Inkstained Fingertips

Fourth Street 2010

2009-12-29T01:35:00Z

Just threw down my registration for Fourth Street Fantasy. I had forgotten that membership rises from $60 to $75 on Jan 1, but thanks to a kind reminder of a livejournal post, now I remember.

It's as good a time as any to save $15 for something I'm going to do anyway.

none of that

2009-12-25T21:48:47Z

Well, no hot chocolate for me. The entire mall was closed, except for the theater. I drove around for a while after the movie, kinda aimless like.

I came across a Caribou with its lights on and people inside.

Alas, they had just closed. I was five minutes off from getting a Caribou hot chocolate.

So, here's the deal. Tomorrow - I'm getting me some hot chocolate. Mmmmm!

I think

2009-12-25T17:13:33Z

I think that I am going to take myself to see Avatar. I've got a half hour to shower and get over there.

With any luck, the Caribou Coffee in the mall will be open (sorry, workers) and I can get a hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas, all!

boing

2009-12-14T23:58:01Z

The newest weird way people find my blog is from the "I don't read Boing Boing" google search.

Got a bunch of hits from that today.

Still, I don't think that anything will top folks finding my blog via my review of Lori Selke's story "Dead. Nude. Girls." I confess to being more than a little bit squicked at that search and the sheer volume of hits I got from that, even a year after.

100

2009-12-09T03:51:49Z

...

Um.

...

basket

2009-12-08T02:55:38Z

Seriously, who steals an eight year old laundry basket patched up with duct tape?

TLR

2009-12-07T00:18:13Z

Oh, my interview is up at Temple Library Reviews.

That's all.

Well, if you want more - Ninja Assassin was awesome.

phew

2009-12-02T04:17:37Z

I just spent the last two hours or so answering 18 interview questions from Temple Library Reviews for the Reviewer Time feature.

You couldn't tell from livejournal, but I'm a wordy, wordy bastard.

And I just wore myself out.

Criminal Minds tomorrow. Season 5, Episode 2.

four! ah!

2009-12-01T00:36:36Z

Aaah!

Just finished the season four finale of Criminal Minds. I knew what happened to Hotch going into this, but I didn't know how. THAT was not what I expected. I expected THAT to show up in Episode 100, which I have otherwise quite studiously avoided learning anything about that wasn't disclosed in my DVR's episode listing.

Before THAT, Hotch said that he wondered how many times his team could stare into the abyss. I wonder that, too. JJ and Morgan are the two who appear to be candidates to leave the team. JJ doesn't want to be a profiler, so she could do her job for a number of teams. Morgan, whom "and back" leaned heavily on in regards to struggling with doing this job, is the most likely candidate.

I don't think I'm reading too much into the episode, though, because I think there have been small hints at this for a while. I think it really started (for me) when Morgan was told that his name was mentioned for the New York (??) job and Hotch refused to give his recommendation because Morgan is much less willing to put his live in the hands of his team than a leader needs to be.

Morgan's been upwardly mobile his entire career and is more than competent in his job, though I think there can be a solid montage made of Morgan tackling unsubs over the course of the show. He wouldn't be a leader in the mold of Hotch, but he could be a good one. I think he knows this. He's been in the BAU for seven years and eventually he is going to want / need to do something else.

I don't want him off the show (favorite character, despite my love for Garcia), but it makes sense from a character perspective.

Alright, time to dig into my 8 recorded episodes from Season 5. Let's see what happened to Hotch!

I'm catching up, Bear. I think I'll benefit from a re-watch at some point. This show does well in ripping out your heart and kicking it around for a while.

the letter M

2009-11-20T03:34:11Z

Oh, Muire...

Also, I'm not going to raise this in my review, but what happened to Heythe? If Mingan walked away from her at the end of By the Mountain Bound, and I don't remember seeing her in All the Windwracked Stars, there may be something VERY interesting coming our way in The Sea Thy Mistress.

Which is to say that a) I think I need to go back and re-read AtWS to see how it reads after BtMB and b) I am very curious to see where Bear takes this.

It's freaking beautiful and unexpected. Even when you know the ending, you don't really know the ending.

glee

2009-11-13T02:51:57Z

You know, the handling of Kurt's father on Glee is really well done. He's not comfortable with his son being gay and doesn't know how to relate to Kurt at all, but he's as good a father as he knows how to be. He tries.

It's good to see.

nightshift

2009-11-10T03:35:34Z

I don't remember where I was the other day, but I heard "Nightshift" playing in the overhead music / muzak.

Wistfully, I jammed a little to the music. Quietly and softly, because the song makes me think wistful, quiet, and soft thoughts.

It's right up near the top of my list of the all time most beautiful songs ever.

Ever.

It's one you want to turn down the lights, maybe close your eyes, and just listen. Let it soak over you.

Gonna be some sweet sounds coming down
On the nightshift
I bet you're singing proud
Oh, I bet you'll pull a crowd
Gonna be a long night, it's gonna be all right
On the nightshift
Oh you found another home, I know you're not alone
On the nightshift

naah!

2009-11-09T03:57:54Z

That was the sound I made in appreciation of Steven Brust dropping a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference into Yendi. Naaaah!

"Yes," said Morrolan dryly. "You wouldn't want her to turn you into a newt."

"I'll get better," I said......

Well played, sir. Well played.

one more pin into the breach

2009-11-08T16:29:05Z

Went bowling Friday night. Another solid outing.

For as much as I don't really like organizing things, I got an excellent turnout. 14 people. Much better than what I got for the tennis events. A good time was had by all.

My scores: 118 - 135 - 96

Compared to previous events:

2009
January: 96 - 113 - 134
March: 94 - 120 - 108
November: 118 - 135 - 96

Yeah, fairly consistent.

pulitzering

2009-11-05T01:44:27Z

For all that I enjoy agrarian lit, I struggled mightily with Josephine Johnson’s Now in November. It was an early Pulitzer Prize winning novel, but I had to give it up.

From Edna Ferber (So Big) to Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres), I’ve tended to prefer the agrarian Pulitzer novels over the novels which focus on “class” and the “societal elite”.

But Now in November? No thanks!

I did finish this year’s winner, Olive Kitteridge, but I didn’t much care for that one, either. I think I like story collections and “novels in stories” just fine, but Elizabeth Strout’s work here didn’t do it for me. Pit Olive Kitteridge against The Interpreter of Maladies from Jhumpa Lahiri and I don’t think Strout holds up well at all. Lahari’s collection was so good that I later read her novel and plan to read her newest story collection.

Sigh. I just re-started my Pulitzer quest and the first two I read were disappointments. I know there are good books on that list, just not the two I read.

coin

2009-11-04T02:33:11Z

this bridge was written to make you feel smittener
with my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
i didnt think so but im still convinceable
will you persist even after i bet you
a billion dollars that i'll never love you
will you persist even after i kiss you
goodbye for the last time
will you keep on trying to prove it?
i'm dying to lose it...
i want it
i want you
i want a coin operated boy.

-The Dresden Dolls: "Coin Operated Boy"

That is all.

clothes

2009-10-30T01:26:33Z

I don’t normally geek on clothes, but V and I were browsing some stores last weekend to help give me ideas of nicer clothes to maybe purchase in the future. I’m slowly updating my wardrobe, starting mostly with my shirts. It’s gonna take a little while since I have less disposable income from each check, but I’ve got three new long sleeves and a couple short sleeves. Sadly the short sleeves are a little larger than they should be, but the long sleeve shirts are great.

Anyway, we were in a J Crew and I found two wool coats that I just love. I really want to upgrade my coat, too, and I think this is the route I’m going to go down.

I want it now, but I’ll wait for the inevitable sale. C’mon sale!!

they say the first million is the hardest

2009-10-28T02:23:30Z

I expect I'll have some things to say about the weekend trip to see V in SC and the corn maze (a REAL corn maze, mind you), but I also got paid this past Friday. Payday means throwing the budgeted amount towards my savings account...growing it slowly while working on the other things I need and want to work on.

Got my first thousand bucks.

It's not where I want or need to be, and the pay cuts this year have really slowed things down, but it's a start.

One down, sixteen to go.

The 101 list is updated.

aww!

2009-10-19T00:51:33Z

Morgan holding a baby!

Hotch cracking the teeniest of smiles and THEN cracking a joke.

JJ: You're smiling
Hotch: Gas.

That was delightful.

dilate

2009-10-14T01:33:44Z

I went to a new eye doctor today. A year or two ago my company switched vision insurers and delightful doc at the Wal Mart optical I had gone to for 5 or 6 years was no longer covered. Oh noes! Because I tend to do my appointments in September, I had a full year's worth of contacts which I apparently stretched into two years and I didn't go last year. I was too lazy to find a new doc while I had plenty of contacts left.

Plus, last year X went to a new eye doctor in the Galleria in Edina and I remember stuff cost more than we originally expected (probably because it is the freaking galleria), even factoring in the insurance. I figured the new insurance plan was just crap.

Well, now I'm on my last pair. I was well overdue. Found a place in Chanhassen. Got my eyes dilated (which led to an inability to see my cell phone for about an hour+, but left me okay to drive home), and I have a trial pair. It's a different kind of contact from what I normally wear, so they want to see if I like it before I order new boxes.

I figured out the insurance end of it, though. The co-pays are the same as the previous policy. I think X had something funky when she got a glasses AND a contact exam - which is kind of the same thing, except that the Galleria place probably just listed them differently than the average place. Regardless, I specified contacts only. My glasses are fine.

The deal is that I get $120 towards exam and contacts. $39 is the exam, so the rest is contacts. The box of contacts of the trial pair (and we'll see how this goes) is something like $55, which doesn't get me very far. I normally ordered a year's worth at a time. If I order all four boxes, I'll be out quite a bit, but supposedly there is a mail in rebate of $60. X and I did well on rebates in the past, but if I can confirm what my old style costs in Chan AND at Wal Mart (and what the new stuff costs at Wal Mart), I can probably just get a box or two under insurance and then hopefully pay $20-$30 per box as needed at Wal Mart.

That's the tentative plan. I've got to check on the cost breakout, though.

I do sort of miss the old days where for $35 I get the exam and twelve pairs of contacts.

Hmmm!

i guess that's just how you were raised

2009-10-12T22:16:02Z

The things you overhear at work…

I heard a story being told over the cubicle walls of a guy who went on a trip to…somewhere in California. I don’t remember where, I missed the beginning of the story. I guess he was on some beach just having a relaxing good time when he sees this camera bag on a bench. Nobody is around it.

You see where this is going, don’t you?

He looks around. Waits. Doesn’t see anybody looking for it. After a while he goes over, checks it out. It’s a digital camcorder of some sort. Looks semi-expensive. He leaves it, but continues to eyeball it for another while.

Eventually he goes back to it and picks it up, takes it back to where he was relaxing. Waits for another half hour or an hour. That’s storytime. Real-life time is probably eight minutes. I’m not feeling charitable right now. Maybe five minutes.

Regardless, he said it was about an hour of waiting. Nobody came looking for it. He said that there was a restaurant nearbyish, but not really, and he *thought* about bringing it in there for the lost and found, but how would he know the person ever went to the restaurant.

So he takes it.

Brings it back to his hotel room and checks out what is on the camcorder. Oh, it’s nothing important. Just a dad and his kid. The kid is jumping on a hotel bed, having fun. He deletes the video.

The end of the story finds this guy explaining that….finding...the camera is like the vacation almost paid for itself. Plane tickets were $XXX.xx, and hotel, but then finding(!) the camera almost made up for what he spent for the vacation.

Finding the camera…

The justification of it…

I am absolutely disgusted right now. I don’t know how you justify that to yourself, how you think that doing that is somehow okay because you “waited”.

I barely know the guy, just enough to know who he is, but I know enough now to know that he is nobody I want to know.

heed the message, kill the messenger

2009-10-11T00:51:57Z

Today has been a double shot of "Oh Reid" and "Oh Reid's mother" on Criminal Minds today. That would be "The Instincts" and "Memoriam", for those keeping score at home.

And then I noticed something that I didn't pick up at first: The woman who plays Reid's mother is the crazy coach of the Cheerios on Glee. One might guess, but she's quite a bit more sympathetic on Criminal Minds.

Earlier today I went to the Twin Cities Book Festival. I wanted to go to Alison McGhee's reading. It was for one of her children's books, but McGhee is one of my favorites and even though I'd really like another adult (or young adult) novel from her, it would still be cool to see her do the reading. Yeah, I was late for that. Completely missed McGhee. I *think* I saw her walking out, but I wasn't quite sure so I didn't say anything. A little bummed about that. Not that I really have anything to say, ever, to anyone, but it's McGhee. Probably just would have said how much I enjoyed her books, Rainlight and All Rivers Flow the Sea especially. All Rivers Flow to the Sea is quite moving and heartbreaking.

I did get a chance to chat up Alan DeNiro a bit at the Rabid Transit table. Seemed like a nice guy. I bought one of the chapbooks, but I'm really looking forward to his debut novel Total Oblivion, More or Less. DeNiro was chuffed that I paid for the chapbook with six James Polk dollar coins.

In other news, I spent two hours in a "Virtual Waiting Room" this evening in order to buy some Twins playoff tickets. I finally got through, so I'll be going to my first Major League Baseball playoff game tomorrow night. Twins v. Yankees. Two of my three favorite teams. It'll be really tough for the Twins to sweep the next three games and make it to the ALCS, but if they can win tomorrow night I'll also be going to the game one Monday since I had to buy a two game block.

Sadly, I couldn't get a three seat block of the $12 seats (upper deck outfield), so I had to pay a bit extra and get $30 seats (lower deck, left field). It'll do.

I'm rather excited.

So....about last night

2009-10-04T03:28:33Z

I reserve the right to change my mind about how I feel, but regarding this, I didn't notice on Thursday that it would have been my anniversary. I noticed a couple days before, and a couple days after.

Weird.

I don't have the foggiest about what I think about not thinking about it.

sniff

2009-10-04T01:23:43Z

Morgan: Garcia...I'll tell you what you are to me. You're my God given solace. Woman, you promise me one thing...whatever happens, don't you ever stop talking to me.

Garcia: I can't right now cause I'm mad at you.

Morgan: I can wait.

freak-woo

2009-10-03T00:41:49Z

Netflix is shipping me that first disc of Criminal Minds Season 4 and it is set to arrive tomorrow. I had about a week left on my patience-o-meter before I would have to decide how I felt about using alternate means to watch those first four episodes. Now I don't have to.

But - thank you for the two of you who DID offer me those alternate means - because I really had no idea what a good option would be.