I'm modern Madonna, who are you? Madonna Quiz by Turi.

Now these are real geeks!

:: wednesday whimsy ::
Jobs

When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

For a while, I wanted to be a doctor. I think that I might have wanted to be an astronomer or an astronaut at one point. I'm not sure though. I just remember being very interested in outer space.

If you could have any existing job anywhere in the world, what would it be?

Actually, being an astronaut would be incredibly cool. I guess you never outgrow some dreams.

If the leader of the world told you that you could create any made-up job positions that you wanted, what would they be?

I would create the Ministry of Fun, which would be affectionately referred to by people as "the Fun House". The purpose of the Fun House would be to ensure that all people were presented with ample opportunity to have fun, be silly, goof off and generally relax. The world needs more fun and relaxation. Everybody's too damn tense. Just take a look at the middle east if you doubt me.

Describe a recent dream.

ummm.... I don't usually remember my dreams... think, think, think... sorry, drawing a blank on this one. If I think of something, I'll come back and update this.

Read this! I think our new flag should look like this...

OK. Here you go. The long awaited (yeah, right) South Park portrait of moi.



Thanks to Maddy, who pointed me towards a site that offers free image hosting. Now I can annoy you all with all sorts of useless crap. ;-P

While I'm on the subject of morons, I'd just like to take this opportunity to rant for a few minutes about idiots that think that it is OK to walk a pitbull in the city without a leash. Now mind you , I don't think that pitbulls are inherently evil or anything, but they are an aggressive breed. No matter how well trained you think your dog is, at some point instinct is going to win out over training. And no matter how sweet and lovable your dog is with people and the other dogs in your household, pitbulls, as a general rule, do not play nicely with other dogs.

Now what, you may ask, brought on this particular rant? Well, late Saturday night, after a lovely evening out with friends (GG & T), I'm walking one of my dogs when I hear a voice behind me calling out. I turn around to see what's going on and see this pitbull running toward us. He has no collar or leash on at all and he is determined to "play" with my dog. Thank god I was able to keep myself between the two dogs until she could pick her dog up or who knows what might have happened. The stupid fucking bitch who was "walking" the pitbull took her sweet time about collecting her dog and then had the nerve to say "he doesn't bite" when we yelled at her for having her dog out without a leash. The fuck he doesn't bite! He's a fucking pitbull!!

Now let me tell you why this incident freaked me out so much. Last fall my dog got attacked by a loose pitbull in the neighborhood that wanted to "play" with her and nearly chewed her damn leg off. It took four grown men to get this dog off of her!! So don't tell me that any pitbull that still has teeth in its head "doesn't bite".

The sad thing is that both of the pitbulls that we've encountered, the one from last fall and the one Saturday night, actually are sweet dogs, except when they encounter other dogs. That's when the whole instinct thing kicks in. The lady across the street from us has several dogs, one of which is a pitbull, and she told us that she never walks her pitbull on the street because she knows that it will try to attack any dog that is not currently a part of the household.

So what is the point of my rant, other than to vent? If you've got a dog any bigger than a pomeranian, keep it on a goddamn leash! And even then, for its own safety, keep it leashed so that it can't run up to dogs that will try to eat it or get itself hit by a car. Dogs, even golden retrievers and pomeranians, are all potentially dangerous. Some breeds are inherently more dangerous than others. It's in their damn genes, people! Have a fucking care when you take them out on the street!

Thanks for putting up with my shit. I'm done for now.

Well, isn't this just fucking lovely!? Some idiot evidently got a bug up his ass and thought that BlogSnob was ripping him off in some way, so instead of handling it properly, he went and hacked the little 'BS' graphic in BlogSnob ads to display what I can only assume is his site that he thinks (and I use the term loosely) is being ripped off. Well, listen up, Asshole, BlogSnob's site looks nothing like yours and doesn't appear to mimic any of your features, so fucking get over yourself and stop fucking with everyone's pages, you moron!!!

:: tuesday this or that ::

1. Spam...the lunch meat. Yes or no?

Never had it so I don't know, know, know.

2. The traffic light is green as you approach, but by the time you get there, it has turned yellow. Stop or go-go-go?

*VROOM!!* Go, go, go!

3. You are taking a trip...you have to decide whether to fly or take some sort of ground transportation. High or low?

Depends on how far I'm traveling and how poor I'm feeling at the time. Unless my destination is on the other side of the country, or even further, I'd probably drive. So, in keeping with today's theme: low, low, low.

4. Someone asks you a question about why something is, and you don't know the answer. Try to find out *Why* or just say *I don't know*?

I try to find out why, why why.

5. You are at the mall, and you spot someone who tortured you when you were in high school. Hello or goodbye?

I usually ignore them if at all possible. If I'm forced to communicate with them, I usually make it pretty clear that having to do so is about as pleasant as having a root canal done without anesthesia. Definitely, goodbye, bye, bye!

Well I guess that was a failed experiment. I tried linking an image stored in my Yahoo Briefcase and I guess it doesn't work. Bummer. I knew that was too easy.

I'm trying something out here. Let me know if you can't see this picture...

My South Park portrait

:: friday five ::

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo?

We have a house.

2. Do you rent or own?

In about 29 years I will own it. Until then the bank owns it.

3. Does anyone else live with you?

My beautiful girlfriend, our two dogs and three cats.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?

ummm... *taking shoes off to use toes* ...17.

5. What are your plans for this weekend?

Other than going to see Toshi Reagon on Saturday at Caffe Lena, I'm not sure what we're doing this weekend. Probably yard work if the weather holds. Maybe I'll finally get around to rebuilding my 'puter.

:: tuesday this or that ::
1. Popcorn at the movies: buttered or not?

Definitely not! In high school I worked the concession stand of a movie theater. I've seen what "butter" looks like before they heat it up. *yech* There is one theater, the Spectrum, where I will get butter on my popcorn because they actually use real butter. I love that place!

2. Sometimes you feel like a nut..sometimes you don't...Mounds or Almond Joy?

I'm a nut.

3. Chips or pretzels?

Chips if they are baked or I have a scandalous amout of onion dip to eat them with.

4. Milky Way or Snickers?

Once again, I'm a nut. ;-)

5. M&M's or Reese's Pieces?

M&M's, definitely, but only peanut or almond. I'm a nut, remember?

6. McDonald's or Burger King?

BK has better burgers, but there is something about McFries. I sometimes wonder what psychotropic drug they put in them to keep people coming back for them. They are positively toxic, but I can't stop eating the damn things!

7. Vanilla Coke or Pepsi Twist?

In my best John Bilushi fake armenian accent: No Pipsee. Coke. I do prefer regular over any of the flavored varieties though.

8. Hostess Twinkies or Cupcakes?

*shudder* Neither! Tastee Cake Butterscotch Krimpets are my sugery snack cake of choice. I'm also quite fond of Zingers, but only the chocolate ones.

9. Hershey's Kisses or Hugs?

Kisses. Especially the new limited edition dark chocolate ones. Yummmmm!

10. Original Mountain Dew or Code Red?

Again I *shudder*. Mountain Dew, blech! I've never actually tried Code Red, probably because I don't like it's piss yellow counterpart.

Follow-up question for you... Oreos or Hydrox?

Hydrox. The last time I looked at the ingredients for both cookies, Hydrox did not have lard in them. Oreos do. *bleh* Food for thought (pun intended).

:: Monday Mission 2.24 ::

1. What does Father's Day mean to you personally?

Not much. For me, it's just another day that I have to spend money on a card/gift. Like x-mas and birthdays weren't stressful enough.

2. Was there a Father, or a Father Figure in your life as you grew up?

My father was home.

3. a) If you are a parent, is the father of your child(ren) involved on a daily basis? Is that even important?

or if you do not have children

b) Would you like to become a parent? Would you be good at raising your own children?

Maybe. I have a hard enough time looking after myself, two dogs and three cats.

4. With Rosie, Callista, Jodie and Camryn all raising children without Fathers, Hollywood seems to be sending a message that children do not need male role models. Do you agree? Are these "stars" sending a good message to the young adults who admire them?

I don't believe that is the message being conveyed by these women at all. If any 'message' is being sent at all, it might be that a woman who desires to be a parent can do so with or without a man in her life (as her partner, that is). I know that at least two of the women cited in the question have said in interviews that their male friends and family members are involved in the lives of their children and are excellent male role models for them.

5. Do you think the absence of a loving, caring father in the life of a child could have any influence on their sexual preferences when the child grows up?

Absolutely not. I know many gay and lesbian people, including myself and my partner, who grew up with both parents at home in a fairly stable and loving home environment. I also know many people, both gay and straight, that grew up in broken homes. The home environment, and the presence or absence of one parent or the other, does not seem to have any impact whatsoever on an individual's sexuality as far as I can tell.

6. Was there ever a time when your father became "uncool." Or maybe embarrassed you?

Was there ever a time when he was cool and didn't embarrass me?

7. Are you ever too old to kiss your Dad?

I guess not (even if he is a big poopy-head sometimes).

BONUS: When you coming home, dad?

I don't know when, but we'll have a good time then, son.

:: Friday Five ::
1. How often do you do laundry?

Well, we could really do with doing it two or three times a week, but we never seem to get it done more than once a week on the weekend.

2. What's in a typical wash load?

The essentials. Socks, undies, clothes for work, towels when we need them.

3. Front or top loader? Powder or liquid detergent?

Top. Liquid, but I also add OxyClean® to a lot of my laundry and that's powdered.

4. Do you use fabric softener in the rinse cycle?

Nope. I'm strictly a Bounce® girl. I never got into using liquid fabric softener and have never really understood the appeal. What exactly does it do to your clothes anyway (and don't say "makes 'em softer")?

5. Dryer or clothesline?

Dryer. We have a clothesline but never use it, although we have considered hanging stuff like carpets out to air.

So late yesterday afternoon my friend T sends me this note about my blog... "*gasp!!!!!!* do you know that you have a crayon box thingy on your site (down by the site meter box) that refers you to a dirty site?????" And I intelligently respond, "huh!?" I put that crayon box thingy there myself. It's supposed to lead to this cool site that promotes diversity. What kind of sick joke do they think they are pulling here?

So I checked the whole thing out once I got home (and wasn't behind a government firewall anymore) and here's the scoop. Crayon-box.net used to be this site, which looks like its some sort of link exchange or something for sites that promote/support diversity. Pretty cool idea IMO, so being the progressive, liberal geek that I am, I grabbed a button to put on my blog. Progressive and liberal I may be, but smart about web stuff I'm not. I get the button set up and, like a big naive dummy, didn't test the link back. If I had, I would have quickly learned that the domain name crayon-box.net had been purchased by some website that promotes online porn. *ick!* (at least it wasn't kiddy porn. *shudder*). The owners of the diversity site had not updated any of their button code (actually, they hadn't updated anything for quite some time) so the button was referencing the wrong url.

Needless to say, the offending button is gone. I chose to remove it all together, rather than simply correcting the url, because I don't want anyone else to get a nasty surprise like I did (of course, anyone else would probably test their links, like a sensible geek).

So what have we learned from this experience?

1. Never link to a site that hasn't been update for two freaking years! (stoopid, stoopid, stoopid!)
   
2. When you do link to something, test it! (stoopider, stoopider, stoopider!)
   
3. Never play on the internet late at night (see this post)

Jeesh! I am such an idiot sometimes! I can't believe I even have the nerve to call myself a geek.

*hanging head in shame*

cool toy! You need Flash for it, but there's a link for it there also.

Eeewwww!
How icky! It seems to be the words 'girls' (as in indigo...) and 'child' (as in tuesday's...), as well as the word 'drilled' (from this week's monday mission) that are causing our sites to get listed under that search.

Still, *blech* *shudder* *ick*

I want to go take at least three scalding hot showers now to get the filth off.

Btw GG, what were you doing looking for such an icky thing on Google anyway?

:: Thursday Threesome for June 12 (CLUE edition) ::
Special Edition: CLUE
The Answer: Miss Scarlett in the Library with the Lead Pipe.

Onesome. Miss Scarlett, what makes your face turn red?

Being embarrassed. These days, that doesn't happen as often. I guess I've learned to shrug things off more easily than I used to.

Twosome. The Library. What books are a must in your opinion for a personal library?

Well, being a scifi geek, I'd have to say pretty much anything (preferrably everything) by JRR Tolkein, Robert Heinlein, Harlan Ellison, Ursula LeGuin, Orson Scott Card, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Also, Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series and Anne Rice's Vampire and Mayfair Witches series. Oh, and the complete works of Shakespeare.

Threesome. The Lead Pipe. Ever have a plumbing related woe? Tell us all about it...

Sheesh! Which time? I suppose the worst was in my previous home. Our storm drain backed up into our basement everytime it rained. At one point the water was a couple of feet deep and mold began forming on every surface that wasn't submerged. Compared to that, a backed up toilet is a walk in the park.

You are the quintessential badass--always ready to fight for
a cause you believe in (and looking damn good doing it). Your
love life most likely takes a back seat to your career, but
you're still surrounded by more than enough loved ones
worth making sacrifices for. So, keep that gorgeous head up:
We see a revival in your future.

What Buffy character are you?


I guess I wasn't neurotically anal retentive enough to be Willow. This is a good thing, right?

:: tuesday this-or-that ::

1. Regular or electric/battery operated toothbrush?

Regular (does anyone else think that it would be cool to have a flip-top head?)

2. Shower or bath?

Shower. I almost never feel that my tub is clean enough for a good long, hot soak. Besides it's way to small to be even remotely comfy.

3. Automatic dishwasher or hand-wash dishes?

Automated all the way, baby!

4. Paying bills: online or write out checks?

Online as much as possible. I use PayMyBills.com for almost all of my bills and it's worked great for me. Granted, it costs me about $11 a month, but I think that is a fair price for peace of mind. The only bills that ever get paid late anymore are the few that I hand write and mail.

5. Laundromat or your own washer/dryer?

Our own. Our basement is a little scary, but it still beats spending a sunday afternoon in the laundromat. *shudder*

6. Electric or gas stove?

Gas. Always. Even when I was renting, I wouldn't even consider a place with an electric range. *bleh*

7. Subscribe to magazines/newspapers or buy at newsstand?

We subscribe to a couple and buy an occasional mag off the rack (usually only if Jodie Foster or the Indigo Girls are on the cover. ;-P)

8. Alarm clock...music or buzzer?

I prefer music, but it usually ends up just lulling me back to sleep. If I try setting it to something loud and obnoxious, I just wake up even more cranky and irritated that I would if I used the buzzer. (mornings suck)

9. Go grocery shopping yourself, or order stuff to be delivered?

The only delivery we get is Papa John's (and occasionally some chinese). We do our own shopping.

10. On workdays...pack a lunch or eat out?

I try to be good and bring my own lunch, but when leftovers are unappealing (or non-existent) I hit the cafeterias in our office complex or go check out the vendors in Capital Park.

Resistance is futile. ;-P

:: Monday Mission 2.23 ::

1. Do you have a side of the bed on which you prefer to sleep? Do you sleep on that side even when traveling or does it matter?

I prefer to sleep on the right side, but it isn't so important that I freak out about it if I can't for some reason.

2. What is your favorite "Theme Park?" How come and when was the last time you were there?

Hmmm. I used to love Riverside Park in Agawam, MA. It always had a great assortment of rides, including a couple of big wooden coasters. I haven't been there for several years and it has since been taken over by Six Flags, so I have no idea what it's like now but I definitely want to go check it out again. There is another park, Great Escape in Lake George, NY (which has also been recently taken over by Six Flags), that is closer, but it was smaller, didn't have as good an assortment of rides, and closed at 6PM (!) every night. That's way too early! You should always have the option of riding all the coasters in the dark. Whee! :-)

3. What is your most and least favorite thing about staying in hotels?

Most favorite: I'm a slob, so I love having my room cleaned for me every day.

Least favorite: Nothing really feels right. The bed is too firm or the water pressure in the shower is too weak. Oh, and my favorite thing to hate about hotel rooms: the heat/airconditioning. It's virtually impossible to get the room temperature right in a hotel room.

4. Did you ever take family vacations that required looooooong car rides? Were siblings involved ("Stop touching me! Don't cross this line!)? Were the trips just unbearable or did you make up some "car ride games" to pass the time?

My mother and I drove cross-country to California to visit my grandfather when I was six. I'd definitely call that a looong car ride. I don't have any siblings, so that particular hell was never a problem for me. I think I slept or read most of the time. Thankfully, I don't get car sick. *whew*

5. With all the drilled peep-holes and spy-cams we hear about on the news, have you ever felt self-conscious about taking off your clothes in a hotel bathroom? Has wondering if someone was on the other side of that mirror on the wall above the dresser made you think twice about "gettin' busy?"

No, but thank you for inflaming my paranoia. ;-P

6. Describe the most romantic vacation you have ever taken or if that does not apply ;) (), tell me about the worst vacation you have ever taken.

Romantic vacation? What's that? The worst vacation that I've ever been on was supposed to be romantic and just ended up being an utter fiasco. My (then) g/f and I decided to go camping for a week in Virginia Beach. It poured almost all weekend, our brand new tent leaked, we, and most of our stuff, got drenched and we ended up eating at the nearest fastfood joint because we couldn't keep the grill or the campfire lit. The sun finally came out the last day that we were there, but by then were at each others throats. Needless to say, it was a long, tense ride home.

7. (continued) After a full tummy and four days of sleep, I'd say I've never felt better. Since it is nearly noon, how about you come over and we'll hang out on the deck. I have a pool, hot tub and lotsa eats and drink. But feel free to bring whatever else you think we need! How should we spend this fine afternoon at the pool?

Sounds lovely. I say we kick back with some margaritas and good music and soak up the rays. I'll bring the blender and a bottle of Cuervo.

BONUS: Have you got it, do you get it, if so, how often?

I don't "get it" and tell. ;-)

I'm Kurt Wagner
What X-Men Character are You?

*BAMF!*

:-)

grrr. blogger isn't saving my changes to my template.

*frustrated*

take the which one of the trading spaces cast are you? quiz!




OMG!! I'm Doug! *Blech* I hate Doug! I guess that means that I hate myself. *Arggh!* Somebody shoot me...

This is what happens when you play on the internet late at night. You have very unpleasant revelations about yourself. *Ugh*

Note to self: Only play on the internet on company time. It's so much more cost-effective (and easier on the psyche). ;-)

I started a blog just so I could post this...


:: how jedi are you? ::

Now you know why this blog is called 'geek-o-rama'. :-P

I'll come back and bore you all some more, right after I figure out how to do all sorts of geekish things like modifying my blog template.