Congrats to Leah and Rich on the birth of their daughter. Congrats to Matt-boy and Erika on their engagement. Congrats to Brian on the promotion. My condolences to the family of Nate Bruckenthal. Good luck to Bill in Tuesday's election. Yay Robert for finally getting the new computer.

Now stop with all the announcements!

Well, I seem to be right on schedule with the editing. Still have to review the Taste of the Town footage, but I'm right on track.

Hal and Kirk were installing the electrical outlets today. That was fun to watch. (at least, more fun than the oratorical contest.) There are 7 new holes in the wall now that I've seen - possible more in other walls. Some were necessary, others were there because of unexpected obstacles behind the layers of drywall and panelling. I begged Dave E. to come in on Saturday to straighten out the wiring mess, so hopefully the outlets will be ready to use by then. Remind me to buy some zip ties . . .

Congrats to the new Senior Software Engineer! Time to get those business cards remade.

At least SOMEONE gets a new title once in a while . . .

Interesting. Baby Blues and Calvin and Hobbes both have the same theme running. Of course, Calvin and Hobbes is no longer published, but the reruns will be around for a very, very long time. Yes, they're just that good. ;-)

Movie Review: The Italian Job

Ahhh, another classic thief movie, in keeping with Ocean's Eleven and Gone in 60 Seconds. Fun gadgets, unusual cars, crowds of people, traffic jams, car chases, and at least one big ugly dude you wouldn't wanna mess with. Simple and straightforward. Group steals gold, guy steals gold from group, group steals gold back with vengeance in mind. If you watch enough of these movies you could probably successfully plan your own heist. What do you need?
First off, planning. Lots of planning. Know what you're going to steal, where it's located, how to get there, how to get away, when to do it, who might be involved. Take plenty of time to get this information. Knowledge is power. ;-)
Second, people. You need the planner. You need the computer hacker (and all of his toys). You need the mechanic. The munitions expert. The daredevil. The one out for vengeance. The girl. The safe cracker. (can be eliminated if there's no safe.) These can be combined. You need to be able to implicitly trust everyone in your group. They need to trust you.
You need money for bribes. (If you're smart enough to plan all this out you don't really need to steal for the money. Just the glory. Well, maybe a little of the money. After all, you don't plan all this to steal someone's wallet.)
You'll need a backup plan, because something's going to go wrong with the first plan. Have a third plan ready, with your mind on where you could be and what's going on when the first two fail.
You need a good car. You need to know how to drive stick. It may be necessary to make modifications. That's why you've got the mechanic, after all. Smaller cars are better. Easier to hide, easier to navigate.
You don't need weapons, just speed, and possibly a few explosives for good measure. Paint, hidden cameras, possibly a little nerve gas. Duct tape. (good for everything!)
Try not to kill anyone. It isn't necessary. You're a good thief, not a murderer. If you want to kill people, go be an assassin.
Disguises can be used. Keep them simple, keep them ordinary.
Make sure you have fresh batteries in your communications system. And a full tank of gas.
And remember - the enemy of my enemy is my friend. and most likely bribable.

Yeesh. Maybe I should make another page to go with my B Movie Westerns page! I'll have to watch a few more of these types of movies to see if I can pick up any more patterns.

Movie Quote: Trust everyone, but don't trust the devil inside them.

hmm. I just noticed that Google owns Blogger.com. Interesting!

My ears are ringing. It seems we've been having this horrible audio buzzing issue with the station's transmission. Dan was by this afternoon, trying to find the source of the problem. It's a high possibility that the problem is the leightronix switcher itself. Like everything else down there, it's old and abused. It's high time for an overhaul for the whole broadcast rack, anyway. It was set up by engineers who, instead of replacing things, just add on. There are wires everywhere. Some of them probably aren't even connected, but it was impossible to disentangle them from the rest of the cable web.

The timing's right, though. Jan's taken to calling DPW every week now, trying to get them to come and install some higher volt electrical outlets for our power backup that we've had a year and never been able to use. We get those in, we can rewire the whole crazy system. They promised to have it in by the end of the week. *cough* Maybe if we call every day . . .

Harvey took me to the Bargain Loft at lunchtime, to show me a media storage unit he had seen that he thought could be reworked into a studio fireplace prop. I thought it was too narrow, but it was perfect for storage, so I bought it anyway. It'll hold at LEAST 250 DVDs, most likely more. It also looks a lot nicer than the rickety metal shelf that leans at a crazy tilt and will cut your arm if you're not careful.

I keep thinking about the two chairs I saw in Bargain Loft. Very old, very sweet, no seats, but those are fairly easy to make. A little on the smaller side, 50 dollars for both, and they're possibly 150 years old. One broken leg, but that's never stopped me before! I want chairs in my room. Granted, I'd prefer a big comfy sit/lay on it in any direction and it doesn't matter type chair, but of course I don't have room for that. I can fix the leg, and I already have fabric I'd like to use for the cushion. It's something to ponder. (Yeah, I know, I can't rescue EVERY piece of old furniture I like!)

Fun Things To Do When Watching Lord Of The Rings [rec.humor.funny]

These can only be done by Tolkien fans. Otherwise I shall send my nazgul after you. I'd send the balrog, but he seems to have gone on vacation. in Iraq. He has a bizarre sense of fun.

Well. I got MY exercise today. First it's upstairs, open up the office, check e-mail. Then it's downstairs (remember? Two flights?)to program the leightronix. Then it's back upstairs to grab files to go on the bulletin board. Then back down to update that. Then Jan comes in, grandson in tow, hands me DVDs for the army show and the candidate's forum. Jan leaves, towing grandson. 4 DVDs to cover the forum. 4! How am I supposed to air all four? I only have 5 players! Naturally, none had been finalized, so I had to do that. (all the while the screen is frozen because I'm still working on the programming.) Then one wouldn't play, so I went BACK upstairs to test them on our copying setup to see if I could condense two of the DVDS onto one tape. It played up there. Start copying, go back downstairs to finish the programming, upstairs to switch to the second tape, and then downstairs again to try and get some editing done. Then back upstairs once I remembered that I was making a copy, and back downstairs to program THAT tape into the machine and to edit some more. Oh yeah. Lunch. Forgot about that. Guess where that is? Upstairs. Downstairs to edit again. Two flights. Slate steps. Odd riser height.
In between my stairclimbing I'm answering the phone (no, sorry, Jan's not here, can I help you?) and trying to convince the town council candidate that dropped by that there's no way I can possibly make him a copy of the meet the candidates show AND the (4 disc) debate before the election next Tuesday. (I think he expected to actually LEAVE with a copy. HA!) The way we're set up, it takes the length of the show to make a copy. Meet the Candidates is an hour and a half, and still on the NLE. The Debate was about 5 hours. That's an hour and a half tying up the editing computer and five hours (effectively the whole day to make one copy) for the debate.

And oh! Have I mentioned my editing projects?

1. Meet the Candidates - done, unless someone else insists on another change. 1.5 hours
2. The Senior Senior Prom 30 minutes (mostly finished)
3. Mayor's Volunteer Appreciation Night 1 hour (mostly finished)
4. Relay For Life promo 15 minutes
5. Taste of the Town 30 minutes
6. Chef Willi's Corner two 30 minute shows
7. Community Day 30 minutes
8. History of Herndon 1 hour
9. Sugarland Run Trail (pending)

On average, it can take me 4 hours to complete 30 minutes. Depending on how much footage I have, how much is usable, the content of the program, and how inspired I feel. The Volunteer Night was easy because most of it was a speech. The Senior Senior prom was difficult because they gave me exactly half an hour of footage and roughly half was of the professional swing dancers. I managed to get a 12 minute show out of it, and that was with leaving a lot of parts I'd normally take out. Relay For Life? Dave wants me to re-edit the promo we received with information about the upcoming events. I think I may just give up on the promo and create a slide for the bulletin board. The history show? that's taken months. We still have a long way to go.
I'd like to point out I was not hired to edit. I'd like to also point out that I have never taken any editing classes. Yes, there are volunteers that are "interested" in editing. Unfortunately, they generally don't have the time, and if they do, I still have to train them, which takes even longer. I'm already getting phone calls about when events we covered are going to air. Dave wants a quick turnaround time, particularly for special events. So I get to keep plugging away here . . .

Got a fax advertising National Bike To Work Day. Are they NUTS? The normal biking people are a pain as it is, but put the average Joe Schlep on a bike during rush hour and the potential for disaster jumps way high.

Yes, I know, biking's environmentally friendly and all that. I work by the bike path. There's a four way stop sign on Station street where the path crosses. That means there's two stop signs for the bike path. I have seen exactly ONE person stop there in all the years I've been here. I suppose it's the mentality - I'm on a bike! You shouldn't hit me! See? I'm potentially helpless! It'll be your fault if I whiz out in front of you! Oh, and while I'm at it let me pedal myself leisurely down a main road during rush hour! Ha HA!

I always wonder if bicyclists have some sort of death wish.

Spent the weekend at my sister's house. We talked a lot and ran around. It's interesting out there. At the garden shop the guy behind the counter looks at us and says, "Y'all kin?" There was a second's hesistation before we could answer. It wasn't so much as a "what did he say?" pause as it was a "do people actually still USE those words?" pause.

The roads are steep, the people are twice my size and everything's just a little bit slower. It was so QUIET at night. I could hear the train whistle and the chimes from the tiny clock in the living room. That was it. No cars speeding by, no planes, no drunk neighbors yelling and slamming doors. Rather relaxing.

As I was leaving I saw a motorcycle coming the other direction with what looked like a bizarre ponytail on the rider. Glancing in my rearview mirror, I realized it was a dog.

Had a LONG talk with Mom this evening. Mainly about how incredibly bored I was with life and how I was going stir crazy. We discussed things I could do, places I could go, ways to meet new people. Yes, there's quite a bit that goes on in this area, but what could I get involved in where I could meet people who are remotely near my age? It seems the main thing people do when they're my age is get drunk and cheat on each other. Either that or they're working three jobs trying to pay off school and other debts.

So what are my options? More accurately, what am I interested in?

I can easily say I have no interest in getting drunk and cheating on anyone. I have no large debts from school. I could end up with large debts if I were to go back to school.

And I could go back to school. I mean a real school, with a real building and real people and a real shop with books they charge for by the pound. Then I could go to school and work those three jobs to pay for them. Then I wouldn't be bored silly! I have my associates in IT, but could never make up my mind about what to do after that. I'm studying interior decorating now. I suppose business management courses would be helpful if I were to make a business of decorating, or I could aim for a degree in history or english, or even architecture. I love houses. Particularly old ones. (I found myself rattling on about different types of roofs the other night to my sister. I learned all this from my miniatures. I'm such a geek.)

I could take up dancing again. The main reason I stopped was because the classes I was taking required you to bring a partner. Oh, they would promise to "TRY" to provide a partner if you came alone, but that never happened. I always ended up dancing with the teacher. Granted, I learned a lot MORE that way. (Dance teachers do like to show off!) But then half the time the teacher would be off helping some other couple, and I would be left to practice with my shadow or help other students. Which I frequently did! I didn't charge either. Maybe I should have. Fortunately I was always quick to pick up steps.

I could try something new, like a pool or bowling league. I'm no good at either, but surely there's beginner leagues. I can't afford gym memberships (and I never went when I DID have one) but I could try something different like kick boxing or step aerobics.

I could join a club. Never been much of a joiner, though. I know there's miniatures clubs in the area, but they generally do a lot of take home projects - I have no room for things like that! I'm not sure I'd like a book club. When I read, it's usually for pleasure, to relax, not to make me think deep thoughts. Sometimes a subject will interest me and I will dive into those heavy books, but for the most part, book clubs sound too much like high school english classes.

There's bible studies, which would be a fine matter of finding the right time and the right church. There's the D&D groups, but they never interested me very much. There's also reenactment groups, though given my lack of hair and my braces, I'm not sure how accurately I would need to be in order to participate. Besides, I'm not sure HOW to get involved with those types of groups. (I miss the haunted houses I worked in! I still can't believe neither one of them opened last year.) There's always volunteer work. Herndon's big on volunteering. But I WORK for one of those volunteer groups. Probably the most interesting one, too.

So I need to take a look around and see what's going on. I'm not afraid to go by myself, I'm just tired of people promising to go with me and then constantly putting me off.

If I don't do something soon then I WILL start losing what's left of my sanity. Then I'll be in trouble.

Ed's considering buying a new tank. This is one of the fish he wants to put in it:
Saltwaterfish.com--Radiata Lionfish - Venomous (Pterois radiata)

Key Quote: "The family of Lionfish is a group of fish that are world renowned for their beauty and ability to inflict pain."

One could easily be inspired to write a story with that line . . .

*edit* I had to move this over from my other blog. I have GOT to be more careful when I use the Blog This! feature! argh.

Movie Review: The 10th Kingdom(miniseries)

Well worth the time it took to watch. The actors really got into their parts. The plot was very involved (I think I might have said this before). Yes, it got a little silly at times. But hey, we are talking about fairy tales here. They've been done to death! I thought Ann-Margret as Cinderella was a bit too much, though. I would have picked someone with a bit more elegance. Cinderella always struck me as a humble girl. I would imagine she would make a humble 200 year old woman, as well Ann-Margret is not humble. (but she certainly looked old!) Scott Cohen did a great job as Wolf. Hyper, alert, absentminded scritching at the forehead, and a few great scenes where he played a real wolf, lecherous or bloodthirsty, or just plain howling at the moon. His exclamation of "huff puff!" was very amusing to me, as well as the trolls yelling "suck an elf!" when things went wrong.
I didn't like the ending as well. I would have ended it earlier, but they dragged it out, made it sound like one day there would be another series about them. Maybe they're planning one?

Driving home, I passed a rather unpleasant sight. It seems Ann Null recruited a bunch of kids and moms to wave signs and pass fliers out at cars driving through the Herndon Parkway/Dranesville road intersection. The kids were hyper, jumping all around, even at cars, while the moms ran out into the road to give flyers out. Ann herself came to my car, I rolled down my window and yelled, "what do you think you're doing?!" She chirps, "Vote for me on May 4!" I reply, "I can't, I don't live in the town!" She takes her flyer back. It all looked horribly dangerous to me. College students and guys in suits or uniforms doing this are one thing, but these were LITTLE kids. Talk about potential speed bumps . . .

There was a story on slashdot about office pranks involving post it notes. It reminded me of all the the stuff I wrote underneath the platforms we built in the studio. "If you can read this, the platform is upside down!" "What? We're finally moving these things?" I don't remember the rest. I don't plan on moving them, either.
Of course, I think Harvey IS our office prank. He's always telling bad jokes or strange stories. I wonder who planted him . . .

I had to make a third copy of the candidate's program. people keep changing things on me. I may have to put my foot down after this - it takes up a lot of editing time.

I finally finished the Meet the Candidates program. Even got complimented by the board president on it. Which naturally means they put even more trust in my editing skills, and even more work for me. There's a LOT of programs coming up. I'm the only one editing. Argh!

No more Claritin for me. The box is getting tossed OUT. Ugh. Here's one case where the cure's worse than the disease. Or allergy. Or whatever. I just did a brief research on its side effects. (I noticed I couldn't find it quickly on their web site. Gave up and searched elsewhere.) It has the potential to cause heart problems. (I have enough of those as it is!) I think I better refill my Allegra prescription, or find some Tylenol Sinus. Or maybe try dad's cure - chicken stock, tobasco sauce and pressed garlic.

Took a Claritin last night. BAD idea. I lay down and the bed started to spin and tilt. Kept waking up. Now I'm dizzy and shaky. and this stuff lasts 24 hours. It's going to be a weird day.

Came up the stairs at work, noticed a funny smell, and looked up. The cracks and water damage on the ceiling are GONE. Well over a year of continuous damage, and suddenly - poof! It looks good. Now they can rearrange the furniture in that room so it's functional again.

It's Sunday. It was incredibly warm out today. Pollen ran rampant. I finished most of Unit Three, I should be able to mail it Tuesday if I get the last part done tonight or tomorrow.

And that's all I feel like saying about today.

Did the finishing touches on painting the bathroom this afternoon. Hopefully that'll be the last time Dad has to mess with the lighting. Next - clean up the mess I made . . . and then buy the flooring, the sink and the fixtures and arrange for installation. Kind of a few steps ahead than in my class. I finished going over the lessons in THAT, too. I just need to work on furniture arrangements. I thought that would be the fun part, but it's not much fun with the rooms I have to work with. They're all small, so there's not a lot of ways to be creative.

I also began watching The 10th Kingdom. It's a 10 hour miniseries, so it's going to take me a while! Highly amusing, I've been enjoying it. I was shocked to see how cheap it was on Amazon. Lots of details, plot twists at every turn, amusing additions that have nothing to do with the story - like the trolls loving the song Saturday Night Fever. "It's a song about a terrible fever . . . that only strikes on Saturdays!" This will be added to my list of movies to own - although it certainly takes a while to watch!

Spent four hours in the editing room, messing around with the candidates stuff. An hour and fifteen minutes, roughly. I got it all laid out, I just need someone to give an ok or make changes to the background, and then add opening and closing credits. What a pain. I try to keep passing the buck to Dave, since he's the one that complains if he doesn't like my work. Here - approve this BEFORE I air it. I wish they wouldn't bother with the chromakey. We don't need it! Our simple navy backdrop would suffice. People are gonna fall asleep anyway . . . .

I Took a hot bath and am playing the Live Internet Piano Radio at Free Sheet Music.com. I feel like I'm melting, it's quite wonderful. It just goes with the cool, soft mood of my room. I'm learning stuff like this and maybe I have an innate talent after all! I wanted the room to be soft and relaxing and I chose wisely.

Earlier I did portions of my design class and learned about french furniture and how color can affect the mood of a room. At least, I think that's what I learned. It was a very interesting history lesson of how the opinions and lifestyles of Louis the 14, 15, and 16 altered the style of furniture. And then afterwards Napoleon. Again the illustrating graphics were pictures of the miniature Thorne Rooms in Chicago. I find that highly amusing. They're so detailed and accurate that a design course uses them to teach about styles! And people claim miniatures are for children . . .

I'm looking at my keyboard. My fairly new, not overloaded with useless keys wireless keyboard. And guess what? The E is disappearing from the E key! This is the second keyboard I've had where this has happened. Do I use it that much more than the other keys? Do my fingers have an excessive amount of oil on them? Am I that bad a typist? I don't know. I guess I should figure on this happening to all of my keyboards.

I'm still wondering if I should have gotten a wireless. Every once in a while something will interfere with the signal, and no matter how much or how hard I type, nothing shows up on the screen. I can't figure out what's causing the interference. I should probably blame airplanes. I used to pick them up on my radio when they flew over a certain spot. I wonder if they make a combination wired/wireless keyboard? A backup, just in case . . .

The Human Clock - A Photo for Every Minute of the Day

This was interesting.

Movie Review: Mystery Men

Different. Definitely different. Which was kind of refreshing. It's nice to see something that you can't guess what will happen from beginning to end. (hard to say too much without giving away events!)

I like how they made the setting unrecognizeable. It was just "Champion City." The money was unusual, the signs were often in different alphabets or letters were switched around. There were recognizeable logos, like Pepsi or Mastercard, but they didn't SAY Pepsi or Mastercard on them. It was a hodgepodge of world cultures. You couldn't say, "oh, they're in the States" or "that looks like Japan." A lot of subtle effort when most people wouldn't have cared where they were in the first place.

The costumes were interesting, too. Of course, Super heros and super villians are supposed to dress funny, but it suited the set.
My favorite set was probably Dr. Frankenstein's home. Beautiful stair railings, an impressive fireplace mantle, even a well equipped disco room . . .

I like Ben Stiller. He can play an obnoxious role without coming off as obnoxious. He's sincere about whatever role he's acting in. I liked Zoolander for that reason. It was an incredibly stupid movie, but it was a GOOD stupid movie.

I guess Mystery Men falls into that category as well. Sometimes you just need to watch a good stupid movie that doesn't require much brain power.

Favorite Quote:
Roy: Why am I balancing a tack hammer on my head?
The Sphinx: When you learn to balance a tack hammer on your head you will learn to head off your enemies with a balanced attack.
Roy: Ok, So why am I wearing the watermelon on my feet?
The Sphinx: . . . I don't recall telling you to do that.

Oh - I also really liked the bowling ball.

Drove out to Fair Oaks Mall last night in the miniature deluge. It was ok going there, but only because it was still light out. Driving back was another story. It was dark (duh), there was a lot of low, whispy fog, and it was still raining steadily. Fortunately, I've had a lot of practice driving down Fairfax Co. Parkway in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, not when it's raining. The rain put this fantastic sheen on the road that reflected every single light. I could barely see the lines on the road. In some places I couldn't, and I had to resort to using the Force(luke), or following the car in front of me, blindly hoping THEY could see the road. Driving through intersections was awful, because I couldn't see a thing beyond the bright green lights. I don't know if it was my viewing angle from my low car, the condition of my windows, or my sorry eyes.
Obviously I made it home in one piece, and even neatly and properly encountered an ambulance rushing through an intersection. (if I couldn't see, I could at least hear!) Of course, now I have the jitters really bad . . .

eBay item 3716461982 (Ends Apr-13-04 11:32:09 PDT) - air guitar

All's I need now are air drums and the mic to go with it.

Sitting around, listening to my family, I can't help but wonder how in the world I didn't turn out like them. They're all very ordinary, run of the mill, white picket fence, marry- at-a-young-age-and-stay-that-way-for-life family units. Somehow they have a kind of 50's sitcom image. (Even if they do just mutter and complain about their significant others behind their backs!) I don't fall in that category. I don't fall into the swinging single category either. I'm not even sure I'm anywhere in between.
A typical family gathering will have all the men in one room, all the women in the other. (if it's at our house, my dad will eventually hide upstairs.) The uncles all gather around the tv and channel flip, and occassionally engage in discussions about whatever's on. This is generally sci-fi, sports, or home improvement. The women all sit in the living room and gossip about family, friends, and current events. My cousin Chris sits and plays on his gameboy (or whatever it is he's got) and my two youngest cousins run around from group to group, listening in, being an annoyance, or every once in a while finding something to entertain themselves with. Me? I group hop, or try to keep the girl cousins from killing each other. If the subjects either group is discussing interests me, I stay and listen (like the ghost stories my grandmother was telling involving her family. whew!) Sometimes I get a word in edgewise. Otherwise I wander, bored.
How can I grow up in a family and have so little in common with them? Yes, there's all the basic stuff. Chris likes the Discworld series, but there's not much to discuss about them (he's only read a few). They're more into science fiction than fantasy, and my tapestry only got a 'ooh, how nice' rating. I've gotten almost completely out of crafts, save my miniatures, my computer experience runs along different lines, I have no gossip about people they know, no family issues to discuss. They ask all the polite questions about work and my design course, but only one aunt understands enough to keep the conversation flowing.
How did I end up on this offshoot branch? Which direction am I supposed to go from here? Evidently I can't follow in their footsteps, even though it seems to be expected of me. I'm not sure I even want to, but it's all I've been exposed to. I've been raised to a kind of mental mindset: This is what your life should be like. It isn't, so I get piteous looks and sympathetic comments. (fortunately the uncles don't care one way or another.)

I feel adrift. Where do I belong?

Busy day. Lots of relatives, lots of food, lots of chocolate, lots of noise.

I got my uncle to show me how to set up the encryption on the network, and it appears to still be functioning, so that's one less thing to do. Also let my cousin play with Photoshop a bit, he's considering buying a graphics program to create gif animations for whatever games he's writing. I think I've shown him Photoshop before, but he asks every time. I don't think Photoshop does animation, though. At least, I've never figured out how.

I'm not sure what happened to my dreamcatcher, but I sure need it now. Several nights in a row, I keep having a series of very bad dreams. Last night's ran like a book, lots of details, right down to the dust and cobwebs, but still unpleasant. It's gotten so unpleasant I'm having a hard time falling asleep. I'm not to the point of medication yet, my body's messed up enough as it is, I'm hoping to get it back on track. Too much advil for one week :-x

Tower Blaster

Happy Easter! I've found this stacking game very entertaining. Of course, I'm trying to keep from stressing . . .

A rather busy Friday for me.

Mom's computer refused to turn on. I fussed with it a bit got nothing. Even tried a different power cord. As I moved the power cord when I went to pull it out, it turned itself on briefly and then back on, leaving me to guess that something had happened to the power supply. Fortunately, I just so happened to have a spare one in the basement. (fancy that!) The computer works fine now. I'm beginning to believe I really DO have enough spare parts to make a new computer . . .

In the decorating scene, I finally found something to hang over my bed. I have it up temporarily with nails, but I'm not happy with them. Here's a picture:



A tapestry map of Middle Earth. The colors are perfect! It looks a bit lonely on the wall, though, I may have to find something else to go with it.

Well, what do you know? I CAN get up at 8 am if I have to!

I've got a lot of work ahead of me, and we don't even have half of the footage yet. I may have to work on it one subject at a time and then drop to DVD. I know those RAID drives too well to trust them to hold such a big project for any length of time.

I know how I want to see the program. I'm afraid I've railroaded it, but fortunately Claire likes my ideas. I have very specific ideas in mind, and I don't know where they come from. It's not like I've had any formal editing training. In fact, I haven't had ANY editing training. None. I just seem to be able to identify what's missing and what needs to be removed. I don't always have the best footage to work with, but it just makes it that much more of a challenge.

I find myself getting more involved in other aspects of production, too. Today I was actually happy with the headshot setup I did of Elma, in spite of two burned out bulbs that I had no replacements for. Of course, I fussed with it for a good half hour, It was a locked down camera, though. That's the only way I'm still willing to operate them. Set it up, leave it alone. Don't trust ME to get a smooth shot!

I just watched DuBarry Was A Lady. I'd heard a lot about it, but had never gotten around to finding it. Lots and lots of famous faces. Very little plot. Well, good plot, anyway. The movie took a bizarre twist and you ended up with people in 18th century costume singing 1940's swing. It just didn't jive, y'know?

Gene Kelly is still a huge favorite of mine. Very talented and nice to look at. Worked very, very hard to be good, too. I've heard he wasn't a pleasant person to rehearse with. Red Skelton? I think I'd rather have Bob Hope. Lucille Ball? Quite a beauty - she would have had a great dramatic career if her voice had been suitable for drama. It was too strong to play weak/girly parts and just not refined enough for serious roles. For all she played the klutz on tv, she was incredibly graceful. Too bad. I hope she enjoyed the role she played.

The screenwriters should just be shot. It seemed like they decided to grab whatever was available at the costume department that day and whoever happened to be on the lot and shoot a movie, using whatever songs they pulled out of the music department with their eyes shut.

I'd just like to take this moment to say . . . . that Advil is wonderful.

Especially once I get around to taking it so that I can function and people stop asking, "are you ok? you look awfully pale!" 25 more months. Hopefully less, at the rate I've been going!

Spent yesterday and today in the editing room with Claire, working on her Herndon History show. I'll also be in there tomorrow. Some parts of it are turning out good, other parts are annoying me for just not being right. We have a lot of information for small sections of the program, which means that we either need to cut out a LOT of it, or turn the show into a series. I'd like to see it as a series. We could cover a lot more information that way, and have a regular program to air. (we need more programming!) The segment we taped on Mosby and the Herndon Station raid alone would easily make a half hour show. Get together a few historians to discuss a topic and they'll go on for hours. Of course, the audience may fall asleep . . .

I have the world's smallest slinky sitting in my mouth.

I expected rubber bands to pull those teeth into the space left behind by my extracted teeth, but instead I've got a tiny spring pushing them. It's going to be achy. Right before Easter dinner, too. Ugh. At least they didn't take off the top wires! The spring is enough discomfort for one day . . .

Now I've seen everything:

Middle Earth Furniture

Oh. I also WANT everything. :-D

For reference, I found the link here.

Everyone seems to have expectations of how I should live my life, of what a 'normal life' is. Be yourself, they say, but you should have this job, live here, have this type of significant other, drive this car, have this much in the bank, and do it all by this age. If you don't, there's something wrong with you. Heaven forbid you end up in a different situation . Then the nagging starts. The warnings, the piteous glances, scoldings. You're not living right.

Naturally, none of this great advice everyone so freely gives me is the same. No, I can't please everybody. Why should I? Given my exact situation, what would they do that's different from whatever it is I'm trying to do now? If they were in my place they wouldn't have any more knowledge or experience than I do about what's right for me.

Yes, I have walls. They're there for a reason. But, oh no, walls are bad, they shouldn't be there. I have a 'problem' that needs fixing. The walls ARE my fix. They're there to stop me from stupidly making the same mistakes twice. It doesn't stop me from making new ones, but at least they remind me of what I've already tried. I take that wall down, I take the chance of the same thing happening again. If I'm fortunate enough to recognize the pattern, then I can take steps to change direction before I crash into the same dead end.

I readily admit not having a set goal for my life. I have no driving passion to propel me to my lofty goals. I simply want to be where I'm needed the most. Perhaps that's what my problem is. Everyone's telling me to look after myself, while I'm trying to look out for others. It's a bit of a vicious circle.

So much for a list I can't access when it's online and I'm not . . .

Well, I am now! Cox immediately offered a trade in on the modems that no longer functioned, so we were up and running again this morning. Then I stupidly decided to see if I could figure out how to set up the encryption and managed to knock myself offline. I have NO idea what I did, and ended up having to manually reset the router. Everybody keeps telling me I need to set it up for security purposes, but I don't know how! Networking and such has never been my strong point. I think I might need to beg for help shortly.

In other news, Lynne made my evening by telling me she named one of her cat's new kittens after my Realm character, Aggi. I feel so honored in a funny sort of way!

And now, it's time to rant about Daylight Saving's Time! Why are we still doing this? It only means I have to go back to work again TOMORROW to manually change the clock on the broadcast rack because the silly PCAnywhere no longer works. grrr.

*rant*rant*rant*rant*

Sorry, suffering from Internet withdrawals. For some bizarre reason, our particular brand of cable modem and Cox's servers are unable to communicate. Even stranger is that we have the same modem at work and it's functioning properly. (the only good thing about this!)

It's going to be a looonnng weekend.

Maybe I should figure out the non-internet related things I can do . . .

1. Work on my design class.
2. Work on the comic - outlines and inking
3. Touch up paint spots in the bathroom. Harass parents about the purchase/installation of new floor tiles and the sink. (both of which are already picked out)
4. Return library books.
5. Go out and spend money. Or at least, wander around looking at clothes I don't like or can't afford.
6. Go to work, edit. *gasp*
7. Finish reading Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales.
8. Install wallpaper in the modern dollhouse. I've got three rooms that need to be papered.
9. Do an anti-rain dance.
10. Plot demise of Cox technicians. ;-)

Well, that should keep me busy.

Found this on Dave Barry's blog - posted in the comments section.

Subject: HU'S ON FIRST
(We take you now to the Oval Office.)

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?

Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.

George: Great. Lay it on me.

Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.

George: That's what I want to know.

Condi: That's what I'm telling you.

George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes.

George: I mean the fellow's name.

Condi: Hu.

George: The guy in China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The new leader of China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The Chinaman!

Condi: Hu is leading China.

George: Now whaddya' asking me for?

Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.

George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?

Condi: That's the man's name.

George: That's who's name?

Condi: Yes.

George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.

Condi: That's correct.

George: Then who is in China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir is in China?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Then who is?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.

Condi: Kofi?

George: No, thanks.

Condi: You want Kofi?

George: No.

Condi: You don't want Kofi.

George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi?

George: Milk! Will you please make the call?

Condi: And call who?

George: Who is the guy at the U.N?

Condi: Hu is the guy in China.

George: Will you stay out of China?!

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi.

George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

(Condi picks up the phone.)

Condi: Rice, here.

George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we should Send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get Chinese food in The Middle East?

Happy April 1!

Someone has figured out the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow:

http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/