| (no subject) |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|08:46 am] |
We had a very busy day, yesterday. Started out that we got into the back bedroom, dumping some stuff, shifting other items to places where they're more likely to get used properly, and so on. Then, we got to work on moving the entertainment system into the living room.
A young lady dropped in and spent some time with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) forestcats riding horseback while I got some laundry done. After she left, we rebuilt the stereo and hooked up the VCR to the living room TV. The PS2 will go into the den with the new TV along with the DVR.
Finally, we got ready and went to the Rancho Specialty Hospital Christmas party, and had a reasonably good time; chatted with some folks, ate, danced a bit.
Slept like a log... |
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| Okay, then. |
[Dec. 19th, 2009|05:00 pm] |
I qualified for far too much money on a Best Buy card so I got our mutual Holiday present. If I'm offline for a few days, it's because we are are-installing a bunch of stuff on our new monolith. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 19th, 2009|09:32 am] |
Last night was our first foray into the odd building in Hollywood known as The Magic Castle. (www.magiccastle.com) It's a private club of and for magicians, and you have to have an invitation from a member to be able to enter. 21 and over; proper attire required (when we arrived, a lady in a pants suit was instructed to put on a jacket...) Entry fee allows you access to a variety of rooms where accomplished prestidigitators, illusionists and ventriloquists carry out their skills. There's bars secreted all over the place, and practically speaking, at each one there's someone who will be willing to show off with close-up tricks. We took in four shows, two while seated in the front row, and these people were skillful, indeed. While wandering about, some fellow pulled me aside, and shook my hand, because I looked just like his son. The building was very crowded; the rooms devoted to the restaurant were tight; the food was fair. Every major room for the shows had waitresses present to fill drink orders. Wow.
I would say that it was worth going to see, after having had a distant cousin who was a member and who would always do a card trick or two when he'd visit; I always wondered what the place was like. The very first time I'd ever even seen what the inside of the place was like was on an episode of Top Chef in the last year. We actually got another invitation from a magician who played at Dungeonmaster as an opening act, so if we go again, I think it will have to be on a week night, so that it isn't so crowded (or so I hope), though I'd probably have to get off work VERY early to get there. We'll see... |
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| Friday Confessional |
[Dec. 18th, 2009|10:46 am] |
This week: Confess anything. A secret, a fear, a passion, a dream, a buried hatred, or a hidden delight that only you know about.
When I feel that the confession’s contents constitute an ostensible "sin," I’ll hand out a penance. Kneel and be remorseful.
IP logging is off. You may post anonymously, if you like.
While you're at it, head over to the journal of jesus_h_biscuit and spit your venom at the assholes in your life via Rat Bastard Fridays
M-A |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|10:54 pm] |
Strange day.
Before leaving for work, I decided to give up on reading a book by Garrison Allen, called Movie Cat. It's part of a series of murder mysteries set in a small Arizona town, and they seem to revolve around a mystery bookstore, and the store cat seems to get involved. My interest started because the cat's name was Mycroft, and his description wasn't all that far away from that of our old cat, the Gray Mouser, may he rest in peace. Now, with Mouser in his grave, it just doesn't have the verve to keep my interest.
Then, I read Fables #91, with interesting results. New politics, to boot.
Finally, I read a short story that I downloaded online from Tor.com by Charles Stross, set in his Laundry universe, called Overtime. Nice Christmas/Cthulhu crossover... |
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| More Sketches |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|01:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Chez Menthe | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  good | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Covenent "Hardward Requiem" | ] |
Two more from the night shift. Pen on receipt paper.
"Storm Angel"
"Coburn"
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|12:18 am] |
So, a few hours ago, we laid down our hard-earned money, and paid for a flat screen plasma TV - Samsung 50". There's going to have to be some pretty aggressive furniture moving in the immediate future, as the thing is going to have to be installed in a week. For the time being, we're making no attempt at putting in any upgraded sound system; in fact, the stereo we DO have will be moving into the living room (I SAID there's going to be some pretty aggressive rearranging going on, didn't I???). I think that we're going to shift the Playstation 2 into the den with the new TV, and leave the Wii in the living room with the older set, but at this point, it's undecided. In addition, we're going to have to do something with the VCR. Probably, the VCR and the Wii, with the cable hookup, will all go with the older TV, with the former two on a switch box for the rare times we'll use the VCR, and the cable still hooked up as is. But we'll see.
This weekend was supposed to be restful, but we're going to have things to do F/Sat & Sun. Oy. They'll probably be reasonably fun (well, maybe not Saturday night. Or Sunday. But Friday should be a gas!), but we'll just have to wait and see.
Oh, and I love forestcats to distraction. Just saying. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|11:59 pm] |
It irritates me to no end that the local Borders and Barnes & Noble doesn't carry Mike Resnick's books; I'm sure that they have their reasons, but if they're going to service their customer, then they should be ordering this. It just shows the stupidity of having some regional district manager ordering, instead of someone at the store, who speaks to people everyday about what they like, and why.
Anyway, that rant out of the way, I finished reading Mike Resnick's new novel, Starship: Flagship, set in his Birthright universe. It held together nicely, and was a quick, fun read, as were the several prior books in this particular series. Very readable.
Odd thing: Amazon says that the book is supposed to be released on 12/22. I used a gift card I'd gotten to order from them, and the book showed up in just a couple of days. Mistake? Well, I enjoyed it, in any case. |
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| Sketchy Doodle Doo |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|11:34 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Chez Menthe | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  artistic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Oingo Boingo "Elevator Man" | ] |
A couple of receipt paper doodles I did at work last night.
 "Holiday Seahorse"
 "Wounded" |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|08:11 am] |
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Worn as I felt, still, last night we traveled into Pasadena to meet up with z23zowie to have dinner at Sushi Roku and wander around a bit in Old Town Pasadena. The food was excellent, and I liked my choice of sake. Nice evening all around. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|07:00 am] |
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Last night, waiting for the return of forestcats, I finished Connections 2. In the end, the second run wasn't nearly as good as the first, as has been said here repeatedly, but still a stimulating intellectual exercise. Still worth seeing. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 14th, 2009|08:15 am] |
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Having worked, yesterday, I wasn't around to help forestcats clean up, but she did a great job without me, and by the time I arrived home, most of the folks coming to the cookie exchange had already arrived. I got interrupted a few times by pages, but we were able to spend some quality time with a lot of folks, and ended up with lots of cookies for gifting and eating. Nice. |
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