I sent Michael an e-mail with the subject I WANT TO DO THIS!!! followed by a link to this page

His response?

“I will not bail you out of jail.”

Jeesh. He’s no fun at all.

bricolage \bree-koh-LAHZH\
noun
Construction achieved by using whatever comes to hand; also : something constructed in this way

Which immediately made me think of Office Bricolage.

Happy Monday!

So, we watched King Arthur today (I’m really liking this Netflix thing) and I have to say it annoyed me, although not for all the reasons that I saw in the bad reviews. After all, King Arthur is a myth, so I didn’t mind them playing around with the story (after all, I have lots of books that are different takes on the Arthurian legend).

But they did two things that really irked me. First, was to not have Cai, Arthur’s foster brother. But that’s a small thing. So whatever.

Far more annoying was the characters they killed off in the final battle. Of all the knights that could have died, how come they chose only to kill Lancelot and Tristan? I mean, Lancelot and Guinevere is as much a part of Arthurian legend as Excalibur. Seems strange to have ignored that bit. And then there’s Tristan. I mean, we have an OPERA about Tristan and Isolde and King Mark, as well as folklore and tales regarding their affair.

I mean really, to have only those two perish, while the rest of the knights live? Maybe I’m just overly suspicious, but it really seems they were trying to erase the idea of adultery and King Arthur’s knights, by killing off only these knights who were infamous for their love affairs with the wrong women. (And by killing off Lancelot before Arthur’s marraige with Guinevere. Just in case.)

Well, it should once again be safe for vampires to walk around Morgantown during the day.

OH MY GOD! THERE’S A GIANT BALL OF FIRE IN THE SKY! IT’S AN ASTEROID! IT’S A METEROR! WE’RE ALL GOING TO…

Oh.

Wait.

It’s the sun. It’s been so long I didn’t recognize it.

If I hadn’t just woken up from a nap, I’m sure I would be able to come up with a fantastic poster: Motivator

Possibly even better than Demotivators.

(via Whatever)

Rearranging bookshelves requires a will of iron.

Unfortunately, when it comes to books, I have a will of aluminum foil.

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During a break in the rain, I took a few minutes to get some more flower pr0n.

Pansy, Bearded iris, and Broom, all for your viewing pleasure.

My broom is still looking rough. The early snow we got last fall bent many of the stems. But other than that the plant looks great, and I love the color of the flowers.

In case you were considering a visit to Morgantown…
(more…)

Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross

Reading the T. F. Banks books put me in the mood for another Victorian mystery, and lucky for me, I had one waiting here to read.

Julian Kestrel is a dandy. He’s making his mark on London society by being a sharp dresser, and the perfect gentleman–even if he doesn’t actually seem to be a gentleman.

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Hellblazer: Original Sins (1987) Jamie Delano

So. Well.

I first came across Constantine in the Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, when Constantine helps Morpheus get his bag of sand back. He was a strange character, and I wasn’t sure about him. But I was curious.

Read More about Hellblazer: Original Sins

Links to various sites that have photographs of abandoned places.

I don’t care whether anyone else finds this interesting or not, I just wanted to save this link so I can come back and look at these sites later.

(via A Sweet Familiar Dissonance)

Decided to write a letter to the county clerk about the issues I had with the primary. On the advice of my boss, I cc’d it to the WV Secretary of State as well as the Diminishing Pest. We’ll see what comes of it.

11 May 2006

Michael A. Oliverio
Monongalia County Courthouse
243 High Street
Morgantown, WV 26505

Dear Mr. Oliverio,

I am writing because I have several concerns and complaints regarding the primary election on May 9th. Specifically, I have concerns about the electronic ballot, and also the set-up in my precinct, the 16th precinct, in the Morgantown Church of the Brethren.

Regarding the ballot itself, unless already designated in the system, I was unable to write in a candidate name. Thus for unopposed candidates I did not find suitable for the job, my alternatives were to vote for the designated candidate or leave that office blank. When we used the optically scanned ballots and voted with pencil and paper, I was able to write in candidates at will. I do not understand why this ability has been taken from us.

Regarding the voting set-up for the 16th precinct, my concerns are more serious.

The layout was such that my ballot was not secret—to vote you had to walk behind the other voting machines, either coming in or going out. Not only would it be easy to see what someone was voting, but considering the size of the font, it was nearly impossible to not see the contents of someone’s screen when walking by.

Secondly, to access the voting machines, you had to step over extension cords. This is a violation of safety rules and regulations, in that such cords present a tripping hazard.

Thirdly, the layout was such I fear it would have been very difficult for someone with accessibility issues to vote. Besides the extension cords, the path to reach the machines was quite narrow—and may have been difficult to navigate with a walker or wheelchair.

I hope that these concerns will be addressed, and steps will be taken to remediate these problems before the next election in November.

Sincerely,
Michelle Klishis

CC: The Honorable Betty Ireland, West Virginia Secretary of State
CC: The Dominion Post

The letters are in the mail, so don’t point out any hideous grammatical mistakes, because it’s too late.

For those of you playing along at home, I’ve finally come out of my depression enough that it feels safe to start working on my story again.

I haven’t written anything new yet, because it’s been awhile and I have to re-immerse myself back in the tale, but I’ve been through it from page one, and rewriting things as I deem necessary. I still have on passage I know I need to rewrite, I wrote it solely to amuse myself, but I think only a handful of other people will get the joke, so for such a major plot point, I’d best make some changes. (Basically, the start of a major scene is a huge Deep Space Nine joke. Amusing to me, not so much to anyone else.)

All this, of course, assuming that I can slow down my current reading binge.

I give it 50/50 odds right now.