The Observation Unit

Here's Lookin' at You

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:00:22 GMT

Today my lunch still had its eyeballs.

Here's a little newsflash: even if they're deep fried, they're still eyeballs.

Urp.

Joss Whedon's latest project

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:12:55 GMT

Wondering what Joss Whedon's been up to? Well here it is:

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Enjoy. :-)

Fireworks!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:31:00 GMT

IMG_2376.JPG
Originally uploaded by a2gemma

I posted my pictures from yesterday's Manchester fireworks. The new camera didn't do half bad. Hopefully next year we'll figure out where to position ourselves so the tree isn't in the way.

Stats: 134 photos taken. 16 photos decent enough to share.

Weeee!

Grrrr

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:29:46 GMT

Yet again, I have no power.

I freaking hate where I live.

New Season, New Hair

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:13:34 GMT

Time for a new 'do, so off I went to the hair salon today. It's a longish-bob that I can tuck behind my ears (as above), different than the severe bob I wore before. I think I like it, but the real test will be when I start doing my own hair tomorrow and ever after.

All I knew was that it was time to banish the headband!

A Fun Opportunity for Local (A2) Photographers

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:41:41 GMT

Charlie is working with someone from the Michigan Theater to set up a time on Saturday, 5/17 where we can go into the theater and shoot in detail to our heart's content.

For more info see this posting on Flickr.

Furniture for Sale

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:20:55 GMT

I have a co-worker who has moved from a house to an apartment and is downsizing her furniture. She has the following for sale. If you're interested, let me know and I'll pass her contact info on to you. Personally I'm in ~~love~~ lust with the treadmill and television, but have no room for either :::sigh:::

Items are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. All items must be cleared out by April 29th. Photos can probably be arranged if there's an item you think you're interested in...

Living Room

Product: 30" TV
Selling For Price: $200
Year Purchased: November 2000
Brand: Sony Wega
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: $1000

Product: One sofas
Selling For Price: $225
Year Purchased: February 2001
Brand: House of sofas
Usage: Very light
Original Price: $1200

Product: 4 wooden chairs
Selling For Price: $40
Year Purchased: October 2000
Brand: N/A - purchased in India
Usage: Very light
Original Price: $200

Dining Room

Product: Dining table with 6 chairs
Selling For Price: $300
Year Purchased: April 2000
Brand: Ikea
Usage: Light
Original Price: $800

Product: China Cabinet
Selling For Price: $175
Year Purchased: April 2000
Brand: Ikea
Usage: Very light
Original Price: $600

Product: Buffet Counter
Selling For Price: $175
Year Purchased: April 2000
Brand: Ikea
Usage: Very light
Original Price: $650

Bedroom

Product: Futon and Mattress
Selling For Price: $100
Year Purchased: June 2005
Brand: Dragon's Lair
Usage: Light
Original Price: $200

Product: Ironing Table
Selling For Price: $10
Year Purchased: N/A
Brand: N/A
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: N/A

Product: Wooden Stool
Selling For Price: $5
Year Purchased: October 2005
Brand: Art Van
Usage: Light
Original Price: $25

Study Room

Product: Bookcase with 5 shelves
Selling For Price: $40
Year Purchased: June 2000
Brand: Ikea
Usage: Very light
Original Price: $150

Product: Computer Table, Chair and Mat
Selling For Price: $75
Year Purchased: November 2000
Brand: Office Max
Usage: Light
Original Price: $600

Product: Computer
Selling For Price: $40
Year Purchased: February 1999
Brand: Gateway Pentium 2
Usage: Heavy
Original Price: $2000

Product: Printer
Selling For Price: $40
Year Purchased: November 2001
Brand: Epson
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: $300

Product: Fax Machine
Selling For Price: $20
Year Purchased: N/A
Brand: Brother Intellifax
Usage: Very Light
Original Price: N/A

Product: Bookcase with 6 shelves
Selling For Price: $75
Year Purchased: March 1999
Brand: Art Van
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: $200

Product: Black file cabinet
Selling For Price: $10
Year Purchased: N/A
Brand: N/A
Usage: Heavy
Original Price: N/A

Rec-Room

Product: Treadmill
Selling For Price: $300
Year Purchased: January 2000
Brand: Trimline
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: $2500

Product: Recumbent Exercise Bike
Selling For Price: $100
Year Purchased: January 2000
Brand: Schwinn
Usage: Moderate
Original Price: $400

Product: Total Gym
Selling For Price: $125
Year Purchased: March 2004
Brand: Total Gym
Usage: Light
Original Price: $395

Local Furniture?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:45:31 GMT

Can any of the Ann Arbor townies recommend a source of good, quality living room furniture? I'm in the market for a sofa and chair, but want to be able to sit in it before I commit (which rules out CB2, West Elm, and Chiasso).

I tried IKEA but didn't find anything I really liked.

Suggestions are appreciated.

FREE: Copy of "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay"

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:14:11 GMT

Anybody out there in the great ether interested in a copy of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay? It's well used, but the binding is solid.

I'm looking to lighten my load of role play materials, amongst other things.

FREE: Bar ware... (which looks a lot like "Beware!")

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:52:31 GMT

I have a mixture of martini glasses (4?), wine glasses (8?), and cocktail shakers (2?) that I'm looking to give away because I no longer drink.

If you're interested, post in the comments.

You need to take the whole lot. Folks local to Ann Arbor only please!

The Four Types of Clutter

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:54:09 GMT

Per the Sydney Morning Herald...

Emotional clutter has sentimental meaning but little financial value. It could include children’s toys or drawings, unused or unwanted gifts, school or university notes, or the personal possessions of absent loved ones.
Just-in-case clutter has little or no sentimental value but since it “might come in handy one day” it is kept for some time. Examples include old bills or bank statements, tools or stationery.
Bargain clutter is free or very cheap items acquired at sales, from friends or family or “by the side of the road”. Certain personality types tend to be especially attracted to bargain clutter.
Bought clutter consists of impulse purchases that never end up being used. It commonly includes clothes, fashion accessories and electronic items and is strongly linked to wasteful consumption.

I'm posting this primarily so I have it to refer back to as I continue my quest to remove clutter from my home (bargain clutter, bought clutter, maybe a smidge of just-in-case clutter) and items I have in storage (emotional clutter).

I'm on another round of purging the household, listing things for free on Craigslist, etc. My goal is for my next move (October) to be extremely quick and simple.

Over the weekend I cleared my cupboards of an appalling amount of expired canned and dried foods. I think I may have inherited my grandmother's depression-era mentality that I have to have things in reserve because I might not be able to afford it later. That's definitely a habit I need to break. I was utterly disgusted by the amount of food I threw away. Never mind the expense of it, but had I done this earlier it could have been donated to a food bank and actually helped someone.

Oops

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:38:41 GMT

Today Gary Gygax failed his savings throw vs. death.

(Hey! Somebody was going to say it eventually...)

That is all.

(Creative) Thieves!

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Someone on Flickr just gave me a heads up that they saw one of my photos on eBay. A little hunting around revealed this item, complete with my picture of Cecile!

The photo is Creative Commons - Attribute, but the punks put their own watermark on it and didn't give me credit.

Punks!

I've e-mailed the seller and told them to either remove the photo or properly give me credit. We'll see what happens.

Update: This was very cordially resolved. The seller immediately removed my photo when I made her aware of the violation.

Grrrrr

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:41:20 GMT

The jerks who stiffed me on my unused vacation and severance pay after laying me off just issued a press release that their revenues jumped 50% in 2007 to "hit its highest annual revenue in the company's 11-year history."

I wish there was something I could do about it, other than be pissed off.

Frankenfruit?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:32:38 GMT

I just peeled an orange -- very clearly an orange -- that had pink flesh that tasted like grapefruit.

I'm afraid.

Monday's Nantucket Factoid

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:13:05 GMT

"The popular Nantucket Reds pants originated at Murray's Toggery Shop on Nantucket."

In other news, I'm feeling double-plus whiney today. I obviously failed my savings throw again Drama.

Friday's Nantucket Factoid

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:18:09 GMT

"According to the 2000 census, Nantucket was Massachusetts' fastest growing county."

In other news, I have boots! For the first time since I was probably five I managed to find a pair of winter-ish boots that are wide enough for my feet (size 9, width EEEEEE).

I'm so excited it's just plain stupid.

Thursday's Nantucket Factoid

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:45:41 GMT

"The Nantucket flag is called a burgee, a distinctively-shaped flag normally used on ships."

In other news, Diet Pepsi Max tastes like ass. I have no idea what they did to change the formulation, but I don't like. No sir, not one bit.

Update: It's ginseng. Blech.

It's Funny-ha-ha not Funny-uh-oh

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:53:40 GMT

This morning a new IAESTE intern arrived at our office from Croatia. New interns are a pretty common thing around here so despite the fact that we weren't expecting him we put him right to work on one of our projects. (We're currently hosting interns from Slovakia, Poland, India, Sweden, and Switzerland.)

An hour and a half passes and I start thinking, "Croatia? I don't think we got a Croatian intern this year..."

So I go check with the back office. Sure 'nuff the Bobmeister agrees, "I don't remember a Croatian intern..."

So I go call the IAESTE organization. Turns out the intern is at the wrong worksite.

Oops!

That didn't stop us from putting his butt to work though, did it? :-)

He's now happily off to his position at The U. It was nice while it lasted! I think that 90-minutes is officially the shortest internship we've ever offered.

Wednesday's Nantucket Factoid

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:41:38 GMT

"The headlamp from Locomotive #1 is one of the only items left from the Nantucket railroad."

In other news, I have no power AGAIN. This is something for which I am decidedly not grateful.

Two Words You Should Never Use Together

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:29:42 GMT

Say it with me: "Kosmopolitan Rimmer."

Do I really need to say anything else?

Tuesday's Nantucket Factoid

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:04:22 GMT

"Between 5,000 and 7,000 grey seals live off the coast of Nantucket."

You know, I probably spend too much money on Nantucket Nectar. I should really buy some at a warehouse club or something. You know. If I belonged to a warehouse club or something.

Today the rain is pummeling the roof of our building. I love it because the sound reminds me of being in a tent during a rain storm. There's something calming about that sound.

I've been writing a lot lately (offline). One of the things I started doing after the new year is writing in a "Gratitude Journal" every day. I write at least five things for which I am grateful. It's surprising how thoughtful it's made me about such things, despite the fact that I haven't progressed much past making a simple list.

For example, today's entry:

Five Things for Which I am Grateful:

The sound of rain on the rooftop at work because it reminds me of the sound of rain on a tent which reminds me that not all of my childhood memories are bad.
That I make enough money to live comfortably, if not extravagantly.
My camera, which lets me capture the occasional interesting photo when my inner (creative) eye aligns with my outer eye.
The Internet, for letting me meet people that I'd otherwise never meet.
The medications that let me live a "normal" life, even though normal is really just the average of deviance.

I started doing it because Frank suggested it. He said that he'd read a study about how it helped improve the general outlook of the person doing it, or some such thing, even for months after they stopped doing it. We'll see.

Monday's Nantucket Factoid

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:17:56 GMT

"Islanders gathered in the Great Hall of the Atheneum for the first long distance call to the mainland on August 29, 1916."

Friday's Nantucket Factoid

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:56:50 GMT

"The average annual snowfall on Nantucket is 5 inches. In 2002-2003 it was 71 inches."

Hmmm. Global warming anyone?

Daily Dose of Humor

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:36:02 GMT

Hey, look at me !
Originally uploaded by Jane Gribbon

My spirits are a bit low this morning so I was searching for something to make me smile. And what did I find? This picture.

Cracks. Me. Up.

Now, if only I could get Cecile or Valmont to do that...