Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Birds Do It, Bees Do It

This week spring seems to have finally really arrived. The last several days have been warm and sunny and absolutely lovely. Yesterday I managed to get out on my bike for more than the few blocks between my apartment and campus. I rode to class then my grandma's (she's out of town and I'm making sure her cats don't starve while she's gone) and back... all in all about 17 miles.

It was a beautiful day for riding. There was a little wind, which is never really fun, but otherwise it was perfect. It's really nice to get back on my bike. Really I need to get serious about riding again. I have two big rides in June I want to do and it's never too early to start getting in shape. Actually, I'm surprised I didn't lose more over the winter- I pretty much didn't do any riding or anything else to really help me stay in shape. Being back on my bike now is easier than I thought it would be. Maybe it's all the dancing I've been doing? I have no idea, but I'm not complaining.

My fun little ride ended rather tragically. First flat of the season. Blah. I had timed things so that I could ride home from Grandma's with about 20 minutes to clean up before I went to class. The flat kind of blew that for me. I actually called for a pick up because I didn't have time to fix the flat and get back home. While I was waiting for my ride, I patched my tube and had a major fight with my tire. I just put new tires on my bike and they are a bitch to get on and off- something that you need to do to fix a flat. Stupid tires.

Anyway, besides the lovely biking weather, spring is bringing good news on the employment front. I was offered a job at a credit union right by my house. It was a good, but kind of boring job, and I was supposed to be training for it this week. However, last week I landed a gig at the library (perfect for me, eh?) which is a much better fit for me. It's actually only part-time... sort of.

It's a sub job and there is a limit to the number of hours a year I can work. However, since I'm starting a few months into it, I can be working at least 30 hours a week for now and then I can cut back hours in the fall and go back to school full time. I basically get to create my own schedule - I pick which shifts I want to cover and how much/little I want to work. It does have it's downfalls though too: to really get a lot of hours, I'll have to go to libraries all over the valley, which means lots of drive time (but it could also mean long bike rides, which would be good!). But if the commuting sucks, this job is a great way to get into the system and makes it more likely that I will be hired at one of the branches if a permanent position opens up.

There's also a lot of training, which doesn't start until next week, and is only a couple days a week. So I'm not exactly going to be rolling in dough for a while. But that's ok. I actually haven't touched my savings since quiting DeathJob so I'll manage to get by for a little longer. My big money saving strategy: Start dating no fewer than 3 guys. They can pay for food and recreation so all I have to worry about is rent.

Just kidding. I wouldn't date someone just for their money.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

La-Di-Freaking-Da

Guess what! I have a couch! My living room is functional and cohesive. I'm quite excited about it. After all, we've been living here for almost three months without a couch. But now it is here. Yay! It's very comfortable too. Double yay!

So that was part of my weekend. The most really exciting part, which is not to say the rest of the weekend was dull, but I was most excited about my couch. It may seem silly to be excited about a piece of furniture. No one ever accused me of being not silly.

I am going to have to have a very belated housewarming party or something now that we actually have a place for people to park their bums.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I Would Honestsly Wear A Shirt That Said That

Dino Comics are fun. This particular frame has always hit a chord with me.




So, the other day I was feeling crafty (or something like that) and this is the result:


Yep. I really am that cool.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

R. I. P.

In case you haven't heard yet, Arthur C. Clarke has died. The guy was 90, and lived a good, long life.

I honestly don't spend a lot of time reading science fiction, but I have read a few of his books. It's a shame to loose such an author. So take a moment out of your day to reflect on this loss.

Here's a scene from 2001: Space Odyssey. If you haven't read the book, you probably should.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy Irish Day!

Huzzah for St Patrick! But first....

I'm sure many of you have heard that the "Spam King" has plead guilty to a bunch of charges. The story itself is not that interesting, until they get to the part where he's broke. So he has to pay restitution somehow. Instead of money he has to pay with stuff. This is the best part:

Among the assets Soloway agrees might be subject to forfeiture are 24 pairs of sunglasses worth $3,724*

That made me laugh. Those of you who know me, or at least have seen my room, might know why. A normal person might think, upon reading that, "who in their right mind would have that many sunglasses?"

I thought "really? only 24?"

Actually, I only have 21. I had 27, but got rid of several pairs when I moved. After all, 27 pairs of sunglasses, that's a little excessive. You don't believe me? Hold on, let me grab my camera.


Yes, those really are all mine. If you don't believe me, look closer. You can see my reflection in a few of the lenses. I'm pretty sure they are not worth anywhere near $3,724 - With one exception, I haven't paid more than $15 for any of them. The exception is the pair I have for biking, that cost me $30.

Now back to St Patty's Day. Wear green! Get drunk! Rid your country of snakes! Find gold at the ends of rainbows! Beware leprechauns, they're tricky little devils. Cheers mate!




*from Seattle Pi, which was the first result I got when I asked google about it. I heard the story, and about the sunglasses, this morning on NPR.

Friday, March 14, 2008

3.14159265

By the way,

Happy Pi Day!















See, cuz today is 3.14... The date... with the numbers...it's pi... rounded to 3 significant.... yeah.

Sha Na Na

Happy Friday kids!

Today is my last day of unemployment. Aren't we excited? Yes we are. Kind of. I guess the money thing is kind of important, but I'm going to miss having nothing but time on my hands. Today, for instance, I didn't wake up until 10, but I stayed in bed reading until I finished my book. I ate lunch and am now simply lounging around the apartment. This, my friends, is the good life. Sadly, it can't last.

Anyway, today is a lovely Friday, which is the best day of the week because it is full of hope and it starts off the weekend. My weekend is going to be super fun and super busy. I hope yours is at least the former, if not the latter. To kick it off, I leave you with something to make you laugh. Jeff Dunham is brilliant!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Me = Winner!

Check it out, bitches! I won an award! That's right, you are now reading my award winning blog of awesome!

Aw, man, now I almost feel obligated to actually blog something worth reading. Or not. After all, it was just my odd little ramblings that got me the award in the first place.

I would like to thank all the little people who supported me on the way up. And my three loyal readers who never gave up on me. And I would like to thank Baby Dinosaur Jesus and the Flying Spaghetti Monster and any other false idols you can think of.

And finally: Look, It's a spade!


Friday, March 07, 2008

Friday to End All Fridays

Ok, so not really, that amazing a Friday. Today is actually kind of anti-eventful. I slept in, cleaned my room and dusted my floor. Wow! I may or may not go out dancing tonight. I'm kind of apathetic about the idea. I'm sure I'd have fun once I got there, but I'm not really finding the motivation.

Yesterday was fun. The weather was sunny and almost warm so I took the bus to my parent's house and picked up my bike. It was awesome to ride again, even though I didn't go very far- just back to campus and then, much later, home. I was hoping that the weather would stay nice this weekend, but it's not looking very promising. This makes me a sad panda.


Moving on!

Have you heard? There's going to be a Monopoly movie. I shit you not. Hollywood is really strapped for ideas, apparently. Cracked-dot-com made a fun list of 30 things that should never ever become movies. I found it very funny. But you KNOW that some of these will probably, someday, in the not necessarily distant future, be done. And we will be able to thank Cracked for giving Hollywood the ideas.

I am now officially giving up on being at all entertaining today. Sorry. Tune in next time, I'll do better.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

What's In A Name

Interesting news on the Wegener's front. Not that any of you really follow the subject, but recently information has come out that Dr. Wegener was a Nazi. That sucks. You can read the NY times article here. Or you can just ask google about Wegener and Nazi.

Anyway, because the Nazis were mass murdering fuck heads, there's a movement to change the name of WG. I'm kind of indifferent on that front. It's still going to suck no matter what you call it. I don't feel any worse knowing that the dude it's named after was a bad guy. It's not going to make me feel any better if I have to start calling it something else. In fact, it's not going to affect me much at all.

Anyway, it looks like I may soon get to say I have "ANCA-associated granulomatous vasculitis." Because people don't scratch their heads and say "huh?" when I tell them I have Wegener's granulomatosis; a more complicated name is definitely what this disease needs. And dammit, I'll have to change the tags on all my WG related posts. Stupid Nazis.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Marching In

Hooray! It's March! That means warmer weather (right?). And that means time to get out on my bike again.

I actually spent a few hours on Saturday fixing up my bikes. Bike1 got new tires, some truing (I actually am just learning how to do that) and a spiffy new rack. It was actually in decent shape to start out, except for the tires. Frankenbike (the fixed gear) needed a little more work. I got to mess with the chain and fiddle with the seat plus the usual fiddling with things and cleaning, you know, like you do. Both are ready to be ridden now though, I am pretty psyched about it.

Saturday afternoon it snowed. Aaron, I know you read this and will probably give me shit for not being an all weather biker. And, it's true, I had great plans to ride through the winter. But I am kind of a wuss and like it to be sunny and fine when I'm on my bike, or at least not freezing and snowy. Plus, it's been kinda windy. Wind= scowling frowny face. Hopefully things will turn (and stay) happy and warm soon.

In other news, I'm still searching for new employment. I haven't heard from the place I interviewed at last week. I had an interview at the library today, but there's a sub who's applying for that job and will probably get it. She's already trained and everything, so it makes sense. The hospital my dad works at is desperate for a PR assistant. I'm sending them my resume tomorrow. That could be a lot of fun because I would get to do a lot of traveling. I might have an edge there too because they all know me, and I'm a former patient.

In other other news (but actually kind of related to what I started with, thus bringing this post full circle. Aren't circles awesome?), my buddy Aaron (he's popular in my blog today) wants to arrange a cross-country bike ride to raise funds and awareness for Wegener's. How groovy is that? Of course, he's not allowed to do this without me. We're looking at next summer (2009). There is a lot to do, so anyone interested in helping out will be loved forever and ever.
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2007 Banned Books Week: Ahoy! Treasure Your Freedom to Read and Get Hooked on a Banned Book