This is my second start on this chart. I had designed it for 18ct natural but I was feeling a little stressed out a couple months ago and I needed something to fidget with and all I had in 18ct was white.. I finally got some natural cloth yesterday and I think it's turning out much better.



I'm sure this is all very boring but if I don't post status updates I'm probably never going to finish it. On the other hand, if I keep posting status updates it'll totally blow the joke before I'm anywhere near done.

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I have a recurring motif in my dreams that I have a loose tooth. It sorta hurts a little bit, and it sorta doesn't line up quite right when I close my mouth, and I'm trying not to lose it while important other things are happening in the rest of my dream. It really freaked me out at first but it became so common that I eventually started ignoring it. But last night I had a dream where they were actually coming out, one by one. After I had lost two I did a thing where I convinced myself I wasn't dreaming. [I don't remember what that thing was, evidently it wasn't very reliable. I probably just asked somebody.] It wasn't until after I'd lost four teeth before I thought maybe I should go see the dentist. When I'd lost six teeth I started thinking what the hell is going on here? and the best thing I could come up with was a gnome in my mouth chiseling them out from the inside. That was too ridiculous for even me to believe so I woke up.

- Z

for making my life just a little bit weirder. This is the endorsement on the back of my tax check:


In other news, I wholeheartedly support the Paladino campaign, if only for its entertainment* value.

- Z

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• And, possibly, profiteering. We came up with some sweet bumper stickers we could sell to the Tea Party: 'I FUCK HORSES TOO, CARL! PALADINO FOR GOVERNOR.'

I just started doing my taxes, and I just want to say that Form 1040 Schedule SE ["Self-Employment Tax"] is total bullshit. It raised my taxes from $2000, which is reasonable I guess, to $6000, which sucks balls. Don't bother giving me helpful tips for next year, I'm not doing it anymore or ever again. Buy me a drink & I'll tell you how I really feel.

+1 for Orchid Asian Bistro (e:leetee,51352) we went for a sushi lunch this afternoon and gave it a shot. Their spicy tuna rolls are among the best I've had.

Apple/Adobe is a soap opera and I'm trying not to care. Fact is, this isn't the first time I've switched from Mac. Some time after System 8 I got tired of waiting for preemptive multitasking and switched to BeOS R4* which I used until it was basically discontinued. Then I switched to Linux [Yellow Dog?] until Mac OS X v10.1 came out. I don't think I have enough pull with the teeming masses to start an exodus, though, and if I did I like to think I'd make them do something more fun than switching operating systems. Human pyramid, maybe.

(e:tinypliny) - It looks like some guy is already making builds of Chrome OS from the "Chromium OS" developer project. I have a spare USB drive so I might give that a shot, but I think I'm probably going to stick with Linux in the end.

You can also install Ubuntu and probably other Linuxes [Linuces?] onto a USB flash drive to test it out without taking the plunge. [You can run Ubuntu right off a CD but it's mad slow.]

- Z

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• Yes I am one of those guys.

i got the ubantus

I've probably had about 75,000 calories today and I haven't even had dinner yet. (e:dragonlady7)'s coworker Strongly Suggested that we stop by Paula's Donuts on the way in to work today, so we bought a dozen each for our respective people. The glazed twisty-stick was decadent; the "strawberry shortcake" - a quarter-poundish jelly doughnut with twinkie-like filling - was obscene [and I have it on good authority that the lemon jelly donuts were heavenly]. For lunch the company sprung for chicken finger pizza, which is pretty good if you don't think about it too much. But if you do think about it too much, fried chicken in a butter-sodium sauce atop mozzarella covering a layer of bleu cheese dressing tends to sit a little heavy.

I've installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a trial basis to decide whether I can use it full-time at home [or, I suppose, work]. If it works out ok I'll do a real install when Ubuntu 10.4 comes out in a few weeks. I've been using Mac OS X since before they named them after cats and it's a little boring. Also it seems that Apple has decided to start beef with Every Company which does not bode well, so I'll wait this one out until Steve's man-period blows over.

Ubuntu is very brown, but aside from that it's pretty good for a product whose logo is a hippie drum circle. Seems to me I had more driver issues with Windows 7 on my MacBook than with Ubuntu [none yet? knock on wood].

- Z

Inkjet ink costs less than twice as much as human blood. What a steal!

- Z

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ps I am told that even if the Red Cross won't take your blood, UNYTS often will.

If you think a free t-shirt is appropriate compensation in exchange for a pint of blood, you might oughta reexamine your priorities. The crackers alone should be enough.

- Z