Sunday, May 31, 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Maker Faire 09' - THE END.



Adam Savage from Mythbusters.



I might as well get the interesting stuff out first, because this post is going to go dramatically downhill fast.







There is a point where something goes so mainstream - it becomes completely ruined. This is where Maker Faire finds itself today.

Sure, it is great for Maker. They managed to pull in more people than they probably ever could have imagined. A great revenue stream to be sure. For everyone else it becomes the most un-enjoyable event on the planet. You couldn't even walk 2 or 3 feet before having to dodge someone or adjust where you were walking. You couldn't get close to anything. There is a Telsa Roadster somewhere in this shot.

Everything to see was this way.



I wasn't even in the gates 10 minutes before I was completely feeling hostile. Who the eff are these people I ask Mr S. I don't even get the demo. There aren't that many nerds. There aren't even that many hippies. Who are these people?!

Mr S. replies - they look to be just about anyone bored enough to come down. A perfect snapshot of what you'd see in a mall. And he was right. It even had just about as much enjoyment as shopping at a mall the week before Christmas. People didn't even seem to be enjoying themselves. They were just milling about.



Gone was that electric creative energy of the previous years. Only to be completely hijacked by the green movement. It was less "Maker" and more just Trash Faire. Tinged with complete guilt bullshit. Tinkering to make things and recycling to make things aren't really the same. One is an interesting project. The other is just stuff from the dump.



How disturbing is this shot?



It was today that I realized how the greenies get away with all their crap. They capitalize on how most people don't feel good about themselves. And, they are oh so successful.

Once I did find an area where people were selling stuff, it was the most ridiculously overpriced stuff you can imagine. I finally had to leave early. It was the most self absorbed annoying group of people on the planet.

When we got to the parking structure I asked Mr S. "do you think those people will be gone next year". He said "probably not - it's too mainstream now". So, unless something becomes really interesting, I doubt I'm going next year. It was that unpleasant.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Max Dep.

I know I haven't been around in a couple of days. So, I'm giving you something short.

One of my girlfriends is still a bit of a hippy thus was choosing to sleep with her baby in the bed with her. After two years of this, and an extraordinary amount of sleep loss she almost lost her mind. I'm not even joking. After a while I finally said to her - ah... now you get it.

You see, unless you suffer severe sleep deprivation - you just can not understand how completely it alters you. So I really don't even talk much about it, because I really don't think most people can grasp the depth of the issue. People think not sleeping well, and loosing sleep for years are essentially the same thing. They are not.

I've been dealing with sleep deprivation for so long, I can actually see how if you weren't quite balanced it could tip you over into a dark place. I've learned to adapt. Yet, at the high range - I do elect to not drive. Not because I don't think I can. Or I might fall asleep. Only that if an accident were to happen (even if it wasn't my fault) I could not hide the fact that I am completely deprived. So I just don't.

So, this is where I am today. Everything feels like you are moving around in water. And, Maker Faire is tomorrow. Which I am completely dreading. I hope I get sleep tonight, because I can't imagine doing that whole thing with the way I am feeling today.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Pedestrians are complete assholes.

Why bother sugar coating things today. I haven't been sleeping well. When an insomniac tells you that - you know things are effed up. I'm not quite at the stage I shouldn't be driving. But, I'm ....oh .... so at the stage where a few of my pets peeves have cropped up. Namely - why the eff can't people speed up when they cross the road? Why?

Here is a perfect example of how pedestrians are complete assholes - which happened this weekend.

All of a sudden we are driving down a 3 lane road, and the cars just come to a stop. What the hell - I say. "What the hell", was about 100 people who just decided to walk across the street. I'm sure the guy in front of us said something like "all these people aren't going to just walk in front of me are they"? So he stopped. And cross the street they did.

Never mind that we would have to stop at the red light about 100 feet down anyway. But, what kind of an asshole are you that you just stop 3 lanes of traffic? Maybe some guy wanted to use the turn lane. Or maybe the light would have turned Green and we didn't need to stop at all. Honestly I was in complete shock of their assholery.



Monday, May 25, 2009

With gratitude.

Despite having slept really not well last night, I crammed my shit together and went out to a memorial day observance this morning. Truth be told, before this week I didn't know my city had any ceremonies. I wouldn't even consider myself patriotic. Nor would I consider myself unpatriotic. I still think this is the best place on the planet to live. Despite it's flaws.

Having said that - if I could choose where my tax dollars went, I would send every dime to the military. There are certain asses that need kicking, and these are the boots.

I'm not one of those "I support the troops, but not the government types". When I don't fear for my financial existence - I actually am relatively neutral when it comes to government. Just the same as CEO's of companies don't always make the right choices, so do governments.

However, I am completely in awe of the military. They do what they are told. No matter who is in power. No matter if they think the choice is right or wrong. They just do their jobs. And for someone who asks "why" a million times a day (me) I just can't express the respect I have for them.

So, this is why I drug my ass out this morning.





It was a very small ceremony. I thought it was really nice OPD showed up in force to support the vets. Though I did find it a little odd that so many of them showed. I would have thought it would have been a mix of all different police forces. I can only guess the reason is our guys showed a ton of support when their guys got killed. Nevertheless - it was nice.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Meanwhile back at...

AnimeCon.

I'd never actually gone before. I wouldn't even say I'm that into Anime. But, it seemed like an interesting thing to do. As soon as I arrive though, I was on sensory overload.

At some of the other geeky shows I've attended lately, maybe 30% of the people were dressed up. Like at Wondercon. And of those 30% - 10% were really well done.

Oh... not so at AnimeCon. It is like the freaking Olympics of geekdom! I'd say 70% of the people are dressed up, and a full 30% or more are really well done. You almost can't even focus on one thing because one costume is better than the next. The other thing was... this freaking line.



It seriously was a few hundred people deep. Mr S. and I get into the line and prepare to hang out for a while. That is until some person working there walks by and says "hahaha. The three hour reg line". As in registration. I immediately turn to Mr S and say "Mr S! Do you think it will take three hours to get through this line?". He calculates that it will take us about an hour and a half. Based on how far we'd moved, and how much time we'd already been in the line.

I'm out - I say. Which he is completely fine with. We decide that if we feel we missed out on something we can register online and come back. Here are a few of the shots I got from the day.











Today's random stuff?

Ambulance chasing. Well - not so much chasing, as stumbling upon.

Every week now, Mr S. and I not only check the real estate stuff. We check rental rates. I want to make sure we remain competitive for the market. And, if my renter can't pay his rent anymore - I don't want a nasty surprise in finding out the rents have collapsed and I must charge much less for the crapshack. I'd rather keep an eye on the market and know in advance.

Mostly though, you are no better than the phone company to renters. If they can find a place like yours at a cheaper rate, they will move.

While going over the rentals and rates, we spotted one in our old neighborhood in which the rent seemed really high. While our old neighborhood was nice, we couldn't imagine why they were asking so much. We didn't think the area could pull in that kind of rental price. So, we decided to drive by the house to see this fantastic palace of a place.

This is also where we ran across this huge police presence. The roads were closed down. There were a bazillion law enforcement. Since we were already there. We might as well find out what happened. At first I stayed at the police line and used my telephoto lens.

Pretty soon though, I saw people walking down the street. I followed. Only to find out some guy crashed into a pole. He did travel across oncoming traffic. I was pretty shocked. The police response was pretty disproportionate for a single car involved accident. You'd have thought there was shooting.

The only reason I say anything about this is because my town seems to be pretty famous for this. Last year the firefighters were driving new audi's and volovo's. I'm not even kidding. There would be this fantastic audi that caught my attention and I'd see a firefighters plate on it. They must have been pulling bank in overtime.





There are 7 of them in this shot. That doesn't even count the ones blocking the roads. I estimated 20 of them for this one incident.



Oh - the house turned out not to quite be in our old neighborhood. It was also pink. If a house is pink on the outside - the inside probably looks like crap.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Why does god hate Anime so much?!

I attempted to go to AnimeCon today. I will talk about the attempt later. But, when I got there, we had protesters. OMG I love protesters so freaking much. I don't know why. I am completely fascinated by them.







The protesters are over over on the left. The Anime folks on the right. Except for the chick in the front of the picture who is simply trying to keep assholes out of the road.



From the other side of the street.

The funniest thing about the interaction was how the geeks handled the whole thing. How might you ask? By singing the Portal Song. Yes, all those people on the left with thier arms in the air are singing the portal song in unison. For those of you that don't know - Portal is this abstract video game.

I am honestly not sure why these protesters had their panties in a bunch. Yet I found the whole thing really funny. I don't think they got their desired result from the Anime folks, and they eventually gave up and left.



You can listen to the sing here.

The end must be near.



The only way I was able to get this to show up was to go sepia. That is why the trees look brown. In real life the only way you could see it was when the sun hit it just right.

I think it was on purpose. Not everyone can know this information. Right?

Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday roundup.

I don't have much for you today. You are all on vacation anyway.

Mr S. has an abrasion on his eye. So, it been bothering him. Though, he is able to see fantastically. How great is it - you can be blind one morning, and able to see without glasses by that night? The world is fing awesome.

I was finally able to get my truck smogged today. Which I'm so relived about. Mr S. and I have been having to drive it all over hell and back to get the computer to reset. This amounted to about 150 miles and three trips to the smog place. But, I didn't manage to get a ticket.

So overall I feel pretty happy.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I seriously have issues.



In an effort to take advantage of one of the last great legal tax loopholes - Mr S. went and had laser surgery done on his eyes today. You know, before the administration found out, and started trying to run health care.

I love those pesky accounts you stick money into to pay for medical procedures for the year. Of course, you put money into them before the government it's its grubby hands on it. I don't even want to call it by it's name. That is how much I covet them.

I totally wish I had something funny to tell you about the surgery. But, I don't.

If you can even call it that. I barely had the laptop out and onto a network, before he was done. Seriously. It must have been 10 minutes. On one hand I think - hey, if you just marketed this stuff so people knew it only takes freakin 10 minutes - you'd get more people in. On the other hand, your brain says "a couple grand for 10 minutes. Really?

What the hell! I can see."

So, why am I giving you a picture of this freaky bird? Well, this morning it seemed funny. He's been hanging out at my house lately. I don't know what it is about this place that screws up eyes. You may not remember two of my bunnies have had eye issues since I've lived in this house. Now this freaky bird. The other reason is - a few of my readers of odd fascinations with birds.

This is probably the asshole that gouged out his eye.



You may continue with your lives now. That is all.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Kill the art. Honestly.



Some of you might not know - but we Californians are broke. Flat ass broke. Sure, there are lots of reasons why. Evil people who didn't pay their mortgages. Or those evil "corporations".

Or maybe, just maybe - it is those evil artists!

Last night I was listening to the water resources control board bitch and moan about something. All I heard was blablabla - I'm raising your rates 9.6%. Which annoys the eff out of me. I'll rant about this some time soon. Then - all of a sudden my mind focuses to the background.

Mr S.! Is that an effing Chihuly in the background - I say. Oh, not one - but two Chihuly's.

Personally, I think someone needs to make his way to the pawn shop.

Why do I bring this up? Last year a small townhouse development popped up in town. It maybe sits on 5 acrers, next to the railroad tracks. Right before they started trying to sell the condos a giant art structure popped up in the property. The art was wildly disproportionate in size to the complex, which maybe took up 1/8th of a city block.

Later I found out that any complex with more than 20 units was forced to add an art structure. I'd be amazed if the complex had 21 units. The complex is seriously almost taller than it is wide. That is how small the complex is. I don't know how much they were forced to spend on the art structure, but, the complex was done with private funds.

Which brings me back to this Chihuly installation. Which I'm guessing was paid for out of taxpayer dollars. I don't see any words that indicate it was donated, or it's just on commission. This from the CalMAX website.

"For those of you planning a visit, you will find the custom-designed artwork of four prominent artists who are dedicated to demonstrating the integration of art and the environment throughout the building. The artwork was the result of a Sacramento City ordinance that required a certain percentage of capital improvement construction costs be allocated for public art. The courtyard entrance contains a sculpture made of stone that stands eighteen feet high and rests atop a three-and-one-half-foot mound with a grove of sequoia trees serving as a backdrop.

Beverly Pepper, an internationally respected artist, designed this imposing stone sculpture with the intention of bringing a sense of sanctity to the environment and creating a "sacred space" in the courtyard. Inside the lobby, textured stone walls, stone floors, and eucalyptus wood grace the entrance. At the base of the staircase leading to the second floor is a stainless steel sculpture. The artist, Richard Hunt, created this abstract metal sculpture specifically for the Cal/EPA building. It is tentatively titled "Man's Way, Nature's Way." The theme, according to Mr. Hunt, indicates that this is "some of the ways that man and nature both originate and modify form."

In addition to the lobby sculpture, two chandeliers designed by artist Dale Chihuly hang from the 30-foot ceiling. An exterior glass curtain that overlooks the courtyard sculpture is also located in this area. The chandeliers are composed of hundreds of pieces of blown glass in organic-like forms in colors of yellow and green."


OH BTW - what a fantastic building the Cal/EPA, waste management, and air resources board, and the water resources board reside in. It's like an effing palace.

Sure this crap didn't pop up yesterday, or even under this administration - but the government wasn't actively trying to make sure I was on welfare either. I mean, if they take a sledgehammer to a wall often enough, the wall eventually falls. If I have to modify my life because they can't figure out how to run a government, they can sell some shit. Art being first.

Maybe 9 years ago, we could afford this crap. We can't now - sell it and stop forcing companies to add art into every single development over 20 units. Including government buildings.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

From our brilliant leaders in California.



Please ... oh ... please - do not let a vein pop in my neck.

I actually ran across this concept back in February. But, it was so convoluted - I couldn't figure out how it actually worked. Truthfully, I got distracted by some of the solar companies trying to get people to "finance" solar panels. At a low low interest rate of course. I would give you a link, but apparently those companies have gone out of business. At least my bookmarked links are now broken.

The distracting thing was - no one was giving out credit at the time. And even so, I didn't think too many people at the time had the appetite to pull what was essentially a HELOC to get solar. When the electric company for now is still piping juice to your house. For now.

Never fear great earth warrior! The government came up with a scheme to let them (the government) give you a loan that you can pay over 20 years.

This is so fantastic! Wait for it. This is how The City of Berkley gets you all excited about this program.

* There is relatively little up-front cost to the property owner.

* The cost for the solar system is paid for through a special tax on the property, and is spread over 20 years.

* The financing costs are comparable to a traditional equity line or mortgage.

* Since the solar system stays with the property, so does the tax obligation—if the property is transferred or sold, the new owners will pay the remaining tax obligation.


Did you get that last one? They put a lien on your house making it virtually impossible to sell it. Why would I buy a house with a 20,000 lien, when I could buy one with no encumbrances?

More interestingly, to get this amazing deal, you have to go through a company called CityFIRST. Which as far as I can tell dropped off the planet last year.

How are we going to pay for this you ask? Through kick-backs and corruption! I mean.. bonds. From the sfgate.

"A property owner would hire a city-approved solar installer, who would determine the best solar system for the property, depending on energy use. Most residential solar panel systems in the city cost from $15,000 to $20,000.

The city would pay the contractor for the system and its installation, minus any applicable state and federal rebates, and would add an assessment to the property owner's tax bill to pay for the system.

The extra tax would include administrative fees and interest, which would be lower than what the property owner could obtain on his own, because the city would secure low-interest bonds and loans, officials say. "


If none of this hasn't made you die laughing - go to this site where they suggest putting the panels on your credit card. Which I'm guessing - if you have an open limit of 20 grand, you don't need to put them on your amex. If amex is even keeping open your nice plushy limit.

Is this where all the green jobs are coming from? Because I don't see too many people jumping on board.

Monday, May 18, 2009

I've got your stimulus right here.



This is what they were doing a little while later when I swung through the area again. I believe the two in the bottom picture are the ones on the right hand side of the top picture. Apparently the guy in the tan cacky pants just doesn't do shit.



You know, I thought the stimulus was going to work a little like this: One guy dug holes, and one guy filled. I'm guessing it is a little more like one guy does both and one guy just watches. I wonder how many productive people we could hire for what these guys get paid.

Also making them not so bright? They are fucking off right in front of a polling place the day before an election.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Today's free crap.

Sometimes I love how random things catch my eye. Especially now, because the world is so boring. Apparently recessions cause people to not be so crazy and stand out as much.

So, today while driving through parking lot - this bit of technology caught my attention. It took me a full 300 feet for it to register on my brain. I turn to Mr S. and say "did that guy have a video camera strapped to his car"?

We pull over - I walked the 300 feet back to get these pictures.



My first thought was - this kid has obviously never has his car broken into. And in rapid succession - He knows someone can just walk up from behind and steal it. Then that camera probably costs more than the car itself. What is that about?





Other free stuff? Hugs!





Apparently the hug market has collapsed, because I didn't see anyone getting them. If it were me - I'd charge whatever the market would bear for hugs. And, it wouldn't be the wamby pamby ones you'd get with free attached to it. They would be awesome hugs. I mean, how good is free food? Oh wait.. maybe that isn't that good of example - depending.

For your entertainment...

Friday, May 15, 2009

You tell me why.



Purple basil is more delicious than regular green basil. I'm totally serious.

No matter where I put these - the purple ones get completely tagged by something. Probably slugs. Yet they leave the green mostly alone. Even though they are both within a foot of each other.

Stay tuned.

You know how much I hate to pre-plug what I'm doing. But, I should have some interesting stuff for you this weekend. Plus, all you California-ites are going to be hiding in the air conditioning anyway. It is going to be a millionity degrees here.

Yes. If a trillion can be a number, millionity can be a number.

Fia Card Services - fail.

After doing a bit of googling - I found that if you close your credit card with a zero balance, it doesn't tag your credit that hard. So today I call up Fia Card Services and ask for my balance. Which is $203.42. I do use the card, I've just been using my other credit card more because it offers much better fraud protection.

Anyway. Of course the rep asks why I'm closing the account.

So I tell him - the company arbitrarily lowered my credit card limit, and if I have to re-apply for my high balance, why should I choose your company?

Him - Well, do you understand why the bank did that?

Me - Yes, I do understand why they did it.

Him - You don't think that should make some difference.

Me - No, I don't think it should make a difference. I think maybe 5% of your customers are like me. You can see my history for 20 years. You can see my extremely high credit score. And if 20 years means nothing to you. It doesn't mean anything to me.

Him - oh okay. Here's your balance.

Now, at this point you might imagine I'm just being pissy. Which I am. If they take away the incentive to stay with them, why wouldn't a choose a company that better fits me?

If my 20 year history with them can't prove my level of risk. Well, the whole system is broken. Additionally the company has stopped denying that lowering my credit limit is just an attempt to verify income. They have already admitted "they will probably just take my word for anyway". Which really just makes me think this credit card company is in so much trouble, maybe I'm better off just jumping ship.

I could say my income is anything I want to apparently. Which could go to zero tomorrow due to the economy. So, yes - I think a long history of payment is a better indicator of risk than what you say your income is. Not to mention a long history of paying the balance every single month. Its been a lot of years since I've held a balance. Maybe I have a rich uncle. Which I don't - but as long as I'm making the payments the rest is sort of bull-shittery.

I don't need the credit, and I'd rather take the temporary hit on my credit score than give them any money. My score will recover fairly easily. If I can help it, they are never getting another dime from me.

Now, the economy might take a complete dive, and this might bite me in the ass. But, over 20 years my husband has held this card - he has been a good risk through a few recessions. It was the first card he ever got after school. So I'm willing to take the chance.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Credit card companies have lost their minds.

I have to admit, I didn't really think I'd get caught up in a credit card issue. I'm what they call a "super good risk".

Anyway. Today I got a letter in the mail that my credit card balance has been reduced. Now, I'm a little surprised by this. I do not hold a balance on either of my two credit cards. But, it seems since I've been trimming my spending (since spring of last year)- they say I no longer need the extra credit. How much did they reduce the line? 50%.

Now, I understand this is something the banks are doing right now. But, I swear to f'ing gawd these people can't figure out their asses from a whole in the ground. Why do I say this? Because my husband has been a customer since 1985. With this same credit card company. Sometimes we spend a lot, sometimes not. But, they can actually look back in the database they have kept on us for over 20 years to see what our spending habits are. Not to mention the credit card guy tells me he is looking right at my credit report. Perfect credit.

All of sudden the call rep is trying to get me to "verify" information. Which actually amounts to re-applying for the card to get my balance raised back up. I even asked him if they were verifying income. Which he said they were.

That's when I became hot. Because, the only real way to verify income is through a tax return. So I asked him, so are you pulling my tax return to verify income. He said yes. When I completely flipped out about that, he said "well, we will probably just take your word for it".

These people are joking me right? They are seriously joking me. Fia Card Services. (hey, it's a 20 year old card. What do you want in a name?)

You know, it is so troubling that these companies can not distinguish between a good risk and a bad risk. Current customer for 20+ years, perfect credit with perfect payment history. You'd think this is the type of customer they would want to keep. Are they out of their minds?

On the other hand, I'm also the sort of customer will will completely stop using their card. It doesn't do my any good to cancel the account. That looks perfect on a credit report, they lower my credit line 50% then I cancel it.

I'm lucky enough to not need credit right now. I'm fine with using my other card for everything. I hope these people rot. I never thought it would take so long for companies to figure out who was a good risk and who wasn't. Never in a million years.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

This is your future.

I've been wanting to make a post about augmented reality for a while. The problem is - it's really freaking hard to describe. Which is why some of these vids are longer than they need to be. Yet, this technology is coming folks. I'm even holding off getting a cell phone until I know it does augmented reality.



Every week, I see more and more mainstream companies adopting it. There was a small augmented reality clip in Star Trek. Which you will have to discover yourself.

Lego is starting to use it. I'm sure you've seen the GE augmented reality push. Even Doritos.

This vid is probably the best I've seen in describing how it works. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

It isn't right.

We got the Pontiac back today. The GM dealership in Sunnyvale on El Camino was fine. All the warranty stuff was transferred over.

That is not what I'm here to talk about though. What I'm here to say is, that even as bitter as I am about the car companies - walking into a dealership is super affecting. It just sucks and is so wrong.

I know they only have themselves to blame. Remember me? I said I'd never buy another Chrysler product as long as I lived. They pissed me off that much. Pontiac however has always been really great to deal with.

I just don't understand how we as a nation got to a point that jobs were such worthless items. It didn't matter how customers were treated, and you could just walk down the street and get another job anyway.

You know what my friend told me today? Her husband got laid off. Though, it sounded more like it was a mutual thing. They've been separated for a while now. But, this is what she said "Snarkolepsy, it was a blessing in disguise. He hated that job so much". So, I asked her "what will he do to pay his rent"? Oh, he can afford to live off unemployment now - she tells me. How long will that last - I ask?

Later as I was recounting this story to Mr S. I was actually somewhat exasperated. When did a job become something you love, I say? They call them jobs for reasons. How is it you go from a high paying job with a house and beni's, to being okay with living off unemployment? How is that is just fine with you? I don't get it.

Yet, as I walked through the dealership today, no one was there. They didn't even make any money from me. I thought I'd have to pay for something. But I'd paid for that stuff when I bought the car. Even down to a certain number of oil changes. So I walked out paying them nothing.

When I left, those salesmen were sitting on lawn chairs at the front of the store. And I wondered how long it would be before the place closed. Maybe they don't care either. Maybe just hanging out on unemployment will be just fine for them. But, what happens when it all runs out?

This can't go on forever. Maybe I'm a sucker for thinking about their families, and what the lives they surely must have led. Now they are reduced to just hanging out on the front lawn waiting for someone to buy a car. It isn't like they can just walk down the street now. Waiting in those lawn chairs is probably all the chance they have to make money.

Truth be told, if I had the money - I wouldn't buy a car right now. I honestly would buy a foreign car before I'd buy American. Something in my cold dead heart feels for the worker. Yet, I'm not even sure they care about loosing their jobs. How f'ed up is that?

Tales of many things.

I don't really talk about my real relationships here very often. I'm not sure I feel comfortable making them into blog fodder. Plus, I just consider them intensely personal. Sometimes it's because my personal relationships reveal more than I really want to of myself. Other times it's because grownups have really hard complicated frailties and problems. It isn't always easy to articulate that into text.

Having said that - I'm not sure I want to reveal my online life to my friends either. Most of the time I keep them really separate. It usually is something that comes pretty easy. Except for today. One of my longtime girlfriends has just come into the information age. Which is really odd.

It isn't like she has been living in a bubble. We both worked at Sun Microsystems. You know.... the (dot)in .com. She never really took to the technology world. I've basically treating her like an old person when it comes to technology for 15 years or so.

Recently however, she's arrived on the scene. Rocking my whole world view. She's got a facebook page, and is now texting. When she called today wanting my cell number - I knew what it was about. She wanted to be texty friends. Yes, we've been real friends since childhood. She's been so technology phobic we've never really communicated via cell phone. Even rarely through email.

But, she is all hot on this crap now. Asking if I had a facebook page. Which I don't and refuse to get. When I told her I have a twitter account though - I immediately went "crap, I shouldn't have said that". Because, my twitter account would make it easy to find my blog.

It isn't that I even talk about them here. But, it isn't like I've never talked about them. And I still want the option to bitch about them if I want to. It also feels somewhat odd making a line between the two. I wouldn't consider myself secretive at all. I'm pretty much the opposite of secretive. Yet, I'm obviously making a clear distinction when it comes to these two groups. It's just odd to me.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

I like to take pictures at movies.



This weekend - like tons of other people, Mr S. and I went to see Star Trek. I have to admit, I don't think I've ever watched a whole episode of the television show. I was too busy hanging out at the beach and partying, and doing whatever it is that teenagers do. It actually came as a surprise that Mr S. was into Star Trek.

Star Wars.. sure. I'm all on board for that fetish. And many of the other sci-fi stuff he gets me to watch with varied success. But, I'd never seen him express an interest in Star Trek. I'm betting it was the Wrath of Khan. Which I've never seen. But, still. I do remember the catch phrases, and would still bet money Khan would put any Trekkie fan off for life.



Anyway, despite my complete rejection of the series and it's schlockyness. It was okay. Although, maybe sitting in the second row of the imax theater wasn't the best idea. I'd say a full 1/3 of the movie was a complete blur. I don't know why it is that studios try to disguise CGI by making it slightly out of focus. But, they do. And, sitting all the way up front makes that way more exaggerated. We'd come late, and right up front was our only choice.

Since we were right up front - we decided it would be easier to hang out until the theater cleared before trying to leave. The credits start rolling. But, no one is moving. This became interesting to me.

Normally these days, as soon at the credits start - people are running for the exits. Not here though. Most of the theater hung out until every single credit had rolled. It was the oddest thing ever. I even started joking to Mr S. about the clean up crew who was piling up on the sides getting annoyed that no one was leaving, preventing them from doing their jobs.



So, I took a couple shots of them. Then a funny thing happened. One of the crew walked right up to me and in a seriously stern voice said "you aren't allowed to take pictures in here". Which sort of stuns me and leaves me speachless. For a couple of seconds I say nothing. He didn't say it and walk off, so I eventually say "uhhh-okay". After all - the credits are rolling! What is he going to do - kick me out? The whole thing was really odd actually.

After we got out of the theater I ask Mr S. "what was the point of that"?

Anyway. Even though it isn't my thing, the movie didn't bore the crap out of me. Which says a lot. People in the theater really seemed to enjoy it. And they all even stayed after the credits rolled to do whatever it is fans of something do. Memorize the credits. I don't know.