Friday, April 26, 2002

Ack! About dinner! *Grin* It was fun, even if I did end up sitting across from The Ignorant Bitch That Refuses To Open Up A Book That Has Actual Factual Information On Japan In Its Pages and spent a good portion of the night wanting to strangle her... Melody was right next to her, though, so that was okay. The Girl was all the way at the other end of the table, and so I didn't get to spend any time with her. The food was _excellent_, though I ordered my usual and -should- have asked for two bowls of rice. Oh well. We were a big group, so we got the equivilant of a private room -- a raised dias sort of deal, with tatami flooring, no shoes, a low table and! Traditional Japanese seating -- no chairs. Misawa-sensei proved my theory that the Japanese people are physiologically different in the ankle and knee department by spending most of the meal sitting zazen, while I had to give up after two minutes and sit tailor fashion.

But it was fun, and the resaturant sells chopstick rests in the shape of turnips, squid, and octopi; I was the only one that ordered in hesitant, stuttery Japanese (and didn't get laughed at/corrected/spoken to in amazingly fast and therefor difficult to understand Japanese in return!); and made Melody's night by loaning her the last Here Is Greenwood tape. I'll be getting WK as soon as she gets it back from her friend, whom she didn't realize/remember had borrowed it.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:41 AM |

Well, I'm off to the people-vet in a little bit, and afterward, I'm going down to the fabric store to get my fabric -- gorgeous blue silk shantung, and matching/complimentary lining-fabric. Yay! Plus I need to look at the pattern-books again to see if I can't decide on a wedding-top... *Bounce*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:47 AM |

I started working with Mercury's mama yesterday. Her willingness to jump in when it comes to computers and software is -so- wonderful -- she's not afraid, she's not reluctant... In fact, she was playing with the program after I left, and she discovered a couple of things that I had remembered, but hadn't thought she'd want to go over, and was -so- pleased with herself and the program... *Grin* It was nice. And I like working with her because she tells me what she wants done, what she expects from the job, asks no more than I do my very best, then gets out of my way and lets me work. It's not hard at -all- to get along with her, which makes me wonder if she and I are both Earth people, and the other people on the comitte with whome she is having difficulty are flighty Air people. Or maybe Water, as at least one of them seems to be stubborn... I'll have to think about it. *Waves* I'll be back in a bit!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:52 AM |

I got my fabric... It was a little more spendy than I was quite ready for, but it's okay -- And, also in keeping with my reputation, my choice of lining fabric is a satin charmuse. In silk. So it's slick and slippery and slinky and nearly enough to make you want to wear it wrapped around yourself instead of cutting it up and sewing it together.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:36 PM |

I can also be a Good Baby for once, and contribute to the shareware community! *Bounce* And get rid of -ads-. Yay!
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:38 PM |

Thursday, April 25, 2002

Um. There is a very real possibility that the site annoying me yesterday is a hoax.

...but then again, there _are_ people out there that think this way, so it's not as far-fetched as all that. Hmph.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:57 PM |

I am sitting here, in my room, wearing -the- BLJ. Yes. Mme. Jean's parents paid me -- in fact, they paid me more than I was expecting, 'cause I thought they'd already paid for services rendered for Feb/Mar, (or maybe Jan/Feb?) but her mother thought that I'd not seen a dime since Jan... So I got Feb-May. Yeek. Now I really -need- to know when I last got paid and for when, because I really don't want to keep money I already recieved once. (Well, okay, I _do_, it's just that I feel it's unethical to do so without first making an effort to give it back, first.)
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:01 PM |

Wednesday, April 24, 2002

The PoliSci party last night was actually a _really_ good time -- fabulous food, yummy dessert, and conversation that got political _only_ when everything started winding down... I wore my new short skirt with my new tights and my old MaryJanes, and while I was the -most- dressily-attired person there, I only felt cute, not overdressed. I think I have to take at least one more PoliSci class sometime next year...

I hope tonight is just as fun -- I think it should be, as I actually know everyone that's showing up. With any luck, I'll get to sit beside/across from Melody-san and The Girl... I'm loaning Melody the last Here Is Greenwood tape, as she's never seen it, and she's loaning -me- her fansubs of Weiss Kreuz, so that's fun. *Bounce* I'll be taking business cards, so I can hand out contact info to Melody and anyone else that wants it. I have to rememeber to do my Chapter 8 take-home test today...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:28 AM |

Why does Lamasil use FF-esque music in the background of their commercial? It's very odd to be listening to these people (one of whom has cyclic toes!) blither on about their foot troubles while a funky little fluty melody that seems straight out of FFVII twiddles along in the background.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:47 AM |

Hee! WakiWaki.net has some wonderful desktop wallpapers -- click on 'Omiyage'.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:43 AM |

'Ernie' is a terrible name for a police dog and a German shepherd. Oh well...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:04 PM |

Oh, good Lord. *Snerk* This site, misnamed 'the Objective', claims that Macs are tools of the devil. (Well, not in so many words, but you can read between the lines.) They also lament the fact that PBS doesn't show commercials. *Rolls eyes* They're as bad about the whole propagandising/biased-reporting thing as the things they rail about. Also, I love the idea that "open source" is another word for 'communism' -- God knows that having many people play with the same piece of code and help the app EVOLVE (*Gasp!*) into something new and quite possibly more useful (and *GASP!* again!) is evil on the scale of the Holocaust (which they probably think didn't happen, either.).
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:12 PM |

Footnote III proves that the author of the article knows just enough about computers to be dangerous -- he blithers about 'daemons' in such a way that people that know _nothing_ about computers will automatically assume that they're somehow dangerous and evil -- never mind the fact that their site probably runs on some form of Unix, which probably have some kind of daemon running the email system (what happens when he gets a bounced email, I wonder? Does he have his machine exorcised and blessed?), -and- the fact that he probably runs a Wintel machine, which was ALSO a product of the 'countercultural revolution' of the 60's! *Rolls eyes* Like I said, some days, there oughta be a license...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:21 PM |

Dear Ninny:
'Memetics' is the study of memes. A meme is merely the dissemination of a perticular tidbit of information among a diverse and humongous audience. Online, these memes surge and subside -- your article, in fact, can become a meme in about two minutes, with minimal effort on my part. A visit to Slashdot and Memepool, and I can have you and your ridiculous theories splattered far and wide across the 'net before I sit down to dinner tonight.

Also? I started the article on Landover. Where in God's name did you get the idea that the 'net is THE sole property, domain, province, and/or baliwick of the US? Where do you get the right to tell me that 'good Christians' must be the 'net's policemen? Don't you think God has better things for us to do with our time than fighting a losing battle? Because dude, face it -- you wanna get the porno sites and the parody sites and the satire sites and the personal sites and the religious-questioner sites and the gay sites and the transgender sites and the transsexual sites and the transvestite sites and the Pokémon sites and the anime sites and the sites that aren't written in American english all shut down and you are gonna have a hundred million severely pissed off people screaming at the top of their lungs. Most of whom, I may point out, live in YOUR country.

By the way, I loved the grouping of 'bad poetry' in with your other 'unChristian' categories.

Crankily,
Shan, a Mac-usin' girl-lovin' funky-believin' heavy-metal-secular-rock listenin' Christian.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:34 PM |

It amazes me that people like Dr. Paley cannot see the hand of God at work in the idea of evolution -- I mean, for crying out loud, the idea that something can -change- and -adapt- and -evolve- to better deal with the world in which it must survive is just... Astonishing. How could God not have a part in that? How could God not be present in the littlest squishy protozoan as well as the fabulously complex elephant? They have 10,000 muscles in their trunk -alone-!

I really do have other things to do besides rail at the choir. I'll go do them, now. Heh. *Small grin*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:40 PM |

And speaking of propaganda... Good Lord. See, this is why I like VeggieTales -- the messages are pretty simple and aimed at children (duh!), but just because others are different/believe differently/whatever doesn't mean they're -evil- or in need of 'saving' in the VT universe.

Remember, kids, Atheists/Agnostics are as dangerous (if not more so) than pedophiles! If one approches you, or makes you feel uncomfortable in -any- way, tell an adult you -trust-. NEVER get into a car with an atheist, or a polythiest -- and never ever EVER accept secular candy. *Ahem*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:55 PM |

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

Gotta go call Mercury's mama, then get ready to take Yasminda down to see the doc...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:17 AM |

The danger in reading about itchy skin conditions, is, of course, the fact that they often induce itching in the reader. *Scratchscratchscratch*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:03 PM |

Yasminda, aside from being startled into snarling at a receptionist, was a _very_ good girl at the vet. Dr. E said it was either an upper-airway cold-type thing, or possibly seasonal allergies and to try Benadryl for the rest of the week. If she's not better by next Monday, then we go on to treating for nasal mites. *Rubs nose* I know, but apparently all dogs have them, but aren't usually bothered by them. If she doesn't respond to the mite treatment, we move to more invasive/intensive diagnostics. Dr. E felt pretty confident that it was more of a cold, though, since Yasminda hasn't been showing other, more sinister symptoms.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:18 PM |

You know, one should not try to promote animals that one is not actually fond of. *Grumple* *Yawn* I gotta go get Mme. Jean... I hopehopehope that her parents have some money for me. The BLJ was -still- at VV today. Oooh.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:16 PM |

Monday, April 22, 2002

Muh. Woke up in the middle of the night, kept myself awake thinking about possible things to say to The Tactless Bitch that I only have to interact with (in the sense that I happen to be in the same room with her...) for a few more days... There's no excuse for her behavior -- almost anyone can choose to be tactful. She has no condition that would cause her to be -un-able to do so. *Waves a hand* I don't know why it is I do this to myself... Not -my- responsibility to slap her with a wet fish, after all, nor to defend the perfectly-capable-of-defending-themsleves.

Even so, it makes me unhappy to witness it. Especially to witness and not -do- something.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:11 AM |

Continuing my trend of displaying my ignorance, I must ask... What's up with layouts using iframes that only take up a quarter of the screen? Or worse, approximately half a page on the right-hand side (design, navigation, and text box all), forcing you to expand a window to full size and view all that wasted space?

I _know_ this is one of those Just Me things, 'cause to me they look horribly unbalanced and just... _Wasteful_. If you're going to make something that small, why not just make it a stupid annoying unresizeable javascript popup? *Mumble* *Growl*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:18 AM |

Okay, now that I've answered email and calmed down, I'm going back to sleep. It is to be hoped that I wake up with enough time to do laundry and some more studying... Oral final later today! Yeee...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:04 AM |

Hm... It would seem that German Shepherds the world over like to eat snow. Yasminda likes to eat it, and catch snowballs, and if you're breaking up ice, she wants to play with -that-... Or the shovel, one of the two. *Snerk* Yesterday, mom was clearing the last of the ice from our front walk, and gave Yasminda a -big- piece to play with. Yasminda, beng the brilliant and utterly insane dog she is, carries it around for a while, then digs around in one of her holes and -buries- it. *Rolls eyes* This is the dog that buries rocks, you know.

She seemed to be feeling better yesterday, after she'd been outside to play in the sunshine and fresh air... But she's still sickly; sneezy and wheezy and sleeping a lot. So, tomorrow, she and Ev and I are all trooping off to the vet. I also have an appointment with the people-vet on Friday, which is amazing -- usually I have to wait at least 3 weeks to get in to see my doc. It's just a dull, routine check, no worries.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:03 PM |

And it looks like I won't be headed Back East 'round the 4th of July, siiiiigh. I want to, but my mother wants us to meet with Aunt Kel in Seattle and maybe go to Canada for a few days. More details as events warrant.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:05 PM |

Whenever I have to study for something big, I start by cleaning my room and doing laundry. Why? Because if I _don't_, the crud and lack of clothing will nibble at the edges of my concentration until it's all but screaming "cleanmecleanmecleanme!" at the top of its little non-existant lungs, then I get distracted and never finish studying. So, I might as well do it first and get it out of the way...

I don't wanna go do my oral final. I don't wanna make faces, stutter, stumble, and cause Misawa-sensei ask me yes/no questions... *Small sigh* Eek. Heh.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:14 PM |

Mercy, darling? Has anyone ever told you you're very odd? Oh, I see, many times. Yes. Well... How about for your taste in music? Yes? Ah. Okay then, just checking.

...He's latched on to STP's 'Where The River Flows' to slink around to after a shower, or to stalk/strip for Grace... *Rolls eyes* Bizarre, bizarre boys, those two. But I love 'em anyhow. *Pats them*

This was all brought about by me picking up STP's Core for a dollar at Value Village the other day, then listening to it today while I took a shower. Where The River Flows came on as I was drying off, and I could just -see- Mercy. Hm.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:04 PM |

Er, Core on casette, that is. It wasn't rewound all the way, and I just chose a side, hit rewind, then play -- it started out about a third of the way through Plush. Aside from 'Wet The Bed', I quite enjoyed what I heard...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:06 PM |

Also! My test went beautifully, BTW. I -did- forget the sentence structure for one thing, but I remembered the Japanese origin number for 'one', which was good.

Misawa-sensei told us the names of his dogs today -- the way he half-announced them was just _wonderful_. I wish I'd had a tape recorder so I could preserve it for...well, a little while, anyhow. Aww.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:09 PM |

Number one, I hate the Berman and Berman: For Women Only ads because to me, they're advertising on the wrong channel (namely, Animal Planet). But now I -really- don't like it because they've got a split infinitive that implies that sexual health is a -problem-. *Rolls eyes* I really need to use the mute button during commercials.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:25 PM |

Sunday, April 21, 2002

Last time I checked, a calorie was a unit of work and/or heat. Not a unit of fat, not a unit of the amazing, astonishing, lipid-based sugar, just a unit of energy.

Someone tell me why it is that we have to be obsessed with calories in everything we put into our mouths?
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:17 AM |

You know what I am grateful for? People that believe in making their links look like links. Or at least people that are not -afraid- of having their links look like links. It _so_ nice to visit a site and know precisely what is available to click on... So, to those of you that choose to make your links visible, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:30 PM |