spinning-jennie :: a bit dotty

gold box goodie
"WowWee brings to you the first fully function infra-red remote control Woolly Mamoth[sic]!"

Indeed, they do.

I'm scared.
6/30/2002 11:51:45 PM

summer Sundays
Two handy links for lazy days:

The Treehouse Guide - how to construct a successful treetop abode. This guy has even added a wee fireplace to his. Fantastic. (via plep)

The worldwide Slow Food movement - "May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency... Our defense should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food." (via NPR)
6/30/2002 09:21:25 AM

"introverts usually don't get into too much trouble"
Because no one notices when they screw around. Unlike those pesky extroverts...

[evil laugh]
6/29/2002 07:53:12 AM

Amazon, how do I love thee? (not a paid advertisement)
Let me count the ways.

1. White as Snow (Fairy Tale Series)
2. A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism
3. Night Sessions
4. Authentic Everyday Dress of the Renaissance: All 154 Plates from the 'Trachtenbuch'

I splurged on a little summer reading, spa-day listening, and costume embellishment planning from the burgeoning wish list a few days ago (which I am determined to feel entitled to). Low prices, free and insanely fast shipping - love.

I still wish our neighborhood library was even close to adequate, though. I'd prefer to borrow, especially in the off-track months. Do you know this is the first library I've lived this close to (four blocks), but the only one from which I never bothered getting a card? Sad.
6/28/2002 04:35:09 PM

this amused me
But it's okay to be easily amused on a Friday.

6/28/2002 06:11:11 AM

little fun
Say, there! If you're not busy, or anything, you could maybe go sign my new guestmap.
6/27/2002 11:58:39 AM

issue du jour
I consider myself pretty fiercely patriotic. Not to the point of blind stupidity, to the belief that we as a nation are always moral or blameless. Quite the contrary. But given the choice, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

When I say the Pledge, it's with some amount of feeling. And that feeling has always been compounded with a guilt-laden twinge of discomfort - that omnipresent "G" word. Discomfort because it doesn't feel appropriate. Guilt for the discomfort in the first place, because of the sheeple conditioning that pushes "your beliefs or semi-beliefs or anti-beliefs are not our concern, heathen! You're evil if you believe in separation of church and state! EEEEEVILLLLLLL!!!" down the throat. Guilt for questioning the guilt. Why, in 1954, was it stuck there? Ah, the fundamentalist right.

I also feel uncomfortable pulling valuable works of fiction from the shelves that contain a handful of "bad" words, but must when pressured.

Really, I suppose, my takes on these two issues could be construed as hypocrisy. Why should I let the use of one word in state-funded schools bother me, but not of others?

But I've just placed myself in league with the so-called ignorant petty "liberal f**ks.*" Carry on.

*That's just me, overreacting to a comment directed at a comment made in my own defense.
6/26/2002 06:58:46 PM

like Elvis for the übergeek
Say. I'm sortakinda a biologist. What with that fancy-schmancy piece of vellum that says so and all. Libraries are my gig, but I would live in a museum if I could. I believe I just found my new dream job. Swoon.
6/25/2002 04:17:15 PM

okay, this definitely wasn't in my contract
I have to get a good night's sleep tonight. Because today, screamed in my face, and followed by a violent stamping door-slam: "You just wait 'til my Daddy gets here tomorrow, and you can deal with him. He's gonna beat you up good, that's what."

The stupid/scary thing is, I half believe her.

How many more days? Oh, yeah. Three.
6/25/2002 03:25:32 PM

never thought it would happen to me
So I open my page, and some nutjob's crap had replaced my blog. Looks like BlogSnob was hacked. I've temporarily removed the link.
6/25/2002 09:11:59 AM

we're 21!
Top sweatiest cities in the US. Yum. (via mybluehouse)
6/24/2002 04:37:48 PM

my little day
So I wake up this morning with a wonderful sense of ... lightness. Five days left. A sad statement on the jailed feeling I get at work lately, but the thought of being done for a while leaves me downright effing ecstatic. Like my real life - the real me - can hold sway for a bit.

I love opening the patio door at six in the summer a.m. A nice morning breeze replaces the night-boxed air in the living room, and the cats are drawn to the screen, pink and tan and black noses in the air, feeling it out. I've just put up our first real flag this weekend, and it's beautiful, floating colors with just a hint of sun peeking through. Even my bran 'n soy combo doesn't seem quite so boring.

The kids were horrible little twits, but I found it easy to ignore them. I shelf-read the fiction and biography sections, and made it halfway through a major shift in the non-fiction collection. A friend that I hadn't seen in months dropped by for a visit, and we caught up as best we could around the demands of the science class turned study hall.

And I'd had no lunch, and felt so celebratory, that I took a rare turn into a fast-food drive thru lane for some white meat and cola beverage. And now I'm sitting here, talking to you, and McFly is licking my arm, and I am happy.
6/24/2002 03:55:35 PM

more evidence of weekend activity
I submit for your examination - exhibit B.
6/23/2002 08:55:36 PM

see, I haven't been *entirely* non-functional this weekend...
A new Land Mail Art Object over at Nervousness. And - whee! - this one doesn't involve me sending out something that would most likely go MIA.
6/23/2002 03:08:10 PM

6/20/2002 09:28:23 AM

"rediscovering your routes"
I'd been wondering what the significance of the "Historic 40" signs on Auburn were. Now I know. The first transcontinental highway (even older than the infamous Route 66), much of it has fallen to faster freeways. Definitely worth more in-depth exploration...
6/18/2002 03:41:08 PM

freedom
I did something today that I'd been dreading for weeks. Unloaded a tremendous burden. An unloading I'd been avoiding because of the guilt-coaster I thought I'd be made to ride when I did finally make my intentions clear.

If I have to stick around, this will make the situation ten times easier to deal with. Or at least five.
6/18/2002 11:38:04 AM

help the stupid
A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a complete home canning kit somewhere, but I was in a hurry, and didn't make good note of it. It was really complete - came with the steam canner and rack, jars, lids, tools, and recipe book. Of course now I'm thinking I kind of want it. Did I see it in an advertising flyer, or online? I checked Amazon, because that seemed the most likely place, but no.

Sound familiar to anyone?
6/17/2002 10:51:27 AM

road trip-up
The weekend was perfect for a drive to the coast north of San Francisco, and we were feeling optimistic.

Optimism, as it turns out, can kill you.

We took a long-ish - but safe - route to our intended destination, which was the Sonoma Coast. Last time we tried to get there, we got lost somewhere in Napa. And could we enjoy the wonderful wineries and lovely little towns? No. We're goal oriented, and wouldn't be happy until we got where we had intended. Dammit. That was clearly not going to happen, so we finally managed to catch a maze of poorly-marked country roads back to Vallejo and the welcome sight of I-80.

This time, I played it safe. Only well-known and marked roads for us. I-80 to 37 in Vallejo, over the top of the Bay to 101, a jog south to its junction with highway 1, and up the coast. Easy.

We made a pit stop at Muir Beach Overlook. Beautiful, interesting historically, but terrible cold winds. When I read "sunny and 87" for Jenner (at least I checked first this time), I assumed the rest of that part of the coast would pretty much follow suit, and dressed accordingly. Brrrrrr.

How could we have possibly imagined that there'd be no gas in those quaint little seaside tourist trap towns? The same way we weren't expecting the highway to be more dangerous than that portion we'd traveled south of the Bay. The charming and laughable naivety of the foreigners who came from the land of the Motor City, where the turn of every highway is clearly marked, and there's a gas station on every corner in any hamlet with a population of more than ten.

Frantically we drove around the crowded little village of Stinson Beach, looking for a pump, the needle inching ever-further past the "E." Where did all these people get their gas? Finally D. stopped and asked a man in the residential part of town up the hill.

"There isn't one."

Wha-wha-WHAT?

He did give us directions to an "unmarked pump" in a neighboring town. Which I just now found out was a short jog away in Bolinas - we mistakenly drove all the way to Olema, and when we didn't find the gas there, Point Reyes Station. Or, at least ten times further than we should have. I still don't know how we made it. On fumes, I guess. The warning light was on for miles.

We never did make it up to Sonoma, too shaken by our close call. We enjoyed delicious organic fare at the Pine Cone Cafe in Point Reyes Station to calm ourselves down. Then we made the long drive through a half dozen large "historic" cattle ranches to Point Reyes. The wind was excruciating. Luckily D. had remembered the binoculars, so we got to enjoy the antics of the penguin-like murres far below.

By the time we'd made it out of Muir Woods again, I had fingernail crescents in my palms from gripping that too-useful handle above the door. D. has vowed never to drive Highway 1 again.

I think the coast is trying to tell us something, and that something is that it just doesn't want us around. I'll be happy gazing into the frigid waters of the American River for some time.

We did get a few shots that weren't wind-shaken - take a look.
6/16/2002 08:17:15 PM

sactobloggers!
Live in metro Sacramento? Blog? Then join the brand-spanking-new Sacramento Bloggers, why don't you? And we'll see what we see :-)
6/14/2002 12:08:04 PM

om, Allah! the spiritual survey
Another by Daniel. More thought-provoking than your average online survey.

1. Do you believe in God? I mean like...a being that embodies all goodness that one can relate to personally, not some amorphous 'jedi force' principle.
I don't not believe in God. A friend once told me that agnostics just sit on the fence and avoid making a decision because it's "safer" in the end. But I simply haven't had any strong feelings about it one way or the other. There may be, but I'd lean more towards the amorphous force theory.

2. If you have some other conception of God then as a being, then what does it look like? How do you interface with it? Do you have some kind of persistent connection to it?
I think there's a possibility that some people may be able to "read" or "channel" certain energies. I don't think I've ever experienced this myself, though.

3. What (if any) established faiths do you participate in, or have dabbled in, or have observed enough to get some insight into?
I was raised as a rather disconnected Catholic, which held absolutely no appeal for me and made me nervous. Am [still] considering checking out the Unitarian-Universalists, if only because they seem like-mindedly curious and humanitarian.

4. What is your view on religious traditions?
Fascinating, beautiful, cruel, insipid, joyous... oh, they run the gamut. I profess a deep love of religious architecture and song, if only for the aesthetics. Ritual circumcision is absolutely barbaric. Most stuff falls somewhere in between.

5. What do you make of John 14:6? 'Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (NIV)
I am not a Christian. I generally follow the sensible Christian principles, but in no way believe in Jesus as an extension of God. If he is, so are we all to the same extent.

6. Either inside or outside these traditions, what can one do to deepen their connection to their life or spirituality?
Get outside of your own head (fully realizing that I'm probably the very last person that should be endorsing this right now).

7. Do you believe that there is some stream of conciousness that continues after your biological body becomes a corpse, or do you believe that conciousness is an illusion generated by biological processes that will stop when those processes stop? Feel free to elaborate. (Simple version: do you die completely or continue on?)
I really struggle with this one. The thought of simply turning off like a light is overwhelmingly incomprehensible to me, if not terrifying on a very visceral level. I often lean towards some kind of reincarnation or absorption into the whole of that "life force."

8. How (if at all) do your spiritual beliefs alter or influence your behavior?
They don't. I get to decide how to act all by myself, within the confines of society, of course.

9. How do you think spirituality relates to sexual conduct? What is the highest purpose of sex?
The way sex is vilified by most religions makes me ill. And I don't feel it has a "highest purpose." It's something we do, something we enjoy because we're biologically programmed to, ultimately to propagate the species. Nothing more. Nothing less.

10. What do you think is the purpose of a human life? How do you think you are fulfilling it?
We're here, but I certainly wouldn't presume to explain why. We could just be living in motes of dust on an unimaginably large endtable. Somehow this thought doesn't make me feel hopeless.

11. What makes you get up and keep doing it every day? Are there any circumstances under which you would want to stop doing so?
There have been circumstances under which I almost did. Stop. If I had to live through the flashbacks and the subsequent mind-crushing, completely debilitating depression of the same magnitude again, I don't know that I could go on. Luckily I won't. Praise self-mastery and pass the Paxil. (I've been Rx-free for years, though. Yay me!)

12. What is the most important thing life has taught you? (Please no platitudes...I'd rather hear something very small and personal life has taught you than a rehash of The Golden Rule.)
It's not evil to take care of yourself. Really. That realization was a long, brutal time coming. Thank you, Objectivism.
6/13/2002 04:10:00 PM

kibbles 'n bits 'n bits 'n bits
The coffee from my closeted 4-cupper at work has begun to taste vaguely of cigarette smoke. Burnt. And that's when I don't let it sit on the warmer at all. It may be the crappy coffee I'm using. Oh, well. It's all caffeine. And that's a Good Thing.

Speaking of coffee, there's a young man with the very same name as an age-old Columbian coffee-growers' icon.

I've put a useful new old link to the left. See if you can find it.

I'm getting tired of waiting for the new Japanese Snacks site to open. I want more variety in my Pocky. Sigh.

Safety tip for boys: Don't tease your significant other when they've been on the hormonal verge of tears all day.

Tomorrow is Hawaiian Day, yay! I'm going to make a tissue lei tonight.

I'm starting my 20things project soon, so I'll be ready when the next round starts up. I always get caught at a bad time.

Still debating this year's Blogathon. It's happening the same week as intended for the Big Event.

We're meeting more blogfolk at the fayre this month. You can come, too!

They keep advertising Sonic milkshakes here, which look soooo good. Strawberry cheesecake? Peaches 'n cream??? But not a Sonic in sight. Evil, they are.

That's all.
6/13/2002 11:15:45 AM

cruel hilarity
As a rule, I can't stomach realiteevee, but last night we just kind of slipped into watching American Idol after '70's.

Oh. The humanity.

You just don't know whether to feel sorry for some of these people as their dreams of pop stardom are (often nastily) destroyed by the judges, or take the side of the judges (even the nasty British guy) because, really, what gave them even the slightest shred of an idea that they could sing? I was so embarrassed for a few of the pitifuls that I had to turn away from the tube.

The humanity.
6/12/2002 07:08:18 PM

if I can just keep laughing about it, I won't cry
Today, Wednesday, June 12th, 2002, can kiss my paper-white patootie.

Fifteen days left of the trimester.
6/12/2002 03:30:12 PM

fowl al fresco
Last night we enjoyed a picnic dinner beneath the ancient trees in Fair Oaks village. Not many town greens offer dinner entertainment, but Fair Oaks (if you recall) is home to dozens of flocks of free-roaming chickens. Now there are fuzzy peeps scurrying everywhere, in addition to the usual strutting and scratching bevy of glossy roosters and clucky hens.

We can never help but wonder if the villagers ever eat them. They look like they'd be delicious.
6/11/2002 10:42:44 AM

holdover
Yup, the pics have been pretty thin 'round here lately. So go look at these. They may not be new (1999 shtuff), but I'll bet they're new to you.
6/10/2002 01:06:18 PM

the convenience of horror
It may not be nice when rotten things repeatedly happen for days, but it sure does make decision-making that much easier. It's like little custom-made flashing signs, just for me.
6/10/2002 11:17:07 AM

survey says
A tiny-made blogger pride! survey. Just in time to knock down a writing block or two.

**Ethics/Personal Life:**

Has a blog post ever got you into trouble?
Not really. Hardly anyone I know reads my blog. And I don't really write "bad" stuff about them here, in any case.

How many people do you know face-to-face who read your weblog?
See above.

Have you met any of your regional (or even remote) bloggers?
Just two so far! There don't seem to be many Sacramento bloggers. A pity, that, when we travel so little.

Do you modify or delete posts? How often? Why?
Just for gross grammatical/typographical errors, but generally I [think I] catch most problems before hitting "publish."

How much is your weblog a part of your personal identity? Do you feel like people who don't know about your blog don't really know you?
It's funny, but I feel like the people who read daily know me better than those I "know," and vice-versa. I'm not real chatty IRL, so the "real" people miss the minutae.

How has blogging changed your life?
I don't get out as much as I used to ;-)

**Technical/Design:**

Do you know how to code at all? Did you learn how to code by blogging?
I learned what little I know from D. Which is mostly limited to what I need to scrape by. I'm shallow that way.

What weblogging tool do you use and why?
Blogger Pro. Because it's better than the other non-MT options. Thinking about getting some hosting that will allow me MT, though. I use it at Sew Wrong, and it is fine.

Does the design seem like something that is just something that has to be dispensed with in order to be able to write publicly, or is your design an integral part of your writing and presentation?
Good design is obviously nice. But it's like clothing. I'm not going to shun someone simply because they don't dress stylishly. If I can identify with the author, then I'll read their blog.

How many times have you changed your weblog design entirely (or nearly so)?
Errrm. I guess about three? If you don't count the attempts that never made it past the drawing board.

**Readership/Motivation:**

How many people would you guess (educated guess based on hit counts/logfiles) read your weblog on a weekly basis at least?
About fifteen, twenty, I think? Or: more than I ever thought would when I started all of this.

What have you done to get more people to look at your site?
Joined BlogSnob, which seemed like a fun idea. Other than that... pffftt.

What one or two characteristics make a blog really popular? Are there things that you could do to have more people read your weblog that you conciously do not do? Why?
Solid writing on a regular basis, humor, reading and feedbacking other blogs, good design, creative features... Oh, I'm sure there are more. It wouldn't kill me to "get out" more. But I just don't have the reading time that I used to. And frankly, popularity doesn't impress me as much as it used to.

What really popular weblog do you think most deserves it...and/or least deserves it?
Mena at Dollarshort works hard for the money. As for the other side of the coin... I don't know. I have this perverse aversion to links that I see on 99% of sidebars, and it takes a lot to prove them worth reading. So... yeah. I don't know.

How do you feel about your readership? What makes for a quality readership to you?
Anyone that sticks around to slosh through the quagmire is okay in my book :-)

**Influence of Other Bloggers**:

What other blogger is most responsible for you starting your own weblog?
None, really. I've had some website or other up since 1998, and had a kind of online diary before I was even aware of the blognomena. It just naturally evolved.

Who was the first other blogger (that you know of) who put you on their sidebar, and how did you feel? How did it influence your blogging?
That's a good question. I honestly don't remember!

What other blogger do you most admire for his/her writing skills?
James Lileks at the Bleat. Been laugh-spasmically spewing lunch over his Institute of Official Cheer since days pre-blog. I don't get over there as much as I should lately.

What other blogger do you most admire for his/her design skills?
I'm partial to the often-imitated a.lifeuncommon.

Who is a blogger that you think is really good but doesn't get nearly the attention they are worthy of?
Meghan at Squirrel Bait. Wonderfully sharp sense of humor and honesty. Wish she were just a tad more prolific, though.

Do you feel obligated to have people on your link lists/sidebars that you never read?
I used to. Now I'm too lazy to even update it much.

What one or two characteristics define a really quality blog (in your humble opinion, of course)?
Honest coherent emotional conveyance.

**Bonus Question:**

Do you fear The Booge?
Who? No, seriously. Who?
6/8/2002 11:16:59 PM

"great place on a great lake," indeed
This list made me tear up just a little. It did.
6/7/2002 05:39:50 PM

seen on the side of a truck
Confidential
Document
Control

"We Shred"
6/7/2002 11:59:31 AM

[not-so-]cryptic list
Pros:
Making a difference to even just *one* person
Great materials that I love
Personal attachments
Lots of variety
Big chunks of vacation
Super-cool boss
New building next year

Cons:
$16K
Part-time benefits
Long, unpaid hours
Often treated with very little respect
May not possess required patience
Tough being an introvert in such an aggressive crowd
Cannot operate on non-existent budget
Rotten commute, no public transit available
StressStressSTRESS
Tired and cranky all the time
6/5/2002 03:13:21 PM

nickels and dimes and Franklins, oh my
So yesterday, I'm driving down the county highway that I use to circumvent the interstate traffic, unsuspecting of the insidious Michigan road salt rust that's quietly eating my brake lines.

Failed brakes. Almost completely, completely instantaneously. Luckily traffic was light, and I'm a paranoid driver.

Midas says $250-$300 with labor, due to the tricky nature of extricating the lines. A bit more if it turns out the fuel lines are also corrupt. And best - it'll take a few days to finish.

So this morning I've managed to:

* Be two hours late for work
* Break my dairy ban by drinking a stress-relieving Frapuccino (sue me, I'm an addict, Big Corporate Label or no)
* Make a Girly Ass of myself in front of a mechanic, but what else is new
* Strand my Significant Other at his job, vehicleless until I pick him up, thus taking yet another Car-Induced Guilt Trip

If my plan works out, this car will soon become a non-issue. Woohah public transit.
6/4/2002 11:35:12 AM

super freakay, yow
Yesterday D. had a brilliant thought. Most likely the entire metropolitan area of Sacramento would be camped out in front of their teevees for the pivotal Game Seven against the Lakers. Leaving the theatres free for us to take much-needed advantage of. Yes, maybe even Episode II.

And it was so true. The main thoroughfares were almost entirely empty. No ticket line. No popcorn line. Theater filled to a whopping guesstimated five percent capacity. It was eerie. Like "The Stand."

The movie was palatable, mostly. My cinnamon pretzel displayed more personality than the cast. Better than the first, though. Not nearly as campy-licious as the originals, but I didn't expect that. And the Kings lost [shrug].
6/3/2002 01:24:30 PM

The current mood of jenpelky@aol.com at www.imood.com