bloodyrosemccoy: (Xenofairies)
What I Learned Since The Spring Equinox

  • Being head of a household is time-consuming, but rewarding.

  • Smart Watches are pretty dang fun.

  • Getting a business license is an annoying process.

  • If you fill a ping-pong ball with one hole in it with liquid nitrogen and then drop it into a pan of room temperature water, it'll flail around like a groundflower.

  • Kittens are busy.

  • They also flail around like groundflowers if you put collars on them.

  • A holomictic lake is one in which the layers of water mix at least once a year. A meromictic lake's water layers never mix.

  • You may actually be able to feel pneumonia in your lungs. Weird.

  • Dandelion champagne has a nice bite to it.

  • I can wear a cocktail dress if I get some leggings.

  • Carroll Spinney/Big Bird was almost slated to go into orbit, but the costume was too big. Which means he didn't get to go for his scheduled ride on ... the Challenger shuttle.

  • Being the "coach" for shows is almost as nerve-wracking as being the student.

  • There is such a thing as Nutella-flavored gelato.

  • The name "Saoirse" is pronounced "SEER-shuh."

  • Nikki Akuma-Bird needs to star in her own action space opera.

  • The term for oxygen-carrying blood cells is "erythrocyte."

  • At 3:00 a.m. or so in early June I can see the Milky Way unaided if I concentrate!

  • Kidney failure is one of the most common ailments of senior cats.

  • Trimming grape vines is a nice meditative process. You trim a lot, but it does grow back.

  • The bearded vulture is the only known warm-blooded osteophage--it eats actual bones. It has one tough gut.

  • A "ginger bug" is like a starter for sodas that makes use of wild yeasts.

  • Sun conures really are friendly little buggers. And loud. So loud.

  • And not all of them are really into toys. Some just want to chill on your shoulder.

  • Unless you're chewing something. Then they will bite your ear.

  • They can be potty trained after a fashion, though. Which is nice.

  • Ehlers-Danlos syndrom is another weird disorder that leads to things like oversized bones, stretchy skin, extreme flexibility, and other such strange effects.

  • Social change is messy, slow and difficult, but it does not do to get discouraged.

The FUTURE

Mar. 26th, 2015 09:43 pm
bloodyrosemccoy: (Science!)
So as a final going-away present, Mom'n'Dad decided that by god I needed to finally get me a Smart Phone.

I've been resisting for a while because I had a perfectly good tablet for doing apps and internetting, and a perfectly good Dumb Phone on which to make calls and text. And I really didn't (and still don't) like taking calls on a big rectangle. It just seemed annoying.

But, I had to concede, I was falling behind. And Dad really wanted me to be up to date, as my failure to smart phonify has been a thorn in his early-adopter side for years. So I was equivocal, eh, whatever, sure, why not ...

And then I got into the phone place and saw the smart watches.

"Hey, Dad," I said. "Um ..."

Dad looked at the watches, then looked at me.

"Well, might as well go all at once," he sighed.

So, uh, I have a smart watch now! And I can do fun stuff with it, like answer phone calls and text and check my schedule and email and get yelled at when I sit around for too long (thanks, fitness apps). And, uh, here's the thing:

I really, really like this dumb gadget.

Until I saw a couple of Space Place people sporting them, I had no idea that I had always wanted one. But I realized I absolutely HAD. They're ... they're Spacefuturey! They're neat and tiny and easy to carry! Now instead of yelling into a rectangle I'm getting hair/ear grease on, I can yell into my wrist like some kind of secret agent or Power Ranger!* And I feel a little like Turanga Leela, and of course she is pretty damn cool.

So yeah, I have gone over to the Dark Side.

I have no idea if these will catch on. But if others like them as much as I do, they just might.


*Still trying to figure out how to make it beep the Power Ranger communicator noise, because of course I am.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Xenofairies)
What I Learned Since The Winter Solstice

  • My preference for the Dome Theater comes largely from the fact that I can hang out alone in the booth. When new guys come to shadow me, it's less enjoyable--but still pretty fun.

  • Sometimes kittens happen to you out of nowhere.

  • Kids remember my Space Place lessons!

  • Main sequence blue stars also become red giants before snuffing out. I'd always been a little fuzzy about what happened to them.

  • Playing Musical Houses is stressful.

  • My tendency to research my stories as a teenager was apparently not a universal phenomenon among teenage fiction writers.

  • Sounds of 200 dB can rupture lungs.

  • At least when making sodas, there is such a thing as "just crazy enough to work."

  • Conures are a group of parrots that make good pets.

  • Livestreams can be pretty damn fun to watch.

  • It's possible to get emotionally invested in games that you thought were just supposed to be about jump scares.

  • The big difference between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is that people with the former think their obsessions and compulsions are a problem, whereas those with the latter think that everyone else is just a slob.

  • I still don't trust most Boy Scouts' ability to survive in their own living rooms, let alone in the wilderness.

  • The most well-known autism advocacy group is also terrible. Autism Speaks is mostly from the point of view of neurotypical people and addresses actual spectrum people as more a burden and a drain on society, which, surprisingly, does not endear them to said autistic people.

  • Trying to translate a lesson on astronomy from English to Spanish takes a while when you have to keep looking up terms.

  • The guy who sings the Guardians of the Galaxy version of "Hooked on a Feeling" was also the Arbiter in Chess.

  • Majora's Mask is a game rife with conspiracy theories.

  • The thing I did as a kid where I wondered if "red" looked the same to everyone was apparently a universal thing to do. The term for those experiences that can't be conveyed is qualia, and the inability to convey them is called the explanatory gap.

  • Cats' ability to land on their feet stems partly from visual and partly from kinetic orientation. When you take them into the Vomit Comet and they lose those cues, they sort of hula hoop around in circles trying to orient themselves.

  • If I'd had noise-cancelling headphones earlier in my life, things would've been SO much easier.

  • Okay, Smart Watches are AWESOME. This--THIS--is what I've been waiting for.

  • It is not too terrifying to start an Etsy store, but it takes a while to get it going once you do.

bloodyrosemccoy: (Sisters)
I love that my sister is two states and a time zone away and yet I can still just be like, "Hey, wanna watch a movie tonight?" and then we can sit and eat popcorn and snark about it. The future is GREAT.

(Also, Frozen has broken us forever. Whether in person or on chat, every time we want to hang out together one of us'll start ad libbing lyrics to "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" We're pretty good at it, too.)
bloodyrosemccoy: (Venus By Air)
Oh, man! How did I not know about these fantastic posters sooner? Exoplanet travel posters? So dang cool!

(PS: Can I tell you how happy I was when the above icon there, the great Steve Thomas's Venus by Air, is slightly more realistic now? That is kind of hilarious.)
bloodyrosemccoy: Calvin (from Calvin & Hobbes) staying up late reading (COMICS)
There is something deeply and gloriously ironic about an insightful and critical discussion of the philosophical themes of Fahrenheit 451 conducted via text message.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Lobot!)
So they've found that there's water in Martian soil, but that it'll take some processing to actually get to it. Well, that'll be handy once we get up there and start to HOLY SHIT WAIT A SECOND.

MOISTURE FARMERS. The water is eventually going to have to be extracted by MOISTURE FARMERS.

That's right. We are one step closer to living in a Star Wars universe.

God DAMN, science is good.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Not So Lucky)
OKAY, I think I have completed my 127-step click'n'drag repair job on my sudden-onset amnesia iPod.* After that whole mess, I am 100% looking forward to a nice short simple laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Now to see if and when the doctor is available ...


*I am led to understand that if I had done something shady with it to unlock all the proprietary bullshit the fix would have taken roughly 12 seconds. Really not making a case for staying legit, there, Apple.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Xenofairies)
What I Learned Since the Spring Equinox:

  • There are a number of strategies being suggested for towing asteroids away from Earth. I can't decide if my favorite is gravity snare, where you send up something that has enough mass to tow the asteroid with gravity, or big Space Lasso.

  • The Good Samaritan who helps Dairine in High Wizardry is, in fact, supposed to be the Fifth Doctor.

  • The term for when someone blanks out and appears to be conscious but unresponsive to the people around them is dissociative stupor.

  • Museums are really concerned with pest control. Which makes sense, but I had never thought about it before.

  • When you post a job listing, it's probably better to figure out what you want the prospective employee or intern to do before putting it up.

  • Since the Iranian Revolution, there has been a ridiculously high spike in multiple sclerosis among Iranian women. This is likely due to a lack of vitamin D caused by wearing sun-blocking burqas all the damn time. Talk about unintended consequences.

  • There is catnip in our garden.

  • The symbolic food of a Passover seder is not intended to be the main Passover meal. Which is good, because I also learned what food is acceptable for the Passover plate, and it hardly makes a good meal anyway.

  • Nobody ever remembers that the T-rex in Jurassic Park is female, even though it is explicitly pointed out.

  • Deep-frying is actually fairly easy; it's the battering/coating that is annoying.

  • Although it is made slightly less so with the use of chopsticks.

  • You're supposed to replace thyme plants every 3-4 years lest they get all woody. I don't know, I'm so impressed that my thyme has lasted this long that I'd feel kinda bad replacing it.

  • The Europeans call moose "elks." I have no idea what they call elks. Europeans are so confused.

  • "These aren't the droids we're looking for." - Launchpad McQuack, apparently

  • Water can deflect bullets! Mostly because they tend to shatter on impact, which is kind of awesome.

  • Sealed soda bottle with a little dry ice + water = EXPLODE

  • The butterfly that employs mimicking the monarch is called the viceroy. They used to think the viceroy was mimicking the more poisonous monarch, but evidently the viceroy's got some poison in it, too.

  • Butterfly namers have a thing for bureaucratic hierarchy, what with all the queens and viceroys and admirals and soldiers and emperors and whatnot. I swear at this point I would not be surprised to find that there is a Minister Of Agriculture and Transportation Butterfly.

  • Unlike almost every other video game, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link did not prove itself to be easier now that I'm well past kindergarten.

bloodyrosemccoy: (Old Spice Onna Horse)
Got to meet a high school friend's 18-month-old baby and catch up with the friend herself. Also got the third-person third-degree which my friend translated for her no-English mother, who wanted to know:

1. If I was married,
2. Why the hell I am not married, and
3. When I plan to get married.

It is impossible to explain to some people that my plan at this point involves:

1. Not getting married.
2. Ever.

Around here, it's a problem I run into a lot. People do not comprehend the concept. I get a lot of reassurance that it's okay, one of these days I'll meet the right guy and settle down and get married and THEN my life will be fulfilled. I just smile and say "Maybe" and change the subject. It's better than when they start telling me how I should go about finding that man, anyway.

---

Went to Museum Crash Course. Don't climb on the exhibits, don't smear peanut butter on ancient artifacts, and please accept that the museum looks at evolution as, you know, A Thing, because--wait, do people seriously get offended at the thought that a museum agrees that evolution happened? Do planetaria have to clarify that they subscribe to the notion that the Earth goes around the sun and not vice versa? God DAMMIT.

---

Bought some Fisher Price Starter Plants. I can grow a lot of things from seed, but tomatoes are not any of them.* I've still got to work on getting a bunch of better dirt mixed into the ground before I actually put the plants in, but it's a start.

---

Finally got the next installment of Scatterstone properly storyboarded/outlined/thinged. I'm at the point in the middle that's always been a little amorphous in my head. I know kind of what's going to happen, but unlike the previous bits or the stuff near the end, this has been a bit of a jumble of Things That Have To Happen all piled up in a heap waiting to be sorted. I think I got it.

---

Watched WAY too much Mythbusters. It's hypnotic, man. Video On Demand has changed how I watch things FOREVER.

As an aside, I think it's funny that over the last few years my TV and music preferences have seesawed. Back in the olden days with CDs and no mp3 players, I was used to listening to an entire album by one artist. Meanwhile, with TV lineups, I could only watch several episodes of a single show if I bought the DVDs or caught a marathon on TV. Now, though, I am used to the shuffle on my iPod, so that two songs in a row by, say, the Doobie Brothers seems counterintuitive--I'm much more used to disparate things like Doobie Brothers - Mannheim Steamroller - Disney. And yet with the availability of streaming, I am dissatisfied if I only get to see one episode of whatever show I'm binging on. It's an interesting shift.

---

Anyway. MY POINT IS, that's what I did this weekend. Howbout you?


*Though that's not stopping me from at least trying again. This time I'm using the best window in the house, which counterintuitively is in the basement near my own Bat Cave. I'm not sure if that's what's doing it or if it's one of the other changes I made, but goddamn if the various seeds I'm sprouting aren't the happiest seedlings EVER.
bloodyrosemccoy: (TYRANNOSAURS IN F14S!)
Mostly I am ambivalent about the idea of fiddling with and changing classics. On the one hand you can get something excellent, like the Star Trek reboot that clearly loves the hell out of its source material. On the other hand, well, Star Wars. And you get tradeoffs, like with ET—CG allows for more mobility, but puppets are more convincingly THERE.* So there are arguments for both sides, and I can come down on either depending on a lot of factors.

Except in the case of Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series. When she decided to update the first books in it into Millennium Editions (which are available as ebooks from the store on her site--and on sale for a few days HOLY SHIT Y’ALL 60% OFF!), there was no ambivalence. I was all like FUCK YEAH.

Because while the originals are wonderful snapshots of the time and place they were written, the first one came out in, what, 1982?, and the most recent one in 2010. In that time our heroes age about two years or so, but their technology rockets almost thirty years from vinyl to iPods. It’s a little confusing.

And also, Diane Duane has such a fine time playing with The Latest Technology that I was just DYING to see where she’d take it.**

So, protip: if you are already a fan of the series, and have read--particularly--High Wizardry and now want to try the new version, I suggest you keep a copy of the old one handy for reference. Going back and forth to see all the changes is half the fun.

I’m saying High Wizardry in particular because, while there are other changes to the series (Nita’s Walkman becomes her MP3 player, her Alan Parsons Project LP morphs into a Coldplay CD, Duane no longer has to explain the phrase “boot up” but now has to give a brief overview of what subway tokens were, and Dairine, who was now born in 1997, has understandably but unforgivably become a fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars instead of REAL Star Wars), the book all about using Cutting-Art State-Of-The-Edge computer technology for wizardry is the one with the most fascinating changes. A lot changed since she wrote the original in 1990.*** Computers are no longer relegated to your school’s science class. (No, seriously, in the original book they explain that Dairine is familiar with computers because her science class has one.) If even regular people are watching movies, Skyping with their friends in Iceland, publishing ebooks, 3D printing replacement skulls for accident victims, checking satellite positions, looking up who that one actor was in that one show, signing up for online tap dance classes, and playing World of Warcraft ALL AT THE SAME TIME, then why the hell wouldn't WIZARDS use that shit for magic HUH, HARRY POTTER?

The book’s main story still stands, though. The books are the same crazy smoothie of man-eating helicopters, automotive ecosystems, magical talking sharks, friendly white holes, interdimensional terminals at Grand Central Station, robot wizards, and oblique cameos by Marvin the Martian and The Fifth Doctor that has always made it so damn entertaining. Just with an updated graphics card.


*I don’t know why everyone pitched a fit over the change from assault rifles to walkie-talkies, though. Sure, man, whatever.

**I realized at some point thatThe Book of Night With Moon, which I read first in junior high, might have been the first real urban fantasy I ever read. And I am now surprised that I liked it. Most urban fantasy is a little too smugly clever for me.

***Other change: the big dang climax, which was based on a scientific paradox that has since been questioned, changed without actually changing the story much. Good on ya, Duane!

Unholy

Jun. 9th, 2012 02:13 am
bloodyrosemccoy: (Movie Sign)
The cat would like to rescind her earlier assertion that carpet cleaning is the worst thing in the world. She now realizes that the worst thing in the world is skunks.

Honestly, I can see her point on the matter.

On a related note, THANK GOD for the internet hive mind. I can't remember the de-skunking recipe offhand. Thanks, internet!
bloodyrosemccoy: (Midna)
Speaking of modern fairy tales, this dad is as modern as it gets. Right down to stopping in the middle of the story to check his memory with Wikipedia.



While I could probably get the sequence of events a lot more in order because I live in a basement without friends and still play this darn game pretty consistently, I am pretty sure I told stories in exactly this manner all the damn time when I was a kid.

I don't anymore, because I've learned I am a super-boring storyteller. That's why I write things instead. I am much more interesting on paper.

I applaud this family's taste in mirrors, though. And also their adorableness in babies. Damn, that kid is cute.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Goddamn Batman Disapproves)
Downloaded Diane Duane's So You Want To Be A Wizard a while back and finally got around to rereading it this week. The story's as crazy-good as ever,* but the ebook's typography is a disgrace. I've never seen so much rogue punctuation in all my life. And autocorrect obviously stood in for any once-overs a human being might have done, judging by phrases like "the next Jew chapters" and "sniveled in his chair." By the end of the book I was wondering if the whole thing hadn't been typed on a dumbphone keypad.

And sadly, while this was the worst, quite a few of the ebooks I've read have similar issues. What's the deal, publishers? Yeah, they're digital, but they're still BOOKS, not a YouTube comment section. Step it up a little, willya? Sheesh. I'm calling the Paper Clip.


ETA: Fortunately, it looks like the next time I get some money, I can maybe buy the whole set with a much more carefully produced copy. At least, I think. I'm a little fuzzy on the international versions' availability in the US.

I am also intensely curious about the Millennium Editions. I for one totally embrace artists' rights to mess with their earlier works, as long as they keep the earlier works available for fans. (Yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Lucas. Don't make me have to hook up the goddamn Star Wars player laser disc player just to watch Han properly shoot Greedo.)


*And honestly, miles cooler than Harry Potter. The hell with Wizardly Whimsy and booger-flavored jelly beans, give me sentient white holes and jargon like "temporospatial claudication" in my magic otherworld. Plus, as I realized the other day while trying to describe the Young Wizards, the spinoff book about the cats who battle dinosaurs in Grand Central Station was the first urban fantasy I read and really liked.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Relaxin')
The first thing I found out about Disneyland was possibly the weirdest, too: I have never been there, and yet I knew my way around. No, it’s not some eerie “I’ve been here before” feeling, neither. It’s because I’ve freaking played Epic Mickey. Turns out the areas in that game weren’t just kind of inspired by Disneyland—they actually matched the layout of Main Street, New Orleans Square, Tomorrowland, etc.. It was … kinda strange, frankly.

ME: I have this overwhelming urge to squirt paint everywhere.

MY BROTHER: Me too. At least we aren’t trying to use thinner.

ME: Unless we get ambushed by that rocking Phineas and Ferb truck again. I am totally willing to melt them.

---

My Favorite Spot, Unsuprisingly, Was Tomorrowland

ME: Innoventions! Dream House! I AM SO THERE!

MY BROTHER: Engineering stuff!

MY SISTER: *sad puppy eyes* Rides?

ME: THE FUTURE!

*we explore the carousel Dream House, brought to you by innovative companies of THE FUTURE buy their stuff!*

ME: Dig! Bedrooms! Of THE FUTURE!

MY BROTHER: Kitchen! Of THE FUTURE! … But where are the cake-baking robot hands?

ME: Impractical computer screen dining room table! Of THE FUTURE!

EXASPERATED CAST MEMBER: You guys realize that all this technology is available now, right?

ME: And you realize this means we’re LIVING in The Future, right?


Cast Guy was not amused. Fortunately, later we found an enthusiastic Cast Girl who was all over Living In THE FUTURE, so that’s okay.

---

Photobucket

I kept getting drawn toward this thing. Not to ride it, just because it’s pretty. Hundertwassery, even!

---

Now, since LucasArts and Disney are BFFs, there’s a harsh truth one must accept about the park: at some point, your ass WILL get whacked with a lightsaber. )

---

Halloween At Dizney: Beware Of Orange Thing )

---

The Haunted Mansion Manic Holiday )

---

Photobucket

My sister wore this previously-acquired hat all week, making her darn easy to spot. There’s a sticker on the front with Peter Pan on it, which she touched up with a ballpoint pen at some point. The painstakingly written “FUCK YEAH” on it became a problem when we discovered that everyone in the universe wanted her hat. Guess they don’t make them anymore. They’d ask to examine it, and she always swept it off with a flourish so that her hand covered the sticker.

---

Photobucket

My linguist powers tell me this is a pretty straightforward cipher. Hell, if you cross your eyes, you can read it.

This was part of the Indiana Jones ride, which my sister's buddy insisted we go on. Turns out she had good reason. Dang what a fun ride.

---

ME: Say, what have we here? Looks like somebody went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

SMALL PRINCESS: I did! And my fairy godmother helped me with my hair!

ME: That explains the sparkles, all right. Say, Dude, why don’t you go to the Boutique?

MY BROTHER: Because I’m wearing a hat.

ME: Nonsense. I for one completely support your transformation into Princess Sparklebeard.

MY BROTHER: Well, I would look good in a tiara.

---

These Are Definitely For Holding Toothpicks )

STORE GUY: You have a point. … I see you also bought a Mickey shirt.

ME: I couldn’t find an Oswald one.

---

And, alas, that was my one regret for the trip. An Oswald shirt is even more elusive than a happy Donald shirt. But if that’s the one tragedy of the trip, then I’d say it was darn successful!
bloodyrosemccoy: An icon from Portal of a human hugging a Weighted Companion Cube (Cube Love)
I’m not sure why, but this video absolutely mesmerizes me:



Do you remember learning how to dial a telephone? Yeah, neither do I.* Funny how cultures themselves have curricula. (So do TV shows: over the 20 years of Law’n’Order’s run, they went from carefully explaining how The D. N. A. works to assuming you know what it means when the lab reports that the perp and the victim have seven alleles in common. TV shows are still dumbed down, but notice what they dumb down.)

Also, I love the idea that wrong numbers would have caused people to panic in Ye Olde Dayes.** I don’t think she even uses the term “wrong number”—which makes me realize that at some point, the lexicon didn’t have a standard term for it. I love that, too—how language evolves. Makes living at the beginning of the Digital Age that much more fun.

And yes, I’m a complete dork watching vintage shorts without commentaries now. I can’t help it! They’re just so damn fascinating!


*Hell, I’m even past the Screaming Abuse At The Automated Voicemail Instructions Lady For Repeating Instructions EVERY DAMN TIME When EVERYBODY KNOWS THEM ALREADY (c’mon, who doesn’t know by now that “When you have finished recording, hang up”?) Stage. I’m on the stage where I’ve learned the combo hit that automatically KOs her.

Also: Dear phone companies, please hire Ellen McLain to do your future Automated Operator recordings. Take advantage of the Stockholm Syndrome so many gamers have developed!

**Nowatimes it's more a source of hilarity, like the time I kept getting calls from people asking for a guy named Juan. If you don't think I found it funny to tell them "There is no Juan at this number" or to hang up and explain to friends "It was a wrong number. They were looking for some Juan I don't know," then you haven't been paying attention.
bloodyrosemccoy: (Pintsize Party!)
Lappy is back, screen all fixed and everything else up and ready to go again. Trying to decide whether I should wander around in a return-to-the-world daze for a while like Tom Hanks at the end of Castaway, or just dance around the glow of the screen with orgiastic joy, music library cranked so it can be heard through this thing’s crummy speakers. Leaning toward the former. The latter sounds too much like exercise.
bloodyrosemccoy: Beast from X-Men at the computer, grinning wickedly (Beastly)
Index finger aches from banging on Nook screen. I miss homerow.
bloodyrosemccoy: Beast from X-Men at the computer, grinning wickedly (Beastly)
Could not remember the name of that one actor from that one movie. Could not access IMDB for complete filmography and bio. They found me crying in the closet, panicked at lack of instant information retrieval.
bloodyrosemccoy: Beast from X-Men at the computer, grinning wickedly (Beastly)
Ctrl+Z strangely useless on notebook paper. Perhaps it's like a Mac and I need to draw a clover?

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