if you want to say hello (or something less pleasant) get thee to the messageboard.

think about it.

the unfortunate side effect of getting the 360 back is C watching bad (but not so-bad-they're-good) fantasy movies.

i would like to un-experience every glimpse i have had of The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior.

today, UPS left the standard passive-aggressive sticky note and no package.

but hey, if you contact them by seven, you can drive yourself to their warehouse in SODO between the railroad tracks, and then stand around and wait through most of the one-hour window they give you until the package is produced.

and lo, M$ gave us a new 360 with a warranty instead of repairing our busted old one, and a month of Live for our troubles.

they did not, however, send along a power block or a/v cord.




*headdesk*




if you call the service number on the website, you go through a series of recordings that never lead you to a human. if you exhaust the automated menu, it actually says "then i can't help you".

i used their email form. they make you choose a problem from a drop-down menu. "Console will not power on" it is.

i thought i would look into renting a 360 for a day or two while we wait for repairs.

Blockbuster doesn't do it anymore.

Rent-A-Center is just creepy. first, there are no prices or terms anywhere on their website. second, the store finder is like a map of low-income neighborhoods and military bases in the region. (not-that-there's-anything-wrong-with-that, but predatory much?)

is a mess. i finished it last night, and the details are evaporating from my memory, leaving nothing but a sense of dissatisfaction.
the only thing to recommend it is that it is set in the same world as the delightful Shadow of the Wind. (and i have just stolen from you the moment of joy that comes from recognition. if i thought it outweighed the mediocrity of the rest of the experience i would be more careful.)

weekend is not going entirely as planned.

the 360 has the red ring of death. considering that ours was made in 2005, it's had a remarkable run. repairs are still cheaper than replacement, so i need to drop it at the UPS store and deal with the withdrawal. i knew we played a lot of rockband, but i didn't realize just how much we used it to stream netflix. regular television is even worse than i remembered.

and i need to get off the computer because my right eyelid is grotesquely swollen since i woke up and it's kind of hard to read right now. i suspect it's a bugbite but i'm not sure, took some benadryl and we'll see. i'm supposed to be social this afternoon. hoping to avoid the ER :/

George Tiller's death is preying on me. i don't have anything new or more articulate to say.

don't look this up before you formulate an answer. (you may know this actor from The Music Man or perhaps if you are around my age, The Last Starfighter.)

Robert Preston: gay or straight?

( my answer and the most probable truth )

i was kind of looking forward to Snowpocalypse, which brings quiet and extra snuggling. it won't be this weekend after all.

ETA: it wasn't Friday. but it did snow Saturday.

i'm writing this at siff cinema. with Bianca, doing the thing i dreamed of doing all summer.

i am the proud owner of a full series pass for 2009. i made my saving throw against bargains and did not buy any $5 leftover t-shirts. i am full of McMenamn's cheesburger and sweet potato fries. soon i will hear about the plans for more permanent siff digs at Seattle Center.

this is one of those brilliant final days before the dark is truly opressive. i walked from work through Seattle Center in the coming twilight, and the grass was bright green while the path was littered with yellow leaves. too cool for shirtsleeves, too warm for a hat. McCaw hall was full of candlelight, the lobby restaurant setting up for the dance performance tonight. there are shows at the Rep, the Intiman, and Zinzanni too, so there are people everywhere on the way to something.

at some point McMenamin's added a european table, so i sat with three other groups and read and eavesdropped. i wanted to hear more of the art (music? not sure) teacher's story about pushy goth grandma, but they needed to get to a show.

i don't know if i really want to see the film tonight, which is some French Christmas comedy. but i do feel it's my duty to pre-screen it for e_bourne since Mattieu Almaric is in it.

***

and a good thing i did. that movie, Un Conte de Noel, sucked. perhaps if it had been billed as an arty family drama with a couple laughs, i would have been prepared. we never learned more about any of the main characters, and the one who did perhaps change by the end of the film? i have no idea why. plus i had to watch a bone marrow draw. all the aisle seats were taken, so i had to sit through to the pointless Shakespeare-quoting end. in spite of all the incredible acting talent, epic fail.

but hey, i'm writing this on the bus. that's pretty cool.

i skimmed this before work this morning, and failed to get the joke. i was all bummed that no one knew about the event.

*headdesk*

so i went downstairs to the cafe (because i won't have time to go home before i have to be elsewhere tonight) seeking a light meal. and i did get a pack of fruit and cheese, which is ideal.

but i also got a cookie.

because those bastards have them on some kind of warming thing, on a cookie sheet, with a spatula. warm cookies. i am powerless.

this does not bode well for the future.

Firefox 3 officially releases today.

i signed up to be part of Download Day, a push to set a Guinness record for software downloaded in 24 hours. start time 10am PST.

i'm hoping this is a sign of success: i can't get to mozilla.com or .org, firefox.com or .org, spreadfirefox...

*sigh*

EDIT 12:46pm: success!

last night i met C at Whole Foods for dinner.

after dinner i bought 80% organic hypoallergenic moisturizer that has not been tested on animals, and an almond gelato.

then we went to REI because i had a member coupon and it's their big sale. i wanted C to get a Sigg bottle because of the bisphenol A scare, but he didn't like any of the patterns, so we decided to look for one online. we looked at travel backpacks (still trying to decide if we're going to europe with the rolling carryons or not). i bought a bunch of Smartwool socks because they were on sale for less than half price. C got pants with articulated knees and a hemp/cotton blend shirt.

we were able to agree that no human needs a $450 unlined windbreaker. but C looked so good in it i actually thought about how to budget it and i think it was then i realized that i had to write this post.

i picked up my film festival pass today. the picture isn't bad.

i wrote this post and then looked up the links, not the other way around.

ETA: a comma for scarlettina.

tonight i learned that i've been doing everything right, but old lady Danube's model is physically incapable of booting from an external drive or firewire target disk mode. i wish i had found the article that ended with the all-important "note:" a couple days ago. no disaster, just no upgrade. bummer.

Russia doesn't have room for space tourists anymore. nooooooooooooooo!

note to self: moisturizer is reactivated by sweat. might as well coat your mat in olive oil.

will follow with more substance later, but Paprika was delightful, and the music didn't suck.

here are a couple sample tracks.

acquiring the whole album was much easier than i thought, since after getting sinthrex to poke around, it turns out that it's on amazon. *headdesk* should arrive in a couple days :)

my phone has been jacked up since the evening before yesterday. i apologize to anyone who has tried to call me in that time frame. although i don't know if anyone reading this has...

i had a truly wonderful weekend, in spite of the cold, but all i can do is cry.

i'm pretty sure that LiftPort is done for. i'm not sure that i've written about them before, but they are both romantic and practical in a way that fires my imagination. Michael Laine is a charismatic man, (i've seen him speak several times now, at SFM, Norwescon, etc) but he constantly tempers his enthusiasm with honesty. they've actually built a prototype elevator robot. they've done trials. they're working to get the materials science up to speed to produce what they need. they've thought it through so carefully that they know the project will take 24 years, they're...out of money.

they're being sued. and Laine is losing the office building he owned before he started this crazy thing. a real press release is supposed to happen tomorrow.

i would give up the lovely new library across the street for a space elevator. i say that because saying that i don't give a fuck about vaccinating kids in Africa is pointless - it has no impact on me. i love that library, i use it often, and i know that the Gates foundation paid for a lot of it. these people deserve to have a philanthropist on their side, someone who wants to be remembered for something more than how they made their money. it's not me (or it can't be in time) but it has to be someone. i've mentioned here before that the first $20 million of my imaginary lottery winnings would go to sending me into space with the Russians. really that money should be venture capital or something like the X-Prize. humanity must get its nose out of its fucking navel and start getting off the planet before we destroy it. where is an eccentric billionaire when you need one? Mr. Allen?