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Site updates and anything else related to the technology of blogging and my site(s).

On This Day: Dec 30

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Since I 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 19 posts previously published on December 30th

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • The Rise of Skywalker In the end, as I noted just after seeing it, it is an entertaining film, and an acceptable, though not incredible, end to the Skywalker saga. But it's definitely the weakest of the three new films (with _The Last Jedi_ being the strongest). ➡
  • 2016
    • A bath and a book…not a bad way to spend some time in the afternoon. Trying to see if I can get one more book finished by the end of the year! (365/366) ➡
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
    • Minor Weblog Redesign A new year is (almost) here, and along with that, it was time for a bit of a refresh to the design. It's not a huge change -- generally speaking, all the bits are in the same basic places -- just a little fine-tuned and tweaked. ➡
  • 2007
    • The Ratings Game #1 Every so often, I'll post the MPAA rating and rationalization. _Your_ goal is to try to guess the film, based solely on the MPAA's rating and their description of its faults. I'll post the answer either after someone guesses it correctly, or later on if it has remained a mystery. ➡
  • 2006
    • We’re Back! We're loopy as all get-outs, due to a delayed connecting flight pushing our arrival back in Seattle from 5:00am to 6:30am and sending both of us _far_ into the realms of sleep deprivation, plus having to battle the head cold that I picked up midway through the week...but we're back. ➡
  • 2005
    • Tag Intersections A little bit more work on improving the tags.app implementation here: tag intersection searches from the search results page. ➡
    • This is a test… ...this is only a test. Even better, it's a test that worked -- there's now a tag search field available. ➡
  • 2004
    • Gallimaufry 2 Same as before, ten songs that iTunes chooses at random. Not quite as interesting a selection as I got last week. Maybe we'll do better next time… ➡
  • 2003
    • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Oh. My. God. Have you seen the trailer for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow yet? If not, run, do not walk, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, over and watch it now. ➡
  • 2002
    • Neighbors That's what you get when you do a 'related' Google search to find which sites Google considers to be similar to mine. Definitely makes me wish I knew the criteria. ➡
    • Nightclubbing, we’re nightclubbing… So this guy wants to go into a nightclub, but the bouncer says, 'Sorry, bud, you need a tie for this place.' He goes back to his car and rummages around, but there's no necktie to be found. ➡
  • 2000

On This Day: Dec 29

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Since I 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 24 posts previously published on December 29th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 241 After a whirlwind three days of visiting family, we made it home this afternoon. ➡
  • 2021
  • 2020
    • 📚 fifty-four of 2020: Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Inside the Art and Special Effects by Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A gorgeous look at the visuals of Trek’s ambitious first film, and a great companion to Return to Tomorrow. Highly recommended for TMP fans. 🖖 ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 29 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 29 ➡
  • 2019
    • From last night, when we took Mom out for her holiday lobster dinner. Was a good weekend of family visits, but right now we’re happy to be home and out of I-5 holiday traffic. ➡
  • 2018
    • Book sixty of 2018: Explorers, by George Gipe. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2017
    • Book fifty-two of 2017: Shadow, by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 🌟🌟🌟 I made my book-a-week average (52 books in a year goal) for 2017 (thanks to this quick push through a few easy, quick, and enjoyable bits of Trek fluff at the end)! #startrek #voy #section31 🖖 ➡
  • 2016
    • Though the original plan was to work through the Alien/Predator films, we decided that was a bit bleak for this week. Instead, we’ve been binging on classic comedies and classic and modern musicals. Chicago, How to Steal A Million, Royal Wedding, Hairspray, How to Marry A Millionaire, and others. Much easier to deal with right ... Read more ➡
  • 2014
    • The current post-Christmas state of my “to read” bookcase. Even in the midst of working on a master’s degree, somehow I can’t stop picking up more books. ➡
  • 2007
    • Kynt and Vyxsin While sure, I'll admit that part of the 'drama' of reality programming is the relationships (good and bad, but often bad) between the contestants, it's been nice to see that at least two of the final five teams in this race actually treat each other like people should be treated -- and it's more than a little thrilling that it's the two 'counter-culture' teams that have the best relationships. ➡
  • 2005
    • Distorted Tunes Test According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders' Distorted Tunes Test, I have a fine sense of pitch. ➡
    • TypeKey broken? I'm not sure how I've managed to do this, but while disabling the OpenID Comment plugin, I've managed to break the ability to log in via TypeKey for authentication. ➡
    • Ten Years (roughly) Going by my earliest archived entry, I've been blogging in one form or another for _ten years_ as of 3:13am (Alaska time), December 29, 2005. Here's to the next ten years. ➡
  • 2004
    • Goodbye, Grandpa I just got word from my dad that my mom's father, Harold Ward, died peacefully in his sleep last night, at the age of 88. ➡
    • Seattle Rep: Noises Off Prairie and I just returned from using her dad's Christmas present to her, which while it originally appeared in the form of cash, was soon converted into two tickets to the Seattle Rep's performance of Noises Off. ➡
    • Santa’s Flight Exam Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and it was shortly before Christmas when the FAA examiner arrived. ➡
    • My Netflix I've just added a new page to the site (and linked it in the header navigation of every page): my Netflix queues. ➡
  • 2003
    • Truth in advertising An ad for FHM: 'We're not sure why we bother with the words.' ➡
    • Peter Pan…soon! I've been looking forward to the new film version of Peter Pan ever since I stumbled across the trailer in mid-November. Kalyx just got to see it, and her writeup just makes me want to see it more… ➡
    • Don't feed the trolls troll: v.,n. To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post itself. ➡
    • M&M's go goth M&M's will be available in only black and white for the next few months instead of the standard six colors as part of a promotional campaign. ➡
    • This shouldn't be a surprise I should be used to this kind of thing by now, but it still catches me off guard when I notice little things like being the second primary Google result for 'apple g5'. ➡
  • 1995
    • [From the archives: 12.29.95 0313] Well, Christmas has come and gone. Didn't get much on my wish list, but then, that was expected...especially when the first item was a $2700 computer. (grin) Hey, I can dream. ➡

On This Day: Dec 28

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Since I 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 28 posts previously published on December 28th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 240 Our last day of visiting was with my wife’s mom, sister, brother-in-law, and niblings. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Well, now. That was definitely a movie! Spoiler-free mini-review: It’ll do as an acceptable end to the Skywalker saga (and rather amusingly, you really don’t need the prequels at all; this could easily be a six-movie story), but also the weakest of the latter three films. 🎬 ➡
    • Time to finish off the Skywalker saga! 🎬 ➡
  • 2017
    • Day six! #cah #cardsagainsthumanity ➡
    • My manly man feet have the most masculine socks ever. Look at your socks. Now look at my socks. My socks are manlier than your socks. #hesonahorse #oldspice ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-nine of 2016: Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (363/366) ➡
  • 2009
    • Best Movies of the Decade Three best of the decade lists follow, all yoinked from Slashfilm. For each list, I've marked the films I've seen and the films we have in our movie collection at home. ➡
  • 2005
    • Lens Lust followup My Lens Lust post of a week or so ago has touched off a slight Nikon d70s vs. Canon Rebel XT debate in the comments. For the curious photo buff, here's why I'm lusting after the d70s instead of the Rebel XT. ➡
    • All paid up Around $1000 poorer and after approximately 4.34 miles of walking, I should be all set to start school in a few days. ➡
    • Reboot Yourself I've known far too many people who would do well to heed this advice. ➡
    • Mad Max Prairie and I spent three nights last week watching the entire Mad Max trilogy. When all's said and done, I'm not a big fan of Mad Max as a trilogy -- but you can _definitely_ count me as a fan of Beyond Thunderdome. ➡
    • High School A meme, courtesy of ctakahara. ➡
    • The stuff of nightmares Oh my lord. It'd bad enough reading about an airplane accident -- thankfully, one that didn't end in tragedy -- in the steady, calm voice of newspaper reporting. But then comes the report of the incident from passenger Jeremy Hermanns. ➡
    • Best TV of 2005 Of Time's list of the best TV shows of 2005, I've only seen one -- but I'm not going to argue at all with their assessment. Number one on the list... ➡
  • 2004
    • Christianity and the ACLU John Scalzi is looking for Christian lawyers who work for the ACLU. The ensuing comment thread on his post is getting very interesting, too. Worth checking out (though it keeps getting longer, so give yourself a few minutes). ➡
    • Quick Review: Quills Really, really good. Admittedly, they had a couple things going for them to start with — interesting subject matter and a powerhouse cast — but that's not always a guaranteed success. 'Well worth the dig!' ➡
    • My next ISP GET YOUR ONLINES WITH MAXIMUM INTERNETS - iDigital CyberCom - NOW INTERNETTING AT MEGASPEEDS! ➡
    • Legend Years ago, my brother and I found a cassette tape on the floor of the family van. Neither of us knew where it came from or who had left it there. Upon first glance, it didn't seem all that special — Bob Marley and the Wailers 'Legend' album. It turned out that this tape instead had early 80s-era dance remixes of all of the songs. ➡
    • Tsunami My lord — I hadn't even heard about the disaster around the Indian Ocean until I started browsing through headlines this morning, and now they're putting the death toll at somewhere over 33,000 people. Scary stuff. ➡
    • Christmas Weekend Good Christmas weekend this year. As usual, I've got a selection of photos posted to Flickr. Now I'm back at work, and Prairie's doing her best to fend off a cold before the New Year's weekend rolls around. Life returns to normal…for a few days at least. ➡
  • 2003
    • LotR:TRotK EE DVD – 4h50m+? Apparently, Peter Jackson recently revealed that the DVD Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 'will be longer than 4 hours and 50 min' long! ➡
    • 2003 Pictures of the Year The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest magazine has released their 2003 Pictures of the Year special issue, and all the shots have been posted on their website. ➡
    • Nobody's tried this yet? Frankly, I'd be more than a little surprised if nobody had attempted zero-g sex yet, no matter how strenuously NASA denies it. Still, if you're looking to be the 'official' first couple to give it a shot (and happen to be absolutely filthy rich), just give the Russian space agency a call! ➡
    • Books, sir…books. What did we do for endless and disheartening time-sinks before computers? I never lost twenty hours trying to make a fridge work properly, or to make a chair I'd accidentally upgraded turn itself back into something you could sit on. ➡
  • 2001
    • Ion Drive in operation Apparently NASA's Deep Space 1 probe has just been officially decommissioned, slightly over two years after its planned End of Mission date. ➡
    • It’s just a movie, folks One for the Darwin Awards -- the first item on this page is a story of a Japanese tourist who died in the middle of a snowy field outside of Fargo, North Dakota...while trying to dig up the stolen money left there in the movie Fargo. The fictional movie. ➡
    • Kevin Smith directs Lord of the Rings The Council of Elrond from Lord of the Rings (as directed by Kevin Smith), and The Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings (as directed by Michael Bay). Too funny not to share. ➡

On This Day: Dec 27

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Since I 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 18 posts previously published on December 27th

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
    • I always appreciate it when a publisher pays attention to the design of the hardback binding under the dust cover. The design for this book is particularly nice. 🖖 ➡
    • 📚 fifty-three of 2020: The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A little journalism and a lot of alcohol in late ‘50s Puerto Rico. You can definitely see the seeds of the later Fear and Loathing in this. ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 27 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 27 ➡
  • 2019
    • In Portland (well, just outside of Portland, in Happy Valley) for a holiday visit with Mom. Tomorrow I get to see the newest Star Wars film and finally get to stop trying to avoid spoilers (which I think I’ve done fairly well at, only heard two minor ones so far). ➡
  • 2017
    • Book fifty-one of 2017: Abyss, by David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang. 🌟🌟🌟 #startrek #ds9 #section31 🖖 ➡
  • 2016
    • Still processing, but have been staying in touch with mom and my brother, and Prairie and I have our travel plans made. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and messages over the past day. (362/366) ➡
  • 2013
    • I’m quite curious as to what pattern they suggest for funerals. They do say every occasion… ➡
    • “Helping” Prairie choose embroidery thread colors. Not 50 shades of grey, but we found four or five. ➡
  • 2008
    • Been A Good Christmas This Year I keep hearing and seeing people grumble about this Holiday season. Between the economy sucking everyone's spare change away and Snowpocalypse 2008 burying the entire Northwest coast under more snow than has been seen in a decade (or more), it seems like _nobody's_ happy. Well, just to buck the trend, we're not doing too badly here. ➡
  • 2005
    • Silktide Sitescore From what I can tell, my site gets a fairly good score from Silktide, a web development firm based out of England. Some of the areas I got marked down on aren't a surprise at all, but I did get a laugh out of the one section that I was rated as 'Very Poor'. ➡
  • 2003
    • Top Word Lists of 2003 YourDictionary.com has released their Top Word Lists of 2003. Did you know where 'ok' came from? ➡
    • I need a new router I've got $75 of gift certificates to Best Buy thanks to a promotion through work, and I need to get a new router — but I don't know quite which one to go for. Anyone have any suggestions? ➡
    • Still digging (This post is mostly me whining. Feel free to ignore it.) ➡
  • 2001
    • Christmas in Alaska It was a lot of fun, and seeing friends and family again was great...but I've gotta say, I'm so glad I'm living down here now. Seattle is definitely much more 'me' than Anchorage ever was. ➡
    • I’m in the wrong business! Microphage Lumber and LSD -- Your Source! If only I'd thought of this first! ➡

On This Day: Dec 26

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Since I 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 18 posts previously published on December 26th

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
    • _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Photostory_ by Richard J. Anobile ➡
    • _Fool_ by Christopher Moore ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • N Carolina couple call 911 on vacuum thought to be intruder: A cute story told in a clever way. It’s really a shame its byline is just the AP, and the actual author isn’t getting their due credit. ➡
  • 2018
    • Book fifty-nine of 2018: The Magic Goes Away, by Larry Niven. 🌟🌟🌟 ➡
  • 2017
  • 2016
    • This is actually a re-post from earlier this year, when my parents were visiting. This seemed like the right choice for today’s photo, in memory of my dad, who passed away this morning. (361/366) ➡
  • 2005
    • Lazy Christmas Day Christmas Day was wonderful this year. I woke up around 10am to the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, and spent the rest of the day lazing around the apartment with Prairie. ➡
  • 2001
    • Interesting and disturbing Why should it be that it's perfectly legitimate to support the Labor party or the Conservative party, Republicans or Democrats, this model of economics versus that, Macintosh instead of Windows -- but to have an opinion about how the Universe began, about who created the Universe...no, that's holy? ➡
    • Martha Stewart’s Pagan Yule December 1: Bury turkey carcass from Thanksgiving under the Holly tree to thank the tree for the six bushels of branches pruned to decorate the halls with. Draw Pentagram in the dirt with silver dust to prevent pet She-Wolf from digging up the bones. ➡
    • Back in Seattle The flight home was much better than the flight to Ak, which was a great relief -- though I don't think I'll ever be completely comfortable with flying again. Grrr. Ah, well. ➡
  • 2000
    • Time travel After the family reunion of my dad's side of the family that we had while on vacation, I got to talking with my mom about the genealogical records we had lying around the house. This stuff is just fascinating! ➡
  • 1998

On This Day: Dec 25

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Since I 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 39 posts previously published on December 25th

  • 2023
  • 2021
    • _The Matrix_ has a complicated legacy. ➡
  • 2020
    • On This Day: Dec 25 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 25 ➡
    • Good morning and merry Christmas, all, however you celebrate (or tolerate) the day! I hope it’s a good and safe day for you and all those you care about. ➡
  • 2019
    • 📚 sixty-one of 2019: Dead Endless, by Dave Galanter. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Focuses on the Stamets/Culber relationship, in a creative manner that’s a little confusing for the first few chapters until it suddenly snaps into focus. Some great Tilly and Airiam moments as well. ➡
    • My Christmas book stack. On the left, Star Trek. On the right, not Star Trek. 🖖📚 ➡
    • Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and general good wishes to you all, however you celebrate the day and season! ➡
  • 2018
    • Book fifty-eight of 2018: Star Trek The Classic Episodes Vol. 3, by James Blish with J. A. Lawrence. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2017
    • Well, while #kubros aren’t really Legos, they’re close, and this lil’ Worf is really cute. #startrek #tng #worf #klingon ➡
    • Christmas present from my brother: a full set of #TOS #StarTrek collectible glasses by #DrPepper from 1976. Nice find! ➡
    • I have questions about the trivia in our holiday crackers…. ➡
    • Nice goodies from Prairie. Looking forward to digging into these when we get home! #alfredhitchcock #hitchcock #smithsonian #smithsonianfolkways #folkways ➡
    • Got cute little coloring books in our stockings, so we’re stretched out in bed coloring. Nice way to spend a holiday morning! ➡
  • 2016
    • Oh no! #Venom is attacking the toy store! Can #SpiderMan save the day? #Lego ➡
    • Working on one of the Lego sets I got today (the Winter Toy Shop). (360/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • Would you like to build a snowman? #Lego snowman, that is. ;) ➡
    • Why, look – someone filled the stockings we hung by the (electronic) fire with care! ➡
  • 2014
    • Got my copy of These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Three (arrived a few days ago, but didn’t open it until today), and with it came my Kickstarter reward of a 35mm film trim from the Star Trek editing room. I got Spock! Sadly, it’s been long enough since I watched all the original episodes ... Read more ➡
    • Potatohead Wolverine and the Hulk! ➡
    • Potatohead Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock! ➡
    • Lego Space Needle! ➡
    • One of my stocking stuffers: a cute Lego Christmas tree! ➡
  • 2013
    • These Christmas crackers looked cute in the store, but now that it’s time to open them, I’m a bit disturbed at what I’m about to do. ➡
    • The traditional Christmas lasagne! ➡
    • Lego Gollum! Including Frodo with Sting and the One Ring. Gollum’s actually pretty creepy-cute. ➡
    • My loot! ➡
    • Prairie’s loot! ➡
    • My stocking stuffers. (That handkerchief at the lower right was embroidered by Prairie.) ➡
    • Prairie’s stocking stuffers. ➡
    • Stockings, once hung by the (electronic) fireplace with care, now stuffed to the brim with goodies. Santa came to our house! ➡
    • Our Christmas tree with piles of presents soon to be opened. ➡
  • 2006
    • Merry Xmas, We’re Off to Alaska And now, Prairie and I are waking up and taking care of the last few details before we head out to the airport to fly up to Anchorage for the next few days to visit my folks. Enjoy your Christmas (or Hannukkah, or Yule, or _whatever_) season! ➡
  • 2005
  • 2003
    • Talk about geek heaven! A stainless-steel grave marker complete with an LCD display that can be hooked into a PC interface to change the epitaph whenever you want! ➡
    • The miracles of Christmas The real miracles of Christmas, according to me. ➡
    • A quiet Christmas It's been a nice Christmas holiday this year. Due to financial difficulties, I wasn't able to head up to Anchorage to be with my family for Christmas, so I ended up spending Christmas on my own for the first time in my life. ➡
    • Return of the King nitpicks After watching RotK for the second time today, I'm still quite solidly convinced that Jackson's trilogy is, quite simply, one of the greatest achievements in filmmaking in recent years. However, that doesn't stop me from finding the occasional odd thing to mention…such as two goofs, and a few editing choices that I'm not entirely happy with. ➡
    • Merry Christmas, everyone! That's really about it — short and sweet. Merry Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Yuletide, or whatever celebration you might be partaking in these days) everyone! ➡
  • 2000

On This Day: Dec 24

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Since I 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 18 posts previously published on December 24th

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
    • The Anonymous Sister A hundred million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister. ➡
    • So, what would really happen if you tried to have a completely 'normal' Christmas aboard the ISS? ➡
  • 2020
    • 🖖 Discovery S03E11: Nice to finally get back to some good ol’ Trek weirdness. Mysterious unexpected post-transport things! Hologlitches! Plus, we’ve tossed Harry Potter and the end of Labyrinth in there just to mix it up a bit. I’m still underwhelmed by Osyraa, though. ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 24 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 24 ➡
  • 2019
  • 2017
    • A holiday hotel room. ➡
    • A holiday hotel room. ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-eight of 2016: The President’s Vampire, by Christopher Farnsworth. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (359/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Happy Holidays! This just floated across my Facebook feed, and seemed appropriate for the season. Happymerry Holidayschristmaskwanzaasolsticenewyear! ➡
  • 2008
  • 2007
    • Christmas Eve Nostalgia So for me, this is a perfect Christmas Eve present. I get to revisit part of my childhood with some good old music, Prairie's enjoying hearing the songs (and watching me bounce around as I remember bits and pieces of them), and I get some more _good_ Christmas music to add to our collection. ➡
  • 2004
    • Happy Holidays Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Fröliche Weinachten, Merry Solstice…whatever works in your particular instance, have a good holiday weekend. ➡
  • 2003
    • If Abraham Lincoln grew up on AOL… FOUR SCORA AND SEV3N Y3ARS AGO OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH ON THIS CONTIENNT A NU NATION CONCAIEVD IN LIEBRTY AND D3DICAETD 2 TEH PROPOSITION TAHT AL MAN R CR3AETD AQUAL!1!!!11! LOL ➡
    • The Dangers of Molasses On a hill above the city, a 90-foot wide tank of molasses intended to be used for production of rum suddenly ruptured, sending two and a half million gallons of molasses in a wall eight to fifteen feet high down into the unsuspecting Boston neighborhood at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. ➡
  • 2000
    • Lorelei Mackenzie Markin I just got word from one of my closest friends that she had her baby this morning! Congratulations both to Miranda and her daughter, Lorelei Mackenzie Markin, both of whom are doing wonderfully well, I'm told. ➡

On This Day: Dec 23

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Since I 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 23 posts previously published on December 23rd

  • 2023
  • 2020
    • The Year in Photos 2020: How will we remember this pivotal year in human history? Many of us won’t want to, but in doing so we risk repeating what got us into this mess in the first place. ➡
    • LG 27UK850-W: An Acceptable 27-inch Display for the Mac: I occasionally toy with the idea of moving to a Mac Mini + monitor setup to replace my current 27″ Retina iMac, but finding a good monitor that’s not too expensive is difficult. This one is a maybe? ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 23 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 23 ➡
  • 2019
    • Happy Christmas Adam! December 23rd. Comes before Christmas Eve and is generally unsatisfying. ➡
    • The end of formal nights on cruises: This past summer, when Mom took Prairie and me on an Alaskan cruise, the formal dinners were part of what we were looking forward to, and while we did enjoy them, we were a little disappointed to see that so few people were really living up to the ... Read more ➡
  • 2017
    • Book fifty of 2017: Rogue, by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin. 🌟🌟🌟 #startrek #tng #section31 🖖 ➡
    • Day five! #cah #cardsagainsthumanity ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-seven of 2016: Merry Christmas, Alex Cross, by James Patterson. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Prairie read this yesterday, and said that since it’s a Christmas book, I should read it too. It’s more of a short story or novella, just 100 pages, and just as high quality as you’d expect a Patterson holiday short to be.) ➡
    • Fresh baked ginger molasses cookie (with cream cheese frosting) almost as big as my head! ➡
    • Done! Off campus, and not back for ten days! Happy holidays! (358/366) ➡
  • 2008
    • This Weblog is ESTP According to Typealyzer, which analyzes the content of a weblog and places it within the Myers-Briggs personality matrix, this weblog classifies as ESTP (Extroverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving), 'The Doers.' ➡
    • Links for December 18th through December 23rd Sometime between December 18th and December 23rd, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! ➡
  • 2005
    • Registered It's official -- I'm registered for classes. Just two for now, but it's a start. ➡
  • 2004
    • Skinheads I Have Known Back in the mid- to late-'90's, Anchorage used to have a fairly active skinhead community. I can't say how they might have compared to similar groups in other cities, but as far as Anchorage went, they were well-known, and fairly hard core. Twice, I ended up having a couple of memorable run-ins with the Anchorage skinhead crowd. ➡
    • What do you write about? …I try and find a way to make the words fit. I try to bring my life into focus. I bite my fingernails and try to tell people the contours of the jagged edges. You know. Like that. ➡
    • The End A year and a half ago, I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As of tonight, nineteen months and a lot of DVDs later, I've seen every episode, from Buffy first arriving in Sunnydale to her final look forward into a new, changed world. ➡
    • Gridlock I am so glad I live mere blocks away from my job, and don't have to worry about driving anywhere. Downtown Seattle has been gridlocked all day long with Christmas shoppers…it's been absolutely insane every time I've had a chance to poke my head out of the building. ➡
  • 2003
    • When snow in Anchorage makes the news… …you know it's been coming down pretty heavily. Just another reason why I'm glad I left Alaska! ➡
    • Seattle Incidents Here's a little page that could get addicting, in a somewhat voyeuristic sort of way — a continually refreshing live list of Seattle 911 'incidents'. ➡
    • NYPD cop busted for blogging A NYPD police officer is under investigation because of what he wrote on his weblog. However, where when I landed in hot water due to my blog it was due to a single stupid mistake, this guy appears to have been bragging about grossly abusing his position as an officer of the law. ➡
  • 2002
    • The center of Anchorage It's good to know that even if it doesn't have quite the status that it used to, in some ways, VINL is still definitely the center of Anchorage. I spent years hanging out at this diner in midtown Anchorage, and met quite a few friends there over the years. So, when tooling around Anchorage on a slow Sunday night, what to do but stop by? ➡

On This Day: Dec 22

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Since I 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 29 posts previously published on December 22nd

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
    • Octopuses Observed Punching Fish, Perhaps Out of Spite, Scientists Say: “In new proof that 2020 has been a crappy year basically everywhere, scientists have captured video evidence of octopuses randomly punching at fish, possibly for no reason other than being spiteful.” ➡
    • For a while I wasn’t sure I’d make it—concentrating on reading has been difficult this year—but with nine days to spare, I’ve completed my Goodreads challenge of 52 books this year. Sure, it’s lots of Star Trek, and I neglected my Hugo Best Novel project, but I hit my goal. 📚 ➡
    • 📚 fifty-two of 2020: Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fun YA fantasy monster fighting adventure based on Navajo mythology. Part of Rick Riordan’s project to use his clout to to highlight marginalized voices and cultures, which I very much respect. ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 22 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 22 ➡
  • 2019
    • 📚 sixty of 2019: The Wanderer, by Fritz Leiber. ⭐️⭐️ 1965 Hugo Best Novel Veers wildly between interesting concepts (a planet the size of Earth appears in Earth’s orbit, affecting tectonics, tides, etc.), and incredibly dated plots that do not age well. ➡
    • I’ve been avoiding Star Wars reviews, as I don’t get to see Ep. 9 until next weekend, but I took a chance on this one by John Scalzi (because he promised it would be spoiler-free, and I trust him to follow through on that), and thought it was an interesting viewpoint. ➡
  • 2016
    • Bedtime! Just one more day of work to get through, then holiday break! (357/366) ➡
  • 2008
    • Snowpocalypse Photos My (still in progress) set of photos from this winter's bizarre weather can be found right here. I've got another day's worth of shots to put in when I get a chance, but that may not happen for another few days or so. ➡
  • 2005
    • Program on the emergence of civilization. I have no idea what prompted someone to leave this comment on my site, or what relation (if any) they think it might have to the post that it was added to...but it's just long and bizarre enough that I think I'll keep it. ➡
  • 2004
    • Gallimaufry Terrance resurrects an old meme as a weekly thing. The rules are simple: put your entire music playlist on random, and post the first ten songs your music player comes up with. ➡
    • Book of Blogs II Earlier this month, I linked to a blog anthology project by Tvindy. I liked the idea and nominated a few entries for inclusion, but as more is better: as readers, are there any posts that stand out in your mind as particularly noteworthy, for whatever reason? ➡
    • Post-Melodramatic Stress Disorder Okay, okay, I'll admit it — I actually like The Phantom of the Opera. In my defense, though (if a defense can even be mounted), I couldn't help it. I've been brainwashed! ➡
    • Our King’s older than yours. This was going to be a linklog post, but then I decided I wanted to give it a little more visibility. With all the current blathering about Christmas being 'stolen', I thought today's Something Positive strip was especially funny. ➡
    • A Republican Christmas 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the land, not a critic was stirring, for stirring was banned. ➡
  • 2003
    • The gift that keeps on giving (…as long as you replace the batteries, of course.) ➡
    • Got it, got it, need it, got it, not a chance, need it, got it… While I'm still partial to the 'Old School' purity tests, Kirsten pointed out a page that bills itself as the 'ultimate' purity test, and I had to give it a shot… ➡
    • Famous Faces …wasn't everyone in Seattle in a band at some point? ➡
    • TypePad User Group I've been hanging out on the TypePad User Group for a while now. It's a great little resource for TypePad users -- entirely unofficial, but a good place to go as a first resource for figuring out issues with coding and maintaining TypePad weblogs. ➡
    • Tower ghost filmed Closed-circuit security cameras at Hampton Court Palace, the huge Tudor castle outside London, seem to have snagged an ethereal visitor. Could it be a ghost? ➡
  • 2002
    • Clubbing in Alaska Why I'm glad I don't have to rely on bars in Alaska to go clubbing: three words — The Electric Slide. ➡
    • Belief, faith, and the church On top of it all, I count my beliefs as mine, and other people's beliefs as theirs. If they want to talk about it fine — but I'm not about to attempt to convince them that I'm 'right' and they're 'wrong', and I expect the same respect from them. ➡
    • Don’t fly pregnant A husband and his pregnant wife were attempting to fly out of Portland to go to a friend's wedding when they were both pulled off for extra 'security screening'… ➡
  • 2001
    • Back in Anchorage I've got to say, that was the most all-out terrified I've ever been -- one drop I might have made it through with just being a little frightened, but when it kept happening over and over, I really started to freak out. ➡
  • 2000
    • Congratulations Kevin and Emily! I just got a visit from my dad, and it seems that my little brother proposed to his girlfriend Emily last night on Winter Solstice -- and she accepted! ➡
  • 1995

On This Day: Dec 21

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Since I 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 23 posts previously published on December 21st

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
    • Shortest day of the year — but from here on, things just get brighter. Let’s hope that applies figuratively and socially as well as literally. Happy solstice all; blessed Yule to those who celebrate in that manner. ➡
    • On This Day: Dec 21 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from December 21 ➡
  • 2019
    • Out for the Seattle Symphony’s performance of Handel’s Messiah. The last time I was at a performance of the Messiah, it was as part of the choir, along with both parents (also in the choir) and my brother (in the orchestra). It’ll be nice to be in the audience with Prairie for this performance! ➡
  • 2018
  • 2017
    • Book forty-nine of 2017: Cloak, by S. D. Perry. 🌟🌟🌟 #startrek #tos #section31 🖖 ➡
  • 2016
    • Book fifty-six of 2016: Faces of Fire, by Michael Jan Friedman. 🌟🌟🌟 #startrek #tos ➡
    • Books aren’t all that get collected at our house — the movie collection keeps growing too (only three of the just over eight shelves are visible here)! Looking forward to seeing if Santa brings any additions. ;) (356/366) ➡
    • Rogue One Mini-Review and Machete Order Thoughts A brief review of Rogue One, and some thoughts on why I don’t think it should be part of the Machete Order. ➡
  • 2015
    • Know what I never had to do last winter? Shovel. Know what I’ve done four times so far, with more to come? Shovel. Ugh. ➡
    • Snow, snow, and more snow. It’s a pain to deal with, but very pretty. ➡
  • 2014
    • So Prairie decided to make some Christmas cookies…. :D ➡
  • 2013
    • All set for a pleasant afternoon with homemade Christmas tea time treats; fudge, cookies, and banana bread that’s fresh out of the oven, cider, and a Star Trek novel. ➡
  • 2011
    • Trolling Middle Earth Where today, 'troll' is almost universally understood as the second of the above quoted definitions -- a person solely out to provoke annoyance -- I've always preferred the first definition. In _that_ sense, a properly constructed troll is something I've always respected. ➡
  • 2006
    • Unhyphenated? My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Count-Palatine Michael the Unhyphenated of Fishbourne Sneething ➡
  • 2005
    • …was blind, but now I see Back again, new and improved -- after swapping out my old, dead video card with a brand-spankin' new Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special Edition, my Mac is back up and running. ➡
  • 2004
  • 2002
    • Brrrrrr Officially, it's 21 degrees here in Anchorage. Unfortunately, the side of town that my parents live on is always colder than the 'official' record — and their thermometer in the front yard is reading 8 degrees below zero at the moment. Yikes. ➡
    • Heading north In just about an hour, I'll be catching a bus to the airport, and heading up to Alaska to spend the next week with my family in Anchorage! ➡
  • 2001
    • I’m shocked. Really. Excuse me? Your marketing scheme for your new high-end ultra-reliable ultra-secure server operating system is to freely admit that your previous high-end ultra-reliable ultra-secure server operating system shipped not just with bugs? ➡
    • New blog software – MovableType I switched my weblog software from NewsPro over to Movable Type. Took me a bit to get everything set up and configured right so that it didn't require re-coding this entire page, but everything seems to be up and working now. ➡