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| 2009-09-16 08:13 |
| Wow. |
| Public |
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Woke up unprecedentedly rested at 4 AM this morning (well, unprecedented in recent memory); after catching up on mail and webcomics, went out for a walk and a cappuccino. I was struck by how clear the skies were; I tried to count the Pleiades but though at first I could make out maybe five, my efforts to focus better made things worse. But Orion was magnificent, and the nose of his dog blazed. I walked a few more feet and out from behind some trees, BAM, there was a brilliant Venus and a stunning sliver of a moon, all agleam with Earthlight.
( photo behind cut )
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So I had a dream of being a kid at home with my mom and sister, and we were visited by a hedgehog. A huge hedgehog, the size of a really big housecat. A very affectionate hedgehog, who liked to wrap himself around my legs like a cat. I was wearing shorts but was somehow unscathed. He loved being petted, though you had to be careful to do it with the grain, as it were. Or stick to scritching him under the chin. Of course my sister and I wanted to keep him, though Mom was worried about him getting bigger; like, the size of a German shepherd or something.
I was going to call him "Sticky".
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So I've had a copy of The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin floating around for years, and I finally got round to reading it. Interesting so far. Then we get to a discussion of ancient water clocks on page 30:
The Egyptians therefore slanted the walls of the vessel so that, as the amount of water decreased, the pressure remained constant by being concentrated on a smaller area. Um. No. Back to Physics 101, Daniel. You flunk the section on hydrostatics. You know, where it says that pressure in an open vessel is a function of, and only of, the height of liquid above that point, completely independent of the shape of the vessel? Remember that? Sigh. This does not bode well. EDIT: Eighteen pages later, another howler: "At the equator in all seasons the sun at noon is directly above or at altitude 90 degrees". All seasons, Dan? You sure about that?
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| 2009-08-22 18:53 |
| Chaos! |
| Public |
 mellow |
| Renaissance, "Touching Once (Is So Hard To Keep) |
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I've been reading a ton lately, mostly science fiction, as is my wont. And mostly free stuff, from either Project Gutenberg or Feedbooks. Generally this means old, out-of-copyright stuff: generally, not later than early '60s.
But there are a few exceptions, like Charlie Stross, Cory Doctorow, and Jeffrey Carver. The last has made a whole bunch of his books available for free in a bunch of formats, including Kindle, at Starrigger.net, including all four books (so far) in the Chaos Chronicles: Neptune Crossing, Strange Attractors, The Infinite Sea, and Sunborn. The last is available for free only until Tor releases its own ebook version, so go grab it now. I'm halfway through the second book now.
This is a great series. It's hard science fiction but with an enormous emphasis on character; or perhaps it's character-driven fiction with hard science fiction elements. Very good stuff. Sean-Bob says check it out.
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| 2009-03-13 12:36 |
| Oops. |
| Public |
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So I, um... accidentally pierced my ear last night.
I have four ear piercings; the two on the left were done in a shopping mall with the gun and all, and at first had nice fat posts. They seem to never even think about closing. The two on the right, I did myself with a needle, and it pays to keep something in them from time to time. So my habit is to swap one of the aforementioned nice fat posts (the other one went missing some time ago) between the two holes whenever I think about it, usually not more often than once a month. So last night I did that (while sitting in the living room, reading a book). It seemed more difficult than usual, and after a while I switched to a straight pin. Again it was sort of difficult, but I pushed on. It hurt a little, but not too much. I just let the pin in, after bending it in a U shape so it wouldn't poke me in the night.
Before bed, I glanced in the mirror. Damn if I hadn't missed the hole by a good three millimeters. Nuts.
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Well, my DSL finally gave up the ghost. I guess it's time to call my jerk of an apartment manager and get him to come open the maintenance closet and let me check the phone line at the junction box, a prerequisite to calling in AT&T. I was really torn about this ever since my phone line died soon after New Years -- I've been intending to move out soon, so what's the point? Everybody who counts has my cellphone number as well as my home phone, and heck, the DSL still worked (don't ask me how). But that died this weekend, and I think it's really dead, Jim. In the meantime, I don't expect to be updating very often (as if I were that prolific anyway). I guess it's time to try that iPhone LJ app again.
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| 2009-02-03 16:05 |
| Ow |
| Public |
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But it's a good ow. Though it'll get worse before it gets better.
After months of almost complete indolence, I finally got my bike fixed up last night, and just got back from a nice little ride. And I do mean little: just over 4 miles. But cripes, that's about as far as I rode in the last four months, total. And it's not like I've been walking regularly either. So my ass and my legs are going to be yelling at me for a little while.
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Here's some scribbles to commemorate a nice little lunch I had on Monday with some local friends and one from out of town.
( biggish art behind the cut )
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Here's a sketch.
It's based on this:
Kinda crappy, but certain aspects come through. I can and will do a better job of this, but I promised the model (a bartender at an Irish pub in San Francisco) I'd give her the original once I scanned it, so for now this is what you get.
It's kind of nice how once you demonstrate a modicum of artistic ability, pretty (and busy) girls are willing to stand still for a photo. And talk to you. O god I'm so sad.
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A friend writes in a mailing list:
It's a small scene, no plot point and a nice change from those countless movies where the James Bond type sucks back a fifth of bourbon with no visible affect. That has to be the most gorgeously apt misuse of the word "affect" I've ever seen.
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Here are a few things I did down the pub, the night I got the axe. It was a fun night.
( lots of art here )
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| 2008-11-10 20:16 |
| Comic! |
| Public |
 kind of all right, actually |
| comic |
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After months of stagnation, I'm at work again on the comic. The next installment will be up soon at Drunk Duck, but you, my friends, get a sneak preview. Critique more than welcome.
( large GIF behind the cut )
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I was asked where I'll be in a year.
No fucking idea! :D :D :D <-- [these are sincere]
Y'all remember I got laid off in July, right? Pretty much right then and there I knew I was done with the tech industry; it was fun, but no, actually it wasn't. That basically meant that I was going to have to pull up roots and relocate; the Bay Area is just too expensive. I thought very seriously about going back to U.C.Davis and finishing my PhD in physics, but now I'm thinking I need to head off in a completely different direction. Like, strip my material possessions down to the bone, find a really cool place to live, and do what I have to to survive while trying to cultivate an actual LIFE. (Which in some ways I haven't had for, oh, 15 years or so.)
So that's the plan. At the moment I'm kind of inclined to head Portland-ward. (Oregon, not Maine.) At least now I know I won't need to leave the country :-/
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| 2008-11-05 10:31 |
| OBAMA! |
| Public |
| home |
 elated |
| Steve Winwood |
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Our 8-year-long national nightmare is nearly over.
(If I were a praying man, I'd pray for Obama to survive at least until Jan. 20. Not to be cynical or anything.)
This is civic responsibility week, chez Lignamorren. I report for jury duty today. I checked the San Mateo Court website last night (this is Silicon Valley, after all, or at least the outskirts) and found I need to call back around 11:30 today. I'm torn. I've never served on a jury, and would like to; but it would be kind of a hassle too. I tell you what, though, I'd get a lot of drawing done.
Speaking of which, my evening at the British Bankers Club last night waiting for the election results was somewhat fruitful; I'll post some sketches later. And yes, I'm making progress on the comic again.
UPDATE: I'm off the hook for jury duty. I'm a little sad. This was my last shot at it in San Mateo County; they won't call me for another year, and by then I'll be somewhere else. On the plus side, I can devote my full energies toward fucking off art and other projects.
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| 2008-09-08 07:34 |
| For X |
| Public |
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Lately I've been watching a lot of classic anime like Galaxy Express 999. (Matsumoto sure draws funny but his girls and ships are fun to look at.) Here's a short series of screengrabs that I had to share.
( Read more... )
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| 2008-07-14 17:53 |
| Comic! |
| Public |
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Sneak preview behind the curtain.
( Read more... )
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Or, de "R" Tag.
Could be a very momentous day. More later.
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indescribable
