BSG Finale & Random Thing #4

Watched the BSG finale last night with DH. Other than finding the heavy handed moralizing annoying, the 'tribute' to the old show's theme song sappy, too many flashbacks (just had to go 2 hrs for a "proper" finale, so let's film some flashback filler), and a mild case of wtf with Starbuck, I enjoyed it.

Now here's the question I bet you're all been wondering about: what season passes are on Dawno's TiVo? Even if you're not, I'm posting them. It's Random Thing #4 (at this rate I'll get to #50 some time in 2014)

ETA: 30 Rock
Bones
BSG
Castle
CSI (only the original one though)
ETA: Chuck (thanks for the reminder, Alby)
Dollhouse
Eureka
Heroes
House
Lie to Me
Lost
Mad Men
Monk
My Name is Earl
NCIS
NUMB3RS
Psyche
Reaper
Trust Me

Things I watch online because they're not TiVo'd for one or another reason

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Damages
Raising the Bar
Smallville

Lots of speculative or science oriented shows with some police-type procedurals thrown in and a couple lawyer dramas. Did I ever mention that until I realized I'd never "get" the math, I wanted to be a scientist? I didn't care what type, but from about 3rd grade I wanted to do something that entailed lab coats and beakers or better yet, a space suit. Then in college I thought about law. Although I didn't end up in either, at least I work in tech now. I may not design or program the stuff, but I do get to see lots of cool tech in action every day and use a lot of it, too.

Money is Flying Out of the Windows of the Pickup in Front of You - What Would You Do?

My daughter called me a bit after 5pm tonight. "Mom, I can't believe people! I mean, they were putting themselves and others in such danger! They were even running out on to the freeway!" She was headed home on the northbound 805 in San Diego. Suddenly she noticed cars stopped on the median and the breakdown lane (possibly in the freeway too, but I can't remember exactly). It took her a moment to figure it out - they were crouching and sitting and stooping. Then she saw some paper fly by - they were stopping to pick up as much money as they could as it fluttered down the freeway.

Yep. The details aren't all in yet, but apparently just a little ways ahead of her there was a pickup being chased by the police with money being flung out the windows. The police recovered $18k. The news story said "It was unknown how much money was collected by passers-by or how much money may have been thrown out in the first place."

I'm proud of my daughter for driving straight home and avoiding the freeway later on her way to her evening class.

Extreme Sheep LED Art - Another Brave Astro(bat)naut

I watch a Live Journal group, Discworld, and a member, mama_hogswatch posted this today (it's fitting for the Discworld group because she references Granny Aching and the Aching clan are shepherds) - it's rather amazing, not too long, do watch the whole thing.



Wow. The sheepdogs are the truly amazing part of the story - that they can take the commands and control the sheep to produce these amazing movement patterns.

And my DH just sent me the link to this clip (via Gizmodo)



Enterprise fans will recognize the theme song...

Lastly, I won't go into details, but I'm very happy right now with BofA's credit card customer service. Several things were frustrating me and now I've finally gotten to the bottom of it and they're fixing it all up. *whew*

Noted Scientist Agrees With Me - Excel Sucks

See, Chad Orzel, noted scientist guy, professor and owner of a very cute dog who understands physics, and who (Chad that is, not the...well, sometimes his dog does, too) blogs at Uncertain Principles for Science Blogs.com, agrees with me about Excel!

Miscellaneous other thoughts and random stuff:

Did you notice my Star Trek movie countdown widget in the sidebar? Well, I'm more impatient than before for that to reach 0:00:00 - saw the new trailer this weekend while waiting for Watchmen (which I really enjoyed) to start. Some of the same scenes as past trailers, but a few new bits. Too bad they don't have an embeddable clip on the official site. You can go to Apple.com and watch it - click on Trailer3.

Watched the new mini-series Kings on the web the other evening, as I hadn't heard about it in time to either have it TiVo'd or watch live. Think "Dallas" or "Falcon Crest" but with alternate reality New York-type metropolis as a setting, monarchy instead of republic as the form of government, but everything else seems rather 21st Century US-ian, down to the cars and clothes. I'll give it another episode or two to prove itself - the CGI and other photography is pretty well done, pacing was ok, plot - just read I and II Kings in the Bible for spoilers, I guess...

Lastly, I watched Colbert Report again to hear the interview of David Grann. While Colbert interrupted and took off on tangents so David was barely able to give a coherent account of his book, I did hear enough to decide I wanted to read it. Now. Not wait for it to arrive via Amazon or even drive to the store, NOW. So I went to the publisher's page, Random House, and saw there was an eBook option. Not just Kindle or Sony, but other distributors and one of them was Mobipocket, which I have. Mission accomplished!

Am a few chapters in, and really, really enjoying it (click the link above on David Grann to see some great stuff about the book on his website or scroll down to see the Colbert interview) - it's not only the story of the original explorer Fawcett, but a modern exploration that tried to follow in Fawcett's footsteps and possibly find out what happened to him, but also the story of the author's exploration of the explorers...all interwoven and skillfully written. If you want to get the book through Amazon, (this is the only paperback edition available) please use the link below and I'll get a few pennies for it. Also available for the Kindle.





Here's the Colbert interview:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

David Grann

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Mark Sanford
NASA Name Contest

He Gets it!! Graveyard Book - Gaiman Interview on Colbert Report

I don't watch the Colbert Report much - used to, just fell out of the habit - but I was always astounded with how many of the interviewees on his show didn't seem to be clear the show's concept (same goes for people being interviewed by Daily Show correspondents)...that being, "it's satire you dolt - why are you looking [puzzled, insulted, upset, stunned like a wack-a-mole]?"

Neil Gaiman was interviewed the other day. Now, here's someone who clearly gets it, and because he does, it's a great interview:



If you want to read the book, it'd be cool if you'd click here and Dawno gets a few pennies for her recommendation:




And continuing on a satire kick - Onion Radio News Alerts You May Have Missed
Part 1


Part 2

Lead, Follow or ... Oh, Nevermind, Just Tweet Something

If you see yourself in any of these 10 signs, you may need help. Is there at Twitter 12-step program? I may need it. I've been finding and following a lot of crafters, and then following some folk they follow...it's addictive. I'm trying to keep my balance of # of follows to # of followers within about 40 or 50, knowing that a number of people I follow won't follow back, so I probably won't ever have equal numbers.

Why? Because for some reason it bothers me to see folks following thousands and only having a few they follow back. Well, it bothers me when it's not Scalzi or Wheaton or Gaiman...

I have been surprised by a couple of follows - dipnote (Department of State), NPR tweeters, Stephen Fry (squee!!! *ahem* sorry)

Interrupting this post for breaking news: Just heard on BBC news on my radio: A British soldier has crashed 2 tanks in Germany this evening. Crashed one, went back for another and crashed it, too. For some reason, I find myself applauding his moxie... yes, he was drunk, and it was *bad bad* someone could have been hurt, yes... but really, two tanks? It is funny.

Random Thing #3

I have now soaked 2 cell phones. One got washed, and the other fell in the toilet (today). Thank goodness my husband's pre-iPhone was a Razr (which my phone was) and I could just re-charge and swap in the sim card (which got through the 2nd soaking just fine).

Of course all the 'stored in phone' stuff is gone, again. I may not replace for a while, since the hubby's old Razr is just fine, and when I do, it's probably for an iPhone.

Lesson learned? Do not keep cell phone in back pocket if pocket is not deep and if it is made of slippery material.

I decided to find and follow more handcrafty people on Twitter today. Several are following back, which is very kind of them.

Speaking of Twitterers who follow me, I heard about a Twitterer called 'Dipnote*' which is actually Tweets from the office of the Sec't of State and added them to my follow list - interesting little updates and links to articles and press releases about what Sec't. Clinton is doing. Imagine my surprise when I got a notice in my email that Dipnote is following me! I wonder if anyone in the State Department is interested in a nice jewelry lanyard...

*'Dipnote' refers to a Diplomatic Note, a formal communication between an ambassador and a minister of foreign government (from a dipnote tweet reply earlier today).

Yeah, I Know You've Probably Already Seen This...

...but I really enjoyed it, and wanted it here where I can watch it again without clicking around to find it.



Today's Random Thing (#2 see this post for #1): In 1985 I began deliberately thinking of Friday the 13th (prior to that, it really didn't merit thought as I'm not generally superstitious) as a lucky day.

See, my son was born on Friday, September 13th that year. So I celebrate each Friday the 13th with a bit of reminiscing about that tiny baby boy and all of the joy he's brought into my life these past 24 years. On the 14th I go back to grumbling about the annoying parts of parenting a son.

So, How Do You Really Feel About the 25 Random Things Meme?

1 Random Thing

Here's a random thing about me - I, just a moment ago, almost put the home wireless phone in the freezer instead of back in the charger.

My SF Conventions '09, Classic Lit + Zombies

I got the news early Feb 4th that there is an open table available for me at Potlatch SF Convention, Sunnyvale CA, Feb 27 thru Mar. 1st. I was already planning to go, bought my membership last summer. I'd reached out to the auction organizer to volunteer some of my work and help her, I hope I can still find a way to do at least some of that.

Now I'm going to have to figure out what pieces to bring, get them organized and tagged (what kind of tags??), think about display - what sort of room will I have at/around my table? Should I bring my mannequin? I will bring a mirror - it's nice to try stuff on and see how it looks. I've got the foundational stuff for building my displays, but until I know what size table and what the area behind it is like, I can't finish it.

Also thinking about making book mark type thingies since it's a convention about SF books. Maybe some St. Patrick's Day theme stuff? *GAH!!*

*mild panic* I really didn't think I'd get in!

In other news, I'm planning on being at Bay Con in Santa Clara Memorial Day weekend and hoping to get into the dealer's room there, if not I'll try to get into Artists' Alley again. I'm also going to sign up for World Fantasy which is Halloween Weekend in San Jose. That's three really good conventions this year and all LOCAL!! No airfare, rental car or hotel expenses! W00t!

Just heard about this on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!"- it was one of the 'bluff the listener' quiz choices, which the listener, from my husband's home town, actually got it right, guessing between Peeps versions of the classics, beginning with The Odyssey, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, or Death of a Saleman re-done with an extra scene added "...in an attempt to make Arthur Miller's classic Death of a Salesman accesable to audiences raised on television police procedurals..." If you want this and click the link below to purchase, I get a few pennies, which would be much appreciated!

I Still Prefer My News From The Daily Show...

The Daily Show has provided me much enjoyment lately. Well, always, but I'm catching up right now, online, with episodes I've missed. Just watched this episode and in his interview with Daniel Craig, it was charming how bashful Craig was at times.

Then, in the Jan. 20 or 21st episode there was a picture of former VP Cheney in his wheelchair at the inauguration. Of course, they did this (I'm rather proud of myself that I was able to capture a screenshot and actually save it as a picture I could paste here):

National Hugging Day (tm)

Yep. It's "National Hugging Day (tm)" (don't forget the tm, they ask on the official site, way down at the bottom - site rather glitched up in Firefox).

As many of my friends are virtual (not to mention family who live many, many miles away) I offer you here a big virtual hug.

Absolute Write News

AW is experiencing technical difficulties. The techies are working on it. If you want a place to commiserate this weekend, the "Refugee Camp" is open - you will have to register if you weren't around back during the big AW shutdowns in '06.

You can also join AW Addicts on Facebook.

Instant Book Gratification - Paul Auster's Man in the Dark

Yesterday I was listening to the local public radio station, KQED, and the program "City Arts and Lectures" came on. The guest was Paul Auster. He spoke about a number of topics, but he spoke quite a bit about his book Man in the Dark (see link at end of post).

After hearing him talk about the book, I decided I wanted to read it, so I went over to Amazon and there I saw that they had it available as a download through Audible.com at a price I thought was very fair for an audio book. I purchased it, downloaded all the Audible.com software and then the book. Listened to it that afternoon and evening while I was beading.

First off, great book, read by the author, who did an excellent job. He has a pleasant voice, good articulation and emotion. Also, it appealed to me in that there is an element of 'alternate reality' which is one of my favorite types of fiction, and also that it starts off with the protagonist doing something I do all the time, which is tell myself a story to help myself fall asleep. I'm a bit more successful than him, as I never get all the way through a story before I fall asleep.

As the mother of a soldier, who just came home from Iraq, the ending was particularly difficult for me, and I am very glad that I did not hear this story before my son came home - I think it would have had a much more profound, and anxiety inducing, impact on me if I had.

It's the experience of getting the audio book that led me to choosing the e-book over waiting for the hardback, that I want to talk about, though.

I could have bought the book from a number of sources - the Macmillan site has it for $23.00 or, if you wanted to listen, you could order a CD. Amazon had the hardcover for $25.64, paperback for $11.10 or the Kindle version, or an Audible download. Normally, if you go direct to Audible it would cost $17.47 but through Amazon it was $13.10 - also less than the cost of the Kindle version ($13.77).

I wanted to "have" the book immediately, so the download was certainly the best deal, since it would have taken a couple days at least to arrive, unless I wanted to pay a high premium for overnight shipping.

I may wander into the local Borders some day and see if I can get the hardback to re-read, and probably at a good price...but the ability to hear an author talk on the radio and then immediately have an unabridged, well produced, easy to acquire copy...well, that's the beauty of the internet. I wish acquiring any book, anytime was as easy as it was yesterday.

Last Post of 2008

This has been an interesting year. My son spent most of it in Iraq (he was deployed from the end of Sept 07 to Dec 08). Thankfully he's home now.

I continue to wrestle with, and abhor, Excel (here's a bit from The Onion that caught my eye because it's about Excel).

I blogged more on my beading blog than this one this year - beading has become more than a hobby - it's an outlet for my creative impulses, a way to get out and meet new folk and make a bit of money at the same time, and a stress reliever.

August was WorldCon in Denver, politics were on my mind in October and November. That's the year in a nutshell.

Don't know if I'll be any better at updating this blog in '09, thank you readers (all 3 or 4 of you) for checking in on me now and then. I hope your 2009 brings health and happiness, and a little economic recovery wouldn't be amiss, either!

Enjoying My Holidays - Hope You are Too!

It's great having both the children home for Christmas time. Well, in the case of my son, he's in the general geographic area for the holidays, staying at his girfriend's family's home. Since I took over his bedroom for my office/workroom he's got nowhere to sleep here, so I'm very grateful they're putting him up.

I've managed to come down with a miserable cold, though. Not to sleeping too well at night for the past few days, meaning that I've been getting up for the day between 11 and 1 for the past few days. Since it gets dark at 5 PM, I'm missing out on a lot of daylight.

The other night the kids, husband, son's girlfriend and I went to my son's favorite sushi restaurant for dinner and his girlfriend got a great picture of us, which I shall share here.

The only thing I dislike about the shot is that I forgot to push my open purse behind me.

I've got the rest of this week off, so I hope I'm feeling better soon so I can get some stuff done this week that I've put off for way too long. Until I do, I'll continue reading through my Christmas gifts - my husband bought me my entire Amazon wish list and I've read two of them so far, The Sunrise Lands and Scourge of God by S. M. Stirling. He also got me a polishing tumbler and a 19" flatscreen, hi-def, TV/monitor for my office/crafts room that I mentioned wanting in passing some time ago.

My son gave me a very generous gift card for Artbeads, I'm trying to decide if there's anything I really want right away or if I'll save it for later, and my daughter gave me a beautiful Waterford picture frame, an adorable, hand crafted, pocket sized tissue package holder that she stitched and appliqued, and some watch parts for crafting - little gears and hands and springs, great for embellishing and (perhaps this year I'll learn) embedding in resin for charms or pendants.

I have spent a good amount of time working on jewelry - I've constructed several new pieces, which you can see at my beading blog if you'd like a peek. A couple of the books my husband got for me are about jewelry design and have given me lots of ideas for new things to try in the coming year. I've already gone from fairly simple stringing to creating necklaces using wire loops and hand crafted wire components, I've gotten confident enough to begin making things with more expensive sterling and gold filled wire as well. The next step is to try and create my own beads and other personalized embellishments to make my designs unique. One of the mediums I plan to learn to work with next year is polyclay - I've seen so many wonderful beads and pendants other craftspeople have made using polyclay, I can't wait to try it myself.

He Knows if You've Been Bad or Good...

Merry Christmas!

My Son Is Home from Iraq

Need I say more?

A Happy Ending

I have mentioned, in the past, of my great antipathy for Excel spreadsheets. They are right up there with Power Point presentations as the bane of my existence.

Today I worked about 6 hours to finish up a spreadsheet and analyze the data in it for a project stakeholder meeting tomorrow morning. I'd put maybe 4 or 5 hours into yesterday and last week, as well. Having had Excel tragedies in the past, mostly due to lost data from crashes, I saved my work early and often.

Finally, I was done. I opened a new email in Outlook (about #5 on my list of hated applications), wrote a brief of my analysis, attached the spreadsheet and sent the email to the stakeholders.

Then I, for reasons I don't really remember at this time, I opened the spreadsheet from the email - maybe I was having a premonition - and saw that instead of the new and improved data rich and analyzed spreadsheet, there was instead attached a very early version. I began to experience what delicate women once called 'the vapors'. Then I panicked.

I went searching for the newer, updated version that much of my sweat and blood had just gone into. I couldn't find it. I sunk into the depths of depression. I was going to have to work for 6 more hours to re-construct all that work. The question was, could I do it drunk, because all I wanted at that moment was a large tumbler of Midleton Irish Whisky.

I sent off a despondent email to the people waiting for this data that they had received the wrong spreadsheet, I couldn't find the right one, and that I was going to have to re-do the spreadsheet tonight but would have it for them by the morning meeting.

Then I got an idea...there's this folder called OLK38 in my computer's temporary folders where all the attachments I send with emails seem to reside - at least for a while - probably until I shut down my laptop or re-boot (it stays on almost all the time, so the folder gets pretty full). So, brimming with hope, yet filled with trepidation, I checked there.

Hallelujah! The computer guardian angels were smiling on me - it was there!! I guess I'd opened the original worksheet from an email attachment (thus it was in that OLK folder) and had been obsessively saving my work there instead of to the file on my desktop - which was the one I attached to my first email.

So, it's not Excel's fault, really. But I blame Excel anyway.

Google Track the Vote Map Widget

Thought this was cool. Vote percentages and number of electoral votes come up when you hover over a state.

ETA at 5:30 Pacific - Click the link above the map if all the one here is doing is loading over and over.

Another interesting place to watch the election is the Twitter Votereport feed.