wReckless

To Do List --- The Second Coming

2008-12-06T03:31:02Z

Let's see how well I did this stuff, since it's now the beginning of December...

Things to do in October

Transcripts for law school <)>all but one, and I'm out of checks, so I have to wait for more</i>
Resume for law school erg, mostly done
Letters of recommendation for law school erg, need to write "pretty, please" letters to them
Personal Statement for Evil League of Evil, no, not really, you got it law school getting there
(not cry about LSAT score) definitely haven't, actually the reason why I'm moving slow is because I did well enough on the LSAT to not need to do the early application
Create a $25/week/person food budget - this might be cheating for me since I don't eat much YES!, one done!
Plan Costume!!! (need ears, dress, ooh, could I pierce my ears???) yup, I'm on a roll!
(Buy Plane Ticket) erg, rent a car??sweet, hat trick!
Buy Bathmat - this should be easy, but I have to get to the store...wtf? I haven't done this, oh had to (see above) and had no $
Read 150 pages of Voter Material (California sucks!) hmm, mostly read it, didn't vote on everything
Instructables - Apple Cider and Tail (2 separate ones) I suck at this
LJ, lj, lj, lj, lj I really suck at this
Relearn Spanish (re-proficient by end of year) getting there! I'm reading No Country for Old Men right now and about 30 pages in after 3 weeks of reading

Apple and the Law

2008-12-03T02:00:15Z

No Newtonian philosophy here. This is in fact my first rant against Apple.

I now live in the Bay Area where Steve Jobs has declared himself Emperor for evermore, but I have yet to be converted. No Ministry of any sort will make my intense annoyance with Apple wan.

I don't *hate* the company, but I don't like for much of what it stands - style over substance, new over classic, Photoshop over Excel.

They probably create some fine products that would make my Windows-centric life a little less crude, but they command a premium price for not much advantage.

And I abhor their advertising. I'm not a fan of Seinfeld and Gates frolicking together on suburban trampolines, but the Mac character just makes my inner un-cool dork rile up with bile (!) at the hip iDork that is Mac.

So, let this be the first rant on lj about Apple; surely not the last, but I'll keep them sparse and limited to their practices rather than their products. And my rants won't be nearly as jarring to your Apple Sensibility as The Simpsons on Sunday night. Jive on with your earbuds!

~~~
Apple Ads should not be taken Seriously <3 S.Jobs

This is in reference to a blog entry, but here's the keypoints.

Apple's new 3g iPhone has been criticized for not being that fast. It might be a problem with a percentage of their chips, but I'll let the hardware guys figure it out. I'm the almost-law student/consumer watchdog, so I'll take care of one of the pending lawsuits against Apple for the problems with the iPhone.

One of the lawsuits is about the iPhone's tagline, "twice as fast for half the price," claiming the product does not live up to their cliche'd claim because the 3g is having problems with the speed of their 3g network.

Apple's answer is that no reasonable person would believe the aforementioned claim. I mean, why would somebody believe it, just because Apple said so? Oh, wait, this is Apple, whose entire product line is steeped in image and style, built on the poor backs of MadMen, and worshipped and praised for every stylish, yet user-friendly 23rd century gimmick. but i digress...

In the legal sense, Apple's lawyers did just what they should do. They shot the lawsuit with every spork, kitchen sink, and road apple that they could, hoping some rebuttal(s) would stick, and they could settle quickly. With lawsuits, you need to put out whatever possible reason you could have to file a claim/defend yourself before a certain time, else you lose it. Apple's lawyers likely have 20 different reasons why they shouldn't be sued, but why answer with one, when 20 are available and you can fudge 5 more? Because if that one reason gets tossed before trial, you can't bring up any others, you are unable to mount a credible case/defense, and the court rules against you.
So, yeah those lawyers earned their ridiculous paychecks this time.

But man, are their PR people going to be working overtime.

Because that's the problem with the law. Even if you are working for Saint His Holiness Himself, you need to argue everything, even things that make you feel like Alberto Gonzales defending mr. waterboarding malaprop. You need to find every loophole, even if you need to go back to 1809 where the curse My Dear! was declared illegal and never taken off the books and say that the crazed psychopath shouted it as he kidnapped you and sliced off your legs, and that's why you demand damages from him. And if you're getting paid top-dollar (see Apple lawyers) to defend claims (and protect your client from a class-action lawsuit), you damn well better name every possible reason you are saintly.

So the takeaway lesson is...

Microsoft really isn't selling blue screen of death relaxation teas, and Apple doesn't look that good in a tight black tee shirt, and you're an unreasonable person for believing that.

the state beneath

2008-11-05T19:46:21Z

Ohio does deserve props. Not only was it in play (unlike Michigan, McSame and Failin' visited), but it went navy! Yay for white blue-collar workers!

And Michigan - oooh! I'm soo proud! medicinal marijuana and stem cells!! *pats on head/upper p*

As for California....Constitutional amendment for ban on same sex marriage passed - barely, but it passed. :'( I guess it's off to the Supreme Court then.

We did get a bond for high speed rail - SF to LA in 2 hours!! (like I'd ever go to LA)
and parental notification for abortions is NO

And of course Hope just isn't a town in Arkansas!

Speaking of Arkansas -

Ban on gays to adopt in Arkansas passed. Just one more reason to go to law school.

costume!

2008-10-18T07:16:27Z

yay! finally figured out what I'm going to be. awesome random searching.

and it even involves my well-used Ren Fair mask :)

...now to make it :(

Wow! 2 in one day!!!

2008-10-07T05:47:12Z

yay!

Things to do in October (outside of grueling work)

Transcripts for law school
Resume for law school
Letters of recommendation for law school
Personal Statement for Evil League of Evil, no, not really, you got it law school
(not cry about LSAT score)
Create a $25/week/person food budget - this might be cheating for me since I don't eat much Link
Plan Costume!!! (need ears, dress, ooh, could I pierce my ears???)
(Buy Plane Ticket) erg, rent a car??
Buy Bathmat - this should be easy, but I have to get to the store...
Read 150 pages of Voter Material (California sucks!)
Instructables - Apple Cider and Tail (2 separate ones)
LJ, lj, lj, lj, lj
Relearn Spanish (re-proficient by end of year)

hmm, seems busy, I guess I'll hold off on TV for a while.

phew!

2008-10-06T15:51:59Z

So, I know it's been a loooong time since my last post, but I'm determined to get back on it.

I've been absent for awhile, and have been slow on email for the past month or two, but that was due to LSAT (which is over as of Saturday).

Really, I promise, I'm going to post regularly!!

fun times in SF

2007-07-25T16:34:43Z

just a short post...

Hopefully, I'll be back online/in existence soon. I'll be moving to an apt in SF, leaving my dad :'( , and have a much, much shorter commute in a couple of weeks. Zilla's going to keep my dad company since SF is sorta anti-pet (landlords really), but I have a neighborhood kitty that seems attention starved.

So, enough of life updates, onto sorta-shallow epiphanies....
I realized yesterday that even if something happens in SF, I won't really need to post about my crazy/sad/horrible/quirky day, because most everybody will already know.

Huh? you say

Well, SF had a power failure yesterday and working in a high-rise, that was a crazy, no-break-for-me day. I was just about to rant and post about it when....lj is down!!!!!!! As is craigslist!!!! and Yelp!!!!!!!!
If I know you well enough, I think most of you realized what had happened b/c I live so close to the sites and memes that hourly carve away your productivity. The servers for those beloved websites are literally down the street from work.
So, if you ever can't get your daily fix of Missed Connections or restaurant reviews or your friends' rants, think of me. :)

Run - Zilla - RUN!

2007-06-26T05:42:24Z

Protect the guineas!

links is all

2007-05-28T21:24:08Z

Sweet Lite-brite on Fridge:
Make it!

Radiation from Mars?
Zombies in SF!

My life...

Nothing much. Looking for apartments and not having much luck. Haven't been feeling too well and sleeping a lot. Paralegal classes start up in a couple of weeks again. Work is crazy. Zilla is sleepy and hot *pant pant*. As am I. E. bay is too hot in the world. Actually have a doctor's appt! *gasp* Debating about law school...still. Missing doing historical research. Took a daytrip to Yosemite. Not anywhere as wilderness-y as I was hoping. It's Disneyland with bugs and trees. I might post some pics on facebook. hmmm, that's about it.

Hope everything is going pseudo- to awesomeingly-well in your lives.

Falcons!

2007-04-19T15:43:20Z

Oooh! I don't know if I talked about this last year, but San Francisco has peregrine falcons nesting in the high-rises. The pair who nested across the street from my work last year is getting ready to nest again. Oooh! Lay some eggs, girl!!

For a nest cam of the purdy birds:
George & Gracie

I just hope they'll have a productive year.

*crosses fingers for baby falcons*

just a short snicker

2007-04-17T06:39:45Z

so, I'm reading up on contracts (really looking for landlord-tenant law, but not having a prodigious amount of luck with that...well not really with contracts either, but...)

and the sources keep talking about non-performance. Which gets me to thinking (remember it's 11:30 right now and I wake up at 5:50) about teaching subjects with the pimps and hos model, originially created by a fellow-shall-remain-nameless-lj-er.

So, with the 'pimps and hos' model of teaching (like the Socratic method :), what would non-performance be? On both sides of the transaction too--john and ho.

I wonder if the john fails to perform and the ho/pimp buy some viagra on the street to *encourage* performance, could they sue the john for the cost of the viagra?

*ponders*

Granted, I doubt none of those transactions would be written contracts (gawd, how dumb of a john/ho/pimp could you be to take part in illegal activities and write precisely what you're doing down)

Still, I really can't wait to take contracts now!

(oh, and I'm not pulling an Imus or anything up there)

html fun!

2007-04-14T04:42:07Z

okay, so again, another crappy post from the girl who hardly ever posts anymore. But i'm just exhausted.

Anyhow...

I was looking up crochet patterns and found this awesome lil html goody.:
Bg color mouseover

It's at the top, right above the Materials section.

Go have fun with viewing that source! (it's actually not that difficult, but I don't build pages anymore--pooh)

First post in a month??!

2007-04-09T05:54:29Z

Peeps!

(yeah, I know this is a pretty crappy post for the first time in a month)

(midterms and busy work...and that's about it)

Littles

2007-03-04T06:49:00Z

Okay, Apparently I suck at updating, because I go week(s) without updating and then do these massive ones.
Sorry :( I'm still alive, and I still luv you all and miss you all.
And now....

Why I'm Busy
Same stuff. Paralegal classes, work, long commutes, plus looking for apartments. Ugh, not fun really. I checked out one apt the other day that was a 45 minute walk to, and not only that, but up a hill (and a real hill, not those little piddly squats the rest of big cities have) down a hill and up a hill! *pant, pant* I may live in California, but I'm still way outta shape. (compared to uber-athletic marathon runners)

Concert
Coworker dragged me to a concert on Thursday night. Her friend cancelled at last minute, and she invited me, the sorta bookish, boring, living with her dad in the boring-ass burbs and not meeting any people. It was great! It was OK Go (TMBG opener and treadmill music video) and Snow Patrol (as the SF Chron put it...singing easy melodies to crappy tv dramas). There was another opener, but we missed it. It was so great, and I realized I need to start going to concerts again. Especially since Cali has no smoking!!! and I don't get sick or overheated or whatever at concerts. We ended up sitting down the whole time, but at least I wasn't bruised. And Snow Patrol is Irish! *purrrrrr* and he tells dirty jokes and whee! what fun!

Roommates
Blargh, so tough. And I realized why it's tough. Zilla. Most of the landlords say 'no pets' and even if they really mean dogs and cats, potential roommates don't want to get into that grey area. :( I think I'm going to switch my neighborhood search. I've been going a little, how shall we say, preppy? than what I really am. Out here, your neighborhood says a lot about you. And I'm not really the type with the neighborhoods I've been looking at.

Becoming More SF
So, there's a lot of beliefs about what SF is and no, I haven't run naked in the streets yet, but I have become a lot more of the urban, liberal elite that's gentrifying the fuck out of the city. Sorta. One thing I was kinda interested in last week was very expensive, very arty modern design. We get some junk catalogs of the beautiful name brand designs (Saarninen, for example, not knock-offs) at work and wow are some of those items beautiful. I haven't bought anything crazy (except my $100 wood table and chair set from CostPlus World Market), but I was tempted last weekend and today. Last weekend an Italian design showcase place had a great sale; some of the pieces were 50% off! They were advertising a couch that was very flexible and well designed. It could....be a couch, a bed, a loungey couch, 2 chaise lounges or 2 separate swivel chairs! Multi-tasker!!!! luv luv luv. And it was only about $3700. And no, that IS the sale price. Today, I went into the SF MoMA (modern art museum) while my friend used the bathroom and checked out the gift shop. They had some furniture that I swear, I was so close to buying. There's this awesome side table made of plastic that has its top full of holes, but cool holes so that it looks like a piece of pumice stone or something. Very organic, you know? But in plastic, which makes it very mod (mod, short for modern, but an actual art movement). They also had a lamp whose base is thick clear plastic and was as if in a paper doll house, a ornate victorian curly-q lamp was made of paper and you put two pieces of paper together in a + to make a 3-d figure. *sigh* That didn't help visualize it did it? Anyhow, very awesome. And I'll look for links soon.

Chinese New Year
Sweet! for some of you, this is our year!!! It's a 12-yr cycle, so the year your born (age 0) is your sign and every 12 years, it's your sign again (12, 24, 36, 48, 60)! So piggies, unite! I did just remember that the last time it was my year, Pumbaa of Timon & Pumbaa and the Lion King graced the cover of the Year of the Boar festivities.
Next year, for all you yung'un '84s, is Year of the Rat. And come visit SF! SF has the largest (3 hour!!!) Chinese New Year parade in America (i think). It was tonight and wow, it's purdy. Google it. I fell in luv luv luv with SF all over again today. I just wanted to cuddle it and squeeze it and pet it and name it George (see Bugs Bunny + abominable snowman to get reference)
Lovely sunny, 60 degree day.

Gawd, I'm tired. I'm outtie!

rhysvyan @ 2007-02-17T17:14:00

2007-02-18T01:18:18Z

Shoes - Check
Really cheap shoes. Payless just happened to have a dressy sandal in my size in silver for $7.99! :)

And a gothic necklace for 50 cents! Chain and velvet ribbon!

It was a good day at the mall.

Oh, weird think I noticed about my loans. I'm in deferrment right now. Automatically. No application, no mention to SFSU CEL (school I'm taking classes at) that I have a loan, it just did it automatically. Of course, I'm on auto-payments, so I don't mind paying, but still, if I must, I can skip a month or two.

If I must tho, I've got bigger problems.

Okay, I'm to WoW.

blargh

2007-02-17T03:13:41Z

So, I've barely been online in the past week. Which I sorta expected.

Twice this week I checked out apartments. The one on Tuesday seemed more promising...right by the interesting part of Lombard Street. Ya know, the really curvy street with flowers and...okay...come visit and I'll show you. The one on Thursday I'm saying no to, even though she's also saying no to me. I don't want to live with just one person in a building that looks like a halfway house/bordello from the '30s.

One problem I'm noticing I have with roommates....Zilla. No pets is typical, but come on! she's little.

I'm thinking I might see if my dad wants to keep her? gawd, that sounds evil!!!!!! I love my little fuzzball.

But I've been so busy this week.....

More for later after din-din.

***insert cinnamon roll french toast....purrrr***

Okay dinner done.

(oooh, here's a sad pun that I just thought of: What do you say when you finish a Scandanavian meal? Dane din done. I know, I can hear the groans)

Been walking all over the place looking at apartments and going to class. Very exhausted and sore. I've been getting home late (talk about long days: 6:30 a.m. - 10:45 p.m. yesterday)
I'll be napping quite a bit tomorrow.

I feel like so much has happened by looking at the lj posts this week. And 15 minutes after work is the first I've seen of them. I can't wait until I can get rid of this 45 minute + buffer time commute. Some of the places I've been looking at, I could wake up at 7:00 a.m., shower, be out the door by 7:20 and be at work with fifteen minutes to spare at 8 a.m. Oh, 7:00 a.m. sounds soooooo decadently late :)
*granted, I'm going to sleep til 11 tomorrow :P Now that's just Roman!

Class..
Definitely enjoying. Definitely way easy. Picking up the stuff pretty easily.

No work on Monday! sweeet!
No class on Wednesday! sweeet!

Just need to read a couple of statutes for homework! swee...well, crap I still have homework.

Bill Maher is back on tonight! purrrr

Slings & Arrows is comin' back! must buy! For any of you who like Shakespeare (or don't but loved that Mountie *snicker* from Due South) check it out. On Sundance on digital cable or buy Season 1 and 2 (a grieviously short 12 eppys total).

Skipped ceramics this week. I walked straight for an 1.5 hrs that night wandering around to see this apt, up and down hills and bloody hell was I exhausted!

Zil's going crazy drinking tons of water. itty bitty bang bangs of the water bottle against her glass cage

Completely accidentally wore red on v-day, and man did everybody ask me if I had a hot date. *groan* I really need to turn on the lights when I get dressed.

hmm, I know there's more...

I will buy silver shoes this weekend. I will. And then I'll get my dress tailored. ooh, and I'll make my CD not renew and turn into my IMMA. oh, and check retirement..stuff. and maybe do taxes. And level on WoW. miss it greatly. but so tired...zz..

Oooh! saw a raccoon in the city yesterday. Very cute and fuzzy and timid and adorable little paws. See, even with zilla, I still want to pet the rabid animals of SF (and I mean the fuzzy ones, but the human ones too :)

For any of you who don't think BBC Coupling is sweet, check out Amazon.com's buzzwords for the DVD set:
Sock Puppet | Blindfold | Farce | Bisexual | Stockings | Ticket | Whipped Cream | Sex Shop | Masturbation | Orgasm | Aging

okay, nitall!

small update

2007-02-11T22:15:50Z

So life has been busy.

Work is still crazy, but I'm enjoying it.

SF politics is kinda crazy and tabloid-y, but I don't want to get into all that. If you're curious, google: Mayor San Francisco Affairs Alcohol. Get my drift?

Apartments...
That's what I have been focusing on this past week. Already checked out one and got denied. I've probably emailed about 15 people for roommates, but I've gotten just two responses. The first rejected me (see above). The second I didn't go to the open house because it was just north of the Tenderloin (bad neighborhood) and I didn't want to walk a mile to get to it in the dark through the high crime area of SF.
I must admit I am feeling a bit like aelfscine with the amount of non-response. Granted, these are people ignoring me rather than institutions that should know better, but still... Sometimes it gets depressing looking at craigslist, but then there's a whole batch of possibilities.
I'm looking in North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill or Russian Hill. I'm sure that doesn't mean much to most of you, but essentially that area is just north of where I work and by the touristy area of Fisherman's Wharf. Cool area really.

Class..
Very easy. I have about 50 pages to read today so that I can do my research tomorrow after work, but really not difficult concepts. It's all vocational training and my classmates make me want to pound my head into the wall occassionally. Really simple concepts, but everybody is looking to take it so deep. Law & Order sickness is very evident and a bit annoying (even I do it sometimes), especially in my CIVIL procedures class. Get it, CIVIL, not CRIMINAL? Just people suing each other.
Thankfully my boss ups the prestigiousness of paralegal career. Right now, I'm not so sure how intellectually stimulating it is. But, give me five years, and we'll see.

Dress...!
W00t! Already came in. Need to find a pair of shoes (silver, right?) to wear to get it tailored. Should check flights for that weekend too. And see how difficult it is to smuggle a cheesecake on the plane. :)

WoW
I'm in a good place in WoW, just moved to the Badlands and am going to go over to the Searing Gorge very soon. sweet!

Off to WoW-ing I go!!!

rhysvyan @ 2007-02-03T21:50:00

2007-02-04T05:56:27Z

isn't it amazing how much I go on lj when I'm avoiding homework?

anyhows, this is a sort of mini-lj-resolution.

I realized I usually am in a very bad mood on lj. I tend to rant and hate humanity on lj. I really am not like that in the real world. Nor am I speaking in a very exasperated tone all the time. Or using !s all the time.

I'm working on that whole apartment situation now and sometimes cl ads ask for myspace pages, facebook, lj, and such. I don't know if I'd want roommates to see this. Especially people who haven't quite met me yet. Granted I wouldn't want my coworkers to see this either because if you only know a small portion of somebody, this rather large collection of rants is probably *not* the thing you'd want them to see....

I thus resolve to be less rant-y and bitey on lj. And mebbe eliminate the whatevers. I don't use like here, but still, I'm no Valley Girl.

'tis all.

rhysvyan @ 2007-02-02T23:19:00

2007-02-03T07:54:59Z

Phew, I really should be pooped out after the previous comment-evolved-to-post, but really, I've been slacking on lj, so I'm gonna tough it out and post another...

Lotsa Littles

Why I'm Slacking
So I'm slacking not because I'm slacking, but because I'm b u s y. Work has been killing me. Essentially non-stop from 8:00 a.m. to past 5:00 p.m. (even tho I'm hourly and office closes at 5) and me taking lunches as late at 4:00 p.m. It's really exhausting, but most of the work is interesting, and I only occassionally want to throttle my teammates. My boss came back on Monday from maternity leave, and I did miss her, not just because she's another body to take on some work, but because she's a real cool person. hell, my entire team is. Nobody on my team (7 including me) is a slacker or anything, it's just that there is waaaay toooo much going on. Not only that, but with my boss coming back this week and we're at full staff now, I've come to the conclusion that work is not going to let up for at least, um, 2 years? Certainly this entire year, but probably longer than that. Some good news is that I'll be getting way more responsibility since my coworker (and next-person higher than me) got promoted (finally! she deserves it) and will be taking on more tasks, which means some of her tasks will pass to me. The person she's taking the tasks from is also 'transitioning' (must be one of those MBA buzz words). What's all this means? It is extremely difficult to pass out tasks and figure out who knows what or needs to know what or who'll give me the info I need. I'm just in limbo at work, but at 100 mph. I'm just going to breathe now and relax about all that is going on at work.

Why I'm Slacking part 2
Since my last post, I have started paralegal classes. Two nights a week, dashing from work at 5:30 to the big gleaming mall (1 mile away) to start at 6-8:30 in class. Tuesdays are ceramics from 7-10 (straight from work). So, that means I've been leaving my apt at 6:30 in the morning and three nights a week coming home at between 9 and 10. And this after the top part. Oy! I haven't been online much at all this week. Barely grabbing a couple of minutes in the wee hours (before I officially start work) to glance at email. Oy again.
Regarding the classes, I haven't formed a definite opinion of it yet, other than that it's not much work. I'm going to wait some more time before I go on record with any feelings.

Apt Search
One thing I know I can't let up on is the apartment search. I'm feeling in limbo here in the east bay and not meeting many people and not having much socializing. I just looked before coming on to lj and found a couple really nice sounding ones. whee! I really don't want to turn my magic number (don't know why it's such a big number for me, other than the divisible by 3 thing) living in the burbs with my dad. So, cross fingers for me!

Dad
Related to the apt search, I know I need to get out of the apartment sooner. If you think I don't have a socializing life, my dad essentially has none. None if you exclude me. I know he's not much of a social butterfly, but I do feel he was doing better when I wasn't living out here. I really have no problems living with him, other than feeling shameful that I don't pay rent and that I live with my parent(s). I also know a lot of 20-somethings have moved in with their parents and even though I don't think they should feel shameful, I feel it in my situation. Oy.

SF Stuff
Local politics can kiss my ass. And the Chronicle too. What a bunch of pissy-tabloid readers. Amen to newedit who is sick of people 'reporting' on b/s about her boy, and I am sick of people 'reporting' c r a p. Sometimes I feel like cancelling my subscription to the Chronicle (cause I can't cancel my subscription to the local news) because it is such crap. Big headline these past two days: Mayor had affair. Uh, yeah, so did the previous one, and the one in San Jose and that big Republican love-boy Rudy G (multiples for him, really the James Cameron of politics). W-t-f-ever.

Real Littles
I have waaaay too many clothes. My closet is probably 8' long and is pretty damn jammed. Considering I want to move to the highest rental rate in the country (mebbe 2 or 3), I really won't be able to afford closet space. Gawd, I've become *such* a girl!

Ceramics is going well! Turning out a lot of cool stuff. sweet! Anybody need/want presents? I think I should start taking pics and documenting them (on what glazes, clay...). Maybe I'll post a few on facebook.

Shee-it! Speaking of pics, I still haven't posted any of my D-town trip. Well R-town and G-B town. Okay, I'll get on that, assuming my arm doesn't cramp.

I really, really need to go the doctor/dentist/whatever. I haven't been in years, and I put aside flexible spending money this year to use. Hopefully I'll be able to schedule a lunch sometime in Feb where I can at least get my teeth cleaned (and told how many zillion of cavaties I have). Must stop grinding teeth!

Zilla is plump and adorable and whiny. Definitely in her more senior years and doesn't mind settling down for a snuggle for a minute or two or thirty! Whee! But having a pet in an apt may not be easy. :P Definitely need to start cleaning her cage more often or get her to stop drinking so much water! wet, nasty cages are coming waaaaaay too quickly. I swear I used to go two weeks without a change, and now it's 2 days and horrible.

WoW-Have been playing slowly. I play for a few hours a time, but really, only on weekends. :( I'll never get to 60, but that's okay. I like doing the quests and druid is so fun. I have alts, but I don't know how to *not* have travel form! (I know this means zilch to many of you, but travel form is only for shaman and druid and lets you walk faster at a low-level, verrry nice) Or cat form with invisibility (yeah, i know potions work too). Still haven't gotten burning crusade. I will, but it doesn't make much sense at lvl 45 (still mopi). Hmm, tomorrow maybe? Unless I go into the city to do hw or check out neighborhoods or have a non-parental life.

so tired. but still got the muse going. sweet

oh, now I know why i'm still up even though I only napped btw stops on the train...i had coffee tonight and not decaf. bad cristina....

but let's get some pics up... now what is my facebook pw?......

rhysvyan @ 2007-02-02T23:13:00

2007-02-03T07:18:39Z

This is in regards to aelficine's post on Jan. 28th.

It was regarding an article about Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma (as well as The Botany of Desire.

Here is the latter part of my response:

He does NOT say we should be vegetarians. He went through pages and pages talking about the arguments of being veggie, tried it himself and ultimately went back to meat.

Funnily, this is the part I was reading flying back from Detroit. I wish I had finished the book before we talked in person because it is a fascinating read, and I have a feeling you agree with the vast majority of it.

I plan on writing a full post of the book, but at the moment I'm jammed.

His big issue is the processing of food and what it does to the environment and us. According to him, meat is bad when it's McDonalds and injected with hormones and shipped all over the place and all that. It is better bought at Whole Foods, but that the label 'organic' is more label than content. The gov't has made its definition so narrow (from when the word/concept originated in the 60s) that it doesn't go anywhere as near as it should.

Another big issue of his is corn and what we do with it. Not popping it or making tortillas or salting it on the cob, but by making it into a commodity and breaking it into itty-bitty pieces (such as starch, high-fructose corn syrup, plastic coatings....) that is manufactured into most of our world. This corn issue is a recent phenom (1970s) due to a whole bunch of subsidies and policies and corporations to ensure cheap corn. Again, not for cornbread, but for uber-processing, or in econ-terms, to create 'value-added' products.

In regards to the beta-carotene issue you point out, his concern is 'reductionism.' For scientists, this is a hard criticism to take b/c most of our science, especially biology/medicine, is based on reductionism. Essentially this is looking to the most minutae and finite cause for something, instead of examining something wholistically. I don't know if wholistically is a word, but in the medical world the battle between formalized medicine and holistic medicine is the same battle essentially.
Instead of looking at a carrot and seeing it as a collection of protein, fiber, fat, cholesterol, beta-carotene and other small nutrients, look at it as part of a diet that one's body (bunny, human, whatever) has become adapted to digest. Just because nutrient x seems to have this effect in a carrot and in a mouse, doesn't mean it will work in vast quantities in other forms. His example in the book is taking red-wine (supposedly good for the heart, right?), breaking it down into an extract that can be added to other foods, cereal in the book.
Here's an example that I'm figuring you'll take the non-Reductionist side on: Should you eat a strawberry or a complete vitamin? Before relative recent times, most nutritionists said that getting the vitamin C, A, fiber, (and whatever else is in it, see: nutritiondata.com for that great info) was the important part. But, *now* we know that strawberries and many other foods have anti-oxidants that are verrry helpful little buggers, especially in preventing cancer. So, if you avoided the veggies and fruits and figured your daily vitamin was taking care of that lapse, you discovered in the late 90s (I'm appx'ing the time) that you were missing something *now* deemed important.
In short, science is evolving and does not know everything. Any scientist who is researching can tell you that. So faced with an incomplete knowledge base, what the f-- do we eat? This is really what The Omnivore's Dilemma is about since when you can eat a lot of different things how do you know what to eat? Framed in Darwin's mind, it is--What do you do in a novel environment? It's evolution, baby! (and not all things survive, sadly)
Anyhow, reductionism is a point of contention because it is the basis for a lot of science (b/c really, how could it be done otherwise?), but a lot of the social sciences don't think it is valid to take something out of context.
Sorry that was so long, but man, I do wish we could discuss this face-to-face. It is such an interesting book, and I swear he isn't saying what the article makes him say (at least not in the book nor in the speech I went to).

UPS >:(

2007-01-20T03:12:37Z

Part two...

Thought everything was squared away for Monday delivery...double-checked tracking...>:(...apparently 'the customer' called and requested that the package be left at UPS main site (in b-f-e of South San Francisco)...uh, no she didn't!...called, was verrry upset...got that request changed and HOPEFULLY it will make it to San Francisco on Monday...

Note...none of this mistaken city crap was done by me. I've triple-checked the shipping address I gave and I got the city right...somebody somewhere f'd it up...and CONTINUES to f it up......

who knows what UPS will bring Monday

:( UPS

2007-01-19T19:10:10Z

Ordered books for my classes (that start WEDNESDAY). They were supposed to be delivered yesterday, which would have been perfect. But I tracked the package this morning and they had an 'exception' saying the street did not exist. I called UPS, wasn't on hold at all (!), and found that they-whomever they are-put Daly City as the city instead of San Franciso. Daly City is close, only about 10 miles South, but it's not SF and doesn't have a Main Street. Luckily I was pro-active and caught and got the address changed to my work one, but I now I won't get my books 'til Monday. And I wanted to peek at them this weekend! Darn. :(

Moral of the story: Being paranoid and tracking every movement of your package sometimes pays off. Sometimes it makes you crazy.

Oh, what classes, you ask?
Paralegal classes, something about Legal Writing and Legal Procedures. Will let you know if I go crazy.

Lotsa Littles

2007-01-12T03:32:02Z

*yawn*

Very tired right now. I should also be in the middle of a starvation headache since I've only had a lemon-poppyseed scone for food today. I might nod off in the middle of this, but I'll try.

First things first, I landed and got back to Cali safely. Except that my flight from Minnesota to Cali took about 2 hrs longer than it should have, and my whole body was swore when I landed. I'm so glad I could see so many of you! It was great times and truly relaxing!
For all those I couldn't see, I'm sorry and hopefully the next time I fly out I'll be able to visit all around. Who knows? I may even rent a car next time (assuming it's not snowing) I will post pics soon on facebook. For those of you not on facebook, join it! It takes little upkeep, and you don't need to be 22, blonde and a wannabe starlit to be on it. (or in college)

Damn, that tired me out...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...okay cat nap over...back to updating...

I'm starting paralegal classes in a couple of weeks. Probably going to buy my books tomorrow. Oof, so heavy and expensive. Eventually will tell my co-workers that I'm doing this.

Still looking for apts on craigslist...not too much promising right now. Might have to turn 24 in the 'burbs living with my dad. (nooooooooooooooooo!)

Work is still really crazy. And going away was a break, but I feel like I had to catch up quite a lot. There's other issues with work too. The person one step above me got a new title, but I'm not sure if her duties are expanding at all (which would mean mine would too). And one of my 'teammates' is probably going to be transferring to our other office permanently soon. Right now he's spending 2 days a week up there, and complicating our work like crazzzzy. The person that will be stepping up for him in our office has only been here 1 month. And everybody's spread thin now and forgetting stuff just a tad. :(
My boss is coming back from maternity leave in two weeks, thank god!! An extra person to do work!!!
Working on personal goals for work too. Slowly coming together (I have 1 week to do them!).
and that's that...I think

Had a mini-adventure in the city. I hate hailing cabs and so instead I called cab companies to pick me up. A bunch didn't answer their lines. The one that did completely messed up and I ended up waiting for 40 minutes. After awhile I started trying to hail cabs, but they were all busy. blech.

Ordered the dress for my friend's wedding in May. No rush required. Dress will be in beginning of April. yay! And I wasn't as large as I thought I needed to be. I swear when I got my sis-in-law's bridesmaid dress I ordered a size or 2 (or 4) larger than this one. Lady was very sweet and really didn't want me to spend too much on the dress and kept apologizing that the prices went up at the beginning of the year (by $10) and everything. Felt a bit bad that I tried on the dress and was in my undies in front of her, considering it's winter and I've been slacking on certain grooming habits (I'm sure all females do it).
I did happen to find the bridal district in the city. No kidding. The giant floral warehouse/market is one block away and the Jewelry Center had the bridal shop. The Jewelry Center had annoying security. You had to have an appt with one of the shops and then they called down and left you them your name and they'd give you this pass to walk around in the area with the suite number you were supposed to go to. Then I went downstairs and discovered why they were so picky. There was probably 50+ jewelry stores (as in sparkly, expensive things) in the lower level of the building. And it was a maze to get around. I ended up walking around in circles surrounded by shiny things before finally finding the right hallway to the bridal shop. And the ceilings seemed low, so it felt kind of devil's den like. Weird thing...for a jewelry heaven I saw no women. All men. No women at the diamond shops, no women in the halls. Very odd. But I guess most guys buy jewelry and they might feel better buying from another XY.

I find it funny how if something once catches your eye, you tend to notice it a lot more. Apparently this is a real phenomenon in visual perception called the 'pop-out effect' (read it in Omnivore's Dilemma. Sounds pretty neat and it happened today. Last night while watching Mythbusters (Zeppelin explosion!!!) I saw this sign for a company called Bearing Engineering (with a cute fuzzy bear on it). It seemed interesting, and I logged it away thinking it was probably some LA company or a prop from a movie/commercial (their 9-5 jobs are special effects people for Hollywood). Well, I got into this morning and checked the fax machine, and there was a fax from that company (same logo with cuddly bear) for a credit reference. Small world, eh? Got a little better since when I was waiting for that cab (see above) I saw the van with their logo on it as well. cool. Still no sightings of Mythbusters vans/trucks. (or their explosions) :(

Okay, I'm sleepy, and that is waaaay too much for any working fellow to read on a Thursday night. *yawn*

San Francisco Values

2006-12-23T18:52:25Z

A couple of relatively unique to the bay area things this past day or two...

I sent my first email to a person looking for a roomie on craigslist. It's in Russian Hill and really way too cheap for SF (cheaper than my studio in AA), but who knows? It could be great. So far no response, but that's okay, I'm taking this read-an-ad-on-craigslist-meet-once-or-twice-and-then-share-a-kitchen-a-toilet-and-a-shower-with-complete-stranger one step at a time.

I also felt my first earthquake! Yay! A 3.7 in Berkeley. Then I felt my second. Then my third. Aaargh! And then I went to bed and dreamed about earthquakes in skyscrapers in New York City. hide me!

Getting ready for my New Years trip to D-town, getting candy and lots of yummy things :)

I'm a bad greenie

2006-12-16T01:08:21Z

While looking for charities to donate to today, I looked up Sierra Club a couple of times trying to figure out why their donations weren't tax-deductible. During the search, I found out that their headquarters is maybe 3 blocks from my work.

I can't believe I didn't know that already!

oh well, home again, home again and off to WoW-ing I go!