So, impelled by a strange force from outside the solar system, or something, I’ve been exploiting my Netflix account in order to watch just about every single episode of Doctor Who that has been released on dvd (at least, those titles which Netflix has acquired). In the mail today came some offerings from the “Sixth Doctor” era — some dude named Colin Baker is the Doctor, some chick with a there-and-gone-again accent is the girlfriend (oh, okay, “companion” — geez), and it’s The Eighties, which I gather from the plots, the surprising lack of acting excellence for something British, and the general tinfoil/kandy-kolouredness of the sets was a particularly bad time for Britain, whatever said decade may have been for the US. Still, Baker wasn’t that bad of a Doctor — don’t know why they fired him for that weird fat guy, wosname. (More about Seventh Dr. some time in the future, if I can bring myself to write about it.) He probably wanted a real salary, oops. Anyway, I’m watching this, and then there appears on the screen my ex-boyfriend. The hell??? I swear, the actor playing this character (a real doctor on the episode’s planet, apparently) looked exactly like my ex, right down to the hair. Don was famous for defying fashion norms and doing things like showing up at parties in the late 90s dressed in a polyester suit just like Carl Kolchak’s. It’s too bad I never talk to the jerk or else I’d show up at his house with the dvd and force him to watch it. He liked crappy tv too. His loss!
I was planning this year, if I ever managed to save enough money (i.e., juggle my bills cleverly enough), to renew my passport, book a ticket to the UK, and catch a performance of Hamlet, my favoritist play ever, currently starring my current favoritist actor (hey I like skinny white guys, and I don’t care that he drives a Prius). But I’ll bet you the fucker is sold out by now, and I don’t think I’ll be able to afford to do anything but possibly renew my passport. Alas. The fact that a lot of the people renting out the planes at my place of work are from Across the Pond (taking advantage of the current strong Euro and relatively cheap US fuel prices, they all tell me) doesn’t help one bit. I really need to see my ancestral home before it goes completely Muslim/Chav. Sniff.
Update: did I completely fuck up the title to this post? Yup, I did. Oh well — FIXED. Damn white zinfandel.
I can tell you right now that when I was a child I’d have died rather than allowed myself to be dressed up like I dwelt in the Littlest Whorehouse in Texas. Hell, I felt enough on display in the “Princess Available as Future Wife ‘N’ Mom” gear my doting parental units decked me out in. At least the W & M brigade got guaranteed homes and male shelf-installing help (at least until divorce became the latest thing, and then there was at least the sop of alimony); what do budding young hookers get to hope for? That they’ll be lucky enough to land a pimp who won’t beat them when he’s high?
You stay classy, moms of America.
Really, I have all these things I want to post about.
(Falls into a coma.)
Ha ha! Kidding! Seriously, I’ve got posts percolating, ideas about the site floating in the ether, etc. I’ve had complaints about the sepia colors and the tiny comment box; I may be getting to the latter soon — I like sepia tone myself. Well, we’ll see. In the meantime, carry on chatting — I’ll get to approving new people as soon as possible.
Hm. Trying this new look out. It’s kind of antiquey, sorta Victorianish of not as Steampunky as I wanted. Also I fear it’s a bit too busy. It has all these “widgets,” whatever they are.
So. Okay? Too busy? Crashes your browser? (In which case, you can’t tell me can you…)
The NYT jumps on the Steampunk bandwagon.
(Via the Flea.)
PS: thanks everyone for your generous donations! Oh, and just a reminder to the trolls and gloaters who have been trying to post and trackback and otherwise bring attention to their own pitiful, sour little corners of the web: your comments and trackbacks will be deleted and your memberships roundfiled; I have no interest in anything you have to say.
Evening Update: ooh, when I take over the earth and implement my Reign of Terror Trembling and Delight, the offices in my Secret Underground Lair will look like this. (Via John Weidner.)
I’m not the only one moving — Tim Blair has been enticed over to the Dark Side and has moved his blog over to the Daily Telegraph. On the bright side, this will bring all sorts of good things Tim’s way monetary and prestige-wise, and he will no longer have to depend upon my increasingly erratic web skilz to keep things moving. On the less bright side, he will no longer be part of the Spleenville Army! (Sob, sniff.) But time marches on, and we must all occasionally bow to the forces of Progress and Rupert Murdoch.
Naturally Tim’s friendly commenting hordes have already attempted to comment at the new site, but as they are still (apparently) working the bugs out the comments are all still languishing in the Telegraph monitoring system. Therefore I declare this site open to commentary — on anything and everything, not just Tim’s move. It’s Open Blog Night at TS! All you have to do is register, if you haven’t already. Only your first comment will be held in moderation — once you’re in, your comments will appear immediately.
More changes, possibly: in case you haven’t noticed, things have been kind of dull around here lately. Various issues have been distracting me, so I haven’t been writing as much. That will change soon, I hope, but in the meantime I have actually been considering setting up guest bloggers here. Or I may just can this site and make a whole new one that will be multiple blog — I haven’t decided yet. Anyway, go ahead and register to comment here if you haven’t already (handy registration link at the very bottom of the screen, or at the bottom of the side menu if I change to a different theme). And a small donation via Paypal or the Amazon thingie wouldn’t hurt either…
Update: oh, and apparently I’m a “cult figure” in Australia. Ah, yes, exactly to plan… (cue mad laughter)
Second update: blush. One correction: I’m not working at Walmart anymore. I managed to get a full-time job at a local flight school so I will be getting some real paychecks in Real Soon Now. I thought of keeping the Walmart job part time because I do need the extra cash, but it just wasn’t possible. I’ve never been a tower of physical strength, and two jobs, once of which would have me on my feet for hours, would have landed me in the hospital.
Update the Third: just tweaking the site design to make it more readable. Opinions welcome.
Update the Fourth: ooh, I got my first troll in a while? Anyone remember “Phil Graham”? I don’t, really — but the “Timmmaaaayyy” in his comment (which of course I deleted) was a clue that he was one of the really pathetic trolls. I guess he thought he’d be able to just post freely here? What a loser. Let’s see if his pointless insults get through on Tim’s new site. So far I’ve only seen one snippy “no evil fascist Andrea to crush dissent” comment over there.
Fifth update: I’m about to go to bed, folks, so any new comments may not appear for a few hours. I’ll get you in in the morning, but then I have to go to work, and I don’t have access to the blog from there, so there will be more delays for any new commenters. But eventually you’ll all get on, so be patient!
Oh — except for the pathetic, no-life-having troll “Phil Graham,” who by the way for a lefty seems to have the usual “progressive” contempt for actual working people. His latest (deleted, of course) comments are mocking me for not being an actual flight instructor — which I never said I was — and asking if I was a greeter or shelf-stocker at Walmart. Actually I was a cashier. I wonder what sort of jobs actually meet with Mr. Graham’s exalted approval — I’m guessing the list is a narrow one indeed, and is probably restricted to the areas of leftist politician, leftist academic, leftist journalist, and no doubt his own “career” of unemployable 500 lb dole recipient.
One more — I leave you tonight with this gift — it’s Phil Graham, who is not a virgin!
I don’t know if it can deflect bullets or leap a tall building in a single jump, but it sure looks cool.
By the way, let me remind everyone now that May is my birthday month.
(Via the Flea.)
It’s a studio, so it’s smaller and cheaper and easier to care for, but that’s not it. The reasons so far:
My tiny kitchen has more cupboard space — and a pantry! — than the previous kitchen. So I’ve sacrificed some floor space; so what, it makes it that much easier to fill the cat’s water bowl.
The hot water stays hot for ages. In the previous place I was lucky if I’d get fifteen minutes of actual hot water in the shower with the super water-saver shower head I installed myself. Here I use the gusher that came with the apartment and I can stay in the shower as long as I want.
More reasons later, as I realize them.
Update: okay, one more reason — trains! I’m right next to the tracks here. Since the railroad runs right through the middle of Orlando there’s no complete escape from train sounds, but now I get them up close and personal. Call me crazy, I love the sound of trains