Ultranormal

Category: blogging

  • New Blogs I needed new

    New Blogs\
    I needed new material. My old friends and their blogs were still good, but it was time to find new people. I haven’t gone through all of these blogs’ archives, but right now, they look like worthy bookmark additions.

  • I accidentally edited a post

    I accidentally edited a post from yesterday and posted new content to it instead of just doing a new post. So, I post-dated a post. Postariffic.

  • This round of Blogger Insider

    This round of Blogger Insider paired me with Dan, who provided the following lovely questions. Thanks, Dan!

    1) I see that you turned 27 a couple months ago. Your wife Jen turned 28 recently. What is it like being married to an older woman?

    It’s great, I tell you what. She knows all the answers to the questions on Jeopardy, and she can tell me what happened in 1976, because she was two, and I was one, and she kind of remembers it. We’re actually only 10 months apart, which I think washes out in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it?

    2) Don’t you feel that your Blog title “Fighting Spacemen with Pointed Sticks” contributes to the ongoing persecution of spacemen?

    I realize now the title can be misunderstood. It’s not fighting poor defenseless spacemen with pointed sticks. The Spacemen fight with pointed sticks. They’re like the Fighting 51st or some other mythical military force. I found that picture I use as my background and thought it was really funny that this astronaut was all tricked out in his space suit, but has basically a big pointed stick in his hands. What does he do with that pointed stick, try to pop the other spacemen’s suits? See? It’s ripe for comedy.

    3) You work for AOL. How do you live with yourself?

    I live with my wife and son. Actually, I do just fine. AOL‘s not the most evil corporation in the world. When I started here in 1995, we weren’t evil at all. We were the little guy trying not to be crushed by the likes of AT&T, Microsoft, Prodigy, Netscape and CompuServe. It’s only the last three or four years that we’ve graduated to Evil in the Microsoft sense, and well, I really don’t think I could do what I do (work on about a dozen different search applications) if I worked anywhere else. So, I’m OK with it.

    4) You list “The Eighth Day” among your favorite movies. Do you mean “The Eighth Day” (1967, Dir.: Charles Gagnon)? What appeals to you about a fifteen minute movie that’s older than you are?

    Yeah, so I didn’t run it through the spellchecker… I suck. The Eighth Day is a beautiful French film about a man with Down Syndrome with an amazing zest for life who shares his view of the world with a stuffy motivational speaker. It’s an amazing film by the same writer/director who did Toto the Hero, another one of my favorite films.

    5) Why does Jen hate fish?

    That’s an excellent question. I think that her dislike of fish is like\
    me and my irrational hatred of anything that tastes of bananas. It’s just something she’s never liked, never will like, and any attempt to convince her to think otherwise is in vain.

    6) Your son Max is featured often in your blog. Do you think he will look back through the blog when he is older? Does this excite or frighten you?

    I hope he does. It’s like a family album. Since his extended family is all over the country, they get to share in his growth and development. I hope that someday, he keeps his own journal, online or off. It excites me in that I think if he shares his thoughts and opinions, he’ll have to defend them, which will hopefully lead to him developing better/stronger opinions that he can defend.

    7) You link to Salon.com. What are your feelings on the subscription service issue?

    It’s annoying, but I think it’s a creative way to stay afloat. I hope it works out for them. Salon is one of the best sites ever for alternative views and great writing, and I hope they stay around forever. I wouldn’t try to tell them not to try whatever they can to make a living.

    6) Do you consider yourself more of a geek or a nerd? Explain.

    Oh, I’m definitely a geek. To me, a geek is anyone who has an overwhelming passion for something. Nerds are those poor bastards with no social skills that hide away in the A/V labs and computer closets of any institution that will take them. Geeks are sometimes nerds, but not always. I am a pure geek. I still like people (well, most people) and can communicate without staring at the floor. I just love computers and technology, especially search applications. Is that so wrong?

    5) Are you ever going to post the Creamy Cajun Chicken recipe, or is that a cruel hoax?

    It was a cruel hoax. I didn’t think anyone would actually want the recipe. Here it is:
    Ingredients:

    • One chicken breast per person who will be eating this stuff, sliced into bite-sized chunks
    • Cayenne pepper (to flavor)
    • Chili Powder (to flavor)
    • 1 small container sour cream or regular cream. If you’re feeding a lot of people, think about two tablespoons cream-substance per chicken breast.
    • 1 pinch salt
    • 1 pinch pepper
    • Fettucine or Linguine, I’m not picky (whatever you need to feed whoever’s eating)
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil

    Preparation:

    1. Put olive oil in big skillet over medium/medium high heat.
    2. Once oil is hot, add sliced chicken breasts and saute with chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper until cooked.
    3. After chicken is done, turn heat to low, and add cream. Stir until cream turns a lovely shade of pink/orange (from the chili powder – ummm, did I really need to say that?) and it starts to thicken up. For sour cream, you need to make sure the cream melts all the way, then it will start to thicken, usually this takes 3-5 minutes. For regular cream (the preferred method, but sour cream is fine in a pinch), it may take 5-8 for it to start thickening.
    4. Pour over cooked fettucine, toss with a little more black pepper, and serve.

    4) Did you notice when the numbers started going backward?

    Yes, yes I did. I was all comfortable with the status quo, and bam, you changed it up on me. Very sneaky.

  • So, mozblog works finally! It’s

    So, mozblog works finally! It’s extremely cool. If you use Mozilla and have a blog, go get it today. It gives you a nice little editing window rigth in your browser with the ability to post, edit and delete posts on the fly without going to Blogger.

    In other news, I went to the doctor this morning about the cough. I have some chest infection and get to take antibiotics for the next week. The best news was that, though I haven’t lost weight, I haven’t gained any since I saw him in March. I’ve got a new plan. I don’t even need to diet, since I don’t eat a lot of junk food now. I just need to eat a little less and do a little exercize and the weight should start coming off. I started yesterday by buying some tilapia at Costco. Have you ever tried tilapia? It’s tasty stuff. It’s a light white fish without a big fishy flavor. It’s nice and firm without being dense, and saute’s nicely. Good stuff… Jen might even like it, and she hates fish.

  • Back to the back I

    Back to the back

    I think I like the new colors… they’re growing on me. Now, I just need to move things around. You know what my favorite part is? I didn’t have to go to Blogger and mess with my template or any of the other pages on the site. All I did was change my stylesheet, and voila, new look. And moving things around will be the exact same exercise. Position this, position that, ::poof:: all done. I love CSS.

  • It looks like the archive

    It looks like the archive is messed up… hopefully you don’t want to look at it… cuz you can’t at the moment.

  • Wandering Around the Empty Lot

    This round’s Blogger Insider Questions, provided by Desiree.

    I have been reading bits here and there through your blog and saw several mentions of “the Norm“, apparently you like it! So, when did you first come across the Norm, can you recall that day and the events surrounding?

    It was last summer, I think. It might have been before that, but I honestly don’t remember. I love the strip. I like to think of it as Calvin and Hobbes all grown up. It’s funny, sweet and intelligent (except when it’s not). It’s everything that the other comic strips in the paper aren’t. Plus, Reine and Norm are just cute. The story leading up to them getting married was a lot of fun.

    You have one cute little son, one is fun, but sibs to play with are also! How many children do you and Jen plan on having?

    Thanks. I think he’s cute too. Before we had Max, we waffled between five and six. Now, we waffle between one and three. We’re in discussions now on a second, but I think we’re still not sure about that. Max was a tough delivery (huge head – runs in the family) and pretty traumatic. Then, I blew out my knee and couldn’t help for the first 6 months of Max’s existence, which was a big problem. I think we’ll have another child eventually, I’m just not sure when.

    Were you able to leave North America and live on any other continent in the world excluding N.A. where would you choose to go?

    Having lived in Europe when I was a kid, that’s an option. But, every time I turn around, they’re getting crazier and crazier (complain to the US about clean air regulations when everyone smokes and they use unleaded gasoline – ummm, duh). Australia would be fun, since everyone I’ve ever met from Australia was just delightful. I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to live in South America, Africa or Asia, so it’s either Europe or Australia, and I’ll have to vote for being an Aussie.

    What is your sport/exercise and how much time do you put into it weekly?

    Hahaha, that’s funny. I just joined a bowling league… does that count? I’m working on losing weight, and will probably start riding our stationary bike in the near future.

    I see that you do not do the “collaboratives” yet… ie: Friday Five, Tuesday Too, Wednesday Wine, Monday Mission, etc… Is there a reason you have avoided these other than your own life and thoughts fills your blog?

    I just noticed them popping up recently, and honestly, they’re just cheap ways to create content for a site. I don’t have anything against them, and if you enjoy answering them, cool. I can usually come up with enough stupid stuff on my own to write about that I don’t want to fill it with questions unrelated to my life. I started doing Blogger Insider as a way to find new blogs and I thought it would be fun to find a new blog, and then read enough of it to try to come up with questions actually related to that person’s life. I was right, it has been fun.

    What is your most memorable or thought-provoking post that you tend to think back on from time to time?

    I had a string of my favorite posts back in November. This one was in response to discovering whole uncovered portions of the family tree via Google. And this one, short, is one of my favorite memories from childhood.

    Is there a line of work that you have thought that you should have persued? (Or would consider as a second career should you tire of your current computer related career with AOL?)

    When I was a kid, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Then, when I realized that most of them don’t make much money, I decided I wanted to be a medical illustrator… now I work in the online world and can’t imagine giving that up. If I get tired of it, my top secret plan is to sell everything, move back to Tucson and become a college student and go through the whole “what do I want to do with my life” process, since I kind of just fell into this and didn’t do anything in particular to get here other than work my fat butt off (ie: no school, or formal training).

    What is one of your most treasured memories from your highschool days?

    I disliked High School for the most part, but I have some memories etched into the back of my brain that I either can’t or don’t want to forget. Most treasured is a hard one. There was the time I wore a dress onstage for a play, and kissed my friend’s girlfriend (while wearing said dress) just to make him mad. There was the time I made out with cute little Sonja under the scaffold during the dress rehearsal of our big spring musical. I’m pretty sure she went out with me just because I was the bad guy in the play. Those are fun, but I wouldn’t say I treasure them. My one defining memory from high school was turning my best friend into the cops. She was beautiful. I loved her. But, she was damaged by her father and was living a group home which she ran away from with her new “boyfriend” Ben. She called me one night and asked me to come pick her up at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station (downtown DC down by D Street, back in the early 90’s before they cleaned up downtown. It was freaky). Not knowing what to do (being a stupid 16 year-old full), I called her foster parents and asked for advice. They in turn called the cops, who in turn called me demanding that I tell them where she was. I refused, and told them that if they wanted to get to her, I had to go with them and would tell them once we got in the car and headed down 66 from Fairfax into the heart of DC (at 9:30 on a school night). The cop was a short black man who I don’t think appreciated being jerked around by a kid. He waited in the car as I ran all over the deserted station looking for them. I found them, dirty and hungry, in a phone booth, and took them outside. I remember making up something about having bought a new car, covering up the fact that we were headed for a white Buick Century. The cop then proceeded to pull out of the spot before we got there, and I said, in poorly acted style, “Hey, someone’s stealing my car!”. The cop pulled up next to us, hopped out and proceeded to cuff Ben, and put him in the front seat. I spent the next forty minutes in the backseat with Joy. She glared at me slouched in the corner of the seat, and I tried to avoid her by watching the lights on the metro track flash by as we headed back out to our idyllic little suburb and to the police station. I never felt so horrible for doing the right thing. Yep, that’s the memory that comes back most often in dreams and day dreams.

    Name your favorite genre of music.

    Trip Hop, currently. I try not to stick to any one genre, but keep coming back to Massive Attack, Portishead, Radiohead, Amon Tobin and other bands like Morcheeba and Groove Armada. I know Trip Hop is the old label for the genre, but it still works for me. Great coding music. It provides a nice beat without causing headaches. It washes over me and helps me get into that zone where the hours fly and code streams from my fingertips.

    Do you have any hobbies/collections?

    I have a huge comic book collection that’s filling up a closet in our guest bedroom. I don’t really have any hobbies at the moment other than my job, which I would consider a hobby (ok, obsession). Technology fascinates me, especially as it helps people find things, each other and communicate. So, I spend a lot of time trying to learn more and figure out new ways to do things. After that and my family, I don’t leave myself much time for anything else… OK, I do play video games when I get a couple free hours, but I wouldn’t consider that a great hobby, just a way to waste time.

    Coke or Pepsi?

    Dr. Pepper or Code Red. I know, I just have to be difficult.

    How many hours do you sleep on the average night?

    Somewhere between 6 – 8.

  • Six Different Ways To Ask A Question

    Thanks to Charles from Six Different Ways for this round of Blogger Insider questions. Excellent job, and I hope he enjoys the questions I sent as much I enjoyed these.

    OK, since you’ve opened the Pandora’s box of political opinions already on your site: What do you think about what’s happening in Palestine and what should the US reaction be? (This may be moot by next week, but . . .)
    This one is difficult for me to answer. I don’t know all the history, but I doubt anything we do will fix the problems. We can’t isolate the Palistinians any more than they are. We can’t tell the Israelis not to try to do what they think they need to do to stop the suicide bombers and try to stop the violence without looking like hypocrites. We can’t say to Israel, “We need your help to stop terrorism against our country and you need to support whatever we want to do, but you can’t do what you think is right to protect your citizens.” Do I think Israel’s going about it the wrong way? Yes. Do I have an alternative that would work any better? No, I don’t. I don’t think we’re going to come up with one either. I think the situation is untenable and unresolvable by a third party. From where I sit, across the ocean and with no real perspective other than worried American citizen, I have no idea what our response should be, and that scares me.
    You praised the show Once and Again, and now I heard it’s being cancelled. That happens to things I like ALL the time. If I like a TV programme, it’s the kiss of death for it. Does that happen to you a lot?
    Thanks for breaking the news to me. I hadn’t heard that. It happens to me all the time. It’s made me very careful about which shows I invest my time in. I thought Once and Again would be one they’d stick with. It’s won Emmy’s and is just a quality show. Like Sports Night before it, the networks can’t seem to handle intelligent shows that don’t stoop to the lowest common denominator. I’ve been forced to run to HBO for intelligent shows like Six Feet Under. The networks keep crying and renting their clothes over the fact that they’re losing audience to cable and have been for years. The answer’s pretty simple. For the most part, network fare is formulaic crap. They’ve focus-grouped all creativity and originality out of shows, and it’s depressing. I don’t think it’s that interesting shows aren’t conceived or that the people creating shows for the networks aren’t talented. I think it’s mostly that the networks won’t take a risk on a show like The Sopranos (which was originally made as a pilot for Fox). Ok, I need to backtrack a little. There are some original shows on the networks, they’re just a rare exception to the rule. I think Greg the Bunny on Fox has potential. I still love The Simpsons and King of the Hill, but they cancelled Family Guy. They cancelled Sports Night and kept Two Guys and a Girl on for two more seasons. Ok, enough on this one. Next question!
    So your a dad – favourite thing about that?
    Watching him grow and develop. I remember when he was born, he looked like a tiny boxer who’d gone twelve rounds with a cement mixer. His poor little head was all smooshed and his eyes were swollen. Then, when he was a couple months old and we could leave him on a blanket on the floor and he’d be right there half and hour later, gurgling away. At eight or nine months when he started pulling himself up on stuff, we were amazed. After that, “mommy” and “daddy” and now he’s a little person who talks and has opinions about things. It’s amazing.
    I get NextDraft also. Do you get any other email newsletters you’d recommend?
    I subscribe to a couple listservs, but I haven’t had good luck with newsletters other than NextDraft. I’m open to suggestions though.
    Do you think there’s a real future for Mozilla?
    I do. It may not take off as a stand-alone browser in Windows, but I think it’s perfect for linux users, and even Mac users who get tired of Internet Explorer’s quirks on that platform (although, 5.1 for OS X is nice). I think its real future is in what AOL’s doing with it – embedding it in another application. It’s perfect for that, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gecko powering all kinds of things in the near future, from settop boxes to cell phones. It’s portable, open-source, relatively small (the rendering engine, not Mozilla the client) and not reliant on a specific operating system. Oh, and did I mention it’s standards-compliant? As AOL moves forward with embedding it in its client, I think you’ll see that alone impact the browser marketshare of IE greatly.
    If you have an extra $20 – and it had to be spent solely on something for YOU – what would you buy?
    One of the David Byrne albums I don’t have. I came around to him fairly recently, and I can’t get enough.
    Be honest: Oreos. Ultra-odd sugary substance first, or accept the sandwiched cookie as offered by the manufacturer?
    If ice-cold milk is available, then it’s dip and chew. If not, then it’s disassemble, eat sugary filling and then eat the cookie pieces. It’s like three desserts in one!
    What is one of your favourite books and movies and why?
    The last great book I read was The Code Book by Simon Singh. It provided not only a technical history of cryptography, but took me into the battle between code makers and code breakers. It’s a fascinating read, even if you’re not into cryptography, the history and Mr. Singh’s writing style make it one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.
    Was your site design influenced by Zeldman, or is the orange and graphic style just a coincidence?
    Actually, it was the spaceman image that made me pick orange. I realized that the orange was really close to Zeldman’s so I changed it. Then, I realized I changed it TO Zeldman’s shade and promptly changed it back. It’s either one or two websafe colors off of Jeff’s. And now that you mention it, I’ve started playing with other background colors in Photoshop and have found some interesting possibilities. Check back later for a new look.
    People may knock AOL, but I’ve heard they’re great to work for. Would you agree?
    It’s challenging. There are some things I don’t like about it, but overall it is a great place to work. The scope of the projects I work on is insane, and that provides not only a lot of fun in building them, but a lot of pride when they go out the door and I can say it gets X million hits a day and made X millions of dollars last year. Now, if only I could get a profit-sharing deal on those projects, then it would be a great place to work.
    How did you all decide on the name Max?
    I’ve always loved Where the Wild Things Are, and the name Max. So, when we found out we were having a boy, we tried to come up with a bunch of different names, but kept coming back to Max. It definitely fits him.
    Where would you like to travel that you’ve never been?
    Any little seaside town on the Mediterranean with a beach, pleasant locals and good food. I was going to say the Cote d’Azur, but then I started thinking about Greece and well, why narrow it down when I don’t have to? I don’t even know why I want to go there. Everything I’ve seen or read about either place makes it sound very peaceful and relaxing, and I could do with some of both.
    Describe the moment you realized you were in love with your wife.
    About two weeks after we started dating, I went on a trip with some friends to Carlsbad Caverns that I had planned before I even asked Jen out for the first time. I had a great time, but everytime we did something cool, I remember wishing that Jen was there and thinking about her constantly.
    You’ve invited me over for dinner. Thanks! What are we having?
    Because you made me think about when Jen and I were dating before we got married, I’d have say I’d serve what I made her for our first date: creamy cajun chicken. It was my favorite dish at this place in Tucson called The Good Earth It was a nice creamy alfredo sauce with just enough cajun spice to make your mouth tingle without making your eyes water. It had bite-sized chunks of tender chicken and homemade whole wheat fettucini. Of course, I didn’t make the fettucini for our date, but it was still great. To go along with it, I’d have to try to recreate the chocolate cake my mom made for my birthday this year (without the coffee.. I think she used hot chocolate to replace it).
    They’re going to make a movie of your life. Who would play you?
    An excellent question, and I would say John Candy circa Stripes would be a good fit for the physical side of things. He’s about the right size and complextion (round and pale). If he could play slightly geeky with a touch of art snob he’d have me down pat.
    I’m thinking you probably don’t smoke or drink anything with caffeine. So, Do you have any mild addictions that you indulge?
    Well, as a slightly lapsed Mormon and a geek, I have a wicked caffeine addiction. I also have a mild addiction to swearing and watching R-rated movies. I don’t drink alchohol or smoke and have never taken illegal drugs, although there was that wicked contact high… I think, like most Christians who deny themselves some of the “normal” addictions, I’ve fallen into one of the worst – gluttony. I’m a big boy, and love my food. I’ve been trying to lose weight, but dammit if food isn’t the biggest monkey on my back.

  • And I thought showing only

    And I thought showing only two days of content on the frontpage would be a problem. I’m a content machine.

  • Mike is my old boss.

    Mike is my old boss. Mike climbs dangerous things and then shares his pictures with his sedentary friends. Go, Mike, go.