TTaT

Random Scan Sunday 9

2008-07-20T10:07:00.003-04:00

A year ago on TTaT: Maybe it's time to move, Specifics

Dr. Horrible, yea!

2008-07-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

Acts I and II of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog directed by Joss Whedon are currently up. So good! A super villain musical is just the treat I needed this week.

Act III goes live on the 19th. All three acts will be viewable for free until midnight Sunday July 20th. After that you'll need to pay to see them. The first two acts are already available on iTunes and later on, they're going to release the whole thing on DVD with extras.

I highly recommend you find the time to see it now (for free!). So far, each act is 13-14 minutes long. Good times!

I was right to fear

2008-07-17T15:33:00.000-04:00

It's just barely been 3 days since I last turned my computer on and I've got 252 feeds to read.

The window guys finished yesterday as scheduled which is great, but, of course, they're not totally done. They have to come back in a few weeks to finish up some stray bits they have to order parts for. The house is still in great disarray. On the upside I'm getting a bedroom with a better view and a few more square feet out of it, but it entails a lot more work to swap the rooms and get settled again.

I've resigned myself to getting my graph paper and architect's ruler out so I can figure out where my bed should go. Historically, my bed rests in a corner to maximize floor space, but if I let my bed jut out into the room, it'll be easier to make and I'll have more wall space for shelves. There's still a lot that has to be moved out though.

Ooh, I think I just remembered where my old scale furniture cutouts are. And they're not in storage! Not all of them will apply, but it'd save me the trouble of remeasuring and recutting a few things. I hope I'm right.

3 years ago on TTaT: Missing blood, Shot through the heart

4 feet isn't that long, right?

2008-07-14T07:01:00.000-04:00

Now try moving everything you own four feet away from all of your windows.

Replacing all the windows at home wasn't my idea, but it's also not my call. I've been gradually moving stuff for the past couple weeks, sussing out the jigsaw that my possessions have become. Four free feet is just not possible in some cases; I figure if they can change out bathroom windows, they can manage if space is a bit tighter.

It's Saturday as I write this, and I've yet to move my computer to the basement, one of only 2 rooms unaffected. Internet should work, but my access will likely be sporadic this week. Times like this a laptop would be nice.

Tomorrow I have to upend my bed and remove the rest of the blinds and curtains. I also must remember to screw in all the loose bulbs above my bathroom mirror. With all 8 bulbs on, it's like the sun, so only 2 are screwed in all the way.

Cross your fingers that the weather behaves and it only takes the 3 days they estimated. Then we can start putting everything back. Uf.

A year ago on TTaT: Forget the shortcake

Random Scan Sunday 8

2008-07-13T10:07:00.003-04:00

A year ago on TTaT: Creative space, Damn weather

Tan, maybe

2008-07-12T15:15:00.000-04:00

My car registration was up for renewal and the color listed has always bothered me. There were limited choices when I first registered, but I thought maybe I'd missed an option or they'd expanded the color selection beyond black, white, red, blue, yellow, green, and brown by now.

My car is metallic beige, and for years it's been listed as yellow on my registration. I sent in the renewal with beige as my color change and just got it back. Now it reads brown. Apparently I did remember correctly: brown and yellow had been my closest options then and that's all they've got now. Might not bother me so much if I didn't hate both of those colors on cars.

A year ago on TTaT: HP #5

Not just a vampire, also a daylily

2008-07-10T07:04:00.003-04:00

Bela Lugosi

A year ago on TTaT: Nove

I need better role models

2008-07-09T20:35:00.000-04:00

In the moment the waitress sets down your pizzas, one with clearly misplaced branches of broccoli and the other at least half-right at first glance but with something like peppers on it that you didn't ask for, what do you say with grace and class to convey the error?

What do you say if it took a fair while to get the wrongly-topped pizzas, and you're really hungry and in no mood to wait for them to start over from scratch?

A year ago on TTaT: Boom then Shine

The questions

2008-07-08T07:02:00.004-04:00

Brandon recently wrote a bit about his reaction to being asked about his 5 year plan. Last one I had was to attend a 4 year college after finishing high school.

Last time I was asked was in a job interview some years ago. Amidst a room full of interviewers, one guy commented how essentially useless asking about a person's 5 year plan was; I agreed and then he asked me anyway.

Though I've had a reprieve from that particular interrogation, other loathsome questions have cropped up in its stead. E.g., all the variations of "So what are you up to these days?" when it clearly means either: "What of significance to me are you accomplishing?" or "Are you failing or succeeding at what I thought you were or should be doing?"

I've heard it often enough I really should have a better answer by now, but I remain stumped, sputtering through the encounters until I recall my best too-late deflections.

What's your least favorite question? How do you handle being asked it?

3 years ago on TTaT: Somewhat better in retrospect

Hands

2008-07-07T17:20:00.001-04:00

I just stopped by the drugstore and as I was walking down an aisle, I noticed a young man approaching me. Young in this case could be anywhere from 15 to 23, I'd guess. He was wearing long white shorts, some kind of synthetic since they were almost shiny with an elastic band.

And his hands were down the front of his shorts. Way down as if inside his shorts were deep pockets, but more to the center than to the side. He had the relaxed posture of someone who'd hooked their thumbs into their waistband, except that it was all under his shorts. I was nonplussed.

After he'd walked past, I saw him turn to look at me in my peripheral vision. No, buddy, this wouldn't be the time for a pick-up line.

Purple

2008-07-07T07:01:00.005-04:00

Past their prime, but I love the color of these bearded irises, my favorite variation of this flower.

New bloom the following day:

Two years ago on TTaT: What is my life coming to?

Random Scan Sunday 7

2008-07-06T10:07:00.003-04:00

A year ago on TTaT: Not quite the help intended

Blue

2008-07-04T07:05:00.001-04:00

Bearded irises, as far as I know; they probably have a more specific non-Latin name.

Happy 4th of July!

A year ago on TTaT: Let The Pictures Do The Talking: A Road Trip, iv

Not Quite What I Was Planning

2008-07-03T19:36:00.000-04:00

35. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure Edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith, SMITH Magazine (4.5/5)

The perfect book for summer or indeterminate periods of waiting. Reading six-word memoirs is addictive, and some reveal quite a bit. Some faves:

Afraid of everything. Did it anyway. -Ayse Erginer
So it goes, a tad askew. - Michael Dickter
Quietly cultivating my inner Lynda Carter. -Joanna Sheehan
I couldn't possibly fuck him again. -Theodore Bouloukos

I love that the book has an index with entries like daddy issues, hippies, and nerdy. Several entries are accompanied by artwork or photos which break the quotes up nicely.

Though it's easy to focus solely on the memoirs, I read everyone's names as well because I felt like this was something someone I knew would participate in. I was right; my old film partner from undergrad had an entry. Though other people might have his name, I knew it was him because of what he wrote.

You can submit your own six-word memoir here to be considered for the next book. I wrote myriad memoirs in six word increments while reading Not Quite What I Was Planning, a fun writing exercise to be sure, but I've yet to settle on just one to submit. What would yours be?

A year ago on TTaT: I miss audioblogger; My health insurance actually did something nice for me; Damn your revisionist history, George Lucas!

Nobody's faster than Bruce

2008-07-01T07:02:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, I got to see Enter the Dragon on the big screen with a new live score by Karsh Kale. I'd hoped to see the film outdoors, but it's just as well the weather didn't cooperate since it was really muggy out when it wasn't raining. I was also hoping they'd project film rather than video, but aside from that it was a great show.

Bruce Lee's fighting and fight choreography is stunning. The fight scene that Lee's character's sister has in the movie is amazing and really moving.

Though I've seen much more violent movies, the violence in this film was visceral because it felt more realistic: characters bruise, bleed, and more or less stay down when they get whomped, and no one refrains from hitting someone in the nuts. Probably wouldn't be a bad thing if violence had more realistic consequences in today's movies.

Two years ago on TTaT: Just like Pinocchio...sort of

1000

2008-06-30T10:00:00.003-04:00

One Thousand Posts. As of right now.

When I started TTaT in April of 2005, I doubt I would have believed I'd ever have this many posts, but now that I'm here, I'm psyched to have reached this milestone.

Thank you for reading. Some of you have been reading for a good long while now; I much appreciate your comments over the years. They have made a difference, encouraging me to keep writing and creating, to share more whether it's photos or vlogs or personal stories. Reading your blogs has inspired and motivated me as well. Thank you for the camaraderie.

To mark the occasion, I've culled my best/favorite 10 posts. (Yes, I've cheated by including a couple of multi-parters as single entries.) Picking the top 1% was tough, so these aren't in a precise order. If you have an opinion as to how they should be ranked, I'd be chuffed to hear it. Likewise, if you have any favorites that I left out, let me know and I'll see about a reader's favorites list.

The Top 10 From The First 1000:

The Prom: Take Two (Parts one, two, three) - my last chance at the prom in excruciating detail

Three Breaks (Parts one, two, three) - an automotive adventure

Higher altitude- a verbal snapshot

The Road is my Favorite Place: Day 3 - driving through Utah's spectacular views

A follow-up of sorts - cranes, columns, and a pyramid in San Francisco

Claire's Bears - backyard bears

A Prelude to Bewitched - pocket tape measure, need I say more?

In the ground - a favorite photo and a funeral suggestion

Leaf density II - bokeh!

Snowprints - paying attention to your footsteps can create art

A year ago on TTaT: Damn you, formatting!; Let The Pictures Do The Talking: A Road Trip, iii

Random Scan Sunday 6

2008-06-29T10:07:00.002-04:00

Two years ago on TTaT: Safe and Sound

Eight strikes... in a row!

2008-06-27T07:05:00.005-04:00

OK, virtual strikes in Wii bowling, but still... 8 strikes in a row.

Before today, the most strikes I'd managed consecutively was four, and I'd only done that three or four times, right-handed. Likewise, my best score was 215 or 216, right-handed.

My Mii Lola is left-handed because I like to foster ambidexterity.

Maybe I'll just stay lefty for bowling.

A year ago on TTaT: Let The Pictures Do The Talking: A Road Trip, i

The next five issues

2008-06-26T14:52:00.000-04:00

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 Volume 2: No Future For You (4/5)

"No Future For You" (#6-9) by Brian K. Vaughan, pencilled by Georges Jeanty
"Anywhere But Here" (#10) by Joss Whedon, pencilled by Cliff Richards

Like the first bound volume, there is a four part story followed by a stand-alone issue, although this stand-alone reveals a lot of information pertinent to the larger season arc.

Faith, always a favorite character of mine, is featured in "No Future For You." As much as things felt wrapped up at the end of the tv series, the comics let you see that there's still a lot of emotional aftermath. Makes for great stories.

I didn't care for the art as much in issue #10, but otherwise it's a solid, enjoyable collection of issues with some big story ramifications.

A year ago on TTaT: The Longest Journey

Oriental poppies

2008-06-25T15:09:00.000-04:00

A year ago on TTaT: Because [adult swim] is cool like that

Not the old bowling metaphor

2008-06-23T15:33:00.000-04:00

The thunder last night (3:30 AM) and this morning was more like constant rumbly explosions than familiar bowling alley sounds. Heavy furniture moving gone bad, perhaps? You know those old steel desks? Sort of like dropping those repeatedly from great heights.

These severe thunderstorms are hindering my blogging.

Two years ago on TTaT: Not cutoffs 2: Entropy strikes back

Random Scan Sunday 5

2008-06-22T10:07:00.003-04:00

I've been signing everyone's yearbook over this picture so I might as well keep going. I'll see you next year when I come to visit- Keep up with your art and always remember that the Cure rules!
Kim

Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick...

A year ago on TTaT: Happy birthday, Joss!!!

It's all about the bacon

2008-06-20T18:45:00.002-04:00

I'm partial to the bacon scarf and a little in awe of the bacon tiara.

The AntiCraft is my kind of craft zine. Their antifesto says it all. Check out the bacon issue.

Deluge

2008-06-20T12:42:00.002-04:00

Those little white diagonal streaks at the top? Hail.

A year ago on TTaT: Plot keywords?

Something I didn't know

2008-06-18T16:58:00.000-04:00

You can call the fire department to pump out a flooded basement. (At least where I live.) That's pretty damn cool.

A year ago on TTaT: Bring it, Brenda