Sunday, March 18, 2007, 09:01 PM - Cool Stuff
I finished writing Chapter 42 of my novel!
I, Construct: Chapter 42
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( 3 / 1136 )Tuesday, December 12, 2006, 03:26 PM - Cool Stuff
Rudolph the Cyborg Reindeer
Rudolph the Cyborg Reindeer
Had a red prosthetic eye
And when it shot out lasers
The children would all run and cry
All of the other reindeer
Used to stay the hell out of his way
They didn't want to be bisected
When Rudolph came around to slay!
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
"Rhudolph with your eye so bright,
Won't you be my laser sight?"
Then how the children feared him
As Santa launched a shooting spree.
Rhudolph the Cyborg Reindeer
You'll go down in infamy!
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( 3 / 1079 )Friday, November 24, 2006, 08:16 PM - Cool Stuff
This month was pretty good for me, at least in terms of my workout plan. Today, I had my fastest 5km run: 27m 02s. I also had my longest distance in one day: 8.2 miles![ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 1164 )Thursday, November 23, 2006, 10:07 PM - Cool Stuff
Oddly enough, Thanksgiving was mostly stress-free this year. Doug and I usually either eat Thanksgiving with our lesbian friends (Gail and Ro), or eat at the Nautiloid. But this year Doug and I were invited to my Uncle Blake’s house. It was pretty nice. My cousin Christy had her new baby over (Taylor) who is only 5 weeks old and cute as a button. Although legally separated, Blake and Marylou were surprisingly civil to each other.
The funny thing is that I’m not actually a big fan of turkey. But I like all the other stuff that comes with a Thanksgiving meal: stuffing, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry bread, and more! Yummie!
I was happy to see all my relatives getting along (for a change!) All in all, it was a nice holiday.
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( 3 / 1379 )Sunday, October 1, 2006, 05:57 PM - Cool Stuff
Now that I have the OrigamiPC, I spent a whole lot of time yesterday and today writing more stuff for my novel, "I, Construct". I finished chapter 40 today, for a grand total of 149,800 words (for all 40 chapters combines, of course).
http://www.gaianar.com/Downloads/IC/IC%2036-39.htm
The link below shows chapters 36-40. In chapter 40, the brave adventurers get attacked by giant rats!
Open Chapters 36-40
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( 3 / 1173 )Sunday, October 1, 2006, 10:25 AM - Cool Stuff
The other reason I haven't posted often lately is that I haven't had a laptop computer for two weeks. I sold my old laptop on eBay to get cash to buy a new computer. My new machine is an origami-class computer. It's only 7" across and weighs 1.5 pounds. There's no keyboard. You just handwrite on the screen with a plastic stylus. It has the unusual resolution of 480 by 800, so it's portrait instead of landscape. The aspect ratio is perfect for word processing.
The great thing about eBay is that I effectively paid about $100 for a $1000 computer, since by the time I sold my old laptop and some DVDs, I had over $800 cashed in.
The only sour note in the deal is that the seller tried to cheat me. She refused to ship the computer until I filed a Pay Pal fraud alert. This was not a pleasure.
But I've got the computer now and it works fine!
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( 3 / 1176 )Saturday, September 30, 2006, 10:41 PM - Cool Stuff
I've been working out several days each week for the past eight months. I've lost 31 pounds and I can now jog for an hour straight! My new distance record is 6.4 miles over an hour run. My fastest 5km has been 28m 15s.[ 3 comments ] ( 16 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 1357 )Sunday, June 11, 2006, 02:14 PM - Cool Stuff
Doug and I went to Montecello yesterday, the home of Thomas Jefferson. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful and efficient home. Unlike typical mansions of the rich, everything in the Jefferson home had purpose and function. I liked the fact that he believed in ordinary staircases instead of the huge spirals that were so popular with the wealthy of the time.
It was also cool how he designed all the bedrooms such that the beds were built into the walls. How efficient! Many of the rooms had high ceilings and skylights.
He designed his own home. He invented the double-pane window concept. He also made windows that also worked like doors (you slid them up from the floor and just walked out!)
The only sad note was the knowledge that he owned over 100 slaves in his lifetime. While it is generally thought that he did not abuse or torture his slaves, the fact that he actually OWNED other human beings is something that strikes me as abhorrent. It was a pretty standard practice in the Southern states, however. And although Jefferson was an enlightened man of his time, he was still OF THAT TIME.
Jefferson's genious made me realize, of course, how short-changed we are nowadays with respect to Presidents. Here's how I see it:
Thomas Jefferson: He could speak, read, and write seven different languages fluently.
George W. Bush: He has never demonstrated the ability to read or write. He can barely speak English, much less any other language.
Thomas Jefferson: He couild play two musical instruments and composed music in his spare time.
George W. Bush: He cannot play any instruments. He has no interest in art of any kind and is generally fearful/distrustful of those that do.
Thomas Jefferson: As a man of science, he collected many scientific instruments and enjoyed performing experiments in his house.
George W. Bush: He has no interest whatsoever in science and has a pathological fear of those who do.
Thomas Jefferson: Was a man who promoted religious tolerance and the seperation of Church and State.
George W. Bush: He is a Bible-thumping religious bigot who misuses the Bible to push his austere Right-Wing agenda. He promotes the idea of a theocratic oligarchy based on ultra-conservative Christo-fascism.
Thomas Jefferson: He owned over 5000 books and read every single one of them.
George W. Bush: He is not known to have read any book except for the Bible. He is not known to actually own any books at all.
Thomas Jefferson: He was a natural-born tinkerer. He designed locks, clocks, doors, and all manner of appliances for the home.
George W. Bush: He has never demonstrated any desire to invent anything, and generally distrusts/fears those who do.
Thomas Jefferson: He was an expert chef and knew how to prepare French cuisine.
George W. Bush: It is not known if this man has EVER prepared a meal for himself.
Thomas Jefferson: He was skilled at various money-making trades, including farming, brewing, map making, surveying, architecture, and wine making.
George W. Bush: He has never held down a single job that his daddy didn't get for him -- including the Presidency.
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( 3 / 1680 )Sunday, May 14, 2006, 08:47 PM - Cool Stuff
Hanuman wrote something KIND on his website for his mother. But my mum and I share a rather darker sense of humor.
"M" is for the Meatloaf that turned out like shoe leather.
"O" is for the occasional Oven fire.
"T" is fur the Terror behind the wheel.
"H" is for the Horrible, yet Hilarious home videos
"E" is for the many Ethanol-based concoctions at Red Lobster
"R" is for the Ringing of the smoke alarms when dinners ready!
Put it all together, well... you get the idea!
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( 3 / 1074 )Saturday, May 6, 2006, 01:52 PM - Cool Stuff
Now, some people drive really conservatively because they don’t know how to drive. Other people, like myself, just don’t like getting tickets. But I *do* occasionally like to push the pedal to the floor. So when Doug and I were heading out this morning and Doug said, “You have to drive faster because we’re running late,” I replied, “You don’t have to ask me twice!”
I got my little Civic Hybrid up to 95 MPH on i83, and you could *really* hear the electric motor whine! I drained 85% of the battery pack in 5 minutes with this driving! Then I took the exit ramp so fast that two of the car’s wheels almost came off the ground. Slowing down for the ramp brought the battery pack up to 45%. Then I gloated on the Beltway as we blew past a SUV that almost seemed like it was standing still, and some dude who was actually reading the Baltimore Sun while driving. Again, I drove the battery down to 20% with 90+ MPH driving. When we exited on Greenspring Avenue, it had this long, straight downhill segment that allowed the kinetic energy recovery system to boost power back to 80%. At the bottom of the hill I floored it again. There’s nothing as exciting as driving 87 in a 30 MPH residential neighbourhood! Driving the batteries down to 25% again, we sped into the parking lot with a mighty screech and the smell of smouldering rubber.
I love to drive!
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