| Another list meme |
[04 Jul 2008|08:27pm] |
From ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fivil: Entertainment Weekly's list of the top movies of the last 25 years.
Go through their list and BOLD the ones you have seen and underline the ones you own on video or DVD.
I don't bother buying movies that my dad has already bought; I live at home, so it's simple enough to watch the family copy. So, the underlines don't necessarily mean personally-owned, but here in the house!
( Read more... )
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| Mmm, books |
[25 Jun 2008|12:00am] |
From wildesidewalker
The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
( Read more... )
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[17 Jun 2008|03:04am] |
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I was looking through some old locked posts and I was surprised to find that I'd stored this somewhere but never got around to posting it, so I'm posting it finally!
Back in spring 06, I took a scriptwriting class, and one of the online resources we had was the pilot script for Alias by JJ Abrams. I never saw the full thing, just a ten minute excerpt which we also read the script for, but it read so badly and yet played out great on screen because... wow. Just the way he described stuff was really silly. The professor added to that by reading it out loud in a pompous, overly dramatic voice. Here are excerpts!
A rapid, erratic HEARTBEAT. Instinctively we react to this. It's the scariest sound in the world. It's the sound of fear.
This is SYDNEY BRISTOW, 26, and unless things turn around real soon, the world's about to lose a hero.
Is this a flashback? A flash-forward? All answers in time. But meanwhile...
Sydney, tears welling in her eyes, LAUGHS, loving him so much-- and we love him too now, how can we not?
Hers is a fierce glare. A devastating stare atypical of an underdog. It says, in a silent, universally understood instant: it might not look like it at the moment... but I swear to God I'm gonna kick your ass.
As she heads across the party, she passes a suit- and glasses-wearing SECURITY OFFICER. He stoically stands guard, earwire visible. What Sydney can't possibly know is that this is the man who will later whip out a horrific-looking syringe and plunge it into her arm. From here on we'll call him SUIT AND GLASSES.
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| Jack Harkness loves roses |
[15 Jun 2008|11:22pm] |
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First off-- SHADOW'S DOING GREAT! WOOOOO! The blood pressure medication is helping so, so much. He can SEE and he's feeling good and bossing everyone around, sitting in our laps more than he has been, got his balance back-- basically acting like he was a few months ago before the downturn with his kidneys, back to his ol' self. We're so thrilled! And thanks very much for the comments about him. Sorry I didn't get around to replying to them; between focusing on Shadow and then being out of town, I didn't get caught up. Shadow surely appreciates them and demands you feed him now, peasants. We're here to serve him, didn't you know?
Now, laugh with me, TW and DW types!
Over at ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) torch_wood, dlgr shared a link for an amusing ebay auction-- a book about roses by an author named Jack Harkness. Snort.
And since I was amused, I kept on looking, and found over on Amazon that said author apparently wrote even more books on roses. Apparently he was something of a rose expert. Then I hit ol' Google* and here are some more bits of interest:
Human Flower Project: Looking for Jack Harkness
NY Times Obituary
Wiki article on Harkness Roses
Harkness Roses Online
Various other sites and articles on roses cite this Jack Harkness's books or refer to him as some international rose expert and such.
* "Google it, Sirius!"
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[28 May 2008|05:26pm] |
Thankies for the responses about Shadow!
Vet verdict-- detached retinas due to hiiigh blood pressure. Poor baby :( He'll need to take liquid medicine for that because pills? Shadow MOCKS your pills! Pill poppers and all sorts of tricks are a no-go with him-- he does this amazing drooling act to slobber the pill out, or if you do get him to swallow it, he makes himself vomit to get it out. Amazing stuff! So yeah, liquid for that instead. He's lost a little more weight since the last time he was in, 9.07 lbs right now. (I wonder how much of the weight was fur weight, with the way he rips it out. Since he kept slobbering/vomiting out anti-anxiety pills, and when he actually did swallow them they'd make him sick to his stomach, just gotta deal with the fur-ripping.) We'll see how this goes. Hopefully things resolve. Even with his health issues, he's still got his personality and he's strong despite being smaller now.
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[28 May 2008|03:10pm] |
Haven't wanted to post about this, but since I'll be going to the vet in a bit, might as well finally write something. Told a few of you about this already over IMs when I've had freak-out moments.
Since around February, Shadow's been in chronic renal failure, which means that since his kidneys aren't doing so awesome, Mom and I have to give him subcutaneous injections every few days to help flush toxins out of him. He's had some bad days where medicines have made him move around poorly and throw up a lot (which of course completely freak me out that he's on the way out) but overall, he's actually doing pretty good. The vet estimates he's around 15 now-- we have no idea how old he actually is because we adopted him from a different vet's office after the poor thing had been kept there for use in blood transfusions for three years. So, he's thinner than he's ever been, but he's still in great spirits, still the king of the house and we serve at his pleasure. He even had Lindsay serving him when she spent last week here! (And we're still calling him Shadow-wadow thanks to you, dahling.)
He's definitely having a lot of trouble seeing, though. In low light, his pupils go super-dilated and stay that way. He's bumping into stuff even during the day, so we're trying to make sure we don't move any furniture so he'll know where things are. We took Crookshanks in for shots yesterday and told the vet about Shadow's vision problems, so she said to bring him in today to check that out-- could be cataracts, but could be high blood pressure.
I take this moment to note the awesomeness of this vet, who's saved Shadow's life before with great advice-- he had this urinary blockage thing a few years ago and when we called her late-night about it, she sent us straight to the emergency vet to get that fixed because it would've killed him. And I just realized several minutes ago when I was in the shower that this is the same vet who had to put Pippin to sleep two years ago. Basically, I trust her judgment on when an animal has reached a point where they're hurting and that's the right thing to do-- and when they're still doing good and healthy, just high-maintenance. She big-time disagrees with people just giving up on a pet who needs treatment-- someone brought in a gorgeous fluffy ginger cat who was simply diabetic and needs a change of diet, but they wanted the cat put to sleep because that was too much work for them, wtf?! That fluffy kitty is now strutting her stuff around the vet office and getting lots of attention. They have a number of very sweet clinic kitties who have the run of the place-- unlike Shadow's situation; that office had kept him locked up almost all the time, so he's got a lifelong habit of ripping out fur when he's stressed (from the confinement before). Still, I get worried every time we take Shadow to the vet that this is going to be the time.
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| For Kimbywobbles, Old Man Ken, and other Star Wars and/or Top Chef types |
[25 May 2008|08:40pm] |
(referring to a Top Chef commercial of Padma strutting in a green dress)
Mom: "Work it, Padmé!"
Me: "You mean Padma. Wrong name! Top Chef, not Star Wars."
Mom: "Right, Padma! But it could be Star Wars Top Chef."
Me: "Maybe... tauntaun tartare?"
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| WOOOOO! |
[26 Mar 2008|02:12pm] |
Called the doctor's to check the x-ray results-- NO FRACTURE! WOOOOOOO! Probably deep bruising in there but not a fracture WOO! They said to use non-steroidals and ice, blah blah, woooo!
I checked about the panic attack situation and nurse said that it's safe to use the crutches, don't worry, hands just aren't used to having that weight and such and it happens, try wrapping towels around the handles to help take the weight.
YAY!
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| *headdesk headdesk headdesk* |
[25 Mar 2008|09:34pm] |
I'm glad for my family's sense of humor to get me through a heeeell of a day.
To save me on typing, e-mail my mom sent around:
Dear Loved Ones,
Crookshanks (our giant orange kitty) brought a lizard into the kitchen. Christine pointed it out to me about the time it ran up my jeans leg. I shook my leg, it jumpted onto the floor, and I grabbed it by the very tip of its tail (note; do not grab a lizard anywhere else on the tail or it will turn around and bite you, trust me). I told Christine to open the door as I headed out with the lizard. This turned into Christine running into a stool in the kitchen and breaking a toe on her right (driving) foot. (She has crutches, Vicodin, and tomorrow, I will get her walking boot).
She had planned to go to a party Thursday night and to Universal on Saturday with friends.
Pat V., just how do you get a wheelchair pass? (hee, hee, heeeeee)
So, Katilara and Nick and C, my mom wants to make it happen for us!
Although I must clarify-- after going to the doctor and having him check it out, it's possibly my foot, possibly the toe, not sure yet. Went to a local radiology imaging place to get x-rayed and they won't call the doctor with the results until tomorrow (wtf last time I got x-rayed it was fast.) In the meantime, doctor loaned me some crutches and prescribed Vicodin and anti-inflammatories, so we picked the meds up (I stayed in the car) on the way home from that. Got home, had some food, took the Vicodin and Advil, went down for a two hour nap. Arwen played nursemaid all day, hopping up to snuggle with me and make sure I was okay, napped variously on me and by my good foot. Doggies are so sweet ♥
And then the day decided to get even more fun. Bang your head on something with me.
I woke up from the nap, pretty groggy (helloooooo Vicodin!) and Mom said the house was cold so she turned the heat on. I used the crutches to get to the bathroom, and daaamn it was hot in there, always gets hot in there, so I was feeling overheated and ready to throw up, waffling between the too-hot bathroom and the cooler kitchen and being like "Uhhhh need help think I'm going to be sick?" Mom sat me down on a chair and got me a sick bucket thing, and I didn't throw up at least, but I was sweaty and shaking, and my arms felt like the nerves had gone completely to sleep. My fingers curled over and my thumbs clenched in against my palms, and I couldn't unclench them, hurt badly to even try. Naturally, this made me freak the hell out even more, and I was probably hyperventilating. Mom did not tell me at the time, but I went white and my lips were blue.
Mom called 9-1-1, got a fire house less than a mile away, so the paramedics made it over quick. Ran through my current foot situation, medications I'm on, history and such, while they checked my blood ox and such. Not an asthma attack (I was moving oxygen fine) and my pulse was doing good. No hives either or other symptoms I get with reactions to medications, and it'd been awhile since I took the meds anyways, so it didn't seem to be an allergic reaction. The hand clenching hasn't happened before but the rest has, so once I'd calmed down I realized it was an anxiety or panic attack, exacerbated by not knowing what was going on. The EMTs said it's possible that the crutches put pressure on some nerves and that caused the hand clenching, but that panic attacks can also do that. No medical emergency, so they said it was up to me to decide if I wanted them to take me to the hospital, or have someone at home take me later, or not go to one at all. Signed the waiver and such that I had refused to have them take me to a hospital (good ol' liability type things) and they headed on out.
And then we called my poor dad back, who'd called in the middle of the EMTs checking me out, and explained to him what happened.
Hell of a day, but we do have to laugh at it. What a day.
THANKS A LOT FOR BRINGING IN THE LIZARD, CROOKSHANKS.
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[02 Jan 2008|01:26pm] |
Since I'm no longer a full-time student dependent, I applied for new health insurance last week through a big brokerage website thing. Got an e-mail back from them a few days later that my insurance had been declined, and they didn't know why, so sit tight for the provider to let me know why.
Got my letter today from the United Healthcare Golden Rule people saying the reason I was declined was Tourette's Syndrome.
Fantastic, guys. Way to show your priorities.
Naturally, I'm going to post later to a couple of TS groups I'm in (here and on Facebook) to warn them about this if they apply for United Healthcare coverage.
My mom was kinda cute about that, heh. "Yeah, you tell everyone! You tell them not to apply for that! Golden Rules, do unto others... We'll claim disability if we have to! Then they'll have the government on them!" And so on.
I pretty much expected that to be the reason when I saw I'd been declined, but I wasn't sure. Dad's company used to use United Healthcare, and I hadn't been diagnosed at the time. They covered my asthma treatments, though, so I didn't think they had some kind of pre-existing condition policy. Maybe they do now, or maybe Tourette's is a special case for them, not sure. Apparently a lot of insurance companies don't want to touch it, and I can't tell which ones. Going to probably call the Tourette's Syndrome Association information line later and ask if they have recommendations of policies to look at, or general tips on things to look out for. They supposedly produce a brochure about dealing with insurance, but their online store is confusing and I can't figure out where it is to order it.
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| Local babies are doomed |
[10 Dec 2007|12:50am] |
Inspired by Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing, I looked up actual birth names from the birth announcements for my county and its neighboring county. Last names are not included to protect the innocent babies, but some have multiple middle names. Be amazed and horrified.
( Read more... )
But my favorite names are:
Destiny and Precious (twins)
Chancellor Isaiah
Envy Aaliyah
Dream True Leigh
Johntavious Stfon
The winner:
Passion Unique Rose Lee
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[09 Dec 2007|12:16am] |
Ganked from marinarusalka and villainny
1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.
I bring you a vaguely hippie band that thinks it's sooo deep. Probably because they're a little stoned, possibly while strumming an acoustic guitar.
Band name: USS Bath
Album name: Univariate
Because this band doesn't actually dig naval ships or statistics. They say it's ironic. Other people go "wait, what?"
( Read more... )
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| OOOH YEEAHH |
[23 Nov 2007|10:51pm] |
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Star Wars - Throne Room and End Titles |
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50,000
Nobody can stop us this time!
I mean, me. And it's not quite a "this time" because it's the first time, anyway, and the implication is that there was a previous time that was stopped, and--
I mean, I hit 50,000!
My 50,000th word was "into," as in this 50,000th-word-holding sentence, "They cannot force these people into service."
50874 / 50000 words. 102% done!
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[20 Nov 2007|11:20pm] |
Leave for Georgia in the morning, so I won't be back till Friday. Early Happy Thanksgiving wishes to other U.S. folks celebrating it!
In other news, my mom made yet another batch of pumpkin bread tonight, this time with raisins, and she intends to make another pumpkin pie this weekend for our post-Thanksgiving quiet family meal (turkey, fixings, pie, minus the stress of huge family BOOM.) My quest to become a pumpkin is almost complete.
Bringing the last Sword of Truth book with me for the trip thanks to ye olde only 5 miles away public library. I don't buy new books in hardback (other than Harry Potter,) I go to them instead! </PSA for utilizing local libraries>
My week 3 of NaNo is over, though, since I won't be in town at my computer for the official end of it. See y'all in week 4.
45051 / 50000 words. 90% done!
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[20 Nov 2007|01:24pm] |
Darn you, faerie_speak who tagged me for this!
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5.Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest (unless it's too troublesome to reach and is really heavy. Then go back to step 1).
6. Tag five people.
From The Hand of Chaos by Margaret Weis and Track Hickman:
The Kicksey-winsey wasn't a corpse. The machine was not dead.
"It's waiting," said Bane.
"Yes," said Haplo. "I think you're right."
The boy edged nearer, looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Tell me what you know about the Kicksey-winsey."
Odd little excerpt. Anyway, let's see, tag tag tag...
spatulistic, rosie_knight, stoltingrid, katilara, and vikingcarrot
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[20 Nov 2007|12:06am] |
I feel like I should have a Lord of the Rings Extended Editions massive viewing thing in December or something. I blame this on listening to the OSTs while I write. And on their awesomeness, of course.
Arwen came up and scratched on my door when I was approaching midnight, and I can't just go "Screw you, baby, I'm writing!" She is currently passed out on my bed, after having pawed the comforter around to her satisfaction. Ahhhh, a belly-up, snoring shih-tzu. Gotta love it. And for those who don't like dogs, think of her as a... pig? She does oink, after all D:
I got 4225 words done today, my biggest count so far. Yey!
Now to let my brain crash before bed (a few hours from now) with a couple of Star Wars comics and perhaps some Guild Wars. Laura, if you ever want to read the Star Wars: Legacy comic, holler! It's really good. I'm so going to want to take some time off after this NaNo crazy. WE MUST HAVE TEA, RACHEL. TEA IS GOOD.
(NaNo says 42729; not sure if it's a different when hyphens or emdashes are used or what.)
42842 / 50000 words. 86% done!
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[18 Nov 2007|11:32pm] |
I'll be leaving Wednesday and returning Friday, so that cuts into the writing, but I'm certain I'll be done before the 30th. After that-- Christmas decorations! And trying to make myself take a more considerable wrist break. I meant to take all of Tuesday off, but I broke down and wrote 800-something words anyway. I'm trying to follow the book advice of (very paraphrased) "Hey, if you got halfway through your words and it wasn't halfway through your story, start summarizing the heck out of it and just writing the best bits so you actually get to the end."
Man, I haven't gotten to sit out and enjoy the weather because by the time I wake up, I'm having breakfast, and then tea, and then writing, and then along comes dinner and whoops sun is down. Darn you, late sleep hours made worse by allergies! *honks nose* Can a deviated septum hurt? Because, like, when I was washing my face yesterday, it hurt to wash the bridge of my nose.
Laura, I'll catch up on reading your fics sometime! I've been saying that for a week but I will. I want to be less brain-fried so I can give them good attention.
38617 / 50000 words. 77% done!
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| IT. |
[11 Nov 2007|11:42pm] |
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Elton John - "Madman Across the Water" |
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My 25000th word was "it."
Yeah, that's right, I hit 25000, baby.
As Stephen Colbert would say: WOO! *cue balloon drop*
So much for taking a break today-- 3281 words plus hitting the halfway mark (for the word count goal, not the narrative itself.) I closed up with a chapter end, though, and with a 8630-word lead on what I had planned to hit by today, so I think I can safely take that break without falling behind or being too maddened by "I need to get that scene finished!" I should at least let myself rest tomorrow, possibly Tuesday as well, so I can be on for 7 or 8 days until enforced break for Thanksgiving.
I have 9 writing days until I leave for Thanksgiving trip, so I could very well hit 50,000 words by Thanksgiving at this rate, but I also could go insane and very wrist sore in the process.
ETA: Just tried the word count validator on the site, and it gave me about 50 words less than Word does. Something to keep in mind, self!
25297 / 50000 words. 51% done!
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