Your Mileage May Vary

The better to see you with, my dear...

Background Noise: Waves and the Both of Us

Last Visited: Busted Tees

Random Thought: Sometimes it's best to not commit until one calms down and thinks things through a bit more 

Mood: surprisingly still has brownies left to hand out

I was home for pretty much a week, which, i have to say, was wonderful. The weather was perfect - i even got a full fledged thunder and lightning storm! - the skies were crisp and blue with sunsets which nearly made me drive off the road they were so beautiful - driving; yes, lets talk about what i was driving when i was home, shall we? 

Because of the ever fluctuating car situation at home (it's a constant game of swap these days) my parents (bless them) decided that they would rent me a car for the days i had wedding things so i didn't strand anyone at home (generally a good idea). 

My Dad wanted me to drive something with good gas mileage; something different; something that maybe they'd consider purchasing for my sister or brother (so they could get their Acura MDX back, perhaps.) Enterprise was his choice for where, and as for the what, after the sales guy he talked to dissed the Dodge Neon, he chose {drumroll}... 

 

... this, erm, lovely and very, very, very yellow Chevy Aveo. Which caused a great stir any time i showed up in it and people, well, saw me. Steve C? Steve nearly ate grass he fell over laughing so hard. Mike screamed "holy god i thought it was a bumble bee!" Now, to be fair, although it does sound a teeny bit like a wind up toy when you rev the engine, it does move - i had it well above 85 at 3ish am more than one evening.  

But, hey, i was grateful to have a car to drive, regardless of what it looked like. And i'm thrilled my parents paid for it. And Elle? Dave? I think i talked the parents into at least something a *bit* bigger if they do help you get your next car(s). You're welcome. 

Expression:  

Where did we fail? Oh, way back there. Right.

Background Noise: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Across the Universe
Last Visited: A*: Reweighing a graph for faster shortest paths
Random Thought: to deprecate or not to deprecate...
Mood: crawling out of a hole

So the Chicks with Worm and Paradox Dragon are cracking me up; the Paradox Dragon especially - talk about the Labyrinth Left Knocker / Right Knocker riddle on steroids; so awesome. Speaking of steroids, did you read about those people who bought a house from a former WWE(F?) wrestler and found a major stash of 'roids in the wall? No?

(... a bit too random for wednesday morning, perhaps?).

Well, to be a bit more work topical, and since i don't have a fun link farm like some people i know, i'm going to cache off a few gems (ok, mostly from from reddit.com/r/programming) here:

• The story of Alice and Her Boss; aka, MD5 weakness, demonstrated


• The Eternally Confuzzled Red Black Tree Tutorial


• CocoaTron: bringing the joys of NSOpenGLView to a non-OSX based operating system near you


• My Wishlist: because i need new perfume on this side of soon

To conclude this morning's randomness, i cannot seriously believe that the cheapest available ticket for South Pacific online is $281, with any seat worth a damn starting in the high $300s. Seriously, this just a new level of insanity for broadway ticket prices; the Golden Age of Broadway folks must be having a conniption fit somewhere in Indiana... geez louise.

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.

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:

It's Alright

Background Noise: What Can I Say
Last Visited: just call me at 1-800-STATING_THE_OBVIOUS
Random Thought: to quote B: "Thom Browne looks like he's casting the Clockwork Orange's Turn of the Century Pavillion at World Showcase at Epcot. I'm frightened. "
Mood: Dinner Reservations: Check! At least something is done...

So i stumbled on this oddly awesome insomnia documentary last night. Didn't get to see all of it as i found it oddly, hypnotically, sleep inducing (which was fabulous), but the parts i did see were kinda wonderful. You should check it out.

And now that like, half of the known tv-world has gone through their season finales, finding the time to watch documentaries like this shouldn't be as hard. The best thing i got from watching this show? An (admittedly disgusting) analogy for an insomniac (or, i would imagine, a battered wife, a stressed computer engineer, etc): a frog boiled slowly doesn't know anything is wrong. Gross, but apt none the less.

... there was going to be more here... i want to be good and try to post fairly often... but well, work showed up. And errands. And things i need to set up before i get on a plane tomorrow. Crap i'm getting on a plane tomorrow - good thing it's a late flight.

Expression:

That's How to Sell A Magazine

Background Noise: Sweetness
Last Visited: something... i've forgotten already
Random Thought: maintain unit cohesion
Mood: happy girl

Please excuse my absolute adoration for Christian Bale - i've been ga-ga for him since Newsies - but... wow. That cover is... impressive. I would so buy GQ because of that cover. And! Their timing isn't bad - last night HBO ran Batman Begins again and i was able to remember just how much i love that movie, and love Mr. Christian as Bruce Wayne. I can't wait for the next one.

Dear lord that man is beautiful.

Expression:

What a Cute Little Tree

Background Noise: Nobody Wins
Last Visited: 'rounds
Random Thought: it's only 10:40, but i've already been more productive work-wise this morning than i was all last week.
Mood: waking up and doing well, thanks

So i just sent this to my parents house for Thanksgiving:

Isn't it a cute little tree? Apparently it smells like oranges and blossoms all winter. Actually, i'm thinking of getting one for myself, since it's almost tiny enough for me not to do major damage to (green thumb i am not). Though, Puff might try to eat the berries and i'm guessing that would be bad. Who knows.

Anyways, please someone remind me to ask my Mom (again) for the recipie to my Grandma's Spinach Soufflé which i must eat on T-Day. Hey, a girl has to have some standards for the holidays away from home. Ok, back to being productive for me.

Expression:

Smell that Crisp Clean Air

Background Noise: Chasing Cars
Last Visited: Ok, Fine, Studio 60 is Really Good
Random Thought: it's about time Slate admitted it
Mood: damn that felt good

Dear lord i love fall!

... even fake fall :)

Expression:

To Check In or To Not Check In

Background Noise: Summetime, extended
Last Visited: Roger Powell Returns!
Random Thought: life is what happens while waiting for builds to complete
Mood: what a beautiful day

I saw this article McSweeney's ran the other day and meant to link to it and throw up a sample... but... um, well, i forgot. Until i got into the office this morning and checked my email, then i remembered again. Basically it's three pitches for new Mac vs PC commercials, and they're pretty funny. Pitch 1:

The effortlessly hip but still harmlessly nerdy Mac Guy stands next to the antiquated but sweet PC Guy in their standard pose. The Mac Guy pulls a pair of binoculars from behind his back and begins looking off into the distance. PC Guy asks him, "Excuse me, what is that you are doing?" Mac Guy looks away from his binoculars for a moment, replying, "Oh, hey. I'm just doing a simple search. No big deal." PC Guy smiles and says, "Hey, I can do that, too!" PC Guy picks up some binoculars off the ground and raises them to his face. However, instead of looking through them like the Mac Guy, he hurls them against the wall behind him, where they smash into a thousand pieces. He then picks up a gas can and dumps the contents over his head. The Mac Guy is taken aback by this behavior, and yells at him, "What the hell are you doing, dude?" PC Guy has now taken a book of matches from his coat pocket. He looks at Mac Guy with a smarmy grin. "I'm running a simple application." With that, he lights himself on fire and dies screaming. -- BY TOM BATTEN, for McSweeney's

I'm so happy i'm going home thrusday; sure, i still have some cleaning to do and i really really need to figure out who's watching Puff when, but... yeay! And today is beautiful and honestly? I feel a little guilty being in the office and wasting such a gorgeous day. Maybe i should just take off; drive over to Half Moon Bay or see Breakfast At Tiffany's with Sarah or play some pinball or something. Hmm.

Expression:

Mini... socks?

Background Noise: Amazingly enough, Always True to You again
Last Visited: Minisocks
Random Thought: congrats, boss!
Mood: just waitin'

... ok.

Expression: