK GOD a real boy’s name instead of the assortment of showbizzy monikers helpless children get slandered with these days (and Gerald, I like the name Brayden, so relax!!)) Seems like mom and babe and pop are all doing well, so I’m happy.
Glenn is amused and pleased to see that I am now a Dead Like Me fan.
Had an interesting customer service epiphany yesterday. I got the midi /USB cable and got it running virtually instantly. Then my playback… disappeared. Nothing in the headphones. Played a .wav file to ensure that it wasn’t just the headphones…. and it played back fine. Uh-oh….. software issue! Allegra mucks with it and mucks with it for what seemed an eternity and was possibly half an hour, getting increasingly panicky, and then SPROING, I recollect that there is a website, and a Knowledge Base, so I go to the website, and in two clicks and four characters I’m looking at the solution to my problem, which was that I had the playback on MIDI and not the synthesizer built into the computer. No, duh!!! ‘course it makes perfect sense once somebody tells you what’s happening.
Then I thought about the website at work….. and realized we are doing things horribly horribly wrong with respect to the FAQ section. I need to be the change I want to see in my company’s website. See how my ambitions have fallen from changing the world to just making little bits of information easier to get at.
Oh, the dessert! Maggie brought a WONDERFUL hazelnut mousse cake and we were all explosively full afterwards.
Found out that Dax walked across Burnaby in the pouring rain to get here the night we got the rude awakening; he had good reasons to leave where he was so I have muchly calmed down. I wish I could get Buddha injections and then maybe I wouldn’t always assume the worst.
Well, off to find the chain. It’s gotta be here someplace. Sigh.
Pic is of a Tango T600 electric commuter vehicle. Frankly my dear, I’d rather have a motorcycle; a fully enclosed skateboard has remarkably little appeal.
Urban Combat Skateboard?
2006-04-14— Posted by: allegra
Orderly systems need chaos to survive
2006-04-14— Posted by: allegra
Is it too much to ask an uncaring universe that distraught boyfriends NOT come over at 4 in the f*cking morning? Katie got up at 8, did the dishes as a Parental Countermeasure, and then went back to bed. Daxus is still here and asleep.
Paul’s doing his yoga. I couldn’t even sit in easy position without pain – same for kneeling – and gave up and made, what else, coffee. I react very badly to Paul sounding all calm and unruffled and quiet as he’s addressing me about the yoga – it’s like he’s talking to a wild animal or a retarded child. Which of course is not what he’s doing, it’s how I’m reacting.
Had an amazing family flying dream last night. We were in a six place flying boat that travelled between an Olympian castle and a very interesting everything looking like something from a Tarot deck and made out of stone style town on a shore – I was in the city with Katie and Paul and Keith came and landed on the water and picked us up – hauled us out of a shop that sold interesting objects – picture the Magic Box done up Mediaeval Babes style. Apparently it’s much harder to fly back up to the castle; we picked up a very tall, very broad and very dark pilot for the return trip, which involved flying through a holographically projected cliff. While everybody around me was stifling giggles (the pilot didn’t even acknowledge me) I kept saying, “ExCUSE me, we’re flying into a CLIFF”. Then we flew through the projection and landed at the castle. Very nice dream. And ever so apropos.
seriously ugly dogs
2006-04-13— Posted by: allegra
Jumping Jimmy Criminy!
These are UGLY DOGS.
http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/uglydogvote.shtml
Great moments in headlines
2006-04-13— Posted by: allegra
Eco friendly auto
2006-04-13— Posted by: allegra
In Finland, they have the Eco Friendly Auto Club, and here, for your edification and amazement, is a WOOD BURNING BUICK.
The Dalai Jarmo (pron Yarmo) forwarded the pic.
Scanged from
http://www.ekoautoilijat.fi/tekstit/kalustoesittely.htm
It’s Here
2006-04-13— Posted by: allegra
After all my whizzing and moaning about the midi / USB cable, it’s here and it works. Phew.
Keith and Paul have decided to go to Norwescon; I’m gonna hang around here and attempt to get enough sleep.
Hot tub moving party Monday night! Be there, or don’t get a chance to soak.
I light a candle for Janice, who has an eye bobo.
I light a candle for Dr. Filk and Brooke and their gig at Norwescon.
Must fly, Paul wants the car today so he’s driving me in a bit early.
Close your eyes and think of Aruba…..
2006-04-12— Posted by: allegra
Now open your eyes and look at this.
Photo credit Tammy.
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happy girl
2006-04-12— Posted by: allegra
Keith’s at work (temp), Paul’s asleep, Katie’s at Suzanne’s and all is right with the world.
There is nothing like a long talk with an old friend to make the world a better place. Hugs to all, I’m off to work.
Dead Like Meville
2006-04-11— Posted by: allegra
We’re still in Dead Like Meville but it would probably be a good thing if I got back to my song recording. I just don’t feel like it. I ordered a Midi cable from Musician’s Friend in the US and found out AFTER they got my money that despite the fact it was a stock item, it would be eight weeks before I saw it; they wait to consolidate an entire pallet for Canada before they ship from their third party warehouse. Now, anybody from work reading this will be struck with both the horror and irony of this reason for shabby service; but of course I can’t actually start complaining about work because that might affect the share prices. Speaking of which, the stock peeked up over a certain dollar value recently, so one wag at work opined that the reason we were doing plumbing repairs at Head Office was that we were now “flush”. Ayuh. I really have nothing to complain about, when you factor in the co-workers.
Fake news
2006-04-10— Posted by: allegra
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/34634/
This is not news to the more paranoid of my readers.
Who owns what in the media
2006-04-10— Posted by: allegra
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants/index.html
lOOk no further for Xmas prezzies
2006-04-10— Posted by: allegra
http://www.toyvault.com/montypython/index.html
A Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch of MY VERY OWN!!! LIFE is GOOD.
Mother dear Mother
2006-04-10— Posted by: allegra
Please knit me a nautilus
No need to cuss
Just knit me a nautilus
I want one, I want two
I want three or four
And when these demands are met
I’ll make some more.
Hail, citizen
2006-04-10— Posted by: allegra
I am now legally entitled to apply for the license to own both restricted and non-restricted firearms.
Although we didn’t have a graduation ceremony, the family elder remarked, “There are two classes of people. There are those who are willing to bear arms and there are serfs.”
I actually said J as in Jesus to a customer, but I was just repeating back what he said to me.
I have a big headache.
I am really looking forward to my long weekend upcoming.
enough sleep
2006-04-09— Posted by: allegra
Paul went running this am.
We’re off to finish the gun safety course shortly, and I’ll probably post more on the subject later.
Dave D from back in Ontario sent me a wonderful literary blog link and I had to drag myself away from it thinking oooops, haven’t posted yet.
Mike and Tori were here last night, it was good to see them.
Projectiles
2006-04-08— Posted by: allegra
Loading and unloading a pump action shotgun is the best thing that’s happened to me lately. I am enjoying myself, obviously. Lots of other stuff is happening; I just can’t describe any of it.
From Danny Schechter’s blog
2006-04-07— Posted by: allegra
I will close with a comment by the late TV News executive Reven Frank who said, The business of giving people what they want is the dope pusher’s argument. News is something people don�t know they are interested in until they hear about it. The job of a journalist is to take what’s important and make it interesting.
A, uh, prank from Brooks AB
2006-04-07— Posted by: allegra
Somebody did this to a friend….. can you imagine coming home and finding this sign on your lawn? The buggers put it in with concrete….
TV trance
2006-04-07— Posted by: allegra
Well, I wish I could claim that I tore off a couple of new songs last night, helped my daughter with her homework, my son with his career planning and found a cure for cancer growing in my front yard, but I didn’t.
I watched 6, yes, ow, 6 episodes of Dead Like Me. I laughed my ass off, what a great show. SO transGRESSive… And then I cried, too. I am such a suck. The scene in the airport just about killed me, I laughed so hard, and when George’s mom kicks her off the front steps of her old house I cried.
Somebody is attempting to reinstitute the old company camping trip. As I have said repeatedly and publicly, I’m going to go unless I’m in traction.
Gun safety course this weekend.
Crap, it’s time to go get on the bus. I am so used to getting a lift into work it’s like I’ve forgotten how to read a bus schedule. Keith’s gone already…. he’s getting off early so he can go to the open house at BCIT.
I light a candle for Paul, who is wonderful, and for Tori, who’s coming over this evening. Also for Rob W to remember to bring back Disc 1 of Firefly, the natives are getting restless.
All heck is busting loose
2006-04-06— Posted by: allegra
I feel like the eye of a hurricane right now. I am perfectly happy and healthy, and enjoying the spring flowers, and it’s thunderbolts, volcanoes and hard cheese for everybody else. So I am being very loving and remembering the words of the sage:
Life is like a cloud of mist
emerging from a mountain cave
and death
a floating moon
in its celestial course
If you think too much
about the meaning they may have
You’ll be bound forever
Like an ass to a stake
disorder in the court
2006-04-05— Posted by: allegra
http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/6845.html
Bird flu in cats, redux
2006-04-05— Posted by: allegra
The first cases of H5N1 among cats were reported in Thailand in 2004, when 14 out of 15 cats in a household near Bangkok became ill and died after eating an infected chicken carcass. Infections were then identified among leopards and tigers fed on poultry at Thai zoos. In Europe, cases have recently been confirmed among domestic cats in Germany and Austria.
Dr Osterhaus said it was also clear that infection is prevalent among domestic cats in countries where bird flu is endemic such as in Thailand, Iraq and Indonesia.
In the last of these, the feline version of the disease has its own name: “It is sufficiently well known to have been given an onomatopoeic name in the local Javanese dialect � �aargh-plop�,” he said.
Mother dear Mother
2006-04-05— Posted by: allegra
Please knit me a squid
I am your kid
So knit me a squid
Don’t worry about what I do
Or curse what I did
Because if you love me
You’ll knit me a squid.
The music of the spheres
2006-04-05— Posted by: allegra
I always thought it would be nice. But if you take one Johannes Kepler theory, one contemporary nerd with time on his hands, and a music program, you get this: http://members.aol.com/alwaycomp/Kepler.mp3
It definitely sounds spacey, but nice it is not. Hey, I wonder if I can get this in a ring tone?
Just for you
2006-04-05— Posted by: allegra
Sometimes I run pictures or mention things that have meaning to a vanishingly small number of people. However, this picture goes off in a lot of directions.
I grew up with Mad Magazine. That means that from the time I could talk, comic artists as great as Sergio Aragones were part of my visual thesaurus. I also grew up with musical comedy. I’ve always been fascinated by transsexuality; I bought Jan Morris’ Conundrum as soon as it came out in paperback, and I still think it’s one of the best written bios EVAH; and, of course, I know Sandy.
I never met Arn Saba, the limner of this comic. However, Sandy knew him, and even gave me a Neil the Horse button once, which had the deathless tag, “Making the world safe for musical comedy.” Now Arn is a woman named Katherine living in the US. And this pic is for Sandy, because the roots go everywhere.
I light a candle for Janice. I light a candle for Tori. I light a candle for Brooke, who won a filkwriting songtest. That is so weird…. I just typed that without really thinking about it, and I think I’ll just hit the old stet button. I light a candle for Keith, who’s working temp again, but has taken the liberty of going over to a different agency for better work and more money (learning how to wear capitalistic drag is hard for my little revolutionary in training….)
One loofah, and one jalapeno, sprouted. Everything else is growing at a tremendous rate.
I light a candle for Katie, who is having a heck of a time memorizing her lines for Drama. Sigh. They keep adding stuff and there’s less than a week to go. I told her not to get angry… this is what real freaking life is like!
This is going to sound insane, but my boss is out of town, and I miss him. I will try hard not to set anything on fire, or put any beans up my nose, while he’s gone.
I light a special unscented candle to grow fast and strong for little Brayden!
Heavy sigh
2006-04-04— Posted by: allegra
I have nothing to say, but if I don’t post SOMETHING my mother worries. Oh. I guess I have one small small piece of news. I finished another song. An Evening of Serious Drinking now exists in sheet music form.
Lazy day
2006-04-03— Posted by: allegra
Saw A Very Long Engagement with the kids yesterday and LOVED IT. I will definitely be putting that one back in the pile to see again. Also watched O Brother Where Art Thou for the uncountableth time when Casey was here for dinner on Saturday. So yesterday was a lazy day. Seeing as how the phone system crashed on Friday, it is interesting to speculate what horrors await at work.
Newest family member
2006-04-02— Posted by: allegra
Here’s Cousin Gerald holding Brayden, his first and most beloved grandchild. Happy sigh.
Giddily happy
2006-04-01— Posted by: allegra
I am happy to report, with a giddy and empyrean glee, that Keith and Kate and Cousin Lexi and Rob went to the opening night of Slither…. only to find that NATHAN FILLION, Captain Tightpants himself, was in the audience watching it with his girlfriend. (She is tiny, and very very cute.) Nathan was wearing a hoodie and jeans.
Katie phoned me to boast that she had seen them but the phone cut out in a burst of static.
THEN Lexi took them to a French Restaurant (Katie, “Mom, the menu was ENTIRELY in French…. and they CHANGE it EVERY DAY.”) as part of her ongoing effort to expose the kids to somet’ing besides sushi and cheeseburgers. Kate had minced steak with garlic and herbs and Keith had chicken with peppercorns… I know, because they got doggie bags. The horrors of a Scottish ancestry!!
Paul is continuing to behave like a newlywed husband (indulgent and goo goo eyed). I canNOT say I am displeased. There hasn’t been a harsh word between us in a week, it’s utterly bizarre.
The last movie Lexi worked on was Slither, so I raise a coffee to toast her most excellent career coda.