You know...I really should not be let into Borders alone. Except, even 'not alone' isn't good enough, because god knows, last time I went with friends, I *still* spent a ton of money. I only went today to pick up a couple of DVDs, and...well...I walked out with a little bit more than that. Not as much as I *could* have done, but it was still enough.
As I gradually meandered my way out, I thought I'd remembered reading somewhere that Dean Koontz was releasing another book this year, but hadn't checked his page recently, so wasn't sure. I've written about Dean Koontz before, and how I'd gotten used to the fact that he was only writing one book a year, and that was all there was to know.
When I didn't see anything new on the shelf as I cruised by where his hardbacks are kept, I thought that I might just escape this year.
But then...
I got up to the check out line.
And behold! Dean Koontz is releasing a book called The Taking on May 25th.
Arrrg! :)
Me, at the checkout: Dammit, he IS releasing another book this year. I hate that man, I hate him so much!
Clerk: ......... wha....?
Me: Dean Koontz. The man hates me.
Amusingly, this started a five minute conversation with the clerk, who's reading False Memory and having trouble getting through it. Oh yeah, I'm sure the people behind me were just so thrilled about that.
The good part is...well. It's only another 26 days!
I guess, sometimes, they do breed them a bit more liberal in Massachusetts than in California.
UMass Grad Student: Tillman's 'Rambo,' not a hero
Mind you, they may be thinking that in other parts of California, too, but in my part of the Bay Area. Probably because he's one of their own down here.
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Also...ugh. I think I am going back on the 5am shift starting next Monday. Yeah, imagine my thrill. Better this time of year than toward the beginning of the hockey season, though, I guess.
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I had another lobster-like moment this morning, this time with a tiny spider. All I wanted was to make sure the thing stayed away from me while I washed my hair, but all I could think of while I was doing so was what I'd do if some big, tarantula-sized spider crept off the window sill at me. Ew.
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As always, go Sharks!
I guess this probably falls under the meme category. My friend Melissa has been posting entries with the title 'Unconscious Mutterings' along with a date, and I finally figured out where they came from--it just took me awhile to remember to look.
Anyway, there are two weeks worth here, hopefully I'll remember to do it more often than once every several months. :)
Want to play along? Go here: Unconscious Mutterings.
Week of April 18, 2004
Virginia :: Norfolk
Soft :: Hard
Carol :: Hathaway
Vanity :: Madonna
Feminist :: Bra-burning
Alias :: Pen name
Coward :: Lion
Beer :: Horses
Chance :: Medic
Honest :: True
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Week of April 25, 2004
Elastic :: Band
Intervention :: Drunk
Risk :: Gain
Junk Food :: Forbidden
Arrogance :: Social class
Responsibility :: Childhood
X :: 2
Marshall :: Jason
Kill :: Rundown
Brother :: Sister
So, apparently, Pac Bell Park/SBC Park is now a wireless hot spot.
What's the freaking point of going to a baseball game if you're going to take your laptop? I'm all for technology and stuff, but this just seems silly to me.
Though, I guess it's helpful for day games during the work week. Maybe.
Still. Silly!
KFC was my first job ever, sad as that is to admit. I trained at the KFC they're talking about in that article. Yes, Virginia, the first KFC restaurant really really was in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Sad. I got a date for my senior prom at that very store.
It'd be really strange, if I still lived there, driving down State Street without seeing that place.
Sad.
Yeah, I know, the blog has really been hockey central and has really been boring lately. Bear with me, I really do have things to write about, but this class I just finished up has been killing me.
Meanwhile...go Sharks! I'd much rather have them playing Vancouver in this series, but I remain guardedly optimistic about this one anyway.
Look for something real (no, really!) by this time next week, hopefully sooner.
Oh yes. Being awakened at 5am by the phone is really just my idea of a perfect morning. Having to come in before the break of dawn? Same. True, my alarm would've gone off in another ten minutes, but I would've been able to have some breakfast and take a more leisurely shower, but nooo. I was at work at 5:30 this morning.
On the up side, I'll get to leave that much earlier today. And...my laptop should get here today. And that's about all I can think of for right now.
(Some sports content, some other content toward the end.)
Okay, now I'm *really* annoyed.
I had posted earlier this morning about being bitchy at FSN Bay Area about the way they kept interrupting the hockey game last night, but the post has just vanished somewhere.
So, yeah. FSN decided that EVERYONE needed to see them shrink the hockey game broadcast so they could do a picture-in-picture display every time Barry Bonds went to the plate.
Kiss my ass, bitches, I don't give a fuck about baseball in general, and most especially don't really care about Barry Bonds and the home run thing. Get a grip, not every resident of the Bay Area is a baseball fan, and when you are already showing the game on an alternate station, DO NOT FUCK WITH THE BROADCAST!
It's a really fucking good thing that there were no goals or anything during those times when they cut away, because I would have called them and bitched rather than sending snarky email.
Raar.
But the Sharks played well, yaay! Here's hoping they can knock the Blues out of it on Thursday night, we shall see.
In other news, I finished two of the three rosaries I'm making for Brett's family. One is a jade/amazonite combination, and the other is lapis/blue lace agate. They turned out surprisingly well, and the lapis/blue lace one is my favorite. I'm also comfortable enough with the way they turned out to consider adding them to my product list. They're simple enough to do, the only problem is that they can be somewhat spendy to make, using semi-precious stones as material. I can easily get around that by using other types of beads, though, and who knows, maybe there are people willing to pay for the semi-precious ones.
Yes, I'll post pictures, but I want to finish the third one first. The third one will be rose quartz and something--the concern there is that the black thread will show through the rose quartz bead. Unfortunately, that's just a side effect of the way the thing is put together. I'd considered using lapis beads in place of the rose quartz, but I was really hoping to get three distinct, separate pieces.
And...when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure they'd mind so much, whoever ends up getting it. We shall see. :)
Hitting the publish button now. If this one doesn't post, I am going to be OH SO CRANKY.
Or, should I say, *crankier*.
One of the sports columnists for the San Jose Mercury News (Mark Purdy, I think) declared that it was safe for people to climb on the hockey bandwagon once again--not only were the Sharks going to the playoffs, but they were going as the second seed (of 8, for you non-hockey folks) in the west. They're going to keep us busy well into April, I think it said.
(Yeah, more hockey fan-goobing--don't read if you're not interested, there's no non-sports content here. :)
If last night's crowd was any indication, it didn't take long for people to hop on. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I saw maybe three or four Blues jerseys, but the rest of the place was just covered in teal. Of course, get 17,496 (give or take) fans together, bandwagon or no, and that's liable to happen, I guess.
The crowd definitely didn't disappoint, either. Everyone was on their feet when the Sharks came out, and that Shark Tank howl that we haven't heard since the 2001-2002 season was out in full force. Okay, admittedly, it's not quite the same as the Oakland Coliseum howl, but the capacity there is at least three times as many. It's outdoor, though, so they don't quite get the reverb effect that you get at the Tank.
ANYway. It was a great game. The goalies were both incredible, and each team played their game very well. The Blues played a pretty hard game, physically (though the Sharks definitely responded--it was really damn good to see Patty Marleau playing the body), and the Sharks were as quick as ever. Both teams had a couple of odd-man rushes, and...
Well.
Anyone who was watching? You can blame Leigh Ann and me for the fact that the game went into overtime. I don't think we figured it'd be a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation, but we were talking about how playoff overtime works--how it's basically a 4th period rather than a 5 minute OT. Still sudden death, of course. But I think the fact that we talked about it must've caused it. ;)
When the game went into overtime, I started wondering how I was going to explain to my boss that I was probably going to be in late in the morning, as well--I mean, they play until someone wins, they have to, and we saw a game a couple of seasons ago that went into five overtimes. Yeah. *Five*. As in...eight periods of hockey. The equivalent of almost 2 and 2/3 games. Aiie!
Niko saved us, though. Well. That whole line saved us, really. From Damphousse hollering for Niko not to touch the puck because it was a hand pass, to Marleau driving the net and distracting Osgood, to Niko roofing the puck and putting it in the net...Wow. Just wow. Not only was it Niko's first career playoff goal, but it was his first career overtime goal, too. Alyn McCauley retrieved the puck for him, which we thought was really cool.
And, needless to say, the place just went WILD after Niko scored. And ow, my throat hurts. :)
Someone on the Sharks chat board was there taking pictures, and this one...well. It's worth a thousand words.
My mom and I are a lot more similar than I ever would have thought, and you know, that thought does not bother me in the least. It might have about ten years ago, because I was an obnoxious 20 year old who still hadn't quite grown out of the teenage persecution complex, but I've definitely grown up since then. Anyone who has met my mom can attest to the fact that she's pretty damn cool, especially anyone who's spent a great deal of time with her.
Said people can probably also vouch for the fact that she and I are a lot alike. And you know what? I like it.
But here's a good case in point, just to illustrate it.
Yesterday when I got home, my mom's cell phone number came up in the caller ID list. Naturally, when it's her cell, I start to worry a little bit, because I figure she'd only be calling me that way if something happened to Matt or Jeremy. (And, of course, the 'oh, but she'd call me at work' voice didn't chime in til later.)
So, I listened to the message, and it was another one of those cases where she'd dialed accidentally somehow, probably with the phone in her purse. All I could hear were indistinct voices, some radio stuff... Nothing bad's happened, check.
Except, what if she's really saying something there, but can't bring the phone to her ear for whatever reason? What if someone's kidnapped her, or...I don't know, something. And that, of course, kicks me into worry mode.
I didn't delete the message--just in case--and called my mom after I hung up. I figured that it really probably was a mistake, but I wanted to check, in that highly unlikely event that something was really wrong.
She and Matt were home and making dinner when I called. I explained what happened, and she assured me that everything was fine, that it really was a mistake.
The whole point of this post, and the amusing part, for me? She told me that she'd have done the exact same thing, had the situation been reversed.
See what I mean about similarities? :)
Not only am I avoiding talking about the weekend, but now, I am also avoiding work! I shouldn't, I still have tickets to update from today's development meeting, but dangit, I am at lunch. :)
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
9: What are you wearing?:
10: Did you dream last night?
11: When did you last laugh?
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
15: What is the last film you saw?:
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
19: Do you like to dance?:
20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?:
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
23: Will you pass on this survey?:
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
The following table provides URLs for product information, training, and additional user documentation.
(I'm at work, what did you expect? Porn disguised as crappy romance? :)
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
My callmaster phone. Or, more accurately, the incredibly broken headset I have for said phone.
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
Shark Byte, which TiVo chopped the end off, dangit.
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
2:20pm.
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
2:25pm
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My radio turned on barely loud enough to be heard over the space heater that we have going in the office, because the AC is on all the freaking time.
7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
About an hour or so ago, going to get lunch.
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
Livejournal, specifically Leon's, to get the questions for this thing. Before that, Lucent's internal training website, so that I can take this stupid customer care course.
9: What are you wearing?:
Olive green shirt with three-quarter sleeves, black pants, black socks, black dress shoes, my wedding ring, and the red and orange airbrushed ink thing I got done at Great America the other day.
10: Did you dream last night?
Yeah, but I don't remember what it was about.
11: When did you last laugh?
A few minutes ago, when Jeremy told me about a conversation he had at work.
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
A big white board, upon which is written a list of issues sent to development (mine), a list of author review bugs (mine), a list of customers waiting for our next release (mine), and a list of meetings (my officemate's). A piece of paper with 'Anti-Stress Kit' in big letters, above a big circle inside which states 'Bang Head Here', and instructions on how to use it. A garland I got at the Renfaire a few years ago. An okay piece of celtic-themed office artwork. My officemate's various cartoons and a list of commonly used extensions for co-workers. A San Jose Stealth pennant from opening night (local pro lacrosse team). A magnetic dart board.
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
I see weird things every day.
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
It passes the time. :)
15: What is the last film you saw?:
Hrm. Actually in the theater? Monster with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. On HBO the other night, I watched the end of Identity (highly recommended!) and What A Girl Wants.
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
A big, huge house.
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
I used to be a really damn good little snow skier--the kind that other parents would point out to their kids. "Do it like she's doing it, see?"
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
Give every child older than toddling age in an orphanage or a bad foster care situation a good and loving home, where their needs will be properly met, where they'll be loved and cared for. Seems to me that most people are more likely to adopt infants or very young children. What about the older ones?
19: Do you like to dance?:
Not really.
20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?:
I abstain.
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
(Heh. I just noticed these are misnumbered here.)
We've actually talked about this, but since it's such a highly unlikely scenario, I'll just decline to answer.
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
See above.
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
Absolutely, as long as I could choose where it'd be.
23: Will you pass on this survey?:
Nah, but it's in my blog for anyone who wants to grab it.
I hate daylight savings time. Hate hate hate hate hate. Words cannot describe how much I hate it.
At least, so far (and there is ****MUCH**** knocking on wood right now), there haven't been any reports of product problems because of the time change.
I just hope that it stays that way. Arg.
Also. Stupid freaking hygenist. My dentist has a new assistant, which is fine, whatever. At least this one isn't going to be snarking at me about how I 'need cleanink' all the time...mind you, I just had one last month. But still.
This one was no better, though. She had that scrapy-pointy thing in my mouth to scrape off the cement still on my tooth from the temporary crown, and since I didn't get any kind of anesthetic beforehand, I kept wincing as she hit a particularly tender spot. 'Oh, dat sensitive?' she kept asking. Well no shit, lady, you've got a nasty pointy thing in my mouth, poking at my gums, and you want to know if it's sensitive?
And then? The dentist poked my upper lip with the same pointy tool as he started working. Not a good day for dental work.
More later on the weekend and stuff. Right now, I'm so full of hate that I can't even think about how fun this weekend was. Bah! :)
Okay.
I've been really good, and haven't talked much about hockey here lately--not because I don't want to, but because I'm not sure how much people care about it. Also, though I admit that I can be a big fangirl from time to time, I do try to keep it to a minimum.
Really.
Shut up! :)
But anyway. I just have to say this--WOO, Sharks! Pacific Division Champions! Yay! :)
Also. Go Duke!
