(Mental) Storage

Robert Jordan, RIP

2007-09-17T10:18:00.000-04:00

Good to know I haven't wasted my life

2007-09-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

Since everyone else is doing it.

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/.
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top ten results.

The top 20 seems more representative than the top 10, actually. I'm glad to see what I actually do for a living appear in there, albeit scattered throughout into different job labels. Interestingly, I came perilously close to a tech theater minor in college, which is well represented in my results as well.

1.Computer Support Person
2.Special Effects Technician
3.Office Machine Repairer
4.Costume Designer
5.Set Designer
6.Musician
7.Business Systems Analyst
8.Comedian
9.Composer
10.Web Developer
11.Database Developer
12.Casting Director
13.Computer Programmer
14.Actor
15.Video Game Developer
16.Director of Photography
17.Project Manager
18.Locksmith
19.Magician
20.Multimedia Developer

If I founded a religion

2007-03-29T00:05:00.000-04:00

If you founded a religion...
Created by EvilAuthor on Memegen.net

The Congressional Church of Political Karma

Your followers are a tight-knit bunch,

who work for a living just like everybody else,

who are free and fun loving,

and who do not obsess overmuch about their beliefs.

Your followers must all wear

sandals

a brooch containing a portrait of you

a condom in their wallet (just in case)

a friendship bracelet

a locket containing a couple of your skin-flakes

Your followers are

all over the country (over 2,000,000),

and they don't interfere with the beliefs of outsiders.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

I guess the paws don't lie after all

2007-02-25T14:38:00.000-05:00

My puppy, Duncan, was about eight pounds when we got him at eight weeks. The shelter was guessing that he'd be around 40 pounds full grown - a smallish medium sized dog. The huge paws meant nothing, they said.

According to the vet's scale on Friday, he's now 20 pounds.

At fifteen weeks.

He's going to be huge.

Quiz I found via Nita #3287

2007-02-20T00:22:00.000-05:00

Hiro Nakamura

You scored 54 Idealism, 58 Nonconformity, 58 Nerdiness

YATTA!
Congratulations, you're Hiro Nakamura! You're a high-minded idealist, a huge nerd, and you enjoy being a unique and special person. Your combination of positive personality traits makes you impossibly lovable, and your energy and enthusiasm are absolutely infectious. Your dedication to any mission you take on, in addition to your cheerful sense of humor, are qualities anyone should be proud to have.

Your best quality: Spunk
Your worst quality: You are too cute. Some people may not be able to handle it.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on Idealism
You scored higher than 99% on Nonconformity
You scored higher than 99% on Nerdiness

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Y(et) A(other) P(ersonality) Q(uiz)

2007-01-28T01:30:00.000-05:00

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

Cultural Creative

63%

Existentialist

56%

Postmodernist

44%

Materialist

44%

Modernist

38%

Fundamentalist

31%

Romanticist

Idealist

What is Your World View?
created with QuizFarm.com

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

2007-01-07T19:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry, a little short on the details, huh? I was a tad tired last night.

It's a he, just barely 8 weeks old, still unnamed (his foster mom called him Rudolph, which is just... no.). Quiet and calm when not caught up in the typical puppy-go, but he loves to chew anything he can get his teeth on. His mom was a "Red Heeler"; dad unknown, but based on coloring, coat, and body and leg length, the shelter was guessing he's part Dachshund.

Very smart. In just over 24 hours with us, he has figured out what "No!" means, how to climb the stairs that he had no clue about at first, that standing next to the door will get him walked so that he can poop (he's not house broken yet so there has been pee incidents, but he has figured out the poop part), where he's allowed to walk outside, and that he's not allowed to eat the cat food (but that he can get one mouthful in before we catch him, so the food has been moved), chew the carpet or furniture other than the cat tree, or go under the couch. That's a lot of learning for a baby.

The cats are coping remarkably (scarily) well. They keep a little bit of distance unless he's asleep, but they're more curious then anything else. The puppy wants to bark and chase them of course, but the Meep hissed him off without much trouble. The boys ran at first but rapidly discovered that they're safe as long as they're at least 12 inches off the ground (their normal preferred position anyway). So they stare down at him, he stares up, and then he falls asleep.

Darwin could care less.

Name T.B.D.

2007-01-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

Happy 2007-to-be!

2006-12-31T01:38:00.000-05:00

In the year 2007 I resolve to:
Reunite the Spice Girls.

Get your resolution here.

I'm such a narcissist

2006-12-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Risha, for lack of a better word, is good.

Which movie was this quote from?

Everybody! Everybody wants a piece of Risha!

Which movie was this quote from?

Funny like I'm a Risha? I amuse you?

Which movie was this quote from?

Yet Another

2006-12-03T16:05:00.000-05:00

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I gots me quizzes

2006-11-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

Here are the results from various little quizzes/games that I've taken over the last few days. These are mostly nitsee's fault.

OK, so this one is late, the icons are cute:

You went trick or treating as Tricero.
ForrestGump gave you APaperclip.
Athos gave you AGoldenKey.
Death gave you AnApolloBar.
Odysseus gave you Asparagus.
You had a fabulous time until LauraIngalls wouldn't stop reciting the Simpson's version of the Raven.

What's Your Trick-or-Treat Haul?
Shiver My Timber--A Pirate RPG

This one is really accurate (at least for me), and I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get those cliched questions about how you pronounce "water" or what you call soda:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Northeast
The South
The Inland North
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have?

I think that I must have missed the Immaculate Conception question. (What, did the person who wrote this quiz go to Catholic school?):

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Conspiracy Theories

2006-08-10T09:30:00.000-04:00

While buying coffee this morning, it suddenly occurred to me that, for publicity reasons, Oliver Stone might have had a hand in yesterday's terror attempts.

Food for thought.

Conversation in the Car

2006-07-15T17:13:00.000-04:00

Dramatis personae: My hubby and me
Location: Route 46 in Ledgewood, NJ
Status: Returning from the Macaroni Grill and Wal-Mart;
both pro-evolution.

"They have one of those little Darwin things."

-pause-

"Come on, you can go faster than that. It's the pedal on the right. Push it, puuush it. No need to be afraid."

"No one ever said that old people can't be fans of Darwin."

"True. After all, evolution is a slow process."

I'm spreading (yes, like a fungus)

2006-07-15T11:11:00.000-04:00

I've had this blog for a couple of years now (though you'd never know that based on the total number of posts). However, the various fandoms that I follow (mostly for fanfiction) have been shifting increasingly to livejournal, and it's frankly been getting kind of annoying to post reviews and such. Not to mention the increasing number of friends-locked journals with interesting-sounding stories. So: brand spanking new journal.

After some deliberation, I decided that since the driving force behind the whole existence of it was fanfic, I would make that the focus of that journal. (Plus, I've been meaning to do some reviews/recs for a long time now.) Personal commentary will still go over here at Personal Brain Dump. (Since to the best of my knowledge, Chris, you're not into fanfic, I think you will approve of this plan.)

For the record, I really wouldn't expect regular updates or expansive replies in the livejournal anymore than you get them over here.

Edited to add: You'll notice, I decided to fix up the place a little while I was at it.

Olly Olly Oxen Free!

2006-04-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

I just checked my email for the first time all week, and realized that Chris tagged me. I'm glad to be thought of, but now I have to think of six people to tag in turn! Uh, um, eh...

Shoot. I'll be back. *walks away muttering peoples' names*

Random fuzzy cuteness

2006-04-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

I ran across some old pictures while backing up my computer.

Sam is upright, Max is on his back.

This is The Meep (official name Tabytha):

And Mr. Fuzzy Lizard (Darwin):

Puppy love

2005-08-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

Oregon is a dangerous place to be a journalist.

Just call me "Chemo".

2005-06-28T14:36:00.000-04:00

If you don't read old DC comics, this dude.

I'm all for modern medicine, but I'm starting to feel like my blood has been replaced by a chemical cocktail. I went to the doctor yesterday (the first available, not my normal one) because I've been nauseous and exhausted for more than a week. He asked me a few questions, told me it was "probably a virus or maybe an infection of some kind", gave me a prescription for a few days worth of an anti-nausea pill (which has given me a nasty metallic taste and dry mouth), and then completely ignored the problem I came to him for in favor of grilling me about my blood pressure.

Admittedly, my reading was pretty high (158/100), but I'm sick, which always gives me higher readings. I was on blood pressure medication a couple of years ago, and eventually stopped it myself (yes, bad Risha, I know), because as I moved out of the busy season at work my pressure kept dropping, which would give me dizzy spells until the doctor cut back the medication, and then a few weeks later I would be dizzy again. Then my refills ran out and my pressure was fine, so I never went back to get a new prescription. Plus, by that point I hated that stuff. I've had some borderline readings since then, usually when sick and/or overworked, but nothing like when I was first diagnosed or yesterday's.

So the doctor pitched a fit and demanded that I take the rest of yesterday and all of today off work (gave me a note to that effect and all), and come back to be rechecked this afternoon by my normal doctor. Frankly, the work that I'm currently falling behind on is stressing me more than working would have. Today my pressure was lower (150/100) but still too high. So, despite telling me directly that it was almost certainly because I went back on the birth control pill a few months ago, I'm also back on blood pressure medication. Simply stopping the pill for a week or two to see if that fixes it? No, why do that when I can be additionally medicated?

Maintenance medications currently prescribed to me:
Lisinopril 20MG (blood pressure, one daily)
OvCon 35 (birth control, one daily)
Tazorac 0.1% creme (acne, applied to face once daily)
Axert (migraines, as needed)
Albuterol (inhaler, as needed)

And I'm still nauseous and exhausted.

Doing my bit

2005-06-24T23:59:00.000-04:00

Separated at Birth?

2005-04-24T23:15:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI

Emperor Palpatine

"Pr-i-vate Eyes, are watching you, Pri-vate Eyyyyyes..."

2005-04-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's the voyeur that I never knew was inside of me, but I love this site beyond the telling of it. I don't recall exactly when or how I ran across it (Top Five Too Much Fun Site of the Day? Blog of a friend?), but I watch it all the time. Traffic in Moscow, people working in Australia, laundromats in Japan, cats sleeping god knows where... for my perusal, 24 hours a day.

Missing in action

2005-04-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I'm not going to go too far into why in a public forum (though Chris tracked me down awhile back and got the whole story), but I will offer two thoughts:

- The tough part of depression is that when you're depressed enough to need a doctor you're too depressed to bother to see one.

- I will get a flu shot next year if I have to bribe a public official and knock over a small child standing in my way.

However, I'll try not to disappear quite so thoroughly again. Unless, of course, my head explodes or something. I've had a f^$%ing headache everyday this week, and as far as I know I don't need new glasses or a brain transplant.

"Female cliche"? Since when is that a personality trait?

2005-04-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Long test I spotted on someone else's blog... not very flattering, unfortunately, but probably not too far off for many of them.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	60%
Empathy	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Adventurousness	\|\|	10%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Food indulgent	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Female cliche	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

This week so far - by the numbers.

2004-12-24T01:53:00.000-05:00

Days ill with gastly death cold/flu thing that even the prescription drugs don't seem to touch: 5

Items completed from my To Do list: 10

Items not completed left on the list: about 1000

Hours in the car tomorrow (min.): 5

Boxes of tissues killed off in my house this week: 8.5

Hours of actual sleep (approx. total since Sunday): 20

Hours of tossing and turning and coughing and hacking: 200,000

Percentage of exaggeration in the last item: Not as much as you'd think.

Hours spent shopping during a massive downpour today: 3

Hours spent staring blankly at Christmas cards in the store, trying to focus enough to pick one out: .75

IQ of person who shops for hours in a massive downpour while still struck down by the death cold/flu: 38

Years in purgatory that my husband deserves for giving this to me: Haven't decided yet, but it will be a lot.

I have next week off, so I have nine glorious days to do with as I will.

2004-12-18T11:44:00.000-05:00

Well, aside from doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, sweeping the kitchen, changing the cat boxes, finishing my Christmas shopping, putting up the tree, decorating said tree, wrapping presents, trying to keep the kittens out of the tree, brushing the adult cat (Persian), making a hair appointment, keeping the appointment, making a long overdue followup doctor's appointment, keeping the appointment, changing the sand in the lizard cage, playing with the lizard, exchanging some bras I bought that were the wrong size, buying toothpaste, doing some food shopping, getting an oil change, getting a car wash, meeting some friends for Thai on Wednesday, cooking something to bring to Christmas dinner at my in-law's, calling my parents and telling them that we're doing Christmas at the in-law's this year, seeing my parents at some point before or potentially after, seeing my grandmother at some point before or potentially after, dropping some presents off at work before Wednesday (for two people that I wasn't expecting to give me a present who gave me one), paying credit card bills, getting cash from the ATM, and traveling five hours each way to and from the in-laws.

"...a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes."

2004-12-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Or maybe a better quote would be, "That's cool," said Zaphod, "we'll meet the meat."

http://www.3dweb.no/galleri/stuestolbm/bilder/anim1.swf (PG-13: Contains strong language, bad puns, cartoon cows) (not actually Douglas Adams related despite the quotes.)

Required reading

2004-12-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

Are all of my loyal readers (hi Chris!) reading Josh reads the comics so you don't have to?

"The workers have nothing to lose but their chains." - Karl Marx

2004-11-30T22:58:00.000-05:00

A very wise person once said never to post something that you wouldn't want written on a twenty foot high billboard on your front lawn.

I'm going to blatantly ignore this advice for a moment.

----------------------

Generally speaking, when I disappear for several days at a time, it's due to work. This week has been busy and stressful, but unfortunately this is not unusual. I got home at around 10:00 tonight, which is also unfortunately not unusual. Even better, I'm already depressed about how much I didn't get done today, which means that tomorrow's pretty much going to suck.

In that spirit, I'm going to post a short manifesto that I wrote in a moment of fury a couple of weeks ago. Names and argot changed for clarity and to protect the guilty.

Current management team issues. In no particular order.

No clear sense of expectations.
It's 5:00 on a production load day. Jim's note said that we load at 11:00. Does it actually mean that we'll load at 11, or is it just by 11? Are we expected to stay until 11? Do you have to check in before you leave? What if your work in done? What if your issue is fixed in staging, but the QA associate is still testing it? What if you have an issue outstanding from a week ago that you have no idea how to fix and no one has said word one to you about it? What if you have an issue outstanding from a week ago that isn't hard and would only take you about two hours to fix, but you just haven't gotten to it and no one has said word one to you about it?

"Absentee" management.
Such as six hour meetings on the days we move to staging. Failure to assign issues until the day of or after the due date. Not reading email on a regular basis.

Unrealistic deadlines and workloads foster a sense that it doesn't matter if you hit your due date.
If you know you can't make it anyway, why not leave at 8, or 6, instead of staying until 10?

Burnout.
No one, no matter how dedicated, can work 50 - 65 hours a week from July to November without serious aftereffects.

No sense of an end in sight.
In that team meeting last month it was a mistake to tell a bunch of burned out people that they need to keep working as hard as they had been (or harder) for the rest of the year.

No sense of anyone at the wheel.
There is a general feeling that management completely lost control of the project roughly four weeks ago, and more importantly that no one has made any attempt to take it back.

The requisite holiday post

2004-11-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

Just popping in from the in-law's house to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to any residents of the U.S., "Happy Really Belated Thanksgiving" to any Canadians, and "Very Happy Unbirthday" to everyone else.

"Hey! Who DOESN'T like mexican porn?"

2004-11-18T23:40:00.000-05:00

This gave me such a fit of the giggles.

Almost forgot

2004-11-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

Today I downloaded Thunderbird to use for my email. Phill made me try the Firefox browser a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't impressed until I discovered extensions*. There doesn't seem to be a lot available for Thunderbird in comparison, but I've always hated Outlook Express, so I figured what the heck, it couldn't possibly be worse.

I mean, at times I've been so desperate to access my email without Outlook screwing me up, that I actually used Popcorn as my main email client.

*Incidentally, if you use Firefox, I recommend SpellBound, which is what I'm using to check these posts.

Damn him to heck and back.

2004-11-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

I've been sick for the last couple of days with the plague that's been going around work. Yesterday Phill tried to get me to go to the doctor, quite logically pointing out that a) last time I ignored a cold it lasted (literally) a month, and b) he really didn't want to catch it from me. I hemmed and hawed and dragged my feet, convinced that it was a waste of time and money, that they couldn't help me at all with what was after all just a cold/flu, and that the people at the doctor's office would think that I'm a hypochondriac for even bothering them with something so minor.

Today I went, and was instantly prescribed two pills and a nose spray for my sinus infection.

Don't you hate when they're right? *sigh*

Cue the orchestra

2004-11-17T16:50:00.000-05:00

As the name implies, I wouldn't expect great things from this blog. Or great creativity, or even regular updates. However, I will endeavor not to bore you to tears. (Hah! How's that for setting the standards low?)

I am hoping that having a published site that needs to be filled up will encourage me to actually write some fanfiction, or even, god forbid, original stuff, like I've meant to for a few years now.

WARNING! EXPECT:
- run-on and unnecessarily long sentences
- big, odd-sounding words, like "palimpsest" or "megillah"
- lots of ellipse (...), dash (-), and parentheses (( )) abuse
- way too many exclamation points!!!
- the frequent use of "that that" (i.e., "I wanted him to know that that was wrong.")
- and lots of other bad habits I can't think of right now.