Fun
These posts might also belong to any of the other categories, but there’s something special about them. They’re fun or goofy or just plain different!
PenIslandDotCom
Apr 18th
Eli taking photos for an upcoming unboxing article
My friend Eli has gotten into fountain pens recently, going so far into pen fandom that he has become an extremely active member of the Fountain Pen Network, posting pen unboxing photos and lengthy reviews. I just so happened to be hanging out with him when he received a couple of new pens that feature a unique filling system. Check out this video.
Pretty crazy.
As for me, my pen of choice is the Kaweco Sport, with Diamine Emerald ink.
Wherein things are Yay.
Apr 17th
After months of feeling like a lonely cosmonaut left on his own to care for an interplanetary fueling station, I found out today that my boss has finally hired more people to fill my position at work. After they’re trained and in place, it’ll only be a matter of time until I get promoted to Gates, a position I’ve been trying to get for a year.
So yay.
In similarly happy news, after what seemed like months, I got my Segway PT back from repairs.
So double yay.
Conservatory of Flowers and the Bay Area Garden Railway
Feb 9th
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has a special exhibit right now set up by the Bay Area Garden Railways society. It’s a model train layout of famous San Francisco landmarks, and all of the buildings are made out of recycled materials, like computer floppy disks, old milk crates, bottles, circuit boards, cereal boxes, and light fixtures. Here are some photographs that I took of the layout, and of some of the flowers in the Conservatory.
My Dad’s Christmas Story
Dec 24th
One Christmas morning, my father attempted to describe Santa as Solid Snake.
This is that story.
“Dad, does Santa really go house to house delivering toys?”
“He does indeed; why just last night this Christmas Eve, I heard him.”
“What? No!”
“Yeah, I was sitting here watching TV after you’d gone to bed, and I thought I heard jingling coming from the roof, like bells on a reindeer. I turned off the TV, and the sound stopped. I unmuted it, and the sound returned! I turned it off and on one more time and then I was sure of it! I heard a jingling, but only when the TV was on! It was Santa, trying to use the sound of the TV to muffle the sounds of him infiltrating our household!”
THE GREAT MAGICIANS OF THE 20th CENTURY!
Dec 11th
In addition to his popular appearances as the Daily Show’s resident expert and his long-running stint playing the REVILED and DISGUSTING PC in the adverts for those GLORIOUS and MAGNIFICENT Apple computers, John Hodgman (referred to henceforth by his stage name, “The Master of Hidden Knowledge, Hodgman”) has also received some notoriety for being America’s preeminent fake trivia and esoteric list compiler. In his books, The Areas of My Expertise, and More Information Than You Require, he presents a mind-expanding journey through fabricated facts and figures, supplemented with long and laboriously crafted lists of 700 hobo names (featured in Areas) and 700 mole-man names (featured in More). It was his work in the fields of mole-men and boxcar-riding drifter monikers that spurred me to research and compile this list of THE GREAT MAGICIANS OF THE 20TH CENTURY!
Please keep in mind that this list is a work in progress; look for a supplement here in the future.
And so, without further ado, I present
THE GREAT MAGICIANS OF THE 20th CENTURY!
Seattle’s Cold Snap
Dec 10th
We’ve had a little bit of a cold snap here in Seattle over the past week. I was lucky to have decided to bring my camera with me to work on one of the coldest days. I was able to get these great pictures before I started work. My favorite of these three is the one of the bear statue; it looks like the bear had been cryogenically frozen!
Click the pics to see them in full size.
Ray Bradbury Would Be Proud
Dec 9th
Ray Bradbury might hate the Internet because it distracts people from libraries, but I’m sure that even he would be hard pressed to find anything but comedic value in some of the gems that the ladies over at Awful Library Books find. Look at some of these things.
Probots. Sounds like a proctology tool.
I imagine that this one is checked out accidentally a lot. Getting a list of the people who check it out would probably be entertaining.
Anyway, you should check out Awful Library Books for more bibliophile hilarity.
The3six5 Project
Dec 8th
My favorite blog, Mental_Floss, posted today about an interesting web-project proposed and organized by Constructive Grumpiness called The3six5 Project. Every day in the year 2010, a different writer will post a short journal entry documenting something interesting that happened to them on their day.
Needless to say, I’m enthralled. I can’t wait to see what sorts of perspectives and experiences get posted!
I sent them an email volunteering to write for one of the days. I know that I’m nearly completely unknown (except for my awesome Twitter followers. By the way guys, I love you!), but I hope that I’m accepted, just so I can say that I had a small part in this enormous and exciting adventure!
We’ll see where the journey takes us!
PAX East Orphans
Dec 3rd
All your friends going to PAX East in 2010 while you’re stuck at home? Perhaps you’d be interested in coming to a get together on the West coast that same weekend. Please vote in the poll to indicate your interest, and please comment if you have any suggestions for locations, if you’re willing to open your home to accommodate traveling PAX East orphans, or if you have any comments.
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Looks like there’s gonna be enough interest for us to actually hold this little shindig. I think that now is as good a time as any to try to pin down where exactly this is gonna be held. The two front runners for location seem to be Vancouver and Seattle, but if you have a killer idea for somewhere else, don’t hesitate to voice your opinion.
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Secret Santa!!!!
Dec 2nd
Oh my god oh my god oh my god I got my Secret Santa present today from @Winyder and I am so excited thank you so much!!!!!
This is it:
It’s the More Information Than You Require audiobook! John Hodgman is one of my favorite writers; his first book, The Areas of My Expertise, is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, and has an audiobook to match. The audiobook versions of his books are amazing, as they play more like radio variety shows than book readings. Returning from his first book are Jonathan Coulton and Paul Rudd (who isn’t on Twitter [boo!]) along with new voices Ricky Gervais, Rachel Maddow, Sarah Vowell, Ira Glass, and others! I am so so excited to listen!
Thank you so much, Winyder! You are a goddamned rockstar!
