CafeChatNoir

Has anyone heard anything about the state wanting to implement waiting periods for gun show purchases? Little bro heard something in passing about it yesterday, but I haven’t been able to find anything on it this morning.

I can only guess some legislator has decided that the background checks that are done at the shows aren’t adequate. (Or just doesn’t understand that they actually DO background checks at the shows…)

If anyone has any info, can you let me know?

ETA: VCDL has nothing on this, that was the first place I checked this morning.

I am very happy to report the paper is DONE.

And being the idiot that I am, when I double checked the syllabus after finishing up this evening to make sure that 1500 words was what I needed (you know that stupid part of your brain saying, ‘did you really read it as 1500 words and not 2500 or 3500??!?’ )…well, not quite. It was 1000-1500 words. So, I’m technically slightly over on word count, but it’s all good – if the prof wants to dock me for being 17 words over limit, he can knock himself out.. All that is left is making sure it’s formatted properly and that my citations are in the right place in the text. The citations are a pain in the ass, but shouldn’t take long to tend to.

The thing is, I’m somewhat disappointed in the paper. Not that it’s bad or a half-assed attempt – in the space that I had, I made the points I needed and wanted to make, but the fact that the actual “writing” portion of it took the least time of the entire project (despite, or very possibly because of! a shitload of research/reading/note-taking/mental composition in the process of ‘writing’ it), and that always makes me think I am not ‘bringing it’, so to speak. Honestly, before the pen hits the paper, I have reviewed all the words a good three or four times in my mind, yet I still have my doubts. I had so much more I could have poured into it, but it would have put me so far beyond the word count that it would have actually been an issue in grading.

What strikes me as funny (in my own mind if nothing else) is that I continually underestimate the amounts that I can write on any given subject. (AKA, I can ramble incessantly when called for.) A 1500 word paper is roughly 5 double spaced pages. Earlier this week I was up at the bar with my peeps, seriously concerned that I would not be able to come up with enough information and/or specific examples on my subject to be able to fill up that much white space. (Nevermind the fact that I knocked out near 3K words on my fiction project in a single afternoon, but hey, ht’s fiction, you can make it up as you go along!) I was quite literally sitting there with Dave going over various terrorist incidents of the past 20 years, because I truly didn’t think I had enough examples and talking points for the paper and would have to bring in more specific examples from certain recent historical events.

As it turns out, the “bonus incidents” never needed to be brought into the paper. Little bro, who is slightly less removed from academic writing due to age if nothing else, reminded me to note all ‘bonus’ items and their sources, as there is a decent chance I’ll need them later. And being the smart one that he is, he’s right.

So, I’ve got a decent long form expository essay to submit (honestly, given the length, I can’t call it a research paper), and good notes should I ever encounter this subject (or something similar) in the future as a springboard.

I’ll be interested to see what I pull out on this paper for a grade. As it stands at the moment, I have a solid A in the class. Here’s hoping the trend continues! :)

The paper needs to be 1500 words.

It is on signal intelligence vs. human intelligence.

I have 1496 words.

God grant me the strength not to conclude this paper with, “In conclusion, we’re fucked.”

Kenmore appliances apparently suck. The dishwasher now has a new motor, and is working, but there is one more broken part they will have to order and replace as well.

The halfway mark has been passed on the paper.

Decided stopping and eating might be a good idea. Sadly, I can only go so far on coffee.

However, I am wondering if the spaghetti is going to be as satisfying as I thought seeing as how I am sitting here watching Alton Brown sing the praises of duck…

It’s cold, there are high winds, which of course means the dog is outside and refusing to come in. I’m quite sure the neighbors think we’re abusing him. I hope they can at least hear our cries of, “Dumbass, get inside already!”

My final paper is just over 1/3 complete as far as word count goes. Not bad considering that the actual writing portion only started this morning. Granted, this is on top of a couple weeks of research, reading and fairly extensive note taking, so I suppose it’s not as impressive (or completely last minute) as it sounds.

So, is it a bad sign when the gentleman repairing your dishwasher has it taken apart in the kitchen and just looks up at you and says, “Can I just go home now??”

From this post

I can tell she’s an awesome massage therapist and loves what she does and her clients are very lucky! Also, major props for the fact that she never became Bridezilla when she was planning her wedding. Very impressive! And just an all around nice person. Not enough of those in the world if you ask me.

Not many folks are brave enough to up and move a good 2/3 of the way across the country and go back to school, but damned if she didn’t do it. :) Also, she seems to be shrinking, and has been working incredibly hard at it and doing great!!!!!!!

Via :

Verizon Exit Interview

Oh Jesus H Christ on a cracker.

I was actually thinking today that it seemed that all the ‘other shoe dropping’ crap was over and done with, and I could get back to the business of happily living my life for a while.

15 minutes ago, the damn dishwasher died.

and this is your brain on reggae.

So, it’s around 70 degrees out, I’m standing in Starbucks and they’re playing Bob Marley and of all the things to pop in my head, I suddenly find myself thinking, “Damn, I need to get to the beach and get stoned.”

No, I really have no idea where that came from.

Yes, 3 AM is when some critter decided to advertise it’s presence in the backyard last night.

Moxley decided that he MUST inform me of this. LOUDLY.

God, I wish that dog didn’t like sleeping in the living room.

I’ve had a hell of a time getting back into any real routines since everything was thrown into disarray before Christmas.

Though things are getting done, it’s just not in a manner that is at all satisfactory to me.

Training is happening, progress is being made on the townhouse, and the estate may actually be settled in my lifetime. Tonight I managed to kick out nearly 3K words on a piece I am working on. So, it’s not that things are at a standstill, it’s just been very scattershot and it’s annoying the hell out of me.

Here’s to attempting to reverse the trend this week.

Some anonymous sweetie has sponsored me for TotalFark.

Apparently talking of dates at the gun range brings out the good in people. Who knew? :)

Yes, once again, Cindy is way behind the times. How long has TiVo been out and about by now?

I am honestly not really a big TV watcher. When my ex left, he took the TV, and I went for well over a year without one, and really didn’t feel a loss. When I worked at the non-profit in DC during that time, one of my coworkers found out that I didn’t have a TV, and seriously, you would have thought I was living without hot water or electricity or something.

Most of the day I just have CNBC on – not exactly “OMG, did you SEE what was on during Power Lunch today??!” type programming, it’s a combination of inoffensive background noise and the fact that I like being able to keep tabs on what is going on with the markets. It’s more of a function of the fact that I *can* have it on vs. I *must* have it on. I can count on one hand the number of evening programs I actually watch.

Enter TiVo. I have an inherited TiVo that belonged to my brother’s roommate (he upgraded or something) and I have to say, it’s pretty damn cool. It’s like a VCR on steroids, cause it will start mucking around and looking for things it thinks you might like. Granted, there are still apparently some leftover things from said roommate that it picks up, but it’s nice on a weekend afternoon when you just want to go brain dead for a while and watch TV and discover that you’ve got half a dozen things recorded that you didn’t even ask for out there just waiting for your perusal.

To be honest, it’s probably not something I’d ever have gone out and bought on my own, but damn, it’s spiffy. I can see how it quickly becomes one of those “how did I ever live without it” pieces of electronics.

Yes, stolen word for word – but she put it perfectly.

Comment here and I’ll tell you something I like about you. So comment away, and I’ll visit this again later to spread the love. :)

I know a few of you could use a little extra love these days… but even if you are doing just fine, feel free to participate.

(I’ll give it a day or so and it will get it’s own LJ Love post.)

Kansas City Secret Santa dies

Larry Stewart, a millionaire who became known as Secret Santa for his habit of roaming the streets each December and anonymously handing money to people, died Friday. He was 58.

Go do something good this weekend.

Yes, I do have the rest of the series & the movie on DVD thanks to . And tonight we’re delving into the rest of it. Poor , he has to put up with my constant yapping/questions, but I don’t feel too guilty cause I know he’s seen them all before. :)

Though I will say there is something just horribly wrong with someone being tossed out the window of a pub and no glass is actually broken. Damn that futuristic technology!

Just stumbled upon this:

US Contest seeks to be “American Idol” of books

If online readers like the manuscript’s first chapter, the author is voted through to the next round. Two more chapters are posted and the public narrows the field in the same fashion.

They’re asking for “fiction with broad commercial appeal”, which really could be just about anything given that it really only needs to appeal to those in the gather.com community – be interesting to see what filters through at the end – I’ll have to try and remember to check on it.

2007 will hopefully be a year of lots of words, and not just in the form of research papers for class.

My writing has cranked back up* now that I have my life back to myself and I realized that I need to actually think about getting some of this stuff out there and see if getting published is something that can happen before I die. So, the time has come to start organizing what I’ve got (more than I realized until just now), and poking through Writer’s Market and see what I can do.

*Last night was good Nothing quite like having 800 words effortlessly go from pen to paper while nursing a beer and watching Cleveland get stomped by Phoenix. Never hurts that the absurdities of life make for such good material in general.

I am still amazed with the utter inconsistency of required documentation when trying to distribute an estate. It has ranged from having to have medallion guarantees and affidavits of domicile to, “fax us copies of these two pieces of paper and just tell us where you want the money to go” – kinda crazy and frustrating, because every time you make a phone call, you never know what to expect.

Off to see the painters for final payment & inspection, thank god that’s finished. Now that the abundance of tarps, painting equipment and plastic sheeting are going to be gone, I can get back to getting little things done around there. But at least I’ve got a big thing crossed off the list there.

The markets decided to play very nicely this first full trading week of 2007, thanks to oil dropping and some short covering today in anticipation of the long weekend. Here’s to it being a good omen for the rest of the year. Of course, we’re going right back into another short week, with a boatload of economic news and earnings, so the wheels could easily just fall right off. It’s nice to have the time to be able to actually pay attention to this stuff again.

…what is it with me, 7-11’s and cops? Honestly, every other time I hit the 7-11 near my gym, there is a cop there. When I was much younger, and out doing the underaged drinking thing (bad, bad, bad) my friend who was driving took me to 7-11 for coffee before pouring me on my front porch. Yup, cops there too, and there I was, under 21 and nicely toasted. So, what did I do? Talk to them, of course! Fortunately, my friend was behind me and mouthing over my shoulder, “She’s not driving” and by sheer luck they basically patted me on the head and left me alone, apparently figuring the hangover and having to deal with my parents would be punishment enough.

So, tonight I walk into 7-11 and not one, but two Fairfax County officers there… One is getting coffee, the other is checking out and there is a girl behind him and I get in line behind her. Officer checking out is getting some scratcher tickets along with his stuff (and I am quite sure didn’t realize anyone was behind him), coffee officer looks up and says, “Dude, you are totally holding up the ladies here!”

Well, me being me, I can’t be quiet. My response to this? “Y’all have guns, you take as much time as you want.”

I have to say, they did seem pleased that there are folks in the world smart enough to not want to piss off someone with a sidearm.

We often point out how territorial animals are, but I’ve come to the conclusion that humans are just as bad, if not worse. Sure, we may not go around peeing on every mailbox in the neighborhood, but once we consider something or someplace to be “ours”, we are not easily inclined to give it up, regardless of the reason.

When confronted with something, be it a person or situation, that may be trying to scare us off, there is a choice – walk away or stand your ground and keep what we feel somehow belongs to us.

The choice is dependent on how important said territory may or may not be. But it is as much, if not more, influenced by our desire to simply keep what we have, regardless of it’s intrinsic importance.

So, you stand your ground. You refuse to yield. You keep what you started with. Sometimes in the big scheme of things, it may be meaningless. But, in the small scheme of things, the here and now, it can be the most important thing in the world.

Walking away may be the path of least resistance, but sometimes you need to find your fight and bring it out front and center.

OK, I will admit, I am WAY behind on pretty much ALL pop culture.

Tonight I finally saw the pilot for Firefly. (The REAL pilot, not what Fox considered to be the pilot) – Holy Crap, Batman.

Now I feel bad that I never realized it was on in real time and couldn’t do a damn thing to keep the series going.

And there is your total-geek-moment for the evening.

This is what we’ve been chomping at the bit all week for? Color me somewhat underwhelmed, but I suppose I expected more concrete information on the big new plan.

I don’t feel particularly good when told that “victory will not look like what our fathers and grandfathers knew as victory.” I guess failure must not look like it used to, either.

No, I don’t have the answers. But I’m not the one running the show, either.

OK, I need to go to bed. I’m thinking way too much.

So, Cal Ripken, Jr. was voted into the Hall of Fame today.

While I am not a rabid baseball fan, I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Cal. He embodies everything that is GOOD about sports, through both his words and actions. No slacking, a gracious winner AND loser, respected the fact that he was getting paid to play a game, and an all around good guy.

Bravo Zulu, Cal.

Discovered today that apparently the previous owners of my townhouse had wallpaper in the office. And then painted over it.

This was discovered when the painters cleaned/prepped the walls and walked back in the room 20 minutes later and the painted-over wallpaper was falling off the walls.

One saving grace is that it’s vinyl wallpaper, so at least it’s coming down easily.

And frankly, I don’t know how those three guys doing the work are not high or dead from the paint fumes.

When comparing “going back to school notes” with the gentleman next you at the bar and he says he’s getting an accounting degree and heading for a CPA…

Especially when you have been there, done that, and have the hat, t-shirt and emotional scars to prove it’s a bad idea??

Today we have dead birds in Austin, C4 that wasn’t in Miami, and NYC smelling stranger than usual.

I’d panic, but instead I’d say this nonsense just calls for a stiff drink.

Oh! And one of our subs managed to hit a Japanese ship in the Arabian Sea. What a high note to end the day on!

Thank god for progress.

The dividend fuckup has been corrected.
The painters are painting.
The window install is scheduled and can likely be moved up if I get word back from the HOA sooner than expected.

More will be accomplished this afternoon, but first, more coffee.

Life is short.

Live hard.

Play hard.

Take no prisoners.

Have no regrets.