Saturday, March 02, 2002

Watch as Technomancy makes me cry. Or shudder, whether in revulsion or amusment I don't know. It -is- funny, in a sick-and-twisted way...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:25 PM |

Mari, Reesa -- you _HAVE_ to come up here some winter so we can watch a UAF/UAA game. I just got home from the last game of The Governer's Cup, and it was a _blast_. It was -such- a good game... Oh. I cannot begin to describe...the passing. The way UAF players threw themselves down in front of the puck. The passing. The puckhandling. The skating, the speed, the passing, the cute guys... Did I mention the passing?

It was so good. And there was a funny little incedent that gave me Marc/Vic/Tikka ideas... More on that later, though, as my brain is still all aglow from the game. Wow.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:29 PM |

Also, the number of my remaining winters here are few indeed. My car got stuck in the driveway, and I. Frigging. HATE. Snow. And ice. And shoveling. And slipping. And being cold. And having the end of my nose be cold. And runny noses. Dry skin. Darkness. Clear days == COLD, barf.

I'm running away to Palm Springs and I'm taking Yasminda with me. I don't know what I'll do there, besides getting her shaved, but I'm smart and I'll figure _something_ out.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:34 PM |

I find it hard to write if I have my blogging window open.

...I'm going to try for M/V/T (MTV? *Snerk*), now. My mother -is- reading to me, though, so we'll see.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:47 PM |

Friday, March 01, 2002

Don't let your boss, wife, or kids find out about your adult website viewing
DOWNLOAD INTERNET ERASER SOFTWARE & PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY

Wow. Way to assume that the only people that look at 'adult websites' are married males with children.

Funny, you'd think people would be less freaked out about others learning that they spend an inordinate amount of time at the Wall Street Journal's site.*

* Yeah, yeah, I know. I can have a less-than-dirty mind on occasion, can't I?

Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:24 AM |

Who is Denise Husten and why should I know who she is? Why does the 'Thightek XL' [sic!] contain 'XL', which is the abbreviation for 'extra-large'? Why do they expect me to buy (or _want_ to buy) this cheapass piece of 'exercise equipment' after they A) belittle anyone that expresses a preference for fried chicken, B) assault the viewer with the overly perky and somewhat fake-looking Ms. Husten, C) have proven that they cannot spell ('tek'?) and D) filled their commercial with 1) only women, 2) women that have a hard time using the equipment properly and 3) only women that don't appear to need any kind of fitness equipment in the first place?

Yeah, I'm annoyed. But then, I'm annoyed by all fitness equipment commercials. Bowflex, iiiiick.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:33 AM |

I have massive quantities of hard and mostly-hard candies. This makes for a happyhappy Reading!Shan. Or a happyhappy Writing!Shan.

Just, y'know, so I don't sound like a complete grouch all the time.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 6:35 PM |

I was sitting here, minding my own business, when I heard a thump on the porch and the nitwit dog starts barking. I yell at her, telling her that the sound was just snow falling off the roof... Only, she keep barking, and the timbre of it changes. It's more of a 'there's something you need to know about' bark, so I go downstairs to see what she's so upset about.

*Smacks head on keyboard* Katy was standing on the porch, hoping for someone to let her in... I feel so awful, having not seen a car and so having assumed that no one was here. At least she hadn't been there for hours and hours.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 6:39 PM |

Yaaaaay! I was misspelling 'Mackenzie'! I _KNEW_ there was information about the Mackenzie River Husky online. Ha. Links in a little bit.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 7:43 PM |

A short article on the history and true definition of the Mac River dog.

Another breeder/musher of Mac Rivers.

Huslia Huskies! (Huslia is prounounced 'hoo-slee-uh') I just like the name Huslia. More on AK huskies, as the Iditarod starts tomorrow. I'll be at the Empty Bowl benefit as usual, so I'll get to see part of the start in person. Ooh.

Aww! This is part of the reason I think I'd like a Mac River: they're cute. But they're also large, fluffy, and have incredible personalities. Of course, if I ever make it to Palm Springs, I may have to go for a hairless Chinese crested dog...

Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:18 PM |

Thursday, February 28, 2002

Mmm, Insomniac Music Theater! Watching this on the heels of all the Neets/Beej stuff brings back memories. Specifically, staying up waaaaay past my bed time and telling my mother that I -tried- to sleep...

Hey! Heyhey! It's -Sparx-! In the video for Cher's 'Song For The Lonely', the guy in the coveralls with the goggles around his neck! Of course, he's not wearing glasses, but then, I forgot Sparx was supposed to have them after a couple of sessions. Oops.

Brit? Honey, if you fiddle with the waistband of your pants any more, they're going to just fall off. 'Oops'?

The video for 'Pinch Me' is...either brilliant or just insane, I'm too off-center to tell which. I reallyreally like the leather jackets, though.

Mr. Stapp, why does your tattoo appear to have been drawn on with a Sharpie? Also, when you gaze rapturously at your other self, it makes people like me laugh. 'Cause you look terribly narcissitic.

Lifehouse! Mm, harmony. And the lead singer. And sap! Aww.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 3:57 AM |

Dear Lead Of Incubus, is that 'Foxy Grandma' shirt supposed to be funny, or just...thrift-shop-chic? Just wondering. And so -that- is who does that song. I thought you were...a different band. Sorry. It's better to choose water over wine, for the most part. If nothing else, you can drive after imbibing significant quantities of water without having to worry about getting a ticket or worse.

Ah, 'I Can't Get You Out Of My Head'. A -definite- soundtrack song, but I don't know whose. Possibly a universal one, most likely a TSLC song... The video is...strange. Is that an homage to Robert Palmer or what, Kylie?

"Our chance for survival is running out" is crappy grammar. Our chanceS for survival are slim, our chance for survival is slipping away, our survival depends on one/two/x people of appropriate gender(s), any of those would have been fine and just as dramatic. What is wrong with advertisers these days? Grr.

Ah! I can see why people like India.Arie. Or at least this song.

And now, playing shortstop, number thirty-eight, Enriiiiiiiiiiique Iiiiiiiiiiglaaaaaaasias! Sorry, I just... I -like- the name 'Enrique', and his whole name just seems to deserve the whole Announcer treatment. The song? Eh. S'okay. Kinda creepy-stalkerish, if you think about it. The girl reminds me of Jewel, but in a -good- way.

I used to like 'Someday', but now it's just kind of tiresome.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:19 AM |

Speaking of Jewel, Shakira's voice makes me think of her, too. More precisely, I hear it and say '-That's- how Jewel's _supposed_ to sound! It's called -support- for the notes!' Guh. I'm annoyed by Ms. Kilcher... I don't even have a smidgen of pride because she came from here. Somewhat the opposite, actually...

Moving on: is it just me, or does everything The Offspring have done since Ixnay On The Hombre sound relatively the same?
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:23 AM |

'Unexplainable'? Unexplainable!? VH1, the word is i-n-e-x-p-l-i-c-a-b-l-e.

...then again, it -is- late. Perhaps I could cut them a little slack...

...Nah.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:25 AM |

And now, because I don't care for Alicia Keys, Mtv!

Hoobastank is a bizarre name, but I like 'Crawling In The Dark'.

You know, David Bowie is aging quite well.

Dammit, not another Resident Evil ad. Take your bad grammar and go away.

...anou? *Blinkblink* Terrorists and drug dealers work in collusion? I have a hard time believing that, but then, I'm involved in neither scene, so...

Rap? I'm changing the channel. Default! Wasting My Time, The Fallout. I want to hear more from them.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:35 AM |

I love that the girl is more articulate about what the voice-over guy is saying about the VW engine.

Blood oranges are scary, scary fruit. But they can have their uses... Hmm.

Yet another slashtastic war movie is comi- er, is going to be playing, soon. Mel Gibson's presence helps.

Yes, I am basically letting myself babble, why do you ask?

Luke Perry! Man, he just -doesn't- change, does he? Not that this is a -bad- thing; it makes him easy to ID. I like him in the stuff I've seen him in so far...

This is Kid Rock? This is Kid Rock? Jeeze, man, if you'd started out like this I'd have been inclined to -think- about buying your album! See, this is music, and your other stuff is...less music than...I don't even know what to call it. That nasty mess of rap right in the middle of what had been beautiful has ruined it now, never mind... Sigh.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:46 AM |

Does it make me a bad American if I confess that I still don't A) know how long the Viet Nam war was or B) understand America's role in it? Not for lack of trying, mind you, I just can't seem to get a grip on it.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:51 AM |

Aww! It's the Hedgehog Auditions commercial! They're so cute.

"Every girl should know how to throw a decent punch." Maybe she should, but they shouldn't learn from you, darling.

Kurt Loder! H'ray.

The wind is blowing, hard. I think this is one of the few decent chinooks we've had this winter... Day before yesterday, it felt like breakup outside. It was so nice... Fresh breeze, warm sun, decent temperature...

...I am SO ready for winter to be over.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:58 AM |

'Hey Baby Hey' by No Doubt and 'Androgyny' by Garbage are Soundtrack songs, too, but I'm not sure for whom. I can't say that I absolutely _love_ all of Hey Baby Hey, but Gwen Stefani's definitely worth watching the video on mute. I think it's her hair.

I'm going back to bed. 'Night.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:02 AM |

Do I -need- a platinum credit card with the possible credit limit of $50,000? Not really.

Would having one Just In Case (a sheer Emergencies-Only card) be a good idea? Yup. I just can't decide if I should apply for it or not...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:03 PM |

Wednesday, February 27, 2002

My willingness to be annoying via passive voice:

When I was but a wee tot (well, all right, when I was in high school), I had to learn the diffence between passive and active voices in writing. I don't know -why-; hardly anyone uses passive voice. It took me FOR-EVER- to figure it out. When I _finally_ got it, it stuck. Now, I only usually use passive voice when I want to drive my mother crazy, though I don't know why it bugs her. It bothers me because it's so clunky and it takes longer to compose sentences.

...And now, of course, I'm thinking I may finally, _finally_ make a new post over on smutblog. Hm.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:47 PM |

Dammit... I'm cranky, but I don't know that I want to rant about it here. I'm feeling...Socialist-ish, or something equally 'unAmerican'.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:42 PM |

Tuesday, February 26, 2002

You know, I've suddenly started blithering about my dog. Well, yeah, I'd noticed that you say, with a roll of your eyes. Yeah. However, you see, this is significant to me because for a _very_ long time, I was so wound up in my own misery that she was really just a nuisance.

That's a really stupid and -mean- way to relate to your dog. And I regret every single moment I spent disliking her and wishing she'd just go away already and leave me alone. I knew, then, that I'd miss her, but it never really deeply bothered me. Ever since my pivotal November, I have been grateful that she _didn't_ just go away and leave me alone, because hey. She's nifty. And smart. And this morning, when we'd dropped her off at the clinic and I was sitting in the front seat holding her leash and collar, I was thinking of how -glad- I was that I'd be going to pick her up in the afternoon, that I _didn't_ have to go home and listen to the silence, thinking I heard her collar and starting to say her name, only to remember...

Yeah. It's late, I'm tired, and dammit, I love my dog. She's sweet and has big (clean!) teeth, she's the silliest smartass, and I'm glad she's my friend. You know what I mean. If you don't, well... I'm really, really sorry.

And now I have to go to sleep before I get any more maudlin or something. Oi.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:23 AM |

Martha Wells has a new book out! Yay! (It's a stand-alone, so you don't -have- to read her others. You should, though -- they're good. *Nodnod*)
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:08 AM |

I was going to write my own dissertation on my bad guys, but I don't think I need to. I can sum it up in one sentence, and not even a run-on sentence at that! Ooh.

With the exception of Jor, Ruth and Ti'engi, none of my bad guys were actually all that bad.

I think part of the reason that I suck at Pure Evil type bad guys is because I myself am a secret sap. Not that I can't come up with disturbing imagery, just that I have a really hard time sticking to a high standard of Evil. If I had to have a character that, say, was Evil on the scale of Josef Mengele, I would probably either A) drive myself insane or B) cause the character to fundamentally and not-necessarily-subtly change until they were either no longer that Evil or were honestly, tearfully and heart-rendingly regretful (in which case they'd be that way before they changed...anyhow!).

The other thing about me is that, after coming into contact with me, things get warped. "Hey, did this make a clicking sound while you owned it?" "Clicking sound?" "You know, I don't think I should have gotten this error this early in the proceedings..." "What error?" "It said something about a 'general fault'." "It crashed and ate my post." "Again?" "Yep. Third time this evening." "So, what's the idea behind this guy?" "He's an assassin, and he hates sunlight!" "What did you say about Celare, again?" "He has a Tragic Pastª, and he wishes he could go out in sunlight without getting third-degree burns..." "The background for him is...?" "Well, you see, he -used- to be an evil vampire, but then he fell in love with this cute elven mage that went on a quest for a cure, and they haven't seen each other in ages..."

My point is to beware the Shan-Zone. No one is ever the same after encountering it! Ha!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:45 PM |

In other news, I love Neets and Morgan. I don't really remember Ayren, though I believe I really liked reading Ayren's posts. (It's really, really awkward to not use gender-specific pronouns. Writing Cricket-posts was terrible for that, as I didn't -want- to use 'it' to refer to Cricket, so I ended up using Cricket's name a _lot_. Pain in the -butt-, but worth it, I think.) I never really got to see Rees-posts, but I remember her having some big scene with Silantro in SMF, one day... Hey, who was the cranky little guy in the tree with the Japanese name? I think we were going to do something with him and Cricket, or he and Neddy.... Marune... Someone.

...I do have to say that thinking of Morgan reminds me of the infamous 'sex kitten' day, however. *Sniggle*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:57 PM |

And once again, thinking of one thing leads to another! Marune Koibito was my best abrasive character. He didn't really like anyone, he didn't really want to talk to anyone, and boy howdy, did he not want anyone to touch his sword.

Willow Thornblossom was abrasive, too, but usually only to humans... The scum.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:59 PM |

I like sleepysweet first-time smut. I like the pairing of Kelvath and Avrath. I like learning that military men can and -will- use Havothi terms of endearment in bed. I like that there is a lot of laughter in their bedroom, because they haven't had a lot of it in their lives, lately, let alone in bed. (I apparently like alliteration, too.) I love that they can just have a relationship without having to talk it to death. I like that they're not sure who was attracted first, or why, and that they just. don't. care. I like that so far, said relationship is mostly a 'friendship with benefits' sort of thing. I like that I'm finally able to write something like this.

So why is it that I hate parts of what I've gotten, recently?
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:09 PM |

Having had an incredibly long day, I am going to bed. Using the 'passive voice' style of sentence construction, I prove my tiredness. (And my willingness to be annoying, but that's something of a long story.)

1) To those I know and love, I love you. G'night, sleep well, and may you have the dreams of your choosing.
2) To those I don't know and and so have not had a chance to love, hey. You sleep well, too, and dream of pleasant things.
3) I get to learn the Japanese word for 'fruit' tomorrow. All I have to do is memorize the adjectival form of 'happy' and I have a ready-made topic for confusing Misawa-sensei with! (I tried to tell him about acquiring Toulouse, and I apparently didn't do that good a job with it. Oops.)
4) I am, as you so well know, off. To bed. Yes. G'night.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:02 PM |

Monday, February 25, 2002

Wai! *Whimper* Evgeni Plushenko was at the Olympics and I didn't know!

...Yes, I am strange. But he's nifty. *Sigh*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:00 PM |

The thing to remember about Plushenko is that he is one of the, if not -the-, biggest ham(s) in the entire world. In this picture, he's wearing a faux muscle suit, that ridiculous gold Speedo, and was skating to Sex Bomb. He's probably a skinny, geeky Russian guy under all the foam rubber, but I don't care... *Snerk* It's my Nose Thing in action.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:04 PM |

Mmf. I wanna write. What do I have to do instead? Cart my brother to Uni, maybe pick the dog up (she got her teeth cleaned/ears checked/bordatella vax/hips radiographed today), pick up Mme. Jean, drop off Mme. Jean, pick up mom, race to class, do JPN, go grocery shopping, then come home and collapse.

Oh, sure, I could be writing now instead of complaining, but then what would you read? *Wanders off, feeling...odd.* *Blames it on K/A Squishiness*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:49 PM |

Wow. Poor Yasminda... Her back film? Gorgeous. You couldn't ask for a prettier spine. Her hips? One mean, nasty, dysplastic mess. Even if you had no idea what you were looking at, if you were given a set of good hips and a set of Yasminda's, you would _know_. But! The good news is that even though they _look_ bad, basically all she's been experiencing has been stiffness and some pain. The doc said that she's seen dogs with hips as bad or worse that never showed any outward symptoms, so it's not that odd.

Being an old dog, she's being placed on glucosamine therapy immediately (and doesn't seem to mind the pills, which are _huge_...). It helped Schatzi (Mme. Jean's dog) and poor Roxy The Teacup, though the results were far more visible in Schatzi -- she was just -so- much perkier and happier -- so I'm encouraged. Her ears were perfectly fine, as I/the doctor suspected they'd be. Her teeth were scungy, but not hopeless: no extractions necessary, yay! We've got a follow-up in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how things stand then.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:24 PM |

Now for what happened at class: Midterm!

No, really, I had my midterm. The one for which I was supposed to work with a group, the one for which I was supposed to show up on Wednesday in order to be sorted out into a group, the one for which I was so completely unprepared it was not at all funny. I was sick, Wednesday, with a headache and general malaise, so I stayed home. Oops.

...the class itself? Funny! *Grin* I really did have a good time. Melody (the literal *poing!*er from my previous post) and I were geeks at one another; it turned out that we had no homework but to practice the skit over the weekend; one group's skit consisted of two guys hitting on a girl in a mall, and one of the guys trying to be suave, only to choke on the breath-freshening drops he'd just administered; another group featured anime-Japanese, the word 'kawaii!', and that same word being said by a young woman that has a -perfect- shoujogirl voice; my/Melody's group having the _shortest_ skit in the whole thing (we probably didn't even break 3 minutes, the least we were _supposed_ to do was 5); and more happy geekage on the way out.

On the minus side, though, I forgot to schedule my Midterm Grade Discussion with Misawa-sensei (ack!), -and- I forgot to turn in my homework. So much for me.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:38 PM |

Sunday, February 24, 2002

Bwahaha.... Last night, mom and I were knitting and watching hockey, when we heard this skritch-skritch-skritch sound. We hunt it down, and mom discovers a mouse tail sticking out from under a makeshift food-preserver, made of a bowl turned upside down over a plate (which had an orange roll left over on it). The mouse got scared and apparently hid on the plate under the bowl. I scoot the bowl over, gently, and picked the whole assembly up. I take it outside, and lift the bowl, intending to let the mouse go...

The plate was bare save for the old breakfast pastry. Of course.

So, I went back upstairs, and on a hunch, I move the big French canning jar that we keep our spaghetti in. Eek! There was the mouse, and it turned around and hid behind the sugar jar. I grabbed an empty glass, moved a couple of other jars, put the glass down in the direction the mouse was most likely to bolt in, then carefully chivvied him toward the glass with the cutting board that lives behind our jars. Poink! he was trapped.

Once more, I headed out to the front porch to let the dumb thing go outside. I tip it out onto the snow, and it sprints straight back toward the front door, which is standing open. It hits the threshold and does -not- make it into the house, instead running along the porch until it runs out of room, whereupon it jumps down over the edge toward the garage.

Mom and I speculated that it was back in the house before we'd made it to the top of the stairs. Oh well.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:00 AM |

Disney? Honeysweetiebabyloveypot-pie?

Knock it the fuck off with the sequels already. Cinderella II? No. You don't have anyone's voice right. Return To NeverLand? No, No, NO. Sir Barrie and E.B. White are currently setting off seismometers in a hundred-mile radius of their burial sites. STOP IT NOW, DAMMIT. *Ahem*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:41 AM |

Notice: You are hereby warned that the following post will contain ickystickygirly gushing. Thank you.

Paul Kariya is _cute_. Particularly when damp and mussed from twenty minutes of on-again off-again action.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:38 AM |

Okay, I'm going to -do- _something_ now. It is to be hoped that it involves the words "complete transcription of the stuff in The Silver Notebook". Or possibly "laundry and straightening my room". Whichever consists of marginally less hassle.

...Must remember to e-mail Misawa-sensei and ask about homework from Wednesday...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:47 AM |

*Sniggle* "I love brown!" That guy is so...Xander-esque.

It could just be me, though.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:23 PM |

Hey! Look! I got it transcribed!

Note: Sometimes, I gross myself out. This is one of those times. I have no idea where it all came from, except, perhaps, the fact that I'm a sucker for Hurt/Comfort. This will quite probably be polished/revised in the future, as well, but not any time soon.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:39 PM |

Aww! Aww! *Grin* I love watching post-game reactions. Aww.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:08 PM |

I have got to learn to put subjects in my comments, so that I don't write something that makes it sound like I was sleeping with the person upon whose post I am commenting. *Pokes self*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 7:33 PM |