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Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 09:56 am
I always thought Ezra was a girl's name, like Emma, or Ella, or Edna.
In related news, I have a new nephew.
In related news, I have a new nephew.
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 07:32 pm
From a commenter at Captain Awkward, mainly as a reminder for myself but others may find it useful:
- For every five dishes served, at least one must be completely vegan, one must be vegetarian (but can include eggs or dairy), and one must be dairy-and-egg-free (but can include meat). One of these three dishes also needs to be low-carb.
- No more than three of the five dishes may repeat ANY ingredient.
- No more than two of the five dishes may contain the same Big Deal Allergen (the list of Big Deal Allergens varies from group to group – most recently it was dairy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish/shellfish, citrus fruits, berries, and alcohol).
- Ingredient lists are ALWAYS available without any questions asked.
It's a good standard to aspire to, though most of the things I cook for don't have five dishes in the first place.
- For every five dishes served, at least one must be completely vegan, one must be vegetarian (but can include eggs or dairy), and one must be dairy-and-egg-free (but can include meat). One of these three dishes also needs to be low-carb.
- No more than three of the five dishes may repeat ANY ingredient.
- No more than two of the five dishes may contain the same Big Deal Allergen (the list of Big Deal Allergens varies from group to group – most recently it was dairy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish/shellfish, citrus fruits, berries, and alcohol).
- Ingredient lists are ALWAYS available without any questions asked.
It's a good standard to aspire to, though most of the things I cook for don't have five dishes in the first place.
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Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 11:46 am
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 10:10 am
If I ever meet the Wizard of Oz, I'll ask him to turn me into a spider. Here's a song about that.
I would hurry to the kitchen
with pedipalps a-twitching,
to see what I could get.
And when there I would eat all
the insides of every beetle,
if I had a spinneret.
And that's only the beginning;
it sets my head a-spinning
to see them in my net.
To the edge I would scarper
where I'd pluck it like a harper
if I had a spinneret.
Oh, I could catch the fly
that ventured near my web,
then another as the hunger starts to ebb.
I'd be an arthropod celeb.
And I'd tell the tale with recaps
from more than seven kneecaps
to everyone I met.
And I'd be the provider
of a web for every spider
if I had a spinneret.
I would hurry to the kitchen
with pedipalps a-twitching,
to see what I could get.
And when there I would eat all
the insides of every beetle,
if I had a spinneret.
And that's only the beginning;
it sets my head a-spinning
to see them in my net.
To the edge I would scarper
where I'd pluck it like a harper
if I had a spinneret.
Oh, I could catch the fly
that ventured near my web,
then another as the hunger starts to ebb.
I'd be an arthropod celeb.
And I'd tell the tale with recaps
from more than seven kneecaps
to everyone I met.
And I'd be the provider
of a web for every spider
if I had a spinneret.
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 10:36 pm
Title: Snapshot
Author: Angel Negra
Pairing: Gia/Emma
Summary: Gia and Emma have been best friends since the Second Grade.
Author's Notes: I hope you like it Rosabelle! Written for Rarewomen
( Emma and Gia actually meet in First Grade when the two Kindergarten classes combine. )
Author: Angel Negra
Pairing: Gia/Emma
Summary: Gia and Emma have been best friends since the Second Grade.
Author's Notes: I hope you like it Rosabelle! Written for Rarewomen
( Emma and Gia actually meet in First Grade when the two Kindergarten classes combine. )
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 04:44 pm
Fun day today! I picked up Heather and we drove down to Tuscaloosa to go yarn shopping and have lunch with Robby near his office. I had never actually been in Tuscaloosa before, since I was brought up to consider it enemy territory. It was actually nice, although I'm sure my impression benefitted from the current break in classes. I'd been wanting to visit for a while, though, and with only two days left in the school year, figured I needed to either do it today or wait until the fall.
Saturday, May 18th, 2013 11:17 am
In my dream last night, the admirals came to tell Elizabeth I that the Spanish were invading, and she said, "Well, repel them." But as the admirals were leaving, she added, "Wait, come back. I have invented a submarine, and I think this would be the best chance to test it in action. I shall call it HMS GLORIOUS." So HMS Glorious was built, and Elizabeth insisted on being the pilot. It carried no torpedoes, for they had not been invented, but instead it had a sharp point at the front which was used to ram the Spanish ships (yes, you're welcome to give a Freudian reading to this). And as the Armada sank ship by ship, the sailors would cheer and say, "Well done, your Majesty! Er, I mean, well done, mysterious sailor whose name we forgot."
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Saturday, May 18th, 2013 01:37 am
I have been travelling slowly from Manila to Anchorage over the past two days. Lots of planes, airports, hotel rooms.
I've been enjoying the slow disconnection from everything. I'm not completely disconnected yet: free wifi hotspots are everywhere so I get online in the evenings and while waiting to check in or board...
But I've not been following along or catching up to scrollback or trying too hard to catch anyone :) just... Letting things flow and catching whatever comes my way.
Tomorrow will be completely disconnected (or so I hope) for a week. Wouldn't have believed it five years ago or maybe even two... But I am actually looking forward to this (with a few crucial exceptions where I hope email will tide me over).
I've been enjoying the slow disconnection from everything. I'm not completely disconnected yet: free wifi hotspots are everywhere so I get online in the evenings and while waiting to check in or board...
But I've not been following along or catching up to scrollback or trying too hard to catch anyone :) just... Letting things flow and catching whatever comes my way.
Tomorrow will be completely disconnected (or so I hope) for a week. Wouldn't have believed it five years ago or maybe even two... But I am actually looking forward to this (with a few crucial exceptions where I hope email will tide me over).
Saturday, May 18th, 2013 11:30 am
I am here. I fully intend to be back. And I am not actually sure why I haven't been around, because I have been online the whole time. For the past weeks, it's mostly been embarrassment about not having checked Dreamwidth for so long...
So, tell me about what happened the past three months, please? I really want to know. And I will share my news with you all soon. Missed you.
So, tell me about what happened the past three months, please? I really want to know. And I will share my news with you all soon. Missed you.
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Thursday, May 16th, 2013 09:23 pm
So, you may remember that two years ago, Valve transferred my games from an old Steam account to my current one, in what disappointingly appeared to be a one-off.
Just to make sure, however, four days ago I asked Steam Support for an update on what would happen nowadays for people that were in my position.
( These are my three contributions to the Support ticket. )The main question I asked in this ticket was this (emphasis added):
Today, they responded. (In fact, it was Walter who responded; the same person who replied in the other ticket to assist me with transferring the games.)
So, what was their answer?
I'm really disappointed by Valve right now. :(
Just to make sure, however, four days ago I asked Steam Support for an update on what would happen nowadays for people that were in my position.
( These are my three contributions to the Support ticket. )The main question I asked in this ticket was this (emphasis added):
If someone else were in the same situation as I was two years ago, having had a legal name change (with evidence in the form of legally-recognised documentation such as a deed poll or statutory declaration), a username which was clearly based on their old name, and a clean VAC record, would Valve be willing to change the account name upon the submission of such evidence? (For the purposes of this question, 'change the account name' may also include creation of a new account and all licences registered on the old account transferred to the new one, as that was how my own ticket was resolved.)Now, I realise that this is a pretty narrow field. This was intentional in order to increase the chances that they might be receptive. I do realise that there are trans* people out there who don't meet these criteria. Policy changes always have to start somewhere, though, and I understand the issues involved. I figured that if any policy change at all had been made, this narrow definition would fit inside it.
Today, they responded. (In fact, it was Walter who responded; the same person who replied in the other ticket to assist me with transferring the games.)
So, what was their answer?
4 Message by Support Tech Walter on Thu, 16th May 2013 8:26 pmDisappointing, to say the least. There is still no reasoning given for not being able to change account names, besides the very vague "this is for security reasons". (To be fair, I didn't actually ask for an explanation in this ticket, but still.)
Hello Sophie,
We have not changed any policies regarding account names. As mentioned in your original ticket, this is for security reasons.
While we understand this is a frustration for you, we have this in place by design. There are no plans to change this at this time, however I have passed your comments on to the appropriate people.
I'm really disappointed by Valve right now. :(
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 10:01 pm
Thank you to the person that gave me a purchased Dreamwidth account! :-)
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 12:01 am
So, late last year I started the process of applying to Big Brothers Big Sisters and Monday I got to find out about a potential match for me, and it sounds like a really good one even if I have to drive a bit more than I'd like to see her. She's seventeen, which is a older than usual for a Little, but she had a previous Big and really really loved the program so they're trying to match her with someone else.
She loves animals...and they think she has rats and I just about died. (Longtime readers know I love rats to bits, and used to keep them, but I cannot have them due to common apartment restrictions.) She likes music and photography and computers. She's even taking a programming class at school she could use some help with--OH WAIT I DO THAT FOR A LIVING yesssssss. And she would like to do active things, too, so I'm pretty sure we will have loads and loads to do.
Anyway, Itentatively meet with her next Monday</> meet with her next Wednesday and I'm excited to pieces.
She loves animals...and they think she has rats and I just about died. (Longtime readers know I love rats to bits, and used to keep them, but I cannot have them due to common apartment restrictions.) She likes music and photography and computers. She's even taking a programming class at school she could use some help with--OH WAIT I DO THAT FOR A LIVING yesssssss. And she would like to do active things, too, so I'm pretty sure we will have loads and loads to do.
Anyway, I
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 02:49 am
One of the most depressing things I've encountered recently was a review for ABP that described it as "abandoned". Its not, although i understand why people would think so.
Bug and I talk about it often, and try writing in fits and spurts.
Those that have followed us closest might remember we've been dealing with things like both of us having pain issues (joint disease for me, while Bug was diagnosed with MS a couple yrs ago). So there's the stress and anxiety and depression with that. About 2.5 yrs ago we moved to our first house we bought.
I know there is lot sof stuff between then and now, but to be honest, I can't remember. Heck, if you asked me to list our stressors just inthe past month, I'd not remember half of them, let alone put them in chronological order. Its just like before we have finished with stressor A, stressor B hits us. We finally take care of A, only to have C hit us, before we are finished with B, and so on.
I'll have to write about the current shit we'll dealing with for anyone who is interested, but not now as i have to get to bed very soon and that needs to be flocked anyway.
Anyway, back to ABP...
For a while, I had been resolving to get the current book finished... and since is was so long since an update, i figured that since people would likely need to re-read to remember WTF was going on, I might aw well just make it one big update - like "update: book finished!" yeah, that worked well, didn't it? I mean, just give myself an impossibly big task, with no positive feedback as I went along, while life continues to throw shit at me... why i thought that was a good idea, again, i don't know.
So, new idea!
i'm going to go back to posting updates- even if just a few pages at a time. I can't promise they will be regular, but I should actually make some progress instead of just falling into despair at my ongoing failure, and hopefully prevent any further encounters of "warning: abandoned fic".
Bug and I talk about it often, and try writing in fits and spurts.
Those that have followed us closest might remember we've been dealing with things like both of us having pain issues (joint disease for me, while Bug was diagnosed with MS a couple yrs ago). So there's the stress and anxiety and depression with that. About 2.5 yrs ago we moved to our first house we bought.
I know there is lot sof stuff between then and now, but to be honest, I can't remember. Heck, if you asked me to list our stressors just inthe past month, I'd not remember half of them, let alone put them in chronological order. Its just like before we have finished with stressor A, stressor B hits us. We finally take care of A, only to have C hit us, before we are finished with B, and so on.
I'll have to write about the current shit we'll dealing with for anyone who is interested, but not now as i have to get to bed very soon and that needs to be flocked anyway.
Anyway, back to ABP...
For a while, I had been resolving to get the current book finished... and since is was so long since an update, i figured that since people would likely need to re-read to remember WTF was going on, I might aw well just make it one big update - like "update: book finished!" yeah, that worked well, didn't it? I mean, just give myself an impossibly big task, with no positive feedback as I went along, while life continues to throw shit at me... why i thought that was a good idea, again, i don't know.
So, new idea!
i'm going to go back to posting updates- even if just a few pages at a time. I can't promise they will be regular, but I should actually make some progress instead of just falling into despair at my ongoing failure, and hopefully prevent any further encounters of "warning: abandoned fic".
Monday, May 13th, 2013 11:47 am
So someone on Twitter the other day posted a link to a movie trailer he obviously thought was amazing, with no warning as to the contents, and I ended up watching the trailer for Gravity, which starts out with two astronauts floating high above the earth on a spacewalk while the most beautiful piece of music in the universe, Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt, plays in the background.
And then with no warning, the space station and space shuttle get blown up, which hey, for someone like me is PRETTY TRAUMATIZING THANKS.
But actually, that leads me into two good things about yesterday.
One is that I went with my mom to see The Great Gatsby and as soon as I heard the music cue, I knew to cover my eyes for the next 90 seconds. If I hadn't been prepared, I would have probably started bawling in front of my mom, and that would not have been pleasant, because she can't deal with my Humongous Feelings. (Flash back to when we were in the car together in May of 2001 and I heard on the radio that Douglas Adams had died. I started wailing, and my mom was like, "What? He's just an author, get over it.")
The other is that Chris Hadfield posted his Space Oddity video. MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF THAT, HOLLYWOOD.
In summary: all the feels.
And then with no warning, the space station and space shuttle get blown up, which hey, for someone like me is PRETTY TRAUMATIZING THANKS.
But actually, that leads me into two good things about yesterday.
One is that I went with my mom to see The Great Gatsby and as soon as I heard the music cue, I knew to cover my eyes for the next 90 seconds. If I hadn't been prepared, I would have probably started bawling in front of my mom, and that would not have been pleasant, because she can't deal with my Humongous Feelings. (Flash back to when we were in the car together in May of 2001 and I heard on the radio that Douglas Adams had died. I started wailing, and my mom was like, "What? He's just an author, get over it.")
The other is that Chris Hadfield posted his Space Oddity video. MAKE A MOVIE OUT OF THAT, HOLLYWOOD.
In summary: all the feels.
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 12:49 am
I'm basically going to have spotty (ahem *expensive*) internet connection between May 16-25, and then from the 26th to the 31st I may have internet but I'll probably only be taking advantage in the evenings.
Afterwards I'll be back online because YAPC :D
If anyone needs me, email is your best bet <3
Afterwards I'll be back online because YAPC :D
If anyone needs me, email is your best bet <3
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Sunday, May 12th, 2013 10:18 pm
At some point today I found myself thinking about two of my cousins who share the same name. One is a contemporary of my dad whose youngest son drowned the afternoon of Mother's Day, 1981. Even though she has two surviving sons and several grandchildren, every year is a difficult reminder for her.
The other is my mother's niece, ten years younger than me. I got a text early this morning saying she was going into labor with her twins, but it turned out to be a false alarm. One of the twins is breach and she had a difficult recovery from an emergency C section when her first child was born, so I am very concerned for her health.
I guess I just want to acknowledge that motherhood can be a source of pain as well as a source of joy, and I think it's important to honor both.
So if you've ever been scarred by a pregnancy, or lost a child, or had to give up a child, or wanted a child you couldn't have: I say to you most of all, Happy Mother's Day, and I wish you love and peace.
The other is my mother's niece, ten years younger than me. I got a text early this morning saying she was going into labor with her twins, but it turned out to be a false alarm. One of the twins is breach and she had a difficult recovery from an emergency C section when her first child was born, so I am very concerned for her health.
I guess I just want to acknowledge that motherhood can be a source of pain as well as a source of joy, and I think it's important to honor both.
So if you've ever been scarred by a pregnancy, or lost a child, or had to give up a child, or wanted a child you couldn't have: I say to you most of all, Happy Mother's Day, and I wish you love and peace.
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Sunday, May 12th, 2013 08:29 pm
( You're about to view content which the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )
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Saturday, May 11th, 2013 05:55 pm
Recorder concert was surprisingly okay. I guess when you have five people playing together, when one person screws up it tends to be covered by the other four. As the top line I was more exposed than the others, but I only got fat-fingered a couple of times, and the piece that refused to come together at all got dropped from the program at the last minute. So that was all right.
Hopefully we can practice so that next time we sound /really/ good.
The venue was a veteran's home, and seeing all the military stuff reminded me of my grandfather, who would have loved to retire to a place like that. As I was mentioning it, I realized it was exactly ten years ago this month that he passed. Sigh.
On the way home, my MIL said she'd love to do some medieval and renaissance music stuff, so I told her she could come with us to a local music and dance collegium next month. She's considering it! I will probably have to help her with garb, but I don't mind.
Now I am off to the symphony! Tonight they are doing Mozart, Haydn, and Nico Muhly. One of these things is not like the others...
Hopefully we can practice so that next time we sound /really/ good.
The venue was a veteran's home, and seeing all the military stuff reminded me of my grandfather, who would have loved to retire to a place like that. As I was mentioning it, I realized it was exactly ten years ago this month that he passed. Sigh.
On the way home, my MIL said she'd love to do some medieval and renaissance music stuff, so I told her she could come with us to a local music and dance collegium next month. She's considering it! I will probably have to help her with garb, but I don't mind.
Now I am off to the symphony! Tonight they are doing Mozart, Haydn, and Nico Muhly. One of these things is not like the others...
Tags:
Friday, May 10th, 2013 09:01 pm
I finally finished putting all the available data into my church membership database, although the web site for it still needs work. I released my housework status-tracking code on Github. I redid the soundtrack for the church youth video. I've started taking my mother-in-law to the YMCA twice a week for pool therapy, which is a good time for me to get some swimming in myself. I did a bunch of paperwork and dealt with the annual school art show/second grade music program/cattle call without losing my mind.
In fact, the only thing that really rattled me this week was when my car stereo broke on Monday morning. I immediately found the nearest car stereo repair shop, do not pass GO, do not collect $200. After that, I tried driving around in silence for a few days, but I eventually broke down and jammed my iPod speakers into the stereo slot. MUSIC IS SRS BZNS.
Today they called and told me that it would cost significantly more for them to repair the old unit than to get a new one (and also take much longer, because it needed parts), but they couldn't get me a new unit that had a 6 CD changer. So now I'm going to be forced to reengineer my automotive listening habits. I am not terribly happy about this because I *really liked* my old setup, as demonstrated by my monthly CD selection posts.
I am also known to cling to a 3rd gen iPod nano because it was the last nano model manufactured with a screen and a scroll wheel. I can't navigate a touch-screen iPod while I'm driving. So this reluctance to give up old technology is not exactly an unfamiliar situation.
By no means was the old stereo flawless, but it suited my needs perfectly. The new one is going to take some adjustment. Obviously, I have to either switch CDs by hand once every 35-75 minutes, burn more multi-album MP3 CDs, or use an iPod or iPad more often. Since I tend to take the iPad with me whenever I leave the car for more than five minutes, I'll have to deal with that much more unplugging and replugging when I use it as a music source.
The new stereo does have one notable advantage, though: it has a USB port in addition to the headphone jack. When an iOS device is plugged in via USB, the stereo can control either the Music app or the Pandora app on the device. (No Cloud Player, alas.) I still have to fiddle with the screen long enough to select the desired playlist (and in iPod mode, it appears to default to playing every song in alphabetical order if I don't, ughhhhh), but once it's going, I can pause, skip, and even do thumbs up/thumbs down on Pandora songs from the stereo controls. And it shows the title, artist, and album on the stereo screen, even from Pandora.
I suspect Heather is going to love this. She is always having to charge her iPhone in my car, and this will let her do that and play DJ as well.
So that was my week. Tomorrow afternoon I promised, as a favor to a friend, to play in a half-hour recorder ensemble concert at a retirement home in Pell City. Of course, I made the promise six weeks ago, got half the music two weeks ago and the other half, uh, TODAY. So much for being prepared. I am, however, quite prepared to put my foot down and say I will not be participating in any similar situations in the future unless we get all the music in time to practice it with everyone together at least once before the day of the performance, because We Are Not Amused. (She offered at the last minute to meet mid-morning tomorrow for a run-through, but that does not work for my father-in-law, who would be stuck watching the kids all day, or my mother-in-law, who is also playing with us and has special needs that can't easily be accommodated.)
Assuming I make it through that part of the day without trying to kill someone with my brain, I have a symphony concert to look forward to, and maybe Indian food, because I think I deserve some. Then Sunday morning I get to pick up the boys, take everyone to church, and meet my mom for lunch somewhere because my family celebrates arbitrary Hallmark holidays.
After that it's back to the grind, and oh crap there's only two weeks of school left. DOOOOOOOM.
In fact, the only thing that really rattled me this week was when my car stereo broke on Monday morning. I immediately found the nearest car stereo repair shop, do not pass GO, do not collect $200. After that, I tried driving around in silence for a few days, but I eventually broke down and jammed my iPod speakers into the stereo slot. MUSIC IS SRS BZNS.
Today they called and told me that it would cost significantly more for them to repair the old unit than to get a new one (and also take much longer, because it needed parts), but they couldn't get me a new unit that had a 6 CD changer. So now I'm going to be forced to reengineer my automotive listening habits. I am not terribly happy about this because I *really liked* my old setup, as demonstrated by my monthly CD selection posts.
I am also known to cling to a 3rd gen iPod nano because it was the last nano model manufactured with a screen and a scroll wheel. I can't navigate a touch-screen iPod while I'm driving. So this reluctance to give up old technology is not exactly an unfamiliar situation.
By no means was the old stereo flawless, but it suited my needs perfectly. The new one is going to take some adjustment. Obviously, I have to either switch CDs by hand once every 35-75 minutes, burn more multi-album MP3 CDs, or use an iPod or iPad more often. Since I tend to take the iPad with me whenever I leave the car for more than five minutes, I'll have to deal with that much more unplugging and replugging when I use it as a music source.
The new stereo does have one notable advantage, though: it has a USB port in addition to the headphone jack. When an iOS device is plugged in via USB, the stereo can control either the Music app or the Pandora app on the device. (No Cloud Player, alas.) I still have to fiddle with the screen long enough to select the desired playlist (and in iPod mode, it appears to default to playing every song in alphabetical order if I don't, ughhhhh), but once it's going, I can pause, skip, and even do thumbs up/thumbs down on Pandora songs from the stereo controls. And it shows the title, artist, and album on the stereo screen, even from Pandora.
I suspect Heather is going to love this. She is always having to charge her iPhone in my car, and this will let her do that and play DJ as well.
So that was my week. Tomorrow afternoon I promised, as a favor to a friend, to play in a half-hour recorder ensemble concert at a retirement home in Pell City. Of course, I made the promise six weeks ago, got half the music two weeks ago and the other half, uh, TODAY. So much for being prepared. I am, however, quite prepared to put my foot down and say I will not be participating in any similar situations in the future unless we get all the music in time to practice it with everyone together at least once before the day of the performance, because We Are Not Amused. (She offered at the last minute to meet mid-morning tomorrow for a run-through, but that does not work for my father-in-law, who would be stuck watching the kids all day, or my mother-in-law, who is also playing with us and has special needs that can't easily be accommodated.)
Assuming I make it through that part of the day without trying to kill someone with my brain, I have a symphony concert to look forward to, and maybe Indian food, because I think I deserve some. Then Sunday morning I get to pick up the boys, take everyone to church, and meet my mom for lunch somewhere because my family celebrates arbitrary Hallmark holidays.
After that it's back to the grind, and oh crap there's only two weeks of school left. DOOOOOOOM.
Friday, May 10th, 2013 01:33 pm
This assassination plan
In nineteen sixty three
(Which was soon for Lyndon B.)
Involved a knoll and a rifleman
Who was (or was not) named Lee.
In nineteen sixty three
(Which was soon for Lyndon B.)
Involved a knoll and a rifleman
Who was (or was not) named Lee.