brand new shirts! and they look NICE! (ok, i may be biased.)

it's our 10th anniversary logo in super-shiny silver, wraparound design on your choice of black, teal, or sangria pink.

you want to see this, right?
http://www.freezepop.net/store/fp10_shirt.html

we'll also have them for sale at our upcoming shows...

speaking of upcoming shows, let me plug our anniversary shows again! this is going to be an "event." be there if you can!

Left Henrico around 12, got home around 5:30, then took a nice long nap. Now I await dinner. DINNER.

Forty years ago today, NASA launched the first manned expedition to the Moon. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin landed on Luna's surface, while Michael Collins remained aboard the command module in orbit.

While humans might have had it easier than most (we have a huge, conspicuous satellite with great dramatic significance), I can't help but feel the first landing on a foreign celestial body is a tremendous moment for any species. This is not solely a United States achievement; this built on all accumulated human knowledge, from the entire history of our race. It was, at the moment it happened, the apex of our science, our history, and our culture. In an eloquent feat of understatement, we left these words behind:

Arr, I have to drive home today. I know it's okay, but I'm not looking forward to the long, boring trip.

Yeeesterday Zaaly and I drove around Richmond rather aimlessly for a while until we saw a wee little white dog nearly avoid getting squashed on a busy road. No one else was stopping, so of course we pulled over and tried to call the dog over. The mud-covered dog responded by bolting straight up the middle of the road, scaring the shit out of the two of us as cars tried not to flatten her.

We called the animal control people and they told us that there was only one officer on call in the area and that it would take him a while to get there. So, we spent the next hour trying to keep the little dog out of the road. She was getting exhausted, but kept getting a second wind and dashing back into the road. Finally she ran behind a house and pressed herself up against a big muddy woodpile next to a swamp in some redneck's backyard. We closed in on her, and she was snapping and snarling and plainly just terrified. I took my shirt off and netted her with it, and Zaaly put a branch over her while I wrapped the shirt around her head.

So I was there in just my bra, and we were waiting for the a-co guy, so Zaaly gave me her shirt because she had a tank top on underneath, and when the dog started to calm down I picked her up, still wrapped in the shirt. She was dirty and horribly matted and didn't have a collar, but after a few minutes she mellowed out and stopped trying to bite, and at long last the a-co guy showed up and took her to the shelter. I really hope they find her owners. :< Poor thing. Exciting mini-adventure, anyway. It was past dark by the time we got out of there and came back here.


Urf. My neck hurts. o^o

Welcome darkdreamer75! Enjoy the insanity!

As a few people have pointed out, filters are failing, so I'm redoing mine, as well.

If you can see this post you're on my general, all purpose filter.

If you can see this post you're on my Autism/Stephanie filter.

If you want to be on the ASD filter, and you are not, please let me know, I post links to it, and occasionally talk about kitten/whine about bad days. If you want off the filter, let me know that, as well. I try not to bombard you, but get info out that's helpful to me, if no-one else.

I also have a filter that I use to whine about phred1973, but I very rarely use it, which, I suppose is a good thing. Then again, I hardly ever see him... Just kidding baby :-D Love you! He recently pointed out he has a similar filter for me, so it's all good.

Bleh. The time I was going to spend writing things for LJ last week turned into work, and the parts that weren't work were a detailed mathy analysis of the ruby strategy in Scepter of Zavandor (because I needed to chew on something decidedly left-brain-y). Which means I failed to mention Wednesday gaming, Sunday brunch and housewarming, or Tuesday dinner and conversation.

Not that I've much to say about any of those. Other than that spending time with a few good people is Good, in almost exactly the way that spending time with lots of people I don't know well isn't.

---

Via Dr rivka, A Mathematician's Lament (warning: PDF), in which I discover that I should have been a mathematician.

To wit: on page 3 or 4, there's a picture of a triangle inside a rectangle, and the question: "how much of the rectangle does the triangle take up?" I looked at it for like five seconds and said "oh, that's easy, you just run a perpendicular line from the top of the triangle to the base, and you've got two rectangles, each half filled with a triangle. So the whole triangle takes up half the area of the whole box." Which, yeah, he goes on to explain that. Then a page later he rails against the fact that kids aren't taught that that process of discovery and problem-solving is math. Instead, math is plugging numbers into "A = 1/2*b*h".

And I got it. I understood, conceptually, why that's the area of a triangle, in a way I never had before. And it is simple and elegant and beautiful, and it took my breath away.

I love things like that. The moment of perfect clarity when something just makes sense, when the bits of a problem come together and fall into place. It's. . . euphoric. It's spellbinding in the same way the Ansel Adams exhibit had me transfixed, with the added bonus of: I did that.

Not that I had any idea that that was what math was really about. Sure, I read Martin Gardner and Douglas Hofstadter, and was on "the math team" in eighth grade, but. . . that was fun. Math was algebra and calculus and diffy-q, problem set after problem set and painstaking attention to every minute detail. Exactly the kind of thing I can't stand.

But, still. A triangle is half the size of the rectangle it fits into. Gorgeous.

The Pope says the new Harry Potter movie is O.K.

“There is a clear line of demarcation between good and evil and [the film] makes clear that good is right.”

I’m glad the Pope is taking a hard line on clear moral standards. I suppose these are the same clear moral standards he applied when he covered-up for child molesting priests, threatening excommunication if anybody squeals to the cops.

Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there.

Pastor Wiley Drake, also known as Pastor Insano McCrazypants, prays for President Barack Obama's death.

This is the same dishonest game the religious reactionaries played with Doctor George Tiller. Beat the pulpit, wave your bible around, and declare God wants X dead, X is [insert scare phrase here: baby-killer, Muslim, anti-Christian, socialist, homosexual, coming to take your guns, et cetera], it's God's Will for X to die. Then, of course, if somebody decides to do God's Will, I'm sure Pastor McCrazypants will be in the front row of sanctimonious hypocrites, wringing his hands and insisting he didn't intend for this to happen. He'd condemn the assassin, but with the very mildest language— after all, we wouldn't want the flock to think it's un-Christian to murder a human being who irks Christian fundamentalists. (I mean, it's not like the killer used birth control or did something unforgivable like that— he just did God's Will, right?)

In case it needs to be said: I support freedom of religion; I support a person's right to believe anything he wants, even if it's ludicrous bafflegab. I also support freedom of speech; free exchange of ideas—especially ideas that piss people off—is critical to both science and representative government. But I'm tired of religious fundamentalists urging acts of violence and subversion and then claiming they never expected anybody to do it. News flash, asshole: When you're a religious leader (even a minor-league one like Drake) and you declare "X is God's Will," some or all of your flock will take you at your word. And if a person really believes X is God's Will, he'll do just about anything to make X happen. If God be for you, who can be against you?

(And oh yeah... he's a birther. Figures.)

I had a dream that I was at this place, and we needed light, so I produced this lamp (bought it somewhere?). And I set up the lamp and it was 5 lights of varying sizes on extendable rods. They were all clustered around the center of the base, which I realized was like an air pump and pumped it a couple of times to get all the lights extended up fully. At which point I realized the light was also an air filter that processed the air through all these little compartments with water in them. And it was like, cool lamp! But then I realized that there was a fish in one of the compartments, and as I looking I realized there were a lot of fish in all of them, it was like a tower of fish tanks around this lamp that purified air. It was fucking awesome, and I made a remark that I couldn't wait to ask Dad about some of the fish. But then I had to move the lamp, because it was in totally the wrong spot (upstairs in some room when it was supposed to be downstairs in another). And of course in the process of moving it, the lamp totally fell apart, which upset me, but not in the "I'll never fix this!" sort of way, or in the "Oh noes! The Fishies!" sort of way, but in the "Well, this sucks, but let's take it apart and get it back together" kind of way. And then of course I couldn't get it together and woke up.

If there’s anyone whose political opinions do not need to be aggressively solicited, maybe it’s the guy who was the special assistant to President Nixon during Watergate.

Buchanan: Well it’s exactly what Chuck said, it’s a massive distraction . . . . Let me ask Chuck this: it seems to me you got a real problem for the administration if you go forward at Holder’s level –

And Pat wouldn’t want any problems for the Obama Administration, so his comments clearly express his honest concerns. Chuck Todd agrees. What kind of a TV show is Pat Buchanan and four people who agree with Pat Buchanan?

Under Nixon, his biggest move was to try and turn Nixon into a populist — an anti-establishmentarian — even as he stood by the President who said that anything he does is legal because he’s the President. Pat is on MSNBC every day talking about how unwise is it to question established power, as long as it’s paranoid, theocratic Republican power. This is what they do, and Pat is the original drunken master of it. They tell you that you don’t wanna kowtow to any kind of centralized government, except of course for them because they’re the good guys. You should submit to them absolutely. This logic makes sense to a lot of people.

“I put democracy far down the line. I think a devoutly Christian, conservative, traditionalist country—even if it’s a monarchy—is fine with me. — Pat Buchanan

Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there.

SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE







Movie was fuhdabulous! Bellatrix is hilarious. XD But woooow it was longer than I expected. We dressed up and people were all 'your costumes rooock!' HELLZ YAH


I'm so tired



and yet so wired


it may or may not be sleeps time now

Hee! I biked to work today! :bounces: and I didn't catch the bus home, either...I walked up a few hills instead of riding them, and the last mile was very very slow, but I did it...:laughing: at least it was only 100 when I got home according to the weather...:P :pthhhh: :laughing: Maybe once a week for a bit, until I get used to it? If I get a bike light, I can bike over to the gym sometimes, that's only 2 miles...:>

Remember the last words of Queen’s One Vision? It’s “fried chicken.”

It’s so perfectly logical for a party built on racism and empty clichés about eliminating governing organizations to be lead by a guy who can’t organize a damned thing, but who does enjoy trying to distract you with empty, racist clichés.

And FWIW his characterization of the Republican Party as the lone voice in the world against slavery circa the Civil War is a bit off. “All the world” wasn’t saying that “black people should” be “slaves.” France, The British Empire, Germany, Spain, the Dutch, Greece, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru, Uruguay, Cuba, Norway and Denmark had all abolished slavery by that time, many of them long before the U.S. Civil War.

And also Moldavia. They beat us too, by a good ten years. Michael Steele’s ignorance and incompetence are astounding. I’m so glad he’s in charge of making the Republicans win elections.

Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there.

Everyone, please do me a favor! Light a candle on your altars, say a prayer, do whatever you do, but an opportunity just came up for an awesome position for phred1973, and this would be just about perfect for us. It would keep us in Virginia, with no deployment!

Dick Cheney ‘hid plans to kill al-Qaida operatives abroad’

Dick Cheney, the former vice president, ordered a highly classified CIA operation hidden from Congress because it pushed the limits of legality by planning to assassinate al-Qaida operatives in friendly countries without the knowledge of their governments, according to former intelligence officials.

Important question: Why was the vice president ordering anything? I know we all agree that Dick Cheney was the puppetmaster, but the fact that he was and that it’s so transparent allows this particular corruption to become the grey haze in the air which surrounds us. It’s so pervasive we barely notice it anymore. But really, the fact that the vice president ordered anything at all is cause for an investigation.

Can you imagine if Joe Biden ordered the U.S. Marines to go kidnap and torture a teenager in Kenya? I would hope he would be laughed out of the room because the vice president isn’t the one who gives orders, especially orders that would be illegal even if the actual president gave them. But it’s perfectly normal if you’re a Republican!

Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday was awesome. Zaaly was working all day AGAIN, but Katree and I went and kidnapped Ojo and went to Hollywood Cemetery to explore a little. It's a lovely cemetery, covered in ivy.

They're closing early these days, so we only got a short while before some old dude in a pick-up told us to leave, and then we went to the asdfghjklfabulousness that is Belle Isle. Long ago it was a POW camp during the Civil War, and served several other purposes over the years, but now the swamp and the forest has swallowed it back up and completely concealed the places where thousands of captured soldiers died of disease and starvation. Little trails wind up and down steep hills, emerging on sheer rock ledges overlooking swampy ponds and the James River. People flock there to swim in the shallow part of the river by an amazing rock beach, but even with the flow of visitors it manages to feel like an amazing secret, and it's hard to believe that when you cross the bridge you'll be back in downtown Richmond.

I'm rather torn between loving them to death for taking me there, and wanting to smack them in the heads for never taking me there before. Belle Isle is easily up by Maymont as one of the best places in Richmond. It's like a dream come true if you love urban exploration, or boulder-hopping and rock-climbing. We barely even got to scratch the surface, though, and I can't wait to go back and get a look at the catacombs.

Zaaly is working agaaain today, and so is Katree, so today I'm hanging out with James, who I haven't seen in years. I'm in high demand here. =P

And toniiiiight we're going to the Harry Potter premiere, yay! Can't wait.

YouTube will soon no longer support IE 6. That’s funny, because I told IE 6 to go fuck itself over a year ago. I’m ahead of the curve!

Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there.

I bet a bunch of you are expecting an actual honest-to-god update. I left plot hooks lingering last time, plot hooks that demand resolution. This is not their resolution.

This is, instead, simply a post to allow me to get something out of my system.

*blink*
*blinkblink*
*blinkblinkblink*
Neil Gaiman is dating Amanda Fucking Palmer? I drop off on my blog reading for several weeks, and *this* is what the world does behind my back?

Ahh...no day is complete without a small art project that blows entirely out of proportion. Of course, I could have been done a lot faster if I hadn't been chatting and texting in the midst of it. Even still, it turned out about a thousand percent better than I expected it to. So hoorah! (And no, I'm not going to tell you what it was...that would give it away.)

Life is moving along here in Blatimore. With every day I plot the destruction of the Blatman...it's only a matter of time before I strike.

We got renter's insurance today. It was hella cheap, which was nice. But strangely, we didn't need to sign anything (I assume the policy will come in the mail and we will have to sign and send something back...but whatever. It's paid for at this point, so I'm not too worried). In fact, getting it set up was really easy, as in effortless. The hard part was when John and I went looking for the office, and realized that I was sadly misinformed (FACT: Allstate=/=State Farm) and had to 411 it to find the place. Good times. And everyone in the office seemed to know who we were. It was just a really nice, but weird, sort of situation.

On a different note, why would you ever order this?