Saturday, August 23, 2008

Check in Often! It's Another Multipost Saturday!

Just so you all know MultiPost Saturday is my excuse to just throw up random shit and consider it blogging. Don't count on seeing anything deep and meaningful here today, (like you ever do anyway).

Let the MultiPost begin...

We'll start with a Douglas Adams quote. Hey, you can't go wrong with Douglas Adams.
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
[info][add][mail]
Douglas Adams
P.S. I've used his name three times in quick succession. That's gotta be good for sucking in innocent GoogleSearchers.
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More on a Saturday Morning...

So, I was just poking around at Shawn's Cerebrum, and I felt the need to leave a comment. It took me like fifteen minutes to write a paragraph. I am Vocabularily Challenged. There was a particular adverb I wanted to use. It was right there at the tip of my Medula Oblongata, but it refused to reveal itself to me. Finally, in a moment of clarity, the clouds parted; the sun shined through, spearing my eye, the angels sang their heavenly chorus. Debilitatingly, was the word I was searching for. Shawn's comment SpellCheck told me I was a crappy speller. It looked right to me. I went to Ask.com. (I find that Ask.com does a better job when I type in "Define ______" than most other search engines. It suggests better spelling more often that bears a resemblance to what I'm looking for). So anyway, Ask.com told me I was not deficient in my Spell-Fu. Shawn's comment window continued to put that ugly red line under the word. As is my wont, I chose to decide that I was right and ignore this blot on my intellect.

And another thing. Shawn's video posts are inspiring me to (possibly), follow his example. I'll be getting up at 0'dark-thirty every day, starting next week. (Right now the alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. for leaving the house at 7:00 a.m.) I'll be getting up earlier soon. Why? I need an hour or more in the morning to become vaguely human.

I don't speak in the morning. Even more important than that is that I don't repond to speech in the morning. My mother use to tell me that when I was 6, I'd drag my ass into the kitchen in the morning and she was able to translate my inarticulate grunted response to "Do you want Cocoa Puffs or Quisp this morning?"

So, anyway, back to the point. Shawn recently posted a bunch of videos of himself talking to the camera before his first cup of coffee. (Here they are.) First of all I couldn't believe how brave he was to post those things. I know he wasn't coherent while recording them. I have doubts about his coherence when he actually hit the publish button.

Also, watching yesterday's video entry inspires me to think that I could post video impersonations of some of you guys...or at least impersonations of my impression of some of you guys. (Shawn would actually be really easy.)

I'm not saying I'm going to actually do this, but I think it would be funny. I'll think about it some more and let you know.

P.S. I already know that all of you would like to see me mortifyingly embarrass myself by following through on this threat. Comments on this subject will be harshly judged because it's just too easy a target. I will not be grading on the curve, so make sure you have your chops engaged before poking me on this topic. Just Sayin'.

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My Attitude about Facebook.

I don't remember exactly when I set up a Facebook account, but it was a while ago and I didn't actually do a thing with it. More recently, there's been a bunch of Juicy Heifer friending going on and I'm happy with that. Then, Kate invited me to be a vassal and play Knighthood. (I'm too lazy to link it right now, but you friend people, get them to build you stuff and give them (fake) money to buy loyalty and make them more productive.) Given the time, I'm pretty sure I'd really like playing with Knighthood (sort of an interactive game of Civilization), but there's a problem. It's designed for the folks who run around Facebook friending everyone in sight willy-nilly. And that's never going to be me. You only advance in the game if you keep enlarging your realm and keep assigning vassals (friends) to work in your newly expanded marketplaces, garrisons, etc. You can never have enough friends in Knighthood!

On the other hand, Facebook has resulted in me reconnecting with a few real-life friends from college and one I mentioned having worked with in Seattle a few years back.

Which brings me to this. Jeri, I can, with a fair degree of confidence, state that Mark (the aforementioned work friend in Seattle), is not a stalker, axe-murderer, or fiend of any sort. I had a meal or two at his house with his family and they seem completely normal and safe. Mark, I've been talking to Jeri online for quite a few months now and a few other people I talk to regularly online have actually met her in person. While full UCF membership is closed, I believe we came up with some sort of Adjunct Junior Space Ranger version some time ago. (You'll have to search the archives because I'm way too lazy to search and link stuff).

Anyway, the point is...if at some future date there were to be another UCFish link created, I can pretty much vouch for Mark, but as far as Jeri is concerned, it's entirely possible that she's a dangerous, psychopathic, deranged, zombie...posing as the mild PG-13 personna with the normal home-life and growing boys she claims to be. Her husband seems totally safe from what I've been able to deduce, but I'm not making any guarantees where Jeri's concerned.

Legal Disclaimer: Polybloggimous bears no responsibility for for any decisions made by its readers based on anything actually said or percieved to have been said here. As always, (cribbed from a great weather map over on John's Site), Use for information purposes only. DO NOT USE FOR LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS.

There's a high probability that that line is going up on my banner next time I make a new one.

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And Another Thing...

If someone wants to photoshop a UCFish, I think that would be pretty funny.

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This Week In Text Messaging...

I received...

-Wazzup! It's Kate. Have a great pizza incident-free day!
-Hello, Nathan. You know you'll be getting these all day, right?
-Levitate the dragon, but still drink the soup.
-The super is going to be at least a half hour late for our appointment at Sterling Place.
-Ook! I'm a Librarian!
-Hedgehog Buggerer.
-Aren't we just a little fucking ray of sunshine? Cheer the hell up, dammit!
-Fucking flannel sheets! Oh, you meant paper sheets...sorry.
-Juicy Heifers say "MOO, Mofo, MOO!"
-Are you going to pick up your damned pizza or not? -Dominoes.
-Moo mother fucker, moo.
-Bitch shot me in the foot!

Does anyone detect a pattern? And what's with the weird message about the super being late? That doesn't belong here at all.
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Jeri Made Me Do This...

It's a list of foods. I'll follow her instructions:

Directions: Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. Bold all the items you've eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

(BTW, I copied it but it ditched the columns, so here you go with one long-assed list.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (gin is just foul)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (but also why?)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster yes, Thermidor no
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
and 101. Stinky Tofu!

So, I think I got 59? I lost count every time I counted. Probably more like 55.
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This just in...

I stopped at the book store, so I am now about to interrupt my reading of The Yiddish Policemen's Union to read Zoe's Tale by some guy or other. I really haven't had time to get too far into the former and I've been waiting for the latter. And somehow, because of Chabon beating out Scalzi for a Hugo, it seems slightly appropriate. (Don't worry Mr. Chabon. I'll be back with you presently.)

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A final addition...

Unless something momentous happens, this will close out this weeks edition of MultiPost Saturday™. We just watched Across the Universe (thanks Netflix) and it was pretty damned amazing. When it first came out, I was all excited to see it and then some of the stars were on one of the morning talk shows and performed. Sorry, but they sucked live. So I crossed it off my list.

Amazing what a few hours in the studio can do, though. There was only one song I didn't like the way they did it. And I really want to know what kind of drugs Julie Taymor is on. She's obviously out of her mind...in a way that I admire the hell out of.

Before we watched the movie, I started Zoe's Tale. Sucked in immediately. I read fifty pages while barbecuing. Guess what. I've already laughed a few times. I expected that. Then I bawled a little. Didn't expect that. And then, I was laughing and bawling a little at the same time.

I've got to get back to it now that the movies's over. This may be one of those books I read in one sitting.

31 comments:

Shawn Powers said...

In the words of the kitties, "DO WANT" :D

Videos are really fun, I'm surprised more people don't do it. You'll enjoy it, methinks.

I'll have another driving video today (my commute is about 2 minutes long, perfect for a video). Now, however, I need to go appliance shopping...

Eric said...

Video killed the internet star
Video killed the internet star
Pictures came and broke your blog
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh--


(I'm totally kidding, go ahead and post videos if you want and Shawn's blog is awesome. I just wanted to rip off the '80s reference before anyone else did, except I have one of those bad feelings that this is an example of my brain going somewhere that nobody else's did because my brain is the one that wanders away from the herd and gets viciously attacked and eaten by a buffalo while staring at its own reflection in a watering hole.)

(Yes, I wrote "buffalo" instead of "lion" because somehow the image of a bloody, brain-eating buffalo seemed awesome... which is probably another example of how... see previous paragraph.)

(Ooh, recursive!)

John the Scientist said...

"sun shined"

????

I thought you were a word guy?

OK, maybe you switched sides.

What's the second derivative of cos(x)?

:D

Nathan said...

would you prefer shinnied?

vince said...

Shawn's comment window continued to put that ugly red line under the word.

Oh semi-technologically-challenged one. Shawn's comment-thing doesn't spellcheck. Your browser does. If you're using Firefox, which I believe you are. Comment using Internet Explorer - no squiggly red lines. Comment using Firefox - squiggly red lines. Your mileage with other browsers may vary.

In my experience, the dictionary in the Firefox spellchecker is fairly small and a bit quirky.

vince said...

And to help you answer John's question:

http://www.karlscalculus.org/divrules.html

Nathan said...

Vince,

If you think I'm going to a site called KarlsCalculus, you're out of your mind.

MWT said...

There's a four inch lizard wandering around in my living room, and I have too many nooks and crannies!


/non sequitur of the day

Jeff Hentosz said...

I, too, have never been a morning person, and wake up every day of my life in the hope that some benevolent force has shifted the standard business day to 11-7. Hasn't happened yet, but I try to keep a positive mental attitude that it yet may.

When I was a teenager I would get up (last, behind the other three), and go from room to room, turning off lights and radios that my sisters and brother had just turned on. Then I'd pull the curtains that had just been opened and eat in the dark. And, yes, I had discovered coffee by then -- years before.

Quisp was my all-time favorite cereal as a kid and was only supplanted by Cap'n Crunch when it was discontinued in the US (a real trauma, as I recall, when I was eight or nine). On very rare occasions I've found Canadian or Mexican Quisp for sale at our regional version of the "odd lots" discount store. It's possible that a whole-number fraction of my body mass is Quisp. I refer to it in art and writing whenever possible.

FWIW: "gin martini" is redundant. A martini by definition is made with gin. I don't drink and I know that. (:P stands for "pedant")

Random Michelle K said...

Um... You don't have to switch to the EVIL that is ie to turn off the Firefox spell checker.

If it's the Google Toolbar (which it most likely is) Click on the button for Settings.

Choose options.

Deselect Spellcheck.

Play with the other settings while you're there, because they're fun.

Nathan said...

Allow me to take these in order:

MWT, A four inch lizard? Do tell.

Jeff, I'm all for starting at 11 but I want to knock off by 4. That's a plan I can get behind. And a Vodka Martini would not go amiss at that point.

Michelle, I don't want to do without the spellchecker...believe me, I need it. (more a matter of clumsy fingers that regular bad spelling.) I just want it to spell better.

vince said...

And Jeff, since your site is temporarily out for construction, you must run, I say RUN and purchase "Zoe's Tale." And like, read it immediately. Yes, you personally. You will be pleased.

Not sayin' why. Not gonna tell. But you'll be sorry if you don't.

Nathan said...

Vince, as you'll notice from the latest addition to the Saturday Multipost, I'm moments from opening up Zoe's Tale. If you give even any little teensy hints about it I'm coming after you in a canoe and feeding you to a moose.

Don't you doubt me...I'll do it!

Anonymous said...

Being a psychopathic deranged zombie is kind of like having horrible body odor. You get used to it and can't detect it about yourself... it's only obvious to others. So I can't make any promises, either, although I can say that I don't THINK there are any bodies buried in my crawl space. Yet.

That said, hi Mark! ::waving:: Nice to virtually meet you.

Eric said...

If you're using Firefox, you can also right click on the "misspelled" word and accept an alternate spelling (sometimes Firefox's spellchecker gets finicky about regional settings) or select "Add To Dictionary," which... adds the word to your dictionary. Which takes away the red line.

Much better than using the evil that is Internet Explorer.

Nathan said...

There's no chance I'll be using IE. I keep Firefox and Safari in the dock and I can't remember the last time I used Safari. IE is deeply buried and forgotten in my apps folder.

And what's the equivalent of right-click on my little ole mac?

MWT said...

Yeah, four inch lizard, just like I said. No clue how it got in here. No clue where it is now, either - but I had the patio door open for a while with the screen cracked, so maybe it left.

Right click on a one-button mouse is ctrl-click.

And I'm looking forward to finding out what other awesome staffs/scythes/etc. I might have in my possession in your impression videos. ;)

Jeff Hentosz said...

Nathan: First thing tomorrow go to your nearest dry goods or general store or Target and get a $20 two-button mouse. Just as long as it's USB. Look for Kensington's Mouse-in-a-Box or even Microsoft's cheapest IntelliMouse. They both have good Mac software you can download, or if you can't be bothered they'll work with the system's native controller.

You will berate yourself severely and maybe get a time-out for having gone a day longer than necessary (hint: more than zero) without a real right button and scroll wheel. It's my biggest single disagreement with Apple's philosophy. (They finally started selling their own multi-button mouse a few years ago, but it's spendy.)

Vince: Bought it Monday; read it Thursday & Friday; and, yes, you can imagine.

Nathan said...

Jeff,

I'm totally used to the two-fingered scrolling on the trackpad.

I hate external mouses...can't control them to save my life.

Jeff Hentosz said...

Fair enough. I thought you had an iMac. I have a laptop and a tower both, and for some reason ctrl-clicking is easier on the MacBook keyboard than on the other one.

MWT said...

Yeah, I was going to do the same lecture about getting a multibutton mouse, but the last time I tried that, it turned out they were using the laptop trackpad and were happy with it. I guess that's not uncommon. ;)

Meanwhile I'm quite pleased with my Mighty Mouse with the scrollball. Horizontal scrolling = teh tres awesum1

Anonymous said...

Nathan,
First, thanks a hell of a lot for linking to Shawn's blog. Now I have yet another freaking blog to be addicted to! I loved the Particle Physics Rap, hadn't seen that yet.
Pretty soon I won't be getting any work done @ work, & my bosses will start asking questions. I've decided, since it's a small company, & they're not very computer savvy, I'll tell them the blogs have taken over the computer & won't let the other programs run until they've been read. Hey, it might work.
Second, I'm for the videos. Go for it.
Third, this is going back a few days, but who played the cab driver in your big acting debut? He looks familiar, & it's driving me nuts.

mwt, a lizard in your living room??? Where the heck do you live? If I had a lizard in my house I'd be outside the house, screaming my head off!

Nathan said...

Tracy,

If you want to just stop achieving anything at all, my blogroll should keep you busy. :D

I have no idea who the cab driver was, but you could IMDB "Skins" and try to figure it out.

And MWT is in the wilds of Georgia. I'm sure it's the same kind of lizard I grew up with in North Florida. They're completely harmless. If you pick them up, you can rub their necks and hypnotize them into a stupor. Or you can really piss them off and let them bite you. Unless they get hold of a really tender spot, it feels like putting a clothes pin on your finger.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it would. hehehe I spent this morning just on Shawn's blog alone.
Ah, I thought it was 1 of your projects, & you doubled as an extra. Checked imdb(best website ever created), no pic, & only 2 roles listed, so I guess he's not familiar after all.
No lizards for me thanks. Glad we don't have them here in PA.
I'm going to have to check out this book Zoe's Tale that you're all talking about. I'm intrigued, & love to read. Finish it yet? ;-)

John the Scientist said...

Nathan - if it gives off light, it's "shone", if it's made shiny, it's "shined". Leastways that's what they taught me back in the dark ages.

Anyway, what's the 2nd deriv? :p

Random Michelle K said...

I'm somewhat disconcerted by the fact that I seem to be harassing you more than everyone else.

I'm mean, geez! I thought this was annoy Nathan week!

Nathan said...

Tracy, Zoe's Tale is the fourth book in a series starting with Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

Many (most?) of us here met from reading Scalzi's blog and then another site he set up, so we're all familiar with the books. (You may have noted a lot of interest in science fiction and fantasy here).

At any rate, the books are each written to be able to read each without having read any others in the series (and I think Zoe's Tale even more so), but I'd really suggest reading them in order.

BTW, if you're not a science fiction fan, don't let that scare you away. There's enough of the neato-shiny-zappy-future stuff to keep us nerds happy, but primarily these books are all really about people who happen to be in space. Their totally accessible to the non-geek crowd.

Nathan said...

Oops..THEY'RE, not their.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Nathan, I'm surprised you even remember me since I was so low on the totem pole at that production. I'm glad you'll vouch for me and my family. My wife's parole officer will like that. You have an interesting group here and i enjoy reading the posts.

Nathan said...

Jeff,

I don't know if you'll come back and pick up this thread or not, but what Vince said? SoooooCoool.

How the hell did you rate that?

I'm envious in just so many ways.

Anonymous said...

What??? I'm surrounded by a bunch of sci-fi geeks????????? Yikes! :D Oh well, I like it enough to stay anyway. :) Plenty of content to interest everyone.
Don't know if you're still around Shawn, but what's the soda in MI, Vernor's or Vernon's? I remember it was something kind of strange, took some getting used to, but then I liked it.