Dillondesk -- the blog of LCD

2009-09-12T11:28:00.002-04:00

Saying goodbye

It is amazing to me how close you can get to a group of students after just three weeks. Goodbye, third.

On a brighter note, I had a great time reading with the kids this week, especially the poetry. I need to make sure that I keep that going - looking at song lyrics and the like.

My lovely wife slept in, and now it is time to make the coffee, if not the donuts. Perhaps we shall make the Y later - very dismal day for much else.

2009-09-07T22:25:00.002-04:00

Hello again

Who knows, maybe I can find the free time to maintain both a Facebook presence, the Dillondesk site, as well as this blog.

Today was a good day in the evening. It was not a great day otherwise, because I felt a little stuck and unable to helpful to someone I love, and that kinda sucks.

Time to lay the clothes out for tomorrow and close the lid on the lappy and on the day.

Listening to: Andrew Bird, Noble Beast.

2009-02-16T10:44:00.003-05:00

Calvin's list of things he did and ate on Presidents' Day

Things he ate

Three scrambled eggs with one teaspoon of Pace Queso dip

Diet Mountain Dew

Cup of coffee

Four bites of his wife's Chinese food

A pack of grilled cheese crackers

A can of Chunky vegetable soup

Two peppermint patties

Black beans and rice with shredded cheese

Things he planned to do

Go to the gym

install Ubuntu on the Netbook

Grade papers for day school

Find and print an article for tomorrow

Watch Burn Notice and 24 and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Play guitar and learn a few bars of "Little Wing"

Read "The Death of Batman"

Redo my workout playlist

Mow the grass

Wash the cars

Play guitar hero and finish a song on "hard"

Get a haircut

Go to the bank

Things he actually did

Go to the gym

install Ubuntu on the Netbook

Find and print an article for tomorrow

Watch Burn Notice and 24 and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Play guitar and learn a few bars of "Little Wing"

Read "The Death of Batman"

Redo my workout playlist

Mow the grass

Wash the cars

Go to the bank

Go to the grocery store

I graded a little bit, but lost some time in the middle to Ubuntu wireless connectivity problems and inertia. I decided the haircut could wait.

2009-02-12T21:36:00.001-05:00

First post from the new toy!

Got an ACER Aspire netbook - 8.9 inches of Intel Atom coolness. This is the neatest gadget I own. I feel cool. It makes my 14" Dell seem huge. There is no problem typing on the keyboard -- just a little tight - but few errors and it doesn't hurt or anything.

I like toys!

2009-02-02T16:29:00.001-05:00

Oh boy

Great 35 minutes of a football game last night -- I like being able to argue sports with the jocks the next day. Had tons o' fun watching Wil Wheaton Twitter the game.

This is the second week I will ahve something to do after school EVERY DAY INCLUDING FRIDAY, but at least there is no school on Friday, so I can sleep and gym it then.

Read Batman: Hush --> awesome comic.

2009-01-28T18:01:00.001-05:00

Getting to the gym

I have a theory. The more you talk about needing to go to the gym, the less likely you are actually to go. I have been talking about it all week, and I had the perfect opportunity to go twice (or at least get on the exercise bike at home that is the towel/laundry rack in Sam's room), but I have yet to actually make it there.

What I would like is an additional two hours every day between when school ends and my secondary responsibilities begin, because that is when I have the momentum to carry me the .34 of a mile to the gym and on to the fitness equipment.

Now, my next opening is Saturday morning, which is really not my fave.

I suppose I could get up earlier and do the 5 am thing, but when I am in the gym I usually work out for an hour and a half, and I am kinda tired afterward.

Oh well -- off to McDonald's drive-thru before tutoring. And I still have stacks to grade because I was getting ready for tutoring at the last minute.

Bother.

I need time-management assistance.

And a maid.

2009-01-27T19:13:00.001-05:00

Congratulations, NEIL!!!

The Graveyard Book has won the Newbery! Huzzah! Great article @ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008672166_apbookschildrensprizes.html, and great blog entry.

Nice when the good guys win!

2009-01-26T21:53:00.001-05:00

25 Random Things from Facebook

A friend of mine suggested this and it's a wonderful way that people are using Facebook to let others know things that they might not know about themselves.

Here's how it works. This is a list of 25 random things about me. I've tagged different people in this note.

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

Here are my random things in no particular order:

1. I really enjoy hot sauce and spicy food. I like Tabasco and Crystal and datil peppers and habaneros and fresh jalapenos WITH the seeds. I like it when the capsaicin makes my eyes water and my nose run. It doesn't hurt -- it just tastes like...victory. Dave's Insanity is one of my favorites. (Thanks Joe). I even got a "Make Your Own Hot Sauce" Kit for Christmas (Thanks Fran).

2. I love reading comic books. I used to have a bag at the local store, I had a box full of Avengers, and I read and re-read my brother's X-Men. I still read graphic novels, and the Gaiman and Moore are the true American Gods.

3. I love all kinds of music. I love singing off key to Beyonce and Akon and A-ha and the Wicked Soundtrack with my daughter in the car as much as I love rocking out to Mars Volta with my son. I love swaying to Tori and Dave with my lovely wife as much as I enjoy pumping my fist and contorting my face as I scream the vehement bellicosity of NIN or Limp Bizkit at the stoplight. I really love 80s music, from the Vapors to REM to Winger to Jan Hammer to Throwing Muses to Bauhaus. It makes me feel young to put a Smiths album on the turntable and get down in it with Morrissey and co. One of my favorite albums is the Grey Album, because it is a mashup of Jay-Z and the Beatles White Album by my man Brian Burton (Danger Mouse). I like that I have to upgrade my iPod so my music fits. I still listen to new music, and I love learning about new bands.

4. I love cartoons. My youth was centered around television, and Saturday morning was the focus. I love Speed Buggy and Hong Kong Phooey and Futurama and the Simpsons and Family Guy and Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny and my favorite of all time, Animaniacs.I loved the Great Space Coaster and its cartoons, and Sesame Street and its cartoons (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, ELEVEN TWEE-EE-EEE-EE-EE-ELVE).

5. I can solve the Rubik's cube in two minutes. Sure, there are people who can solve it faster, but when I solve it, it is grateful.

6. I love Chuck Norris jokes. Not only does Superman wear Chuck Norris underwear, he also has the lunchbox AND the Trapper Keeper.

7. I play guitar in an eclectic fashion. I can fingerpick better than most, and I can play funk and rhythm, but I can't play lead any better than the average 12-year-old with a Cobain complex. I keep my guitar in my classroom, and wow the kids with my shredding skills.

8. I think the more you do the things you know in your heart you are supposed to be doing, the less time you will have to think about how your life could be better -- you will be too busy making the world a better place.

9. I love trashy police procedural TV shows and books. I have read most of Patricia Cornwell and Jonathan Kellerman, I never met a CSI or Law and Order I didn't like, and I think Homicide was the best show that was ever broadcast.

10. I love to camp, cook over a fire, and hang out next to creeks. I have rafted in Colorado, canoed all over NC, and fished on Lake Lure many times.

11. I really can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars. Especially the stationary one.

12. My wife is my best friend. She argues with me and makes bets with me when I am sure I am right and I am not. She lets me wait on her and she keeps me whole. She saves my life every day. She texts better than most 12 year olds, talks baby talk to the dog, and worries I don't feed my fish enough. She can smile with her whole body, and her laugh makes all the small stuff even smaller. She let me name the dog and the baby after Jedi, and she went with me to all the premieres. She gives me goosebumps when she holds my hand, and she is a better proofreader than I will ever be. She is one of the best teachers I have ever had, and can read a picture book so it STAYS read. I love her.

13. I don't care that James Frey "lied." It was a fantastic book anyway, and all the rest was talk show nonsense.

14. I love to cook. I like creating new flavors and combinations, and I love serving big meals to my family. Thanks, Mom.

15. I once stole a newspaper, taking two from a machine when paying for one, and got caught by a traffic cop, who forced me to walk back to the newspaper machine and put in another 50 cents. I can't get away with anything, and the biggest laws I have broken since are those involving jaywalking and driving five miles over the posted speed limit.

16. I have never read Wuthering Heights, but I have seen Airplane! 47 times, and I think laugh at the Diceman and Judd Apatow movies, and in high school I owned ten Truly Tasteless Jokes books. Currently, I am reading "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, and I spend most of my spare time (when I am NOT on the computer, watching TV, or playing Guitar Hero) reading Young Adult novels so I can recommend them to my students.

17. I love movies. I love musicals. I love westerns. I love precious indie flicks with deliberately frustrating endings. I love 70's science fiction like Dark Star and Silent Running. I love HUGE comic book movies where things blow up and nightmares walk the streets. I love John Hughes movies. I think I have seen them all several times, including Uncle Buck, and I can quote pretty well from most of them. I love award winners, and turkeys just as much. I know when actors are overacting, and I know when I am watching a genius at work. I pay attention to blocking, lighting, cinematography, casting, continuity, and pacing. I know what a key grip and best boy do, and I get the Kraft service jokes the actors tell at the SAG awards.i know the difference between the Kraft Service Table and crafts service.

18. This is my fifteenth FOURTEENTH year teaching (thanks, Jen). Wow. Kids I taught are now teachers, and parents. I still hear back regularly from many of them, and Chloe told me as she was leaving eighth period today that this was her favorite class. It is nice doing the job you are supposed to be doing.

19. I am a perfectionist, but I often have typos in things I write because I work too fast and hate to prooofread proofread.

20. I love gadgets. I have since the days of the Merlin, the Simon, the Atari 2600, and the TimexSinclair computer I owned. I bought one of the first Technics portable CD players, and I now carry with me at all times a cellphone, GPS, iPod, Sansa Clip (for the aforementioned stationary bike), a 320Gb portable hard drive, five flash drives, ten blank CDs (you never know when you might have to share a jam) and my baby, my Vostro 1400 Dual Core running XP Home and occasionally Ubuntu 8.10. I am the guy people come to with questions about their stuff, and I can find the answer if I don't know it. I can code HTML by hand in Notepad. I can manipulate .csv files and I can convert your sorry little Works document into an .rtf. I can write a little Javascript, and if your computer crashes, I can probably recover everything and make it run better than it did before it died.

21. I get very obsessed with silly little things, like Peeps and interactive remote response systems.

22. I love all things Star Wars. I know that the Power Droid's name was Gonk, I know which ship can do the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs, I know that Yoda's species was never specified, and I understand midichlorians, even if I think the whole idea is LAME. I have spoken like Yoda and growled like a Wookie in public. I think Kit Fisto went out like a punk. I wear my Jedi cloak to school at least once a year, and I wore it to buy the Original Trilogy on DVD. ( I have pictures if you don't believe me

23. I don't dance very well unless it is 80s club music, and then I can kick and fling my wrists and head back with the best of them. I did dance like Britney Spears in "Baby One More Time" in front of 800 seniors and parents. I do the macarena at weddings, but not the electric slide. Otherwise, I sway.

24. I own two Abominable snowmen from Rudolph, two light saber spoons, and two power supplies for my laptop, because I am paranoid.

25. I get frustrated pretty easily with people who are always "trying," yet not doing a whole lot other than complaining about why they can't do what they really want to do. Everybody has issues, everybody is scared of something, everybody has gifts, everybody has to overcome natural bias, and everybody has a tendency to be solipsistic. Just because you disagree with somebody, doesn't mean either person is wrong. The only information we have is what we experience, so your perception can't trump my perception in a truth-off. The only way to make sure that you are healthy and that you leave the world a better place than you found it is to listen to your life as it tells you what to keep doing, what to stop doing, and what to start doing. If you you get your heart ripped out of your chest and stomped on by a psychotic, don't do that again. If people thank you, hug you, and you feel happy, full of purpose and direction, perma-smiley and goose-bumpy, do that again (as long as it is legal and morally right and kind to animals). If you talk more than three times about wanting to do something that could make your life better and won't cause anyone any pain, you should get up start on that path, no matter how long the list of things you have no control over is. Everything else is "trying," and we all know what the little green guy had to say about "trying," don't we?

2009-01-23T11:01:00.001-05:00

FETC, Continued

Yesterday, I became a Twitterer, and I have been having fun reading Neil Gaiman's tweets. I even have a follower (thanks, bro!).

I just learned about a great piece of software called Evernote -- great free companion for OneNote-- my second favorite piece of Microsoft goodness.

I also want to check out Jing (free screen and video capture software) and Magic Pen (great game that teaches physics).

I also learned how to send texts to my lovely wife's phone from my iGoogle page. That is great because it is hard to keep up with her on my RAZR.

FETC 2009

2009-01-22T15:06:00.001-05:00

Tammy Worcester is talking about some neato links for teachers (and people who like to use computers.) She is talking about Google now, and she was talking about editing a blog from iGoogle, so I added the gadget, and voila. My first blog post in five million years.

Since this is easy, and lets me give more detail than a Facebook status or a tweet, I might even use it more than two or three times a year.

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

2008-09-29T20:50:00.002-04:00

Money issues

With all the political posturing and pompous punditry involving the Bank Bailout, I think having a balanced view of the crisis is essential.

The best reporting I have come across on the crisis has been this NPR story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95099470. Balanced, informative - taught me things I did not know. I like real news.

Happy Monday, everyone!

2008-09-22T21:40:00.002-04:00

Stupid email hackers

How dumb can you be? The Palin email hacker is the son of a state legislator? He posted the hack to 4chan? He hid behind ONE proxy? Where are the black hats with 1337 skillz? http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4702525a28.html THe story is actually a good cautionary tale for those of us with passowrds that could not survive such a well-thought-out Googlefication.

We are becoming a financial socialist state, Stonehenge was a walk-in clinic, and even your medical records aren't safe from idiots with MySpace accounts.

You all must buy the Cool Kids album. It is a moral imperative. I realize that it has been out since May, but I am not always ahead of the curve. The Okkervil River album is good too. But not as good or as cool as Bake Sale.

'night everybody.

2008-09-21T21:28:00.002-04:00

Doors and books and the beach

With the help of my wonderfully toolerriffic father-in-law, I repaired the bottom of our front door frame (well, at least I stood there and handed him tools and the occasional beverage). All is well, and the cricket that has, dare I say it, plagued our nights the past week seems to have shuffled off this mortal patio. Which is a huge relief, because a cricket on a tile floor in an aluminum sunroom is quite the stentorian little bugger.

I am currently reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray. She is in a writing circle with Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, whom I have also read this summer and enjoyed quite a bit. I guess I am turning slowly into a teenage girl, because my favorite books lately have all been in that Twilight vein of fantasy chick lit. (my lovely media specialist will cringe when she reads that).

I am really liking the Ra Ra Riot EP, Okkervil River, The Cool Kids, Conor Oberst's solo album, Dr. Dog, Plants and Animals, and the Stills. God bless emusic.

Saw Before the Devil Knows You're Dead -- great flick - very depressing in a Happiness/No Country for Old Men/Very Bad Things kind of way. Also saw Sweeney Todd -- Burton and Depp are genii (which should be the plural of genius).

School is going very well -- I am more organized this year, and the kids love the tablet -- I got a WACOM Bamboo tablet, and I scan in the things we read and show them how I would text mark it, and then I can draw funny pictures too. I let them use it last week to circle the correct words in a CLOZE -- they thought that was incredible.

Time for bed.

Listening to "Run My Mouth" by Ra Ra Riot.

2008-08-07T20:02:00.004-04:00

Hmmm...

Tomorrow is the first day of preplanning. I am not allowed to go into my room because there was some "water intrusion" on the second floor. This should be interesting.

We are watching the finale of "So You Think You Can Dance," and I am getting ready for a presentation I am making on Tuesday about books I love.

----------------
Listening to: Thelonious Monk - Rhythm - A - Thing - Thelonius Monk
via FoxyTunes

----------------
Listening to: Thelonious Monk - Rhythm - A - Thing - Thelonius Monk
via FoxyTunes

2008-08-05T23:47:00.003-04:00

Jeopardy invitation

Guess what? I get to try out for Jeopardy. I took the online test and got invited to a full audition.

PRINT OUT AND BRING THIS LETTER WITH YOU � ADULT INTERVIEW

Congratulations! We are happy to confirm your appointment to participate in the full audition for Jeopardy!. That will consist of playing a �mock version� of Jeopardy! to assess your game-playing skills, a short personality interview, and being re-tested with a new 50-question test. If you pass all the requirements to become a contestant you will be entered into the contestant pool for one year. However even though you pass the test, we cannot guarantee that you will be invited to do the show. In fact, even though you are invited to the studio, there is no guarantee that you will appear on the show. You will be responsible for all expenses such as parking and travel to and from the audition center. If you are invited to Los Angeles to do the show you would also be responsible for expenses to come to Los Angeles.

2008-08-02T01:20:00.004-04:00

Rafting, mountains, beard, and vampires

Went to Colorado last week to visit my lovely wife's lovely cousins. Had a great time, including the growing of a beard with which to enjoy the brisk mountain air, Quaking Aspen waving, cat frolicking with Finn and Mac, MUCH driving in the rental car (which we kept the WHOLE time, unlike some others), playing LEGO and videogames with Ryne, using our new GPS - a Garmin NUVI 200 which I named Jan (she sounds like a Jan when she talks, and she helped us find our way many times), a removal of 7.8 pounds of stuff from our stuicase, which was inexplicable OVERWEIGHT going back to Tampa, though it was identically packed, a VERY COLD rafting trip with a guide named Erin, nicknamed Mountain Mama because she was from West Virginia and who told us too many stories of how she screwed up and wrapped rafts around rocks (the trip was a little hairy when Mr. jerry fell most of the way off the raft and into the VERY COLD water, but he made it back in just fine), and much photographing of the Yoda.

This evening, we went to Barnes and Noble to buy the latest Stephenie Meyer vampire love book, Breaking Dawn. We saw many students, some of whom I know read the first book in my class (I felt pretty good about that). There was entirely too much adolescent estrogen in the building, but it was very cute, and exciting to see that many kids so excited about books. For the record, I was the only one wearing a Bela Lugosi's Dead t-shirt.

G'night.

2008-07-20T12:07:00.003-04:00

So much for keeping up with things

Went to Flugtag yesterday with Fran and my lovely wife. A good time was had by all, especially the guy playing Maryann on the Gilligan aircraft.

Found a few new music blogs:

The Music Slut: http://www.themusicslut.com/

KEXP Blog - http://blog.kexp.org/blog/

Pampelmoose - http://www.pampelmoose.com/mspeaks/index.php

Spinner - http://www.spinner.com/

Aversion - http://www.aversion.com/

Listening to: Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Santogold, and The Pinker Tones. I am liking the Flobots CD and Vampire Weekend. Flobots have a Rage Against the Machine political tip with a Linkin Park musical sensibility. I am reading HOlly Black and Cassandra Clare -- I like the whole fairy world in NYC thing they have going on, and City of Bones was a GREAT read -- like Harry Potter for teenagers with good taste in music who liked watching Buffy and Angel.

----------------
Listening to: Flobots - Rise
via FoxyTunes
----------------
Listening to: Dr. Dog - Alaska
via FoxyTunes

2008-03-12T21:22:00.000-04:00

Two awesome movie trailers

I am quite excited about two films coming to theaters soon: Wall-E and Iron Man. I have been following Iron Man for a year and half now, since it was announced that Jon Favreau would be working on it. He has done wonderful things with it, and Robert Downey Jr. is PERFECT as Stark.

Wall-E looks like a cross between Dark Star, Silent Running, THX-1138, and Heartbeeps.

2008-03-07T21:59:00.002-05:00

I learned a new word today

Machinima a portmanteau of "machine cinema," in which geeks make movies using the rendering engines from video games, mostly first-person shooters.

There is an awesome "Leetspeak" version of the Mahna Mahna song below:

And here is the original, for the purpose of comparison:

And you have to watch "Fat Cat Sat Hat"

And the Yip Yip aliens meet the phone:

And the ladybug's picnic

Pinball counting

Oh yeah.

2008-03-07T06:01:00.002-05:00

Sugarbush - the world's most photographed squirrel

Oh my. This is almost as good as hats of meat.

2008-03-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

NIN new album, sans album

I just bought the new Nine Inch Nails album, Ghosts I-IV, as a two CD set that I won't receive until April, but I also get to download the songs for free right now. Trent broke all kinds of digital records with the release -- viva la musica, down with the record companies.

I didn't pay of the premium Saul Williams' Niggy Tardust that Trent produced, but I was more than willing to shell out the bucks for a true NIN release -- I have really enjoyed listening to Year Zero and With Teeth, and I expect this latest bunch to be just as awesomish.

Neil shows the cover for the Graveyard Book

Neil showed us the sketches that Dave McKean sent him for the covers for his new book. I like the one he chose for the subterranean release the best.

2008-03-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

And the award for best use of an extended Sandman quote in an animated .gif goes to...

Neil talked about this image that someone sent him:

This is the ancient verbal battle between Morpheus and the demon Choronzon - sort of like a wizard battle.

My money is on hope.

2008-02-27T22:15:00.000-05:00

Things I learned in court today
Sometimes, when it looks like the road goes all the way to the street you want to be on when you are looking at Google maps, it neglects to take into account the massive detour and rerouting of the road that makes it be one way in the opposite direction.,

If you just keep heading south, you will eventually get to the road you want.

When you are given directions by a lawyer, take it for granted that they will be missing a few key pieces of information, like you should take the bank of elevators all the way to the left, not the ones actually near the entrance.

When you check in with the bailiff, make sure he actually makes note of your name. Otherwise, you check in twice and it makes it look like you were late.

When you are waiting, it is interesting too eavesdrop on the conversations the police have with each other in between the trials. You learn interesting things about proposed riots and powere failures that cost $160,000 for the county to fix at middle schools.

Don't stick your second copy of the subpoena back into the police file, becausee the prosecutor will make fun of you when he can't find it and has to go print a new one.

Make sure you bring a long book, preferably one with big words that will take you longer to read thanErik P. Kraft's Miracle Wimp, which was enjoyable, but which I finished an hour and a half into my wait.

Don't count on the defendant actually showing up, but laugh riotously on the inside as the defense attorneys read long lists of absent defenders.

Marvel at the sad attempts of some people to display class and dignity with their sartorial choices. Tucking the skater shirt in and wearing the ball cap straight does not make you look less like a skater.

All day parking is a scam -- especially when you get a good space and the prosecutor tells you 2 hours after the hearing was supposed to start that it won't start for another three hours.

Laugh when the secretary at the school only tries to cover your class for a half-day when you know good and well there is no WAY you would be back at school in time to teach anything.

Try not to laugh when you call the secretary to say you won't be in and she has to cover the rest of the day anyway.

Bring snacks. Waiting in plastic chairs surrounded by families with their juvenile defenders is depressing and hunger-making.

Your sister-in-law checks her phone, even if your wife doesn't

A Subway chicken terriyaki sandwich makes anything better.

Sitting in your car in the pasenger seat in all-day parking lot typing on your computer makes the lot attend a little freaked out.

A true-bright screen is not truly bright in daylight.

Sitting in your car typing an offline blog entry is MUCH better than sitting in the courtroom.

Bill Maher is funny, and bless him for releasing the last two shows as VIDEO podcasts.

When they say the time for the trial is 8:00am, they really mean 4:00pm.

When you wait all day to be questioned by lawyers, you won't be in a good mood when they accuse you of doing something you didn't do.

I am glad my professional life has a set, steady schedule. I couldn't do this law thing for five minutes.

2008-02-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

Freeing the snake

When I got home this afternoon, after listening to my favorite LOST podcast -- the Transmission with Ryan and Jen (they are native Hawaiians and have a much more intellectual take on the show than some others), my wife informed me we had a snake stuck in the barbecue grill. It had crawled into one of the legs and tried to exit one of the screw holes, becoming seriously stuck.

I got the barbecue tongs and grabbed a paper towel and doused it with vegetable oil and rubbed it on his body. Then I waited awhile and tried to pull him out with paper towels taped over the tongs, but he seemed really stuck. I waited a little longer, with several diiferent gruesome Plan B's going through my head. I went back out to give it one more shot, and slowly but surely got him free and ran back into the house as he slithered into the bushes.

I'm glad I was persistent with the plan of liberation rather than that of euthanasia.

Oscars

I have only seen one of the nominated films this year -- "Juno." I seriously doubt it will win anything except screenplay. It was a great movie, adn Ellen Page was fantastic, but I don't think the establishment is ready to give it up for the indie flicks yet. We have a contest going on at work, so I will let you know tomorrow how my predictions went.

I pwned Google!

Dillondesk.com is now the first hit when you Google "Calvin Dillon.!" I tried to manipulate the search engine back when I first put it together, reading several hints and Googlehacks. I guess leaving the site up and not continuing to monkey with it was the best strategy. Excellent.

[Listening to: Autoclave - The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride (3:34)]

[Listening to: A-Punk - Vampire Weekend - KEXP Song of the Day (2:15)]

2008-02-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

What's the word? Thunderbird.

Just downloaded Thunderbird 2.0.0.9 (this article says that 3.0 is going to be out by the end of the year.

I have been using gmail since 2004 for my home email account, and the only spam I get really is the stuff I have forwarded from my work email. The drawback is that the county blocks webmail at school, as well as ftp, so I am limited at school to an official email inbox that empties itself after 3 months. I wanted a solution that would allow me to have access at work to all my stuff, and with 160Gb on my laptop (34 days and no computer crash! I think this one is a keeper -- long story -- maybe later), as well as all my gmail history for 3.4 years, Thunderbird is GO! Now I have all the crap I probably won't ever need, or use, or look at. or even remember. In one place. Whoo hoo.

I also grabbed the calendar extension, so now I can pretend to be really organized again.

I also grabbed FoxyTunes, the extension that lets you control your music application through the browser, and lets you insert a signature based on the song that is currently playing.

Freakin' sweet.

---------------
Now playing: Camper Van Beethoven - Ambiguity Song
http://foxytunes.com/artist/camper+van+beethoven/track/ambiguity+song