Erin's Archives

3:51 PM by Erin
Something To Look Forward To

One of my favourite authors of all time, Douglas Coupland will be in Seattle at the Elliot Bay Book Company on Tuesday September 25th for a reading and book signing in support of his newest book All Families Are Psychotic. Which I have decided is just the coolest title for a book. Even if the book sucks (which it won't because it's Douglas Coupland and everything he writes is great) it still gets a ton of points for the title.

I'm very excited about this as last time he was doing book signings and readings across North America I missed him. I will not miss him this time. He's been one of my favourite authors since I read Generation X back in the early 90's. I just love the way he writes and his views on pop culture and the world. I can't wait.

Friday, September 14, 2001

12:02 PM by Erin
So over the past few days I've been trying to stay away from the news and stuff. It's not because I don't care about what's going on, because I really do. It's just that when things are going on that I have no control over I get worried. I think of the worst possible situation and replay it over and over and over again in my head. I guess distancing myself from what's going on is my way of dealing with things. I'm not trying to pretend like nothing's happening I'm just trying to get a little peace of mind for myself. I know that if I pay too much attention to what's going on I'll probably get really freaked out and depressed and I'm sure on top of everything no one wants to deal with me in that situation. So I've been reading a lot. I can actually turn off my mind for awhile and fall into what's going on in the book. It's a good escape. Also, I've been cooking and baking. I like just being able to turn on some music and focus on doing something and get it done and not really think about anything else. It's times like these I wish I had a job. But unfortunately, I don't so I have to come up with other things to keep me occupied. Anyway, I don't want to pretend like nothing's going on but sometimes I like to escape and think about other things for awhile. It's just how I deal with things.

Thursday, September 13, 2001

9:07 AM by Erin
Happy Birthday, Shawn.

I hope you have the best day possible. I'm so glad to have you in my life. I know that I was never as happy before as I am with you. You are all I could ever want. You're the best husband, friend, everything a girl could ask for.

I love you, baby. Always.

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

1:32 PM by Erin
I've been sitting here staring at the computer for the past little while trying to think of something to write. I feel like I should say something, but nothing is coming to mind. I can't help but think of what went on yesterday and what will come as a result. I just hope it's nothing too drastic. For every action there's a reaction. I'm just hoping that there's a peaceful way to end this so it doesn't go on and on and on like a vicious circle.

In this day and age we weren't prepared for something like this to happen. When my parent's were younger there was always a possibility that there would be a war or something and they were more prepared for it to happen than I was. In school they didn't talk about things like this happening because it's just not supposed to happen. I wasn't taught to expect something like this or how to react to it. I don't know what to do. I feel scared. I worry that this is not the end and just the beginning of something even worse. I hope I'm wrong. I don't want to have to worry about people I love and care for all the time. I don't want to have to worry about whether it's safe to be in this country. I don't want to have to worry about the possibility of something even worse than yesterday happening here or anywhere else in the world.

I can't fathom how there are people in this world with such little respect for human life to do what they did. I can't believe there are people celebrating the events that occured over the past little while in this country. As many have said already it's like a movie, it doesn't feel real.

This is something that will be in the minds of people all over the world for the rest of their lives. As my father said "Fanatics and terrorism will always exist as it has in the past....The key is for us and the future generations to learn from this horrible event."

"..everything has changed, and the world will never go back to the way it used to be, before the madness began, at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time." Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Monday, September 10, 2001

12:51 PM by Erin
So we finally got a cat. I swear adopting a cat is (almost) as bad as adopting a child. We figured it wouldn't take very long, go in, pick out the cat we want, pay the fee and then we're on our way. Well, that wasn't the case. We got there around 1pm-ish and started looking around at the cats. There were a ton of cats.. like three rooms full. We found one that we were rather interested in so we found someone who worked there and asked what we needed to do. Well, we had to fill out some application and then be put on "the list" to have an interview and get the chance to take her out of her cage and spend some time with her. So we did that and had to wait about an hour before our name was called. We had our little interview, which went over very well and then we got to take the cat out of her cage and play with her a bit in this kitchen area. It was rather loud in there because there were dogs barking in their kennels so she was pretty freaked out but she seemed quite cute so we decided to take her. I figured that after we'd decided on the cat that we wanted all we had to do was pay and get the hell out of there. Of course, it wasn't that easy. We then had to be put back on "the list" and our name would be called in "a few minutes". Well, "a few minutes" was more like an hour and I was getting rather bored. I HATE waiting. So finally we got called and we filled out more paperwork and paid the fee and got a bunch of cat stuff and after all was said and done we finally got out of there with the cat at about 4:30ish. Anyway, the cat. Her name is Sadie, though I've managed to come up with some pretty silly nicknames for her such as Sadie Masochist, Marquis de Sadie and Sadie-licious to name a few. She's a 4 year old calico cat, black, orange and white. She's quite playful and meows a lot (especially in the middle of the night). Anyway, I'm glad to have a cat again. I had to leave my two cats behind with my mother when I moved to Montreal a few years ago and as much as I would love to have them again I don't really want to put them through the big move to the States (plus my mother refuses to give them back). It's nice having Sadie around, now I don't feel so alone during the day.

Other than the cat a lot was accomplished over the weekend. We bought Shawn a monitor for his birthday, got groceries and rented movies. I dyed my hair, and now it's this bright red/pink Strawberry Shortcake kinda colour. We made chicken souvlaki like we'd been craving for the longest time. I finally got some good sushi from the coolest grocery store in West Seattle whos name I can't remember at the moment. I've been craving sushi for a long time but Shawn isn't really into it so I don't want to force him into going to a sushi bar with me. Anyway, I got some rolls that were almost exactly what I wanted and it was great. Anyway..

I am a very happy girl.

Friday, September 07, 2001

1:27 PM by Erin
I used to keep a pen and paper journal. Actually, I've done this a number of times over the course of my life. I kept it for myself and wrote things that I was thinking and feeling and doing that I didn't want to share with anyone else but didn't necessarily want to keep bottled up inside. After writing in it for awhile I would get all freaked out that someone would find it and read it. I have a hard time trusting people sometimes. My parents lived on the outskirts of town in a big house with a big backyard which was perfect for bonfires. So every now and then I would get together all the things I'd written and things that I didn't want people to see and sit out back burning them. I did this a lot when I was younger. I would completely clean my room and get rid of everything I didn't want anyone else to read/see. As I got older I didn't even bother keeping a journal anymore because it made me too paranoid.

Then one year for my birthday a friend gave me a really pretty journal which had really pretty recycled paper in it so I figured I'd try and start writing again. I got right back into keeping a journal, writing down things I didn't want to share with anyone else. It was quite therapudic for me and I didn't even worry about anyone else reading it because I was living by myself and I trusted the people that were in my life. Big mistake. I was seeing this guy at the time and I thought I could trust him because he was just that type of person. He could make a blind man believe that he could actually see. He had me believeing all kinds of things. Anyway, sometimes he would bring things up that I'd only written about in my journal but I thought that he was intuative and could actually tell what was going on even though I didn't tell anyone. Plus, after I wrote in my journal I didn't go back and read it, it wasn't a way for me to remember things. I was just a means of getting things out so I didn't dwell on them. Anyway, I started to be suspicious about the guy reading my journal after too many coincidences, so I went back and read it. And much to my horror some of the things he said to me he quoted almost exactly from what I'd written. I was kind of curious how he managed to figure out so much about me that I didn't tell anyone and then it all fit. I, of course, confronted him with it on several occasions but he always denied it. From that point on my trust in him went completely out the window. I couldn't believe that someone would actually do that to me, violate me in that way, especially someone who was supposed to care about me.

Ever since then I haven't even really thought about keeping a journal anymore. But lately I've been kinda thinking about people. I mean, there are people who know me well but even those people don't know EVERYTHING about me. They don't know everything that I think and feel and do. It makes me wonder how well I really know people. I guess we only really get to see the sides of them that they're willing to share. Thinking about this has made me wish I had a place to get everything out. I know that I wouldn't be able to start a journal again, not because I don't trust Shawn because I do, I know that he wouldn't go out of his way to read things I'd written so that he can manipulate me. But I know that I wouldn't be able to write as freely as I used to. I know that I would censor myself, just in case someone came across it. So it would be pointless.

Anyway, there isn't really much point to all this, I just needed to get it out. It's been on my mind lately and it's been kinda bothering me. I mean, I do have THIS (*shows of Slightly North in a Vannah White-esque kinda way*) but it's just not the same. This isn't for me. This is for the masses. I mean, I suppose I could write more personal stuff on here but then I'd be losing a piece of myself that I don't think I'm ready to give away, especially to just anyone who comes across this site.

C'est tout.

Wednesday, September 05, 2001

12:36 PM by Erin
Shawn and I watched the movie The Jackal the other night. It was quite the interesting movie but the thing I liked about it the most was that parts of it were filmed in Montreal. It was nifty to be watching a movie and see places I've been. Towards the end of the movie one of the scenes was filmed in the Metro and it was at one of the stations that was like three stops away from my apartment. They showed the spot where I used to sit waiting for my metro after switching from one of the other lines. At that point in the movie I got all excited and started almost yelling "That's exactly where I used to sit on my way home!!" It was neat to see and reminded me of home.

Actually a lot of movies are filmed in Montreal. I had a number of friends who were extras on all kinds of movies. After I finished school I was going to sign up with a bunch of different agencies and see if I could get in any movies, but I ended up moving here instead. It became a regular occurence to see movie trailers and cameras and stuff all over the city and after my first few weeks of living there I didn't even pay attention anymore. ("Oh, looks like they're filming another movie, AGAIN.") And seeing "movie stars" on the streets or in a club was nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently early one morning when my friends and I were at this after hours club called Stereo we (literally) ran into Eddie Murphy. Mark and I had been sitting by the stairs making fun of just about everyone (cause that's the type of people we were) and then we saw all these big guys in suits. So we started calling them "The Suits" and made up some story of some kind about them. Knowing us at that moment, it was probably pretty funny. Anyway, we decided that we needed to go outside and get some fresh air so we made our way over to the stairs. But "The Suits" had managed to get in our way and were blocking the stairs. We were none too impressed so we pushed our way past them and ran outside. There was apparently a lot of commotion going on but we were too interested in what we were doing to pay attention to anything else. Shortly after we got outside "The Suits" came running out after us and into a waiting car. Upon reaching what we decided was an appropriate level of "fresh air" in our systems we made our way back in the club. As we came up the stairs some cracked out kid came running up to us all excited like shouting "Do you realize who that was?? Do you realize who was just in the club?? Do you realize WHO YOU JUST ABOUT PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS?!?!" And we were all "umm.. no" and crack boy procedes to yell "EDDIE MURPHY!" We just kinda looked at him like "get off the drugs, boy" and proceded to find our friend Steph and get some candy and then go back to where we were sitting. Later on, we found out that Eddie Murphy was actually in Montreal filming a movie and was at Stereo that night. We found this rather amusing and laughed about it for weeks to come. Another time I was at school and L.L. Cool J and Chris Klein (the jock-boy from American Pie) were filming a movie just down the street. So we went down to check it out because I wanted to go up to L.L. and say "Mama Said Knock You Out" and see what he'd say. Needless to say I didn't say that to him when I ran into him, but I though it, dammit! Anyway, after talking to L.L. for a few minutes he had to go back to filming but every time after he walked past me he'd like pat me on the arm or something. And I was all thinking in my head "Come on L.L., I don't really think you're THAT cool".

Anyway, my point is, a lot of movies are filmed in Montreal. Sometimes it was fun to play around with the "stars" and make them think I was actually a "fan", it made my life slightly more interesting.

Monday, September 03, 2001

2:50 PM by Erin
It's funny how as soon as it became September it started to feel like fall. I love fall, I would have to say it's my favourite time of year. I don't know, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was born in the fall, but I think it has more to do with the fact that it's not too hot (like summer) yet not too cold (like winter [though apparently the winter's around here aren't too bad as it hardly ever snows]). Another reason I'm glad it's fall time is because that means the kids have to go back to school (no more screaming, yelling children running around the area, no more ice cream truck man and less lag on battle.net while playing DiabloII).

Anyway, Shawn took Friday off as he has to work today (poor boy) so we went shopping. We ended up buying Gia and Snatch and we were quite impressed that we managed to find The New Legend of Shaolin, Hard Core Logo and Tromeo & Juliet as they're not the easiest movies to find. So that night we stayed up late watching all of them. It was very cute.

Other than that nothing much is new. I've been entertaining myself by playing a lot of DiabloII in the past few days. I go through phases when I can play for hours and hours and hours and then I won't touch it for like a month or so but I always end up going back. It's fun, cheap entertainment. Dan finally bought a copy of DiabloII now all I have to do is convince him to get the expansion and start playing on battle.net so I can PK him and take all his stuff. *evil grin*

Wednesday, August 29, 2001

3:15 PM by Erin
I'm in a super good mood today. I got some information earlier today that put my mind at ease about some things I've been worrying about lately. I feel as if a giant weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I think that this will help my sleeping habits and mood. I won't be lying awake late at night worrying about things anymore because I've been told (by a relaible source) that there isn't anything to worry about. Yay! I should have made the phone call I made today a lot sooner, but I was putting it off because it was freaking me out.

I worry too much about things sometimes. I don't know why I do it and it's annoying. But I just don't want to go through life with rose-coloured glasses on thinking that all is well and all will work out and stuff. People like that bother me. I know too many people like that and I don't want to be one of them. But then again I don't enjoy being on the opposite end of the scale worrying way too much about things. I guess it all comes down to changing the way I think about things and the way I view things.

Anyway, I'm in a good mood and I'm not going to let anything ruin it. I've been downloading songs I used to listen to when I was in high school and dancing around the house singing and just being happy. I like feeling this way. I can't help but smile today. I hope this lasts for awhile.

Monday, August 27, 2001

1:35 PM by Erin
I've come up with a list of things to do over the next little while to keep myself from getting bored.. and here they are (in no particular order):

- Write letters to old friends I haven't talked to in awhile.
- Write to Rev N0rb of Boris the Sprinkler and MRR fame in an effort to score some free stuff and/or merely to entertain myself.
- Try to find as many of Rev N0rb's MRR columns as I can (both on the internet and in print).
- Finish reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stepenson.
- Finish Super Mario 3 already (dammit!).
- Play around with Director/Shockwave.
- Write "Thank You" cards out to everyone who sent us a card/gift for the wedding.
- Play more Diablo II.
- Find new things to cook/bake.
- Sort through all Shawn's CDs that are not in the correct cases and put them where they belong.
- Dye my hair.
- Write.
- Come up with a plan to STOP THE MUSIC emanating from the damn Ice Cream Truck that comes by here at least two or three times a day.

Shawn's Archives

6:45 AM by Shawn
Found vollmondlicht.com this morning. (via ref logs)

Google translates it to:

"Good Web Design
Hat off before one the most beautiful weblogs the last time: Slightly North OF Tomorrow abbreviated SNoT Cleanly solve composition for 2 Web log recorders and new Beetle find I anyway class - Reader wanted!"

Cool, thanks! :)

Sunday, September 16, 2001

11:03 AM by Shawn
fuck. fuck. fuck.

Fuck you RIAA!

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

3:30 PM by Shawn
America: The Good Neighbor

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair a Canadian Television commentator. What follows is the full text of his broadcast.

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles.

You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.

Stand proud, America!

3:02 PM by Shawn
Here in Seattle, I guess a lot of people are feeling the pain of yesterday's events. However, most of us are so removed from it, we really haven't felt the weight of it yet. So I guess in that light what I just heard really really scares me. All day, the woman who sits near me has been listening to 710KIRO. Right now they are sort of taking calls from the public in between updates from CBS news, trying to hear how people are trying to cope with everything right now. So they take a call from a guy who's brother-in-law is one of the firefighters who are currently unaccounted for. This guy was not thinking rational thoughts. He is basically calling for the heads of our government and the heads of whoever organized these attacks. He wants blood. The radio finally had to cut this guy off because his language was no longer acceptable for public radio.

Now, on one hand I can see where this guy is coming from. He just lost his brother-in-law, his sister just lost her husband, and her kids just lost their father. This guy is looking for someone, ANYONE, to be accountable for his death. It could be his boss, his neighbor, the government, or terrorists. I don't think at this point he cares who it is. His mind is trying to grasp this whole image and make some sense out of why all of this is happening. He wants a reason so he can come to terms with it in his own mind, and be able to move on to helping his sister and her kids cope with their loss.

On the other hand, his reaction scares me to death. What if our government, or worse the American public, decide to adopt this thinking. We will quickly bomb the fuck out of something, ANYTHING, in order to get a quick revenge. Should the public lose faith in how the government is handling this situation, who knows what is going to happen. The hate this guy is harboring is exactly what these terrorists want. The want the American public to feel what they have been going through. They want the American public to be divided against each other. The worst part of all this are the uneducated people out there who are harassing their neighbors, fellow mass transit passengers, customers, and friends simply because they LOOK Arab. I guess someone needs to come out and say this: NOT ALL PEOPLE WHO "LOOK" LIKE THEY "MIGHT" COME FROM THE MIDDLE EAST ARE GUN TOTING TERRORISTS WHO VIEW AMERICANS AS POWER HUNGRY GODLESS PIG DOGS!!! My heart goes out to Jish today. I totally forgot what he might have to go through in the next while because of this. Because I don't see Jish as a nationality. I see Jish as a friend, regardless of his background, heritage, skin color, or beliefs. Some people are just so uneducated they don't realize there are more then just terrorists in the Middle East. Some of these same people went into the Gulf War to help liberate Kuwait. Um, what the fuck were the people in Kuwait? They sure as hell were not chinese. Ugh, I'm not even going to go off about that right now.

Personally I think the American government is going to handle things a bit more calmly. Even though I caught a hint of wishful revenge in Powell's tone of voice today as he addressed the media, I think (and hope) the government is going to handle things a bit better. I think they are going to find that bin Laden was behind this. Further I think if they do find it was him, the government is going to try and get Afghanistan to give him up before they resort to violence. Should Afghanistan admit that they are harboring bin Laden and will not give him up, I think there is going to be hell to pay. Also on the plate is the executive order against tactical assassinations performed by the US. Should that order be reversed, Castro better run for fucking cover fast. Because after they are done killing off all the threats in the Middle East, someone in the CIA is going to realize they now have a political green light to off Castro.

Big things will come of this terrorist act. Lets just all hope one of those big things is not war.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

8:38 AM by Shawn
Scratch that... both towers are gone. All aircraft in the country is grounded, except for military fighters over Washington DC. Even Canadian airports are now closing as well. American Airlines is holding a press confrence this morning because one of their planes crashed into Camp David (the presidential vacation spot) as well this morning. New Yorkers are being hearded outside of Manhattan onto the other side of Canal street. However, they can't go anywhere. All bridges and tunnels have been sealed. You can not leave New York City. Nor can you get in. Early reports are speculating the death toll could be as much as 30,000 people. And, as I was typing this I just heard on National Public Radio that although planes crashed into the tops of the buildings, there must have been some other kind of explosive a bit later to level both towers the way they did. Also, 2 American Airlines planes were confirmed by American Airlines to have been hijacked killing at least 164 passengers as well as the hijackers. One into the WTC south tower, and the other into Camp David.

Personally I think someone is going to get bombed back to the dark age should the government find out who exactly is responsible. Think about it. When Pearl Harbor has attacked, it was just a remote military base in the south Pacific. These attacks this morning are at very symbolic national landmarks. The World Trade Center is the prominant symbol of the stock market and economy of the US. Camp David, the presidential retreat. The Pentagon, home of the CIA. Western PA, a large plane has crashed at a small airport that doesn't normally handle large commercial aircraft. Someone is sending a message, and they have been planning this for quite a while. The first thing I thought of was the McVay issue. Now though, I'm not sure. Either way, the media is having a field day with this, and some are even saying "we are now at war." I hate the media.

Here in Seattle, the Bank of America tower has been closed. At least I don't have to worry about Bryan and James all day.

7:28 AM by Shawn
I'm not going to provide a link, because all you really have to do is go to ANY news site to read about it. 2 planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York this morning. First a small commuter plane followed very swiftly by a 767 who's flight came from Boston. A few minutes later, another small commuter plane crashed into the Pentagon. And it took Bush all of 20 minutes to declair this is a terrorist attack. The first major attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor.

45 minutes after the second plane crashed into the Trade Center, the south tower collapsed. Imagine what the New York skyline is going to look like with only 1 WTC Tower. Creepy.

Sunday, September 09, 2001

12:40 PM by Shawn
Well, in about 20 minutes we are off to Bellevue to the Humane Society. We are going to adopt an adult cat. Female one (because they are nicer). Erin says she will know which one she wants when she sees it.

Better then getting a dog though.

Thursday, September 06, 2001

8:59 AM by Shawn
TOASTER: Howdy doodly do! How's it going? I'm Talkie -- Talkie Toaster, your chirpy breakfast companion. Talkie's the name, toasting's the game. Anyone like any toast?
LISTER: Look, _I_ don't want any toast, and _he_ (indicating KRYTEN) doesn't want any toast. In fact, no one around here wants any toast. Not now, not ever. NO TOAST.
TOASTER: How 'bout a muffin?
LISTER: OR muffins! OR muffins! We don't LIKE muffins around here! We want no muffins, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, baguettes or bagels, no croissants, no crumpets, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no hot-cross buns and DEFINITELY no smegging flapjacks!
TOASTER: Aah, so you're a waffle man!
LISTER: (to KRYTEN) See? You see what he's like? He winds me up, man. There's no reasoning with him.
KRYTEN: If you'll allow me, Sir, as one mechanical to another. He'll understand me. (Addressing the TOASTER as one would address an errant child) Now. Now, you listen here. You will not offer ANY grilled bread products to ANY member of the crew. If you do, you will be on the receiving end of a very large polo mallet.
TOASTER: Can I ask just one question?
KRYTEN: Of course.
TOASTER: Would anyone like any toast?
KRYTEN: Didn't you HEAR what I just said?
TOASTER: Yes, but I thought you might have changed your mind in the meantime.
LISTER: You see? You see what he's like?
KRYTEN: (Exasperated) We haven't changed our mind!
LISTER: NO TOAST!
TOASTER: But I am a toaster. It is my /raison d'etre/. I toast, therefore I am. If you don't want any toast, why did you repair me?
LISTER: Yeah, why did you repair him?
KRYTEN: He's a guinea pig for a technique called "Intelligence Compression." His AI chips were very badly damaged in the accident.
TOASTER: But that was no accident! That was first-degree toastercide!

Wednesday, August 29, 2001

5:58 PM by Shawn
This whole week (and part of last) I have been progamming Wireless Access Points for a large grocery distribution center in Bellevue. Actually, last week I was in Spokane. Anyway, here in Bellevue they put me up in one of their meeting rooms so I could spread out and do my job. Quite nice of them. This room had a TV in one of the corners, and seeing as I had 130 units to program and each one took over 6 minutes. I had a lot of free time on my hands. In small 5 minute chunks. So I watched a lot of TV. However, the system they have only allows local channels and national news networks. So i watched a lot of boring TV.

Today though, I watched something out of the normal. For the last 2 days I stayed mostly with MSNBC and heard the name "Condit" more times then I ever needed to hear in my life. So today i turned to some channel called Tech TV. I should have done this days ago. This channel was pretty sad to say the best. It was a bunch of younger (I'd say mid 20's) people talking about new technology. The thing that really got me though, was some segment where they took calls from around the country live on their show. One guy from Maine called in to ask if he should have the little switch on his power supply set to "115 or 230." Ummm, people this retarded shouldn't own a fucking computer. He later went on to say as he was "messing with his computer" (why??) he had it on his lap and was turning it over when he heard something inside moving around. His question was, should he turn the computer on or take it in somewhere to get service. Easy enough question to answer I thought. Oh how wrong I was. The idiot on the show told the guy not to turn his computer on, then asked the guy if he had a digital camera. Mr. Maine confirmed. Idiot show boy then asked the guy to carefully open up his computer, take a picture of the inside, and then email the picture to him at idiotboy@techtv.com. My jaw dropped.

Didn't he just tell Mr. Maine not to turn his computer on? Mr. Maine sat there for a minute. You could actually HEAR him thinking it through. He finally uttered, "um, but I can't turn my computer on." Idiot Boy stood there for a second, then quipped out, "so, don't you have 2 computers like everyone else?"

I turned the channel at this point. The really sad thing, Idiot Boy most likely makes a hell of a lot more money then I do.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

9:19 PM by Shawn
I'm trying to remember the name of the band that did a pretty funny song that made fun of goth music and the Sisters of Mercy. All I can really remember about it is they chanted "black" and "death" a lot in it.

Anyone remember the name of the song or the artist? email me.