7/31/2002 04:21:00 PM [ link ]
Two very valid reasons to squeal and jump repeatedly up and down:
Reason #1 - My new dancing shoes came today! Just in time for Wednesday night dancing. Now I have cute white shoes to go with the (many) vintage dresses I have that beg for white shoes instead of black. eeeeeeee!
Reason #2 - The port card that I've been working on all summer (the one that I finished the code for way back when*) finally finished going through tests. It all works! La la la la la!! It works!! I sent a live video feed through it today, and IT WORKS. I rule. eeeeeeee!
* holy crap that was a long time ago!
7/31/2002 12:38:00 PM [ link ]
Ow. I hurt.
Rock climbing is fun.
Yesterday I went for the first time in nearly a year.
Today, typing borders on masochism.
7/30/2002 10:09:00 PM [ link ]
Jumping on the bandwagon:
Since everyone else is talking about bugs, I feel I should raise an extremely important question on the subject.
Why do bugs in the movies make weird clicking noises? Seriously, why? Real bugs do not make these noises. There seems to be a universal "scary bug" noise that all movie bugs make. This noise has no apparent connection to real life.
It seems a rather odd decision on the part of Hollywood, when you think about it. If I were trapped in a dark room with a giant bug, I'd feel much more comfortable if it would make some clicking noises so I'd know where it was. A silent bug would be an awful lot creepier, since you wouldn't even know it was there until it crawled on you.
ps - Earlier I was bored enough to (briefly) think it might be amusing to link every mention of "bug" in the preceding paragraphs to a random picture of a bug. I find it very odd that when you search Google's image database for "giant scary bug", the only results are these two (entirely non-scary) images.
7/30/2002 11:31:00 AM [ link ]
I don't understand why Ana goes insane whenever I eat sour cream and onion potato chips or salsa. She insists on trying to taste them, no matter how many times I tell her it's bad for her and push her away. Stranger still, when I was eating a fish sandwich the other day, she sniffed at it and then went to eat some of her own food. Aren't cats supposed to like fish better than salsa?
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was a McDonald's fish sandwich. (Smart cat.)
7/29/2002 02:24:00 AM [ link ]
sigh...
Almost did it again. Will try to be less stupid in the future.
7/29/2002 01:59:00 AM [ link ]
Back into the land of social interaction!
I just said goodnight to five people! Instead of zero, as it has been so often lately.
And now, so that no one feels left out: goodnight everyone! (minus five)
7/29/2002 01:44:00 AM [ link ]
This week is looking increasingly hopeful:
Dinner and movie tomorrow night,
rock climbing on Tuesday,
then dancing,
dancing,
and more dancing!
Homemade dinner, I might add. Yum!
7/28/2002 09:35:00 PM [ link ]
Ugh. Am v. bored. Have been reading Bridget Jones's Diary all day and lounging about. Feel disgusting.
7/28/2002 02:16:00 PM [ link ]
to clarify:
I have the same amount of money now as I would if I had turned in my timesheets regularly every two weeks. I only feel rich because I got it all at once.
So, no, I will not take you out to dinner.
7/26/2002 01:10:00 PM [ link ]
Hooray for getting over $2300 of paycheck all at once! I am rich now!
7/25/2002 11:21:00 PM [ link ]
awkward pirouettes...
Yay for not sucking at ballet anymore! Everyone... applaud?
Sigh... no. I still do suck, really. Just not quite so badly as before. It's hard to imagine ever being confident about ballet.
And no, I did not just allude to a song that I've never actually listened to. Certainly not. (But if anyone wants to send me the mp3, I probably wouldn't mind.)
7/25/2002 03:27:00 PM [ link ]
Priceless:
"So, how has your Dixon-less week been? Uh.. that's really a lot less dirty than it sounds." - John
7/25/2002 01:02:00 AM [ link ]
Just another one of life's little lessons:
Going into Walgreen's on a weeknight with vintage 40's outfit and hair will make people look at you funny.
Likewise with Schnuck's.
7/24/2002 01:01:00 AM [ link ]
"Your cat looks very..... promiscuous." - Emily
(Leave it to Emily to say the most random thing that pops into her head, regardless of whether it makes any sense or not.)
7/23/2002 04:13:00 PM [ link ]
Sometimes it is hard not to be bitter.
(Often I am cynical, other times I am just resigned.)
7/21/2002 10:50:00 PM [ link ]
To the boys at SIGGRAPH:
Hope you are having fun.
Looking forward to your return, your stories about wild times in Texas, and a much less stressed-out lunch buddy.
Wild times, right? I'm sure it will be wild. A veritable jungle of robots and smart people and neat gadgets and cutting edge projects.
What? No, I'm not at all jealous. Not one bit.
(I miss you guys.)
7/21/2002 12:16:00 AM [ link ]
Well ah'll be gosh-durned. My hometown is in The Onion.
For a minute I considered ranting about southern Missouri stereotypes and reminding everyone that Springfield is actually the third largest city in MO and really not that bad of a place to live. (It's bigger than Columbia so don't even start with me. You know who you are.)
Then I recalled that KTTS (the radio station mentioned in the article) has several billboards around town where the letters "KTTS" are painted to look as though they are made out of boards. Bright red boards nailed together in the shape of letters. Sigh...
7/20/2002 05:11:00 PM [ link ]
Ana now officially answers to "Hey psychopath kitty! What in God's name do you think you are doing?"
I think I talk to her too much. It's going to be embarrassing once I have roommates.
7/19/2002 11:45:00 AM [ link ]
"My cuteness is not of the homicidal persuasion." - Lori
7/19/2002 12:23:00 AM [ link ]
I'm sitting slouched at my computer because it takes far too much effort to sit straight. Ana is stretched out with her head resting on the corner of my keyboard. My mind wanders, and I realize I am paying more attention to the grain of the hardwood floor and the chirping crickets than I am to the short story I was reading. Everything in my room is so evenly cream colored that my black bookshelf startles me if I catch it out of the corner of my eye. I sit and focus on the stillness of my apartment until it begins to feel almost surreal. I realize suddenly that I never bothered to change out of my leotard from ballet class. My coiled-up hair is starting to give me a headache, so I let it down. I drink my Dr. Pepper (even though I really don't need any caffeine so late). I'm conscious of my posture now, so I sit tall and run my hands through my hair. Ana stretches and chirps at me, then falls asleep on my arm.
On nights like this I feel like I am the only person alive in the world.
7/17/2002 02:25:00 PM [ link ]
Finally.
Nearly two weeks after my official move-in date, the last of my possesions are in my new home. Now if only I had enough motivation left to unpack them...
7/16/2002 11:13:00 PM [ link ]
It's great to have a cat so incredibly cute that even people at the vet's office (who of course see cute animals all the time) can't stop oooh-ing and telling you how adorable and perfect she is.
I love my kitty!
7/15/2002 01:21:00 AM [ link ]
"I stepped in quicksand when I met you
now I'm goin' down slow
I stepped in quicksand, baby
now I'm goin' down real slow
up to my neck in trouble
every day there's more and more"
7/13/2002 02:07:00 AM [ link ]
I am grinning from ear to ear. Anyone who told me earlier that I need to "get out of this funk," worry no longer. I am out of The Funk. And it doesn't even have to do with the fact that I went dancing tonight. (Well, only indirectly.) More dancing tomorrow night, that will be four nights in a row!
Congrats to Chris for being brave enough to try out the St. Louis swing scene. Also Chris, you left about 10 minutes too early -- they drew your name for the free t-shirt.
So anyway. I must stop writing and play with this kitten before she goes insane from lack of attention. And then I must sleep.
7/10/2002 12:48:00 PM [ link ]
Signing on from my new home:
It is probably unnecessary to point out that moving boxes up three flights of fire escape in the St. Louis humidity is not at all fun. The upside is that I no longer have to live with boys. As much as I told myself that it shouldn't be any big deal, living alone is ever so much nicer. Ah, but I am not completely alone... Yesterday, I went to the humane society, and brought home the most adorable cat in the entire world. I'm trying to contain my excitement here, so I don't go insane and start using way too many exclamation points. Suffice it to say I am a very happy mommy.
I need to talk about her name. Before I went to pick out a cat, I was thinking of naming it Python. (I needed a snake-related name as part of an inside joke.) But after bringing her home, it was clear that the name Python would never work; she is much too sweet. Then Elaine suggested a name that was perfect except for one thing. "You should name her Anaconda," she said. "Then you could call her Ana." It would suit her so well, except... only a few days ago I read some really disturbing things about anorexia (via ouranophobe). A lot of these girls actually personify their disorder as "Ana," asking her to help make them thin. All of these bad connotations nearly steered me away from the name. But it really does suit her, so I've decided that I don't care.
I'll just have to make sure I don't let her get too skinny.
7/07/2002 09:26:00 PM [ link ]
A few days ago (on Canada Day) I read a list of Things That Canada Invented. (Sadly, I have lost the link.) This list included "baseball". What?? I thought. But.... baseball is as American as apple pie! Isn't it...? I read further, and discovered that "apple pie" was on the list, too! This disturbs me greatly. Consulting Google I find no evidence that Canadians invented either apple pie or baseball. But what if they did? How is is possible that "American as apple pie" is such a prevalent motto here if it's not even true?
"as American as stealing things from other countries and claiming them for ourselves."
It's funny because it's true...
*** UPDATE*** 9:48 PM
Ro, I bow before your superior Google skills. I also bow before your glorious Canadianness.
This site says that apple pie is Canadian. Baseball, it says, may or may not be Canadian.
7/04/2002 02:34:00 AM [ link ]
Wheeee! Too much sugar and caffeine make Amy go crazy!
zing! zing! zing! zing! zing! zing! zing! zing! zing! zing!
If only I could harness this mysterious sugar energy! Perhaps then I could do something more productive than write posts in which all sentences end in exclamation points!
exclamation points!!
7/01/2002 01:54:00 PM [ link ]
This morning I sat straight up in bed as a fire truck passed blaring underneath my window. Before the sound even moved out of earshot, my alarm started going off.
I'm awake! Jesus. I'm awake, I swear.
Not half an hour later, the monthly tornado warning test went off. Evidently, my current apartment is much closer to the source of this siren than I have ever been or ever wish to be again. It startled me so badly I nearly hit my head on the closet door. I had to stand there with my hands over my ears until it stopped, trying not to go crazy.
Loud noises make me nervous.
7/01/2002 05:10:00 AM [ link ]
I am officially insane. For me, getting ready for bed always involves exactly two things to do in the bathroom. Brush teeth. Remove contacts. So just now, I walked into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth. I picked up my contact case and began doing the only sensible thing I could do, given its current state. I put my my contacts into my eyes.
I began a frantic conversation with my brain: I just went in the bathroom and did two things, one involving contacts and the other involving a toothbrush. Yet, my vision is strangely unblurry, meaning I am not yet ready for bed. How can this happen??
Oh.
Right... I didn't leave the house today. I never put my contacts in in the first place. Taking them out is therefore unnecessary, you idiot.
Maybe absentminded would be a better word.
7/01/2002 03:36:00 AM [ link ]
I am confused and somewhat frightened. This definitely should not exist. How can it possibly exist?!
Are the makers of Jelly Belly® jelly beans completely unaware that the Harry Potter books are making fun of them?