Michael Hanscom

Enthusiastic ambivert. Geeky, liberal, friendly, curious, hopepunk; trying to be a good person. (he/him)
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Forty-seven! While I don’t really have any basis for comparison, so far, this quarantine birthday hasn’t been too bad.

On This Day: May 3

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Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 38 posts previously published on May 3rd

  • 2024
  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 1 Having fun at Woodland Park Zoo's Bug's Eye View exhibit on my birthday. ➡
  • 2021
  • 2020
    • Forty-seven! While I don’t really have any basis for comparison, so far, this quarantine birthday hasn’t been too bad. ➡
    • On This Day: May 3 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from May 3 ➡
  • 2019
    • Me at 46. Not terribly shabby, I think, even at officially being closer to 50 than 40. ➡
    • Book thirty-two of 2019: White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, by Diana Rowland ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This series continues to entertain, as the filming of a zombie film provides backdrop to expanding the political and scientific worlds of the zombie population. Conspiracies galore! ➡
  • 2018
    • Thanks for all the kind words today – 45 seems to be off to a pretty decent start so far! (Not sure why I look so skeptical in the pic. Guess my selfie game wasn’t on point today.) ➡
  • 2017
    • The birthday dinner table as I got home, with dinner, for dessert, and as I blew out my candle. I may be a little bit spoiled. I may also be okay with this. ➡
    • Happy birthday to me! Made it to 44, and plan on sticking around for quite a while longer. ➡
    • Came home for a birthday treat lunch: cheeseburger, fries (well, oven-cooked rosemary and garlic potato slices), and root beer float (with extra-bendy straw)…and a dessert treat for later (’cause I’m quite happily stuffed right now)! ➡
  • 2016
    • Me at 43, with birthday presents: a Lego set, and the complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection. Yes, I said 43, why do you ask? ;) (124/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • What 42-year-olds (this one, at least) get for their birthday: Star Wars car floor mats (from parents), a movie, book, and game (from Pearl), card (from Prairie’s mom), and Batman Legos, socks, and undies (from Prairie). :) ➡
    • Birthday breakfasts should definitely include donuts. ➡
  • 2014
    • And finally, dinner birthday cake! I may be caked out for a while after today, but that’s what birthdays are for, right? ➡
    • Birthday booze at the Starlight with friends. :D ➡
    • Superbatman! Batsuperman! My feet are confused! ➡
    • Lunchtime birthday cake while watching the most recent Riddick film. :) ➡
    • Superman Chucks for a birthday win! ➡
    • Heading out to Home Depot, so we both chose shoes that look like they’re paint splattered. :D ➡
    • Breakfast birthday cake! ;) ➡
  • 2009
  • 2008
    • Bet on the Filly This is neither pro-Obama nor anti-Clinton in my mind -- I haven't officially taken a stance yet, though unofficially I'm throwing my vote in with Cthulhu (why settle for the _lesser_ of two evils, after all?) -- I just think it's really funny. ➡
    • Bittersweet Birthday As of today, I'm officially old enough to be elected President of the United States -- 35. I believe this is my last age-related milestone before official senior citizen status, though there may be something I'm not remembering. ➡
  • 2007
  • 2006
    • The Masked Guy During one of the summers in Pennsylvania, one of the TA's was a young man named Tim, who often filled his notebooks with cartoon doodles, many of which centered around the adventures of The Masked Guy. ➡
    • Loot! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! It's been a fun day so far...I've got the afternoon off, so I think I'm going to head out wandering while the sun's out, and I had a small pile of presents to open during lunch. ➡
    • Wikipedia Birthday Meme Earlier this month there was a Wikipedia Birthday Meme running around that, given its subject and the proximity to my own birthday, I figured I'd just hold off on playing with for a bit. So, three weeks or so after everyone else, it's my turn! ➡
    • Birthday 33 Happy birthday to me, I'm now thirty-three, I should have better words here, but I suck at poetry. ➡
    • Pictures that haven’t been drawn yet. Photo of the day...sidewalk chalk. ➡
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2002
    • A few new site bits I've added a few features to the site -- one a couple weeks ago, and two just a few minutes ago -- and I figured I'd babble for a moment about them. ➡
    • Lastyear Well, I've made it to 29. So...in another year...do I run? Or head for Sanctuary? ➡
  • 2001
    • Heaven forbid that happen! Imagine the disincentive to software development if after months of work another company could come along and copy your work and market it under its own name…without legal restraints to such copying, companies like Apple could not afford to advance the state of the art. ➡
    • The van is back! This just rocks -- my parents van, which was stolen about two weeks ago, will be back in their hands sometime today! ➡
    • Happy birthday to me! Well, I'm 28. We'll see how the day goes. ➡

On This Day: May 2

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Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 27 posts previously published on May 2nd

  • 2024
    • Year 50 Day 366 Oh, you thought this ended with day 365? It's a leap year, so there's an extra day! ➡
    • Reclaiming the Web I miss the 'good old days'. I hope there are enough other people who also do that we can reclaim some of that outside of the walls of Meta and others. ➡
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Silly birthday presents from mom: A knit helmet, and a Lego(-compatible) mug and wizard. ➡
    • Best thing I’ve seen from yesterday’s May Day protests in Seattle: a Proud Boy struggling to destroy a sign while being encouraged and offered helpful tips by bystanders. He tried so hard! ➡
  • 2017
    • Unnecessary quotation marks! ➡
    • Book twenty-seven of 2017: Twilight’s End, by Jerry Olton ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #StarTrek #tos ➡
  • 2016
    • Book seventeen of 2016: Libriomancer, by Jim C. Hines. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (123/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • Prairie and I out for a birthday weekend date night at the opera. ➡
    • The traditional pre-show froyo! ➡
    • Got to put together one birthday present today. Raaarrrwwwrrrr!!! ➡
    • An exciting morning of homework on my last day of being 41. Whee? ➡
  • 2014
    • Lots of pretty spring flowers and trees around campus these days! ➡
  • 2011
    • bin Laden’s Real Victory This is bin Laden’s lamentable victory -- he has changed America’s psyche from one that saw violence as a regrettable-if-sometimes-necessary act into one that finds orgasmic euphoria in news of bloodshed. ➡
    • Troubled I just want to take a moment to call out three friends (one of whom I've never even met in person) for making posts more in line with my own feelings on the matter. ➡
  • 2010
    • The Decline of Northern Civilization This is a piece by[Josh Medsker, originally written for and published in the Anchorage Press in October of 2000. When I first found this, it inspired my 'Back When Anchorage Was Cool' post. Unfortunately, at some point since then, a redesign of the Anchorage Press website took Josh's article offline. Recently, he was kind enough to dig the article up, dust it off, and pass it on to me. With his permission, I'm re-posting it here. ➡
  • 2007
  • 2005
    • Then it hit me… THEN IT HIT ME / im not going to be famous / i wont get to be a rock star / im going to be stuck on the payroll / doing work that doesnt interest me / for a very long time ➡
    • Lesbian minister re-frocked A nice update to a story I was following some time back: the Methodist minister who was de-frocked after revealing that she was a lesbian has been reinstated by the Methodist church. ➡
  • 2004
  • 2003
    • Last Day When your lifeclock in the palm of your left hand begins to blink, your time is up in your present body. Upon blinking, proceed to our Headquartes on Nolan Street, 7th Floor, Room 1976. There, you will be given proper ceremonial garb and final instructions for participating in Life-Renewal on Carousel. ➡
    • I am… Michael is… Woody is… Wudi is… (Fun with Google) ➡
  • 2002
    • Not Another Teen Movie A while ago, I started seeing trailers for Not Another Teen Movie, and they actually caught my eye. Surprisingly enough, for the most part, I wasn't let down -- I had a grin on my face for the majority of the film, frequently giggled, and even out-and-out laughed at a few moments. ➡
  • 2001
    • ‘toons and Tunes Happy May Day! Only two more days 'till I turn 28...not that I'm keeping track of this for any real reason or anything. Just thought I'd mention it. ➡

Happy May Day

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You hear that sound, the rain is coming down
It says there’s a ripeness setting in
The children spin around ’til they crash into the ground
Singing “Welcome Home Forever Once Again”

And when you hear the spirit’s call
There ain’t no use to fight
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight
You better sow your seed tonight

You feel that fire lift your body higher
An old, old dance is growing here
Better kiss me soon while the blossoms are in bloom
Or you might just have to wait another year

And when you hear the spirit’s call
There ain’t no use to fight
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight
You better sow your seed tonight

You feel that beet, come on, move your feet
Old man winter’s dead and gone
There’ll be wiggling of the toes, there’ll be taking off of clothes
There’ll be silly naked dancing on the lawn

And when you hear the spirit’s call
There ain’t no use to fight
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight
You better sow your seed tonight

— Jason Webley, “May Day”

On This Day: May 1

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Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 30 posts previously published on May 1st

  • 2024
  • 2022
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • You all can have your Jonathan Coulton and your Justin Timberlake. When it comes to May Day songs, I’m partial to Jason Webley. And when you hear the spirit’s call There ain’t no use to fight And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight… ➡
    • Well sure, what better time than right on the heels of a privacy scandal to announce that Facebook is getting into the dating game? Of course, people who are already friends won’t be matched (because…people only date strangers?), and poly/open people aren’t welcome. Um…okay. ➡
    • Got my #LordsofAcid #PrettyinKink goodies today; new album should be out soon! ➡
    • Interesting new pseudo-3D/motion panoramic app called Fyuse just hit my radar. This grumpy unicorn is my first experiment. ➡
  • 2017
    • Sporting my @swear_trek blue shirt at the #StarTrek meetup at @norwescon #nwc40. Photo courtesy of Thom Walls. ➡
  • 2016
    • There is no such thing as too many books. (122/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • For #throwbackthursday: me outside The Vogue on 12th in 2006. ➡
  • 2009
    • Links for April 28th through May 1st Sometime between April 28th and May 1st, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • DJ Richie Hawtin ties Twitter into his setlist with Twitter DJ and Traktor • Ferris Bueller is Tyler Durden • How to Be a Successful Evil Overlord • The Skinny on Using NASA Images • Practical Tips for Combatting Swine Flu in Your Home ➡
    • District 9 Holy crap, that's good. ➡
  • 2006
    • Falling Blossoms Fallen cherry blossoms in the rock garden outside our living room window. ➡
    • A Kiss for Mom More photos of Noah, Kevin, and Emily can be found in Saturday's photos, and a few of Prairie and her mom are in Sunday's photos. ➡
    • An Alaskan Adventure When you travel to Alaska, don't forget your bug spray. The mosquitos are something else! ;) ➡
    • Three Bizarro Favorites The previous post reminded me that I had three of my all-time favorite Bizarro comics saved in my old high school quotebook. Here they are (roughly in ascending order, that is, the last one being my top favorite)/// ➡
    • The Importance of Education I've been a fan of Dan Piraro's Bizarro comic for years, but this one gave me a really good laugh this morning. Definitely one of my favorites. ➡
  • 2005
    • Camp Tomato! So yesterday was Jason Webley's Camp Tomato. Prairie and I weren't entirely sure just what the day would have in store, but we figured it would be fun, so after waking her up from a nap, we hopped in the car and headed over to Woodland Park. ➡
  • 2004
    • Jason Webley Birth Day – Only Just Beginning CD release My birthday weekend started off with this year's Birth Day for Jason Webley, his annual 'resurrection' show, this year combined with the CD release party for Only Just Beginning. A full writeup will have to wait for later, but I've posted my photos from the concert (and the after-concert revelry in Freeway Park). ➡
  • 2003
    • 'Recent Tunes' update Utilizing the iTunes Music Store linking hint I found earlier, I've updated the 'Recent Tunes' section of my sidebar. Before each artist, track, and album listing you'll now see icons for Amazon and the iTunes Music Store — clicking on those will perform a search on the respective service for whichever line you clicked on. Nifty! ➡
    • Linking to the iTunes Music Store Excellent tip that I'm saving here for future use: how to create a website link that performs a search on the iTunes Music Store. ➡
    • I'm going to hell! Guarded by the Minotaur, who snarls in fury, and encircled within the river Phlegethon, filled with boiling blood, is the Seventh Level of Hell. ➡
  • 2002
    • May Day! Happy May Day! Or perhaps Beltane would be more to your liking. ➡
    • Neverwhere I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I was expecting. It was an extremely quick read (I read it in two days, with my only reading time being on the bus to and from work and at lunch), and was a lot lighter than I expected. ➡
  • 2001
    • The Emperor’s new Superman I generally enjoy Disney's films, but The Emperor's New Groove seemed to sneak through the theaters. But I heard more and more people talking about how good this one actually was...and eventually just went ahead and got it. End result? Absolutely hilarious! ➡

On This Day: Apr 30

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Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 11 posts previously published on April 30th

  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2021
    • How Pfizer Makes Its Covid-19 Vaccine: “Inside this facility in Chesterfield, Missouri, trillions of bacteria are producing tiny loops of DNA containing coronavirus genes — the raw material for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.” ➡
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Linkdump for April 19th through April 30th An automatically generated list of links that caught my eye between April 19th and April 30th. • John Scalzi: Thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War (and Yes, There are Spoilers) • Avengers: Infinity War ending: Incredibly bold — and a little cheap • “When people say ‘spinster’, they are trying to conjure up an image of a little old lady who is lonely and bitter.” • When Toronto Suspect Said ‘Kill Me,’ an Officer Put Away His Gun • What Does Invoking The 25th Amendment Actually Look Like? ➡
  • 2016
    • Some days, there’s enough going on that your head just doesn’t seem to be on quite right. (121/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Halfway through the week. Just two more full days of being 40. ➡
  • 2006
    • Back Home We're back. Family and friends were visited, many photos were taken, fun was had. I'm starting to get photos uploaded to Flickr, though so far I've just taken care of Friday's shots. The rest will have to wait 'til I'm home from school tomorrow. ➡
  • 2003
    • Electoral Map One of the things that really bugs me about our current governmental system is the Electoral College. When I was growing up, democracy (and, thus, the U.S. Government) was always explained to me as one vote per citizen, majority rule. This makes sense to me. ➡
  • 2002
    • I’m back! Okay, so...yeah. It's been over a week since I paid any attention to my website. Sorry for being so lazy...there's been a fair amount of crud going on, and, to be honest, I just wasn't in the mood to bitch and moan about it until some more of it was resolved. ➡

On This Day: Apr 29

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Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 17 posts previously published on April 29th

  • 2024
  • 2020
    • Fan Spending Quarantine Creating Virtual LEGO Builds For Each Episode Of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’: Two great tastes that taste great together! ➡
    • Wealth, shown to scale: Mindblowing. ➡
    • On This Day: Apr 29 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from April 29 ➡
  • 2017
    • Book twenty-six of 2017: Take Back the Sky, by Greg Bear. ⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2016
    • It’s been that kind of week, so it’s dessert time now. (120/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Gorgeous day today, and it’s just supposed to get better. Can’t complain! ➡
  • 2005
  • 2004
    • Poem in Your Pocket To commemorate the end of National Poetry Month, blog about your favorite poem and provide at least one link to other poems and/or a bio of the poet. ➡
  • 2003
    • Internet Explorer .pdf files? It's the little things that get to me about Windows most of the time. Things like this — today, for absolutely no reason that I can think of, Windows has decided that Adobe Acrobat .pdf files should have Internet Explorer's icon. ➡
    • Butterfly alphabets, and much more Prepare to get lost for hours in all sorts of linky goodness! ➡
  • 2002
    • Life or Something Like It While it wasn't anything amazing, it was certainly a very cute little romantic comedy, and I think it might be the best role I've seen Jolie in (and a very welcome change from the dreck that was Tomb Raider). An enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes, at the very least. ➡
    • ISSN 1539-4387 Back in March I found out that I could apply for an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) for my blog, legitimatizing it as a serial publication in the eyes of the U.S. Government. ➡
  • 2001