Batgrl/HouseGuru

houseguru @ 2001-11-23T19:24:00

2001-11-24T01:27:20Z

When in doubt about whether my comments are working on my Cuppa page - always peek in here. And anonymous posts are allowed, which you know will drive me crazy.

Why do I set myself up like that?

I am forced to keep this site since I must continuously maintain watch over the doings of the Loungebunny. Also the Linkmeister.

Starting to dread all days near the 11th

2001-11-12T18:43:17Z

I have another class still and I'm already wiped. I can't believe there's another plane down. Even if it was an accident we've had enough plane related deaths in the past 3 months, y'know? And more deaths of civilians on the ground than ever before - even if this is an accident, planes and engine parts falling on neighborhoods is something horrible....

Poor NY. Hasn't it been dumped on enough?

I have comments on my Cuppa site - which was fun earlier this morning when I figured it out but now isn't any fun. Neither is the fact that the AC in my car just went out.

SIGH.

Hee hee

2001-11-09T18:16:02Z

Some friends who dropped by for Halloween....

Surprise!

2001-11-07T23:34:50Z

Yes, it's late but I was looking for the appropriate image!

Plus I wanted to add it later in the day so the loungebunnny could have her moment in the sun - her moment to age - heh heh! And I might add that the previously mentioned bunny will see plenty of memorable graphics devoted to her in the following days! (imagine me giggling in an evil manner!)

And now I'm off home to grade and sleep and oh, yeah - battle wasps....

So, still too fast?

2001-11-07T01:00:22Z

I've slowed the speed of color change on the new blog page.
Comments? Questions? Dramamine still needed?

No I didn't forget

2001-11-06T02:24:35Z

I would like to point out that a certain Linkmeister should notice a special note for him on the very first day of my new blog! And this is a big deal - seeing that this year I forgot my own birthday! Be impressed with my momentarily good memory! (Ok, so I've been meaning to do this for a few days - but I finally have! That should count!)

Another list thing - I get sucked in so easily by this stuff

2001-11-03T04:13:48Z

Odd Trios, via the Platypus I'm probably gonna have to finish these tomorrow as they require more thought than my brain will allow at the moment.

Three oddest books on your bookshelf:
? Nobody Loves a Cockroach
? I am Not Spock by Leonard Nimoy
? There's Adventure in Civil Engineering ("Another Popular Mechanics Career Book" 1958)
(I also have a children's book on being a lumberjack around here somewhere....)

Three oddest knick-knacks on your shelves:
? A rubber brain
? A Godzilla that walks, growls, his light up eyes and has smoke come out of his mouth (but was broken when I got him, poor guy. I love him anyhow)
? A 3 headed dragon that plays "If I only had a brain" if you wind him up
(Except I don't think they're odd at all...and there's lots more stuff around here like that...like the maroon rubber squeaky octopus named Ethelred)

Three oddest things in your desk drawer:
? A small pile of little rusted screws from the cover portion of an old (nonworking) jukebox - the part with the buttons you punch on it (the portion I wanted to keep)
? saline solution
? digital video tape containing shots of the chickens in my backyard
(sorry - not very odd in there)

Three oddest places you've ever been:
? Ave Maria Grotto - but odd in a great way - I'd love to create a world of lil buildings in my backyard. I'm going to put Holyland in this same catalog, only it's larger and kinda creepy in its decay... Apparently boy scouts renovated it in '98.)
? Rock City - as a child it would have terrified me. Actually I still find some parts kinda disturbing...
? A very lonely cemetery west of Dallas, on a bright sunny summer day, when I just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched
(I would like to point out the lack of local weirdness as listed on this site. Humph! And when I was in college in South Hadley I always wanted to go here, but we had no car, and never did get around to it.)

Three oddest foods you've ever eaten:
? Hawaiian fare concocted by loungebunny
? Jellobrain made by loungebunny
? Various blue foods - via loungebunny
(hee hee! I may be in trouble when she gets around to reading this!)

and I'll add

Three oddest CDs in your collection
? The Residents - The King and Eye
? Ken Nordine - Colors
? Robert Mitchum - Calpyso is like so

Still at work on a Friday night....

2001-11-02T23:27:42Z

But I'm working on my main web site, trying to get the darn thing revamped.
More bout this at Cuppa. Also my big scene in an educational video. (Yeek!)
And attempts to figure out how to move my blog and set it up...somehow...

More later...

And yes, I'll see about the pirate pix - film's developed on Monday!

Oh and if anyone has any info to share about
? using Greymatter with earthlink on a Mac
? using livejournal on my site with earthlink and Mac

I'd really love to hear anything....
(ok, at least, "we can't wait to see your new site, batgrl! good luck!" - that kinda thing)

Seasonal Links

2001-10-29T23:12:02Z

First, I must point out that there are excellant links over at Cold Marble Musings (especially here - hee hee) and mybluehouse (especially here and here)

Just a few, for fun:

HGTV Halloween Ideas
Halloween Projects and Props
Halloween Productions - has been designing, constructing, marketing and operating haunted attractions for over 10 years (hey, I wanna work here!)
Day of the Dead links and more...
Day of the Dead - photos
Dia de los Muertos - history
Common misconceptions about Dia de los Muertos

Recipes!
Pan de Muerto, and here's another Dead Bread recipe (I really need to make this sometime!)
Chicken in Pipian Sauce

Yes, Butt Paste

2001-10-29T13:35:52Z

Over on Cuppa Tea this weekend I made a comment about Butt Paste. Yes, really. It's a product for babies - and other than that I really have no desire to learn more about it.

However I would like to point out that if the very name of this product
1) makes you snort with laughter
2) immediately makes you think of a person you know that you want to give this product to as a rude joke

you can get t-shirts. Over here. Loungebunny was of the #2 group, btw. Which is why I noticed/bought the product in the first place. I was not at the grocery store to purchase such things - I was buying important items like poptarts and candy pumpkins.

Hope that clears things up.

Ok, how many stupid people are out there...

2001-10-26T19:18:33Z

Why do people continue to make stupid anthrax jokes and then act surprised when others get upset? I read the first part of this story:

On Wednesday, he was charged with misdemeanors after a scrawled reference to anthrax, intended to tease an understanding co-worker, was pulled from trash miles away and reported to police.
On Thursday he was fired for it.

Wow, I thought, that's over-reacting for you. But then I read:

The 3-foot-by-3-foot sign was discarded in a recycling bin, and the prankster figured he'd seen the last of it.

That is not a little sign. And you'd think they could have torn it up, or something. Because, think about it, if you saw this in the trash wouldn't you wonder what the hell was going on? Ok, I don't know if people should be fired, but this is not something you should make jokes about with props. It's ok to tell jokes verbally, it's ok to write stuff (though some in questionable taste) - but no props. There is no equivalent here to fake vomit or and other sight gags.

Tricking people into believing that there is an actual threat is not funny. Just like you wouldn't make hijacking jokes on a plane or in an airport - just like you would make a joke to a baggage checker about carrying a bomb - you shouldn't be surprised, if you did so, that you get pulled out of line, sat down in an office for a nice chat with authorities, and then not allowed to fly.

They make me want to eat my own brain

2001-10-26T04:00:05Z

Ok, they don't make me that crazy, but it was fun to type into the subject line!
Commercials I hate with a passion unknown in normal humankind.

Toilet paper commercial #1. The damn cartoon bear that goes to take a dump by a tree and brings his own newspaper and toilet paper. I especially hate the close up shot of the bear's face showing happiness/relief after he has done his business. This is NOT going to get me to buy toilet paper and I have no clue what moron thought this was funny.

Toilet paper commercial #2. Cartoon women sitting around quilting toilet paper. This is supposed to make me want to buy toilet paper? I don't get this.

Feminine hygine products. Any of them. They are all stupid. But I especially hate the ones where the woman smiles like she has some special secret, or the voice over mentions how this somehow ties in to her personality or "spirit." Look, if you can't talk clearly about the product or what it does, don't get all flakey on us. We don't need to see mothers or daughters chatting about this kind of thing either. There is no realistic way to script this! Just put an ad in a magazine and leave us tv viewers alone!

There are more, which I will share when I remember them...

But a few postive comments about advertising, Halloween sales in particular:

...Other retailers are developing the market among adults. Lens-Crafters is promoting its line of Halloween contact lenses from cat eyes to hypnotist pinwheels via direct mail. ...From mid-September to mid-November, Kraft is selling orange-colored Minute Rice in select markets. ...Kellogg Co. introduces themed cereals, including Kreepy Rice Krispies with orange-colored rice and spooky marshmallow shapes; Candy Corn Corn Pops flavored like the autumnal candies; and Jack O'Lantern Apple Jacks with special mini-cookies added.

....For Burger King Corp., The Simpsons star in a new promotion called "Spooky Simpsons Light-ups." With the purchase of a Big Kids Meal or a Kids Meal, consumers will receive one of 15 Simpsons characters from Halloween episodes. (News Corp.'s Fox network's annual prime-time Halloween show, "The Simpson Annual Treehouse of Horror XII," airs Nov. 6 due to the rescheduling of the World Series.)

Yes, I am going home now

2001-10-24T22:00:44Z

But first I just had to say that I put photos of my bathroom on my blog page - more on that tomorrow.

Why? Well, because the frog photos are too dark and may need too much twiddling in Photoshop to be worthwhile. (I have plenty of models willing to pose so I can redo them!)

I just can't stop taking these things...

2001-10-23T17:44:36Z

I AM 55% GOTH.

Oh My Goth! You Goth, Girl. There is a
good chance I am bi. Freakiness pumps
through my viens, but I can still laugh
at myself.
Take the GOTH Test at Fuali.com!

But the loungebunny is still more goth than I - 76%! How will I get over this.... Actually it's not really a surprise that the LB, webmistress of the Love and Rockets site, wins out!

Titling my entries requires too much effort

2001-10-23T17:34:28Z

The loungebunny is showing off the benefits of her paid account by posting a silly poll. (Ooops - early today I posted this with the wrong link - sorry!) Do me a favor and freak her out by filling something in! I would so very much appreciate it.

Meanwhile, out in the real world:

A Des Moines television news reporter has been fired after his bosses said he created an anthrax hoax in the newsroom.

What I'm wondering is, was this guy already such an ass that they were just waiting for an excuse to fire him? Because while joking about anthrax is not something even remotely funny when you use props - the guy "sprinkled face powder around the newsroom in front of a group of co-workers on Monday" so it was known that it wasn't anthrax. So it was in bad taste, but is it a fire-able offense? Interestingly this is just the kind of thing I would teach in a broadcast management class - and would assign as a short paper topic on how you as a manager would handle the situation. My take - the guy was an asshole and they were wanting to get rid of him prior to this - this incident gave them the needed excuse.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Iowa, a squirrel caused a power outage. What I want to know is, what happened to the squirrel? And how come they didn't tell us in the article? I can't be the only one wondering about this.

More ways to lose time

2001-10-22T20:54:47Z

I AM 31% GEEK.

I probably work in computers, or a history
deptartment at a college. I never really
fit in with the "normal" crowd. But I have
friends, and this is a good thing.

Take the GEEK Test at Fuali.com!

This is entirely mileshedgehog's fault, her linkage!

But because I know you love this kinda mindless, time wasting hooha, I've made a lil list...

My hobbit name is SweetPea Grubb of the Delving.

My super villian name is The amoral Skarlet Jszkqp (Skarlet-Jszkqp, Skarletjszkqp, Jszkqp Skarlet, Jszkqp-Skarlet, Jszkqpskarlet)
Power(s): Extra appendage(s), Prehensile tail (I have always wanted a prehensile tail!)
Source of powers: Extra-terrestrial evolved artificially
Weapon: Sonic Suction Cup
Transportation: Commander Wheel

My Mr T Name is.....

My rockstar name is (ugh) LaLa Lovelace.

My cyborg name is H.G.U.R.U.: Humanoid Generated for Ultimate Repair and Utility

My mob name is "Lousy House" Guru, which I feel is wildly uncreative...

My pirate name is something I'll never find out because I can never get the damn link to work! So stop asking me! Um, no, it doesn't bother me, why do you ask?

My superhero name is The Charming Choking Lamma!

My tough name is Rip. Yes, that's all. Short and to the point. As in "let me rip your arms off."

My pagan name is Lilith Serpent Cassandra. Great. I always wanted my middle name to be Serpent...

My star wars name is Hougu Woaus, Urucelica of Tylanol.

And the best for last. Surf over to Davezilla's place, and click Your Porn Star Name in the upper right corner. From this source I know:

Your Porn Star Name is Mittens Beverly
Your Blues Singer Name is Demented Filmore .
Your Punk Rock Band is called the Diaphonous Woodlice.
Your name as an extra in "Star Wars" is Gomblesnort the Weathervane Weathervane.

And I do indeed dig my Blues Singer name....
Anyone have any sites to add, while we're in here procrastinating?

Come play the Four Things list

2001-10-22T12:58:51Z

I'm sure you're all so pleased I got around to filling out the list! (Thanks to MarsTokyo for the question list!) Now your turn... Ok, yes, if you want you can only answer one or two, I care not...

Four things you'd eat on the last day of your life:
Anything from Commander's Palace in New Orleans
Creme brulee
Steak from the Grey Moss Inn in the Texas Hill Country
Something decadent with chocolate in it

Four names for an adorable new puppy:
Toby, Rasputin, Bongo, Rootabega

Your four least favorite CDs from your collection:
Ha! Too late - I sold them before I moved! And I don't remember them at all! (Handy, isn't it!)

Four movies that made you think:
Mindwalk, Kafka, Princess Bride ("never get involved in a land war in Asia"), Xanadu (who gives people money to make stuff like this and where can I get in line to get my share?)

Four celebrities you would have sex with:
Ewan McGregor, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, and I can't think of another... really.... I generally don't sit around at work and think of this stuff...

Four shades of blue:
cerulean, indigo, robbin's egg, azure

Four causes to which you'd donate money if you won the lottery:
cancer research, lupus research, Reading for the Blind, some other literacy program

Four vacations you have taken:
Santa Barbara, CA; London; Edinburgh; and Morocco (most of these were ages ago - I hope to vacation again someday... when I have a life...)

Four songs that frequently get stuck in your head:
Love is Blue, Classical Gas, and Java (all cheesey 70s instrumentals that get stuck in my head from time to time)
Sour Girl - Stone Temple Pilots

Four things you'd like to learn:
Sign language
How to make the Dia de los Meurtos tissue paper cutouts
How to absorb knowledge by putting a book under my pillow and sleeping on it overnight
How to dematerialize and walk through walls

Four beverages you drink frequently:
Coke, Dr. Pepper, Coke, chocolate milk

Four TV shows that were on when you were a kid:
Banana Splitz
Lidsville
The Bugaloos
The Electric Company

Four places to go in your city:
(unfair - I just moved!)
See the $90,000 Anamatronic Cajun Lady! (which I have)
The casinos (but I've never been)
Shrimping or crabbing (not been to do this either)
The Mardi Gras Museum (hope to go when loungebunny visits!)

Four things to do with a rubber band:
Twist it round your finger til it (the finger) turns purple (ugh, gross)
Hide it so the cat won't eat it and die
Shoot it at some innocent person
Make a cigar box banjo

Because I'm still up surfing

2001-10-20T07:04:31Z

Even though the fog is still swirling around in interesting patterns and the dogs and coyotes are howling - and I should be in bed - I'm still up surfing! So I figured I'd share...

The Animal in You. (Link via Weblog Wannabe It says "You are either a Porcupine or a Baboon personality. But you may also be a Beaver personality." But it also said I had to choose only one. So I'm going with - sigh - the Baboon. It's the closest to me though none of them is a perfect fit. So I go from Al Gore to a Baboon. Great.

While I'm finding out goofy shit like this - apparently my Magic Fairy Name is Voodoo Willowwand.
Behaviour - Caster of weird dreams.
Seen When - Only when the seer holds a four-leafed clover.
Habitat - In places hexed and tainted by black magic.
Strangely, I feel this is better than being a Baboon.

Apparently I must buy the Nightmare Before Christmas DVD (even tho I have the video) because it has so much neat stuff...

A site that is much too serious about Xanadu. Yes, the movie.

I'm completely horrified!

2001-10-19T21:11:51Z

This is so very very very wrong. I must take the damn test again now...

Oh ok. There:

It's random time!

2001-10-19T20:29:43Z

Before I journey up to the computer lab upstairs where there is no access to the net - sigh - I must share some linkage.

Apparently paisley is evil. (Who knew?) This is appropriately scary in that the site contains annoying music and hyperactive religiousness. Or at least I think this kinda thing is scary. (Link via Pith and Vinegar.)

Go wander around 13th Street. (Also a Pith link!)

Robocat - eeek! Would you buy this? For $1530???? (It's a Swallowing Tacks link)

Rating Things You can Buy at the Dollar Store... (PCJM)

Art gallery cleaner accidently tosses art. Then again, to some people it didn't look like art!

On a serious and real-world fear article - News from the Front. What the journalists at the front lines are experiencing. (via PhotoDude)

A man was kept off a Philadelphia flight because of the cover of the book he was reading. Really.

Gorey Link

2001-10-18T21:40:23Z

Dammit! I can't get rid of that double posting! Rrrr! Will try again later - the LJ system seems to be acting up on me. Oh well, I'll fix it later...

Meanwhile you Edward Gorey fans - try the Fantod Deck - a tarot card deck by Edward Gorey. (Link via caterina.net.) I got the Limb card which indicates

Febuary
miscarriage of justice
gapes
a forged snapshot
morbid sensations
a useless sacrifice
alopecia
a generalized calamity
broken promises
ignominy
an accident in a theatre
fugues
poverty

Alo?pe?cia
"a-l&-'pE-sh(E-)& (noun)
Etymology: Middle English allopicia, from Latin alopecia, from Greek alOpekia,
from alOpek-, alOpEx fox; akin to Armenian aluEs fox, Sanskrit lopAsa
Date: 14th century
*loss of hair, wool, or feathers : BALDNESS
- al?o?pe?cic /-'pE-sik/ adjective

Hmmm. I have been losing my feathers lately....

Things that make you go hmmm...

2001-10-18T21:21:59Z

Weird perfume.
Why is the loungebunny always the first to know of these things? Oh silly me, she lives in a weird city. Meanwhile would you want to smell like Altoids, Crust of Bread, Dirt, Grass, Holy Water, Laundomat, Lettuce, Sushi, or Waffles? Actually I'd consider Gingerale. Having never smelled this stuff, I have no idea. But I think I'd go test sniff if I ever found em...

A sloooooow afternoon in which I should be getting more done...

2001-10-18T20:41:33Z

Fluffernutter. Really gross or to die for?
And don't forget to learn your fluff history.

Pop Culture Junk Mail has been updated! Good, I was needing a hit. Oh be sure to check out the site on advertising from the 80s (PCJM: "ads from my favorite decade") - does this guy look like Ted Bundy or have I just been watching too many serial killer shows on the Discovery Channel?

Fun blog - Not Martha - as in Martha Stewart.

Boo!

2001-10-18T04:26:55Z

The coyotes were howling outside my house earlier. This is the kind of thing that makes me enjoy living out in the country - the proper Halloween atmosphere. Now all I need is a ghost. Actually, come to think of it, there is one - in the house across the street. A man killed himself there and there are all sorts of stories about it. I suppose if there were any ghosts here they'd just be loading and unloading rice - this house used to be a warehouse for storing the grain. It's still stored on the property - in big cylindrical bins next to my house.

I'm watching the end of The Devil Bat (also called Killer Bats), the 1941 flick with Bela Lugosi and some bats on strings. The bats make noises like crows or something. Deep dish cheese. (Sharp fanged blood sucking DEATH dives from midnight skies!!!) Oh I might mention that Dave O'Brien also starred in Reefer Madness, in case he looks familiar. Oh god, apparently there was a sequel to this called Devil Bat's Daughter. That must be a joke...

I must not believe this...

2001-10-16T05:49:53Z

The Platypus tells me that rumor is - no AC for the rest of the week.

I don't think I can take that. I'll melt into a small pile of goo.

And now
The Cow Update!
Because I know you care.
Remember the cow that was out wandering around yesterday, that my neighbors just had to tell me about? (Oh, go read Cuppa, already.) Well, the Platypus was out driving in my neighborhood last night and told me she saw all these flashing lights and cops and how could I not have noticed all that? Well, I didn't. But I emailed a neighbor today and it turns out that the cow - that I thought had been safely put up after it had been taken out of my yard - had wandered into the road where it collided with a Nissan truck. The cow was fine, and walked away from the accident. The truck did not.
And that's why you learn to drive slowly at night out here in the country, folks!

Meanwhile Trauma Life in the ER was on tonight and I saw a girl who i knew - we lived in the same dorm freshman year - practicing medicine right there on my tv! I'm so proud! Tomorrow I should look up her email on the alum site and say hi.