Thursday, February 22, 2007, posted by Q6 at 5:29 PM
So my girlfriend and I have been reading the Vertigo Comics' Fables series, a story which puts fairy tale characters, banished from their own land, in ours (or, at least, a section of ours). In the story, these characters walk among us "mundane" folk (they call us "mundys"), and deal with all sorts of things. It's a kick-ass comic.We've been reading the anthologies of the individual issues (I no longer have the time, inclination, or a decent local comic book store to do this issue-by-issue), and we're up to Anthology 8. Anthology 9 doesn;t come out until this summer, so we'll have to find something else to occupy us in the meantime. I highly recommend it, though.*This is a reference to compilation five, where Snow White learns more about her children. If you read it, you'll understand.
, posted by Q6 at 5:28 PM
My mother never ceases to make me laugh. I only wish that she were trying to a good percentage of the time. She lives in Los Angeles County--where I grew up--and I live in Orange County now. I suppose it's universal that people in one county have a certain perception of others, but now my "there" is "here," and my "here" is her "there." I now have to deal with her perception of my "here" now that my "here" is her "there."Go ahead. Read it again. I'll wait.So her question came up at dinner, as she asked about the ethnicities in my surrounding community. I realize that she's older, and grew up in a climate of more pronounced racism (she's not really racist, but my kids--and her kid, for that matter--grew up in a time when you didn't exactly word it that way. "Things." I guess it could have been worse, and I knew what she meant, but being a former English teacher, I know I might have searched for better wording.) Anyway, I just had to chuckle. The line, in or out of context, is classic.
, posted by Q6 at 5:25 PM
There was a recent article on CNN.com that caught my attention:Two clowns were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during their performance at a traveling circus in the eastern Colombian town of Cucuta, police said Wednesday. The gunman burst into the Circo del Sol de Cali on Monday night and shot the clowns in front of an audience of 20 to 50 people, local police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Reuters. One of the clowns was killed instantly, and the second died the next day in hospital. "The killings had nothing to do with the show the victims were performing at the time of the incident," Henao said in a telephone interview. "We are investigating the motive."
This is disturbing to me because it makes no sense. I'm not talking about the "why would you drive all over the freeways to avoid the cops when they've got helicopters" kind of making no sense--this is different. This is nonsense on acid. This is the kind of thing that the Zucker Brothers do to get the laugh because it makes no sense. But this is worse because this is beyond tragic. What kind of sense can the world make if this kind of thing actually happens? I'm really looking forward to the results of the investigation, because a large part of me wants to hope that there's SOMETHING that will help me make sense of this.*Another movie reference--this one's really obscure, though.
Thursday, February 08, 2007, posted by Q6 at 9:53 AM
Years and years ago I had a cassette tape that I wore out--literally--by playing it so much. I never got it replaced, and eventually it fell out of availability. Recently, I found it available through a used CD retailer. I really enjoy the first half of the CD (what I once knew as "side 1" of the cassette), especially the third track. I don't know why I latch on to certain albums, but this one was one I really enjoyed. I was sad to see it go.
And now I have it back. If it's possible to wear out digital music . . .
Sunday, February 04, 2007, posted by Q6 at 4:40 PM
My name is Q6, and I'm a tech-head.I used to be one of those people who hated technology. I didn't like the way it damaged interpersonal communication (I still don't, but I no longer think the two are mutually exclusive). I vowed to do only as much as I needed to to get by, and the rest of my life would be off-line. Then I fell to the dark side.I don't know how it happened; I think it was a combination of need-technology-more-for-work and hey-this-is-broken-I-wonder-if-I-can-fix-it-myself, but I'm more or less hooked now. Here's what I've done in the last, say, two years: -- Cleaned a major virus off my desktop computer, including a BIOS upgrade -- Upgraded the OS on same computer -- The iPod, the iTunes (even learned how to import clips from YouTube) -- Upgraded to a laptop -- Installed a wireless router to my cable modem, setting up a house-wide wireless network (secured) -- Used a specialized adapter to download all my old data from 4 different dismembered hard drives -- Installed a wireless printer/scanner -- Learned anough HTML to customize two websites and start FOUR blogs, three of which now have some seriously cool stuff on them (much to the dismay of my girlfriend, who will hate me--sorta--until I have helped her to do the same to her blog)Let's just say it's now to the point where people stop me and ask for help with their computers, and either I know how to fix it or I know what the problem is (but don't have the access to make the fix). I guess I've learned to embrace that which I once loathed; so much so that I'm learning something new (small things) almost every day."One day at a time," right?
, posted by Q6 at 4:39 PM
I'd like to thank all the kind people around the world who have posted blog templates for people like me to use. They've also been educational, as I've been tweaking the HTML code (as best I can) to make little adjustments here and there. This new template you're looking at isn't "stock"--I've made a few little adjustments here and there. I hope that doesn't piss off the people who wrote the code and posted the templates. Their generosity is very much appreciated.
