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Hmmm... I seem to be a couple days behind on this. A shame I can't get those days back before the new year begins! I have so much work to get done!
Vision is nearly done, though. So is the DAZ newsletter. Forward Motion doesn't need much more, either, now that I look at it. So really, it's just a case of pulling it all together and working through it.
But Russ is home! Yay! We're kind of snowed in, but we'll have to go out for supplies soon. We have snow and more snow, and more snow on the way, though not much. That's good. I would really like to go somewhere, and Russ is talking about Omaha and me at the zoo while he goes and visits with some people... but I'm not sure it's going to happen.
It's good to have Russ home for a few days, though. So I'm not going to waste time on this. I'll post this to both the LJ and the Blog and get back to visiting with Russ.
Everyone have a good new year! I just hope I have everything done in time!Current Mood:  content |
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A friend brought over a few slices of carrot cake for us last night, complete with homemade cream cheese frosting.
It was easily the best carrot cake I've ever personally had, so I badgered her into giving me the recipe.
( Which I will now share with all of you: )Current Mood:  content |
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Dec. 29th, 2009 @ 09:56 pm
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Looking at the weekend list, I see that I completed the last three items today. I need to make the list of cookbooks looking for new homes but ... yay, me! |
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I needed to contact my ISP to pay for my service. I needed to do this before the end of the month. Yes, I could have done it earlier but in the mess that has been December, it didn't happen. I called them yesterday to find out they were still closed for the holiday. This morning, I packed my patience and called again.
The "conversation" went something like this:
'Your call is first in line. Please hold and it will be answered by the first available person.' Cool!, thinks I. Hold music. 'All our attendants are currently busy. Please hold ...' Repeat.
Can you say one poor person was trying to deal with all calls today? I could. (Once he answered, he was helpful and processed my payment in less than 2 minutes. :-) |
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Apple's new mouse looks freaking awesome.
Mark is going to hopefully play with one in person today. :)
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We have snow!
It isn't supposed to stick around. In fact, we were supposed to get freezing rain.
I'm much happier with the snow.
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Okay, LJ. I need a good name for an alien feline-esque species of intelligent hunters who may-or-may-not be empathic, and may-or-may-not be able to either phase through walls, or teleport.
They are slightly larger than the average house cat, and range in color from coppery-red, to silvery-blue, with darker rosettes.
"Flynx" pretty much the perfect name if ever I heard one, was suggested by a beta, but bears an unfortunate resemblance to "Flinx" a character in a SF series by Alan Dean Foster, which I have never read, but apparently my universe already bears one other unfortunate similarity to his. His entire series is based in a Commonwealth, the very term I have used to describe my own galaxy spanning body of government. *le sigh*
So, one similarity can pass, but two? No.
I'm keeping Commonwealth. But flynx has to go. Suggestions?
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Second-last day of my mini-vacation and I'm feeling the need for a to-do list.
( You don't have to look ... unless you want to )
No, not everything happened. Guess I know what I'll be working on after work the rest of the week.
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Last night's roast chicken has become today's stock. Banana, chocolate chip & cranberry muffins are cooling on the table. Two loads of dishes have been washed so far. (And there will be more.) Some items have been added to the "leaving my house" pile.
Next up: going through tea and cookbooks while watching World Juniors Hockey. Go Canada!
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Which movie should I watch first?
A Christmas Carol - Sim version in B&W (none of that colourization for me)
A Christmas Carol - Stewart version
White Christmas
Last Holiday (not a Christmas movie but I love it)
or
Forget movies for now. Keep watching the "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" marathon.Current Mood:  silly |
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It seems like there is so much so many people are suffering this year, I thought I'd do a post about the things I'm happy about or grateful for: ( Behind the cut )Current Mood:  ecstatic |
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Work "upgraded" me to Office 2007.
I won't say I hate it. But I do hate that after 15 years of using MS Word as my word processor of choice, I now have to relearn where the heck everything is. Ugh. It's really disruptive to me that if I want to format this paragraph, look up this word, spellcheck that one, or do pretty much anything else, I have to actually stop and think about it. Talk about disrupting the flow when I'm writing.
*is grumpy*Current Mood:  aggravated |
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Hello!
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Dec. 21st, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
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I have spent most of the last few days adding books into the LibaryThing database. Today I added in the Analog, Asimov and Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazines and that brought the total listing up to 3315. I still have a few hundred more books (mostly Russ's history collection) to enter. I think we are going to hit 4k.
I made it a goal to have everything but Russ's done by the end of the year, so I'm well ahead of the game. Yay! I feel like I've breathed in several volumes worth of book dust, though! However, all most all the boxes of books are emptied, and I can finally get to the shelves of a lot of my history. The shelves are a mess -- everything out of order -- but I can get to them again! Yay!
My new story idea is moving along really well. I have a lot of it worked out. I know how my MC got himself into the situation. I know about his past. I know about his friend and about the team he now works with.
I have a good background for the novel, too.
I'm really looking forward to getting going on it. I'm not entirely sure where it's going... but it should be a fun ride!
So, back to work on it I go. This has been a nice, relaxing few days, though it's going to pick back up again soon!
Happy Holidays to those who celebrate. With luck, Russ will be home the day after Christmas (though the weather is looking iffy), so I'm looking forward to it!Current Mood:  chipper |
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Two more work days and then I have five days off. I'm laying in supplies so I don't have to go out unless I want to - including some goodies. My only goal is to deal with my kitchen: go through cupboards, rearrange shelves, clean it up and clear it out. Okay, I do have two other goals: to relax and hopefully remove some of my sleep deficit.
In honour of the solstice, I offer some words by Melissa Etheridge. The shuffle function on my iPod gave me this song earlier today. Most appropriate.
From Light a Light:
Write down your excuses
And turn them into dust
Plant the seeds of change
Water it with trust
And light a light tonight we light a light
We light a light tonight we light a light
I know that this time is ending
And everyone is here
We light a light, a light this year
'Tis the season of change |
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Avatar
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Dec. 18th, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
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I'm sure my new icon gives away some of my feelings about the movie. My non-spoilery thoughts tonight:
~ Was it pretty? If it doesn't win an Oscar for best special effects, it will be an absolute crime.
~ But I've heard some people say that the pretty is really all it has going for it. Sorry, but I do disagree. Was the story a familiar one? Yes. But so is every romance novel, every epic fantasy novel, every hero's journey. I happen to enjoy this particular story when it's done well. I love Dances with Wolves, and yes, I admit I enjoyed The Last Samurai. I enjoyed the heck out of this movie, too.
~ Zoe Saldana was undeniably awesome as Neytiri. And I'm going to say it: I thought Sam Worthington was pretty freaking awesome, too. I totally believed his story arc as Jake, and I thought he did a great job with it, both emotionally and physically. They played off one another very well, and totally sold me. You give me great characters, and I'll buy into their story. The actors here took a story that could very easily have stumbled into yawn territory, and totally invested me in it, in them. And let's face it - doing that while spending the entire movie as a digital character is a freaking accomplishment.
~ The villain could have used some three dimensionality. And I really could have done without the couple of preachy/politically motivated lines that broke me out of the story. ( cut for very minor spoilers - VERY minor )But really, it could have been a lot worse. Cameron could have hammered us over the head again and again with the message of the movie, but for the most part, he let the story and the pretty just lay it out there, which I vastly prefer to repeated hammer blows. Really, it's obvious anyway, and the audience is generally a lot more clever than filmmakers often give us credit for. 99 times out of 100, we don't need to be struck over the head repeatedly to "get it".
~ But other than the very minor quibble, Avatar is probably my favorite movie this year. It is certainly in the top five, and it's without question the prettiest! :) My theater broke out into spontaneous applause when the credits rolled, and was sold out at a show that had two other theaters showing the movie at the exact same time. When we walked out, the line for the next showings was out the theater doors.
( Now for a couple of spoilery notes I can't not talk about. )Current Mood:  satisfied |
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Note to f-list: if you post fairly frequently and don't have a paid account, I sent you one of my allotted $10 off coupons LJ is letting permanent account holders send to friends. Use it or don't, I just figured I might as well send them out! :)
If you haven't received one and want one, please let me know! I have like five left, I think.Current Mood:  working |
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 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
Last Monday I gave ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) larah33 a life-saving blood transfusion (50 points). In September on a flight to Colorado Springs, I stole the emergency flight information card (-40 points). Last week I donated bone marrow to pdaughter in a life-saving procedure (300 points). In August I committed genocide... Sorry about that, technophilic_42 (-5000 points). Last Sunday I ruled Iran as a cruel and heartless dictator (-700 points).
Overall, I've been naughty (-5390 points). For Christmas I deserve a spanking!
Sincerely,
wood_dragon |
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