80-Proof Sanitizer

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Earlier today, I made this joke on Twitter:

Hand sanitizer is sold out everywhere. So is isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel.

Anybody know the correct ratio for vodka and personal lubricant?

And while that didn’t come even close to going viral (two replies and three hearts), so I know I’m not to blame, I was amused to see this article this afternoon:

As hand sanitizer disappears from the shelves across the U.S. while the coronavirus spreads, the social media team for Tito’s Vodka has been spending much of its time explaining to fans that hand sanitizer made with their product would not be effective for preventing COVID-19.

“As soon as we saw the incorrect articles and social posts, we wanted to set the record straight,” a Tito’s spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News. “While it would be good for business for our fans to use massive quantities of Tito’s for hand sanitizer, it would be a shame to waste the good stuff, especially if it doesn’t sanitize (which it doesn’t, per the CDC).”

On This Day: Mar 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 20 posts previously published on March 5th

  • 2024
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Critically Analyzing Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss is a prolific children’s book author and global icon. _And_ Dr. Seuss has a history of racial baggage that educators should understand when introducing his writing to their students. ➡
    • Book twenty-one of 2019: Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚 Asimov himself notes this in an introductory essay, but his ability to craft engaging SF of ideas and conversations over three books (eight stories) with little to no “on stage” action is remarkable. ➡
  • 2016
    • Book nine of 2016: Archangel, by Marguerite Reed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee. (65/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Not coming up with a witty caption tonight. Just me. ➡
  • 2007
  • 2004
    • Run away! Run away! Prairie and I are off to the San Juan Islands for the weekend to visit her dad. Back sometime Sunday evening… ➡
    • Siouxsie in Seattle! Siouxsie's coming to Seattle — with the Creatures and the Banshees! I so need to get off work early that day… ➡
    • The Far Side + Photoshop = Some jaw-droppingly impressive Photoshop re-creations of Gary Larson's Far Side comic strips. ➡
  • 2003
    • iPod troubles Well, this bites. I'm having problems with my iPod. Normally I'm pretty good with getting things fixed, but I think this is beyond my abilities. Bleah. ➡
    • The story of my life PowerMac dreams and an Etch A Sketch budget. ➡
    • Rocky Horror Muppet Show What do you get when you cross a love of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a love of the Muppets? ➡
  • 2002
    • Vocabulary lesson Each year the Washington Post's Style Invitational asks readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one leter and supply a new definition. Here are the 2001 winners. ➡
    • Fun with Google A pair of articles that I wanted to comment on, but don't have time to right now. Very interesting reading, though, especially if you read or write a weblog (such as this one), or if you use Google for your searches. ➡

The Naming of Romulans

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A bit of silliness. Very minor spoiler for ST:PIC S01E06.

The Naming of Romulans is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a Romulan must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Pardek, Colius, Donatra or Vrax,
Such as Vreenak or Tomalak, Thei or Rekar—
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Parem, Tal’aura, Karina, Livara—
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a Romulan needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his ears perpendicular,
Or spread out his schemes, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Alidar Jarok, Zhaban, or Telek R’Mor,
Such as Narissa Rizzo, or else Caithlin Dar-
Names that never belong to more than one Romulan.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover–
But THE ROMULAN HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a Romulan in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

(No, they don’t rhyme. But I limited myself to those named Romulans listed at Memory Alpha, so that’s what you get.)

Post-Super Tuesday Thoughts

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I know that Warren’s campaign was looking like more and more of a long shot–but I’m disappointed and frustrated that she did as poorly as she did. I still believe that she is, by far, the single best candidate, and it’s frustrating that, yet again, an immensely intelligent and capable woman is being sidelined in favor of less qualified men.

I do hope she sticks around until the convention. Partially, sure, because I’ve already sent in my ballot for Washington’s primary with her name checked, but also because I think it’s important to have her voice as part of the discussion. She’d continue to push both Sanders and Biden on the more problematic aspects of their campaigns, make it so we’re not just listening to two old men yell at each other, and–and here’s a hail Mary pass for you–if the convention is so contested that it’s clear that neither Sanders nor Biden are a consensus choice, maybe she could end up being the consensus candidate. Yeah, a long shot that won’t happen, but it’s fun to dream.

I found this analysis of why Biden did so well in the south to be quite interesting. The argument here is that for many black voters, particularly older voters, the primary concern is which candidate is the best possible choice that most white voters will support.

My read of the South Carolina vote is that black people know exactly what they’re doing, and why. Joe Biden is the indictment older black folks have issued against white America. His support is buttressed by chunks of the black community who have determined that most white people are selfish and cannot be trusted to do the right thing. They believe if you make white people choose between their money and their morality—between candidates like Sanders or Elizabeth Warren (who somehow finished fifth in South Carolina, behind Pete Buttigieg) and candidates like Biden and Michael Bloomberg—they will choose their money every time and twice on Election Day.

The New York Times interviewed a 39-year-old African American voter in South Carolina. I found his analysis instructive. He told the Times: “Black voters know white voters better than white voters know themselves.… So yeah, we’ll back Biden, because we know who white America will vote for in the general election in a way they may not tell a pollster or the media.”

The best result, though? Bloomberg is out. Thank goodness. And I do hope that he follows through with his promise to put his immense wealth behind the eventual Democratic nominee.

I guess the other bright side is that there’s very little question of whether I’ll bother watching any of the Presidential debates. I would have enjoyed seeing Warren go up against Trump on the debate stage: not only is she always incredibly well prepared, capable, and very good at thinking on her feet as she’s answering questions, but she’d have the benefit of being able to study the Clinton/Trump debates. As it is, though, I have no interest in either a Biden/Trump or Sanders/Trump debate. I know I’ll be voting for the Democratic nominee no matter what, and it’ll save me more hours of watching old white men yell at each other.

I just wish Warren had a better chance at being our next President. She’d be great.

Addendum: Also: Yes, as many of my Sanders-aligned friends on Facebook are pointing out through links and memes, Biden is very problematic, with all sorts of questionable statements and votes in his history.

He’s still far better than Trump, and if he’s the nominee, please recognize this and vote for him instead of staying home or casting a “protest vote” (that has no functional result other than taking a vote away from the one candidate with a hope of beating the incumbent). So much depends on getting someone else in office (not least, our nation’s judiciary, from the Supreme Court seats on down, which Trump has already done a frightening job of skewing rightward in the past three years).

And then, once he’s in office, keep up your dissent. Point out when he fucks up. Call your representatives and senators and make sure they know where you stand and that they should push against any poor decisions and missteps. Make your voice heard, beyond just the once-every-four-years vote, and push for things to improve. Don’t give up just because your preferred candidate didn’t end up winning–push for the remaining candidates, the eventual nominee, and (hopefully) the new President to do better.

On This Day: Mar 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 39 posts previously published on March 4th

  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2021
    • Strongsync: The most powerful Sync client for macOS Big Sur: On-demand sync for Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, and Sharepoint managed by APFS and Spotlight search inside every app on your Mac. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • R.I.P., Keith Flint and Luke Perry ➡
  • 2017
    • Chucks of the day (50/53): All black high tops, with a neat quilted pattern to the fabric. #converse #chucks ➡
    • Book eighteen of 2017: Alien Artifacts, edited by Joshua Palmatier & Patricia Bray. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2016
    • The week is over. I’m done. And Prairie pointed out that I’m very well coordinated with our couch. (64/366) ➡
    • Forgot my photo yesterday, so here’s a silly Snapchat filter as penance for posting late. Today’s picture will come later. (63/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • Mmmmmmmm…fajitas! ➡
    • 49 degrees, and most of the snow has melted off. This is much nicer! ➡
  • 2010
    • American Gothique’s Sick-N-Twisted Last Saturday, American Gothique magazine hosted a fashion show at The Vogue, with Amazing Race contestants Kynt and Vyxsin as featured models. I was able to join the crowd of photographers crouched at the foot of the catwalk, and here are a few shots from the show. ➡
  • 2009
    • Resume Crowdsourcing Fueled somewhat equally by the frustration of trying to 'sell myself' with my resume and curiosity about all this ultra-modern networking and interconnectedness that the intarwebz give us all, I decided to try a little bit of an experiment yesterday. ➡
    • Links for February 27th through March 4th Sometime between February 27th and March 4th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Skittles.com: Interweb the Rainbow. Taste the Rainbow. • hat Were Arcades Like? • METAL MACHINE MUSIC: Nine Inch Nails and the Industrial Uprising • Thousands in Scramble for Free Books After Amazon Supplier Abandons Warehouse • It's 'Potter' vs. 'Twilight' at Great Literary Debate ➡
    • This is How I Feel These Days… Ambition! Thats what I need! ... Sounds hard though, doesnt it? ➡
  • 2008
    • The Last Galactica The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica approaches, and even though they almost lost me during season three, that season rebounded well and ended so strongly that I'm really looking forward to BSGs return. ➡
  • 2007
    • Peephole Through the Monolith, Magnuson Park, Seattle, WA ➡
    • Marie Antoinette Last weekend, Prairie and I went down to the Blacklight, and they were playing Marie Antoinette on the projection screen. The costumes really caught Prairie's eye while she was watching it, and we figured it would be worth a rent to see the pretties. ➡
  • 2006
    • No Woman, No Fly Just added to the Jason Webley Bootlegs collection: No Woman, No Fly. The audio quality isn't the greatest (with Jason's penchant for going from soft to screaming in nanoseconds, the recording's a bit overdriven in places), but it's up. ➡
    • Jupiter Needs Oxy-10 Backyard astro-pharmacists, grab your acne medication. Jupiter is growing a new red zit. The official name of this zit is 'Oval BA,' but 'Red Jr.' might be better. It's about half the size of the famous Great Red Zit and almost exactly the same color. ➡
    • Ultraviolet is, apparently, Ultrastupid 'Ultraviolet' wants desperately to be a provocative, high-concept action thriller. It apparently is trying to say something about fear and terrorism, paranoia and racism. But it looks more like a shampoo commercial. ➡
  • 2005
    • Commonly Confused Words answer key Given the amount of interest that the Commonly Confused Words test prompted, and after prompting by Royce, I'm going to go back through and re-take it, recording my answers as I go through. Interestingly enough, I did _better_ on the test overall this time. So, now for the rest of you. Can you spot where I goofed? ➡
    • Enterprise Unconvinced but intrigued, I decided to see what I could find, and ended up downloading all of the episodes to date of Season Four of Enterprise and watching them over the past few days. While I wouldn't exactly say that I'm _impressed_, I do have to admit that I found this season to be far more bearable than what I had seen during the first season. ➡
    • Saw Rick brought over Saw last night for me to watch. It's a film that aspires to be a psychological/horror film along the lines of Seven...and fails miserably. ➡
    • Reconsidering I did something this morning that I've only done a couple times in the past, and have removed a post that had been published a few hours before. ➡
  • 2004
    • Devil Duckie USB Flashdrive! I tell you, if I didn't already have my iPod (and therefore no need for a flash drive), this would be so tempting! ➡
    • The latest from Mars Two LiveJournals have popped up to keep us informed of what's really going on on Mars, without being filtered through the publicists at NASA. ➡
    • FedEx making The Switch? According to one unconfirmed source, Federal Express may be looking to make a significant purchase of Macs to replace their current PCs. ➡
  • 2003
    • tw@ 4scr + 7a ugo r 4fthrs brt 4th on this cn10nt a nu nAshn cnCvd in lbRT + ddc8d 2 th prop tht (evRE1) r crE8d = ➡
    • Star Trek personality test Wil pointed to a Star Trek Personality Test based on the Myers-Briggs system. I wasn't sure what to expect for an answer, but apparently the author did a surprisingly good job of translating the Myers-Briggs questions to a Star Trek format, as I ended up scoring as an ISFP -- the same result as when I took an online version of the actual Myers-Briggs test! ➡
    • The Tide is Turning This is a song originally from Roger Waters' album 'Radio K.A.O.S.', though I first heard it as the finale to the 1991 live performance of The Wall in Berlin. Posted here as a message of hope — something that's all too rare these days. ➡
    • ILNY, it's a gr8 plc. My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-O kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc. ➡
    • Zeno's Paradox Zeno's Paradox may be rephrased as follows. Suppose I wish to cross the room. First, of course, I must cover half the distance. Then, I must cover half the remaining distance. Then, I must cover half the remaining distance. Then I must cover half the remaining distance...and so on forever. The consequence is that I can never get to the other side of the room. ➡
  • 2002
    • Ollie North If memory serves, Ollie North used to amuse himself by drawing up various scenarios for martial law -- and if the thought of that doesn't set off a screaming gibbering fit of paranoia in at least some small part of your brain... ➡
    • Sci-Fi themes, then and now Tonight I popped in the original version of Rollerball. Very cool flick, I'll post more thoughts on it later on. However, I did find a HTF thread about the recent remake, and one of the members made a really neat post concerning the differences between Sci-Fi themes of the 70's and today. ➡
  • 2001

On This Day: Mar 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 17 posts previously published on March 3rd

  • 2024
  • 2021
    • Reading in Pandemicland Science fiction, dystopia’s similar but more optimistic counterpart, is also seeing an increase in popularity during the pandemic. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Chucks of the day (58): black and grey cushioned high tops with rear ankle cut-out. #chucks #converse ➡
    • Book twelve of 2018 (and sixth #pkdickaward nominee): Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
  • 2014
    • I really hope the forecasts are right, because this sure doesn’t look like we’ll be in the mid-50s in just a day or two. ➡
  • 2013
  • 2009
    • Gearing Up First off, thanks for all the commiseration and kind wishes I've received from everyone, whether it be via e-mail, blog/LiveJournal/Facebook comments, or Twitter. E-support is definitely still support, and it's nice to have so much! ➡
  • 2005
    • That’s it?!? John pointed out The Commonly Confused Words Test, so I gave it a shot. My results: Advanced -- You scored 100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 61% Expert! ➡
    • TechNewsWorld commentary mention Romm pointed out a mention of me in a commentary piece on TechNewsWorld that was published a couple of weeks ago. It's a nice mention, too, as in addition to the standard 'another fired blogger' mention, the author also follows up with my reaction to the incident, and contrasts it to Ellen 'Queen of Sky' Simonetti's Bloggers' Bill of Rights campaign. ➡
    • Another interview I just got done with a lunchtime phone interview with a reporter for the AP. There's no telling where it might show up, but there's at least a chance that my name will start popping up again over the next day or so in the midst of another story about blogging and jobs. ➡
  • 2004
    • Coolio ‘Smokin’ Stix’ (DJ Wüdi Remix) For the past couple days, I've been fiddling around with GarageBand and Amadeus II, first snipping the song into lots of little pieces and attempting to isolate the vocals from the background music, then re-assembling everything with my own choices of drum beats, instruments, and electronic bleeps and bloops. ➡
    • Avi Rubin vs. Diebold Avi Rubin, one of the primary authors of a highly critical look at Diebold's electronic voting machines, decided to answer some of his critics, put his money where his mouth is, and spend a day as an election judge, working with the very machines about which he had expressed strong security concerns. ➡
    • Omoshiroi kedo, kankei ga nai Two Japanese phrases I need to remember (and possibly eventually learn to pronounce...). ➡
    • Training fun I think I can feel my brain dribbling out of my ears. ➡
  • 2003
    • Just Hang Up Hang up when I'm talking to you. Get off your cell phone. In fact, turn off your cell phone. Just turn it off, put it down somewhere out of reach, and pay attention to the conversation that you're already invovled in. ➡
  • 2001
    • DJ’ing tonight! I'm DJ'ing tonight at Studio 99, above Ariel's Hair Salon in the Northway Mall. This is an all-ages dance club -- 16 (?) and up before 1am, 18 and up until 3 am. ➡
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Watched the last three episodes of season three of Enterprise this evening. The show definitely improved over the first two seasons, but went to some pretty dark places. Was not expecting the cliffhanger ending, though! One more season of the only Trek I haven’t watched. 🖖

On This Day: Mar 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 29 posts previously published on March 2nd

  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
    • Watched the last three episodes of season three of Enterprise this evening. The show definitely improved over the first two seasons, but went to some pretty dark places. Was not expecting the cliffhanger ending, though! One more season of the only Trek I haven’t watched. 🖖 ➡
    • On This Day: Mar 2 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from March 2 ➡
  • 2017
    • Got my Mercury hoodie! ➡
  • 2016
    • Tonight’s workout included 20 pull-ups (in four sets of five, with other exercises, not all together). Still rather pleasantly surprised I can do that (not cleanly, and with much complaining, and oh, the ow…but I did it). (62/366) ➡
  • 2014
    • You can’t prove I’m not naked in this photo. ➡
  • 2013
  • 2009
    • Back to the Breadline I suppose I should take a moment to expand a bit on today's happenings, though there's really not a whole lot more to say than what I tweeted earlier: the company needs to cut back, and as I was a temp employee, I was easily expendable. ➡
  • 2004
    • The movie alphabet quiz This is really, really evil — identify the movies whose logos were used to create this alphabet. ➡
    • I’m 100 percent British! I'm 100% British! Jolly good, wot! Anyone for tennis? That'll be ten ponies, guv. I'm the epitome of everything that is English. Yey :) Hoist that Union Jack! ➡
    • Getting closer! It's still not Seattle, but it's at least closer than San Francisco…the Multnomah County (Portland, Oregon) Clerk's office plans to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples starting tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at their office located at 501 S.E. Hawthorne. ➡
    • A republican sent this to me… A republican friend sent me some anti-bush political humor… ➡
    • My new motto Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. ➡
    • Literary Macs Two books to add to my future reading list, both sound interesting, and both feature Mac computers in the plot. ➡
    • Toilet tourism Ever wanted to use a public toilet? Usually, they're items to be avoided, not sought out. Seattle looks to be trying to change that, though, with our new high-tech public lavatories… ➡
  • 2003
    • Gun control 2003 Federal authorities believe the list of convicted felons, drug dealers, suspected terrorists, spouse beaters, illegal immigrants and others should only be used to help gun dealers determine if someone is allowed to buy a gun, not police investigating other gun-control violations. ➡
    • Everything's broken Four months ago, workmen started on a two-month project to renovate the apartment building I live in. We're still waiting for them to finish. ➡
    • On battling stereotypes The current March/April issue has a rundown of six top Oscar contenders: Nicole Kidman, Jack Nicholson, Julianne Moore, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Anniston, and Robin Williams. In the article, there were two quotes from Nicholson and Hanks that really stood out to me in the differences between how the two actors confront the stereotypes they've been saddled with — and illustrates why I tend to think more of Nicholson than I do of Hanks. ➡
    • Sleep – from the painting by Salvadore Dali This is a piece I wrote in 11th grade, which would put it at around 1989 or 1990. We were given an assignment to write an essay exploring any painting we chose, and the teacher was kind enough to leave the exact nature of the requested essay very open for interpretation. Salvadore Dali has long been one of my favorite artists, so I chose his painting 'Sleep' to work with. ➡
    • Stonehenge porn? The design of Stonehenge, the 4,800-year-old monument in southwestern England, was based on female sexual anatomy, according to a paper in the current Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. ➡
    • Who gave them the loudspeakers? But if most people in the world are in fact normal, how have I been left with the distinctly opposite impression for most of my life? ➡
  • 2002
    • Hippies on Mars! Scientists estimated that at most, Deadheads account for just a small percentage of the hippies on the Martian surface, but are spread over vast stretches of the landscape, mixed with Phishheads and other sub-classifications of hippie. ➡
  • 2001
    • It’s official! As of 10:30am today, after cleaning all my personal material off of the machines, I turned in my resignation at TimeFrame. I start work at GCI's NOC as a Service Repair Coordinator Monday morning at 9am. ➡