By popular demand

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/140-S-Van-Ness-Ave-94103/unit-437/home/960155

Much cooler, but way out of my league: http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/201-Sansome-St-94104/unit-501/home/18471589


Today's earrings: coffee cups, crows

Bedtime reading: Through Elegant Eyes, R.A. Lafferty

Went to look at an apartment after work

The price is too high and it's too close to the freeway... I wanted to take a look anyway. The architect skimped on kitchen counters and made a nice big bathroom at the expense of the sleeping alcove. But I'm sure it'll make a nice home for someone. The realtor seemed very motivated.


Today's earrings: pineapples, citrine teardrops

Bedtime reading: Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett

Darn

At least Stephan didn't win.


Today's earrings: rockets, wood rounds

Bedtime reading: Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett

Lent

Took me right up to the last day, but I finally decided I'm doing dishes for Lent. For the next forty days, I will do the dishes when I get home from work, before I turn on the computer.


Today's earrings: spiders, webs

Bedtime reading: Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett

A case of the Mondays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v90q0ydxMI


Today's earrings: racing camels, kangaroos

Bedtime reading: Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett

:)

Tonight the 200th episode of SG-1 was on.


Today's earrings: leaves, flowers

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Dilemma

Which collection of Lafferty's short stories should I lend the Lemming? His first anthology? The first one I read? Maybe some of the chapbooks? So many choices...


Today's earrings: flowers, leaves

Bedtime reading: Does Anyone Else Have Something Further to Add?, R.A. Lafferty

Sunbird

"Sunbird" is Mr. Gaiman's attempt at a Lafferty story. He doesn't do too badly, either. It's just... R.A. Lafferty wouldn't have his characters go haring off to Cairo, Egypt. A big part of Lafferty's ethos is that the exciting, exotic stuff all happens within streetcar distance of Tulsa, OK. His characters may visit other planets, but they don't see any need to visit parts of this world much beyond Ponca City. Sending them to Cairo, Illinois would have been a stretch. Lafferty would have sent his characters to an aptly-named neighborhood or suburb of Tulsa. (And if there isn't one, he'd have fudged up a folk etymology that made it aptly-named. He did that sometimes.)

The plot, though, and the underlying gimmick - those are very Laffertian.


Today's earrings: dragonflies, other dragonflies

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Rain, rain go away

Dear Rain,

Please stop falling on me and go be snowpack in the Sierras instead.

Pleadingly,
iiii


Today's earrings: scarabs

Bedtime reading: "Sunbird," Neil Gaiman

Happy Presidents' Day

- - Patrick Moberg

Today's earrings: rockets, estrogen molecules

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Age of Aquarius Dawns!

At 11:35pm Pacific time, the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars. Now peace shall guide the planets and love will steer the stars. Isn't it great?


Today's earrings: tortoises, hares

Bedtime reading: Spaceland, Rudy Rucker

New season of Survivor!

Started off by letting us know that the contestants as a whole are the usual run of agist sexists, and by telling us that two contestants in particular are not all that bright. Seriously, why would someone think that saying, "I look sickly because I'm currently sick enough to be taking antibiotics," would convince people that they'd made a mistake in voting for her? Don't get it.

Anyway - some people are clearly just going to get more annoying, while a couple have the potential to be great fun. And it all ended in a blindside. Should be a decent season.


Today's earrings: bees, typewriter keys

Bedtime reading: Spaceland, Rudy Rucker

I <3 Carla

She's so cute. I want her to win.


Today's earrings: deer, shells

Bedtime reading: Spaceland, Rudy Rucker

Cramps bad

Muscle relaxant & ginger ale good.


Today's earrings: hands, basketweave

Bedtime reading: Spaceland, Rudy Rucker

Something strange

On the bus this morning, there was a woman wearing headphones, singing gospel. That's not the strange part. The strange part was that she was only singing in one key.

I repressed the urge to burst into "Simple Gifts."


Today's earrings: pineapples, peas

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Dim Sum

@ Yank Sing. mmmm, dim sum. I was reminded that a) spy music is fun, and b) it would be better if I verified business hours before I propose an activity (sorry!). The Festive Lemming hooked up my new VistaVision monitor. Most excellent birthday (observed).

Today's acquisitions: 1 red dress, 1 monitor

Today's earrings: amethysts

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Good evening

b2 gave me a Mutual of Omaha wall calendar and the Puppini Sisters album with "Walk Like an Egyptian" on it, then took me out for sushi.


Today's earrings: compasses

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Challenge

Tomorrow, I get to figure out how to separate lines, each consisting of a string of text followed by a row of numbers, into separate text and number columns. I mean, I know how to do that, but I don't know how to do that for 10,000 lines at once when the text strings are all different lengths and have a variety of terminal letters. Oh, and there are numbers mixed into the text strings.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.


Today's earrings: tree frogs, fish

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

41

Today at work I got several birthday emails, and one coworker came up and whispered, "Is today your birthday?" It was all extremely gratifying.

Lunched with b2. The pizza people gave me a free slice because she was standing behind me pointing and mouthing "it's her birthday" to them.

After lunch, I got a new hard drive from corporate IT in Detroit. My friendly local IT dude says he'll install it tomorrow morning before I get in. It's a Velociraptor. No, seriously, that's what the label said.

I took myself out to dinner at Fancy Restaurant. I found out what 'mache' is. (Cloverlike, chlorophyllacious and delicious.)

Got home to find a birthday voicemail on my machine. :)


Today's earrings: flowers, bunnies

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

My eye

It's a little swollen, like maybe from a bug bite or something? Anyway, people have been looking at me funny all day. It's making me paranoid. I desperately want to spend tomorrow curled up with a hot compress, but to work I must go...


Today's earrings: moose, theobromine molecules

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

89 cents

Stopped at the store on the way home, and found they had avocados for 89 cents apiece. Decent sized, too. So for dinner tonight I cubed some bread, diced an avocado, and tossed them together with a little sausage and white wine reduction. mmmmmm.


Today's earrings: turtles, other turtles

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman

Gran Torino

The story of an elderly and extremely well-armed white curmudgeon in an all-brown immigrant neighborhood. Surprisingly little actual gunplay.

I rather liked it.


Today's earrings: roses, green eggs

Bedtime reading: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman