...behind
Danielle and I went to college together, but when she graduated she moved to Los Angeles to become a movie star [to some extent - she's an animator]. We haven't seen each other in five years, so it seemed Important to make an opportunity to get together while I'm in southern California.
The thing you have to understand about Danielle is that she is awesome in an understated way [and I am not just saying this because I think she's reading]. A couple vignettes from my brief visit:
---
[Ext., balcony]
D: Hey look, it's the Hollywood sign.
Z: I can't see anything.
D: Neither can I.
[N.B.: the sign isn't lit at night.]
---
[Int., restaurant]
D: Remember how you used to try to make me snort milk out my nose at the cafeteria?
Z: You make it sound like I was doing it on purpose. I never really did it on purpose. It just kind of ...
[Some ridiculous person in the next booth over starts nattering on very loudly about something very inconsequential.]
Z: [losing train of thought, pulls a face]
D: [snorts Italian soda out her nose]
---
[Ext., stopped at traffic light. Too early to be conversational. After some silence, Danielle makes a sound like a lost sheep.]
D: Ehhh...
Z: Huh?
D: Nothing.
Z: Existential ennui at the traffic light?
D: I thought that guy was pissing on the bus.
Z: Ah.
D: ...
D: Ennui, too.
---
- Z
Zobar's Journal
My Podcast Link
12/26/2006 19:16 #37400
one too many mornings & 1000 miles...Category: vignettes
12/24/2006 12:17 #37399
sms vignetteMy family has congregated in San Diego for Christmas; (e:dragonlady7) is with her kin near Troy. I received this text message last night:
- Z
From: (e:dragonlady7)
To: (e:zobar)
Argh I thought [XY] was joking about [XX] ovulating But there's an awful lot of suspicious creaking from the bedroom next door. am i an aunt?
- Z
12/08/2006 23:40 #37398
fridaynightbash!Category: fun
How a hip computer geek spends his Friday night:
1. Will it blend? That is the question.
2. Catfish/green bean wrestling: the bean loses. Everyone else wins.
3.
4. Yeah, it costs $80 a bottle and it has to be delivered by independent courier, but at 136 proof it makes Johnny Black taste like sun tea. You only live once.
- Z
1. Will it blend? That is the question.
2. Catfish/green bean wrestling: the bean loses. Everyone else wins.
3.
4. Yeah, it costs $80 a bottle
and it has to be delivered by independent courier, but at 136 proof it makes Johnny Black taste like sun tea. You only live once.- Z
11/30/2006 22:01 #37397
may you code in interesting timesCategory: work
On Tuesday, I received an unusual message from an unusual person best known for his work on a highly regarded local website - 'due to creative differences we have decided to part ways, and I wonder if we could be of service to your company in the future.'
Naturally I was dying of curiosity as to what constitutes creative differences these days. Answer: Zack believes 'content is king' while George is enamored with bells and whistles . Whereas the visual signal-to-noise ratio of their current site is about 60:40, the SNR of their new site [due out by the end of the year] bottoms out at around 35:65 - and that is past a critical threshold. With our better content and his better site, he believes we can rule the universe. I tend to agree.
Of course, their timing couldn't be better - we've been focusing strongly on our website lately, and we have a number of huge changes planned. Thus far, my greatest concern is one of staffing. I am the web department, and thus far any requests for more staff have been met with suggestions to hire part-time unpaid interns. This is where it gets funny: while I don't think I'll ever get actual funding for the actual website, I will bet that we can get as much funding as we need to drive certain people crazy. And if the most efficient way of getting things done right is to play personalities off each other, well - I'm not above doing that.
We shall see. We code in interesting times.
- Z
best known for his work on a highly regarded local website - 'due to creative differences we have decided to part ways, and I wonder if we could be of service to your company in the future.'Naturally I was dying of curiosity as to what constitutes creative differences these days. Answer: Zack believes 'content is king'
while George is enamored with bells and whistles . Whereas the visual signal-to-noise ratio of their current site is about 60:40, the SNR of their new site [due out by the end of the year] bottoms out at around 35:65 - and that is past a critical threshold. With our better content and his better site, he believes we can rule the universe. I tend to agree.Of course, their timing couldn't be better - we've been focusing strongly on our website lately, and we have a number of huge changes planned. Thus far, my greatest concern is one of staffing. I am the web department, and thus far any requests for more staff have been met with suggestions to hire part-time unpaid interns. This is where it gets funny: while I don't think I'll ever get actual funding for the actual website, I will bet that we can get as much funding as we need to drive certain people
crazy. And if the most efficient way of getting things done right is to play personalities off each other, well - I'm not above doing that.We shall see. We code in interesting times.
- Z
dcoffee - 12/01/06 14:17
interesting indeed. I'm not a fan of bogging down load times with fancy gimmics, bells and whistles are ok, but just having the site look cool at the expense of the visitor and the information is not good.
I'm all about local media, and I hope we get more of it since publishing on the internet is cheaper than paper. poor WNYmedia.net got left on the dust when Brising came out. and i definitely dig the artvoice redesign, easy to use and find content. Happy trails
interesting indeed. I'm not a fan of bogging down load times with fancy gimmics, bells and whistles are ok, but just having the site look cool at the expense of the visitor and the information is not good.
I'm all about local media, and I hope we get more of it since publishing on the internet is cheaper than paper. poor WNYmedia.net got left on the dust when Brising came out. and i definitely dig the artvoice redesign, easy to use and find content. Happy trails
kookcity2000 - 12/01/06 09:21
OK so before I worked at a juice factory I got an EE degree.
Those SNR's are pretty low: 1.8dB and -2.7dB respectively.
You could not use that shit in radar applications
OK so before I worked at a juice factory I got an EE degree.
Those SNR's are pretty low: 1.8dB and -2.7dB respectively.
You could not use that shit in radar applications
paul - 11/30/06 23:54
Apparently, Buffalo Rising is already breaking down :::link:::
It look so bad when people leave error reporting on, on a production server.
Apparently, Buffalo Rising is already breaking down :::link:::
It look so bad when people leave error reporting on, on a production server.
11/24/2006 16:01 #37396
somewhat out of controlCategory: xmas
My family does two Christmas gift exchanges every year: one within our immediate family where everyone gives something to everyone, and one secret santa thing with my aunt's family. There is a bit of a twist to the secret santa exchange in that we also do a creative gift-wrap competition.
OK, you think, sounds (fun|lame), whatever. But you need to understand that my family is both extremely creative and extremely competitive. Entries include a 2' diameter replica of an Oreo [with the correct number of serrations], a large toucan in a cage on a stand, a foam-core laptop computer with functional cd-eject mechanism, and a replica of a meat counter at the Broadway Market -- and none of these were winners. Eventually we felt it wasn't challenging enough, so we began restricting entries to a theme - in 2004 it was "Broadway" [most entries were related to various Broadway shows, but there was also a replica of an N-R subway car as well as aforementioned meat market], and last year it was "The Pantry" [somewhat disastrous, as many people leaned on the pan-tree pun]. Dammit, (e:dragonlady7) - I thought you had photos of this stuff online.
This is the competition's ninth consecutive year running, and it was decided once again to make it more difficult. Since our festivities are being held in San Diego this year and TSA does not take kindly to unusually-disguised secrets, we will be bringing our gifts unwrapped [or having them shipped] and assembling our wrapping, Iron Chef style, in two hours on Dec 28, with only certain provided elements. The theme is "Fun & Games," but the competition will be nothing short of Intense.
And, lest you think I'm joking around, I just got finished putting the finishing touches on this year's revision of the SQL-backed gift registry web application that we use. Yes, it is strictly necessary. [We had done it by hand before, but we had to wait until everyone's list was in before we could send them out, and we ended up having to make two separate gift lists, one for each exchange.]
- Z
OK, you think, sounds (fun|lame), whatever. But you need to understand that my family is both extremely creative and extremely competitive. Entries include a 2' diameter replica of an Oreo [with the correct number of serrations], a large toucan in a cage on a stand, a foam-core laptop computer with functional cd-eject mechanism, and a replica of a meat counter at the Broadway Market -- and none of these were winners. Eventually we felt it wasn't challenging enough, so we began restricting entries to a theme - in 2004 it was "Broadway" [most entries were related to various Broadway shows, but there was also a replica of an N-R subway car as well as aforementioned meat market], and last year it was "The Pantry" [somewhat disastrous, as many people leaned on the pan-tree pun]. Dammit, (e:dragonlady7) - I thought you had photos of this stuff online.
This is the competition's ninth consecutive year running, and it was decided once again to make it more difficult. Since our festivities are being held in San Diego this year and TSA does not take kindly to unusually-disguised secrets, we will be bringing our gifts unwrapped [or having them shipped] and assembling our wrapping, Iron Chef style, in two hours on Dec 28, with only certain provided elements. The theme is "Fun & Games," but the competition will be nothing short of Intense.
And, lest you think I'm joking around, I just got finished putting the finishing touches on this year's revision of the SQL-backed gift registry web application that we use. Yes, it is strictly necessary. [We had done it by hand before, but we had to wait until everyone's list was in before we could send them out, and we ended up having to make two separate gift lists, one for each exchange.]
- Z
mike - 11/24/06 17:41
that sounds insanely awesome! I wish my family did that!
that sounds insanely awesome! I wish my family did that!
p.s. that ginger man is awesome, and I just found this:
1. It is illegal to sell thujone containing absinthe in the US for human consumption.
2. It is illegal for someone outside the US to sell thujone containing absinthe to someone inside the US.
3. It is NOT illegal to purchase thujone containing absinthe for personal use in the US.
4. It is NOT illegal to purchase thujone containing absinthe for personal use from outside the United States
5. Thujone containing absinthe can be seized by US customs (if it appears to be for human consumption).
my dad was able to order some from czechoslovakia once... Not sure how legal it is. I think not very. Or they have fake stuff here, "absente" etc.
Isn't absinthe actually illegal here? I've always wanted to try some.