Oscar

 Simba got dropped off on Friday for a weekend stay. I hope it works out, even though secretly I don't want him to go. That's just how it is with foster animals - you kind of fall in love with them even if you don't want to (I've been hoarding some seriously adorable kitten pictures). The potential new owner is very nice, and I have absolutely no misgivings about her. And I'm pretty sure she'll keep him. I hope her 3 cats can adjust, because he really likes chasing cats and I don't know that he'll outgrow it.

My mom left on Friday. She was here for a month and a half. We didn't "entertain" her in many typical ways, but she was content to lounge around reading books and such. And she didn't seem to mind the dogs too much.

Did I mention the dogs? We took in 2 of our neighbor's dogs. They lost their house (and I guess a marriage as well), and Lee offered to take in the nicest of the 5 dogs if necessary. Amazingly, they found homes for the 3 annoying ones. Well, the two worst ones stayed with "mom". The house is for sale and will be in foreclosure soon I suspect.

We listed Simba through Bullseye Rescue. He's a mix of pitbull and what's known as American Bulldog. I'm a little worried about him in a house with 3 cats, and hope he can lose his desire to chase them. Kate did, so one can hope. The new potential owner seemed really nice and despite it being her first dog I think she'd be great. He's a total sweetheart, and I will miss him if he goes.

I signed up for the RPM challenge (like NanoWrimo, but for music), with the intention of really doing it this time. Earlier today I realized that the DX7 has a dead battery on the motherboard and that I need to fix it now because the only other keyboard I have is not velocity sensitive - meaning that every note has the same volume. I don't exactly know what "sound" I'm going to produce with my oddball assortment of electronic doodads, but the constraints of the project mean I won't have any time to overthink it.

We went to the Lucy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Pretty amazing to be looking at such an incredibly ancient fossil. Not a reproduction (they had one of those two), but the real deal. The majority of the exhibit was about Ethiopia itself, and was also quite interesting. After that we had to go to Capitol Hill to eat some Ethiopian food. It was outstanding as always.

I just read about how someone from Wal-Mart was addressing a crowd and he said that not only were people making do with less in this economy, but they feel good about spending less. And that's alarming - to Wal-Mart, anyway. Most of the rest of us would say that's great.

So I heard some doom-and-gloom about livejournal. While I wouldn't die if all my ramblings vanished, I still thought I should download them just in case. I haven't updated much lately since things mostly suck and I don't feel like endlessly posting about how they suck (although that would put me alongside the typical half-my-age LJ user, ha ha). Anyhow, here's my first entry, from 2002:


Subject:  el wombato representin'
Date:  8/26/02 10:03:00 AM

So I'm lazy. So I might eventually register a domain name and get start a "real" blog. Until then, here I am. Yay!

Made it into the office at a reasonable hour. I managed to catch a 66 after a relatively short wait downtown. There's a lot more people in the office today. I suspect they were getting stir-crazy based on things I'm overhearing.

My legs are sore.

So the 590 bus stopped at the end of bus way, going no further. Since they take I-5 they didn't have snow chains. Seeing what happened to even buses that have them, that was probably a smart call. So I figured I'd walk from Royal Brougham to 3rd and Prefontaine. Not a big deal. I discovered that weightlifting did in fact pay off as I effortlessly left my fellow walkers far behind. I didn't even think I was walking that fast.

I saw a 7 at the 70 stop, so I decided to head to the next stop to catch either a 66 or a 70. That's where the (articulated) 7 got stuck and couldn't pull out. After waiting a while, I said screw it and made my way to 3rd and Pine. Still no sign of a bus. I thought maybe the SLUT was running and I'd catch that. No dice. But I did stop for breakfast at Starbucks. I went to the 70 stop by McDonald's. After again waiting 10-15 minutes I decided I preferred to be moving while freezing my ass off. So I made my way all the way to Fairview and Denny. I met a group of people that had been waiting for 45 minutes.

After standing there for about 5 minutes, yet again I said screw it and walked. So yes, I walked all the way to Eastlake. (about 3 miles, according to google maps). It was surprisingly not tiring.

So now I want more weights because I've 'used up' the 40 lbs I started with.

After working my way through several sorts of exercise routines over the last 6 months, I've finally settled on one that works. And today I was finally able to do several chinups, which even for a lightweight like me are brutally hard. Felt pretty good to finally get there, and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. Now I just need to work up to pullups (palms away, and harder), which have been the holy grail all along. While admittedly my main motivation was (and still is) vanity, it's nice to be getting strong and fit as well.

I'm hoping I can transfer the discipline from here to other parts of my life. Maybe I should sketch while I'm resting between excercises, ha ha.

Pretty funny. Google is giving away gmail stickers — one informative (keyboard shortcuts), the rest silly (unicorns!). Details here.

And yes, the envelope you send is addressed to "Send me some Gmail stickers already"

So I dropped off our kitties to get spayed. I didn't realize that it was the end of the line, but the tech told me they were going to PetSmart after getting their surgery, so that's that. I know Mouse (the kitten) will get adopted quickly. I hope the mother also does. It's so hard to not get attached, so I'm feeling a little empty now. Never mind that we have 4 other animals in the house.

At some point soon I'll post some super-adorable photos.

I've been volunteering with Link - it's a an arts program for teens who are underserved by their school art classes (if they even exist anymore). Each month they have a workshop that presents a new technique for them to experiment with. I wasn't actually scheduled for Saturday, but I'd been wanting to meet with the program's director since I volunteered to redesign their website.

I stayed for the workshop since I was already there. It was abstract painting. I got to make one of my own, which was fun. Of course I had the typical I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing freakout, but luckily got over it. And watching all the kids getting into it was very inspiring.

Remember Sorry Everybody, the site where Americans could apologize to the world for electing Bush a second time?

Well, the site has gotten an upbeat makeover.

(I know it said picture, but I couldn't resist posting this video)



1. Stop talking about politics for a moment or two.
2. Post a reasonably-sized picture in your LJ, NOT under a cut tag, of something pleasant, such as an adorable naked mole rat in a stormtrooper costume, a cloud in the shape of Ian McKellen, robot unicorns, anything cuddling anything else, etc. etc.
Something that has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS.
3. Include these instructions.

If you've ever wondered about microfiber and whether it is as miraculous as some make it out to be, read this article.


Update: Screwy html fixed.

Our neighbors are moving. I'd noticed for several days that I hadn't heard the loud barking of Cujo or the ear piercing bark of the two yappers. Lee just talked to the guy's brother, who's been staying at the house for a while. She didn't press for details, but it didn't sound like our neighbors were staying together after the move. I don't really care - I'm just glad the evil little dogs are gone.

Lee agreed to foster some cats from the humane society, and so we find ourselves with a Mom and three kittens. They are tiny, and whiny. They were rather nervous yesterday, but today they're crawling up my pant leg and being generally adorable. The mom is really sweet too. They're holed up in the office - we don't want them mixing up with the other cats yet.

Pictures soon. Too distracted right now.

Wow. I don't even know what to say about Man For Young Girl To Become My Wife. Let's just say that he a completely sensible guy who should have no trouble at all finding a new soulmate, as these excerpts clearly show.

[From the disqualification list]

1. You were born male. It is so disgusting, the number of males that think I should be interested in them because they cross dress or had a gender changing operation. YUK!!!

10: You cannot walk seven (7) miles non-stop averaging 1 mile per 20 minutes and without drinking or eating anything during the walk.

11: You have to go to the bathroom more than once during a four hour date where we first have dinner at a restaurant then see a movie.


I will not form any emotional attachment to you until after you have proven to me that you are real and serious by having proof pictures taken of yourself in the clothes and poses I instruct. Those instructions will be emailed to you when I have interviewed you sufficiently to know that you are one I am very interested in and I believe you are seriously interested in me.

I am looking for a wife, a wife who knows her place as God clearly stipulates in His Word, however, if the right girl wishes to be as a slave to me and treated as such, that I can accept, a master to her I will be, but mind you, I will have some learning to do.

So many innuendo possibilities -- I don't know how the reporter restrained himself.

a Swiss chef plans to use breast milk in several of his restaurant's dishes.

Local Idiot To Post Comment On Internet

"It is my moral obligation to alert the Internet community to the fact that this video is totally gay, and furthermore, that the individual who made it is a fag," Mylenek said.

This is so weird - the castmembers of Mad Men out of their period garb.