Recently in general weirdness Category
This guy makes me feel very unproductive. And sane.
I find that walking calms my brain, giving me a moment or two to contemplate life's other questions (like "What am I doing here?" and "Who am I really?") - ones that don't revolve around communication theory or new media or whatever other scholarly stuff I'm slogging through for my exams. I especially like walking from my house in Capitol Hill down to Pioneer Square. It's a long walk, but I love doing work at Zeitgeist and browsing Elliott Bay Books. It reconnects me with myself - and, in turn, reconnects me with the universe. I revel in the peace of mind I feel after this walk.
Thus, it is with heavy heart that I reccount the following incident:
On Thursday, I decided I would walk downtown as usual, and read some stuff at Zeitgeist. After working for a while, I headed back home at 2:00 pm. As I was crossing the street on 3rd and Washington, a woman was crossing in the opposite direction. She was in her 50s or 60s, heavyset and wearing a hat. All of the sudden, she made a beeline for me and hit me. On my head. And then kept walking. I stopped, and yelled, "Excuse me" (I'm not the best at coming up with pithy comments on the spur-of-the-moment), but she continued on and entered the building behind me.
As I was contemplating this unusual turn of events, I was struck by a thought - she just slapped me upside the head! I had never understood what exactly that phrase meant before, but there was no better way way to describe what happened. It wasn't like she punched me, or even slapped my face...it was definitely a whack at the base of the back of my neck in an upward direction. The two guys who were walking a bit ahead of me turned around and asked if she had just hit me. When I answered affirmatively, they said, "What was that all about?" I said that I had no idea.
I still don't know what this is supposed to mean. Was the universe using this woman to send me a message? Like I shouldn't cross the street using the crosswalk? Or was this just a crazy lady who decided she didn't like the look of me? (I don't like not being liked!)
Anyway, it happened. I don't think my walks in Pioneer Square will ever be quite the same.
So, despite not posting that often, I get a lot of spam on this blog. As a result, I've resorted to using Movable Type's MT Blacklist plug-in (thanks, Cameron) to de-spam my blog. Using MT Blacklist, I can de-spam my blog in minutes, deleting comments advertising sites for poker, pharmaceuticals, and gift baskets in minutes.
Unfortunately, there's no way to specify registered users whose comments I want to keep (at least, none that I've found). As a result, I keep accidentally deleting comments from my friends. So, if your comment has been deleted, I apologize. I promise it wasn't because I didn't like the content of your message - it's just because I've been trigger-happy on the de-spamming button.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might end this madness altogether? Or is blog spam just the price I'm going to keep paying for my (limited) popularity?
Yes, it's early for this message, but I'm going out of town for Thanksgiving this year. I hope you and yours (whatever that means) have a great day filled with lots of food and drink and merriment!
And, I am working on the million-plus spam comments that seem to be littering this blog. I have to say that while I find their presence on my site annoying, I do get a little thrill whenever I see that I have 3,233 comments on my blog. It makes me feel way more popular than I really am. (Oh, and for a bit of amusement, read through a few of them. Apparently, spammers have determined that pithy quotes and poetry are more likely to get people to click on their site than simply listing a bunch of keywords.)
Profits are down at my beloved Krispy Kreme. Grab some doughnuts, quick!
If you're feeling really brave, try this heart attack-inducing recipe (created by some R&D guy named "Chef Ron"):
KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUT SUNDAE
INGREDIENTS
2 KK Original Glazed Doughnuts
4 oz - Hot Fudge
2 oz – Caramel Sauce
1 cup – Sliced, Strawberries marinated in fresh lime juice, powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.
2 Scoops – Vanilla Ice Cream
Place 1 doughnut on a warm skillet and fill the doughnut hole with half of the hot fudge and half of the caramel sauce. Place the other doughnut directly on top and repeat the process. Place skillet in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 2 minutes. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and with a spatula, carefully remove the stacked doughnuts from the skillet and place them on a plate. Place 1 scoop of ice cream on top of the doughnuts and 1 scoop of ice cream on the plate. Spoon the strawberries over the ice cream. Serve with rosettes of whipped cream, chocolate dipped cherries and roasted sliced almonds.
And, if you're feeling up to it after that gigantic treat, you can take a virtual tour of their factory store.
Unbeknownst to me, there seemed to have to be some minor issues with the commenting features going on with my weblog for awhile - i.e., no one could actually submit comments. While I've enjoyed several weeks of spam-free blogging, I've been missing the excitement of receiving an email whenever someone posts a comment. I figured out the problem, though, so comments are now back in full force.
Oh, and thanks to L's friend D for emailing me and letting me know he couldn't post. If he hadn't contacted me, I probably would have spent a few more weeks just sitting around thinking that no one was interested in what I was writing - not that it would be the first time.
I'm too busy to write much right now, but check out this cool virtual knee surgery exhibit from COSI Columbus.
I was fascinated. Ok, I was a little grossed out and then fascinated.
"To be an anarchist in Salt Lake City was certainly no easy task, especially in 1985. And having no money, no job, no plans for the future, the true anarchist position, was in itself a strenuous job."
I'm finally punk rock!
I can't keep up with anything these days - teaching every morning makes my weblog take a back seat. (Not that it ever has a front seat, 'cause to admit that would be like I was admitting to being the BIGGEST GEEK ON THE PLANET, but occasionally my blog is in a more privileged position - like sometimes it sits in the hump part of the back seat, which, while it's not the most comfortable area of the proverbial car, is better than hangin' out in the trunk where it just so happens to be right now....)
Anyway, the comics on this site rock the house. "Remember when Bush flew that fighter jet onto the aircraft carrier after we accomplished the mission? Wouldn't it be awesome if he landed a rocket ship on the Capitol Dome and delivered the State of the Union speech dressed like an astronaut?" And, yes, folks, we now have official proof that life imitates Sealab 2021.
Check out some ephemera from the 1800s and a bunch of miniature books.
Listen to a bunch of people from around the world read a short paragraph about Stella and her quest to procure several "slabs of blue cheese and maybe a snack for her brother Bob." Exciting!
Given my current preoccupation with death (not by choice, but I'm leaving for my grandfather's memorial service tomorrow - um, later today), it's only fitting that I stumbled across Bert & Bud's Vintage Coffins via memepool.com. Bert and Bud will create a customized coffin or urn, or you can order your own simple pine box kit to decorate yourself. Interestingly enough, there's also a company that sells biodegradable cardboard caskets. While I'm all for earth-friendly products, their woodgrain coffin reminds me a bit too much of a banker's cardboard file box. I appreciate the effort the funeral business (and yes, there is a funeralbiz.com) is making to commemorate the hobbies and pastimes of those newly passed, however, the dolphin and sailboat urns some folks are peddling are downright scary.
Newsy
- Comedian Lenny Bruce finally received a pardon from NY state Gov. Pataki - a mere 37 years after his death.
- They've just discovered the first possible case of Mad Cow disease in the US - right here in Washington state. "'This incident is not terrorist-related,' [Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman] said. 'I cannot stress this point strongly enough.'"
- Just in time for last-minute gift wrapping - beautiful paper boxes from the good folks at Kaliber 1000 (via Christina Wodtke's most excellent weblog, Gleanings).
- More paper-y goodness - lovely paper models of animals and motorcycles courtesy of Yamaha (!!) Motors.
- For you IA/user design lovers, here's a plethora of Web widgets and a bunch of interaction design patterns (thanks, xBlog), and some absolutely gorgeous typography. Oh, how I wish I were an actual designer.
- Pitchfork Media has published their annual review of the top 50 albums and the top 50 singles of 2003. As one of my friends pointed out, the review for the #1 song, Outkast's Hey Ya! is brilliant: "You can approach pop music as cynically as your indieness mandates, but 'Hey Ya' is a monument to the idea that a really fucking great song will blow up because it's really fucking great. Mind-blowing, then, when the track sounds very much like a home recording by a guy with a couple guitars and keyboards." Well played.
- While you're gathered 'round the Yule log, check out the newest release from 8bitpeoples - Christmas songs created using the music from classic video games.
- Harold von Braunhut, creator of Sea Monkeys and X-Ray specs, died on Sunday (via Boing Boing).
So, one of my friends has a great idea for a new musical: Fiddler on the Roof starring the Muppets. He's worked out most of the cast, but needs help in a few areas. We were discussing it Wednesday night over dinner, and we both got stuck on the lead role (Tevya) who, in traditional Muppet movie fashion, would be played by a human. Here's the cast listing so far (with my own additions):
- Golde, the wife - Sam the Eagle
- Tzeitel, the oldest daughter - Miss Piggy
- Motel, the tailor - Kermit
- Yente, the matchmaker - Grover
- Perchik, the revolutionary - Gonzo
- Hodel, the second daugher - Camilla (but can she really talk? or just cluck?)
- Fyedka, a Russian youth - Fonzie Bear
- Chava, the rebellious daughter - Janice
- Lazar Wolf, the butcher - The Swedish Chef
- Rabbi - Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
- Rabbi's son - Beaker
- The Fiddler - Rolf the Dog
- Tevya - not sure...Dom DeLuise? John Rhys-Davies? Mel Brooks? Emeril (haha)? My friend suggested Tony Shalhoub, but I'm not convinced. Tevya has to convey a certain joie de vivre, which a lot of actors can't pull off very well.
(Side note: In one episode of the short-lived Muppets Tonight series where Garth Brooks played Tevya for a few minutes in a sketch. Weird.)
(Another side note, or "Why is Adrienne qualified to talk about Muppets and musical theater?": I actually performed as Shprintze - one of the other daughters - in a really mediocre dinner theater version of Fiddler. Also, I had a subscription for a while to Muppet magazine - long enough to remember the Ricky Schroder cover, but not so long that I received the famed Don Johnson cover.)
