tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-199417162024-02-08T05:49:41.929-05:00Cricket ChirpsAs I stare from my warm little hearth into the flames of the internet, I chirp back at the world about all the things that have meaning to me.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.comBlogger396125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-53444951193342293162008-07-15T05:03:00.002-04:002008-07-15T05:16:04.922-04:00Getting olderI've been ill for a week or so and not slept very much. I'm medicated for it now and will try to sleep soon, but since I am alone and lonely these days (yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself, but that's a temporary condition. Lest someone stumble on this by accident, I will fill in the backstory that I am a military wife with a deployed husband, children who are with the exes for the summer, and as much social life as life allows, so I'm not holed up in my room not doing anything about it--just alone in too much house and missing my family, and I'll be better when I get past this bug)... Anyway, even when I am not feeling sorry for myself, when I am alone I tend to sleep with the TV on for company. So I put on the X-Files, having seen everything on Nick at Nite a lot of times. i caught it from the pre-theme song intro, and I realized two things:<br /><br />1. They're playing the "Beyond the Sea" episode. This was one of my friend and sometime boyfriend K.E.'s favorite episodes when he got me hooked on the show in high school. It's been long enough that I checked the title on the guide, but I still remembered.<br /><br />2. Gillian Anderson was younger then than I am now. Since I am relatively certain this was a rerun when I watched it about 13 years ago, and I just verified on IMDB that she is, in fact, only a few months more than ten years older than I am (and almost exactly five years, one month older than my current husband, and either or both of us would, in fact, "hit that" if the lady were present and willing), she was <span style="font-style:italic;">significantly</span> younger than I am now. (Verified: the episode <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751083/">aired in January of 1994</a>; she'd have been 25 when it aired and most likely when it filmed as well).<br /><br />I have no idea why this suddenly occurred to me or bothered me; she just always seemed so adult to me as a teenager, closer to the parents of the teens on sitcoms than to the teens, and just a glance just now showed me that at the beginning of the series, she was very young indeed.<br /><br />I <span style="font-style:italic;">must</span> be getting old.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-61202532035153242022008-05-08T00:56:00.002-04:002008-05-08T01:01:16.370-04:00Sleepy/retail therapyJust veggin' out here--still behind on homework, too damned tired to work on it right now. Wednesdays are tough after I close Tuesdays then wake up early anyway. <span style="font-style:italic;">When Harry Met Sally</span> is on TV, so I've got it on for company. I got <span style="font-style:italic;">Juno</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Walk Hard</span> the other day since they had them used at the Shopette. Should've gotten <span style="font-style:italic;">Lars and the Real Girl</span>, too, I guess. <br /><br />Bought some things today: a game for the kid's birthday (months away, but a good sale, and we only had a couple in stock), a mother's day gift, and some books and activities for the kid's flights. More importantly, I bought the D&D 4th Ed. Core Rulebook Gift Set. It's not out yet for a month, but mine is paid for and will be shipped to me directly. I can't wait!<br /><br />I hope Spirit gets online soon.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-30057873866528105792008-05-06T16:48:00.002-04:002008-05-06T17:07:12.441-04:00Interesting stuffHeard from him... he should hopefully have internet soon... that way I can update him on how much money I can funnel his way ;) And I have an address, so if I ever get myself motivated again, I can send him care packages and stuff.<br /><br />It's <a href="http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-international-no-diet-day.html">international no-diet day</a>! So, go eat something, for crying out loud!<br /><br />Finally, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24390677/">the medical tricorder</a>. (<a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2008/05/06/real-life-star-trek-medical-tricorder/">via</a>) It's a phone! It's an all-purpose medical scanner! Why didn't they combine the communicators with the tricorders on Trek, anyway?Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-5963242940193952432008-05-06T01:54:00.002-04:002008-05-06T02:00:55.092-04:00DepressionI am not sad, but I feel like I'm just going through the motions, and I just do not want to do anything. I made myself start my homework after procrastinating on Reddit all day (well--that's all day except the time I spent doing dishes, preparing meals, taking the kid to the shrink, walking to the gym, doing water aerobics, and walking home--I said I was unmotivated, not that I couldn't make myself do any of the things I need to).<br /><br />Anyway, the thing is, I can keep my appointments, but I really don't want to go to work this week and I really don't want to do my schoolwork (though one class, sociology, is fascinating and the other, finance, is a piece of cake--haven't yet run into anything I haven't covered in an accounting class, and this is a 3-credit class where those were 4, so both these classes are lighter) until the last minute, which actually puts me a full week behind, to whit: I have Sundays and Mondays off, and the school week runs Sunday through Sunday. So, when I should be starting on the new week Sundays, I actually spent this Sunday doing last week's work, leaving me behind. If I stay that way, I have vacation in 2 weeks, so I will catch up, but I feel so listless.<br /><br />I am trying not to dwell on having no word yet. The longer I get no word, the more likely it seems that he will have no internet access and communication will be limited to a phone call a week or so.<br /><br />Ah, well; only 18 more weeks, and he'll be home.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-14207199404748160072008-05-04T20:41:00.004-04:002008-05-04T20:59:09.243-04:00In Which Cricket Reviews Iron Man, In Part From a Financial Point of ViewWARNING<br /><br />THERE WILL BE SPOILERS<br /><br />IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN <span style="font-style:italic;">IRON MAN</span> AND YOU PLAN TO SEE IT, STOP READING NOW<br /><br />SERIOUSLY, STOP READING<br /><br />I MEAN IT<br /><br />.<br /><br />.<br /><br />.<br /><br />OK, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...<br /><br /><br /><br />OK, I gotta say this: I saw this with WAY more sympathy for the board/shareholders than I think I was meant to have when he dropped that bomb. At the end, making weapons for the good guys without them being funneled to the terrorists might have worked out. Obie there was the problem, not the weapons themselves. They were inanimate objects that could be used for good or ill. Using them for profit may be right or wrong in your philosophy, but if you're going to severely change the direction of your company at a public announcement with no public plans for anything that will make up profits, you've got to expect people to not just be ticked off but to panic outright. In the Marvel world, Tony Stark "getting responsible" could have kicked off some serious financial consequences marketwide (remember, this is the Golden Boy of the military and of big business). Jim Cramer might be a caricature of himself (I mean in real life, but sure, in the movie, too), but he wasn't totally off base. I mean seriously, though, if you fall through into some weird hole in spacetime and end up in Tony Stark's shoes, try it this way: "I'm shutting down our weapons manufacture until I find a way to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists, but in the meantime, I have invented the perfect power source, and one hand-sized battery can now power your entire house for years at a time..." Now where do Stark Corporation's profits--and stock prices!--go?<br /><br />Other than that, I can agree that this was the best of the Marvel movies so far. Robert Downey, Jr. made the role and he made the movie. Back in the day, I loved him on Ally McBeal, and believing that a person's personal life should be his own, I think drug charges are bogus in terms of prison time or job loss. I'm glad that he's now a Hollywood Golden Boy.<br /><br />And Nick Fury, nice. For a second, I had almost double hearing--the "world you know nothing about" bit made me hear Laurence Fishburne talking about the Matrix. I muttered "sounds like Laurence Fishburne" and AL overheard me and thought it was him--she was very confused when I was explaining to the kid that Mace Windu was Nick Fury. How the Star Wars fan of a kid didn't recognize Samuel L. was a bit beyond me, but apparently it had something to do with his skin being darker in the Nick Fury scene? I tried to explain about movie makeup, but I don't know how much sunk in. I don't get it, though; were they setting up an Iron Man II, or a New Avengers movie with Iron Man? Might be overkill--either it ends up being "Iron Man and the New Avengers" because of the sheer presence of RD as Tony Stark, or there's one hell of an ensemble cast.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-18055243597889050362008-05-04T20:04:00.002-04:002008-05-04T20:16:47.634-04:00SorryI am, of course, much calmer now, and the only thing that still makes me a little angry is the line that you had no choice but to volunteer because someone else had too many small kids to afford for the wife to work if he was TDY. Guess what? It's part of his job just like it is yours. There are 100 other reasons you volunteered, you want to be a model NCO and make one more rank before it's time to move on, and you're a good guy. But still, that one stuck in my head and made me angry.<br /><br />I don't know if you still have this bookmarked, but I will chirp to you the things I find this way while you are gone, because I don't want to fill your inbox or IM and don't even know if you will be able to get on them. I will check the AFIM for messages this week.<br /><br />MH is still over here from last night... we went and played Iron Man, played Scene It and JL got completely pissed drunk (as in room spinning vomiting, but not quite as in alcoholic blackout). He's fine today, the SOB. You guys and your no hangovers. Hell, I can't get a hangover any more; I can't drink enough. 1 and my stomach lets me know I can't keep it up--I had a shot of recycled vodka (do yourself a favor and don't ask), then my stomach told me that wasn't happening--didn't get sick, just a slight raw feeling that reminded me that my body would NOT put up with this treatment--then nursed on the banana nut bread ale, which I tried to share but which no one else liked, so, more for me. It was like Guinness with a little banana nut flavor, only with banana belches instead of beer belches. Soothing to the stomach, at any rate. Anyway, after he "I won't pass out, I'll just... go to sleep"'d, the rest of us played other games in private. Will just say you'll have been sorry to miss it--you may have had more entertainment value than from the usual Saturday night game. No one else wanted to do that, and I was cool.<br /><br />The ex still hasn't paid the child support a week into this month, so I had to dip into my savings acct for groceries, but I am keeping a note. When I get that back I will replenish savings and buy more groceries and finally order the new game books (they WILL be here when that game comes out!!!). Meanwhile I think I will get everyone on WLD if JL doesn't want to run the main group.<br /><br />I got my week 1 homework caught up and my week 2 posts started. Am still a little behind but I am very tired and I don't feel up to much. I will get another load of laundry done (had to do extra, dog yakked on the bed since I stayed in bed until 11, damn it all--how many dogs vomit if they can't get outside to go to the bathroom fast enough? Good lord!) and the dishes, and I got all the trash out and groceries bought today. And I'm just tired.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-54280853176605461822008-02-27T04:50:00.002-05:002008-02-27T05:10:29.261-05:00Kuwait/AloneSo, yes, if you ever read this, I'm angry. It's only a maybe-thought, but it comes when I'm sick and swollen and was already thinking how much I'd rather be around my home and family than 6000 miles away where YOU chose to be and you are the only major positive to my being here against not seeing my family for years and THEN you drop the bomb on me that you volunteered for this. I'm not angry that you volunteered, I understand that you had no real choice, but I'm very angry that you brought me up here when TDYs are going to be a fact of life and I'm angry that you always want to move strangers into my home to "help" me but drive away the few people I can tolerate being here, crazy though they may be.<br /><br />You know what other wives here do when their spouses go TDY? They pack up and go the hell home to their families. Is that an option for me? No. We can't afford for me to lose my position even if we could afford the pay cut in the mean time. I've tried to find a better job up here and there isn't one I can get. Do you know I put out several applications every couple weeks? I don't think we can even afford the plane tickets right now. What the hell am I supposed to do? Why did you volunteer us for here? You point at a beautiful moment and I do understand why that's worth it to you, but you will never be here alone, you married someone you didn't particularly like last time so you wouldn't be here alone--please understand, please think for ten minutes about what it would be like if I went away for four months and you had to manage all the things I do. Is it hard to go? Sure. Will I support you 110% while you are gone? Of course. But is it harder to stay behind than to go off to the desert, even risking getting shot at? To me it is. Given a role to choose in this situation, I would go rather than stay. And there is beauty everywhere. If you hadn't asked for here, I would have more options.<br /><br />I know this is why many military spouses don't work. If I didn't, this would be easier, because I would be able to take care of the kid and the house and not feel like I would be overwhelmed and fall apart.<br /><br />By the time you find this I will likely have calmed down, but you think I'm overemotional about these things--and it's just as ridiculous that you think it's psycho for someone to have feelings, or at least to emote at all. Sometimes I need to rage, and I can rage at all little the things in the world that irritate me because that's amusing, but if things really bother me I feel that you will think me irrational. What's rational about being alone with (1) a seven year old and (2) four friends, all newlywed couples with other family plans, one of whom will be very pregnant with [add'l info. deleted, I dare you to ask me whether this is still bothering me when we're alone sometime, but you won't because you don't want to deal with confrontation so I bottle everything up and let it pour out on paper or here in the blog], one of whom is trying very hard to become pregnant, and all of whom will be hormonal and uncomfortable and who do not come to game with me, after all, with my crazy schedule and all.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-72506914601723719122008-01-17T04:53:00.000-05:002008-01-17T04:57:55.805-05:00SnowIt's snowing like mad out there. The snow was layering up on the car as I tried to brush it off, and in the time I was doing it I had a full layer on my head. It was warm, almost 10F, so I didn't have my hood on.<br /><br />OK, "warm" is relative.<br /><br />I have been making an effort to journal in a notebook with an actual pen instead of blogging, not that I was entirely regular about any of my blogs.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-8638102121008573962007-12-10T18:15:00.000-05:002007-12-10T22:17:36.051-05:00Posting for class<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Research Paper<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Courier New";">“She Got the Gold Mine, I Got the Shaft”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Courier New";">December 6, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">“Pretty soon there’ll be more divorces than marriages!” was the dire prediction of Sharon <span class="SpellE">McKendrick</span> in <i style="">The Parent Trap</i> (<span class="SpellE">Golitzin</span> & Swift, 1961).<span style=""> </span>Divorces are hard on families, and similar predictions have been made since divorce lost most of its stigma in the mid-20<sup>th</sup> century.<span style=""> </span>Divorce is bad for all parties in a family, though at least one party must feel that the continuation of the marriage is a worse proposition.<span style=""> </span>There is a stereotype that women get the worst of divorce, but when large settlements and alimony are paid out, it is usually by men to women.<span style=""> </span>Although <span class="GramE">there</span> has been a change toward women paying money to ex-husbands and although both men and women suffer financially from divorce, men have traditionally been and for the most part continue to be the relative losers in our “family court” system where matters of divorce are concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">There is a long-held thought that men are more capable of taking care of themselves financially.<span style=""> </span>That expectation means that men are often expected to continue to provide support for their ex-wives after divorce.<span style=""> </span>It is usually the woman who initiates the divorce (Griffiths, 2007); men are hit multiple times financially through their ex-wives’ legal actions.<span style=""> </span>Divorce is commonplace enough that it is thought by some experts that the overall expected outcome for a man getting married is negative despite that married men are happier and live longer than single men.<span style=""> </span>It is a common recommendation that a man planning to marry should protect himself with a prenuptial agreement. <span style=""> </span>Some experts go so far as to recommend that men never marry at all (Smith, 2007).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">Divorce outcomes for fathers are even worse than for men who have not had children with their wives.<span style=""> </span>They gain sole custody of their children only about ten percent of the time, compared to women gaining sole custody over half the time (Huang & <span class="SpellE">Garfinkel</span>, 2003).<span style=""> </span>This is, of course, another hit to the wallet through child support requirements.<span style=""> </span>Those men who try to be honorable and support their children from the beginning of divorce proceedings often manage only to find themselves at a disadvantage in the legal proceedings and wind up paying even more.<span style=""> </span>Interestingly, even when custody is fully shared between the former partners, one parent (again usually the father) can be made to pay child support to the other. (White, 2007)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">Child custody issues have more than a financial impact.<span style=""> </span>Losing custody of one’s children increases the social and emotional impact of an already-traumatic time.<span style=""> </span>There is often a perception that a non-custodial parent, which a divorced father becomes in over half of cases, is unfit or unworthy to parent his children. As an Ontario court judge put it in the case <i style="">Brook v. Brook</i> (2006), “A non-custodial parent is frequently perceived in the community as undeserving or unqualified to have custody of his or her child; and this perception is not always accurate.”<span style=""> </span>Many good fathers are made to feel like “deadbeat dads” because of a system that favors mothers and expects that men are willing to step out of their children’s lives financially and emotionally.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">Some would argue that most of this trauma is a result of the divorcees’ inabilities to reach a reasonable and equitable conclusion.<span style=""> </span>Many people do try to reach a settlement that is fair to all parties concerned.<span style=""> </span>The problem is that each party might have a different concept of what is “fair.”<span style=""> </span>This leads to resentment, anger, and bitterness in even those divorces that start out amicable.<span style=""> </span>As Ethan <span class="SpellE">Marak</span> (2007) puts it: “Obviously, women don't set out to be gold diggers, but divorce -- like death -- can turn otherwise good people into bloodthirsty wolves.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;" align="center"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Courier New";">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Brook v. Brook (2006), 2006 <span class="SpellE">CarswellOnt</span> 2514 (Ont. S.C.J.)<span class="articleurl"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="SpellE"><span class="GramE"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Golitzin</span></span></span><span class="GramE"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">, G. (Associate Producer), & Swift, D. (Director).</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";"><span style=""> </span><span class="GramE">(1961). <i style="">The Parent Trap</i> [motion picture].</span> United States: Walt Disney Productions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Griffiths, S. (2007, November 14). Sharon's view - A couple ahead of their <span class="GramE">time :[</span><span class="SpellE">Echofeat</span> Edition]. <span class="italic">Northern <span class="SpellE">Echo<span class="GramE">,p</span></span></span>. 20. Retrieved November 27, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry database. (Document ID: 1382396211).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="GramE"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Huang, C. C., Han, W. J., & <span class="SpellE">Garfinkel</span>, I. (2003).</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";"> Child support enforcement, joint legal custody, and parental involvement. <span class="GramE"><i>The Social Service Review</i>.</span> <span class="GramE"><i>77(2), </i>255.</span> (Document ID: 1291919241).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span class="SpellE"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Marak</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">, E. (2007). How men get screwed in divorce. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Askmen.com Web site: <a href="http://www.askmen.com/fashion/austin_150/166_fashion_style.html">http://www.askmen.com/fashion/austin_150/166_fashion_style.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">Smith, H. (2007, October 31). Ask Dr. Helen: Should men get married? Retrieved November 22, 2007, from Pajamas Media: Ask Dr. Helen Web site: <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/10/ask_dr_helen_6.php">http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/10/ask_dr_helen_6.php</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Courier New";">White, N.G. (2007, June 7). <span class="GramE">Child Support - a male perspective.</span> <span class="italic"><i style="">New York Amsterdam News</i>, </span>p. 6. <span class="GramE">Retrieved November 23, 2007, from <span class="SpellE">ProQuest</span> Newsstand database.</span></span>Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-8255775228584216242007-11-26T19:34:00.000-05:002007-11-26T19:38:07.552-05:00MathStatistics, really:<br /><br />OK, I'm a math person, mostly. But I'm taking a stats class, and here are my observations:<br /><br />Of the people in my house taking the stats class, one is a math genius, and one pretty much gives up on anything more complex than multiplication.<br /><br />The first one does all the homework sets for fun, even though 3-4 problems in, she's got the hang of it.<br /><br />The second one does no homework and gets the first one to tutor him through labs, making comments in discussion that get him by without the homework, which is not turned in (though labs are). <br /><br />Once I realized that the second and third sets on the normal distribution were all variants on "find the area under the curve between these points," I stopped doing homework this week.<br /><br />Screw math. I feel like poo anyway.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-88869474822077626492007-10-29T14:15:00.000-04:002007-10-29T14:27:33.029-04:00Most Smartest!As a rule, I loathe reality shows. I hate them almost as much as I hate the feeling I had when I woke up to get the kids ready for school and realized my awesome automatic alarm clock had gone on DST on the old schedule, meaning they had 6 minutes to be out the door (Pop-Tarts FTW!).<br /><br />Anyway, I've now become addicted to a reality show. I'm sitting here watching last night's America's Most Smartest Model. Right now I'm watching models complain about how they don't understand anything. Except sometimes, the Russian guy complains about how the others don't understand anything. Is it just a matter of feeling superior? How can I feel superior when it's just proof that pretty people can have negative IQs and still surpass my lifetime earning potential on an annual basis? It's still funny.<br /><br />Aside: CAD was funny today, too, on the pain of <a href="http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20071029">Guitar Hero</a>. And speaking of video games, the lack of achievements for the second player in Eternal Sonata is a pain in the ass.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-91180904878082034482007-10-07T02:20:00.001-04:002007-10-07T02:25:39.072-04:00Free associationPain pain<br /><br />breakthrough? breakthrough pain is a flareup through "otherwise controlled pain"<br /><br />There's no breakthrough where there's no control<br /><br />there's definitely a flare<br /><br />I just hurt<br /><br />all over<br /><br />And I had an emotional break today<br /><br />I feel empty and sad<br /><br />I can't tell my boss I'm better than that without crying because he's not the one I need to tell didn't even write that damned review but emphasized it's a good review I can take criticism but I have issues with this criticism<br /><br />I need more<br /><br />more of me<br />more of moo-lah<br />more understanding from the managers of the world, the principals, the teachers<br /><br />The kid was working on college algebra for fun, wtf, what kind of purgatory is first grade for a mind like that?<br /><br />I feel hypomanic, scattered, and I can't sort out what i need for documentation<br /><br />I want $100000, to pay all the debts and quit my job so I can homeschool and finish my degree and that's all<br /><br />Tomorrow must be betterCrickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-55518506293155809992007-10-04T13:17:00.001-04:002007-10-04T13:21:51.545-04:00<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-4435.html">Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot</a>? (Sex sells better if you're actually fertile at the moment! --At least chemically/hormonally...)<br /><br />Hubby wants Ben Stein's new (ish) book, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781401911447&itm=1">The Real Stars</a>. Pick it up. It leans pro-military propagandist if you have issues with that.<br /><br />I just read The Nine. Also, Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way. Bruce Campbell and Ron Jeremy both need to write more. Their stuff makes me LOL to the point that people start commenting on my apparent craziness. Now I'm working on <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780393059748&itm=2">The History of the Ancient World</a>. Very good, but a rather slow read. Still, I hand-sold a copy yesterday.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-46304306014550879002007-10-02T21:16:00.000-04:002007-10-02T21:18:31.029-04:00You're playing with what?<span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-family: lucida grande;">Colored fonts are overdone, I know. I'm feeling weird today, though.<br /><br />For adults only: Check out this "[Adult] toy or baby toy?" <a href="http://www.homemade-sex-toys.com/quiz1/">quiz</a><br /></span></span>Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-26197121734708776682007-09-17T11:06:00.000-04:002007-09-17T11:09:23.057-04:00CrackedA few funnies for Monday Morning:<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=1720">Internet Safety Tips</a>"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2348">Something about video games</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2348">This is, too</a>Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-44928005078155033072007-08-30T04:24:00.000-04:002007-08-30T04:32:42.406-04:00I found <a href="http://www.ftlauderdalelimo.com/Weddings.php">some wedding cakes</a> on Reddit. Geeky stuff is awesome. Did I like that equalizer shirt?<br /><br />I'm avoiding the Woot-Off because they don't ship to here anyway yet I am tempted. Woot, foul temptress!<br /><br />Is it time to <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjA0MzEzZWU3MGM1ZjZmZTAxNjg0ZTQyNTcyMWU4ZjQ=">rethink</a> the federal government's definition of "farm?" Or is it time to start growing a "farm" on my little piece of government property out back?<br /><br />It's quiet and I just got in from work. My friend is usually up now, but she went to bed, which suggests to me that the guy she just split up with is still here. Ah, well, I'll just enjoy the quiet, and I'll go to bed in a little while.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-77665938298435589742007-08-29T03:09:00.000-04:002007-08-29T03:24:13.583-04:00Book pimpin'The book I've been most excited about all summer is here! Sorry, it's not <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780553804973&itm=2">this one</a>, though I still think you should run right out and buy a copy if you're into food blogs. No--it's <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0553805401&itm=9">Super Crunchers</a>! If you're at all interested in how numbers will affect the future of civilization across all walks of life, you must read this book. <br /><br />Other recent reads I highly recommend:<br /><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780446579803&itm=1">God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything</a>, Christopher Hitchens<br />Turtledove's massive alt-hist epic, which stretches from <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780345406149&itm=17">How Few Remain: A Novel of the Second War Between the States</a> to <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780345492470&itm=1">Settling Accounts: In at the Death</a><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/23/reviews/000723.23kinglt.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</a><br /><br />Otherwise, I'm re-reading <a href="http://www.georgerrmartin.com/">A Song of Ice and Fire</a>. If you haven't read it, READ IT!<br /><br />There are also a couple Lord John Grey books coming soon, which I may have read as advance copies (shhhh!)<br /><br />Other books I'll probably pick up soon:<br />Garden Spells<br />Three Bags Full<br />Beauty by Robin McKinley<br />Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand<br /> (Seriously, if you're a reader but don't read much children's, you're missing out on a lot)<br />Confessor (Terry Goodkind, November. I hate the damned evangelizing. I like most of the characters when Richard leaves his ridiculous politics to himself. I have to know what happens).Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-27407816378440803992007-08-06T01:02:00.000-04:002007-08-06T01:17:11.757-04:00Tor all the <a href="http://bestpicever.com/pic-507-A-missing-window">Vampire</a> fans out there: this one's for you!<br /><br />And <a href="http://bestpicever.com/pic-502-No-fat-chicks">this</a> is for the guys<br /><br /><a href="http://bestpicever.com/pic-500-Windows-iPhone">WTF</a>?<br /><br />OK, OK, enough Best Pic Ever.<br /><br />I can't help but wonder if <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/20/sunday/main2829485.shtml">this</a> is the solution to the transportation problems a lot of us face. If everything is an easy walk away, why do I need a car? How do they recruit for these? If one needs an accountant in about five years, please call me. Wait... this could be my dream writ large. Let's build a utopian gamer town!Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-10854857650034983102007-08-02T18:05:00.000-04:002007-08-02T18:10:13.003-04:00I was reading Wil Wheaton's <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/21177/20520278">review of The Simpsons Movie</a>. I saw that opening night (well, the midnight show the night before). I didn't have the experience Wil and some of his commenters had. Comments were generally quiet and the audience was genuinely appreciative of the movie. It was one of the most responsive audiences I've been in since I went to a Star Trek premiere at the Chinese Theater.<br /><br />Of course, if you've seen the movie, you'll have an idea why Fairbanks, Alaska was <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> place to see it.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-73906784499797647362007-07-04T22:00:00.000-04:002007-07-04T22:16:33.502-04:00<a href="http://anthropik.com/2007/06/learning-to-walk/">Learning to walk</a><br /><br />there's a lot of press on <a href="http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/">Fatworld</a>; I was disappointed to see that it's not out yet.<br /><br />I've been reading <a href="http://slate.com/id/2165033/">God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything</a> for most of the last week. Occasionally, Hitchens gets details wrong in his overeagerness to prove that most of what religion has done is bad (recent evidence that circumcision protects versus HIV is ignored in his joining the anti-circ crowd in his belief that this is an unspeakable mutilation designed to dull sexual feeling, and I have a few "overstated" notes in the margins). However, <span style="font-style: italic;">God is Not Great</span> may be one of the most important books of our time. Read it.<br /><a href="http://www.correntewire.com/july_2_horror_ftc_abandons_net_neutrality_enables_corporations_to_fuck_startups_censor_us"><br />AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH</a>!<br /><br />All my links are linked elsewhere when they're posted here, or at least most of them. If you ever stumble upon this blog, keep in mind that it's how I keep links for my husband and a few friends, not a moneymaker. My friends get annoyed if I IM/email them everything I find. Sometimes I just don't bother, or don't get online much for days or weeks. This is odd to me.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-4128204425739654992007-06-07T11:10:00.000-04:002007-06-07T11:39:02.910-04:00DRM--<a href="http://tuxdeluxe.org/node/213">magic or physics</a>?<br /><br />Why is our government being taken over by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/06/06/bush-surgeon-general-nomi_n_50987.html">these people</a>?<br /><br />Yeah, <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/fish_feet/t_rex_ate_coconuts?page=5">them</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/50_things_to_know.html">50 things to know by 50</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6729745.stm">This</a> looks promising<br /><br /><a href="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/coyne07/coyne07_index.html">Here</a>'s an interesting article (back to those people in government!) on creationism rejecting science. The thing is that those who do reject science in this fashion also turn thinking people away from faith. I lean (Feri) Wiccan; in practice, I pray to the Father-god of my youth, who asked that we keep no other Gods before him and not bow down to idols, but not to not keep other Gods, and I pray to my grandmother for knowledge of what lies beyond. I don't want to get into a full discussion of my beliefs here, but deep down, I worship knowledge--and science is, literally, "knowledge," the knowledge of the world. <br /><br />I love <a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/galleries/drop_dead_gorgeous/07ddg.php">this picture</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/fashion/07Cyber.html?ex=1338868800&en=fa1a5523b4971106&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">News to teens</a>: your parents can do whatever they want. It's mostly not to embarrass you. You embarrass them more by your constant insistence that they're--that we're--old and out of touch. I work with sixteen-year-olds who think I'm one of the coolest people they've ever met. Hell, I wasn't even cool when I was sixteen. But with an almost-teenaged stepchild and a little guy going in to first grade, I'm a student now, and I can join any web service I like.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060502824.html?hpid=artslot">Um. ...What</a>?<br /><br />I keep seeing <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/31/22921/8574">pro-choice stories</a>.<br /><br />Unemployed to-do <a href="http://www.holyjuan.com/2007/06/unemployed-stuff-to-do-list.html">list</a><br /><br />I'm in pain. I'm putting off going to work, Chuck left me the crappy car and it hurts to drive right now, and I'm angry today. I'm angry because I'm in pain and there's no relief and I will be limping around on vacation. The world is ridiculous.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-74328831005537125122007-05-29T03:30:00.000-04:002007-05-29T03:43:20.109-04:00Somehow, though I always have a million things that I think of things to write about during the course of my day, by the time I've sat down here at bedtime, they're gone. <br /><br />Today like many days was a million things. I feel guilty when at the end of my days off I haven't accomplished much, but I remind myself that rest is an accomplishment. I can't keep killing myself.<br /><br />There should be a new question up at <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/">the Shrieking Shack</a> tonight or tomorrow. The polls work correctly for me; the forums do not--I can only see the first post to any subject. This is true in Firefox and in IE. No idea.<br /><br />I have been feeling stupid when standing at the register lately. So many damned questions to ask--we upsell far too much; it works, but it alienates some customers. I think I may have a different position. I'd still like some feedback from my manager on what I can do differently to improve. And I've been reading <span style="font-style: italic;">It's OK to Be the Boss</span>, and some of the advice is <span style="font-style: italic;">crazy</span>. Cars and toasters don't take the same maintenance, so your employees don't take the same management? I had to read that particular metaphor aloud, I so disbelieved what I had read, and sparked a discussion as to whether we'd rather be cars or toasters. MB wanted to be a toaster so as to forcibly eject toast. I thought I'd rather be a car if those were the only options, but then, someone else wanted to be a blender, so I figured I'd rather be a TV set. So, the thing is, if I take this other position, I'll leave our current department weakened, I won't really know what I am doing in the new position, and I won't be a direct supervisor any more. But I feel the need to grow and to not work a job I'm allergic to. Plus it will be less mentally taxing, and school will take more of my psychic resources very soon. Wish me luck.<br /><br />Wow, that was a bit, wasn't it? Maybe I need the luck.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-20437239919710485492007-05-11T12:03:00.000-04:002007-05-11T12:48:02.522-04:00in-game rape<a href="http://clicked.msnbc.msn.com/">Clicked</a> linked to <a href="http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/05/sexdrive_0504">this old Sex Drive post</a> on rape in virtual worlds. Regina Lynn linked to <a href="http://www.gamegrene.com/node/447">this other post</a> about rape in RPGs--the old-fashioned kind, with dice &c. I take the author's point, but I don't agree with it all. The main point on which I disagree is pregnancy. (1) An in-game pregnancy might be necessary to some plots. (2), and this is the greater issue, sex has consequences. They are always built in to our games. If you have sex, getting pregnant is a straight-up roll (or set of rolls). There's also a sub-roll for chance of twins (on 100% re-roll for triplets, etc--once someone managed to roll four 00s in a row on that one. Ouchy!), and if you're sleeping indiscriminately with seedy types, you have an STD chance. If you feel that these are violations of your character--well, you should know what your GM/campaign's rules are in terms of sexual consequences and outcomes before you have your character have sex. As for rape per se, I can see needing to make sure sensitive players are OK with that. We identify with our characters, we start to dream and think in character over a long campaign. We cry over their losses, much as some of us have cried when our favorite characters in novels or on screen are killed off. On the other hand, we <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> put our characters in these situations. And sometimes, in character terms, the very worst happening is the catalyst we need to do what needs to be done. <br /><br />Also, the article in question references lovers being grabbed and held at gunpoint and other things, and saying even death is preferable to rape. Are we assuming here that most gamers, and/or their characters, aren't parents? I would submit to fairly horrible forms of torture before I let my son or stepdaughter be put before a gun. And for their sake, I would rather live through almost any pain--if you have someone, something, to live for, death is indeed the worst that can happen to you.<br /><br />Of course, if in-game rape is used, the gruesome details should be left to the very thick-skinned. I'd propose another way of asking permission, I guess: "Is there anything that you absolutely will not allow/accept happening to your character?" Straight-up at the outset. If you live in an area where multiple groups are available, it might also be a good sorting process.<br /><br />Virtual rape is another matter; for one, if the game has a built-in ignore feature, you might not have to deal with it. But it's possible that all the other characters see it and it colors their opinion (but doing it on a public channel or open chat may also get them banned for TOS violations)--it's personal, whether that's enough. I do remember a case where someone used a built-in feature that let them control other characters--I can't find the article I read, as it was some time ago--in a virtual house, and committed very graphic sexual acts between his own and another character. It resulted in a rules change where they had previously relied entirely on self-policing, if I recall correctly, and the banning of that character. At any rate, rape in most online games is not a plot issue. It's someone using someone else for sexual pleasure without that someone else's consent. This is the essence of rape, though I do not believe it so heinous a violation as a physical rape by half.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-72568473412673248072007-05-01T01:42:00.000-04:002007-05-01T01:46:24.284-04:00<a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2165198/">Slate</a> on major media's regurgitation of ONDCP's "facts," or, "Why Cricket loves Slate"<br /><br />Cricket also freaking luvs Heroes. Sylar: "I've waited a long time for this." *shivers*<br /><br />I have a day off ahead. So I have hours and hours of work on the computer. Nice, right?<br /><br />I need to update this more. Was thinking of setting up another blog entirely, an "as I see it" on the world, but I may just do that here, too.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19941716.post-44244743908730038362007-04-20T05:16:00.000-04:002007-04-20T05:25:34.203-04:00BehindI've been behind on a lot of things, not least updating this. I've actually been updating my blog on MySpace, believe it or not (that links to my real persona more than I would like to do here, so I am not going to link it). In the meantime, if you'd like something to read, I highly recommend <a href="http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/desiderata.html">Desiderata</a>.<br /><br />Also high on my recommended list:<br />Diana Gabaldon's <span style="font-style: italic;">Outlander</span> series<br />Harry Potter! If you haven't gotten into Harry Potter yet, now is the perfect time to start so you can be in with the cool kids at the Midnight Magic party, Friday night 20 July/Saturday morning 21 July... And if you're already one of us, read 'em again. I made some new connections this time (especially given that at our committee meeting--yeah I'm on a Harry Potter Committee so what--we saw <a href="http://www.mugglenet.com/viewer/?image_location=/dhcovers/hp7adultuk.jpg">the cover</a> of the Brit adult edition, and apparently the cover always relates directly to the title, at least strongly implying that Slytherin's locket is a Deathly Hallow). <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Wednesday Wars</span>. It's a teen (ish) coming-of-age story set in the Vietnam era. It's not exactly out yet, but when it is, read it.<br /><br />See there? Now you have things to read when your favorite blogs don't update.Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09135785344487907518noreply@blogger.com0