I am such a geek. I am happy to stay home on Friday nights, because that’s when my favorite shows are on. Hello? I’m so in love with the new Doctor Who on SciFi. There is just something about a British girl, and an alien with a British accent traveling back and forth through time to save the world.
I’m too young to remember the first Doctor Who with any kind of detail, so please don’t tell me the original was better. I see is as more of a Star Trek to Star Trek: Next Generation comparison. And yes, I watch that too. It’s on at 6pm on G4, and for most of my childhood, it was on a 5pm on Fox in reruns every night. And still, when I walk in the house after work, I ask my mom what episode, and I get a rundown of the whole thing. But, I digress.
The only thing I could see that was bad about when Doctor Who was on, was that they were putting it opposite Numb3rs (CBS). But, Numb3rs hasn’t been on for the last two weeks. I’m afraid they’ve canceled it, but my mom thinks it may be on hiatus because of March Madness.
So yes, the geek in me waits for Friday nights for another episode of Doctor Who. And I’ve already asked for the first season for my birthday. That’s how much I like it, based on the first three shows.
I can’t wait until tonight’s episode.
Geek.
—”Light Up My Room,” Stunt: Barenaked Ladies
This is all between You, me, and Her.
Things are never as simple as we would like, are they? I have been putting off this post for months now; not knowing what to say and fear of causing a fight had caused a paralysis that proved so hard to break through.
It’s still hard. Words are caught up in my fingers. I can say them, but I can’t type them, and it makes me feel powerless, unable to write what it is that I really mean, and how to express that I really mean what I say.
Do you know how hard it is to say “I can’t be your friend anymore?”
Usually, when friendships die, it is a slow painful death, with both friends able to part amicably. They both know – if they even notice that it’s happening – that it’s for the best. But occasionally there is a time in life when you see that that the ties holding you together are in fact strangling.
I have been fooling around with my microphone/headset for a few nights now, and I think I have gotten used to the way I sound when I listen to the playback. Although, I’m not very happy that it sounds like I talk through my nose, no matter how I try.
The problem I’m having, though, is what to talk about. I’ve started the first podcast five times, and each time it is different, and each time I think it’s the worst I’ve ever done.
So, I think I will leave it up to my few readers to what they want me to talk about. I would include an introduction, I think, saying a bit about myself, and maybe a story I think is funny, although it probably won’t be. Since I probably won’t get it done until next week, I’ll probably talk about this weekends concert (more about that later). I am looking to doing a 20 minute or so podcast.
Other than that, I have no idea. I’d like to talk about some of my poetry, and answer questions—sort of like an advice column, but with an unsympathetic edge.
Really, I’d like to hear what you want to hear about. No subject is off limits, and I’d really like to hear from you.
So, please, leave me a comment, drop me an email, or send me a voice message through Odeo. I look forward to hearing from each and everyone of you.
And yes I expect it. Is it too much to ask? Alright, if you can only answer one question, make it this one: Would you listen to it if I posted it?
-”The One I’m Waiting For,” Mmhmm: Relient K
Whew. I’m done with the essay.
When I went to turn it in (online class), it turns out that I had until tomorrow night to finish it. It’s a good thing I didn’t know that, though, or I would have put off writing it until tomorrow.
Logging on to Blackboard, I also found out that I was a week behind in my thinking. I thought I was still in week 9, when really, it was week 10. Which meant I missed the online lesson for the week. Good thing it’s the first one I’ve missed, and that online lessons only account for 20% of the grade.
Anyway, I am sure that everyone is so excited to read this piece of crap essay—”California’s Flaky Image.”
The essay is an evaluation of an article found in our reader, but it should be available online (I don’t know why the Sacramento Bee doesn’t list it no matter how I search) It’s called “We’re Only Confirming California’s Flaky Image,” written by Anita Creamer. It was originally published on August 13, 2003, in the Sacramento Bee, and is about the recall election.
I didn’t really want to do this essay, and I feel that it is utter crap. I hate evaluating things, and this essay was torture. But, it’s done now, and I can move onto the next one.
But I’m spending the rest of evening playing with my new toy. Perhaps there’ll be a podcast in the next week.
—”Don’t Stay,” Meteora: Linkin Park
Just taking a break from my never ending essay… I’m about half done, and I’m afraid I may have run out of things to talk about.
Anyway, on my break, I made a Wal-Mart run, and picked up and “Internet Chat Headset” by Logitech, and if I can get it to work, you all can be looking forward to unsympathetic podcasts in the future.
I am actually quite delighted with the headset, and I haven’t even plugged it in yet. Wal-Mart didn’t have much of a selection for computer microphones, and this was the only good one they had (the others were the old boom mics, which sit really far away from you). I thought I was going to have to shell out $25, which I was willing to do, but it rang up at $17, so I am a bit excited.
Oh, look at the time… Back to the grindstone for me. I’ll post the essay as soon as I’m done with it, so that everyone can tell me how crappy it is.
—”Am I Missing,” A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar: Dashboard Confessional
It’s been such an exciting week around here… Not.
I took a Math test on Wednesday, and I am so absolutely positive I failed. I spent an hour and a half doing 12 math problems, and about half of them came out with “no solution” for me. There is no way my teacher put that many unanswerable questions on the test. Maybe one problem. Not six.
And I don’t understand why I don’t understand it. I mean, I do understand it, but I do so horribly on the tests. I did all the homework, and did great on them. I had no problem doing the problems in class, but give me a little pressure, and I cave like a wet cardboard box. It’s just so frustrating, because I really want to do well, and I just feel horrible when I know I did badly.
Aside from my mathematical problems, schools going eh (please imaging that with a shoulder shrug done by a goth-punk fifteen year old, as when asked the same question by a parent.) I have the equivalent of an essay due a week for the rest of the semester. Oh, boy am I looking forward to writing those.
Apparently I was wrong about the California essay. I get to throw out all my research, which is great, since I hadn’t read any of it yet. I’m writing an essay that evaluates an essay in the book. I missed the mark entirely, which for once is a good thing. Especially since the essay is due on Saturday at midnight. Which, in its self is probably a good thing, because I wouldn’t want to write an essay Wednesday night, and then again Thursday night, since I have another essay due next week. On poetry. I suppose I had better pick the poems.
Other than school work, nothing. I’ve been putting off the laundry as usual. I’m sure I’ll get it done tomorrow as I clean my room in avoidance of actually writing the essay.
Yep, I’m sure that I’ll waste nearly all my time tomorrow, and end up pushing five pages out an hour before the paper is due. I love procrastination, don’t you?
—”Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over,” Take This To Your Grave: Fall Out Boy
If anyone’s be watching my del.icio.us links, they might notice that I’ve bookmarked the most boring websites ever. They’re all about California, voter apathy, and the political circus that envelopes our golden state.
Really, I’ve just been doing research. I have two papers due next week, one which is on California, as usual. I am actually getting a head start on my research. And geese do I hate research.
It’s not that I hate research, exactly. I actually like looking things up and finding things out. But I hate having to decide what is important enough to put in the essay. And what should be left on the cutting room floor.
Anyway, the paper, if you couldn’t tell, is on voter apathy in California, and how people generally do not pay any attention to politics unless it has become a political three-ring circus, complete with a strong man and midget. While I do believe in what I’m writing about, I really have no interest in writing about it. But, such is the way school works out.
This is all really besides the point, since I wanted to write about how I am going about my research. To begin with, I am marking all the seemingly relevant sites I run across with del.icio.us (obviously). I have set up a tag bundle, to keep all the related tags together, so that I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for later in the week. If you’re interested, the tag bundle for this writing assignment is a boring “W.A.2″. Guess what the initials stand for?
Also, I’m using Google alerts in conjunction with my gmail account, to monitor the latest web postings for certain key phrases, such as California voter statistics, California elections, and California voter apathy. It’s handy, because once a day I’ll get an email for each phrase, giving me the most recent links. Very handy, since now I don’t have search the news everyday to find articles that might be interesting.
Finally, I ran across a really interesting site called Questia. It’s a large online library, which when you enter in a search term, it spits out a list of suggested books and articles. The paid version of the site allows the searcher to actually read the book or article, while the free version just lists the books/articles. The free version is still genius, because it gives you a great starting point to look for things in the local library. Especially since I never seem to find what I’m searching for using the library’s online catalog.
Well, that’s all I have for research tonight. At the moment, I’m listening to Binary Bonsai podcast #2, and damn Michael makes me laugh. I love listening to the Danish talk, and he has the perfect Danish accent. It’s there, but not overpowering. And seriously, he makes me laugh. I’d like to think if we met we’d get along great, although his being a well known blogger just puts him in a sphere so far above me.
Anyway… Back to the grindstone.
—”And I so Hate Consequences,” Mmhmm: Relient K
It has been an extended week of rain here in the central valley, which has taught me something I really already knew.
No one in California knows how to drive.
Sure, everyone’s taken the permit test, their behind-the-wheel training, and even suffered through the horrible driving test with the creepy DMV test people. Apparently, though, none of that matters when it comes to the rain.
Today I had to drive in the drizzling rain to deliver a transcript to a law office that was —oh, lets say three miles away. And these three miles (six, if you count the drive back), were the worst I’ve encountered in a while. To begin with, I had to drive down Howe Avenue, which—if you live in or around Sacramento—everyone knows is the most congested artery this side of the University. To make matters worse, I had to drive to Howe and University, the worst intersection known to man.
No only is it painted on the street “Do Not Block Intersection,” it’s also posted on multiple signs so that any reasonable driver would have no excuse to miss them. And still, the intersection is blocked every time the light turns green for each new lane direction. This happens on the sunniest of days, and really it’s no surprise that it happens in the rain too.
But what I don’t understand is the people who drive as if it’s sunny when it is pouring down. These people are weaving in and out of traffic, riding other cars’ asses, and generally just forgetting that it’s raining. I especially like how they are always going at least 20 miles over the posted speed limit, and honk at me when I’m hovering just under it. Hello, ever heard of the “as fast as is safe for conditions” rule? I’m so paranoid to be driving on the same road as these people. I’m always afraid of the car sliding out when I brake, and these people are racing up to the line, breaking at the last second.
Also, it irritates me to no end that these people drive without their headlights on. California passed a law last year that stated if your windshield wipers were on, your head lights had to be on, so that other cars would be more likely to see you in the rain. I still see people on the darkest of days, with rain pouring from the sky, driving with their lights off.
What is so hard about turning your lights on?
So, for the record, I am done with rainy days. I wish them over, so that when I get into the car, I won’t be paranoid that some one is going to rear end me in my mother’s Mustang, which would ensure that I never drive another one of her cars again.
I can’t wait for summer to get here.
—”No Rain,” Blind Melon: Blind Melon
You know what’s lame? Being 23 and home on a Friday night—St. Patrick’s day, no less—while the rest of the city is out partying without you.
Oh, wait, it’s me that’s lame. But that’s nothing new.
I am bored out of my mind. Sure, there are things I could do. Math homework, English papers, that sock I was hoping to finish tonight.
But, no. I’ve settled on writing. What, I have no idea. But writing it is. It will probably involve forum postings, a longish email to You, and maybe a short story.
Anyway, I ran into Knorr today, and is it wrong to have a school-girl crush on a writer, but dislike their writing? Knorr is the funniest guy (who still owes me donuts from last semester), and I really enjoyed the class, enough so that I would take another class by him, even if sometimes it felt like we weren’t learning anything.
But, last semester I checked one of his poetry books out of the library, after I couldn’t find it in any local bookstore (sure, Sacramento loves its writers). I didn’t like any of his poems, and it kind of made me sad. He writes about nature, which is all well and good, but just not my thing. It was a little hard to understand where he was coming from, even though I knew where he was coming from.
But, in all Knorr is a great guy, and if I were ten years older, and he was single, I’d be thinking about it. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing about it? I’m always attracted to my decently attractive male teachers. Which might be why I like male teachers.
And, if I hadn’t of dropped my phone in the toilet, I’d have a photo of Knorr to post, that M took last semester. I’m kicking myself right now for not emailing it to myself when I had the chance.
Also, yes, I get to hob-knob with real, published writers. In addition to Knorr, the Dean of the English Department is also published. Granted, there are only poets on campus, but I plan to change that.
— “The World’s Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys In A Broken Down Van),” Evening Out With Your Girlfriend: Fall Out Boy
As I’ve been searching for the perfect sock pattern for my perfect yarn, I’ve come to a startling discovery.
I apparently have rather large feet for a woman. I knew this already. It was quite evident to me at thirteen, when I had to buy size 10 shoes. Especially when there were no cute shoes left. I think this gave me a slight loathing of shoes.
Anyway, all the patterns I’ve been looking at list the size as for an “average” woman’s foot, ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 inches around the foot. Which is depressing, since my foot is 8.5 inches on a good day. I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised, but still, it would be nice to knit a pattern without trying to alter it for size.
I suppose I should go look at the patterns I’ve already knitting (Broadripple and Jaywalker, for example) and see what they list as the “foot size.” If it’s the same as what all these patterns are telling me, then I’ll be fine.
If it’s different, then I might just have to cry myself to sleep tonight, because I think I want to knit the Fancy Silk Sock from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks, and it says that the finished sock has a foot circumference of 7.5.”
Update: Oh, I checked alright… Broadripple doesn’t post a target foot circumference, and Jaywalker lists its as 8 inches. Well, I wonder just how much that half inch matters?
— “The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes,” Take This to Your Grave: Fall Out Boy
