Saturday, February 09, 2002

If I hadn't been sore-throated and grumpy before we got Toulousel-cat, I'd suspect an allergy. As it is, I think it's just a pesky little bug that's been going around. Ah-choo!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:07 AM |

I got my cards from VistaPrint, and they're lovely. And now I have to go to sleep.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:58 AM |

Before I do, I _FINALLY_ figured out _why_ my AIM ScreenName link (i.e. Pearwinter) wasn't working... *Bangs head on wall* I can't capitalize. Sigh.

Good night!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:00 AM |

You know, when I first set up this blog, I vowed that I would never ever _ever_ post snips of writing-in-progress on it, because reading bits of writing featuring characters I didn't know/care about on other people's' blogs annoyed me. I broke that vow, but, with one exception, with pieces of writing featuring characters that most of the people that read this already knew. (And -that- is a _strange_ sentence...)

...I just thought I'd mention that. And now I think I'm going to go make fudge.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:25 PM |

Well, zuutzuut is closer to being complete... While I'm glad I've got Fetch and can use FTP, I still find uploading files annoying and time-consuming. And I just know that I've got at least three broken links in there...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 7:30 PM |

I love 'Staying Up Late With Sonny' and 'Ruby Mae' from Indigo Swing's Red Light! album. I like the rest of the songs, too, but those are a couple of my favorites.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:09 PM |

Okay, a general plea for the general populace: Does the banner at the top of my art page look messed up to anyone else? How about my Penalty Kills album cover? I'm just trying to figure out if downloading and then reuploading images causes them to get messed up, or if it's just my browser or what. (Using IE5, so it's not like I'm trying to use NS2.0, not that my page wouldn't show up in NS2.0...)
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:13 PM |

...and yes, ZuutZuut is more or less officially open. Hooray! I'm not going to blog there just yet -- I want to give everyone time to snag the new addy.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:17 PM |

Well, that and I want to find/make a new layout... I found a tutorial for making an 'iframes' layout, but I have yet to get the pieces to go together without large gaps.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:20 PM |

Friday, February 08, 2002

Wow. Other than a wee teeny text-entry box for my blogposts, I'm loving Opera. I liked it on Ev's 95 machine, too, but I'm loving it on a Mac.

I gotta go to sleep.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:19 AM |

Notice: This post will probably trip every filtering software alarm available (sorry), even though I A) am not at ALL advocating the visiting of any sites named herein and B) am speaking about porn more or less out of the usual context.

You know... Most porn spam is just _silly_. The banner screaming out from the top of the one I got last night and a duplicate of not ten minutes ago? "ANAL VALLEY #1 FOR HARDCORE SEX!"

Followed by this gem: "I just got home from a long trip to Amsterdam with my girlfriend Cindy and boy let me tell you about the HARDCORE SEXUAL ADVENTURES we had there."

Who talks like that? I mean, I know/knew a snowboarder in ninth and tenth grades that regularly used 'hairball' as an adjective, and he might've used 'hardcore' too... But not like this. And the title? Yeesh. Porn spammers have so -totally- missed their mark with me. Of course, anyone spamming me with sexual material that actually turns me on would probably earn my annoyance, too. Spam is spam is spam.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:31 AM |

Hee! Animal Planet's That's My Baby features a dog being fostered by a lesbian couple with a little girl, without any kind of hoopla about their relationship at all. *Happy little sigh* *Blink* Yaaaay! Their daughter has a Dressy Bessy doll! No, this isn't really all that important except that -I- have a Dressy Bessy that was given to me for my first christmas, and I still have her. I love the way she looks -- almost a stereotypical 'rag doll', with orange hair, a orange-with-yellow-polka-dots body, denim jumper, yellow and green striped legs, and solid green shoes with yellow laces. My Bessy is quite faded, while Julia's is bright and new.

Um... Yeah. That's all I really had to say.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:37 AM |

I have like 8 browser windows open. Most of them are in IE, but I have one open in NS and two or three open in Opera. I may also download iCab, but I don't know...

Also, fascinatingly enough, I'm looking at a page that the author demands be viewed with IE at 600x800 in Opera, and it renders just as well if not better. Strange.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:45 AM |

I look like I've been attacked by something, which I have. Toulousel-cat has crawled all over me, using her claws for support. Sha has also pricked and scratched me in the course of kneading me, and this morning at 3:30 she and the dog were in a bit of a squabble... Right across my head and arm. Toulouse lashed out at Yasminda, but instead of the dog getting a noseful of claws, my arm bore the brunt of the swipe. Ouch.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:08 AM |

Well, I listened to The Internationale this morning. I still know next to nothing about Phil Ochs, though I -can- say I'd heard of him before I bought the tape -- They Might Be Giants have a song on... They Might Be Giants, I think, that's near the end that has the line "The day (someone) and Phil Ochs got married...(somethingsomething)" in it.

I think I'm in love with Billy Bragg, though. Well, okay, his voice and his accent. The Internationale itself is quite good, full of the acidic political satire/mockery/skewering that I enjoy. I really can't say that I -enjoyed- My Youngest Son, though the tune was nice... It's not a good wake-up song. And I really really liked 'The Red Flag'.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:18 AM |

Things To Do Today:

-- Laundry (in progress)
-- Go to the bank
-- Go to Value Village for pillowcases/another sheet (stay AWAY from the music!)
-- Go to Uni and pick up PacCent video
-- Pick up Mme. Jean
-- Come home and collapse for a minute or three
-- Go get mom

I guess I should eat in there, some where.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:23 AM |

*Blink* Whoops. Okay, I was mistaken -- I apparently _couldn't_ have gotten Bessy for my first Christmas (being born before Christmas of my birthyear), but my second. *Frown* Dapper Dan's name is completely inappropriate for him, now, considering Hasbro's makeover. I don't care for the 'new' forms of those dolls.

Here we go!
That's my Bessy, only much, much less faded.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:07 PM |

Here's a brighter, better picture. Just ignore the filename -- she's _not_ ugly!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:13 PM |

Why in God's name does ANYONE _NEED_ a Cadillac "truck"? Anyone that can afford one isn't going to want -use- it as a truck for the things trucks need to be used for... Or an SUV, for that matter.

Of course, I'm one of those freaks that thinks that people that don't actually _need_ an SUV/4-wheel-drive vehicle _shouldn't_ have one.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:26 PM |

Thursday, February 07, 2002

Umm... Okay, this is probably verging on the lightning-strike side of irreverent, but... It's funny.

I am the nature-loving Jesus. There seems to be nothing that will stop me from protecting the earth and my furry friends. I may also have a hidden passion for sweater knitting.
Which Jesus Would -You- Be?

Link from BlackRose.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:53 AM |

And now for two of my favorite Dr. Ned (of Wildlife Emergency) quotes:

"I have maps, I have keys, I have duck." (re: what he needs to return Mr. Freckles (the duck) to his place of rescue)
"Say 'moo'!" (to a female turtle he's injecting with Oxytocin.)
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:55 AM |

Is there a limit to how many times I can download a song?
There is no limit. You can download songs until you are blue in the face.

From Ampcast's FAQ's.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:20 PM |

I have completely and utterly wasted the time remaining to whip my two essays into anything resembling 'good' shape. My brain doesn't like to work.

I have to go get Mme. Jean.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:13 PM |

Hee. Don't tell Avrath and Kelvath that Shakira's 'Whenever, Wherever' is a 'romantic' song. They just like the beat and the sound of her voice.

Also, I really, really, like Nickleback's The Way You Remind Me (This Is How You Remind Me?).
Posted by: Shannon M.: 6:23 PM |

Because I know that the handful of people that read this either A) already know and/or accept that I'm not all here -or- B) know exactly what I'll be talking about below, I'm going to go ahead with...this.

...And with that nicely ambiguous description out of the way... *Waves a hand* Anyhow. My characters don't live in a mansion, or a cage, or a pear tree (no, not even Bart and Anj, hee). They don't have elaborate warrens of rooms carved out of the 90 percent of my brain that studies have said I don't use. This is not to say, however, that I -never- see them, or that they have no place in my mind/heart/whatever.

I just don't -usually- see them, fully-formed, before my eyes. They normally exist as 'talking heads', floating just above and slightly behind my right shoulder; at least, if there's anything of interest to them in my immediate vicinity. Marc, Vic and I do a lot of smirking at the 'novelties' section of the ice cream freezers. It's something of a long story, which I may discuss at a later date. Whenever anyone speaks to me, I can hear/see them perfectly, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to be able to see the scenery, too.

Whenever I 'see' anyone, it's usually in a crystal-clear snapshot of a scene. The first two scenes of Avrath and Kelvath/Avrath from MooT came to me that way -- I knew there was a dying soldier in one and a sick commander in the other. The Shakira thing? I could just see (if they had a radio available to them, of course) Kelvath and Avrath dancing around the house, possibly in the middle of cleaning it up, to that song. They're much too stoic and manly to -admit- to it, of course, or to even -think- about wanting love songs on their soundtrack. Yes, they are silly, why do you ask? They're also typical Havothi military men, which also goes to explain a lot.

Did I have a point? Um... Not really. But I did explain the song, so...

Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:30 PM |

I just downloaded a 2.0 meg file in 8 minutes. I love my computer.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:34 PM |

Toulouse is standing on my bed, stretched out to reach my nightstand. On my nightstand is a glass of water that is only about a third of the way full, and about...oh, eight inches tall? Eight and a half? Something like that. She's sticking her little dirty foot into the water and then licking it off! It's disgusting and amusing all at the same time.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:58 PM |

Wednesday, February 06, 2002

Well. That was a nasty little wake-up call... Approximately thirty minutes ago, we had an earthquake. It lasted about two and a half to three minutes, and for the first time, I heard one of the shocks coming -- it sounded like a big truck grinding along. The only thing that fell and broke was the globe for the hallway light, and the only one that got any glass in their feet was me. *Rolls eyes* Fortunately, it was only a little sliver, and I got it out without too much trouble.

We're going to set up our Earthquake Preparedness Kit(s) this evening, I'm sure.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:03 AM |

I hate having a cold. I'd still rather have a cold than intestinal distress, though.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:22 AM |

Anchorage Daily News | Morning quakes shake Anchorage News on the quakes.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:30 PM |

I keep losing my kleenex. I have those little pocket-pack doodads, and I feel like I've opened nearly every one I own, used one tissue, and then promptly consigned each package to some black hole populated by socks and housekeys and the like.

Toulouse and Yasminda continue to be upset and annoyed respectively, though I think that Yasminda is adjusting to the idea that the kitty is here to stay... And is feeling reassured that we still love her.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:26 PM |

Okay, I've held back as long as I could.

Dear Iams: You can either return a cat to a previous weight, or you can send a cat back. If you "return a cat back", you're simply being redundant and getting on my nerves. Knock it off.

Crankily,
Shan.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:32 PM |

Tuesday, February 05, 2002

Lessee... Um... Other than feeling like I'm gearing up for The Cold That Swamped My World In Mucus Round Three, and Toulucy-lou having spent most of the day behind a set of shelves, I have nothing exciting to report.

...well, nothing other than the truth of the maxim that you can stay well-hydrated or you can rest, but you can't do both.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:20 AM |

I take that back. Tolouse spent two and a half minutes drinking water earlier tonight. Out of -my- water glass. Then she settled down on my chest and burped at me, again... She'd had a big drink from -her- water dish, came up on the bed to see me, and burped. *Rolls eyes* I attract air-filled animals. Yasminda will do that -- eat a bunch and have a huge drink, then run around for a few minutes. When she comes over to be told what a spiffy dog she is, she will invariably belch horribly.

This has been another installment of I'm Sure You Really Wanted To Know Theater, thank you.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:24 AM |

...Ugh. I have at -least- three pages of drydrydry material to write on: the impact of geography on societal development; isolationism's affect on the development of culture in China; and last but not least, the dispute between Korean and Japanese scholars on The True Historic Relationship between the two countries.

And all I really want to do is go back to bed.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:50 AM |

Hell-o, Cleveland! *soft giggle* I love the Brak Album.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:45 PM |

Monday, February 04, 2002

I'm a Wind Spirit!

Thought above feeling and mind over matter are your mottos. Others come to you for advice and guidance. Some see you as introverted and snobbish, but they are merely jealous of your common sense knack to think things through. Don't be afraid to listen to your heart though.

...which is odd, considering that 'wind' and 'air' are usually considered components of 'flightier' personalities. Link from Virdian's LiveJournal.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:46 AM |

While I'm thrilled that Luce is comfy enough drape herself all over me, knead me, and basically proclaim her cat-love of me, it makes it hard to type. Plus, she's fascinated by the way my fingers move, and she has nice sharp claws, which go right through my jammies like I'm not wearing anything. She's sweet, though, and she's perked up and shown interest in the mousy sounds she's heard, which is super.

Now, as my throat hurts and it's one in the morning, I'm going to sleep.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:54 AM |

...one last thing! She has a little kink in the very end of her tail, where it goes from almost black to having a faint little white ring.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:56 AM |

I have no problems using other people's layouts because I know I'm not up to snuff in that department as of yet. I've found a few sites about CSSs, so I have a place to -start-, but I haven't even _tried_ writing my own CSS. *Shrug* That and I'm beginning to hate Adobe with a passion for A) discontinuing the production/sale of ImageStyler as a separate entity and B) pricing everything it's bundled with in the triple digits. There's financing to buy computers, but oddly enough, not for software... *Snort* But that's another rant.

I've always liked Sandbox At Night, Reesa, and it's not a bad change. *Small grin* But I must say I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with next.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:40 AM |

The new Pontiac Vibe is ugly. The Focus has grown on me, but the PT Cruiser hasn't. Why is almost everything new ugly?
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:46 AM |

Oh. My. Word.

*Blinkblink*

I should really check up on my Elfwood site more often -- T. K. Labus left me -- me! -- a note of encouragement. Eek. Cool.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:05 AM |

My throat -hurts-. My ear is hurting right along with it. If Mme. Jean gave me a cold, I'm gonna be cranky. *Drinks more water*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:43 AM |

...of course, if my -family- gave me the cold, I'll be cranky, too. *Snerk*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:44 AM |

I need to do homework. However, Discussing the impact of geography on societal development and the policy of isolationism is enough to put me to sleep.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:11 PM |

We were told that Toulouse was a talker, and that she had been returned to the shelter after only a few days because she kept her previous adopters up all night. The only time she talked last night was when she was trapped behind the TV by the dog, or stuck in my closet (but not with Vanna White...). I bet the people that took her home before didn't let her sleep in their room, on their bed, on them, or somehow otherwise did something that kept her from being calm.

I woke up with ToulouseyLou curled up under the covers at my feet a couple of times, and she's currently hiding under the blankets beside me.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:36 PM |

Sunday, February 03, 2002

We have a cat! Her name is Toulouse (yes, as in the French painter LaTrec (La Trec? La Treque? I forget.), and she's a beautiful little tortishell. We may go back in a few weeks and adopt a big male named Bobcat, who is -gorgeous- and who looks as if his name is merely a description of his heritage than the word he answers to (sorta)... It depends on how Yasminda and Toulouse do. There was a list of reasons to have two cats hanging on the wall at the Adopt-A-Cat place, and I pointed it out to mom. She gave me her pained 'I know, I know, but...' look, and we talked about it a little bit. It was just a little too spendy to get both of them at the same time, but that doesn't mean we can't go back!

So far, Yasminda has mostly been terribly disappointed that Toulouse won't play with her, or let her lick her, or anything -else- fun like that, while Lucy has been willing to explore as long as she's not being pounced on by an overexcited hairball dripping with slime. (Which is partially untrue -- unless she's been drinking water, Yasminda doesn't drool.)
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:19 PM |

Erk! Adopt-A-Cat, The URL.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:36 PM |