Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Cool
Current mood: Sleepy
Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:53 AM EST [Link] [No shoutouts]
For no reason
Is it just me, or does it seem like news on Teresa Heinz Kerry's "shove it" comment has been lingering for days, but chatter about Dick Cheney's "fuck off" comment disappeared rather quickly?
Don't you think the vice president saying "fuck off" on the floor of the Senate is a tad more serious than someone telling a reporter to shove it?
The GOP's spin doctors are far superior at suppressing unflattering news.
Current mood: Sleepy
Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:39 AM EST [Link] [1 shoutout]
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Setting a good example
Overheard in the shoe department at SuperTarget tonight: 20-something mom telling her toddler daughter that the tall boots her daughter pointed to were "hooker boots."
Current mood: Appalled
Posted by Lynniechan @ 11:13 PM EST [Link] [No shoutouts]
Snip snip
I'm off to get my hair cut again. I've gotten it trimmed twice since I chopped it all off, and neither cut has been as great as that first one. I've tried to describe to the hairdresser that I'd like it just like the first time, but I think he's one of those artistes who takes creative license with what you tell him and "runs with it," thinking, "She's going to love this!"
If I wanted it to be short on top and long in the back, I would have told you that's what I wanted.
I like my stylist, though -- he's a very likeable, happy, chatty, hug-you-when-you're-done person (but I wouldn't call him annoyingly perky, just one of those people who you can't see anyone not liking) -- so I find myself calling him up for an appointment every time anyway.
Current mood: Nervous
Update: The artiste did exactly what I described to him this time: feathered around my face, big and round and helmety, don't touch the bangs. Two thumbs up. [Aside to Pinky: Not that I'd want to, but if I colored it blue, I could be Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion in a cosplay contest. YES.]
Posted by Lynniechan @ 05:16 PM EST [Link] [5 shoutouts]
Observation
I don't suffer fools easily.
I wish I had more patience with people. But sometimes I feel as though if I get something, anyone should be able to figure it out.
Current mood: Short-tempered
Current music: Chainsaws blaring from neighbor's yardPosted by Lynniechan @ 05:09 PM EST [Link] [1 shoutout]
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Waiting
I stopped into the Hess gas station a couple of days ago to get gas and check on Little Mama Duckie. She seems to be doing fine. She was sitting on top of her nest in the driving rain, protecting her unhatched eggs, and food and water bowls provided by her caretakers were still next to the blue mailbox she likes to rest next to.
Current mood: Happy
Posted by Lynniechan @ 11:38 PM EST [Link] [No shoutouts]
Friday, July 16, 2004
Just one more
I've started a Neverwinter Nights game with one of my best friends. I never was much of a real computer gamer, rather one of those poser gamers who happened to have übergamers as friends, one who would try to play at their level but never possessing the skill nor the patience to keep a game going for long. But I've always liked the aspects of gaming: the beautiful creatures and artwork; the supernatural and fantastical; pretending, just for a short while, to be someone you wish you could be; the collaboration; and the fact that some of it relies on chance, a simple roll of the dice, leveling the playing field just slightly so that people like me without an IQ above 160 can participate.
The one game I did love to play obsessively was Diablo II, perhaps my favorite game of all time. It's several years old now, long since moved from the best-sellers to the cutout bin. But it's one that I loved to play for hours and hours on end. It was like an addiction; mostly because I loved the way it played and the storyline, but also because I liked playing with my friend LD, my partner in adventure, who would be on the other end of the phone line clicking away with me, exploring dungeons, plundering corpses and saving innocent townsfolk until the sun came up.
I ran across a T-shirt the other day that made me laugh, because it brought back memories of all those interminable, sleepless Diablo nights I spent clicking, shooting, casting, attacking, clicking, shooting, casting, attacking. "Let's just finish the map," I'd say, struggling to keep my eyes open. Which, of course, is what I found myself saying the other night while playing Neverwinter Nights, as I struggled to fight off sleep. It's not as good as Diablo, but it's satisfied the little fairweather poser gaming nerd in me.
Current mood: Nostalgic
Posted by Lynniechan @ 04:34 AM EST [Link] [No shoutouts]
Pix
Photos from my weekend in Aiken, S.C. are here.
Current mood: Tired
Posted by Lynniechan @ 02:58 AM EST [Link] [2 shoutouts]
Thursday, July 8, 2004
No worries
Just added to my list of places to visit before I die: tenthousandwaves.com
Current mood: Diligent
Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:26 PM EST [Link] [3 shoutouts]
Monday, July 5, 2004
Sometimes people don't suck
As I pulled into a parking space in front of a low-rent Hess gas station a couple of weeks ago, this little lady waddled nearby and took refuge from the 100-degree heat in the shadow of the convenience store next to a blue metal mailbox. I thought maybe she was looking for handouts, but then I saw the real reason why she was here: She'd unfortunately picked the dingy, worn mulch of a concrete parking-space separator to lay her eggs.
"Oh, why'd she have to do that?" I thought. "Some punkass will surely smash those eggs in no time." This wasn't exactly the nicest neighborhood. The gas station is always busy, and it's on a 4-lane highway near the international airport. I felt sorry for her. I sat in my car and watched her for several minutes, wanting to do something but not knowing what and feeling as helpless as she.
While the bright, searing-hot sun incubated her eggs, she rested in the shade, next to the mailbox and within sight of her nest. I took care of my duties inside, desperately hoped she wouldn't soon end up under someone's tires and mentally wished her the best.
A week and a half later, I needed gas again, so I decided to stop by the Hess, curious to see the fate of Mama Ducky and her eggs.
I was relieved to see that she was fine, and her eggs were all still there. I thought for sure they were all dead... um, yeah.
In addition, someone had been looking after her: They (clerks, perhaps?) had set out bowls of water for her next to her mailbox resting spot. It still was terribly hot. And crumbs of food were near the bowls.
Mama wandered over to check on her brood, made her way back to the mailbox and sipped from a bowl.
I was nearly moved to tears by the clerks' act of kindness, especially in this tough neighborhood. The convenience store bustles with sweaty, grease-stained blue-collar workers and seedy characters in low-riders.
It's acts like this that keep me convinced that kindness still exists, even in the most unlikely places.
Current mood: Optimistic
Posted by Lynniechan @ 10:53 PM EST [Link] [5 shoutouts]