Give us your poor, your unemployed...

In terms of net migration -- those moving in minus those leaving -- Texas was the star performer in 2008, with the population growing by 140,000.

The state survived the Depression based on energy, and continues the same now. Why is this a surprise?

On that note, along with all the others my boss tells me, I need to get the hell out of here. On a related note, recycling is almost due.

Typography as Art

Get Rained On via Designflavr

Yay 2nd Amendment!

Bullet-makers are working around the clock, seven days a week, and still can't keep up with the nation's demand for ammunition.

Still won't matter with the coming zombie invasion. I'll take a bo or baseball bat any day over a handgun. Maybe I'll even make use out of the stack of vinyls in my closet.

Cataclysm

Really digging the dust storm in Sydney. Gorgeous shots, loving the intensity of the color. On one hand I wish I was there to be able to take some of these fantastic photos. On the other, I do rather enjoy breathing. And seeing as Dallas is having a green level ozone day, I think I am probably in the better place right now. But, man, it is pretty.



..photos by NSW Maritime and iansand

On 2nd Thought

I need a new country....

The authors explain that Hummer owners employ the ideology of American foundational myths, such as the "rugged individual," and the "boundless frontier" to construct themselves as moral protagonists. They often believe they represent a bastion again anti-American discourses evoked by their critics.

Screw you almighty Hummer owners. What 'boundless' frontier to you expect next? I Google Earth going to 'discover' a new continent? Dumbasses. Give up your 13 MPG annoying as shit giant, unecessary vehicle. Show me this 'rugged' individual b/c I could be wrong, but pretty sure people living in the zip code of 75093 (which has a Hummer dealership) are not 'rugged'. Fat and old and rich, yes, with taste obviously left to the same mothers who insist on wearing 'designer' clothing that looks horrid.

But the author has a point. I do need money.

Grumble, grumble....GOP Anti Net Neutrality

Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced the amendment to an appropriations bill. It would prevent the FCC from getting funding for any initiative to uphold Net neutrality. According to The Hill, the co-sponsors are Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

I hate this woman. And I hate Texas.

Things I Want for Nostalgia

When I was a kid, my sisters and I liked to dress up and put on plays for my parents. Inevitably, my middle sister Ali was the princess, my oldest sister Ja' was both the villain and the prince, and I, being the youngest, was left with all the extra parts. This includes all 7 dwarves at one time, But this is back when the world was magical, wearing tutu's on our heads was acceptable, and there was no better way to ride off into the sunset (or the dining room) than on a broomstick with a horse's head on the front.

Of all the toys we ever had, I'll remember Barbie dolls. Not as some stupid idea that made my anorexic or have unrealistic expectations, but more there was a pretty doll to play with. Ja' and I would spend hours creating stories and plots for these dolls, including ones where their legs would just 'give out' and they were crippled, just for the dolls which we accidentally snapped off the legs and had to use rubberbands to hold together.

But Ali always had the best Barbie dolls. Hers were immaculate, gorgeous. The were to be groomed, not to be played with. It was a rare day when Ali's dolls were undressed from their original outfits, and she would meticulously brush their hair with the tiny brushes. When it came time to actually play with them, she was done and Ja' and I were left to our devices.

And Peaches 'n Cream Barbie was always one of my favorite. I am pretty sure she was originally Ja"s doll, but only b/c I remember the ending of this doll. The bustier shiny top separated from the boring white under-piece, the bottom frayed and tore as we used it on all the dolls. Pretty sure we used the stole around out own necks or around other dolls. I also presume this was Ja"s doll due to age and wear. Ali did not allow me to detroy dolls until she was done with them, and I remember this doll being pretty well destroyed prior to Ali outgrowing dolls.

Either way, out of remembrance, I want one.

Thoughts During a Storm

So it is storming tonight. Gorgeous, violent storm, with very little rain and one of those brilliant light displays that continue for hours. Really makes you wish to have someone to share it with, to stand on the porch and drink wine, but, alas, seems more fitting to enjoy it alone as I have so many other storms in the past.

So storm equals lazy night, which equals Hulu or Netflix. Been watching the series Dead Like Me, more out of a preoccupation with how the protagonist's voice matches my own in sarcasm and monotone than anything else. Netflix had the series up until the last two episodes of season one, so I move to Hulu, which has both seasons in full.

Which of course leads to the actual rant.

I watched Harold and Maude this last weekend. 1971 film, dark comedy that never fails to deliver with the most inappropriate content throughout. Considered to be in the top 100 comedies by the AFI. I really enjoyed it.

At least I thought I did, up until Tmobile killed the main theme by Cat Stevens by playing it for every other commercial in this damn series on Hulu. For becoming the largest network television ever, Hulu really needs to learn to broaden their advertising format so as not to make the watchers go bonky by hearing "if you wanna sing out, sing out; if you wanna be free, be free" a hundred times a night. All this reaslly does is make me hate both the song and a strong advocate for boycotting the new Google phone.

My hand hurts from cutting out little people shapes from card stock (will explain later with pictures). The sky keeps turning on fire with a purple flame. Variety is the spice of life.

Bioengineering?

Buddha shaped pears by Gao Xianzhang

Cute! But still pears. :(

..via Greenmuze

March of Democracy

Watch this video! Show how different political views have changed the world map over the 2000+ years. Greatness.


..On a side note, I am really envious of my sister and her boy being currently in Singapore. I wanna travel the world! Keeping my fingers crossed this exit will rpvoe less exciting than last years Thailand trip.

..On a third note, I keep trying to use the same visual relaxant of the street and cars passing me, but at the moment, my head is in a million other places all at once. Intensity is really messing with me this evening.

Use Your Ki!

So I totally watched Dragonball Evolution tonight. Hooray Netflix. I am pretty sure it is Nihil's fault and at sometime her reviewed the movie and it mad me want watch it. Yes, it is sad, but thanks to an ex years ago, I watched all the DBZ cartoons and can't get past the series. I am a nerd, I know.

Amazingly though, the movie gave me everything I wanted. Chow Yun Fat, Emmy Rossum, the kid that played on one Lost episode as Goku. Action, adventure, bad special effects, etc. I watched James Master's struggling career (Spike to Piccolo? Sad transition). Yes, the movie sucked. BUT, there was once a live action DB movie: Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins where you would swear Goku was a girl (better/worse than a white dude???), and comparitivelly, this movie deserves an Oscar.

I was completely satisfied. Except seeing the demise of Spike. On a side note, I really need to work on being cooler.

I Think He Sees My Dreams

Art by Kazuki Takamatsu, mostly all done in layered styles to be interpreted as digital art. I really cannot express how much I am in love with the style of his work, along with the subject matter. I believe I have had the above happen, and ijn the below painting, I often dream of myself as the girl on the right with the gun. Genuinely stunning work.

Truly Beautiful Things

Amazing the ways they can mess with the mind.

I <3 Our President

Fujitsu Lifebook T5010

You will have to pick up the LifeBook T5010 with its new capacitive touchscreen with Vista until you can get it with Win 7 on October 22, but it will still support the same two finger gestures like zooming and panning. You just won't get the touch pack fun in Vista. It will, however, come with a pen for writing on screen.

Fujitsu is touting that this convertible swings both ways. Uh yea, it can swing from tablet into a standard notebook with the "industry's first bi-directional swivel hinge."

Here is one thing we are learning quickly: multitouch lappies aren't budget. Like Lenovo's new multitouch, $1,800 ThinkPad x200T, this one starts at $1,759.

Sometimes, my company makes some nifty things. Well, not my subdivision, and it is Windows, but still, I wouldn't kick it out of bed.

I Have an Obsession with Lights and Cameras

Fantastic display of light drawing.

BB1

Peugeot BB1 Concept car, unveiled at the 63rd Frankfurt Motor Show, an electric car born from a mix and match of a scooter & a car. Designed to tackle all issues of the modern world faced by people on a daily basis in order to offer maximum versatility, a compact size; be dynamic and maneuverable (3.5m turning circle). The BB1 seats four passengers, two doors, LED lights and solar cell-covered glass bubble roof.

This looks almost ridiculous enough that I would buy it. Plus, the steering 'wheel' looks fun. Really hope the creepy people don't come with it.

.....

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." - Bob Dylan

Soggy

Today has been beautiful. The rain is a constant, light, and soggy. It is 70 degrees outside. The sky is a beautiful mess of grey clouds. All I have been managing to do today is sit by the open window and watch the traffic pass by. I love the sound of the cars passing on the wet streets. Pandora radio has been providing a very steady stream of relaxing bands such as Morcheeba, Bonobo, Sia, Esthero, Zero 7. Great music to sit back with a cup of tea and a book, as was done most of the morning.

About to leave to go to the farmer's market and buy veggies, bread and cheese. Evening will be spent with the cooking for the upcoming week's lunches. Dinner will undoubtedly be some fantastic, easily created tofu stir fry as I need to use up the last of the tofu before it takes a turn south. Haven't figured out the night's plan yet. Torn between whatever Netflix has sent my way, drinks out with some friends, or going out and getting soaked taking photos in the rain. It's nice to have a Seattle day for a change in Dallas.

Non-related photo above by Jason Silverstein, stolen from Flickr.

Exactly

The Things I Say....

Libations help the stupid. Too much brain in my head leaking out the same as being intellectually deficient. I meant nothing bad, I just felt...lost. I apologize, a few days late.

Random Thoughts From 25-35 Year Olds

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

..via Helen's Preposterous, via Stumbleupon

LMAOROFLLOLETC

Stolen from Steve

Happy Sunday

Rare to go out on a Sunday night, but as tomorrow is a holiday, off to Arlington for crappy dive bar hopping with friends I see too rarely. Of course, not sure any bar in Arlington isn't a dive, but that's half the fun.

World's Largest Bottle of Whisky

Dru McPherson and Mike Drury made the monster malt to put the village of Tomintoul, Banffshire, on the map.

The giant 1½metre bottle holds 105.3 litres of 14-year-old Tomintoul single malt.

A German glassmaker created the 7mm thick pyrex bottle, and a massive cork was specially made to fit.

I am impressively jealous. This equals out to 60 gandles of whisky. This would be the perfect birthday gift, so next year, I expect everyone I know to pitch in and get me this bottle and a very large straw.

Life Changes Your Brain

So randomly today, a book on about enneagram tests and personality tests caught my eye on my shelf today. As a rule, I've never been a huge fan of psychology, as I have more issues trying to understand how someone does not already know who they are than I have interest in someone telling me things I already either know or know and am willingly hiding from myself. I already know I am an atypical type a slightly sociopathic INTJ. But for some reason, I was curious enough to look at the past results, and there was a scorecard with a date of 09/10/03. This made me curious enough to retake the test to see how almost exactly 6 years has changed my personality. So, results from age 22 to 28 below:


So what have I changed into? My artistic creativity, thinking for myself, and pragmatism have increased, but everything else has lessened. Most dramatically is the change in going from an eight to a five. My desire for leadership has obviously lessened with actual job required leadership. I supposed I learned it was not all is cracked up to be, or, I learned delegation along the way. The thinking went up, but I believe that to be more turning incredibly introspective and reclusive (it has been wonderful) recently. And the artistic I think is due to more free time and a return to who I was a long while ago. Somewhere along the way, I put most of my creativity to bed and concentrated on everyday life. It is nice to have it back, like remembering a third arm you ceased using.

Otherwise, I have become less perfectionist, less caring, less motivating, less loyal, less confrontational, and less accepting. This basically means at not yet 30, I am totally almost up to the 'get off my lawn' status, which I find extremely peaceful and amazing.

It Might Not be Much

So the picture is blurry, contains the top of a carport and is not very interesting, but there really are few things that are as great as the beginning of a huge storm in the city. I love that the horrible red horizon both intensifies and blurs at the same time.

I Have a New Friend

So what kind of spider is this? It took everything to get this close since he was so high up on the wall I had to stand on a ladder on tiptoes (yay vault ceilings!). He is very welcome as long as he's not going to kill me in my sleep, so anyone with some knowledge on critters is welcome.

Destruction is Beautiful

Timelapse - Los Angeles Wildfire from Dan Blank on Vimeo.

Setting a Good Example

Pole dancing doll. I can only imagine this was thought to be a good idea by someone from Japan.

I wonder how many times my sister would hit me if I got this for the Rufusi?