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I must be getting old.
Oct. 10th, 2011 08:34 pmMy baby sister is now seventeen. She is applying to colleges.
It's extremely sobering to think this. My parents now technically have four adult children (officially will next year), two of which are sight-unseen. They will be empty-nesters soon.
Even more sobering is that my baby sister is seventeen. I remember very clearly when she came home the first time, and I've changed her diapers and prepared her baby food and read to her and sang to her and where the fuck did all the time go.
What's even worse is that she's dating. Well, not right this second, but she's had at least one boyfriend thus far, and she drives and plays awesome music and is in a band, my sister is in a band you guys, I am going to head to the youth center next month to catch their first gig. And Trekkiegirl claims she is "a knockout", which what the hell.
Although, I suppose I shouldn't be complaining. I'm still teaching her awesome things. I got her interested in 90s punk, ska, and alternative - even if she calls it "retro" - and she's slowly but surely warming to the movies and books that I keep trying to get her interested in. I'm taking her to see Ghostbusters when it comes back to theaters this Thursday, and she's never seen it before. For a first time viewing, what better than in a packed theater? I mean, I still remember seeing Star Wars for the first time when it was re-released in 1997, and that's an experience I wouldn't trade for the world.
It's still pretty mind-boggling, to say the least. My baby sister is someone I can have extended, intelligent conversations and debates with, and I'm not denying how much I enjoy this fact, even when I decry its credibility.
That said, she told me today the choices in albums she picked out with her gift cards from her birthday, and I was chagrined to realize that I didn't recognize either of the bands' names. I'm getting too old for this - though in my defense, she is very much into the indie and local music scene.
It's extremely sobering to think this. My parents now technically have four adult children (officially will next year), two of which are sight-unseen. They will be empty-nesters soon.
Even more sobering is that my baby sister is seventeen. I remember very clearly when she came home the first time, and I've changed her diapers and prepared her baby food and read to her and sang to her and where the fuck did all the time go.
What's even worse is that she's dating. Well, not right this second, but she's had at least one boyfriend thus far, and she drives and plays awesome music and is in a band, my sister is in a band you guys, I am going to head to the youth center next month to catch their first gig. And Trekkiegirl claims she is "a knockout", which what the hell.
Although, I suppose I shouldn't be complaining. I'm still teaching her awesome things. I got her interested in 90s punk, ska, and alternative - even if she calls it "retro" - and she's slowly but surely warming to the movies and books that I keep trying to get her interested in. I'm taking her to see Ghostbusters when it comes back to theaters this Thursday, and she's never seen it before. For a first time viewing, what better than in a packed theater? I mean, I still remember seeing Star Wars for the first time when it was re-released in 1997, and that's an experience I wouldn't trade for the world.
It's still pretty mind-boggling, to say the least. My baby sister is someone I can have extended, intelligent conversations and debates with, and I'm not denying how much I enjoy this fact, even when I decry its credibility.
That said, she told me today the choices in albums she picked out with her gift cards from her birthday, and I was chagrined to realize that I didn't recognize either of the bands' names. I'm getting too old for this - though in my defense, she is very much into the indie and local music scene.
- @alliancesjr: And now she's offering to burn me a CD, which is at once incredibly sweet of her and horrific mocking. I have nothing left to teach her.
@alliancesjr: (I am so proud of her.)
[Thirty-Day Meme] - Day 26
Sep. 7th, 2010 02:35 pmThree to go before I'm caught up.
Your fears, in great detail
Oh, Dayna's going to have a field day with this one. She's the one where nightmares actually cause her pain, not me.
Oh well. Let's see, what do I have?
( Screw Kennedy. Fear is pretty damn scary. )
Your fears, in great detail
Oh, Dayna's going to have a field day with this one. She's the one where nightmares actually cause her pain, not me.
Oh well. Let's see, what do I have?
( Screw Kennedy. Fear is pretty damn scary. )
[Thirty-Day Meme] - Day 19
Aug. 30th, 2010 03:30 pmAugh, time to play catch-up again. At least I didn't get as far behind as I did a while back.
Something you regret, in great detail
NOT DOING THIS MEME EVERY DAY AS SCHEDULED
(See what I did there?)
( I regret... )
Something you regret, in great detail
NOT DOING THIS MEME EVERY DAY AS SCHEDULED
(See what I did there?)
( I regret... )
[Thirty-Day Meme] - Day 18
Aug. 28th, 2010 05:36 pmMy car requires a thousand dollar repair job. The on-board computer got fried. Parts are over 500, labor's over 400.
I need to talk about something happy.
Your favorite birthday, in great detail
This will do nicely.
( A story of baseball. )
I need to talk about something happy.
Your favorite birthday, in great detail
This will do nicely.
( A story of baseball. )
[Thirty-Day Meme] - Day 10
Aug. 23rd, 2010 10:28 amStill playing catch-up. I hope the next one is something interesting!
What you wore today, in great detail
...guess not.
Today today, or when-this-was-supposed-to-be-posted today? Either way it was a button-down shirt (white Friday, blue today), black pants, black socks, black shoes.
WORK CLOTHES.
What you wore today, in great detail
...guess not.
Today today, or when-this-was-supposed-to-be-posted today? Either way it was a button-down shirt (white Friday, blue today), black pants, black socks, black shoes.
WORK CLOTHES.
Delicate Situations, a study thereof.
Aug. 9th, 2010 09:44 amThings with Trekkiegirl have been excessively wonderful. We tend to spend most weekends together, either watching various TV shows or otherwise out and about - we want to go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire1 and Wizard World2 this month, but we decided not to because of our financial situations - and I'm pretty much just basking.
Forher birthday our six-month Non-Specific Roughly-Celebratory Day, she picked me up a copy of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, which she knew I wanted and was sad I could not afford right away. I've been replaying the original to refresh myself on the story - which is extremely phenomenal for a game of its time - and when she got me the game on Friday, I was ecstatic.
"You know you've just voluntarily given up half your evening with me, right?"
"It had better only be half."3
Wings of Liberty might only be the first third of the game (Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void to be sold seperately as expansions), but it's a complete experience in and of itself. I think it has roughly 30 full-size missions? I haven't finished it yet (and I may or may not4 have been playing non-stop this entire weekend).
Fantastic, let me tell you. Blizzard has outdone themselves. Plus I've got something to do when my Warcraft subscription runs out this month and I don't renew it until my monetary situation changes.
Speaking of Warcraft, we're probably going to focus on that in this month's episode of Made of Fail. Dayna needed the time off6 - for really good reasons, mind you; I joke, but her life is pretty much a series of Murphy's Law anomolies - so I'll be enlisting Adam and Tessa for this. (Weston and/or Gendou, you guys want to join us? Let me know if you do. All you need is Skype and a headset.)
That'll probably record sometime this week or probably (read: more likely) this weekend. It depends on everyone's schedules.
I will leave you all with one Important Safety Tip. When you're driving, and you want to turn left, and they have a center lane specifically for people who want to turn without disrupting the traffic behind them? Pro tip. Use the fucking thing. Thank you.
For
"You know you've just voluntarily given up half your evening with me, right?"
"It had better only be half."3
Wings of Liberty might only be the first third of the game (Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void to be sold seperately as expansions), but it's a complete experience in and of itself. I think it has roughly 30 full-size missions? I haven't finished it yet (and I may or may not4 have been playing non-stop this entire weekend).
Fantastic, let me tell you. Blizzard has outdone themselves. Plus I've got something to do when my Warcraft subscription runs out this month and I don't renew it until my monetary situation changes.
Speaking of Warcraft, we're probably going to focus on that in this month's episode of Made of Fail. Dayna needed the time off6 - for really good reasons, mind you; I joke, but her life is pretty much a series of Murphy's Law anomolies - so I'll be enlisting Adam and Tessa for this. (Weston and/or Gendou, you guys want to join us? Let me know if you do. All you need is Skype and a headset.)
That'll probably record sometime this week or probably (read: more likely) this weekend. It depends on everyone's schedules.
I will leave you all with one Important Safety Tip. When you're driving, and you want to turn left, and they have a center lane specifically for people who want to turn without disrupting the traffic behind them? Pro tip. Use the fucking thing. Thank you.
- She has an outfit. It's a harem bellydancer outfit. She actually bellydances you guys.
- Because she wants to get Brent Spiner's autograph. That tells you everything you need to know about her.
- I was joking. She wasn't. She pointedly went to my TV and started watching an episode of The X-Files on my NetFlix queue just so I had an hour to give my new Anti-Social Device a spin around the quadrant.
- Okay, who am I kidding? At least I remembered to eat5.
- Mostly.
- I wish I knew what it was like to be able to just take whole episodes off and not have to worry about the show crumbling to dust.
So, that happened.
Let's get this straight. I wanted to see this movie so much. The trailer was fantastic, but...
Tessa's doing her own audio review as I type this, and it's currently up on uStream.
( Spoiler-laden review coming up. You have been warned. )
Let's get this straight. I wanted to see this movie so much. The trailer was fantastic, but...
Tessa's doing her own audio review as I type this, and it's currently up on uStream.
( Spoiler-laden review coming up. You have been warned. )
The right frame of mind.
Apr. 13th, 2010 10:10 amSo, I'm looking into my health benefits for the details of my vision coverage. My eyesight has been slowly deteriorating; not really fast enough to notice, but I've been having trouble with reasonably-distanced street signs while driving, especially at night, and I tried on Trekkiegirl's new glasses the other day and was surprised that everything really did seem a lot clearer.
I'm thinking I may need to get glasses.
This doesn't surprise me at all; I was pretty sure this would happen. Genetics and all; my mother has worn glasses ever since she was a girl, my father started out with reading glasses about ten years ago, then had to wear glasses full-time from about five years ago. Physics Sister started wearing them just after high school (or possibly in her last year, I don't remember), and Cheer Sister just got them a year or so ago.
Honestly, with the amount of sitting in front of a computer screen that I do, I'm surprised I'm only discovering this now.
Looking into my benefits resources with my company, I see that I did have the foresight1 to not cut Vision out when I re-enrolled last fall. Decent amount of base coverage, too. Now all I need to do is find my cards (and failing that, requesting new ones) and schedule an eye exam.
EDIT: Found my information, didn't find my cards but I ordered new ones. Exam isn't covered (though it might be under general health; must cross-research), frames are free up to a point and then I get a discount on the balance after that, basic lenses are at a very cheap co-pay, slightly more expensive co-pay for anti-glare (which will be worth the money for sitting at a computer screen for hours on end). Now all I need to do is wait for the cards and schedule an appointment; Trekkiegirl, you'll accompany me, right?
I'm thinking I may need to get glasses.
This doesn't surprise me at all; I was pretty sure this would happen. Genetics and all; my mother has worn glasses ever since she was a girl, my father started out with reading glasses about ten years ago, then had to wear glasses full-time from about five years ago. Physics Sister started wearing them just after high school (or possibly in her last year, I don't remember), and Cheer Sister just got them a year or so ago.
Honestly, with the amount of sitting in front of a computer screen that I do, I'm surprised I'm only discovering this now.
Looking into my benefits resources with my company, I see that I did have the foresight1 to not cut Vision out when I re-enrolled last fall. Decent amount of base coverage, too. Now all I need to do is find my cards (and failing that, requesting new ones) and schedule an eye exam.
EDIT: Found my information, didn't find my cards but I ordered new ones. Exam isn't covered (though it might be under general health; must cross-research), frames are free up to a point and then I get a discount on the balance after that, basic lenses are at a very cheap co-pay, slightly more expensive co-pay for anti-glare (which will be worth the money for sitting at a computer screen for hours on end). Now all I need to do is wait for the cards and schedule an appointment; Trekkiegirl, you'll accompany me, right?
- Hur.
New Moon Reactions
Nov. 22nd, 2009 10:41 am...man, I'm getting major use of the Sparklebishy icon.
Tessa and I managed to catch an early showing of New Moon, against our will. I had to, for the show (which records in an hour and a half), and I wasn't going to see it alone, so I did some serious scrambling (which I will not get into here) and finally was able to make it work. Although it was REALLY DIFFICULT to do so. It shouldn't be so hard to get to see a movie that I didn't want to see in the first goddamned place..
ANYWAY. Reactions are spoilerlicious, I guess. These are not edited in any way; these are notes I jotted down right then and there while I was watching it.
I will note that I was spoiled a bit by Dayna's reactions, so there may be some joke sharing.
( WEREWOLF. I don't know, you had him last! )
Tessa and I managed to catch an early showing of New Moon, against our will. I had to, for the show (which records in an hour and a half), and I wasn't going to see it alone, so I did some serious scrambling (which I will not get into here) and finally was able to make it work. Although it was REALLY DIFFICULT to do so. It shouldn't be so hard to get to see a movie that I didn't want to see in the first goddamned place..
ANYWAY. Reactions are spoilerlicious, I guess. These are not edited in any way; these are notes I jotted down right then and there while I was watching it.
I will note that I was spoiled a bit by Dayna's reactions, so there may be some joke sharing.
( WEREWOLF. I don't know, you had him last! )
It has taken over.
Nov. 20th, 2009 08:47 amOver the last two weeks, I've been playing through all the old episodes of Made of Fail because I wanted to prove something to myself. Well, I owe myself five dollars, because every single episode since Episode Ten: Do We Dazzle You has had at least one mention of Twilight in it at some point.
Every single episode.
We said we'd be strong about it, but we've failed. Twilight - to be fair, the whole Twilight Phenomenon - has completely eaten Made of Fail, to the extent that the next episode will feature, if not completely than at least fairly prominently, New Moon reactions from Team Fail.
Episode Twenty-Three records Sunday.
Every single episode.
We said we'd be strong about it, but we've failed. Twilight - to be fair, the whole Twilight Phenomenon - has completely eaten Made of Fail, to the extent that the next episode will feature, if not completely than at least fairly prominently, New Moon reactions from Team Fail.
Episode Twenty-Three records Sunday.