(no subject)

Just some random stuff...

Got to do some corrections to the Diary of a Mountie stuff. Not only do I have to change J.'s gender and the references to Prince as King's son, the most recent entry mistakenly placed Dorothy on the streets of Glasgow when she would have been safely back at the hotel.

Found out last night that apparently there is an acupuncture point on the forearm that, hit hard enough, expels a vulgar word from the body. I am not kidding - during karate class I was practicing the use of the squat kick against one of the other yellow belts, a man a head taller than me and something like twice my mass. His punch hit the inside of my blocking forearm so hard that I actually saw stars, and reflexively let out a curse word. Fortunately the rest of the class just laughed and made a joke about it being Japanese for 'ow', and the teacher let it slide. Very embarrassing. That arm is fine this morning. The other one hurts.

Very happy w. my latest eBay purchase. I had bought it hoping to wear it for the League game but it only arrived yesterday - s'pose it was asking a bit much for it to arrive on time given that it was coming from Nova Scotia and had to pass through customs. oh well. It's a hockey jersey in old Buffalo Sabres colours, but what makes it cool is that it's from the Frobisher Bay detachment of the RCMP. Mr. or Ms. Peter, wherever you are now, your #69 jersey fits me - perfectly.

Need to get an oil change this afternoon and pay my car insurance. bah. One day I will make good on my threat to live somewhere that either horses or mass transit can handle all my needs.

The receptionist started to ask me a question this morning that began with 'Have you ever heard-' and I stopped her straightaway. First time I've ever been willing to actually look someone in the eye and tell them, honestly, "I haven't even been through the door ten seconds." She kind of crumpled, which I feel a bit bad for doing, but said it wasn't an emergency and that she'd let me get settled in first. When I went back to her she asked if I'd ever heard of fibromyalgia and that she was pretty sure she had it. I told her what little I knew about it. As it stands I still feel a tiny bit bad that I knocked the wind out of her that way, but I had literally just walked through the front door - I'm not even sure if it had closed yet. Bad enough people pounce on me as soon as I arrive with computer questions. Being nabbed within seconds of arrival for something unrelated to my job and not an emergency solely because I am perceived as smart? Not cool.

Going into Manhattan tomorrow to get red vest for Female Ranma cosplay at Otakon.

Today's PvP comic addresses a topic I ranted about a while ago when I said I was no longer reading Funky Winkerbean, namely: WTF happened to the comics pages being fun? I don't mind For Better or For Worse, because Lynn Johnston does her stuff well and never pushes her Dramatic Themes 'n Plotlines for longer than I can tolerate, but Scott Kurtz pegged a few other strips today. I don't get Boondocks in my local paper, but I'm kind of glad I don't since the collections I've seen of it in the store are pretty much what he says: undiluted cynicism. I don't read Dilbert for the same reason. I don't get Crankshaft in my local paper, but every time I open a paper that does have that comic I hit another strip about Alzheimer's disease. Look, Batiuk, I've got a grandfather with it and he's got it bad. I've got enough sense to look up the disease in a book or on the Web, or ask my doctor about it. I don't need to hear it from you. As for Funky Winkerbean, well - it's gone so far into soap opera that this past week appears to have been composed entirely of someone reminiscing about the other characters and their Big Dramatic Lives. It was a funny strip once. It's not any more.

I've made an awful lot of progress on my All-Wool Refootable Sock #1. I made a few mistakes with the instep and consequently with knitting the sole; I expect to correct those or avoid them entirely with the second member of the pair. Then the socks go to charity and I start on something else, like a nice pair of black gloves and possibly a scarf.

I haven't done any drawing in a while. I should try it this afternoon, given that the masochistic part of my brain looked at Diary of a Mountie and made some coughing winking nudging gestures in the direction of my pencils and inks.

That's about it for now, I think...

Got my oil change.

Decided to get the fuel system cleaned while I was at it, as it's been a while since my last service, I'm in need of a tuneup I can't afford yet, and I would be happier with less crap in the spark plugs. Dropped car off @ Jiffy Lube, went into mall, got cheese steak that is even now clamping itself against the inside of my arteries. Came out, paid my $104 for the whole thing, got in car. Reached for the key.

It is most definitely !good to look up and see the Jiffy Lube guys suddenly come out of the store and head for you as you are about to leave.

Turns out they hadn't done the fuel service and some yobbo had checked the car out anyway. I let them take the extra 15 minutes to clean the thing and went back to work, but it's still a bit unnerving to see the mechanics come after my car like that.

*sigh* Ah, well. Outside it is grey, cloudy, and humid. I expect rain by nightfall. Possibly thunderstorms but I doubt it, which is a pity - I like thunderstorms. In the meantime I am doing my usual work, pondering the next Diary of a Mountie segment with the help of the lovely and talented batyatoon's chronology of game events, and trying to resist the urge to go home and start an ambitious drawing project. Drawing any individual recognizable human is an ambitious drawing project for me. Doing six of them is more than I can pull off at one go.

New friend!

Say hello to blessu, a friend of mine and long-time pen pal. He lives in mainland China and just got his Livejournal today!