Right. I think it’s about time for a link dump, don’t you?
Hey! Support School Libraries! Sign This petition (at whitehouse.gov). (It may have an issue with I older versions of IE…or it might just be my work computer.)
This just in: Today was a bit surreal. What do I mean? Let me tell you a couple of wee true stories.
1) Just after my break at work I arrived back at my desk to see an IM from my husband which stated: “I had a parrot put a quarter on my shoe ”
As you can imagine, I blinked a few times before replying: ???
Him: parrot
Him: quarter
Him: shoe
Him:
The conversation went on rather in this same vein (read: like pulling teeth) until I finally got some of the story out of him. He told me: “I was standing in line to order food, and a parrot on the ground walked over with a quarter in her mouth and put it on my shoe.”
No, he wasn’t at Long John Silver’s. I asked. Nor did he say thank you to the kind bird…as he was trying to order and not laugh. I also managed to glean the fact that the clerk didn’t even mention the parrot. (Common occurrence at this non-pirate related eatery?) The parrot had come along with some guy or other…who I suppose didn’t care if it was wandering about distributing quarters. And what became of said quarter? My dear hubby put it back on the ground, and the parrot picked it up and walked away.
I feel a new family term coming on to add to the glossary. Perhaps bizarre occurrences may now be referred to in this manner: “Yes, but did a parrot put a quarter on your shoe?”
I’ll have to think on it. But this is only one story from today.
2) Before my morning meeting, I received an email…requesting the use of one of my poems for a podcast. O.O
As you may imagine, I stared a the computer in disbelief and read the email a couple of times. Then I came over all: Hey! Someone likes my poem!
Apparently they found it on SoundCloud. I knew I liked that site.
After my meeting, I downloaded the most recent episode of the podcast. It’s called: The Jackass-Penguin Show’s Jazzy Selections, “A down-to-earth compact selection of instrumental jazzy tracks by independent artists.” (If you like the modern jazzy sound, you should give it a listen.)
So…I said yes.
Eep.
2a) Apparently my little sister was on the news this last weekend? She was doing a run to support a women’s shelter. My sister is cool. That much is at least not strange.
…So you probably won’t see me. I have long wondered exactly why I hate April Fool’s Day so much. Is it just ’cause I think it’s dumb? And just now, I realized:
1) I often don’t understand when folks are teasing me/joking.
2) I can’t take a joke. (Really. It’s bad.)
3) I tend to take things seriously…
OH. Right. That’s why I’d take the day off and hide in my room if I could. Oh well. At least I know that Google does a yearly prank. That much I’m prepared for.
Message to my niece is process: You are not allowed to be born tomorrow. Okay?!?
I should start a club that has a “serious” party on April 1 each year. Something with silly initials. Suggestions? Declining April Fool’s Today (D.A.F.T.)?
The convention I’m down here for (Gallifrey One) officially starts tomorrow. Yay! Here’s a bit of rambling on the topic of said con, and the trip to get here. So far I have learned that I can’t hold the microphone while I’m recording. Please forgive the clicking.
I suppose that some of y’all are wondering where the heck I’ve been lately. Well, the short answer is: Busy (and a little bit sick.)
Busy with what? Well, I’ve got a couple of projects I’ve been trying to work on for friends, and I’ve begun podficcing. What is podficcing? Well, it’s like the audiobook version of a fanfiction. Someone writes a fanfiction, and if I like it, and they agree, I can do a reading of it. No, I won’t be listing them here (as you don’t really need to know about my tastes in fanfiction) but fear not! I have other voice thingies to point you to.
I have a podcast that I do with a friend, and it can be found here. It’s a Doctor Who podcast, if you’re interested. All I ask is that you only download one episode at a time.
In other voice news, one of my Valentine’s Day gifts was a shiny new microphone! It’s a Blue Snowball, if you’re interested. As I am getting all of my stuff together to go to Gallifrey One next weekend, and I had hoped to do a bit of podcasting while I’m down there, the timing is perfect. I’ve tested it with my wee laptop and Audacity, and here is what my test sounded like:
I can already tell that it sounds clearer! …Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to transport the thing.
In other news, today we went back to the Computer History Museum, and we arrived just in time to see a demonstration of Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine #2. Once I get more of the pictures/videos processed, I’ll post them up for you to see, but in the meantime, here is a 360 of the machine, with the video about it playing faintly in the distance. (if you click on the Babbage link above, you can watch a part of that video, and watch the machine in motion.)
And now, I’m off to bed. This next week is going to be mental. Wish me luck!
So, I saw this over at FayJay’s Blog, and I was inspired (and amused enough) to do it here.
You know those memes that attempt to show your particular linguistic variations? Yeah. This is like that, but you can actually hear it (if you want to).
Your name and/or username: Calliope/Celticangel
Where you’re from: Sacramento, CA
The following words: Aunt, Roof, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Orange, Coffee, direction, naturally, aluminium and herbs
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? T-Ping
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? Soda
What do you call gym shoes? Sneakers
What do you say to address a group of people? Y’all
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? Daddy Long-legs
What do you call your grandparents? Nana/Grandpa, Grammy/Grandpa
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? Shopping Cart
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? Sun shower
What is the thing you change the TV channel with? The remote.
(I originally posted this on The Book Stacks (the book review blog I used to write for) back in June of 2007, but it’s funny, so I thought that y’all might enjoy it too. Also? I totally thought I’d posted this here already. Sorry.)
I know that you’re asking yourself: King Elvis and the Alien Space Ducks?!? What do they have to do with books? Well, let me tell you a wee story, and all will become clear.
Well…mostly.
Once upon a time, I was a Young Adult Librarian in Vacaville, California. During my five and a half year tenure, I designed, helped with, and ran many different kinds of library programs. One of these programs was the Teen Book Club. We read our way through many different books over the years (mostly Fantasy, though, because frankly we liked Fantasy.) Now, after the Teen Book Club had been going on for a while we realized that we had a little problem. Our members were incredibly busy folks. Sometimes they couldn’t quite make it all of the way through the book before it was time for the Book Club meeting to begin. And sometimes those folks didn’t want the ending spoiled for them. I mean, they still wanted to come to Book Club to talk about the parts of the book that they had read, eat cookies, and socialize. What were we to do?
Well, one night we began to invent crazy endings for the books that they had obviously missed by not finishing in time. I believe that it was Mike who originally suggested that Elvis appeared just in time to save the day. Well, over time Elvis became “King Elvis.” (Because Elvis is King, you know?) Not long afterward, Elvis acquired some helper ducks. Wouldn’t you know it? Those ducks turned out to be aliens! That’s right, Alien Space Ducks! Before long we started discussing where Elvis and his friends could be located in each book we were reading. How did Over Sea, Under Stone end? King Elvis and The Alien Space Ducks swooped in with their space ship and defeated the bad guys, of course! I’m sure that you realize King Elvis and The Alien Space Ducks defeat Voldemort at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book wasn’t even out yet, and we knew that.
For the last Christmas before I left the job, I gave my Book Club crew each one “Alien Space Duck” (Devil Duckies from Archie McPhee were the closest I could get). Too bad I never got an Elvis figurine. That would have been epic.
So, if I’m ever discussing a book and I don’t want to give away particular plot points (or…the ending) you know what to expect.
I’ve had a few tabs open in my browser for a age now, so I thought I’d entertain y’all with the things what lurk on my computer.
1) I love Charlie and Lola (I have one of the books on my floor presently.) Here is the first episode of the tv version. And, for those of you who aren’t British, or fans of Doctor Who, “fish fingers” are “fish sticks” in the US of A.
2) Dear Land’s End, I think that you should send me one of these sweaters for free (Petite Medium, if you please). How can one go wrong with black/grey argyle? If I do receive this sweater, I promise to wear it with a little black skirt, knee high socks, and black Mary Jane shoes to work at least once. Signed, Me.
3) Methinks that I have found the charity I want to help (as referenced in my 101/1001 list.) It’s the Northern California Sled Dog Rescue. From their site: “Northern California Sled Dog Rescue (NorSled) is an all-volunteer non-profit group dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and finding new homes for unwanted, abused and abandoned Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Samoyeds, and Northern-breed mixes in many Northern California counties including: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba.” As you may have gathered, my interest is not purely altruistic. Someday, I want this sort of dog, and I want these folks to be around when I’m ready. If you can help in some way, please do.
4) My favorite theater company, let me show you it! Sacramento City Theater is normally located at Sacramento City College, though this year they usual area is being renovated. I usually attend with Catslyn and Eideann. Full disclosure: We know the costume designer, and quite a few of the folks involved. …But I see everything I can manage because I have a good time, and I love live theater, even if I can’t work up the courage to actually participate anymore.
5) A couple of days before Christmas, I happened to be at the Stanford Mall for dinner. For those of you who don’t know, this mall is on the…upscale end of things. We were hungry, but window shopping is fun, yeah? So we popped into Tiffany’s (Hello! They have my wedding ring there, and it isn’t even available at the place I bought it anymore. But I digress.) and they had these lovely keys. Surprisingly, I can actually afford a couple of them. Y’know, if I wanted to save up. After dinner at Max’s Opera Cafe (where they actually had people singing, like the one in Sacramento) we wandered back through the mall. On a whim, I actually stopped into Max Mara, where I discovered that I actually prefer wool overcoats to cashmere ones. It’s a texture thing. And finally, we popped into a little bakery where I found a lemon brioche. (Purrrr…brioche…purrr.) What a decadent outing! I know where I’ll go shopping if I ever win the lottery.
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