July 27, 2005
Things I Couldn't Be If This Whole Lawyering Thing Doesn't Pan Out
A quote from the article: "Studies of giant pandas in the wild have found that new mothers will go as long as a month without eating or drinking." Are you kidding me? I can barely go half a day without food and drink, forget a month. And I'm not really that into bamboo, either.
Aside from the fear of flying issues, if I'm going to engage in any really, really long-distance travel, I'd prefer that my vehicle not have parts that are prone to fall off and kill me.
It is such a fabulous resource, but I just don't have the energy to painstakingly detail Southpark episodes in order to give a proper definition of the "Chewbacca defense."
Posted by Kitty at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
Firefox question
Yes, I know I could try to look up the answer on Bugzilla, but they have so many freakin' bug reports on there, I'm too impatient to try to sift through them all to see if someone has reported this problem before (and I'm sure they have).
When I use Firefox (my preferred browser for surfing at home), I don't get pop-up ads, but my browser is often re-directed to other sites I didn't ask for. They're not always what I would expect, and often actually have some tenuous connection to the site I'm browsing (I'll be shopping and it will direct me to eBay, for example). What's even more annoying is that sometimes, it not only re-directs my page to someplace I don't want to go, but minimizes the size of my window to about the same size as a pop-up ad! Argh. This is driving me crazy. It particularly drives me crazy when I'm doing something that I really don't want to have interrupted, like in the middle of paying a bill. Once I get re-directed, the site loses the information I already entered so I have to enter it all over again and cross my fingers in hopes that the browser won't re-direct me before I get a chance to pay it the second time.
If anyone has any suggestions on what to do, please let me know.
And in other news, I finally finished Atonement last night. The ending was much better than the stuff toward the end. Maybe I'm getting out of my book rut after all.....
Posted by Kitty at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2005
Biblio-ADD
I can't decide what my problem is. For the most part, I've been good about finishing the books I start (The Fountainhead being a major exception, but good God, people, no one actually finishes that thing, do they? Well, do they? Wait, never mind. I really don't want to know.) Lately, I just can't seem to settle on anything.
I'm currently in the midst of Atonement, a good book that I should've finished long ago. Why am I still slogging through such a short book? I dunno. It seems that the culprit could be: (1) I'm not ready to read this book right now; (2) The second half of the book isn't as good as the first; (3) I've read so many books that it takes a lot more to pique my interest these days; (4) I've got too much going on in the rest of my life to really focus on the book; (5) It just ain't my kind of book.
(1) is plausible, though it doesn't feel right. This has happened to me before -- there have been times when I just wasn't ready at that particular time in my life to read a specific book, but when I picked it up six months or a year later, I read it, loved it, and couldn't figure out why I never read it sooner. Case in point: The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I didn't even get halfway through it until the third try. It isn't because it was a bad book (it was fabulous) or that it was too long (it wasn't), it is just a very dark book and I was in a fairly dark place in my life when I tried to read it, so things just didn't work out. Later on, when I cheered up, I came to my senses. That doesn't seem to be the case with Atonement, primarily because I don't dread reading it (like I do any time I try to read Joyce Carol Oates. Ugh.) and I'm more than halfway through already.
(2) is a good contender. The first half of the book was much more fast-paced and interesting, and is where most of the action is. That's not to say I'm just a sucker for speed, but I do need something to keep me going (though I managed to make it through most of Salinger's books, all of which have zero action beyond moving from the bathroom to the living room, but that's a whole other kettle of fish).
(3) would be great if it were true, but even as much as I like to read, I'm not enough of a literary snob to cop to this one. When I can quote Ulysses and spend my free time expounding upon all of the more-obscure-than-Dennis-Miller-references quotes from Umberto Eco, then I'll be able to claim this one. I still read trashy magazines, people.
(4) This one just may be our winner. I've gots lots on the proverbial plate right now, none of which I care to divulge (or else I'd be writing about that instead of my book constipation).
(5) I don't know about five. This is a solid maybe, but it could be that, as I said in (1), it just might be a bad time to read it. Who knows?
I've been thinking about this in light of the Harry Potter mania going on. I've read the first three and a half Harry Potter books, all of which I loved. I started the fourth and after about 150 pages said, "eh." I haven't picked it up since. The point, though, is that I want to love that book. I really want to find a book right now that sucks me in makes me love it, and that just hasn't happened. Maybe I'm asking too much of a book. Or maybe books are like relationships -- most are fine, quiet, almost routine encounters that sustain us but don't inspire us, and a few walk into our lives at the perfect moments and inspire us, reach us and make us realize what we've been missing.
Or maybe I just need to find a more interesting book.
Posted by Kitty at 02:32 PM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2005
FrankenCheddar
1. How many times a day do you wash your hands?
Heck, I don't know. As often as I need to.
2. How often do you get the flu that's going around?
Rarely, if ever, thankfully.
3. How often are you really "sick" when you take a sick day?
I've only ever taken a sick day twice, and I felt like I was near death's door both times.
4. Who would you like to see in a cage match?
Karl Rove and Anna Nicole Smith. I'd put $10 on Anna.
5. Name 3 things you absolutely love.
Sleeping while it's raining, listening to great music and spending time with my favorite people.
6. If you had to give 2 of them up which would they be (and why)?
I'd give up the sleeping and listening to music, though if I had to give them up for any extended period of time, none of my favorite people would want to spend time with me any more.
7. Name 3 things you absolutely loathe.
Rabid conservatives, flying and people who can't be honest.
8. What is your all time favorite memory EVER?
As cynical as I often am, I actually have a lot of great memories. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with Archi-Sapper on our honeymoon was pretty spectacular.
9. What is the one thing that happened in high school that would make you avoid your class reunion?
One thing? You're kidding me, one thing? I went to an all-girls' college prep school in North Central Texas in the 1980's driving a car so beat up the wheels nearly fell off when I turned right, wearing hair that was sprayed until it was crispy with ten foot tall bangs and you think I don't have fifty things to keep me from my reunion?
10. What is your dream job, no matter how untrained you might be or unrealistic and bizarre it might be?
My dream job is to be a professional actress and act in plays and musicals on broadway. But I'd settle for a job where I could compile mix-cd's for cool stores.
11. If you could write yourself into any tv show, which show and how would you do it?
I would love to be written into the Gilmore Girls as a friend of Lorelei's. If I could go back in time, I'd want to be written into my favorite show of all time, Soap, and be someone's love interest (probably Billy's -- what a cutie). I'm tempted to say something snarky like I'd want to be written into the Family Guy, but I'm just not that funny.
12. If you could replace anyone on a tv show, who would you choose to replace on what show and why?
I would happily replace any of the people on The Real World so the show would be less whiny, but I fear that after two hours in that house I would just take my shoe off and start smacking people in the head with it.
Posted by Kitty at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2005
At Last!
We finally have electricity! When we came home from work yesterday the lights were on, the a/c was on and Maggie was happy. I am still amazed it took so long to restore power, and on the news this morning (ah, the news. I can even watch t.v. now!) they said there are still some folks who aren't hooked back up yet. That's crazy.
Posted by Kitty at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)
July 08, 2005
So hot and tired
For those of you keeping score at home, we just finished night three with no electricity. That's right -- I live in a third world country. Last night I called Entergy to see when we might expect to have power. The pre-recorded message said they expected to restore power to most customers by 8:00 p.m. last night. Hah! Knowing that couldn't be right, I waited and spoke to a live human being who assured me they would have power restored some time last night. I left our house at 7:30 this morning and still no juice.
Everyone around these parts is obviously debating whether to evacuate for Hurricane Dennis. I'm seriously considering evacuating from the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy. I seriously don't think I can take one more night without air conditioning.
I promise some happier posts when I get a/c.
Posted by Kitty at 09:07 AM | Comments (1)
July 07, 2005
Cindy's Kids
You know, for a tropical storm, Cindy sure managed to do a lot of damage. After work yesterday I headed home and Archi-Sapper and I got out the rakes and the leaf and lawn bags and started raking up all of the leaves in our yards. There were so many, and we were so tired, that we didn't even remotely finish. We raked everything into piles but didn't bag it all.
The bigger problem is the fact that we STILL don't have electricity. No, I'm not joking. At this point, I'm ready to get one of my out of town friends to host a telethon for me. After sleeping in an un-air conditioned house, I took a cool shower this morning and then stopped by my bosses' house on my way to work and borrowed her electricity to dry my hair. But I shouldn't complain. I'm sure Entergy will restore our power by the time Dennis hits!
Posted by Kitty at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2005
Cindy and Dennis
The main reason I know that no matter how long I live here I'll never be a true Louisianan (is that the right word? I don't even know) is that I'm a weather weenie. Despite my addiction to The Weather Channel -- hey, no one on Earth has better weather -- I'd rather watch it on t.v. than live through it.
Cindy actually wasn't nearly as bad as she could've been. It was mostly a lot of rain and wind, but nothing scary. The main problems were: (1) I didn't sleep well last night, not knowing what I would wake up to this morning, so I'm sleepy now, and (2) we didn't have power this morning before I left for work. I took a shower before I left but I couldn't wash my hair, because if I did I wouldn't be able to dry it with my hair dryer. Needless to say, I've looked better.
After work today we'll be heading home to rake up the branches and leaves that are blanketing our front and back yards. I'm really hoping we can avoid Dennis next week. Two named storms in as many weeks is not much fun.
Posted by Kitty at 09:49 AM | Comments (2)
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