Welcome to the EverDark
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "RunningRed NightBringer" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
|
10:04 pm
[Link] |
Birthdays
So another birthday has come and gone. I didn't do anything too differently from what I normally do with Ben on a Wednesday - buy comics, go to a restaurant, see a movie.
The occasion was special enough to warrant going to Famous Dave's. I wanted to order their giant platter served on a garbage can lid but Ben balked at the size and convinced me to order a lesser combo intended to serve 2, but this was also served on a lid so I was happy. We ate sparingly, intending to save leftovers and indulge in dessert (normally FD fare is too filling to consider such a thing).
After some hanging around a bookstore we went to see Astro Boy which was a very good movie with a lot of humor.
Ben also got me a huge decorated cookie from Mrs Fields. And I mean huge, it's taking up a lot of room in the fridge while we nibble away at it. I'll put a photo or two of it on my FurAffinity page later.
I also blew a lot of hard-earned cash on some artwork. Partly because I wasn't able to attend any conventions this year, and also cause, why not? I'm still waiting on an order from Ursula Vernon (with whom it is not a question of "what prints do I like", but "can I keep myself from ordering the entire gallery"), but already received some matted prints from WindWolf Studios and some comic books from an online shop.
My big regret is that I'm still fat. I'm going to have to try harder this year to get rid of the blubber. Maybe next birthday I can post a photo of how thin I am.
|
02:12 pm
[Link] |
FurAffinity, Icons & Ben
I added two new icons to my selection of userpics. Some of the fine detail got lost in the formatting, so I posted the full-size versions to my Fur Affinity page.
I'm also posting, with his permission, some artwork of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ben_who. I'm hoping positive feedback will encourage him to share more of his art.
|
|
01:27 pm
[Link] |
Failed Joke
So I was going to post a joke about picking on pro-lifers by asking why they don't celebrate Conceptiondays instead of Birthdays. Before doing so I decided to search the web to see if anyone else came up with the idea and found out....some of them do. Hell, one pro-life site offered Conceptionday cards.
So my backup joke is to try and squik them out by reminding them that they are celebrating the day their parents fucked. Do they call their parents and thank them for not using condoms while grinding their naked bodies against each other? Would they enjoy a celebratory cake in the shape of a sperm forcing its way into an egg? And would they buy cemetery plots for stillborn or miscarried feti?
The truth is that pro-lifers are lying when they say abortion is murder. What they really don't like is people having sex, especially for fun. If they were true to their convictions they'd be handing out condoms at protests instead of hypocritically shooting doctors. So reminding them that they owe their existence to a very moist biological act is my way of fucking with them providing a philosophical counterpoint in the ongoing debate.
|
|
01:11 am
[Link] |
Saturday meet
So I got to hang out with some cool furs this past Saturday. Gizmo organized a basic dinner and movie meet. There was Gesten, who I knew from the BBQ a few months back, and raincheetah and Ozy, who I met for the first time. We hung out at Borders waiting for other furs, who ultimately called to cancel for different reasons. After a nice meal at Longhorns, we went to see Zombieland. I wanted to see Surrogates, but was outvoted. Despite generally disliking the zombie genre, I was pleasantly surprised to find Zombieland an enjoyable movie. It avoided a lot of horror cliches and was very funny. Interestingly enough, leaving the theater, I turned on my radio and Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing. Afterwards, Gizmo, rain, Ozy and myself went to a nearby coffee/icecream shop to partake of ice cream and idle chat while Ozy demonstrated his artist abilities.
It was really nice meeting these guys and I hope to see them again, but it probably wont be soon since most of them are heading to Furfright this weekend.
|
|
09:37 pm
[Link] |
Random Thoughts
New Hampshire's state motto is Live Free or Die. Shouldn't this mean that they don't have any prisons? That instead of incarceration for crimes, you're put to death?
Thoughts like this are why I try to avoid getting caught doing anything illegal in New Hampshire. Not that I don't do anything illegal, I just try harder to avoid being caught.
You'd think Maine's motto is Vacationland since it's on every sign and license plate. The actual motto is Dirigo, Latin for I Lead. Not sure what it means, but I rather like Vacationland better.
|
|
12:52 am
[Link] |
BBQ Pics Up
I decided not to go with a photobucket account, for assorted reasons, but primarily because I had this perfectly good FurAffinity account lying around that I mostly set up to be able to see por...furry art of a mature sensibility.
So I finished sorting and labeling the photos and finished uploading them to my *ahem* gallery. I'm amazed at how quickly people responded.
Well, if you want to take a look.
Maybe later I'll add some other photos, or pics people have done for me. I'm not likely to add my own artwork, cause I suck at artwork.
|
|
01:51 am
[Link] |
Getting the Jittery Monkey Off My Back
As I mentioned last time, Lipton discontinued my favorite blend of iced tea mix, a blend that has been a part of my life since childhood. They have other blends out there, but none with the same kick. So I decided it was time to give up the stuff once and for all.
Last Saturday I enjoyed my last glass of iced tea and diet Coke and since then I've been caffeine free. No cola, no chocolate for a solid week. It wasn't easy the first few days. I had headaches most of Monday, but I suspect that was more due to having to get up fucking early to work the morning shift for Labor Day. I think I'll go one more week without caffeine, then allow myself the occasional soda or chocolate snack, but only for the enjoyment of the taste, not for a morning pick-me-up. Well, maybe I shouldn't say enjoyment. Cola is pretty nasty if you think about it. We mostly like the fizz and coolness as opposed to flavor.
At Ben's advice I also stopped drinking excessive amounts of diet soda for the last few weeks. I used to buy cases of the Waist Watcher sodas for after workouts, figuring sugar free was good, right? Heck, the colas were caffeine free so I could have those late at night.
So I gave those up and started a more focused diet/exercise plan that really got some results. Then I got a cold on Thursday and haven't been to the gym in three days. Fuck.
|
|
09:21 pm
[Link] |
Losing the Edge
So once again bad luck strikes whilst biking through Westbrook. Last time I got a flat tire going over some debris and had to walk my bike the 3.5 miles home. This time I went for a ride after dark and shortly after crossing the town line, the bracket holding the LED headlamp to my baseball cap broke. I ended up holding it in my hand the rest of the trip and will now need to find a replacement. Still, I got in 10.5 miles of calorie burning.
As alluded to in my last post, my favorite blend of Lipton iced tea mix has been discontinued. I had grown up on this stuff and grown addicted to its bitter yet sleep-banishing potency. When the local stores stopped carrying it, I ordered directly from the company. And now they inform me it's no longer made. Ah well. I had always intended to give up my caffeine addiction someday. I shall finish off my current supply and attempt to go cold turkey, giving up colas and chocolate for a few weeks until my brain chemistry resets and see if I can still function without the happy jitters, or if I fall asleep at my desk at work, drooling into the keyboard.
So I made a decision on the mp3 player. I would get the 32G size, and as I had some leftover giftcards, would buy through BestBuy's website. A day after placing my order I get an email telling me they couldn't get any and the order is canceled. OK, I go right to Sandisk and order from them. So far so good.
OK, if you haven't already done so, you should head over to Ben's livejournal to see the pictures he posted a few days ago for the Akela novel. As he notes, I think the first one is really good.
|
|
10:23 am
[Link] |
BBQ
I was able to attend fyrdawg's BBQ again this year and had a really great time. I got to meet, or re-meet some cool guys who I'd really like to hang out with again some time. Dex, Spike, Hindpaws, Tucker, Gesten, Dale and Gizmo. I think I got the names right, I tend to suck at remembering names offline.
The weekend involved fursuiters shooting guns, bouncing on the trampoline, eating yummy food and sitting around watching the rain on Sunday when it alternated between downpour and drizzle.
We also played a friendly (ie, no money) game of Texas hold'em, my first time playing. Hell, my first time playing a card game in a long time since no one wants to play Uno with me.
Oh, if any of the guys are reading this:
My local Wal-Mart put the night-vision goggles in the Clearance racks for like $35, if anyone was interested in getting their own cheap pair.
I will also be putting the photos on photobucket as soon as I'm done sorting and labeling them (and actually starting an account). I will hold onto the original unaltered batch if anyone wants.
If any of you have YahooIM or AIM, feel free to drop me a line and say hi. My contact info's on the front page.
Bah, this entry isn't as interesting as I'd hoped. I think my mental capacities are diminishing due to a lack of my preferred blend of iced tea mix. Maybe once I'm out my brain chemistry will reset and there will be room in my neurons for the muse.
|
|
01:09 pm
[Link] |
Broken players, broken dreams
I've got a decision to make on what size SansaView mp3 player to buy. See, my old one got stepped on while hiding in the pocket of some shorts and the screen went all cracked. I contacted the company to see what it might cost to repair, to see if it would be cheaper to repair or replace. I knew even if the warranty period was still valid it wouldn't cover negligence, and my morality would bristle against being deceptive against a company that hadn't done me any harm. Turns out they don't have the parts to do repair work so if the player is busted, the only option is to replace.
My pondering is on what size to buy, 8G, 16 or 32. The larger models could hold my entire mp3 collection with room enough for videos and artwork. And price-wise the larger is a better value. On the Sansa website, the 8G is $149.99, the 16G is $179.99 and the 32G is $249.99. My finances are good enough I can easily afford the 32G model, especially compared to my comic book budget. The big question is, what is the likelihood of breaking the new one, if I spend the extra money on the larger size only to fuck it up?
And do I need the larger size? My current collection of mp3s barely tops 13G and includes many ripped CDs that I'm only barely interested in. I suppose this could be good motivation to go out and get more CDs of my favorite artists, hell I haven't had a copy of Holst's The Planets suite in years.
On a sad topic, Lipton is discontinuing my favorite blend of iced tea mix, which means I can't even order it from their online store anymore, which means goodbye wake-up juice and good-bye afternoon jitters. I shall be in mourning for as long as my current supply lasts.
Oh, can anyone provide some advice on turning image files into LJ icons? I got some pictures I'd like to use but when I load them the image doesn't look very good. Thanks
|
|
04:00 pm
[Link] |
Regime Change
For those who don't already know from talking to Ben or myself, the paper we work for got a new owner. The staff spent the last year with the low-level dread that comes from not knowing what was going to happen. I'm glad the old owners are gone as they believed in nepotism and ineptitude. Now we're living with a low-level dread of what changes are going to come. The new owner is an unknown quality and while I don't think we're going to be fucked over, I know that some of the details that made working there fun will change.
One of which will be the eventual relocation to the building where the paper is actually printed, one town over. It makes sense to do so, but I am rather fond of the current building. It's old so it has character. It's close enough to swing by if I forgot something or Ben needed a ride home. The garage was close enough to put my car and walk home when snow storms meant we couldn't park on the street. The move will mean a longer commute, but I wouldn't have to walk five minutes from the garage to the office via a low-class neighborhood.
My department also lost three managers who I liked (because they were decent, hard-working and fair). They weren't fired for being bad, but merely because the new owner is going to be putting in some of his own people in key spots. Rather like when an administration changes. When a new politician comes in, most people under them can expect a lot of turnover.
|
|
03:24 am
[Link] |
Finished
Finally finished sorting the songs, all 2473 of them. Blech.
Now I just need to clean up the random novelty/comedy bits like finding out who did the "Picard at McDonalds" bit, or whether to keep the tiny stand up bits or torrent the full performance.
I've been trying to get the Electronic Dreams soundtrack, but the torrent dried up. Maybe Bull Moose Music can find the CD for me.
I also need to edit or replace the songs with glitches like dead air at the end or file glitch noises partway through. I swear that partway through one of my t.A.T.u. songs is the door closing sound effect from AIM.
That can wait. Right now I have to decide what out of the 13G of music I have gets to go onto the MP3 player and what will have to wait until I get some microSD cards.
Time for sleep
|
|
09:24 pm
[Link] |
Failure to Rip
I took the comedy CD and Wolf Park's Howls & Growls and tried to rip them in my laptop and then the computer at work with no success. Too many of the tracks have that scratchy staticy noise. I don't think the discs are defective themselves as out of all my CDs it's only the two with labels that gave me this problem. Even the CDs Wolfebyte made for me came through clear. If I ever talk to someone at Wolf Park, maybe I can see about getting a label free disc. No big deal.
Only 500 more old mp3s to go.
i really need some new userpics.
|
|
03:24 am
[Link] |
Ripping CDs
OK. I've been spending a lot of time the last few weeks ripping and sorting my CD collection. My new laptop is much better than my old hand-me-down I'd been using for 6-7 years. I could finally rip a CD and use other programs at the same time. Oh yeah, I have a new computer and it is sweeeeet. More on that later, if I remember. So I lug out my entire collection of discs, even the stuff I had left at my parents. Turns out I don't have that many, barely more than a hundred or so.
So far it's been fairly simple: Rip CD to mp3, edit ID3 tag to suit my preferences (removing track#, genre and other irrelevancies) and sort by artist, subdivided by album. Previously I just put all the songs for a certain artist in one big folder, but SansaView (my mp3 player) seems to prefer denoting albums and I'm tired of seeing unknown everywhere. I'll re-tag my prior collection of songs to fit my new arrangement. It's an aspect of my analytical mind to prefer keeping stuff lik this orderly, improve and tweak every so often. Most of the CDs sorted very easy, being collections of songs by individual artists or bands.
Then came the snags:
Concert performances by stand up comics. I prefer having the entire performance on one big file, as opposed to broken up into routines, but that's how they come on the CD. Geek on Crossroads recommended a simple program, MergeMP3, which does exactly what the name says, merge several mp3s into one file. worked great except for one problem. When I load the new file into Winamp, the song length is all screwed up. A quick convert to MP4 and back in SuperC resolved that problem
Soundtracks and compilations. Some were easy like the Avenue Q cast recording or Princess Mononoke. As they were for all intents by the same artist, I could just leave them together. And like the comedy albums, some of these albums fit around a common theme. But the soundtracks or compilations that included a lot of pop songs, especially by artists I had elsewhere? Should I keep the CD together in a folder, or break it up and put the mp3s in the folders for their respective bands? Most of the CDs had no these beyond "songs of the 80s" so there was no reason to keep them together. And if I did that, then what about the compilations where I didn't have a lot by the artists, like Native American music or new agey instrumental? And the soundtracks that are scores I'd like to be able to listen to in track order. Turns out if I keep the track number in the ID3 tag, Sansa can recognize that when playing a specific album, so that's good.
I think I'll keep the compilation albums together. My mp3 players can sort by artist so it doesn't matter exactly whether a certain song is in the Duran Duran folder, or Hits of the 80s folder. I usually play with the shuffle on anyway.
Concept albums. Pretty much just some Styx albums. Even the Best Of albums have songs that directly lead right into the next track. That can wreck merry hell on the joys of shuffle. And Windows arranges files alphabetically. I'll likely use the soundtrack solution and keep the track numbers in the file so if I choose to I can listen to the Kilroy Was Here album in the order the Gods (ie, Styx) intended.
Mix CDs. A few friends have made custom CDs for me. I'll follow the same procedure for other compilations.
I've got two CDs with those sticker labels on them. One is a mix CD of assorted comedy bits from an old manager (who was a truly cool dude who knew how to keep up morale). The other is a collection of wolf howls from Wolf Park that I think I got at Anthrocon. The problem is they're too thick for my laptop's CD drive. I can barely play them, let alone rip them,. My solution is likely to be getting out my old laptop and using its CD player.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the CDs now that I have their contents on my computer (and not even taking up 20G of space). I'm not likely to listen to a CD player again, and in fact need to find new homes for my old players (does anyone want a radio/CD/cassette player, Discman or casette/radio in decent shape?) so I have no use for the originals except as backups in case the laptop dies. I don't even really need them for that as I can backup my media onto external hard drives I have lying around. Hell, with my mp3 player and maybe one microSD card, I can fit my entire music collection in my pocket. Even if I still wanted the CDs, I can keep those in a tiny CD wallet and just worry about the clear cases. Hell, that's another reason the record labels suck, they are really big on waste. Since my new laptop can burn CD/DVDs I'll probably keep the cases if I need to ship a homemade disc to someone.
Any suggestions? Anyone want some CDs? I might just donate the bunch to the library if no other solutions present themselves.
Current Music: everything
|
|
07:15 pm
[Link] |
Knowing...is half the battle
Saw The Knowing with ben_who last night. He had the week off so we didn't have to wait till Wednesday to go to the theater like we normally do. An interesting film. Instead of New York or Washington D.C., it takes place near Boston, Massachusetts. It was filmed near Melbourne, Australia though, so nothing looked familiar to this former Mass-hole except some establishing shots. Apart from Nicolas Cage, the cast was made up of Australian actors so broc_dresdroth or Silverfur might know who they are, but not I.
Ben didn't like the movie for some reason. After the credits he said he wanted to see something slightly less depressing, like a documentary on terminal cancer patients. This is rather odd as Ben is normally a fan of the disaster genre. Whether it's a cheesy made-for-TV movie like Category 7 or full-budget flick like Day After Tomorrow. Ben trimmed the tape on his VHS copy of Cameron's Titanic to remove the boring stuff. It started with the ship taking a nose-dive to Davy Jones' Locker. He's one of the few people in the world to admit to seeing The Core. So why didn't he like this? Hard to say, and I couldn't really speculate here without giving away spoilers. I suspect it could be the lack of goofy bits or cheesy effects. It's easier to laugh off a major disaster when two characters debate burning a centuries-old Bible for warmth and a third waves a heavy tax-code tome in their face. The Knowing lacked any light-hearted moments.
I personally liked the film and came out with a big grin on my face. I am a misanthrope who think Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is light reading. It is possible I am slightly insane and a sociopath, so my idea of fun isn't always the same as most people. I do wish that Nicolas Cage's scientist character did a little more science.
There were some aspects that helped this movie stand out. Early in the film there's a discussion about determinism versus randomness. And with several of the disasters you have to wonder whether they would still have happened if there had been some minor change, like a character standing in a different place, reacting a different way. Big If scenarios where people can act. Compare that to most disaster movies where the calamity is a major natural disaster and the characters can only react to what is happening.
Would I recommend this movie to you, dear reader? Well, maybe. If you are easily depressed or suicidal, avoid this movie. If you like Nicolas Cage and enjoyed movies like The Weather Man or Matchstick Men, sure watch it. If you liked the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, go for it. If you like your disaster movies to be deeply routed in science, skip it. If you're looking for a way to enjoy two hours and you've already seen Taken and Coraline, sure see it. If you're a little squiked out by people on fire, yeah you might want to avoid it. If you like seeing people on fire, go see it right now.
|
|
11:40 pm
[Link] |
Changes in IM
OK, I'm ditching ICQ in favor of Yahoo Messenger. I got the upgrade for ICQ and discovered that among the many changes they made, the most striking was removing the option of requiring other users to get your permission before adding you to their friend list. The end result is constant notifications that some cretin is adding you to their spam list. If you have ICQ, you know the cretins I'm talking about. The ones who claim to be 19yr old Russian or Brazilian teenaged females. Well, when they bother adding anything to the profile.
I figured it wasn't worth it keeping the IM, especially as none of my friends are using it anymore.
I first started using Yahoo Messenger via the browser back at Anthrocon as a way of trying to locate people and checked it sporadically since. I figured I might as well download the program and keep it active. My username is RunningRedNB.
I'm still using AIM and still getting mileage out of it. Still, there are some people I wish would log on. Like WolvenBear and RavenTerror with whom Ben and myself should hang out and go see movies (along with their widdle kitties).
In other news, I'm still continuing my quest to lose body fat. I'm trying this radical diet technique of eating less goddamn shit. With any luck I should hit my target weight by the time Halley's Comet comes back. *g*
Current Music: Some OAR stuff I downloaded
|
|
10:15 am
[Link] |
Saturnalia Greetings
Happy belated Solstice everyone.
I hope everyone had fun. We got a blizzard here in New England. Lots and lots of snow. I'm glad because we don't often get a white Christmas. Usually it rains. :(
|
|
11:27 pm
[Link] |
Still Alive
Yeah, I keep promising to update more often, and read other journals. It's just lately I've been having a harder time sticking to a diet (curse you Devil Dogs) and have been spending more time at the gym to compensate. And after spending so much time on a treadmill trying to burn every calorie I can, my mind gets a bit drained and I barely have the enthusiasm to chat with people, let alone string three words together in a blog. (See this is how worn I am, I used the word blog. I hate the word blog. Blech). I can't promise that I'll write more or respond more, except the occasional "don't delete my account" post, at least not until I've lost enough weight and reined in my appetite that I can lighten up on myself. Until then I will keep driving myself to exhaustion with the mantra, Look Good Nekkid.
|
|
10:43 pm
[Link] |
Meatatarian
Stolen from a Wendy's tray liner:
I am a true Meatatarian because...
I feel bacon should be its own food group.
I eat, sleep, and breathe beef and bacon.
I have ketchup running through my veins.
I will only recognize cheese if it is on a hamburger.
I know the secret to true happiness is hickory smoked bacon.
I believe the Baconator is the true 8th Wonder of the World.
|
|
01:35 am
[Link] |
Rage
I went out for a walk earlier, an excuse to return some movies, see starts and maybe calm down. Didn't work. I returned home with the same pulse behind my eyes, that feeling of perpetual road rage. I've been listening to light music (Enya, Enigma, etc) to help develop calm, but no luck.
I've had moments like this before, but the anger would flare up and go away. Sometimes a workout at the gym would burn off the anger, whatever pissed me off would be forgotten while I focused on completing my run. These last few days, though, it abates a bit, but I can still feel it. Frustration, loathing, anger. I want to let my inner wolf out to hunt something. Maybe some mediation would help. If I could shut off my conscious mind for a bit, let it empty out.
Maybe I'm becoming insane.
I really should change my icon avatars. The wolf mask one is too out of focus. I could take a photo with the neat mask I got at AC.
|
[<< Previous 20 entries] |
