Avyse's Journal

I'm actually kinda amused...

2005-11-01T15:37:18Z

Na... Sodium

You scored 44 Mass, 25 Electronegativity, 32 Metal, and 0 Radioactivity!

You are the very salt of the Earth... well, part of it anyway. Society
needs a lot of you. You'd of made a perfect peasant in feudal times.
You do your own thing without asking too much, but once you've
established yourself in your life you don't change it too easily. The
problem with you is that, while you are a great cornerstone of a
society, you don't really feel the personal onus to keep it going.
That's why we need taxes... heh heh heh. With respect to relationships
you'll probably, sadly, never find one of those loves that solves every
problem you've ever had... but you're still capable of having a great
relationship filled with all sorts of positive nouns like trust and
whatnot. You can balance your lack of neediness by being with someone
who deeply does need you (or needs someone at least)... halogens are
good for that (F, Cl, Br, I). Unfortunately you can replace that one
special person easily with a whole lot of people who are a little
special, so this relationship probably will not last forever... go for
it if you live in the countryside... if you're in the city then it
might just be best to live the bachelor's life until you grow sick of
it.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 67% on Mass
You scored higher than 30% on Electroneg
You scored higher than 8% on Metal
You scored higher than 0% on Radioactivity

Link: The Which Chemical Element Am I Test written by effataigus on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

avyse @ 2005-10-21T13:21:00

2005-10-21T17:28:21Z

hey, thought some or all of you might be interested in this: AAA has a gas price finder, you enter in your zip code and it gives you all the gas stations in a specified radius and their prices. Plus maps. Anyway, thought you might be interested:

http://aaa.opisnet.com/?45_0A81191E9AA7FC48490618EC54F07A08562122D9FE0B35E9CF9E1D396D54AE8A03903854303E58F4

LOTR Parody

2005-10-13T13:28:00Z

Okay, this is one of the more amusing things it's been my pleasure to come across. Lord of the Rings: The Princess Bride version.

It takes bits of Princess Bride dialogue, modifies it slightly, and fits it to scenes from LotR. Example:

In Mordor, after Mt. Doom erupts.
[Screen goes black.]
VO: Frodo and Sam don’t get burned up by the lava.
AUDIENCE: What?
VO: Frodo and Sam don’t get burned up by the lava. ...I'm explaining to you because you looked nervous. [Movie continues.]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mollyringwraith/24108.html

The stupidest injury ever...

2005-10-06T12:54:45Z

I seem to have strained my tongue. Or possibly pulled it. Not sure. And, no, I don't know how. I didn't even know it was possible. But when I move my tongue in certain ways it hurts. Like when I touch the roof of my mouth with the tip of it. Especially the back of the roof of my mouth. Weird. Very, very weird.

Hm...

2005-09-10T11:02:35Z

So I woke up at 6:30 this morning (probably because I went to bed at 9 last night -- I'm needing obscene ammounts of sleep lately) and while looking for my missing cell phone noticed the most recent statement for my old Vista 401k, so I started playing with it figuring out if it continued growing at the same rate it has since I opened it, where I'd end up since I can't continue contributing to it. And the result? If it continues at the same rate, by the time I'm 70 I'll have $531,441,000 *snicker* Somehow I don't think it'll keep tripling every four years, but hey, it's done it so far, and why not.... What? I can dream. Not bad for a little $1000 investment -- I like compound interest.

Okay, so this was totally random -- it's 7am, what do you expect?

The End of an Era

2005-08-30T05:21:20Z

Well. After six years, two weeks, and six days, my tenure at relay is over. It doesn't quite feel real yet, to be honest. After a game of balloon volleyball, abbreviated by the fact that the fans were set too high for effective playing -- we kept losing the balloons, I was bid farewell by Michael's shout of, "And don't come back!" I'll be following the order, but although I won't miss relay itself (mostly) I will miss the people. Had some good times when we weren't too busy to chat.

As for relay itself, well, I'd never talk about call content of course...

avyse @ 2005-08-25T21:14:00

2005-08-26T01:10:15Z

I have a car! Yay! I can even drive it -- sorta! Improving with each time (which so far is 3). It has 132 miles on it and is pretty and new and good and being paid for by Daddy. Which sounds really bad, but the last two I bought all by myself, and I've funded my own education, and it's NOT my fault that my transmission blew one week before I abandoned my job and lived on financial aid for a year or two.

So it's a 2005 Honda Civic, dark blue, standard (hence the sorta on the driving), and all things good. Most important, I am no longer dependant on my mother, friends, rental agents, and taxi drivers to get around!

Yay!

Tree Sign

2005-08-18T02:51:24Z

Nope, never heard of it before, but when a friend finds a personality assessment, what can I do but follow suit and give it a try. Your personality by birthdate and tree.

Available at: http://www.mistupid.com/psych/treesign.htm

Me:

HAZELNUT TREE (Extraordinary) - charming, undemanding, very understanding, knows how to make an impression, active fighter for social cause, popular, moody, and capricious lover, honest, and tolerant partner, precise sense of judgment.

avyse @ 2005-08-17T22:49:00

2005-08-18T02:45:06Z

Whatever else I have to complain about, and whatever else I do complain about whether I should or not, allow me to state that I have one of the best families in the world and love and value them even when they don't offer to pay a year's payments on a new car loan or lease when the tranny dies on mine a week and a half before I quit work and go to school full time.

avyse @ 2005-07-29T00:43:00

2005-07-29T04:38:39Z

Hey everyone:

A week from Friday (That is, Aug 5th) at the theater in the Hadley mall, the midnight show is The Princess Bride.

Coming?

Diagnosis

2005-05-12T12:04:02Z

Spinal embolism. Blood clot putting pressure on her spine in a way that made her rear collapse. Currently on steroids and we'll see what happens.

Reasons to Miss Work

2005-05-12T00:30:57Z

I wonder if you get a point when you stay home because your dog has either had a stroke or done serious damage to her back and her rear end collapses just as you were about to leave, so instead of going to work you first try to find a way to get her to the vet and then give up on trying to fit a dog the size of a borzoi who may or may not have a broken back into a Ford Escort sedan and settle for trying to find a way to just get her into the house without doing her any further damage until someone with a larger vehicle can get here? I'll have to ask Joanne about that one. For now, though, let's just say today sucks. Hard.

avyse @ 2005-05-02T02:57:00

2005-05-02T06:57:59Z

Hey -- anyone know if Hitchhiker's Guide's worth seeing or not?

Also -- school stuff done (slipshod, but good enough). Just have to do a few thinsgs around the house and I can drop into a brief coma. Go me. Also, if anyone's interested, a friend of mine, RL, has an opening at the gallery at Hampshire College tonight (sure wish it was tomorrow night -- in more way than one:p) on photography and stories of aikido. 8pm. If anyone wants ta go.

Right. I'm getting offline, getting a last few things done, and falling into that coma. And resetting my alarm clock off 5 am, since I decided to do things tonight then sleep, rather than sleeping and diong things in the morning. Not changing alarm with plans is bad.

avyse @ 2005-05-02T01:40:00

2005-05-02T05:40:18Z

You know those times when you're tired, but you don't go to bed because you know there's so much you have to do. But you're too tired to do it, so you just do useless stuff killing time until you get the energy to do those things you have to do. Except the more time you kill the harder it is to get that energy. And the more time passes the more irritated you are at yourself for not being done -- or even having started -- by now. And the more irritated with yourself you are, the more you do bullshit to distract yourself so you don't fall into a depression. And all the while, you're just so damn tired you just want to sleep?

I hate that.

My Inner Goddess...

2005-04-27T15:24:59Z

Neit
Indeed, you are 62% erudite, 20% sensual, 41% martial, and 45% saturnine.

Neit, who was said to have emerged from the primeval water to create the world, is one of the oldest Egyptian
Goddesses. Although the Egyptians believed that Neit was of both a
masculine and feminine nature, as she was self-produced, she was
usually depicted as a woman.

The Egyptians believed her to be an ancient and wise Goddess, to
whom the other Gods came if they could not resolve their own disputes.
Besides being the ruler of the lower Heavens, she was also the patron
to hunt and warfare, domestic arts, mysticism, as well as women and
marriage. All this makes her some kind of a “jane-of-all-trades.”

As a deity, Neit is often shown carrying a bow and arrows,
linking her to hunting and warfare, other times she is shown with a
sceptre, symbol of rule and power, and the ankh, symbol of life.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 21% on erudite
You scored higher than 0% on sensual
You scored higher than 8% on martial
You scored higher than 30% on saturnine

Link: The Mythological Goddess Test written by Nitsuki on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Okay, so I'm not very sensual - and not too terribly much of anything else either *laugh* -- what can I say?

Issues with Wording

2005-04-22T05:16:31Z

"Due to system enhancements, callers may experience longer than normal wait times."

Golly, really? I've been waiting for that enhancement for years!

And once this live person came on the line:
"Your account was perfect until you decided to dispute the charges. But because you did, now you owe us $59.90."

Wait a sec... There's a charge to say I don't owe you this money?

Update on the day

2005-04-06T00:59:42Z

So the strange thing about today is that it wasn't actually bad. As in I felt pretty decent all day. I mean, yes I was incredibly stupid. I thought today's test was Thursday and thusly failed to study. I went to get lunch (dinner?) realized I didn' thave my wallet, went back for my purse, grabbed food -- couldn't found my wallet in my purse. Paid cash, went back to my office -- and found my wallet in my purse. My hip ached like mad, but I went to an aikido class and it hurt less afterwards. It didn't stop hurting, mind, but it did hurt less.

I was almost to the highway after class and realized that I needed to get to the bank to deposit my paycheck, so I turned around and went back up Route 9 to get to the bank. Decided I'd better stop at Trader Joe's for a couple things while I was at it. Got to the check out line and realized I'd forgotten one of the primary things I'd gone in for so had to go back for it (are we sensing a theme here?).

But then at the end of the check out line the girl asked if I wanted a free box of chocolate. ("Uh-- is that a trick question?")

That seems to kind of sum up my day -- I failed miserably on every level but serendipity kept an eye on me.

One of those days...

2005-04-05T16:03:27Z

So I've known for some time that I had a biochem exam coming up this Thursday. Indeed, I set aside this evening and tomorrow morning to study for it, figuring that studying was probably important since I slept through most of the classes. I never mean to -- and it's not even that it's boring, exactly. I've just been acting sleep-deprived lately, whether I've been feeling it or not. It's rather odd, actually.

Anyway, I headed up for class today expecting the typical pre-exam review class. And thought, wow, the turn-out's a little better than usual. And then he started talking about the exam -- which I had expected, of course. What I hadn't expected were the details about, oh, putting your student ID number on the paper. And then he started handing out the exam. Um. Can we say, "Shit?"

So I think I did better than could be expected for an exam which I slept through most of the lectures for, and for which I was planning to start studying this evening. Hope so -- the alternative's kinda dismal.

Walking away from class, I checked my PalmPilot and there was my alert: MyDNA EXAM2! set for 11:15 today. Dear God, I muttered, how dumb can I be?

But all I heard was a soft, divine snicker.

Guess I won't spend tonight studying...

Perspective

2005-03-17T14:32:14Z

Heh. I was talking to Alan, my dad's partner, who was doing my taxes yesterday. He was kinda bummed because he was also doing his own taxes and it looked like he'd owe $21,000 this year. I was bummed because I made less than $21,000 this year. Who wins?

In other news, I went in for a tune-up on my car. The garage gave me a lift up to UMass to get some things done while they were working. Half an hour later, they called me to say um... there's $650 worth of standard maintenance that's been neglected and is overdue. We'll be glad to do it and you can pick up your car tomorrow. Ah, says I. And how am I to get home to Springfield and back here to pick it up tomorrow? Oh. Yeah, that's a problem, isn't it? So I'm taking it in on Friday to get some work done, at 8am after getting off work at 12:30 am. *sigh* I like sleep.

So I finished up the things I had to do at UMass and called the garage to pick me back up. You need a ride? they say. But our driver went home at 4. Nobody thought to tell me this when they talked to me at 10 of 4! So I walked back. Only like 4-5 miles, but my shoes are really not all that made for walking. They're not horribly bad, but they're not great, either.

I got there, got the written estimate to go over, and headed off to aikido. I was like 40 minutes early and I really didn't feel like waiting. My feet hurt, I wasn't sure I wanted to do class at all, I was in a mediocre at best mood. So I decided to leave. Changed my mind twice in the parking lot and drove to the exit, returned to my space, drove to the exit, returned to my space -- and finally decided to leave.

And a couple miles down the road decided one last time to stay *laugh* Took five minutes to turn around, as the traffic stunk, but I got back, stretched out long and slow, and had an unusual but very entertaining class. There were only two of us there, so sensei's eyes were on us all the time. Amazing what a backseat driver he can be. One moment when JJ was doing a technique, Sensei was going, "Go, go! Hand, hand! No, no, no-- over! There! Relax-- relax more. Okay, and down, down -- there you go!" *giggle* I was entertained. I was even entertained when he was doing it to me rather than JJ. Don't get me wrong, it was wicked useful. Just also entertaining.

So I'm glad I stayed both because it was a good class and because if it had been only JJ he probably would have cancelled.

Word Usage quiz

2005-03-07T21:30:50Z

English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 77% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

Yay me! Of course, this was after the first time around, when they told me not that I was a genius, but that I guessed. How's that for insulting? Jerks. Anyway... Sadly, it doesn't have a handy dandy cut and paste to give my results, so there's not a direct link, but, if you're interested, here it is:

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170

Aikido Test

2005-03-05T04:41:38Z

Okay, so most of you are going to think I'm talking in tongues here, but ah well.

Attending tests (even when, as this time, I'm not actually testing myself) always reminds me how much I love aikido. Had a great time this evening. Managed to beat everyone else to uke position twice, the first set of ukes for the 5th kyu tests and the last set of fresh ukes prior to the weapons work for the 4th kyus. It was bloody perfect timing, if I do say so myself. The first one kept me warm for the rest of the 4th kyu tests and beginning of 5th kyu, and I was just starting to get uncomfortably chilly, and my breath was finally fully calm again, when they called for the last set of fresh ukes. Grabbed RL, too, which was good cause I love workign with RL. And she was saying later that she'd been thinking before tests that there were three people who wouldn't freak her out to get as ukes for her test: Brian, Kristen, and myself. And we're exactly who she got -- so all went well.

I was glad to hear that since I felt a little guilty taking ukemi (both for her test and for John's in the 5th kyu) since I'm so bloody out of practice. It went pretty well, though. Tiny test, just three each testing for 5th and 4th and no higher ranks. So sensei took 'em on and on, made endurance a big part of it. Good stuff. But that's why the 4th kyus needed three fresh ukes -- just kept going and going. Poor guys looked ready to drop by the time it was done. Uke's work is more intense, but nage's adds up too.

Gotta get back into it more.

Did dinner at the Ground Round after, and got to chat with some folks I haven't in a while: Bobby and Eric, Brian, of course, and both senseis were the ones in easy conversational range. Looks like we might have a new building, hopefully we'll find out in a week. It sounds about perfect, so here's hoping it works out!

Thought about going back to work, but by the time I headed out I only would have caught the last 40 minutes of my shift, so I decided to just head home and get an early night. So, for that purpose, I'll sign off here and go to bed. *waves*

(Yay -- I finally posted again. Next move -- catch up with everyone else's journals *sigh*)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

2005-01-01T05:21:15Z

Happy New Year!

In other news, for those following the story, I did find coverage at work from 6-10 so I could go to misogi at the dojo. I felt like death warmed over, but I did go and did participate (and did find some cheapo knee pads beforehand that worked perfectly so my knees still feel like knees and not slabs of raw meat- yay!). While I was going it felt remarkably good, or at least remarkably not bad, although afterwards the cramps faded back in and now I'd sell a large chunk of my soul for a good massage. Such is life. Oh yeah- for the couple of ya who know him, Jonathan (err, aikido Jonathan not ex-relay Jon) showed for it, too, first time in the dojo in two and a half years, according to him, so that was cool. Haven't seen him in ages. It was a really really really small ceremony- like half the size of the ones I've been to previously. A little sad but also kind of good since you work with everyone on the mat and the more people there the more lengthy and exhausting it is, and I did have to go back to work afterwards.

Related, after misogi at the traditional gifts to the senseis thingie I finally gave my aikido afghan to the dojo (it's only been sitting in my car since, when, August? September?) One person asked where I bought it *giggle* but it was extremely well received and they're talkign about finding a way to hang it up when it's not in use. As long as they also let it be used, say I! I damn well made it to keep warm with, not as decoration, though I'm honored that they want to. Anyway, way cool.

Which brings to mind my other craft project, for those of you who haven't heard: I finished my sweater! *happy dance* Actually finished it last Sunday but I wore it today and got compliments even from a couple people who didn't know I had made it. Yay!

Nice end ot the year over all, although my computer was obnoxious in the extreme this morning and I spent most of the morning on the phone with Microsoft tech support. T hey first said their help would be $35 because they no longer support Windows 98, but decided that maybe they could help for free after all when I explained that all had been well until I installed their most recent critical update. Grr. So we did get it going again, which is good, and it didn't cost anything, which is very good, and I learned a bit more about troubleshooting with Windows when it refuses to boot all the way, which could come in handy at some point.

So all in all a not bad end to the year, although also not completely perfect. Be interesting to see what the coming year brings.

May 2005 be the best year you've lived up to this point and the worst of those yet to come.

Love yas.

avyse @ 2004-12-25T00:47:00

2004-12-25T05:43:48Z

Merry Christmas, everyone! Love yas! And, presents wrapped, I'm heading for bed. G'night.

Narcissism to a new level- and I didn't even realize it

2004-12-03T14:36:24Z


avyse is love
brought to you by the isLove Generator

With a bit of experimentation it seems that most of them are gleaned from the profile's interest list. But ... myself?

An Excellent Link

2004-12-01T02:07:39Z

(yeah I'm still alive- and back from Colorado- Happy Thanksgiving everyone, btw)

Go read this, it's good. It showed up shortly after election. Enjoy:)

fuckthesouth.com