June « 2007 « Indecisive Peach

Yes! Friday! Where have you been all week?

June 15, 2007

Appetizer
Fill in the blank: The best thing about where I live is _________________…

Small scale: Maddeningly awesome old grandparent-type landlords, one of which likes to remind people how hip he was in his frat back in the 1950s.

Large scale: The weather is absolutely grand. I soak this stuff up – 3 digit weather tends to get some people all soggy and downtrodden here, but I get soggy and chipper. And then I get heat stroke.

Soup
Create a new name for a deodorant (like “Flower Fresh” or “Shower Scent”).

“I heartily believe that consumerism is a salve for my soul” or “Tree Spirit” – have your pick.

Salad
What was the last piece of software you installed onto your computer?

That’s a good question… I believe it was a program to convert my WMAs for the Chinese program I have to mp3s so that I can listen to it at work.

Main Course
If you were to receive a superlative award today beginning with the words ”Most likely to…”, what would the rest of the phrase say?

Most likely to create a spiritual journey through the seeking of Mexican food and margaritas.

Dessert
What two colors do you like to wear together?

Green and brown. Or blue and brown. Or brown and brown. I like brown. I’m having a phase. Last week it would have been green.

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Contemplative Wednesday

June 13, 2007

“Fortunately, the Internet has the potential to revitalize the role played by the people in our constitutional framework. It has extremely low entry barriers for individuals. It is the most interactive medium in history and the one with the greatest potential for connecting individuals to one another and to a universe of knowledge. It’s a platform for pursuing the truth, and the decentralized creation and distribution of ideas, in the same way that markets are a decentralized mechanism for the creation and distribution of goods and services. It’s a platform, in other words, for reason. But the Internet must be developed and protected, in the same way we develop and protect markets—through the establishment of fair rules of engagement and the exercise of the rule of law. The same ferocity that our Founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the Internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic. We must ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to all citizens without any limitation on the ability of individuals to choose the content they wish regardless of the Internet service provider they use to connect to the Web. We cannot take this future for granted. We must be prepared to fight for it, because of the threat of corporate consolidation and control over the Internet marketplace of ideas.”

-Al Gore, from The Assault on Reason

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Blogging Emergency! Or Introducing:

June 13, 2007

Pagan Quill

Did you think D, at …eats bugs, and I were going to stop at our individual sites? Oh, but no!

“Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”
“The same thing we do every night, Pinky – Try to take over the world!”

D explains the project so well here. I’ll explain more tomorrow.

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I request a blue or tan shirt please.

June 9, 2007

Expendibility

But in all reality (at least for that show), I would be in a mini skirt and a beehive. I think I could work that.

“Star Trek Inspirational Posters – Based on those delightful inspirational posters which have become a fixture of dentist’s offices everywhere.”

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Getting around to Feast

June 8, 2007

Appetizer
What do you consider to be the ultimate snack food?

I can’t say it’s the ultimate, but I’ve been going through a popcorn stage as of late, partially due to the fact that I make it every Thursday night at the theater I volunteer at. Then, during finals, I had a couple of session where I was sitting on my computer, typing with one hand and supplying a continous motion of popcorn to face with the other.

It was horrible.

I should say fruit… But you know what? I like vegtable platters more. The ones at Albertson’s aren’t too shabby.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), about how popular is your last name?

How can a last name be popular on that sort of scale? Who defines that? My Mom had a theory that she never wanted to be married and have to change her name to Mueller, Myer, or Schmidt – some of the more absolutely dead common German last names. I’ve decided that I refuse to change my last name to a color [Not because of that, silly. I just think - a cog in the wheel anyone? …Here I go offending folks.] or anything consisting with a jumble of consonances and random Z’s and Y’s. (Or a silent anything, now that I consider it.)

Besides, it took me so long to figure out a snazzy signature, I’m not going to muck that up now. Personally my last name ranks a 7.5 with me.

Salad
Who is your all-time favorite sitcom character, and why?

I draw a blank here. I read the question and my mind become this Zen silence, with the twitter of birds and the rustling of trees. I’m not the biggest fan of sitcoms.

Main Course
Do you shop online? If so, name some sites you like to browse for goodies.

Hullo! Of course I do! I love me some Half.com…some Ebay… a little sprinkling of Amazon.com and, just recently, a girly addition of Sephora.com because they ship their stuff in a nice box. (Free box!)

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I think ___________ should be ___________.

I think I should be getting ready for work, or at least getting breakfast, instead of doing this.

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Contemplative Wednesday

June 6, 2007

“Meet your descendants. They don’t know what it’s like to be involuntarily lost, don’t understand what we mean by the word “privacy”, and will have access (sooner or later) to a historical representation of our species that defies understanding. They live in a world where history has a sharply-drawn start line, and everything they individually do or say will sooner or later be visible to everyone who comes after them, forever. They are incredibly alien to us.”

- Charlie Stross

And from Dave, a commenter from the excellent article:

“Forget privacy, just not being connected all the time to your social circle is going to be a rare and [traumatic] event. Having anything we would call a “private” life isn’t going to be a quaint notion, it’s going to be a terrifying perversion.”

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How do you say “Bird of Prey”?

June 6, 2007

It’s been several years that I have been looking into taking a Chinese class. During the undergraduate years it was always blocked due to some class requirement or another. Finally, next semester I will be able to take the Monday through Thursday class. *punches air with fist*

I had been looking to get a head start and found several programs, both for the computer and audio/book versions, which would let me practice at my own pace during the summer.

Last night I bought a microphone to make use of a function in a specific program which would gauge my ability to form the tonal sounds. It would measure my pitch, my form, and my emphasis in a given phrase. It was interesting to see that there was this continuation/merging of sounds between words, creating a contstan burr that neither English nor German can recreate. (Even if the running joke is that German has an ungodly connection of consonants, that’s not something I can really judge as a bad thing.) One of the books did note that the German “ch” sound, as in “Ich”, is used in Chinese as well. Score one for the team, because I need what I can get.

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How hard the trees must work

June 6, 2007

I started riding my bike to work again the last couple of weeks. Things have changed since a couple years back when I attempted the same idea. Back then, I arrived at the Archives (me, with the steady and boring life), out of breath and heart nearly bursting from my chest. As I wobbled to my desk, face ashen, I remarked how everything seemed darker…yet, lighter.

My boss, as if popped out of her chair by springs, jumped up to loom over me and demanded my intake of water or juice. After my typical stubborn refusal, she went downstairs to purchase some juice for me anyhow, lest her student worker slumped over, unconscious, onto her keyboard.

Later that day I sheepishly asked if we could stuff my bicycle into her cute [Read: Small] VW and if she could give me a ride home.

Things now aren’t so dire.

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I are on bandwagon.

June 4, 2007

BLAWG

Can I please use this in my powerpoint for the conference?

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Varying Degrees of Normalcy

June 3, 2007

I could write about how I ran around the house coughing in the dense smoke, cat under one arm and furiously clawing at the fire alarm while J ran to investigate the smoke that could only come from whatever I had set upon the stove.

But this is normal.

I could explain how burning cabbage and potatoes are not the most pleasant of smells and how I’ve lost another kitchen item to the war that is my culinary education.

But this too is also normal.

What is not normal in this nightly routine is an e-mail pertaining to a conference I have to present at in October. A beginning program was attached noting me, Area Woman, Area State University, as a verified presenter. My Gods people, THAT is serious!

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Posted by firewings