« January 2007 | Main | March 2007 »
I keep thinking it's going to be Friday tomorrow. Anyway, here's the song of the week, from Corrine Bailey Rae's self-titled album. I know Put Your Records On has that classic summer BBQ groove thing going, but Trouble Sleeping is my favorite cut. As a side note, I am having trouble sleeping this week. How strange...
Nobuko and I spent a couple of hours dismantling a computer this Saturday. It was the geekiest fun I'd had in a long time. It was even better than learning about adjusting levels in photoshop. As the facilitators clarified, the goal here was not to break the computers but to take them apart. That said, we didn't have to be afraid of breaking anything since these were being cannibalized for recycled parts anyways. Excellent.
I once seriously considered building my own computer and did a reasonable amount of weenie research into the art of choosing a motherboard and appropriate processor, soundcard etc. But I got a bit overwhelmed with all the options and gave up. I learned more in 2 hours with tech women actually handling computer hardware than I did in all that reading. I now know that motherboards are actually quite beautiful and Nobuko has an affinity for Linux.
Given my frustrations and ambivalence with professionalized identity poltics, it was also refreshing to actually appreciate an identity specific (in this case women) space. These were a bunch of tech nerds who just wanted to bring together other women who were curious about the insides of a computer. And not to sound all cheez fest, but there is something about the way women teach each other and learn that is distinct from a mixed gender space. This was probably enhanced by the majority women of color element too. Who knew the brazilians knew their hardware so well?
Being fully nerdy, there's a wiki and an IRC chat all set up. Rock on to the next endeavor--build a computer from spare parts and install Linux!
I will be here on Saturday!
A workshop on taking apart and putting together computers put together by women for women. How fun is that?
The lunar new year arriveth: firecrackers, damn carnies outside my office fleecing kids of their lucky money and breaking my already weak powers of concentration, delicious foods, and wondering if it's a boar/pig/pork. ok, it's definitely not the latter.
Obscene amounts of food was consumed -- keeping with the new year theme -- bacon, debates about cooking w/bacon fat, burns from bacon fat crepes, joys of eating well w/good friends.
Bar tending genius observed at the Orbit Room: chartreuse and cucumber, mystery cocktails with fresh fruit and excellent company. Perfection bodes well for the year of the pork.
A dear friend was sent-off on domestic bliss : the OC, identifying similarities with the L Word, roadtripping w/a cat, furnishing a new home free of milk crates and cinder blocks
Pan's Labyrinth viewed w/perfect bag of popcorn : wassup with the Captain stitching his cheek, not an upper, but definitely a good film.
Well, it's not quite CA Super Lotto, but I did learn that the Barbri class action was settled for $49 million (one day before the trial date of course.) Details are not up yet, but I hear that anyone who took a course for between '97 and '06 is entitled to approximately $125. In light of the thousands of dollars I shelled out, that sum seems a tad small, but hey I'll take what I can get.
Updates will be available here.http://www.barbri-classaction.com/barbri/default.htm
My first karaoke action of 2007 was an excellent antidote to my day long conference. Despite having to sit in the same seat for 8 hrs, the geek in me enjoyed nerd camp and the weenie in me had fun playing with the various adjustments on these chairs. One has to wonder about a school that can afford to stock 150 or so of these chairs in a lecture hall. That's roughly the annual tuition (room, board and books included) for an undergrad...
At any rate, a bunch of us kicked off Tara's send off week with some merry tunes. I did not sing this, but someday I will.
”そばかす” ｂｙ Judy and Mary
The other day I found myself killing some time at the police station --it's a long story for another day. I learned that unlike dentists and doctors, cops like to stock their waiting areas with magazines dedicated to answering pressing homicidal queries such as "Why You Need a Pump Action Shotgun." For those of you wanting to know, the current issue of Police Magazine provides the answers.
According to the author here is why police officers should keep a pump action shotgun IN ADDITION to their sidearm and rifle.
"The presence of a 12-gauge shotgun and its gaping maw of a barrel can stop a bad guy in his tracks because he knows what a close-range blast can do.The wound capacity of a load of double-aught buck shot (essentially eight .33-caliber rounds) is so devastating that 12-gauge shotguns are the tool of choice for professionals who must neutralize dangerous animals quickly without bothering to aim. When a commercial fishing boat hoists up a large and angry shark onto its deck, you can bet that the first mate will reach for his shotgun. When an animal handler at a zoo or circus sees that a big cat is about to attack, likewise he will reach for a shotgun."
Goes on to say,
"And you know why? Shotguns don’t require precision and they are fearsome weapons at close range. I have examined wounds from pistols, and sometimes they resemble bee stings. Of course, the wound channel inside the body is bigger, but from the outside it’s sometimes hard to find the hole. In contrast, shotgun wounds are often horrific in their level of trauma."
I see, I want the police to be armed with firearms that launch indiscriminate and horrific sprays of pellets.
Furthermore,
"If you don’t believe that a shotgun is an excellent man stopper, consider that the eight pellets in your typical 12-gauge 00 buckshot shell tend to do some interesting things when launched in anger. For example, when fired at close range, they typically travel in pairs or in clumps into the body of the target. This effect rends organs and causes massive shock and blood loss."
"When launched in anger...effect rends organs and causes massive shock and blood loss." I'm speechless.
That's Korean Fried Chicken. I got several incredulous responses to my assertion that "Korea has the best fried chicken." I admit best is a bold statement especially since we were only able to try one place, but was pretty damn good. And nothing beats the pickled items and mugs of beer (see the aftermath above.) It's just a different experience from biscuits and cole slaw.
Today's NY Times reports that Korean fried chicken has arrived in the city more specifically, Queens. I'd provide a link, but as I reported in my last post, the much vaunted "upgrade" broke my blog so I need to figure out how to fix the hyperlink function. Go to nytimes.com and find this yummy article.
Faithful readers may be wondering what ever happened to the promise of regular Wednesday tunes and more frequent postings. I feel your pain. I have no definitive answers, but assure you that I've been pondering many things big and small. In order to side step the Big Question of "what am I doing with my life?" I'm dedicating time to queries such as:
What is reiki and why does it make my toes twitch?
Is it possible to make tasty vegetable dishes in a slow cooker?
Is tasty missing an e?
Why do Elaine and my dad share a fascination with birds?
How can I mix "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz into a late 90's club anthem?
What did upgrading to movable type 3.34 get me? .34 of an upgrade, messed up formatting and an inability to hyperlink.
Will Book 7 be the end for Harry, Ron or Hermione?
Will 2007 be the year I learn how to punctuate?
What bon mots can I add to the list of "Phrases of 2006 That Ought to Stay in 2006"--running in the top 5 = "push back" "points of unity" "in the spirit of collaboration" "movement building" "theory of change"
When will I muster the energy to finish Gilead?
Why do so many people insist on saying "mustard" rather than muster?
And in that vein, it's definitely--not definately. In elaborating or providing detail, one fleshes out, not flushes out. ok, I'll stop now. I'm being bitchy and I should at least learn how to use a comma dammit before slamming other people's misuse of idioms.
So many questions...
For reasons unknown to me -I'm just the DJ - Dream EZ is moving to Lucky Lounge.
Come check out the new space.
Dream EZ
February 14th 8- closing
Lucky Lounge, 3332 Grand Ave.