37 posts tagged “in which i am a dork”

Thanks, Newsweek, for teaching me about the next Y2K situation: January 19, 2038.  Neat!

Today I was thinking about how everyone I was friends with on LJ seems to have abandoned ship (and I've done the same).  I started going back through one of my two old accounts, and I came across a few things I thought I'd bring over here.  Since I maintained one LJ account from late 2004 to early 2008 and another from 2001 to 2006, I'm going to limit myself to rereading a year's worth o' blog-age at a time.  (And since I started this Vox account in August 2006, there may be a bit of overlap.)  This is mostly for my own benefit, so don't expect any incredible examples of writing here.  Or even anything interesting.

• First is this post from November 2007.  Maybe I should first point out that I have always been amused at the alert you get when you try to remove a flash drive your computer is still accessing: "The device cannot be stopped right now.  Try stopping the device again later."  It never fails to make me think of the song "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, and I imagine my flash drive is dancing up a storm and will not be interfered with.  The post:

Just now, when I tried to "safely remove" my memory card from my computer, I got the "I don't think so" sound (which is a lot friendlier on Vista than on XP, I might add) and an information box that said... nothing. It had an exclamation point, and no message whatsoever. Apparently, Windows was just surprised I tried to remove my memory card.

• Next:  I posted this video in September of 2007 and noted that I recognized about half the references--I couldn't decide if this meant I spent too much time on the Internet or not enough.  Now, almost 2 years later, the answer seems clear, as I recognize almost every single reference.
  

I'm not ashamed to be enamored of* Twitter.  My love has gone to a new level, though; I've started a second account.  I have two reasons: first, I want a public account, but I'd still like to hang on to a more personal account where I follow friends.  Second, I have always wanted to do a haiku-only Twitter account!  It's not an original idea by any means, but I think it'll be fun for me.  And that's all that's important, right?  Right.

So anyway, if you're one of the millions of Tweeple out there, feel free to follow my all-haiku account.  (Who knows, maybe my burst of 140-character, syllabically-strict creativity will inspire certain Twitter-phobes to try it out? :D)  If you're not already following my other account, there's a linkie.

*I AM ashamed to not understand why it's "enamored of" and not "enamored with," which is what sounds right to me.  Can anyone explain this?  It's like my troubles with how to properly use "comprise" all over again.

I've got me some Breaking Dawn!!!  (Side note:  at 12:07 I walked into Books-a-Million, was the last person to receive a book, and they seemed to be shutting things down after me.  What the hell!  They are too efficient for their own good.)  I'll not be visiting my friend The Internet until I finish it, which, thanks to my practicing schedule, will probably not be till Sunday evening.  (I fear teh spoilerz.)

I'm an excited lady!

I always enjoy telling myself that I'm starting a new "segment" on my blog, so let's go ahead and say this can be a new segment--knowing I will probably never make another post like this again.

Final Fantasy VIII--FFVIII, for us cool kids--came out shortly after I'd gotten my Playstation and fallen in love with Final Fantasy VII.  FF7 I loved, but 8... 8 was something else for me.  It remains probably my favorite game of all time (perhaps even trumping the classic NES, Sega, and SNES games I love so much!), and although my gaming days are mostly over, I still can't think of FF8 without getting all squishy inside.  (For you other gamers, I know, I know--FF7 is apparently infinitely better, but I can't help it.  Nothing ever moved me the way 8 did.)  My most memorable moment of the game is the scene I'm about to post.  Now YouTube has made it convenient for me to watch whenever I want; back in the Day, however, I reserved a precious memory card spot for this video alone so I could watch it whenever I wanted.  (And I'll never forget the nice/nerdily cute guy who worked at Electronics Boutique who confessed he had done the same thing.)  Aside from the fact that this was just gorgeous animation (especially at the time; I think it still is), I love love loved the music, and the music of Nobuo Uematsu continues to remain that nagging inspiration in me:  "Don't score films; score games!"  Mmmph.

...for this "holy crap I'm addicted" book post.

Let's talk about three things:  Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. 

People, I got the first book a week ago (they're easy reads, but short they are not--500 to 600 pages each) and within an hour of finishing it raced out to buy the next two.  I just finished the last a minute ago, and rather than do the wise thing and go to bed, I feel that geeky yet undeniable urge to bloggity blog blog.  If you're planning on reading the books and you don't want anything spoiled, you might wanna ignore this post.

Twilight had me pretty much from the first chapter.  It was glorious.  I'm still not sure exactly what it is about this book (and the others) that captivates me (and everyone else, apparently) so much--because I can see how I might have read books like these at another time and been utterly annoyed with them.  But, like every other person with a uterus (and some without), I instantly fell in love with lusted passionately for enjoyed the character of Edward.  The crash scene mostly did me in.  I never once felt uninterested while reading this book.  ...Not sure what else to say, honestly.  Fantastic.

Loved:  Edward, Edward and Bella, the mystery and intrigue!
Not So Much:  I would love to know how many times the words "eyes" was used--good gravy.  I recognize the necessity and the lack of another word, but man--it was like, three times a page.

As I said, I rushed out to buy this and Eclipse immediately after finishing Twilight.  I had a busy weekend though, and was a bit slow starting it, but was loving it during the chances I did have to read.

And then:  Edward left.  And Jacob entered the picture.  And I patiently waited for that whole situation to correct itself--100 pages, 200 pages, 300 pages without Edward?  (I'm not sure I'm overestimating that, either.)  Aside from my favorite character's absence, I impatiently waited for everybody to figure out the werewolf business; pardon my harsh criticism, but I thought it was poor writing to clue the reader in so early and then draw out the characters' confusions.  (Then again, maybe it just felt like it was so long as I was irritated with no vampire lovin'.)  Making the situation worse, I couldn't get on board with Jacob.  I didn't dislike him, I just had no interest in him, and thought Bella's intense interest was a bit forced maybe.  I dunno.  I did not enjoy the book from the moment Edward left to the moment he returned--just like Bella!  Hey-o.

Loved:  The intensity of the scenes in Italy--holy crap, those chapters were superbly done.  I couldn't read fast enough to satisfy my brain!!  Also, Alice, who became even more adorable in this book than before.
Not So Much:  Bella's codependency, lack of Edward, Jacob, seemingly unnecessary drama creation and drawing things out much longer than need be

Ah, Eclipse.  I went into this book fearful, not knowing what to think.  Twilight had sparked in me a love for a new series, something I've enjoyed only once in recent years (Harry Potter, natch), but then New Moon planted some serious seeds of doubt as I wondered if the next two books would follow in its path of... annoying me.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it didn't.  As with New Moon, though, I felt I was in a constant state of suspense (a good thing!)--this book was not so predictable, at least not for me.  I was very pleased with it as a whole, and almost feel like it's the best book in the series so far, though I'm not sure it tops Twilight in terms of how much of the warm fuzzies it gives me.  I do have some issues, not specifically with the book but with things it brought to light in terms of the series as a whole, but I'm getting quite tired here and I think my thoughts are incoherent enough without me going on a thoughtful rant.

Loved:  Alice more than ever, Edward more than ever
Not So Much:  Bella's low self-esteem--after three books, I get it.  Stop talking about how inferior you are to everything.  Cheer up, emo kid!  (I still like Bella, but I can only handle that kind of self-deprecation so long before it overpoweringly annoys me.)  Also, I can't help but feel that Bella's reluctance towards marriage is... strange for her, at least, for her relationship with Edward.
Loathing So Intense It Warrants Its Own Point in Bold:  Jacob.  A thousand times, Jacob.  Holy crap.  I'm pretty sure I've never been so aggravated with a protagonist in the history of any book ever.  What an obnoxious, immature brat!  I'm not sure what the Twilight fan base is like, but from what I understand there are some die-hard Jacob fans out there, and I just can't see it.  If you threaten to kill yourself/let yourself die so that the person you supposedly love will feel miserably guilty and risk things with the person that she wants and needs to be with in the vain hope that maybe she'll pay you attention, you fail at life.  Here's my harsh moment:  when they made it seem as if he'd been killed, I felt nothing.  Sorry if I'm offending the Jacob-ers, but seriously... the kid needs to grow the eff up.

Now all that's left is to wait until August 2nd...

Hey!

I've been reading!

It's that delightful time at the library when ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS and one is able to spend the better part of a shift reading.  ...I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

So, as if you cared, and as if I was actually maintaining what started out to be a music-and-literature-themed blog, here's what I've been reading.

Since I've heard only good things about this book and I knew they were making/had made a movie, I decided to check this book out to myself upon checking it in from someone else.  Excellent choice, me!  I loved the storytelling in this dark and heartbreaking book.  Some of it--a lot of it--can be very upsetting to read, but I would recommend this to anyone.
I saw this book dominating Amazon's #1 seller spot for a long time and thought it odd that I had no idea what it was, but after reading The Kite Runner I knew I had to check it out (uh, literally).  As it turns out, I enjoyed this one even more--I literally just finished it ten minutes ago.  As with The Kite Runner, this can be tough (as in, disturbing) to read, but just demonstrates what I consider to be some fantastic storytelling.  Even more so with this book, though, I connected with the characters, deeply cared about them, hurt for them.  Another book I'd strongly recommend.
I saw this ages ago at Barnes and Noble, was intrigued by it--and then forgot all about it until my mom surprised me with it a few days ago (way to go, Mom!).  Absurdly silly cover featuring a picture of the author aside, I'm really enjoying it so far.  The book consists of different sections, each of which discuss similar case studies of people who have had unique psychological (and physiological) experiences with music.  I've only made it through the first section so far (which deals with people haunted by music--blargh, some scary stuff in there, especially for a musician... imagine hearing the same loud, high note, over and over and over all day long), but this book makes my inner psych-major-wannabe happy.
Since my only experience with Kurt Vonnegut so far has been through a short story ("Harrison Bergeron")--and uh, since this book was conveniently at the circulation desk when I got to work--I thought, what better way to become more familiar with the author than through a collection of short stories and whatnots?  I haven't started this yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

(In other news, I've learned that reading multiple books from multiple genres rather than focusing on one book at a time silences that nasty habit my brain has of narrating my life in the voice/style of whatever writer I'm reading.  ...Someone wanna do a case study on that crap?)

I have three books lined up to read next, assuming the library doesn't yield some other distracting treasure--which, of course, it will.  Coming soon!

Because I bought the book at a garage sale and it's been sitting in my car for two months...

Brian and I recently discovered the magic that is Skype, a calling service that is free between Internet users and has some terrifically stable video stuff as well (we used to use Yahoo Messenger, but calls usually dropped at least once during long conversations, webcams froze quite frequently, and it just generally ate up a lot of system resources--we could barely do anything else but talk on Yahoo).  I had nothing but praise for this new and wonderful service, which anyone in a long-distance relationship (or even anyone who is temporarily away from loved ones) should check into.  I did notice that the day I downloaded and installed Skype, I was unable to check my university e-mail account, as it just kept refreshing itself over and over again, but since that crap is pretty glitchtastical anyway, I thought little of it.

Until today, when I decided to continue my exploration of Internet phenomena that I'm way behind on and downloaded StumbleUpon.  After a few minutes of Stumbling, I realized that any websites using Shockwave Flash (ending with an ".swf") were not functioning properly--either not bothering to load at all, or sometimes it seemed refreshing over and over again, as before. 

I did the thing Firefox users dread; I opened Internet Explorer.  And to my horror... everything that wasn't working in Firefox worked in IE.  Cue Darth Vader:  Nooooooooooo!!!!

An hour of frustrated battling with my computer and I was no closer to a solution:  I had every necessary plug-in (and probably some unnecessary ones) downloaded and fully updated, as well as the latest update of Firefox.  I downloaded all the "recommended" updates for Windows (I try to stick to the "important" ones, but I figured what the hell)--no dice.  Remembering that my original problem started the day I downloaded Skype, I thought I would have to do the unthinkable:  choose between my beloved Firefox and my new love, Skype.  Joie's Choice, you might say.  (If you wanted to make a moderately offensive reference.)

And then I noticed the little turd of a plug-in Skype automatically installed on my Firefox browser.  I do not need phone numbers on web sites highlighted, thought I!  I can recognize them myself!  Was this the source of my problems, this little unwelcome browser parasite?

I disabled the plug-in, crossed my fingers... and successfully logged into my university e-mail without constant refreshing of the page.  Success!

I was unable to find a known issues page on Skype's website, but a Google search found a lot of other people annoyed with the same problem.  I left a comment on a help page that explained what the plug-in was, so hopefully that will get through to somebody, if they don't already know it.  Fix it!  Or at least give a warning!  Or don't have the plug-in install itself!

Still, my love for Skype remains unchanged.  I hope that it and Firefox may now live in harmony forever with their new friend StumbleUpon.

The "weezing" in my standard username for everything, "silverweezingbus," comes from Weezer.  It's things like this that make me proud:

Remember this?

IT'S HAPPENING, PEOPLE.

Joie is going to see Wicked in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 22nd.

...Excitement cannot be put into type.  Except by saying, "OMFGZ I'M SO EXCITEEEEEDDDDD!!!11!1ONEONE!!!111!"