Insanity Central

Significant other meme

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:32:16 GMT

Ganked from annamatic:

He's watching TV. What is he watching?
Discovery channel, or whatever I convinced him to watch with me. Not a big TV watcher, my Lars.

You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Whatever he feels like at that moment, or anything that sounds interesting that he hasn't tried.

What's one food he doesn't like?
Olives. I get all of his in trade for raw onions.

You go out to the bar. He orders......
Hard cider

Where did he go to high school?
Langkjær Gymnasium

What size shoe does he wear?
Um... in European sizes, it's a 46. I think that's a 12 or 13 in American.

If he were to collect anything, it would be......
Camera doodads, and cameras. Except I would put my foot down about the cost eventually.

What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Danish-style smørrebrød

He could eat_____everyday.
Canned corn

Favorite cereal?
Muesli

He wouldn't be caught dead wearing...
Standard American guy-wear, such as khakis, sportsy things, or business suits

Favorite sports team?
I truly don't think he has one

Who will he vote for?
Radikale Venstre in national elections; Socialistisk Folkeparti in municipal elections

What is his sign?
Capricorn

What is something you do that he wishes you didn't do?
Oh, where to start... falling into holes, forming unfortunate crushes that end up doing damage to myself, ignoring the housework...

How many states has he lived in?
One: Illinois (unless you count this 1.5-month stay in Kansas), but he's lived in three countries besides (Denmark, Iran, and France for a summer)

What is his heritage?
Danish, obvy. ;) Depending on how you count, and when the borders got laid down, you might be able to make a claim for northern German.

You bake him a cake for his birthday...what is it?
Carrot cake with raisins and pineapple, with cream cheese frosting decorated with chopped toasted pecans.

Did he play sports in high school?
Dungeons & Dragons would be as close as he got.

He could spend hours......
Reading photography forums on the Web.

Travelling so does not appeal right now...

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:08:26 GMT

So, as many of you who are on my non-public filters know, life has dealt me a series of logistical and emotional beat-downs of late, and right now the notion of doing further travel before I have to (which would be getting ourselves from somewhere in this general area, through Chicago, and to Detroit somewhere in late September) makes me want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. Therefore, I'm thinking that heading to the southwards end of the states may not happen (this is the trip that would have included Austin and possibly Lake Charles, LA; I can't say for certain that it *won't*, but I'm feeling really disinclined to think about it right now).

However, I would encourage any of you who want to come visit us in Winfield to do so. In particular, I will be holding a vocal recital on Sunday, September 14, and would be delighted by attendees from out of town. Although I'll naturally have to check with my folks, I'm certain we can offer crash space to a goodly lot of people (my folks basically run a for-friends hostel during Walnut Valley Festival). We might even be able to offer a bit of financial assistance for travel for those who would need it.

One of those "oh, I've just got to blog this..." moments...

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:41:39 GMT

My parents returned from Colorado today, early enough that Mom could run to the post office to pick up the collected mail. Lars and I get occasional dribs and drabs at this address (enough in this run that I can clearly see that we need to sign up for the no-spam list), but as I was sorting my folks' mail into magazines, catalogs, bills, personal mail, pleas for money, and ads, I discovered a magazine addressed to me, which I have no idea why I am receiving. Hence I will be sending this letter:

"Dear American Baby,

I truly cannot fathom why I have received a copy of your magazine. Not only did I not request it, I do not have children, and intentionally never will thanks to a tubal ligation last year. I have enclosed the address label so that you may find my information. Please remove me from your mailing list, and should there be an account in my name with any monetary credit on it, I ask that you donate the balance to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Sincerely, me"

*boggle*

WorldCon update

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:57:10 GMT

I'm still having westbound jetlag, which results in me waking up at redonkulously early hours of the morning. Oh well, at least I got laundry done in the pre-7am timeslot this morning. I also feel like I'm fighting off something, hopefully successfully. I napped quite a bit today.

I had energy enough to go make the rounds of the party floor this evening, and won something rather like this:

The notion of the Chick Magnet is a well-established idea; this beastie seems to be a Guy Magnet. BEST SWAG EVAR!

Travel from Hell, or, The Monday to end all Mondays

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:05:11 GMT

Sunday night: after a solid weekend of sewing, trying to get close to done on my costume for WorldCon, we made our way to the Zzzleep hotel at Billund airport.

Monday morning: Got up at four-thirty ack emma to catch 6:30 flight to Frankfurt, connecting to Chicago. Upon arrival in Frankfurt, see that line for American is v. long, decide to find breakfast. Pay ridiculous amount of money for best breakfast buffet ever (Sheraton Airport Hotel for 32 euros per person, should you find yourself in need of a good breakfast at Frankfurt airport). Feeling much more human, make way back to American counter. Find out that FRA-ORD flight is cancelled. Rebookings are tricky due to Lufthansa pilot strike. We get redirected to London on British Airways, comped for hotel and food, and booked on flight the subsequent day. This means we will miss Amtrak connection on Tuesday; so we end up scheduled to arrive in Denver a day early. Yes, that confuses me too. I make a critical save on my sanity roll by detouring us into a mini-spa in the airport, where Lars gets put in a massaging lounger, and I have a chair massage and manicure.

Monday afternoon/evening: Arrive in London, find we are missing one bag. Natch, it's the one with my costume. >< Also, handle on the big pink rolly suitcase no longer extends, and hardsided rolly suitcase has lost a wheel. I repeatedly sms sheerdark, my personal chaos engine, to tell him to lay off already. He claims it's the temp's fault, as he's out sick. Hotel is one where under-16s stay free; aka full of screaming children. I fail my critical sanity roll and pass out for the night, after calling my folks to see if they can pick us up at DIA and get us a room at an airport hotel.

Tuesday morning: Wake up at 6:30. Realize I failed to change my phone from GMT+1 to GMT, thus denying myself a much-needed hour of sleep. Attempt to get on BA website to track missing suitcase; no good. Attempt to call BA, give up after being on hold forever. Make flight in the largely grungy and unpleasant terminal 3 of Heathrow, nothing major along the way. Either it can be chalked up to Monday being over, or sheerdark is back on duty making sure our chaos levels stay within a manageable range.

Tuesday evening: Arrive DIA, see my folks a week earlier than planned which is always nice, still no sign of our missing bag, AA can't do anything and therefore must punk BA despite there being no BA agents in DIA. Bah. At any rate, have arrived in the general vicinity of Denver. samildanach and joyful_storm, I could use contact numbers for you, and would love to know roughly when you're arriving tomorrow. Soon, I sleep.

I realize, for a lot of you, this is preaching to the choir...

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:09:20 GMT

...but this amazing spoken word piece needs to be spread far and wide. What an amazing woman, what a powerful voice (both the literal and the non-literal), and what an important message:

Transcript available here.

The art of looking silly

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:58:39 GMT

As we leave for the US in a mere small handful of days, I have begun wearing clothes I do not plan to pack, so that all clothing I plan to take with me can be laundered and ready to go in time. As we're officially having a "heat wave" in Denmark, however (the Midwesterner in me scoffs at the notion of what constitutes a heat wave in Denmark, but then again, the Midwest has air conditioning), my sartorial choices are somewhat limited, as I do need to pack a fair amount of warm-weather gear for our US trip as well.

As a result, today I am wearing a white camisole over my bra, and a pair of biker shorts. And these aren't just the standard "pull 'em on under a skirt to avoid chub-rub" biker shorts; these are the "wear them on long bicycle trip so that your ladyparts will still be on speaking terms with you" bicycle shorts. So, basically, I look like I'm wearing my underwear, and I feel like I'm wearing an adult diaper. Perfect attire for someone who prefers not to take herself too seriously. :P

In addition, the warm weather means I've been keeping my hair up off the nape of my neck, as for some strange reason, the heat-perception of the nape of my neck determines whether my entire body thinks it's too warm or too cool (go figure). On a lark, I've been twisting sections of my hair up in odd ways so that, on day two post-wash, I end up with interesting curls or waves in my hair (the concomitant sproinginess also makes for less length to keep off my nape, so double bonus). On Friday, I put my hair up more or less in spiral-twisted pin curls all over my head. On Friday evening, when I took my hair down and spread out the curls, Lars commented that I looked like Dina on speed.

Now, most of you on this particular social network site don't know Dina (and more's the pity, as I swear she's the funniest girl in Denmark), but a) Dina has naturally curly blonde hair, and b) Dina is a very bubbly, energetic, enthusiastic sort of person. So, if you want to imagine "Dina on speed", the best metaphor I can come up with is this: take a brand-new golf ball, go into a small tile-covered bathroom, and then fire the projectile with a rail gun. I find this notion vaguely frightening. To have it used to describe my hair... well, my husband is just lucky I love him, that's all I'm saying about that. ;P

Yup, the D&D enthusiasts can't agree with each other...

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:29:39 GMT

I Am A: True Neutral Human Wizard (3rd Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-10

Dexterity-11

Constitution-9

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-15

Charisma-15

Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

The last time I took a quiz like this, I came up as a lawful good gnomish rogue. Still scratching my head at the "lawful good" + "rogue" part. This seems a bit more accurate, methinks.

The most important tenets of any faith are always the hardest ones...

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:35:45 GMT

As some of you may know, I was occasionally active in the UU church in Urbana before we moved, and have missed the UU environment since coming to DK. As someone who can no longer profess the faith of her childhood, but misses the church-family environment she grew up in, a UU congregation was the perfect spiritual home for me.

The recent hate-motivated shooting at Tennessee Valley UU Church has dug up some very conflicted feelings in me. fairgoldberry wrote vastly better about it than I could hope to, so I strongly recommend reading her entries on the matter. However, it did get me thinking about my Christian upbringing, and my UU adulthood.

Probably the singularly-most difficult tenet of the Christian faith is "Love your enemies" (although for teens, it may be "Honor your mother and father", but for many teenagers, myself included, the two were pretty much synonymous). "Love your neighbor as yourself" was a lot easier to work with, but loving your enemies? Damn, damn tough, even for the most open-hearted, devout, God- and humanity-loving Christians.

The first principle of the UU faith is nearly as difficult: Affirming and promoting the "Inherent worth and dignity of every person". This is, again, a tough one -- it's hard to see the worth of Jim Adkisson, a person so twisted by hate that he opened fire in a Sunday service in which a children's performance was taking place. However, the word "dignity" stuck in my mind; this man was a former military member, formerly a contributing member of the workforce, who had been deeply frustrated by his inability to find a job. In our work-driven society, it is difficult for a non-working person to retain their dignity. If that person has issues with substance abuse, which it appears that Adkisson did, it can be even harder to retain one's dignity, especially after those problems drive away a spouse.

It is impossible to say whether, if Adkisson had been afforded more dignity, he would not have committed this horrifying crime. His statements to police suggest that he had been walking the path of twisted hate for well over a decade, so it may have been too late for him; they additionally suggest some degree of mental instability and/or paranoid delusionality. How do we affirm the worth and dignity of the man who did such a terrible thing? How do we see him, not as a monster, but as a fellow human being, as shaped by his own choices and by external factors beyond his control, as we all are? How do we hold to love in the face of such overwhelming hate?

I don't have any answers to these questions. I don't pray anymore, either, but my thoughts are with the members of TVUUC, to all those wonderful people who were made to suffer because they chose love and plurality over hate and narrow-mindedness. And I will force myself to spare a thought, in amongst all those troubled thoughts of sympathy, for Jim Adkisson; I will try to find his worth and dignity, to see if there is some glimmer of good inside a soul that had become so twisted with hate. And I will hold fast to love in the face of hate, to courage in the face of cowardice; thank you, fairgoldberry, for continuing to be such a shining example of what a person of faith should be like. As a person of non-faith, I continue to strive.

US Trip Roll Call: Part V: A Wide Smear of the Midwest

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:08:37 GMT

Somewhere after the Walnut Valley Festival (Sept. 17-21), we will get the heck out of Winfield, and make our meandering way up to Chicago, and then head to Detroit to stay with my aunt, and visit Cleveland for CWRU's alumni weekend.

In order of proximity to Winfield:

annamatic: naturally we'll want to head through Lawrence so we can finally meet our honorary nephew! However, it might only be a brief visit; as much as I'm sure I'll love my nephew, I'll love him a lot more once he's no longer an infant (you know me and the whole baybeez thing). It will also depend on what our means of transportation from Winfield to parts northward is; if we're catching a ride with my uncle, it might be the sort of situation where we can hang for a couple hours until he gets tired of waiting, and then have to move along.

algor_langeaux: thank you so much for the offer of crash space in Lincoln! I'll definitely let you know if we take you up on it. I don't suppose you happen to recall off the top of your head what time the California Zephyr leaves from Lincoln and/or Omaha? I may want to get over to Omaha, just because my cousin Lauren's friend Lauren has gorgeous ink, and since I'm about ready to lay down my first forays into tattooage myself, I wouldn't mind talking with her tattoo artist, who I believe is in Omaha. Would you remind me roughly what the driving time between Lincoln and Fremont is (that's where my uncle lives)?

Chris (if you read this): naturally I wouldn't mind stopping in Burlington so I can finally see my nephew, not to mention my foster-brother and ex-sister-in-law. ;)

Chicago area folk: we may, schedule depending, stop in Chi-town for anywhere from one to a few days before heading on to Dee-troit-City. anach, jerusha, pinwiz, pirate_wench_06, geekymary, rupertofhentzau, mostlie_sunnie, and anyone else I'm missing in that area, naturally we'd be happy to see you (fairgoldberry, do NOT let me forget to get ahold of Sam!). Any Cham-bana folks who are inclined to make the trip up would be wonderful to see, especially coeli 'cuz I miss you bunches.

Detroit: Umm... I don't think I actually know anyone other than my aunt in the greater Detroit area... although friends within any sort of driving distance of Detroit are probably welcome to visit while we're there.

Cleveland: zuptd, I think you may be the only one who actually lives in the area who's LJ-enabled... barring that, I know surakofb5 plans to come up to see us, and naturally we'd love to get together with any alums who might be coming to alumni weekend (jamiam, windchains, I'm looking at you...). arclight, if you and your ladylove are inclined to make the trek, we'd be delighted to meet you guys as well.

paulchristensen: given your proximity to Union Station, it'd be awesome if we could stay with you Oct. 6th-7th before we catch our flight back to DK. Thanks so much for the offer!

US Trip Roll Call: Part IV: Atlanta

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:02:02 GMT

In light of the fact that there are a bunch of people residing in the Atlanta area whom I want to meet, and a bunch more I want to see who will just happen to be in Atlanta Labor Day weekend, I have decided to make a long-weekendy trek to Atlanta, logically enough. (Just me, no perial.) The laundry list stands as follows at present:

sylvar and turtlebat23: are you guys doing Dragon*Con, or are we just getting together on our own recognizance? I'd be all for hanging out around Jodi's university; for some reason, no matter where I go in the world, I'm always comfortable at a college campus...

sheerdark: yeah, whenever I can steal you for an hour or two in amongst all the crazy. I know, working holiday for you, too. Except with a lot more drinking than my working holiday will entail. Let me know if you need a date for one of the FunCom parties; I clean up real nice. Preferably let me know in advance, so I know what to pack.

tacit: down for sushi lunch. cunningminx: down for lunch on general principles. Hey, shall we make this a threesome (double entendre optional)? We could even make it a podcasty sort of thing if you like, Minx! (Presuming Franklin's up for it; but it seems to be my general impression of Franklin that he's always up for it... again, double entendre optional.)

glucovis: Hey, you're in Florida, I don't suppose you're coming to Dragon*Con, are you?

EDIT: Good lord, how could I forget billazilla in this entry?! I definitely want to meet up with you and the wiff for nosh and get-to-know with all due haste after my arrival in Atlanta. Do you know yet what your DC-centric schedule looks like?

Other folks in GA and FL: you know who you are; let's make arrangements, shall we?

I'll be getting a hotel room somewhere well outside the ~~blast radius~~ con facilities, and am figuring on cabbing it for getting around in the city.

US Trip Roll Call: Part III: Texas and other nether regions of the US

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:42:53 GMT

Somewhere between arriving in Winfield and subsequently departing, we will make a long-weekendy type trip to Austin, TX and Lake Charles, LA. This would, among other things, include seeing fairgoldberry and her parsenome, finally getting to meet mywornoutmasks (yay!), meeting queenofhalves, and any other folks we know in Austin (drawing a blank at the moment, I'm afraid). Will also be doing a campus visit at U of T to check out the linguistics department.

Then we meander over to Lake Charles, LA to visit qnonimous and his wife.

The dates for this long weekend trip have not yet been established; however, I'm tempted to go for the weekend of the 22nd-24th so I can make it to part of this shindig (queenofhalves, shall we be brave and go together?). That would also be not-unreasonable timing in terms of having enough post-WorldCon downtime, especially considering I'll be going to Atlanta the subsequent weekend. However, we are nothing else if not flexible, and naturally we want to see as many of our friends as possible. All those mentioned above, do you have any major conflicts between Aug. 15 and Sept. 9? The weekend of Sept. 14 is my concert, the weekend after that is WVF, and then I figure we'll head generally northwards, so the period between arriving in Winfield and my concert, sans Labor Day weekend, is pretty much what we've got to work with (how in the hell does a two-month visit end up so goddamn busy???).

EDIT: nebulawindphone, I hear you can hook me up with the linguisticky goodness?

US Trip Roll Call: Part II: WorldCon

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:29:10 GMT

WorldCon 2008, aka Denvention3: The first major stop on our US itinerary!

We are bunking with samildanach and joyful_storm, though sadly without glad_laks (I hope I manage to get my Divine of the Bastard costume done, even if it ends up being me and not KJ wearing it).

djrock3k: still taking me out on a date? When shall we have it, and what shall we do? Also, if you want to do anything in the way of matching costumes for the Masquerade, we're seriously down to the wire now. However, if you manage to put together an outfit that resembles Barrayaran dress greens, you're welcome to be my escort to the Summerfair Ball (note: does not count as date, or at least does not supplant other date).

frankwu: you're a very popular and sought-after guy during WorldCon, but I figure we'll run into each other at some point. Do you want to schedule anything specific in terms of a get-together, like a double-date with me and perial and you and spacekatgal?

frostfox: will you be at Denvention, or do you only do WorldCons on the east side of the puddle?

metafrantic and sandykidd: when shall we get together? What hotel are you guys staying at? I think we're at the Courtyard... Can't wait to meet you guys, and Baz! We four shall have to toast ladyofthemasque in absentia, and give her a big raspberry for not being able to make it.

nolly: shall we make specific plans, or figure we just find each other at some point?

Anybody else going to WorldCon that I don't know about yet, or have forgotten about?

There's talk on a denvention3 post of having an outing to a cocktail bar, and I am so all about that, if only for describing the ginger-chili martini I had to the bartender and seeing if s/he can re-create it (it is seriously the most perfect drink to have with sushi, even better than sake!), so I hope I can bring along a few folks from my contingent of fellow congoers.

US Trip Roll Call: Part I

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:19:22 GMT

So, as I have alluded to several times over the last year or so, we'll be taking an extended trip to the US this year. And, ohmyfuckinglord, we leave in like a week and a half! Therefore, I will dedicate the next several posts to communicating our itinerary to folks stateside, and try to make sure you guys know where we'll be when so we don't miss seeing anybody.

The general overview (I'll be doing individual rollcalls for each major stop along the way):

Aug. 4: Arrive Chicago, stay overnight with our friend Mattox. Probably available for dinnertime meet-up if our flight isn't delayed. Mattox knows where to get really good Korean food.

Aug. 5: Head to Union Station, check our luggage, and then toodle around downtown Chicago until the train for Denver leaves (note to self: post meetup announcement in Denvention comm for westbound trains; those Californians are making us Midwesterners look bad!). Free for lunch if anyone wants to meet us.

Aug. 6-10: WorldCon! Also free to meet up with anyone in the greater Denver area if they're there.

Aug. 11-13: Hitting Boulder to visit U of C's linguistics dept. (note to self: arrange visit!), possibly hitting Colo. Spgs. to visit a childhood friend (note to self: email Ben!), eventually making our way via rental car to Winfield, KS (note to self: either get car keys from Mom & Dad somehow, or get someone in Winfield to caravan to Wichita with us to return rental car).

mid-August - late September: hanging in Winfield, with side trip to Austin, TX (note to self: arrange U of T campus visit) and Lake Charles, LA (all one roundabout trip, probably over a long weekend somewhere in mid-late August).

Aug. 29-Sept. 2: I head to Atlanta to see Atlanta folks and maybe wander into Dragon*Con for a day.

Sept. 14(?): I hold a small voice recital for family and friends. Anyone who can make it to Winfield is welcome to come; I'll post more info on time and place later.

Sept. 17-21: Walnut Valley Festival!!!! Yay, four days of bluegrass, folk, country, and general mad fun, all within walking distance of my parents' house!

Late Sept.: Begin meandering back towards Chicago; will include a side trip to northern KS to see our honorary nephew and his parents (note to self: can we hitch a ride post-festival to NE with Uncle Rich?), taking the train from either KC or Omaha (note to self: see which looks more feasible), possible stop-off in Burlington, IA to see my slightly-less-honorary-somewhat-more-familial nephew and his parents (note to self: get ahold of Chris), possible stop-off in Chicago for a couple days. Eventually depart Chicago, and then hang out in the greater Detroit area with Aunt Margaret. Duration of visit in Detroit not yet determined, but will include:

Oct. 2 or 3 to 5: Alumni Weekend at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. (note to self: reserve lodgings in Cleveburg)

Oct. 5: Drive back to Detroit.

Oct. 6: Train back to Chicago. May stay with Mattox again; need to check.

Oct. 7: Catch flight back to DK, arrive next day.

I should note that this trip is a working vacation; except for those times when we are specifically goofing off or visiting friends, Lars is working on job-stuff, and I am working on school-stuff, freelance-editing stuff, and freelance-scholarship stuff. That said, however, there aren't a whole lot of you close to Winfield to distract us. ;) Therefore, our socialization will be largely confined to those specific side trips and high points mentioned above. I'll be posting contact info in a friends-locked post; if you're not LJ-enabled and need to know how to get hold of us, just drop me an email.

Wow... two months stateside... in election season... while sharing a residence with my parents. This is gonna be crazy...

Dear Great LJ Overmind,

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:13:30 GMT

As many of you know, I will be stateside from early August to early October. During that time, I would like to be phone-enabled without it costing an arm and a leg. I have a phone that works with both European and American phone nets, so all I need is a SIM card from a stateside telephony provider. Rather than doing all research myself from the ground up, I thought I'd start by asking you all for input. Here are my needs:

1. A pay-as-you-go type arrangement; no point in getting stuck in some kind of binding period arrangement when I'm only there for two months.
2. A provider that has coverage not only in large cities like Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, and Cleveland (to name some of the ones I'll be visiting), but also in Winfield, KS (about 50 miles outside of Wichita). EDIT: Though now that I think about it, I don't really need coverage in Winfield, as I can use my parents' groundline. Basically, I just need the aforementioned cities, plus Austin, Detroit, and maybe Lake Charles, LA.
3. One that will provide a minimum of fuss and asshattery.
4. One where I can order the SIM card in advance (I have a credit card with a US billing address, so I don't imagine that'll be a problem), and have it shipped to the friend we'll be crashing with our first night back in the states.

Great LJ Overmind, I humbly beseech you for information... what do you recommend?

Once again proving that I do my best work in my bathrobe...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:12:34 GMT

I love the rare days when, having gone to bed early(ish) and slept well, I spontaneously hit consciousness at some point within an hour or two of sunrise.

Of course, sunrise today was at 3:48am. (Sometimes I really hate Scandinavia. ><)

So, having uttered "Holy Shit!" at the 6:00 that greeted me on the clock radio after crawling out of bed (I don't keep any clocks in a line of vision from the bed), I proceeded to start working on one of my two remaining papers/projects for my course of study before my thesis. Not too shabby...

Dexter

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:25:46 GMT

*twitch* No, not our former cat. *twitch* The series from Showtime, about the serial killer who works forensics. *twitch* I've watched several episodes over the last couple of days, *twitch* and I really like the show. *twitch* It's been a long time since I watched anything that fucks with my head this well. *twitch* I just hope I can stop twitching long enough to go to sleep... *twitch* *TWITCH*

To whom it may concern:

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:19:42 GMT

To those, especially Danes, who try to get me to go outside despite the fact that ouside makes me itchy (I'm looking at you, perial), I say:

But I'z indoor kitty...

Also to those who have expressed concern about my video gaming habits, and suggest that I go enjoy the sunshine and nice weather:

I can see the outside just fine from here, thanks.

Whee!

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:58:50 GMT

I got the highest possible grade (a 12) on my typology term paper! And my prof said that, had we still been on the old scale, he would have argued for my getting a 13, which were only handed out for truly above-and-beyond efforts. :) He also is strongly encouraging me to publish it, even if I do turn it into my doctoral research, just to stake out my claim on the topic. *bouncebounce*

I am this many!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:01:01 GMT

I turn 2⁵ today!

I'm sick.

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:51:04 GMT

Very bad cold, I think. So, for lack of any real content, I give you kickass political satire, 'cuz I loves me some good political satire.

The evil of scaremongering political commercials:

Yet another reason to dislike McCain:

McCain: The Anti-Hope:

Excellent summation of why a former Nader supporter will not be supporting Nader this election, in the style of Anonymous:

(I'm particularly fond of the line "Here are your laurels. Now why don't you lie down on them, and take a nice well-deserved nap?")

And for the win, in the category of "Oh no they dih-unt!", though sadly *not* satire, I fear:
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/9691.html

*HEADDESK*

Dude...

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:12:11 GMT

Thanks to the gracious hospitality of glad_laks, I got to spend a lot of time since last Wednesday getting to know sheerdark, my newest old friend. He is one of those rare people who, upon getting to know him, I feel as if I've known him for years, practically my whole life. He is also one of those rare people who could be one of my clones; I've met a few in my time, although we've never become close, but he is the first one who was *male*. This is most, most odd. I spent most of our conversational time saying things like, "Dude, stop being me!", and thinking, "When did someone swap half my brain with his without my noticing it?" or "Did someone clone me when I was four, change my redundant X-chromosome into a Y-chromosome, and implant it in his mother?" Because he is almost *exactly* what I would be like if I were a guy... very, very freaky...

Typology term paper

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:04:23 GMT

It's turned in.

It's really, really good.

And, if logically expanded, and supplemented with psycho/neurolinguistic experiments... it could be my PhD thesis.

The awesomest tattoos ever...

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:02:25 GMT

I've been contemplating tattoos for almost half my life now. And, even though I've moved to the "soft science" of linguistics, I still consider myself a scientist, through and through. That's why I consider this blog of science tattoos to represent the ultimate height of awesomeness. Scroll down to the post from May 19, 2008, entitled "Subatomic Doodling", and then try to tell me that tattoo of bubble chamber patterns is not among the most beautiful things you've ever seen. I am blown away...

It's time for another edition of Good Idea, Bad Idea...

Fri, 30 May 2008 10:03:54 GMT

Good idea: bopping along to My Sharona when it's on the radio.

Bad idea: getting my groove on to My Sharona, when it's playing on my little bathroom radio, while I'm shaving my legs.

Owie.