I have a confession - I almost hit a kid on a bike today. It would NOT have been my fault.

Driving on my way to work this morning, I turned onto 5th, and signaled to get into the left lane approaching the turn to Deschutes Parkway (the lovely road that runs along Capitol Lake). The car in the right hand lane was going slow, but that isn't strange on that road in the morning. As I approach the car, I see a woman on a bicycle up ahead, signaling to get in my lane so she can turn on to the parkway. I slow down a bit, even though she's a good block away.

Good damn thing. As I slow down, her two boys jump out of the right hand lane on their own bikes and into the left lane. They were completely hidden by the car in the right lane. I slam on my brakes, and the older of the two kids STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I would say I missed him by about a foot.

I wait patiently while he starts again, and heads down the street to turn. He didn't signal, and neither did his brother. I'm guessing that their mother assumed that by signaling a block away, that magically covered her kids, and that they could just merge into traffic because they felt like it.

Yeah? GET OFF MY ROAD. That's not OK in a car, and NO, you DON'T have the right of way. I drive with extreme deference to cyclists, and watch very carefully for them. People riding with their children in traffic should always ride behind them - both to make sure that they signal properly, and so that crap like this doesn't happen because they can't keep up with you. I see lots of parents riding with their kids in this city every day, and they seem to do a pretty good job. Not you lady - you almost got both of your kids run over. You and your kids have no business being on the road until you all take some safety lessons.

Had a great weekend; hillkat and I traveled north to the Experience Music Project to see the Jim Henson exhibit, run an errand, and attend the Sounders FC vs. Cincinnati Crew football match.

( ”MUPPETS!!!!” )

After catching lunch at the Science Center, we ran an errand, shopped at Uwajimaya, drove around Seattle for a bit, and finally parked down by Qwest field to meet up with the friend with the tickets for the match. Sounders fans are awesome and crazy – I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to go! From the packed bars beforehand, the singing of team songs, and the march down to the field for the start of the game, this is fandom done right. The game was a tie, but I think we all had a good time.

The next morning, I woke up with a sore spot on the back of my head (a bit behind my ear, right in the most sensitive spot), and assumed that I’d gotten a bit of sunburn (I’d had pigtails in on Saturday). Didn’t think much more of it until Monday night, were it really started to hurt. Iced it, and it receded – until yesterday afternoon. Being smart, I headed into the doctor’s office to see what was going on.

( Cut for those who don’t need the story of me getting my head stabbed )

After the bleeding was over, when I stood up I got this weird rush of energy. I hopped on my feet a bit, and when the doctor looked over, blurted out “I feel like I could play football right now!” with (what I assume was) a maniacal grin on my face. He smiled, “Oh, you’re one of those.” Apparently, that sort of reaction is the opposite of what most people have when they’ve got a bleeding head wound – and puts me on the bezerker end of the “fight or flight” response to threatening injury. He thought this was hilarious, and asked (half-seriously) if I had any Nordic ancestry (duh.), commenting that he’s only seen a few people react like that.

Well, at least that explains the time I punched that car in college.

I have something to admit: I am terrible at picking up my mail. Sometimes several days go by until I remember. Sometimes my roommates will get it during that time, sometimes not: they are on the same sort of schedule I am. Mostly, none.

This should serve as a preface to why, at 12:45am on Sunday, I was checking my mail. I had ordered a prescription, and promptly forgotten. I remembered on the way home that night, and sure enough, there it was with a neat little pile of stuff for my roommates and a couple magazines for me. Also, a package key! I wasn't expecting a package, so that was a bit exciting.

Opening up the package hatch, it was for me, from Subterranean Press. I goggled at the mystery book package. I didn't think I'd ordered anything that would be shipping in the near future (a book for hillkat and a Lovecraftian comic are due sometime later). I'd debated with myself about ordering a different book a couple of weeks ago, but decided not to.

Good thing too: that was the book in the mailbox ("The Steel Remains" by Richard K. Morgan). Apparently, I'd ordered it months ago when it was announced, forgotten, decided I couldn't order it now and... bam! Psychic Jenn from the past provides book now.

I convinced hillkat to join me for an IMAX showing of Star Trek last night. Simple verdict: GO.

The slightly longer review (w/o spoiers) - the new Star Trek manages to neatly encapsulate the excitement I had about the original television series as a child into something I can appreciate with the same level of excitement as an adult. I can't think of anything else that has captured the spirit of the thing they're redoing as well as this.

I have a lot of nostalgia for the original television series. I remember watching it with my parents (mostly my dad). If asked at 8 to describe a monster, there are pretty good odds it would have been something like a salt-sucking monster that looked human, a flesh-colored psychic bat, a lava monster, or an alien with a giant head. Tacked on to that, are my early memories - both scary and awesome - of going to see Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. I mean, that movie was so badass that my parents had to cover my eyes TWICE.

While the new movie is definitely a departure from the original series, they not only a) explain why but b) invoke some of the things that made the original material the classics that they are.

From the "Monster by Mail" artist, the summer of the super-villain! My villain is currently in the mail, but you can catch the video of him being made!

If you want your own Super Villain (mailed right to you!) the site is http://www.monsterbymail.com

I have had a stupid, low-level cold for about a week and a half. I can't count the number of times someone has jokingly asked me if I had swine flu (or whatever politically correct term they want to call it now, despite the fact that yes, it is most definitely derived from swine DNA). The whole shit-storm on the news is fascinating for a few reasons to me:

1. this version of the flu does stem from pigs
2. this version of the flu is less deadly than the regular influenza running around this year
3. in most cases of swine flu outbreak, there is a first (mild) outbreak, followed by a huge, nasty widespread one some time later

You don't really get that from the news. People are freaking out now - given the virus' deadly past - and a lot of people are pooh-pooh-ing the whole idea, based on the current mild form of the disease. The one network to actually give a virologist speaking time on the matter for more that 5 minutes (thank you PBS) was able to establish that yes, the health community is very worried. Not about this strain, but what happens if this strain infects enough of the population to mutate into something much nastier (which has happened many times before).

Basically - nobody should panic, but everyone should wash their hands more. Also, whether or not it is derived from pigs, eating bacon is no more unhealthy than it was before.

My parents' new cat. She's named after Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle and is about one year old. She's very affectionate, if a little bit hesitant about her new digs. She was doing very, very well for only a couple of hours in the house - exploring, sniffing, and winding around my mom's legs while she was trying to cook (it is obvious she knows what the refrigerator is for, and wants her share of any goodies).

On my lunch hour today I decided to shop a bit at Jo-Ann's for some craft-type things (felt and solid perfume supplies, more on that later). The store was pretty packed. A lot of families, mostly women, busily shopping for fabric and various sewing or crafting supplies. I found what I wanted after wandering around for a bit, and went to the checkout lane.

In front of me were two women, about 60-70, having a very impassioned conversation. They were pretty loud – something likely to raise my hackles on any day - so I attempted to ignore them. Behind me was a lesbian knitting group who had what could be termed as a metric ton of various yarn, and were happily chatting about their upcoming projects (a lot of baby socks and hats).

After a minute or so of ignoring the women in front of me, I became unfortunately drawn into their conversation when one of them started to loudly complain about how "the gays" were trying to steal her rights. At this point, their conversation turns to the legislation passed in WA yesterday, granting almost all rights of marriage to civil partnerships, barring the actual word marriage. The girls behind me kept up their conversation, but it was pretty obvious that a) the knitting group could hear the women in front of me and b) the women in front of me had no idea that there were 6-8 lesbians behind me who could hear every word they were saying (and are probably armed with knitting needles, even though they all looked pretty friendly).

It's at this point that the older of the two women (in a jean jacket, bedazzled with a cross, natch) states very loudly, "And then they passed that law yesterday! The gays are going to be getting married left and right!" to which I (uncharacteristically) blurted "I know, isn't it great!"

Yeah, apparently I have no internal filter today. Good to know.

Bedazzled turns around gaping to see my smiling face. There's a weird pause, and then the cashier calls them as next in line. She blinked at me, turned around in a huff and went to check out with her friend. In a small voice, I could hear the girl nearest to me: "That. Was. Awesome."

I've been going through a really weird restless phase the last several weeks, possessed of a need to do different things. One way that this has manifested is a sudden re-interest in dark nail-polish (something I've always had lots of, but suddenly now can't find any that I own), neat jewelry that I own, reading new authors, and generally not being stuck in a rut.

I edited my current makeup stash, something I recommend that everyone do every six months or so, throwing out a bunch of old stuff that was expired or just didn't look the way I liked. Looking at what was left, things were pretty anemic, even for my fairly work-friendly collection of stuff. (disclaimer: I don't wear makeup everyday, and don't plan to start, I just like to have the option when I feel like it.) On the way back from dinner at my parents' house last night, I decided to stop in at Fred Meyer to see if I could find anything interesting.

For anyone who hasn't shopped at Fred Meyer for makeup, it is often quite the experience. They have a decent sized selection which often has a bunch of end-cap "in season" stuff. If you haven't noticed, the in season stuff is often a very funky, eclectic collection of bright colors, weird eyeliner and questionable lip products. I LOVE IT. These are where I've been able to find silver mascara, red metallic liquid eyeliner, super-dark lip stain, and the nail-polish pens I just purchased (dark red, blue and purple, natch.)

Sadly, the majority of the end-caps had been fully picked over, leaving only pedestrian choices. I was able to pick up some foundation (with free primer) and some replacement mascara from Rimmel, but nothing truly funky. I'll have to check in a month or so to see if the next trends are up.

I finished reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer last night. Honestly, it is pretty terrible – thankfully in an unintentional B-grade-sci-fi sort of way, but terrible nonetheless.

( Review, with unkind words and spoilers )

I can see why people find this series addictive; it follows the page-turner playbook well – don't stop the action, even for one minute, even if it involves your heroine getting stalked on the streets of Port Angeles, especially if you can throw in a dramatic rescue and dissing a pretty waitress later on for a dose of girl-on-girl crime. I'm so glad I didn't buy this myself.

I finished Nation by Terry Pratchett last night. It went a direction I hadn't anticipated. I liked the book, but I think it is something I would have liked more if I'd read it when I was 10. Young Adult fiction doesn't usually inspire that reaction in me, so it is a bit strange to have that feeling associated with this particular book.

Having just moved my collection over to GoodReads, I find that seeing how many books I am currently reading (and haven't finished), as well as the ones in my "to read" pile has inspired me to get reading, or to give away the ones that I'm not going to read in the near future (as long as they are close to hand, and not in a box in the garage).

GoodReads has been a nice "find" - I've tried Library Thing, Shelfari, and Delicious Monster. Of all of them, I think GR combines the things that I like best. Visual bookshelf, easy linking between other social services, tracking of books I've read, am reading, and want to read as well as an easy way to tag books.

In the event of deadly, sudden invasions by ninjas, aliens, robots, zombies, or any number of horrific slashers, the bookshelf in my bathroom could be your only hope. If only you can get there in time.

After getting The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks for Christmas, and subsequently having it on the bathroom bookshelf, I decided to start collecting some of the similar books that are out there. It is now joined by How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith (also the author of the upcoming Pride & Prejudice & Zombies), and How to Survive a Robot Uprising and How to Build a Robot Army by Daniel H. Wilson.

I am keenly aware that this leaves out most cryptozoological monsters – while a robot army may help against an invading army of aliens, it will not solve your current "Sasquatch is stalking me" dilemma. The bathroom survival shelf may get you through the zombie apocalypse, but it doesn't include any good directions for (threatening) to start one from your secret lair (in a volcano). These and other deficiencies will be addressed in time.

Just for kalanthe : The Daily Otter

I've been on an odd sort of book kick lately; I finished half of the books I received for Christmas, while the other half waits patiently on my shelf. I've bought some new books, and for the first time I can remember, I've started a Terry Pratchett book which I didn't devour in a day (Nation).

I did rip through one and a half books this weekend, both on recommendations from io9. The first, The Translated Man by Chris Braak (available on Lulu), was described as a "Lovecraftian police procedural," which definitely got my attention (io9 review). Being in that sort of mood, I snagged a copy at the same time that I purchased Sunken Treasure: Wil Wheaton's Hot Cocoa Box Sampler, a Lulu-published reprint of his chapbook from this summer. (I wanted to get a copy at PAX '08, but was too busy Omegathon-ing.)

While a bit raw, The Translated Man was a fantastic read. The story follows the formula of a good mystery novel or thriller, leaning more towards the latter. Our enigmatic and broken hero is a coroner, working to bring down the practitioners of obscene sciences – necromancy, really good math, etc. – mostly by executing said practitioners. ( Review: mild spoilers ) I can't recommend this book enough.

The second book, Thunderer by Felix Gilman, I am still in the process of reading. In a weird way, they share a bit of a central linchpin (a sprawling, horrible, amazing monstrosity of a city), but in content they are vastly different. More when I've finished.

So, remember when I turned just a little crazy and constructed an entire family tree for my HAD2 character (Xandra Florin) including her past family for several generations and down through her children, complete with pictures? Yeah, this person is way more nuts. (It's the "Donald Duck" family tree.)

If you think I did a large amount of nothing this weekend, you'd be mostly right. I did hang out with my parents and shikamachu on Thanksgiving, and my mom on Saturday, but I mostly sat around my room and played Rock Band 2. I did, however, manage to see several movies. Also, I took pictures of Jasper in a tree.

hillkat and I saw Bolt in 3-D on Thanksgiving. It was sweet, funny, and overall pretty good. Like Kung-Fu Panda, it is a pretty simple movie, done well. The pigeons are hilarious.

On Sunday, I took in The Signal, Primer, and Teeth, which pretty much describes the order in which I liked them. All three are independent films which have been fairly well acclaimed and shot on a fairly small budget.

( The Signal: horror done right )

Primer was a decent thriller – which I wish had a slightly bigger budget, and another pass through an editing writer. The mechanics of the plot are pretty slick – but the execution falters from time to time, and makes piecing together the ending a bit difficult. I may warm to this on a second run through.

Teeth was, um, gross. Not all of the time, but the whole dentata thing is squicky enough that it overshadows some of the other (well done) parts of the movie. I don't expect that most of my friends list will be watching this any time soon, but it isn't too much of a spoiler to say that I wish all of the men hadn't been evil as well. I realize that's not playing by this sort of story's rules, but there you go.

These are my roommates' cats, Jasper and Ruby(of the "blinds incident" fame), being very cute later that day. I've got a few more pictures up on my Flickr page. My personal favorites are Lurking crazy I and II.

I usually don't have much good to say about energy, or "survival" bars. I like the taste of a few – the Peanut Butter Crunch Clif Bar, the lemon Luna Bar – but almost all of them give my stomach fits. Almost all of the bars on the market rely on soy protein to bring up the protein content of the bars, and most use the dried soy crunchies, both of which set off my acid reflux like nobody's business. On top of that, many of them taste bad (PowerBars) and some make my jaw hurt to chew (Luna Bars). I only eat them when there's nothing else to be had, or I need to eat while doing something else.

On a whim, I picked up a different bar at Top Foods this weekend, the Belly Timber blonde "gourmet survival bar." I thought the description was pretty ostentatious, but it looked good, and the list of ingredients was tempting: oats, dates, ground flax seed, peanut butter, almonds, honey, coconut, sunflower seeds, soy flour, brown rice syrup and pear juice concentrate. Unlike the processed soy, I don't have any problem with soy flour, and I like all of those other things.

It was pretty darn delicious. And while it seemed expensive at $4, I quickly noticed that there were two more than adequately sized portions once opened, which brought it right into the price range of the other bars. So, delicious, reasonably priced, not too hard to chew, full of stuff I like, and made in the area from fresh, local, sustainable crops. I wish I could order cases or something, but it looks like they're just distributing to stores (or you can pick up stuff at their facilities if you head to Whatcom Co.) in the area, so I'll have to buy them there.

In the new digs, there are two cats – Jasper T. Hugmonster, a black and white cat with crossed green Siamese cat eyes, and Ruby a silver tabby Norwegian forest cat. Ruby is about 7 months old, but is as large as most regular cats, and (by the size of her paws) has very much not stopped growing. It is easy to forget how young she really is. Yesterday, I woke up very late, lavished attention on Ruby while I was fixing my lunch (Jasper was outside taunting the next door neighbor's dog from atop the fence), and settled in to watch a bit of TV while I ate.

About 30 minutes into some terrible Food Network Thanksgiving program, I hear a giant crash from upstairs. Followed, 10-15 seconds later by Ruby streaking downstairs and squeezing herself under my chair.

Giant crashes are rarely good, especially when small children or animals flee them. Tail between her legs, Ruby followed me upstairs where my blinds were now in massive disarray on the floor. She refused to enter the room while they were on the floor, and wouldn't go near the window until I'd reinstalled them and pulled them all of the way up.

I love kitties – they live such exciting lives, full of danger and intrigue.

Very rarely in the dichotomy of Gabe/Tycho of Penny Arcade, does the Gabe side of the equation speak to me as a gamer. I have to admit, today's comic is an exception. If you ever wanted intense insight into what it is like for Nathan and I to play Final Fantasy, this is it.*

*with the exception of the cut-scenes, which at worst I find mediocre, rather than tedious