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June 11th, 2009
10:45 am - Harry
For those of you who knew Harry, he died last Thursday at the age of 19 years and 9 months. I had him since he was a kitten.
He has had several medical conditions for the last few years, so I was intellectually prepared for him going, but he ended up dying rather suddenly, going rapidly downhill in the last month. The grief is almost overwhelming. I will be mourning Harry for years, I'm sure--I spent almost every day of my life with him for the last ~20 years. He survived a broken leg when he was 10 years old, and diabetes, which he went into remission for about 2 years ago. Recently, he was struggling with kidney disease and hyperthyroidism and rapid weight loss. We are unsure what finally got him.
I had always planned to get another cat after he went. I am thinking of rescuing an older cat from a local no-kill shelter. I am probably not going to wait very long. Some cat out there would rather not be in a cage, and I have love to give and can afford to support him or her. There is the concept of respect for the dead, but also respect for the living.
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March 16th, 2009
05:54 pm - better late than never department
I see that I never managed to post that I finished NaNo in 2008 also. Last holidays were so busy...anyway, I was quite pleased with my novel this year--so much so that I've stopped revising my 2006 novel toward hoped-for publication, and am now working on revising the 2008 novel instead. It has sooo much more potential.
For the last year, I have been writing every day and I can really see an improvement. I highly recommend making yourself develop this habit if you really want to be a professional writer. It supposedly takes 21 days to establish a habit, so heck, why not try it?
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02:51 pm - back, single, happy, and grammar checking
Well, the bf and I broke up, and suddenly find myself wanting to post to LJ again...
The bf was good for awhile, then it went not so good and he was unwilling to work through anger issues and I was unwilling to stick around with that...so I'm actually happy and relieved.
But what I really wanted to post about was this--I just found out that MS Word will flag the one word sentence "Excellent." as a grammar problem, but the one word sentence "Excellent!" is o.k.
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October 13th, 2008
09:11 am - a happy fall indeed....
You know when someone you know falls completely for a new guy/girl and the two drop out of sight for months? That's pretty much what's happened with me. So it's wonderful, however, sadly I haven't been keeping up with LJ or even WoW.
But I found this a few places in code I was digging through for a bug Friday and just had to share:
"} catch(Exception e){
eMail="";
//God helps now
}"
I'm pretty sure it was one of our Indian contractors who wrote this and it got me to wondering if gods of Hindi conception get more computer-based prayers than Christian ones...
Then I started imagining this huge prayer-dispatch mechanism in which special computer requests get farmed out to various ethereal minions to look into...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) cheerful
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August 30th, 2008
12:49 am - all-time WTF
Today was the first time I've felt a true pang of regret about not having had kids. I find myself wanting to save "clippings" documenting this year's election for them when they grew up.
Current Mood: astounded
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August 22nd, 2008
07:58 am - Tapes!?
What am I supposed to do with music tapes, I ask. Beloved songs I've driven so many miles to. Music that formed part of my growing up and maturing. I don't have a tape player in my current car.
Start a program of replacing them by buying the CD's? Expensive.
Have a tape player installed in my car? Is that even worth the money? Do I really want to listen to this old stuff now?
Buy a tape player now so I can play them at some point in the future? Probably the most practical, but there's this depressing picture of crazy old lady with cats playing her music from the old days on her obsolete tape player. Like sitting alone in my sparkling long black evening gown drinking wine by the Victrola, except that I don't drink.
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07:52 am - The upshot
- 2 piles of books to Goodwill or Salvation Army
- 2 piles of mostly rather nice clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army
- 1 pile of very good books to try to sell on Craigslist or to a used bookstore
- A few other items to try to sell on Craigslist
- 1 pile of big items to take to dump and e-cycle
- several bags of trash now outside in trash cans
- a small selection of items to return to storage
- some books I decided to keep, in exhange 1 for 1 for books in my shelf I decided to release
- Woke up at 2:00 a.m. with night terrors
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/shock.gif) distressed
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August 21st, 2008
02:56 pm - the good old days, revisited
O.k. It's probably time for me to stop posting about vegan food, but just saw this...
There's a restaurant on Sunset Blvd in L.A. that offers a vegan "twinkie".
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-earlybird18-2008aug18,0,4048433.story
Wonder how that would go down in Berkeley. I can just imagine someone secretly ordering a stash over the Internet, turning out their lights, crawling into the closet and stuffing down four one after the other.
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08:52 am - de-hoarding trauma
Whenever I deal with my storage units, I go through this deep emotional suckage into the past and lost love and general screwed-up-ness on my part.
3 years ago I moved from a rather large 1 bdr apartment with storage space, to an eensy studio apartment. Consequently, I have two storage units crammed full of stuff. I could save some good money if I could just cut down to one.
So Tuesday I went down, and bravely packed up a car-full of my precious stored things. The plan is to triage it to Craigslist, Goodwill and garbage, with a little bit of controlled rescue and keep. Then repeat bi-weekly or monthly until the unit is empty.
Now the car-full of junk is all in the middle of my floor, staring at me.
There's my shirt I used to wear when I my ex-husband and I were deeply in love. It's a really nice shirt, but do I want to be reminded of what I lost every time I look at it?
I have to make these tiny world-rending decisions now for 4+ boxes full of stuff.
aaggh.
Current Mood: tormented
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August 20th, 2008
01:00 pm - What me and Heather Mills have in common
We've both donated to FARM, whose public awareness program I found particularly effective. They sponsored a billboard near a freeway on-ramp that publicized the connection between vegetarianism and fighting global warming. That contributed to my decision to become vegetarian.
Well, o.k., I donated $30 and Heather donated $50,000. But, still.
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/08/19/heather-mills-donates-50000-to-farm-at-animal-rights-2008-national-conference/
Current Mood: impressed
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August 19th, 2008
09:54 pm - more new and interesting food
I have a Chinese cookbook in which the author says that bok choy is his childhood comfort food. No. Vegetables are not comfort food. Macaroni and cheese is comfort food. Or so I thought.
Then tonight, I made this southwestern succotash. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/SOUTHWESTERN-SUCCOTASH-232321
Its pretty much all vegetables, but it's smushy and creamy and delicious. Very close to comfort food (though without noodles, it can't quite hearken back to my childhood definition).
It called for heavy cream. Well, I'd found the recipe before I became vegan, but didn't see poblano chiles until this Saturday at the Farmer's Market.
So I Googled "vegan heavy cream," and actually found a substitute. Now, it doesn't exactly taste like heavy cream, but it has the right texture and a hint of the right flavor. It worked very well in the succotash.
http://www.recipesecrets.net/forums/vegetarian-recipes/11321-heavy-cream-substitute.html
Current Mood: satisfied
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09:21 am - the angst of studying
I'm reviewing & memorizing pseudocode for computer programming algorithms to prepare for getting a better job. It's tortuous because I just seem to have a terrible memory.
So I Googled on improving memory and found this:
"It takes about eight seconds of intent focus to process a piece of information through your hippocampus and into the appropriate memory center."
(from http://www.helpguide.org/life/improving_memory.htm)
Damn! 8 seconds is a long time to focus on one thing. My impatience must be part of the problem.
Current Mood: aarrggg
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August 18th, 2008
02:08 pm - for posterity
You know how ancient civilizations found substances to dye their special stuff with, such that we find them 4000 years later with the color intact?
I'm now convinced that red chili pepper is one of those substances. I carried some pozole home in a politically correct cardboard cup with lid home from the Farmer's Market Saturday in my politically correct canvas bag, and it spilled.
I've tried pre-wash stain remover, soaking all night, and oxygen color-safe bleach, all to little effect.
This wasn't just your average raw canvas bag, but a special posh blue one with brown trim.
That'll teach me to try to go get vegetables in style.
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09:29 am - Sucking at Geography and History
When I read the news about some new international event of note, I often don't know where the country in question is, nor remember its history, if I ever knew it.
So I've resolved, each time I read the news, to locate one of the countries that's bubbled to the surface of current events and read a little about its background. I'm using Google maps, the online CIA World Fact Book, and Wikipedia.
Things I found interesting about Zimbabwe (fka Rhodesia):
Official language: English (was British colony)
Language mostly in use: Shona
Life expectancy at birth: Has declined since 1990 from 60 to 37 for males--the lowest in the world. 34 years for females.
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 15.3% (2007) (dropped from an estimated 29% in the mid to late 1990s)
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
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August 17th, 2008
02:46 pm - Fall is creeping into the air
I live near UC Berkeley, and the kids are coming back. Recent high school girls trying to look like sophisticated college girls can be seen walking down the streets. Back to school supplies are taking up huge quantities of shelf space in stores.
And today, it's just a little chillier in my apartment.
I was craving something sweet, but I've been in a "eat the stuff I already have" phase, since my cupboards are as jam-packed full as my closet. So I dug out some Scharffen Berger Cocoa I bought 2 years ago--preparing for my first NaNo. I just made it with soy milk and a bit of added sugar. It's way better than it is with milk.
So that's bringing me a little closer to the idea of accepting the coming of Fall, even though it seems like mid-January was just a month or so ago.
I'm wondering what I'll do about my official NaNo beverage though--Eggnog Lattes. I wonder if there's vegan "eggnog," and if it's even worth it.
Current Mood: accepting
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August 16th, 2008
09:31 am - o.k., now this is going too far
I just read this via my daily Google news alerts service on the keyword "vegan":
"Most nail varnishes are not vegan because they contain things like fish scales to create that shimmer." - http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greenlife/s/1062843_natural_beauty_nailed
Who knew?
This is prompted by the fact that there's a new line of vegan nail polish that stars like Jessica Simpson are using.
I do use nail polish, so how Berkeley, ultimately correct do I want to be here?
BTW, I still wear my various pairs of leather shoes, which I bought before becoming vegan. I figure there's no point throwing them away at this point. Will see if I can find non-leather shoes going forward. But nail polish!
Current Mood: surprised
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August 13th, 2008
06:02 pm - Keep on Writing...
ROTFL - A whole page of "Funny metaphors used in high school essays" from http://help.com/post/124066-funny-metaphors-used-in-high-school
E.g.,
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
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August 10th, 2008
10:17 am - happiness, hormones & love
Yesterday was social life heaven for me.
To start off the morning, I found a great post from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) pet_lunatic about cognitive dissonance, that got me to thinking, the true loves of my life have been with people who were attracted to exactly who I am.
In the evening, I had this party to go to last night with a social/singles group. I dread these things, but I gotta get out of the house if I'm going to meet someone, you know? So I decided well, it's no-cognitive-dissonance night--I'll totally be myself.
There were about, oh, 15 tables with 8 people each. At my table, I ended up with a man on either side of me--both men I had had sex with (separately ;-))! (Lest you think I'm a total slut, I've slept with exactly two people in the last 5 years, and these were them.) Me and my hormones were both happy that they both still chose to sit beside me.
To boot (no pun intended!), both of those men are embedded systems engineers. A third man at our table was also an embedded systems engineer. I was in geek high heaven. Naturally, I asked the third guy to dance! (He's quite a bit older than me, so I doubt I'll make a sexual move on him to complete the trio! ;-))
Then, then, then! A while later, while I was dancing, I looked across the room, and my eyes fell upon a man I was totally attracted to...geeky, genuine, a little overweight--totally my type. So I asked him to dance, and he said yes, and we ended up spending much of the rest of the evening together! We have *so* much in common. It was love at first sight, for me at least. He's a writer. He took my number.
Yeah. Happy.
Current Mood: satisfied
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August 9th, 2008
07:41 am - Wow! Thank you subconscious!
Someone I've got friended from a previous NaNoWriMo mentioned they were starting to think about their 2008 novel. I realized, hey, NaNo's not too far away really...I should set aside one or two of my daily writing sessions to brainstorm.
2006 NaNo went very well because I had had some plot and character notes ahead of time (which are legal, according to the FAQ). 2007 NaNo was not so great, since I only had an opening scene, and the whole novel never really progressed past that scene.
Yesterday, I was thinking...nothing interesting popped up during the year...
Then, Wham! This morning, in the waking up fog, a full-feature thriller/adventure movie was playing in my dream. It had all the elements--thrill, intrigue, romance, action, plot, character, exciting setting (and borrowed monsters from WoW). It would be hella expensive to make as a movie (lots of underwater action, expensive hotel scenes, set in a foreign country, plus completely made up places). But I got up, fed the cat, made the coffee, and spent a half hour writing down notes from what I remembered of the dream. It's totally perfect for a NaNo novel.
I'm so excited!
Current Mood: totally inspired
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August 8th, 2008
10:51 am - OTOH...the power of procrastination
I work on my novel every day--the only way to hope to ever become good enough to be a professional writer. But sometimes, well, often, I don't want to. My trick is to tell myself to just write something. So every morning, I at least open the file and write, if only for 5 minutes. But this morning, I had a ton of stuff on my list that I really have to get done today. So, I ended up motivated to write for an hour!
In other thrilling news--I cleaned out my kitchen cupboards because there was no room for any new food, including essentials like cat food. I resolved to use up old food before I shop for anything else. I found excess oatmeal I'd bought for making cookies or something.
Now, I think of myself as not really liking oatmeal much. But becoming vegan has made a lot of foods way more interesting, especially because of the experiments in substitution.
The way my mom used to make oatmeal was to make a well of melted butter in the top and then put brown sugar in it, which made it acceptable. So this morning, I made oatmeal with raisins and pecans, with a well of macadamia nut butter filled with brown sugar. Not bad at all!
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