| Monday Monday |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|07:52 am] |
One... more... week... until school... starts again...
Word of the Day
paucity, n. 1 : smallness of number : fewness 2 : smallness of quantity : dearth
From Middle French paucite, ultimately from the Latin paucus, "little."
Baby at 28 Months
A few days ago I mentioned that the baby appeared to have chicken pox; that was my guess based on the fact that a schoolmate had it and she developed some bumps the day after school let out. I did in fact take her to the doctor who had a look and his verdict was: he didn't know.
"She's had the vaccine," he said, stretching her skin to squint at the bumps while she played with his reflex hammer (brave man). "The disease develops so differently in children who've had the vaccine that sometimes you just can't tell."
He went on to say that without the vaccine, you start with a few bumps on the chest/back and they spread to the extremities until you have hundreds of them, even inside the mouth and ears and it is a miserable experience (as I think I recall myself, though not very well). But a vaccinated child, if she gets it at all, will get... maybe eight or nine bumps and they won't be very itchy.
I've always understood intellectually why vaccination is a good idea. But driving home with her, I realized that this childhood ritual that most of you reading have gone through with me, this shared experience which wasn't particularly perilous but was annoying and ugly and sometimes scarring... this disease that all of us can look at one another (for the most part) and say, "I had it, when did you? I was x years old"... is going to be gone for my daughter's generation. By the time she's a mom, there won't be chicken pox, except as a weird random occurence now and then, one that will make people go, "Wow, that's strange. How'd he get that?"
An entire disease that most of us take for granted, just... wiped out. It wasn't even a very important disease in the great scheme of things, but we put paid to it anyway, because why suffer?
And that's finally when the sheer miracle of vaccination hit me. Watching my quasi-diagnosed daughter trot around in fine spirits on Christmas day, not even caring that she may have a wisp of a disease that laid me out for a week, I heard the death knell for another of our afflictions. What an amazing, amazing thing we humans do. I'm still astounded.
Current Plans
Yesterday I finished first-pass editing of Godkin's part 1, which is great, and I'm now 2/3rds done with the outline for Bright Spots, the collection of my best LJ entries. I'm hoping to push those things before the end of the year. I won't have a night off until tomorrow, which I'm hoping to use to work on the icons for the Stardancer commenters. My other big activity is staring at my Dick Blick cart, which has all my brushes in it, and trying to convince myself to click the Buy button. Part of me hopes that if I wait a little longer they'll post one of their 10-30% off sales, which they were doing regularly before Christmas. The last one expired the 17th. Maybe today? >.>
Also collecting book orders! I will probably make a single large order at the end of the Three Kings Day Sale, so be patient with me please. :)
Elsewhere
•Have Some Butter with Your Veggies. Apparently nutrient absorption is radically improved by consumption of fat at the same time as vegetables.
•Where's the Beef? From the same blog, a dissection of a study about the supposedly harmful effects of red meat.
Actually, I'd just bookmark that blog and read it. It's awesome.
Quote of the Week
There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. ‘Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night’s lodging. ‘Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Stardancer Home. |
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| Permit only logged-in users to view specific entries |
[Dec. 27th, 2009|04:18 pm] |
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Title
Permit only logged-in users to view specific entries Short, concise description of the idea
Similar to friends-locking an entry, this would prevent users who are not logged in from viewing an entry. Full description of the idea
So, like I said, only users logged into their Livejournal accounts would be able to view specified journal entries. It should be like when one selects to friends-lock entries. It could be chosen as a default setting or selected for an individual entry, as with friends-locking. An ordered list of benefits
- People casually browsing a user's journal wouldn't be able to see certain entries, but LJers wouldn't need to friend the user to view his or her journal entries. So if you logged out of a shared computer but your history was still available, other people sharing that computer generally wouldn't see your entries, but if a community moderator wanted to browse your entries to see if you're interested in the community topic, they wouldn't need to friend you.
- Adult content settings would ACTUALLY WORK. As it is, one needs to flag an entry for adult content and friends-lock it, because all underage LJers know they can just log out and click right through the "are you over 14/18?" screen. Honestly, that thing's a bit of a joke. And friends-locking it is highly inconvenient. Therefore, more content would be visible to logged-in LJers, and people would no longer be breaking the rules every time they post an entry containing "adult concepts" outside of friends lock.
An ordered list of problems/issues involved
- It might tend to cause people to create throwaway accounts to get past it.
- It would reduce the amount of content visible to non-logged-in types, and they have to look at the ads. However, it would increase the amount of content actual LJers can see, as discussed previously.
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| Finally something to share! My Christmas OOTD... |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|03:43 am] |
Hello my loves! I haven't posted lately but I'm always lurking in the background like a creeper . I just wanted to share my Christmas FOTD. It was a gorgeous day...lots of food, libations, and family. Anyway, I love this dress! My sis (in the purple dress) told me that I looked like Airport Barbie lol but the dress looks nautical themed to me. I'm also in love with my animal print flats. I've wanted a pair for so long and I finally found the perfect ones! My measurements are 50-43-47(belleh measurement lol)-48, I weigh about 245, and I'm usually a size 18.
Please ignore my brother getting a haircut in the background. ( Read more... )
( Click here. ) |
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| Shoe help! |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|01:34 am] |
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Does anyone know where I can get some moccasins that will fit wide feet? I really like these Ugg ones, but they are way too narrow for my feet. So I would love something similar. Thanks! |
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| snow boot love |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|12:49 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
I wanted to share my new and exciting snow/rain boots.
They fit my 19" calves with room to tuck in my non-skinny jeans.
They're faux fur lined and keep me warm. And they're comfortable to walk in, and wear all day while working on my feet.
I bought them in Purple and they're lovely and match my faux fur crazy 80's patchwork winter coat.
http://www.amazon.com/Khombu-Womens-Haily-Winter-Boot/dp/B0029XFRFE
http://www.zappos.com/khombu-hailey-purple
I got the size 10 and I do need to wear and extra pair of fluffy socks to make them not be too big, as I normally am a 9. They were out of the purple in a 9 and that was the only color I wanted. I don't know if the 9 would have fit or been too small. I'm happy with an extra layer of protection and warmth.
on zappos Tretorn has a boot that's surprisingly similar but in more colors and it's a bit cheaper.
http://www.zappos.com/womens-tretorn-boots
I don't know if they fit the same. I'm partial to the Silver. :) |
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| Improve the New Search Results |
[Dec. 26th, 2009|10:46 am] |
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Title
Improve the New Search Results Short, concise description of the idea
Add sorting options to the new search screen results, and add differentiate communities and personal journals. Full description of the idea
The new search function is getting quite a bit of flack. I think it's (overall) much more useful/comprehensive than the old search function, but it does need at least a few tweaks.
The things I have in mind are a 'sorting' option for results (Last Post, # of Members/Friends, and Creation Date spring to mind, but there are probably others people will think of), and to break out Personal Journals and Communities into their own separate tabs. An ordered list of benefits
- Improved searching.
- Less griping.
An ordered list of problems/issues involved |
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| To Do List: A New User's Suggestions |
[Dec. 26th, 2009|10:20 am] |
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Title
To Do List: A New User's Suggestions Short, concise description of the idea
I would like to make a couple of enhancements to the beta in process for this LiveJournal Feature. Full description of the idea
I'm not a programmer or very handy with codes, but on my end these enhancements will help me utilize the feature with greater ease.
1. Add a "Next" and "Previous" link to the To-Do Item from so I can go forward and backwards without going to my updated list.
2. Allow multiple add entries from one form.
3. Allow mass security changes from Private to Public to Friends--like changing security for journal entries
4. Allow recurring items. Previously suggested here http://community.livejournal.com/suggestions/582089.html
5. Increase character allowance on subject. An ordered list of benefits
- Basically it would reduce the amount of time and clicking needed to manage multiple items.
An ordered list of problems/issues involved
- I'm not sure what drawbacks there would be but maybe others can help.
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| I, For One, Welcome Our New Bacterial Overlords |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|05:02 am] |
Too freakin' cool.Scientists have demonstrated a way to harness the motion of swimming bacteria to turn tiny gears. This bacteria-driven mechanism could someday power micro-machines that combine living organisms and man-made materials.
To build their rudimentary device, the research team first fashioned silicon gears measuring a mere 0.01 inches (380 micrometers) across and 0.002 inches (50 micrometers) thick. With their slanted teeth, the gears look rather like tiny ninja stars.
The microgears were then placed into a nutrient broth swarming with the microbe Bacillus subtilis, the workhorses in this setup. When supplied with nutrients and oxygen the bacteria scoot about randomly. Nicked from AmericaBlog.
If you could have cyborg parts, would you get 'em? And, if so, what would they be? Assume Six Million Dollar Man rules, i.e., they feel real and work without stressing the rest of your weak, puny human physiology. I'd likely go for new legs, hips, and lower back at this point, maybe with a few USB jacks in convenient locations. |
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| ArtLog: distraction, but to a good end |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|02:38 am] |
Well, I was all set to go to bed earlier than usual, and then I took one last look at those little spoon charms...
...and now it's half past two, and there are two more spoon vessels that will go into New Shinies on Wednesday.
I'm working out some of the geometry on these. It's a pendulum swing: very ornate, rather spare, ornate again, sparer yet.... We'll see where it ends up. One of the vessels is very faeryland, all curves and ornaments and little firepolished crystal beads in a finish they call "amethyst glow," and the other is just sterling silver wire in two gauges. One side of the latter came out looking like fantasy to me and the other like science fiction, which was amusing.
So much in my head, and this late at night it seems that my pain receptors say, "Oh, the heck with it!" and take a little break, and the temptation is to stay up, but I'm going to be at least semi-good and go to bed pretty soon. Might take a hot bath first, as it's kinda cold around the edges hereabouts. |
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| I have another one! |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|02:39 am] |
Vaguely medieval-esque world. Girl and her younger brother - girl is early to mid teen-ish, brother is maybe seven? Their parents died. The kids are running scared because they have "talents" - pretty sure the girl can communicate with animals and I know the boy, we find out later, is a persuader and can get people to do things for him if necessary. (At one point he "persuades" his sister to eat meat (or possibly human meat, at any rate, she was squicked out) because he needs her to look after him. I think he gets gradually more self-interested and sociopathic as time goes on.)
I don't know if children with talents are killed or taken away to be "educated", but the two of them have the sense to not want any of that. Some of the people with talents are used in wars... I think there's one kid used to burn people up?
At some point in the past there were dragons, now believed to be all extinct. The kids get to some guy's castle (he wears gloves all the time) where they find out that "every child born in this castle has a talent". He has one son. This leads us to think the talents are genetic in origin, but the big reveal is that he has a dragon living in his castle and their scales do something to the water that mutates babies. The local governments are implied to have known this, and the extermination of the dragons is thought - by the few who know enough to realize this - to have really been a cover for ultimately eliminating the birth of children with talents, and the everlasting wars are a cover to keep talented children occupied (and hopefully killed) in battles so they can't do anything crazy like take over.
There may have been a romance between the guy in the castle and the girl, and they have to flee the castle by the end of the book. I think there may have been supposed to be a sequel, but I don't know if there ever was. I certainly never read it. The little brother chooses to be left behind in the castle, but his sister (who has been persuaded to take care of him his whole life) isn't too concerned, realizing that he's got the one talent that can keep him safe and alive no matter what. |
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| Ugly cliché in Harry Potter fanfic |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|01:21 am] |
I've noticed a couple of stories recently--I'm not naming names, but needless to say none of them are written by anybody on my f-list--which contained the idea that Padma and Parvati Patil are something less than two complete individuals. One fic said that they were a single consciousness in two bodies. Another, I think, was somehow suggesting that they had only one soul between them. In both cases, how and why this would be the case was less than clear.
In any event, I find this extremely creepy, and I don't even know any identical twins. I can only begin to imagine how disgusting this concept would be for someone who was an identical twin, or whose partner had an identical twin.
What's the deal? Did the authors want Harry to have a hot threesome with a pair of twins, but get squicked at the incestuous implications, and decide that reducing the personhood of the twins would turn Padma/Parvati into a weird kind of masturbation and therefore make it okay? And why did they think this would decrease the squickiness?
Is there a a similar trend of authors making the Weasley twins into a single consciousness, thus somehow excusing twincest and twin sandwiches? Or is this strange phenomenon uniquely aimed at the Patil twins? |
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| far future sci fi |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|12:12 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
Spoiler alert.
This one reminds me a whole lot of Neal Asher's runcible books, Tony Daniel's Grist books, John C. Wright's Golden Age books, Walter Jon Williams's Aristoi universe. Far future, people (and aliens) are all over the universe; some have modified themselves to be pretty alien. Technology is available to carry a unit (one character has a necklace) that will record you, such that if you die, you can be re-made from the recording. A married pair of the characters are in a war on a planet; one dies, one is saved and tries to find his partner's unit but can't. You spend time with those roles reversed (you thought the other one was going to die). Someone, possibly him, is sent on an assassination mission. Another (captured?) personality is loaded up into his brain, to keep him from sabotaging the attempt. The personality ends up sabotaging the attempt himself. Another character in a completely different part of the universe finds out the attempt, is destroyed in doing so, is re-created from the unit and tries to warn people, only to find out that it is one complete galactic rotation later, and his unit has been floating in space and only just now recovered by the same place he was on before. |
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| Short story with boat and thirst |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|01:01 pm] |
There is a short story I can almost remember.
A group of people are trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean, with no hope of rescue, and little water.
One of the stranded tells them all that he has a way out... he can help them all create a world. He has been searching for this path for years, and has found out how to use it.
He hypnotises them, controlling the creation and becoming a sort of god to this reality. Unfortunately for him, he is also not entirely in their created world; he still feels the effects of the real world, and is slowly going mad with thirst.
Can anyone help me find out what it's called? |
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