It's done.
I've started posting gag cartoons at ACT-I-VATE.com... I posted 5 of them.
Every Thursday I'll be putting up new cartoons. I'd love to hear feedback.
On a side note... here are a couple of reposts of last week's cartoon.
http://www.harvardavenue.net/archives/0
http://arlingtonjb.posterous.com/too-mu
I've started posting gag cartoons at ACT-I-VATE.com... I posted 5 of them.
Every Thursday I'll be putting up new cartoons. I'd love to hear feedback.
On a side note... here are a couple of reposts of last week's cartoon.
http://www.harvardavenue.net/archives/0
http://arlingtonjb.posterous.com/too-mu
*taps hoof* Where is it? *peers out window"
Actually, it's supposed to start at midnight. Still dire predictions of up to a foot or more, but it will take all day tomorrow for that much to accumulate. Chances are I'll be going to work in the morning, but fortunately I get off for the day at lunchtime.
So what's the excuse for the sudden jump in gas prices? It has gone up 20 cents or more per gallon in the last seven days around here. Some stations increased their prices three times within a week. I know they don't take deliveries that often in most cases, so there's something dubious going on.
Actually, it's supposed to start at midnight. Still dire predictions of up to a foot or more, but it will take all day tomorrow for that much to accumulate. Chances are I'll be going to work in the morning, but fortunately I get off for the day at lunchtime.
So what's the excuse for the sudden jump in gas prices? It has gone up 20 cents or more per gallon in the last seven days around here. Some stations increased their prices three times within a week. I know they don't take deliveries that often in most cases, so there's something dubious going on.
- Location:Frozen oak grove
- Mood:
sleepy
Boomerang (Cartoon Network Classic) has just declared that Scrappy Doo is Boomer Royalty.
Gag me with a spoon.
I don't even consider Crappy Doo Doo to be canonical.
Gag me with a spoon.
I don't even consider Crappy Doo Doo to be canonical.
- Mood:
nauseated
- http://twitpic.com/wwell – Hershey in the snow, via my father. #chocolatelab #labrador #uksnow #
- If you have trouble spelling ROGUE, imagine it's pronounced "roh-gew". Or think of "Roll On, Great Underground Empire". #PSA #dogbugz #zork #
- Why @newsmediaimages is MY NEW HERO: http://tinyurl.com/ycn8tzv Well, maybe Murphy is the hero and he's just the wisecracking sidekick... #
- #vss A mountainful of noise, terror and white was rushing at them. Weft hid behind Suitov. Suitov faced the avalanche, whistling cheerfully. #
- The snow is starting to look rather dirty, especially in the gutters and the middle of the road. #brownfall #
- Like I needed more reason to love Golden Retrievers best among dogs, here's another: http://bit.ly/6j1n1j #dogs #goldenretriever #dogsvscats #
- Interested to see on a broadcasting compliance form that "strong language" is defined as the F-word or stronger. So "shit" is OK, then?! #
- Is there any webthing that crawls, harvests the contents of [abbr] tags and builds its own acronym/abbreviation database? If not... why not? #
- Thought I'd stay here until the backup finished, but it says 18 minutes left and I'm tired. Fuggedaboudit. Going home. #
View the original post at Black Dog Blog
With some good feedback yesterday and time to reflect, I have refined my list of 6 changes for 2010:
- Focus daily on creative writing
- Establish and maintain a budget
- Plan and prepare healthy meals
- Exercise daily
- Cultivate healthier thought habits
- Read daily
I won't necessarily follow this order, but will begin with the first one. I have until the end of February to focus on my writing habits. That's appropriate, because February has usually been a good month for me creatively.
I already started writing for 100 words on January 1, and so far that's going well. Each morning after knitting in front of my light box, I have taken a few minutes to write 100 words. I have chosen as a theme: my relationship with money. So for starters I will continue with that.
Additionally I want to resume daily work on my novel. Another 200 words? Morning might not be the best time (except on weekends), so I'll consider moving the entire practice to after work.
It's unnecessary to start today. It's unnecessary to decide. The "6 Changes" idea involves planning, building intention, starting with small steps, then taking bigger ones. I'm meeting my writing partner on Saturday. I'll talk to her about it, too. Then I'll settle on a plan for the next few weeks.
Suddenly, Peter Sellers doing accents dressed as Merkin Muffley:
(I seem to recall he could pull off a very good fake American with great consistency.)
(I seem to recall he could pull off a very good fake American with great consistency.)
New Years was pleasantly relaxing. Went to a great party, had one too many delicious margaritas, drank a few too many beers, ate way too many snacks, and had a great time BSing with a bunch of friends. And I loved every minute of it.
Then I proceeded to relax the rest of the 3 day weekend, doing pretty much nothing. I watched Avatar. It was good. I want to see it again, maybe at the Metreon. I hear they have a big screen.
So while everyone else is done with the holiday season once New Years Day is in the rear view mirror, for most of us West Coast furries, there's one last hurrah...Further Confusion.
Right now, from this very moment, it's about 2 weeks away. I'm nibbling at my talons to get things in order. Right now, it's the last minute.
I've got a boatload of small loose ends that need tying up. On top of that, I decided to try to 'start' and 'finish' at least one little costuming idea I had that I wanted to work on for months. Nothing like the last minute to instill some motivation, eh?
I hope I'll get it done. Something will get done. I'm not sure if it'll be as great as my mind sees it. And with my limited talents, no one reading this should expect anything life-altering.
With all that I also have small pangs of worrying about the logistics of hauling all my crap into and out of the hotel with a sea of other people trying to unload at the same time, and then finding a safe, cheap, and nearby location to stash my car for like 6 days of the con.
I'm not saying the new hotel is gonna suck! I'm just trying to formulate a plan of attack and hope there are no unfortunate surprises that I'll hit along the way.
Then I proceeded to relax the rest of the 3 day weekend, doing pretty much nothing. I watched Avatar. It was good. I want to see it again, maybe at the Metreon. I hear they have a big screen.
So while everyone else is done with the holiday season once New Years Day is in the rear view mirror, for most of us West Coast furries, there's one last hurrah...Further Confusion.
Right now, from this very moment, it's about 2 weeks away. I'm nibbling at my talons to get things in order. Right now, it's the last minute.
I've got a boatload of small loose ends that need tying up. On top of that, I decided to try to 'start' and 'finish' at least one little costuming idea I had that I wanted to work on for months. Nothing like the last minute to instill some motivation, eh?
I hope I'll get it done. Something will get done. I'm not sure if it'll be as great as my mind sees it. And with my limited talents, no one reading this should expect anything life-altering.
With all that I also have small pangs of worrying about the logistics of hauling all my crap into and out of the hotel with a sea of other people trying to unload at the same time, and then finding a safe, cheap, and nearby location to stash my car for like 6 days of the con.
I'm not saying the new hotel is gonna suck! I'm just trying to formulate a plan of attack and hope there are no unfortunate surprises that I'll hit along the way.
- Mood:
anxious
OK, if the latest forecast is correct, we are well on our way to challenge the record-breaking snow of the last two winters. Winter storm watch announced this afternoon is up to another possible nine inches to fall Wednesday through Thursday. High ice to liquid water ratio, because the air temperature will be low. In other words, more dry powder that drifts easily. Gary is rescheduling his trip to Chicago for tomorrow rather than letting it wait until Thursday.
Car went in for 30K service today, turned out to cost more than just an oil change, but I expected that. It was about due to generate a service bill, since it really hasn't before except for a tire replacement two years ago after getting an unpatchable flat. As such it wasn't bad, just $168, and that included fixing a slow leak in another tire as well as a power steering flush and a new fuel filter. The oil change was free this time.
Making progress on that knitted lace cap. By the third repeat of the pattern I've got it down now so I don't need a chart or notes. But it requires paying careful attention all the time, which isn't so much fun in my opinion. I prefer mindless knitting that lets me listen to audiobooks or music.
Off to bed now.
Car went in for 30K service today, turned out to cost more than just an oil change, but I expected that. It was about due to generate a service bill, since it really hasn't before except for a tire replacement two years ago after getting an unpatchable flat. As such it wasn't bad, just $168, and that included fixing a slow leak in another tire as well as a power steering flush and a new fuel filter. The oil change was free this time.
Making progress on that knitted lace cap. By the third repeat of the pattern I've got it down now so I don't need a chart or notes. But it requires paying careful attention all the time, which isn't so much fun in my opinion. I prefer mindless knitting that lets me listen to audiobooks or music.
Off to bed now.
- Location:Frozen oak grove
- Mood:
One of my favourite blogs is Zen Habits. Leo Babauta presents a lot of good ideas for improving and simplifying the shape of your life. Actually, for a guy preaching the benefits of simplicity, maybe he has too many ideas, for example: 29 ways to successfully ingrain a behaviour. I try to glean some occasional wisdom and not get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of advice.
I'm still thinking about resolutions and how I don't like making them. On the other hand, change is good, necessary even. Zen Habits has plenty to say on this issue.
So I would like to try The Six Changes Method. You pick six habits to establish in the coming year and devote two months to each of them, one at a time. For successful change, he recommends public accountability. Talk about it. Tell everyone. So here would be a good place for me to do that.
For starters here is the list of habits I'm considering:
- Get up earlier.
- Exercise daily.
- Establish a healthier diet.
- Reduce debt.
- Stop impulse buying.
- Focus on creative writing.
- Read more.
- Keep the apartment tidier.
- Correct self-destructive thought habits.
So I just need to narrow it down a little, which is hard. They're all equally important.
I'm back home now from my shoulder surgery. As is to be expected, I feel awful. The breathing tube wrecked my voice, can barely talk.
Here's what happened: About a year ago, I slipped an fell on ice and hurt my shoulder. It turns out that fall produced little actual damage, but the investigation revealed severe arthritis the joint between the collar bone and the scapula at the top of the shoulder. The insurance company took exception, saying that the MRI should never have been done in the first place and declined to pay for anything. This lead me to delay the recommended surgery until I could straighten out the situation. It took nine months, 27 hours on the phone, the Mozilla Company HR department and the company the sold the policy to Mozilla to get Blue Cross of California to loosen their death grip on the purse. During the year, my shoulder got progressively worse until the last two months where I had become effectively disabled with pain.
So finally, a year and four weeks after my fall, I get the surgery that three local doctors concurred on (and BCoC docs, that never actually talked or saw me, say wasn't medically necessary). The surgeon went with the medical equivalent of a carpentry router and completely removed the surfaces of the damaged joint. This was apparently to just keep the bones from touching - supposedly, this is not a critical function of this joint. I'll know more about what they found in there and did about it in my followup appointment next week. Yeah, it sounds horrendous, but nothing else has helped.
Prior to the surgery, the surgeon examined the tattoo and declared that he could work around it with minimal damage. Just before they put me under, he and his assistant had numbered the fern leaves and were planning insertion points between leaves one and two, four and five and from with in the moss behind the joint. The arm remains under neural block: warm but dead to sensation or movement.
The anesthesia was done two ways. The classic IV to just mellow me into docile memorylessness and a neural block in my neck. The must have been a gaseous component, too, because I had obviously had a breathing tube. I have vague memory of the electrical stim that was used to find the nerve in my neck for the arm.
My next memory is waking in my waiting room feeling dizzy and awful. This is the part of surgery I hate the most (this the voice of experience, as this was the eleventh time in my life). For me it is a panicky grogginess that I cannot throw off. I goes on and on as I suppress the urge to scream and thrash about. I think it is the horror about the loss of control that is so center to my life.
It ends, though. It wasn't long before I managed to fish my iPhone out of my personal effects bag and I twittered my first words: "Slowly climbing back to conciosness, spelling last to recover. Right arm totally numb, it doesn't move. Cnt seem to breath automatically". Then I texted Paul essentially the same message.
Some indeterminate time later, Paul was at my side, surprising the nurse, "how did you know to come back, we didn't call you yet." "He's always connected, he Twittered", he replied. The nurse only vaguely understood.
Soon they were wheeling me out in a wheel chair. The ride home was nauseating. There was a quick stop off at Safeway to drop off my prescription for hydromorphone. Looking that up in wikipedia, I see that they really are expecting me to be in a lot of pain. I'm instructed to use this pain medication in favor of any others. No ibuprofen.
Having this warm but dead hand and arm in a sling strapped to my body is creepy. I can tell it's mine (I recognize the tattoos) but touching it is so weird. There has been no sensation from it through the day. Though now, there is some tingling in my finger tips. I can rotate my thumb very slightly. Otherwise it might as well be belong to someone else. I keep lamenting that I have no pending tattoo work for this arm. The papers that I was given as I left indicate that the neural block effects will take 8 to 36 hours to wear off. When it does, I will need to start taking my pain meds. I'm told the pain may be considerable. ;-( is there a crying emoticon? I'm not sure why they told me that, I fear I'll believe it and make it true.
Well enough one handed typing. This is going to be really awkward and may last for weeks.
- Fielding calls from home, where we have no internet and mum doesn't know if her workplaces are closed (looks like they all are). #
- A Potted History of Man's Relationship with the Dog: http://bit.ly/6eIle7 (I have the Cave Canem mural framed on a postcard) #cerberus #dogs #
- The Euronews kiosk owner was outside throwing snowballs (win). "Nice weather, eh?" he said to me. "Yeah... for huskies," I replied. #
- A page about the doctrine of double effect has double double letters in its filename: doubleeffect.xml #thingsthatamuseme #
I decided to tweet some of my bugbears. More to follow.
- AFFECT is a verb: you can "affect" an outcome (or "affect" a foreign accent). EFFECT is a noun: your actions have an "effect". #PSA #dogbugz #
- BEGGING THE QUESTION doesn't mean what you think it means. Be kind to philosopher-pedants by saying "invites the question". #PSA #dogbugz #
- EVERYDAY is an adjective. It means humdrum, mediocre. If you mean to say something happens daily, say "every day". Or "daily". #PSA #dogbugz #
- HOT UP isn't a real verb. The newspapers are just trying to save space. Outside headline-land, things "heat up" or "warm up". #PSA #dogbugz #
View the original post at Black Dog Blog
posted by Neil
I'm home.This is the weather the dog likes: crisp, cold, weather that puts him in mind of wolfish ancestors hunting on the steppes.
Me, I put on long underwear and dozens of layers over that, and top it off with the sheepskin Uigur hat I haggled for in Xinjiang, and trudge in the snow behind him. It's frozen on top, so you crunch and rock and hunt for ruts that already exist as you walk, or you teeter-totter across the surface, half-falling at every second step. While Cabal is happy in a world filled with sharp smells and frozen rivers, and he bounces over the ice and snow with joy.
***
Many years ago I discovered (via the currently hiatus-bound Fabulist) Jason Webley. I posted this a link to this song, Eleven Saints, a song Jason Webley wrote and performed with Jay Thompson...
Jason was pleased, and wrote to me to say thanks, and then, a couple of years ago, introduced me in email to his friend Amanda Palmer, with whom he was working on a project, as they worked to bring the music of two conjoined twin sisters they had discovered on the internet to the world. There were two songs out on the internet by the mysterious pair for a long time, but a new song, " A Campaign of Shock and Awe", crept out today: you can hear it at http://www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn. Highly recommended, and not just because of the, y'know, family connections.
...
Right. I do not want to be disturbed tonight. Maddy and I will be beginning our New Year's catch-up by watching the first part of Doctor Who 'The End of Time'.
SL&A
© Bill Pusztai 2009
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Page Summary
- tmcm : new cartoons at ACT-I-VATE, reposting of my cartoons [+0]
- chipuni : The sex was grrrrrrrrrrEAT! [+6]
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apod : The Spotty Surface of Betelgeuse [+9] - altivo : Well? [+4]
- robearal : Depose him! [+2]
- hellmutt : Black Dog Twittering on 2010-01-07 [+0]
- vaneramos : Habit 1 [+0]
- zenicurean : Randomness. [+3]
- tastyeagle : New Years and FC coming up [+12]
- ursulav : (no subject) [+17]
- apod : A Roll Cloud Over Uruguay [+1]
- altivo : More snow? [+1]
- eselgeist : Good Days [+8]
- vaneramos : 6 changes [+7]
- twobraids : signpost for an inattentive surgeon [+11]
- eselgeist : "Commodore Marie Wines & Spirits" [+8]
- hellmutt : Black Dog Twittering on 2010-01-06 [+4]
- ursulav : (no subject) [+43]
- officialgaiman : Home Again, with Additional Dog pictures. [+4]
- bitterlawngnome : (no subject) [+34]