Back in the days when every head shop in the world smelled like patchouli, I didn't like the scent.  I guess times and olfactory preferences have changed.  Of course, my Lush "Karma" powder is a mixture of patchouli and citrus, but still, it smells good.

Poor Zoe is sick.  This is the worst cold she's had since she arrived here, and she's definitely going to the vet Monday morning.

A few weeks back, I bought some board games as requested by my nieces.  They had a fine old time playing Mousetrap, but we never did open up the Sorry! box.  Our Official Grandson Clark and his parents were due to stop by for a visit today and I thought "I wonder if he'd like to play these games?"  Lo and behold, he arrived with his own Sorry! game.  And believe me, that kid has got the strategy down cold.  I bet he's going to be a grand master if he ever decides to tackle chess.

I also taught him to play Snap, which my grandmother would play with my brothers and me by the hour (the only time my parents would trust us kids with their precious decks of cards).  He got the idea of that game in a flash, too.

I don't know if we had any actual plans for today other than the fun of having aylara and jeffrey and Clark come visit, but since it's already 104^o in the back yard, if we had had plans we'd have long since said NEVER MIND.

Seems like Gaiam sold out of almost all the Earth shoes in less than a day.  I'm glad I got the news about the sale through their printed catalog rather than their email list and I'm even more glad I went straight to my computer and ordered my sandals!

Hot out there today.  102.5^o in the back yard right now.  One of the very few advantages in not having air conditioning in the house, though, is that you are not going from a broiling hot outside to a refrigerated inside, and thus the temperatures in both places don't seem so bad.  Our house stays livable if we close up the windows early and turn on fans to circulate the air, which we did today.

I needed to go to Target for a few essentials (like razor blades, best price in town on the ones I buy) so F'zer and I decided to make an afternoon of it.  We parked at the Galleria, walked in through Penneys, which reminded me I wanted to look at the little sun-essentials set I saw in the Sephora email, so we went there, chatted with the nice salesman and bought one of those.  Then we wandered up the mall to the new Lush store.  It's small, but smelled delicious, and the salesladies there are very friendly and helpful.  I went mainly in quest of bath powder, since the stuff I have reeks BABY POWDER for hours and I wanted something a bit more, uh, grownup.  They only had it in one scent (Karma) but as it turned out, I really liked that scent.  I almost bought the solid perfume to go with it.  If I hadn't bought the Sephora stuff I probably would have.  Like good little non Republicans we are not out spending ourselves silly in anticipation of the check from Uncle Sam.

Lush will be having a grand opening celebration there soon, so I will be watching my email for that.

We got our stuff at Target.  Neither they nor Linens & Things had a siimple freakin' soap dish.  I do not understand why the "soap dish designers" think that you want to lay your wet bar of soap on a $10 slab of ceramic.  No way to keep the soap up out of the water and let both sides get dry, so you end up with a $10 slab of ceramic covered with gooey wet melted soap.  Yeesh.  I guess it is time to do some serious internet shopping.

We ate lunch at Daphne's, which is one of our favorite places to eat.  Their a/c wasn't working, but after we sat there a while we acclimated to that and it was OK.  Then we toodled across the street to the Americana, which we had not yet seen.

I must say they did a good job on that.  It completely transforms downtown Glendale and yet it fits in with the architecture of the rest of the area.  Rick Caruso's architects obviously knew what they were doing.  Of course, today was not exactly the whippiest day to be exploring it, because it is an outdoor mall.  The stores all open onto the streets or the courtyard and there is no center hallway, at least not one that we could find.  We walked into the center area through a cluster of Glendale cops and Americana security officers and I joked that we'd just come to the safest place in the mall.  The officer laughed and said "Yeah, but watch out for the other side."

The trolley wasn't running today.  I gather it's just a sometime thing.  We did some window shopping and then got out of the heat at the Barnes & Noble that Vengeant had already told us about.  It is definitely one weirdly-laid-out place.  I forgot to take along the gift card he got me, so OH GEE I will have to go back.

After we got done book browsing, we went back out and sat down in the shade beside the fountain and watched that for about 20 minutes.  It puts on a performance, it doesn't just spray water.  Then we made a quick zig over to Beard Papa to treat ourselves to cream puffs (yum!) and then back through the Galleria and home.

I B tired.  Also lightly sunburned, since it didn't dawn on me (DUH!!!) to load up on sunscreen before we left.  Not serious though, and probably will have faded by tomorrow.  I guess I got my quota of Vitamin D for today.

Think I'll just figure out what to do to make leftovers exciting for dinner.

http://www.nikkor2d2.com/

Guaranteed to keep bachelors from ever getting laid again.

;)

For those as of yet uninformed, Katy and I are getting married on June 14.

Yesterday we paid for, and therefore finalized and committed to, our honeymoon arrangements.
On the downside, it cost a buttload of cash.

On the upside, we're going to Hawai'i!

None of that namby-pamby laying on beaches, playing golf BS either.  Volcano hiking, waterfalls, national parks.  Cool stuff.  Hopefully with lots of pigs and pineapples.  Mmmm.
*
In other good news, I received A's in both classes I was taking this semester
*
Also, the other day I spent some time with my cousin Emily, who's laid up at home after an ACL surgery.  She's bummed about not being able to play tennis for a while, so I brought over our Wii so she and her friend Janelle could play some Wii Sports tennis.  It was lots of fun.  Unsurprisingly, she was pretty good at Wii tennis.  However, she wasn't so good at Wii bowling, because of not being able to actually stand up and bowl.  A 61 isn't too good, but it's much better than Janelle's all time low bowling score of 4.  And this was in real life bowling.  With the gutter bumpers up.  Wow.  Luckily, she's better at Wii bowling.

Another fire in Griffith Park, over the hill from us (but we can see and smell the smoke).  Also one out in the Sepulveda Recreation Area.

I fear this summer will be one big blaze after another.

Given that our state supreme court has finally conceded that I may in fact be a real person as far as long-term responsibilities go, I'd like to address California's "separate but equal" non-marriage for non-people: Registered Domestic Partnership.

Or as I call it, the Mutant Registry.

Were I to become a Registered Domestic Partner, I would gain a few rights. Hospital visitation, wrongful death lawsuits, and the ability to jointly file state taxes, basically. And to be honest, I would not bet the farm on the relevant parties actually honoring these rights unless taken to court. Oh, and I get the right to take my partner's surname. Except that you can take pretty much any name you want in California just by using it, as long as there's no intent to commit fraud, so big whoop.

And most importantly, those rights end at the California border. Were Teh Woman to be hospitalized in any other state, I would be SOL. If we got jobs in another state, we would not be eligible for any kind of family leave relating to each other. If I had a kid in another state, Teh Woman would not legally be a parent. Full Faith and Credit my ass.

From what I understand, we'd be far better off giving each other Power of Attorney, because there's no genital-based restriction on that and it's good anywhere.

Plus, RDP is not available to straight people unless one is over the age of 62. Non-elderly straight people cannot become RDPs. So ... basically it's a big list of queers and a few old people, and that's it.

But whyyyyyyyy do the big mean faggots have to try to steal the Sacred Institution of Marriage? We let those homos have civil unions and domestic partnerships _{in a few states, void where prohibited or just plain icky}, why do they gotta keep demanding special treatment?? And by special treatment, we mean the same treatment straights get?

Laws banning interracial marriage were on the books until the year 2000, despite Loving V. Virginia in 1967. Only 59% of Alabama voters supported taking those laws off the books, too. The exact same arguments being used today against same-sex marriage have been used for many years against interracial marriage, including "It's an abomination in the eyes of the Lord" and "Won't somebody think of the children!". Given this atmosphere of shortsighted bigotry, I do not expect to be able to marry like a straight person anytime soon. And I am willing to bet good money that the Faggots Caused 9-11 Act passes, and the Nobody Can Make Us Treat Homos Like People Act remains in effect for the foreseeable future.

Apparently nobody listened when the Supreme Court said:

Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not to marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. (Loving v. Virginia)

Well, what d'you know. Prop 22, the Queers Aren't People Act has been overturned.

CNN.com seems to be suggesting that the overturning of the Act means that gays can get married in this state just like real people. I don't think it means that, yet, it just means that there's no longer specific language in our state constitution enforcing Separate But Equal.

California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban.

The real high point of the story comes at the end, where it's noted that the seven-member court consists of six Republicans and one Democrat.

Progress is possible.

Anyone needs me I am in Asheville, NC doing a bunch of prep for the wedding this Saturday, god help me.

If you need to get a hold of me, use my cell.

The Democrats have given 55 bloggers press credentials for the convention.

The list of names is well worth reading in its own right.

Lemme set the scene. I'm on the Gold Line, heading to campus to finish The Paper That Wouldn't Die. There's a dude sitting near the door -- a middle-aged white guy who I'll call Conversation Man. The train is half full. Conversation Man starts up a conversation with me. I respond in a friendly way, but I don't much like carrying on conversations with strangers on the train, so I wait until there's a lull and go into my "There's something urgent on my phone that I must attend to by pushing buttons" routine.

At a stop, Psychobitch gets on, pushing a covered stroller and carrying a two-year-old.

Conversation Man: Would you like this seat?
Psychobitch: No, I'll stand.
Conversation Man: Are you sure? You don't wanna sit down with your kid?
Psychobitch: No.
Two-year-old: (drops bottle)
Me: (looks for where it fell to see if I can reach it)
Conversation Man: I'll get it. (gets up, retrieves bottle, hands to Two-year-old)
Two-year-old: (drops bottle)
Me: (reaches down, picks it up)
Psychobitch: She's upset, just leave it.
Me: (puts bottle in cupholder on stroller)

Conversation Man: Got another one in there? (points to stroller, which is covered with a blanket) They're a handful, aren't they.
Psychobitch: (turning around to face him) WHY DO YOU CARE? DO YOU HAVE KIDS? DID YOU BEAR ANY?
Rest of train: ??
Conversation Man: I was just trying to make conversation ...
Psychobitch: WELL DON'T FUCKING BOTHER. YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL RIGHT?
Rest of train: ?!
Conversation Man: Well excuse the fuck outta me ...
Psychobitch: SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU SHUT UP! WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE US ALONE? YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RESPECT!
Conversation Man: Why don't you just turn around, then?
Psychobitch: DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME WHAT TO DO, ASSHOLE! YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY GIRLS, YOU FUCKING SICKO!
Rest of train: !!
Conversation Man: (gets up and moves to the other end of the car, muttering)
Psychobitch: YEAH YOU BETTER WALK AWAY, ASSHOLE! FUCK YOU! YOU GOTTTA LEARN SOME RESPECT FOR A LADY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT A LADY IS?!
Rest of train: (thinking as one) Well, now we sure as hell know what a lady isn't!

(pause)

Psychobitch: (to rest of train) WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT? ARE YOU ENJOYING THE SHOW?! MAYBE YOU SHOULD FUCKING STARE SOME MORE! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RESPECT!
Random guy: You're the one who needs to learn some respect, lady.
Psychobitch: (goes OFF for another five minutes in the same vein)
Rest of train: (decides not to even look at Psychobitch anymore, lest we all get accused of wanting to molest her kids or something)

It was ... surreal. It should have been in Webster's under "Overreaction". Conversation Man seemed like a nice enough guy. Sure, he could have been a child molester, but so could anyone else on that train. He wasn't rubbing himself, he wasn't leering, he wasn't popping a chub as far as I could tell ... he didn't do anything to make a rational person assume he meant any harm to the kids. He was just chatting with whoever was near him.

I feel sorry for the little girls. They're not gonna trust ANYONE when they grow up.

I bought the first episode of "Rome" from iTunes.

The quality is very good.  The playback is a bit glitchy, but I think that has more to do with the Powerbook's old processor than the video itself.

However, it's just the episode.  None of the special features that the DVD contains.  So all in all I think I'll keep an eye out for sales on the box set.

Dunno if anyone else besides me likes Earth shoes, but if you do, the Gaiam catalog has a selection of Earth sandals on sale for half price.  Given how much Earth shoes usually cost, this is a substantial savings indeed.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, written purely to entertain myself and (with any luck) a few others. The world and characters belong wholly to J.K. Rowling, and I lay no claim to them whatsoever! If you're reading this journal for non-fanfiction-related reasons, do not click, this will probably not be your cup of tea. If you are nodding impatiently because this is totally your cup of tea, I hope you enjoy and remember that all the fanfiction comes down on September 6th!

Public Service Announcement: After September 6th, there will be a PDF up here for a month that people can download and keep. I won't make the PDF until after the stories are all done and I won't be emailing the PDF to anyone - so now everyone knows what the deal is with the PDF, and will not email me asking for it! (Really, I have now automatically written an email to someone telling them they couldn't have it - when they hadn't asked for it. I was so, so embarrassed. I blame myself for being unclear before.)

Dedication: This is for blackbird0414 - happy birthday!

( Quality of Mercy Links )

( Quality of Mercy, R, Chapter 25 )

Anyone else stuck using Charter's crappy broadband?

They're gonna start tracking you to offer "personalized ads" unless you opt out.

The opt-out form sets a cookie.  Should that get deleted, you're back in their sights.  And unless you transfer the cookie to every other computer that connects via Charter, the other ones get no protection.

I think it's time to start thinking about changing our ISP.

One of my new gamer buddies just started a female only game. Anyone else try this? I've barely gamed with girls at all, outside of LARPs, so I jumped in for the experience.

http://www.nwarpg.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1454

Upon viewing YouTube footage from the China earthquake, I feel the need to once again give this PSA:

If an earthquake hits your area, DO NOT RUN OUTSIDE. Inside, you mainly have to worry about a few things falling over. Outside you have to worry about glass, bricks, building facades, trees and parts thereof, people driving their cars off the street, power lines coming down, transformers exploding, etc etc etc.

So unless your building is VISIBLY COMING APART and about to fall on your head, stay inside until the shaking stops!

_{PS this includes you guys in the South and Midwest too.}

Gizmodo reports that iTunes will be selling episodes of "Rome" for $2.99 each.  It is thus less expensive to buy all the episodes that way than to buy the box set DVDs.

I don't know that I'd want all my episodes only in iTunes format, though.  Decisions, decisions.

COMING SOON to a Theatre Near You:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ~ May 22nd
The Incredible Hulk ~ June 13th
Hellboy II: the Golden Army ~ July 11th
X-Files 2 ~ July 25th [WonderCon interview]
Star Trek (Star Trek 11) ~ December 25th

Who made the most money in Hollywood last weekend?
1. Iron Man, $51.2M
2. What Happens in Vegas..., $20.2M
3. Speed Racer, $18.6M
4. Made of Honor, $8.12M
5. Baby Mama, $6.23M

OUT TODAY on DVD!
New Releases:
- Cover
- Mad Money

( Read more... )

Happy Birthday today to Stevie Wonder (58) & Tom Verica (44)!

Recently Seen Flicks:
- Cloverfield: 3.5/5 ~ not as bad as people made out and the monster is NOT invisible (WTF was with that rumor?)
- No Country for Old Men: 2.5/5 ~ not as good as people made out
- The Golden Compass: 4.0/5 ~ top-notch actors & sfx, although the story was probably a bit too abstract for the average American to appreciate. And then there's the bit about humans' souls being called "demons"--I imagine the Religious Right had a special sermon over that.