Good Buys

So today, in the process of helping AGS move and going from one house to the new, we passed this yard sale like 3 times, each time with me eying an amazing black leather chair "thing" (more on that in a moment). Finally I had the chance to go check the sale out and at this point it's like 5pm. Maybe crazy people, maybe smart, for not putting things away by 12 (or so), they had the stuff all over their front yard and were just hanging out there all day.

Anyway, so I go to check out this chair, which had been there all day so I was afraid it was going to be outrageous expensive or bad condition or something. None of the above. Apparently just no one else was interested. And I should mention it wasn't really a chair, it was the curve of a sectional couch... awesome none the less. AND because the guys were moving today they had a trailer to haul the thing back to my (current and very temporary) place.

And the girls having the yard sale were conveniently my size (which meant lots of shoes and clothes to look through :]).

I shall leave out other fun details and let it suffice to say I left there with one awesome leather chair "thing," 4 pair of shoes, 5 shirts, 1 dress, and 1 framed picture all for -- $30.
A good buy indeed.



(on the porch, as it won't fit in the front door!!)

The Awakening II

The concert was amazing
(was last weekend).
Definitely going to see them again if they are ever in the area again.

Some choice pictures can be found here.

The Awakening (show in TN)

The Awakening, an awesome band from South Africa is touring the States and will be in the area this weekend. I am hoping to go to their show in Nashville on Sunday (22nd). I am currently looking for a concert buddy, if there are interested/ing individuals.

A little about The Awakening:
° front man: Ashton Nyte (honestly, I like his solo work better)
° describe themselves as: Paranormal Dark-Future-Gothic-Rock
° been around since: 1995

"The Awakening is and has always been the brainchild and creative expression of Ashton Nyte. It is Ashton who (but for a few exceptions) composes the music, writes the lyrics and performs a range of instruments on every album. Being the perfectionist-control-freak he is, Ashton also engineers, mixes and produces all the recorded work he has released as The Awakening"

° listen to their music: http://www.myspace.com/theawakeningband
° read more about them: http://www.awakening.co.za

Oh yes...
It's only 18+
(show on Monday night is all ages)
$15 cover
playing at a place called Salvation
("Nashville's Gothic / Industrial Night: Every Sunday")

My Apologies

...to anyone who has recently tried to get here from my facebook and found themselves elsewhere.
Much thanks to blargmanus.

...Oops...
:]

Science Q&A

From my ThinkGeek newsletter, the greatest bit of science Q&A I think I have ever read:

Dear Timmy,

When I drink grape juice, and then I go pee, where does all the purple go?

Brandon
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The blue and green planet


Dear Brandon,

I'm surprised no one has ever talked to you about this before ... what ever are they teaching you in high school biology these days? Basically, the process is very simple. The "purple", as you call it (the technical term would be "tannins"), is processed by your kidneys and broken down into its constituent reds and blues. The reds are injected into your arteries, which is what makes your blood red, and the blues are injected into your veins, which is why your veins appear blue under your skin. What's left over is basically white grape juice, which as we all know is pretty much the right color already.

As a side note, have you ever wondered why the blood in your veins will appear red once its outside your body, even though it was blue when it was under your skin? Well, the answer comes from a branch of physics called optics, which studies things like colors. Red, as it turns out, is water soluble, so the blood absorbs it. Blue, however, floats on top of the blood and ends up coating the inner walls of the veins. When you cut into a vein, only the red actually escapes.

Isn't science wonderful (and sarcastic)?

-- Timmy

Useless Waste of Time

...but I like it anyway.


(click to see the animation :])

More Prettys :]

1970 Nova SS recreation







1973 Datsun 240Z








1974 Ford Maverick





If only I had money!
[...I could pay for college and not a car]

Browsing Cars

I was browsing some cars (not like I have money to buy one) and came across this quiz.
I don't know about the description on this, but I like the way the car looks.
I have said that if I had enough money to buy a new car, I'd buy an old car. Perhaps this is what I need.

What kind of Muscle Car are You? 1973 Ford Gran Torino You are a 1973 Ford Gran Torino. You love Fords and hate Chevys....but you love seeing the look on their face when you smoke them on the road. Starsky and Hutch is your favorite show!

Good Music

I have tried numerous times to "realign" my musical tastes or find "substitutes" but the same thing always happens and I go back to what I enjoy (...makes sense right?)
Doom, death, black, melodic, atmospheric, gothic -- Metal.
Why is it that my favorite genres are comprised of things I feel I should not listen to??
The bands that describe themselves as "devilish" or "often cites Luciferian Saga as an important influence to the band." Names like Pagan Angel, Tiamat, Within Temptation . . .

My mom has a tendency to think the 'darker sound' itself is evil. I disagree.
However, I don't understand it. What attracts me so much? Why do the majority of these styles seem to be seeped in ancient religious lore?
I don't like attempting to make myself choose between a sound I like and themes that rot my brain.

This is just my rant for the day. However, I am curious of other's thoughts, feelings, and your take on good music.


[First posted on MySpace on Feb 25, 2008]

Chalk Art

Some intelligent individuals have been roaming campus with chalk (and eggs) in hand.
A few of their "creations":






"We're bleeding for nothing"











"Every time you vote republican... God kills a kitten. Think."

(I really wish this one was easier to read. It amuses me.)








"Mom"

:]










"Your mom goes to college!"







Such artistic talent. [insert sarcastic scoff here]

changes

Thinking about changing the title (Ramblings of a/n ... ??)
and perhaps also the url.
Maybe.
Haven't thought of anything perfectly fitting yet.

Dreamweaver Training

This morning I went to a Dreamweaver Training class. It was more of a short intro, running over some basics. I already knew quite a bit about web publications and had messed with DW some, but it's always the nifty/basic tricks that I miss when I learn things on my own. Now I know a bit more and got paid to be out of the office for several hours :] - who could miss a deal like that?!

Chuck Palahniuk

“Your heart is my piñata.”

“The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on."

“The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly.”

“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”

“You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice. To be or not to be.”

“If you don’t know what you want, you end up with a lot you don’t.”

“Game shows are designed to make us feel better about the random, useless facts that are all we have left of our education.”

Next

Right... So, I did some work. Finished that.
THEN (excitement), I redid my blog template and updated all sorts of things.
Now, I think I shall go do the same to somberlife so that I can get my label list to show.

Thoughts on Work

"The college / university world seems to be somewhat like the government. Way too many people, being paid way too much, doing way too little. Like the proverbial "road crew". 3 leaning on shovels, 3 supervising and 1 doing the work.

Enough for now. I need to go lean on my shovel. : - \"

- J Howell (email 09:00 06.04.08)

back again

Wow. It has been a while since I remembered that this blog existed...
But what a better time to start writing again than now! [Now being a summer full of long, uneventful hours at work with little to occupy my time.]
Great! So, where to begin...

Well, I am exceptionally tired. I usually go home, take a nap for 2-3 hrs, do random things (which usually consists of/includes playing World of Warcraft for an hour or few), and typically still get to bed before midnight; only to wake up exhausted at 7. I don't understand it. Perhaps I am just not getting restful sleep. Humm... perhaps I will try a night on the futon, as it makes a wonderful nap place. :]

I've spent my hours at work (when not working) emailing, chatting, generally surfing, making a database of all the phone numbers I have (need to work on that some more...). I think the next thing on my list of non-work work tasks is to bring in my notebook and update somberlife.

My slyness amuses me, and yet I have to wonder just how obvious I am sometimes. I keep open Dreamweaver on one monitor and the Photo Gallery on the other monitor (yes, I have two monitors - it's great :P), or other "important" looking work tasks. And then on top of that (and/or) somewhere in the background I keep all sorts of other things that I am actually doing. Point in case, on top of Dreamweaver, I currently have a very small WordPad doc open into which I am typing this, and then every paragraph or so, I c&p into [Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Tab] my Blogger window.
[Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S]

Heh... much ♥ to keyboard shortcuts.

I think I am going to try and find something 'real' to work on for a while...

~S

[Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S, Publish Post]