Computers Hate Me

*grumble*

I went to Wal-Mart tonight to pick up Myst IV, but of course they don't carry it. :P

*grumble*

I came back to my apartment to find that my computer had updated itself by installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, which turned out to be a frelling nightmare. After it finished installing, the computer took four or five times as long to restart as it used to. It boots up fine, but when it gets to the point where it's trying to load my auto programs and populate the task bar it just crawls (somewhere between 4 and 6 minutes). So I spent half an hour trying to figure out why until I found a big list of programs that SP2 doesn't like (including Norton SystemWorks 2004, which I have; it also doesn't like LiveJournal, so those of you who use that service might want to pause before installing it). After trying to make everyone get along for 45 minutes, I finally shrugged and uninstalled SP2.

*grumble*

Which didn't fix the frelling problem. :P So then I spent almost 2 more hours searching through help forums and running diagnostic programs and disabling and enabling different programs and restarting a bajillion times and trying to restore to an earlier version with XP's worthless restore function, but in the end it's still broken and I have no idea why. I'm assuming there are some conflicts, but I can't find them. I guess the only option left is to wipe and reinstall XP, and that's such a pain in the ass that I'd rather remove all the hair from my body using duct tape.

*grumble*

Mull finally encouraged me to quit messing with it (before I really break something), so I'm irritated that it happened and unhappy I can't fix it, but accepting of the fact that the computer runs fine other than that and it's probably not worth a reinstall. I'll just have to go get a snack while waiting for my computer to restart anytime I install something . . . Mostly I'm annoyed that uninstalling it didn't fix the problem, which is compounded by the fact that there's nothing in SP2 that I wanted (it added a bunch of Internet security features like a firewall and pop-up blocker, but I already have third-party programs that do that and I like them), and that the whole process cost me four hours of frustration (without a resolution). I have since disabled XP's auto-install feature and I'll be paying better attention to anything it wants to install . . . I can tell you, though, that I'm going to be really pissed if it has messed up anything else (say, for instance, causing Myst IV not to run . . .).

Speaking of, a Myst fan site has the Myst IV: Revelation main theme available in MP3. Give it a listen. I turned the volume up on my 5.1 system and stood in the middle of my living room this afternoon with my eyes closed and just listened. It's cool. (Not as good as the main theme to Myst 3: Exile, but still good.)

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Tuesday, September 28

The Sepulchrous Season

The night air thrums with . . . anticipation? Elation?
The fitful wind flits and flutters with the chill promise of a dead kiss,
rattling the fallen husks from stick-figure trees in a percussive
accompaniment that hints at seasons long past and seasons yet to come
in an earthy, eons-old language heard not in the ears but felt in the bones.
An opalescent pearl, a childhood friend lost and forgotten until
briefly glimpsed in the twilight, shines so brightly with ashen, alabaster
light that the velvet of the midnight sky is bleached to a silken blue and
the stars hide in shame. Autumn settles into the land and waits for us
to notice, chuckling in macabre merriment, and so again the wheel turns.

I went for a lovely walk tonight. :) My camera doesn't do the moon justice, I'm afraid, but you get the idea. I was actually so taken with the moon and the feel of the night when I got home that I left my trunk open and my pizza box on top of my car and spent ten minutes taking pictures. It should come as no surprise that Autumn is my favorite season; I'm looking forward to the season change. Go out and enjoy the night tonight. You won't be sorry. :)

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Monday, September 27

Random Points

Why? Because I don't feel like writing an entire post. :)

First up, in the wacky world of misplaced advertisement:

1. Amazon.com felt compelled to let me know that a new product which they felt would interest me is out. Felt so compelled that they weren't content simply to list it on the "our suggestions for you" page when I sign in. Oh no. They had to e-mail it to me. What product is this that they feel I simply must have? It's a program for the Mac . . . More specifically, it's a program that allows you to use Windows programs and files on your Mac. Which sounds like a fine idea . . . for those people who have Macs (me not being one of them). What I bought from Amazon.com that put me on the "things Mac users need" list is beyond me. Maybe it was that copy of "Office Space."

2. I received a spam e-mail from "Fresh Start Christian Financial," offering me debt consolidation in tune with Christian principals (although I'm not sure what that means). Unfortunately for them, I'm neither Christian nor in debt.

Second up, do you suppose this woman has to practice to get the exact same head tilt each time someone takes her picture?

I hope everyone had a good weekend. :)

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Saturday, September 25

The Exciting World of Bonds (No, Not *Those* Kind of Bonds)

Seen in a PowerPoint presentation today:

"IRS Code Rules: Key Rules for Single Family Housing Bonds. Are you ready??"

I thought the scourge of extraneous punctuation afflicted only the pre-teen and teen generations. Apparently it occasionally infects 40-something attorneys, as well. (OMG?! No way!!!!) I'd be embarrassed to put something like that in one of my presentations (especially considering the "Are you ready??" bit appears on two different pages, in bold 30-pt. font). I dunno. Maybe some people are really that excited by housing bonds.

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Friday, September 24

"Wanted: One Journalist Who Actually Understands Journalism"

What the hell? How does this qualify as a news article? Shouldn't this be in People or something? Putting aside the fact that no one should really care what her orientation is (and it's certainly not worthy of front-page Yahoo status, where I came across it), what kind of serious news article contains lines like "'Sex and the City' has taken on a whole new meaning" and "If 'Sex and the City' were to be believed, the revelation would have been more expected from Kim Cattrall's character, Samantha, whose many, many TV conquests included one woman." Um, so what? How does comparing the private life of a real person to the private life of a fictional character played by another woman remotely count as "reporting"?

I suppose it's the fault of the audience, who prefer stories like this to cool stories. Bleh.

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Sand in my Shoes (or somewhere, anyway . . .)

Pretty much everyone knows that my Olympic events are gymnastics and figure skating (go ahead, get the smirking out of the way here; I'll wait). I do, however, watch most of the major events during the Olympics (I passed on all the field events, but I even watched some kayaking). I have to admit that I didn't realize that beach volleyball was an Olympic sport until I watched it this year. I'm fully aware of the athletic discipline that goes into a sport like that (and how badly any of those players would kick my ass at it), but you have to wonder who designed this sport and what kind of pitch they made to the Olympic committee . . .

"No, really, everyone will love this sport! Well, okay, maybe not everyone, but all males age 20-45, which, you know, is a key demographic for American television . . . 'Cause, you know, they have these cool uniforms and do a lot of stretching and twisting in the sun. Well, okay, maybe it's just the women's uniforms. So the guys are actually mostly clothed. They get skin cancer easy, you know, and women tend to live longer anyway, so it's good that the guys cover up. Trust us. Oh, hey! How's this for sneaky sex appeal? We have a valid, professional reason for zooming in close on the athlete's butts. We have them give their hand signals there! So, what do you say, guys? Do we have a deal? You know, it's either this or "Who Wants To Marry a Shot-Putter?". Trust us, this sport is right up your alley." *big car salesman grin*

Or something like that. I saw a news article and the above photos on Yahoo yesterday (which reminded me of a discussion Lisa and I had about why the men wear 4 or 5 times as much clothing as the women do; we didn't come up with a reason, so the above seems as good an explanation as any). Apparently this week is the international finals. There were also a couple of cool non-volleyball pictures in the slideshow, including some dancers and a battle between mascots (Australian vs. Swiss, I believe)! Anyway, I guess my underlying point is that sand volleyball is one of those sports that falls into the same category as gymnastics and figure skating. If you're male and between 15 and 40, you're going to get teased for watching these sports no matter what your reason is. So go ahead, smirk away. I remain unapologetic. ;)

Oh, by the way, this is my 200th post. :D I think that calls for cake or something, right?

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Thursday, September 23

Sky Captain to the Rescue!

As you can likely surmise from the title, I took in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" tonight. Mandy Jo (I'm seeing how long I can get away with calling her that; sooner or later she's going to snap and lock me in a trunk) and I met up for a quick dinner and then deposited ourselves ceremoniously in the center of Theater 8 at the Twin Creek Cinemas for an hour-and-a-half feast of sepia-tinted homages to 1930s movies, "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Matrix," "War of the Worlds" and any of a dozen other pop culture references. The movie was quite enjoyable, so everyone should accept my recommendation and go see it. :) There were a couple of minor (and sometimes amusing) errors and gaps, my favorite being the characters referring to "World War One," despite the fact that it's set before World War II (and it's hard to have a "One" without a "Two"). I suppose that had they used "The Great War" (the common name of WWI before WWII), 90% of the audience would have assumed it was WWII . . . All in all, though, it was an enjoyable show. (Oh, and believe it or not, despite the presence of Angelina Jolie, there was no sex or swearing . . .).

We had ice cream after the movie and talked about literary theory and the measurement of intelligence by adaptability and the sociological impact of video games, among other things. Yay for English geeks! After that I spent a couple of hours driving around downtown taking pictures, although I'm afraid most of them didn't turn out. I did get a couple of the skyline, a couple of nice ones of the park around 10th Street and a handful of shots of the illuminated fountain out in the middle of the lake in ConAgra Park (the rest are here). I took the sunset picture a couple of days ago, but I'll throw it in here anyway.

I hope everyone is doing well. :)

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Wednesday, September 22

Death Becomes Us

Ever wonder what happens to a body after death? Well, guess what? Now you can find out! (I know you're all just lined up in anticipation.) I think it's interesting and kind of cool. If you're not into stages of decomposition or life cycles of carrion insects, you probably shouldn't click the link. :)

The Australian Museum presents: Decomposition

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Monday, September 20

Madness or Divinest Sense?

Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
'Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, you're straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.

-Emily Dickinson


I'd like to think I had something deep and meaningful to say tonight, but I think my IQ has been lowered by watching the cerebral-sink known as "The Perfect Score" (hey, it looked good at Blockbuster). It's pretty rare for me to watch the credits at the end of a movie and really have no reaction to the ending or attachment to the characters in any way, shape or form, but to be honest an hour after it ended I can't even remember the names of the characters. ("The Girl Next Door," on the other hand, at least had characters with whom I empathized. I'm afraid Elisha Cuthbert doesn't do much for me, though.)

Anyway, so I had some big philosophical meandering about "fitting in" versus "being an individual" and the practical implications of "being unique," especially the give-and-take of wanting to do your own thing, but needing to stay within at least a stone's throw of "normal" in order to avoid being penalized by the IRS of life. In a way it's like politics. Candidates for public office follow a fairly predictable path: go to the outside for the primary (to win the nomination), then move to the middle for the general election in order to take as many votes from the "undecideds" as possible. There aren't any true "individuals" or "independents" amidst the ranks of public officials. There is only wiggle room within fairly rigid predefined categories. People who run for public office who are too far outside the norm simply aren't electable (for example, we'll never see an atheist president; I'm still holding out hope for a female president, but I may be 50 before it happens). Similarly, "being an individual" comes with penalties (despite what our teachers taught us). It's much easier to find friends, find a significant other, fit in with your family, avoid ostracism and be happy in general if you go with the flow or if you're a blank slate. Am I suggesting that's the way to go? Of course not. I'd be completely miserable if I intentionally tried to fit in (I'd probably have to have brain surgery or hypnosis to even make it work); I was just musing about the irony of a society that claims to encourage individuality and free-thought but gives cash-back bonus awards to those who don't actually take up the offer. (So it hasn't been the best of weekends. We can't all be little rays of sunshine 24/7.)

Weekend update to come later. For now I'm off to bed. Happy Monday to all those individuals out there.

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Friday, September 17

Seen in a Document

"Christ is hard-nosed."

Take that as you will. I'm only reporting what I see (and I changed it to "Chris").

On a similar note, has anyone seen these disturbing statues? Yikes.

Labels: proofreading

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Wednesday, September 15

Stereo-Philodendronic

Hey, wow! Just what a guy who lives in an apartment completely filled with plants needs! I can replace my Altec Lansing 5.1 speaker set as soon as someone buys me some of these . . .

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Weekend Update

Sooner or later I'm actually going to post a Weekend Update on Monday. :P But later is better than never, right?

At Jamie's invitation, I saw the Stages of Omaha production of A Man of No Importance on Sunday (Jamie played the flute in this performance). It was a fantastic performance (complete with Oscar Wilde references!). I highly recommend it. (This translates as "Go see it now.") I promised Jamie I'd give them some free advertising. ;) Seriously, though, I was rather dismayed to see a very small audience, especially considering how good the performance was. Jamie confessed that they have consistently low turnouts, which causes the cast and crew a great deal of consternation (tinged with future uncertainty). So, go order some tickets. :) You won't regret it.

I also finished the rough draft of my grandpa's war journal (yay!). I mailed it off tonight (with the idea that he'll mark it up, make additional comments and mail it back before I make a final version).

I helped Larisa fill the entire back seat of my car with plants (she tagged along when I went to Target and ended up taking over my shopping cart and half of another after doing the Happy Larisa Joy dance in the discount plant aisle). I think she's envious of my rain forest. ;)

I experienced my first real disappointment with Stargate: Atlantis this weekend. The episode was an almost point-for-point copy of a Farscape episode of a couple of years ago, all the way down to the way the hero figured out he wasn't really on Earth (everyone he met on the street was someone he'd already met because the aliens creating the illusion could only construct people from his memories). The only difference was the Farscape episode was much better. Considering that the two shows play on the same channel, you'd think *someone* on the Atlantis cast/crew would say "Hey, this script sounds familiar." 'Cause it's a good guess that a great many of the fans of Atlantis are also fans of Farscape. We're going to figure it out. :P

Hope everyone's well. :)

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Tuesday, September 14

New at Wal-Mart, Multidimensional Packaging

I bought a couple of flat sheets for use as photography backdrops a couple of days ago. I found the packaging amusing. I suppose they have to cover themselves legally, but come on, the package is 8 inches by 6 inches by an inch. Does anyone really expect to open the package and find a nightstand and a flower pot?

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Sunday, September 12

Now, Was That Weekly?

Seen in my hometown paper this week:

"Each month, there will be a Monthly "Bargain of the Month" special offer. It will change monthly."

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Friday, September 10

Photography 101

I really should take a class on photography. I love my camera and I take a lot of pictures (some of which are occasionally good), but I'm coming to find out how little I actually know about photography. I know nothing about film cameras or F-stops or the like, and a couple of books on photography I recently bought from Amazon have shown me how little about lighting and shadows I know. I think I have a good eye for it, but I'm very rough around the edges. I should look into taking a class.

I guess you really didn't need to know all that. It was a good preface to a couple of pictures I took today, though.

Warning: If you're afraid of spiders, don't click these first three links!

I played with the macro mode on my camera today when I spotted a spider on a gate near my apartment. I was amazed at how much detail it caught.

I've been reading up on and practicing more with photographing people lately (most of my photography has been objects - sunsets, storms, buildings and the like; people are turning out to be a lot more challenging). Larisa was kind enough to model for me, and I think this one actually turned out pretty well. This one has kind of an odd cactus shadow that I find amusing. Comments?

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Thursday, September 9

Bad Night for Drinking and Driving . . .

I saw a record 17 patrol cars on the way home tonight. Fourteen of those had cars pulled over (although that number is somewhat inflated since 12 of them were arranged in six groups of two; apparently the Omaha Police Department is encouraging the "buddy system" when pulling over cars). I only got to see the occupants of three of the "caught" vehicles (displayed in all their embarrassed glory), but oddly enough all three of those were women (including one blonde girl in a miniskirt struggling to stand in the parking lot next to her car). I could understand the mass appearance of the patrol cars on a Friday or Saturday night, but it seemed quite surreal on a Wednesday night. I don't suppose there was a concert or something last night, was there?

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Wednesday, September 8

Happy Birthday!

It's Cris's birthday! Everyone wish him a good one on the big three-oh!

Labels: birthdays

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Yes, I'm Still Alive

My apologies for being sporadic. My Labor Day weekend ended up being slightly more chaotic than I'd planned. Vacation is over, though, so hopefully I'll have something meaningful to contribute now and then. Today, though, all I have is a folder of pictures I took right before sunset after a rainstorm on Sunday. Let me know what you think. :)

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Sunday, September 5

Happy Birthday!

It's Lane's birthday today. The girl of the hour turns 9 today. Everyone wish her a good one. :D

Labels: birthdays

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Saturday, September 4

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Before Mull asks, I'm not entirely certain what the point of this holiday is. Something to do with Labor, I guess. Maybe it's a stealth infiltration by the British Labour Party . . .

Okay, that's not entirely true. I know enough about the holiday to know that it's connected with union labor, but as is typical with American holidays the meaning has been lost over the years and now it's more or less the "holiday that gets confused with Memorial Day." Oh, and it's the holiday associated with that arcane and irrational prohibition against wearing white (which I still don't understand).

In any case, happy Labor Day weekend. :)

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Thursday, September 2

It's Nice To Have Fans

Especially when it's warm out. Does anyone know, though, why fans (at least some fans, anyway) with multiple speeds jump from off to the highest speed? I have five fans in my apartment (from three different manufacturers) and they all go from off to the highest speed setting. It seems a little illogical, but it appears to be a common industry practice. Anyone know why?

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