The Rest of the Circuit

chickgonebad

05:18 pm - Tomorrow's to-do list

• Doctor's appointment
• Call mortgage company
• Call caterer for Roast
• Call restaurant to reconfirm numbers for Dead Dog
• Call Wade
• Bake biscuits
• Research & revise abstracts
• Find mob cap! (this may be a lost cause... I'm running out of places to look)
• Finish packing for Jeffersonia
• Pick up spouse from MARC/Metro


Tonight:
• Visit osym's kittehs
  They were helping... like cats. Stuff from tables and counters was strewn all over the floor, the counter, the sink... I know the cats did it because I am nearly certain that sophistbastard doesn't store his cards in the kitchen sink.
• Bake tavern biscuits
• Bake molasses cake

Current Mood: busy

chickgonebad

03:47 pm - Tuesday Poll, now with Olympics!

( and that's a double-backflip somersault wtf! )

yonmei

07:26 pm - My first legal possession

Sometime before I was six weeks old, my dad gave me something that is my first legal possession, and the only thing I own that even death will never take from me.

I say my dad, because when I was born I believe it was still his legal obligation, not my mum's: and what he gave, though it became mine, is also his.

( My surname. )

Current Mood: indescribable

chickgonebad

02:01 pm - Crossposted geek question

Has anyone taken online training from lynda.com?

If so, what did you think of it?

Would you recommend it to someone else?

Current Mood: curious

chickgonebad

01:53 pm - In lieu of content, you get pizza!

What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite... but you aren't under eating. You just aren't a pig. You aren't particularly picky about pizza. It's so good... how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are a flavorful and bold person. You should consider traveling to Spain. The stereotype that best fits you is geek. You're the type most likely to order pizza to avoid leaving your computer.

Current Mood: content

chickgonebad

09:21 am - Tweets du jour

( Tweets for Monday 18 August. )

Current Mood: chipper

chickgonebad

08:35 pm - Quiz du jour

Your result for DragonLance: Do You Wear White, Red, or Black?...

Red Robe

You're a mage of Lunitari!

Take DragonLance: Do You Wear White, Red, or Black? at HelloQuizzy

yonmei

11:05 pm - Landmark Forum linky roundup

My sister went to a Landmark Forum weekend recently, and talked my mum into going to a free "introductory evening" tomorrow night: outline described here in the Observer and here in the Independent by journalists who went and here by one blogger.

Thinking About the Landmark Forum?

Another couple of posts by a more enthusiastic blogger about the weekend and the Advanced course.

A link page at the ApologeticsIndex website: What is Landmark Education? (they show a great awareness that Landmark loves to sue, though it has lost at least one case.)

And a final comment:

More than anything, though, I have a vague sense of what-might-have-been about the workings of the company. In some ways, it's a good place to do personal growth, especially for the hard-headed who need a boot camp to tear them down and build them back up. I have recommended The Forum in the past to a few specific people who I thought could benefit from going through the courses. And it certainly isn't the kind of harmful David Koresh nightmare that you think of when you hear the word "cult." But they are unnecessarily harsh on nice people, and I don't like that. And worse than that, they commit a sin so unforgivable that for that reason alone I can't recommend them.

They take themselves too seriously.

Current Mood: nauseated

chickgonebad

03:13 pm - Stolen from a friend...

Buffy Meets Crowley: The Lost Screenplay.

Current Mood: amused

chickgonebad

08:59 am - And that's the truth

Look ma! I'm tweeting!

( Sunday twitters. Now with gay bar! )

Brinley Gold Vanilla Rum is the nectar of the (drunken) gods.

Current Mood: tired

twistedchick

12:14 am

List 5 things which are basic common knowledge in your culture, which people outside are unfamiliar with. This is not about obscurity, but something everyday to you, that others go "bzuh?" at. ( you might (or might not) be surprised )

twistedchick

07:03 pm

Your personal information, your life, will become even less private if the Justice Department has its way. ( more details )

The real McCain position on abortion: not allowed, ever.

The oil reserve fallacy. And microhypermiling.

Psychologists on the Dark Side -- involved in Guantanamo.

Freedom of religion? Not in the military according to Gen. Petraeus.

*Brilliant* graphs and charts that make sense and give far more information than expected.

The homophobic McCain accepted a donation from a gay sex mogol, refused to give it back for days, and tried to parlay it for Log Cabin Republican votes. Hmm. Are there still any Log Cabin Repubs, or did they tire of the twofacedness of it all? More on McCain's party of hate. And remember Jack Abramoff, who was indicted for illegal influence peddling? McCain invited Abramoff's not-so-shiny-white business partner Ralph Reed, formerly of the Christian Coalition, to be part of his team, while knowing of Reed's involvement in the Abramoff scandal.

Why not haul George Bush into a court of law?

In the Middle East, the peacemaking initiative still stands.

Nepal seeks a new child goddess.

Geopolitical chess in the Caucasus.

Are the British complicit in the CIA's secret prison on Diego Garcia island?

The RIAA has to pay $107,951 in court costs against a disabled mother it accued of illegal downloads; And she's suing them for actual damages also.

Harry Taylor of Charlotte, NC, told Bush to his face that he was ashamed of the leadership in DC, including the presidency. More here. Obviously a man with guts. Since then, Taylor has declared his candidacy for Congress. More here.

Abstinence-only driver's ed.

Magic Kingdom? When Disney employees protest their employment conditions, even Mickey Mouse gets arrested.

Steampunk wallpaper.

Urban chickens in Brooklyn.

Has anyone been to this cafe?

Photos of an Afghanistan that most of us will never see.

yonmei

03:51 pm - The day I was born

The number one hit was "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees.

Would I make something like that up?

Current Mood: amused

twistedchick

09:20 pm

I'm watching Primeval on BBC-America, and the accents are driving me nuts. I am not good at identifying British accents per se -- I mean, I know they're from the Isles, but I couldn't tell you where, the way I might be able to with American accents. So, I'm asking for help; I *think* I'm hearing Scottish, received pronunciation (Posh), and about four others but I would really like to know what they are. I think it helps me sort out some of the underlying bits of plot if I do know.

Thanks in advance.

chickgonebad

08:41 am - Chirp!

Look ma! I'm tweeting! ( ZOMG, it's twitter! )

In other news, crappy food from the Montgomery County Fair appears to agree with me. Go fig.

Current Mood: cheerful

chickgonebad

11:27 am - Friday Five Poll

( Friday Five in your world today. )

Current Mood: silly

twistedchick

10:36 am - some links for further thought

The Independent, UK: What they don't want you to know about the coming oil crisis

Science Daily: Acoustic data may reveal hidden gas, oil supplies.

Choike: Oil companies in developing countries -- the people of Nigeria vs. Shell.

The Tribune, India: Underground oil storage projects

Truthout: BP's neglect of the North Slope led to disaster. ( Did you know we had a major oil spill that went unnoticed for five days?</a> <blockquote> ... Drilling in ANWR has been debated at least half a dozen times over the past five years. The issue is a cornerstone of President Bush's National Energy Policy. Bush claims that drilling in ANWR is crucial in order for the US to cut its dependence on foreign oil. But if there were ever an argument against drilling in the pristine Wildlife Refuge, it would be Sunday's pipeline disaster at BP's Prudhoe Bay operations. Just four months ago, the worst spill in the history of oil development in Alaska's North Slope forced the closing of five oil processing centers in the region. Alaskan state officials said that as much as 260,000 gallons of crude oil leaking out of a pipeline in an oil field jointly owned by Exxon Mobil, BP, and ConocoPhillips blanketed two acres of frozen tundra near Prudhoe Bay - just a short distance from where President Bush has proposed opening up ANWR to drilling. The oil spill in March went undetected for about five days before a BP oilfield worker noticed the scent of hydrocarbons while driving through the area, which led him to believe there was a spill from one of the facilities. That spill was blamed on a corroded transit pipeline, according to BP officials. BP has long been criticized for poorly managing the North Slope's aging pipelines, safety valves and other critical components of its oil production infrastructure. The company has in the past made minor improvements to its valves and fire detection systems and hired additional employees, but has neglected to maintain a level of safety at its facilities on the North Slope. Chuck Hamel, a highly regarded activist based in Alexandria, Virginia, who is credited with exposing dozens of oil spills and the subsequent cover-ups related to BP's shoddy operations at Prudhoe Bay, sounded early warning alarms about the issues at BP's North Slope facilities. Back in the 1980s, Hamel was the first person to expose weak pollution laws at the Valdez tanker port as well as electrical and maintenance problems with the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Hamel has said that not only do oil spills continue on the North Slope because BP neglects to address maintenance issues, but the oil behemoth's executives have routinely lied to Alaskan state representatives and members of the United States Senate and Congress about the steps they're taking to correct the problems. Concerned that BP was covering up the shoddy condition of its pipeline at its Prudhoe Bay operations, Hamel sent a letter to Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) on April 15, 2005, saying the senator was duped by oil executives and state officials during a visit to Alaska's North Slope.  )

Democratic Underground: Why OPEC won't boost oil supplies

Common Dreams: Lessons in simplicity on global warming and energy development/use-- Canadian version.

twistedchick

10:03 am

A bigger game than the Olympics is playing out there, and it's worth keeping an eye on. Let me outline the player alliances and see if this makes the world news any clearer. (No links; this is a summary of the past three years): ( Who's playing with whom, who wants what on the gameboard, and more )

chickgonebad

07:15 am - Twittering

Look ma! I'm tweeting! ( Read more... )

Current Mood: sleepy

yonmei

05:39 pm - Friday, er Thursday five: what's your culture?

afrai describes this as sort of like IBARW for the indolent. Cool.

( List 5 things which are basic common knowledge in your culture, which people outside are unfamiliar with. This is not about obscurity, but something everyday to you, that others go bzuh? at. )

( What was the last book you read that was written by a person who is a different race than you? Do you seek out books written by people of other races? Why? Why not? )

( What did you eat at dinner last night? Would you call it ethnic food? Why? )

( Has your gender presentation changed over the last 5 years? Has this change/lack of change been a deliberate choice on your part? )

( Do you discuss race and racism in your insanejournal/blog or in person? Why have you made that choice? )

( Bonus question. Were you aware of International Blog Against Racism Week? Did you choose to participate in it? Why or why not? )

Current Mood: Scottish