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November 13th, 2009
11:01 pm - Mare Imbrium
Who knew? ;)
Awesome. Thank you NASA for some very cool news on the Adam of my birthday. :D
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03:42 pm - Requesting people to respond to a survey
Some friends are passing me an informal research survey and requesting help soliciting responses.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ohkDZTTlCZaYi5vHb3ozoQ_3d_3d
The survey does ask some intimate questions (about medications, conditions etc) but does not solicit any personally-identifying information. I know the survey creators, and will vouch that they aren't attempting to exploit this information in any nefarious criminal way.
Please feel free to pass this on, especially to people you know who have complicated health conditions and would be willing to help.
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November 6th, 2009
09:11 am - What makes me Happy?
A friend of mine asked me that a little while back. What makes me Happy?
The first two answers were fairly simple and platonic and after that I got kinda distracted. (Probably on account of thinking about thing number two).
The first was solving puzzles and problems. That makes me happy. Abstract is good, concrete is better, but THOSE often don't have clear-cut solutions, so I've had to learn how to break down concrete problems and back them up against their driving requirements, and find a way to solve THOSE. So Abstract puzzles and problems are both less work and usually more logical (and less about balancing various compromised needs). I think it's a huge part of why I'm drawn to video games, puzzle books, mathematics, computer program development, and the like. Puzzle solving makes me happy, gives me a rush of success and supports my confidence.
The second thing that sprang to mind was sushi. Sushi specifically has this tendency to make my really fundamentally Happy. This, you might think, has to do with having a Japanese mother. Not quite so, I'd wager... I clearly remember my first encounter with sushi. It was Harrowing. Maybe I'll tell you sometime. But in any case, today, sushi makes me Happy. Well, good sushi does.
Now I started this post because I feel the urge to continue. So...
Pleasing people makes me Happy. This is a large part of my struggles with confidence, I think. I understand that it's risky and fairly volatile to put a large stake of your happiness on the reactions of other people. It gives them all these levers that manipulate your emotions, that they can throw accidentally or with intent. I've been getting better at putting up boundaries so that the inevitable instances where there's nothing I can do to please someone, or to make things okay for them, don't send me into a spiral, and don't send me into irritating fits of trying to fix things.
Connecting with people makes me Happy. Connection is probably a fundamental driver for most people I know, in fact. Heck, I wouldn't feel like I was going out on a limb to know that connecting to people is a nearly universal human driver. So perhaps this isn't saying very much. But it's nonetheless true and good to acknowledge. Travelling from someone's outer circles of acquaintanceship down into their smaller and more intimate orbits is really delightful and rewarding. It works platonically and it works romantically, which I would guess is why affairs happen and appear to even sometimes take the participants by surprise. But if you can keep those feelings somewhat distinct, I think it poses much less of a risk.
Creating makes me Happy. Why am I not engaging in it right now? Well, I've asked myself that a lot in the last few years (my SCA scribal hiatus). And now I see that it's been crowded out by other things that make me Happy. My life is blessed with a huge cup-running-over crowd of Things That Make Me Happy. I am, inevitably, dropping some to keep room for others. So now I'm a lot less worried about the source of my writer's block. But I'd still like to make some balance there. So I'm going to keep trying to install it. Besides, this reign in the SCA, the Royals are using ribbons and wax seals. I just GOTTA get some of my work done up like that. Yay!
Thinking further, learning makes me Happy. I have a curious (if sometimes quite lazy) mind, but it does enjoy acquiring knowledge, skills, new perspectives, techniques, approaches. I went through a few years when a friend was becoming a contractor, that I really wanted to set aside time and learn from him a lot more about the skills he was picking up. I've never felt terribly handy, and I don't even really know what sorts of tools exist to get various jobs done. But it wasn't so much the need to know it, as the opportunity to expand my knowledge that drew me, I think. And here I might be stagnating a little too much also... time to study something perhaps. Or tackle a different challenge in one of my existing hobbies.
There are surely others I could list, but This seems a good start.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/happy.gif) happy
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09:06 am - PAX East
Yeah, I think I'm going to make the time to go. I'm not as ENTRENCHED in the gaming community as I once was, and still not as entrenched as many of my close friends are, but I think it'd be a good time.
I'm even turning over the idea of offering to work it. I haven't really done anything like it, but I'm fairly sure it would fit my demeanor and "alignment" if you will. Diplomatic, Rational, Extroverted... Considering it.
Wonder if any of my friends are considering going.
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01:36 am - Doin' the Pigeon
Doin' the (coo coo) Pigeon!
People may smile, but I don't mind
They'll never understand the kind of fun I find...
Wow... it's Sesame Street's Birthday, so claims Google's picture just now. Wow.
One two three FOUR five six seven eight NINE ten eLEven twelve - doo dootdoo doo dootdoo doo doot doo doot doo doot doo doo ... doo doot doo doo! FORTY! :)
Heh.
So... been having a GREAT week. I'm a happy camper today. Tomorrow is bound to be a very good day too. I got a major puzzle solved at work (downside: that leaves only three more to bring me up to just "behind"), and next week H gets home! Wheeee!
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November 2nd, 2009
10:11 pm - DING.
That is all.
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October 30th, 2009
06:46 pm - I still am where the wild things are
Saw it last night and still thinking about it. How can a movie that borrows really only sets and costume and name from a source and still feel like such a success to me?
amazing and I'm still considering it.
Now out for a walk, trying to ignore the occasional smell of smoke (it's not a tumah), and formulating plans for tomorrow.
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October 29th, 2009
06:54 pm - Words, Words. Words.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/gabob/clockwords-prelude
This threatens to derail my evening cleaning binge.
Play it for me so I don't have to!!!
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October 28th, 2009
01:08 pm - Twitter
Oh dear God.
I finally think I might have a reason to set up a Twitter account. Evidently there are a few Toronto-area services that use Twitter, like the Fire department and TTC. If there are enough that might be useful, I can just barely see myself subscribing to it.
Wow. I thought I was immune.
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12:56 pm - Sorting things through
I'm sorting through some things and thinking about myself (and how well or poorly I know that man).
I had a friend with whom I lost touch for a long time talk to me about Johari Windows, and since then I've seen another friend post a link to a site that presents them.
Would you please take a few minutes and consider visiting one or both of these links and contributing to one view of my Johari (or my Nohari) windows? I'm not looking for bolstering or reassurance, I'm looking to better understand the difference between my self-image and my image, sorting out fabrication from fact.
I'm just fine with "anonymous" contributions as long as they're thoughtful and honest. I'm also OK with the critical flipside which they're calling the 'Nohari' window. I promise I'm not trying to use it to beat myself up with. Just looking for frank feedback to help me sort out the things I *TELL* myself I am, from the things I unconsciously appear to be, and thus better understand what I *AM*.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Courtly
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=Courtly
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/contemplative.gif) contemplative
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11:09 am - I can't help but feel that someone is missing the point
Saw this image ( http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/afghanistan_october_2009.html#photo35 ) on Big Picture.
What exactly does democracy mean to these people?
It just struck me as a whole heap of "we don't want democracy, we want a system where we can decide to be Islamic!"
Errr?
I do hate the way so much of global friction boils down to uncurious people getting their motivation from bad spin.
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09:01 am - Wednesday morning funny
Ok, the SITE is generally NSFW.
But the image? Hee. :) http://www.evilmilk.com/pictures/Funny_Stamp.htm
(I'll post a copy of the actual image ( behind a cut )
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October 27th, 2009
03:41 pm - Finally!
http://www.paxsite.com/
An excuse to fly Porter. ;)
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10:27 am - Life of the party
The 4 year old birthday girl, who was getting zerberts at the party, pointed at me and shrieked with glee:
"Blow HIM!"
ahem.
I need not elaborate that wasn't on the menu.
:)
great weekend... Saw some of my high-school mates. One of them put it really well... It's not that people have changed, it's that they've ... Filled themselves out. Grown-in. that's what it felt like. Many of my fellow grads felt at first like strangers (obviously, most I hadn't seen in a decade or even two), and yet after some time to reconnect, they seemed the now-obvious conclusions of two decades of growth after graduation.
I continued to be impressed at the University placement rates (shown on some reports posted in the foyer), and the few brave souls who opted out of that path.
the school seemed upgraded in some respects, and in others beautifully familiar. I'm sure there are 20-year-old cracks in the linoleum floor in some spots.
it was a weekend well-spent!
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October 22nd, 2009
12:29 pm - Sketchup is FUN
So... this is kinda what I want. the TV in the picture is a 26"-28", the shelves above it are 9" apart, basically big enough for DVD cases. I think this would be swimmy.
The TV and the receiver are models that Google sketchup already has avaiable through the library. And this only took me about 3/4 of my lunch-hour to sketch. :) Google LURVE.
Now... to figure out how hard it would be to get something like this built.
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October 21st, 2009
06:47 pm - Delightful Irony and Furniture Woes
So, no luck on the furniture. I feel so left behind by fashion. I'm just not interested enough in television to have it dominate the room, and don't watch enough to worry about size.
but even with these counter-cultural traits, I'm a little shocked that it's basically impossible to find a console just wide enough to handle, say, a 32" tv. Everything is sprawling, and doesn't make use of the area over the tv. For a furniture store in condoville, I expected more focus on small-room furnishings.
might have to look into custom, or look into exactly how hard it would be to put wall-anchors in so close to the HVAC stack.
In other news, I decided to try out my local sushi joint. It's called "Mine". That means pinnacle, like a mountaintop, in Japanese.
I'm currently sitting on land that was reclaimed from Lake Ontario. :)
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October 19th, 2009
08:31 pm - Almost found what I wanted
Well, IKEA only had MOST of my solution... and in the wrong colour.
I want ... well, I want something very like the IKEA "Stiby" 78cm wide TV Stand, but in a light brown wood instead of black.
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50117540
Features I like:
- less than 85cm wide (fits with current furniture/room setup)
- more than 70cm wide (approximate width of the TV I'm probably going to put in it)
- tall, with shelving (for DVDs, speakers)
Features I'm not perfectly happy with:
- doesn't match our other furniture
- drawer would be better with a (frosted) glass panel on the front to allow remote control, or with cabinet doors instead of being a drawer.
So... that means shopping around. Not sure where to look for something like this. Not even sure if there's an area of town for furniture shops that aren't pitching to people completely concerned with style.
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03:09 pm - Tarot Meme
Oooh, I haven't done a meme on here in a while, certainly not the cut-and-paste a quiz result sort! It's nice not to have to "add an app". This really is so much nicer.
Seems to suit me well.
You are The Wheel of Fortune
Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success
The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/peaceful.gif) balanced
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October 18th, 2009
02:30 am - It's been a good day
Last night was well-spent on a good deed that helped a few people. But it left me tired and in great need of a soak, so I had one.
deferred prepping for this weekend, but that ended up ok. Huntman's Harvest was low-key and fun and required nothing but directions, clothing, a cup, a bowl, a spoon, a bow, and arrows. I used all of these, and had a really great time. talked caligraphy, archery, garb and food.
intended to wrap up the evening by prepping for tomorrow's game. My first idea flopped completely, but I'm a tool-using monkey and the end result is made of awesome. :)
instead of that being the end of it though, I ended up accepting Holly's invitation to hit Neutral.
NOW I'm well and truly exhausted, but jazzed at a day very well spent. A biiig drawer of spoons, all used up, and me hoping I get enough tomorrow to make the game fun. Especially, I hope my voice is there!
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October 5th, 2009
02:37 pm - Fall - the feeling of being productive
Fall is making me want to get creative and start doing things, creating things, tackling projects.
Part of it is just how comfortable the weather makes me feel. When it's dry and cool (not, admittedly, a typical state for long periods of the fall) I feel like a leaf on the wind... minus getting speared by Reavers, I mean. I feel clean and buoyant. I even like the wet, though if I'm ALREADY in a bit of a down mood, the grey damp delivers that coup de grace and puts me right out for a while. That happened this weekend, I think. In any case, I appear to have made a full recovery, and walking outdoors today has been a source of some deep and simple and abiding joy.
But I am also full of ideas I want to tackle. I want to host another Dinner and a Movie night. I'm stuck between a few choices... "Thank You for Smoking", "The Crow" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" are on my short-list. I have a few food ideas for each (Smoked Salmon and/or other meats and candy cigarettes for "Thank You for Smoking", A hopelessly all-black menu for "The Crow", and I'm a bit stumped on R&G but a few ideas have come to mind including at least one deeply awful pun).
And crafts - I want to try my hand at mulling some pigment into paint for my scribal work, and to use it!!! Hm. And I think teaching some friends' kids how they can make their own short book would be incredible fun. I have paper big enough to make a 16-page stitched booklet with pages about the size of a paperback book. I think I'd have had a really good time writing my own illustrated stories when I was younger. (Actually, I *did* do so, but only on looseleaf that got put in binders... more fun to have your very own book I think).
And I have a few more things I want to tackle, probably more than is reasonable. But today I just feel like I can take on the world. And get everything I want. :)
Current Mood: happy
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