Sunday, March 6, 2005
Don't forget to include the story!
Eric Burns has written a great piece on artists who completely miss the point of their medium by going for the hidden meaning. Bravo.
Idle thought on religion
Luke has an interesting clip blog post up entitled "Regarding biblical interpretation", which points to a rather scary website. I think the guy who makes the scary website might be a little off his rocker, but the points about translations of the Bible still stand.
Of course, just because a book written by people thousands of years ago was mistranslated doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. I'm more willing to toss out religion than I am spirituality, which is why I'm agnostic, not an atheist.
Of course, just because a book written by people thousands of years ago was mistranslated doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. I'm more willing to toss out religion than I am spirituality, which is why I'm agnostic, not an atheist.
Springtime Made in the South, plus FOOD!
I celebrated losing another pound by eating two platefuls of sinful Southern breakfast treats at
and a hugeass roast turkey leg for lunch.
Yum.
I met up with Mari and her parents at Golden Corral at 8:30 or so this morning. Chris showed up when I was finishing off my second and last plate. A good and fattening time was had by all.
After that, Chris headed out to watch a movie, and Mari's dad went...somewhere, and I drove my car back to my apartment, and then Mari and her mom showed up in Mari's car, and we all rode together downtown for Springtime Made in the South. (Musical cars!)
There were two booths I wanted to visit at the show. I'd seen them at Christmas Made in the South. One was the lacquerware booth where I'd purchased Brooke's Christmas present and a nice little black box with pink detailwork for myself. The other was a stand with art made with seahorses, sand dollars, and starfish. Wanda bought me a nice piece from there which is now hanging in my bathroom.
Unfortunately, neither of those vendors was present!
I did see a beautiful octagonal glass box with a mirrored bottom. The glass and mirror were beveled, and the glass panels also had pictures carved on them. It was all held together with what appeared to be brass. For $30, I figured it was pricy but worth it, but the lady didn't take credit cards. I thought about going to the ATM and then going back to get it. Ultimately, though, I chose to save my money. After all, Sean and I just spent $2000 on chairs.
I also saw some really nice necklaces and earrings. Most of the jewelry booths were overpriced, but the stuff I really liked was reasonable--$18 for a gorgeous necklace and earrings set. I was so close to buying it. I probably should have.
Other than that, nothing really caught my eye this time around. I did buy an elastic hair clip thing from Mari's "scarf people", because they put my hair up in it and it actually stayed and I really need to do more with my hair, but that's it.
After we were done shopping, we headed to Broad Street to find some lunch. Rain pelted us as we ran to the car, but it didn't last long and was only drizzling when we got out again. We'd planned to go to Tap Tap, a tacos and tapas place, but it was closed, so we went next door.
I can't remember the restaurant's name. It's in the space where the Dessert Shop used to be (click here to see some old pictures ;P), and it's medieval-themed, with banners, swords, paintings of dragons, and chairs shaped like thrones. They serve some normal things, like sandwiches, soups, and baked potatoes, and they also serve...huge roasted turkey legs.
It was a fun day. But I was dead on my feet at that point. Mari's dad came to pick get her mom, and we all went down to the Dessert Shop's new location (which is much bigger!), but I didn't have any dessert. Instead, I sat there and tried not to fall asleep :) Once everyone was finished, we went our separate ways, and Mari drove me home. I pretty much fell into bed immediately, and slept until around 10:30pm...at which point I got up and started working on my photo page. So now you know what I was doing all day!
Aaaaaaaaand it's about time to head back to bed. I enjoyed today and yesterday, and hopefully I'll get plenty of rest tomorrow so I can be recharged for Monday. Lots of work to get done next week.
Ciao!
and a hugeass roast turkey leg for lunch.
Yum.
I met up with Mari and her parents at Golden Corral at 8:30 or so this morning. Chris showed up when I was finishing off my second and last plate. A good and fattening time was had by all.
After that, Chris headed out to watch a movie, and Mari's dad went...somewhere, and I drove my car back to my apartment, and then Mari and her mom showed up in Mari's car, and we all rode together downtown for Springtime Made in the South. (Musical cars!)
There were two booths I wanted to visit at the show. I'd seen them at Christmas Made in the South. One was the lacquerware booth where I'd purchased Brooke's Christmas present and a nice little black box with pink detailwork for myself. The other was a stand with art made with seahorses, sand dollars, and starfish. Wanda bought me a nice piece from there which is now hanging in my bathroom.
Unfortunately, neither of those vendors was present!
I did see a beautiful octagonal glass box with a mirrored bottom. The glass and mirror were beveled, and the glass panels also had pictures carved on them. It was all held together with what appeared to be brass. For $30, I figured it was pricy but worth it, but the lady didn't take credit cards. I thought about going to the ATM and then going back to get it. Ultimately, though, I chose to save my money. After all, Sean and I just spent $2000 on chairs.
I also saw some really nice necklaces and earrings. Most of the jewelry booths were overpriced, but the stuff I really liked was reasonable--$18 for a gorgeous necklace and earrings set. I was so close to buying it. I probably should have.
Other than that, nothing really caught my eye this time around. I did buy an elastic hair clip thing from Mari's "scarf people", because they put my hair up in it and it actually stayed and I really need to do more with my hair, but that's it.
After we were done shopping, we headed to Broad Street to find some lunch. Rain pelted us as we ran to the car, but it didn't last long and was only drizzling when we got out again. We'd planned to go to Tap Tap, a tacos and tapas place, but it was closed, so we went next door.
I can't remember the restaurant's name. It's in the space where the Dessert Shop used to be (click here to see some old pictures ;P), and it's medieval-themed, with banners, swords, paintings of dragons, and chairs shaped like thrones. They serve some normal things, like sandwiches, soups, and baked potatoes, and they also serve...huge roasted turkey legs.
It was a fun day. But I was dead on my feet at that point. Mari's dad came to pick get her mom, and we all went down to the Dessert Shop's new location (which is much bigger!), but I didn't have any dessert. Instead, I sat there and tried not to fall asleep :) Once everyone was finished, we went our separate ways, and Mari drove me home. I pretty much fell into bed immediately, and slept until around 10:30pm...at which point I got up and started working on my photo page. So now you know what I was doing all day!
Aaaaaaaaand it's about time to head back to bed. I enjoyed today and yesterday, and hopefully I'll get plenty of rest tomorrow so I can be recharged for Monday. Lots of work to get done next week.
Ciao!
Changes over at my photo page
I spent an inordinate amount of time this evening/morning adding keywords and correcting old ones in my various galleries. When I first started using keywords in smugmug, I did silly things because I wasn't sure how I wanted to categorize my pictures yet. An example: I put "syuusuke", "canal", and "trail" on every single one of my Augusta Canal pictures, even though the pictures didn't always actually contain my bike, the canal, or the trail. Another example: My Japan pictures had a "train" category assigned to all pictures taken while I was on the train, which I think is misleading, because if I click on a category called "train", I expect to see pictures of trains. So, I changed that category name to "rail", and then put "train" in wherever there was a picture of an actual train--although I may have missed some :/
While I was in there, I also reorganized some galleries. The biggest change is the fact that I got rid of the "Friends" category, which contained photos from Dawn and Sam's visit last September. I moved those galleries into my "Exploring" (for the pictures from when we were in Augusta) and "Travel" (for the pictures from the day we went to Savannah) sections.
I tried to put the keyword "me" on all pictures of myself, but smugmug didn't like that for some reason (maybe it uses "me" for the "This Is Me!" photo), so I used "moi" instead. I also updated my bio.
Hopefully everything makes sense and is easy to find. Let me know if you have any suggestions! I still need to assign keywords and captions to quite a few photos, but that's a project for another time.
While I was in there, I also reorganized some galleries. The biggest change is the fact that I got rid of the "Friends" category, which contained photos from Dawn and Sam's visit last September. I moved those galleries into my "Exploring" (for the pictures from when we were in Augusta) and "Travel" (for the pictures from the day we went to Savannah) sections.
I tried to put the keyword "me" on all pictures of myself, but smugmug didn't like that for some reason (maybe it uses "me" for the "This Is Me!" photo), so I used "moi" instead. I also updated my bio.
Hopefully everything makes sense and is easy to find. Let me know if you have any suggestions! I still need to assign keywords and captions to quite a few photos, but that's a project for another time.
New canal trail photos
So, I went to the canal trail again yesterday. I worked from 7 am until 2 pm, then decided to cut out and go biking because the weather was gorgeous, and I needed a break to steady myself. I stayed out there for hours, and went back to work for a couple more hours afterwards.
Biking was great. It was just what I needed to destress.
It only took me 15 minutes to get from the start of the trail to Augusta Water Works, where the forest trail begins. That's three minutes off my original time. This is because I was going 14 miles per hour! I didn't really feel like I was pushing myself overly hard, either. (I must admit, though, that I did stop every now and then to take a picture...) All that biking to work has really paid off!
Once I was at the Water Works, I stopped and took pictures of the Water Works and all the construction going on in the area, and then headed up the hill. At that point I had to decide whether I wanted to go towards downtown, or head into the forest trail.
Ultimately, I decided that I wasn't in the mood for the long red dirt path, and that I wanted to get some pictures of the forest. So in I went.
It was beautiful in there. I was hoping to find flowering trees and plants, but instead I was met with lush greenery. That was fine by me.
You'll find discussions of the trail and my experiences over at the gallery.
Biking was great. It was just what I needed to destress.
It only took me 15 minutes to get from the start of the trail to Augusta Water Works, where the forest trail begins. That's three minutes off my original time. This is because I was going 14 miles per hour! I didn't really feel like I was pushing myself overly hard, either. (I must admit, though, that I did stop every now and then to take a picture...) All that biking to work has really paid off!
Once I was at the Water Works, I stopped and took pictures of the Water Works and all the construction going on in the area, and then headed up the hill. At that point I had to decide whether I wanted to go towards downtown, or head into the forest trail.
Ultimately, I decided that I wasn't in the mood for the long red dirt path, and that I wanted to get some pictures of the forest. So in I went.
It was beautiful in there. I was hoping to find flowering trees and plants, but instead I was met with lush greenery. That was fine by me.
You'll find discussions of the trail and my experiences over at the gallery.
Friday, March 4, 2005
Yoga
After reading this glowing review of yoga by Dalton Hammond, I am very interested in starting classes. Or something. I wonder if there's a good class somewhere nearby?
Thursday, March 3, 2005
One of the coolest articles I've ever read
From Yahoo! News - Oddly Enough:
"I've always wondered, could I have actually ever done it," the one-time lead singer of a rock band called the Ugly Rumours, more recently prime minister, told his former bass player in an interview published on Thursday.Unfortunately, Mr. Blair just wasn't enough of a badass...so he had to settle for becoming a world leader.
Just kind of an update...no main topic, really
So, yesterday I worked 10 hours. I'm not looking for sympathy, because plenty of people work harder and longer than I do, and blah blah. I'm just saying. That's a lot of data entry. I did have a break in the middle where I had to help dispatch lunch and take phone orders, but that wasn't really much respite since I hate doing those things. It was okay since Audrey was here, though.
After lunch was over I left to take my own lunch. I went home and had yet another frozen dinner. Those things are good for keeping me within my calorie limits! On my way back to work I stopped at R. Gabriel's and got a smoothie and an apple. (I ate the apple this morning.) The girl at R. Gabriel's either had a really good bra, or she just naturally has fabulous breasts. I don't think I was successful in trying not to stare at them.
I worked until around 6:20 or so, then finally left, because Sean had called me asking about dinner. We decided on Chinese, so instead of going home I drove out to Sun Kwong on Belair. Instead of driving up Bobby Jones and taking I-20, I took Washington Road to Columbia (via Flowing Wells, because the turn onto Columbia was a mess of traffic), then drove out to Belair and turned left. I don't know if that's faster or not. I do know there were a lot of morons on the road at rush hour yesterday.
I guess I was hungry because I ordered way too much food. The shrimp lo mein is in our refrigerator, unopened. I had sweet and sour chicken with white rice, and Sean had the almond chicken combo with fried rice and an egg roll, and we shared the cream cheese wontons (which were faboo). While we ate we watched A Fistful of Dollars, which I had never seen, and which is a fabulous movie. We bought the boxed set of the Man with No Name movies from Amazon, so hopefully we'll watch the next one soon.
While we watched, I demonstrated yet again my complete lack of culture:
After that, it was pretty much time for bed, so I went to bed.
This morning I did not want to get up. C'est la vie...but it's almost Friday, right?
After lunch was over I left to take my own lunch. I went home and had yet another frozen dinner. Those things are good for keeping me within my calorie limits! On my way back to work I stopped at R. Gabriel's and got a smoothie and an apple. (I ate the apple this morning.) The girl at R. Gabriel's either had a really good bra, or she just naturally has fabulous breasts. I don't think I was successful in trying not to stare at them.
I worked until around 6:20 or so, then finally left, because Sean had called me asking about dinner. We decided on Chinese, so instead of going home I drove out to Sun Kwong on Belair. Instead of driving up Bobby Jones and taking I-20, I took Washington Road to Columbia (via Flowing Wells, because the turn onto Columbia was a mess of traffic), then drove out to Belair and turned left. I don't know if that's faster or not. I do know there were a lot of morons on the road at rush hour yesterday.
I guess I was hungry because I ordered way too much food. The shrimp lo mein is in our refrigerator, unopened. I had sweet and sour chicken with white rice, and Sean had the almond chicken combo with fried rice and an egg roll, and we shared the cream cheese wontons (which were faboo). While we ate we watched A Fistful of Dollars, which I had never seen, and which is a fabulous movie. We bought the boxed set of the Man with No Name movies from Amazon, so hopefully we'll watch the next one soon.
While we watched, I demonstrated yet again my complete lack of culture:
Me: Bad, bad dubbing.I seem to miss all these things that everyone else knows, somehow. (Probably because of how I have been afraid of R-rated movies for most of my life.) Anyway, I've been enlightened.
Sean: It's hard to believe that this movie was completely in Italian before.
Me: ...even his [Eastwood's] lines?
Sean: Yeah. He had to go back in later and dub everything.
Me: ...so they're called "Spaghetti Westerns" because they were made in Italy?
Sean: Yeah. It was supposed to be derogatory, but--
Me: --but they turned out to be the best Westerns ever!
Sean: Pretty much.
After that, it was pretty much time for bed, so I went to bed.
This morning I did not want to get up. C'est la vie...but it's almost Friday, right?
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Dispatch also sucks
But you already knew that.
At least I have five million other things to do to take my mind off it. (That is actually a good thing, as long as I don't start freaking out.) It helps that Audrey is here and that I'm training her, because there's less chance of missing something when there are two people dispatching...
But, you know, I don't want to dispatch ;>
At least I have five million other things to do to take my mind off it. (That is actually a good thing, as long as I don't start freaking out.) It helps that Audrey is here and that I'm training her, because there's less chance of missing something when there are two people dispatching...
But, you know, I don't want to dispatch ;>
Workplace BLAH!
My hands, wrists, and elbows hurt. My eyes are tired. Data entry sucks.
Wanda quit yesterday. The future is uncertain. She was really the heart and soul of this place. Everyone loved her.
I am annoyed that my main feeling is resentment that I am not, nor will I ever be, the heart and soul of anything. Would people miss me if I left? Would Audrey cry? I'm getting the impression that the answer is no.
Wanda quit yesterday. The future is uncertain. She was really the heart and soul of this place. Everyone loved her.
I am annoyed that my main feeling is resentment that I am not, nor will I ever be, the heart and soul of anything. Would people miss me if I left? Would Audrey cry? I'm getting the impression that the answer is no.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Remembering idealism
Luke has written an absolutely wonderful piece this week. He says it's about "Selectivity and inclusivity, now and then", but I say it's about the loss of innocence as we grow up--one of the most beautiful and terrible things to happen in life, and some of the best fodder for stories.
Give it a read; it's quite lovely, and sad.
Give it a read; it's quite lovely, and sad.
Lunchbreak!
I am going to be working 8 hour shifts for the rest of the week, starting today. This is good, because otherwise I wouldn't even come close to meeting the Monday deadline. (I've done some maths!)
At any rate, I'm home having a Healthy Choice dinner for lunch, because I'm trying to get my diet back on track, and because I can't stand staying in the office for extended periods. It's a pretty good meal, but I wanted to mention that it is impossible to freeze country-fried chicken and then expect it to taste like country-fried chicken. What it tastes like, dear friends, is frozen chicken nuggets. That it also looks like frozen chicken nuggets notwithstanding.
There is some sour cherry crisp stuff in here too. Teh yum...
At any rate, I'm home having a Healthy Choice dinner for lunch, because I'm trying to get my diet back on track, and because I can't stand staying in the office for extended periods. It's a pretty good meal, but I wanted to mention that it is impossible to freeze country-fried chicken and then expect it to taste like country-fried chicken. What it tastes like, dear friends, is frozen chicken nuggets. That it also looks like frozen chicken nuggets notwithstanding.
There is some sour cherry crisp stuff in here too. Teh yum...
I didn't get a perfect score ;_;
English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 94% Expert!
You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!
Take the Commonly Confused Words Test at OkCupid
(via Kelly)
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