Author: Teel

I’m working on a new thing for Modern Evil that will theoretically allow me to make the homepage load faster and provide more, and more interactive data, with less load on the server than I have now. If everything is working right, you shouldn’t even know I’ve changed anything when I post this.

Okay, it didn’t work the first time. Let’s try again… Nope… Nope… Nope… Yep… Nope… Nope… Yep… Yep… Nope…

Okay. Tried a bunch of things. This looks like it works okay for now.

Oh, and if you’re one of the people who has access to post, you may notice a new, tiny, pop-up window when you post something. Try to ignore it. If it doesn’t disappear on its own, let me know.

We all know they’re putting warnings on everything. Next thing you know they’ll be tattooing a warning across my face, to protect ‘the innocent’ and unaware. How long until they put a warning on you?

Here’s an interesting thing: Japanese children have taken to making shiny balls of mud. Read an article about it, then follow the instructions yourself. See how shiny you can make your mud:

How to Make Shiny Dorodango

1. Pack some mud into your hand, and squeeze
   out the water while forming a sphere.
2. Add some dry dirt to the outside and
   continue to gently shape the mud into a sphere.
3. When the mass dries, pack it solid with
   your hands, and rub the surface until a smooth film begins to appear.
4. Rub your hands against the ground, patting
   and rubbing the fine, powdery dirt onto the sphere. Continue this for
   two hours.
5. Seal the ball in a plastic bag for three
   or four hours. Upon removing the sphere, repeat step 4, and then once
   again seal the sphere in a plastic bag.
6. Remove the ball from the bag, and if
   it is no longer wet, polish it with a cloth until it shines.

This morning I got up out of bed at the normal time, allowing me to eat some breakfast & make some lunch and even check my email before I had to rush out the door on the way to work. I didn’t feel particularly groggy or physically exhausted. Not even as much as I usually do on a Monday morning (although I did get to bed about 1/2hr sooner than most Sunday nights, due to some re-runs). The whole morning I felt suprizingly awake and alert; not like I had got enough sleep, but not reflecting the extra energy I exerted this weekend, the odd sleeping hours, and the reduced sleep last night. I even managed to go the whole morning without getting hungry (perhaps my body is still trying to digest the insane amount of food I had at the buffet at the Rio yesterday and all the ice cream on the way home), and I had even brought a yogurt to eat in case that happened. So I’ve been plugging along, feeling fine, got to my lunch hour, ate my sandwich (Yum!: Honey Ham and Cheddar Cheese on Jewish Rye with fat free mayo. Mustard might have helped, but it was good) and went outside to try to read some of the reading assignment for ENG 221.

I don’t know if it was the temperature change (it’s dreadfully cold inside and quite warm outside) or what, but all of a sudden, I needed to lay my head down. I realised this could be a problem and set my phone to go off just before I was supposed to walk back inside, then I collapsed literally into my book for about twenty minutes. At which time using my hands as a pillow cut off enough bloodflow and sensation that I lifted my head, turned 90 degrees and laied down on the bench I was sitting on. Out for another ten minutes. My phone went off, I got up, and went inside and took a minute to fill my pitcher with crystal light; maybe I was just dehydrated. It took a couple of hours and a few pints of fluid, plus a lot of deep breathing, but I’m not feeling like I need to pass out from exhaustion (that reminds me to watch Gun Shy when I get a chance). Actually, I started writing this right after lunch, and have been interrupted by a great many things, and by now I feel about as good as I did this morning. I’m planning a quick trip to the grocer on the way home, but then a 30 or 60 minute nap before I settle in to do my homework. Without interruption, I believe I can do all my reading and responding in 5-6 hours tonight, so even with a nap I should be able to get to bed at a reasonable time.

Of course, tomorrow night in class we’ll be choosing the Shakespearean play that we’ll have to read in its entirety and respond to before Thursday morning at 9AM. That’s exactly 36 hours, 12 of which I will be working & no less than 12 of which I will be sleeping (though preferably 14 or 15), and between eating and travelling, another 4 hours. I sure hope I can read and comprehend and respond intelligently to an entire shakespeare play in 6-8 hrs.

I got back from Vegas a couple of hours ago. Just in time to catch the Season finale of Six Feet Under, actually. I’m a little disappointed in their “cliffhanger”; will Nate survive his brain surgery? Will Claire get into Art School? How will having Rico a partner effect how the business is run? Will Keith ever learn anger management? Anyway.

Vegas was pretty good. Spent more time with Zoe’s extended family than doing anything else, including going to the strip. Learned that my body really, really doesn’t like air blowing across it, or sleeping more than 7 hours at a stretch. Confirmed that everything’s more fun with a monkey. Gambled something like $7.50 away; I’m such a big gambler. (Next time I go I want to try a couple spins at Roulette, but most tables I saw had a $10 minimum, so I’ll be gambling a little more next time. Maybe as much as $20 or $30 dollars!) Plans kept getting changed because of timing issues and everyone’s bodies’ requirements of sleep (It seems we can’t run much more than 20… maybe 22 hours at a stretch), so we’re looking into going back sometime in July and hitting all the clubs we missed this time around.

I got to go through the ride at the Star Trek Experience three times; that was a lot of fun. Increasing fun at every pass, actually. If you’ve ever been, it turns out Edison (my stuffed monkey) is the ancestor. Who knew? If you haven’t been through and you know what Star trek is and don’t hate it, I recommend The Star trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. At least go for a meal to Quark’s. the food is excellent, and the drinks are creative.

I’m going to go to bed quite soon. I’ll try to type more tomorrow.