Below are the most recent 11 friends' journal entries.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
shaph	6:28p	Spiral out, keep going... Such an excellent holiday break with so much done! Family began arriving last week: we had two aunts, a cousin, and a fiancee in the house to go with the five immediate family and grandmom, making a nice packed house of ten. Many fun games of Scrabble, Blokus, and Ingenious were played. Perhaps the best choice, however, was Santa's present of Apples to Apples for the family, leading to drunken hysteria and "Joan of Arc" best describing the adjective of "hot." Went to a shooting range for the first time in my life. After a moment of sheer nerves in wondering how the revolver and automatic would kick, it turned into sheer fun and determination, culminating in a bullseye shot from 21 feet. I still have the target showcasing my kill. :) And I seriously wish I had found more opportunities to play laser tag in Chicago while I was there. Played a game of that and it brought back so many memories: shooting friends, repeatedly getting chased and shot by snot-nosed lil kids, shooting more friends... Tara's engagement party was wonderful. Excellent food prepped by the neighbors and plenty of booze to go around. Plus, dad's softball team has some of the greatest stories ever amassed by people. Saw Avatar yesterday with the family: I was thoroughly surprised at how good the movie actually was. I was honestly expecting to come out of it saying, "Eh, it was better than I expected," and came out so much more impressed than that. Seriously recommend you see it if you have not. Also got to see friends I hadn't seen in, well, years. Everyone is growing up and doing awesome things (and some are in law school... ;) ), and it was a blast to reconnect with them as well. Hopefully I will see/talk to them soon. And with the Wisconsin bowl game tonight and New Year's to come, I still have some fun and shenanigans in which to engage. So much done, so much more to be done. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "Lateralus" by TooL (Comment on this)
Monday, December 28th, 2009
ataralas	9:20a	Holidays. It's been...quite a holiday season. It seems like it was a difficult year for a lot of my family & friends. My aunt's house burned down on Christmas Eve. (They're fine, staying with my cousin. Unplug your toasters, kids. And fire alarms save lives.) At least three friends had deaths in the family right before the holidays. Two others had serious health scares in their family. I just got back from my parents' new place down the Shore, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Last time I was there, there was very little furniture and stuff, but now they've got it all done up. Including my favorite couch, reupholstered. Sweet. They've got a nice little wet bar upstairs near the patio, and a whole bunch of my favorite art hung up We had a nice Christmas, though my parents were absurdly generous to me this year: two beautiful Le Creuset pots and accessories amongst the usual books and trinkets. This year's best stocking stuffer? An ice cube tray that makes LEGO-shaped ice cubes. *geeks with joy* Also awesome, Peter Ackroyd's new retelling of The Canterbury Tales, from my cousin. As well as the four pints of delicious, delicious ice cream she sent. Including Thai Chili ice cream...tastes just like peanut sauce, but ice creamified. I'm back at my desk for the first time since before Thanksgiving, and it feels good. Now time to actually do some work. :) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
shaph	3:48p	Happy Festivus everybody! I celebrated by picking up the Limp Bizkit tune released on Rock Band yesterday, called "Build A Bridge." It's no "Break Stuff," "Nookie," or "Rollin'," but it suffices as a nice tune to play. The bass and guitar riffs are repetitive, but since I have a soft spot for Limp Bizkit I can deal. :) Family has been rolling into the household since yesterday, with only my sister and her fiancee left to arrive tomorrow morning. It feels good to have everybody together for the holidays under one roof. My aunt and I are definitely going to the movies at least once this weekend, leaving the ultimate decision: Up in the Air, or Avatar?* Different types of movies, and unless we want to do a double feature one afternoon, looks like a tough choice... Otherwise, my naval recruiting station duties are done until January, so aside from another day of Habitat next week I can actually relax for the Holidays! Huzzah! So Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Merry Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus, and if I missed what you celebrate, Happy [INSERT YOUR CHOICE OF CELEBRATION HERE]! * - Sherlock Holmes is being kept off this list as the entire family is expected to go together for this one. The above choices are the other movie we wish to attend. Current Mood: happy Current Music: "Build A Bridge" by Limp Bizkit (Comment on this)
Monday, December 21st, 2009
faceless_wonder	11:40p	thirty days: day 25 Day 25 → Your day, in great detail sigh. really? well...i passed out last night around 12:45, after lots of IRC goodness. i was hoping to get up at an early hour as a result of going to bed earlier than i had in months, but that failed miserably--i didn't wake up until 11:45 this morning. oopsies. i spent about an hour and a half being cobwebby, half-asleep, and procrastinating. that means i spent the time sitting on my bed, talking on IRC and contemplating a shower. then, i finally took a shower, put on those much-maligned things we call pants, and heading to ps:one. i spent the afternoon at ps:one working on my trivia game proposal for notacon and having random chats with my friend nathan, who was painting the space's TARDIS while i was working on the trivia proposal. i got the trivia proposal almost done by the time i had to leave for monday night pub trivia. i got to Chief O'Neill's, and had dinner and a white russian. (and then, a few more white russians, since the special round tonight was the big lebowski...) again, trivia went nicely. again, i really hope people didn't hold it too badly against us that we are the kinds of trivia masters that integrate trivia with relentlessly making fun of each other in front of everyone--seriously, if you've never been to our trivia night, i encourage you to come visit and relentlessly make fun of us for absolutely anything!!! then, after trivia, i got home. home means time to chat on IRC and go to bed. goodnight. :) Current Music: you're a mean one, mr. grinch... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
ataralas	7:09p	I am unreasonably happy today, for such simple reasons: 0) I am HOME and so is my CAT. 1) I love sunny days after snow. 2) I did not go to work today, but rather sat in a cafe and worked on an analysis. 3) I have made two kinds of cookie dough, and my friend J is coming over tomorrow to help me bake. 4) I have a hot new winter overcoat and I knit an AWESOME new möbius scarf to go with it. 5) My roommate gave me a yarn ball winder for Christmas, and it is <3. 6) My mom sent me an Advent calendar, which I got...yesterday. So I can eat all the chocolate at once, mwahaha. HOME. CAT. SNOW. SUGAR. YARN. YES. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
shaph	3:39p	Two phone calls taken last week while at the recruiting center: Me: "World's finest Navy, this is DEP recruit Shaffer. How may I help you?" Him: "Hey, Shaffer. I need some help setting up my Stratego board. Any pointers for the bombs?" Me: "Well, Admiral, I'd consider hiding the flag behind bombs." Him: "Damn, that makes a lot of sense. Anything for me to do over there?" Me: "No admiral, we're pretty well covered." Him: "Allright, you have a good day." *click* Me: "World's finest Navy, this is DEP recruit Shaffer. How may I help you?" Him: "Shaffer, just wanted to let you know that Niagara Falls is still flowing as a waterfall. The winter weather can't stop the power." Me: "I'll be sure to let the recruiting center know that, Admiral." Him: "Good. Have a good one." *click* The "Him" is a retired admiral who calls our station a number of times each week. Suffering from something, but talking to him is one of the funniest and best parts of the day. I like to think I'm giving him some friendship in a way because I'll chat with him for a couple of minutes when he calls. And he's quite courteous too, which is nice in the office and a refreshing change of pace from some of the other Navy personnel who call. So here's to the admiral *raises glass*. Allright, off to PT. Current Mood: silly Current Music: "Grave of Opportunity" by Unearth (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
faceless_wonder	11:24a	thirty days: day 24 Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy "the company won't colour me" by colour of fire has been my crack lately. i've been listening to it over and over and over again. now, it can be your crack too. :) Current Mood: procrastinate-y Current Music: "the company won't colour me" by colour of fire (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
faceless_wonder	9:17p	thirty days: day 23 Day 23 → A YouTube video ...because cats in things they're not supposed to be are, in fact, amazing. Current Mood: exhausted (Comment on this)
Friday, December 18th, 2009
faceless_wonder	1:06p	thirty days: days 20 and 21 i got behind again yesterday. sure, i spent a bunch of time on a computer, but most of it was on computers that are probably as old or older than most of the people who read this...namely, my Commodores. Day 21 → A recipe i used to love to cook, but then outgrew it. when i was a kid, it was something special...i would spend hours reading the Joy of Cooking, and pick out recipes to make on special days. now, it's something that's at best boring, and at worst that i just don't have time to deal with, since there is so much other stuff i want or need to do. however, spinach gnocchi are really nomzy, and i should really get the ingredients and make some. Day 22 → A website Computer Stupidities is the funniest site on the internet. i stumbled across it many years ago, and have read through its stories over and over again. it's exactly what it sounds like--vignettes of really dumb things that people have said about computers. but, what can i say? i love stupid people stories, and these are the creme-de-la-creme of stupid people stories. Current Mood: geeky Current Music: "devotion and desire" by bayside (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
ataralas	9:31p	Science Reporting, UR DOING IT WRONG So the CDMS experiment released their results on their latest data set (2x as large as their last data set) today. Sadly, the paper is not on the arxiv tonight, so I can't link it. It'll likely be up tomorrow, for the curious. But I can link the NYTimes article on it. It is entitled, "At a Mine's Bottom, Hints of Dark Matter". This title is horribly, completely false. CDMS saw two events* in their signal region, which is defined by their ability to separate nuclear and electronic recoils, as well as their energy acceptance region. They calculate that these two events have a 23% chance of being dark matter...or put another way, a 77% chance of being background. Oops, fucked that up. Read the paper carefully, and there's a 23% chance of those two events occurring from background. Still not a bet I'd take. This is not a hint of dark matter. One in five isn't bad odds, really, but it's still not a bet I'd take. This is exactly what everyone expected out of CDMS. No one I know is surprised, or in “a high level of serious hysteria" about it. People are a bit excited, sure. It's always nice when a result comes out and you can kick back for an hour and watch the talk** and gossip*** for a little while. But, at least for me, some of that excitement is because it's nice to recognize friends who have been working hard and finally have something to show for it. I get that science reporting should engage the non-science reader. But seriously? I am pleased with them for doing good work, but this result is boring. Important, notable, well-executed, and necessary. But boring. *Rumor mill had either one or three, depending who you asked. Well, it was right on average. **or not. The feed cut out halfway through, damn you SLAC. ***Oh yes, we gossip. We gossip a lot. I'm pretty sure if the gossip stopped, the whole field would fall apart. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
faceless_wonder	3:27p	thirty days: days 15-20 thanks to my little jaunt to NYC for neighborcon last weekend, and the associated recovery, i've gotten way-too-many days behind on the thirty-days meme i'm doing. so...time to play a little bit of catch-up. :) *** Day 15 → A fanfic this is one that really doesn't fit me at all. i don't read fanfic. i don't write fanfic. i don't have anything to do with the world of fanfic. seriously, i think the closest thing to fanfic that i've ever created was a backstory that i started writing in high school [or possibly early college] about my imagined backstory for the song "hey jealousy" by the gin blossoms. i don't have it anymore, though, so you're out of luck. Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly) i have quite a few songs that make me cry, but "tonight is the night i fell asleep at the wheel" by the barenaked ladies probably has the strongest effect on me at this point in my life. it's a really, really sad song about someone who either commits suicide or just so happened to crash his car when his life was at a low point...and the lyrics paint a picture that can't help but suck me into the story. Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.) webcomics involve drawing, right? <3 i love toothpaste for dinner, and this comic is especially genius. Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy a silly poem: Fenton Phlantz by Jack Prelutzky Fenton Phlantz is fairly weird. He puts peanuts in his beard. Elephants are often found Following Fenton Phlantz around. Day 19 → A talent of yours singing. i've been singing since i was a little kid, and i love it. i've been in various choirs since i was nine years old, been in the occasional play or skit, and even took some voice lessons in law school. a lot of people have seen me sing karaoke...although not as many have seen me sing anything of a more classical nature. i really like karaoke, and there are some songs i've found that i can sing fairly well--but really, my voice is far more suited to more classical singing, and that's my favourite kind to do. Day 20 → A hobby of yours writing twitter bots. i've written quite a few so far, although the best one i've done to date is most definitely @rogue_bot. i started messing around with the twitter API a little over a year ago, when i wrote a twitter client in bash scripting language, and then moved on to playing with the python-twitter library and started to write bots. it's really fun. i can't say i've finished anything that useful yet (although i'm currently working on a CTA Bus Tracker twitter bot, which will allow people to query it and get bus tracker preditions via twitter--useful for those without a smartphone!), but they're fun to make and they allow me to practice my programming skills. Current Mood: happy Current Music: "tonight is the night i fell asleep at the wheel" by barenaked ladies (Comment on this)