I keep hearing paws clicking, when I open the bedroom door. And there's no one to lick the plate after dinner, or snatch food spills in progress.

Lost it just now -- figured out why the kibble bowl hasn't been emptying. I didn't realize they had trained me so precisely in ensuring kibble freshness by metering quantities.

Edit: O.m.g, I'm sorry! I didn't tell you guys. So unless you've read elsewhere, you don't know.

Karma Virumque Cano died in her sleep the night of October 6th / morning of October 7th, 2009. She was 14.5 years old. And is much missed.

I've made my first paper!

Now, advice from experienced paper makers? How do I dry it flat? What's a good drying surface? How much water do you press out before removing it from the frame? I resorted to towels, which seemed to improve the process.

How long do you blend the pulp? Do you use a blender? How much water / paper ratio? What haven't I asked?

ETA: have found these URLs:

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/makingpaper.html
http://gort.ucsd.edu/preseduc/papermak.htm (photo tutorial here: http://gort.ucsd.edu/preseduc/paperdix.htm )

And made 3 more sheets -- pink! Pressed among kitchen towels, under a book.

Admiring the nifty javascript word clock I pinched from Andre Hansson and stuck on http://piglet.org/

Pondering the last 2 hours of being a classic record.

*happy dance!*

matthewsimon has fixed his cookbook.

http://matthew.cavalletto.org/cookbook/

P.S. My biscuit recipe: http://matthew.cavalletto.org/cookbook/biscuits.xml

report, to keep my timeline honest in future when I have no idea what I was working on when or why.

• sew collection for self
  

  drawings in progress, a few garments made. locating fabric.
  

• cross-stitch birth announcement sampler for <redacted>
  

  need design!! argh!!
  

• cross-stitch Charleston sampler for Mamma
  

  a third done. no progress in years. *must* finish this one while there's a point.
  

• knit hats for all
  

  dig into stash, yay! who wants a hat?
  

• knit afghan for Joe
  

  almost at end of 2nd skein. 4? to go. camouflage acrylic Bernat. cannot find pattern & have forgotten name of stitch *again*: [ Slip, K5, (K3, P3)*, K6 ] alternate with [ Slip, K5, (K2,P)*, K6 ].
  

• hemstitch, monogram, ?? napkins for Sheila
  

  fabric selected, uncertain if correct color, sufficient size or evenness of weave, also location.
  

Re-boiled the maple sugar fudge(?) that never set from Monday. Over-cooked, I expect, since it set up within about 30 seconds after being removed from heat. Mmm, tasty! If crispy. Lessons learned for next time (there will *definitely* be a next time!).

Caught up on LJ as much as I can. Spent my vacation on Twitter & FB, heartless wench that I am. You LJers are so prolific! (Why I love you.) Read as far back as Tuesday. If anything major has happened, I'm sure to be surprised by the news eventually. :-).

alexanderjasper has started Kindergarten, and is turning into a darned pleasant fellow to pal around with. Hurray. My brain-sporking desires are fading. We might not have to take Mr. Clemens' advice. (No, not Roger. Samuel. L. Not Jackson, neither.)

Am engaged in a lively argument over the peer-to-peer nature of Usenet. As matthewsimon put it, ~What, you think it's client-server?~ Apparently some do. Sheesh.

Cats finally sated. We've been out of Innova Evo since Monday, feeding them a variety of alternate, equally repudiated, selections. Back in stock, phew. Kibble bucket locked & loaded.

Need iPhone apps recommendations. What's fun for 5-year olds? Today's post-school lunch with much of his class included the sharing of several (parent's) iPhones, and playing of their favorite games thereon. iTouches by Christmas, I swear. Shocking but true. And I a likely perpetrator. Tsk.

Fellow parents delightful. Hoping to arrange drinks with moms (the dads went out last spring, already) soon.

Lo, I am mighty! I have closed the kitchen window. (Stepladder & many bicep curls required.) Now the winds of Canada can stop blowing through my house. Enough already! Summer surrendered. Would like *fall* now, please.

Yesterday lunch, I say to the boy, "Mm, I had the best breakfast this morning!" *inquisitive look* "Yogurt w/ fruit and granola!"

Boy falls over laughing.

After he picks himself off the floor, he asks, "And bottled water?"

Reader, I... _{(I can't help it; that quote amuses me.)}

How about $20/hour plus transit (airfare/train/bus/gas) plus you could stay over the following week to house-sit and vacation in the city.

Can you come tomorrow or Monday?

Yes, I *AM* seizing the day. The week.

(Comments screened on LJ, but not on Facebook.)

I need 1 or more people to come over late afternoons next week (any of tomorrow through Friday) and help me put the house in order. Tidy / toss / clean. $20/hour.

E-mail or call me or comment here (comments screened) with how to reach you.

http://chani.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/rms-Emacs-virgins/

The post is fine. It's the comments that crushed me. Dear lord!

I would like to say, once and for all, it's not that women are being kept out of programming. It's that we're being driven out. There used to be more of us! I was there, damn it.

*googles*

Fuck, yeah! From http://women.acm.org/documents/finalreport.pdf :

"... over the past fifteen years (1983-1998), we have witnessed a rapid decline of women graduating with bachelor degrees in computer science, moving from 37.1% to 26.7%, giving an alarming 28.0% decrease. The decreasing percentages of female computer science graduates is especially discouraging when other fields and factors are considered and it becomes clear that women are excelling elsewhere"

I graduated from the College of Charleston with a BS in CS in 1984. Seemed like we were on our way to parity.

"the number of women receiving B.S. degrees in computer science was at a high in the 1985-86 academic year."

That's from a 2000 report. Want some fresher numbers? This is depressing. From http://www.cra.org/taulbee/CRATaulbeeReport-StudentEnrollment-07-08.pdf (enrollment for 2007/2008) :

"Diversity in computer science undergraduate programs remains poor. The fraction of Bachelor’s degrees awarded to women held steady at 11.8 percent this year. As was the case last year, nearly two-thirds of those receiving bachelor’s degrees were White, non-Hispanics."

So in the last decade, we've dropped from 26.7% to 11.8%!?!?!?!!! What the fucking FUCK!!?!?

So, er, I never mentioned this--because it's embarrassing--but I'm a huge Prison Break fan. Not "fan" in the sense that I *like* the show, no. "Fan" in the sense that I CAN'T STOP WATCHING. Most of the first season I didn't actually watch--much too violent, and I wasn't sucked in. Not until the chase, after the break. That got riveting. Partly due to Rob Knepper, who was pointed out to me in Carnivale by someone who knew him when. (*waves*) And who plays the most *interesting* characters that I absolutely despise.

Something about Wentworth Miller, too. Can't stop watching him. Not because he's hot--he is a beautiful man, but not nearly mature-looking enough for me. I just can't stop watching him. Move. Talk. Act. Okay, move. Talk. Dinotopia (yes, I watched that dreck), Underworld, Prison Break. And I'll even be putting L&O:SUV back on the DVR, having deleted it with prejudice *years* ago.

Noting he was coming onto SVU, I thought, darn, now I'll never know how the story ends. Next commercial break? An ad for The Final Break! Direct to DVD, the end of the story. (It better be!!)

Reader, I bought it.

P.S. It's here! Anyone want to join me for a viewing? Or borrow it when I've watched?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/

IT FUCKING STARS JEFF BRIDGES!!! Yes, as Kevin Flynn. All grown up. Probably not a big role, but WHATEVER!! TRON!!!!

I'm hungry, but too agitated to settle on something to eat. At least my blood pressure has been coaxed off the roof. On first measure, 200/78. After a .. vigorous discussion with my new doctor. Having sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half. With my 5-year old. Notorious for their patience. (He was remarkably patient. I gave him my full attention for most of the hour and a half, to keep him that way. Not the mellowest of prologues.) Also? The (muted, praise Jesus!) looping diet/drug DVD. The cheery motivational LifeTrack (remember the 80's? I sure as fuck do) posters.

I told him as I got on the table, "It'll be high." He laughed. I showed him my hand tremor. (He didn't laugh.)

After some conversation (I realize in retrospect about *anything at all* to chill me out), 2nd measurement 160/78. Which I suppose, again in retrospect, is why he didn't call an ambulance. I laugh. And is perhaps why he went on to ask me what I wanted him to do, and to do exactly that. So, there's that. I have come away with a new prescription & instructions on tapering off the old one.

Crap! Forgot to stop at the pharmacy. Which was probably closed by the time we got home (or, rather, to the pizzeria since sprog hadn't had any dinner even though it was already) half an hour PAST HIS BEDTIME!! I'm sure I'll calm down any hour now.

"Picture a peaceful mountain stream. Now picture yourself drowning the kidnapper in the stream. We're taking a rock from the stream and raising it above with your hand, and with tremendous force you're bringing it—" --Fiona

*calming breath*

"That may be YOUR point. MY point is to live each moment so as to maximize the amount of complaining that can be done about said moment, after the fact. It's not as easy as it looks." --jankplus

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/harvard.html

Police arrest Harvard professor. At his own home. For being black. Police report here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/gates_incident_report_redacted.pdf

(58 years old, walks with a cane, and they handcuffed his hands behind him. On his own front porch.)

Edit: please go read the police report, not just the article, before commenting. And if your comment is "he should have a had a better attitude", then shut the fuck up and post it somewhere else. Not here. Here is a good place to express your outrage, or possibly your sadness, your cynicism or your despair. Not show your ass.

It gets funnier the more I think about it.

Friday afternoon, I'm sitting in the park with a fellow mom. She seems interesting & kind & enthusiastic, and this is the first chance we've had to really get to know each other (I think). We chat about the school where our kids are currently in camp, and I remark that the only drawback for me is its lack of diversity. She seems maybe a bit flustered by that, and says that will improve when they get enough funding for financial aid. (Benefits & auctions are already in full swing; I may have mentioend the Gala?)

A bit later, we have a pause in the conversation, and I turn to her and ask, "So, er, do you work outside the home?" *blink* "Yes(, dear), I'm the admissions director for <our school name>."

Oh. Right! I knew that. No, really. Social FAIL!!!

So, er, GOING TO WORLDCON!!

Pretty much completely accidentally. I routed myself through Montreal on my trip to join the family vacation that will already be in progress in Cape Breton, because I wanted to visit someone I hadn't seen in Entirely Too Long. Turns out, on Worldcon weekend.

What could I do but buy a membership? Helpless before the machinations of fate, me.

(Still staying at Le Reine Elizabeth. Too wonderful to pass up.)

Will you be there?

Just as I was thinking I could get real furniture again.

Finally got around to knitting a baby blanket (embarrassing if I told you for which friend's baby I bought the yarn). Washed it, wound up with a seat pad. Okay, fine, makes the mesh seat of my Aeron chair bearable in my preferred attire.

Only today sometime the cat peed on it. After year(s?) of not peeing on sitting surfaces. ARGH!! V.

What's the (nice) hotel in Gare Centrale? I'll be arriving at an indeterminate (Amtrak border-crossing) time in Montreal on Saturday, August 8th. Which also happens to be Worldcon weekend, eep! I either did or did not plan this well, and I can't entirely decide which. (I could go to Seanan's concert? On Sunday? Before leaving for Halifax? Except is that even an option? Are there day passes for Worldcon?)

Anyway, I need to be able to get off the train and fall over. And I remember there being a nice hotel in the train station, but I forget what it's called and am going cross-eyed googling for it. Help me out?

Failing that, anyone got a favorite (boutique-type?) accommodation within easy transit (Metro, no changing trains) of Gare Centrale? (*Not* near Worldcon, obviously.)

Some people are just so dang thoughtful and *interesting*. China Miéville is one of them.