I didn't realize how much worry I was internalizing until late this morning after I found out everything was okay. Now is the crash, and all I want to do is go home and sleep.

I wish the cafeteria sold those 5-hour energy shots. I can't handle drinking a Monster energy drink right now, which is the only thing they have. Actually, what I really want is a hi*ball. Those are tasty and delicious. The grapefruit is my favorite because it's not sweet.

How in the world does dirt get under my fingernails? I shower every day. I work in an office. Gross. Now all I want to do is take a bath and then go to sleep.

I wish I knew how to play the accordion. Also, I wish that I flew model planes. Really, I wish I did anything that people might find interesting.

yep, she's still on the bike at 7 months preggo.

The very best thing about the internet, excepting the copious amounts of free porn of course, is that a person can research embarrassing or delicate information without having to go out in public. There are times when I miss going to the library and searching through the stacks, but boy oh boy do I love me some internet.

This weekend is going to be full of self-improvement, from NaNoProMo to running, to cycling the lakeshore path, to needlepointing. I will also be taking my giant stack of catalogs and marking the gifts I want to get for Christmas. Not gifts that *I* want, gifts I want to order to give, I should make that clear. I am making it a goal to Christmas shop only using catalogs. There are some really neat things out there.

Elliot's class was learning about ants. Leaf cutting ants? Doesn't matter.

Ella was the queen ant. Elliot and another student were drones.

Teacher: The queen ant runs away.
(Ella runs off)
Teacher: The drone (pointing at Elliot) runs after her.
(Elliot runs after Ella)
Teacher: The drone taps the queen on the head.
(Elliot taps Ella on the head)
Teacher: They mate and then the drone dies.
Elliot: Okay, but this play just got 80% less beautiful. (dies)

lovelovelovelovelove that boy

Roxanne sent me the coolest purple tights ever and I'm wearing them today!



I'll try to update more over the wknd. Work is ridiculous right now. :(

While I was searching around, I came across this review of an Android CTA Tracker App. Which leads to the question: if you use a cell phone application to help with your bus routes, which one(s) do you use? Or do you, as the review suggests, use the bus tracker website (http://www.ctabustracker.com/) on your phone or computer?

I have to leave to attend a co-worker's 20-year anniversary party at work, but here is how I look in my amazing awesome holy-cow-I-can-see spectacles:



I'm enjoying the resurgence of teenage-like acne that's going on all up on me these days. I'm pretty sure it's a side effect of gabapentin, but oh well. Hopefully that will die down soon.

Good News: If you're a T-Mobile user, T-Mobile is to be added to the list of cell phone providers available in the CTA tunnels.

Bad News: You're a T-Mobile user.

So, I've finished the Discworld books about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch (according to this reading guide). I listened to them all on audiobook over the last few months. I liked them quite a lot, but I don't know if I want to start on another series or not. I chose the Watch series because a long time ago my friend Chris told me that was the best series, so that's what I read. So now what? Do I start a new series? And if so, which do I go with next?

There was a post on gizmodo or lifehacker the other day which offered to de-mystify compiling programs from source for those who weren't familiar with how compiling a program worked.

Basically, they told me to run:

./configure
make
make install

I, personally, was filled with loathing and disgust that they got me all excited that I might learn something new. I should know better. I don't learn new things from Gizmodo and Lifehacker; I just enjoy reading some of the posts.

But some people do learn new things from those posts. Some people do need to compile from source and can't be bothered to read the README, the INSTALL, the instructions from the download page, or Google results.

Which brings me to my point:

I'm going to Kansas City today to present "What's New in Recent Solaris Releases". I was beating myself up about the presentation because no matter how hard I tried I couldn't come up with enough fascinating to fill two hours. There's cool stuff but not two hour's worth.

But there is two hour's worth because, just like Gizmodo and Lifehacker readers haven't figured out ./configure && make install on their own, some Solaris administrators don't know Solaris 10 What's New exists.

So very cool. NaNoProMo is going well. Yesterday I fudged a little and only read a few essays from my Schneier on Security book. Tonight I think I'll concentrate on XSL-FOs. Or maybe more on XHTML - I would like to update my website a little bit, like with a resume page.

Exactly what it sounds like: https://www.freshballs.com/ (has auto-playing audio/video)

We still had a super fun time at the game and checking out all of the tailgating prior to the game though.



The weather couldn't have been better. Troy even got sunburned.



I was a bit overdressed, even for a stadium jacket wearing derelict.

One of my all-time favorite bands was the local Chicago band The Ghettobillies. They stopped performing a few years ago, unfortunately. Three of them have formed a new band for you to love and/or hate just as much. The new band with the awesomely bad name is Katastrofist and has two songs for your enjoyment/hatred at their myspace page. This is about the only thing that can get me to go to myspace.

I had never tried Pandora Radio until today. I like it a lot! I wish there was something between a thumbs up and thumbs down, though, as if to say "I like it, but let's not get carried away with it".

ABC's Modern Family is hilarious. Probably my favorite comedy since Arrested Development.

My new Blackberry has shocking low battery life. I'm hoping it's a configuration thing. I'm going to stop by Target to get some more chargers, though. I like to have one at work, one downstairs at home, and one upstairs at home (plus a new tip for my iGo system, for travel).

I'm going to lose 15 pounds in November. Yes, I choose the month that has Thanksgiving to lose a lot of weight. It seems like a lot, but since it's the start of the diet, it's easier to lose a lot. I just really want to see some sort or results. I don't have a scale that can handle m girth, so I won't really be able to check anyway. It's just the trying I need to work on.

Games and pumpkins tonight. I like games and pumpkins.

Lately, there's been more than one person having frequent overnights at my place, which has put a strain on my considerable (Sam's Club WHAT!) toilet tissue reserves. Lately, I've noticed that there's been an awful lot of variation in the way the rolls are getting mounted.

I always string the toilet paper up with the roll's end in front, but one of these deviant harpies has repeatedly had the nerve to defy my logic by arranging for the end to roll out toward the wall. It's perverse, really, when you think of it. Why would you do something like that?

The problem is cultural. The pie-in-the-sky, lackadaisical ethics of today's American youth inspire them to perpetuate the myth that supply springs from nowhere, that the mechanics of convenience should be concealed, and that aesthetics are to be prioritized over function. Just think about it: the toilet paper dispenser is a critical machine of civilization--verily, a cog in its wheel. There's something fundamentally dishonest about hiding the business end of such a noble and true device in the name of willful ignorance and looking pretty.

Shenanigans! It's these same soft hippie bastards who advocate green shit and the conservation of energy! Well, look at me now, expending extra energy reaching an extra four inches toward the fucking wall and spending an extra twenty seconds groping for the T.P.! Time is wasting, people! Dingleberries are getting crusty! Think of the children.

God-fearing, decent people who believe in freedom and integrity roll the toilet paper away from the goddamned wall. That's true grit. That's honesty. That's American.