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28 February 2007

I like the way it leans




I'm sure Dave will scorn this but the mix between a motorcycle and a car seems like a nifty idea to me. While I would still want a car large enough to fit 3 bag of groceries into, this would be a great vehicle to take to work and around town otherwise. Actually make driving fun while playing to my desire for more security than a bike would give.

Trepidation

Tomorrow I have step #1 to what I want. I hope I pass. There is a list that is made much easier if this comes to pass. Even if everything becomes a billion times more complicated due to it.

Wish me luck. Please.

Brillant....

Article One
Article Two

I have to give credit, the idea behind this was amazing. Unfortunately the company does not use the same machine software in each store. No wonder they were caught. I'm amazed this is as below the wire as it is. Not sure if it due to it being the smallest state or that everyone is so used to security breaches of this nature we barely blink anymore.

I do know it has been a pain in the ass.

27 February 2007

The Logical Mystics

CERN begins constructing a gigantic labratory underground.

The Compact Muon Solenoid is supposed to probe the limits of physics, with ambition. "It will aim to identify the elusive Higgs boson (known as the "God particle" because of its importance to the Standard Model of physics), look for so-called supersymmetric particles and seek out the existence of extra dimensions."

Or perhaps destroy humanity when Science becomes the new god of our race. Whichever.

...via BBC

I'd rather be deaf than blind

They poked a million holes
But you never let them show

I love this comic....Old #109

My brain holds all the wrong things

Secret Menu Items

Starbucks will make you absolutely anything you want no matter how insane it is, according to our tipster.

"Baristas might try and tell their customers that no, we can't do that with the blenders. This is a lie. Starbucks corporate policy is that the customer is ALWAYS right (even when the request is stupid). If you really insist that you want your iced soy latte blended, the baristas HAVE to do it. If they continue to refuse, ask to speak to a manager and either they'll realize they're about to get in trouble and will fill your request, or the manager will come out and politely tell the barista to make the customer happy.

Absolutely any concoction that you can think of (involving any type of milk, syrup, coffee, etc.) will be made for you. The limits to Starbucks "secret menu" are merely the limits of your imagination. You can even bring supplements from home and ask the barista to please include that in your drink."


Well, damn.


This is all too true. All you need is a base and then add from there. All about the customization. When I request an iced tall vanilla breve less-ice chai, all I want is a chai, add vanilla, add a little more breve than normal. On ice. Not so hard. That iced soy latte blended from above? Better request that correctly b/c blended also means half non-fat, half whole milk. Figure that out with the soy. The actual drink? Asked for daily by a wonderful little woman. Customization is also the way to pay much less for the same thing. Want an iced quad venti latte? Ask for a quad espresso over ice in a venti cup and then walk over to the condiment bar and pour in as muct milk as you wish. This pisses off the baristas but saves you 3 bucks or more. Tip well to make it up.

When I worked there I came up with all sorts of combinations of flavor since I didn't really like coffee. Want a chocolate chip cookie dough-like ice cream shake? Combine UBB (Universal Base Beverage: the white stuff for the cream Frappuccinos) up to a centimeter of the lower line on the cup, add Frappuccino Light Mix to the line (to try to compensate for the cal/fat content of the UBB), add one scoop brownie chips, 2 scoops Vanilla Bean powder, one pump mocha and 2 vanilla syrup. Add ice and blend. Sounds complicated but takes 30 seconds. Yummy.

We used to have people buy espesso fudge brownies and ask they be put in the blender with the Frappuccino. Or others would mix every syrup available with every milk and drink it daily.

Yes, all customization is possible. It does not, however, makes you less a dumbass.

Link/Quote via The Consumerist

26 February 2007

Finally something useful

A dictionary that doesn't suck

Word Source, a 'social dictioary' is everything dictionary.com and MW cannot be. No adds, simple navigation, no asking for a password or money, and giving a full (mostly) definition instead instead of a one word explanation with the option to upgrade.

About damn time.

Complete with cheesy clock picture!

Music, your brain and time.

25 February 2007

Reason # 909561 to hate CNN

Nothing says news channel like the front page story about stars arriving to the Oscars

It's not news, it's CNN.com!

This is becoming a trend for me to point this out. How sad for the world.

International Polar Year Begins

Nihil, you better make sure you are hidden by Thursday....

If you believe in something long enough you will ruin it

The Sea is Not Mine



It was a suprisingly good night. I think my arm will fall off on it's own if I move it at all. My head hurts so very badly b/c of the speaker volume my brain is likely to implode. But the first opening band was a one-woman hurricane of deranged goodness. The second band could die in a fire. It was a high school concert where everyone was too stupified by the bad to boo them offstage. Midlake was amazing. Good sound, good songs, good everything. Five normal looking guys, pervaded by the Denton standard for beards and longish hair. They played almost all of the songs off their main album, a few old ones, a yet-to-be-released one. For the encore, instead of one famous song they played another two that normally might not be show type. A little slower then expected but it rounded everything out well.

Granada is a much better venue than expected. You can easily see the style set up as the original Studio Movie Grill with the tired sections. Where normally food would be placed the ledges were sturdy enough to sit on (which is good since I get nauseous if I stand in place for long). Three well advertised bars that pour heavy, cleaner than most bathrooms. I was impressed, since I'm used to Trees and Gypsy Tea Room. Since they are no longer around, this will do.

And the most amazing part is that this band has been out touring for a while and when coming back to hometown area they managed to pull in over 500 people. Not bad for an indie band that no one has mostly heard of. Sorry the photo is blurry. They all ended that way. But since I took pics when no photography was allowed at all, I won't complain.

24 February 2007

Sky on fire



So whereas a third of the country is experiencing blizzards, here in Texas it is a comfortable 60 degrees. But instead of snow, we get to have 50 mph gusting winds that is picking up dirt and turning the sky pink. It's 15:30 and if it was raining from the color of the sky I would expect a tornado.

I haven't seen the sky this color since the fires from Mexico and south Texas back in the late 90's when the dirt and smoke all floated north.

The big knives are in the drawer..

I am on my 7th strong drink, I can barely hold 5 pounds without grimacing and my ring and pinky finger are sitting straight out without me trying to even curl them at all. Right about now I am ready for cutting it off.

They always say women have higher thresholds for pain. Right about now I place this on about a 4 or 5 on my scale. I remember the pain and consequent shock of almost breaking my ankle. I remember surgery, I remember my elbow. It has been a long time since I have had this sort of consistent pain that just keeps building and seems neither tolerable nor managable.

I rarely ever cry and I am almost to that point. Fuck.

23 February 2007

Humanity

So this afternoon I drove around running errands. I stopped at one point at the Farmer's Branch cemetery I've been meaning to visit for as long time. I have no ties but have passed it frequently enough to wish to visit. Between studying archaeology for so long and my mother the genealogist I really find cemeteries peaceful. Maybe I can only really handle people once they are no longer living.

Either way, this was the most interesting headstone. Pure white marble, it has had over a century to stand. The owner was 6 year old Clara Jewel born in 1885, died in 1892. Somehow it will never cease to amaze me how people lived completely different lives so close to my own and yet so long ago. That someone had planted tiger lilies around the grave to live with her remembrance is beyond stunning.

It was also nice to have camera in hand again. It has been too long and I have complained too often to hold out any longer.

Two Weeks!



Gallery of Frank Miller's 300

Ways to become blind and dumb

Dial M for Mundane

In yet another lame attempt to get the younger generation to read Shakespeare, or hell, read at all, a group is setting up a program to allow interaction with the characters of The Scottish Play to read and enjoy the play. No this isn't a retarded idea at all. I always wanted to read a play on the 1.5 inch screen of cell phone.

21 February 2007

Bad

My second Mom has breast cancer.

My other sister is falling apart.

I want to be there to help. I want things to be better.

I was 15 when this came out

The original Mac vs PC ad

The Nokia 100 cell phone. Damn I remember those. Thanks 1996!

20 February 2007

Look at the Pretties...

One more this morning and then I'm off to get ready for work.



Venetian Carnival. It's a shame the city is sinking. It looks like they throw a good party.

..via Knuttz

Oh My God, Shoes!

Now, while I like fashion, I admit that I am not really one for shoes. As long as it is simple and comfortable, that's the pair I wear. One pair of Docs slip ons for everyday use, a pair of boots when I want to dress a little nicer. There's a bunch of shoes in my closest that I'm not sure if have seen natural light in over 2 years, each bought for a specific event. And sandals are strictly only dressy, otherwise they will never be on my feet.

But this collection takes the cake on oddness. Pair A looks rather interesting but reminds me too much of footie pajamas. Pair B looks terribly painful and Pair C, Pair D, and Pair E all look ridiculous.

Out of all of these the only ones that I might put on my feet are: Pair Z (if the right outfit matched) or Pair Y, which might be counted as an improved Rocket Boot. And while I wouldn't wear them, Pair X seems like something I could easily make soon with as many corks have been building up lately.

It's Gotta All Be a Lie

Chocolate is good for your memory, brought to you in part by Mars, Inc.

So Rebecca's candy basket is in fact trying to make us better workers! Hooray!

18 February 2007

I wish I were a child



Kids pictures re-done by professional artists

Like Human Gumbys!



Wow. The things people come up with to compete against. Notice there are only 2 competitors. Maybe this would be a better baqttle if instead of picking up glasses it was a contest of forging a check while in each of the increasingly hard positions. or plsying pick-up-sticks.

And no, this is not jealousy. While it is admirable the ability these girls have, I much prefer my broken non-bendy body than having such complete control over it I need to dress up in ice-skating uniforms and show my camel toe to the world through the ever well-paying venue of Youtube.

15 February 2007

Drowning in Antarctica

There are times that defy explanation. Dreams blending into reality, space passing through milliseconds. I knew where I was and who was next to me but the reality of the moment is different than the reality of the wakeful. Yet wakefulness was there as well. Perhaps not.

It was an odd occurrence. Form was taken by another, placement interchangeable. But everything was the same. Unable to even confirm the strangeness as far as I know. Maybe I was not where I thought I was. Or maybe I was but I changed the props between. Or maybe like in a Murakami novel pressing through a wall is not as difficult as I believed.

It seemed right. A breath of difference made it so. Stranger would actually be if I was the only one to notice.

Commodor 64 Saves the Day

14 February 2007

Year Zero

"in this america, passive resistance is suicide"

NIN starting to promote the new album. Check out the links:

iamtryingtobelieve
bethehammer
anotherversionofthetruth (click and drag)
105thairbornecrusaders

and my favorite due to my location: churchofplano

living here makes me question whether trent just jacked the homepage of the complex (the gigantic super church down the road) and put some scratchy lines on it. Wouldn't suprise me. Look around on the pages. There's some interesting stuff.

....thanks Dave!

13 February 2007

Self Reminder

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."


--Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Sometimes I need to remind myself before everything changes. I might step on some toes soon, anger quite a few people. I might not. The decision is not up to me. But I will not apologize.

This is why I read BBC

"Putting the "fun" back into "funeral" with wacky, crazy coffins. It's not news, it's CNN.com"

Seriously, between this kind of crap and Nancy Grace I think CNN might as well just be played simultaneously with Fox News.

...via Fark

12 February 2007

11.28.03



I love foggy nights.

And I miss my old camera. Or remembering to carry my camera all the time.

Tax Dollars at Work


The Interstate /System if the US was a big box.

If you've ever driven through Utah the you only wish it was really like this. Click picture for full view.

mmmm.....smores



This was the comic for my birthday last year. Nipple fire. Guest strip. Hope this years is better. The year before had anal. Not sure if that is a step up or down.

And I Face South so Moss Does Not Grow

There are changes to be made, things that need to ensue. I am working on start and simple. But in reverting many things were lost. Now is the time to learn, question, remember and force onward.

And damn, I forgot how much I hate html/css and the like. It has been a few years since I bothered, and the inherent rules are kicking my ass.

11 February 2007

I love Apple

So this:



Led to this:



Thanks goes to Der Gottseibeiuns.

Meh

"I see now the virtue in madness, for this country knows no laws nor any boundary. I pity the poor shades confined to the Euclidean prison that is sanity. All things are possible here and I am what madness has made me
Whole
And complete
And free at last."
- Amadeus Arkham; Batman: Arkham Asylum - Grant Morrison


Ever have those days that you can just feel will suck from beginning to end?

09 February 2007

Shut the Fuck Up

Admittedly, I hate all three bands mentioned. But Bono really just gets under my skin.


hahahahahahha

Not Cool Enough for Kicks

If I wore sneakers I would totally lace and relace them all the time with some of these designs.

“You’re god damn right!”

Intel co-founder finally gets to buy the computer of his dreams: Apple MacBook Pro

I had to ask, with a bit of a snicker: “So, did you finally get to buy the computer you’ve always dreamed of having, now that there’s Intel inside?”

This is Greg

08 February 2007

What do you read, my lord?

Faith - n. the belief in the unbelievable, attested to by the undetectable, supported by the unarguable. It is practically applied to making, holding, and propagating claims and justifying acts that defy: common sense, good judgement, great bodies of ethical work, and standards of courteousy and kindness. It is also the basis for faith-based governance.

Logic - n. the art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human understanding. The smallest indivisible part of logic is the syllogism, consisting of two premises and a conclusion:
-Major Premise: All asses have a good head of hair.
-Minor Premise: The President has a good head of hair.
-Conclusion: The President is an ass.
Incidently, the form of reasoning here is fallacious even when all three statements are true. This demonstrates logic's strengths.

...via Devil's Dictionary Defiled

The Stupid Little Island



I know this is from a few years ago but it still makes me giggle.

07 February 2007

Letting it all out

Why Do I Always Have to Be the One Who Says "Sorry"?

Look, I'm not saying (hypothetically) it's the perfect gift for a 10th anniversary, but if your wife REALLY likes her fancy plates, why wouldn't she want them displayed on these really nice holders?

I mean, let's say -- for argument's sake -- that you and your wife decide that because money is tight, and because you're going to be going away on vacation in the fall, that you're not going to get each other "romantic" gifts for the anniversary. I can't see how there's anything wrong with a practical gift that can help showcase something that's very important to her (e.g. her ridiculous plates).

And, let's be honest, are plate holders really any less appropriate than, say, "The Eagle's Greatest Hits" on CD as a 10th anniversary present? No, I don't think so. But of course the man can never throw a fit over such things, because his job is to just take the abuse while the woman gets her feelings all in a bunch. And I don't mean feelings, if you catch my drift!

I'm going to go home and break every one of those plates with a hammer, and I'm gonna blast "Hotel California" on my CD player when I do it. Then I'm gonna be all, like, "Oh, I wonder how that happened? Must have been a windy day in the house or something. Too bad you didn't want to use those beautiful Office Depot Plate Holders I got you for our anniversary. Then maybe there would have been less dish carnage."

If we really do split up, I'm taking the plate holders, because she said she doesn't want them. I'll give her one last chance when she comes back from her mother's house (this weekend or whenever!), and if she still doesn't want 'em, she can kiss them goodbye.

I guess I should call her tonight anyway, just to make sure she got in OK, and thank her for the stupid CD.



EDIT: It was brought to my attention that this could for some reason be interpreted as something dealing with my life. I'm not sure how. But for those under that rather idiotic impression, please click the link above to see what this is from.

06 February 2007

Timing



Rich Legg's photogaphy of a lightbulb burning out

...via Neatorama

Resignation

The Best Mac Commercial Thus far of the new forms.


And they boy just shakes his head at me, but the longer the Mac guy grows his hair the prettier he is. Yes, I have an obsession for pretty hair. It happens.

05 February 2007

The Best Headline Ever. Not Mine. From the Article.

"The history of Damn Interesting is a rich tapestry of events. In September 2005, the site sprang into existence. Then we wrote a bunch of stuff. Now, something new is happening… It's rectangular, inky, and full of knowledge. And it's not a frightened robotic squid."

So, I plan on buying one of these books. ut it will probably be used as a gift at some time in the future b/c I regift that way. So if anyone feels generous, but me a copy to keep myself.

At least there is one

Hero /ˈhɪəroʊ/
noun (pl. -roes)
1 a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b: an illustrious warrior c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d: one that shows great courage

I believe this man deserves the title.

I think we need a few more sites like this around and less Hallmarks

Be My Anti-Valentine

03 February 2007

Asplodo!




Nature is bloody amazing

...via Fark

Destroy Your Television

The amazing thing is just how many of these I have read. And with the travesty that is ccoming with the new film version of Atlas Shrugged, I am perfectly content to not see these made into movies. I just finished MurakamiThe Wind Up Bird Chronicle and as amazing as the novel was, I would hate to see it destroyed by plotting it out visually.

Unfilmable Books

02 February 2007

The future is big and bright and grotesque. If I have half a brain I will sleep through it.



.
..

i left it all behind, didn't i?

Pushing everything to the side

"And if you look at your reflection,
Is it all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself...find yourself afraid to see?"

Thanks for the conversation


Last night made me realize just how much I miss this stupid sister of mine.

01 February 2007

One handed computering sucks

I wish I knew what it is about cold weather and making all the broken bits of you hurt. And, preferably, how to stop it. My right arm has been hurting like mad today. The shoulder has been throbbing like I have been trying to do pull-ups or play baseball, except not in the muscle but the bone. The way it pops and cracks I have problems believing there is actually any muscle attached to the clavicle/scapula anymore. And while that hurts with a sort of consistent pain that can be mostly ignored, the real pain comes from the right hand and wrist. Running from the ring and pinky fingers up through the wrist and halfway up the forearm comes the feeling that there is ice or nanoscopic little blades being pushed through the bones as blood through a vein. Like small little civil wars in the marrow, complete with pipe bombs and chemical attacks.

This is not carpal tunnel or something of that form, but just a pain that makes me want to curl up in a little ball and hold it and pray the hurt goes away. Or put it into a clamp and tighten until the pain of the pressure kills the pain of the internal.

I am too young to be this broken. And how is it the right arm, which a year ago was almost perfectly healthy can hurt worse than both ankles that I've damaged to the point of needing surgery the next time I misstep or the previously fractured elbow? Man, about this time health insurance would be fantastic.

(And yes, I know it cannot compare. Mine is mine, yours is most likely worse)

It snowed again today


All hail Qu-Jiang-Wang of the second court of Feng-Du