Running with Scissors

I can be a U.S. Citizen!

2006-05-31T01:10:17Z

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

A Different Kind of Mashup

2006-05-17T13:07:28Z

I'm not sure others would call this a mashup in the typical sense of the term, but I think it fits fairly well. This YouTube video takes anime from a bunch of different sources and creates a new, creative video from the pieces and parts. This one, called The AMV Before Halloween, uses the song from The Nightmare Before Christmas and uses imagery from that movie, Spirited Away, and a bunch of other anime pieces with which I'm not familiar.

The result is breathtaking and quite fun. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juzQ69feloc

There are other videos from Final Fantasy that I saw, as well. Interesting stuff. Web 2.0 has certainly arrived (and I'll be interested to see how copyright holders react to some of this).

Olympics Closing Ceremonies

2006-02-27T02:20:22Z

Okay, I know the opening ceremonies were a bit odd, but did anyone else look at the closing ceremonies and wonder why there were a bunch of stormtroopers dancing to the Village People's "YMCA?"

echomoontide @ 2005-06-30T19:39:00

2005-06-30T23:56:43Z

Cool Flash sites of the day:

http://fubon.co.uk/ - Nice design (you can turn off the music if you want--a big plus), and great graphics. Wish we could do something similar at WC.
http://www.neave.com - More than nice, one to come back to again and again (he gives away source files for Space Invaders and Asteroid, guys! I really want to learn how to do the mouseover thing with the borders, too.
http://www.neostream.com/7v05/ - Very nice. Sit through the intro, and enjoy this one. Slightly twisted. :-)

Rocky Horror

2005-03-30T02:49:40Z

Transylvanian!
You scored 53%

Oh yeah! You're the one sitting in the middle with me shouting call lines at the screen! Isn't Rocky just great?

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 10% on points

Link: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Test written by Ewic on OkCupid Online Dating

'Tis the season...

2004-12-23T00:43:13Z

This week has been a frenzy of shopping, baking, and readying us for the holidays. The house is a mess (two batches of cookies currently going, and computer on dining room table so that I can look up "emergency cooking substitutions" at a moment's notice--just how did people live without the Internet, anyway?). C'est la vie. I am done for the evening, but tomorrow will be spent on final shopping, wrapping, baking, and laundry. Friday is clean-up day, and then I might get to sit and enjoy the holidays.

Whew!

Nice...

2004-12-23T00:40:41Z

http://campaignforrealbeauty.com/

I'm likin' this.

First Monday Article on LiveJournal!

2004-12-11T17:24:02Z

I haven't had time to read it yet (gotta finish my paper for the semester first), but in doing my research, I ran across this article: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/raynes/index.html.

Scheherezade Goes West Posting...

2004-12-11T01:06:31Z

Taken from wytchchyld, who got it from someone else...

Worth a look-see--http://www.livejournal.com/users/kageneko/377115.html.

A Tribute to John H...

2004-12-01T21:33:15Z

I first met John H. at a middle school dance. He was skinny, wearing a white Izod shirt and those Rick James style sunglasses that were so popular. He was with an entire group of people whom I didn't know but found fascinating--John G., Don, Gene, Sherrie, and some others. John H., though was the one on whom I had a crush. The crush on John G. (a bit of a goofball) came later. John H. was always slightly wacky, funny, very non-serious, and in general a good person. We never became closer than friends, but I've thought of him often over the years, wondering how he was doing since moving to Utah, wondering if he ever kept in touch with anyone. I'd actually thought of him a couple of weeks ago, but as usual, did nothing about it.

John G. called this morning to tell me that John H. had died the day after Thanksgiving. They think his heart gave out. I've been thinking of him all day, actually thinking of all of them. But the clearest memory that comes to my mind is them at that middle school dance all those years ago.

More may be added here as I think on this...

update...

2004-11-30T09:12:22Z

On the minus side...

Cold or sinus infection, leading me to be up in the middle of the night to soothe myself with warm tea.
Having so much left to do on my master's paper before the end of the semester (my own fault, but still...)
Not knowing how long it will actually take me to complete said master's paper
Possible invasion of house by mice. Uck!

On the plus side...

Hitachi 57" widescreen HD TV. Yummy!
The incipient installation of HDTV by the cable people
Final Fantasy X-2
Macromedia Flash

A good one...

2004-11-19T01:59:27Z

A funny one sent to me via e-mail by wilborne. Don't know the author. :-)

In the spirit of reconciliation with my Republican friends and neighbors, I offer the following poem....

The election is over, the results are now known.
The will of the people has clearly been shown.
We should show by our thoughts and our words and our deeds
That unity is just what our country now needs.
Let's all get together. Let bitterness pass.
I'll hug your elephant.
You kiss my ass.

hormonal...

2004-11-18T13:00:05Z

Last night was pretty fun. Must be me and my hormones. Will ask MD about it at my appt. today.

Weird. I never loved chocolate before, either...

echomoontide @ 2004-11-17T11:24:00

2004-11-17T16:26:43Z

Out of water...

Complete fish. Me. Feeling so out of water right now, it's not even funny. I can't tell, either, whether comments directed at me by my peers are sarcastic or not. Could the surgery have altered my space-time-paranoia perception? Hard tellin', but tonight's dinner outta be interesting, given that I'm feeling (again) like they're all talking behind my back...

this has gotta be hormones, or something...

House Republicans Move to Protect Leader

2004-11-17T12:27:10Z

Cross-posted to newliberal_army.

It's interesting, isn't it, how a group elected mostly on "moral grounds" is now considering some severely unethical behavior...?

In the New York Times this morning, at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/politics/17cong.html?oref=regi, it states:

Fresh from election gains, House Republicans moved Tuesday to consider a change in party rules that would prevent their majority leader, Tom DeLay, from having to step down from his leadership position should he be indicted in an investigation in Texas.

As House and Senate members returned to finish remaining business for this year and organize for 2005, an aide to Representative Henry Bonilla, Republican of Texas, said Mr. Bonilla had filed a proposal to overturn a Republican rule that requires a member of the leadership to step down temporarily if facing a felony indictment.

Interesting, isn't it? The question is, how can liberals discuss this issue in a way that makes it clear that the so-called "moral right" is doing something immoral here?

Personally, I think they got it right the first time--you should step down, for the good of your party and the country, if you are indicted. It's funny, though, that the minute the rule may actually need to be enacted, they change it.

But then, perhaps they're not so moral after all, eh?

Memetime...

2004-11-16T22:34:38Z

Cribbbed from lordandrei, who states he got it from just about everyone else...

You are 53% Taurus

How much do you match your zodiac sign?

Randomness...

2004-11-16T01:46:28Z

Spent the day in meetings. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Got to eat lunch when I arrived home at 2:50 p.m. Skipped dinner. Worked on creating a Flash-based Paint program for use with a course we're doing. It'll be cool if I can get the damn thing to work. When I want dots, I want dots. When I want lines, I want lines. Doesn't seem to much to ask, does it?

In other news, kept my nose to the grindstone today, except for work stuff. It was fine, but will probably be a lot less fun once I don't have meetings all day. Fun tomorrow, though, will be talking with bradmeister about above program. I've spent way too much of my evening on it already, though, so I'm off to turn my computer into a $2000 deck of cards--Spider Solitaire, to be exact.

Tomorrow is my day to run, but I'm going to have to wait until the boy child gets home at 4:00 to do it. Hope I can stick with it.

Ordered a new (camera) phone last Thursday. So where the hell is it?

echomoontide @ 2004-11-12T16:50:00

2004-11-12T21:57:49Z

I've been trying to figure out why work isn't any fun anymore. I'm not sure why it is, but I don't feel at all connected to the people there who are in my same job. There are some people with whom I feel a bond, a kind of "teamwork" feeling, but it's not the same people as it used to be. Mainly the people I hang with now are the technical folks, whom I absolutely love. They're fun, they are open to new ideas, and they smile a lot.

The people with whom I used to feel really connected are now all dispersed to separate offices, and their doors are shut all the time. I hate the "shut office door" syndrome. Even when the sign says, "Come in," I don't ever really feel like I should. So I've been retreating more and more to my own little end of the hallway. The worst was this afternoon. I had "clogged brain" syndrome and wandered down the hall to clear my head. For some reason (and I probably won't do it again), I stopped in at one of the "closed door--come in" offices. I asked if I was interrupting, and the person said no. However, they also didn't ask me to sit, but just kind of stared at me while I babbled. When I left, I got a "Well, thanks for stopping by", but in a tone that leaves me no doubt that they'd rather I hadn't. Have I grown scales, or something? I did ask if they were busy, after all. It wasn't like this before.

I'm starting to think that maybe it's me that has the feeling, and no one else does. Or maybe they just don't like me anymore. I guess I'll just stay on my end, and forget collegiality.

I'll say this, though: the move back into cubes is going to be a harsh thing for some people, I think.

echomoontide @ 2004-11-11T20:52:00

2004-11-12T01:54:17Z

How pathetic. After a (very lovely) evening with Nikelle and Kev, here I am, ready for bed. Time? 8:52.

What am I, eight? (and no, I don't mean my IQ). ;-)

Feeling better...

2004-11-09T21:14:51Z

Well, my procedure went well yesterday. Procedure. What a howl. I keep flashing back to City Slickers, and the Billy Crystal line, "You'll have your first surgery. You'll call it a 'procedure,' but it's a surgery." At any rate, whatever you call it, it seemed to go fine. No weird aftereffects from the anesthesia, except for being tired. And not too much pain. So it's all good. I haven't even had to take the prescription painkiller they got me (it's 600 mg ibuprofin, or something). I should be able to run as of Thursday, but I plan to take it a bit easy. No use pushing things.

I'm going to get my hair cut this evening. Can't wait. I haven't been able to do a thing with it in recent days. Hopefully, Kim will pull her usual miracle and I'll be fit to go to work tomorrow...

echomoontide @ 2004-11-07T21:48:00

2004-11-08T02:54:42Z

Well, I've not updated much this week since my post of Wednesday. And while I'm moving on, I am not, clearly, bolstered by the fact that Bush has procleaimed that his 51% victory was a "mandate." I'm also not thrilled with the fact that he announced his intention to spend the "political capital" he "earned" in the election.

To understand a bit, I listened to a Fox News talk radio host (don't remember his name, sorry) and a bit of Rush Limbaugh on my way to Harrisburg. It was interesting, and very clear to me, that neither of these men had any interest in "working with" those on the other side--only in keeping things stirred up. And after all, why not? They certainly won't keep their money and their talk shows if the country isn't divided. It makes me sad (and pisses me off) that people will deliberately drive a wedge between us (Americans) because it's in their self-interest. And the number of people who listen to Rush and consider him a wise man indeed really terrifies me. What will he stir up next?

On a (slightly) amused note, I noted that he was lambasting Kerry for "waiting so long" to concede the election. 10:00 EST the following morning? That didn't seem like long to me. Nothing will make these people happy, truly.

Finally, NPR interviewed people the day after, asking both how they voted and why/how they felt about it. The most interesting answer I heard was from a man who voted for Bush. He said he thought Bush should clean up his own mess...

Four more years.... ?

2004-11-03T11:15:16Z

If so, how disappointing. And scary. Which of my rights that I have today will be gone by 2008? Where will it end?

Check this out. Gotten from hilltop's comments page, from magnolya_rain. Black Box Voting.org. Does anyone know anything about this organization?

Roman Catholics

2004-11-02T18:05:34Z

Isn't it interesting that, in 1960, people didn't want a Catholic President because Americans didn't want to be "ruled" by the Pope, and now those same people don't want a Catholic President because he won't be ruled by the Pope...

Things that make me go hmmm....

2004-11-02T00:20:11Z

I was listening to NPR the other night, and Ira Glass (This American Life) was following undecided voters. One woman said something I found very interesting. She said something like, "I pray for David [her son, who was thinking of voting for Kerry] to find wisdom." My first question was, "What makes her think he hasn't found wisdom already?"

I always find it interesting that people who wish for others to gain wisdom generally define wisdom as something that agrees with their own position...

Warning: Rant ahead

2004-10-29T19:41:49Z

I am truly appalled. And before you decide this is a political post and stop reading, let me tell you that I am seriously appalled by the behavior, and would be so no matter who had behaved in this way. Former President George H.W. Bush spoke at Penn State today, and someone I know went to see him. Not to protest, but to see him, to hear him speak, and to be able to say that they saw a president live and in person. The note below, which I heartily hope is picked up as a news story--as an example of truly bad behavior, will be going to several newspapers. Here it is in his own words.

***Begin Letter***

Dear Editor,

I wanted to bring a situation to the attention of your newspaper. I am a student at the Pennsylvania State University and attempted to attend a Bush/Cheney rally that was being held on campus.

Unlike other Bush/Cheney events and rallies that have been held, the event was ‘open to the public’ and there was no need to sign any affidavit that stated your support of the candidate.

Upon hearing the news that Bush Senior (George H. W. Bush) was speaking I sent an email to the republican group on campus to find out how to get tickets. I got a response with the information shortly thereafter. I went to the Centre County (Pennsylvania) Republican office (victory headquarters) and gave them my driver’s license as proof of identification. They entered my information into the computer, told me they were doing a background check, and then gave me a ticket to the Bush/Cheney event where HW Bush would be speaking. This occurred Wednesday afternoon, as soon as the republican groups on campus released the information on how to get tickets.

Fast-forward to Friday morning. I arrive on campus a little before 8am to get in the line to see Bush Sr. speak with one of my friends, Heather Whidden, and she had a Kerry/Edwards sign, but there was nothing posted/stated/written that Kerry/Edwards paraphernalia was not allowed in. We were approached by one of the people who was working with the Bush campaign and were told we would not be allowed into the event. As far as I know, and from what I’ve read on their website, Penn State has a non-discrimination policy the neither college republicans nor the republican national committee (or whoever was organizing the event and wouldn’t give me their name or info) should have been allowed to
discriminate against people entering the rally.

The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University.

He would not give us his name, and tried to grab our tickets from us. Several of the other men who were working the event came up and crowded around us, harassing and intimidating us because we were not Bush supporters. Eventually I ended up calling the Penn State police to have them send someone over to end the harassment.

The staff from the republican event continued to come by and try to intimidate us into leaving, even after we got rid of the Pro-Kerry sign, but we were not going to let them deny us our rights of expression, free speech, and the rights of students to participate in discourse and dialog at Penn State.

Eventually we made it to the front of the line, and a woman, who would not give us her name or information, said that she needed to see our tickets for verification. When we gave them to her, she ripped them up in front of us, said that we didn’t have tickets anymore and that we couldn’t go in and then she walked away and wouldn’t respond to any questions. We were stunned and shocked that after getting the tickets, waiting in line, and fending off the attacks of the people working the event that someone would just rip up our tickets in front of us and walk off. We stayed at the front of the line asking for our tickets back, but a police officer, Clifford Lutz, eventually asked us to step aside. I stepped aside, and he shoved Heather out of the way.

He said that state law meant more than Penn State policy regarding non-discrimination and told us to ‘run off to Vicki Tripony.’ After being removed from the line and being told under no circumstances that we were going to be allowed in, and seeing the Penn State Police support discrimination in action, we left the line and I began to make phone calls to Penn State administrators and officials.

I talked to several staff members in Student Affairs and Events Management who let me know that the room was reserved by a student group and was being used and paid for by the Republican Party. Eventually I found Bill Mahon, the Assistant Vice President for University Relations and Director of Public Information, who told me that what they did was within the policy of Penn State but that they shouldn’t have given out tickets first, then denied people admittance later. He called it ‘stupid’ and ‘poor press,’ but there was nothing he could do. He posited, if there a student group who reserves a room for an event, they can control who can be admitted to the event. There are several problems with this: first of all, it is the antithesis of Penn States non-discrimination policy; secondly, the event was stated to be open to the public with tickets on a first come first serve basis; third, because of political-ideological-differences people were denied entrance to a public/open/ticketed event, people who had tickets.

There was at least one other student who was denied entry into the event because he had a Kerry/Edwards button on his hat.

Here are a few articles that were in the college newspaper about the event:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/10/10-29-04tdc/10-29-04dnews-08.asp

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/10/10-28-04tdc/10-28-04dnews-11.asp

It is sad that the actions taken by the republican party, and the lack of support from the administration on campus have allowed democracy to fail again and even more sad that none of the people involved or heard about it were surprised. Democracy can only work when everyone has their voice and can use that voice for expression, as well as having the opportunity to be fully informed on issues from both sides.

***End letter***