And here’s a word that I dislike.

proselytize verb

1. To induce someone to convert to one’s own religious faith. 2. To induce someone to join one’s own political party or to espouse one’s doctrine.

What is most irksome, is when people who do proselytize, don’t see that as what they’re doing.

And if I haven’t mentioned it, I love my American Heritage Word-a-Day dictionary. Too bad I don’t care for their on-line dictionary.

Okay, I applied Michael’s php file to the front page, so now you can view a variety of flower pr0n.

At least until I change the front page again.

There’s nothing like letting the big boss know what a tremendous geek you are.

The big boss came down with some questions about screen captures, and it was easier to just have her log into her e-mail from my computer, because my computer has screen capture software and photo-editing software that I’m comfortable using.

We get the screen captures and she e-mails them to herself, at which point we hear Michael Dorn’s voice say, “Captain! Incoming message!”

I would really have thought that my e-mail alert would have not worked for her account.

Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint

I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read “The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep” in Snow White, Blood Red, and from there been sucked in.), perhaps in a “Year’s Best in Fantasy and Horror.” Or I may have just seen the cover and snatched up the book.

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First off, I am delighted that I finally got the new Corel Photo Paint. It only took six months, but I was finally able to uninstall my personal copy. I did a bit of playing around to familarize myself with the new software–no major changes, but things seem a lot easier. Hence, the new image on the main page.

Second note, the Washington Post apparently needs some basic anatomy lessons.

Michael and I have been amused by a couple that has been coming to the rec center for the past couple weeks. And I use the term couple, however, for reasons that will soon become apparent, I don’t believe that they are actually a couple.

They arrive at about seven carrying their gym bags, walk to the machines, and stand there and talk. Well, let me clarify. The woman rants and complains, and the guy stands there and listens. Once they stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stood there for at least twenty minutes. One day last week they were standing there when we left the track, then we went to do the weight machines, and then we showered and dressed, and when we got out to the car, we looked up and they were still standing there talking.

Mind you, the machines they are standing near are right beside the track. If they took two steps, they could walk on the track while they were talking, and actually get some exercise. Which is why we find the whole thing amusing. They go to the gym, and then don’t actually exercise.

I bet they leave every day feeling all proud of themselves thinking, “I spent two whole hours at the track today!”

Now, why do I think that they aren’t actually a couple? (Everyone who’s married can chime in here.) Because he’s actually standing there listening to her gripe.

How inappropriate:

impervious \im-PER-vee-us\ adjective
1 *a : not allowing entrance or passage : impenetrable b : not
capable of being damaged or harmed
2 : not capable of being affected or disturbed

Think of all the bad words you know, and then riff on different variations.

Grrr. I have managed to destroyed my watch, and I have no clue how. I went to check the time before I took my lunch walk and the face is smashed.

Mind you, this watch has bene in my posession for a less than a year.

I’m hoping it’s still under warranty, although going to the mall was not what I originally had for my agenda for this evening.

I HATE not having a watch. It makes me feel naked.

So now I’m sitting at work all mad because I busted my watch AND because I’m feeling all naked.

(I would like to note, however, that I am not, in fact, naked. I am indeed wearing undergarments and pants and a shirt and a sweater and socks and boots. Just so you know.)

Captain Alatriste (1996) Arturo Perez-Reverte
translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

My mistake came in reading this after reading Steven Brust. Following one swashbuckling adventure with another is bound to lead to comparisons, and as there are few whose writing I love more than Steven Brust, anything else is going to come across as weak by comparison.

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Anyone else read Steven Brust?

If so, I’ve been annoyed by something I can’t figure out.

To wit: who the hell is the Warlord during the Vlad books?

At the end of Sethra Lavode, Sethra Lavode resigns as Warlord and is replaced by Sethra the Younger. The next book in the timeline is Jhereg, and that plot revolves around who is going to be Warlord when the Dragon Emperor takes the throne, and as much time as Sethra is spending at Castle Black, I don’t think she could still be warlord. Then at the end of Jhereg The House of Dragon decrees that Sethra the Younger can never be Emperor or Warlord, but doesn’t mention her having to step down.

So who replaced Sethra the Younger as Warlord between Sethra Lavode and Jhereg?

I’d also ask why, except that I think the answer is pretty self-evident.

And yes, I know, that’s a pretty ridiculous question to be asking, all things considered. Except that I really don’t want to do my Survey Methods homework, and pondering Dragaera is nice distraction.

If you read fantasy or history, you may be interested in this article on What Did Historical Swords Weigh?

From ordinary hands-on experience we know full well that swords were not excessively heavy nor did they weigh 10 or 15 pounds and more. There is only so many ways we can repeat how these weapons were not at all heavy or ungainly. Remarkably, while one would think a crucial piece of information as the weight of swords would be of great interest to arms curators and arms historians, there is no major reference book that actually lists the weights of different types. Perhaps this vacuum of documented evidence is part of the very problem surrounding the issue. However, there are a few respected sources that do give some valuable statistics. For example, the lengthy catalog of swords from the famed Wallace Collection Museum in London readily lists dozens of fine specimens among which it is difficult to find any weighing in excess of 4 pounds. Indeed, the majority of specimens, from arming swords to two-handers to rapiers, weigh much less than three pounds.

Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Medieval swords were indeed light, manageable, and on average weighed less than four pounds.

(via A Sweet Familar Dissonance)

Star Trek Quiz ahoy!

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Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust

If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he did? What was the involvement of those who called Adron friend. What about the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode?

All of these questions, and more, does this book answer, as well as the question of, what happens to those for who we have come to have interest, even feelings, and by this I mean Khaavren and Aerich and Tazendra and Pel.

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9:00 am Tuesday morning.

That’s Michael’s interview.

Keep your fingers crossed.

ADDENDUM the First:
Michael says he thinks the interview went well, and he liked the two women who interviewed him.