I knew I forgot one (probably several, but these cobwebs, they just won't clear out)

• Athena is on a Bliss Quest. Athena is an adventurer who enjoys writing novels and is the proud owner of a new (to her) Barbie Jeep.

2 comments | link

Clumsy ninjas

I have a theory that people think more when the weather turns nice. Something to do with increased blood flow, I would guess, but it always seems that a lot of people have a sort of mental spring cleaning going on. Or perhaps it's just that I'm in the midst of the laborious process of clearing out my own cobwebs and have finally taken notice that things are happening around me. Interesting things like new blogs:

• Crystal has started a blog about Clumsie Girl Club Moments. If I were to introduce her with interesting details (just watched Bridget Jones's Diary again), I would tell you that Crystal hates monkeys and enjoys clam digging.
• Kenna is rocking it at Ninja HQ. Kenna loves comic books and related toys, but dislikes having kalamata olives in her salad.

This makes me want to register clumsyninja.com. Alas, it's already taken.

6 comments | link

Allergic lobotomy

The various pollens and whatnot have caused my face to explode this week. It's pretty in the same way that snot is attractive (which is to say, not at all). Due to the head-exploding nature of said allergies, I am suffering from what I think of as Phantom Brain Syndrome, similar in nature to its appendagey equivalent.* It feels like my brain might be there and working, but when I actually try to use it, well, nothin' doin'. I am extremely afraid of the code I have written/will write today. I just hope I have enough time next week to fix it all before anybody else sees it.

* In a post about having no brain, I get to make up words like "appendagey."

5 comments | link

Sir, I exist!

On the way to work this morning, I thought about bratty people who seem to feel that this world owes them something (it doesn't). This is a pet peeve of mine, of which I was reminded by a snotty girl on a cell phone yesterday. It put me in mind of another favorite poem, which goes like this:

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

--Stephen Crane

I felt this was a good train of thought to be having as I pulled up to a stoplight, neglected to disengage either foot from my clipless pedals, and ran right into the curb with, fortunately, my front tire and not my teeth. The whole thing ended with me uttering a few expletives and riding off with a red face.

4 comments | link

Though it be rainy, my thoughts turn to spring

There's something new to love about spring: slow cyclists. You see, I started commuting by bicycle in December, right at the beginning of the rainy season (which this year included 30+ days without the sun showing through the clouds). So it was that while getting myself into commuting shape, my company in the bike lanes of Portland was comprised mainly of seasoned, extremely competitive year-round bike couriers, commuters, and cycling enthusiasts -- and secondarily by wandering pedestrians and the odd car door. For those few lonely months, I was by far the slowest cyclist in town.

But no more! With the advent of spring, I've been promoted. Fair-weather cyclists are coming out of the woodwork, making me one of Portland’s slowest, but no longer the actual slowest.

And with that, I think it’s time for the annual posting of my favorite springtime poem:

sweet springtime is my time is your time is our time
for springtime
is love time
and viva sweet love.

-ee cummings

7 comments | link

Dance, science, and work

So I've clearly not posted in way too long. Since Gogol Bordello, I've been to see Euromotion and The Phenomenauts. Euromotion are rocking the "We're German time travelers from 2008 and you must dance now" attitude, while The Phenomenauts have a fairly solid "science rules!" aesthetic. Both put on excellent shows.

In other news, I've got two weeks to do five weeks worth of work. So if it's a bit quiet around this old blog, it's because I'm trying to figure where in the code SQL Server is barfing with the message "Server: Msg 207, Level 16, State 3, Line 15" or something equally exciting. I know these things are fascinating to you beyond belief, but if I kept you up to date on all of them, I'd never get this project completed. Please try not to be too dissappointed.

1 comment | link