kaigou | read

Cordelia has cross country again today. For some reason, the change in routine means she wants me to walk her to school on cross country days. She says she'll eventually get comfortable enough to walk herself but that she's not there yet.

It's warmer today but still not above freezing. The National Weather Service says that it should get into the high fifties. I'm looking forward to that. Cordelia wanted to wear her Tigers sweatshirt, but I vetoed that because it's too cold right now. She's going to be outside for most of the next hour, and it's simply too cold for just a sweatshirt. If it wasn't a cross country day, I'd have let her wear the dratted thing.

I have to boil three dozen eggs this afternoon. There's no school tomorrow, and Cordelia's best friend and her brother are coming over. I plan to have the kids color eggs. They did it with us last year and had a lot of fun. They'd never done it before because they're Muslim. Fortunately, their parents don't mind them doing something like this that's associated with a Christian holiday. (The girl has joined us for Christmas tree decorating the last couple of years.)

I was going to bake brownies (from a mix) today, but Cordelia has forbidden me to do so without her. In fact, she doesn't want me to do it at all. She wants me to supervise while she does it. She'll have me do things like pouring the batter into the pan, putting the pan into the oven and taking it out of the oven, but she'll do the rest. We might manage that after she does her homework tonight, but I have to cook dinner, so it might have to wait until tomorrow or Saturday. I'm not sure I can handle brownies and dinner in the same evening.

qem_chibati

RULES:

-Must always post rules
-Answer the 11 questions given to you
-Create new 11 new questions
-Tag 11 people
-Let them know that they have been tagged

(I always feel very socially awkward to tag people so please feel free to fill in if you want?)

I got tagged by

mmmdraco and

verloren1983.

aiwritingfic didn't tag me but why not.

( Read more... )

1. If you had free rein to set up a garden the way you wanted what would you plant and why?
2. What kind of colours do you enjoy wearing?
3. How was your day? :)
4. Are there any genres of fanfic that you are craving at the moment?
5. Have you ever thought about playing Go?
6. Do you celebrate Easter?
7. If you could live in an anime series, which one would it be?
8. Do you consider yourself a serious person?
9. What's a question that you wish you get asked on these things?
10. What are some places in the world you'd like to visit?
11. Telekinetic or telepathy powers - which would you pick?

marahmarie

Since myself and others will probably be running XP for some time despite how end-of-service (April 8th) has already come and gone (my main reason for keeping it is Aesop here can and will run anything: 7, Vista, 8 - she's run them all - but she was made for and simply runs XP better) I figured I'd do a quick writeup on how to keep an XP computer safe and light on its feet and how to run the newer and more fancy Microsoft fonts on XP.

Best Practices For Installing and Using XP after April 8th End-of-Service Date

Don't! Use it! At all! Ever! Again! (from The Book of Do As I Say Not As I Do, Chapter XP)
Turn on Automatic Updates (users who install or use anything less than a fully updated copy of XP running SP3 Build 5512 Final will get all updates needed to bring their OSs current despite being past end-of-service date)
Don't use anything less than Service Pack 3
Turn on Windows Firewall
Turn off possibly dangerous services
Don't use anything less than Internet Explorer 8. Once SP3 is installed, IE6 or IE7 will take you to the IE8 download page so no worries. Install IE8, then go to the Menu Bar-->Tools and click on Tools, then on Windows Updates. IE will take you to Windows Update where you can install more updates you'll need
While still running IE8, go to Tools-->Internet Options-->Advanced and turn off ActiveX, all scripting, meta refresh, cross-domain content, automatic downloads of anything, and turn on all certificate checks (especially after Heartbleed); under the Security tab set all Zones cookie handling (except for restricted sites, which are already set to high) to medium-high; turn off all third-party cookies
Download Firefox, close Internet Explorer and don't open it again; install Firefox and set it as the default browser (it's worth mentioning that all three of you worldwide still using an AOL web browser are running whatever version of IE is currently installed on your computer every time you use it; older copies of AOL's browser, newer versions of it, and AOL Explorer itself are just IE disguised in an AOL hard-candy shell - same goes for Avant and Maxthon browsers, so you should stop using them, too)
After Firefox is installed get Web of Trust for search engine safety and to avoid entering dodgy websites; for better password management use a secure password manager; I use LastPass
Before logging into any website or email account, check for Heartbleed vulnerabilities both past and present; change passwords once affected websites are known to be patched
Don't install Java - uninstall it if it's already on your PC (link for this and next tip)
Don't install Flash - uninstall it if it's already on your PC; instead of Flash use the HTML5 Player on Youtube (it plays everything, just search for what you want and click on the desired result)
Don't go without antivirus but don't use classic antivirus. Yes, you read that right; try Webroot SecureAnywhere instead. It doesn't download virus definitions nor use heuristics to analyze any possible virus - instead, it analyzes program behavior to stop dangerous activity before it can damage your computer, and it's supposed to leave the lightest footprint and offer the most practical realtime protection - we'll see

Vista/7/8 Fonts on XP

You can get all the basic Windows Vista/7/8 fonts from two sources.

For fonts that begin with the letter "C" (nope, I'm not kidding;, they all do) download PowerPoint Viewer, which will also install a useless thing called ctfmon.exe; if seeing it run in Task Manager 24/7 drives you nuts (it drives me nuts) use this to get rid of it
For Segoe UI, download Windows Live Mail (it's not as bad as it sounds - the downloader includes five or six programs but you can uncheck them all except for Live Mail, and you never have to use it; it won't run on start up or otherwise get in your way); download link and some good tips

If I left anything off my lists (or if you'd like to debate me or each other about anything on my lists - I'm sorta democratic like that) please let me know and/or go ahead in the comment section...

location With Aesop!

starlady

As of about 12 hours and 15 minutes ago, I'm ABD.

It went great, and I had a great time. Thanks to everyone who's provided support this semester--I couldn't have done it without you, truly.

mood ecstatic

marahmarie

The good: the CD I used to reinstall the OS has all the standard games on it which of course includes Internet Reversi.

silveradept can imagine how happy this makes me; what he or she may not be able to imagine is how bad I am at it after years of not playing (which is good! moar challenge): really, terribly fucking bad. Even on the easiest games I'm like "Whut" like I've never seen the board before. Which is uh, great! Almost like having amnesia. Yeah.

edenfalling

Summary: Old Narnia went into hiding. But there are more places to hide than the wilderness. The hardest secrets to find are the ones in plain sight. (1,100 words)

( We Hold On )

---------------------------------------------

Edith and Lir live in Telmarine Beaversdam. I'm not sure what Lir's profession is. I'm inclined to say goldsmith or baker, but I have no firm commitment to either craft. I am, however, fairly sure that Bethany grows up to become the tired teacher whose students Aslan may or may not turn into pigs in Prince Caspian. :-)

mood accomplished
location ithaca, ny
xpost: http://edenfalling.livejournal.com/769466.html

dragovianknight

I will have a

darthneko of my very own.

mood excited

the_rck

It warmed up a bit today, and most of the snow melted, but Rec & Ed canceled outdoor practices today. Fortunately, the coach of Cordelia's team anticipated that this might happen and reserved the gym at his neighborhood school for an hour. It's less time than the kids would usually get and a lot less space, but it's much better than nothing. The practice started an hour later than it would have had it been outside, so Scott and Cordelia had plenty of time for dinner.

Since Scott took Cordelia along to do the grocery shopping, he bought lots of ground turkey. We've mixed it with Alfredo sauce to put on pasta, and we've made meatloaf. I'm not sure what I'll do with the remaining package tomorrow. Cordelia would love more pasta, but I'm not enthusiastic about that (plus we're out of Alfredo sauce). I'll probably brown the meat, and we can make soft tacos. I can have Scott pick up lettuce on his way home tomorrow.

Scott has to be ready to go into work early tomorrow. I'm torn-- It's awful when he has to go in at three, but if he gets up at two, calls in and doesn't have to go, his alarm goes off again at five thirty which means a broken night for me. Of course, sometimes when he doesn't have to go in, the supervisor is nice and calls at eleven to tell him he doesn't have to come in. That can't be relied on, however.

pensnest

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dsgood

I Don't Want to Be Normal. I Want to Be Healthy 04/16/14 Dan Goodman, 1720 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis MN 55414. dsgood at iphouse.com or at gmail.com. dsgoodman.blogspot.com 612-298-2354

Saturday April 5, 2014 Mnstf hosted by David Dyer-Bennett, Pamela Dean, and Lydia Nickerson.

***From Twitter:

R.L. Ripples ‏@TweetsofOld A suffragette umpired a game of baseball in California the other day. Thus the last sacred precinct of man's work has been invaded. KY1912

Tuesday April 8, 2014 Minneapolis is melting. No more snow piles taller than my head.

***An unusual fashion column in the Minnesota Daily; it recommended clothes which people might want to wear. (I'm unlikely to wear a plaid skirt, though.)

***An atheist discussing her mystical experiences, in a public radio interview: Barbara Ehrenreich, who has a book coming out (Living with a Wild God.)

***From Twitter:
Andrew Kaczynski ‏@BuzzFeedAndrew Most Vice story ever. RT @vicenews: PETA’s dream of turning Jeffrey Dahmer's home into a vega[n] restaurant is not going to happen

Thursday April 10, 2014 I was optimistic enough about weather to buy sandals at Steeple People Thrift Store.

***Adult Children Anonymous meeting.

***From Twitter:

Retweeted by Zerlina Maxwell
Caitlin Mac Neal ‏@caitlinmacneal This Arkansas free clinic is closing, citing more insured through Obamacare — they only saw 3 patients in March: http://bit.ly/1hmIL62

pourmecoffee ‏@pourmecoffee Stop marketing, marketing people. Just stop it. "Sewage treatment plant advertises as wedding venue" http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/sewage-treatment-plant-advertises-wedding-venue/nfW7K/ …

Guy Kawasaki ‏@GuyKawasaki The all-goat cover of "Game of Thrones" theme song [video] http://is.gd/mgB8ic

location Minneapolis in the Cold Waste
xpost: http://dsgood.livejournal.com/1287283.html

19_crows

Watch the North Wind Rise, Robert Graves. A poet from our time (1949) is transported years into the future, which is now a peaceful, Goddess worshipping world culture where money, technology, and wars have been eliminated and people live in rural villages and in defined social groups. I love utopia/dystopia fiction, and part of what I love is being dropped into this alternate world and figuring out how things work. This one doesn’t have that because from when he arrives, everything is explained to him (and us.) I don’t believe for a second that this culture would work; I don’t have that much faith in humanity, but it’s interesting to speculate. What made it a page turner was the interactions between the protagonist and other characters including a troublesome woman from his past who has somehow appeared in the future with him. But that sort of fizzled out and it was ultimately kind of philosophical musing about Goddess culture and good and evil, which was okay (especially because of my acquaintance with the Goddess) but eh.

Now I'm reading The Round House by Louise Erdrich and really enjoying it. About a crime on a reservation in North Dakota and the narrator, the victim's son, reacting to it. There's a lot of great stuff about family and friendship, not to mention issues about crimes that happen to Indian people.

After that I'm going to read The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths, a mystery somebody recommended.

xpost: http://19-crows.livejournal.com/189763.html

the_rck

Well that nasty stuff the dentist put on my teeth isn't helping at all. She put it all along the gum line, but that's not where it hurts. We'll see if more Gel-cam helps. I've had my morning coffee, and I won't be eating for a few hours yet, so I've got time for it (I need half an hour after I use it when I don't eat or drink anything).

Cordelia is having me braid her hair every night before she goes to bed. She heard me talking with my mother about how a braid at night can help prevent tangles. I think it's helping, that and the leave in detangler.

Yesterday, Cordelia finished a book called House of Secrets. She really loved it (it may have helped that there's a character named Cordelia in the book). The sequel is out, but neither her school library nor the public library had it. She agitated for a trip to Barnes and Noble to buy the sequel.

Scott was against it because he was exhausted from pulling carts and because it looked like he was going to have to go in early today. When he found out he didn't have to go in early, however, he decided he was up to making the trip, so Cordelia has her book. She wasn't best pleased when we expected her to pay for it herself, but she wanted it enough to shell out.

There's supposed to be soccer practice tonight, but there's still snow on the ground, so it may well be canceled. I mean, it's eighteen degrees out there right now. That's too cold for running around in shorts even if the snow disappeared. Yesterday, they announced the cancellation for all outdoor activities at a bit after nine, so I'll check the Rec & Ed website around ten and see. Of course, they may wait until later today, to see if it will warm up.

I'm not looking forward to Saturday's soccer game. The National Weather Service predicts that the high will be in the low fifties, and the game is at ten fifteen, so it won't be anywhere near that warm when the game starts. They play games in all sorts of weather, as long as there's no lightning and the turf is reasonably dry (that last is for the sake of the field. They don't want the kids ripping up the ground so that the field becomes unusable).

pensnest

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love

*curls up into a ball* Why do I always do this, put tons of pressure on myself by starting something and then getting Scared (of all things) that I won't be able to finish it properly? >_< Dammit, Ai, for all the pressure you put on yourself, Fadeaway worked out fine. Kise no Copy will be fine too. What ISN'T fine is NOT continuing. Just write the damned chapter instead of running away!

xpost: http://aiwritingfic.livejournal.com/764887.html

boxofdelights

I filed our state and federal returns, nagged Mungo into filing his first tax returns (aw!), and filed an extension request for Nixie, because after I gave up on getting her to find time to do it with me, I discovered that one of her w-2s is missing. It's for the Indian restaurant that she worked at during her internship at UIUC. It's okay, I said, just ask them for a replacement. I have no way of getting in touch with them, she said. ARGH!

The most annoying thing is that it doesn't matter, it isn't going to raise her total to the point that she would owe any taxes, but I need it anyway!

She emailed the former roommates to see if they had it.

Mungo asked how much more of a hassle his were going to be next year, assuming he gets a job in Canada. I have no idea! I assume he still won't earn enough to owe anything, but that he'll have to file returns to that effect in both countries.

xpost: http://boxofdelights.livejournal.com/242367.html

marahmarie

All morning it poured as low, heavy winds assaulted our humble three story abode yet the utilities chugged away as though nothing was happening. As I got out of bed around 11:30 the rains died down and the Internet went out; about two hours later the sun started shining and we lost the power. I was deep-cleaning the refrigerator and therefore less than completely delighted - you probably could've heard me cursing the power company from down the block.

The power company rep I reported the outage to warmly assured me we'd have power again by 4:30 - yet at 3:00, the automated phone system couldn't estimate any repair time at all. At 4:30 the automated system told us to wait until 6. At 6 it told us to wait until 7, and all because the sun suddenly shined, which apparently snapped all the lines in this county. When I called the cable company around 12, they told me the Internet would be back on by 3 - but then we lost the power at 1:30 so it didn't matter. But when the power came back on at 7, guess what? So I got back on the phone with the cable company, who told me all those little bits of information that normally fly around the house would be flying around it again by 8.

By the time the Internet came back on that didn't matter, either; we were starving from not opening the fridge all day so I had to cook dinner while Fiance Person had to run to the store. And because the power had just come back on after being off for six hours I couldn't open the fridge without risking losing all the food - also, I have nearly zero budget for buying any more of it this month - so I got down on my hands and knees in front of the fridge, opened the door from the bottom by just one tiny little crack, and inserted my hand through said crack to pull out the Italian sausage, green peppers and onions I'd been planning to fry up, anyway. Then I spent the next two hours cooking and cleaning it all up.

Then I had to do laundry because Fiance Person needs work clothes for tomorrow! And the water heater won't let you take two showers in a row (you have to space showers about three hours apart for maximum hot water and I use all the hot water every time, so yeah) so I let Fiance person go first (he has to work tomorrow so he takes priority over me, since I have exactly nothing to do tomorrow) and then I collapsed in from of the computer to write this.

Oh, and how did I spend the entire day without power? Ha. Let me describe the ways: I dusted the entire inside of the house, scrubbed the kitchen, cleaned the box fan in the living room inside and out, ate cold leftover meatloaf with potato chips for lunch while I read the paper (this was the only break I took), scrubbed the glass shower stall, scrubbed the toilet, swept 3 flights of stairs outside from top to bottom and back up, and repeatedly called the power company for updates. Fiance Person made his first trip to the store during this time after happily hand-building gaskets all day (don't ask) only to find out their power was out, too.

On his second trip to the store the trucks for the power company, the cable company and CenturyLink all passed him on the road pretty much in a row and the store hadn't even turned its computers back on so he had to wait in a line that snaked around the back of the place, which was how he came to learn everyone lost everything today. Whoever came up with today can shoot it right between the eyes because I am done with it (time to throw the laundry in the dryer...grrrrr)...

umadoshi

Where You End, Where I Begin (20625 words) by umadoshi
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Newsflesh Trilogy - Mira Grant
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Georgia Mason/Shaun Mason
Characters: Georgia Mason, Shaun Mason
Additional Tags: POV First Person, Canon Disabled Character, Pre-Canon, Adopted Sibling Incest, First Time, Community: wrisomifu, Explicit Sexual Content, Resolved Sexual Tension
Summary:

George and I both knew something had gone wrong with us; that was obvious, since what we felt for each other was so far outside the norm that the norm was barely a speck in the distance. What I couldn't see was how it would've been any different if we were blood siblings. If we were really twins, the way we frequently let people assume we are, how could that possibly make it feel less like she's part of me?

Set seven years before Feed.

This story stands on its own, but it's set some weeks after "We Dreamed a Garden" (Georgia's POV, in which she and Shaun experiment by going to junior prom with other people, don't like it much, admit their feelings for each other, and spend half the night fooling around about as thoroughly as you can without getting naked).

On Dreamwidth, you can also read the fic ( under the cut )

mood anxious

esmenet

So I finally watched the last episode of Leverage.

I

am going to be crying forever.

Oh gosh, it was perfect. It was perfect, and now it's over, and I'm dealing with all the feelings attendant upon that.

branchandroot

Cross-post from my archive.

Fandom/Arc: Have and Hold, Kuroko no Basuke
Characters/Pairings: Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kuroko Tetsuya, Kuroko/Aomine/Kagami
Summary: Kuroko decides to push Aomine a little further, and offers to spank him for breaking his collar (again). Aomine is perfectly pleased, but Kagami needs a bit more reassurance.
Meta: D/s, Porn, I-4
Wordcount: 2880

"You know," Tetsu murmured, fingers stroking over the line of Daiki's new collar, "sometimes I think you let them break just so I'll put another on you."

Daiki looked up at him, relaxed by the feeling of being collared again. "You did say that you would, as often as necessary."

The corners of Tetsu's mouth curled up faintly, and he set his fingers under Daiki's chin, keeping his head tipped back. "I did, and I will. Though I'm starting to wonder if I should punish you, when you break another one, for putting me to the trouble."

( Ring Led )

dsgood

Wednesday April 2, 2014 "Creative Criminal Activity Contest," said a poster on the U of Minnesota campus.

It was a contest for creative ways of reducing crime on campus. Not for creative ways of being criminal.

***Found a backpack I liked better than any I owned at Steeple People Thrift Store. Thought about the reasons why I shouldn't buy it. Bought it.

Thursday April 3, 2014 Spiderweb, in a cup I'd used a few hours earlier. A sign of Spring.

On the other hand, a winter storm warning.

***Comments of Comment:

Keith Lynch, 3/31/14: "Dan Goodman <dsgood@iphouse.com> wrote: 'Summary: Scientists suggest that the fossil impact humans have made on the planet is vast and unprecedented in nature -- and that there's been nothing remotely like it since the Earth formed, over four and half billion years ago.'
[Quoted from sciencedaily.com]

"I've often wondered whether it's possible that there was another technological species on our planet in the distant past. What signs should we look for?

"I'm skeptical that one can be ruled out more than one billion years ago, however. There just isn't much left from those times.

"On the other hand, there is the nuclear waste found in Africa dated to one and a half billion years ago, usually attributed to a natural nuclear reactor. Well, maybe."

My guess: If there was a previous technological civilization, any relics it left would be interpreted as having other causes.

location Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
xpost: http://dsgood.livejournal.com/1286926.html

whois

锴 angry fishtrap 狗

to remember

"When you make the finding yourself— even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light— you'll never forget it." —Carl Sagan

April 2014

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

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strange bedfellows

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STOLEN FROM TUMBLR ahahahaha

Best Practices for End-of-Service on XP and Getting Windows Vista/7/8 Fonts on XP

Best Practices For Installing and Using XP after April 8th End-of-Service Date

Vista/7/8 Fonts on XP

I PASSED :D

The bad: I had to reinstall XP today after it repeatedly froze at the Start Screen.

[Fic] "We Hold On" -- Chronicles of Narnia

In less than 24 hours

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What I'm reading, about to read

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Beware this post, for it is in blank verse.

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tax day

Whoever came up with today please make it die k thx bye

[FIC] [NEWSFLESH] "Where You End, Where I Begin"

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[Fic] Ring Led

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whois

to remember

tags

April 2014

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