some stuff

woof

2009-02-08T06:19:45Z

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.

updates

2009-02-01T05:52:25Z

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.

lucy

2009-01-27T03:20:49Z

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.

retail therapy

2009-01-14T09:01:35Z

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.

those were simpler times

2009-01-06T22:15:44Z

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!

arctic holiday snowblast 08

2008-12-23T18:09:11Z

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.

walking in the snow

2008-12-23T07:11:40Z

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.

let's get physical

2008-12-15T06:57:49Z

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.

Send me some Gmail stickers already

2008-12-07T17:02:11Z

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"

stupid adorable cat

2008-11-22T06:45:10Z

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.

art

2008-11-16T17:26:04Z

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.

hello everybody

2008-11-07T02:05:16Z

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.

apolitical meme

2008-11-05T02:34:48Z

(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.

must-read

2008-10-18T15:19:46Z

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.

yippee

2008-10-05T21:12:46Z

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.

more kitties

2008-09-28T00:33:00Z

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.

wtf of the day

2008-09-21T04:48:57Z

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.

the breast intentions

2008-09-18T23:26:11Z

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.

bwahaha

2008-08-07T06:01:55Z

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.

el_wombato @ 2008-08-04T11:08:00

2008-08-04T18:16:14Z

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

facebook is good for something

2008-08-04T17:32:58Z

I have to say I had a whole conflicted mess of feelings about attending my high school reunion. As impossible as it sounds, I was not one of the popular kids. And I never wanted to be one of those people that said that high school was the best time ever in their lives. But I have to say that after to talking to a lot of people about those days, even the ones I thought had it all, we were all insecure and neurotic in some way.

I had a wonderful time. I laughed a lot, drank a little and had a great time. I also went swimming in the ocean and snorkeling and learned a lot about Hemingway and his cats. Key West was charming, but also very very hot.

It was great reconnecting with people and it was even better making new friendships with people I barely knew and in some cases didn't even get along with.

cat photos

2008-07-30T01:34:34Z

If anyone is dying to see what super-adorable cat #4 looks like, Lee has pictures here. And some sweater porn.

I kid, I kid.

just my luck

2008-07-29T18:29:13Z

I already had this sinking feeling I wasn't going to be rejoining Vendaria.

Sure enough, today I get the email that tells me exactly that.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. At least I saved up a decent amount of cash so I can still pay the bills.

This weekend is the reunion in FL. It's going to be hot.

stupid lovable cat #4

2008-07-29T03:39:38Z

So I'd seen this cat a couple of times around the house. I'd been meaning to take him to get neutered, since he's obviously not (and obviously a male cat). This morning I saw him and he had a hideous wound near his tail. So I snatched him up, dropped him in a carrier and took him to the vet. A couple hundred dollars later, he's back home and currently sitting on my lap, with his head nestled on my arm, purring loudly.

He doesn't have a name yet. He's black and white, with a "soul patch" under his lip.

So far he's only met Maggie and she's been fine.

We'll probably take him to the Humane Society so he's in their system, but keep him here as a foster. As lovable as he is, we can't possibly rescue each one personally.

hot

2008-07-25T21:30:32Z

I turned on one of the burners on the new stove and was amazed that it was red-hot within seconds of me turning the knob.