And Then There’s Me
The Hierarchy of Blogging. (via Monkeyfilter) He forgot to put an arrow indicating the fact that the bloggers who publish pictures of their cats on Livejournal in Spanish L33tspeak with a big pink pagecounter (and use lots of smileys) look down on me because I don’t have a cat, Livejournal, big pink pagecounter and have no idea how to do Spanish L33tspeak with smileys.
Horse Crossing
It’s Halloween and the little kiddies are out in force with their bad costumes and their best begging-for-candy faces. The town’s fire department/police department is holding free horse rides for the kiddies. Or at least I assume so because I was concentrating on the road and the cars rather than the crowd of people.
Anyways, earlier today another student and I went down to Manchester for the Nanowrimo kick-off party. Lots of familiar as well as not-so-familiar faces in the writer frenzy. I just had a great time listening in on the crazy conversations. One Nano-er had self-published her 2001 novel and another had self-published a poetry chapbook which they self-promoted during the party (they got some sales too, which I thought impressive). I also took some pictures–which I might get around to posting them when I get them developed.
A small part of me wished that everyone would have talked about their novel plots a little more. You know, so I wouldn’t inadvertently copy someone. Or they could have talked more about how they were going about doing the novel this year–the unfortunate thing is that most people attending were already Nano veterans so that kind of thing was more “old hat.”
I did get a Nanowrimo emergency kit though. Altoids, here I come!
Some Notes
So in less than 24 hours, all hell is going to break loose because I will be plunged into the madness called Nanowrimo. I know I made some promises of some sort about not talking about writing on this blog, but well, tough luck. I’ll be jabbering about writing anyway. So if you want some amusement during November, you can watch me crash and burn over at Writing Sya. (Hint: The link that says “journal” is actually a blog and not a rip-your-heart-out diary.)
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Unconscious Mutterings
The Secret Life of Librarians
This morning, in a half-awake, half-asleep state, I stumbled into the library elevator because I was too lazy to take the stairs. As what King Louis XV called “The Flying Chair” rumbled to life, my brain slowly cleared and I realized I was staring at a green placard with the room directory. At eye level were the words:
Stud Rooms
“What the crap?” I thought. But before I got around to contemplating what that actually meant, the flying chair spat me out into the stacks, bewildered.
Random Stuff (Because I Couldn’t Think of a Better Title)
Scraping frost off the car windows is a pain in the arse. What I need is a super-duper powered hair dryer. At least I got some exercise–but that doesn’t mean I liked it.
Also, I have now figured out why the parking lot during the weekdays is always full no matter how early I come to school. The med students with their ridiculously shiny SUVs have early morning classes.
Daptomycin, an antibiotic that kills gram-positive bacteria by messing with their ion channels, has now been approved to be used for VISA (vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus). As a pessimist, I’m wondering when the bug will start developing resistance to the “new” (actually it’s been around since the 1980’s but people were still working out the side-effects) drug. Some people just don’t understand the word “overuse.”
Hoarded Ordinaries. A weblog by someone who lives in Keene, New Hampshire. I had a good laugh at this entry: Not-quite-sex in the not-quite-city. Apparently she also went to the Pumpkin Festival, but she has pictures up. (Whereas I still have to get mine developed. Yeah I’m such a luddite, but I don’t have money to buy a digital camera right now.) And while I was just content with soaking up the atmosphere, she and her friends were trolling the streets for hunks.
So, Since Most People Won’t Care…
I absolutely hate the note card method. Everyone is gushing over it like there’s no tomorrow. I’m assuming that’s the case because a lot of people learn by note card method. I can’t learn that way. What I do is read a chunk of text and just memorize the heck out of it. So how do I outline a plot? I do actual outlining. And maybe some free-writing. In a notebook. No note cards. Note cards tend to get lost and you only get to see one card at a time. Sure, you can rearrange them, but that requires space. And I never have space.
Besides, real geeks don’t use note cards. Note cards are for wannabe-yuppies and self-absorbed artists who wear black all the time.
(Cross-posted at Writing Sya.)
Up, Up, and Away
Cooking to Hook Up: The Bachelor’s Date-Night Cookbook. It’s basically a “What kind of girl are you?” quiz. Blech. I don’t want to be blatantly pigeon-holed. But what do you expect from a site shilling a dating book for guys desperately trying to get laid?
Which File Extension Are You? (via Shawn Allison) Okay, this pigeon-holing isn’t so obvious but I like this quiz better than the first quiz because it’s gender neutral and just plain bizarre. My result: “You are mp3. The kids love you. You get along with just about everybody except the music industry. You really make yourself heard.”
Can’t tell a cause without a scorecard. (via Dustbury) Going overboard about this stuff doesn’t even begin to describe it. On another note: Why do people have to decorate their clothes, their cars, their houses, the trees in their backyard with a kazillion ribbons? All this ribbon wasting isn’t going to convince a passerby to join your cause. It’s like those religious nuts who preach on corners. They’re very loud and vocal but in the end, you just know they’re doing it to show off and not to educate other people.
Dressing the Victorian Lady from the 1850’s. (via Reflections in d minor) Well, I suppose it’s enormously restrictive compared to today’s standards, but during the Victorian era people were absolute fanatics about covering stuff up. I heard they also covered table and chair legs in the fear that it would give randy people Bad Ideas.
School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches. Why don’t we just ban every other holiday while we’re at it?
Top Ten Things Never to Send Your Favorite Writer. To me, writing a fan letter to a writer seems strange. I guess the problem is, even though there are writers whose work that I like, I don’t have the temperament to be an obsessive and/or dedicated fan. The only time I ever wrote to an author was in elementary school for an assignment. As I recall, I wrote something to Gary Paulsen. I got a typed form letter back–which was more than what some other people got (i.e. nothing).
Top 101 Web Sites. (via The Modulator) Atrocious navigation. I have an idea! Someone should go through every one of those 101 websites and list them on one easy to access page along with some snarky commentary where appropriate.
Using Movable Type for slideshows. (via Kottke) Arg! Please don’t make weblogs into Powerpoint presentations. Powerpoint is part of my own personal Axis of Evil (which includes television and the local DMV).
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So I was googling “Syaffolee” the other day and came upon the Blogshares profile of this site. Someone had voted +5 for personal and -5 for journalism. Well, duh! I’m not a journalist; I’m not even pretending to be a journalist–the closest I’ve been as a journalist was in high school when I was the news editor for the school paper. And I don’t think that counts in real life anyway.
The Thursday Threesome: Rolltop Desk
Onesome: Roll– On a roll lately? What have you been up to where things just keep falling into place (maybe you’re a Red Sox fan)? Yeah, what’s working (even if it’s just the TV)?
One of my projects in lab after many weeks of frustrating troubleshooting.
Twosome: Top– Top of the world? What’s the highest point you’ve ever been? No, the airliner doesn’t count, I’m talking about standing somewhere . Have you made it to the roof? …the Eiffel Tower? Mt. McKinley? How high is high for you?
I’ve been on the CN Tower.
Threesome: Desk– Hey, what type of setup do you have for your computer work? Are you working from a laptop while sitting on the couch? …or maybe you have a high tech workstation/hutch combo with mood lighting and soothing music? No? How about the kitchen table? Where do you post and work from?
I am working at a desk on a laptop. Sorry, but I don’t have anything interesting about the surrounding environment.
Mood: Frothing at the Mouth
I just wanted to turn in one of those stupid little forms you could print out from the DMV website to the local DMV, but nobody would take it. They kept referring me to the other person who referred me back to the first person. Incompetents! I ended up mailing the damn thing.
And never drive behind a New Hampshire Municiple truck. They cover up their break lights so you can never tell when they’re slowing down.
Also: Why did someone someone e-mail me a link exchange request thinking that my website was about birds? I’m a microbiologist, damn it!
Those Wacky Parties
Hm. I just got an invite to a grad student party that involves alcohol and pumpkin carving. I think I’ll pass. I don’t think alcohol and knives mix very well. Besides, I’ve already overdosed on pumpkins this past Saturday.
I’d rather go to a Nanowrimo kick-off party. You know, a boring and geeky get-together of wannabe novelists ranting about word counts and plot points. The craziest thing that could happen would be something like someone getting inspired to put busty lesbian ninja pirates into their story.
Don't Shake the Flask 