I first met him online, in one of his many online role-playing personas on a.dbs and r.g.f.s, along with so many other folks here on LiveJournal.
I finally first met him in person when we were both members of the American Medical Association's House of Delegates.
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culfinriel (Birthdays, 8/29) and resonance42 (Birthdays, 12/14), for the better part of a decade I had the honor of fighting by mdrnprometheus' side in the medical activist trenches. And while it was in online roleplaying that I first encountered mdrnprometheus, it was in the thrust and cut of activism, marching the halls of Congress and the backrooms at the HOD that I was priveleged to become his friend. A man of many talents and deeper character, a brilliant career in the medical activist service
mdrnprometheus forged, ultimately winning election as the Chair of the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association itself. A similarly brilliant academic record he too amassed as a fellow member of the NIH's elite Medical Scientist Training Program, with a pile of national awards and a PhD thesis on neuro-robotic interfaces straight out of a Shadowrun supplement. Not to mention overseas service in the remote desert. Graduating with membership in Alpha Omega Alpha, medicine's equivalent of the undergraduate Phi Beta Kappa or Tau Beta Pi national academic honor societies,
mdrnprometheus ultimately chose to tackle what I consider to be among medicine's most difficult challenges: the challenge of depression and other mental illness, all that I have written so much about before. He's out west at one of the nation's foremost biomedical research fortresses, training to become a psychiatrist, trying to bring the tools of biomedical engineering to the challenge of mental illness -- and settling into married life with his beloved.It has been my profound privilege to have been gifted with his friendship. My honor over so many years to have fought by his side. And my great pleasure to note his January 9th birthday.
Happy birthday,
mdrnprometheus. :-)m00nglum: So, for New Year's, Mrs. Moonglum and I just went over to $FRIEND's place for dinner, and we were actually home by midnight.Me: Haha, you are old.
m00nglum: Did getting sick make you miss your party?
Me: Sort of. I ended up missing half of it.
m00nglum: Oh, that sounds grim.
Me: Well, it was a four-day party, so.
m00nglum: *looks at me like I'm Keith Richards*
MORE DRAGONAGE:
There's a big interview at IGN about the Dragonage sequel/expansion pack due out in spring, which has me all tingly with excitement. Apparently, we will be fighting Skeletor, and it will carry through the decisions & choices made during Dragonage. So, the right person will be ruler, the right people will be dead, &c. Which, to be honest, is the sort of thing I expect as a matter of course.
Now, if this thing actually ships on time, it'll show up right as we're coming up to our big deadline at work, so THAT'LL be awesome: "Oh, sorry, boss, I wasn't able to finish that up; I was too busy defending Ferelden from Darkspawn!"
There's a big interview at IGN about the Dragonage sequel/expansion pack due out in spring, which has me all tingly with excitement. Apparently, we will be fighting Skeletor, and it will carry through the decisions & choices made during Dragonage. So, the right person will be ruler, the right people will be dead, &c. Which, to be honest, is the sort of thing I expect as a matter of course.
Now, if this thing actually ships on time, it'll show up right as we're coming up to our big deadline at work, so THAT'LL be awesome: "Oh, sorry, boss, I wasn't able to finish that up; I was too busy defending Ferelden from Darkspawn!"
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It's been a momentous 12 months here at LiveJournal. We crossed a capital T at Ten years young. And, like most precocious pubescents, we celebrated turning double digits by publishing our first book! Needless to say, we've experienced some major changes, both inside and out. Before we recap, we'd like to thank you for bearing with us as we've struggled through ungainly growth spurts, identity pangs, and, yes, the occasional blemish. We hope you'll continue to stand by us: We're gaining wisdom with maturity.
Stuff you liked
- Back in February, we placed a call for entries for our ten-year anniversary anthology in
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
lj_turns10. In December (less than a year later!), we officially announced the publication of Live Journal: The First Decade. Featuring an inspired collection of writing, photographs, and artwork from the pages of LiveJournal history, the book has been selected by Blurb.com as a top staff pick! We are proud to have played host to so much talent over the years, and we thank our contributors for sharing their extraordinary work. - We all love quirky surprises, but not when it comes to managing our account settings. This year we streamlined settings into one central account management area. No more pouring through FAQs to figure out how to control privacy settings, modify notifications, adjust mobile settings, or update contact information!
- Being users ourselves, we realize our own mothers couldn't find us on LiveJournal based on our usernames and userpics alone (*heaves heavy sigh of relief*). But since there are times when we actually want to be found, we created a search tool--Find Your Friends--to help locate people by email address (it's in the Friends drop-down menu).
- Spam counter-attack: The war against vicious malware and spambots reigns eternal, but we've been making serious inroads to ensure your online security. We've established new protocols, such as requiring email address validations. We've grown more savvy about ferreting out suspicious behavior. We've added features, like whitelisting, to help you protect your communities. Our valiant (i.e., overworked) spam avengers (a/k/a the LiveJournal ops team) are standing on red alert so you can sleep safely at night.
- After an intensive beta, we launched My Guests at the end of the year, which lets you see who's been hanging around your journal. A number of you have even discovered secret admirers (not all of whom are creepy)!
- Last, but by no means least, we want to thank our volunteers for providing invaluable support and feedback. Their Herculean efforts enable us to answer your questions more efficiently, identify spammers, reduce abuse, and deliver better features (through tireless testing). On behalf of the staff and the larger LiveJournal community, we are truly grateful for their diligence, intelligence, loyalty, and passion.
You got your fix
- We recently debugged a number of the oustanding issues with the rich text editor so your entries look great regardless of whether you know html. You can read more about text editors here.
- In response to user demand, we brought back international voice posting. For more info on voice posting, read here.
- At long last, we revived TxtLJ with Verizon. For more info on TxtLJ, check out the FAQ.
Paid features you enjoyed
- In December, we introduced My Stats, which provides detailed data on who's been viewing your entries as well as statistics on commenting, RSS requests, friending history, and more. Despite a few early glitches, the response has been extremely favorable.
- This year, we launched and improved Notes (i.e., the feature formerly known as Alias), which lets you add private comments on friends and commenters (it's in the Profile drop-down menu). This way you won't be caught red-faced when you strain to remember details about that wonderful LiveJournal friend who sent you a birthday vGift. For more info, read the FAQ.
- When we first announced View friends pages by date, we thought it would be a quiet, minor enhancement. The rave reaction floored us, which made us all very happy. We gave it a fine tuning in February of 2009, so it's even better!
- How embarrassing! It appears pingbacks have gone back to the shop for service. We’ll keep you posted.
We didn't know just much you liked pingbacks until it went in for service. It's back and, judging by your irritation when it wasn't available, this is good news. FYI, pingbacks send instant notifications (via screened comments) whenever someone links to one of your entries on LiveJournal. For more info, read this entry inpaidmembers or check out the FAQ.
Mixed reviews
- The search is still on. Some of you have reported getting more comprehensive results for keyword searches using the new Yandex search engine and like the ability to search within content categories (like entries or comments). Others have not been satisfied with the relevancy of search results. Please be patient. We're still tweaking this product.
- This past December, we wanted to try out a new holiday promotion. Given the crap economy, we decided to offer our Paid/Permanent users a stack of $10 coupons to send to Basic/Plus users for paid account upgrades. We hoped you would like it. And some of you did, but many were disappointed that we didn't offer Give More as well. We want to thank you so much for letting us know. Your input will help us plan better in the future. Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users can continue to send out coupons through January 15th. Coupons can be redeemed through January 31, 2010.
- We were pretty excited about Your Journal Your Money, which allows Paid/Permanent users to earn extra cash by displaying Google ads to Basic/Plus and logged out users. A number of you tried it. Some of you really like it. Others, not so much. (Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users who do not participate in this program will not view ads on journals. Participants will see ads on their own journal, but won't see them on other journals unless they specifically opt in.) For additional details, visit here.
- We relaunched m.livejournal.com, our mobile app. While it offers a nicer UI and enhanced functionality, some of you think we can do better on load times. Like most of us, it's a work in progress. You can customize your mobile settings here. For more info, please read the FAQ.
Missing Inaction
- We shudder to bring up the neon purple elephant squatting on our heads, but, yes, we didn't give you those a la carte userpics. We've been making radical improvements to our backend in order to support them. But no excuses. We know you want them. We cringe every time you mention them. We're sorry we dropped the ball on this, and we promise to do our best to get them to you in 2010.
Stumbling points
- Back in early August, we experienced outages related to a series of DDoS attacks. We are proud to report that we were down a total of one hour over the course of a few days. We thank our heroic ops guys for getting us up sooner and more consistently than any of our less fortunate social networking friends. We apologize for leaving you temporarily stranded.
- A couple of months back, we offered a free, unrestricted vGift, which induced a snowflake cookie avalanche. This resulted in backed up/delayed notifications, which, in turn, led us to reboot systems, rendering scrapbooks unavailable. It took a while to shovel free. Apologies for the inconvenience. We learned a valuable lesson that should keep us calamity-free in the future (fingers crossed while knocking on wood).
- That darn Best Buy ad. First off, we're sorry about the audio auto-play (we got it turned off as quickly as possible). While it's true that we'll continue to show this type of ad to accounts that normally see them (never to Paid/Permanent accounts), we'll make sure the sound defaults to off moving forward. We promise to do our very best to keep ads to a minimum on LiveJournal, while keeping a roof over Frank's head.
Full steam ahead!
As we plunge headfirst into the next decade, we want to take a moment to look back and thank all of our employees, both past and present, who have worked so hard to create our unique and magical universe. We couldn't have made it this far without you: Your contributions brighten our path everyday. We also want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you. Whether you've been around for ten days or ten years, your humor, intelligence, talent, and creativity are what makes this the most vibrant global community on the Internet (the best place on the Web, in our humble opinion). Here's hoping that 2010 will be the greatest year yet! We thank you for joining us as we embark upon another glorious decade of LiveJournal history!
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First, let's get the unpleasantness out of the way: Tuesday's dental surgery, while not a complete horror story, was probably the payback for all the dental surgery karma I have accumulated. (The two previous incidents: Easy-peasy, fast-healing, no need for the stronger painkiller, even with the wisdom tooth, which last is what I suspect gained me all of the bad karma). ( Nothing too horrible, but in case you don't want to read. ) To add insult to injury, all Vicodin seems to do for me is to make me extremely nauseated, somewhat lightheaded, and weird-feeling in general. (This was the first time I tried Vicodin out of all synthetic opiates. I didn't ask for it; it was the one she happened to prescribe.) So, no like. Anyway, by now we're back to a dull ache-y thing if I miss Ibuprofen, which I try not to, and some swelling, which is supposed to peak today and tomorrow anyway.
Now for the pleasantries, to wit, details of DFS events alluded to yesterday. In no particular order:
Individual thanks are due everyone, but everyone, for making the 1st NYE PC DFS (more acronyms? anyone?) such a great time.
Now for the pleasantries, to wit, details of DFS events alluded to yesterday. In no particular order:
- Food. I'll just randomly list the yumminess and expect you to imagine, because oh Eru: Missy's steak and her firstborn's potatoes; Missy and prince_corwin's ravioli; that... other thing with semolina and stuff; deep-dish Chicago pizza from Gino's East, especially good heavens that crust; the "mildly" spicy peanut/coconut curry thing from that one Thai restaurant near N Michigan; the corn pancakes and fried green tomatoes from Big Jones, all the pastries by stinaleigh, French toast from hennyanya, snacks and things by angelcorrine and the booze... So yeah.
- Beatles Rock Band. jmdilick and hennyanya brought it; dscotton, aor, paradoxicmotion and culfinriel and scifantasy played with me; hennyanya graciously let me take solo when requited, and I think the worst we did singing was 96% on Expert on "I've Got A Feeling," in spite of the fact that this is the first time I'd ever seen the game, and that was amazingly enjoyable and made me a Beatles fan all over again. Yay. Or rather, yeah yeah yeah.
- Assassin's Creed II. To leighdb go the spoils. She very selflessly played the game for our entertainment and edification, for about 12 hours straight, and did not throw the controller at anyone's head for endless kibitzing and over-the-shoulder comments. It is such a gorgeous game, too. Thanks, leighdb. (And, I guess, publius1 for bringing the game and the system in the first place.)
- Tabletop games. I think I only played Pandemic and poker, actually. Pandemic was as fun as ever, even though we lost by one move---we tried, we really tried, o Peoples of the Earth---and I learned a boatload of poker.
- Chatting, snarking, catching up etc. There is not much description necessary for these components. The laughter was as free and as healing as always. I have a list of people I have not caught up to sufficiently, and intend to remedy this in the next Social.
- Sight-seeing. Breno and I went to the Chicago Art Institute, and had a lot of fun. I am still a hopeless plebe when it comes to modern art, and I particularly do not understand installations which use up 100 KW of power. But anyway, it was all good, since it inspired more discussions when we went back to the Darkfriendlies. We then walked up the Magnificent Mile and enjoyed it in spite of the cold. I wish we could have gone back downtown on Saturday for the Field Museum and more walking around, but by Saturday it was really very viciously cold...
- Sherlock Holmes Exactly what I expected, even a bit more Holmesian than I expected, probably except for the kung-fu, but who cares, and Downey Jr. is pitch-perfect. Actually recommended.
Individual thanks are due everyone, but everyone, for making the 1st NYE PC DFS (more acronyms? anyone?) such a great time.
Starting next week, UW has a three-lecture series on Greece past and present. Tickets are $10 for alums, $12 for the general public, $5 for students.
I'm going to the lectures on the 12th and the 26th. The 19th is Mr. Darcy's birthday, so I'm skipping that one.
This has been a public service announcement.
I'm going to the lectures on the 12th and the 26th. The 19th is Mr. Darcy's birthday, so I'm skipping that one.
This has been a public service announcement.
- Mood:
busy
I know i say this everyday....
But today is going to go a lot smoother.
I can't believe that I haven't been able to find these, but - well, here we are.
I am looking for oyster crackers: smallish, crispy, buttery, salty, hexagonal-shaped crackers. They go splendid in cream soups, and are sort of required for good Cincinnati chili.
Has anyone seen them?
(I've checked the Safeways on Main, Leila and McPhillips, Superstores on McPhillips and Regent, and Extra Foods on Main.)
I am looking for oyster crackers: smallish, crispy, buttery, salty, hexagonal-shaped crackers. They go splendid in cream soups, and are sort of required for good Cincinnati chili.
Has anyone seen them?
(I've checked the Safeways on Main, Leila and McPhillips, Superstores on McPhillips and Regent, and Extra Foods on Main.)
- Mood:curious
so. i am now 30 years old as of today. yikes.
This morning,
inked_caduceus/fortuna_juvat shares a powerful story, about a faithful friend named Lizzie.1) Apparently, it iced all to hell and back instead of just getting cold last night, and I will therefore be having a pretty miserable commute home in an hour. I do not believe I care for this turn of events. Would much rather, for example, sleep.
2) I locked myself entirely out of my house on Tuesday while picking Iorich off my porch. The key to my back door was in my pants pocket, where I permanently keep it, but I was wearing my robe instead. And no shoes, which makes me I think grateful that today's ice storm ran 48 hours behind that particular moment. There is a peculiar sinking feeling associated with knowing that you have essentially no options. No phone, no keys, not even a screwdriver and paperclip to try to pick the backdoor lock with. (I learned when I was 16, though of course I've gotten real tools in the meantime. I didn't have those either.) I suppose I could have borrowed a neighbor phone, but then I would have needed to know someone's number, talked to a stranger, and done it in a terrycloth robe. So, y'know, no. I eventually managed to break in with minimal damage caused, so that's alright, but it is definitely time to get a duplicate made of my backdoor key and find a place to hide it outside.
3) Also, maybe some other duplicates, as I seem to have inbound roommates. Final discussions expected tonight after normal people get off work / after I wake up. (I state this under the polite fiction that I will have slept worth noticing.) I'm pretty excited by this whole roommate thing, though.
4) I have insurance! And my chiropractor! And, at the moment, my neck and shoulders are beat all to hell as a result, but that's I guess what 18 months away will get you, a little bit of worse before the better. Still, I'm excited about all that too. At least two more medical-type appointments left to make over the next few weeks. Both will be less pleasant, alas.
5) The end.
2) I locked myself entirely out of my house on Tuesday while picking Iorich off my porch. The key to my back door was in my pants pocket, where I permanently keep it, but I was wearing my robe instead. And no shoes, which makes me I think grateful that today's ice storm ran 48 hours behind that particular moment. There is a peculiar sinking feeling associated with knowing that you have essentially no options. No phone, no keys, not even a screwdriver and paperclip to try to pick the backdoor lock with. (I learned when I was 16, though of course I've gotten real tools in the meantime. I didn't have those either.) I suppose I could have borrowed a neighbor phone, but then I would have needed to know someone's number, talked to a stranger, and done it in a terrycloth robe. So, y'know, no. I eventually managed to break in with minimal damage caused, so that's alright, but it is definitely time to get a duplicate made of my backdoor key and find a place to hide it outside.
3) Also, maybe some other duplicates, as I seem to have inbound roommates. Final discussions expected tonight after normal people get off work / after I wake up. (I state this under the polite fiction that I will have slept worth noticing.) I'm pretty excited by this whole roommate thing, though.
4) I have insurance! And my chiropractor! And, at the moment, my neck and shoulders are beat all to hell as a result, but that's I guess what 18 months away will get you, a little bit of worse before the better. Still, I'm excited about all that too. At least two more medical-type appointments left to make over the next few weeks. Both will be less pleasant, alas.
5) The end.
- Mood:
exhausted
A client recently came to me complaining about the numbness on the posterior forearm and into his shoulder. My initial thought was that it was infraspinatus related, from the shoulder referred pain pattern, but after relieving the trigger points in his infraspinatus, the numbness persisted in his forearm. So more investigation was required.
I found a similar pattern described by Travell and Simons in the Serratus Posterior Superior muscle, which lies deep to the Rhomboids - the third layer of muscle tissue down, beneath the Trapezius and the Rhomboids. The muscle originates on the spinous processes of the vertebrae, out to the cranial surface of ribs 2 through 5. It assists in breathing by drawing the ribs superiorly and posteriorly. When it refers pain, it commonly refers into the anterior surface of the deltoid, and down into the forearm extensors.
So, I place my client prone and place the scapula bone abducted, away from the spine. This exposes the likeliest location of the SPS' trigger point, the attachment spot at the second rib insertion. Stretching the trapezius and rhomboid lengthen and thin out their tissues, allowing me to access the deeper layers of muscle with less effort and more accuracy.
That's one reason I love my robot table so much; it lets me put my clients into comfortable, fully supported positions that allow me to more effeciently and effectively access tissues that are much more difficult to do on an ordinary flat table.
When I palpated the client's insertion on the second rib, the referred pain pattern in his forearm and front of the deltoid was elicited, and I felt a moment of relief, happy that I had correctly found the source of the pain. Since the muscle is so deep, feeling its tissues becomes easier when one moves the scapula out of the way, and lengthens the shallower muscles.
Using a vaulted hand, I applied ischemic compression into the trigger point, which slowly shrank away. I think part of what is happening is that the ribs are being pulled enough to impinge upon the pathway of the brachial plexus, compressing the nodes that ennervate the anterior deltoid, and forearm extensors.
The client reported the absence of numbness at the conclusion of the session. The client's physician had thought that it would take a good massage therapist to be able to access this layer of tissue, and that an injection would probably have been necessary to alleviate the pain. I am hopeful that that the more invasive approach will not be necessary. My next steps will probably involve the application of ice for 20 minutes to the area before attempting a shiatsu compression with the client's breath to stretch the muscle. I can modify my table to provide excellent side-lying support by changing out the head cushion and using the U-shaped chest cushion. I love my table!
Anyway, the challenges and satisfaction at being able to find touch-related pain relief for people is very gratifying for me. It's fun and rewarding to help other people.
http://www.paulbrown.net/serratus-poste
I found a similar pattern described by Travell and Simons in the Serratus Posterior Superior muscle, which lies deep to the Rhomboids - the third layer of muscle tissue down, beneath the Trapezius and the Rhomboids. The muscle originates on the spinous processes of the vertebrae, out to the cranial surface of ribs 2 through 5. It assists in breathing by drawing the ribs superiorly and posteriorly. When it refers pain, it commonly refers into the anterior surface of the deltoid, and down into the forearm extensors.
So, I place my client prone and place the scapula bone abducted, away from the spine. This exposes the likeliest location of the SPS' trigger point, the attachment spot at the second rib insertion. Stretching the trapezius and rhomboid lengthen and thin out their tissues, allowing me to access the deeper layers of muscle with less effort and more accuracy.
That's one reason I love my robot table so much; it lets me put my clients into comfortable, fully supported positions that allow me to more effeciently and effectively access tissues that are much more difficult to do on an ordinary flat table.
When I palpated the client's insertion on the second rib, the referred pain pattern in his forearm and front of the deltoid was elicited, and I felt a moment of relief, happy that I had correctly found the source of the pain. Since the muscle is so deep, feeling its tissues becomes easier when one moves the scapula out of the way, and lengthens the shallower muscles.
Using a vaulted hand, I applied ischemic compression into the trigger point, which slowly shrank away. I think part of what is happening is that the ribs are being pulled enough to impinge upon the pathway of the brachial plexus, compressing the nodes that ennervate the anterior deltoid, and forearm extensors.
The client reported the absence of numbness at the conclusion of the session. The client's physician had thought that it would take a good massage therapist to be able to access this layer of tissue, and that an injection would probably have been necessary to alleviate the pain. I am hopeful that that the more invasive approach will not be necessary. My next steps will probably involve the application of ice for 20 minutes to the area before attempting a shiatsu compression with the client's breath to stretch the muscle. I can modify my table to provide excellent side-lying support by changing out the head cushion and using the U-shaped chest cushion. I love my table!
Anyway, the challenges and satisfaction at being able to find touch-related pain relief for people is very gratifying for me. It's fun and rewarding to help other people.
http://www.paulbrown.net/serratus-poste
Most of you know by now: I watch movies for Lent. Of course, rather than wait for Septuagesima Sunday, which, this year, would be at the end of January, I start officially planning on the Epiphany, which is today. It's all completely arbitrary anyway.
What I want from you: movies I haven't seen. I'm looking for any movies you think I should see, whether you think I'll enjoy them or not. It's especially helpful if you have the movie for borrowing or group viewing, but I have my ways.
Furthermore, while I don't like to plan the movies too much in advance, I will have movie parties here and there. Here are the things I know so far:
But of course that just covers three of forty days, so please, suggest anything and everything!
What I want from you: movies I haven't seen. I'm looking for any movies you think I should see, whether you think I'll enjoy them or not. It's especially helpful if you have the movie for borrowing or group viewing, but I have my ways.
Furthermore, while I don't like to plan the movies too much in advance, I will have movie parties here and there. Here are the things I know so far:
- Ash Wednesday - TBA. To start the festivities, I like to pick something classic, epic, or significant to film history. It's a Wednesday, so it doesn't have to be a crowd pleaser as most people will not be available for a party.
- Oscar-Nominated Short Films - Nominees TBA. In years where there is an overlap between Lent and the Oscar season (e.g. this year), I go to see the nominated short films at the Varsity as part of Lent. I count this as two movies, since they charge admission twice: once for animation, and again for live-action. The exact date of this viewing is uncertain, but there are two and a half weeks between Ash Wednesday and the Oscars this year, and a weekend is the most likely time. Only two people have ever accompanied me to see these, but if you're interested, let me know, and we'll figure out when to go.
- Holy Saturday - TBA. The final movie, timed to end at midnight on Easter morning, is typically of a Biblical nature. Past fortieth movies have included, in order: The Passion of the Christ, Jesus Christ Super Star, Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter and The Last Temptation of Christ. I have a shortlist compiled of such movies, but I'm always glad to add to the list, so feel free to suggest more. This one will be determined by polling.
But of course that just covers three of forty days, so please, suggest anything and everything!
Looking for Jaffa Cakes. Tell me, fellow Winnipegonians, where can I find them?
amused
Ever wanted to see all the options in all the control panels, all at once?
Create a folder on your desktop. Name it "GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-997120
Check it out!
(It doesn't have to be "GodMode". It can be anything you want, as long as you've got the right code after it.)
viaeididdy
Create a folder on your desktop. Name it "GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-997120
Check it out!
(It doesn't have to be "GodMode". It can be anything you want, as long as you've got the right code after it.)
via
eididdyNew Year's Eve DFS, Chicago, IL, Dec 30 2009-Jan 3 2010: A rocking success, overall.
Breno and I started one day early, on Dec 29, having decided to make the drive between DC and Chicago in two stages. We were planning to rent an "intermediate" size car, but we were informed that we could have a Mustang for a tiny amount more per day, which... when the woman made the suggestion, I think I saw actual rainbows in Breno's eyes, so I could not even consider declining. I was a bit worried about my own ability to handle that car, as it is larger than what I like, but I got used to it quickly. It's sort of powerful, and a very comfortable ride.
Tangentially, I had my pet peeves about driver behavior before, tailgaters and non-signalers heading the list; it took my first long-distance trip in the driver's seat to update the hatred of tailgaters to a red, burning passion. Also: People who park in the left lane at speed limit+2. Not only do they take a loooooooong time to pass you if you're in the middle lane doing the limit, but they also hem you in, cutting off escape routes should something go wrong with the truck you are following and they are halfheartedly trying to pass. Gah gah gah.
But anyway.
The entry to Toledo had surprisingly little traffic, and when we got tomissysedai's place, it was to find lowbeyonder hanging out and Missy's youngest setting the table. Soon enough, Missy Sedai and the rest of her family returned from a Bordeaux class in the wildlands of Michigan, and soon after that, there were grilled steaks, steamed crab legs, incredible mashed potatoes in their jackets and wine. And sleep.
And next day, the drive to Chicago. We got in kind of early, played some phone tag, and went off to park on North Street and walk around, discover the location of the nearest El stop, and have coffee. Some hours later, figuring that enough people would have descended upon the Party Central, we went back. And so they had, and so it began.
Many people have posted in many places about how the Party Central experiment---rent a four-bedroom houes to, well, house fifteen people and serve as partying location to six more---was very successful. It was, and in spite of all the "hey, we can't have nice things!" panic attacks the initial looks induced in everybody, well... apparently we can have nice things. And mock the (somewhat pretentious, to be frank) artwork.
The next several days were filled with, in no particular order, food, drinks, more food, board gaming, art, walking, video gaming, chatting chatting chatting, some knitting, Sherlock Holmes, "I can't feel my face" cold, the Beatles, debates, catch-ups, snarking, more snarking, snarking to the max, poker, assassinations, leaps of faith, and oh, by the way, in there somewhere we rang 2009 out and 2010 in. Part II of this narrative will go a little into these things.
Sunday was the Sad Day of Partings. Once more proving that we can too have nice things, we managed to clean up as much as we needed to and pack up and get everyone out before 11. (Well, Breno and I hit the road at 10:30, by which time everyone was standing outside, so I assume that was that.) We got on to the Skyway and then embarrassingly managed to miss the split to the Indiana toll road, resulting in me looking up from my laptop (I was working) and wondering aloud "Why are all the ads about things in Michigan?" 50 miles into Michigan. We could thankfully turn south soon enough. There was snowing for part of the road, both until we left Lake Michigan behind and then as we went past Erie, and we changed drivers three times, but we made it safe and sound into the DC/Baltimore area by 1 am, having added "cross-winds enough to feel in a Mustang" to my list of driving peeves.
(Ironically, or perhaps jealously, Maryland was imitating Chicago at the hour we came in---17 F temperature, winds gusting to 35 mph.)
The next day, I was very scared and upset to learn that one of the DFS participants had had a health issue the day they returned home, but I am grateful that he seems fine now.
More commentary tomorrow.
Breno and I started one day early, on Dec 29, having decided to make the drive between DC and Chicago in two stages. We were planning to rent an "intermediate" size car, but we were informed that we could have a Mustang for a tiny amount more per day, which... when the woman made the suggestion, I think I saw actual rainbows in Breno's eyes, so I could not even consider declining. I was a bit worried about my own ability to handle that car, as it is larger than what I like, but I got used to it quickly. It's sort of powerful, and a very comfortable ride.
Tangentially, I had my pet peeves about driver behavior before, tailgaters and non-signalers heading the list; it took my first long-distance trip in the driver's seat to update the hatred of tailgaters to a red, burning passion. Also: People who park in the left lane at speed limit+2. Not only do they take a loooooooong time to pass you if you're in the middle lane doing the limit, but they also hem you in, cutting off escape routes should something go wrong with the truck you are following and they are halfheartedly trying to pass. Gah gah gah.
But anyway.
The entry to Toledo had surprisingly little traffic, and when we got to
missysedai's place, it was to find lowbeyonder hanging out and Missy's youngest setting the table. Soon enough, Missy Sedai and the rest of her family returned from a Bordeaux class in the wildlands of Michigan, and soon after that, there were grilled steaks, steamed crab legs, incredible mashed potatoes in their jackets and wine. And sleep. And next day, the drive to Chicago. We got in kind of early, played some phone tag, and went off to park on North Street and walk around, discover the location of the nearest El stop, and have coffee. Some hours later, figuring that enough people would have descended upon the Party Central, we went back. And so they had, and so it began.
Many people have posted in many places about how the Party Central experiment---rent a four-bedroom houes to, well, house fifteen people and serve as partying location to six more---was very successful. It was, and in spite of all the "hey, we can't have nice things!" panic attacks the initial looks induced in everybody, well... apparently we can have nice things. And mock the (somewhat pretentious, to be frank) artwork.
The next several days were filled with, in no particular order, food, drinks, more food, board gaming, art, walking, video gaming, chatting chatting chatting, some knitting, Sherlock Holmes, "I can't feel my face" cold, the Beatles, debates, catch-ups, snarking, more snarking, snarking to the max, poker, assassinations, leaps of faith, and oh, by the way, in there somewhere we rang 2009 out and 2010 in. Part II of this narrative will go a little into these things.
Sunday was the Sad Day of Partings. Once more proving that we can too have nice things, we managed to clean up as much as we needed to and pack up and get everyone out before 11. (Well, Breno and I hit the road at 10:30, by which time everyone was standing outside, so I assume that was that.) We got on to the Skyway and then embarrassingly managed to miss the split to the Indiana toll road, resulting in me looking up from my laptop (I was working) and wondering aloud "Why are all the ads about things in Michigan?" 50 miles into Michigan. We could thankfully turn south soon enough. There was snowing for part of the road, both until we left Lake Michigan behind and then as we went past Erie, and we changed drivers three times, but we made it safe and sound into the DC/Baltimore area by 1 am, having added "cross-winds enough to feel in a Mustang" to my list of driving peeves.
(Ironically, or perhaps jealously, Maryland was imitating Chicago at the hour we came in---17 F temperature, winds gusting to 35 mph.)
The next day, I was very scared and upset to learn that one of the DFS participants had had a health issue the day they returned home, but I am grateful that he seems fine now.
More commentary tomorrow.
What do you get if you combine Christopher Lee, heavy metal, and Charlemagne?
A concept album, of course.
You really have to click the "music samples" link to get the full effect.
viabogas
A concept album, of course.
You really have to click the "music samples" link to get the full effect.
via
bogas
I am a queer lady in my 20s. My boyfriend and I recently discovered that we are both into BDSM. We started with some light bondage and spanking, added some role-play, and are moving toward some heavier stuff. I’ve spent some time reading online BDSM erotica, and here’s what’s stressing me out: I tend to gravitate toward stories that include age play (underage girls with older men). I think pedophilia is wrong and disgusting, yet I get off on the stories. I can’t stop feeling like I’m a huge pervert. Also, what is a good ...
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
So, I got a new cell phone from Rogers. Apparently, you can't use your own MP3s and whatnot on the phone as ringtones or anything...you have to buy them from Rogers. Complete bullshit, but whatever.
Would unlocking my phone make it possible to use my own MP3s? How do I get my phone unlocked? It's a Nokia 5310.
I thinkmattsturbater knew how...
Thanks guys ;)
Would unlocking my phone make it possible to use my own MP3s? How do I get my phone unlocked? It's a Nokia 5310.
I think
mattsturbater knew how...Thanks guys ;)
- Mood:blah
Last night, I was trying to get the video that I'd taken from my friend obeythemew's video camera onto ... well, anything.
First attempt - laptop. It had Movie Maker installed on it, that I'd used briefly to snip down my Jeopardy! appearance to just me answering Final Jeopardy. It seemed okay during that first go. I attached the camera to the laptop with my USB connector. Nothing. Didn't show up as an available device, and the software returned an error whenever I tried to capture from it.
An hour of searching for drivers, or anything that might fix the problem later, I gave up and tried it on my media computer. First thing I had to do was install Movie Maker. (Or at least, I thought so. Turns out it's just there, but it can be disabled. Evidently it was disabled on that machine for some reason.) Because it's part of Windows XP, I had to download a whole bunch of windows updates in order for it to be set up for the latest version. At which point, my computer took it upon itself to update from IE7 to IE8, which I could have sworn I had said "no" to, but whatever. There goes another 30 minutes.
Now, when I tried to run the Movie Maker software, it kept crashing. I could open it, but interacting with it in any way caused a crash. Finally, I figured out what was happening - it had taken upon itself to automatically load in an avi file that I had in My Documents. Which was 1.5 GB. This crashed the program. Deleting the offending file also caused it to crash upon opening, because the references to the file were still there, but it couldn't find the file it was looking for.
I tried to uninstall it, figuring that I could uninstall, delete the file, reinstall it, and then it wouldn't look for the file that made it fall down go boom. However, since it is part of Windows XP, it could not be uninstalled. Didn't show up in add/remove programs, and it didn't show up in the Windows Components, either. The only thing I could do was go into an administrator tool and disable the application. Which does me no freaking good because then I wouldn't have any video editing software. Or uninstall and reinstall XP. Which seemed excessive for the problem at hand.
After that, I went looking for other applications I could download to do the job. The cheapest I found was about $40, which I don't really want to pay for something that I'm only going to need for 3 days and then never touch again. The trial versions all put a watermark across the video, which makes it useless for me.
So, back to the drawing board. I set up a new profile on my media computer that had no documents, and lo and behold, Movie Maker started to run without crashing. Great, progress is being made, right? Wrong. The media computer doesn't recognize the USB connection to the video camera, either.
Okay, fine, there's still the RCA output from the camera. I plug that in, and after a bit of fiddling with the settings, I'm able to get the video signal from the camera. Half the battle won, and it only took about 3.5 hours.
The next hour and a half was spent trying to get the audio signal to come through, too. And Movie Maker kept crashing whenever I would set this one audio setting. So I hooked the camera up to my TV using the RCA cables, and both video and audio came through. I tried the second RCA input on the media computer, still no luck. So I tried the Sound Recorder application, using the audio setting that causes Movie Maker to crash. Turns out that that's the setting I need to get the audio feed.
So I gave up in disgust and went to bed. I tried it on my work computer this morning, and it still doesn't recognize the USB connection. Either the USB port on the camera is toast, or my cable is. When I tried to add the hardware, it downloaded the driver that it would need to connect to the device, which crashed my work computer entirely. It took me two hours of this morning just to get my machine running again without getting the BSOD.
I'm starting to think that this is just not meant to be. Or that I will die from a brain aneurysm just trying to get this damn thing to work.
obeythemew's video camera onto ... well, anything.First attempt - laptop. It had Movie Maker installed on it, that I'd used briefly to snip down my Jeopardy! appearance to just me answering Final Jeopardy. It seemed okay during that first go. I attached the camera to the laptop with my USB connector. Nothing. Didn't show up as an available device, and the software returned an error whenever I tried to capture from it.
An hour of searching for drivers, or anything that might fix the problem later, I gave up and tried it on my media computer. First thing I had to do was install Movie Maker. (Or at least, I thought so. Turns out it's just there, but it can be disabled. Evidently it was disabled on that machine for some reason.) Because it's part of Windows XP, I had to download a whole bunch of windows updates in order for it to be set up for the latest version. At which point, my computer took it upon itself to update from IE7 to IE8, which I could have sworn I had said "no" to, but whatever. There goes another 30 minutes.
Now, when I tried to run the Movie Maker software, it kept crashing. I could open it, but interacting with it in any way caused a crash. Finally, I figured out what was happening - it had taken upon itself to automatically load in an avi file that I had in My Documents. Which was 1.5 GB. This crashed the program. Deleting the offending file also caused it to crash upon opening, because the references to the file were still there, but it couldn't find the file it was looking for.
I tried to uninstall it, figuring that I could uninstall, delete the file, reinstall it, and then it wouldn't look for the file that made it fall down go boom. However, since it is part of Windows XP, it could not be uninstalled. Didn't show up in add/remove programs, and it didn't show up in the Windows Components, either. The only thing I could do was go into an administrator tool and disable the application. Which does me no freaking good because then I wouldn't have any video editing software. Or uninstall and reinstall XP. Which seemed excessive for the problem at hand.
After that, I went looking for other applications I could download to do the job. The cheapest I found was about $40, which I don't really want to pay for something that I'm only going to need for 3 days and then never touch again. The trial versions all put a watermark across the video, which makes it useless for me.
So, back to the drawing board. I set up a new profile on my media computer that had no documents, and lo and behold, Movie Maker started to run without crashing. Great, progress is being made, right? Wrong. The media computer doesn't recognize the USB connection to the video camera, either.
Okay, fine, there's still the RCA output from the camera. I plug that in, and after a bit of fiddling with the settings, I'm able to get the video signal from the camera. Half the battle won, and it only took about 3.5 hours.
The next hour and a half was spent trying to get the audio signal to come through, too. And Movie Maker kept crashing whenever I would set this one audio setting. So I hooked the camera up to my TV using the RCA cables, and both video and audio came through. I tried the second RCA input on the media computer, still no luck. So I tried the Sound Recorder application, using the audio setting that causes Movie Maker to crash. Turns out that that's the setting I need to get the audio feed.
So I gave up in disgust and went to bed. I tried it on my work computer this morning, and it still doesn't recognize the USB connection. Either the USB port on the camera is toast, or my cable is. When I tried to add the hardware, it downloaded the driver that it would need to connect to the device, which crashed my work computer entirely. It took me two hours of this morning just to get my machine running again without getting the BSOD.
I'm starting to think that this is just not meant to be. Or that I will die from a brain aneurysm just trying to get this damn thing to work.
Wtf is PETA doing in this town?! Some shit about the seal hunt?
I hope someone threw a bag of chicken bits (or worse) at them on my behalf.
Edit: Or someone yell some sexual harassment at some of those female peta members. I know they love to take off their clothes for their silly ads, so why not right now!?
Damn, I can't believe I missed a Peta protest. =(
I hope someone threw a bag of chicken bits (or worse) at them on my behalf.
Edit: Or someone yell some sexual harassment at some of those female peta members. I know they love to take off their clothes for their silly ads, so why not right now!?
Damn, I can't believe I missed a Peta protest. =(
I just sent off a resume to the feds for a 1 year contract. I reviewed and re-reviewed (AND SPELLCHECKED) my resume several times.
Of course, I'm checked the resume once more after having sent it, and I find a spelling error!
expereince... experience... damn...
I guess my open office dictionary is not working...
I can't believe it.
*sigh*
Hopefully they don't throw it out when they see the error. *heart wrenches*
Of course, I'm checked the resume once more after having sent it, and I find a spelling error!
expereince... experience... damn...
I guess my open office dictionary is not working...
I can't believe it.
*sigh*
Hopefully they don't throw it out when they see the error. *heart wrenches*
The American Law Institute has abandoned it's support of the death penalty, "in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment."
Which is to say, the dudes responsible for the argument that the US Supreme Court used to rule the death penalty constitutional are saying that this argument is wrong and should not be used, on the grounds that the US justice system is irrevocably broken and that consequently no capital punishment can be considered morally sound.
Which is to say, the dudes responsible for the argument that the US Supreme Court used to rule the death penalty constitutional are saying that this argument is wrong and should not be used, on the grounds that the US justice system is irrevocably broken and that consequently no capital punishment can be considered morally sound.
Fudge Oh-Henry Ralke is the best cat, ever.
We got him from a strawberry farm we'd visit every year.
I remember picking him because he was the shy one of the bunch, the runt.
I named him after a chocolate bar sitting on the floor of the car.
His quirky name suited his quirky personality.
He was my best friend.
He hated water,
loved sitting outside in the grass,
and had a way to getting to the highest
most un-accessible places in the house.
He would never admit it,
but he loved the dogs and other cat in the house.
He was talkative,
and could hold a conversation better than most humans I knew.
He knew when I needed cheering up,
and would always loudly greet me when I'd walk in the door
with what I assume was an update of his day.
I've had him for half of my life.
Although he lived at my parents for the last few years,
and I've had so many cats pass through my life,
he will always be *my* cat.
He's being put down tonight at 5:15pm,
and I'm going to miss him a lot.
GST cheque day, huzzah!
Oral surgery (two-tooth extraction) in an hour.
More updates, including DFS report, coming later.
More updates, including DFS report, coming later.
The woman who died in that house fire in Tacoma over the weekend was the sister of my department chair's best friend.
Today the Seattle Times and the News Tribune are reporting that she was shot multiple times.
Jesus.
Today the Seattle Times and the News Tribune are reporting that she was shot multiple times.
Jesus.
- Mood:
appalled
Dear Windows Movie Maker Developers,
I would say "die in a fire", but that doesn't quite go far enough. How about "die by being consumed by leeches, have the leeches burned off with a flamethrower, and have the flames extinguished in a vat of sewage."
That comes much, much closer.
I would say "die in a fire", but that doesn't quite go far enough. How about "die by being consumed by leeches, have the leeches burned off with a flamethrower, and have the flames extinguished in a vat of sewage."
That comes much, much closer.
"McDonald's doesn't serve Chicken McNuggets for breakfast? I am angry! I will now punch my way into the restaurant through the (closed) drive-through window!"
Poll #1507383 Guess The State!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 80
Poll #1507383 Guess The State!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 80
Guess The State!
45 (56.2%)"In order to protest the Socialist Undermining of America, Teabaggers will unionize and strike on the anniversary of Obama's inauguration."
