I have another *found stuff* link to share because I don't want to fall back into the habit of not posting. (What I really want is to hit my stride again, and post what I want without worrying about it. I miss that. I am happy to be posting at all though - and happier than I can say to be writing again, even a little.) I haven't even been playing in my graphics games much - it leaves me too much free brain. Thank god for The Sims.

I think the personal stuff will come back once we're settled on the other side of this situation. I have high hopes that everything is going to work out well, but I am so unsettled by the changes, and that's never been what I like to share here. I get too cranky, too crazy, too boring...)

So far - our doctor couldn't figure out what is causing Jim's "barometer dizziness", and sent him to a specialist. The verdict is it's probably a viral infection or a mild case of Ménières. He has an appointment next week so they can check him for hearing loss. (Yes, this is a good answer to me - as Jim told Jory (our doctor), "You know how Tay is - she's afraid I have a brain tumor." Jory, deadpan, replied, "Yes, she's very creative." Jory actually works out of the Princeton hospital and his students do call him House.)

Next week is Jim's last week of work. Since they didn't extend his contract, I convinced him to take the last week off with some of the numerous vacation days he accumulated by never taking them because someone always needs him.

Now that we are down to the wire, he has been called in twice to handle the server room *shutting itself down* - once on the Sunday of the Holiday weekend, and then again last week at 5am. (Of course, they have no way of knowing that I am often still awake then, and if I hadn't been, Jim, who was laying on his good ear, would have slept through the call. When I realized that he was getting dressed, I thought - why did I tell him the phone was ringing?) I fully expect them to continue to call after his termination date, just because they are used to calling him for emergencies, and there won't really be anyone else to call - Ah, but if they do, it will no longer be a work call, and they will get to talk to *me* at 5 am! I hope they are prepared to pay contractor fees.

I just hope they don't call during the actual *vacation* days, because "Frederic" will feel obligated to respond.


Anyway - as I am out looking for birthday presents for Jim, here are 2 things at Think Geek that amused me



Photoshop Magnet Kit

So you can make your refrigerator look like you are photoshopping your family. Or turning your favorite actors into slash pics....

You know, I can hardly look at this picture without the urge to rearrange the work area.





Pantone Espresso Cup and Saucer Set

For those of us who know *precisely* how we like our coffee, now you can have the color and Pantone number right on the cup so your spouse will know if it's perfect before they bring it to you in bed.

Jim often brings me my beverage of choice in bed, so you can all be impressed by that. (But, you don't have to be too impressed, since my breakfast/beverage of choice is a prepackaged boxed protein shake.)

Where Even The Stars Were Strange
for the challenge Blue at tolkien_weekly
Characters: Aragorn, Gandalf (2 others implied)
Book/Source: UT and The Peoples of Middle-earth

All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.

( Where Even The Stars Were Strange )

quote meme from: all over

Go to http://quotationspage.com/random.php3 and browse the random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe.


Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

Sometimes we do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions not answers.
John Le Carre (1931 - ), Magnus Pym in "A Perfect Spy"

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.
Franklin P. Adams (1881 - 1960)

When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
R. Buckminster Fuller

The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
Carl Becker

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.-- Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - )

A fascinating concept


at designboom

korean designer jinsu park designed a concept pen that adopts the eyedropper tool of photoshop for real life. the color picker pen enables colors in the environment to be scanned and instantly used for drawing. the sensor detects the color and matches it to the color display. then the RGB cartridge located within the pen mixes the inks together to create the color that has been scanned.

Nikola Tesla - 10 July 1856

NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory snapped this shot of Stephan’s Quintet, a group of five galaxies, four of which are currently in collision. Click here for a larger picture.

Gingerbreadman dissection poster here

I posted this mostly so I could say
Puddy Had Bones!?!

click for *big*

through kortirion

My Empire Film DNA

I'll probably want to change a few of these after I have a chance to think about it,,,,

Graceful and Green as a Stem
for the challenge green at tolkien_weekly
All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.


( Graceful and Green as a Stem )

Chris is sick, so we are planing to do our annual sing-along-to-1776 over the phone later today.

from boingboing

NCBI ROFL: terrific blog about funny and odd scientific publications
Posted by David Pescovitz, July 2, 2009 12:36 PM |

My pal and IFTF colleague Alex Pang just turned me on to NCBI ROFL, a hilarious blog written by two molecular and cell biology grad students at UC Berkeley in which they point out funny, bizarre, and questionable biomedical research articles. NCBI stands for the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a national research organization that also houses databases of published scientific papers. Alex says, "The case studies on accidental condom inhalation, the article on the dangers of beards in microbiology labs, and the study of canned cat food evaluation techniques are all must-reads. However, I think the article title 'Inappropriate use of a titanium penile ring: An interdisciplinary challenge for urologists, jewelers, and locksmiths' may be the best thing ever written."

FIREWORKS

for shuttergal... (and ok, the rest of you)

Scottish actor Alan Cumming has been confirmed as Norm Osborn/The Green Goblin in Julie Taymor's ambitious new Spider-man musical.

The actor will play the villain of SpiderMan: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway next February, opposite Evan Rachel Wood, who will portray the SpiderMan alter-ego Peter Parker's love interest Mary Jane Watson in the production, which will feature new music composed by U2 stars Bono and The Edge.

There's still no word on who will play the lead, but Wood is keen to land her Across The Universe co-star Jim Sturgess as the singing web-slinger, stating recently, "I really want him to do it."

Taymor directed Wood and Sturgess in the Beatles musical movie.

Playing the Green Goblin onstage won't be the first time Cumming has coloured himself up for a role - he went blue to play Nightcrawler in X-Men sequel X2.

I meant to finish more of the empire photos of them together - I'll move them to the top of my list - but in the meantime, have a Vig-Bean set to celebrate Midsummer

I call upon your gathered knowledge, O friends List - The book I am currently reading talks about Moas and at one point states, "Its eggs weighed 220 pounds."

Really? Pounds?

I am having trouble believing this.
This is a travel narrative, not a science book, so I figured I would look it up when I got up today. But, the internets have failed me.

I remain skeptical.

-----------------------------

One of my icon games gave me three pictures of Viggo to choose from, and I found that I was only able to work with 2 of them. Not unusual in itself, I can be a pain if a crop I like does not present itself.

But this time, the problem is that the picture is taken at a particular angle, such that every time I looked at it, I had a moment where I thought of Vince from The Mighty Boosh.

Now, there are two people I never thought I would mention in the same sentence.

Theatermania


BBC Worldwide and WGBH are co-producing Cranford 2 a sequel to the award-winning mini-series Cranford for PBS' Masterpiece Classic series. It will star Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Eileen Atkins, Jonathan Pryce, Tim Curry, and Tom Hiddleston.

Other upcoming Masterpiece Classic programs include a new mini-series based on Jane Austen's novel Emma, starring Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, and Jonny Lee Miller; a remake of The 39 Steps; the miniseries Small Island starring Naomie Harris; an adaptation of the children's novel Framed; and two more installments of the award-winning series Sharpe, starring Sean Bean.

For more information, visit www.pbs.org.

By Candlelight
for the challenge yellow at tolkien_weekly
All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.


( By Candlelight )

Recently I have been following the word of the day at My First Dictionary

the periodic table of the typefaces



click to embiggen

An extra drabble for the orange challenge at tolkien_weekly
All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.

( The Watcher )

Designer Kyle Bean’s cellphone nesting dolls

Jim and I, who both love Corner Gas, took one look at this and yelled, "Hey, big phone!"

I am addicted to the mentalfloss quizzes. If they are about music, I usually make Jim take them while we have dinner. Today's is very weird, but I thought some of you lot would like it

Lit Slits :In this quiz, we’ll show you a vertical strip xeroxed from a text. We want you, using the font and the out-of-context words you can discern, to tell us what the book is.

Quiz here