Happy Halloween!

So would it be wrong to tell a kid that I'll give him extra candy if he'll get me his mommy's phone number?

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Halloween Party

Sorry, my camera died so I have no pictures. Then again I would have probably forgotten to take pictures. Only four of us were in costume anyways...
Me (my Firefly LARP character)
Greg (his Firefly LARP character)
Nicole (a Hill-Betty gas station attendant)
Carlton (Scuba-Ninja!)

Given that there were only three other people, it was a pretty small party. And two of those had to leave early.

As my circle of friends gets older, more of them have responsibilities that preclude things like parties. Not that I didn't have fun with the people that was there, I had a good time and I'm grateful that people made it. I guess I'm just afraid one of these years it will just be me, the cat and a pitcher of Green Stuff.

Speaking of Green Stuff, kudos to Nicole for bringing the large test tubes that we drank this year's batch from. Since you couldn't set the tube down, you had to finish your drink if you didn't want to hold it.

Maybe we should have followed through on the notion of going to the party that Greg stumbled into (literally) looking for my house. I bet my pitcher of Green Stuff would have made some friends.

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Refrigerator Archeology

Do you know what a mummified orange looks like? Because I think that I found one... next to the cheese from 2002. As one of my friends said, 2002 was a good year for cheese, but not in 2006. I don't even know whose cheese it was, it was some sort of round, white cheese that someone brought over for a party and was never opened.


For some reason during the "clean-up" for my annual Halloween party I decided to clean out my fridge, which had become full of abandoned, half finished soda bottles, leftovers, and remains from parties. Being a feral bachelor, I don't much worry about the contents of my fridge, but I had several 2 liters of soda for the party and little space for it.

Out of everything that I threw away, I think two were things that I had at some point bought. While my memory sucks (I have a hardware store worth of lightbulbs because I keep forgetting that I have them and buy more), I can tell because most of the stuff was food/drink I wouldn't buy.

When I was done, there was my soda, Keith's Diet Mt Dew stash (all sealed bottles - I only pitched open bottles), Weasel's apple cider (still good until 11/05/06 - the year is important), green punch (that I had just bought to make green stuff), beer, and a steak I had just bought (Ar Ar Ar). So yes, the only food in my fridge was a slab of meat. Of course, my freezer has a stack of tv dinners, but I didn't clean it out.

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217

I remember thinking of all sorts of clever things to put in this post while at work, but now that I'm in front of the keyboard, I can't remember them.

I wore my new jeans which are 2" smaller in the waist then other pairs of pants and they actually fit comfortably. I was getting ready to go see the Mummies at the Vogue and I was a little surprised when I looked in the mirror. Maybe I don't notice it when I wear my work clothes or loafing around the house clothes, but I could really see the difference.


I'm pretty sure I won't make 215 by Halloween, but I'm not going to worry about it. I could force the issue, but that would be pointless as after I stopped depriving myself just to hit a number, I'd binge and be worse off when it's all said and done. So if I'm 216 or 217 on 10/31, it's still good.

Plus, I think a cute girl started to flirt with me last night at the Vogue. Unfortunately, I think she was scared off because she thought the woman next to me was my girlfriend and was taking offense. I have no clue who the woman next to me was, she just happened to be sitting there. I'll never know for sure... one minute she had her hand on my shoulder, the next she shook hands with me then my neighbor and took off. Maybe it's just as well I don't know... that way I can make up my own answer. ;)

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Hello

I decided the check out digg.com after my friend Nicole mentioned it in her blog. One of the first stories I found led to a page listing how to say "hello" in 800 different languages.

Including 14 dialects of English.

Being a bit of a language geek, I couldn't resist. There are tons of obscure languages and dialects. Did you know there was an Irish language called Brigidian? Want to find any native North, Central, or South American languages? Look here.

And I think I discovered the language that inspired George Lucas when writing Jar-Jar's dialogue. It's called Kriol, from northern Australia.

"Where are you coming from?" = "Wijei yu bin kaman?"
"Where are you(plural) coming from?" = "Wijei yumob bin kaman?"

The site also has other words and phrases from various languages.

Until later... mahaha dinn (good-bye in Brigidian).

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Bar observation

I went to the Blue Crew Sports Grill, a new bar that is within staggering distance of home. It was my second trip there, and while I was a little disappointed the the bartender/poster-girl from my first visit wasn't working, one of the bartenders tonight was very cute.

Of course, with beer comes philosophy, especially when you have nothing better to do than pretend to watch the World Series while you eavesdrop and people watch.


First I pondered the difference between cute and hot. While the two are by no means exclusive, it is possible to have one without the other. Of course, the next question is what is better: cute or hot? In the case of the bartenders, I'd pick the "cute" one over the "hot" one (as if that would ever be a dilemma that I'd face :) ). In general, that's the way I lean. But it may be because I tend to like smarter girls, and the notion of a cute geek girl is much more appealing than a vapid but hot airhead.

Whatever. I'm several beers in and trying to stay awake because I have a late night tomorrow.

I also noticed that even if you're an obnoxious drunk, if you're an outgoing Type-A personality, you'll still be popular with women. I was stuck sitting next to the loudest drunk in the bar, so between his antics I got to hear one woman seeking to set him up with her friend, watch him entertain a table of four women on a girls' night out, and finally have another woman practically ready to bear his children. And it wasn't like he was that great looking (at least as well as I can judge such things).

So the lesson is if you are assertive and gregarious, you're in luck. But if you are quiet and reserved, you're screwed. But only figuratively.

OK, I need to find something else to keep me entertained for a couple of hours.

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218

Finally... the weight loss seems to have slowed to a crawl. I suspect it has to do with the chaos at work making things more stressful.

Looks like 215 by Halloween won't happen. I would say the work stress should go away, but it's only going to become different. I work retail, and we are about to hit the holidays.


I just need to make sure that I don't get discouraged. Even slow progress is still progress.

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The cantina would have been more popular if...

Maybe DragonCon would be worth going to after all, given the proliferation of Slave Leia costumes.

Oh, and this is website for the dancer, Amira. I was disappointed to see that the Irish Bellydancing section was still under construction.

Irish Bellydancing.

I'll be in my bunk.

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Too sick to be executed?

In this article you can read where a man that murdered a family now claims he shouldn't be executed because he's too fat and diabetic.

I feel my dark side coming on...

/cuedarthvadertheme


What makes me sick are the resources we spend warehousing animals like this. This case has been dragging on for 17 years, and not only have we been supporting this bastard, we've been paying the continue the prosecutions and appeals. Throw the fucking switch already. I bet he wasn't worried about how humane it was when he gunned down those kids and their parents in a pit. The fuck deserves some pain.

That's the problem with our system... we coddle criminals. We are so worried about their rights that the system doesn't deter them. While I may be "liberal" with some stuff, guys like this deserve to die and we need to quit warehousing them. If you can't reform them there is no reason to keep them around or worse yet, turn them back loose into society.

That whole controversy regarding tracking child predators because we're worried about whether or not they'll attack someone else... I have an easy solution. It's called a wood chipper.

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Heroes

I really like this series. I got to watch the most recent episode again with some friends and we discussed it quite a bit afterwards. We even invented a drinking game...

Heroes Drinking Game Rules:
1) Whenever the Symbol (looks like part of a DNA helix broken off, poss. RNA) is shown, everyone drinks.

2) Everyone needs to pick a hero. Every time that hero uses their power, the person that picked that hero must drink.

3) Every time two heroes meet, the people that chose those heroes drink.

4) If the hero you chose is "defeated" (knocked out or captured), you must finish your drink.

And if you've missed the first few epsiodes, it's easy to catch up...

NBC Heroes site

Fan site & forums

Ya ta!

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My Inner European

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

Gee, there's a surprise.

I could go on about why or why not I would refer to myself as a European-American, but I'm not sober enough to articulate it intelligently and not just sound like a jackass. But somewhere in there is a kernel of an interesting observation.

Good night. :)

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What planet are you from?

You Are From Pluto

You are a dark, mysterious soul, full of magic and the secrets of the universe. You can get the scoop on anything, but you keep your own secrets locked in your heart. You love change and you use it to your advantage, whether by choice or chance. You don't like to compromise, to the point of being self-destructive with your stubborness. Live life with love, and your deep powers will open the world to you.

What Planet Are You From?

But... Pluto's been demoted.

Feh, Pluto is still a planet to me.

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A look from the outside

Click Here to put this video in your profile!

I found this British article regarding our politics to be an interesting look at our government from the outside.


For the record, I think that if the Democrats do get a majority, attempts to impeach Bush will be futile unless someone coughs up a really smoking gun because they won't have enough of a majority. They just need to send those hobbits to Mount Doom so we can banish Cheney.

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Pagan Pride 2k6

First of all, let me say that I totally agreed with the decision to postpone PPD because of the rainy weather on the original date. If they wouldn't have pushed it back, I would have just not gone.

Second let me say: Brrrr


Normally PPD takes place the third or fourth weekend of September, so it's usually warm. Our tent location in normal conditions would have rocked, under an oak tree with several trees to the south, give us plenty a shade. This weekend, shade + wind equalled cold. And the wind was gusty. While we fought to keep our tapestry on the back of the tent anchored, our neighbor's tent little was blown away.

The cool weather really hurt attendance (along with the afore mentioned date change). There were some plus and minuses. As the shallow male that I am, on the minus side it was too cold for nubile young pagan women to flounce around in just a peasant skirt and a scarf. On the plus side, it was too cold for 300 lb earth mothers to flounce around in just a peasant skirt and a scarf.

Speaking of weight, even though I am still stuck at 219 I was able to wear my leather jacket that has been neglected in my closet for years because I was too fat for it.

The good thing about PPD is that I get to see people that I rarely see since I am no longer active in the community. As a bonus, our tent was next to Liz's, so we got to spend the day hanging out and bantering. Liz is making and selling jewelry now, and I'll have to put up a link to her site, Ugly Stepsister's Design. Seth, another tribe member who had dropped off radar, reappeared also.

Keith and Sherri brought the newest addition to the tribe, their adopted Russian baby. Uncle Oz can't wait to teach him Klingon and how to fetch beers. :) The kid was as cute as advertised and was fascinated by everything.

By the time PPD was over, I was tired. Even though all I do is sit in chair and talk to people as they come by the tent, it's a long day. I wish they would push the start time back to 11 am.

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Schizoid? Not us!

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	High
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	High
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	Low
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	Low
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Low
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

As a mental exercise, I took the test again as I would have answered a couple of years ago...

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	High
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	Low
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Low
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

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Wal-Mart cracks down on unhealthy workers

Another black eye for the Evil Empire, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart was cracking down on people calling in sick. Employees that want to call off have to call a 1-800 number and get a code to give to their manager. The system will track sick time and whether or not absences are authorized. Too many unauthorized call offs and the employee gets canned. The article I got this info from is here.


Having been a manager, and being an employee that almost never uses sick time, I can see a little of the other side of this argument. It's a pain when you have employees that frequently call off and corporate red tape actually makes it harder to crack down on them. But I think Wally-World is setting itself up for more lawsuits or major losses in its workforce. Either the system will have to make judgement calls, in which case someone will charge discrimination, or it will be ruthlessly impartial and people will get fired left and right. Might not sound so bad if the termed employee is some young slacker who calls off because he's always hung over from frequent partying, but what if it's a single mom with a baby that gets sick a lot?

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How Jedi are you?

how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen


More like "which Jedi are you, and Yoda sucks".

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Who speaks for the Middle?

At the gym, two of the channels in the bank of 8 televisions are set to CNN and Fox News. I usually have my radio set to one of these news channels... I bounce back and forth because inevitably whichever one I'm listening to will annoy me. It's usually the talking heads, who invite people from the opposite side onto their show just so that they can try to belittle them and then talk over their response.

Objective journalism my ass.


It occurred to me that I didn't know of a "moderate" news channel or media talking head. I guess "moderate" doesn't draw ratings, because being left or right means being divisive, and conflict = interesting. Moderates aren't fun because it's harder for the other side to pin down and tear down.

This whole Foley thing really shows the leanings of the news networks. CNN predicts that the Republicans will lose control of Congress, while Fox predicts that they won't and that it's all a Democrat conspiracy.

Frankly, I think Hastert needs to resign and there should be a criminal investigation. Anyone found to have been sitting on these allegations, whether it was Republicans protecting their own interests or Democrats holding it for pre-election ammo, needs to be charged to whatever extent the law allows and kicked out of Congress.

Of course, if the conspiracy theorists are right, them Osama will be found and/or killed in the next two weeks.

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Marvel Comics: Civil War

OK, if you have no clue what Civil War is, then this probably won't be of much interest. In a nutshell, during a fight between superheroes and supervillians near a school, one of the villians causes a huge explosion that kills a lot of people including dozens of children. THis polarizes the nation and the gov't passes the Superhero Registration Act. This review of a recent Spider-Man tie-in shows some of the big flaws behind what could have been a fascinating storyline.


There have been some Civil War tie-ins and books that I've liked, mostly the Front Line" title that has been following two reporters who in turn are following opposite "sides" of Civil War. There has also been some of the worst writing I've seen in a long time, stuff I'm amazed that the editiors actually allowed to see print.

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Guinness really Gywnnyss?

OK, maybe all of 5 people will get the headline joke once they read this article, that claims Guinness was originally created by a Welshman.


I guess the vowels are all that the Irish stole... bryllywnt!

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Maybe they can build me one

Since I didn't get a mail-order bride from Russia, maybe I could just get a robotic one? After all, most of my friends know that I have a weakness for cute Asian women. And she wouldn't complain about my house being a mess or my lack of real ambition.

OK, really I find the actroid a little creepy.

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219

As my diet buddy Nicole put it, I broke my plateau. The past week or so has been kind of frustrasting as I'd weigh in and the needle would vary from 222 to just under 220. This morning it was solidly on 219, as it was when I got home from work


If I get back to the old pattern of loss, I can still easily hit 215 by Halloween. A few weeks ago I bought a pair of jeans that are 2" smaller in the waist than my current wardrobe. Last time I checked, I could fit in them but not comfortably, but that was right after I bought them. I'll have to try again.

Good thing I resisted that pizza I tempted by last night.

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Evil Empires

First up is a news story regarding Wal-Mart and how they plan on pushing out their higher paid, more tenured employees in favor of ones that are willing to work at any time and under a wage cap. Of course Wally World denies it, despite corroboration by ex-managers.

The second is an Op-Ed article that draws comparisons between events in the Roman Republic and post-9/11 US. I'm sure staunch Reight Wingers will dismiss it as liberal prattle, but you know what they say about those who don't learn from history...


I guess today's theme is too much power in too few hands is a bad thing, both in business and government. Wal-Mart has become so powerful in business that it has become a bully. And as the Federal government gets more and more power without checks... well, you do the math.

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Rest of the weekend

Octoberfest. Ren Faire. And I still found time to fit more stuff in between.

Last night my friends Nicole and Carlton had an Octoberfest party featuring 4 different homebrews and tons of food. It sounds like a recipe for dietary disaster, but I was good. I only nibbled on a little food (and very little sweets). As for the beer, I paced myself pretty carefully, more for intoxication than dietary concerns. And with all of those yummy beers, it took some discipline.

I had a lot of fun even though I didn't know most of the people there. Nicole refers to me as her "introvert extrovert friend". That means that while I may be reserved and not outgoing, I can be comfortable with a bunch of people I don't know even if I'm just hanging out and watching what's going on. I did talk to a few people, some that I had never met before, some I'd only met a couple of times, and a few that were established friends. Probably the most off the wall discussion had to do with mathematics and how does one express numbers less than 1 in a non-decimal base system like base 8? For example, what would 1.67 be in base 8? How about 2.89? Leave it to me to be discussing Kzin math at a party.

Today I went to the Fisher's Ren Faire with Nicole. Last year we were lucky enough to bump into some other friends. This year it looks like they didn't make it, but there was a few thousand more people to make up for it. Word was that vendors brought 3x what they sold last year and were selling out. This is good, because that means the Faire will be ongoing and draw even more vendors. Hopefully the evil day star didn't burn me much... you'd think I would have learned after Irishfest. My only quibble was the parking situation... they could have used an extra bus or two for each remote lot.

I also maintained my gym schedule today, despite getting home at like 2:30am, which I am proud of because that shows it's become part of my routine, so that even when I am tired I don't talk myself into skipping "just this once".

I managed to get a "scene" out of my brain and into type so that it would quit distracting me. It won't make sense to any but a handful of folks, it has to do with gaming and certain campaigns and once I typed it out it was no longer rattling around in the fore of my thoughts.

I finished "Widdershins" by Charles de Lint. An excellent book, especially for me because it gives more detail on the world he's created within his Newford novels and it featured some of my favorite characters. Of course, this also gives me more fodder for the gaming.

I squeezed in about five episodes of Veronica Mars Season 2. I can blame Carlton and one or more of my co-workers for getting me curious enough to watch Season 1 so that I got hooked.

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White & Nerdy

Unfortunately the "White & Nerdy" quiz is about how well you know the song, not how big of a nerd *you* are.

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