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clear_static13 @ 12:06am: tweet-tweet

• 18:00 gonna watch smokin' aces tonight i think... #
• 22:42 thanks for the lovely nocturnal tour, newport. #

xo a!

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thegameiam @ 11:49pm: Sing the glorious story of the rage of Achilles
I finished reading the first two volumes of Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower, and they are fabulous. This is the story of the Trojan war, told in graphic novel form and in chronological order. Shanower skirts a few of the issues (how, precisely, do you depict gods interacting with heroes on the battlefield?), but he both strove for historical accuracy, and included a lengthy afterword discussing the the historical knots he was forced to rend asunder. I first saw Shanower's artwork on The Elsewhere Prince (amazingly, I still have those single issues), and I greatly appreciated it at the time, so Shanower + historical book I have studied before = win+win!

One of the interesting tidbits of how Shanower presents the story is that it's in chronological order, which the primary sources are not. The Iliad, for instance, picks up nine years into the seige of Troy. As of the end of book two, the Achaeans have not yet reached Troy.

This is highly recommended.

teallez @ 1:04pm: Drugs, Fuck Yeah!
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clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 18:00 @Tina_Angst what are you doing on friday? #
• 21:40 finally cracking open this beatles chordbook :) adventures to follow... #
• 23:46 gee, i'm glad there seems to be a market for being awkward... otherwise i would feel really bad for michael cera. #

xo a!

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thegameiam @ 8:31pm: F*** Yeah!
I delivered a presentation this morning which ran from 8:30AM till 12:20P. (Aside: who thinks that 8:30AM meeting start times are a good idea?) The audience was presumed hostile, and had a whole lot of sharply pointed questions. Apparently it went well: the feedback I've gotten is that they've been converted to the point of view which was my contention from the beginning. w00t!

midnightsreveng @ 8:19pm: tonight the lines blur between expectations and reality. your eyes are glazed over and move slightly left and right, you're analyzing the situation. i'm nervous, you've been here before and this is your home court. i look away, i look back, i look at the ground, i know exactly what to say. i pause, i'm imagining i'm looking pretty thoughtful right now. eye contact, the type that with enough kindling could start a fire, my gaze is a magnifying glass, you're an ant. i'm talking to you, my gut and arms are tense, preparation for a sucker punch. i said it, i said it well, i exhale a narrow jet stream through pursed lips.

clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 01:43 this cardboard cut-out of robert downey jr at the movie theatre has lipstick on it's face. hmm. #
• 04:04 btdubs, avatar was fucking AWESOME. end of story. #
• 22:06 i vould wery much like to learn russian. #
• 22:08 @tina_angst it's true though hahaha all silly accents aside - i think it'd be cool #

xo a!

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teallez @ 3:15pm: days of fuchrpasd
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clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 10:47 going to see 3D avatar in portland :) awesome day ahead #
• 11:52 purple potatoes - did you know these exist?! #
• 16:15 poooortland <3 #
• 16:40 the people at the streetcar stop are speaking french and i am butchering a russian accent. #
• 18:44 @tina_angst do you mean shrimp? :) #
• 20:13 fondudes #
• 22:24 asdadfsgla what is the word 'scrumdiddlyumptious' from? D: #
• 22:26 @tina_angst i think it's wonka... #

xo a!

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thegameiam @ 6:56pm: This image of the assorted SF and superheroes on TV from the 70s is really neat.

===

Sarah and I watched Public Enemies a couple of days ago. I enjoyed it a great deal, with one notable issue: the sound quality was awful - there is a lot of whispered or otherwise quiet dialogue, and the orchestral score is both intrusive and too loud. There really isn't any reason not to get this right nowadays - digital production is supposed to make this better, not worse. Interestingly, the period music was fabulous - they had excellent big band/swing numbers which would be worth a listen even if the screen was broken. Also, I've come to believe that we as a society have lost something with our style - the sheer nattiness of the 30s and 40s is such a joy...

Given that I only saw that this week, I was surprised that Big Hollywood had an article about the same movie - specifically about the importance of getting the costuming to feel like a second skin, and not like a costume. It's a thoughtful piece, and it included a link to the wonderful guide to the etiquitte for hats and caps. It's interesting to see how much of this would be relevant to the frum world, but I at least do agree that men should remove hats upon entering a building...

teallez @ 10:28am: because you need to, and you should
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clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 13:59 fort george with the family :) whupping kelsey's butt at scrabble - 124 to 89 #
• 14:08 final scrabble score: 154 to 112 - i win :D #
• 15:06 "i am what is around me." - wallace stevens #
• 17:12 ink-slinger #
• 23:59 in bed before midnight - what an accomplishment. #

xo a!

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thegameiam @ 7:29pm: 2009's books
Here are the books I read for the first time in 2009, with my outstanding favorites bolded

( Read more... )
ad astra!

teallez @ 2:45pm: Rx-es, cut for potential medical TMI in case you don't want to know
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teallez @ 11:28am: why do I do this?
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clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 02:18 first movie watched in 2010: monty python and the holy grail #
• 02:36 first song listened to in 2010: gregory and the hawk - oats we sow #
• 16:54 @JakeDrexel omg tastiest sandwich like, ever o___o #
• 18:07 formspring.me - someone should send me some fmks :) formspring.me/babyspock tumblr.com/xgc55smn4 #
• 21:46 neroshrimp1701: yeah, “epic”? more like 6 hours in a car. tumblr.com/xgc55zfa8 #
• 22:09 @ScottHWalters i'm excited to be one of those two XD #
• 23:25 i'm gonna be straight with y'all - i love squirt. #

xo a!

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wolfie9799 @ 3:46am: the scoop so far on me
so I worked all day long today. Then after work my sis kidnapped me and my bf and took us to armys west the best bar in our city that's sorta close to being an actual club minus the ropes, doorman, and couches to sit on. Anyways we played a few games of pool and had some drinks. Then when new years arrived I smoked my first cigarette for 2010. So then todd my bf drove us home and when I went inside my dad calls me to his room. So I go talk to him and he smells smoke on me. I told him I smoked my first cigarette for 2010. He flies off the handle saying "oh now your gonna start smoking like your sister blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. And so now he's mad at me for no reason. I smoked 1 cigarette not 100. I don't wanna smoke. I only smoked because it was a celebration and we were having fun. God damn lighten up. Anyways my new years was very fun. And today is my 13 yr anniversary.

clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 19:56 formspring.me - FMK Brendon Urie, CPine, ZQ OH I HATE YOU. OH I HATE YOU. umm. okay. F ZQ M brendon K cpine... tumblr.com/xgc54yy08 #
• 20:52 formspring.me - You’ll be able to fly this thing right? SOMETHING TELLS ME I ALREADY HAVE. aks me a queshun tumblr.com/xgc55070t #
• 20:55 formspring.me - FKM Chekov, Bones, Scotty Characters from the new movie!! F bones M chekov K …scotty- I’M... tumblr.com/xgc5509yc #
• 22:20 "double stuff tuxedoes - two dudes one suit" #

xo a!

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thegameiam @ 12:05am: Annoying security questions
Is there any chance that security auditing types would consider updating their requirements from their 1996 baseline?

I had to provide evidence that I have mitigated the deleterious effects of ping floods on a network recently. Why ping? Because ping is a four-letter command, and as everyone knows, those are evil and lead to mixed dancing. As part of the same audit, I had to show what proactive measures I have taken to prevent directed broadcast attacks. The auditor was surprised when I told him that directed broadcast had been disabled by default in every cisco IOS since 12.0 (which was released in, what, 1999?)

I wanted to ask the auditor whether we needed to implement the protection against the CAREBEARSTARE, but you never know: it might get written into the next round of requirements, and I'd have generations of future engineers cursing my name...

Now, auditing is very, very, very useful - it is actually worth it to make sure that all of the simple things are addressed, and it is in fact easy to miss something stupid. There are real vulnerabilities and issues which come up and need to be mitigated. But those are not they. The stupid elements of the checklists become just another security theatre element, and take time away from improving the actual security posture of the network.

teallez @ 6:28pm: Rapping About Wrapping -or- The Tale Of The Tape
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_liar_ @ 12:19pm: The blinding horror and promise of a new day.
New Year's Eve...allow me to REMIND you, dear readers, of what transpired last year.
http://users.livejournal.com/_liar_/392556.html
Good? Good.

I feel cautiously optimistic about how tonight will go; I've managed to keep my prophetic mouth shut, I'm going with someone who won't let me kill myself with booze or wander out into the streets to die unnoticed...and I'm feeling cleansed after all that has transpired. 2009, more than most years, was a vile bracket that made significant efforts to encourage or outright cause me to lose my senses and life. Despite it all I graduated, have a relatively better job (a JOB, period), will be finished paying my car off, and found that I may not be quite the monster I seem. This isn't to suggest that everything is great and that I've lost my misanthropic edge, merely that I have an actual chance of achieving my dreams now instead of killing myself before I reach 30.


Ok...ok...maybe I'm hoping to get into a fight or two tonight. I haven't changed at all. Hah.

clear_static13 @ 12:01am: tweet-tweet

• 17:19 i just said "woids the varranty" o____o ensign chekov, pavel andreivich. #
• 21:04 "this is not just a movie about two guys hugging on a mirror... i would watch that though." omg jj. omg. XD #
• 21:27 "can...you get the snow to not...not be above vulcan?" this is one of the funniest commentaries i've seen in a long time XD #
• 22:54 formspring.me - aks me a queshun formspring.me/babyspock tumblr.com/xgc545duj #

xo a!

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taren_ @ 11:57pm: in b4 end of decade / house


DONE.

[X] Sign closing documents
[_] Wire transfer down payment
[_] Get keys
[_] Party time

_liar_ @ 11:11pm: broken answering machine
What have I fucking done? I keep dissolving into nervous laughter and something that might be a grin whenever I think about it. Really, I'm the last person who should be attempting to have emotions involving another person, especially at this point.

I have a girlfriend.

Seriously, I think a scan might be in order, in case this is all just a symptom of brain bleeding brought on by gross mistreatment of my body with drugs and alcohol. Don't shake your heads, it's entirely possible that this turn toward 'sanity' is in fact just my mind taking derangement so far afield that it somehow comes round back again into something resembling order.
In any case, it's fuel for my creativity to burn.
I keep shifting violently between black defeatist moods and those of surprising optimism. Strange territory. She is so much like me, yet she has a libido and can express emotions coherently and without the use of props/diagrams like a fucking child...so quite different in other areas. The masturbatory implications of dating someone too much like oneself is also bothersome to me, though honestly being pale and thin will always be in.

I DEMAND some goddamn wine, right now.
Fuck. The thing is...she knows I find this whole affair bewildering, and she still wants to be around me. I don't enjoy feeling like I have BRAIN DAMAGE, damnit!

clear_static13 @ 12:03am: tweet-tweet

• 00:11 "william shatner is a cbamf." #
• 00:42 I'M SREEPY. #
• 22:45 OH MYTHBUSTERS. EARWAX CANDLE ON A CUPCAKE? FFFFUUUUUUUUUUU- #

xo a!

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