September 2004 Thursday, September 30, 2004
New Craigslist FavoritesHere’s a few more that I’ve been enjoying. First, someone has utilized craigslist to enact some sort of vendetta - by posting for a free computer and putting up someone’s phone number! Free parking spot near the 405 and the 10. Also, regarding my earlier post, if you have any hermit crabs (with natural or engineered shells), this fellow is looking for them. Here’s a fat guy who wants pictures taken of him. Never forget, craigslist can be your blog. Blog. Blog. POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:59 pm And So It BeginsStarting tomorrow, October first, signups begin for National Novel Writing Month. November is National Novel Writing Month, where nutjobs try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Won’t you join us? POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:57 pm Monday, September 27, 2004
Hahahahah!I know you’ve probably already seen this, but after watching the interview of Bill O’Reilly on 60 Minutes last night, I’m so glad I saw this today. Comedy Central Refutes O’Reilly’s Claim Jon Stewart was a guest on O’Reilly’s show earlier this month and O’Reilly referred to The Daily Show’s viewers as “stoned slackers.” Apparently this offended Doug Herzog. The important facts:
Perhaps part of the problem is that we don’t understand O’Reilly’s definition of slacker. POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:44 pm Saturday, September 25, 2004
Because You Were Wondering, TooSwimming in syrup is as easy as swimming in water. The rigorous study of the issue was published in American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal. They first had their volunteers swim timed laps in a swimming pool full of water and then added 300 kg of guar gum (a thickener) to the pool and then had the swimmers repeat their laps. I have no idea what to do with this info. I’m still looking for an answer to my other nagging question, what happens if you put a fish in carbonated water? POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:39 pm Friday, September 24, 2004
Some of my Favorite ThingsYou know how much I love cemeteries. And photography. Oh, and let’s not leave out nudity. And here they are, all rolled up into one pretty picture. Yes, here’s a group doing a fundraiser by shooting photos of prominent citizens in the local cemetery to raise money and awareness for the respectful upkeep of the graveyard. The idea, taken from the feature “Calendar Girls” instead uses the cemetery as its backdrop. Oh, and all the people in the photos aren’t actually nude, just appear to be. Looks like a nice cemetery. (Link found via ObscureStore.) POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:41 pm LA Insight - Week 7This week’s topic on LABlogs is about getting out of the city. So here it is, Leaving LA 1. When you can only get out of LA for a weekend, where do you like to go? I like Morro Bay. I like the view, I like the slower pace, I like the good food (the Man and I have been there enough that we actually have favorite restaurants). 2. Where do you stay when you go there? (lodging and/or region) The Inn at Morro Bay. It’s freakin’ expensive, but for a weekend getaway, it’s a real treat. We get one of the deluxe rooms on the second floor in the building that is right on the bay. There’s a hot tub on the balcony and the view just kicks ass. 3. Where do you go on vacation to get as far out of the LA lifestyle? 4. For longer vacations, 1-2 weeks, where have you been that you would go back to? 5. Where do you dream of going, but haven’t been? I’d love to cruise the Inside Passage on one of those little ships (not a cruise ship). One of those boats where you can get really close to the glaciers and where it’s quiet enough to hear the whales spout. 6. Where have you been on vacation where you thought “I could settle here”? The Man and I definitely feel that way about Morro Bay. I’d love to have a place out by the entrance to the Montana de Oro State Park. It’s high up on the hillside and overlooks Morro Bay and you can wind your way down to the strand beach there that goes on for miles. That’d be a great retirement place. 7. What place in Los Angeles makes you feel like you’re already on vacation? I like going up to Pt. Dume and just watching the water. A little picnic lunch, my camera and binoculars and I’d go home feeling pretty refreshed. 8. Where in Los Angeles would you warn tourists to stay away from, even though a lot of them end up there? I think Hollywood Blvd. is kind of silly, but I’ve never had anyone who comes to visit tell me they were disappointed with it, so who am I to argue with them. Will brought up a good one, Universal City Walk. I haven’t been there since they made the decision to not show Poetic Justice years ago because it “attracted the wrong demographic”. Not only that, it’s not terribly convenient, the parking sucks and it felt very confined. Gimme Hollywood and the Arclight any day. POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:40 am Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Should We Improve on Nature?Humans have been tinkering with nature for a long time. Farming and ranching have changed the planet. But shouldn’t we just leave well enough alone? Should we really try to improve upon creatures in the wild? I know that where humans have interfered with wild animals we try to bring balance back to the situation. They give deer birth control shots instead of culling the heards. They move animals away from inhabited areas to more remote ones. This one really got me though. An artist/designer has figured out how to fabricate better shells for hermit crabs. Yes, hermit crabs. Those little crabs that take cast off shells in the ocean and on the beach and recycle them for their own protection. Apparently there is a scarcity of reusable shells on the beaches these days (yes, someone did a study). These fake shells are lighter and better fitting than those natural ones. Here’s my problem. It’s one thing to try to help out a species with things like birdhouses, but another to give them an advantage. What of the poor hermit crab who prefers a real shell, is he to suffer because suddenly the fake shell crew has an advantage. And what of the offspring of these fake shells, what if they can’t find a fake shell, what if they’re no longer able to tote around those heavy real shells that they evolved for? What if we make them so dependent on us that they’re no longer able to fend for themselves? POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:44 pm Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Instructions for Filling Swimming PoolsThe Following Routine Will Become Effective Forthwith 1. Swimming Pool attendants will telephone and ask the Officer of the Watch for permission to fill the swimming pool 2. The Officer of the Watch will inform the Engineer of the Watch that permission has, or has not, been granted to fill the swimming pools 3. Swimming Pool attendants will contact the Engineer of the Watch that they are standing-by their pool Only when the Engineer of the Watch has received two reports (2 and 3) will he commence filling the swimming pool Swimming Pool attendants are not to ask the Officer of the Watch for permission to fill the pool until they have sighted their pool (from the Queen Mary) POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:35 pm Saturday, September 18, 2004
CraigslistYou know, I think half the problems in the world are from an imbalance, an excess here and a need way over there. Maybe craigslist goes a little way to helping put those things together. I like to hang out in the free section of the Los Angeles subsite. Here are some of my favorites: Don’t you want a little pat on the back every once in a while? Maybe a high five? (There are photos, too!)
I’m sorry you missed out on this one:
I wonder if anyone claimed it. Maybe it’ll go with this:
After you’ve eaten your fill, you might want to spruce up your look:
Not everything is free, of course. I like the General postings too. I’m not sure, but this person might be confusing a philanthropist with a sugar daddy:
POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:19 pm Friday, September 17, 2004
LA Insight - Week 6LA Blogs posted this weeks LA Insight: Baby You Can Drive my Car. (beep, beep.) 1. How many hours a week are you stuck in your car? Hmm, first of all, I never feel stuck in my car. I love my car. I love being in my car. But to answer the question, at the moment, I’m spending about 3 hours a week in my car. But hey, I’m on medical leave. Once I go back to work, I expect to be back to the usual 4 or 5. 2. What music is in your car, right now? I’ve got the new Gomez - Split the Difference in the CD player. I’ve been listening to it for several weeks. 3. What do you do while stuck in traffic? Eat? Sing? Primal scream? I never feel stuck, because of the overwhelming smugness that comes with driving a Prius. However, when I drive I sing. Sometimes to the stereo, sometimes I turn it off and just sing for myself. 4. If you could give citations to other drivers for bad behavior, who/ what I don’t care for changing lanes without signaling. I don’t like it when people tailgate. I can’t stand people who slot or people who will come to a stoplight and sit in the far right lane (the turn lane) and then shoot out when the light turns green just so they can pass everyone else at the light. I would also ticket for bad parking. I mean, parking lots have lines, how hard is it to get your damn car inside the lines? 5. What’s your favorite place/freeway to drive in LA? I don’t think I have a favorite place. I don’t really see driving as pleasurable. I like to get where I’m going but I try not to resent the journey. I enjoy the big boulevards like Santa Monica and Sunset and Hollywood because when you’re in stop and go traffic there’s lots to look at. As for freeways, I love driving the 126 from the 5 through Fillmore to Santa Paula. 6. What’s your least favorite? I don’t care for the four level downtown. I think the 5 is more potholes than road. 7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen another driver do? Hmm, there have been so many, I’m not sure I can classify one as crazier than another. 8. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen left on the side of the road? When I first arrived in LA I was a bit mystified by all the furniture I would see on the freeways. Especially mattresses. Now, I don’t think any of it is crazy. POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:00 am Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Very Important ReminderJust in case you’re not paying attention, September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Unfortunately, this year Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on a Sunday. I know you all like talking like a pirate at work! Of course for those church-going types that could make for an interesting sermon. POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:03 pm The TitleI have come up with a title for my fourth novel. I know they can’t be copyrighted or anything, so let me officially just call dibs on it. My new novel I will write in November will be called An Alphabetical Order. This is the first time I have come up with a title before an actual idea for a novel, or an entire novel first. We’ll see if this works any better than the previous ventures. POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:08 am A MilestoneThis entry is my 203rd post. I probably should have put up sometime when I hit the more notable milestone post of 200, but in reality, 203 is more impressive because, well, it’s three more. Take all of that for whatever it’s worth. Which ain’t much. POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:06 am Tuesday, September 14, 2004
99 cent GoodnessFirst of all, why isn’t there a cent sign on the standard keyboard? Was inflation so high when the computer came out that they just dumped it, leaving it in alt-shift nowhere land? But I digress. Robert Daeley at Celsius 1414 has a cool post. Go read it. POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:21 pm Friday, September 10, 2004
La Insight - Week 5I’m a day late but I wasn’t feeling exactly inspired to answer this week’s LA Blog’s LA Insight. This weeks edition calls attention to the heat and what we do to escape it. Maybe the heat is making me cranky, but it seems that my answers are a bit contentious. 1. What is your favorite beach to cool off on? When do you go to beat the crowds? I don’t go to the beach to cool off. Seems whenever it’s hot, that’s where people go. I think I’d prefer going up to the mountains, but I never have. 2. If not the beach, where is your favorite cooling-off spot outdoors? indoors? 3. Where is your favorite spot for ice cream/sorbet/gelato? 4. What is your favorite flavor? 5. Stuck at home? What are you making in your blender? I don’t make blender drinks. I drink water for the most part, I don’t care much for flavored drinks. Alcoholic drinks, on the other hand, are flavored and there I prefer things with gin in them. Gin and Tonic with lots of fresh lime. I like most things made with lime too, margaritas (on the rocks) and 6. Got any original concoctions you want to share? I’ve tried making up drinks but they don’t turn out very well. I sometimes make a gin gimlet without the sugar. I’m not sure what that is, but it’s damn sassy. Is there a name for grapefruit juice, gran marnier and gin? 7. Favorite winter-themed video or book? I like A Charlie Brown Christmas. 8. What was your favorite water-themed activity as a kid? This one I can answer! Swimming. And tubing. I don’t see river or creek tubing too much here in California, I think because there just aren’t the right kinds of rivers. Sometimes we’d go tubing on the river, which is fun because you just drift downstream. But creek tubing is better because there are usually rapids. POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:25 pm Thursday, September 09, 2004
Worth a Million Words and Countless TearsThe NY Times has published a look at those who have died. Photos of the first 1,000 American troops to die in Iraq. Sadly, they won’t be the last.
It’s all names and photos, no ranks. Just the faces of men and women. POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:07 pm Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Sudden ImpactI got up this morning to watch the Genesis reentry on the Nasa Channel. Since it was only nine when I came downstairs, I went ahead and set the PVR to bring it in while I walked the dog. Then I came back and started from the beginning. It was only because I was browsing the internet at the same time that I found out that Genesis had crashed. The chute failed to deploy. That just sucks. I hope that the samples it took (“recover science” as the Nasa fellows call it) are still viable. POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:26 am Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Let’s Come In in a Blaze of Glory!I know, I usually don’t cross post. But I really wanted to spread the word about this. I haven’t seen much talk in the news (okay, I don’t actually watch the news, but I haven’t seen it in the online newspapers) about the Genesis mission. The Genesis spacecraft, which went to the sun and collected samples is returning to Earth, will put on a show tomorrow. Any readers from Elko, Nevada to Bend, Oregon may be able to catch a glimpse of it starting at 8:53 AM. Here’s an even better map with freeways on it from Spaceweather.com. Check this map to see if you’re on the path - you should be able to view it if you’re within 100 miles of the path of reentry, it will be between 10-100 times brighter than Venus. Won’t someone go out tomorrow morning and take some photos of it? POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:44 pm Monday, September 06, 2004
An Error Lasts ForeverRuss and I were visiting Forest Lawn again and found this tribute plaque. I lost interest in reading the text once it started quoting Bible verse, but Russ continued to find this as the bottom: How many times do you think someone went over this text before committing it to the casting? Do you think the family realizes that they’ve confused “your” and “you’re”? Or were they paying by the letter? POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:45 pm Friday, September 03, 2004
LA Insight - Week 4LA Blogs is at it again, like clockwork. Or maybe it’s calendarwork. Los Angeles Insight - Fire Up the BBQ I’m alone this weekend and not invited anywhere, so this is an exercise in well, exercising. But hey, it keeps my entry total up!
1. When you do fire up the grill, what do you put on it? 2. Where do you buy your goods (any secret meat markets)? Usually Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. We go for the hormone free ones, because we know what too many hormones do to me. Sometimes we do turkey sausages, Bristol Farms has a really good selection of turkey and chicken sausages that are wonderfully spicy. 3. Besides your house, where do you/would you BBQ around your area? No. I like grilling at home. 4. Gas or charcoal? Gas. Better for the environment. Compact and certainly less cleanup. I like the taste of charcoal (as long as the fire starter has burned off). 5. What is your favorite drink to accompany the grill? I like water. And gin and tonics. 6. When you bring a side dish, what is it? Salad is nice. I also like this grill dish that we do where you skewer the baby mozzarella balls on bamboo skewers and alternate it with tomatoes and basil leaves. Then baste it in olive oil with a little salt, pressed garlic and pepper in it. Put on the grill just until the cheese starts getting gooey and pull off and eat immediately. Yummers! 7. If the host burns the main dish, where do you go out to eat instead? We’d call for delivery I think. Probably Hard Times Pizza. 8. Post BBQ games: dominoes, croquet, bocci or badminton? Um, we’ve played croquet a few times, though I think usually before. I just got a bocci set that I’m itching to use. Maybe after the next time the lawn is mowed. POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:27 pm Thursday, September 02, 2004
Living my life for my blogHere’s a little question I have for other bloggers. Do you live your life so that you can blog about it? In your everyday life, do things happen and the first thing that comes to your mind is, “Oh, I’ve got to blog about that!” I’m recovering from my surgery and have had romantic ideas about what a recovery would be like. And some of my notions of activities revolve around things that I would like to tell people I did while recovering. Witness: Russ has been coming over to keep me company. He reads to me. Our primary book at the moment is The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. It’s a satiric novel about the Los Angeles funeral industry (Forest Lawn) that includes a few biting indictments of the entertainment industry and perhaps how we regard our pets. Anyway, not satisfied with just reading this novel, I’ve decided he should read to me on the grounds of Forest Lawn in Glendale. Do I do that because I actually enjoy it, or because I want you to read that I did it and have you think something in particular about me and what kind of person would engage in such an activity? I think I do it because I enjoy it. I’m not one for doing things I regard as a chore. I guess I blog about it to try to create that sort of persona that I’d like you think I actually am. Part of creating the essential things to know about Cybele. POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:13 pm |
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During November it's all about me writing a novel. Sometimes it's about whalewatching. You know, and then there's other stuff.
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