Firstly, on a more serious bent, I just wanted to say “Thank you” to elsaf for her post yesterday regarding the decision on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. To read it, click here. I think it’s great to see steps forward in gay rights issues, I only hope, as Elsa fears it might, that it doesn’t give more fuel for George W in his re-election campain. My sister is getting married this summer to her girlfriend of several years and I’m pleased as punch about that. But it just irritates me that there are people out in the world who think that their getting married is going to be the end of civilization as we know it. (It won’t be – I can assure you. It will be a joyous occassion, providing she doesn’t make me wear an ugly green dress.)

Now onto last night’s Angel. I was going to post our comments last night, but the show ends at 10pm and that’s when I like to be in bed (currently rereading Warchild by Andrew Cartmel). I’m only surprised that Elsa’s not had a chance to comment on it in her LJ. (Probably by the time I finish this post, she will.)

I saved our chat last night and will repeat much of it here:

trinalin: Angel!
JudiAnnG: I’m getting bad reception on WB
trinalin: That’ll go with the bad acting 😉
JudiAnnG: heh
trinalin: Angel’s Irish accent always sucks
JudiAnnG: Is that what it’s supposed to be?
[Spike the Ghost gets Post]
trinalin: He gets to be a real boy – but for how long?
[Spike tests his corporeal-ness on Harmony – blech]
JudiAnnG: He’s acting like a typical human male
[Expendible Ensign, er Lawyer gets hit by guy at copier]
trinalin: There are days when I feel that way re: toner
trinalin: Corporate Seers – heh. I wonder if they order them from the Seers Catalog 🙂
JudiAnnG: dialogue is getting a little too clever
trinalin: So far, the best line is “Is that otter?”
[Spike and Angel fight to the death (again)]
trinalin: So, Spike kills Angel and we get a decent TV show… 😉
***JudiAnnG high-fives Trina
JudiAnnG: this might be a half way decent show
trinalin: I’ve been entertained. 🙂 Which is all I ever ask of a show.
JudiAnnG: Can’t see shit..
trinalin: Neither can I. It’s all dark. My biggest complaint about the old Angel was it was too dark
***JudiAnnG nods
trinalin: Angel’s fighting against someone who’s been dying for a piss-up for months…
[Gunn goes after Eve]
trinalin: Go – kill her! Kill her!
[He fails]
JudiAnnG: damn
trinalin: Bet the folks looking forward to Dru were disappointed
JudiAnnG: That’s what I don’t like about Angel, mega-shit is supposed to be going down and it turns out to be a lot of action that goes nowhere
[Go to final scene with Eve in bed…]
trinalin: Whodat?
JudiAnnG: Who is that?

In other news, my new reading chair arrived yesterday. Leo has already decided that he loves it. I’ve yet to get my reading room sorted the right way for the new addition (it’s a rocker recliner – it’s replacing a boring ol’ stationary stuffed chair), but I know I’ll get it sorted before too long. So last night I spent an hour and a half reading and listening to my reading music. And Leo sat on my lap for a bit, but then decided to play around the chair. I’m currently reading Bone Walker by the Gears. It’s an Anasazi mystery that’s being solved in the past as well as by archeologists in the present. It’s the third in a series by the authors and I’ve enjoyed them all so far.

Current Mood: peaceful
Current Music: “Quietly Alone” by Kirsty MacColl

I’m a mail order junkie. No, I don’t sit around watching the shopping channels and ordering turnip twaddlers, but I do love mail order catalogs – whether on paper or online. Several years ago, before online shopping was the norm (for me, at least) I bought my entire Christmas through mail-order catalogs. It was great fun opening up all the stuff before I got to wrap ’em up as gifts for others. And I never once had to go out into crowded stores.

Now I rarely shop with paper catalogs. Oh, I’ll look through them, but if I see something I want, I’ll get online and go to their website. Then I’ll order the product. This way I don’t have to talk to anyone over the phone (gah! hate that!) or wait for my order to get lost in the mail. This way the computer can burp and I’ve no idea of the order went through or not…

My most recent online orders arrived today and are my yearly Oriental Trading Company Christmas order and something from Cafe Press. I, as a physics teacher, love cheap plastic physics toys. So every year for the holiday season, I order lots of cheap plastic physics (and chemistry) toys for my students. You just can’t beat a gross of plastic Christmas tops for $3.50. (Alas, they’ve not had plastic Christmas tops for the past two years – maybe they’ll get ’em back for next year.) I also got some fun stuff for me, cuz as much fun buying for others is, it’s even more fun to buy for yourself.

So my second order to arrive today was a Pegasus Mail sweatshirt from Cafe Press. Yes! Pegasus is now selling merchandise. Alas, it’s because David Harris needs the money. But it’s a great way to show your support for Pegasus Mail. Pegasus is the e-mail client that we use at work (at my insistence). And our school is the least hit by viruses in our county. (Knock wood!)

If you, too, love Pegasus e-mail, check out the Pegasus Store and order up some clothing, mugs, mouse pads, or whatever. The best part of the sweatshirt, IMO, is the back which states “Change Your Outlook.” 🙂 Actually, the best part is that David Harris gets the money he needs to help support this software.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: “There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” by Kirsty MacColl

Firstly, why is it called a “den”? Doesn’t “den” mean the habitat wherein lions reside? So what’s that got to do with the “home office” or, as we always thought of it growig up “dad’s special room”? My den isn’t “dad’s special room” but rather “Trina’s computer room.” And right now, it’s a mess…

There’s a part of me that likes cleaning up my house. (Hush, Judi & Elsa!) That part of me is the part that wants to play with everything as I clean, thus stopping me from cleaning more. So it usually takes a LONG time before I finish cleaning. Wonder how long it’ll take for this job? Guess I’ll find out eventually. 🙂

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: “Summer with the Monarch” by Grimms

I know my Inner Muppet. It’s Ernie from Sesame Street. There’s no question about that. However, if I were asked who my favorite Muppet is, that would definitely be Pepe the King Prawn. So, while I was out today with Brandi, I had two goals – one was to buy my perfect Reading Chair for my Reading Room and the other was to find me a Pepe the Prawn figurine. I was successful in both endeavors. My chair will arrive on Wednesday and my Pepe is being opened now.

Cool! His deck chair and umbrella have cloth thingies! And he has sandals that slip on his feet. This is cool!

Now onto the day – we had a lovely day today. I took a wrong turning on the way to the Indian place, so we went to the Dayton Mall first. Other than buying some Toys for Tots, we didn’t buy anything at the mall. But the walk gave us a good appetite. Next was India Palace. I got the Buffet, but Brandi decided to get the chicken chili. (She likes chili, see… I didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t quite the same.) The waiter assured us it could be made mild, and they did. I also ordered some nan for her since she doesn’t like rice. (Yeah, strange kid…) I shall let her explain what she thought in her own words.

“It was ok I guess but my favorite was their bread. I don’t like their sauce in the chicken chili. The chicken tandoori was good too.”

(Her cousin wouldn’t have shared some of her chicken tandoori from the buffet, now would she???)

After the meal, we headed north a bit to the Mall at Fairfield Commons, with a stop at Sofa Express to buy my Reading Chair. Thanks to their Pre-Winter Sale, I got no-interest, no-payment until 2005. I figure I can get it paid for by then. At the mall, we bought 3 Pepes – one for me, one for Brandi, and one as a house-warming gift for Deanna. (What can I say, my cousins have great taste in Muppets.) After the mall, it was off to BestBuy to get Brandi her Good Charlotte CD The Young and the Hopeless. Then onto the Bookery Fantasy to get my DWM and Dreamwatch for the month. And finally to visit Deanna in her new apartment. Nice pad.

Now we are home. First an update to LJ (vis this) and then Bend it Like Beckham. Gotta end our Indian Day on a positive note, eh? (Coincidentally, Brandi’s class is learning about India in Social Studies right now.) If we’re still awake later, Holes!

Current Mood: exhausted

My cousin Deanna (20 years old, college student, Brandi’s aunt – as Brandi is actually a second cousin to me – or is that first cousin once removed?) lives in a townhouse near Wright State University (her future alma mater and my current alma mater). She called several minutes ago about what to do to fix her mom’s dead computer (sounds like a dead power supply) and I checked to see if she’d be back at her apartment any time tomorrow. She figured she would, and since Brandi and I will be down WSU way (my comic book store is near there) we’re going to try and meet up with her to see her apartment. (It’s a shame she’s working – I’m sure she’d love to join us for Indian Fud!)

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: “Here Comes the Rain Again” by Eurythmics

I tell ya, with a “buy one, get one free” coupon for Subway, you can end up with a pretty inexpensive 2 meals. And I like the new Sweet Onion Teriyaki Chicken sammich. (I’ll have the turkey & ham sammich Sunday, probably.)

Still on the food end of things, thanks for the suggestions on Indian food with my little cousin. That should be lunch tomorrow, followed by lots of shopping. Brandi’s been helping me to install software in the elementary after school for the past few weeks. (She’s better at testing whether the install works or not – sometimes testing too well…) So one of the things I’ll do is buy her a CD of her choice (provided there are no Parental Advisory warnings on it – I don’t want to get Connie upset with me!) I think Brandi’s already figured out the one she wants. Other plans include watching Bend It Like Beckham on DVD and her sleeping over Saturday night. (Hey, I have a pool table, a cat, and a DVD player – what more could an 11 year old want?)

Did I suggest merely one DVD player? Well, apart from my laptop and computer, I actually have 2 DVD players. There’s my first and favorite – the Sampo, which is a multiregion player. But when my VCR started to die on me, I thought it might be nice to have a DVD/VCR combo. (OK, so I’ve been against those for the most part – if one of the two bits goes dead, then you’ve lost the convenience of the combo – but I figured it would save me space and wiring.) So I now have a Phillips combo set, which is really nice. And as the Sampo has been known to skip on some R1 DVDs (I’ve yet to watch The Aztecs for all the skipping) I thought a more modern DVD player would be nice.

The new combo even plays DVD-Rs without a hitch. This came in handy when copying the chemistry videos (about groups in the periodic table) to one master tape. This year, I had the most type of media turned in. Several VHS tapes – those were easy to copy. Plus one VHS-C, one 8 mm cassette, two miniDV cassettes (those are soooooooooooo cute!), and two DVD-Rs. Quite impressive (even though I had to borrow 2 students’ video cameras to convert). As for the quality of the videos themselves – they were all well done and entertaining. Some had better editing skills than others, but all were creative and most were pretty informative. We also discovered that one of the junior girls does a very good Jimmy Stewart imitation.

This post was quite a ramble, I’ll admit. But it’s OK, I had Subway. 🙂

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: “It Ain’t over Till the Fat Lady Sings” by En Vogue

Being a fan of the Winnie the Pooh stories, I couldn’t resist this quiz: Which Pooh Character Are You?”

Headstrong almost to a fault, practically nothing
gets you down.
You enjoy making grand entrances and the odd
practical joke, (and are not afraid to ‘bounce’
somebody if it gets a laugh from your friends.)
You love being the life of the party but your
energy and fun-loving nature can sometimes get
you into trouble.
As a Tigger you do crave attention, but you are
always fun to be around.

Which Pooh character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I am not at all surprised by that.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: “Let’s Get Busy Baby” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

Well, I knew it would happen – actually, I lasted longer than I thought I would. It’s been a week since I successfully got an LJ post up. And I posted every day – including today. But does today’s post really count when all I’m doing is writing to say that I have nothing to say? Hmmm, that’s an interesting question…

OK, here’s a question for y’all – if you were going to take your 11 year old cousin out for her first Indian meal, what would you order for her? Just for some assistance, she’s more of the non-adventurous sort. I seem to remember I was willing to try any strange “ethnic” food when I was her age, though I avoided “healthy-looking non-ethnic” food (aka, veggies). But she seems even more finicky than I was. Suggestions on a postcard to… Hell, I’ll make it easier – just comment on my LJ.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: “Parents Just Don’t Understand” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

judiang and I watch Angel together every week cuz neither of us are much in the way of Angel fans. I happen to like Spike and we both like Elsa, so we watch this show. So, now we get to comment on the episode before Elsa even gets home from work. Ha!

The best line of the show: “Sex with robots is more common than people think.”

Guest Star: That was Roy Dotrice, wasn’t it?

Acting: There was acting? Last week, Judi and I decided that Angel had two expressions, moody and constipated. The real problem occurs when he has to do both at the same time.

Pulling Punches: Yeah, ElsaF was right when she claimed that the current season of Angel has been pulling its punches. I think this tells us one thing – Angel (the vampire or the series – take your pick) has no balls. Was he castrated in the last season?

My opinion of Wesley (shebit is gonna KILL me): He’s still a turnip. But at least now we *know* why he’s a turnip.

Spike: Judi’s comment: “Spike was a poor bedeviled vamp. Now he’s a pain in the ass ghost.” True, but he is the funniest part of the show.

Current Mood: indifferent

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m the network administrator and all around computer guru at school. I’m also the physics & chemistry teacher there. So for me, computers are a daily thing. Thanks to our school being an Ohio school, we have no money. So our computer upgrading has not been the ideal 3 year cycle that we mention in our Technology Plan. It hasn’t even been a 5-year cycle.

But thanks to some grants (which, although wonderful, are always a spurious thing and should never have to be counted upon) we’ve been able to get some new computers for the elementary and high school. We have 270 computers in the small K-12 building (yes, all the same building) and try not to change the total all that much. (Just no room for more than 6 computers in most classrooms, and there are 3 big HS labs and 1 big elementary lab – junior high is considered part of the HS for most classifications.)

So what does one do with the old computers? Yes, that’s right – put them under the chemistry tables, under the physics tables, on top of the physics tables, in the science computer lab along the back wall, and in the technology storage area (which is first and foremost the physics equipment storage area). Oh yeah, and also put them in the wire-closet, too. We had over 100 computers, nearly 90 monitors, boxes of mice, keyboards, and speakers (when people request speakers for every computer in their classroom, just say no and give them headphones instead!) and horrid SCSI/Parallel scanners. They were on my carts and in my way. And today, we finally got rid of them all! YAY! Thanks to Computer Haulers of Dayton (who supposedly recycle the good bits to make computer systems for people who can’t afford them) I now have my chem lab and physics storage back!

The truck arrived today (coming for the second batch of stuff – it didn’t all fit the first time) during physics and the students were thrilled to help take all the monitors and carts out to the truck because it meant another delay in taking the test on circular motion. 🙂 So now they get to take it on Monday (when their catapult research papers are due – but that’s also an extension). So let’s hear it for Computer Haulers of Dayton and Miss Short’s physics class for finally getting my rooms back!

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: “I’m Coming Out” by Chumbawamba