Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Living Underground

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It seems that if we want to move to live on other planets, the surface is probably the worst place to live. On the surface you have to deal with weather, atmosphere (or lack of), possibly solar radiation, dangerous dust (which inspired me to write this), etc.

If we’re going to plan on building colonies on the moon, Mars, etc. why not just plan to build the colonies underground? I know a lot of people probably hate the idea of living in caves, but it just seems to me to be the best way to go about things.

I know this isn’t some new revolutionary idea, but I guess for my sake now, when I try to envision living somewhere in space, I’ll picture something underground rather than some fancy tent or glass dome on the surface.

Miscellaneous, Trends

25 Things

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There is a Facebook meme going around where you are supposed to post 25 random things about you. I guess my list isn’t so random, but whatever. I figured I’d cross-posted it here.

01. i first used the internet in 3rd grade (around 1990) when i was one of the few people in my school to get a chance to use prodigy. i remember their main feature at the time was some NOVA special about sleep.

02. my first online obsession (starting in 1993) was an online game called MUDs (multi-user dungeons/dimensions). imagine world of warcraft without graphics (all text). my favorite MUD was called dark saga.

03. eventually i created my own MUD (and was called a “god”) and that’s where i learned how to do computer programming (in a C-like language). strangely enough, the name of my MUD escapes me. i remember my part of the MUD was called deluge and it always rained there.

04. i’ve come to the realization that i prefer reading critical theory/philosophy more than standard fiction.

05. my favorite writer/philosopher is slavoj zizek. he’s the perfect balance of high culture/low culture for me. i wish i knew about him in college so i could’ve incorporated him into every paper i wrote.

06. my other favorite writer/philosopher is laura kipnis. she’s the perfect mix of freud/marx.

07. one of my favorite books is gravity’s rainbow by thomas pynchon. i read it the summer before college and probably understood only like 5% of what was going on. i want to re-read it but it’s so long and very daunting…

08. i wore glasses until i lost them in a mosh pit at a smashing pumpkins concert. ever since then it’s been contacts for me.

09. i love paintings by rothko (honestly and truthfully) but my favorite visual artist is magritte.

10. i’ve been a “strict” (whatever that means) vegetarian since 2000/2001. i’ve only ate meat once (knowingly) since then and it was when a “vegetarian” housemate of mine put chicken in a dinner. they tried to remove the big pieces but there were still little shreds of chicken. i felt sick for the rest of the night.

11. i try to be vegan as much as possible and it’s my ultimate goal (though i’m making slow progress). i own a bunch of vegan cookbooks and i cook mostly vegan, but i love pizza and delivery pasta too much.

12. i love the television show dallas even though i never watched it before it was on dvd.

13. i did, however, watch the final 3 seasons of knots landing (which was a spin-off of dallas) and that’s why i started watching dallas once the dvds came out.

14. my two favorite film directors are david lynch and wong kar-wai.

15. when mulholland drive came out in theatres, i saw it somewhere around 10 times.

16. by the time i saw 2046 at SIFF (i saw it both nights), i had already watched a bootleg dvd version of it at least 3 times.

17. my favorite drink is captain and coke.

18. i don’t like typical “comedy” movies. i think movies like i heart huckabees and best in show and drop dead gorgeous are hilarious. so i guess i like deadpan/dry/dark humor.

19. likewise, i hate sitcoms. but funny shows i like are arrested development, weeds, 30 rock, the office, drawn together.

20. i pretend to be a DJ meaning i have tons of music (currently 19,948 songs in itunes [and this is after a bunch of “great purges”]) and sometimes make mixes. i haven’t “remixed” anything yet though and i’m really struggling to learn ableton.

21. my “dj name” is who shot JR? which is a reference to dallas (see #12) and my initials.

22. until very recently, the only video games i would ever play were games in the final fantasy series. i’ve started to branch out and now i’m totally loving fallout 3.

23. random things i’ve been obsessed with at one point in my life: star wars, bettlejuice, oingo boingo, the pixies, linux,

24. the magazines i read are: entertainment weekly, wired, mixmag

25. this list was written while i listened to: “happy up here” (boys noize remix) by röyksopp, “your disco needs you” (casino radio mix) by kylie minogue, “there there” (the twelves mix) by radiohead, “love etc.” by pet shop boys, “meddle” (AC slater & dj skeet skeet remix) by little boots.

Miscellaneous

Ordering Art?

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I stumbled across Imagekind yesterday. It sort of makes me want to order art there, but as I told my friend Shannon, I’m torn between:

  • feeling like i should make my own artwork
  • feeling like I should have some personal connection to the artwork (a la the prints she and my friend Molly made for me)
  • feeling like i should buy one-of-a-kind stuff from galleries, etc.

I’m still not sure what to do. Maybe I’ll try one cool piece from there (it’s not too expensive if I end up disliking it)… Or where else can one find art that they like? My taste is probably not too common?

Miscellaneous

Hit By A Bus

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Why is it that whenever someone jokingly anticipates something horrible happening to them thus resulting in the loss of the knowledge they carry in their head they say, “In case I get hit by a bus.”

Yes, buses do hit and kill people, but I think cars do much more often. I am nearly hit by a car two or three times every week — usually when someone is making a right turn on a red light and not paying attention to people walking.

I’m just wondering aloud, but is this part of some conspiracy against public transportation?

Miscellaneous

206-415 No More!

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I’ve had it with these stupid “me too!!” comments that people are posting on the 206-415-xxxx post. I’ve noted my annoyance before, but now I’m taking action. I have disabled comments for that post. Although it’s fun to get tons of emails with people posting comments, nobody has posted a comment that is worthwhile or interesting in a long time. Censorship? Maybe. But it’s my blog, damnit! Time to take some control!

Miscellaneous, Seattle

You Will Not Get In This Door

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The sign on my neighbor's door
I hate to be all gossipy and stuff, but I cannot resist posting this note that is taped to the door on the guy who lives in the apartment next to mine.

It reads:

If I didn’t buzz you in via the front entrance you will not get in this door. I don’t care how loud or long you know you will not get in.

Whoa! So now I suppose you are wondering (or you should be wondering, at least) what would prompt him to post such a note?

First, some background (full of speculation, of course) about this guy. He is probably in his late-30s or somewhere in his 40s. He is about 5’7″ and has reddish hair. I’m 99% sure that he is gay. I’ve never seen him dressed in anything but baggy jeans and a sweatshirt. I have no idea if he works or anything like that. All I know is that there have been many times when I have seen extremely attractive twink-type guys coming out of his apartment — which never ceases to shock me.

Then last weekend in addition to the twinky boys, he also had lots of visitors who were older, uglier guys. They were the kind of guys (who, again I am assuming are gay) who have that Tom Seleck-type of sleazy faux-suave look. The striking feature that I have projected onto the collective of them is a blond (possibly) dyed moustache — if that gives you any idea.

These two types of guys started coming in together. And often times they would wait in the back of the apartment until someone would come in and then they would sorta sneak in with someone who lived in the apartment. Or sometimes the guy would go out and let them in. It was all very sketchy.

Also, there have been numerous times when in the middle of the night when someone has knocked at my door only to mistakenly realize that he meant to knock on the door next to mine. There was even a time when someone knocked on my door wanting to use my phone so he could call the guy next door. After the guy didn’t answer the “visitor” left a voicemail to the effect of, “Well, I’m here now but I guess you changed your mind? You aren’t answering your door or your phone.” The guy claimed that my neighbor buzzed him in, but somehow I doubt it.

Considering the fact that I live within four blocks of two sex clubs (Club Seattle and Club Z), I suspect that all this stuff going in with my neighbor is somehow related to sex and/or prostitution and/or drugs. How’s that for speculation?

Now I’m pretty cool with all that stuff, so it’s never fazed me. I always thought back to that Sex and the City episode “Are We Sluts?” when someone in Samantha’s building is held-up at gunpoint because someone left the door open and everyone in the building assumes that Samantha is at fault. I figure if he’s having sex that’s great and it’s never bothered me before.

…Until last week when my bathtub kept backing up.

I must preface this by noting that I am aware of the fact that in a logical universe all of this is unrelated, but nonetheless, I think it’s funny how I assume that it’s related anyway.

So early last week I came home from work one day to find my bathtub filled with about 2 feet of water. I know that when I left in the morning that the tub had drained (I took a shower, so why would there be standing water?), so I was really sorta annoyed at the whole situation. I got my plunger out and that helped a little, so finally I made a trip to get some Draino. That did the trick.

The next morning after I got home from the gym there was water in the tub again — this time less, though. I didn’t have time to plunge or anything, so I quickly showered, utterly disgusted by the fact that I was standing in ishy dirty water. When I got home that evening, there was still water in the tub (though it had gone down a little), so I plunged again. This time reddish/brownish gunk came up (it wasn’t shit, luckily — I smelled to make sure!), so again I went to the store and got Liquid-Plumr. (Yes, I am aware of how dangerous and environmentally unfriendly all that shit is — but I was feeling desperate.) The Liquid-Plumr didn’t really help, so I wrote a note to leave with my landlord so he could look at the problem the next day.

That night I heard all kinds of voices coming from the apartment next door. I may have been delirious from the Liquid-Plumr fumes, but I could’ve sworn that there was a correlation between the talking next door and the water in the tub raising. I imagined some relationship between the sex and the drugs and the partying and the need for lots of running water and lord knows what else. Needless to say, I got annoyed. Then I kept hearing voices in the hallway and the door opening and closing, so I went to the peephole at the door and peered out.

Imagine this scene: Me feeling annoyed and possibly high from fumes looking out the peephole like some old crotchety woman. I laughed at myself, even.

The next day my apartment manager fixed the drain and mentioned that he went next door to work on the problem, also, so my suspicions were somewhat vindicated. The tub has been fine since, by the way.

Then today I noticed that sign on the door. I love it. It makes my imagination run even wilder!

Miscellaneous

“Out For Blood”

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I probably shouldn’t make fun of people who post comments on my site (but as far as I’m concerned, this stupid 206-415 business is a site of it’s own now — I swear that most of the people posting comments didn’t even read my original post… they seem to not understand that the phone number is spoofed and that whoever is at 206-415-9247 is an innocent third-party in this mess, but whatever), but I loved this comment:

My call came in while I was donating blood this morning. I thought it might be my kids so I picked without seeing who it was because I was laying prone with a needle and tube in my arm. 206 415 9247. I gave blood and now I’m out for blood. I’m tired of repeating hello. I also get overseas calls from family and friends and id doesn’t always show up the same. It gives me agita! They’re gonna wish they’d never called this girl, lemme tell ya. I never give up on justice.

(emphasis mine)

Holy shit everyone. Watch out for “SanDiegoGrommet”!!

Oh, and “agita” is “acid indigestion.” Yikes!