Stuff from November, 2004
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on November, 2004.
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on November, 2004.
Silicone Jacket Case for iPod mini by Power Support - The coolest iPod mini case I have seen.
Have you ever seen a llama - The llama song. Really catchy.
Halloween Costume - The Highway to Hell. Complete with road stripes, red hair, and horns.
How George Bush won the election - “I love Kottke. Guy thinks.” - zeldman.com about kottke.org
Walmart Bans Jon Stewart’s Best-Selling Book - Yay free speech. Oh wait, maybe not.
As for life around here, the dryers still don’t dry, I still like Mykala, and cereal is still the best option at the Binz. This past weekend more than made up for that “food thing,” though. Since one can only handle so many creative interpretations of the fish stick Friday nights at the Binz, me, Mykala, Emily, and Markoe (Markoe, Ryan) headed out to Chino Latino. That was really good, and by really good I mean very flavorful and also a completely new dining experience. Alex + urban specialty restaurants have, until this point in time, not had any type of relationship. This past Friday, though, I had calimari, edamame, and mussels (in a coconut curry sauce) for the first time in my short tenure here on Earth. Markoe paid for the entire thing before anyone could stop him — I felt like a slob, so I plan on losing money in his room sometime. Anyhow, all of it was very very good (especially the edamame, which let you choose how much salt you wanted, as it was on the outside of the pods of soy … soypods?).
Cute Plush Microbes - “Most folks never realize how cute microbes can be when expanded 1,000,000 times and then fashioned into cuddly plush.” (Thanks, Katy!)
Motorola V3 Razor - Unbelievable cell phone.
Luxo - They seem to say this was made in 1986 - quality seems pretty darn good for that year.
How Are Porn Movies Legal? - “We even have a prostitute here in Seattle that we can’t prosecute, because whenever we bring her in she steadfastly insists that men don’t pay her for sex, they pay her for her time.”
Luxo :: A blog dedicated to Pixar - It isn’t actually official, but it is done with such care and quality that it sure looks that way. Very fun to read.
Be Less Specific - “Take the stairs in a building with a basement, and you’ll likely notice a gate in the stairwell when you reach the ground floor. This is called a ‘forcing function’ — a physical impediment to jolt users out of their routine and ensure appropriate behavior. In this case, the relatively infrequent annoyance of opening the gate is offset by keeping panicked people out of the basement when the building is on fire.”
Spot the Pizza Planet Truck and Win - Via kottke.org … I think.
On Thursday, for some reason I am still not aware of, everyone was smiling at me. It was the oddest thing; everyone from the lunch card swiper to random people on the sidewalk were smiling at me. It was a busy day, I was trying to get all of my scattered physics knowledge to coagulate in time for the exam yesterday. I was happy, but I didn’t feel like I was exuding vibes to cause the positive response around me. Who knows.
Nobody ever does this, but I have decided to break my normally strong ties with common sense and reommend a movie before I have seen it. Yes, I want you to see The Iron Giant. Yes, it is animated. No, I am not being paid to recommend this. Yes, drawings can move a person.
The Complete Far Side - Sweet box art.
The human capacity for self-improvement is unlimited. For some reason, this thought sprang into my head this past Thursday as I walked through a dark and chilly late afternoon to Art History. Then, I realized that that belief fuels a lot of the activities I participate in in my free time. (Pardon my interruption, but that’s the first time I have written two sentences in a row that had two words in a row in them … I should probably write here more so my English mechanics do not perish.) I design to improve my usability eye, code to improve my ability to think logically, and compose music in an attempt to refine my creativity. The list goes on, and I am sure you have one similar. The motivation to improve ourselves is not a selfish one, but one that exists because we are so aware of our capability to be better. I am truly comforted by the thought that, as my life progresses, I can continually work towards being someone I want to be. That, I believe, is a true inspiration.
My sister Katy was waiting to catch the campus connector yesterday, wearing her red purse and red backpack, when she was approached by an elderly women. “We both have red purses” the women commented, quite out of the blue. Rather nonplussed, Katy replied, “Why yes, we do - great minds think alike!” The woman thought for a moment and replied, “Well, I was thinking that I never had a red purse until I was old.” Some random old people give the rest a bad name.
Pacers/Pistons Fight as a Picasso Painting - Definitely via kottke.org - this is hilarious and clever.
Recently, I was counting up days and months surrounding important things. Two nights ago was the first time I slept in my bed at home in 83 days. That is almost the length of a Best Buy return policy - whoah! Christmas is in less than 30 days. More painful, I currently have been in school for 15 months straight - no summers, no j-terms, no large breaks. It will be 21 before I have a hope of a break, and maybe 28 months straight if I get dragged into a summer class. Not that I hate school, but goodNESS, I would not recommend being engaged in a school-type capacity that constantly. Maybe I could take a Hawaiian j-term or something.
Friday saw me seeing my first Ballet (The Nutcracker, which is a good first, I think). The overall experience tended more towards vignettes than I would have originally thought, but I think this worked very well. Miss K(B)J Lind (I just invented that name code) performed flawlessly: I think dancing with the Moscow Ballet would be an incredible experience. In an analagous situation (me playing in an internationally known orchestra), I would have fainted.
Since we added this large drop caps thing, I have not written or posted poetry at tumbledry. So for the time being, I have to preface poems with paragraphs so they don’t look bizarre with a huge first letter. The following is off the top of my head, no revisions, no second-guessing.
Pushing the hair back from my forehead
I search in the mirror
For what I’ve becomeFaces, you know, tell the true story
For those who have time to search for the piecesTime doesn’t march
It hops and skips
Slow, then fast, blurred, then clear
Peak to peak, gaining speed through the valleysFree form in life, in writing too
Doesn’t have to clash with more rigid demands
Two can temper one another
One and one, more than two
While a lime green cast is not what I would wish on a dog, it is better than massive (massively expensive) reconstructive surgery involving pins of the metal sort in the joint (the sort of thing endured by your sister). So I write to you Joe, a formal “Get Well Soon” card, wishing you the speediest of recoveries from your furniture inflicted mishap. I know the rough terrain of your home means bumps and bruises are unavoidable, but do try to avoid breaking bones in the future. If you do choose to continue as you have, however, I think you’ll be fine for a while because you and your sister have split the nine lives of a cat. You each get 4.5 - use them well.
