For the past two hours, I've been doing nothing but deep searching the New York Times online! 
As of today, they've discontinued TimesSelect which was their pay-for-content structure for their website. The site has opened the archive from '87 to present for free as well as the Public Domain content (from the 1850's to the 1920's). Notable reading is first-person accounts of Civil War and Lincoln's Assassination, really! Run, do not walk for signing up now!
In other news, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day!
In other other news, the CT Rollergirls and I are skating in the Connecticut Day Big 'E' parade. Photos soon through my Flickr page!
As of today, they've discontinued TimesSelect which was their pay-for-content structure for their website. The site has opened the archive from '87 to present for free as well as the Public Domain content (from the 1850's to the 1920's). Notable reading is first-person accounts of Civil War and Lincoln's Assassination, really! Run, do not walk for signing up now! In other news, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day!
In other other news, the CT Rollergirls and I are skating in the Connecticut Day Big 'E' parade. Photos soon through my Flickr page!
The first day of August finds me thinking back on what I was doing last year, decisions I was facing and trying to decide what the best step forward for all of it was. I know it was the right choice for me but, I'm hoping it worked out well for her, too. Knowing her, she's doing perfectly fine, thank you... Likely, grinding characters to a pulp as we speak. *Note to self - Get her grandmother's records from prestigious recording studio in Hollywood ASAP*
On Friday I'm am venturing off to Baltimore, yes Baltimore... They are holding the Virgin Festival that I'd received tickets for for my birthday from the Amandae. Somehow I'll manage being able to see The Beastie Boys, Modest Mouse, Amy Winehouse, Cheap Trick, Ben Harper, Incubus and The Motherfucking Police.
Granted, it's being held the same day as the annual SGCT trip to Lake Compounce as well as my rollerderby league's cookout. I'll be sure to take a shit-ton of pics!
Perhaps all until after the weekend...
On Friday I'm am venturing off to Baltimore, yes Baltimore... They are holding the Virgin Festival that I'd received tickets for for my birthday from the Amandae. Somehow I'll manage being able to see The Beastie Boys, Modest Mouse, Amy Winehouse, Cheap Trick, Ben Harper, Incubus and The Motherfucking Police.
Granted, it's being held the same day as the annual SGCT trip to Lake Compounce as well as my rollerderby league's cookout. I'll be sure to take a shit-ton of pics!Perhaps all until after the weekend...
Believe it or not, I've missed you a tremendous amount. 
I'd recently reread Gaiman's American Gods and it reminded me of something I'd read before whilst living in CA... During their imprisonment, captives at the Japanese-American internment camps turned back to centuries-old folklore as a measure of retaining their identity. The psychological pressure sometimes got released in crones reporting badger sightings and fox spirit possessions.
It made me think of the poor bastards in Gitmo and made me curious if they had good campfire stories of the desert and the Djinn.
I'd recently reread Gaiman's American Gods and it reminded me of something I'd read before whilst living in CA... During their imprisonment, captives at the Japanese-American internment camps turned back to centuries-old folklore as a measure of retaining their identity. The psychological pressure sometimes got released in crones reporting badger sightings and fox spirit possessions.
It made me think of the poor bastards in Gitmo and made me curious if they had good campfire stories of the desert and the Djinn.
You know it's sad when it's been so long since you've posted that you have to figure how to do it again... 
So, to briefly update: Today, I gave up smoking...again. It's Day One smoke-free having now been involved w/ this Yale study for 3+ weeks. I originally wanted to do so a month+ ago but, since someone else is picking up the bill for nic. patches, etc., I don't mind waiting. Yale is studying the effects of a particular very low dose drug that's long been on the market. The theory is it's supposed to curb replacing cigarettes w/ food and resulting in the usual quit weight gain. It's so far, so good. I think my patches are a little more nicotine than my body's used to so, I've been having some low-level wooziness to my morning. Only cravings thus far have been post-meal, driving and writing this now. 
I also have two other big switches... I found a new flat and purchased a new car, within the same week.
The apt is a 1000sq ft that I'm going in on in the swankier section of Fair Haven. The owner are this cute couple who are eager to please - read: completely new bathroom, floors and dishwasher. The dishwasher alone makes my year. :swoon:
My Scion I traded in as I started developing some extremely concerning Rotator Cuff problems in my left arm. It was a stick and forced me to almost exclusively drive w/ my left arm. After a year's worth of stress, it exhibited itself as profound soreness when sleeping and waking & the inability to lift dead weight. Having to hold my arm straight up (for a combined 2hrs+) whilst roller derby ref'ing was not so pleasant, either.
The solution was a nicely decked out black & shiny black PT Cruiser. Automatic, hydromatic... The seating position completely solved the problem and actually had me enjoying my usual 1 1/2hr commute to practice tonight.
I'm going to make an effort to properly shower comments to those neglected within the next couple of days... If I don't, it's because sitting in front of the computer is such a draw for smoking, I need to spend some time apart. Just know that I miss ya'll.
So, to briefly update: Today, I gave up smoking...again. It's Day One smoke-free having now been involved w/ this Yale study for 3+ weeks. I originally wanted to do so a month+ ago but, since someone else is picking up the bill for nic. patches, etc., I don't mind waiting.
Yale is studying the effects of a particular very low dose drug that's long been on the market. The theory is it's supposed to curb replacing cigarettes w/ food and resulting in the usual quit weight gain. It's so far, so good. I think my patches are a little more nicotine than my body's used to so, I've been having some low-level wooziness to my morning. Only cravings thus far have been post-meal, driving and writing this now. I also have two other big switches... I found a new flat and purchased a new car, within the same week.
The apt is a 1000sq ft that I'm going in on in the swankier section of Fair Haven. The owner are this cute couple who are eager to please - read: completely new bathroom, floors and dishwasher. The dishwasher alone makes my year. :swoon: My Scion I traded in as I started developing some extremely concerning Rotator Cuff problems in my left arm. It was a stick and forced me to almost exclusively drive w/ my left arm. After a year's worth of stress, it exhibited itself as profound soreness when sleeping and waking & the inability to lift dead weight. Having to hold my arm straight up (for a combined 2hrs+) whilst roller derby ref'ing was not so pleasant, either.
The solution was a nicely decked out black & shiny black PT Cruiser. Automatic, hydromatic... The seating position completely solved the problem and actually had me enjoying my usual 1 1/2hr commute to practice tonight.I'm going to make an effort to properly shower comments to those neglected within the next couple of days... If I don't, it's because sitting in front of the computer is such a draw for smoking, I need to spend some time apart. Just know that I miss ya'll.
So, dinner happenings worked out quite well! I had the happy company of the Amandae over pad thai, irish car bombs and Albert Brooks last film, 'Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World'. I liked it but not sure the ladies were so diggin' on something other far funnier at 1am. Hooray on booze and thai food orgies with my closest friends!
Tonight Lili is out celebrating w/ her best friend who's up for knee surgery a few weeks from now. They're old Saturday night dancing buddies so, they're trying to make the next few weekends of it prior to going under the knife. Lili & co. are currently at Alchemy and making the rounds in that neighborhood prior to heading back to Branford. I'm to be included in plans at SBC and finishing out the evening there over a number of brown ales & photos galore.
Tonight Lili is out celebrating w/ her best friend who's up for knee surgery a few weeks from now. They're old Saturday night dancing buddies so, they're trying to make the next few weekends of it prior to going under the knife. Lili & co. are currently at Alchemy and making the rounds in that neighborhood prior to heading back to Branford. I'm to be included in plans at SBC and finishing out the evening there over a number of brown ales & photos galore.
Averaging one entry every three months is a bit sad, isn't it..? Well, life's been moving fast up until this week - My week of from work! I thought I'd stop by more than my occasional admin maintenance on SGCT and actually try to write something...scattered happenings, most likely.
The CT Rollergirls first bout was held last month and was amazing!!! I plan on ref'ing again next season though I'm genuinely sad that some close to me are not. My carpool to Waterbury just won't be the same anymore! Most of the league has been on break for the past month and are nearly desperate to lace-up and get back to work. Expect a fair amount of hyping coming from me in the future regarding bouts upcoming - There's going to be several! For a quick glimpse at the fun, click here! PS - I'm The Paul!
I'd hoped to have been a bit more productive, perhaps even a little more social this week but, not so much... Been hoarding & watching stuff I've been torrenting, catching up on fair amounts of gaming w/ DarkRabbit and camping out here and there in helping out pet sitting. Home media server maintenance and discovering I've finally downloaded everything, everywhere. The thought of having to go purchase a 500g drive for the thing both disgusts me and makes me terribly proud of assembling something so dedicated to sloth.
I think I may leave it as this for now and place a few calls towards company for dinner, perhaps even a movie!
The CT Rollergirls first bout was held last month and was amazing!!!
I plan on ref'ing again next season though I'm genuinely sad that some close to me are not. My carpool to Waterbury just won't be the same anymore! Most of the league has been on break for the past month and are nearly desperate to lace-up and get back to work. Expect a fair amount of hyping coming from me in the future regarding bouts upcoming - There's going to be several! For a quick glimpse at the fun, click here! PS - I'm The Paul! I'd hoped to have been a bit more productive, perhaps even a little more social this week but, not so much... Been hoarding & watching stuff I've been torrenting, catching up on fair amounts of gaming w/ DarkRabbit and camping out here and there in helping out pet sitting. Home media server maintenance and discovering I've finally downloaded everything, everywhere. The thought of having to go purchase a 500g drive for the thing both disgusts me and makes me terribly proud of assembling something so dedicated to sloth.
I think I may leave it as this for now and place a few calls towards company for dinner, perhaps even a movie!
The briefest of brief updates: Yes, I am still alive and no, I haven't been trapped under something heavy.
I'm happily getting acclimated to living by myself and ElmCityDrunk & RxQueen still provide to be amazing neighbors. Phase Two involving networking our apartments together for multiply-massive music sharing should take place soon!
Rollerderby referee life is absolutely amazing! The league has made huge leaps in improvement and gearing up towards our first intra-league bout in December. To summarize in a few short words: I can now skate backwards!
With the season change, I'm trying to haul my camera around with me far more than previously. I signed up for a Flickr Pro account for my birthday and I see the upload cap of 2 gb's a month as a double dog dare. Lately my outings have been armed with home-made stereographic cameras...
Perhaps lastly, my friends list, I've missed you... Break-ups, bills, work, play, family moving to other states and making new friends are important priorities and I hope to include you on the list, as well.
I'm happily getting acclimated to living by myself and ElmCityDrunk & RxQueen still provide to be amazing neighbors. Phase Two involving networking our apartments together for multiply-massive music sharing should take place soon!
Rollerderby referee life is absolutely amazing! The league has made huge leaps in improvement and gearing up towards our first intra-league bout in December. To summarize in a few short words: I can now skate backwards!
With the season change, I'm trying to haul my camera around with me far more than previously. I signed up for a Flickr Pro account for my birthday and I see the upload cap of 2 gb's a month as a double dog dare. Lately my outings have been armed with home-made stereographic cameras...
Perhaps lastly, my friends list, I've missed you... Break-ups, bills, work, play, family moving to other states and making new friends are important priorities and I hope to include you on the list, as well.
I hate fucking bugs! I've been sitting here for the past hour writing a new long detailed account of my adventures away from the keyboard and was foolish enough to want to link to a URL...entry exits stage right. I've been fooling around w/ the beta ver. of the new layout now for 2+ months and have been underwhelmed. To find out that all of the problems are still present makes me truely wonder if this place will continue to earn my next $18. *grumble & grr* All links that would normally be embedded, I'll spell out 'cause well, they're worth it. I hope yer down w/ the ctrl-c & ctrl-v!
Let's see... My last post had commented on ever-greyed AmazonRed13's shaky skating skills and her desire talk up the CT Rollergirls (http://www.ctrollerderby.com). After practicing her ass off weekly (and getting pointers from half the population at adult skate night at Wheel World, http://www.wheelworldskateclub.com), she is now a full-fledged member of the team. She adopted the moniker Susan B. Anarchy and when not delivering back-handed bruises, our friend is happily residing in MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/misshugginkiss).
Speaking of new league membership, I was pestered to the point of joining up, as well... As the league is just getting off the ground, they're in dire need of everything from EMT's for bout medical attention to sporting goods hook-ups. Happily they also needed referees! I've been skating with them now for a little under a month and have completely caught the bug... Anytime now not laced up and laping others is time wasted.
Practice consists of performing all of the same drills that the girls are hurled through...speed drills, endurance and sprinting, taking lots of falls, bumping, blocking, throwing and punching for two hours, twice a week. I have the added duty though of memorizing a huge chunk by league by-laws, handed-down missives and other rulings, destined to soon be written up on a flash card. Recent skating plans have included hauling out DarkRabbit, ElmCityDrunk and RxQueen for shaky laps on crappy rental skates and only a single wipe out!
-A quick self pat on the back! I was so foolish to have wanted to include a smiley face after that last paragraph but after carefully typing out everything again this last half-hour, I lit up and copied this whole entry first. Good thing too as clicking on anything delivers to the main page. *grrr & grumble*-
In other exciting news, happily-grey CthuluLu has finished her 15+ month long nursing program! She finished at the top of her class (of course) and is speedily trying to rejoin normal daily living...eating lots of salad, nuzzling and shooting things on Star Wars Galaxies. For the curious, she's been residing on MySpace, as well (http://www.myspace.com/thulu).
Perhaps lastly, I'm really excited at being able to spend the tale end of next week wholed up in a lakeside cabin in upstate NY, near literal stones thrown from Canadaland. AR13 won a work raffle for a week at this amazing time-shared cabin w/ its own dock, boats and raft. The only thing I'm kicking myself over is not maxing out my vacation time to've spent the entire week there. *beats self up slightly*
Let's see... My last post had commented on ever-greyed AmazonRed13's shaky skating skills and her desire talk up the CT Rollergirls (http://www.ctrollerderby.com). After practicing her ass off weekly (and getting pointers from half the population at adult skate night at Wheel World, http://www.wheelworldskateclub.com), she is now a full-fledged member of the team. She adopted the moniker Susan B. Anarchy and when not delivering back-handed bruises, our friend is happily residing in MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/misshugginkiss).
Speaking of new league membership, I was pestered to the point of joining up, as well... As the league is just getting off the ground, they're in dire need of everything from EMT's for bout medical attention to sporting goods hook-ups. Happily they also needed referees! I've been skating with them now for a little under a month and have completely caught the bug... Anytime now not laced up and laping others is time wasted.
Practice consists of performing all of the same drills that the girls are hurled through...speed drills, endurance and sprinting, taking lots of falls, bumping, blocking, throwing and punching for two hours, twice a week. I have the added duty though of memorizing a huge chunk by league by-laws, handed-down missives and other rulings, destined to soon be written up on a flash card. Recent skating plans have included hauling out DarkRabbit, ElmCityDrunk and RxQueen for shaky laps on crappy rental skates and only a single wipe out!
-A quick self pat on the back! I was so foolish to have wanted to include a smiley face after that last paragraph but after carefully typing out everything again this last half-hour, I lit up and copied this whole entry first. Good thing too as clicking on anything delivers to the main page. *grrr & grumble*-
In other exciting news, happily-grey CthuluLu has finished her 15+ month long nursing program! She finished at the top of her class (of course) and is speedily trying to rejoin normal daily living...eating lots of salad, nuzzling and shooting things on Star Wars Galaxies. For the curious, she's been residing on MySpace, as well (http://www.myspace.com/thulu).
Perhaps lastly, I'm really excited at being able to spend the tale end of next week wholed up in a lakeside cabin in upstate NY, near literal stones thrown from Canadaland. AR13 won a work raffle for a week at this amazing time-shared cabin w/ its own dock, boats and raft. The only thing I'm kicking myself over is not maxing out my vacation time to've spent the entire week there. *beats self up slightly*
So yes, I'm still alive... More and more time passes with me away from the computer, which isn't so much of a bad thing. This was ably illustrated by the explosion of Spring! Long walks through New Haven, plans made to get biking on the Farmington Canal Trail again, hiking back and forth to the library... The new season of amazing local free entertainment is just slowly grinding into gear and I can't wait!
In the cheap amusements department, the greyed duo of AmazonRed13, CthuluLu and myself have been going on a regular date - roller skating on Wednesday nights at Wheel World in Wallingford. It's an adults-only slot with wine, cheese and fruit galore. For $6 for admission/skate rental, this is a no-brainer! The only thing that I'll have to remember is to call the greyed chiquitabonita and KareBear who lives like a whole half-mile away. Hmmm...
Some the dusting off the skates has been in the effort of assisting AR13 in her interests in joining The CTRollergirls. The fact that her skating experience makes her look like Bambi on ice is but a minor detail - adapt and overcome!
In the cheap amusements department, the greyed duo of AmazonRed13, CthuluLu and myself have been going on a regular date - roller skating on Wednesday nights at Wheel World in Wallingford. It's an adults-only slot with wine, cheese and fruit galore. For $6 for admission/skate rental, this is a no-brainer! The only thing that I'll have to remember is to call the greyed chiquitabonita and KareBear who lives like a whole half-mile away. Hmmm...
Some the dusting off the skates has been in the effort of assisting AR13 in her interests in joining The CTRollergirls. The fact that her skating experience makes her look like Bambi on ice is but a minor detail - adapt and overcome!
So, a long-owed entry is here...and I'm not sure where to start exactly so, how about new car...
It is a 2006 Scion Tc and happily every one but it's literal first mile are mine! I've had it now for a full two weeks and have put on a near 1000 miles already... I splurged a tad and opted for the iPod-compatible Pioneer and a 10' Bazooka in the trunk on the rationale that I only really ever listen to music in my car so, I might as well have the stereo to best allow it.
The now-greyed CthuluLu also purchased herself a 2006 Hyundai Elantra to replace her 14+ year old tank Volvo 240...she's happily accecpting all of the iPod gear that I'd used in my old Camry.
Work is still a bit dense, at times impossible. I'm expecting to be able to pass off one of my four clients to another case manager. But, until that happens, busy and forgetful and manic and tired will be the words to live by. My immediate supervisors at least witness my scrambling so, they're aware that shit gets done, if just a bit scattered.
A tomorrow spells a 16+ hour work day for me, I think I'm going to cut this short in favor of knocking out two weeks of laundry... Comments will follow soon, my missed friends.
It is a 2006 Scion Tc and happily every one but it's literal first mile are mine!
I've had it now for a full two weeks and have put on a near 1000 miles already... I splurged a tad and opted for the iPod-compatible Pioneer and a 10' Bazooka in the trunk on the rationale that I only really ever listen to music in my car so, I might as well have the stereo to best allow it. The now-greyed CthuluLu also purchased herself a 2006 Hyundai Elantra to replace her 14+ year old tank Volvo 240...she's happily accecpting all of the iPod gear that I'd used in my old Camry.
Work is still a bit dense, at times impossible. I'm expecting to be able to pass off one of my four clients to another case manager. But, until that happens, busy and forgetful and manic and tired will be the words to live by. My immediate supervisors at least witness my scrambling so, they're aware that shit gets done, if just a bit scattered.
A tomorrow spells a 16+ hour work day for me, I think I'm going to cut this short in favor of knocking out two weeks of laundry... Comments will follow soon, my missed friends.
