2.28.2001

Despite being inundated with work and getting tossed around in yesterday's Seattle earthquake, Red has updated GeekSpeak with commentary for This Is Not Happening by her and Colleen. What a gal.

Today's MommyPic



<Soon after being adopted, my mother was on a boat
with her new parents and headed for Ireland,
where she lived for about a year, I believe.
>

2.27.2001

I am such an unlucky person that something this mundane is indeed an aberration and should be noted: I looked under the cap and if I buy one 20 oz Diet Pepsi I can get one free!! Woohoo!

Today is my mother's birthday and as I went looking for a picture of her to post, I found some really good old ones. So, in honor of her birthday, you will all be treated to a chronicle of her life (kinda), up until her wedding day 36 years ago. Ooooh!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!!



<check out that hat, either one>
<my mother is the one pushing the pram>



"The Smoking Gun brings you exclusive documents -- cool, confidential, quirky -- that can't be found elsewhere on the Web. Using material obtained from government and law enforcement sources, via Freedom of Information requests, and from court files nationwide, we guarantee everything here is 100% authentic. The Smoking Gun is a Pierre Salinger-free zone."

Very cool, even if I feel like I'm breaking the law. I just finished reading about the backstage demands of Britney Spears and the rock band Live, as well as the police report for an assault charge against the lead singer of Creed and the sentencing transcript for Tony Sirico, the actor who plays Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos (Sirico did time years ago). Their archive has loads of stuff, and I have a feeling I have found a new way to completely waste my time. And I feel a bit dirty now, but I'm sure that will pass soon enough.

2.26.2001

GeekSpeak update: Red added my comments to the Per Manum discussion.

Goodnight all.

beansie cam



I've always thought this was cool.

2.24.2001

We're Pinky, we're Pinky and The Brain Brain Brain Brain....the day those mice become self-aware and launch a full-scale revolt, all I'll have to say is, well, those mad scientists were asking for it ;-).

I have been remiss in my duties as a friend. It was Red's birthday yesterday, and I neglected to mention it. I am here now to remedy that infraction.

Happy Birthday, Red!!

2.23.2001

"Matter's fee discount percentage (Billing Instruction discount percent, as diplayed/entered in IBI discount field on page 1 when a matter level instruction or on page 2 if matter is a member of a client level instruction) OR if a courtesy discount flat amount was entered in the IBI Amount discount field on page 1 when a matter level instruction or on page 2 if matter is a member of a client level instruction, MATDISCPCT will display a calculated discount percent."

Uhhh...

This is what I am reading at 4:15 on a Friday afternoon. What am I? A masochist? I think I may finally understand what they're saying now that I've read it for the fifth time.

X-Files stuff: Xcursion boys have their Per Manum review up; and the Official Site has images and a script crawl from This Is Not Happening.

You mean it never was one before??

2.22.2001

Here are two quotes from President Bush, made recently at an elementary school in Texas regarding, of all things, his education plan:

"You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."

"As the old adage, one size does not fit all in public education -- it is very true. It is very true. We had the same goal in Tennessee and Texas, and that is every child learn."

Good Lord.






"It's a very unusual emotion I'm feeling right now. I think it's called humility. I'm completely not used to it."
-- Bono, accepting the award for record of the year for "Beautiful Day"

U2 got what they deserved at the Grammys last night.

2.21.2001

In celebration of the Season 3 premiere of the The Sopranos on Sunday, March 4, I invite you to visit the Sopranos Mob Name Generator.

My gangster name would be The Wishbone, the implications of which are too disturbing to contemplate for very long.

Where's a Coliseum when you need one?
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you.
Red has updated GeekSpeak with reviews and commentary for Per Manum.

2.20.2001

Gosh, where have the past 2 days disappeared to?

I met some people after work on Friday night for some drinks. I work for a law firm, and there were a couple of partners there. I was having an interesting conversation with one of the partners about television, and the topic turned to The Sopranos. He's seen about half of one season, and really liked what he saw. He started to get a faraway look in his eye, and wondered aloud, "Now, what's that guy's name, he works for Tony..."

Like a deer caught in his headlights I stood there, struck dumb and paralyzed at the prospect of having to say "Big Pussy" to one of these guys. Much to my relief, he remembered the name himself - Christopher. So not only did I not have to say the "p-word", but I was also spared the likely more unsettling experience of hearing him say it to me.

2.18.2001

I was in the doctor's waiting room with my mother yesterday morning, and I was reading a Newsweek magazine that had profiles of the new members of Bush's cabinet.

I get to a page that has a big picture of John Ashcroft on it, and I hear my mother, who is sitting right next to me, say, "I like him."

I think to myself, "Okaaaaaay," and just ignore her. My mother and I don't agree on all things political, but Ashcroft? Whatever.

As I turn the page, she says, "If he were to ever run for President he would win easily."

Okay, whoa. I turn to her and say, "What?? John Ashcroft??"

She turns the page back and says, "Oh, I thought that was Colin Powell."

I said, "Mommy, Colin Powell wears glasses, and he's black!!"

Once I stopped laughing, it was comforting to realize that she is just blind, not insane. Well, not completely.

2.17.2001

*yaaawwn*

How about some X-Files stuff this morning? The Xcursion boys have their Medusa review up, while Red has posted my take on the episode at GeekSpeak. And while I'm at it, I might as well mention that the Official Site has posted some very cool pictures from Sunday's upcoming episode, Per Manum. There's a script crawl on the homepage, so beware of spoilage.

I am a hurtin' unit this morning. I spent the day in our new office yesterday, moving computers, servers and printers, as well as installing them and a phone and voice mail system. I finished up there at around 7:00 and then proceeded to happy hour for a couple. I am so pathetically out of shape, I think even my fingers are hurting today.

2.15.2001

I was driving from one of our satellite offices back to the main branch today when I was hit with one of those Top-40-song-induced-flashbacks. Dancin' Oldies 93.7 was playing Sheila E's 80s hit, "Glamorous Life". Good God! I was immediately tossed back in time to the night that my best friend and I went to see Sheila E and her band at a New Haven night club called Toad's Place. Jeez, it must have been what, 1985? I think I was a junior in college at the time. God, that was a fun night, and she was incredible.

It's sort of sad when they start playing songs from your college days on "dancin' oldies", isn't it?. I'll tell ya though, I was gettin' down in the truck.

2.14.2001

The Onion, which has a new issue out today, is moving its offices from midwestern Madison, Wisconsin to the tragically hip New York City. I wonder what The Times will think of its new neighbors?


a rose i got from the boss today.
happy valentine's day, everyone.


For your edification, this from the History Channel website:

"The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young, single men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. "

And while we're on the subject of love, you might want to take this test....

beansie cam



2.13.2001

(BTW, my reason for not using Napster has nothing to do with any moral objections I may have - I just don't have a CD burner and can't see what use I'd get out of it otherwise).
I am finally feeling somewhat healthy again. I'm sure the full night's sleep I had last night has made all the difference. As a matter of fact, I need to try to do my best to get to bed at a decent hour every night. My body doesn't bounce back like it used to.

We seem to have emerged unscathed from the Kournikova. Four of our users infected themselves by clicking on an attachment they were told they shouldn't click on, but the virus wasn't really a virus, per se - it was a worm, with no mailicious code, whose intent is to clog up and bring down e-mail servers. That didn't happen here, thankfully. Everyone and everything was cleaned by 6:00 P.M. last night. Not bad.


I've been trying to form an opinion on yesterday's Napster appellate court decision, but possibly because I am not a Napster user, I don't really have very strong feelings on the matter. I think Napster and the service it provides is great, but is it legal? Giving away copyrighted material? Never has been before. And isn't that exactly what makes Napster so much fun - the fact that you're getting something that you should really be paying for, for free? "Contributory copyright infringement" is what they are calling it - that Napster cannot claim that it has no control over what its users do, and that it (Napster) has a responsibility to control or monitor how its system is being used. I tend to agree with the court's decision, I'm afraid. If the recording industry had its act together with regard to technology and the web, users would have been able to download copyrighted material in digital form (for a much lower price than retail) years ago. Artists like David Bowie and Prince ( or TAFKAP, lol) have been making their music available digitally for quite some time now (hell, Bowie even provides his own ISP for crying out loud). I don't think this decision signals the end of Napster. Just the end of the free stuff.

2.12.2001

OY! Our office got hit with that Anna Kournikova virus at lunchtime today. As far as I can tell, we only had 4 machines infected. I'm off to install the current anti-virus definitions and do some hard drive scanning. I hope this doesn't keep me here until all hours of the night.
For my Napster-using friends: Appellate Court ruling expected today.

Is it Friday, yet?

2.11.2001

I've updated cool stuff. Back to laundry.
Here I am, on the back end of another weekend. And amazingly enough, there is no snow in sight! Well, at least there isn't any falling from the sky. I have a list of good intentions for the day - laundry, site updates, some X-Files related writing - I'll let you know later how much I actually accomplish today.

I've been torn about whether or not I want to see "Hannibal". Wait, that's not exactly true. I'm pretty sure I don't want to see it, I just need to stay strong against the hype machine. Silence of the Lambs was a damn near perfect movie, except for the very last scene, when a very dapper-looking Hannibal Lecter tells Clarice that he'll be "having someone for dinner." As the audience cheered at the notion of Lecter brutally murdering and then eating someone, I thought to myself, "Um, excuse me, this man is not the hero of this movie." I have not read Hannibal the book (although I have read both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs), and I know nothing about the plot of the film, but from what I have read about it thus far, I get the feeling that the portrayal of Hannibal picks right up from that last telephone call scene with Clarice. No thanks. Maybe I'll rent it someday.

In a continuing serial killer/grisly crime theme (lovely, the things I'm interested in)... read how drama on PBS, in this case "Mystery", isn't just about corsets and castles. Mmm, I love that Dave Creegan.

I went to the mall yesterday and was of course assaulted at every turn by some marketing expert's notion of Valentine's Day. The best had to be the "love" section in Spencer Gifts, LOL. "Booby Oil", "Bondage Starter Kit", "Comfy Cuffs", edible condoms, oh all sorts of "romantic" stuff. We were in hysterics.

2.09.2001

Okay, what is wrong with me? Am I not a 36-year-old, college-educated, professional woman? Why am I dying to see Saving Silverman? What strange attraction does this movie hold for me? I mean dude, come on, I have better taste than this! Seriously, though, the second I saw Jack Black and Steve Zahn sitting together in the same room in that movie trailer, I knew that something special was about to happen. And Neil Diamond?? I'm sorry, but any movie that has Neil Diamond in it is worth the price of admission.

2.08.2001

Christ Almighty, it's snowing again. This is what went on in my backyard on Monday. Enough already. I sit here, crabby as all hell, still quite sick, at work and just off a disagreement with my mother, and I click on this. Just what I needed. It doesn't take much to influence my mood sometimes - does that mean I'm easy?

It's been nice and quiet around the house the past couple of days. Little Pidge went and got herself "altered" and Sheila and I are both enjoying the peace and quiet that has descended upon us during her convalescence. I am sure she will be back to her spazzy self soon enough, but let's not rush things.


yes, she does have eyes

I have to apologize for the lack of any updates to this site lately. I have been pretty busy with other aspects of my life, and ill as well, but my only real excuse is a somewhat apathetic attitude towards the site itself. But that cloud seems to be lifting, so I hope to add some new content quite soon. I promise.

2.07.2001

Heads-up for all of my morbid friends (you know who you are) -- From HBO: "Mark your calendars: Dead Men Talking: An Autopsy Special Premieres March 11 at 11PM EST!"

2.06.2001

"I don't mind the sort of exercise that's a means to an end, such as cycling along to (the local pub) the Jack and Hammer; I just dislike the sort that appears to be an end in itself. I saw today, running along the Pennine way, a jogger. This one was in flaming red, neon red. Now, I ask you: three of the gloomiest minds in literature, bless them, set their accounts of despair, desolation, broken hearts, on these moors. Bleak as mines, barren, rocky. How dare someone in flaming red jog across them? She was probably carrying a piece of natural grain bread and a bottle of Perrier for weights." Melrose Plant, a man after my own heart. From The Old Silent, by Martha Grimes, the book I'm currently devouring.
Could someone please tell me why this is the "absolute height of stupidity"?

Red has posted her fantastic open letter to Chris Carter at GeekSpeak. Red, you are shaming me into getting back to writing episode commentary. Once I feel a bit better, I swear...really.

2.05.2001

It's snowing again. A lot. And just when things had started to melt. The bright side: I picked a good day to be home sick.

Here, read all about sluts and teddy bears, while I go make some pancakes and then plop myself on the couch for the day.

2.04.2001

The Hubble telescope has captured the spectacularly beautiful death of another star. "By observing sun-like stars such as this one as they approach their deaths, astronomers are beginning to discover that our sun's fate probably will be more interesting, complex, and striking than previously imagined, according to the Space Telescope Science Institute." What a shame it is that the Earth will very likely be ripped apart when it happens. It'd be nice to get pictures.

Tonight's X-Files episode "The Gift" (2 gifts in one day!) represented the start of the much ballyhooed return of Agent Mulder. He hasn't in fact returned yet, but the story, told in part in flashback, expanded a bit on some seeds that were planted at the beginning of this season regarding his disappearance. All I can say right now is, I really hope that Doggett does not know how he was brought back to life. I'm sure there will be post-episode chatter to link to later on this week.

My first blog day is done. What have I learned today? I learned how to insert line breaks, how to italicize, how to bold my links, how to insert my e-mail link, and most importantly I learned not to tempt fate by telling all my family and friends how immune to sickness I had become after not having had a sick day since last June. *cough* That's what I get.
After much trial and error, it seems I have finally successfully added a blog to my homepage :). My timing, as usual, is impeccable. I'm hoping I didn't just board a sinking ship.

I'm a bit brain-dead today, and I think it's because I'm getting a lovely cold. *hack* I'm off to see The Gift this afternoon. I haven't been to a movie theater in ages. I hope it's not full of juvenile delinquents, herded there by parents who want them out of the house as much as I want them to stay there. Ah, well.
Well, I've gone and done it. I've joined the rest of the lemmings and jumped off the blog cliff. I'm trying this out, in the hope that it will simplify the site's updating process and hopefully allow me to update more frequently. And now, ladies and gentlemen, for my first blog link, I invite you to visit blogger.com, the provider of this wonderful free service. Welcome to my blog.