On This Day: May 9

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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 23 posts previously published on May 9th

  • 2025
  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 7 It's nice to finally have the kind of weather that really lets me appreciate the balcony outside my office at work. ➡
    • 📚 Cast No Shadow by James Swallow Does a good job of fleshing out Valeris and exploring the motivations and rationale behind her actions. ➡
  • 2022
  • 2021
    • Difficult Listening Hour 2021.05.08 Unrehearsed, seat-of-the-pants, let's-see-what-happens mixing. You never know what might fall into one of these! ➡
    • 📚 18/2021: _Shadows on the Sun_ by Michael Jan Friedman ⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖 Didn’t really care for a McCoy still blindly obsessed over his ex after decades, or the markedly somber tone of the crew’s return to Earth following the events of STVI:TUC. Very much a downer of a story. ➡
  • 2020
    • On This Day: May 9 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from May 9 ➡
    • The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months: When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman. ➡
  • 2018
    • Best comment I’ve seen yet on Ollie North becoming the head of the NRA: “Russian-backed terror group selects noted international arms smuggler as its new President”. ➡
  • 2016
    • Book nineteen of 2016: Tinseltown, by William J. Mann. 🌟🌟🌟 (130/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • The pre-show froyo is a very important tradition. ➡
    • First time at Rodeo City BBQ for our weekly date night. Quite amused by my boot mug. ➡
  • 2014
    • This has been a week for kicking ass, and I was on the wrong side of that equation. Very glad it’s Friday and the weekend has very little planned. ➡
  • 2005
    • UPS, they did it again! Because I'm paranoid after all the issues I've been having so far, I just logged into UPS's tracking site to check on the current state of my shipment. What. The. Fuck?!? ➡
    • Why ‘UPS’ is pronounced ‘Oops!’ All in all, an incredibly frustrating experience. A mysterious 9:10pm call on Friday to hold the package for pickup that I didn't make, and some twit this morning who didn't tell me what was actually happening. ➡
    • Clutter But...nothing I or my family has ever managed to come up with even comes close to comparing to this house. Amazing...and a little disturbing. ➡
  • 2004
  • 2003
    • NORAD? Um, nope! Looking at another page on the site, a more straightforward timeline of Sept. 11th, imagine my surprise when I saw a picture captioned 'Norad's war room in Cheyenne, Wyoming,' that, rather than being a picture of the Norad control room, is actually a screen shot from the 1983 adventure/suspense film Wargames! ➡
    • Two Dave Winer grumbles I don't have as many issues with Dave Winer as many other people seem to, but he does occasionally come up with something that I'm tempted to comment on. Today, I gave into the temptation… ➡
    • I'm (still) Gambit Through physical contact, Gambit can charge inanimate objects with kinetic energy, which is released on contact with explosive results. Gambit also has slightly enhanced agility and speed. ➡
  • 2001
    • Ugh…now what? Dammit -- no matter how well things are going, something always seems to come along to trip things up. ➡
    • TV time…kinda As always, there have been a couple additions to my movie collection over the past few days. Rather than actual movies, though, I'm catching up on some of the watchable shows that I miss due to the fact that I don't watch television. ➡
    • Told ya I’d get more in here Anyway, so that's it for the past few days. Nothing too earth shattering, but there's very little of that in my life these days anyway. Right now it's mostly a matter of counting the days until I visit Fairbanks in a couple weeks (weekend of May 18th), and until I finally leave this state to see how things are living in the lower 48 (sometime in mid-August). Can't happen soon enough for me. ➡

On This Day: May 8

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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 25 posts previously published on May 8th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 6 Getting a full night's sleep helped. As did not having to file a police incident report. ➡
  • 2022
    • 🎥 The Green Knight It’s been a long time since I reached the end of a movie and just wanted to sit for a few minutes to let it sink in. ➡
    • 🎥 Scream A very fun and enjoyable “requel” (reboot + sequel) of the Scream franchise. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Science Fiction/Fantasy readers, writers, and editors: Which do you consider to be the top SF/F awards? Mike Glyer of File 770 would like to know and is running a poll; you can vote for up to six. My (unordered) picks: Hugo, Locus, Nebula, PK Dick, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker. 5/13/19 Update: Here’s the results. ➡
    • It seems it came out a few months ago, but I just found out that Affinity Designer, Serif’s alternative to Adobe InDesign, is now in free beta status. I’m already a fan of Affinity Photo and Designer (alternatives to Photoshop and Illlustrator), so this is a nice find. ➡
  • 2018
    • Nice! Making it ever easier to vote is a good, good thing. “The King County Council today approved a measure to offer prepaid postage on ballots for this year’s primary and general elections.” ➡
  • 2016
    • Warp speed, helm! And someone find out what happened to my uniform. (129/366) ➡
    • As long as we had to go back to the store, we couldn’t resist trying another six Lego Disney figures…and got no duplicates! Ariel, Genie, Daisy, Ursula, Syndrome, and Alice! ➡
    • Our local Fred Meyers finally put out the current Disney Lego blind bags! We got Mickey, Minnie, Stitch, Hook, and Maleficent — not bad for our first batch! ➡
  • 2014
    • For #throwbackthursday, me in 1993. No clue what I was heading out to, but I’m all decked out in full tux and top hat, with black-and-white polka dot bow tie and cummerbund. Snazzy! No explanation for the wall blanket, goofy expression, or weird claw hand. ➡
  • 2007
    • Press the Little Doohickey This weekend, we got Prairie her own camera, a Pentax Optio M20. It's perfect for her -- a cute, compact little point and shoot that takes pictures of what she points it at. ➡
  • 2006
    • Hairy Tulips A form of tulip...I think. I'm not really sure. ➡
    • Dangerous Playgrounds Still Exist! A jungle gym with lots of climbing bits, ropes, and various ways to clamber around on (and fall off of) it, including a marvelous slide with no rails that tips to one side. A...spinny thing...that had me so dizzy I could barely stand up. It was marvelous! ➡
    • NyQuil Jello? One dessert trick Prairie and I have been playing with for the past few months is using soda instead of water to make Jello. Different combinations of flavors are possible, and the carbonation makes the Jello 'fizz' on your tongue when you eat it. ➡
    • Wind Vane Sculpture, Corvallis, OR A sculpture in Corvallis, OR. ➡
  • 2005
  • 2004
    • Semacode Here's a fun little tech toy that I discovered thanks to Jonas: Semacode, a two-dimensional barcode that encodes a URL in the matrix. With the newer breed of camera phones and the right software installed, the phone can read the barcode and automatically open the URL in the camera's embedded web browser. ➡
    • It’s not just Abu Ghraib Don't understand how conditions in Abu Ghraib could have gotten as bad as they did? Maybe it's time to take a closer look at our own prison systems. ➡
  • 2003
    • Effects of Bush's tax cut I'm having problems diving back into political areas at the moment, but this chart is well worth looking at. ➡
    • My Netflix queue After severely decimating my movie collection, I got to talking with one of the guys at work, and he gave Netflix a glowing recommendation. So, I figured what the heck, and signed up. If anyone's really morbidly curious, I'll keep track of what's in my queue here. Feel free to suggest some, too! ➡
    • You all rock! I just wanted to say to Erik, Kirsten, Prairie, Dad, Tim, and Sharon how much I'm enjoying the back-and-forth of the last few days regarding evolution, social standing, and everything else. This is a blast, and a fun way to kick my brain into gear! You all rock. ➡
  • 2002
    • Ugh In brief -- I saw Spiderman, it rocked. More later. I'm currently battling off a really nasty flu bug...hence why not updates for a few days, and only this really short note right now before I curl up in bed. ➡

On This Day: May 7

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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 23 posts previously published on May 7th

  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Linkdump for May 3rd through May 7th An automatically generated list of links that caught my eye between May 3rd and May 7th. • Connecticut OKs Bill Pledging Electoral Votes To National Popular-Vote Winner • The original iMac: 20 years since Apple changed its fate • One space between each sentence, they said. Science just proved them wrong. • ‘Who Gets to Be Sexy?’ • Swedish Meatballs Are Turkish? ‘My Whole Life Has Been a Lie’ ➡
  • 2017
    • Book twenty-eight of 2017: Visitor, by C. J. Cherryh. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2016
    • Birthday weekend date night number two: an unexpectedly underwhelming dinner, on which we bailed before dessert came in favor of our traditional pre-theater frozen yogurt, to be followed by seeing CWU’s production of the Mary Poppins stage musical. Mmmm, yogurt! (128/366) ➡
  • 2015
    • Behold! I have infinite (ever smaller) watches! Just Apple Watches all the way down. ➡
    • Okay – being able to use my watch as a remote for my iPhone’s camera (it even displays what the phone is seeing on the watch screen) is really cool. ➡
    • Up and running! I’ll play with it more after lunch. :) ➡
    • Working through the setup process. ➡
    • Well, so far so good. It’s comfortable, at least. Now to turn it on…. ➡
    • Well, now, isn’t that pretty? ➡
    • Inside the box is…another box! ➡
    • My “big” birthday present is here! ➡
  • 2014
    • Doing my nightly workout on the elliptical. A little bit every day! ➡
  • 2009
  • 2008
    • Birthday Presents! A couple of birthday presents showed up in the mail today. Cool! Thanks to Phil for Mark Twain's Roughing It and to Fernando for the sci-fi anthology The Starry Rift! ➡
  • 2006
    • Camera Vision Camera vision is like that, you stop thinking about the shot and just take it. And as it was once said to me, I now say say it to you. You have Camera vision. And it shows. ➡
  • 2005
    • 5 / 7 / 5 Five, seven, and five: / syllables and today's date. / Post on Haiku Day! ➡
  • 2004
    • The Worm Within You discover that you're the host of a sixteen foot tapeworm one day when half of it comes out. What do you do? ➡
  • 2003
    • Darwin Has Left the Building At this point, I amend, but stand by, my original premise that through medical science and societal standards, we as a race have removed ourselves from the premise of Natural Selection. It is no longer the most fit — those with the best combination of all desirable traits, including, but not limited to, intelligence — who are more likely to propagate. Rather, it is those that either best fit a societal norm that is far below what it should be (in my not-so-humble opinion), or those that simply continue to have children, no matter how ill-advised it may be to do so. ➡
    • Sumo wrestlers and rattlesnakes The sheer ponderousness of the panel's opinion — the mountain of verbiage it must deploy to explain away these fourteen short words of constitutional text — refutes its thesis far more convincingly than anything I might say. The panel's labored effort to smother the Second Amendment by sheer body weight has all the grace of a sumo wrestler trying to kill a rattlesnake by sitting on it — and is just as likely to succeed. ➡
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📚 twenty-two of 2020: Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp ⭐️⭐️⭐️

On its own, a fairly standard action thriller. But as the source material for Die Hard, it’s a fascinating artifact. Surprisingly similar, and all changes made for the film were for the better.

On This Day: May 6

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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 25 posts previously published on May 6th

  • 2023
  • 2022
    • Modern Star Trek Needs More Technobabble Okay, fine. Because absolutely nobody asked for yet another Star Trek hot take from some random nobody on the internet, here we go. This is the stuff that I don't like about modern Trek. ➡
  • 2020
    • 📚 twenty-two of 2020: Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp ⭐️⭐️⭐️ On its own, a fairly standard action thriller. But as the source material for Die Hard, it’s a fascinating artifact. Surprisingly similar, and all changes made for the film were for the better. ➡
    • On This Day: May 6 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from May 6 ➡
  • 2018
    • Sorry, Mr. Spider, but the ceiling directly above my bed is not an acceptable spot to hang out, and you will be evicted post-haste. ➡
  • 2016
    • Birthday weekend date night number one: dinner, dessert, and a CWU vocal jazz concert. (127/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Not a bad day, not a great day. Not disappointed to be relaxing in bed (yes, at 8:30…my inner twenty-something is quite ashamed). ➡
  • 2006
    • Who is John Galt? I'm not entirely sure about this one -- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will be starring in a film version of _Atlas Shrugged_. ➡
  • 2005
    • QuickTime 7 HD Just for grins and giggles, I decided to download all the different Serenity trailers available to compare them. I grabbed all four 'normal' versions from the Serenity trailer page, the two HD versions from the Serenity HD page, opened them all up at once, and took a peek. ➡
    • Jonesing for Tiger Anybody in Seattle feel like letting me borrow their Tiger install disc until Monday when mine gets here? ;) ➡
    • You won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews! I spent most of the first part of my morning in tears today -- because I couldn't stop laughing. Last night I noticed that the iTunes Music Store had the Broadway cast soundtrack to Spamalot. Of course, that was a no-brainer impulse buy. ➡
    • Microsoft reconsiders, supports anti-discrimination laws Via Scoble, Ballmer's e-mail announcing Microsoft's re-committing to support anti-discrimination legislation covering sexual orientation. ➡
    • Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy For my part, I had a blast. It wasn't perfect, but I thought it was _quite_ enjoyable, and a reasonably good attempt at putting Douglas Adams' particular brand of absurdity on screen. ➡
  • 2004
    • This is just goofy I'd be pissed if it weren't so damn funny. That's just goofy, though — because I have a DVD drive, I have to install iLife from the DVD? The install CD is entirely useless to me? Honestly, that's one of the most bizarre things I've seen from Apple to date. ➡
    • We need a Japanese president Case in point: a Japanese minister has resigned in disgrace after failing to pay into a national pension plan. ➡
    • Why isn’t Limbaugh muzzled yet? I could hardly see straight when I first read that, let alone come close to forming a coherent response. Thankfully, Kirsten did much better than I… ➡
    • National Day of Prayer So apparently today was the National Day of Prayer. I'm sure that was appreciated by those Americans who are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Mormon, pagan, agnostic, or atheistic. ➡
    • State votes ranked by IQ Here's a fun chart: States ranked by average IQ and how they voted in 2000. ➡
    • Seattle Skyline Not the best quality panorama in the world, but not terribly bad, considering it was taken while bobbing along on the waters of Lake Union in a Duck. ➡
    • Countering the ‘rains all the time argument’… Looks like Washington might be facing another drought this summer. ➡
  • 2003
    • Cynicism Reigns Supreme My personal 'sometimes more serious than others, depending on how many momos I had to deal with today' opinion is that, quite simply, we (i.e., the human race) are breeding ourselves into oblivion by breeding for stupidity. ➡
    • Well, of course! For my opinion…see a future post in the metaphysics category. ➡
    • Peace is our profession Operation Strangelove: On May 14th, host a screening (even if it's just for yourself!) of Dr Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)! ➡
    • iTunes Man Sell us a song, you're the iTunes man, / Sell us a song tonight. / Well, we're all in the mood for a melody, / And you've got the pricing just right. ➡
  • 2002

On This Day: May 5

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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 5th

  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2021
    • Yes, Virginia, There Is Still A Goddamn Global Pandemic: “We’re not sitting in the dark, aroused by our own isolation. It’s just, we remember Jurassic Park. There were just dinosaurs eating people like, ten minutes ago. We’re not so eager to re-open the park just because you say it’s safe.” ➡
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • This Twitter juxtaposition made me laugh this morning. ➡
  • 2016
    • I'm still voting. Because that's part of participating. ➡
    • As long as the state has to spend money on this foolishness, I might as well give them something to do. ➡
  • 2014
    • This is another one that looks like it could be an album cover. ➡
  • 2010
    • Links for April 29th through May 5th Sometime between April 29th and May 5th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • DJ Spooky remixes Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona" for 2010 • Local Boy With Cancer Turns Into a Superhero for a Day • On Telephones • Facebook's Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline • From Steve Jobs: Thoughts on Flash ➡
  • 2009
    • Links for May 2nd through May 5th Sometime between May 2nd and May 5th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Secrets of the Phallus: Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? • The Biology of B-Movie Monsters • Cheap Thrills With Muppets Rawk • Stop Worrying About Your Children! • Old Japanese Maps on Google Earth Unveil Secrets ➡
    • Birthday Penguins! My pictures from my birthday trip to the zoo to see the new penguin exhibit (and the rest of the zoo) with Prairie, Peter, Hope, and Nalah are up! ➡
  • 2008
    • Happy Birthday Royce! Once again, we are reminded that the true celebration on this day isn't Cinco de Mayo, but rather Royce's birthday. Too many people get that mixed up. I have no idea why. ➡
  • 2007
    • Happy Birthday Royce! Today marks the 34th birthday of Royce, whom I've known since 4th grade. ➡
    • Norwescon 30: Saturday Finally. After nearly one month and almost six hundred photos uploaded, I'm done with this year's Norwescon! Last night, I finally uploaded the last of my photos from Saturday, the only other day I was there. ➡
  • 2006
    • More May Birthdays May really is a popular month! Other people of note have birthdays around now... ➡
    • Happy Birthday Royce We're well into the May birthday run (August must be a _really_ boring month). Today: my long-time partner in crime, Royce, who is _still_ two days younger than me. ;) Happy birthday! ➡
  • 2005
    • The problem with time travel… Any feasible time machine would somehow have to ensure that the traveler was able to move temporally while remaining stationary spatially _relative to their starting point_, and not to the universe as a whole. ➡
    • 05/05/05 5:55:55 Thursday (5th day of week), 5th of May, 05 @ 5:55:55 — once every 2000 years ➡
    • Happy Birthday Royce! Today Royce, whom I've known since fourth grade, turns 32. All these years and I'm _still_ two days older! ;) ➡
  • 2004
    • Custom kids, made to order How would you feel if a major reason for your existence in the world, possibly the primary reason for your conception, was to act as a genetically guaranteed donor to cure your older sibling of a disease? ➡
    • Happy Birthday Royce! Day three of the May Birthday Extravaganza — my long-time friend (since 4th grade) Royce hits 31 today. ➡
    • Karma just kicked my ass Apparently I pissed someone off with my self-righteous indignant babbling about IE (and, implicitly, Windows) being inferior to just about everything else out there (including, but not limited to, the Mac). ➡
  • 2003
    • Rebel without a threat End result? I'm the 'safe bad boy' — or, as I titled this post, the 'rebel without a threat.' Enough of an oddball dark side to catch someone's interest, but still quite able to make a good impression on the folks when I come by to meet the family. ➡
    • On belonging: Square peg, round holes Apologies beforehand — this is somewhat rambling, disjointed, and more than a little bit self-indulgent. Feel free to skim right past. ;) ➡
    • Skip, skip, skip to iLoo! In time for the summer festival season, MSN is in the process of converting a portable loo to create a unique experience for surfers looking for an alternative to the bog-standard festival loo experience. Users will be able to sit down, undock a wireless keyboard and conveniently access the first ever WWW.C. ➡
    • Happy Birthday Royce! As he's a whole whopping two days younger than me, today is his 30th. Happy Birthday, Royce! ➡
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📚 twenty-one of 2020: Matter’s End by Gregory Benford ⭐️⭐️

An average collection of short stories, some of which show their age more than others—especially one that starts with a riff on Mormon missionaries and ends with what comes across as (unconscious?) Islamophobia.

On This Day: May 4

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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 28 posts previously published on May 4th

  • 2025
  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 2 Din Djarin (with Grogu) was on campus for Star Wars Day today! ➡
  • 2020
    • 📚 twenty-one of 2020: Matter’s End by Gregory Benford ⭐️⭐️ An average collection of short stories, some of which show their age more than others—especially one that starts with a riff on Mormon missionaries and ends with what comes across as (unconscious?) Islamophobia. ➡
    • On This Day: May 4 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from May 4 ➡
  • 2018
    • My shirt for #StarWarsDay: dun dun dun, dun dun-dun, dun dun-dun…. May the Fourth be with you! (#llap 🖖) ➡
  • 2017
    • A little hard to see, but we got a double rainbow tonight! ➡
  • 2016
    • Today bounced me around a bit, but I think I ended on an upswing. I’ll take it, at least. (125/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Jeepers creepers… ➡
  • 2010
  • 2008
    • Happy Birthday Kevin! As always, my brother is just a day and three years behind me, so today marked his 32nd birthday. I hope it was a good one! ➡
    • Applescript: iPhoto or Aperture? Whenever a memory card is inserted, the Applescript launches, checks the volume name of the memory card (which is set by the camera when you format the card), launches the appropriate photo application, and then quits. ➡
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
    • Adventures on the Metro Then I heard the sound of the bus braking and pulling over to the side of the road. The doors opened, and the sweet smell of pipe tobacco wafted out as the driver beckoned me in. 'Hop on!' So I did. ➡
    • It’s still not my fault… IE still sucks, and it's still not my fault. ;) However, progress has been made on that front, thanks to the absolutely mindblowingly incredible technical wizardry of Dean Edwards' IE7 hack. ➡
    • Happy birthday, Kevin! It's day two of the May birthday extravaganza — my brother Kevin turns 28 today! ➡
  • 2003
    • Happy Birthday Kevin! Happy Birthday Kevin! I know you're out somewhere between Africa and Alaska somewhere, but welcome to being 27! ➡
    • Renew! Renew! Renew! Well, I'm still here and kicking around, so it seems I didn't go up in a fiery explosion in the ritual of Carousel. Frankly, I'm relieved — I've always said I wanted to go out with a bang, but not that literally. ➡
  • 2002
    • Panic Room David Fincher's (one of my favorite directors) latest film, Panic Room, has been in the theaters for a few weeks now, and I just finally got around to seeing it today. Some fan, eh? Ah, well, life's been a bit crazy lately. ➡
    • Dancing is not a crime! There's been a lot of political struggle here in Seattle recently over the Teen Dance Ordinance. A local organization called the NorthWest Late Night Coalition was in the plaza today, holding a rally to gain support for their part in the battle to repeal the TDO, with an information booth, speakers, and DJ's playing. ➡
    • Happy birthday Kevin! Happy birthday to my little brother! Kinda scary to think that he turns 26 today -- in some ways, scarier than me turning 29 yesterday. Yikes. Hey -- he's still my little brother, though. ➡
  • 2001
    • Happy birthday, Kev! Can't believe I almost forgot to say anything about this -- my little brother turns 25 today! Wow...that's kind of frightening. But cool, too. Happy b-day, bro. ➡
    • Memento Very, very cool -- certainly the best film I've seen so far in 2001, and I'm so looking forward to it coming out for sale -- I need to watch it quite a few more times just to make sure I'm seeing everything correctly! ➡
    • Statistics Now, if you're really bored, you can take a look at just how much traffic my webserver actually gets. The page is generated automatically every day at midnight, so the numbers should always be up to date. Purdy nifty. ➡
    • Well, hrmpf. Well...as far as birthdays go, yesterday wasn't the worst -- but I can't honestly say it was the best, either. Ah, well, more reasons for me not to worry about missing living up here too much when I bail. ➡
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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.