Grahame's friends

hipikat

01:45 pm - I've gone and desensitised myself again.

Long story short, I'm completely desensitised and now have no idea how acceptable a topic of conversation rope play/rope bondage is to uninterested outsiders and random third parties. Beautiful/artistic, not inherently sexual thing, or implying too much about things you don't want to think about friends getting up to in their spare time?

Clarification: Okay I'm not asking 'what do you imagine a cultural average would be' - this is a poll - give me your personal response and we do the maths from that real data :) Incidentally, you can change an answer once you've made it in LJ polls if you haven't noticed.

Addendum: Don't abstain if you think you're an outlier - I know full well the sample space I'm polling is my friends on Livejournal and there are going to be biases.

Poll #1508710 Rope and innocence
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

How innocent is rope play, as a topic of discussion?

05:00 am - Admin Mourning

http://xkcd.com/686/

dannipenguin

01:40 pm - tramtracker in maemo extras-devel [plus some crap about Optus]

Finally got a version of tramtracker (a client for tracking Melbourne trams) and python-suds uploaded to Maemo's extras-devel. There are a couple of issues, the known ones relate to this bug.

In my head I was having a race to see which would be done first: Optus sorting out my phone enough so that I could have data on it; or getting my app into the repository. Turns out, even though I didn't make a lot of effort, I still won.

In fairness, I probably could have gone today to get my phone recontracted (since I think it cut over last night), but the guy told me to come back on Saturday. I'm really hoping this is the end of about 4 hours of dealing with Optus over my phone. It started off by me looking at 3G data plans, and realising that if Stephanie and I both recontracted for 12 months, and put our numbers onto the same account, we could pay for both of our phones for the cost of her phone bill. Unfortunately my phone number was still in my Dad's name, and stuck in some antique account keeping system, so had to be migrated forwards (which took forever), then some nonsense about a credit check. [I'm sorry, but you gave the international student who's been here 4 months, and is not even a resident, a $60/month iPhone plan; why do I need to jump through so many hoops when I have a job and only want a $20/month plan where I bring my own damn phone?] Finally though both phones have been moved onto the same account, so I can go and recontract tomorrow (hopefully; I've been saying this for weeks).

That said, while Optus the company have basically been screwing me around. I do have to give kudos to the peoples at Optus Shop Brunswick, who have spent countless hours on the phone to Optus HQ trying to sort this out for me, even though they've so far earned absolutely no commission from me. I had thought about recontracting my phone at whatever store I happened to pass, but I think I should make sure these guys get the commission.

punkrocker1991

10:18 am - Belong

this weekend I need to get a web page up for Belong and make a preliminary announcement of contents. I'm still sweating on a couple of stories (hopefully their writers are, too) and the end result should be about 110K words of fine stuff. Most are contracted, the balance is about 50-50 Aussies and Internationals, and it's all good.

alias_sqbr

07:28 am - Possibly ill

Am feeling very odd. Can someone IM me infamyanonymous's phone number so I can sms her if need be to say I am too sick to have her visit? (The 3am insomnia post implies she may not be up to IM me herself :))

(nb by odd I mean insomniac plus I keep randomly smelling a wierd bleach-ish chemical smell. I thought it was my pillow or something but experimentation implies it's in my head, either literally or figuratively. Googling suggests a wide range of possibilities, my throats a bit off too so I'm pondering sinisitis?)

*tries again to sleep*

dearanxiety

07:02 pm - resolved for 2009 - how'd i do???

dug this out...thought i'd do a little review and see how i did. thinking about what i want to resolve this year.



* lose 10 more pounds appx. but do not get caught up in it and lose more than appx 10 more pounds.
well, so succeeded then failed and am starting to succeed again. travel and medication has made this a very up and down year for weight. i would like to be in peek condition by the end of this year and preferably by the time i get back to sf in july.

* read some books that are not required reading for work, committee, reviews etc.
serious success. i'd guess i've read (according to goodreads) at least 60 books that were not required for work.

* begin to write 3 books. i know what they are already.
eh. i started a novel that i think i have to entirely redo. this will definitely be a huge part of my resolutions this year. the picture book is in my head and will exist someday!

* become a librarian 2
success

* take travel in stride. enjoy myself. don't stress. emjoy every second.
better and easier than i had imagined. no problem.

* try new things. foods that gross me out. heights that scare me. walks that seem too long. people that seem not for me.
i've been pretty good about this as well.

* appreciate my husband every day.
easy. at least 99% of days.

* don't worry about friends not missing me, not loving me when i return, not caring that i'm gone. friends who are friends will be friends.
didn't do so well with this before i left and for the first six months or so of the trip. ironically as i am getting, in a way, more homesick, i am also feeling way way way less of this worry.

* send postcards.
yep!

* kick ass at work until the second i leave.
i think i did! i never stopped caring or trying.

* save money.
i would call this a half win. we did well about saving finally at the end of our time in sf, which was the beginning of 2009. but of course the rest of the year has been only spending, and we spent more than we wanted to in europe. hmmm.

* keep my mouth shut if anything that is going to come out might have the potential to hurt someone ever. remember to journal if i need to vent. or talk to ian. he's my other half and he can hear anything in my brain, uncensored.
i don't think i was perfect about this, but i will say that i really tried. and was better than ever in the past. and plan to continue working on this goal.

* grow my hair. trim it to keep it nice, but no chopping the shit off when i get bored.
success. although i have to say i'm tired of long hair already and it's not LONG by most standards. i already have my haircut picked out for when i get home. but i did grow pretty much the whole year...barely even trimmed.

* don't fart if my butt is touching ian's body anywhere. he hates that.
fail.

* cook food at home (as far into the year as i can).
eh. i don't really remember how we were about this. but we've been great about it in december!

* cook several delicious meals for my parents/family.
i did i did!

* enjoy every second i spend with my family.
i enjoyed most seconds!

* cry at my sister's wedding and cry at my brother's wedding and look cute at both, but not as cute as the brides. screw the grooms - i can look cuter than them.
shockingly i didn't cry at either. although i think ian did at both. ahem. i did, however, love love love being at both and being in both wedding parties. i consider both of their marriages a huge highlight of my year and am so excited that brock and ali are officially part of the fam now!

* open mind, no judgement.
i did pretty ok at this, i have to say.

* live my personal morals and values every day as best i can.
better than ever. easier when traveling. the real test of this will be the second half of 2010 when i'm back in the bay.

* take enough time for me.
yes.

* learn french.
hmmm. worked on it. but i wouldn't call this a full win.

* print this list and carry it with me.
yep.

* take folic acid.
yep.

* just be me as best as i can be.
don't know who else to be.

* think about forgiveness. forgive as best i can. do i forgive too much? is there such a thing?
i decided there is not. not for me. so success.

* make volunteering in the west bank happen.
it's happening!

* open my eyes, mind, and heart to every place i see, every culture i enter, every person i meet, every bit of the world i have the chance to explore.
as best i have been able to!

grahame

10:37 pm - Let's play operation!

Well, it's time to go get knocked out and hacked up again. I've got a nasal polyp operation scheduled for the 2nd of February. It's been four and a half years since I first had them removed; nobody knows how they form, but they do know that if they're hacked out there's a 30% chance they won't come back! Who can beat those odds? :-)

In fairness, it's not a stationary probability distribution; each time I have them removed the probability of recurrence is reduced. It's somewhat amazing that nobody knows why they happen, the accepted treatment is to hack the things out... and I find myself looking forward to it.

Surgeon seems like a nice bloke. I presume I'll have to go see an anaesthetist, and I've got a CT scan scheduled for Monday. The thing that always amazes me about the medical system is how it lurches from inactivity to activity; you wait a month or two for an appointment, and then bang, everything is happening :-)

On Prednisolone for a week, then for a week before the surgery. Slightly freaked myself out reading the side-effect list, but that list is fairly scary for most medication.

dearanxiety

02:28 pm - 100 favorite albums of the naughties - part 4 - THE TOP TEN!!

( my top ten favorite albums of the naughties )


you can see part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here

elaran

06:45 pm - audacious is a fun word to say

frick on a stick i tore my jeans :S my brand new well fitting ones. stupid cars with numberplate corners that stick out [yeah, ok, maybe my fault for walking too close to the car but who the hell expects a numberplate to attack their jeans???]

had a delicious and fairly cheap hot chips and iced chocolate [~$7 total] at a cafe on the corner of high st and croke lane in freo.

so you know how sometimes you get the niggling worry that you've gone too far when you're angry with someone and that maybe now you should be the one apologising because your reaction was completely disproportionate? yeah. oops.

on that train of thought, i called out someone i consider a bff from way back on a comment i found... ignorant and now i'm wondering whether it was taken in the spirit intended [i think you're wrong, maybe you should think about this rather than omg you idiot how can you think that, the latter being what i think she might have interpreted it as :(]

there should be a series of photos of my friends doing jazz hands. i think that would be pretty awesome.

Current Mood: wah wah waaaaah

evil_megz

04:36 pm

Optus:

Actually worse than Telstra.

07:15 pm - Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz - 7 January 2010

http://darkgate.net/comic/#peanuts

11:55 am - Politics and female representation

Just read this abc analysis on atsic and its successors.

I realise I'm skipping most of the relevant threads on indigenous policy and framework, and going straight to issues that relate to me, but one of the bits I found most interesting was the mandatory inclusion of 50% female representation in the draft framework of the new national representative body. Apparently one (of many, admittedly) criticisms of ATSIC was under-representation of women, typically managing fewer than 30% of representative roles being held by women. My first reaction was, that's good! Comparatively speaking, that's great for national politics!

I then did some research on the mainstream Australian representative body, and what level of female representation achieved. Lower House 26/83 Lab (30%), Lib 11/55 (20%), 1/9 Nat (11%), 0/3 Ind, for a grand total of 38/150 (25%). Senate - 3/5 (60%) Greens, Lab 13/32 (40%), Ind/ClP/FF 0/3, Lib 9/32 (28%) Nat 1/4 (25%), 26/76 (34%).

Frankly, I'm surprised those numbers are that high. Still, whichever drafting committee is responsible for the current framework, they came from a representative body that has never achieved 50% female representation, and yet somehow think that an indigenous body can't fulfil its representative function with less than half of its positions made up by women. I think more just... they're happy for it to come into effect, since it doesn't apply to their own selection, and they're not going to be legally bound by their decisions since it's effectively an advisory body only, and they're just trying to rule out reasons to criticise its representativeness.

I find the more arbitrary criteria introduced, the less competition for roles, and the less talent and passion a council will have, but I also think that the current situation of predominantly white old guys running the country needs to change. I just find it really interesting that they may well approve mandatory female representation in a representative body, when they'd oppose it rather vehemently if someone tried to introduce that in their own representative body.

alias_sqbr

09:49 am - Red Packet

Chinese New Year is coming up in a month or so, and that means red_packet, for all your Chinese New Year related fic and fanart needs. *pokes people towards making stuff*

Speaking of which, I have a draft piece of fanart I wouldn't mind having looked over by anyone who knows much about
(a)Chinese new year or
(b)New York
(or, if possible, (c) Chinese New Year in New York)

I'm not looking for advice on the art itself since it looks terrible right now, and I unfortunately tend to freeze up when given that sort of advice (and would like to finish it by February!).

punkrocker1991

09:01 am - the closest thing to a holiday

Today is my beautiful and wonderful partner's birthday.

As such, it's probably the closest thing to a day off TP has. While I was up to 11+pm last night sending out contracts, and answering queries this morning (while cooking L breakfast), and posting an order on my way home from the RLO (real life occupation), this evening will feature no TP stuff.

Happy kind of TP holiday!

punkrocker1991

07:47 am - what else can I say, but

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

lizbyrd

09:59 am - Coming to Perth / Heading offline

For those of you in Perth, Alex and I will be back for a month come February 17th.

Plans for our time in Perth include dinner at Utopia (firstly probably on the 18th), then O-Day on the 19th of Feb. We may throw a party / games night some time, assuming we find a suitable venue (we're still not quite sure where we'll be staying). I want to go to the beach! And have a picnic in King's Park!

My parents have accepted teaching jobs in Onslow so we'll be flying up to see them for the long weekend on 26th Feb. I've never been there before, so it should be interesting.

In other news, we're flying to San Francisco tonight, and thanks to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, we are not permitted any carry-on bags. Accordingly, I will not have my laptop or my iPod with me and thus I will be offline until we return on Sunday night. Not that you'd notice on this LJ, but you might have become accustomed to seeing my name in your instant messaging contacts.

strangedave

11:29 pm

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I had a nice day.

dearanxiety

04:11 pm - 100 favorite albums of the naughties - part 3 (2007-2009)

( 2007-2009 )

you can see part 1 here and part 2 here.

punkrocker1991

09:51 pm - dear writer

dear writer

how the fuck am I supposed to do up a contract if you don't put your contact details on your manuscript??!!?!?!?!

Thanks
the editor

07:54 pm - Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz - 6 January 2010

http://darkgate.net/comic/#peanuts

silverai

05:44 pm - Point form with random stuff

Brain a little scattered so I'm going for point form.

*Got Xmas holidays off, even though my shop was open in that time. Enjoyed lazing around a lot and wearing funky coloured nail polish.
*Managed to maintain my weight over Xmas and not gain any while indulging in lots of yummy stuff, by being smart and selective about it.
*Got back into the groove of work very easily, almost like I haven't been away except with the benefit of a really good break.
*Think I have found an excellently priced venue for wedding stuff that does the thing I wanted for guests. Very exciting, as all my research before indicated I'd have to give it up. Get to check the venue out in a few weeks, not sharing any more than that with anyone until after then.
*Birthday coming up on the 24th, but close friends flying out before then, so moved the festivities up to this weekend.
*Discovered last weekend that there was an 8th book in the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. Nox! Reading at traffic lights isn't smart, but hard to resist.
*Curling ribbon is a marvelous creation.
*My glasses broke yesterday morning. Big long story short, they were 12 days within warranty and I managed to get things organised so they were fixed yesterday afternoon. Being able to see properly is a good thing.
*Colouring-in is very time consuming, but greatly enjoyable and relaxing.
*Planning to go to the eastern states sometime within the next six months to visit a dear friend of mine. Looking forward to both seeing her and checking out far off Australian places.
*Friends currently in Canada are arriving in Perth for a visit in a bit over a month. Be good to see them again!
*Zig is awesome.
*The Steam holiday sale was hard to resist and involved me spending $200+ on games. I'm mostly a pirate cos I don't agree with the price of the games, but damn, that sale was good. And costly to my credit card!
* Got two Threadless t-shirts in the mail yesterday that I ordered back in December. Very happy with the purchase.

INVITES - comment/contact me for more details if interested.
*Everyone invited to come to a strip club with me on Saturday 9th 8:30pm - I imagine mostly male friends will come, but interested ladies welcome too.
*Everyone invited to come to dinner with me in Northbridge on Saturday 9th 7:15pm - venue yet to be decided. RSVP preferred so appropiate sized table can be booked.
*All lady friends (and their lady friends too) invited to come to the C restaraunt (it revolves!) for High Tea on Sunday 10th 2:30pm. RSVP needed by Friday, restaraunt requires it.

Current Mood: content

05:00 am - G-Spot

http://xkcd.com/685/

punkrocker1991

01:49 pm - 13 books in 13 years

The naked list, with editions and stuff stripped away.

Make Believe, Terry Dowling (2009)
Basic Black, Terry Dowling (2009)
Love in Vain, Lewis Shiner (2009)
Magic Dirt: the best of Sean Williams (2008)
The Workers' Paradise, ed Farr & Nick Evans (2007)
Fantastic Wonder Stories, ed Russell B Farr (2007)
Troy, Simon Brown (2006)
New Adventures in Sci-Fi, Sean Williams (1999)
The Lady of Situations, Stephen Dedman (1999, 2009)
A View Before Dying, Sean Williams (1998)
Cannibals of the Fine Light, Simon Brown (1998)
Ghost Seas, Steven Utley (1997, 2009)
Custer's Last Jump, Steven Utley and Howard Waldrop (1996)

In 2010 I should be back to a bigger than 1/year average.

stephiepenguin

03:33 pm - mid week links

At Sociological Images, there is discussion of this photo set on poverty, and need vs want.

A really interesting post: A Problematic History of Race & Class at Apartment Therapy. Whilst the post merely collects some examples of class and racism problems in AT articles, the comments explore these issues (particularly appropriation) in greater detail. An interesting read!

Second hottest year on record for Perth

Two things on disability: Mentally disabled murdered in China's coal mines, and Should Disabled Workers Be Paid Less Than Minimum Wage?.

The idea behind this isn't new to me, but I thought this was really interesting regardless: Jesus was a Palestinian and Why it Matters. When you see so many depictions of Jesus as a Western White man with Euro-American features, the ethnocentrism and race-bending needs to be called out. No person is superior to another based on skin color, but to ignore the way Jesus’ Whiteness has been used to subjugate and discriminate against racial minorities in the West and many other countries is to overlook another important aspect of Jesus’ teachings: Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Moving towards solidarity, at the F Word, on transphobia in feminism.

Why is this so religion heavy today?

Beyond belief. Her translation from evangelicalese is spot on for the strict denotation of this weird idiom. When evangelicals say "I don't believe in X," what they mean is "I don't approve of X."

Sexy God billboard removed

"When knives are wielded in the name of God, I have two responses. One is to act to ensure the safety of the public and parishioners … My second response is one of deep sadness at those in the Christian church who don't want to offend any faith position, even the most literalistic view of a male god. By having unity as their priority, they inadvertently feed fanaticism.''

punkrocker1991

10:15 am - another goal

I'll aim to be less exclusive this year.

I don't know how exclusive I really am, though I know that some folks have thrown that at me in times gone by. I really admire the people who can and do talk to everyone. Folks who can have small conversations with anyone they meet, to find something, and to leave the other person feeling that little bit better, whoever they are.

At the very least it's something I'm going to try.

punkrocker1991

09:36 am - what I did in 2009

The list

1. Published 10 books
2. Published ticon regularly for part of the year
3. Committed to 6 new titles in 2010
4. Spent 2 months travelling to strange, new and familiar places
5. Attended 2 conventions
6. Sold some books
7. Found a printer that is great for my present needs


The annotated, qualified list

1. Published 10 books (5 titles, hardcover and trade editions of each, 2 reprints of TP titles, 1 reprint of US edition, 1 expanded reprint of US edition, 1 original collection).
Titles:
GHOST SEAS, Steven Utley
THE LADY OF SITUATIONS, Stephen Dedman
LOVE IN VAIN, Lewis Shiner
BASIC BLACK, Terry Dowling
MAKE BELIEVE, Terry Dowling

2. Published ticon regularly for part of the year (lost it all in a hacker hit, am still trying to get things back on track)

3. Committed to 6 new titles in 2010 (have only sorted out the contracts for 1 of these)

4. That's annotated all by itself at http://www.slowlyandloudly.com

5. SwanCon and the Adelaide natcon

6. Am a little behind on my bookkeeping, so no accurate number available

7. nothing to annotate yet.

punkrocker1991

09:05 am - on publishing

A couple of things I forgot to add to yesterday's list:

quasi-legal
boring mandatory admin clerk

I could also add that this is what I do in addition to a full-time job, and trying to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

This year's going to be about time-management, I can tell already.

04:46 am - Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz - 6 January 2010

http://darkgate.net/comic/#peanuts

dearanxiety

08:01 pm - 100 favorite albums of the naughties - part 2 (2004-2006)

( 2004-2006 )
you can see part 1 here. enjoy!

elaran

11:08 pm - saw sally and kathleen from sarah's NYE marathon there too!

There's a quiz night on every Tuesday night at the Rosemount Hotel starting at 8pm.

The prizes are in the form of bar tabs that can be used for the next week. 1st prize this week was $100, 2nd prize was $50, 3rd prize was $25. It's a pretty good deal.

They have 2 rounds and you can get bonus points [some of which involve answering the question to that week's Facebook question]. There are also bonus rounds which are fun and you win free pints of beer, wine or champagne.

Some weeks there are a lot of tables (10+), some weeks there are only 5 or so. Sid and Lin usually go every week, they've not gotten higher placed than third. I've been once before. I went again today and we won! It was quite fun. :)

Current Mood: tipsy

velithya

11:08 pm - just FYI

while I'm spending so much time sewing I am not going to have as much time for internets, and staying up late trying to catch up on my friendslist doesn't do anything but make me more tired the next day which is really completely unhelpful. SO. Announcing a semi-not-reading-f.list kind of deal, I'll still be posting my cosplay progress bar updates and doing a quick skim but if there is anything you would like my specific attention to please let me know directly otherwise I cannot guarantee that I will see it.

I should have learned by now to make my costumes earlier than SIX WEEKS PRIOR TO THE CONVENTION. Clearly I am only motivated by terror and panic. *breathes into paper bag*

Anyway, having blown my self-nominated curfew by an hour and a half, I am off to bed. GOODNIGHT, F.LIST.

Current Mood: tired

dearanxiety

11:16 am - ask me anything

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/dearanxiety

punkrocker1991

02:15 pm - on publishing

This indie publisher has been busy, even if it doesn't look like it.

I guess it's in the way I do things. I get to multi-task, doing a number of jobs, including:

editor
layout designer
graphic designer
web designer
web security
online store maintenance
online store development
marketing
proofreader
distribution
packer
bookkeeper
advertising
promotions
a&r

umm, they're the ones that come to mind. I'm thinking about doing a series of gratuitously boring posts looking at what each entails for me, in the hope that looking at these helps me become better at them. Or something.

stephiepenguin

01:47 pm - a difference of what matters

Hey Australia, you know what we are?

A racist country.

Not only is this article about a thing that makes me Very Angry, but so are the comments! (Thanks to ES for going to hard yard and reading them and sorting them, so that I only had to read one in order to know the rest would make me Very Angry) ES has summarised the situation: Indian student stabbed to death; what does the public reaction say about us?

And in other news, News With Nipples found this in the mailbox:

photo of note, with text reading:
600,000 immigrants arrived in the last 4 years. That's more than Tasmania.
More than the Aborigines. More than Newcastle. More than we need.

alias_sqbr

08:23 am - Dream job

Last night I dreamt I worked for a company which was a combination of Rossum, Wolfram and Hart, Veridian Dynamics and the Fire Nation(*).

So, you know, kind of scary, what with the performance review leading to being set on fire(**), but on the upside I'm feeling better than I usually do about not going in to work this morning :)

(*)Evil organisations from Dollhouse, Angel, Better off Ted and Avatar: The Last Airbender respectively.
(**)luckily we escaped in the hubbub caused by a superhero on a motorbike. Later I said I couldn't engage in the attack against him because the crisps I'd been given to throw contained vinegar and that sets of my reflux.

Current Mood: cheerful

alexmoon

08:17 am - A lazy little bumble bee

I didn't do so well on my Missions for the week, but I had a good week and spent my time well, so I'm not too fussed.

( Missions for last week, missions for next week. )

loic

12:04 am - 2010 Goals

 Not so much resolutions but directions I'd like to head in or things I'd like to achieve:

• Really enjoy the rest of our trip. Make new friends on our travels. Reconnect with old friends in Australia. Have a great time with my family in Australia and New Zealand. Continue to have a fantastic time with Sharon.
• Be excited to be back in San Francisco.
• Find a job that's satisfying and challenging. I'm still not quite sure what that looks like but I'm tempted to find a position that involves supervising other people which I've never done before. My experience with great, terrible and average managers kind of scares me, but that's the point. I'll want some kind of safety net like a good mentor and perhaps even formal training.
• Live frugally. I'd like us to be on our way towards a down payment for a home by 2011. Saving for the trip and even more being on the trip we've learned to live simply and cheaply and it's great.
• Find somewhere great and cheap to live. This ties into the previous item, but goes beyond that. By the time we left San Francisco I was ready to leave San Francisco. Our beautiful apartment was beautiful, but I'd like to own something beautiful which means living somewhere cheap for a while. By "great" I mean somewhere that has a bit of charm, a sense of community around it and where I can get coffee, groceries and public transport to work on foot easily. I think this is entirely possible in the Bay Area but quite likely not possible in San Francisco (I don't want to live in the Sunset, Richmond, etc). A lot of this will tie into the job question.
• Make music. With people or by myself. Regularly or occasionally. In a structured context or strumming on my guitar while I wait for a compile. It doesn't matter I've failed to make any music for the past few years and I know that it's a missing piece.
• Spend more time nerding out with nerds. I love to talk about ideas with interesting people but it's not something I've made enough time for in the past few years. In San Francisco with its political homogeneity and massive computer industry this will generally mean participating in tech meetups or clubs. Like music it takes time, is easily ignored but makes me happy.
• Write some software that either makes me some money or makes people excited. I'm often not great at picking projects that will keep my attention to a successful completion. I'd love to be part of an awesome free software community but I'd also love to try my hand at entrepreneur.
• Start the baby making. Really everything else on the list is just setting myself up to be ready to devoting myself to a family while keeping myself satisfied as an individual.

alias_sqbr

05:16 am - Fanart: A Tale of Two Talias (Babylon 5)

yuletart reveals are up, here's what I made for unithien_rerith:



Summary: Talia faces herself, pre and post the activation of the sleeper personality in in "Divided Loyalties". The background is a kaleidoscope similar to that used by the agent Control (who was the sleeper) consisting of stylised images of Bester, Ivanova, Talia, and the Babylon 5 and Psi Corps logos.

My tablet was dying while I made this and died before I could do all the little fixes I wanted. Still, I think it came out pretty well. The background was fun, I made a little kaleidoscope Photoshop macro so I could mess about with the placement and made very liberal use of the "find neon edges" filter :)

Of course now I feel like I should reply to all the very nice feedback I got RIGHT AWAY.

Current Mood: accomplished

kattiko

11:59 pm - Predictions 2010... yes they're all about films

Stuff to watch and what I think of it:

Dorian Grey
The book was a slow, but had a good idea... so my expectations for a film are low (specially since League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but I'll watch it all the same. If they get the time period right, the rest will follow. For me anyway.

Daybreakers
ok so it might be difficult to find a torrent of this one. but its Aaages until it comes out over here... Australian, but still looks promising. Better than Gabriel for sure.

Cirque du Freak
Looks baaad. I'm not spending money on this.

Princess and the Frog
*cough* oh how did this get in there... >_>

Ninja assassin
Also bad. Like Kill Bill for kiddies.

I love you phillip morris
Kind of morbid curiosity makes me want to see this, but then if the big film companies rejected it, maybe there's hope? Jim Carey is a mark against it though...

Legion
La, another superpower/historical film. The down side of crossing genres is that there are more good movies it will have to compete with.

Sparticus: Blood and Sand
ok a tv series, but it seems ok... but probably not as good as Rome

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightening thief
I'm determined to make this into a LotR parody with the addition of in-theatre narration, so you know I'll be going into this one with a sense of sarcasm... but only if I'm really bored.
Like I said: you find out you're immortal, then suddenly everyone's trying to kill you. But, you're immortal right? So what're you stressing about? Also you're a tween, so you're practically immortal even without the superpowers.

The Crazies
Horror movies are always (insert sports metaphor here). Mostly they miss. I can still stand to watch it once.

The book of Eli
Pros: Post-apocalypse. Cons: ~In the Ghettooooo~ Gangsta, yo.

Season of the witch
Sounded ok, but then Nicholas Cage is in it. Man is he a wet rag.

Clash of the titans
Another ancient greek superhero movie, yawn. Also I keep remembering that other movie with a similar name, oh what was it called? Yeah, that one. But I hate sports, so Titans shall forever be tainted to me. Like how in Avatar I kept imagining a blue arrow on Sully's head.

How to train your dragon
Kiddie movie. looks like cheap CG. or maybe not cheap, but not good either.

Kick ass
I forget why this one was on the list. It probably won't be memorable.

Iron Man 2
Sometimes I think Robert Downy Jr can only play one sort of character. But this one, he plays well. Also Pepper Potts red wig is used in True Blood. ooOOoh.

Harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2
More series than movie, I shall engage in the fallicy of waiting: that is investing further time to justify that already spent. buut it'll probably be good.

Alice in Wonderland
I'm tired of Tim Burton and the same sorry cast of actors and relatives. I think he's in it for the merchandising.

Toy Story 3
Should be fun. Will probably wait until a younger sibling gets the dvd for christmas.

Eclipse (Twilight 3)
ok so I won't be seeing this unless I hear things that say its really worth my while. So its on the list just so I can write mean things about it.

Voyage of the dawn treader (Narnia 3)
As above. I fell asleep in the second narnia movie, and the first has not aged will with the CG.

The Wolfman
Could be good. Will be shallow fluff compared to the first one, but could still be good.

Repo Men
Cool idea turned into just another action movie.

Robin Hood
It'll be Gladiator in England. Slow, "meaningful", patriotic. Crap.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Hmm... reserving judgement.

The Scorcerer's Apprentice
Get out of my fantasy (genre) Nicholas Cage!

Priest
I hope he gets eaten. I'll probably be dissappointed, but... vampires! (oh my!)

ok... Time to get those torrents started and head to bed.

Current Mood: amused

nephron

10:35 pm

I am on a course for destruction and I am loving every minute.

dearanxiety

02:22 pm - 100 favorite albums of the naughties - part 1 (2000-2003)

i decided that it would be fun to put together a list of my 100 favorite albums of the last decade...and so i did! i decided to post it in 4 parts over 4 days. this part will cover albums that came out between 2000-2003. the next will be 2004-2006 and the third will be 2007-2009. each of these lists will be in alphabetical order. then on the final day i will post my top 10 albums of the decade in order. WOOHOO!

so, for each album i've chosen a song and included a youtube video so you can have a listen. in most cases these aren't official videos. in almost every case, though, it is the album version of the song, and i've noted where that is not the case. i also made a playlist of all the videos, so if you want to listen to them all, you can do that here.

so, without further ado, the albums from my top 100 (minus the top 10) that came out between 2000 and 2003!

( 2000-2003 )

07:36 pm - Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz - 4 January 2010

http://darkgate.net/comic/#peanuts

05:00 am - We Get It

http://xkcd.com/684/

theducks

08:29 pm - A home-coming, of sorts

Many moons ago, we booked tickets for Canada, leaving Perth 24 June 2009, returning 17 Feb 2010. We couldn't book them for the exact period of time we wanted.. plans were to stick around for a year, so we thought we'd just change dates.

Well.. erm. We like it here. So we're going to take the tickets home, clean up some loose ends then head back here again in early/mid March, probably on a return ticket that would have us back in Perth during Christmas 2010/ NY 2011.

Plans for our time in Perth include dinner at Utopia (firstly probably on the 18th), then O-Day on the 19th of Feb. We're also heading up to Karratha to visit family on the long weekend of Feb 26-Mar 1. I've never been there before, so that should be fun.

Not entirely sure where we're going to be staying while we're in Perth, since both of our parents are talking about renting out their homes, but eh, that's part of the excitement :)

evil_megz

12:09 pm

Yesterday, having 2.5 dozen eggs in the fridge (and 3 more each day...), I decided to make meringues.

I did so, and then I thought about what to do with the yolks.

So in the end dinner was:
Scotch fillet steaks with bearnaise sauce (yolks, butter, and a reduction of white wine and vinegar boiled with tarragon, parsley, chives and peppercorns)
Wedges with aioli (yolks, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard seeds, and lemongrass)

Desert: the meringues topped with whipped cream, mixed berries and chocolate sauce (chocolate, cream, frangelico).

I suppose I also should have had a caesar salad, but I think you can only have so much eggy sauce in one go.

It was very delicious. I've never tried making mayonaisey sauces before (I also made mayo, just took out a bunch from the aioli before adding the other stuff). They all worked very well though were very strong, as I was uncomfortable making something that was almost entirely oil.. it just doesn't seem right!

P.S does anybody want eggs?

11:24 am - 2009

I like the idea of retroactive resolutions. So, here's the resolutions I didn't set for myself a year ago, but achieved anyway:

Motorbike licence!
Cooked more
Ate healthier
Bought healthier, environmentally speaking. Not perfect, but I am off cow, pig, sheep and overpackaged brands.
Established a productive garden
Learned more about alternative food and agriculture, and tried to put some of it into practice
Improved my (still limited) comprehension of how stuff works
Replaced sagging kitchen ceiling
Built a reticulation system (I'm almost ashamed to include this, because it was surprisingly easy)
Learnt some basic plumbing skills
Made it to Lake Jasper, Black point and out again without requiring rescue.
Made each mortgage payment, and managed to get ahead.
Beat my record for continuous full time employment, which now stands at 18 months.
Stayed non-depressed, non-insomniac, and generally mentally healthy


Celebrating 2-5, last night I made amaranth tabouli, with homegrown basil, oregano, mint, chicory, cos lettuce, frilly lettuce, tomato, lemon and rainbow chard. The only ingredients that were store bought were olive oil, amaranth grains (for anyone interested, you can get free trade amaranth & quinoa at the store that used to be farmer jacks woodlands), and onion, which I am growing, but isn't ready.

alias_sqbr

08:37 am - Poll: best way to post about art

Sometimes I get paranoid that people find it annoying when I post pictures of stuff I've drawn to my lj, especially when I'm going through an arty phase. Thus, a poll.

For some ideas of sizes:
a thumbnail
a small image
a full size image



How would you prefer I post about my art to my lj?
I'd rather not hear about it at all
Wait till you have several and post a summary
Just links
A thumbnail under a cut
A small image under a cut
A full size image under a cut
A thumbnail above the cut
A small image above the cut
A full size image above the cut
other



EDIT: Poll is refusing to work dammit. So, if you have strong feelings just let me know *mutters*

Not that I have any intention of stopping posting all together regardless of what people say (my lj and all) but it seems polite to find out the best way to tell people about stuff I've done without being annoying.

Current Mood: curious

alias_sqbr

08:33 am - Fanart: Jason coaches Smash (Friday Night Lights)

for the prompt Jason Street coaching Smash to be a quarterback.

Note to sanguinity: I edited it slightly since posting it to you so that Jason didn't look so angry :)

A nice study in the difference a decent reference image makes: both characters were drawn and coloured freehand with no tracing etc but for Jason I had a photo which modulo his arm and eyes was exactly what I was after, while with Smash I had to work off a bunch of images, some of them not even of him.

Current Mood: cheerful

graydon

09:16 am - hoptimism

Congratulations to the clang team: they're almost bootstrapped. This is an immense amount of work, but also work we all sorely need. Awesome.

And now, the first somewhat-serious bike ride of the year.

unfoldedreality

12:14 am - doctor at eleven

( no spoilers but ... )