Paying my dues

I use the library. Frequently. And I'm absent-minded. Did I go on Tuesday or Wednesday? Let's see, videos are one week--I know that much, but did I get the books out two weeks ago or three? Result: I accumulate unnecessary fines.

I tend to let them add up before I pay them off, one reason being that I don't frequently have cash about my person. And when I do, well, it's just not one of my priorities. As long as my account doesn't get blocked, I'm fine.

So last week I paid off my fines for one of the three library systems I belong to. The fines had been there since, oh, at least a year--maybe two. Or three; my card had expired, after all.

So, anyway, I paid my fine--$11.35.

In quarters (and a lone dime, of course).

Thanks, Bill Gates

To preface this post, I enclose a portion of a transcript of a gmail chat with a friend from back in August. We had just been discussing Windows:

Raye: VISTA=EVIL!!!!

EVIL! EEEEEVILLL!!!!

me: eh...it's OK

Raye: I HATE IT

It's so locked up

that it won't edit the registry saying that I DID indeed register photoshop. So that EVERY time I run the program, that nag box pops up

10:00 AM /unless/ I right click the prog every time and say "run as admin"

I AM THE GDED SYS ADMIN!!

me: yeah, it takes a bit of excessive clicking sometimes

Raye: ><;

Ridiculous

10:01 AM I shouldn't have to tiptoe around my own computer

oh it makes me SO mad

if I could, I'd uninstall it and go back to XP

me: so, how do you really feel about it?

I was (rightfully, I think) amused by her ire. I'd had Windows Vista for a few months, and I found it mildly irritating by spells, but overall, not too annoying. (Then again, I don't use much more than a small handful of programs, and in a fit of Vista denial, set it to look just like the old Windows format.)

Now, the honeymoon phase has worn off. I was a bit irked by Vista's hypocrisy in requiring prompts to install and run programs I specifically initiated but booting my computer without prompting to install updates. It was a timely reminder to save and save regularly.

But today, I was caught somewhere between frustration and amusement. Here's why:

In case you missed any of the advertising, one of the features of Vista is supposedly its better security. I am relieved to know that should anyone attempt to commit random acts of anti-virus protection on my PC, they will be thwarted, or at least, delayed. Thank you, Bill Gates. I can sleep a lot easier now.

Multimedia Friday: "You may say I'm a dreamer..."

I've mentioned my affinity for cover songs before. Today's video is also a cover, a John Lennon cover by one of my favorite groups, A Perfect Circle. The song appears on their album, eMOTIVe, which is largely covers of songs with socio-political themes. Most of the covers are pretty good, although "People are People" leaves much to be desired (Dope's cover is the one APC should've done. Ah well). But "Imagine" takes the cake. In an interview, frontman Maynard James Keenan explained that he envisioned John Lennon looking back 20 years later, realizing his dream hadn't come to be. The result is a more pensive, brooding version of a classic, fitting for a century that has been marked by conflict since its beginning.

Enjoy:

Damn it.

I have no reason to vote in the upcoming primary now. Damn it.

Check this out

I got my 1,000th hit last night/this morning. Nifty.

Interesting factoid? The last search string before hit #1,000 was "overeducated sex." Other recent strings included "downfall of the English language" and "graduation angst." Another string was "how to make any twit fall in love with you book" (hint: I am not just "any" twit, and I do have standards, FYI.)

Or how about "zombie kill chop off head"? (In case the book backfires, maybe?)

One of my favorites is "tyranny of morning people." (Start a night owl's revolution, comrade, and I'm there.)

And sometimes people ask questions I don't think this blog can answer: "WERE DO SNOTS COME FROM?" or "Why don't I care about anything?" or the ever-enduring "What planet do freshmen come from?"

Here's a sneaky way to get more hits, if you're so inclined: toss little bits of song lyrics into posts. Or whole songs. Or poems. Or excerpts from books. But mostly, the song lyrics will bring in Google searches. A few strings: "hold our breath and go down with just one last kiss to rest," "dark colors fill the sky drenched the boat," "three cheers for tyranny, unapologetic apathy," and countless variations on "you're so cold but you feel alive."

There tend to be trends in search strings; around Veteran's Day, I was getting hits pertaining to the Tim O'Brien "How to Tell a True War Story." And then, a couple months back or so, I got these strings in the span of about a week, from Delhi: "overeducated is possible for a job from wikipedia," "Essays of overeducated for a job," "essay on it is possible to be overeducated for a job," and "composition on it is possible to be overeducated for a job."

I couldn't trace all these strings back if it weren't for Feedburner. Sitemeter is all fine and dandy, but it only goes back 100 hits. And the other advantage of Feedburner is that it sometimes registers hits that Sitemeter, for whatever reason, doesn't catch, and it notes how many people subscribe to in a reader and interact with content. So, my hit count lags from time to time, but at any given point in time, anywhere between 6 and 12 people are interacting with content via readers. Cool stuff; I'd have put the estimate at about 5 if left to my own devices. . . I guess there's no accounting for taste ;).

So, thanks for visiting and reading and commenting, folks. It's been a fun ride so far.

New reading for y'all

I'm sorta written out right now. I slacked off the other night and didn't make my 1000 word count, so I aimed for 2000 last night. Only fell short by 300 words, which, when given my track record isn't bad. Or perhaps the way to look at is just that I have 1700 more words than when I opened the document? Nah . . . that would be, like, constructive and affirmative.

So, since I don't have much to say, why don't you mosey on over to my friend's blog? She's been in Manhattan for a Kaplan course and has been writing about the experience. There are only a few entries now, but I know she's got drafts pending describing the sights, sounds, and quirks of the place. In this post, for example, she describes in loving detail the, ahem, wondrous sights of the city. Enjoy!

From the "I is a genius" files

Sometimes I wonder if my sister and I really do come from the same gene pool.

She's outgoing; when I took her to the Renaissance festival, she had to stop and chat it up with approximately every other dog owner there (and mind you, there were a lot). I'd have been content to wander around and not engage with too many people; I even tried to send out silent "don't approach" vibes to the shop owners (didn't work).

She, upon graduating high school, wants to enroll in a nearby community college's culinary arts program. Rachael Ray and Emeril Lagasse are two of her heroes. She's a food epicurean, tossing around words like "robust" and "smoky" where I would simply say "good." She frequently remembers events by the food served.

Me? I'm kitchen challenged, a failed domestic goddess, if you will. I don't like cooking, and I don't fuss over food. I'd be just as satisfied with a hamburger as a gourmet meal (indeed, I'd likely poke at the gourmet food, wondering, "what's this?" and wish for a good burger instead, or barring that, PBJ). But I try to cook, to learn new things. I can make a smashing good roast, and I'm a whiz with chicken. My chili is edible.

So, next, mac and cheese. Homemade stuff; it's quite simple. In theory. But, uh, for the record? Burnt cheese sauce is one of the worst smells ever, and I say this as someone whose high school was hit with a massive skunk attack in her sophomore year. Took ten minutes to scour that blackened stuff off the bottom of the pot.

Shoulda stuck to the ramen, man. I like noodles.