picked a handful of violets in my name

sigh

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 04:16:43 GMT

... accidentally deleted my entire folder of downloaded vids. FML.

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Gratuitous Capitalization

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:49:44 GMT

My weekend has come to a satisfactory conclusion, with all work completed on time, even with social media sanity breaks. \o/

Ellie has decided to Clean All The Things. The apartment totally needed it, but it was a little stressful to come in from Special Work Event after lunchtime and find Even MOAR Stuff in my bedroom.

Also, today I talked to my mom about getting a new computer. My Macbook is five years old!* It's still a perfectly adequate computer for my needs, except for two problems:

The fan makes loud angry noises whenever the computer is sleeped/hibernated/shut down, carried in my bag, and woken up again.
The plastic case around the screen and keyboard/trackpad has begun to chip off. Including right under where my right wrists rests when I'm mousing.

But, as my mother needs a new computer (hers is so old she can't update past Firefox 2, and she's understandably worried about Bad Shit From The Internet), we have decided she can have the Macbook, since she won't be moving it around or using the trackpad.

So now my goal is to locate the best Macbook for the least money. We have determined that it is a worthwhile investment to get a better computer than I need Right Now, because said computer will serve me for more years.

* I have been pretty impressed with the longevity of the Macs I've owned. 6 years, 4 years (would have been longer but Evil Ex stepped on it and refused to admit it was his fault the screen died), over 6 years (since AFAIK the iBook I gave to Cameryn is still kicking), and 5 years. Mom's iMac is 7.

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Back in Boston.

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:32:27 GMT

I had a wonderful time in New Orleans. The post-Katrina buses are quite nice (although they're apparently the "push rear doors to open" type and not the "driver opens rear doors" type I'm used to) and I got to see the really really old work car near Lee Circle on the St. Charles line. The conference was excellent. And I am now the proud owner of this tank top and some water meter coasters.

Since my return, I've been busy with work, my internship, and my D&D and Shadowrun groups. (No class until Monday because spring break.)

I also got a new phone. It has internet! Mostly this is so I can check whether it's faster to walk from Simmons to Ruggles or if there'll be a bus along soonish, and so I stop having to call my parents and say, "I'm lost, please read me turn-by-turn directions over the phone." It's already demonstrating how very convenient it shall be.

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etc

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:58:07 GMT

Anybody know a good way to get soot and wax off novena candle enclosures after the candle is burned away? I'd like to reuse them (especially the printed ones) but want to clean them up first.

Related, a Helpful Hint, if you are the sort of person to do odd things involving candles at weird hours: don't burn loose incense on charcoal several hours before going though airport security. Especially not when you don't quite know what you're doing yet, and run out of both incense and desire for things to be burning, well before the charcoal ceases to burn.

You know that stupid black Western-style shirt Gerard wore in the really early days? I think I found one like it on Etsy. Someone prevent me from buying it, since I lack the skills to cut it down to actually fit me?

Also, things you should not leave until 3am before your flight:

backing up your computer (I have a Mac, I use Time Machine, but I do not live plugged into my external hard drive)

copying all 12gb of downloaded vids to your computer from the other external drive

re-lacing your 14-eye Doc Martens (yes, I fly in these shoes in order to avoid packing them. No, they are not the least airport-friendly shoes I've gone through security with. That prize goes to my other boots, which have wooden platforms and soles like tire treads, which were the only thing I could feasibly remove from my over-weight suitcase.)

Will be leaving shortly, but you'll hardly know I'm gone; I do my internets while Cory plays video games, and he plays a lot of video games. Toodles!

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I'm not drinking from the firehose, it just seems like I am.

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:02:09 GMT

Notes

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth happening now. Expect everybody to be posting all the time. (Seriously, the amount of stuff on my reading page today was terrifying. If you want the actual firehose, the threeweeks feed on Latest Things aggregates posts tagged with several variations on the fest name.)

Recently

Got to see the US Archivist speak today but was barred from the reception afterwards due to being a student (supposedly because of the presence of alcohol, which is doubly hilarious to me because I am over 21 and still do not ever booze it up). Although his speech was good (and confirmed that government archives are not my first choice but would not be too soul-sucking), and I got to archives-squee at the guy I sat next to.

21 Days of Dreamwidth

( day 1 )

Questions meme

erika asked: ( three questions )

Links

( 4 links: male privilege, derby girl names, non-fictional women of interest, migraines )

Plans

Last blog entry for class, last paper for the same class, only paper for the other class, book reviews, responses for the New Orleans FONSFAQ (also still taking prompts), possibly some responses for other FONSFAQs, possibly a notable woman for She's Kind of a Big Deal, the thing I am making for MCR (yes, I am making them a thing).

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You ate my sandwich!

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:53:54 GMT

It is really cold in Boston today. And the entire MBTA died. (Well, the bus system seemed to be in good working order. It got me to campus, at any rate.)

I've mostly been going to class, decluttering, and being ill. Sinus infection. Which would have been fine if I had been sick and then got over it, but noooo. At least at this point I can breathe through my nose again.

( Here are some links that are kind of old, since I fell off the face of the earth between compiling them and updating my freaking journal )

And finally, the subject line... when Ellie and I were getting groceries on Saturday, I decided I would bring my lunch two days this week (Monday, when I have a break between classes, and Wednesday, when I have a break between work and class), and I decided I would bring ham and cheese sandwiches and salad. So we got bread and ham and I insisted (correctly) that we still had an unopened, unexpired package of Swiss cheese at home.

We were so desperately hungry when we got home that we tore into the lunch supplies. But there was still ham and cheese enough to make one more sandwich, which I could then eat on Monday, after which I would take myself to the store and replenish the supplies.

But she ate my sandwich! :( I slept really late yesterday, and when I woke up, she had forgotten that the whole reason we had the ham and bread in the first place was so I could have lunches, and she had eaten my sandwich.

So I'm so hungry my stomach is trying to digest itself and there's still ten minutes before the fast food joints in the student center open for lunch.

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Computer problem

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:58:50 GMT

Ever since getting a new battery for my laptop (the old one being rather swollen, to the point of interfering with the trackpad in its upward expansion, for several months), I've been experiencing random reboots.

I can't be sure of the immediate cause, because it always happens when I step out of the room, to get myself a snack or something. This morning, I left to pee, came back and started getting dressed, and then heard the little startup noise.

My suspicion is that it has something to do with requiring my password to wake it up, as I had no problems between getting the new battery and turning that feature on. I've now turned that feature off and will see if I can go a week without my computer restarting itself when I look away. However, I post this in case anyone has any better ideas.

The laptop in question is a Macbook from mid to late 2007, running 10.6.6. (Actually, maybe it's related to the most recent software update. I can't remember whether I turned on "require password to wake" before or after updating to 10.6.6, and I can't remember which of those was just before I started having issues.)

comments

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:31:32 GMT

Recently

Today's lulz: letter from Glamour magazine attempting to get Mr. [Sofia Blackthorne] to subscribe. My legal first name is technically unisex (I was named after my great-grandfather), though in English-speaking cultures, Dominique pretty much female (although I wonder, given the number of times people have attempted to call me Dominic to my very cis-female face - can they not pronounce -que endings or something?).

Also, Ellie is eating all my Green & Blacks milk chocolate. :\

Links

scottpilgrimslash: comment-fic-athon

via holyschist: [Activist Modus Operandi] Methods of Communication

tim: How To Fail Out Of Grad School Without Really Trying
There's a saying that you should never take advice from the survivors, and I felt that way reading this list of reasons Ph.D students fail. If I interpret this article as advice, it's good advice. But if I interpret it as a compendium of reasons why students fail, it doesn't really capture my experience or that of other people I know who left grad school. One reason why is that the author attributes failure only to individual students, ignoring the important role that unsupportive faculty members and indifferent institutions can play in encouraging failure. As Barbara Lovitts shows in her book _Leaving the Ivory Tower_, there are disciplinary and institutional patterns to grad student attrition, suggesting structural reasons for why Ph.D students fail that cannot be reduced to random individual variations in character.
via #dreamwidth: Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names

via rydra_wong: I love the smell of dreamwidth in the morning.
Every day that you're online, scout around dreamwidth. Find one person you don't normally comment to and comment on an entry. Pick a community that looks cool or that you're a member of and don't normally post to/comment on, and leave a post/comment. Post something of substance in your journal. Start a conversation. Engage. Enrich the community.

Plans

Need to redo the purple on my hair this weekend, or maybe sooner if I feel like it. It's starting to fade significantly near the roots. Also need to go to the post office, since those bastards have stopped leaving international parcels on the porch. Also should install software updates and restart my computer, especially since it might fix the problems that exist between Adium and Facebook chat. Also also should order some tights for extended skirt-wearing season.

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link catch-up

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:10:46 GMT

( 18 links )

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further adventures in wtf

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:30:15 GMT

From today's work (testing the floppies with a Mac): files last modified on 2036-11-19 and 1903-12-31.

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wtf

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:41:41 GMT

So today at work I am checking the contents of a very large number of 3.5" floppies. Some of them were used in Macs but can be read by the PC I'm using. I can tell because the Mac system files are visible: DESKTOP, RESOURCE.FRK, FINDER, etc.

The disk I'm currently evaluating? Two of the hidden Mac system files claim to be last modified on March 17th, 2034.

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must have been the fairy dust

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:40:35 GMT

Hello, folks! Internet is fixed. I have no idea how. (Ellie's theory is that someone else in the neighborhood called in a problem early enough to get a Saturday tech, and that this problem is similar to the issue we had at Thanksgiving, where the tech had to do something atop a telephone pole. So a neighbor's fix might have also helped us.)

Last night, we went to a Shirtless Shindig to celebrate Jamie's top surgery. The guest of honor himself made me pasties out of adhesive-backed glittery craft foam, and requested that he be allowed to style my hair on unspecified future occasions (apparently, he does lovely updos). ♥ my burlesque-affiliated friends. They always create a comfy, accepting atmosphere in small group situations like the Shirtless Shindig.

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blargh

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:38:54 GMT

Am on campus, despite this being one of my days off. I was very tempted to wear this shirt, but I was too lazy to find it.

Verizon DSL needs to go DIAF, seriously. But they can send a tech! On Monday! When I have ALL OF THE CLASSES.

(Will keep phone on vibrate in pocket and sit near the door, ready to bail instantly. If the tech fails to call beforehand so I can actually, you know, leave class and come home - I will lose my fucking mind, I swear.)

Temptation to return to Comcast: rising. They were twice as expensive, but my internet did not die seemingly without reason, and always right before a holiday/weekend so that getting a tech takes even longer.

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Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:41:23 GMT

( blah blah ipod problems )

I suspect this ipod is in its death throes. :\

Got another series of calls from last week's unidentifiable number - finally picked up on their third attempt and confirmed that it was a wrong number. Hopefully the guy figures out what number he really needs to call, and stops waking me up.

Ellie and I went shopping today. I got a bunch of candles at Target. Also a purple plaid cape. We got groceries and then came home and ate the entire box of frozen mozzarella sticks.

Dreamwidth code push soon (8pm Pacific)! I will try to answer comments first - ikea hacker accidentally my weekend.

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ff

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:46:32 GMT

beginningcocks, bringing infinite lulz at bad sex practices, bad sex writing, and occasional trivia. Also, lube/not lube.

copperbadge. I don't know how to sum up his journal, so just go and read.

lauredhel, also of hoydenabouttown_feed and disabledfeminists_feed.

cimorene's regular features include shoe posts and badfic summaries.

oursin makes thoughtful posts on a variety of subjects.

dailyprompt posts one writing prompt per day.

followfriday / tag feed

***

New hard drive has arrived. Time Machine did its first backup last night while I made myself dinner (small pieces of chicken thigh and onions, sprinkled with thyme/cumin/garlic powder/cayenne, deglazed with vermouth and and a wee bit of soy sauce, and served in a bowl of chicken ramen - was good, will try again).

1TB drive has two partitions: the cleverly named Time Machine, which is for automatic backups, and ExternalBrain, for anything that doesn't need to be on my computer all the time (video, possibly my fandom-related picture folders).

ExternalBrain also currently contains my old backups, which were made manually whenever my computer would do something nervous-making. There is a lot of duplication, and it will take a while to sort through the backups to figure out what goes back onto the Macbook, what stays on ExternalBrain, and what can be safely discarded.

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Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:52:18 GMT

Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die". Just introduce us to some new things to read.

intro_to_cs is a community for people working through MIT 6.00: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming. The lectures and readings are available online, for free, and a new group of students will be supporting each other starting some time this month.

python and perl

follow friday tag feed

***

My parents have gone home. I'm quite tired in the wake of their visit - more people time than I'm really used to, even if they are family-people.

(Next time, I think we are going to visit them in December. Brrr.)

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Oops.

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:03:41 GMT

So I put a plastic thing on the top rack of the dishwasher, and it fell through the rack and landed on the heating element.

Ellie's mad skillz, a leatherman (the tool), and some sandpaper later, the plastic is gone.

/o\

Also, my laptop case is cracked, right at the edge of my optical drive. :(

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Follow Friday. Spring registration.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:24:35 GMT

( Follow Friday: all-communities edition )

As always, please share your Follow Friday posts at followfriday.

***

Today is Dad's birthday. (I am not actually sure if he still reads this. Mom does. I already said 'happy birthday' on the phone, but it doesn't hurt to mention it again.)

I've bugged my honors advisor again, about the junior/senior project this time. It's not a requirement for the honors program (one can earn a course distinction and/or project distinction, and I'm on track for the former), so unless the history department will let me count it as my capstone, I don't think I'll do it. The effort:tangible-benefit ratio just isn't good enough.

( blah blah spring blah )

Why yes, yes that is two days off and no class earlier than half past one in the afternoon. *smugface*

comments

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:37:51 GMT

I got home from work yesterday, took a nap, and woke up around 8:30 this morning. Oops.

Dreamwidth is moving servers. They've specified a 4-hour window in which downtime might occur but are expecting just half an hour of actual downtime. dreamwidth is the offsite status page.

I have not upgraded to Snow Leopard yet, because I didn't order it until Friday morning. (I should have just hauled myself to the Apple store and bought it in person.)

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Quick post before I leave for work.

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:51:43 GMT

I love this thread sooooo much.
Edit: The follow-up.

(Read geekfeminism_feed on DW or geekfeminism on LJ.)

Relatedly, I need to find some time to bring my laptop to the Apple store. The comma key isn't working properly (I have to bang really hard to get it to type the necessary character), which makes it hard to do anything requiring angle brackets, either. Or any wordcount-boosting writing.

I think prying off the key cover and cleaning under it would fix the problem, but I don't want to do it myself, since last time I tried that, I couldn't get the cover back on and had to bring it in anyway.

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omfgdiaf

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:04:36 GMT

Did you know that if you're scanning documents and trying to edit 200mb files in photoshop and you have eleventy-billion tabs open (including mibbit), this computer will reboot itself without warning?

Yeah, neither did I.

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picked a handful of violets in my name

*sigh*

Gratuitous Capitalization

Back in Boston.

etc

I'm not drinking from the firehose, it just seems like I am.

Notes

Recently

21 Days of Dreamwidth

Questions meme

Links

Plans

You ate my sandwich!

Computer problem

Recently

Links

Plans

link catch-up

further adventures in wtf

wtf

must have been the fairy dust

blargh

ff

Oops.

Follow Friday. Spring registration.

Quick post before I leave for work.

omfgdiaf

sigh