So, this pretty much sums up the latest news in our world...
1.26.2004
Ladies and gentlemen, we gather here at this moment to celebrate a birthday. And it's not just ANY birthday, mind you - it's the birthday of a legend. For twenty years ago, some engineers got together and produced a revolutionary new machine. These days, only a small percentage of the population uses the descendants of that machine, but those who do realize its greatness, and the potential that it held when it was born.
I'm writing this on one right now. This computer, a Power Mac 8500, is nearly nine years old - ancient by computer standards - but with some added RAM, a slightly larger hard drive and an upgraded processor, it runs Internet, productivity and design applications with surprising speed. Add in a SCSI CD burner that zips along nicely without crashing, and you've got yourself a pretty handy little machine. Hell, it'll even let me crank up the mp3s while web-surfing and the audio never stops, unlike my skip-a-riffic Windows machine.
So, yeah, yay Macintosh. Perhaps in the future I'll have the means to get one of the new titanium G5s linked above. Yowza...
1.22.2004
As a follow-up to my last post, the Dean speech in Iowa is definitely becoming a major issue - and now has spawned a number of dance mixes for your listening pleasure. I find it rather ironic that the Internet network his aides created helped bring him to the forefront in the early days of campaigning, and now that very same Internet is proving to be his undoing. Delicious...
1.21.2004
Well, the laptop is now officially dead - LCD is broken, external monitor port non-working, unable to boot normally. However, I pulled out the hard drive and tried it in a machine at work, and it WORKED - so at least all my data is still intact.
Our esteemed president didn't impress me much at all with tonight's address. Especially with the whole we-need-better-standards-for-education-but-are-not-willing-to-pay-for-it stance. Real smart economics there. On the other side of the fence, Howard Dean seems to be self-destructing, so I now think it will come down to Kerry vs. Edwards (and Edwards seems to have great forward momentum at the moment, with charm and a political stance just centrist enough to draw some GOPers over to the dark side). We shall see...
We are relaunching our sites at work tomorrow, so it's liable to be a day from hell. I don't even go IN until 9:30 p.m., so I expect to spend most of the overnight shift cleaning up problems here and there. Joy!
And, finally, just so I can beat Emaroo to it, this item. Swedish furniture freaks across North Texas are rejoicing.
1.19.2004
Ah, the bygone days of faded pop culture - put to new use in a myriad of poorly-executed conversions. Anybody ever notice that there are a TON of these around the Dallas-Fort Worth area?
notfoolinganybody.com
1.18.2004
I've had several people ask me lately why I don't patronize Wal-Mart stores (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, W-M Neighborhood Market, etc.). Here are just a few reasons why, in addition to the fact that their stores are generally dirty and poorly organized:
The W-M you don't know
W-M looking into RFID tracking technology
W-M settles life insurance lawsuit
Union-busting a way of life for chain
Stores locked employees in overnight
NOT a good day so far. Although it started out well enough (church), while cooking lunch at home and checking e-mail, I got up from my desk and proceeded to catch the laptop power cable with my foot. Of course, I didn't notice this, and pulled the laptop off the desk and onto the hardwood floor. Now, although the laptop still works (my being able to type this is proof of that) the LCD screen is shot. My friendly local Best Buy tech says the only choice is to replace the LCD to the tune of $600. I tend to think there are ways to fix it, but in the meantime I have it sitting on the desk and hooked up to my old ViewSonic monitor (which I just got back from a friend after he had borrowed it for a while). While I'm glad I didn't lose (A) my CPU and (B) my hard drive, it sucks that I can no longer roam free via WiFi (unless I want to carry around an all-too-heavy CRT monitor). Mwah...
This rock is located on highway 25 in Iowa, and kids used to put obscenities on it. Since the rock was painted like this, it's been left alone. This rock is in Adair County, between Greenfield and I-80. The kid that painted it is a local guy, named Bubba. Be sure to scroll all the way down to see all sides of the rock.
In other news...I spent yesterday with a migraine and after 4 Excedrin, a 1.5 hour nap and a margarita, I was able to function...but then I was up until 2am because of the nap and the caffeine in the Excedrin...what'ya gonna do?
Also...I am really getting motivated to start painting and shooting again...I have a couple of things in the works. So, in the next little while, start checking out the "Projects" link on longwinded to see if I stuck to my word or not.
1.16.2004
Today I had to send 4 boys to the office for slapping girls on the butt with rulers and smearing paint on their faces. I had a boy run from my room crying because some kid called him a eunuch. And now I am about to go to a birthday party for a 1 year old cat being hosted by a 5 year old girl...but I bought a cool present for her!
Kid quote of the day..."Miss...you dropped your pocket." Eh?
This has been a hellish week, hopefully this weekend will prove to be a little less eventful.
If you have never heard of the Guerrilla Girls...you need to check out this site. They are feminist activists and artists trying to denounce all female stereotypes. As a female artist, I really get a kick out of dialogue like this because it gets me energized and makes me remember why I became an artist in the first place. To try and say something. I love these people because they can take such a serious topic and really make people think, but at the same time make us all laugh our butts off! I love it...
Excuse me for being so random...it is Friday afternoon...
1.15.2004
So I was perusing the day's news and came upon this - an item about developers who are slowly beginning to embrace the 50s architecture that abounds in downtown Dallas. Several of the long-vacant office towers are finding new life as condos or apartments, with plans for other buildings in the works.
Personally, I immensely prefer the earlier styles of architecture from the first few decades of the 20th century, but I am willing to accept these aluminum-and-steel behemoths for what they are - a product of their time. Plus, it's just nice to see these structures put to some sort of use, instead of just rotting away in the central business district as they have for years. Now, if the designers can just incorporate the tenets of 1950s design into the interiors of these adaptive-reuse projects...
Funny email I got today...
Dear Tide:
I'm writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it since the beginning of my married life, when my Mom told me it was the best. Now that I am older and going through menopause, I find it even better! In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My unfeeling and uncaring husband started to berate me about how clumsy I was and generally started becoming a pain in the behind. One thing led to another and I ended up getting a lot of his blood on my white blouse. I tried to get the stain out using a bargain detergent, but it just wouldn't come out. After a quick trip to the supermarket, I stopped and got a bottle of liquid Tide with bleach alternative, and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In fact, the stains came out so well, that some detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests were negative, and my attorney said that I would no longer be considered a suspect! I thank you, once again, for having such a great product. Well, gotta go. I have to write a letter to the Hefty bag people...
Signed,
Menopausal Wife
I promised Alan I would post by the end of the day...ok, so I'm posting...I am not used to this blog thing. All I can add right now is a quote I heard from one of my students today..."Miss, I made a really big step yesterday...I showered naked."
I will try and add some insightful comments and other such useless garbage that none of you really care about...but some will read anyway.
Welcome to our spiffy new Web site! In the coming months, you'll see a lot of posts here from both myself and Emaroo. You'll see a variety of topics, and (hopefully) some decent opinions. Originally, the plan was to host two separate blogs, but since technology allows us to post independently on the same blog, I thought it was worth a try, at least for a while. Let us know what you think.