December 28, 2003

Car nostalgia

One unique facet of life in these United States is the Huge-ass Car I Once Owned story. Mine was a '79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon. (Mine was not anywhere near the mint condition of the one pictured -- I paid $300.00 for mine, and twice as much to insure it and get it tagged.) Unlike the model in this picture, I had the two-door version,* and those doors each weighed a ton; by the time I got it the driver's side door had a broken hinge, and had a tendency to swing slowly open in traffic. One day I pulled into the yard of the hovel I rented a room in, and I heard a dull "clank." I got out and looked under the car; sure enough, the muffler as well as the entire exhaust pipe had fallen off.

I drove it like that for about four months.

It was a car to inspire fear in the mean streets of Miami. Suddenly all the demises-by-auto I used to envision for myself -- such as the one where my flimsy econocart was squished between a tomato-red Camaro driven by a smoove Cuban youth in Raybans and a white Ford Bronco piloted by a distracted suburban mom trying to calm her hysterical brood, and I had to spend eight hours listening to the same salsa tune playing over and over from the Camaro's jammed cd-player as the rescue crew tried to pry me out of the tangle of vehicular rubble with the Jaws of Life -- vanished in the humidity as I watched shiny ego-machines shudder away from my path on the Airport Expressway. Despite its age it had a pretty powerful engine (it also got about ten miles to the gallon, but hey, at least I wasn't taking the bus). And for the first few months I owned it, the a/c worked, the power window on the driver's side still opened, and it had a cassette player I spent $400 to get the door fixed, and (eventually) replaced the muffler and exhaust pipe. I also got the brakes replaces once.

Well, the end came: first the windows stuck, then the a/c failed. Summer came, and I had had enough of sweltering. I sold it to the junkman for sixty bucks. I think I'm about ready for another one.

*This is a correction; I posted this rather late, and I was tired; or my brain refused to let me take in the details of a vehicle painted such a hideous brown color, and I thought the link went to a picture of the two-door model.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 08:16 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

December 09, 2003

A case of the Mondays

Since this was a particularly annoying Monday, I don't have much to say tonight. But there is one thing I forgot to mention in my post from the weekend, and that is what greeted my eyes as I came back from my errands (click for larger pic):

I took the picture this morning, but it looked just the same then as it did Saturday. Apparently some bimbo, driving god knows what, had managed to crash into the mail kiosk. I can't quite figure out how she managed, because if you will take a look at the next photo (again, click for a larger one):

-- you can see that there is a rather high concrete rise from the parking lot to the walkway. I can only suppose that she was trying to pilot a Uhaul truck, or perhaps a small yacht, and backed into the thing. It must have made the most godawful noise; I'm glad I wasn't there to hear it, as my nerves are not what they used to be.

Anyway, the upshot is, I have no idea where my mail is going. The girl at the manager's office said to call the post office on Hiawassee Road.

Oh well. Here is another piccie for you all to enjoy (clicky clicky for larger):

Weekend after next, come hell or high water, I know what I am going to go to the theater to see. I do need something to cheer me up; nothing like a long, incomprehensible, boring movie filled with characters nobody can possibly care about to make me feel better about myself. Oh wait, I'm not going to go see Seabiscuit; that was the bad dream. Seriously, why do people who have no appetite (apparently) for heroic fantasy movies go see them, only to complain that they were bored and felt as if they were being tortured? It's not as if ROTK is something new no one had ever done before; it is the last part of a three part movie. If you didn't like parts one and two, you aren't going to suddenly like part three, especially since the characters you didn't care about in the first two movies are also in the third movie. But then again, this person preferred, among other fare (like Peter Pan, a story I have always found to be creepy in the extreme), Gone With the Wind, a film I have never been able to watch more than five minutes of before changing channels.

By the way, I'd also like to see Master and Commander, and I plan to rent out that pirate thing that the Elf was in. That's about it for me and movies.

PS: yes, I know that the grammar in this entry sucks, but I don't care, I'm tired and posting anything at all tonight was like swimming through cold molasses.

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November 30, 2003

Domestic Bliss

wash wash wash I finally got sick of waiting for the maintenance people in this apartment complex to get around to my place and decided to hook up my washer and dryer myself. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be -- you just hook up three hoses. The only problem is it takes a certain amount of strength to get the drain hose all the way onto the valve on the back of the washer, strength my feeble little fingers just don't have. (There is also a stiff metal clamp involved.) So it's leaking just a bit -- but you know what? I don't care. The utility room has a concrete floor and opens to the outside, so it can leak away until I put my next call in to the manager's office. I plan to play dumb. "Gee, I hooked up the washing machine and it's leaking all over the place!" I wonder if will light a fire under someone's behind. In any case, I am washing all my laundry tonight.

In other home front news, I still have no car. Well, I plan to go looking in a couple of weeks... three or four... whenever I scrape up some money. Being carless in Orlando sucks. On the other hand, my cat is happy -- except for one trip on foot to the grocery store I haven't stirred from the house all day except to take out the trash.

As to the site look -- well, I can't really think of a holiday theme that satisfies me. I wanted a retro Christmas look, but not the same one I had up last year. I couldn't find any retro Christmas clip art that I really liked, though, so I just settled for this vaguely retro look. I may keep it, I may not.

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November 28, 2003

Life Without Wheels, cont.

Well, while everyone spent their Thanksgiving eating delicious turkey and spending time with family and/or friends, I got to stay home. But, I really can't blame my lack of a vehicle for this -- I had horrible cramps. I wasn't about to go anywhere -- I have a vague memory of some friends asking me over, sorry friends! -- with or without a car. I spent most of the day in front of the teevee with a heating pad on my belly. I did manage to get up and force myself to make French toast, with some apples sauteed in butter, brown sugar, and nutmeg. As Steve H. likes to say: "Oh, oh, oh..."

Weather is supposed to turn nasty later on today. Right now it is sunny and not too not. I really should get up and walk over to the store (it's about four longish blocks away, and I could use the exercise), but I still feel crampy and disinclined to move from my comfy cave. Tomorrow it will be nice and cold, or so they promise. We shall see. Maybe I'll make a few phone calls to some used car places.

Later: okay, I didn't go anywhere. A walk to the dumpster with my trash proved to me that I was still not feeling well enough to walk four blocks up and back. This is too bad; I am craving pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top right now. Mmmm. Pie.

PS: weather was nice and sunny up until, oh, now. Temps are supposed to drop into the forties tonight. Yay!

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November 25, 2003

Oopsie

Well. Ain't life a kick in the ass sometimes. Take today: I got up and went outside, planning to do my usual routine of getting in the car and driving to work. Unfortunately that proved impossible to do, since there was no car waiting for me where I had parked it last night. I had the feeling the neighborhood's joyriders were not the ones responsible. I kept meaning to call the bank...

Anyway, after much rigmarole, I found out that 1) I will have to come up with $2027.89 in fifteen days to get the car back. That's with "repossession fees" -- I don't owe that much in just late payments. Since I don't have that much money, I guess I'll be carless for a while until I can save up enough money to buy a piece of junk. Then I called the number to find out where I could go to get my stuff out of the car, and they tell me they charge "inventory fees" for that, to call back later and find out how much I will have to fork over for my cassette tapes and other crap. And I can pick the stuff up only at a certain time "by appointment only" between the hours of 1:45 and 3:45pm or something like that at this place wherever it is. (I'll bet you it's in one of those neighborhoods where there are a lot of "bail bondsmen" places.) Fun.

Oh well, those car payments were crushing my head anyway. We'll just try not to think of my ha-ha joke credit rating right now. At least I have all the important stuff paid for, like this here internet site. Now I have to figure out how to drive it to work. If only I could just upload myself... Now I am off to figure out the bus system in this town.

Update: bus system has been duly figured. My one fear was that Orlando would have some stupid "we're still a small town" schedule where the buses don't start running until 8 o'clock, and stop at sundown (kind of like Miami did -- see, even though Miami is a huge city with a population above two million, the bus system there was a joke and a half; don't expect to be able to go anywhere after 9pm without a car unless you live near downtown -- aka, in one of the worst neighborhoods in the US) but fortunately that won't be a problem. Lots of buses, and they start early and stay up late. Also, I'm on a normal work schedule.

Some other look-on-the-bright-side moments:

I might finally lose some weight.

It's not summer.

And last: at least I'm not this stupid female.

Last very last update to this I swear: (6:10pm) I checked this entry again to see if I was really pathetic; I decided that I could have been more pathetic, so I'll leave it as is. A few more things: car-pooling has been arranged for (turns out one of my coworkers lives in my nice across-town neighborhood); the fees for getting my used kleenex, old-worn-out U2 tapes, and junkmail aren't that bad, though I certainly wouldn't charge that much for them; and the bus system sucks in Orlando too, just in a different way from Miami's.

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November 10, 2003

By the way

I am rather pissed off now. Sometimes I really wonder if a few jackboots up a few asses wouldn't do the Intercrapnet a world of good. In other words, don't cross my fucking boundaries.

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November 03, 2003

Moan whine complain

Stupid sinus headache. I feel like someone punched me on both cheekbones. (And before you ask, I am waiting for my transition from temp to regular employee starts and then I need to find out how much longer I can wait before I can get health insurance and then avoid going make plans to go to the doctor.)

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November 02, 2003

Home sweet home

Note to self: sell all possessions before moving ever again. I finally got the washer and dryer moved into the place. I was terrified that I had made a huge mistake and the tiny space this apartment has for washer/dryer sets was too small (they are ideally set up for the stackable kind; I have the separate floor set). Damn things are a headache and a half; my friend tried to hook up the lint hose (or whatever that stretchy aluminum thing is called), but it kept coming loose. And I need to have maintenance plug the hoses in anyway, as well as making sure the electricity works. Did I mention all the non-working outlets I have? Grr. Oh well, it's a cheap place, so I get what I pay for.

I also got my few remaining large pieces of furniture in the place. My oh-so-Gothic matte black iron-look canopy bed frame is in pieces against the wall. I've decided to get rid of it; for one thing, it's too tall for the room, and for another, it will interfere with the ceiling fan if I set it up. So, anyone want to buy a black metal canopy bed frame? I might even let the rails go with it.

Anyway, that was my exciting day. I have a sinus headache now. I have taken handfuls of Advil and sinus pills, with very little effect. Also, I am addicted to Sonic's Cheddar Peppers and Cherry Limeade. I bought this meal twice today (well, the first time I bought a Strawberry Limeade instead but I find I prefer the Cherry). Nitey nite.

I still have to put away books and do laundry. Oy.

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November 01, 2003

The art of putting everything off

Time for another episode of My Life: So When Do I Get a Parade? Yes, it's what you really look for here at Spleenville Central: evidence that I am really a total phuqup instead of the web goddess you love and fear. Well, to begin:

I finally got my hands on the key to my patio utility room. This means that I can finally get my washer-dryer out of storage, along with all the other heavy things I left there, such as my bed, futon frame, and kitchen table. (Hey, no way was I going to pay for two Uhaul trips. I already moved everything that could be transported by car, including the millions of books I own, and the mostly eighties vinyl album collection no one wants to take off my hands. Yeah, used record stores only want rare records and master recordings these days. But that is for another rant.)

Let me explain about the key: it turned out that the lock on the storage door was broken, so they had to fix it before I could put anything in there. Not that I was really afraid that I would get robbed of my washer-dryer set, but I am from Miami and I don't take chances. Yes I lock my car doors -- Orlando hasn't been a small town for quite some time. Anyway, they replaced the lock on the door -- and then didn't leave the new key in the office for days and days.

On the other hand, I am not too pleased right now with management; they promised me that someone would be here yesterday to fix the annoying dripping tub faucet that drives me insane, as well as remove the showerhead so I could install the handheld shower I bought. Their showerhead is some ancient plastic thing with several years of Orlando water grot caked on it, and I want it gone. I knew something was up when I came home and my cat was not cowering in some far corner because a Strange! Human! had been in the house. And of course, the tub was untouched. Hey, they pay for water, so I guess they don't care if a 400+ apartment block of leaky faucets runs up their bill. Fortunately for me they are open today so I plan to call and harangue them.

In plant news, the Australian fern confirmed that it was a creature of the shadows, so I brought it indoors and trimmed off the scorched leaves. Once it was no longer subject to the blasting rays of the Florida sun it immediately perked up. It already looks crowded in its little pot, so I am going to buy a larger pot some time this weekend.

Books, books, everywhere books. All over my bedroom, mostly, which is still sans bed (I have been rolling the futon out onto the living room floor and sleeping there). I finally went and bought a three-shelf cube bookcase thing from Vilemart, and hauled it indoors. Now I must put it together, yay. And I know that it is only large enough for a portion of my books, but it's a beginning. I also have my eye on the Mission Style desk -- the one I am using now is too small, really.

Incidentally, in searching for the perfect (cheap) bookcase I found myself in the Belz Fashion Outlet. I had no time to really go through the place -- it spans a few blocks and has outlet stores for every manufacturer you can think of; and I really don't need Donna Karan knockdowns from last season, or a Burberry trenchcoat right now. But I did get sucked into a lingerie store, where I found what might be the world's most comfortable bra, so the day was not wasted.

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October 22, 2003

Doin' the Martha

I know what you all really want to hear about from me anyway: you want to hear about my home decor. Well, I finally found the cheap black plastic wastecan and black rug for the bathroom. On my second trip to SuperTarget I found the aisles where they have all the color-coordinated stuff. I could swear these aisles weren't there when I went to the store before; they must have been in some other dimension, or maybe I was. Anyway, I chose the cheaper make of rug, which turned out to be a different shade of black from the more expensive brand: the cheap rug was a kind of ashy black as opposed to blue-black. It worked out because I was trying to keep to the warm/neutral color spectrum for the bathroom. (Of course, I get home last night to find that my cat the slob had somehow thrown litter across the entire rug. But at least the apartment elves had finally fixed the door to the outside utility room, so know I can get my washer-dryer set out of storage and have it hooked up.)

I also found Australian Tree ferns on sale there, so I bought one. I've been wanting to own one for ages; I love ferns. Pictures are coming soon of all this domesticity as soon as I get around to taking some.

At the Target store they also had the neatest stuff: furniture that you can assemble without hammers or nails. It's a brand called Fasil, and the items are rather expensive, but I like the easy chair and the bookcase. I think Target is trying to get some of Ikea's customer's -- pretty easy considering the closest Ikea store to my area is the one in Virginia.

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October 18, 2003

Domesticity

Finally got around to straightening up (somewhat) the walk-in closet in my new apartment. So many shelves, so many places to hang my clothes... I got rid of half my stuff, and I still am running out of hangers. Well, it's 88 cents for a dozen at Vile-mart. Soundtrack: Swinging at #1, a cd of WW2-era swing hits I picked up at the aforementioned retail mart; seems somehow appropriate to accompany housework. Now, of course, I am taking a breather, and I'm listening to the playlists of random songs I have stored on my hard drive. Currently playing: Love and Rockets "Judgement Day."

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 13, 2003

Where is my mind?

So much to blog about, so little brain with which to blog. Back tomorrow, hopefully with a fully loaded brain.

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October 12, 2003

Clouds in my coffee

There's nothing like grocery shopping to put me in a foul mood.

Unless it is grocery shopping on a Sunday evening, when every brat-intensive family unit is also out chasing down provender while ignoring their loose little ones ping-ponging and skidding down the aisles, when they are not thrashing and shrieking in the kiddie chair of the grocery cart behind you.

Unless it is all that and the fact that I could not find the one simple thing that I saw in all the stores not two weeks ago -- I swear. See, I want a small black rug and small black plastic wastecan (not one made out of lucite or porcelain and which therefore costs the earth) for the bathroom, to go with my beige-with-black-and-gold-patterns shower curtain that I bought at Linens-n-Things two years ago. Of course now that I want something in black that isn't three feet tall and made of wire mesh (I am so going to put wire mesh in the bathroom on the real stone tile, yeah right) I can't find it. I drove so many places my ass went numb and I used an entire quarter tank of gas. There were tons of gold and beige and similar shades, but the shower curtain already uses as much of those two colors as I can stand.

So by the time I gave up and decided to go home I was too pissed off to go to the food store -- and then I was even more pissed off when I remember I still had to go to the store anyway because I needed some things that could not be put off. So away I goes! to Vile-mart, where it was raining bratty kids and their deranged parents whose grocery-cart-piloting skills did not reassure one as to their driving-in-the-parking-lot (or on the road) skills.

And hey, mister, how's about you get your fat ass out of the center of the aisle? Yeah, you there, leaning on your empty grocery cart, staring into space. I don't know what you were doing there, and I don't care, but I didn't appreciate having to squeeze around your well-fed posterior.

Anyway, that was my day. Huzzah.

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October 11, 2003

Back in black

I'm ba-aaaack.... Regular posting to resume forthwith. First I have to catch up with my reading.

PS: dipnut is the only one to get the meaning of the title to this post. Are there no other Eighties "new wave" music fans left in the world? Sure, a lot of music during the Reagan years sucked, but you will pry my U2, Simple Minds, and Echo and the Bunnymen LPs out of my cold, dead fingers.

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October 08, 2003

Just checking in

Saturday the cable guy arrives. Yay, three days to I-Day. (Internet day.) Watch out, world!

Posted by Andrea Harris at 08:33 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 05, 2003

Come in come out of the rain

Well hi kids. I've finally moved into my own place, so I have no internet access currently. (I am typing this at the Apple store in Millenia Mall.) It will take me at least a week to get back on line -- the way things always seem to go for me, probably longer. Until then I probably won't be posting much unless I can squeeze in a minute to blog from work. In the meantime, er, have great lives and all that.

PS: my new apartment is much nicer than any apartment I have lived in so far. For the first time in my life, I have a dishwasher for my exclusive use. Also sliding glass doors and central air as opposed to window units. My cat is happy -- she hates living with other people; she barely tolerates me.

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September 27, 2003

I'm ba-ack

A storm took out the cable modem where I've been staying, thus the dearth of new posts. More later.

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September 15, 2003

Change of Seasons

Autumn is approaching: the fogs have begun. I went out today and saw a nice thick mist had made everything beyond about fifty feet disappear. Gollum would have approved.

It will burn off quickly today, though. The temps are supposed to go into the nineties.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 08:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 04, 2003

Filler

Oh, look, I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy and stuff. Apartment hunting and getting used to the new job (remember that scene in Office Space where they took the fax machine out to the field and smashed it up to hip-hop music?) and so forth. Also, I haven't had any interesting thoughts lately. My apologies to those people who got into my previous blogged arguments, I haven't forgotten the subjects I raised, I just haven't had the time or inclination to sit down and get into anything again.

So anyway. I have Ken Layne's new cd to listen to (thanks, Ken!) and I'm working on a new project (just a personal one, and I really haven't been working on it very hard) but mostly I am dead-dog tired. Bleh. Oh well, that's the end to this edition of the dread Personal Blogging Stuff That No One Important Cares About. (No links, I am sure that people of that opinion are legion.)

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August 16, 2003

Public Service Announcement

Do not -- I repeat, do not -- drink Lipton's Orange and Spice Tea. Unless you like severe heartburn. I've been pounding Tagamet like it was Tic-Tacs. I don't know what they put in that stuff (my guess is lye), but whatever it is, it's deadly. I never have indigestion like this.

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Newsflash: I don't know everything

For instance, I had never encountered this word before. But I must say it describes me rather well.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:06 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

August 15, 2003

Not drowning but waving

No, Florida (or my web page, wherever it resides)wasn't at all affected by the Blackout of 2003, I've just been very, very busy. More later; now I must go to work.

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August 12, 2003

Dial tone

2 tired 2 post.

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August 02, 2003

Down and out

Nothing like a sinus headache to ruin my day. And I was craving pasta with homemade (by me) marinara sauce, but I felt too weak to make it. So I had Raisin Bran instead. Maybe I'll make it tomorrow, if I feel up to it.

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July 30, 2003

Whitespace

Oops, there's no entry today. Well, that's because I cut down the blog's index display to just one day's entries, and I haven't posted anything. Well, here's an entry. Remember, write something, even if it's nothing. At least I'll get typing practice in. (And I haven't had any good ideas today, nothing that I feel like writing about right now, anyway. Talk amongst yourselves.)

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July 28, 2003

Surfacing briefly

I may have to stop reading most blogs. Not only am I using "I gotta finish reading the blogs" as an excuse to not write in my own, I often find myself getting pissed off, and there aren't enough hours in the day, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I can talk about it now that one whole day has passed: I have a job. Sure, right now it's temp work, but there is the possibility of -- dare I breath it? -- a permanent position, and at the very least I am learning an office routine and getting a normal lunch hour and figuring out how to set up the coffee maker and everything, and that is what I need right now. That and a paycheck.

Anyway, I didn't want to say anything about it until I had shown up for my first day and not been told "Oh! Didn't the temp place call you? We found out we didn't need anyone after all." Because each time before that it looked as if I might have a position I told someone and then the thing fell through. Call me superstitious.

As for me writing, it looks as if staying up until 4am is over, but I was tired of that anyway. I am trying to get back into writing mode; I've been sort of preoccupied lately, as you can see. And there will be some changes around here. (Cue ominous music.) Stay tuned... (Yes, I know I've said it before.)

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July 23, 2003

Moveblog 1 Entry 5

Okay, guys, I'm moved and hooked up. most of my possessions, however, still need to be destroyed put into storage, so you won't be seeing much from me today. Really. Honest. I promise. Gotta go now.

Okay, in a minute.

(Talk amongst yourselves -- oh, I see that you already are. Carry on.)

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July 21, 2003

Moveblog 1 Entry 4

Sigh.

DUMPING.jpg

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July 19, 2003

Moveblog 1 Entry 2

Still here. Feel like crap. To be specific: I feel like I am coming down with something. Oh, that would be really convenient.

Update: to compound my pain, on Cold Case Files the narrator just said "Outside a small New Hampshire town, inside a small and tiny house..." My aching head.

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My day so far

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

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bonfire_anim64_147by141_sml.gif

(Bonfire animation from this site.)

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July 18, 2003

Movelog 1 Entry 1

I
Hate
Packing.

Also the power just came back on after being out for about an hour due to what they call a severe thunder storm. My cat has only now just ventured out from under the bed. It's not so much the scary loud noises and flashing lights she dislikes as it is the fact that she can tell I am up to no good. Wait until she finds out she's going to be spending some time in a place where there is another cat, a dog, and a guinea pig, not to mention an assortment of strange humans.

Anyway, all I did today was dismantle my desk (one of those powder-coated metal jobs), cart some crap off to the Goodwill, pawn one of my old teevees (don't ask how I end up with three tvs when I am one person; okay, one was so old I had to give it to the Goodwill, the other was old but they gave me 20 bucks for it), sell a bunch of my cds (goth cds are in demand, go figure) and pay my car payment. Of course this entailed me allowing the 96-degrees-Fahrenheit-but-feels-like-100 (per the Weather Channel) outside air to touch my skin several times today, which means I feel as if I have walked across Death Valley. So I am going beddy bye.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes, by the way. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes!

Update: did I actually write "this entailed me allowing..."? I guess I did. I really need some sleep.

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Upheavals in meatspace

Things are going to be slow around the Spleenville torture-and-roast-'em camp for a couple of days, because I have to move out of my apartment. Yes, there is still no job, and I had to decide between my car and my apartment. You can always stay with friends, but in Florida you're sunk without a car. But no worries, fans -- I'll be staying with friends who have cable internet access, and they are going to put me on their network. So posting will be light while I commence piling my possessions in the parking lot, pouring lighter fluid on them, and setting them on fire packing. So stay tuned! (PS: some Secret Projects are in the works also.)

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Headache Hotel

Okay, the headache is finally better, but now I am exhausted. I think I will break with tradition and go to bed early. I have a gajillion things to do tomorrow anyway.

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July 17, 2003

Crushing my head

I do not like it when I have the sinus headache that will not go away.

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July 16, 2003

Everything that rises must converge

Christ, people piss me off sometimes. It's enough to seriously make me consider setting up one of those password-protected blog things, so the sensitive of the earth won't be bothered by my personal whinings, and leave this blog for all the fluffy politics, war, and culture crap.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 07:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Life Plan Part 96214

So, I was talking to the lady from the bank, arranging for me not to have my car repo'd right away, and telling her of my jobless woes, and she said "It's too bad you don't live here, we're hiring." Now she was in Birmingham. I've never been there, so I don't know what it's like, but she said something about being within relatively easy access to mountains and beaches. I know some people who lived in Birmingham and didn't care for it, but my needs are simple: electricity, plumbing, cable access (internet, I don't care about tv), air-conditioning. Maybe I should move out of Florida.

So I went to Apartments.com to check out Birmingham. Prices seem reasonable... But is there a state income tax? Florida is one of the few states without a state income tax.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:29 AM | Comments (23) | TrackBack

July 15, 2003

Attrition

Okay, time for a my-so-called-life entry. This is all personal complaints and whines so feel free not to read the rest.

I had the cable people come and get the digital cable box -- I simply was not watching any of the digital channels. There was a time when I would have killed to have three extra music video channels, but that was when 1) I still cared about the current music scene, and 2) there was still music to care about. I stopped caring about music some time in the late nineties; the last concert I went to was the U2 one in Lexington in May 2001, but I had more than one reason for taking that trip. I haven't been to a concert since. Having all those extra channels is useless to me now.

Anyway, the box is gone; after some thought I decided to keep the standard cable, because I do watch A&E, the Hallmark Channel, and Discovery. In any case, I'm not sure how long I will still be here; I still don't have a job, and rent is a problem. (It's like, not paid yet. My manager wasn't in his office when I sashayed over there today; he's going to be thrilled.) I could barely afford this place on student loans and a part time job; now I have neither. Also, I have a car payment that must be paid, and I think it's going to win out over rent. As things stand now, I need my car more than I need an apartment. I can always drive to a friend's house and stay there. But without a car I can't get a decent job (not the way the laughable public transportation system is set up in Orlando -- but there isn't a city in Florida where the public transportation system doesn't suck, this is a car state).

Anyway, I've been getting myself into the state of mind where I can think about moving. After all: one day last week I came home after a job interview to find out that the maintenance crew had hacked all the lower branches off the lacebark elm tree in front of my apartment. Their excuse was that they had to trim all the branches that were touching the building because of carpenter ants and termites. That is all well and good, but I observed later that they haven't trimmed the branches from any of the other trees in the place, not so I can tell, and some of those branches (like the bottlebrush tree on the other side of my unit) are touching the roof. Maybe carpenter ants don't like bottlebrush tree bark.

Of course the tree crew didn't bother to move my last two feeble potted plants. Falling branches had knocked them both to the ground: the geranium had actually put out a flower which was broken off, and the spider plant had been dumped out of its pot. Anyway, I picked it up and scraped as much of the dirt as I could and repotted it, and the geranium too. Then I had to go inside to comfort my terrified cat, who must have thought the world had come to an end. She actually crept out of her hiding place on her belly, very pathetic.

So: they have hacked up my pretty tree, the better for the outside lights to glare in my window. And I have never sat in my patio area on my plastic chair next to my nice plastic table; it's either raining really hard, or too hot, or the mosquitos are out. What I have decided I'd prefer is some place I could get a screened-in porch. That way I could "be outside" without having to actually be outside in the evil Florida weather. That being said, I do like my neighborhood, which is quiet and near a part and has lots of trees (I require trees), but -- oh well.

I've looked around on Apartments.com and seen some less-expensive studios (yes, I might go back to a studio or an efficiency, if I can shed half my possessions -- and if I get a job, ever) that are not in Orange County. (I refuse to live in Orange County. I'd live in Polk County before I lived in Orange. People who live here will know what I am talking about.)

So yay, I might move. Whatever -- I don't care as long as I can get internet access, hey! Also, to make my life perfect, I had to get a new cell phone -- and a new cell phone plan, because Sprint's (my previous provider) cheapest phone is a hundred bucks. What happened was: my antediluvian cell phone finally up and died. Without a phone I'm sunk; I need that to get job interview calls. (I have no land line; I got rid of it since I had the cell.) So I went to T-Mobile and got a Nokia for $29.00. It was their cheapest phone, and it freaks me out, all the stuff it comes with. I have games, and I can compose my own ringtone, and I can even use AIM with it. So I may be homeless, but I'll have a cell phone! Maybe I should trade this machine in for a laptop with wireless access and become a vagabond. I'll trade the car in for a converted van... I'll change the name of the blog to "Have Blog, Will Travel." Or maybe "Vagablog." Hey...

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:53 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 13, 2003

Retro Stove

Oh yes, when I have made my millions and I finally have that dream cabin in the woods, one of these will be installed in my kitchen.

Betcha can't think of me being all domestic and shit, can ya?

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:10 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Things

I just realized why none of my imported posts have "convert line breaks" on; because they weren't saved that way, I had Textile installed on the other server. I haven't re-installed the plugin yet here. D'oh!

I meant to sleep all day, but I was awakened around 9am by some moron sounding their car horn over and over. Whoever it was is lucky I can't function without a pot of coffee in me. I was going for a walk, but the temperature is now in the nineties, so there is no way I'm leaving the house unless it is to get into my airconditioned car and drive somewhere else airconditioned.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 07, 2003

Swamp thing

Well, still no job, but lots of calls from people I owe money to! Including a fun dispatch from the student loan people, who are under the impression that I have not been enrolled at UCF since February. I beg to differ: I held out for a week longer than that... And then I get to go explain to my landlord why I don't have the rent, and god knows when I will have the rent. Hah hah! I am loving life right now, I can tell you.

And later, I may tell you all about my car trip yesterday. Yeah, since it's only money, I decided to drive around Central Florida. After getting a look at the area off the main highways, I think I am going to start referring to my home as "Mirkwood," or maybe "Fangorn." We do like our trees here. (Here is an example of what I mean. This is a picture of the Ocala National Forest. Or maybe it's a picture of one of Lake, Sumter, or Marion County's many small towns. Sometimes you can glimpse the wall of a house or the corner of a roof. The picture isn't mine, I snagged it off the internet somewhere.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:38 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

July 05, 2003

Dispatches from the Doldrums

Well, it's been quiet as a country cemetery here in Spleenville Central. The silence is unnerving; all the kids in my apartment complex are either still asleep (having had their breakfast milk drugged so mother and dad could recover from their own hangovers) or they've all gone off to Disney World. I'm sure the silence won't last, though. There is no way everyone used up their fireworks last night.

Etc.: I am working on a new site design, as well as some other things. (Cue ominous music.) Also, still no job, rent is late, cable is unpaid -- all is as usual.

PS: I'd like to thank the benefactor who sent me (via Amazon and, I think, my intermittently updated wish list) Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy.

On to other things...

Update: well, this is it so far. I'm not too pleased with the colors, though. I had to set the two columns to absolute widths, but that shouldn't be a real problem for most regular browser settings. It is still readable with Lynx, which is the most primitive setup I can think of. As always I will still be tweaking.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 07:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 01, 2003

Emyn Muil



Frodo contemplates his last paycheck from the Fellowship:
Nothing to say today. I wasn't home anyway. I had to get out of the house. No job yet; the one place that called me is "still reviewing applications"; they'll call me tomorrow or Wednesday or maybe never. I did my obligatory Pick me! Pick me! dance already, so I went ahead and contacted some more temp agencies. I have an interview tomorrow with one. Hey, what are bills anyway.

Update: at least I'm in with the In Crowd!

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:19 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

June 29, 2003

I'm ba-aaack...

And now both my legs from the knees down are killing me. Oh well, I bought a big bottle of cheap white zinfandel, and it is chilling in the fridge. I might even make pasta later.

Update: Oh yeah -- the Invasion of the Backless Shoes didn't just inflict Payless. I went to the Expensive Mall (Mall of the Millenia, the one with the Apple Store and the Macy's and so on) and walked around. The few casual flats I did see were overpriced (not that I didn't expect that). A specialty store had some Mephisto walking shoes on sale, but even at fifty percent off they were beyond my budget. I love Mephistos, but I balk at paying so much for things I'm going to stomp around on the dirty pavement with.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 07:37 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Must... flee...

Okay, it's after 2pm and I've just been sitting here. I'm going to go... somewhere. Anywhere that isn't this apartment. Later, gators.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:07 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 28, 2003

New shoes

My cat likes my new shoes. (A few minutes ago she was rubbing her head all over them but of course by the time I got the camera fired up she was little miss placid.)

xenashoes1.JPG

By the way, whoever decided that turning every shoe type into a backless mule -- sneaker, leather mocassin, mary jane, etc. -- was what women wanted should be dragged out into the middle of the Mojave Desert, pinned to the sand with stilletto heels, and left for the sun to kill.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 09:26 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

June 25, 2003

I need a sleep charm

I went to bed last night fully intending to read no more than a chapter or two of the Harry Potter book before closing my eyes. Hahahahahaha! I couldn't force myself to put it down until eight in the morning. My head feels like it's plugged with cotton, and I am out of cream for my coffee.

I suppose I'll have my review of the book up in a couple of days. If I survive no proper sleep. Also it's cloudy and looks like rain again, which means the air outside it like warm soup.

I need cream for my coffee, dammit!

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:38 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

June 24, 2003

Me news

I'm so excited. I have a job interview! Huzzah!

Update: the interview went well. The company looks interesting, the people were nice, the hours decent... I will know by Monday.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:49 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

June 22, 2003

Bills and other unsightly things

Uh oh. And on that note, yesterday was my last day at my job. I'm not too worried -- yet -- I've got my resume all ready to fax. I wasn't fired or anything, but I had come to the realization that working part time and living off student loans was no longer a viable life plan. I hope to have a full-time job, or at least a full-time temp job, by the end of the week. Yes, kiddies, I'm going back to a 9-to-5. The bachelor's degree is going to have to wait a while. (I only have a couple of classes left. I was burned out anyway, and needed a break.) I also wanted my weekends back. My social life, such as it is, had come to a dead halt since my full-time days were Saturday and Sunday. Contrary to popular opinion, I do like to spend time with real live people occasionally.

But yeah, I feel Colby Cosh's pain. I just love that oops where did the bottom go? feeling. Drop on by his place and donate a buck or two -- the content is better, and it costs a lot of money to live in Canada, what with heating bills and all those taxes for that great national health care plan they have.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:39 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

June 09, 2003

Changes a-comin'

Well! Now I've made a decision, and I feel much better. (No, nothing to do with the blog, put down the razor.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 09:39 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

June 05, 2003

Dispatches from the bottom of the well

Guh. Sorry for the lack of updates. (Though why am I apologizing? This is my vanity website, dedicated to me. If I don't feel like posting, I don't frickin' post! And y'all can eat it!)

Ahem. Anyway, I feel like crap and my ass has really been dragging these past few days, hence the lack of posts. Even caffeine isn't doing anything for me.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:54 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

May 31, 2003

Paint me a picture

How did Michelangelo do it? My feet and shoulders and arms are killing me.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 29, 2003

Crapola

Nothing like waking up in a foul mood and then having to unplug and replug the cable modem because the line is clogged or whatever the hell that problem is where it won't fricking connect to anything.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 08:31 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

What I need

I need a goddamn vacation. No, not an extra day off that is just long enough for me to catch up on all the sleep I miss during the work week. I mean a real, live, at least two-week-long vaycay. What would I do? Well, if I had all this free time (and if I had at least a couple hunnert bucks and was caught up on my bills -- these are the current obstacles to my fantasy getaway, by the way), I would drive up the Atlantic coast and maybe stop at a couple of beach towns. I'd drive all the way to Savannah, which is a cute little town, or it was the last time I was there in 1981. Then I'd drive up to Clemson, South Carolina and visit my aunt and uncle, who are getting on in years, and see my cousins that I haven't seen since the Seventies.

Or maybe not. Maybe I'd just drive up to North Florida and explore all the little towns. I dunno. I do know I would really like to see some parts of the country I have never been to, like the Midwest. Oh well. Blah blah blah. Must finish novel and shop out to publishers. Must finish degree and get "real" job again. Must break free of pall of apathetic discontent.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:44 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

May 28, 2003

The Wide Sargasso Sea

Well, I may as well take a ride on the light-blogging bandwagon. (Just surf the blogs, count all the ones that say "light blogging these days.") It's not that I have suddenly gotten one of those "life" things I keep hearing about, it's just that I have been in a writing slump, and have been singularly uninspired. Such is life. Perhaps I will change my mind ten minutes from now. Perhaps not.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:31 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 24, 2003

Forty

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me!

Unfortunately, I'm stuck at work for the duration. :(

Update 10.27PM EST: Woah! It's like a party on my blog! Thanks, guys!

Second update: great people have been born on May 24th! Go send Katherine a happy birthday greeting.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:40 AM | Comments (51) | TrackBack

And the band played on

Well okay, I figured out how to get Windoze Media Player to copy songs from my cds. Now to figure out how to save the resulting .wma files to mp3 format. Just in case I've downloaded a free mp3 ripper from CNet, because when you come right down to it, the hell with Windoze Media Player.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 21, 2003

My aching skull

While I wait for developments re server setups and such (in prep for Tim's Big Move! Soon to be showing at a theater near you -- but is it horror or comedy?) I will tell you all about my headache, and how I went to bed early (around midnight is early for me 'kay?) expecting to get up early, like before ten am, and instead woke up very early with a sinus headache so I had to take some meds and go back to bed and didn't get up until noon.

On second thought, no I won't. Such a dull subject.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 18, 2003

Just one more before I go

I fell in love with a car last night.

Really: on my way to my car after work last night there was a vehicle parked next to mine that immediately awakened my quite irrational machine lust. It was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a four-door, and it was by no means a late model car. It didn't have that stupid rounded-corners look that all the cars, trucks, and SUVs have sported for the last few years. I can't explain it -- I just love square, boxy little car-truck things. Sure, the rounded look is aerodynamic and all that and saves gas and keeps us from smothering the whales with ozone or something. I still prefer the square look. Also, it had those handicapped-unfriendly push-button door handles. It looked (as far as I could tell in the sodium lights of the parking lot) to be in pretty good shape. I've been sitting here wondering if I should trade my little expensive rice-burner in for a used Jeep Cherokee. These almost-three-hundred-dollar-a-month payments are killing me. (I also like Land Rovers, but they cost the earth.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:25 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

May 13, 2003

Lush Life, Pt. 5681

I washed the dishes and put some coffee on and then put some water in the pot for pasta (I can't afford my weight-losing all-meat diet right now) and then went to sit down and blog and stuff. A little while later I decided to check on the water. It wasn't boiling. Of course, water boils a lot faster when the stove is turned on.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:35 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Blue Highway

Well, that was a fun evening. I start on my way home, only to realize my car is making that BBBBPPPPRRRRRAAPPPP noise and doing that lurching thing that means, oh joy, a front tire has gone flat. No big deal, I pulled into a street next to one of the auto dealerships I deal with at work and one of the salesmen there helped me change my tire. (Okay, all I did was stand around while he changed my tire.) Then I drove home on the pathetic little donut. I'm just glad I don't have to drive on I-4. This means I'll be looking forward to buying at least two tires this Friday -- it would be stupid to put a brand new tire next to an aged and probably about-to-go old tire. (Hey, it looked like they still had tread to me. So I didn't do the dime test. And in any case, it's useless -- they are doing so much construction in this area that there are screws and nails and other sharp things everywhere. You're doomed either way.)

Then I get home, and of course the cable is working. I guess the scales are balanced for now.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:36 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Well, hell

Cable teevee hell has already started. I turned it on only to see a message that my service had been turned off, to call the service. So I call. "Oh, they changed some software, call this number to have your box turned back on." So I did, and after twenty minutes of unsuccessful fiddling I have another appointment with a cable guy on Thursday. All hail technology! Frankly, I think it's a conspiracy to get me to wake up early.

Oh well, I still have my dvd player. By the way -- I just wanted to point this out: the opening words of The Fellowship of the Ring where Galadriel is "the world is changing, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the air" etc., are actually in the book -- Treebeard says them to Pippin and Merry in The Two Towers. It strikes me as quite clever of the scriptwriter to choose those words to open the movie with. (With which to open the movie? Bah, you're not getting good grammar from me at this hour.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 09:40 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

May 09, 2003

Too tired to blog

Nighty-nite. Don't let the trolls bite.

(Click this)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:20 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

May 07, 2003

Postage block

I keep starting posts and cancelling them. Sorry guys.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 06, 2003

A/C on

Thanks!

(Clicky-clicky)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:15 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 05, 2003

Little Miss F**k-Up Update

First off, I'd like to thank all you guys who sent me money -- you all rock! The Keep Andrea's A/C On project is underway. (I have until midnight tomorrow to pay up, so hopefully the Paypal-to-slowass-bank transactions will have been completed by that time. If not... well, there may be light posting here for a day or two.) Also, I have finally got around to opening an Ebay account, and will get around to opening a seller's account, so I can sell some of my detritus. (Like those two Thomspon Twins albums I bought and played exactly once.)

By the way, either I have a fever, got overheated from spending exactly five minutes out in the heat -- the time it took to go from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned house and so on -- or I am suffering through my first hot flash. Not pleasant. I am thinking of filling the tub up with ice cubes and climbing in.

I will also be working full-time for a couple of weeks while the boss is away on a trip. That's more money for me, though possibly less posty goodness for you, at least during the day. (It quiets down after five, and I work until 8pm.)

I have also scrounged up my old Photoshop install files, and found where I had put the registration number, so I am once more Photoshop-empowered. Stay tuned for site changes and other ephemera.

PS: forgot to add -- I have been listening to techno music lately on the Winamp radio and I think I know why this "dance" genre is so popular among geekheads. It's not because it's dance music -- it's because the rhythm is great to type to. I swear my words-per-minute count has gone up in the past couple of days.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:41 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

LOTR cast interview bit

I got a laugh out of this snippet of this report on an appearance by some members of the cast of Lord of the Rings:

The panel were asked what was the most stupid question they'd ever been asked. Billy Boyd talked about being at a press junket and being asked what part he played in the movie and he said "Pippin" to which the interviewer replied "Oh! Will you be playing him in the second movie too?" to which he replied "No. I've got to do Frodo in the second movie". Andy had been asked at the press junket for The Two Towers if he'd had to go to New Zealand to make the movie. John's favourite was at the Cannes Film Festival where actors were put in groups and he was with Viggo and Sean Bean. "The female French interviewer had looked at Viggo and said 'Well I am a woman and there's not much for me in this film' and gave a small sigh. And then she looked at John and did the same thing. And then she saw Sean and suddenly became more lively. 'Ah!' she said, 'Sean, tell me as a woman how would you seduce me?'. I've never seen Sean so embarrassed and of course Viggo and I were going 'Yes, Sean! Go on! How would you...?'.

Heh heh -- insert joke about dumb reporters (and oversexed French female reporters) here. ("John" is John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli; "Andy" is Andy Serkis, a.k.a. "Gollum." Y'all know who Viggo is.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:48 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 04, 2003

Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die

Oh hey -- I forgot to mention -- exactly twenty days from now it will be my birthday. Guess how old I am? Okay, I'll tell you: forty! Yeah, the big four-oh. Only, I don't feel all old and used up. (I expect that will be how I feel tomorrow morning, when I wake up with a hangover.)

I have always wanted to be old. I think I meant "respected" -- I am old enough to remember when old people were actually considered more responsible and respectable than younger people. But I have never felt "old" -- just like I never felt "young." (I associate youth with guilelessness, delusions of immortality, and careless driving. I will swear on a stack of bibles that I have never had delusions of immortality.) When I was a kid my nose was always in a book instead of attached to the rest of me as I was out getting in trouble with boys or something. I wanted none of that wild life. What I wanted was peace and quiet so I could pursue my own interests. That attitude has so far done diddlysquat for me in terms of success, but I guess I am too old to change now.

I am not going to be selling my Jethro Tull albums, that I know. Well, maybe Stormwatch -- that was the last album I listened to of theirs. It had a couple of good songs (the title track, "Dark Ages") but it still was far below their best. I'm thinking of Aqualung, Songs from the Wood, and Minstrel in the Gallery -- and of course, War Child. I'm keeping all of those albums.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:55 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

Pennies from Heaven

Okay -- back by popular demand, it's the Paypal link. Over there on the right, under "donate." It will all go to a good cause (keeping me from whining about being broke). (Also booze, cigarettes, fast cars and bad boys! Or maybe just booze.)

Just kidding... you guys are great. If you don't want to give give give 'til it hurts to whiny old me, then here are a couple of other good blogger causes: Andrew Ian Castel-Dodge has released his cyberpunk novel as an e-book for only $4.99, and he needs a cornea operation; and please, someone help Jim Treacher get off his peanut-butter-sandwich diet and back onto his regular booze regimen (just kidding -- believe me, I sympathize -- guess what my meals consisted of today! So much for the all-steak diet).

So. Now I'd better get to writing some content, eh? Where was the link to the Automated Blog Post Generator...

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:26 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 03, 2003

Stuff for sale

Yes, I realize this template is bland and boring, and it also strikes me that it's kind of hard to read. At least for me. All the posts and titles and things look kind of the same. I'll be working on it, though not until later tonight. I shouldn't even be typing this.

In the meantime, I need to unload my old computer for some quick cash. Like fast. Let me 'splain: I unloaded my paycheck into my rent yesterday, and then bought some groceries, and then came home and opened the mail. Therein I found a lovely letter telling me my last check to the electric co. had bounced, and I owe them $135.17 by Monday or I will get to fester in the hot Florida dark for two weeks. I may still have forty dollars in my ha-ha bank account (which charges $30.00 per bounce). No, I have no idea why that happened, or how -- I suppose I could do the normal thing and keep better track of my checkbook.

Anyhoo, it's got a Pentium III 550 mhz processor -- it's one of those all-together motherboards which has everything on it, I forget what it's called, the documentation is at home, but it's got a modem and a network card, a 10 GB hard drive, and 64 megabytes of RAM. It's also got a 56x CD-ROM drive (not a burner, unfortunately) and a floppy drive of course. It also has two USB ports and all the rest, and comes in a nice big case with extra bays. Anyone who is interested email me. I do have a Paypal account. And I am located in the Central Florida area.

I'm also thinking of selling off most of my record collection, which is right now stuffed in the bedroom closet. Lots of seventies rock and eighties New Wave and alternative stuff. I keep meaning to write up a list.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:41 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Help meeeeeeee

OH MY GOD.

I am doomed. Michael Jackson is looking for a house in Florida. I just saw a news bit on the local Fox station about him (+/-) being mobbed outside of a mall in Miami somewhere. I didn't recognize the bit of parking lot they showed. I wracked my brains trying to think which mall MJ would patronize. It certainly wouldn't be the one on NW 163rd Street. Hahahahah! The very idea -- they always have the riot police out there. The Falls? Dadeland? Bal Harbor?

I know I am in Central Florida now. But I am in no wise safe from the Evil Noseless One. Come on. Disney World rules this place. I'm doomed, I tell ya.

Run, Steve, run!

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Light at the end of the orc-tunnel

A little cheap white zinfandel -- okay, three glasses, but who's counting? -- and watching Fellowship of the Rings again always makes things better.

Click for larger:

Yes, this is the sort of picture I take after three glasses of cheap white zinfandel.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:49 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 02, 2003

Beached

I haven't posted much today or turned on the AIM for the last three days because yes, I haven't felt very communicative. The posts from yesterday and earlier today were efforts and creation that didn't go so well. Not that I have any regrets -- who, moi? -- but I seem to have drifted into one of my periods of disinterest in life in general.

I am already missing my Frodo pics -- beware of upcoming site changes. The skinning thing I want to do is looking to be a tad difficult, and I will be working extra hours (at my actual job) for the next two weeks so I won't have much time to devote to it. Maybe I'll just change the site look every day instead. Believe me, that is easier.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 01, 2003

Public Service Announcement

I am in a very

BAD MOOD
today.

Tiptoe around my blog until further notice.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:31 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

April 30, 2003

Yesterday and Today

Yes, it's another bore-blogger post!

Well, yesterday I went on my walk to the park, which is situated between three small lakes and has a playground, a senior citizen center (where you can play pool! Hmmm.) and a tiny little wood with a raised wooden walkway through it (that's necessary here in the Land of Sogginess). I took my little baby digital camera with me, and took some nice shots of the lakes, and tried to get some shots of a nest of baby hawks (they were too high up, though, and I doubt I got them), a family of coots, and a group of half-grown ducklings that were all huddled up on a miniature island in one of the lakes. My memory ran out before I could get a picture of the ibises, but they flew off anyway. (I had tried to get a picture of a Great Grey Heron that was standing in a little creek that runs into the lakes, but a garbage truck happened by on the street next to the park, and it flew away.)

Not that any of this matters. While I was uploading the pics, my computer froze up so bad I had to completely power it off, by the switch in the surge protector. And I had to wipe the memory in the camera. I think I need new batteries. They probably weren't the greatest pictures anyway. I need a real digital camera soon.

I may go for another walk and take my film camera -- or I may go to Cracker Barrel for lunch instead.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:22 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Stop, Speed Racer, stop

Uh oh:

Longwood is one of the growing numbers of Central Florida law-enforcement agencies cracking down on aggressive driving.

I drive up and down that part of State Road 17-92 all the time.

There are certain elements in this campaign that ring my cynicism bell:

Leon James, a University of Hawaii traffic psychology professor, said aggressive driving is a national epidemic. Drivers need to relax behind the wheel. Instead, adults are teaching children bad driving habits, he said.

Yay, citing a psychology professor is one of my favorite ploys by the powers that be to control the unruly populace. And it's a double whammy -- the learned prof also manages to squeeze a reference in to the Children™. (And it's an academic from the University of Hawaii -- I know someone who'd get a big laugh out of that.)

One academic is not enough. Further down they cite some other egghead from SUNY Albany. Loretta Malta, a "clinical psychology doctoral student," tells us earnestly:

Some aggressive drivers are competitive young drivers, and others have serious psychological problems, Malta said. Many are "regular folks" who take uncharacteristic chances on the road, she said.

No kidding. I thought they were all aliens from outer space. Then again, maybe some are -- earlier in that paragraph we are assured:

Aggressive drivers cross age, gender and socioeconomic lines, experts say.

Even crazy drivers can't escape the New Diversity.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:44 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 29, 2003

Good afternoon

For no particular reason, here's a picture of my cat on the windowsill.

xenalook1.jpg

I need to go for a walk. See ya!

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 26, 2003

My site and other assorted stuff

I finally got around to installing Winamp. Maybe I'll install that Winamp MT plugin on the blog that shows what I'm listening to one of these days -- but I've got to get some more mp3s. Michele has promised me some Goth ones. We wants them we wants them we wants them!

Sadly, I think the bottle of shiraz will be gone by tonight. Frown.

Oh yes -- I have discovered what those pink puffball plants are that are all over the apartment complex lawn. They are catclaw mimosa plants, which can grow into a shrub or small tree. They are non-native and considered invasive. Good thing the maintenance people mow regularly or we'd be in a forest of the things right now. They are kind of pretty. Maybe I'll dig one up and plant it in a pot. My sinuses are pretty well shot anyway.

Right now I am listening to some sort of trance internet radio station on the Winamp right now. Have I mentioned how much I love having 512 MB of RAM? I just felt like some trancy ambient crap at the moment.

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April 25, 2003

Crap

I can see that the rest of today -- and probably the entire weekend -- is going to suck.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Zzzzzzzzz

I do believe my previous post was the boringest boreblogger post by me ever! Of course, some of you may have a different opinion on which of my posts is the most boring.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:21 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Fizzle

Guh. Well, I was going to post stuff, but work was busy as hell, from the minute I got in (there were... horrors... customers) until the minute I fled half an hour later than usual. And I have more work when I get there tomorrow night, yay.

So I was really hungry, but too tired to cook, and I didn't feel like fast food -- I have already done that Bad Thing three times this week. So I went to Albertson's intending only to buy a carton of half-and-half for my coffee. Ha ha, me in the grocery store while hungry -- there was no escaping without a whole precooked rotisserie chicken (spicy barbecue, yum), some other foodstuffs, and some spiced olive, garlic, and pepper antipasto from the self-serve deli. So I have eaten well, and now my little eyes are closing... I also woke up at 9:30am today, which is early for me considering the hours I keep.

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April 22, 2003

Freakish outage

Well that's odd. Earthlink seems to be down, which means I can't receive mail, and my "always on" indicator says "cannot connect, check your network" or something like that -- but I am still connected. I guess that means that Time-Warner -- excuse me, "Brighthouse" (that freaked me out when I called to get my bill and they answered with that) -- is not having the problem.

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April 21, 2003

Happy fingers

So far I'm loving the new keyboard. It's even got a scroll wheel so I can give the old mouse hand a rest. Though I have noticed that ever since I got rid of the wheel-mouse and went back to an old-fashioned plain, two-button mouse, my mouse hand has not been as sore.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 04:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 19, 2003

The ultimate keyboard quest, cont.

We'll see if this does the trick. At least it has a bigger backspace key. (Click for a larger pic.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 09:58 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

Alternative Weekly Blues

Well here in Disney World we have one of those ubiquitous weeklies that purport to show the "alternative" side of life in whatever communities they infest. The Orlando Weekly is like all the other (Insert City) Weeklies: ads for liposuction, breast implants, and tattooes, lists of local garage band appearances, reviews of foreign and independent films, a general air of earnest superiority. I think a chain puts them out.

These things were useful back in the days when I still used to go to concerts and clubs and was still interested in the music scene, but now they just seem like another sort of boring filler. I happened to pick one up at the Thai restaurant I went to tonight, because I had forgotten my book and I can't sit there and eat without something to read. I ended up only being able to make it through a review of a local 24-hour Mexican place (not far from me, I think I'll check it out some 3am). The feature story was this woman's tale of woe thinly disguised as yet-another-tired-complaint that you can't find a good abortionist when you need one. It actually digs up the now-ancient fight in this state over the "Choose Life" car tag movement. Now, I don't know anyone who didn't know that this tag and the people behind it were against abortion and thus trying to promote alternatives -- and whether the writer likes it or not, things like not getting an abortion are alternatives to getting an abortion -- but she professes to be shocked, yes shocked, that

The Choose Life Inc. website even promotes the tag as a way to "speak up for the unborn."

The entire article reads like it was written several years ago. And the writer's own story of her travails as an abused woman only makes me want to write an entire side essay on how the feminist movement has abandoned women in favor of power and pleasure. (Stay tuned for that one.)

So then I turned to this little essay: "Get What You Give." The on-site synopsis is: "the touchy business of supporting our troops without being driven by guilt." Sounds more like "the touchy business of supporting our troops without having to give up one's feelings of moral superiorty. The writer does not seem to have many sources of news. For instance, she writes:

But is anyone else wondering how the women and children are faring in a country where men and money do the talking? There's been a suspicious absence of everyday women in the war coverage; the same for the word "rape." There is so much more unthinkable suffering yet to be uncovered.

I am not sure what she is trying to say here, because like too many writers found in periodicals of all sorts these days she is irritatingly vague in the way she expresses things. For example, in the paragraph where she describes a neighbor who is trying to put the charitable squeeze on her it is not clear who is being referred to in this sentence, the writer or the neighbor: "I served as a military wife and have firefighters in the family." This vagueness resulting in incoherence is yet another effect of the Politically Correct school of writing, where you can't refer to anything definitely because that might insult somebody, somewhere, someday.

In any case, what does the passage quoted above, about "everyday" women and children, have to do with the problems in supporting the troops? Not a thing, it was just dropped in there like a lug nut into a bowl of jello. As for there not being any, or many, stories or interviews of women and children, I supposed it has not occurred to her that the old-fashioned Muslims which populate most of rural Iraq probably keep the women in the background and let the men do all the public speaking, especially to strange Western invaders. But to say so might get the writer accused of ethnic prejudice, so instead she leaves the passage seeming to infer that the coalition troops are raping the native women.

I'll end here, because I am just bored with this paper and its website. I can only read so much of this stuff before getting a headache. But one more complaint: she quotes someone as saying that "economic time are 'uncertain.'" Sometimes I think that some people never got over having to move out of their parents' homes and no longer being able to depend on their weekly allowance. The economy is always uncertain, life is uncertain. Whether or not I will get any sleep tonight is uncertain. What isn't uncertain, though, is that this essay sucks.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:04 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

April 18, 2003

Decisions, decisions...

Coffee or sleep?
Coffee or sleep?
Coffee... sleep?

Eh. I can sleep when I'm dead. Excuse me a minute.

Update: check it out!

coffee.jpg

A present from DavidMSC.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:16 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 16, 2003

Road Rage

Playing around with my templates calms me down. Hope you like the new art.

By the way, I drive an invisible car. All this time I thought I was driving an ordinary, gold-colored 2001 Toyota Echo. I had no idea my little bank account emptier had this amazing cloaking device that renders it invisible to all the assholes and pinheads that are allowed behind the wheel here in Floridor. It's especially invisible to people in BMWs who are in a hurry to get to their hair appointments, and to young toughs in muscle trucks (the pickup beds of which never feel the touch of anything harsher than the edge of a surfboard). And then we come to the tourists from up north in their land-yachts, who come from states that apparently have no flat spaces, so that their amazement at the Florida vistas on all sides causes them to careen madly from lane to lane.

Listen, I grew up in Miami, where it's like NASCAR all year. I've driven in Los Angeles, for chrissakes. In Miami we knew what we were doing when we ran someone off the road, and in LA I actually observed people using their turn signals and obeying traffic lights. Here it's like they think it's all Disney, and the pretty sparkly lights that blink on and off are just for show. And don't even get me started on the foreign visitors, who come from countries where all the laws are "ha ha" laws, as in, if you have money, you can say "ha ha" to the laws. I don't really feel like being the introductory lesson to our traffic court system for some fellow from Paraguay.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:19 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

April 10, 2003

Now this is too much to dream

I had a dream last night that I got married to Tim Blair. We went to Miami (where I had vowed to never go again or at least not until five years had passed -- there are two to go) and had the ceremony in the same dreary, swimming-pool-hued-interiored, Sixties Ultra-Moderne-styled, bland Methodysterian church (like these, only all in whitewashed concrete and aqua tile) my cousin Jane got married in in 1968. And all the bridesmaids wore aqua.

I fucking hate aqua.

Time to quit drinking so late at night.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:13 PM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

April 09, 2003

Kitty porn!

Heh heh heh. Just kidding... actually, I know you all have been waiting with bated breath to see more of my cat. Here is a little something for you: a short film featuring the furred one. You not only get to see my cat, but you get to see what a slob I am too. How can you resist? (Note: it's an .avi file, so you'll probably have to right-click and "save target as," and then open it in Windows Media Player, or another program that plays .avi files. It's about 2.5 megabytes.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 08, 2003

Can you see the real me, can you, can you?

And now, a treat for my readers. I realize this does not show off certain endowments, as was requested by... someone. But at least you can see my new hair. (I dyed it, finally. I got tired of seeing three inches of gray roots.) Click for larger:

The picture didn't come out that well because I forgot to set the flash as well as the timer. I also look as if I have a cat growing out of my ear, but that's just Xena lying on the back of the futon behind my head.

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April 07, 2003

My newest toy

I went to Walmart and purchased a cheap-o Vivitar digital camera, mostly to practice with until I am able to get a grownup camera. The pictures it takes aren't too bad -- perfectly adequate for web purposes. I just need a little practice in aiming and shooting and such. It's set up more or less like a regular snapshot camera -- no little screen to see the pictures on, I get to wait until I get home and connect it to the computer. At least it's faster than waiting for film pictures to be developed, and scanning them. Here is my first example, a picture of my new green plastic patio table:

I can also make a sort of video from a sequence of shots, and it can also be used as a pc camera, though I have to get some software for that, or figure out how to do it with XP. (And now that I have the Gimp configured, I am going to be scanning some of my better photographs too and uploading them. Stay tuned.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 09:33 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

April 06, 2003

Bloggin' down the highway

Ooh, I'm blogging from my HP Jornada Handheld PC! Now all I have to do is get a wireless card and then there will be no place safe from my blogging!

I have also noticed that the blog looks like ass in the tiny little WinCE version of IE. Oh well.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 06:45 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

An admission

I bought the sticky buns. I ate one last night. Then I ate another one for breakfast.

DOES THAT MAKE ME A BAD PERSON!?!?!?!?

skull

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March 31, 2003

What I did today

Today was my day off, so I got to do a bunch of things. If life-stuff like this bores you, feel free to skip -- I'm just practicing.

The things I overhear: I went to take care of some financial matters, and heard the phrase "change-of-life baby" for maybe the first time since I was small and my Tennessee-born relatives were visiting. I speculate that few people use that phrase, since it is no longer unusual for women to wait until they are almost out of eggs to get pregnant. I also was under the impression that it was one of those phrases only gothically Southern ladies used, but this woman had a noticeable Brooklyn accent.

After I was done, I was restless. It was a beautiful day here -- we are having what is probably the last cold snap of the season, so it was in the sixties, the skies were cloudless, yadda yadda. So I drove all the way to Daytona Beach and back, a trip of about three hours total. I had thought of taking pictures, but for some reason didn't feel like doing so. (I really want to get a digital camera; then I think I'll be taking more pictures -- but I want a decent one I can do reasonable zooms with.) International Speedway Blvd takes one past Embry Riddle University, where one of the September 11th terrorists learned to fly. This, and the fact that beach towns are really depressing in cold weather for some reason, killed my idea to park and take a beach walk, so I drove back.

I stopped at Publix, and purchased supplies for my new more-protein, less-carb diet. (More meat, no pasta or potatoes or sugary sweets -- except for sugar and cream in my coffee. No one is taking that away from me.) Then home, to prepare steaks (not a very good cut -- the rest are going in a marinade tonight), grilled onions, and carrots. Yum.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 08:37 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

March 30, 2003

Washed up

I guess you've all figured out that I redesign my site whenever I'm feeling uninspired and have no idea what to write and am generally in a pathetic state, the kind that makes people look at me and shake their heads impatiently and tell me I should get a life. Wait a minute -- you had no idea? Well -- some kind of friend you are! And who are you anyway? Get out of my head now!

Um -- anyway, I had this idea that I was going to post about, this really Big, Important post on Life, the War, and Everything, and it was going to make all the peacenuggets stop and think about how silly they have been acting, and I was going to have a million dollars in gold coins rain down on me. I had even assembled the books with the snappy quotes to use to bolster my opinion, or at least to burnish my own writing and make me look like the real clever kind of gal who always has a quip ready with which to devastate her opponents.

But I kept putting it off. And then I read that Mark Morford wrote that "the whales know" that War is Not the Answer, or something (I admit I didn't read his latest column, just the excerpt here), and I thought, "What's the use?" I can't even pump out a paper for class on time, and this guy shits out a random collection of words -- or things resembling words, anyway -- every week, and he gets published and paid for it. And Robert Fisk is still treated like a respectable journalist instead of a brass-plated hack, and I am terrified of signing up for a new semester at the university I am going to because I am afraid I'll get someone like the SUNY Buffalo refugee* who moaned about the lack of "student activists and protestors" during a We-Luv-Each-Other-Mmmkay? "open forum" they held at UCF a month after the World Trade Center attack, and I'm afraid that I'll throw a chair at his head if he emits some idiotic antiwar trope, and there will go my chances of ever finishing up getting my freaking bachelor's degree.

*That link is to an entry in my old Livejournal. I like to think that my writing style is improved since then. I was also mistaken about Israel's nuclear capabilities; it is certainly more impressive than Saudi Arabia's, as is the Israelis' fortitude -- if I was in charge in that country, the rest of the peninsula would be a nice, shiny sheet of glass.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:14 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 29, 2003

Din-din

Mmmm... nice fruit salad.

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March 28, 2003

End hiatus

Well, that was absolutely unrefreshing. Not to mention my cat decided that the human lying down and turning off the light was the signal for her to rattle the window shutter all night. Can you say "no sleep until 5am?" I knew you could.

And yes, I am working on a site redesign. Yes also I am working on a novel, but that has been the situation since I was about fourteen, so it's not really worth mentioning. Also, I am going to have to ask my instructor for an incomplete, I am thinking of changing my minor or maybe dropping the idea of getting a minor altogether, and I don't even want to think about next semester.

PS: yes, that image in the previous post is supposed to be a spoiler image for Return of the King. The house I would prefer to live in would like Bag End on the inside, but would have Rivendell on the outside. You know that that scene with Aragorn and Arwen in The Two Towers is my future bedroom, my future balcony, and my future back yard, right?

Posted by Andrea Harris at 03:26 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

March 27, 2003

Talk amongst yourselves

frodowriting.jpg

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March 24, 2003

Why am I doing this?

You want to know the real reason? No, it's not because I want to hear that bit from "All That Jazz" ten thousand times. It's not even to see actors attempt to enunciate coherent political views (and melt down pitifully). It's so I won't have to work on this paper that is due in class tomorrow. I have to read two Annie Dillard essays. One is about weasels (the animal, not the French). I just can't do it.

Looks like I'm going to pull another all-nighter. I wonder if there are going to be a lot of "I got sick over Spring Break" absences.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:01 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 21, 2003

My weather today

It's pretty dark and rainy outside:

Lightning expected and gusty winds too. Well, I did have a bunch of things to do before I had to go to work... Well, I have to do them anyway, rain or no rain. (Like pay my electric.) Sigh.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 18, 2003

Nerves like nylon

Yikes. The power just went out just a few minutes ago. In the whole neighborhood. (While I was typing a blog post, grr...) Then I heard sirens and things.

The power's back on now (or I wouldn't be posting this) but that was scary. I wonder what happened, if anything other than an overloaded system.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:18 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 17, 2003

Monday blahs

Well, I was going to go for a drive today -- it's kind of cloudy and gloomy and the azaleas are in bloom (Central Florida's week-long Spring is almost over) and I wanted to take pictures. (Colors look better under cloudy skies.) But -- I woke up aching all over and now have a massive sinus headache, so I have just been sitting here like a bump on a log. Yes, I took aspirin and sinus medication. Sigh. Well, I'm going out anyway. Maybe some fresh air will take away this blocked up mental feeling.

PS: I still haven't figured out what I want to do with the site, which is why it's still this blah gray. There will be hobbits (must... have... hobbits...) but I can't think of how I want to incorporate them. I also haven't done much with the Textpattern-run site I set up on a subdomain. (No link yet -- I don't have any original content.) On the whole I am afflicted with a lack of ideas, probably due to the aforementioned blocked-up feeling. I have a couple of posts brewing, but I'm in no mood to sit down and wrestle with words right now. Feel free to browse the blogs in my blogroll instead -- click on "All the blogs" and a side window will open or a new window depending on what browser you are using.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 02:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Probably

fit fit fits

You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:26 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

March 11, 2003

Sour times

Yes, I'm changing the site around again. Just deal with it. I'm not in a good mood, so it will be gray for now, to match my current migraine.

Sometimes the human race is too disappointing for words.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:53 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 10, 2003

For your consideration

If I were the Oscar committee, I would want to think twice before refusing such a gentle request (click for a larger pic):

I forget exactly where I got this picture -- probably somewhere on this site.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 03:38 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

March 09, 2003

Posting desert

The lack of posts today is due mostly to the fact that I still feel like crap, and have therefore not had many juicy posting ideas. I start posts, then cancel them halfway. It's been one of those weekends so far.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:28 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 07, 2003

Out go the lights

Too tired. Gotta go to bed. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone!

PS: I know some of you have emailed me. I will reply to my emails, um, soon.

Night.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 12:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 05, 2003

De profundis

Ugh. Migraine. Sorry guys.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 07:22 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Feel the noiz

Today is wood-chipper day here at the apartment complex I live in. Oh, my head.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:24 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 01, 2003

A brief surfacing

Just a shout-out from work here: the restaurant next to my office is hosting some sort of party (I think it's a wedding). They've got a piano-playing lite-jazz kind of guy doing the music for the thing. He just finished doing a smooooth jazzzz version of "Wind Beneath My Wings." Kill me now.

PS: Back during the first Gulf War they played that song on tv every time they had some sort of thing on the troops. I think that more than anything explains why so many alterna-hippies are so anti-war. We seem to have forgotten the necessity of having good music to accompany the bombs and guns. I mean, World War II had Glenn Miller and the Andrews Sisters. What did we have in 1991? Bette Midler in her soppy, Post-The-Rose Phase. Ugh.

Okay, enough fooling around. Back to work.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 06:03 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

February 24, 2003

I'm down

Ugh. I'm experiencing one of those ebb tide moments. I feel flat and uninspired. I have total writer's block too, which sucks considering I have an assload of stories to read and annotate and write essays on. But I feel totally drained of all inspiration.

Blech. What to do, what to do...

Extra: you know, it would help if the freakin' internet weren't slow as molasses tonight. What do I pay for cable for? (No, I am not going to go to dsl, I can't afford it.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:32 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 22, 2003

The Itsy Bitsy Keyboard

You know I am on the verge of buying one of those kiddy keyboards -- one of those gigantor things in bright pink or yellow with the humongous keys. If I had wanted a laptop keyboard with itty bitty little soft keys that were very close together, I'd have bought a freakin' laptop.

Update: turn off computer. Unplug keyboard from back. Take to wall. Smash keyboard against wall. Repeatedly. Until keys fly off everywhere and there are dents in the wall and cat has gone to hide in farthest corner of apartment. Take a deep, satisfied breath.

Don't worry, folks: it's just a fantasy. So far.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 11:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 20, 2003

Interview with the Hobbit

My, MTV.com is an unexpected treasure trove of hobbity stuff. Here's an interview with Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin.) And here's one with Sean Astin.

Update: whoops, forgot to link to this interview with Elijah Wood.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:47 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Sam goes to the movies

Sean Astin's favorite movies. On the list: L.A. Confidential (he's seen it "37 times"), The Lost Boys, Patton.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 16, 2003

That's it I've had it

You know, no one pays me for this blog. Some of you have generously contributed to me through my Paypal link because for some inexplicable reason you enjoy my writing, but otherwise the costs for this come out of my own pocket. But I don't mind -- I have always wanted my own website (well, ever since Algore invented the internet anyway), and to have people read my writing and get something out of it. I thank you all. But I do this primarily for my own benefit, and I am under no illusion that anything I do here is feeding the starving or enlightening the unenlightable. I wouldn't do this if it were a grim duty. That's not how I operate. I don't care about site stats, or Why We Blog discussions, or Changing the Face of Media with blogs, or any of that mishegas. It's by me, for me, and if you enjoy the words I throw up here, great; if they don't satisfy you, then go away and bother some other part of the internet.

See, I had been letting all the nasty backtalk about bloggers by certain other holier-than-thou bloggers get to me. So I came upon yet another of these Bloggers Don't Care arguments, this time from someone I previously thought was reasonable, and I responded to the plea. Unfortunately, instead of sweating for hours over the Perfect Post Guaranteed to Offend No One and Enlighten Everyone (and Just Look At That Shine!) I tossed off a quickie post, because I had to go to work (yes, on Sunday) and I thought that saying something was better than not saying anything at all. So I come back home and open my comments to read that I did not use the Correct Words, and furthermore I have committed the Sin of Stereotyping (every time you do that an African child falls down dead), and therefore I have forfeited my right to complain about British journalists who can't use the phonebook to find a decent restaurant here in the States. In other words me and my clodhopper blog boots have stomped all over (totally arbitrary and imaginary) offended Members of Various African Nationalities All of Whom Differ From One Another Unlike Americans Who Are All Alike.

So. Okay. I'm not worthy. I'm a stupid middle-class bint who shouldn't talk about things she doesn't understand. I get it. Writing it down. Having it tattooed on my forehead so I will never forget the shame.

NOT. Screw this, I'm out of here. I don't have time to devote myself to anyone else's pet cause. I will not be helping anyone "get the word out" about any fucking thing. I left my home town in part to get away from people like that -- people who complained when I helped them do something because I didn't help them the "right" way. Was the help important or wasn't it? Coming from me, I guess it wasn't. So I stopped helping, stopped being an always-criticized doormat, and got called a selfish monster. Fine. I will be what I am.

By the way, I have taken the Paypal link down. Having a "donate" link up does imply some sort of obligation exists between reader and writer, or so it seems to me. I want as little obligation as possible to exist between me and whoever surfs by here. You don't have to read this site, I don't have to write it, everybody is apathetic if they can't be happy.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 10:29 PM | Comments (21) | TrackBack

February 14, 2003

Disease update

Will this freakin' thing either flare up into the full fever 'n' chills 'n' bodyachessorethroatcoughingsneezingsinusblockage or leave my body already???

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 13, 2003

You just can't get good help these days

My cat has informed me in no uncertain terms that she does not consider food from the bottom of the bag to be up to her standards.

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February 11, 2003

I'm feelin' mighty low...

Ughhhh.... I thought I had just slept funny but now the weird pain in my shoulder has started to spread everywhere in that general make-your-body-ache flu kind of way, and I'm starting to get that feverish feeling. Oooh, yes, I just loooove that feverish feeling. I have assignments due but the hell I'm going to do them when I feel craptastic.

Wanna see how I feel? Clicky clicky:

Donuts...
Hey, I know: let's have a caption contest! Everyone else does it, why not me.

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February 10, 2003

Ari Fleischer, Tolkien fan

Scroll down this page to the February 9th entries. Apparently the press secretary everybody loves to hate is a fan of Tolkien, and the Lord of the Rings movies too. This is apropos of nothing, really, but I'm sure it will frost some peoples' shorts. (It's probably from this interview on Fox's After Hours with Cal Thomas show.)

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Head like a hole

Yeah, yeah, I'm skipping class today. I woke up to the sound of hammering and sawing (they are remodeling the apartment behind mine -- this apartment complex consists of little four-unit buildings), and my head felt as if it was stuffed with concrete, because my sinuses hate me. Also I am recovering from my usual monthly cramps, which means I feel as if someone has been digging around in my innards with a rusty spoon. (Even More Personal Detail You Probably Did Not Want to Know But I Feel Like Sharing With You 'Cause You're All My Posse: I was briefly on The Pill about two years ago, and they had the pleasant effect of eliminating my cramps and giving me trouble-free periods, but unfortunately they also made me fat and depressed. I am already fat and depressed enough on my own, I don't need the extra helping. Also, they were not covered by my hahafunnypaper insurance plan, and I didn't feel like spending thirty bucks per month on something that made me fat and depressed if cramp free, when I could get cable instead. Also I can't stand all that going to the doctor stuff.)

Anyway, here I am at home instead of at class. Today was Non-Fiction Writing, and I was supposed to go somewhere and listen to a dialogue and type it up for an exercise, but I work all weekend alone in the office, and I wasn't feeling well -- see above -- so I would just go straight home instead of hanging out at Denny's or the bookstore as was my plan. So, no dialogue. I suppose I'll do what I usually do, which is make one up. Later, though -- I am washing clothes, and I have a ton of dishes to do (I've run out of clean spoons to stir my coffee with, and all my mugs are dirty too, so it's time) and I may go for a walk despite the rain. Those are the thrilling details of my day so far.

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February 06, 2003

Shrink to fit

It's time for the obligatory Lord of the Rings post! But actually, this is just a pointer to an interesting post from The Lazy Pundit on The Two Towers, wherein he makes a wicked comparison between certain of the more mealy-mouthed "antiwar" protestors and the words of Wormtongue in the movie about Eomer's "warmongering." Of course this movie was written long before September 11th, and I doubt Jackson and the scriptwriters changed anything just to show any kind of prowar sentiment; the idea that one must not shrink from fighting if it is necessary certainly is not a notion newly formed after 09-11-2001. And I am certainly not going to jump on the "the situations in LOTR mirror the current crisis" bandwagon. But it is nevertheless ironic that we should find ourselves in a situation that could be compared to that of the Rohirrim, with "open war upon [them]" whether we wish it or not. Because even if we never end up invading Iraq or any other of the places our enemies live, that will not change our enemies' designs against us one iota.

Hey, what happened to my subject? I guess I have other things on my mind besides (never instead of!) Lord of the Rings. But enough of this. Here is another addition to the Frodo Stares, Take a Drink game. Enjoy! And remember, don't drink and hunt orcs. Leave that to the experts.



frodo_tiredtraveller.jpg

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February 04, 2003

Me, explained

Hey, who gave this guy my dossier?

(Via Reflections in D Minor.)

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I hate people: update

glarefrodo.jpg
Some assholes in my neighborhood have been setting off fireworks for the past freaking week. Correct me if I am wrong, but Chinese New Year is over with, right? Not to mention, I have not seen any Chinese people in my complex.

I really don't want to move out of this apartment. I like it here. But if the neighbors get any freakier, I am going to start looking for a new place as soon as my lease is up, I swear.

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February 03, 2003

Movin' on up

Ah... nothing like a new computer. I brought it home and turned it on and called Time Warner to relink me. Easy as pie. Of course, now I have to get a new mouse. (Note to self: avoid Logitech.) I'd been wanting to get a new one for ages, ever since the rubber feet came off leaving sticky glue residue all over the bottom of the mouse. (It's one of those optical ones with the wheel.) Now I'm using a plain-jane spare 2-button mouse. Oh well, it will do.

Oh yeah -- and this hard drive is quiet. My old one sounded like a coffee grinder.

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February 02, 2003

The things I keep

I told you I used to collect stamps. I still have most of my collection, including this:

spaceshuttlesm.GIF

I bought the entire block of stamps (there are six of each of these, all joined together) after the first space shuttle went up. I think we all know it's name.

(Note: I just redid this one. I realized when I copied and pasted my selection I cut off the two side stamps with the satellites.)

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January 27, 2003

Fun with lard, and other ephemera

What I did today: well, today was Nonfiction Writing class today. I need to set up a separate journal for that class (I'm already two weeks behind on that project); I could just type it in Word, but I feel most comfortable with a web setup for journaling. So that's number one. Number two, after class I went and ordered my new computer. My baby should be here in a week or so. No, I didn't just pick up a junk-filled Emachine at Compusa, that's not good enough for the princess. I had needs: specifically, 512 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, one of those AMD processors (comparable, so I was told, to a 2.4 GB Intel; we'll see), and a CD-RW (I forget the speed; adequate -- I'm not going to be running a music studio or burning CDs every hour).


f136_cont_hobbits.jpg Frodo and Pippin stare in awe at the lard sculptures.
After some research I decided to go ahead with XP Pro. Soon I will have a machine on which I will be able to open up more than one lousy program and not have cack out on me. I figure it will get me through a couple more years, like my current machine did.

Today I stopped to eat lunch at a local Korean restaurant. Yes I love Korean food; no, they don't serve Rover baked in a casserole. I hadn't been there in over a year and the waitress recognized me. I guess they don't get many lone Anglo women at their place. Too bad: the food is great, and the ambiance is sufficiently Not Chinese; they have the usual tacky Chinese-restaurant lacquer and tasselled fake lamp decor, but they also have these neat weird masks on the wall (I want one! I heart masks) and they play Korean tv on a widescreen in the back. Not that I was able to understand anything on the Korean news channel they were playing. The Korean subtitles were no help at all. But it was still interesting. Many things were confirmed:

  1. Damn, Korea looks cold. In the outdoor shots everyone was standing around in one of those frozen fogs. Brr!
  2. They are still quite exercised over the accidental running over of those two Korean girls by some servicemen. They showed footage of a rally of some sort complete with photos of the dead kids, flags, upset people, etc.
  3. Hyundais! They drive 'em. Who knew?
It was all very interesting, but I kind of wish they would have been playing something like the movie they were playing the last time I went: it was some sort of costume/magical powers/sword-and-sorcery thing, Korean style (or maybe it was Chinese or Japanese -- my memory is foggy). The plot was simple enough to make out even if it was all in foreign: there was this kind of surly hero in a red robe, a female wizardess of some sort who kept interfering/fighting with him and against him, a villain (you could tell because he had his hair pulled back in an intimidating way, while the hero had messy, I'm-too-busy-saving-the-world hair), and some Loyal Peasant Kids on the sidelines who seemed to function as a kind of Greek chorus. There was much Oriental magical kung fu, and the hero and heroine/wizardess got to die tragically together at the end (after the villain was dispatched, of course). It was totally cool, and I was reminded of this film when I first saw the fight scenes in Fellowship of the Rings. There was also a similarity to the costuming. It made me wonder if Peter Jackson was at all inspired by Asian sword-and-sorcery-and-kung-fu movies. It would not surprise me at all. (I haven't listened to all the interviews on my dvd nor have I read all the articles on the making of the film, so if he has said anything about this I have missed it so far.)

On a final note: in Luxembourg they have something called the Culinary World Cup, aka "the cooks' Olympics." One of the contests is to see who can carve the best statue out of the aforementioned greasy rendered substance. This year's bronze winner was a lard statue of Saruman the White (well, the "Off-White"). Try that with 100% pure safflower oil, organic food weenies.

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January 21, 2003

The real reason there are no more hobbits

After repeated viewing of Fellowship of the Ring, with its many closeups of sausages and mushrooms and things sizzling in Sam's pans, I was compelled to go the the grocery store and acquire: potatoes, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes. So much for my "good" cholesterol...

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January 12, 2003

Analyze this

Apparently the only reason I have for questioning what I saw as a rather presumptious statement is

Just went over to your own blog and noticed that you've been posting a bunch about how things aren't going right in your life. You're pissed off, bent out of shape, spoiling for a fight. Sorry that it hasn't been roses for you, but if you're looking for a flame war to vent some frustration then you can just take it somewhere else.
(From the comments to this post.)

I do so love being subjected to cheap psychoanalysis. Notice I did not engage in any personal attacks on Mr. Rummel; I merely dared to question what looked to me to be a sweeping statement. He answered my question, and could have stopped there, but he didn't -- he had to go on and make unwarranted assumptions about my personal life based on a cursory reading of a few of my blog entries. Mr. Rummel, the only one who seems to have a problem with boundaries and starting fights is you.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 03:53 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack

January 08, 2003

It's Downtime

For me that is. For a variety of reasons this day was one of the more hellish in my life that I have experienced. (See, I can't even write.) I think the stress is causing me to come down with something, or maybe I just need rest. Anyway, I'm signing off early tonight and curling up with a book or a movie or something until I fall asleep. Laters!

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January 06, 2003

One last word

Dammit dammit dammit.

There. I'm going to get some lunch.

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GRRRR

Never mind that thumping noise, that's just me banging my head against the wall. Now I'm in a bad mood. I need a drink.

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AAARRRGGGHHH

Oh god, what a day, what a freaking stupid day. I went to the wrong class. And sat through the whole thing. Got to know the teacher, discussed stuff -- now I have to adjust to another teacher. Not to mention I missed the class I was supposed to take. Crap, crap, crap. Neither teacher (the one whose class I took by mistake nor the one whose class I missed) were in their offices, so I went to the library to email them using my university email address. That's where I am now. Somehow I ended up inside someone else's email, probably because the dufus student didn't log off. I take the precaution of not only logging off the web-based email program the university has, but I log off the entire computer. Dork freshmen.

Did I forget to scream? AAARRRGGGHHH.

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Blatherisms

Dammit, I've drunk the last of the sangria. Of course I have no more alcohol in the house, do you know I can't afford to be an alcoholic... Anyway, school begins tomorrow, yay. And I am also up for jury duty in a month, something I found out when I picked up my mail yesterday. At least I have the comfort of knowing that I am not going to be dealing with the madhouse that is the Miami-Dade Circuit Court; I live in tiny, half-suburbia, half-wildlife-refuge Seminole county now. (Must pat self on back for not moving to the Orlando area and thus Orange County, which is almost as bad as Miami-Dade.) Perhaps I will get a juicy case I won't be able to blog about. More likely, I'll call in and they'll tell me they don't need me.

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January 03, 2003

Stuff and Nonsense

Wholly unimportant personal detritus follows. Feel free to skip this post.

I had some good news in my university account today -- they have approved my (groveling, humiliating) appeal and will let me receive the money I had already borrowed so I can pay for my next semester of classes, which starts next Monday. I am glad, because I am so friggin' bored. Classes will at least be a diversion.

I am in one of my moods. I decided to eat at the Chinese restaurant next to my job, where the food is dependable if not spectacular (and more important, it is cheap). They were playing Chinese pop music for a change instead of that awful New Age Muzak station they usually play, which was not the greatest relief (I find Chinese pop music to be a bland as any other country's pop music), but at least I didn't have to listen to the awful "self-help" therapy show the Muzak station plays at that hour. Then I went off to the bookstore to find a calendar. I was not pleased with any of the Lord of the Rings ones still available; for one thing, only desk calendars were still to be had, and I wanted one for the wall; for another thing, the ones with photos from the films did not have the best shots (IMHO) and the art ones were Ted Nasmith's, whose artwork I don't much care for. (His trees and Ents are good, but his people rather less attractive to me. I prefer the Brothers Hildebrandt's or Alan Lee's renderings of Tolkien scenes.) So I scrapped the idea of buying an LOTR calendar and looked at the others, but all Borders had left were insipid folk art ("American Quilt," and the like), cars, Harry Potter, and cheescake. I wandered around looking at books for a while but I wasn't very interested, and they were starting to do the annoying we're-about-to-close announcements. I looked at a copy of Neil Gaiman's The Kindly Ones from his Sandman series, but though I like the story I didn't care for the artwork in that particular volume. (The most beautifully illustrated volume in that series is The Wake, which I already own.) I picked around the cd bins, and got to hear a couple being told by the loud clerk that Nick Drake could be found "in opera."

When I am in one of my moods and I can't get some trifling thing that I have been looking for, I am not happy, so after I left Borders I stopped at the Books-A-Million store that is in my neighborhood. They had a much larger selection of half-price 2003 calendars, and I finally settled on one with black-and-white Aubrey Beardsley illustrations. Happiness. I brought it home and tacked it on my wall. Now I can ignore the date like I usually do.

Right now I am listening to the Lisa Gerrard-Peter Bourke cd Duality. Buying all her latest output is in my plans, but that waits, of course for the "spare money," which I never seem to have.

I really need to do something about the pathetically neglected and out-of-date "Library" portion of my site. One thing I will probably do is dispense with the frames, which are so 1997. It is the only site I have ever successfully set up with frames that is still around, which is one reason I haven't redesigned it. In any case, I have left the characters in my two major stories hanging, and I suppose I should get around to rescuing them from the fix they are in.

Posted by Andrea Harris at 01:15 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 01, 2003

Gahhhh

Could someone please tell me why my freakin' computer keeps freezing up??? Besides the fact that it is obsolete and has barely enough RAM to load Win98, that is. Grrr.

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Welcome

And the first shall be the last....



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I will be posting to this blog from now on.

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