This and that

Got an email about our high school reunion today. How scary is that? I don't plan on going of course, though it comes next June which is about the time when I traipse up north for my yearly visit to the Boston area and it would be nice to swing into Burlington and see what the place looks like after all of these years. But the price being having to spend time with people whom I went to high school with? I dunno. The person organizing it though is a very nice person and I always got along with her, it's just the idea of a high school reunion... ::shudder::

Tech news: apparently blog update is working again so you can receive posts from this blog directly in your inbox by signing up using the form to your left. However, the comments are still down; the server they're housed on apparently went down over the Labor Day weekend and they should have been back by today, but alas, such was not the case.

Spammer update: Nothing, nada, zip. I think this little bit of fun has run its course. I'd push it a bit more and spam 'her' some more, but the SNW is right around the corner and what have I done? Nothing, nada, zip. I'm still not feeling well tonight, so I'm going to call it an early night and hopefully get an second wind tomorrow and make some headway on SNW.

That is all.

Seema's Walk

Music for the journey home provided by the Inimitable Miss Barr. So it was me, Tori and the wide open road, black asphalt rushing up to meet the sky. Days like this, with the blue-gray clouds rolling in, the shimmer through of light, the dark green of fields and trees, are best for driving. I noticed C----- for the first time. It's one of those towns built around a gas station and a country general store; you blink and you miss it. Most people don't even realize the speed changes from 70 mph to 55 at that point; they are flying through, not stopping to see the green sign which signifies the town limits, proudly proclaiming a population of 288. A little further, there is a billboard -- white with black lettering -- that announces in addition to 288 inhabitants, C------ also has food, drink, gas, museum and shops.

C----- is like every other town between here and there. The shops are colonial or western in style, run-down, and most have a "closed" sign on the front door. The blinds in the windows are bent out of shape, broken on occasion, and the building sags from the burden of housing beaten up rocking chairs and scarred dining room tables; occasionally, in the middle of the junk, you'll find a treasure, a poster from the 1940s or a genuine Louis Quinze chair. In towns like this, 'antique' simply means 'old.' As you go further down the road, you see the gas pumps resemble aliens; there's no such thing as pay-at-the-pump. There are different nozzles for different grades and the parking lot is kicked up with pot-holes and weeds. All 288 residents are in perpetual hiding.

There is a post office, with a broken down front porch. A faded American flag hangs limply. There is a Mexican restaurant. In five years of driving this highway, I've never seen anyone pull into the parking lot. There is a taxidermist too. A broken down truck adorns the front yard of a one-storey white clapboard house. The next door neighbor has a collection of tractors and that house is in need of serious paint; once it was an orange, now it's a pink. A little further away, the broken down remains of the Jezebel Saloon. The train tracks are a permanent home to Union Pacific boxcars.

There is a sign thanking you for visiting C------ and asks you to come again.

Spamming continued

I was supposed to harass the spammer again last night, but my Own Personal Blackout (tm) prevented me from doing so (long story short: the electricity company turned off my power by accident last night and as of this morning, I still don't have electricity. I tell you, sitting in the dark gets old really, really, really fast and reading with a flashlight? Not as cool or covert as you might think. And oh yes, the air in this city does not move, so opening windows didn't help either. And, ::gasp:: no coffee this morning -- so I ended up coming in to work very very early because dude, no coffee and no AC. Allegedly, power should be coming back online today but I shall harass the electric company in the meantime. I fear for the food in my refrigerator -- please include my milk, eggs, and cheese in your thoughts).

That being said, Bjorn picked up the slack (brilliantly) in spamming the spammer (eliluv1@yahoo.com). Voila:

Dear Elizabeth:

My name is Eliott Donovan, and I am a secretary for Mr. James Edwards, the manager of money transactions in the US Department of the Internet. I am writing this personal email to you because I have recently become aware of an ongoing investigation into your dialogue with certain US citizens. As you may know, there are many examples of men and women in certain west and central African countries who want to invest money abroad for security purposes, and others who are only interested in exploiting members of the American public. I have been involved in several large-scale investigations into these issues, and from your personal details, I am certain that you are genuinely interested in investing money in the United States.

However, recent events within my office have led me to believe that my manager is interested in submitting a report to the US government. This report will recommend that the US government should start cracking down on foreign nationals that are sending emails to American citizens about estate transfers as a part of the ongoing "war on terrorism". This report is the result of pressure on our department, and I feel that many innocent people abroad will be ruined as a result.

As part of this investigation, two officials from the Department of the Internet have been exchanging emails with you. At this point, I do not believe that they have collected evidence on you, but I think that they may attempt to trap you and use this as an excuse to seize all of your assets. This is completely unfair, and it is my hope that I can keep you away from this fate.

Please respond ASAP, and I will contact you with further information. For my own safety, I hope that you can keep this information between the two of us. I do not wish to be arrested, and if these facts were made public I could be convicted by my government and sent to prison. Good wishes to you. God less.

Sincerely,

Mr. Eliott Donovan
US Department of the Internet

In which I plead with Elizabeth to please, please help me

Note Rocky asked today whether I was just MSTing or actually spamming the spammer. Yes, I'm spamming the spammer and this is an actual conversation with a Real!Live!Spammer. After all, I figure it can only lead to more spammage, and dude, after the weekend of SoBig and spam, I'm very proud of my inbox being able to stand up to the strain. Plus, I'm getting a malicious, snarky kind of joy out of spamming the spammer. And now, on with my latest response (note that I didn't remove her email address this time; feel free to spam her as well ::grin::):

--- Elizabeth Mulumba (eliluv1@yahoo.com) wrote:

> Dear Seema,
>
> please i will like to know if you are ready to
> assist me or not i do.I you are try and send me then
> complete information i requested in my first mail.

I am very eager to assist you. Little Hansolo (child
number three) has an ear infection and Obiwan (child
number seven) needs new shoes. So your email could not
have come at a better time. However, you did not
specify to me what information you required. I have
not a phone number because the phone company cut me
off because I had to use the money to buy medicine for
Anakin (child number two).

I would like to proceed on this matter very quickly. I
would also like to get to know yuo better. How many
brothers and sisters have you? And are they still in
Liberia? Also, if you know Mrs. Seko Seko, please let
her know I'm very worried as she has not responded to
my last email. She had some funds in Nigeria she
needed transferring and I was counting on that money
to help pay for heart surgery for Leia (child number
two).

Please respond with all due haste. I'm awaiting
eagerly by my email for your reply.

Your best friend,
Seema

Elizabeth writes back

Dear Seema,

please i will like to know if you are ready to assist me or not i do.I you are try and send me then complete information i requested in my first mail.

Elizabeth Mulumba

I respond to Elizabeth


--- Elizabeth Mulumba wrote:
>
> Hi Seema,
>
> I got your reply but i don't really understand the
> mail so please try and be specific.

Please tell me what you did not understand. English
is not my native language so I may have misunderstood
your letter. I am very very sorry for my bad English.
I will instruct my seven children to speak better as I
wish them not to miss profitable opportunities like
this one.

Seema

Response from Elizabeth Mulumba:

Hi Seema,

I got your reply but i don't really understand the mail so please try and be specific.

In which I respond to yet another spammer

--- Elizabeth Mulumba wrote:

> STRICKLY CONFIDENTIAL
> Dear Friend

Hi! I'm getting a warm and fuzzy feeling already -- it's very rare that I get such a personal and delightful salutation.

> Permit me to acquaint you with this proposal for the
> purpose of investment in your country.

I'm excited to hear this. As you might know, our country has a per capita GDP of $37,700 so it makes investment very profitable.

>This is my
> second mail to you,

Hmmm, I don't recall seeing an email with your name on it before. Are you a spammer perhaps? Or are you Mrs. Seko Seko? Mrs. Seko Seko sounds like she's in a heap of trouble with Nigerian authorities over the money issue and I'm very concerned about her. Do you know her? If so, please let her know that I'm concerned and am waiting to hear from her.

>I know this letter may come to
> you
> as a surprise since we have not met before.

But what a pleasant surprise it is!

>I got
> your
> contact from a searched I conducted in the local
> Internet network.

Excellent. I'm so glad you found me specifically, knowing that that there are approximately 500 million people online. I feel very privilleged to be chosen to make your aquaintance.

> My name is Elizabeth Mulumba, daughter of late Mr.
> Michael Mulumba.

My condolences on your father's passing. It must be very difficult for you to have to act on such business transactions in your time of grief. You are a very brave and courageous young woman.

>My father until his death was the
> Director of Gold/Diamond Mining field of Kono
> District
> in Margibi.

You must have been very proud. It sounds like a prestigious position. However, I could find no mention of your father in google, only copies of this letter -- which makes me think I have been deceived and you are sending this email to many, many people. However, I assure you of my fidelity and my ability to keep this email strickly confidential. You may cease sending this email to others and perhaps, give those names to Mrs. Seko Seko who is evidently in dire straits and deserving of assistance.

> Before his death in a private hospital
> in
> Monrovia, he disclosed to me the reason he was
> poisoned by his business associates

I'm profoundly dismayed to hear this. Have you reported this death to your local authorities? I assure you, while I am sympathetic, I have no background in law enforcement (other than when the police came to my place to break up a large party involving alcohol and loud music; noise travels very well when you live in a double-wide trailer with a corrugated tin roof).

> and that he even
> suspect President Charles Taylor been involved.

President Taylor is very busy, isn't he? If I understand news reports properly, he also has a rebellion on his hands and President Bush is making him leave Monrovia. So Taylor must be busy packing as well. Do you suppose he'll have a garage sale? The youngest of my seven children vomited on our living room sofa and I'm in need of a replacement. I hear Liberia has gorgeous furniture. Do you have a friend who might be able to put me in touch with a furniture expert?

>He
> revealed to me of a consignment containing
> US$23,500.00 (Twenty Three Million Five Hundred
> Thousand United State Dollars) he deposited in a
> private finance company Abroad for safety purpose
> since there was war in our
> country. He explained further that he declared the
> consignment as a family
> treasure and artifact to the finance company to
> avoid them raising eyebrows;

I'm glad to hear that your father is so considerate; raising eyebrows can be a painful process, sometimes taking as long as 18 years before one is free of the eyebrows (but then, one also has to send the eyebrow to college, which is very expensive, not to mention the emotional angst of having a dearly loved eyebrow living away from one's face). Kudos to your father for avoiding such expenses.

> hence they do not know the content of the
> consignment.
> He also directed me where he kept the deposit
> certificate and agreement reached with the finance
> company.

You and your father must be very close. I'm always thrilled to hear when fathers and daughters are close.

> He advised that I should leave in the event
> of his death immediately to facilitate the claiming
> and transfer of this money to any country of my
> choice
> for proper investment and also to avoid being killed
> by the people that killed him.

Indeed! I hope you are safe! And have reliable access to the Internet! Now that I have read your pitiful story and am well-aquainted with you, I fear for you, just as I fear for Mrs. Seko Seko. I pray that you are well, have food, and a safe place. You are my new best friend so I'm eager for this conversation to continue. As I have seven children all under the age of 10, it's often very difficult to have an adult, intelligent conversation. For that reason, I'm immensely grateful for your letter.

>Presently, I am in
> Accra Ghana while my mother and younger ones are
> still
> in Liberia after the burial and three months
> mourning
> as our village local tradition demands.

Are you not concerned for your mother and your younger ones? SHould I add them to the list of people in Africa whom I now must worry about unceasingly?

>I want you
> to
> assist me in this business as my late father
> instructed. Besides, I strongly want to continue my
> education in your country and you would definitely
> stand as my guardian and overseer of any investment
> made with this money.

Guardian? I know you're my new best friend, but I've got seven children already and I'm afraid I have my hands full. I applaud you, however, for desiring to continue your education in my country. I should let you know that you should bring along a brother if you have one; in my country, it's customary to marry one's siblings. It helps keep money in the family. Since you are recently come into so much money, I think this would be the best course of action for you to marry your brother as soon as possible.

> As soon as the consignment is out from the finance
> company and the transfer made, you will be
> compensated
> with 15% of the total sum, while the remaining will
> be
> for investment. If you are willing to assist me in
> this transaction, kindly contact me on my e-mail
> address state your phone and fax numbers in your
> next
> mail, I will then furnish you with the details.

I'm afraid that my phone has been turned off (the phone company says I owe them $239,103.34 cents for long distance calls made to Nigeria for inquiries after Mrs. Seko Seko) because of non-payment and as I'm unemployed, I have no access to a fax machine. However, I stand ready to help you!

> I am now in Accra Ghana but I hope I will be able to
> get a phone number soon.Reply through this email
> eliluv1@yahoo.com
> Thanks and God bless you.

As to you and yours. I hope toh ear from you very soon. Thank you.

Sincerely, Seema

Spammers - Idiot Tax. It doesn't get any more blunt than this, lemme tell you.

Stop opening attachments, you crazy people!

I get the sense my Yahoo! mail is going to simply keel over from exhaustion over the SoBig virus. As I said before, I've received quite a few of those virus emails, but today... today has been a beaut of a day. In three hours, I accumulated 38 of them, including several undeliverables that I apparently sent to "The Pratice"-related yahoogroups (man, I'm really a fandom floozy -- don't even have to work at it anymore. The virus is apparently streamlining my fan girl tendencies and getting me involved in new fandoms without any additional fic taxes on my part).

jemima advocates Macs for everyone, but in lieu of that solution:

• Update your virus software on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
  
• Use a firewall. McAfee, Norton, and Zonelabs all provide firewall software (Zonelabs has a free version).
  
• Don't open attachments, not even if it's from your bestest friend, and especially if it's someone telling you they love you
  
• Don't use IE or Outlook Express
  

Idiot moment of the week

Can't stand the heat? Please tell me I'm not the only one who wants to smack this editorial writer. The fact that it was written on August 14 a little better, but not much. Thousands of people have died in France and this person thinks ze is being funny. Sheesh.

So I survived the baseball game. Only four innings though. I still contend that baseball is dull, but I thought the stadium was terrific, though $3.50 for a bottle of water is pricey. Since this was right after work, I bought some Velveeta-drenched nachos to soothe my rumbling stomach (right, it's as gross as it sounds, as it also had runny salsa and gelatinous sour cream). Our seats were right behind right-field in the seventh row. And when we finally found them, I looked out at the field and there was Sammy Sosa no more than 15-20 yards away. I was like, "Sammy Sosa! I've heard of him!" My co-workers were amused, to say the least.

During the four innings I watched, both pitchers pitched no-hitters. So it was like watching people go up to bat, stand there for two minutes, and then sit down again. There was only one homerun and I missed it because I was eating my nachos. Or standing up to let someone go by. We stood up a lot to let people go by. At one point, while someone was passing by, he actually spilled his beer on the person sitting one row in front of us. Luckily, it was all good and there wasn't a brawl. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up wearing what was left of my nachos at that point.

Anyway, turned out I didn't miss anything by only staying four innings. It was a complete shut-out and the home team didn't score a single run. Poor Sammy got booed. A lot. Someone near us yelled out to him, "Hey, Corky!" and someone else made a sign and held it up; it read, "Where's the cork?"

Apparently I keep missing the Irrepressible Miss Barr on chats (and I quote jemima: "You just missed Liz!"). If this goes on much longer, I might start to take it personally. But good on you for going to Mozilla. Together, we'll all take the Internet back from the Evol Corp.

Yet another reason why to use Mozilla products

Worm Week Continues and my inbox confirms it. I estimate I'm getting 6-8 copies of this worm every hour, most of them from email addresses I don't recognize (which makes me wonder whose address books am I hanging out in?). Apparently, I'm sending out copies of this worm as well, thanks to the spoofing of my address. The 'undeliverable mail' message I received indicated that yes, once again, Outlook Express is the weak link.

So, link o' the day: Mozilla.

Why are you still here? Go. Download. Stop pop-ups and virus prolifergeration in one easy download.

Quiz results: My Bloginality is ISFJ!!!

Unlike most of the Myers-Briggs tests, this one doesn't take terribly long to take.

Tomorrow I'm going to a baseball game (stop laughing all you people who know me in RL! Stop it, I say, stop it!). I tried gracefully to get out of it but no go. I haven't been to a baseball game since... 1996 when I went to see the Vermont Expos play. Forgive me, but baseball is about as thrilling as watching grass grow or paint dry or painted grass dry (your choice). Up to about 8th grade, I played on a softball team. I played catcher. And I was bored even when I was playing. I don't even know who's playing tomorrow... this would be good information to have. ::ponders::

The positive thing is that tomorrow is massage Wednesday at work. I have a 1:15 appointment. Dude. After my day today, every single muscle in my back and shoulders is aching and as I said to co-worker, mine eyes doth bleedeth.

I shall report back tomorrow on whether I survived the baseball game or not.

That is all.

This amused me:

Scientologists, General asshats
Circle I Limbo

Libertarians
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

George Bush
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle IV Rolling Weights

The Pope
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

Rednecks, Republicans
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

Saddam Hussein
Circle VII Burning Sands

Qusay Hussein, Uday Hussein
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Osama bin Laden
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Viral Marketing. Yet another link Provided By Bjorn (tm).

I played tennis this weekend and even after 8 pm, it was very hot. In general, my ground strokes were decent (we won't talk about my currently defunct serve), but I have resumed my bad habit of crunching up on the forehand and getting way too close to the ball. I don't have this problem on the backhand -- I keep enough distance to give it a good whack, but the forehand is a lot weaker simply because I pull in and get too close. I was playing about 5-6 feet behind the baseline since my opponent is a heavy hitter and the first bounce usually lands right insde the baseline; I usually try to return as the ball is coming down for its second bounce. I seem to get the most power at that point, but of course, if I'm not right in position, it also means the ball does get the second bounce and point goes to the other side.

In other news, where is everyone? ::sniff:: I'm missing the chats o' doom... so, Modly Beings, how about it?

There was a meme going around once where you had to pick different songs for different events in your life if indeed your life became a cinematic drama. I couldn't come up with enough songs, but I do have a personal theme song, adopted during the hell that was NaNoWriMo. For some reason, it's not just that I love this song, but I feel it fits all too perfectly.

Moon River
by Harry Mancini

Moon river, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style, some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way.
Two drifters, off to see the world,
There's such a lot of world to see.
We're after the same rainbow's end,
Waitin' 'round the bend,
My huckleberry friend,
Moon river, and me!

Useful Statements from the Workplace. I'd very much like to add my personal favorite to this list: "Do what you want to do, you're going to do it anyway" and also, "I have no idea, I only work here."

BTW, yesterday at the office, I got my first misdirected phone call. At Very Big Insurance Company, I got them all of the time; I think our department secretary sent them to me on purpose on occasion. Anyway, I tried never to transfer anyone randomly, which meant that I was often on the phone trying to track someone down for quite a while. So yesterday, someone got my number calling for tech support. We have something called 'Sametime' which is like AOL IM but for the workplace and it rocks -- so I sametimed the tech people, got the question answered, and voila, was able to transfer the guy without knowing what the heck he was talking about. And while I'm at it, it was great to get a tech question and not have to be the one to answer it!

Meme!

I've seen this in other places, so I'll try it here. I see my stats, I see people visiting, and with the exception of two or three people whom I know in RL, I'm not sure I know who the rest of you are. Soooo, pretty please, make a girl happy and leave me a note in comments, 'kay? Just let me know who you are and tell me a joke or where you found me and why you come here. Deal?

And did anyone else think W was a bit... stilted on the news conference yesterday?

The blog can wait

So quoth jemima. Would like to inform all of you at large that I have Internet once again. I have a phone line. I'm no longer living in a stone age. But alas, since I'm no longer unemployed carefree Seema, it's time for bed. Unfortunately, bedtime came before I had time to write tonight; jemima has agreed to cover my 1,000 words so you can just trip on over to her blog to see what I didn't write tonight.

Loss of email 'worse than divorce'. I'm now on day five without private Internet access. This article validates my feelings of grief and loss completely. Bravo to the BBC for giving those of us who are email-less column inches. It's lovely to finally be taken seriously.

So the move is tomorrow. I'm not nearly finished packing, but am too tired to contemplate doing any more. I figure, whatever I don't get now, I'll get on Labor Day. My bed calls. Anyway, no television until Tuesday, no electricity until Monday, and no telephone until Wednesday. The apartment complex is pinch hitting for me on the electricity so I can, y'know, actually stay there, but everything else is sketchy. So I'm basically offline until then. If you're one of the people with my cell number, feel free to call me. You'll most certainly get my undivided attention :-)

Can't remember if I blogged this before or not, but if you use Netscape or Mozilla, type about: mozilla in the address bar and see what happens.

There's nothing worse than writing up a really long email which, in the first place, hasn't been answered in weeks, and then, just as you're about to write "Talk to you later," Mozilla decides to go belly-up. Grrr....

In other news, I've finally settled on an apartment for the new job. I've decided to live near downtown and go the luxury route. Apartment rents are cheap right now, comparatively. So I've decided to indulge while I can. Who knows, in a year or a two, these rents will go sky-high again. So I figured, what the heck? Enjoy it for now. So I'm really kind of busy right now. Not trying to ignore anyone really, but I'm a bit on the harried side. And no, I haven't started packing yet...

Shop until you drop

So, exactly what the title says. This was tax-free weekend here, meaning no sales tax on clothing this weekend. Which means you spend $10, you save 85 cents and you get to dodge people. Lots of 'em. Most of them shopping in Old Navy. Note to kids going back to school: you're all going to look exactly the same.

Which is a long way of saying that yes, I was a lemming and I was so at the mall. Shopping. I dragged Sarah along for moral support. I'm not good at the shopping thing because I'm convinced that clothes are not made for 'real' women, so Sarah was along to convince me otherwise. I found a few things at my favorite haunt, Casual Corner. but in general, didn't fall into line with any trends. It's hard to have curves and be trendy. I did, however, buy a skirt in a style I've been lusting after since last summer in France. And a fire engine red silk tan top. And three shirts in various shades of white. And a new pair of penny loafers. Only thing missing was a pair of black slacks, but not for lack of trying. We topped off our marathon shopping spree (4 hours in the mall -- long time for me anyway, since my previous record was 25 minutes) by going out to dinner.

And since I've shopped, I'm oh so ready to drop. G'nite, moon!

Think because you name

Baby's named a Bad, Bad Thing. I would suggest not eating or drinking while going through this site. Your keyboard will thank you.

File under WTF?

Someone on VH-1's "Top 200 Pop Icons" just called Ben Affleck the new Cary Grant. Why this amuses me, I cannot say, not that, I have another candidate who I would call the new Cary Grant. What's next, J.Lo as Grace Kelly?

Gobble, gobble.

I've amused myself tonight by reading reviews Gigli, because as the Mod Squad knows, I can never let a train wreck -- whether it be a fic accident or a movie or a weird brouhaha on some ML somewhere -- go by without rubber-necking. Just as bad fic is my secret vice, I'm always thrilled to see how the experts do things. Lines such as "And the dialogue - sweet, screaming Jehosephat, it's awful" from the Cinncinati Enquirer or this pithy paragraph We knew Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez could make bad movies separately, but “Gigli” demonstrates that, in a true example of synergy at work, their combined efforts can generate even more badness send my heart into my throat with the desire to pen acidity like that. And then, Bjorn kindly supplied The Onion's report on the movie's focus group and my amusement was complete.

My question is: who actually thought this movie would be any good? Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck in the same movie? Hmmm? I think it's perfect fodder for Mystery Science Theater myself. Apparently, the press was so bad, the two of them have vowed not to make any more movies together. Eh, reading all the reviews, not sure that acting was the problem, but hey, we should all be so lucky. The world really doesn't need so much Bennifer.

Right, so the blog temporarily disappeared and of course, it didn't tell me it was going away. So, just in case any of you were really, really anxious about the blog, it's back. You can all rest easily now.

I just finished rearranging lots of flowers. My fingers are all wrinkly. I really enjoy this, but these were excessive flowers, all left over from my party. I washed out all of the vases and then threw out the dead flowers and rearranged the new ones. It took almost an hour, between the washing of the vases, rearranging and then cleaning up the mess afterwards. Some of the purple flowers stained the kitchen counter, so it was almost a mission impossible to get the stain out. I'm in a cleaning mood, so as soon as my fingers return to normal, I'll probably tackle something else. It is not safe for dirt in this house!

I also got my hands on a copy of the fifth Harry Potter book. I've read the first 100 pages and so far, it's rather... slow. I hope it picks up soon! I've only got a few days to read it.

For those of you keeping track of my literati achievements, I'm on a losing streak -- I've lost, so far, 5 games in a row. I won a game last night -- but unfortunately the rating went to the person whose place I took on the gameboard. Must. Get. Back. In. The. Zone.

Testing, testing.

The weather hasn't been so bad this summer. July and August are traditionally Very Hot Months, but I think we hit 100 degrees once in May, and that was that. When I moved here five years ago, I used to be on a mad dash to finish all of my errands before noon. Now, I'm used to the heat and I go out whenever. Of course, I moved here the summer of hell, when the state was stricken with a serious drought. Two years ago, we had a bad summer -- something like 30+ days of 100+ temperatures. I feel for people who are currently simmering in a cauldron, but at the same time, I'm just glad, for once, we caught a break and the temperatures are hovering around 97 degrees as the high.

Cool new tool, Malinator, in the fight against spam.

I went shopping today to get new!hip clothes. I've been officially dubbed fuddy-duddy by various relatives, though I'd like to point out I've spent two years in academia and jeans and t-shirts are quite acceptable. However, it's time to get some new clothes in preparation for the new job. I hit the Gap, Banana Republic, Express and Target. I didn't find anything I'd like at the first three stores and found three tops at the second. Of course, I didn't buy anything because I wasn't sure if the tops I picked out were stylish enough. So, I have roped Sarah into helping me on Sunday afternoon. Of course, we both have that whole New England LL Bean look going and so I'm probably going to fall back into my khaki and polo shirt outfits.

My previous job was pretty formal so I hit Petite Sophisticate and Casual Corner a lot. Most of my co-workers shopped there too, so it was relatively safe and good bet. Plus, it was also a good idea to dress business when meeting with executive. Business casual is not something I understand beyond khakis and a sweater set. Have I mentioned that I really, really, really like sweater sets?

To be honest, the only dress code that really excites me is one that doesn't require nylons. Everything else I can handle. But in this here state with this here heat, the nylons literally melt to your legs. I'm completely serious. I would wear pants to work when it was 100+ degrees out because frankly, pants were more comfortable. And did I mention that this is also the home of crazy air conditioning? So you are likely to see people in t-shirts out on the street, but carrying sweaters because it's cold inside. Hence, my devotion to sweater sets which are a nice and neat way of taking care of this problem.

Oh please. Betting on the possibility of terrorism? It's a matter of life and death, not profit. I'd expect to read about something like this in a fic, most certainly not in RL!

There they go again. I'd just like to point out once again that no one I voted for in the last election actually won -- not a single person -- so you can't blame the bad behavior of our elected officials on me. All of this grandstand politicking isn't going to get a state that's already so in debt and so messed up anywhere. Though, things could be worse; this could be California. At least our governor has good hair.

Freaky Linkage

Thugs hack off student's fingers. Linkage provided by the Inimitable Miss Barr when I told her that I received a certified letter from collectors last week (their bad, not mine, but still, 45 panicky minutes of my life...).

In case you were interested, my win percentage on Literati currently sits at 56 percent. I really need a hobby.

I went shopping today for the first time in a really, really long time and I picked up Sarah Brightman's "Harem." I've promised Liz a copy of the CD (along with "La Luna"). On first listen, I really enjoyed the album and was enchanted by "The Long Journey Home," which samples from A.R. Rahman's "Taal." But as time went on, I'm not so sure. I really like the first song, "Harem," and I was slightly bewildered by the new pop version of "What a Beautiful World." In general, this is a more pop, dancing, electronica album and Sarah's voice is still of a classical bent. It's a weird, weird juxtaposition -- she is still soaring high above the music, but the music seems to overpower her sometimes, so there's a vibrato overcompensation. The music and Sarah don't always fit together. I'll have to listen again more closely to know for sure what the final verdict is. I'll be interested to hear what Liz has to say about the CD.

Linkage

Borg Journalism. I find the story about Kaycee Nicole to be especially interesting. So, are you all real?

Book review

I finally managed to get a copy of Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. The book comes highly recommended from various sources, among them the The Richard III Society and Penny Proctor. Those of you who have read my review of Sharon Kay Pennman's The Sunne in Splendor know I'm a shameless apologist for the man. Even so, after four years on the subject, I'm still trying to get a handle on who exactly Richard III is and trying to come up with a good explanation for his schism in personality -- from loyal brother and devoted subject to usurper and perhaps, even murderer. The story of Richard III intrigues because there are no clear cut answers; the historical records at that time are dependent on two or three individuals, including the most famous of them all -- Sir Thomas More (in Tey's language, Sainted More). Because no one really knows what happened to the princes in the Tower, Richard III is a real life mystery and so it makes total sense for it to be a subject of a detective novel.

Tey's writing style is a wittier, more glib than her contemporaries, such as Agatha Christie. She is also accurate; with two exceptions (the execution of Lord Stanley Hastings did happen right away and without a trial and secondly, her portrayal of the Woodvilles is not completely correct -- the Woodvilles were heavily disliked and mistrusted by not only Richard III, but by others also), there are no glaring errors.

In addition, Tey managed to paint the psychological picture of Richard III and his times in a way that fits with facts. Like any skilled mystery novelist, she builds up the mystery which is based on two questions: Who was Richard III and who was responsible for the disappearance (murder?) of the sons of Edward VI? The first question is vitally important as it direct relates to the psychology of the man, which in Tey's hand, is radically different than what came into common belief after his death.

The portrait of Richard III popularly accepted by history was written after the fact and not by sympathesizers to the Plantagenets, but rather to those trying to solidify a weak claim (Henry VII) to the throne; the best way to do that would be to undermine the Plantagenet claim versus that of the Tudor. Tey does not ignore this important piece of evidence -- in fact, through Grant, Tey is very vocal about the power of propaganda. Sir Thomas More, who was five years old when Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field, is probably the one who is responsible for the popular view of Richard III which then passed into literature through the pen of William Shakespeare. Tey spares no respect for the author of "Utopia" -- he is rarely referred to anything other than The Sainted More and always with a bit of sarcasm on the side.

There's no question about the protogonist's motivation from the very first time Inspectator Alan Grant sees the portrait of Richard III. Grant wants to exonerate Richard III -- he simply doesn't believe that Richard III could be responsible for the murder of his nephews based on his psychological profile of Richard. So if not Richard III, then who? Grant goes through the information very methodically, with the help of a research student and a bunch of history text books. Using his knowledge of the criminal mind, Grant constructs a plausible case against another suspect entirely. When spun a certain way, yes, the facts certainly do seem to exonerate Richard III entirely. However, the facts don't necessarily convict the other person either, but rather offer up an alternative suspect that history (through the beauty of propaganda) seems to have overlooked.

However, the book falls short in a couple of places. The first is the intensity of the historical record presented. I read this book from the perspective of someone who knows more than average about this particular time period. Names, characters, and events seemed to have been glossed over -- while I followed properly, it may be someone with less knowledge of that time period may get confused or not follow as easily. Note that this a relatively short book -- my copy was just 200 pages. So there isn't a whole lot of build-up or background explanation; the reader is basically on her own. Given that, the convulated War of the Roses and the conflicts between Margaret of Anjou, Warwick the Kingmaker and Edward of York may lose some of their resonance (and mind you, I'm speaking from a historian's viewpoint; the backdrop, the reason why events happened the way they did during Richard III's reign did not just come into being -- it was a long process that culminated at Bosworth Field ).

Second, while Tey presents a plausible suspect who is not Richard III, she neglects to answer another question: If Richard III didn't do it, where were the boys during his reign? It's a small omission, but a telling one. While Tey has an answer for nearly everything else -- Elizabeth Woodville's acceptance of a pension from Richard III, allowing her daughters back to court, the absolute lack of scandal about the princes in the summer of 1483 -- she skips right over this question.

In general, this book is a quick read and fascinating. The dialogue is clever, though occasionally, due to British slang, occasionally a little bewildering. However, I enjoyed the characterizations, the descriptions and overall, the gentle humor that ran throughout; it's rare to find a mystery that is so light-hearted as this one -- but perhaps that's because we're over 500 years removed from the events described in the book.

I would however, recommend first acquiring a minimum background on the Plantagenents. While I don't recommend Alison Weir's "The Princes in the Tower," I do recommend her survey of The War of the Roses. Weir, as I've said before, has a tendency to embelish and make her biases abundently clear; one can often find facts in Weir's books that are not in evidence anywhere else as a result. That being said, I think her "War of the Roses" is fair and is probably one of the best books on the tumultuous time period that led to the demise of the Plantegenet rule in England. In addition, Jean Plaidy's The Reluctant Queen (about Anne Neville -- mistakenly called Anne of York here) and the aforementioned "The Sunne in Splendor" are both recommended as well.

France bans the word 'e-mail' from French. Instead, the oh so intuitive courrier electronique shall be used. IIRC, 'courrier' is a noun and means 'mail', and so I've been racking my brain on how to verb-a-size this one. As a noun, it's perfectly easy to use: "J'ai obtenu votre courrier electronique." However, en anglais, e-mail is one of those great, all-purpose words that seems to function just as easily as a verb. "Courrier eletronique moi" just doesn't sound right; it lacks the panache of "Email me!" (though, I don't think emailez-moi is correct either and I'm not sure about the phrase 'mail me' either en francais, linguistically speaking, that is). What I need is a real French person to show/tell me how this all works in the proper context. Hmmm?

If you swap music online, check this out. I'm personally out of the music downloading business since it caused me nothing but grief and my conscience got the better of me. I'd much rather pay for the music I got. There's a theory that downloading music doesn't hurt anyone, but I'm thinking now that I downloaded three whole albums from someone whose music I enjoy and whose albums I always bought in the past. That's three albums not purchased in the store, which means a loss in revenue for the triumverate of department store/artist/recording company. One might argue that all three entities already have more money than they need -- which could very well be true -- but the same probably isn't true of Lizzie West, whose single "I'll See You Sometime" I downloaded. Lizzie who, you ask? Exactly -- she's brand new and probably doesn't have any name recognition and every day her singles are available for free online means less revenue for her. Madonna might not need more album sales, but up-and-coming artists don't make any money and since I can't differentiate between paying for Madonna versus paying for Lizzie, I'm going to have just suck it up and pay the money.

You wouldn't want to give away your work for free, would you? I mean, theoretically, I do that on this website every single day -- I let people read my writing for free and that's my choice, not a choice made by others for me. See the difference? Admittedly, writing isn't my sole way of making a living; it's a hobby, what I do for fun and so I have no qualms about letting people read what I write for free. If it were my only way of making a living, yeah, I'd be pretty upset if people were photocopying my stuff and passing it around free for the taking without my permission.

I know that I'm personally not going to change anyone's mind; the issue is so ingrained that this is a 'victimless' crime and no one gets hurt and everyone wins. The only way I think I'd continue to download music is if it were with the intent of actually buying the music after sampling it. Since I can't be sure that I'd actually buy the CD after sampling the music, it's easier just to get out of the business all together. I had reservations even before I started downloading and if anything, those reservations are stronger now than before.

***

Comments are being flaky. I guess YACCS is upgrading the software, servers or something.

I got a second interview for the marketing analyst position! Go me! I haven't had a second interview in forever. Though, it blows that the second interview is for tomorrow morning at 8 am South of Where I am -- which is a 40 minute drive under no-traffic conditions. I guess I'll be waking up early tomorrow!

Interview #2 in Big City to the South East went well. It's in downtown, on the 38th floor of a Very Tall Building. Very swank, but after talking to them, while very nice, not what I'm looking for. It's not reporting in the tradiitonal sense and there doesn't seem to be a lot of opportunity to cross over into other niches or editorial positions. The good thing is that it's a 9-to-5 type editorial position and no weekends. And oh yes, a lot of travels. This is an international trade publication, so they have offices in London, NYC and Tokyo and that's very cool. I'd love to visit any of those places. But, not sure if I want to do it in an industry publication that frankly, when I read through it, sounds Greek to me.

First interview down. One more to go. I have just enough time to change my suit (it's very, very hot here -- it's impossible to wear the same clothes in the morning as you're wearing in the evening) and shoes, grab a quick lunch and hit the road for interview number two. I'm already slightly panicky about the fact that I'll be hitting the other city at rush hour and it's known for having some of the worst traffic in the country.

The first interview was a marketing analyst position and it's very quantitative which I like. I interviewed with the VP of marketing and she brought up my heavy writing experience since before I worked for Big Insurance Company, I worked for two newspapers. I sidestepped the question by saying that when I was writing for the newspapers, I wasn't really writing for fun. Also, my four years at Big Insurance Company are reflective of the fact that I've moved out of journalism entirely and don't really intend to be back. I think the interview went okay. They say they'll let me know by the end of this week. I'm not going to think too much about it. I've been disappointed so many times, I'm not going to really hold my breath. At least, I did get an interview.

I'm not that excited about this second interview in Big City to the South East because I really don't want to get back into reporting/editing and I don't really want to live in that city and it's a trade publication for an industry that bored me to tears last night when I was reading it. Of course, it could very well be different if I get the job and actually am in the middle of things. I never thought I'd be interested in insurance, but there you have it. I can talk LTC and Life to anyone who'll stand still for 5 seconds. But it's an interview and I need to give it my best shot for that reason.

I talked to Rocky this morning. I arrived for my interview about 40 minutes early, so I sat out in the car (under a tree -- I'm not completely idiotic) and called her up. As always, could have talked longer, but it was soon a few minutes to 10 and I had to go. And speaking of going, here go I.

This one is for Robby. The worst rejection letter I've ever gotten. Lori, Queen of the MSTs, explains the letter here.

Blogger has eaten my April and May archives. I'm going to try republishing the entire thing to see if they miraculously reappear. For the longest time, my September 2001 archives were missing from the index and now, they are here. I think it's a trade-off thing, something blogger does to make sure we're paying attention. "Now you see the archive, now you don't." I was wondering why my 404 page was suddenly one of the most popular pages on my site.

The problem with driving all night is that it makes the morning hurt that much more. We left B/CS an hour later than expected and ended up back here around 2 am. The drive was fine; I know that road like the back of my hand and I was wide-awake, due to having gone out for coffee with R halfway through the graduation party.

I've selected a few writing samples for tomorrow's interview. I realize, rereading some of my clips, that my penchant for snarkiness is not new. It also seems that everything I wrote that wasn't a weekend feature story sounds amazingly alike. "Look, another Seema book review!" "Whoa, another Seema concert review!" "Hey, it's Seema and art galleries again. Who wouldva thunk it?" My editorials are occasionally amusing, but I don't use those as clips simply because they express an opinion or if not an opinion, are high on the snark quotient. I reread my 'farewell' editorial, the last official one I wrote, and in retrospect, it reads like I'm scolding the readers. Bothersome, yes. I'm aware that my humor can be an issue for people who don't know me; hence, I can come across plenty humorless and reserved. It's a heck of a lot better than offending people, I think.

I was on campus tonight for a graduation party. It was a very strange feeling going back. In some ways, it feels more like two years rather than two months since I left town. It was scarily familiar, of course, but at the same time, I knew I didn't belong there anymore and there was an unexpected sadness associated with that. Campus was dug up as usual. Big U has an amazing amount of money and amazingly generous alumni; I believe it's one of the largest alumni networks in the country, if not the world, and hence, there's a constant tearing down and building up.

We ran the gauntlet of salesmen and lived to tell the tale. Just barely though. I was a few minutes delayed in getting to the Toyota dealership due to my inadequate knowledge of the area South of Where I Am and fear of the Very Big Trucks that rumble through as well. When I pulled up, there were no less than five salespeople waiting outside the door. One of them came right up to my car -- I hadn't even gotten out yet! He asked if I was working with anyone and then gave me his card when I answered in the negative. I told him up front that I wasn't purchasing the vehicle but my cousin was and I was waiting for her to arrive. He then ushered me inside for 'lunch' (cold cut sandwiches; I smiled politely) and told me to get him when my cousin showed. Once, when I was meandering while waiting for Tara, the guy came back again and asked if it was possible that I had missed her. When Tara found me, she said she'd been approached by two salespeople. Looking for cars was just as fun as ducking the salespeople, all of whom looked highly motivated.

My cousin and I are going car shopping today -- for her, not for me. This could be highly amusing. I don't think you can find a flakier pair of women. Seriously. In her words, we're going to look at cars 'shallowly.' So, yeah, probably musing over colors, the look, and other such things. I'm amused just thinking about it. Dodging the salespeople ought to be fun as well. Not that there's any danger of buying anything. A car isn't something that you just randomly purchase because you have a couple of dollars in your purse and neither of us have any money, so we're safe on this count, at least for the moment. However, it is indeed true that I have bought things 'by accident' before.

Last summer in France, I bought a lovely wooden elephant 'by accident'. It's carved out of a gorgeous red wood and is from Africa. Or so, the salesman said. I was simply admiring the elephant and to make conversation, I asked, "Combien pour l'éléphant?" It went all downhill from there. He said 30 euros, I said that it was too much. How much would I pay for such an elephant, the man asked? I said 15 euros. And before I knew it, he'd wrapped the elephant up and handed it to me, and dimwit that I am, I was handing him money for an elephant I had absolutely no intention of buying in the first place; obviously, the salesman knew a sucker when he saw one. I walked around for days with this elephant. Now I'm glad I bought it because it is beautiful.

I'm heading to B/CS this afternoon for a graduation party and won't be back until midnight. Tomorrow is the tea party, which should be a lot of fun. Sarah is going all out, including even tea cozies. Monday is pretty much a wash. Don't expect to see me online -- between the two interviews and the trip to the Big City to the South East (expected return time: midnight), I'll probably not have time to update this blog until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. Somehow, you'll have to make it without me. Be strong.

When it rains, it pours. I have not one, but two job interviews on Monday. Unfortunately, also in two different cities -- one here and one in the Big City to the South East. The first job is a marketing analyst position which is more in line with what I actually want to do (though salary is low) and the second one is a business reporter position, which could also be a lot of fun. So wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Because blogger didn't update and I've got nothing to say. Mark it down -- time and date. I have nothing to say.

De Superbahn

Cable modem. Who knew the Internet was so fast? Loving this!

The resurrection of Princess Diana. Scary.

I've written an article: The Craft of Writing. I get emails on occasion asking for advice and given a recent heart-to-heart with a writer, I decided to compile this list. Note: this is all based on my experience and what works for me. Everyone works differently and everyone has different issues he or she needs to iron out -- this is just a list of suggestions, not a hard-fast set of rules.

Why Dean?

Bjorn is another convert to the Dean Cause (tm). Why? Because Dean said:

"I want my country back! We want our country back! I am tired of being divided! I don't want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore. I want America to look like America, where we are all included, hand in hand. We have dream. We can only reach the dream if we are all together--black and white, gay and straight, man and woman. America! The Democratic Party! We are going to win in 2004! Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Stand up for America, Stand up for America, Stand up for America."

How can you not appreciate/love that kind of rhetoric?

It's all about the hair

Stolen from jemima, who apparently got it from RJ: (links on the side, if you be curious enough to click)

Verbal Attack -- an obnxious job hunter's blog, link courtesy of jemima who has finally broken free of the Man. I guess this is why I never get any response other than "Resume received" emails; I don't ask about vacations/perks/salaries, nor do I insult the recruiter or the company or plague them with a million phone calls. At this point, any response other than the following would be wonderful:

"Thank you for applying to Company X. People like you are the reason why we're successful. If we can find a position that fits your qualifications, then we will call you immediately, but if you aren't the niece of the CEO, then don't wait by the phone. We will be happy to use your resume to line the bird cage for the next six months. By the way, don't respond to this email. If you do, then you're obviously a nimwit, can't follow directions and the entire HR department will point and laugh at you. Thank you for your interest. Sincerely, Recruiter for Company X."

Headlines

This was in today's newspaper. Spammer Duncan Shiels is the subject of the article.

"There's some people who sit in there basements and have nothing better to do then get all upset about spam," Shiels says.

No kidding, Sherlock. And actually, it's the fact that we do have something better to do that gets us all upset about the amount of time necessary to delete spam out.

I'd be remiss and one-sided though if I didn't mention here that Shiels eventually got out of the spamming business. He says:

I realized I didn't like to sell anything that nobdoy wants or needs or despises. I started to realize people just hate this so much."

So, one down, about a million more to go.

Links of the Day

Yet another reason to go after the PhD. Thanks to Bjorn for the link.

More from RJ on gay marriages.

What would Martha Stewart do?

Link of the Day: Big Blog Found In Chile.

I'm still struggling with the curtains. I drape one, the other falls off the curtain rod. I finally get one scarf to puff out properly, the other one falls off the curtain rod. I get one to fall evenly to the floor, the other one just falls -- you get the picture. I like the curtains -- it took me a long time to settle on some that I liked so the idea of returning them is not very palatable. At the same time, not sure what else to do. It could be a new reality show: "Drape curtains in 30 seconds or less and win $1 million!"

Speaking of reality shows, why on earth would anyone want to go on "Fear Factor"? I caught the episode the other night when the contestants were buried alive in a casket in a cemetary at night. They were buried in worms. 500 pounds of worms (what is that, 250 kg, something like that?). I don't need $1 million that badly.

Happy Fourth of July to all! Hope it was a good holiday. I did absolutely nothing today. Well, tried to hang curtains and all that proves is that while I can certainly pick them, there isn't an artistically domestic bone in my body. So the curtains are half on the rod, half sagging down and I keep looking at the picture on the package and wonder why my curtains don't look that pretty. For those of you wondering, these are white scarf curtains with purple leaves scattered on it and according to the picture on the package, they are supposed to drape elegantly on the curtain rod. Some elegance was achieved with the help of rubber bands and scotch tape, but it's still rather dismal looking.

I ended up going downtown to see the fireworks. In five years, this is actually the first time I've gone downtown. Once I watched from the mall and most years I skip it. I have very little patience for big crowds of people, where stupidity seems to reign supreme and so I typically skip such gatherings. But after my plans for the evening fell through (for reasons I'm still rather upset about but will deal with not in this blog), I decided to head downtown for Plan B. It was nice to see the fireworks up close, though I was hoping we'd hear the symphony also. The crowd was very well-behaved (except for the scary people hopping into their car with lots of alcohol -- didn't want to be anywhere near them). I was enchanted by a pair of twins who were just absolutely adorable and wonderful.

I had a long post in mind about Internet and friendship, but that'll have to wait another day. I'm currently about 50 pages from the end of a highly taut and suspenseful novel by Richard North Patterson that I intend to finish tonight. Watch this space for a bookreview shortly.

Curiousity killed the googler

Google is scaring me as of late. I googled myself today and I've been pretty good about my name online except in one particular location and I've been trying to get that cleared off; the good thing about that site is that it has a broken link back to my old Geocities site so I doubt that they would be able to find this particular site and associate it with me. Still, it does give me a bit of pause when I think about how powerful a tool google is. It's one thing if you're an academic or just having a hobby page; this whole fanfic thing is still woefully misunderstood and considered a waste of time and generally not something worth doing.

While I'm not really writing anymore, I'm not ashamed or embarassed by anything I've written either. It's just that I don't want to be judged by a hobby before someone even meets me and evaluates my skills and personality. I claim to be a professionally published writer and editor which is true and I have the clips/magazines to prove it. However, my concern is that if an employer stumbles on this website, they will automatically invalidate what I've done professionally and instead, place judgement on my skills as a writer based on my fanfic, if not make a value judgement about me. One could argue that the quality of my writing should be inherent in the fanfic itself, but then one must also be able to overlook the 'oddness' of fanficcing in the first place.

There are allegedly, according to various media publications, at least half a million people writing fanfic out there (we're not talking about the ones who actually make the shelves of Barnes & Noble). Many more people read. I remember being startled when a classmate mentioned an X-Files fanfic to me that was listed as a WiP on The Haven and she asked me about it. I hadn't read it as I don't read WiPs, but I had heard of it and had read other stories by that particular author. I think I mumbled something incoherent back to her. I suspect now that this person is an Alias ficcer but in a conservative school and in an MBA program, I wasn't going to shout out my knowledge of what's what in Trek and X-Files. My suspicions were confirmed when she started using fanficky terms with me and I kept thinking, "One of these days, she's going to trip me up..."

Since I can't seem to get the author of that other website to remove my name (she seems to have gone AWOL), my only hope that anyone who stumbles across it will think it was a passing fad and I didn't continue on. Everything else that turns up in my real name is completely legitimate and above-board (and I hate the fact that here I'm implying that fanfic is not a legitimate form of writing or even a worthwhile endeavour). It's just the one slip-up that I'm concerned about (Sarah, on the other hand, is convinced that Pocket Books is going to stumble across this site and hire me one of these days; if only she was right). What I do in my free time has no bearing on anything I accomplished professionally; I'm just not sure that the advent of google makes that distinction clear.

I just updated my YACCS code as the old one had some issues with the New!Improved Blogger. This should actually reflect/record comments now. Thanks to RJ for the tip.

Aside to TAMU people: I've forgotten my password to the Masters-Lab account and thus have effectively locked myself out. You can email me at seemag1@yahoo.com or the email addy that I used on the mailing list Kiran set up or heck, any email address you might have for me that is not Masters-Lab.

AIM upgraded itself today and now I'm stumbling over new "Rediscover AOL" icons all over my computer. Windows updated itself yesterday as well and now Messenger is back again and I have to exit out every time I boot up. Anyone know how to get rid of Messenger for good? I'm morally opposed to the idea of Microsoft Passport and .NET initiative for no reason other than righteous indignation and protest against the Man.

RJ talks about outcry that the Supreme Court's recent ruling will now allow gay marriages.

Warning: Snark Ahead

I was checking out WebsitesThatSuck.Com since I'm in the process of designing a new, professional website. I usually stop by here to check out the do's and don'ts of website design and to see what the latest, greatest annoyance in design is. I'm a big fan of clean, simple design with consistent navigation on every single page with no more than three colors, maybe four if used judiciously.

My top five web design pet peeves:

• Flash. Flash. Flash. Gah. Not necessary, slow, and just because it moves doesn't mean it's useful or necessary.
  
  
• Using 'wrapping paper' type backgrounds. You wouldn't write a letter to a friend on wrapping paper so why are you using it on your site?
  
  
• Frames. Unnecessary. The same effects can be done in tables, and seriously, there's nothing worse than being 'framed.' And then there's the other problem -- opening multiple browser windows, which can be completely confusing and annoying to a user who suddenly has 80 million browser windows open.
  
  
• No navigation menu or link to the home page. Getting from here to there is important. Stranding the clicker somewhere, not a good thing.
  
  
• Graphics that aren't defined by size so that the browser has to load the image before it can start on the content. Specifying image dimensions is a very nice thing to do. And oh yes, alt tags are an image's friend as well; they go hand in hand.
  

I could probably come up with more pet peeves, but these are the most likely that would make me run screaming from a website.

While I'm housecleaning, I also checked in on the bloglet service which allows you to receive email updates from this blog. I found out that some of my information was wrong so the updates weren't being sent to those of you on the subscription list. If you want to receive content from this blog via email fresh off the press, enter your email address in the text box to the left. You know you want to.

I think the problem with the permalinks was archiving related. I have republished the entire blog and the permalinks appear to work just fine again.

I came across The MBA Wire today, one guy's quest to get into a Top 50 B-School. File this site under things nice to know three years ago. What would be interesting is if he actually writes up his first year, a la Scott Turow in "One-L." One thing I regret is not keeping a journal during my two years in B-School. Year 2 wasn't that exciting, for those of you who followed along in the blog. Year 1, however, was an angst fest. I remember reading the schedule of a typical MBA at the school just before entering and I was like, "Okay, up by 8, in bed by 11, not bad." Reality looked something like this:

6 am Yawn, stretch, roll over in bed as the ABC News headlines come on the radio.

6:15 am Roll out of bed. Stumble into the kitchen, pour myself a cup of coffee.

6:18 am Check email

7:15 am Get dressed in whatever's a) clean and b) ironed. Make some kind of lunch.

7:30 am Leave

7:45 am Parking lot wars ensue. (I learned my lesson: second year, I bussed it in).

8 am Computer lab. Checking email again. Professors always send PowerPoints and class notes 10 minutes before class starts; hence, there's a run on the printer and someone is always standing there, pulling her hair out in frustration because she knows she's going to be late.

8:30 am Class starts.

12:00 pm Lunch break/email check. To save time, most of us brought our lunches and ate in the hallways outside the classroom. Occasionally, we'd walk over to the cafeteria which was one building over, but was usually crowded, overpriced, and generally not good. Sometimes, I'd take this break to catch up on some reading or discuss a case with some classmates.

12:45 pm Back in class

2 pm Time to go to work. My office is about 15 minutes away. On the way, I usually munch on a snack of some kind. At work, I check work related emails and phone calls, work on database or website type stuff, write memos and other such things. It's not that exciting.

5 pm Quittin' time! Occasionally, I'd call before leaving work and order food for pick up.

5:20 pm Home. Eat dinner and watch television or check email.

6 pm Go back to school for team meetings.

9 pm Wrap up team meetings. Head home. Have a snack. Watch a little television or check email.

9:30 pm Start homework for the next day. It wasn't uncommon to read 200 pages a night, if not more. Usually we had case discussion questions or accounting problems to work through. And since B-Schools work on the Socratic method of teaching, it's not possible to let something slide for a night; retention is key. The last thing you want is to be embarassed in front of your classmates. It does get around pretty quickly as to who is a slacker and who isn't, who does their work and who doesn't, who is a team player and who isn't.

Midnight Check email. Contemplate answering important emails.

1 am Shower.

1:15 am Go to bed.

6 am The alarm? Already?

So there you have it.

Just a quick note to say the new blogger interface works really well. Now if I can just figure out the problem with my permalinks...

It's times like these

It's been pointed out to me by two different sources that I have been remiss in updating the blog. The reason has to do with apparent conflict between various browsers and blogger. It would take many, many attempts to actually get blogger to update. In the meantime, it looks like Blogger has moved to a pretty new interface (it's blue!). There's still something wrong with my permalinks and I'm contemplating replacing this template with another one because I can't figure out what the deal is (jemima, can you see the problem?).

Three cheers for the US Supreme Court for striking down the Texas sodomy law. It's about time. Having laws that discriminate against homosexuals implies that somehow some of us are more equal and entitled to privacy than other people.

The job hunt is going. I had a spurt of energy yesterday and sent off a whole bunch of applications. I have a spreadsheet now. Things can only go up from there. At least I know where I've been. I also ordered my cable modem yesterday. It'll probably be installed in the next two weeks. I'm really looking forward to going faster than 26.4. Even being able to connect at 49 would have been preferable to 26.4 (and occasionally 28.8).

I have no ideas for my site redesign. Sarah pointed out that it's been over two years since I went with the maroon and white. I'm contemplating a new look in purple, green and white, but I have yet to come up with a layout I like; I've tried playing with a couple of ideas in Photoshop, but nothing has immediately jumped out at me. I'm also thinking that it's time to use CSS for positioning and style. My 9/11 site uses positioning, but that's a small site and I'm apprehensive about doing it across the board. But CSS is flexible and easy and it would be nice to implement some new technology; I've been hanging onto HTML 3.1 for years now. Maybe it's time to let go.

Blogger is making it next to impossible to update these days. I may just have to consider moving to another host and look into Moveable Type or something like that. It shouldn't be this annoying to publish my soapbox.

Take back our country

Note: I'm a liberal and proud of it. So if the fact I'm a liberal offends you in any way, please do not read any further; you will not like the below.

I was mad in the election of 2000, but the most I did was join a protest on the steps of the state house and march past the governor's house. That was mostly passive too; I was downtown for a book festival and decided that I wanted to excercise my freedom of speech rather than listening to authors. Marching didn't get me anywhere other than in the company of other people who were pissed as well. Last fall, I got even more mad as I watched the sweep of the Republicans across the country and right here; not a single Democrat was elected to a position in this state last fall. Last month, Tom DeLay wanted this state redistricted, especially the city I live in -- which is the one and only Democratic enclave left in this state; suddenly, this city which is 70 percent Democratic would be split into four sections, and suddenly we'd be lumped in with rural folks, border folks who speak another language entirely, and oh yes, Republicans -- lots of them. The Democrats in this state did the only thing they could -- they walked out and escaped to Oklahoma to kill the redistricting bill. All in all, it makes me pretty anger and wanting a regime change in a bad wa y.

Yes, I understand that it's the fault of the Democrats for backing away from Clinton, for losing their way, for not appealing to the best in America. Yet, suddenly, the voters of this country handed George W. Bush a mandate and look at where it's gotten us. The economy has tanked, we have a war that is missing its raison d'etre (and don't tell me that we liberated the Iraq people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and that we're justified now given the mass graves that have been found -- you cannot change your reason for a war after you've already gone in and 'won' the war), and we have Yet Another Tax Cut. Faith-based initiatives, school vouchers, the ban on partial-birth abortions, the continuing erosion of Roe vs Wade, the weakening of ties with our European allies, the image of America as a 'big bully', the demeaning of the United Nations, the attack on affirmative action -- this is what the Bush administration has given us over the last two years.

Healthcare in this country is a major issue. Why doesn't it matter to you? Millions of people in the US are without health insurance. America is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, yet we cannot even agree that health care is a universal right. Why is that countries like Costa Rica, Canada and even beleagured France can give their citizens access to health care and we can't? Maybe I'm biased because in two months, I lose my health care coverage and I haven't figured out yet what I'm going to do about it. Paying $300 a month for a basic plan while being unemployed? I'll be out of money pretty quickly. It's completely ridiculous. The majority of people without healthcare are people like me -- in their twenties and thirties -- who don't make enough money to either a) pay for health insurance on their own or b) whose employers don't provide health care coverage. It's a gamble every single day. A classmate of mine broke her arm last year; it cost her $3,000 because she was uninsured -- this is a woman who had a career and is now an MBA.

Health care is just one issue that I've picked, but there are so many -- everything from balancing the budget to making sure that we don't lose any more ground on Roe vs Wade. For that reason, I decided that for 2004, I had to do more than just march with protesters. So I've officially volunteered for Governor Howard Dean's presidential bid. Yesterday, I was unbelievably happy to be with other likeminded people, to say that I thought the war with Iraq was completely out of line, especially now that no WMD have been found there. I didn't realize just how much I felt stifled for my opinions in the last five years until I was in an environment where I was completely safe and free and knew that there were others who would agree with me.

Governor Howard Dean was the governor of Vermont. In that time, he proved himself to be a fiscally responsible politician who balanced the budget, assured that 99 percent of Vermont children would have health care (and 96 percent of them do) and he did it all without raising taxes or the sales tax. If he can do it in a tiny state like Vermont, he can do it for the country. Dean is not afraid to say what he's on his mind; he's ready to bring the Democrats back together and he is willing to say the difficult things, not take the centrist path. The centrist path worked for Bill Clinton and at the time, I too was a centrist; however, this particular regime is now so far gone that I can't help but swinging even further to the left that I have been before.

So at the rally last night, I sold t-shirts and bumper stickers as a volunteer. Later on, a few of us wearing the 'Dean for President' t-shirts were selected to stand behind the Governor while he fielded questions from the media. In the four hours the rally lasted, we did brisk business. Here, in the heart of Bush country, we attracted 3,200 spectators (Dean's previous biggest rally had 120 people at it), and raised $20,000. Not shabby for a night's work. And this is without the local newspaper acknowlegding the fact that there was a rally in the first place. If you are interested in doing more for the Dean campaign, go to Dean 2004 Meetup to find other supporters and meetings in your local area. I attended the one in my city last week (which is how I got my mug on the local news channel) and met lots of great people and just felt energized and positive about the whole experience.

Does it bother anyone else that the US weapons inspectors are leaving Iraq without finding anything? Does it bother anyone else that on the basis of what could very well be faulty intelligence, we toppled a regime and hundreds -- if not thousands -- of innocent civillians were killed for absolutely no reason? And more alarming, it freaks me out that no one in this country cares that George W. Bush has a) not demonstrated the existence of the reason for the war and b) the fact that now he's eyeing Iran and accusing them of terrorism.

Now I am as patriotic as the next girl and heck knows, I think some of those leaders are the boogeymen. I know they aren't nice people. But this is ridiculous. The plan to put Iraq back together is in shambles and it looks like it's going to be years before we leave that country (which, btw, gives fundamentalists even greater reason to despise the US). Does it bother anyone else that the Oregon school districts had to cut their school year short due to lack of funding and yet we're pouring all of this money into Iraq?

Gosh, it's been so long since I've updated here. Long enough to make me concern whether I should discontinue the blog. I've been unsubbing from mailing lists as well, mostly because these things take too long to go through these days and I'm just barely interested. I think it's because I'm back in more interesting environs with more things to do and I haven't been online as much as I've been in the past. I think it's been literally days since I've been on AIM at night. So, I'm not sure right now what I'm going to do. I'm just sayin', you know?

It's been almost 2 years since I've had to report to work by 7:30. Today I arrived at 8:30. No one was there. No one showed up until 10 am. It's going to be hard getting used to, that much is for sure. The whole "employment" thing has been a brain drain, to say the least. I didn't realize how comfortable and easy being a project manager (not my title at Big Insurance Company, but it's very descriptive of what I did do) had become until this job, where I was hired to do something that was repetitious and serialized. I didn't realize too how efficient I could be when a) my phone wasn't ringing constantly and b) I wasn't spending 75 percent of the days in meetings that didn't seem to have a point.

The ASCEML Awards and ASC Awards both have been announced. Congrats to all of the winners.

And the Minuteman is saved! I found especially interesting the bit about the UMASS team formerly being called the 'Aggies' -- I just graduated from a school that sports' teams are called Aggies (there is something grammatically wrong with this sentence, but I shall acknowledge and move on). In another weird coincidence, both schools' colors are the same -- maroon and white. Can I pick 'em or what? No, it's really not a coincidence that my site is done in maroon and white ::grin::

News headlines

Texas Democrats Walk Out of the House. Quite amusing -- it's fun to watch the Republicans get up in arms over the issue of redistricting, primarily because it affects them and they are really the big losers here, not the Democrats. Definitely the most amusement I've had in a very long time.

In other news, my alma mater wants to change our beloved mascot of the Minuteman to Wolves. Please. Obviously, they are ignoring the brand equity of the Minuteman, the keen connection that the Minuteman has to Massachusetts' history, not to mention us alum who are up in arms over the switch. It's all my UMASS mailing list has been talking about this week; my friend Katie noted that perhaps to combat sexism, we should call the women's teams 'Minute Maids'. The comment was funny at the time, but to be honest, first rule of name changing: You don't do it unless you're trying to distance yourself. A name change is purely reactionary, it's not pre-emptory. Companies who change their names are trying to distance themselves from scandal or bad reputation -- Altria ring a bell for anyone?

D-Day

So I didn't trip, I didn't fall, and I think I looked at the photographer, but I'm not entirely sure. Graduation went smoothly enough. I had a bit of a struggle with the collar of my gown; the collar won and I ended up having a clump of hair stuck in the little tapey things you use to tack the collar onto your gown. And then, of course, the hood, which my friend Laura was very interested in, went smoothly enough with some adjustments made by my brother. This thing hangs against your neck and I could see the headline: "Candidate for MBA strangles self with hood minutes before receiving degree, film at 10." I also didn't trip over my own feet -- you laugh, but I have and I would.

As an undergrad, I didn't walk across the stage. They only had one graduation ceremony at UMASS and so our esteemed President Bulger (whose brother, btw, is wanted by the authorities on charges of mafia or racketeering or something equally unfortunate and unrespectable) merely said "Stand up, voila, you have a degree!" But here, they called our names individually. The Masters degree candidates went after the PhD students who all wrote dissertation topics that included words I simply didn't know the meaning of. If anyone knows what "Confluence of Shifting Particles in the Third Metasphere of the Sonora" is, do let me know; my mind boggles at how people even come up with topics like this.

I'd talk about our main commencement speaker, but I don't remember anything about him except that he was a former astronaut who had been into space. A lot. He praised our armed forces. A lot. So there was also a lot of random applause and cheering because this particular university has a very strong military tradition. The astronaut also happened to be a Marine and when he said the words "Semper fidelis," all I could think of was Harm saying to Mac, "Don't go getting all semper fi on me" ("JAG" btw -- I believe the episode was "Full Engagement"). But the astronaut didn't talk long so that was a Good Thing (tm).

My parents, uncle and brother were seated in the nosebleed section, but they had binoculars, apparently trained on my feet. My mom said she recognized me out of a sea of a 1,225 graduates because of my sandals. The sandals are important because they are clunky sandals. They are also important because I had to walk up steps all dignified like. The last time I wore clunky shoes and attempted stairs, I fell down the stairs. Honest to God. But this time, I didn't. I ascended the stairs with about as much dignity as someone wearing a cap that threatens to fall off any minute now, a collar that is yanking at my hair and that danged hood, could possibly muster (For those of you interested, my cap cooperated for exactly the amount of time required to walk across the stage and then to sit down again; it then fell off and refused to go back on my head).

I whispered my last name to the person who announced the names as we were instructed to do, so there was no mangling of said name. A very, very good idea. And then, two more steps, and I was shaking hands with Robert Gates, our new president, and former director of the CIA. (He had the best remark, btw, before the awarding of degrees. He said, "For all of you thinking of leaving early, I know who you are and I know where you live. Think twice."). Anyway, Mr. Gates looks at me and says, "Congratulations." By this time, things were starting to get blurry and I was getting verklemped. I shook hands with the dean of the business school and then a few more people whom I didn't recognize, and then one of my marketing professors (representing the MBA core program) and finally, the director of the MBA program and then my very supportive and helpful academic advisor.

Somewhere in all of that handshaking, I think I was supposed to locate the official photographer and smile. Or something. I don't know if I did. Anyway, I had intended to sit through all of the other names being called, but then so many people were leaving that finally there were only about 10 or 12 of us MBAs left. Mind you, it was around dinner time when we started, so it was a rough schedule to begin with. I finally snuck out around 9:30 (after my cell phone had been passed around to a bunch of people so that they could locate their families).

All in all, a very nice graduation ceremony. I've got my degree -- it came in a red leather tube stamped with the university seal -- and my name is spelled correctly. And I didn't trip. And I didn't cry though I came pretty darn close.

One last missive from the computer lab

Can I just say that a seminar that lasts from 8:30 am to 7 pm is cruel to begin with? And then to be out of coffee by 10 am? Bah!

I got my hood yesterday afternoon and sold more books. It didn't occur to me while I was at the bookstore that I needed a collar too. So after my presentation this morning, I'll go back and get the collar. The book selling is rather depressing. Yes, now I have cash, but man, the amount of money you get back compared to the money you spent in the first place... It's definitely a well-run racket. There is an on-campus organization that is taking books for Africa and there are a few books that I'll probably donate because I can't sell them and really, do I want a casebook on accounting financials forever and ever? Not particularly. Unfortunately, I couldn't unload any of my accounting books - I now have more accounting books than a non-accounting major should ever have; it's kind of like my collection of stats books (though I did unload two - one last summer, one this week - so it's more manageable). The thing with textbooks is that you don't want them, you're never really going to read them again unless you're going to graduate school, yet, it's so hard to accept $20 for a book you paid $120 for.

And now, to get ready for the presentation. I have no idea what we're doing other than showing up at the company at 8:50 am. Nothing like spontaneity in situations like this, yup.

Wrong number... still

That guy who keeps calling my cell phone at odd hours of the day did it again this morning. At 7:30. I went to bed at 3 am (was up reading) and so you can guess, I wasn't happy. Especially since he had called at 8 on Saturday morning and again at 10:30. I called him back at 10:30 and said, "You keep calling me." And he says, "I know. Wrong number." But my question is, what's up with this guy that he keeps dialing my cell phone? And early in the morning too? jemima said he might be a stalker. Which I find very doubtful since a) we're not in the same city b) my cell phone is not a listed number and c) I think he's just incompetent. I just wish he wouldn't be incompetent early in the morning and on my cell phone.

On a positive note, I'm glad he woke me up because I had a headache. Usually my headaches come in the middle of the night so by the time I wake up, it's too late to do anything for them. But this time, I went ahead and took medication. So now I'm a bit wired because migraine medication does have caffeine in it. I do feel a bit dopey, but no head or nausea. So, I guess I should call Incompetent!Guy back and thank him for waking me up. Except, I'd really like to break him of the habit of calling me in the first place.

It's harder to get rid of textbooks than I thought it would be. When Lisa moved to Colorado last fall, she asked me to take care of some her textbooks for her. I sold a bunch on Amazon and then thought I'd donate the rest to the library or Halfprice Books. So I called both places today. No one wants 'em. One of them is a geography book. Fundamentals of geography don't change. I don't think there are huge changes in oceanography either. I plan to take a whole box of books to Rothers' today and sell them. I got a coupon in the mail offering me an additional $5 if I sell them back at Rother's. Yeah, I know it's probably still a scam, but a) I'm tired of having more textbooks than I know what to do with and b) Rother's has a free parking lot and the University bookstore makes you pay for it and c) I could use the cash.

I've also called the apartment complex to get the move-out checklist, have taken out another bag of garbage out, called to cancel cable service, found out if Goodwill will take the furniture if I can't find any takers here, and started making a box of the dishes/cookware that I'm not going to keep. All in all, a pretty decent day.

I emailed cheerleader prof this morning and asked her a question. She said, "You delight when you exceed expectations but don't get sucked into the vortex." I think I got sucked into the vortex. I'm at size 11 font (the minimum), at 5 pages (the maximum), adjusted all margins to 1", have spent more than the recommended 2-3 hours on the paper (hey, I had to reread the major concepts! Had to read the case three times, had to figure out my answers - 2-3 hours, my left foot!) and I still have more to say. I haven't even used the One True Model yet. Stay tuned.

Count Una McCormack as another ficcer who has done the ASC community proud. Go Una! I had the opportunity to meet Una in Boston 3 or 4 years ago and she's a lovely individual and I'm so amazed and happy for her.

Godwin's Law. Because, you know, all discussions get to this point. Recent discussions have made me think that it might be easier to argue with a brick wall -- which is potentially more responsive and flexible.