I think I've finally turned the corner on this illness, with Robin maybe a day or two behind me. I haven't felt well enough yet to tackle the job search, so January ends with me still unemployed, but I'm hoping for better next month. Have I mentioned I really, really don't like January? Did some more emergency shopping today but felt terribly woozy upon returning. Looking forward to finally shaking this off! Also got my paperwork together to renew my passport, which I'd forgotten expired earlier this month. Oh well, I may not be able to travel anywhere for the foreseeable, but I can still pretend by using this airline ticket generator (via Gerard):
Do paper tickets even look like this any more? For so long all I've seen have been e-tickets.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Aaaand the lingering illness continues, as neither of us got a lot of sleep last night. We'd decided to use our brand-new penguin-shaped humidifier, which was a ghastly mistake as all it produced in me after 20 minutes was the most intense coughing fit I've had in years, causing me to almost throw up and experience the worst nerve pain I've ever felt, like some kind of electric shock was going through me. Don't tase me, bro! We immediately shut off the penguin and in desperation I did something I haven't done since before the hospital stay in December '05 -- I hit the NeoSynephrine. I'm keenly afraid of slipping back into addiction and doing myself more damage, but I have to say there's nothing like actually being able to breathe immediately upon inhaling a spray of that sucker. So far I'm absolutely limiting myself to one spritz in each nostril every four hours, but already I'm leery of the side effects so it's been pushed to the back of the medicine cabinet during the day, in the hopes the Coricidin HBP will finally kick in. I'm trying to forget my current state by rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after having finally seen the film yesterday. Whilst I'm not looking forward to all the brooding I remember from the first time I read it, it makes a nice change from Oz; Ruth Plumly Thompson may be cute light reading but she's no Jo Rowling. Of course, I'm not one to talk; my latest column is up at ComicMix as proof of that. Heck, I may even have the blues but I'm no Flora Williamson, despite what the Blues Name Generator (via Gerard) says...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I felt just well enough to drive to the supermarket for emergency supplies (British soup, 'tussin and such), and Robin got a lot of sleep so I hope the illness is leaving him soon. This is a stubborn strain; today's symptoms include my head feeling so swollen that it hurts to wear my glasses. Another unproductive day in terms of job searching, but it can't be helped, I need to be 100% healthy again to do phone calls and interviews. Watched the fifth Harry Potter film for the first time this afternoon; my goodness, it was The Grim, wasn't it? But at least they cut down on the 500+ pages of brooding enough to actually find Rowling's plot in there, so that's a good thing. Now I'm just waiting for the cat to stop meowing during this 15-minute interval between pilling and feeding, and then I think I'll collapse again. Say, can anyone figure out how to make FetchFido games (via Eszter) work? I have no idea what buttons to push. Arrow keys, maybe? Still can't figure out the object of the games...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
The illness hasn't really improved nor disappeared. The latest fever (101.5º) broke about 2:15 AM, so I took advantage of that window of opportunity to finally shower. Robin's now got the illness as well; it's a good job he's between assignments, at least for the next couple of days. My brother Jay says that if this is the same "it's going around" that he had I should expect to be out of commission for about a week all told, so perhaps by Friday I'll be able to resume my job search. I have 22 unread job-board messages in my in-box so far, not counting all the stuff I find at Craigslist, but I just don't have the head to pursue anything yet, much less set up interviews on the phone. I'm going to try and struggle through writing my ComicMix column, after which I fear my mental energy will be all but expended. In other words, ick. Maybe I'll just sink into the recliner and watch TV. Here are some live TV widget generators for you (via Gerard).
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
My fevered sleep was interrupted a few times by just needing to get vertical and breathe a little better, but the worst of the fever seemed to break around mid-morning. I'm still very light-headed and unable to focus on the computer screen for very long, but I'm up to #23 or so in the Oz books and I'm forcing myself to drink a lot of liquids and I actually have an appetite again. Not much head for writing yet, I fear, so the next ComicMix column will have to wait until I'm a bit less fuzzy. Here, have some fun playing with DoppelMe (via Gerard). As usual, they don't have my body type.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Damn, damn, damn. Sucking on lemons all day and sleeping half the time has not made me feel any better. The cough is worse, the bug is lodged squarely in my chest, and as much as I adore Mustang Bobby (and I do!) I'm not going to take a chance in sub-freezing weather to attend a play in NYC that doesn't even begin until 9 PM. I called Bobby to apologize but I still feel like shit in more ways than one. Safe flight back down to Florida, Bobby! Here's a dream to tide you on your way: a screenplay generator (via Gerard). Get working on that film now! And the next time we see you, I'm sure it'll be to attend your play on Broadway!
Come Saturday Morning Blogaround
Wow, cleaning out my individual News+Views blog sections really helped me speed through my reading yesterday, despite what appears to be blossoming into a full-blown cold. And we're going to see Mustang Bobby's play tonight, too, thereby almost guaranteeing we'll pick up something even worse from our sojourn into Manhattan. Still, between streamlining my blog reading and the kitchen (clearing the hutch in preparation for the AeroGarden setup, rearranging our countertop and putting various substances in containers) I can actually fool myself into believing my life has a bit of forward movement despite not yet being hired. Here's some more forward movement to close open bookmarks:
• Mazel tov to Rachel on becoming pregnant -- with twins, yet! And Jamal reports that Karine is 28 weeks along; he doesn't need to report how aglow she is, you can plainly see that.
• While MLK Day has passed, I couldn't resist passing along this lovely bit from Fake Steve Jobs. Meanwhile, the next big celebration coming up is Mardi Gras (on February 5, the same day as Super Duper Pooper-Scooper Tuesday), and Harry Shearer talks about how his New Orleans neighborhood is preparing.
• Bibi has gathered together all kinds of links to fairy tales online; this one's become a permanent bookmark for me! However, I read the first Jewish fairy tale on the site to which she links, and can I say Jews just don't really get the hang of fairy tales? Folk tales, fine, I love me some Sholom Aleichem, but fairy tales, not so much.
• Some nice thoughtful essays about death in comic books, by Mike Netzer (who as you may know is spearheading a campaign not to have DC kill off the Martian Manhunter as per a current rumor) and Val D'Orazio. I'll probably throw my two cents in for my next ComicMix column. Meanwhile, Lis Riba tackles the item that's incensed comic book readers from the other Big Two company, suggesting that "Instead of turning the clock back and regressing the characters so they can return to a vision of bachelorhood which will appeal to the boys, comics should take a lesson or two from women-oriented media like soap operas." It is kinda weird that the only two character options for many (mostly male) comic book writers seem to be regression or death. Can these guys not conceive of telling interesting stories featuring characters who mature gracefully?
A nice sunny day today, which found Amy relaxing on the "heart with hands" pillow Robin bought me from Ikea:
And this is a nice close-up of Datsa from a few days ago:
Kitties and sunbeams, perfect together...
Out with the Old...
Today I purged the two individual News+Views sections of my sidebar blogroll, removing inactive bloggers as well as most of the bloggers who no longer link to me. I was just getting too overwhelmed by the liberal blogger echo-chamber, and if someone has decided they have no desire to be my cyber-friend who am I to stand in their way? I know it sounds mean, but chances are these folks (some of whom I've spent lots of time socializing with in person) won't even see this post if they're no longer "speaking" to me. And it's not just a way of making my sidebar and daily reading more manageable (i.e., now I can spend more time reading and absorbing Digby's posts and Susie's volume!). It's a prelude to adding more new liberal bloggers on Blogroll Amnesty Day, which will be Sunday, February 3. So here's what I'd like Pen-Elayne readers (specifically liberal bloggers) to do -- if you already link to me and you don't see your name on my sidebar, please email me or leave a comment below so I can rectify the error. (I did a search on everyone's site for my first name, but it's possible some of you have blogrolls off your main sites.) And if you want to add me to your blogroll, please alert me so I can reciprocate. I'll announce all new blogroll additions on Blogroll Amnesty Day. Thanks!
Silly Site o' the Day
Via Mark Morford's column today, this has to be a goof -- the SnūzNLūz Wifi Donation Alarm Clock, which "Connects via WiFi to your online bank account, and donates YOUR real money to an organization you HATE when you decide to snooze!" Seriously, there's no way this can be for real... is there?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I'm totally wiped from this morning's interview, which was for a job not really suited for me and in an inconvenient area into which to commute, thanks to 9/11 -- but I saw it as a touristy thing, as I'd never been to the World Financial Center before, and would highly recommend it and the rest of Battery Park City as a cool place to see, particularly (I would imagine) in the summer. Anyway, left the house at 8:30, didn't get home till 3, dinner was started at 7 but not eaten until 10, so my internal clock is probably all mixed up. Maybe I'd have been better off playing a cooking game rather than actually cooking tonight. But dang, that roasted chicken and veggies was tasty! Oh, by the way, did you know this week (excluding the weekend, of course) is NYC Restaurant Week, wherein lots of upscale eateries are offering 3-course prix fixe lunches for $24.07 and dinners for $35 per person? Here's a list of participating places.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
No Doubt
Have I mentioned the film crews are back on Riverdale Avenue, filming Doubt? Haven't seen any actual cameras yet, let alone movie stars, but I'm glad I have a dedicated parking spot in front of our apartment (and that the house wherein we live is set off from the main street), as parking will be at a premium again for awhile. I wonder if Meryl Streep or Amy Adams or Philip Seymour Hoffman is into sushi, I could recommend a great local place...
Silly Site o' the Day
As I was just on my way out to see the dermatologist (*sigh* yet another topical Rx for this annoying eczema) my former employer called, wanting to know if (a) I've sent in my COBRA health coverage money yet (I didn't even receive the letter with the amount due until yesterday) and (b) I might consider coming in for a day or so, for which I'd get paid. If I were more awake (it was another rough night) I'd have said "sure, I'll come in if you consider my COBRA paid for the month" but it gave me too much pleasure to say "no thank you." Aside from the health thing hey have no further hold over me, as my severance period has officially ended. I'm sure at this point, with my skills and all the positive interviews I've had this month, it's just a matter of time before it's all a moot point and my life can once again move forward. For now, I'm keeping up with my present obligations of reading and writing -- my latest ComicMix column is up -- and, well, as little 'rithmetic as I can help. Speaking of which, Ann Bartow leads me to the satiric news site NewsBiscuit, which has all kinds of kooky numbers as well as lots of other fun items.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Good interview this morning; the interviewers thought I would be a better fit at one of their other locations in Manhattan, and by the time the return subway reached 125th Street so my cell could get a signal, I'd arranged another interview on Thursday morning. This one's right across from the WTC site, so I'm a little freaked, but it's a Good Thing to remember all those people and not take life for granted. Particularly as I've just heard another young actor has died; two in one week, in any week, is two too many. As humans we crave survival, connection... speaking of which, the latest blog to take advantage of pareidolia (a word I really need to remember) is the clever photo-blog Faces in Places, featuring photographs of objects wherein faces are perceived. Got that one via Bibi, who always makes such interesting connections.
Blogging for Choice
It's once again Blog for Choice Day, and so I'm just going to repeat what I wrote a couple years ago, as someone who desperately wanted children and was never able to have them:
Lots of folks are childless by choice, and I say more power to 'em, live the life you want to. But I'm different. I've wanted to have kids since I was one. But, for whatever reason, I've never been able or lucky enough to conceive. And now I'm well past safe childbearing age and not rich enough to adopt and I've learned to ignore the sorrow and push it into my mental background most of the time. Besides, I have a wonderful husband, two terrific kitties and lots of caring friends and family members, I'm pretty darn blessed with company.
Regardless, the fact that fate has denied me a childbearing choice does sadden me when I think about it, so I get livid when I see people wanting to legislate other women's lives and bodies -– our bodies! -– by denying them choices as well. Everyone has a different circumstance that leads her life path into a women's clinic; how can you presume to know each one? You can't; they're private, they're none of your business unless you know the women personally (and even then it's not your body so it's not your decision to make), and you've no moral standing on which to pass judgment.
So, you know, if you're trying to pass judgement, particularly in the form of legislation -- just knock it off, okay?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Hooray! My toe finally got a clean bill of health, so I can now switch my routine from twice-daily foot soakings, with all their attendant topicals, to getting on the stationary bike once more and building up my stamina for proper pavement-pounding. Online job-searching was lousy today for whatever reason (I searched back about a week or so), but I haven't begun exploring most of the sites the NYS Labor Department gave me so there's always hope. Tomorrow is, after all, another day! A day wherein I have another interview, so I get to ride the bus and train pretty much all the way from the top of the Bronx to nearly the bottom of Manhattan again. Up to Oz book 20, which I figure I'll finish by the time I get home again to work on my ComicMix column. Maybe I'll pick up some donuts for Robin on my way back, but I don't think I'll be creating my own (via Gerard)...
Happy MLK Day
As promised, via YouTube, Barack Obama's speech yesterday:
From everything else I've seen Obama seems a bit conservative for my tastes, and therefore wouldn't be my first choice as President, but all in all I have no major objections to him, and this speech certainly garners major tolerance points.
• Mike Netzer makes me blush. I don't think I've ever done anything particularly heroic in my life. And as far as I know I don't have a secret identity. From what I can tell, I'm about the same in person as I am online.
• Now it can be told! Here's some information on Robin's next project, courtesy of the penciller, our friend Jamal Igle. Unfortunately, as Jamal notes, Robin is "the only person not listed in the solicit" from DC. Was it something I said?
• You know, when the "Gates" public art thing came out I rather adamantly pooh-pooh'ed it, but apparently it brought in a lot of tourist money and did no lasting harm to anyone or anything, so I'll grudgingly admit maybe I was wrong (although I still like the parodies). Well, via BoingBoing, a Danish artist now plans another massive art project for NYC this summer, featuring four giant waterfalls. And I gotta say, I'm kinda looking forward to this one, particularly if it's true that "The scaffolding will have a floating barrier at the bottom to stop small boats going underneath and a 'shark cage' under the water to stop fish being sucked into the pumps that will take the water to the top" and "The pumps will be powered by renewable energy sources and the falls will be lit only by low-level lighting at night."
• I was even more ambivalent about watching Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert return without the WGA strike being settled than they were about returning. I'm watching when I feel like it, but half-heartedly at best. Ted Rall and Matt Bors decided to do 'toons about the situation.
• Via the Rude Pundit, the Onion fantasizes about what Jimmy Carter probably wishes he could say were he not so humble and diplomatic. Avedon reminds those who don't remember history (or didn't live through that time) why Carter was such a good president and Reagan such an awful one. As the Heretik adds, "No past is more glorious than an imagined past." Speaking of our actual past, earlier this week when Senator Clinton made those remarks about MLK and LBJ, I couldn't help but wonder what Johnson White House employee Bill Moyers would have to say about it; if you're curious as well, here's his video response. And speaking of MLK and videos and the 2008 campaign, C-Span purports to have video of Obama's MLK speech today at the Ebenezer Baptist Church but, as usual with C-SPAN, it's not working. Best tune into the Obama campaign website tomorrow for the full video; the written version can be found there now.
Somehow otherwise-evil corporations like McDonald's don't seem to look as bad in foreign languages. Here's a German site for Mickey-Dee's called "Hüttengaudi 2008" that lets you put the face of your choice on a lederhosen-dancing' fool, if you can figure out how to translate enough of it to use it. Fortunately, Gerard does the step-by-step.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
A much-needed sleep day mostly. Up to book #18 in the Oz series, toe's getting better but not fast enough for my liking. Did a bit of reading up on my former employers (not the one which just eliminated my job, the ones before that) and found the NY offices had both moved, so updated that contact info for my employment folder. Even sent my resume into the place that eliminated my job ten years ago; I really liked them, so maybe they now have an opening, who knows? Plus, they're in the same building as DC Comics, which would mean not only a great commute but I'd get to see my friends more often. Didn't really pay too much attention to "Ne-vaaa-duh" which, as far as I can recall, my family has always pronounced "Ne-VAH-duh" (and my mom's lived there for at least a dozen winters), but quite liked the Diebold Variations (via Eszter), which unfortunately are far from funny only because they're so sadly true...
Friday, January 18, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
"I'm hot-fingered, check it and see, I've passed the type test at a hundred and three..." What a weird morning-slash-afternoon! Today's interview was set for 10 AM, and at 10:15 they started me on the tests. First the typing -- as I mentioned, 103 wpm. Then the alphabetical order/reading comprehension/math/spelling paper test; 90% or better on all. Then the Excel test (86%) and the Word test (94%). I didn't actually sit down for an interview until after 12, and by the time I got home it was 2:30. Have I mentioned my foot hurts? As there was nothing else I wanted to watch at 8 PM I decided to take in Olbermann, who wasn't bad this evening after the stupid horserace stuff. I particularly liked this video he showed at the end:
You'd think Datsa would be warm enough with the fur coat he already has...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
A bit of a whirlwind this past couple of days, mostly from having to get up at 6:30 AM to be out of the house early enough to commute via public transit to my morning appointments. Yesterday it was a 10:00 job interview down by the South Street Seaport, for which I'd allowed two hours although I lucked out and it only took one to get there. After that I'd planned to head up to 125th Street for a mandatory orientation at a Department of Labor career center, but the interview ran long (which I consider A Good Thing) that I showed up in Harlem a half hour late. Despite my having left a message a couple days before that this might happen, I was summarily rejected and told to return the next morning.
Alas, yesterday afternoon was a return visit to the podiatrist who had to do more toe surgery, which left me unable to wear a sneaker for the rest of the day. It actually hurts worse right now, the numbed toe being replaced by an overall soreness and swelling that I do hope goes away soon. At least I could don sneakers long enough to schlep back to Harlem (for those of you keeping score, that's a bus and two subways plus a 2-block walk, about an hour and a half total even though it's geographically closer to me than midtown Manhattan). The orientation was actually pretty good, I had no idea the career center offered so much, and all for free. The Labor Dept. person assigned to me even gave me good advice about my resume and a sheet listing tons of different online job placement sites I'd never heard of. So there you are, and once again I'm in good with NYS unemployment insurance. But damn, my foot hurt by the time I got home with the filled antibiotic prescription. I can has nap now?
I got a little sleep, but the foot still hurts like a mofo. Not attempting a shower until tomorrow, hoping to get through another interview tomorrow morning (bus and two subways again, but this one's cool as it's in the East Village where I used to work in the '80s and '90s). And yeah, I know going on about my toe is boring but I'm a whiner that way; aside from the pain it's actually been a positive week so far. Nonetheless:
Laura just called, and until she did I hadn't realized it's been exactly a year since my best friend Leah Adezio passed away. Have I mentioned January sucks? Except for January 20, because that's Laura's birthday. Here's my remembrance of Leah, originator of the Links o' Silliness, to whom this blog will be forever dedicated.
The Bloom Off the Rose
I tend not to watch most American TV news, because to do so is to be constantly bombarded with the propagandistic and the trivial. When we're not reading online news, we tend to stick with either the BBC (Robin) or EuroNews (me) to keep our perspective. And we've been faithfully watching Keith Olbermann for at least a year, deeming him about the closest we're going to get in this country, in this age, to the late great Edward R. Murrow.
But I think we may be taking a break from Keith for awhile. As I inferred in this post back in September, we need to remember that all these people ostensibly on our side (whether satirists, politicians or media pundits) are millionaires, and have far more in common with each other than they'll ever have with us. Watching them air out their populist veneers is a constant exercise in self-delusion that they give any sort of crap about the lifestyles of their viewers or constituents. And every so often the surface cracks and one can see them for what they truly are.
Keith Olbermann is an apparently intelligent man who, like just about every other cable and network political pundit, seems to be in love with his own ideas and formats and circle of guests. He, like just about everyone else on MSNBC, has an inexplicable admiration for Tim Russert, one of the more useless agenda-setters entrenched in the halls of power of the Beltway elitists. As Tom Tomorrow notes, "Tim Russert's entire shtick consists of 'gotcha!' He seemed to spend the entire evening [at yesterday's Democratic debate] trying to trip the candidates up in one minor inconsistency or another. 'In old photographs, you appear to be younger — but now you are clearly older! Explain THAT!'" He's really into the trivial horse-race aspect of this year's Presidential campaign, even as he tries to have his cake and eat it too by talking about how awful The Media is to concentrate on the trivial.
But I think the last straw was the nasty turnaround that NBC foisted upon legitimate long-shot Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, deciding unilaterally (and getting the government to back them up) that it would be good for democracy to have fewer voices participating in yesterday's debate. Olbermann reported this, to his credit, but didn't question it at all. He seemed to think this perversion of the press' responsibility was not only a good thing, but so inconsequential it wasn't worth examining. Well, of course not -- it's like what Peter Stone had Ben Franklin say in 1776 about a rebellion only being illegal when it's in the third person. Stifling alternate viewpoints (i.e., the actual left-wing of the Democratic Party) is perfectly legal when it's in the first person!
There was one point in last night's Countdown where Keith and David Gregory were discussing an actual issue, the economy. But they weren't really talking about the issue itself. They were doing the same thing I've seen pundits do about Iraq. They were talking about talking about it, kind of looking up their own assets to see what pronouncements The Media had on how the candidates were going to react to economically-based questions. They never actually got around to phrasing any of those questions, talking about hard stats, interviewing people who weren't in their tax bracket, all the things that might have afforded Countdown viewers context and information.
Has Olbermann truly gotten "wrapped up in the horse race" as the picket-line-crossing Matt Taibbi opines (via http://susiemadrak.com/2008/01/16/12/43/merchants-of-trivia/) is the case for so many media mavens? Or was he always this way and we just didn't want to see it because his Special Comments and frequent insights into just how screwed up the current radical reactionaries in power have made this country were like manna to a starved liberal, thinking citizenry? Is it in the end our own fault for hoping Olbermann would somehow be different, when he's just another millionaire on TV, and we're not and will never be? Will this income divide, which has already played such a major role in how our leaders are pretty much chosen for us by the very people with whom they often party, completely obliterated any hope for an adversarial press, i.e., a press that does its ostensible job?
So no, poll-taker, I don't watch the evening news. Not even, I'm heartbroken to say, Olbermann any more. Wake me up when Rachel Maddow gets her own MSNBC show. She strikes me as one of the few political commentators with their heads screwed on right who doesn't necessarily make seven figures; if she does, I'm not sure I want to know yet.
Silly Site o' the Day
Here's one I've been saving for awhile from my Google Reader feeds that I use for ComicMix stuff. (Speaking of ComicMix, my latest column is up.) Can you get through Anika's Odyssey? I tried but couldn't advance past the first few steps. Via Fanboy.com.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Yesterday actually worked out pretty well. I remembered that, even though I was literally sick to my stomach, I could still sit at the computer for lengthy periods of time provided I took frequent lie-down breaks. This bodes well for future employment habits, as I dislike staying home sick particularly if it's nothing contagious, and I know I can get through a day like yesterday as long as I don't move around a lot. I was able to shift yesterday's interview to tomorrow morning, after which I have a mandatory "orientation" meeting at the NYS Unemployment Division office in Harlem -- my first sojourn across 125th Street! -- then another podiatrist appointment in the afternoon, as I'm still feeling a bit of pain in my toe even though I shouldn't any more. I also plowed through a lot of comics and fielded at least three phone calls from recruiters, two of whom were unfortunately from Westchester County, where I'm no longer interested in working (I miss Manhattan!). Today's agenda: organize my job file so I'm prepared for the Unemployment stuff tomorrow. And field more calls; I just got off the phone setting up another interview in the Wall Street area next week. And keep up with blog reading and posting about silly stuff like this creation of Anne Bernstein: Muffgirl! Complete with lyrics and everything. No, it's not what you think.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Not feeling 100%, my body having anticipated the awful weather which never came and reacting as if it had, I'm not sure about schlepping all the way down to the South Street Seaport area (easily an hour and a half by bus, subway and on foot) for my interview this morning. I have about an hour to decide; if my stomach's still churning I'm going to try and postpone it. Meanwhile, one thing I'm not going to do is attempt 3D Tetris (via Cory at BoingBoing)...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Plumb forgot to do this yesterday, didn't I? Oh well, my record's still near 100% in the 3+ years since I started doing Silly Sites, not that it ever gets me any sort of nominations in anything because Silly Sites are neither expressly political nor targeted towards comic books. And hey, nowadays you have to specialize in order to be noticed, or even blogrolled in many cases. It's a good thing I don't do this blog for that sort of recognition! I do it because, hey, it's fun to pass along stuff from other bloggers that I find clever or amusing or interesting. Like this one from Colleen:
(Sorry Mom, it's another embedded video, I know your dial-up can't handle those.)
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Blogaround for Ellie
Ellie is this lovely woman from New Hampshire with whom I had an online video conversation yesterday. She works for a staffing agency whose office happens to be a couple of floors above where Marie Javins works; alas, Marie doesn't come into the office on Fridays, so she wasn't there when I swung by. It had been a good morning despite the major casualty of my job folder becoming completely destroyed in the rain (I purchased a water-resistant one in the afternoon); I hope all those old reference letters look okay after they dry! Anyway, my interview with a potential employer was mostly a preliminary screening but seemed to go okay and I'd love to work for them; it was the second day in a row where I'd interviewed at a company that not only offers the usual medical/dental benefits but they're 100% employer-paid, just like I remember they used to be at most every company in the '80s. Those two interviews alone make me feel very positive that there are enough good opportunities out there that I'm bound to land one of them soon!
So after that interview I went to one staffing agency which really didn't have anything for me, and pretty much said that any admin job at the salary level I wanted was bound to involve doing personal work for the executive(s) involved, something I knew wasn't true based on my own interviewing experience so I don't hold out much hope to secure a decent position from them. But then I went to see Ellie.
And my, what a breath of fresh air! She's the type of person that I'd want to be friends with even if she doesn't get me a job. From what I saw on the video screen (and this was my first Skype interview ever, although Rob and I have video-IM'ed back and forth via our respective Macs), she looked almost exactly like my old friend Anni Ackner, with whom I've lost touch lo these many years and whom I miss exceedingly. I wish Anni had a blog, she's a brilliant writer. During our somewhat rambling conversation, I got to "meet" Ellie's cats, we trash-talked the administration a bit (as NH has just had their dog-and-pony show), we discussed comics (she's a big fan of Little Lulu and wondered if Friends of Lulu derived its name from that comic, which indeed it did) and lots of other stuff. All in all, a great morning, most of it dry (after the initial soaking), and I made it home just before the heavens opened up again so even my timing was pretty good.
But alas, I'm way behind in blogging and reading and such, so let's try to clear out some open links, many of them going back to the start of the year:
• Due to the job search and being slightly under the weather and whatever other excuse I can dream up, I've missed a number of things. First and most importantly, I wanted to pass along my condolences to the family of Major Andrew Olmsted, who blogged regularly on Obsidian Wings as "G'Kar" and who was killed in Iraq. Here's his posthumous post, here's Hilzoy's remembrance, and here's the family's follow-up (which also has a collection of all the blog tributes to Olmstead collected by Hilzoy).
• On a much happier note, belated happy birthdays to two of my favorite Chrises ("Chrisim"?), Clark and Weston.
• Speaking of Chrisim, another Chris just celebrated his third blogiversary by inviting comics bloggers to submit "30 second recaps" of comic book storylines. I loved Lisa's take on Amazons Attack, even though I didn't mind the story itself. But my favorite, even though I don't think it was part of the contest, was Cheryl Lynn's LOLCat version of the controversial "One More Day" story in the Spider-Man books.
• My ex-husband and his wife got to see the Rose Parade in person, and here are some pictures Steve took. See, I told you I've been bookmarking old posts!
• Robin and I were watching some old episodes of A Cook's Tour on the Food Network over the holidays, wondering why in the hell the channel would show 5-year-old reruns of a show that was sort of a proto-No Reservations. I mean, we figured "ratings and money" but we were very curious as to what Tony Bourdain himself would say about it. We didn't have long to wait.
• Sweet Jesus I'm sick of the 2008 Presidential campaign already, in large part due to the way it's being covered by the talking heads. I'm also pissed that finances play such a big part in the matter that at least one candidate for whom I'd planned to cast my vote dropped out (after the first state!) before I ever had the chance. There's something fundamentally wrong and sick about all that. Even Olbermann is swept up into this nonsense, and the only person who actually told it like it was on his post-NH show was Craig Crawford. I can't deal with Crawford's cadence so I usually tune him out immediately but he was spot-on when he talked about how it was the media (he even used the dreaded first-person plural!) rather than the polls which went so horribly wrong in NH. Here's his HuffPo equivalent of that conversation. The one good thing about the political season is that we got to hear from Professor Wagstaff again.
• I have no use for Gawker, but I love love love their new group blog io9 about geek pop culture, not the least of which because it's being run by two women whose work I greatly admire, Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders. Considering Graeme McMillan is one of their contributors, putting this on my must-read list is a no-brainer. (I will be clearing out a lot of my sidebar blogroll soon, as it seems most of the political bloggers to which I link haven't reciprocated in awhile.)
• Most thinking people know Parade Magazine sucks but, as John August points out, what really sucks is when their cover story is all about how Benazir Bhutto will save Pakistan and the magazine comes out after her assassination. "Long lead time," my grandma Fanny. (I know the expression is "my aunt Fanny" but Fanny was my grandmother so there.)
• Whatever your feelings about anti-theists versus atheists, you must concede that by and large they're not going around preventing religious people from adopting children. Via PZ Myers, that unfortunately cannot be said to work both ways. Many religious people have a difficult time grasping that you don't have to be religious in order to be moral and upstanding (in fact, quite a few would consider religious fanaticism a clear impediment to living a moral and charitable life).
• As expected, Mike Netzer has a messiah complex, which seems to get more and more. Complex, that is. Although basically what I think he's saying can best be summed up by Bowie: We can be heroes.
• Why couldn't Val D'Orazio have written the Newsweek article on Wonder Woman and Gail Simone instead of Yet Another Cliche-Ridden, Clueless Journalist? (And no, in case you ask, the Playboy Nude Wonder Woman doesn't bother me; being married to an artist, I've seen him "paint" costumes on nude figures for years now. That's what about 90% of superhero costumes are, because most artists find it easier to just draw costumes on essentially nude characters than to bother with folds and such.)
Lastly, in case you missed it, another great post by Melissa on feminism. Ellie kind of reminded me a bit of Melissa as well...
Friday, January 11, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Gah! I just had to mute the MSNBC promo during Olbermann's show for how great and wonderful and etc. etc. Chris Matthews and his Hard Ball is. As the blog title goes (thanks for the alert, Melissa!), Sweet Jesus I Hate Chris Matthews. Even if you don't feel as strongly against Tweety as most of us thinking citizens do, you have to admit it's a very funny blog title.
A very good day today, more about which anon. But first -- oh, look, a box!
Amy got to it first, so Datsa's reduced to peering over the edge of the recliner...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I wasn't feeling that well this morning, so no real time spent online, then I had my interview in the city (which I thought went well) followed by a visit to an agency (which wound up being the predictable waste of time) and I've just been really wiped ever since. Goodness knows how I'll get through tomorrow with an early morning interview followed by two planned agency trips. Blogaround, writing, everything postponed until I get some rest. I really want to finish reading that Bourdain interview which I started on hours ago! Speaking of food, via Cory at BoingBoing it's the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Mmm, tasty musical veggies! Off to Firesign chat now.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Today would have been Dad's birthday, so I'm feeling a bit melancholy, but the sun is shining and I'm determined to go out and get some nice clothes for my upcoming interviews with some of the money he and Mom had put aside to send me on my 50th birthday. Didn't watch the New Hampshire primary results yesterday, but am extremely amused by some of the SwiftBoat parody ads put out by 23/6. They really seem to capture the viciousness of smear campaigns, of which I fear we'll be seeing way too much in the coming days. Oh, and my latest ComicMix column is up. Off to the mall now.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
My head is reeling! I'd felt bad about slacking off on the job search yesterday, so I did about an hour's worth in the afternoon, and devoted much of today to the online job boards as well. And my efforts bore fruit -- I now have interviews set up for Thursday, Friday and Monday! If the rain isn't too bad I think I'll go shopping for another interview suit tomorrow. Of course, this means I've slacked off on my blogaround, which I still hope to do either this evening or tomorrow, but as y'all know I don't consider blogging as much of a priority as finding a new job! The prospect of so much potential good news has me all fluttery and prancey -- speaking of which, via Gerard here's a My Little Pony generator (and test breeder) that you just know you can't do without.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Oh, my goodness. This is bad. It's a good job that Branscome International put its contact information at the end, that should make it a lot easier for Pixar to sue.
Via Raphael at Serious Eats. Apparently Branscome's done this before, their website also shows ripoffs of Bee Movie, Cars, Transformers, you name it. It's like the video equivalent of those faux Simpsons and Calvin & Hobbes t-shirts available at your local stret fair...
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
No sooner had I gotten back from food shopping at Stew Leonard's than Robin found out our milk had gone bad. Wish I'd known whilst I was at Stew's, their milk is practically made on-premises. Oh well, off to the local supermarket. There and back, and for the last five hours at least I've been full shod, with zero pain. The month-long toe nightmare is over! All the holiday stuff's been put away too, and we should have our living room back as soon as I've sorted through some comics to put in long boxes. It's amazing how conducive being pain-free is to forward movement. I can finally plan on going into the city during this next week to visit agencies and such, as well as hitting the mall to look for another interview suit. Pain has a way of wiping one out as well, so I'm glad my energy is returning.
Okay, maybe I'm not that energetic, but I think I'll have enough wherewithall to at least do a blogaround later. Street party sign generator (URL is on photo) via Gerard, of course.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Well, I thought the lingering toe pain was a combination of my imagination and having wrapped it too tightly yesterday, but it turned out there was still a shard of nail pressing against the abscess area, so the doc had to numb the toe with a shot. **squeamish alert** First he sprayed on a substance that froze the bottom of the toe, then I got a shot which worked in much the same way as Novocaine, then I waited about 10 minutes for the toe to get numb, then he froze the area to be cut into just for good measure, then the actual incision to remove the offending nail shard was about five seconds. **end icky stuff** The toe remained numb for much of the afternoon, which killed any plans I might have had. Feeling has now returned to it, and it seems like it's finally getting normal again, but of course the bit that he cut into is still tender to the touch. Which I hope is as it should be. I haven't tried putting on footwear again aside from my open-toed slippers, so that's tomorrow's test. But I feel like it's been a banner day, finally being rid of this pain that's dogged my dogs for at least three weeks, so why not celebrate with a banner? Here's one from a website ribbon generator (via Gerard).
Friday, January 04, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Show of hands, who's been sick of the presidential campaign horserace coverage for at least six months now? Not to mention other trivia masquerading as news...
Right now Datsa's working on me to give him more cat treats, an effort doomed to fail.
Back on the Hunt
Sorry I haven't posted today until now, but it's been, as expected, a strange day. At my former coworker's request, I went into the old office this morning to make sure the other former coworker had done all the monthly billing correctly (as the new clerical person isn't due to start until Monday), which he pretty much had, so I guess that speaks well to my training abilities. When I arrived my old desk looked like a tornado had hit it; within about 15 minutes it and the surrounding area were as pristine as when I worked there. I really hate disorganization!
Got home about 1:15, just long enough to relax and have some lunch and change for my job interview. It took me about an hour and a half to get to the City Hall area, during which my toe started hurting more and more. By the time I got off the subway I could hardly walk. The interview only lasted about 10 minutes, being an initial screening, and I managed to hobble to the express bus stop, as there was no way I could manage stairs in my condition.
Then things started looking up quickly. My toe still hurt like a mofo, but my wait for the bus was only about 5 minutes, it was the first of the day (that line only runs during rush hours), and I got to view the length of Manhattan from the WTC site on up to 125th Street during a really magical time of the day and, in fact, the year. Lots of places still had their holiday lights up; particularly exquisite was the Villard Houses building on Madison. It was a great reminder of why (when I can walk properly again) I really want to return to working in the City! And I had to smile when we passed the House That Steroids Built and the sign read "Only 41 Days Until Pitchers & Catchers" report for spring training.
Robin was there to greet me at the bus terminus and support me for the half-block back to the house, where I immediately removed my shoe, sock, and bandage. That last seemed to do the trick; the second it came off and I looked at the unusually-thin big toe, I realized I'd wrapped the bandage way too tightly this morning. (That also explains why the pain didn't seem to start until the afternoon; the compression took time to escalate into agony.) So there, for everyone who says I'm not wrapped too tightly!
Silly Site and Friday Cat Blogging coming later, probably after dinner and Olbermann. But first, I need to soak my aching tootsie again...
Thursday, January 03, 2008
My Better Half
Jen Contino's latest interview with Robin is up on The Pulse.
Time to wake up the artist in residence, methinks...
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Will tomorrow's interviews bear positive fruit? How does Friday look? How should I know, am I some sort of psychic reading generator (via Gerard)?
The Brave New Year
There's no denying that 2008 has started out very positive for me. This has been one of those extraordinary days that strengthens my belief that everything happens for a reason. I didn't get any sleep last night, but knew I had to push myself to get the minor medical stuff taken care of, so by 9:30 I had made an immediate appointment with a local podiatrist, by 10:30 the ingrown nail and abscess had been taken care of (and I can walk again, although the toe's still sore of course); by 11:45 the dermatologist had examined me and given me a new (weaker) topical for the eczema; by 12:30 the "juice run" food shopping was done (they carry the heavy bottles up the two flights so we don't have to, there's no delivery charge if it's over $75, and we were completely out of juice) and the prescriptions were in process at the pharmacy.
I had another hour to kill before picking up the meds, so I decided to grab a bit at the local diner by Broadway and 231st. And who should I run into but Alex Simmons! Alex and I like to joke that, while we're "neighbors" in a sense (he probably lives about 15 minutes away from us) we only ever seem to meet at comic conventions or around the corner of 231st and Broadway. Even though he was just leaving and I was just arriving, Alex sat down with me for half an hour and we discussed all sorts of things, pencillers and the next NY Kids' Comic Con and the uphill battles he's had to fight through the years against academic administrations. The weirdest thing was, I'd been thinking all morning about my personal resolutions for 2008, and how they had to include taking better care of my body (less tripping, more grace!) and maintaining my social life with my comics industry friends. Oh, speaking of which, my new ComicMix column is up, comments and all!
Got home around 2:30 and tried to lie down for awhile, but Datsa wanted attention. He finally settled about 4:30 -- and then the phone calls started coming. A couple from the old office (where I'll be Friday morning), two to set up phone interviews for tomorrow, and one to set up an in-person interview for Friday afternoon! Things are pretty much progressing as I thought I would; I made sure I saturated the job boards with my resume this last couple of weeks, and now that employers are back from the holidays everything's on the move again. Including me. Now if I can just get some sleep tonight...
