Your Mileage May Vary

I dunno... Philosophize with him!

Background Noise: Hip Hip Chin Chin
Last Visited: facebook
Random Thought: maybe running in the morning *is* a good thing...
Mood: coffee kicking in

So apparently one of my pictures from Ann Arbor a few summer's ago is on the short list for a photo competition for... descriptive pictures of Detroit, i suppose, run by this interesting little mapping company called Schmap.

... Which is cool, considering they found me and not the other way around. Their email was cute "While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure..." since, really, i'm not a photographer - but it's nice that they're calling me one! So thanks Steve for letting me steal your point and shoot canon for an hour to run around A2 so i could grab some pictures that day; you know, i really should get prints of these, come to think of it.

Completely off topic, we have a little competition going on in the office right now to name some conference rooms. And once again, though they aren't offering a prize per se, it's still a fun game to come up with 14 names revolving around a centralized theme that can sort-of eventually be tied back to Pro App type activities. So last night B and I had a bit of a brainstorming session coming up with a bunch of different themes and trying to boggle our way towards 14 items that wouldn't be totally girly, too geeky, or completely inappropriate when used in the sentence "i'm going to ___" or "the meeting's in ___". And while i don't want to give away all of our ideas, by far my favorite theme is: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Rufus, Socrates, Beethoven, Freud, Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Ghingas Khan, Napoleon, Billy the Kid, Phonebooth, San Dimas, Steps, and Columns

Now, before you scream at me "wait! you didn't list Bill and Ted! Or the Princesses! and what's up with 'Steps' and 'Columns'?" to which i have the following replies:

a) including bill and ted as rooms is just too obvious and too generic - though we could use them later i suppose and,

b) the first thing the Princess's actually say is "Rufus introduced us to a place called 'the mall', and something called, 'credit cards'" and i don't know about you, but i don't want Engineering using that phrase ever or have it ever be implied. Heck, i don't want Marketing to have rooms that imply that either. Really. No Princess's. Besides, "Princess's" will be shot down as girly and no one actually remembers the girls names (Elizabeth and Joanna) enough to have them make sense in context. OH! And Bill and Ted never actually bring them into the phonebooth - Rufus does that. Enough reasons? I have more but... naa, i'll stop. ok, and,

c) when Bill and Ted are describing Ancient Greece they compare it to Houses of the Holy - "there were many steps and columns - it was most tranquil", and since "Houses of the Holy" as a conference room name isn't exactly, um, appropriate, and "steps" and "columns" can be used as and represent computer engineering terms / actions / objects, they seemed appropriate.

... and now i really have to get back to my self review before yet another day of meetings starts. Oh! And Cathy is flying in today! Hurray! K, Bye!

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fly away, my little starling

Background Noise: Don't look back in anger
Last Visited: Bobbi's
Random Thought: oh to see Bobby lean again...
Mood: my back hurts, people are annoying, and i'm staring at a mountain of paperwork when all i want to do it code... but!

I'm going to London! For real - meaning i bought plane tickets and paid for a hotel for B and I - for a few days after Christmas! Can't back out now! Yeay!

... and now back to my irregularly scheduled paperwork....

Expression:

the line along which the horizon is visible

Background Noise: quiet
Last Visited: my car
Random Thought: never before have i compared a manner of driving to how one touches a lover; not that there's any other way to describe that close quarters course any better, but still....
Mood: really need to find lunch

So yesterday i was good and finally finally cleaned out and reorganized my bedroom closet. It took 5 hours. I hauled out 10 garbage bags of old clothes, new clothes, clothes that don't fit, clothes that shouldn't be worn even though they do, and the various trash i've tossed in my bedroom closet over the last few years. My closet - and my room - look and feel more spacious now (which is wonderful), and! I actually now can tell which clothes i have an i know that everything there will fit (bonus), but, it was exhausting.

... Which is probably why i put it off for so long.

But today when i woke up, i felt like i had almost wasted my saturday. I needed coffee. I needed breakfast. But mostly, I needed an adventure; it was time to drive Skyline.

Before i get your hopes up of a detailed version of my drive - which i really want to write - um, well, I'm hungry, and i'm at work, and i'd love to a) not be at work and b) make the 4:20 showing of Rescue Dawn, so i'm going to keep this short for now.

I drove Highway 17 South from Los Gatos to Bear Creek Road, to Skyline, to highway 35. Now, i'm going to distinguish "Skyline" from "35" here because, well, when you turn on to Skyline it is a one lane road with no posted speed limit. Not that it's a one way street, oh no, it's supposed to accommodate cars in both directions, but, um, i'm glad i only had to attempt that twice; and there's no speed limit because, well, if you can manage to stay on the road going more than 20, i'm impressed. 35 on the other hand is a two lane highway where the speed limit actually feels like more of a dare than any other speed limit i've ever come across in my life.

View Larger Map

Cars were made because of roads like this one. You buy high performance sports cars because of roads like this one. From the tightest winding, climbing, turns to the beautiful straightaways where you literally feel like you're flying, to the downhills and the places that inspired the first roller coasters, Skyline is a joy to drive. And with the music blasting and few cars around you the drive is a dream. Skid marks warn of previous drivers who made mistakes you shouldn't. The light and shade play with the curves of the road until you can't actually see the degree of the turn you're about to take. Cars appear from nowhere then hide again. Bikers - dare devils - fly past you going faster than you could imagine (at least in a top-heavy SUV). Cyclists attempt to prove their up to the mountain.

The hills hide paintball ranches, christmas tree farms, wineries, and biker towns. All in all, it's a different world up there on the ridge; and a pretty damn cool one at that.

Expression:

Needs Must Have Cheeseburger

Background Noise: Work
Last Visited: facebook
Random Thought: can we take a ride? get out of this place while we still have time? (gotta love jimmy)
Mood: can't... resist... the kittens....

Squee^Swoon:

To quote Yoghurt: "Adorable!"

In other news, i was just asked by the 10 minute interview what my favorite scents were, and here's the list i came up with:

lavender; mint; and lemons; rain; freshly cut grass; fall; a new snow; water; my grandmother's farm; and baking bread; a crisp morning; strawberries; a strong cup of coffee; a fire with pine branches; man; and popcorn when it's dark out(*).

... Why do i suddenly feel the urge to be in a small cottage in either Scotland or Provence fall-ish with a freshly bathed man sitting around the fire eating popcorn? Not that it's a bad picture, but....

ETA: (*): ok, so, i forgot to qualify this before, but popcorn smells so much better when the sun has gone down and whatever evening cool has started to settle over the world.

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Continuing the Tradition

Background Noise: The Secret Garden
Last Visited: nwa.com
Random Thought: this is getting to be a bit of a habit
Mood: drained

Well, here we are again, late August; after Joe and Barb's birthday, before Dave's, before football... and once again, i've already bought my plane tickets home for Christmas.

You know, earlier this morning when i actually plunked down my $482 i was a trifle annoyed that it's August and a) there were only 2 seats left on the flight i'm on and b) the ticket was still practically five hundred dollars. But the farther away from the purchase i am, the more i like it: I now know with absolute certainty that i'm going home for Christmas with enough time to enjoy my holiday and take a "real" vacation in the middle, i've already paid for the ticket so i don't have to spend the next four months with this $500-$800 anvil hanging over my head, and really i can just stop worrying in general.

... And start planning a jaunt to London.

Completely off topic, should one have a theme song? Every random quiz seems to ask "what's your theme song?" as if that question was as easy or flip as "what's your sign?" I don't really have a theme song - though i suppose i could find one (or a set) that might do. Do you have a theme song?

And sort of along those lines (though not really), have you ever turned to one of your playlists that you've listened to a million times and suddenly thought: golly, i really hate this music - did i ever really like this?

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je m'ennuie de vous, chéri

Background Noise: Drood
Last Visited: Sugam + Katie's Wedding Pictures
Random Thought: what kind of little sister's of the poor school is Appalachian State, anyways?
Mood: big smiles

Back to London: Take 2

Ok; so we didn't make it to London this summer. That was very very sad until all the flooding happened which would have certainly dampened the trip, so all things considered, that seems to be ok. Especially since we're trying to go back this fall / early winter. Which is completely possible because a) Fiddler was extended through January! b) B's vacation time is now hers alone to control c) reviews are earlier so i might have money, and along those lines, d) the stock is back up sort-of floating around an acceptable level.

Besides, galavanting around Chatsworth after Christmas sounds lovely.

Oh, i forgot: e) British Airways is running some nice fall specials.

... Actually, when i started to write this post i was planning to write about something else. Which promptly few out of my head. But hey, i'm finding i don't much mind the change.

Expression:

Not a Geometry Jedi

Background Noise: I Melt With You
Last Visited: starbucks
Random Thought: Yoda, with all your great powers, you should have at least been able to hover your way home instead of sleeping on the floor at the office.
Mood: caffeine starting to flow

Last night at Target the customer's in line in front of me decided to pay with cash - a $50, a $10, two $1s, one quarter, and an series 1995 $20. The girl at the counter (who i'm assuming was perhaps just-of-legal-working-age) looked at the twenty slowly, a look of confusion coming over her face. She turned to another counter and called that cashier over,

"What is this?" she asked.

He, and I, looked at her aghast, "a twenty," he said.

"This is money?" she countered back obviously not convinced.

I had to jump in, "you've never seen one of those before?"

"No," her voice now filled with wonder that another person was backing her cashier friend up, "this is really money? How do you tell if it's real?" she was now holding the bill up to the light looking for a water mark.

"There's a stripe down the side," i answered (how many bills did i check at the movie theater? at the coffee bar? well, actually, i only checked them when i wanted to be annoying, but that isn't the point - and no, i didn't use that damn pen).

She saw the stripe, decided to believe me, and finished ringing up the customer.

When it was finally my turn to check out she was a little embarrassed, a little confused, and very, very young. "I've really never seen one of those before." I said something that i hope made her feel more comfortable, decided to use my debit card instead of cash, and went home.

The thing i have trouble believing out of the whole exchange is how it was possible this girl had never seen that particular bill before. I mean, the new (monopoly looking) bill was only introduced in 2004 and is hardly out of circulation. And though i'm getting more used to seeing Mr. Jackson's giant face staring gravely up at me (as if to say "can you believe the inflation rate in this country? All my attempts at killing centralized banking didn't seem to work") the new bill still looks more like play money or even the Canadian bills than real currency.

How funny someone as young as her thinks the opposite.

Expression:

A Title Would be Nice

Background Noise: my super-sonic sneeze
Last Visited: my goofball pictures
Random Thought: sometimes looking a term up in the dictionary is the best way to determine just how incorrectly you've been using a word (brilliant deduction, i'm sure)
Mood: working up my argument

Ahh, Photobooth. You probably know that usually when i see a camera pointed in my direction i run away screaming, but sometimes, macking it up in front of my iMac when i'm too awake to sleep but not awake enough to do anything else is just really fun. Go figure. Though i'm starting to learn that those fabulous filters which i think look *awesome* when i'm taking the pictures tend to look less cool and more horrifying in the light of day. Oh well, i have to subject myself to ridicule anyways (perverse of me, no?)

I especially love / hate the second picture from the left; i imagine it wouldn't be a bad example of a glamour-shots setup - or (you have to see the larger picture to get this, but) a good picture for the caption "you have something on your nose - did you know? just there." Or how i'd look if i ate a radioactive tomato.

Also randomly, i figured out this morning how to tell if your shirt is too low to wear to the office. How? If it feels like your seatbelt is feeling you up, you (meaning I) probably should change. (I did.)

In other news this week, it's Joe's birthday and Barb's birthday, Superbad and Death and a Funeral hit theaters, Lewis Black is performing in San Jose, and it was announced David Sedaris will be here in October. Oh, and British Airways is totally tempting me to buy plane tickets to london with their $239 one way tickets with $99 cabin upgrades. Golly i wish i was better at long term planning....

Expression:

To Change the Light, Or Weather

Background Noise: Amazing Glow
Last Visited: Be Yourselves, Girls, Order the Rib-Eye
Random Thought: it'll be you and me up in the trees
Mood: too many meetings

When do you block someone on AIM?

Personally i don't like the concept of blocking, simply because i don't want to be blocked myself; the thought of someone just disappearing on you is... confusing, potentially upsetting, and certainly i'd be distracted by it. But are there times when you just don't have any other options?

... Perhaps blocking exists because how we'd like to imagine we'd react to a situation and how we really act are two wildly divergent concepts which we have no other way of resolving. Perhaps, sometimes, easy and expedient trumps fair, or polite. Though that thought makes me very sad.

Golly, after that i should post a cute, distracting picture at least as a transition.

Oh, to the New York Times's point: i generally don't like a ribeye, i certainly wouldn't "be myself" by ordering it on a date, though, thank you for the permission to do so. I could order it - and would, if that was what i wanted that evening. Because generally i don't try to overanalyze my every action and what it may say about me - here's a hint: if i feel like a salad, i'll order a salad; if i feel like fish, or a steak, or a burger, or the risotto, i'll order that - or a combination. If i want dessert, i'll order dessert. If i don't, i won't. Eat what you want - and speak for yourself so your order doesn't have to do the talking for you.

Expression:

Handbrake: Functioning

Background Noise: Hide and Seek
Last Visited: Starbucks
Random Thought: short cappuccinos really are better
Mood: ready to go running again

Grr.

So i had to add Gosford Park back to my amazon wishlist; why? Because even though the dvd case has been sitting on the shelf in my office since, well, i moved into this office, apparently the dvd hasn't been there. Because (while it is very possible i loaned it out) i don't remember letting anyone watch it; heck, i don't even remember the last time I watched it.

Which is sad, because seriously? Gosford Park is an awesome flick.

(Also new to my wishlist today A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton Economic History of the Western World) though that isn't really the point.)

The reason i'm annoyed, really, is that a) i have too many empty dvd cases lying around with the dvds no where in sight and b) i'm starting to rip my dvds to put on my various iPortables and i'd really like my movies to go with me - especially the ones that aren't yet on iTMS.

Sigh.

Days like today are the ones that make me wish i was a bit more on top of my home library organizational skills... and while i'm thinking like that, i should clean out my closet, organize my various bookshelves, and remove the tv from my bedroom.

Maybe after i go for a little run.

ps: Go, Doyle!
pps: i am loving New York Magazine, especially for lines like this: [Spiderman's] Mary Jane (played by Kirsten Dunst with all the gusto of a narcoleptic carp) . Brilliant.

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