I finally updated the Ask Spacebot! section with a new look and a new question! Please help me keep it going by sending in questions to answer.
spacebot - 5:07 PM
I spoke to Peter, and it looks like he's heading back to Philly today, anyway. If no one invites us out, I guess that Camden and I will be doing absolutely nothing tonight. Hopefully Paul comes up with something fun.
And to add to the last post, this New Years Day will be the 5 year anniversary of the worst day of my life (first panic attack). That means no champagne for me, thank you very much. I can't believe how time flies! In this case, it's definitely a good thing.
Camden cooked some damn good food the past few nights, including a vegetarian lasagne and a baked pasta/flourentine sauce with chopped portabella mushrooms sauteed in fresh chopped garlic, butter, and hot pepper, topped with a nice blend of Italian cheeses and spices. I brought in the leftovers to share with my friends at work, where they were finished quickly. It's so nice to have someone so domestic around to cook and help me run errands. He's good company, too, so that makes it all the better. Only a few more days... *sniff*
And yesterday, I bought a new TV!! Click here to see it. Yup. 32" Sony flatscreen. I don't fuck around when buying electronics. :) Now to buy a DVD player. Any recommendations?
Did I mention that my sister sent me a tin of the best brownies I've ever eaten in my life? And they were homemade by the big sister herself. Speaking of the sister, people were telling me today that my pants are too short. I guess that happens when you're 5'8" and wear hand-me-downs from a girl no taller than 5'3".
spacebot - 2:24 PM
Saturday, December 29, 2001
Guess what today is? The 5 year anniversary of me losing my virginity! I have no idea how I remember things like that, but I suppose that some could find it humourous. And yes, I was older than most. Shut up.
I was rather unproductive today, so I'm pissed at myself. I was burning CDs when I should have been reading (in between answering calls at work, I mean). Well, I know that Cam (who is now officially registered for classes!) likes to sleep in, so I'll just read tomorrow before I wake him up, since I naturally wake up at 9am on my days off.
Oh, and those New Year's plans I mentioned? Out the window. Peter must have accidentally given me the wrong contact number for where they are staying, and unless he checks his email by tomorrow, there will be no seeing them in the near future. :( Figures!
It's vegetarian lasagne for dinner tonight! Oh, how I love to make use of my scary old oven that gets way too hot on top. But if the apartment burns down, the lasagne will live. In my memory. heh.
And here is a shout out to Christopher J. who I just found out reads my weblog religiously! It was fun doing the whole reading poetry back and forth over the phone thing the other night, just like when I was 15 and you were 22. Some things never change.
I got a return email today from my favourite rock star, and I'm swooning like never before. It's the little things that make a girl like me happy!
spacebot - 5:59 PM
Friday, December 28, 2001
First thing's first... congratulations to one of my oldest and best friends ever... Carey (old pic) had a baby boy!! Phoenix Mason is his first and middle names. This year has gone by so quickly... I can't believe that I didn't even know that she was pregnant until after the fact! One more reason to visit Atlanta. I bet Carey will make the most wonderful mom. It's so cute watching old friends make the transition from punk to housewife. Growing up is a cool thing.
Cam is here visiting. Things are so much better now that we don't have the confines of a relationship... and now it's always a pleasure just hanging out.
I started reading "php for the world wide web", which has pictures to go along with explanations. This seems way too simple (if you're familiar with raw html coding)... am I missing something? Now that I can edit directly on the server, looks like I'm ready to rock.
Looks like Cam and I will be spending New Year's hanging out with Peter (another old pic) and his "wife". They are visiting only a state away, so that is super rad. I think I may have mentioned this in here before? Ahhh, well.
Back to work...
spacebot - 7:08 PM
Monday, December 24, 2001
Okay, now I do have something to add. Thank you Norman for that near-death experience! What a gentleman, bringing in a heater for my poor, freezing self. Little did he know, the plug was going to go, "bzzzzzzzt!" when plugged in, and mildly (thank satan for surge protectors!) electricute me. My office still stinks of burning!
Wouldn't it have been ironic if I went many, many months without health insurance and then needed a trip to the emergency room a mere 7 days before I'm covered? Whew!!!
spacebot - 12:23 PM
It is so cold both outside and in here at the office. brrrrrr!
So, this weekend was funfunfun, as I went out on another date with Kenton (whom I mentioned in an earlier post). We ate some Italian food and then saw Lord of the Rings. All I can say to that is I can't friggin believe that I have to wait an entire year to see part 2... and then yet another year to see the third! How can they do that to us? I like Kenton, and I'm seeing him again tonight. Hopefully I'll have his mix CD finished this afternoon so he can have it to listen to on his trip.
So because of that, I'm not so upset that someone else never came over to give me the Christmas present he promised me.
I spoke to my very good friend Renee (in Philly) last night for well over an hour, and it felt so nice to catch up. We have so much in common, including but not limited to our secret attraction to repulsion. Don't even bother asking what that means, because you either get it or you don't. Anyway, she is a super awesome person, wise beyond her years, and I can't wait to see her next time I visit.
I also met Josh's younger sister Jane and their friend Vince last night. Very cool kids, they are. I may add more later, but as of right now, I have not much else to say.
Happy Holidays!
spacebot - 11:03 AM
Saturday, December 22, 2001
If you like Slowdive and/or Mojave 3, I have four words: Neil Halstead solo album!!!!!!!
Out in January, but I found songs on audiogalaxy. Holy shit, is this amazing! His music makes me melt. *sigh*
spacebot - 1:27 PM
It has been a few days since a post, and I'm not even sure why or how I have been so busy.
Let's see... I went out with a nice boy named Kenton the other day and ate lunch at a little cafe I hadn't been to previously. We also went to a matinee showing of Harry Potter, which was excellent. Now I want to read the books!
And last night as I was walking to the bus stop, I fell down and went boom. On 4th st. Now my bad knee is all skinned and bruised and so are my palms. For once I was glad for the cold weather, as it numbed the wounds until I could get home and clean up.
I had some odd dreams last night. Characters included: a giraffe, a poisonous tree (to giraffes; not humans), roaches that looked like mice, and a few boys that I know. I need to stop getting dehydrated in the middle of the night.
Josh is still crashing on my couch, and I'm not sick of him yet because he cleans up after himself, takes out my trash, and walks with me to the bus stop in the morning. It's also nice having someone to talk to (in person) late at night. I'm not a big fan of roommates, but houseguests are fun!
Back to work...
spacebot - 12:30 PM
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
Wow. I finally figured out how to fix my archiving problem (with help from Phil in the troubleshooting forum. thanks!). So now all those posts that you thought you remembered me making, which seemed to have disappeared forever are back and republished. Rock on.
Today was a relatively good day. I got a very nice Christmas card, had fun at work, and am now hanging out with my buddies pmi and Joe. Well, right now they're downstairs working on the van, and I'm reading the unix book that Josh (who can't yoyo) gave me. Feeling mellow and nice. ahhhh...
I just ate way too much in the way of chips and salsa. Yikes!
Yesterday I had to take the bus home, and there was this slack jawed yokel who was explaining to me about how she has been in school for her GED for 4 years, and isn't close to graduating. "I ain't never been in one a them science classes," she said. And when the bus was 1/2 hour late, she exclaimed, "hellfire!" Not only that, but when this psycho druggie homeless looking man was invading our personal space, this very large black guy with a mouth full of gold teeth came to our rescue. I need to start taking cabs when pmi can't hook me up with a ride.
Not too much else going on. I'm in the mood to listen to 80's pop music, but this playlist is full of Grateful Dead.
spacebot - 8:03 PM
Monday, December 17, 2001
The weekend is over. Things got pretty crazy on Sunday, but it made me feel young again. Speaking of feeling young, I may get to see Peter over New Year's. That would be amazingly rad, as he's one of my only happy teenage memories and wherever he is, fun always follows. Woo!
I think that you should click on and listen to Dale's radio thing. He has excellent taste in music, so I can assure you that it'll be pleasant. There's your shameless plug, babe.
I didn't take a lunch hour today because I was busy adding a huge list of users, so I'm extremely hungry right now. I was teased with the idea of Ethiopian food today, and now I'm craving it. Thank you very much, you know who you are. grrrrrr... ;)
I am feeling slightly down, but I suppose that's normal during the holidays. Things are actually good this year, but it's evened out by the fact that I'm so far away from what I have considered home for over two decades. Time for a visit. Soon. I know I keep saying that...
spacebot - 7:32 PM
Saturday, December 15, 2001
I have been having some pretty weird dreams.
The other night, I dreamt that I was in this random airport, and someone said to me, "Be careful... it's a Sunday!" and I had no idea what they meant by that until I found myself by these steps and realized, "ohhh... they said to be careful because I'm carrying a lot of luggage, and the elevators don't work on Sundays!" So just as I had that thought and was struggling down the steps, I started losing my balance, but I caught myself just in time.
However, when I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a guy with an aerosol can spraying anthrax everywhere. Some got on my hand, and three of my fingers started turning black and looked like they were going to fall off. I held them in place with my other hand, and the palm on that hand started to change colour as well just from touching the tainted fingers!
So I found myself running around the random city (because I can't drive) trying to find a hospital. When I found one, I showed them my hands, but they wouldn't treat me because I didn't have health insurance. I said, "I can't wait two weeks till I have health insurance! My fingers will fall off and my hands won't be functional! I need them to type! My employer will be very upset!" And I continued to beg for treatment...
When I woke up, I couldn't even believe that I still had fingers because the nightmare felt so real! I can still remember all details and it's a few days later.
Last night was more fun. I had my first rock star sex dream in a very long time. I got to do it with Neil Halstead, who doesn't look physically attractive, I know, but his music makes me cry (in a good way), so I can see how he made it into a rock star fantasy dream. He was pretty good, too! Maybe I just have a thing for receding hairlines?
My friend Josh has been crashing on my couch since he made it back home from Virginia. I'm glad he's back because this is his home, and the east coast can be a miserable place. That and I like having more people to hang out with. :) Speaking of, Camden was here visiting the other day on his way to Aspen for a snowboarding trip. I hope he stays safe out there and comes back in one piece.
If the package I sent to Bekah using priority mail gets lost (it's already many days late), then I will be swearing off the USPS for a very long time. Fed Ex is more reliable, anyway.
spacebot - 11:48 AM
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Wow... that's all I have to say about the insanity I experienced last night.
It all started with a nice, quiet evening spent at Trevor and Laura's house. We watched the absolutely hilarious movie, Detroit Rock City (highly recommended!) and I helped set up their computer and ate a yummy grilled burrito and these delicious coconut cinnamin things from the candy store where she works. Then I went home...
It was rather late at this point, and I was chatting with Dale on the telephone. I noticed some sort of ruckus in the hallway, and decided to peer through the peeky hole in the door to see what was going on. I saw a woman banging on my neighbour's door with her fists! I then opened my front door to ask her to please be quiet (as it was 1am), but she turned around to face me and was covered in blood and bruises!
I said, "Are you okay?!" She replied, "No. Can I use your phone?" I said, "What happened?" and let her in. She sat down on my couch and I asked if her boyfriend (who lives next door) beat her up. She said, "You could say that." and was crying profusely. When I offered to call the police, she said that he already did... which got me wondering because the last time I saw him, he was all beat up and told me that she beat him up!
So, to make a long story short, the girl told me that she just wanted her cat back (they aren't allowed to have pets in the building, anyway). So I knocked on his door, telling him that it was just me (his friendly neighbour), and that I would pass the girl's cat back to her. After much convincing, he finally opened the door, and offered to take all of her stuff down to the car for her. Solved, right? Wrong.
She busts in his apartment and starts throwing things at him and breaking stuff, screaming, etc. Total display of white trash that was in the wrong neighbourhood. This went on for quite a while, and I'm pretty sure that they're still a couple. I locked my door, called Dale back to tell him the story, then went to bed. In the morning, there were post-it notes all over their door from other neighbours complaining. Then when I went to the manager's office, she said that they are being sent a letter and will be evicted after the next disturbance. Then I missed my bus by about 5 seconds, and was therefore 10 minutes late to work. Crazy, crazy!
Besides all that, I received a very cool Chanukkah gift from my sister today! It included a robot key chain, a spiky soap dispenser, a smelly candle and soaps, a mix cd that she made, and a new Winter wardrobe hand picked from her closet! Hand-me-downs rule!
I'm going to take my digital camera out and do a "day in the life of" mini photo series to show how pretty this city is and what I look at from day to day. Oh! I was given my first BGN shirt today! Talk about stylin'!
spacebot - 2:00 PM
Monday, December 10, 2001
Art has left (sad!) and I'm still trying to find drivers for my modem and video card. Paul helped me to wipe the system clean and install FreeBSD after Art and I played around on Mandrake a bit. I don't know why I didn't try this out long ago... it's fun and doesn't seem too hard. Art is talking to his boss about moving up here, and I'm crossing my fingers because I could really use another good friend close by.
I have no idea what to get my parents for Chanukkah because I'm not really close with either of them, and they just sent me the generic card with a check. I have much more fun shopping for my sister.
And here is the photo of the gift that Bekah sent me. I'm so stylin'!
Counting the days till I get sick (hopefully plenty), as I think I'm one of the only ones in this office who hasn't caught whatever bug is going around... go-go-gadget immune system!
spacebot - 5:49 PM
Friday, December 07, 2001
Yay! My buddy Art is on his way up from Atlanta to visit me again this weekend. He's bringing the machine that will be my new unix box with him, too! It'll be awesome to see him again, even though it hasn't been all too long.
So, that lady on Ebay who made me waste my time filing an insurance claim on a package I sent was caught red handed. I did some investigation and found out that she used the gift certificate at the store location near her home town. She was even dumb enough to use her real name, so I got a fax from the store as proof. What a moron!
I received a very cool Chanukkah gift from Bekah, which I will post a photo of me wearing, most likely on Monday. Have I mentioned how much this girl rocks?!
Well, I leave here in a few and Art will be here at midnight. Now to think about foooood...
spacebot - 8:41 PM
Wednesday, December 05, 2001
Today has been super hectic at work. It will be so nice to have Laura back tomorrow!
On to bad news... it looks like our darling icebox will soon be replaced. And Paul-the-firewall-nazi is not letting us help in naming it! His choice in names is terrible, and it will make us look like an error message. Technical support has since formed a petition, and will not stand for an ugly name for a supposedly kickass new firewall!
** update! Paul said that there's a chance that I can keep icebox and rebuild him into a personal unix box to learn on at home. Woo!
I re-sent the letter from my drafts folder (after editing for time lost) and got a nice reply. It feels so good to hear from Jesse and have such an awesome person back in my life. :) Now maybe we can chat next time I'm not swamped at work.
Who says that repetition of a joke means it's no longer funny? Not us! This is on the list of things that we laugh at on a daily basis. Check it out if you were ever a fan of the original Nintendo!
Quote of the day: "I think you need a boyfriend with skin... though icebox does have a lot of 'drive'." (Mike)
spacebot - 8:18 PM
Tuesday, December 04, 2001
Another day... passing so quickly. Oh, and I apparently had my weblog set to Pacific time, which was making every post look like it was posted 3 hours earlier than it actually was. It's fixed now. Yeah!
I think I forgot to mention my complete and utter idiocity, which I feel the need to share with the world. There was a boy who played a very important role in my life, both as a friend and as someone I dated a while back. I had sent him a nice, long catch-up type email a few months ago and got no reply... and only assumed that he didn't wish to be my friend any longer. I definitely expressed my disappointment in him to my sister and other close friends. Well, as I was digging through old email yesterday, I found that letter I wrote to him... in my friggin drafts folder! Jesse is not a snob. I am a careless email sender. Let it be known!
Other than that exciting news, I cleaned out my bathtub and gave myself a pedicure last night. Metallic silvery purple. Off subject, but I would like to make mention that Diesel Sweeties (one of my all time favourite web comics) is getting more and more humourous as the story lines go on. If you haven't started reading, go here. My buddy rstevens is a geeky comic genius.
Perhaps I'll write more later. For now, it's time to do work-related stuff.
spacebot - 11:30 AM
Monday, December 03, 2001
My weblog archives are hardly working properly. Thankfully, it's all saved... just having difficulty displaying. Always something!
I'm really loving life right now. I can't believe it's December and it's still so gorgeous outside! How I ever lived in the "big city" so long, I have no idea. Small town life is where it's at. Except for the urine soaked drunk guy on the bus in the morning, things are ideal. But I guess that comes with public transit wherever you go.
I guess that I should think about preparing holiday gifts for people. My sister needs a printer, so that should be easy enough. I already have Bekah's gift ready to be mailed... but some others are leaving me guessing. Time to get my creative energy flowing!
Time to stop typing and quit ignoring the big guy on the couch. It's all about the Simpsons and munchie food.
spacebot - 9:20 PM
Sunday, December 02, 2001
Okay, this is getting a bit surreal. Congratulations to Joshua and Angie! At least these kids are taking it slow with a nice, long engagement. Who's next? C'mon! Out with it! (Angie's ring is gorgeous, btw. Very tasteful.)
Paul has a hangover and is passed out on the couch. I think I'm going to go wake him up so we can run some errands because it's beautiful outside and his dogs smell like dogs.
Last night I had a really vivid nightmare. I just wrote it all out and then deleted it because even when taking out the names, it was a bit too obvious which of my friends were in it! I'll say this, though... I woke up dehydrated and practically hallucinated about Gatorade.
spacebot - 2:37 PM
