_darkvictory
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "_darkvictory" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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10:34 am
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Weather Geek Roundup
How is it where you are?
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07:53 pm
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It's International Hug a Quaker Day!
Get right to it.
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11:05 am
[Link] | They're scaring me over on The Weather Channel. "I know we're used to low temperatures in the upper Midwest, but today you might want to stay inside if at all possible."
It's been 30 years, but I still have vivid memories of living in a Great Lakes town:
The time a friend's VW bug was buried by the overnight snowplow.
Discovering, at Spring thaw, that my front yard was flat. What appeared to be a hill was really a permanent snowdrift.
Not being able to walk into the wind.
Putting on four layers to go out.
I still have winter clothes. Many of my favorite California places are not warm: the desert at night, the beach in winter. The silent retreats at Quaker Center, in the redwood highlands outside Santa Cruz, are usually in December.
Plus I have family in Colorado, NY, Massachusetts, Chicago. Hope you're all staying warm!
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09:55 am
[Link] | Yesterday I worked my first shift at Adams Harbor, a local food kitchen near the USC campus. We had about a hundred people show up for hot lunch and a movie. Other workers said this was a somewhat light turnout. It's early in the month and lots of places give out food in December. "Wait 'til January," one guy told me.
We had scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits, fruit salad, and vats and vats of turkey soup. Of one thing I'm sure: some folks were seriously hungry. I know the look too well. I'll never forget the woman who approached me for change in the New York subway. I happened to have an apple on me, so I offered that. Her eyes lit up - at a bare, unwrapped apple from a stranger's linty coat pocket. "Sure, I could eat that!" She thanked me and then trotted off to a nearby spot where she ate the apple in what seemed like three bites. Hungry people eat fast.
The food was mostly gone by 12:30, but many people stuck around to help with cleanup and just to socialize. Some of the other kitchen workers have been doing this for years and years, so they know all the regulars.
All around I call it a good day: fun, rewarding, informative. I'll be going back probably once a month, and also working the Christmas party.
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01:26 am
[Link] | Went with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gvdub to Guitar Center today because he needed to pick up some gear. Saw the big holiday promotional display for DJ Hero. I'm sure gvdub must have told me about this product at some point - he writes the Buyer's Guides for GC DJ equipment - but I guess it slipped my mind. It looks like a neat game for what it is. I'm wondering how it relates to actualy DJing.
Have seen some really good guitar players trying to play Guitar Hero and messing up badly because notes in their head come out in a different place than notes in the game. Neil Peart, Rush's drummer, says he tried playing Rock Band once and got completely lost. According to him it's just a different process altogether. I would imagine the same is true for DJing. The gameplayer is following something whereas the person with an instrument or turntable is leading. I think.
Contemplating these things has me thinking of the electronic game Simon and a friend who would play badly because he liked the error tone it made when you messed up the sequence.
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10:06 pm
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Happy Thanksgiving!
A very pleasant afternoon spent at Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown L.A. with the folks who run Esotouric Bus Adventures and other local history buffs.
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10:35 am
[Link] | Chinese man takes job as punching bag for stressed women. Article here
"It fits in well with my day job," says Shenyang gym coach Xiao Lin.
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12:09 pm
[Link] | Had a kerfluffle with your bank or credit union about fees? We did, and had a heck of a time figuring out exactly which transaction started the whole thing. I was feeling innumerate, until I read about this guy. In his case, even the bank can't figure out what happened. I'm suspicious, though, of "Our bank doesn't do X," when clearly they did X, and also of "It was the old bank's computer system." This sounds suspiciously like, "Let's blame the guy who doesn't work here anymore. It's so much easier than admitting airing facts."
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12:07 pm
[Link] | According to Stars and Stripes, Osman Danquah, one of the leaders at the Islamic Community Center of Greater Killeen, was uneasy about Nidal Hasan. So were other Muslims at Ft. Hood.
Muslims in the Army say they encounter problems - conflicts, slurs - but aren't oppressed and don't feel their faith interferes with their job.
Full article here also has comments from a Muslim chaplain. ( cut to save space )
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06:56 pm
[Link] | Been visiting a "things that aren't there anymore" site.
The place where I saw Soft White Underbelly is a Chuck E. Cheese. The place where I saw Holly and the Italians open for Joan Jett is now a Wendy's. The place where I saw Johnny Thunders play one of his last shows is now a Panera Bread.
People sometimes ask if I miss New York. The New York I lived in isn't there anymore. Certainly the Queens of dive bars, tap beer, and 3 chord rock and roll is long gone.
Music Snob: You do know all rock and roll is only three chords?
Dive Bar Habitue: How many do you need?
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08:39 pm
[Link] | No changes since the last time this popped up.
visited 30 states (60%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
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09:15 pm
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Just being silly
"It's not what body your parents gave you, it's how you dissect it."
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09:11 am
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Feast of All Hallows, Part 2
Came across an article about Halloween costumes for evangelical Christians.
( cut for religious content )
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08:20 am
[Link] | The Santa Fe New Mexican reports on a hotel owner who found out the hard way that, in some places, he's the minority.
I actually feel sorry for this guy. Two of his statements resonate because they remind me of things that have happened in my own life.
"What kind of fool or idiot or poor businessman would I be to orchestrate this whole crazy thing that's costed me a lot of time, money and aggravation?" Whitten said.
"I came into this landmine of Anglos versus Spanish versus Mexicans versus Indians versus everybody up here. I'm just doing what I've always done."
Didn't mean anything against anybody, just doing what he'd always done running a business, and now it's all blown up in his face and he's the bad guy.
It's not what you orchestrate out of ill will that's the problem. It's doing what you've always done, usually out of ignorance, that will cost you - money, allies, aggravation.
As one of the local artists said, "It's not always about winning. Sometimes, it's about what you learn."
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10:37 am
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CDC Advisory same as Mom's: wash your hands
Checked the Centers for Disease Control most recent advisory for public gatherings. They say that if you are not sick and are not in a high risk group, there is no need to avoid public gatherings. Masks are not being recommended at this time. The main suggestions are keep your mucus to yourself (good advice at any time, really) and wash your hands often.
See the whole thing on the cdc.gov website.
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09:39 am
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Feast of All Hallows, Part 1
It's time for Dia de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever cemetery! My event club goes to this festival every year. I love the altars, the drumming, the food, and, best of all, the beautiful and creative costumes.
I know this weekend books up early, but if you don't have plans, feel free to join us:
mypeopleconnection.com event page.
Every year I say I'm going to take photos and every year I get too involved and overstimulated to get out the camera. gvdub will probably get some good ones.
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04:42 pm
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Rip that bodice and you're dead meat, Mister!
Nominations are open for the likesbooks.com book cover contest. Info here if you are interested. If you aren't interested, please note that many on my friends list read and write romances, so no genre bashing, please.
Books marketed as romance are kind of like old-time country music artists. People who like them know other people hate them, and they know why other people hate them, and they don't care.
With Anita Blake and the Twilight series as the public face of speculative fiction romances, though, you can't blame folks for snorting sometimes.
I won't deny my favorite part of likesbook.com is worst covers of the year. Partial nudity; NSFW or people with good taste.
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08:29 am
[Link] | If you've known me a while, you've probably heard my rant about magazine covers. 49ยข version: they rarely feature people I find attractive and they try to make everybody look the same. I've seen identically shaped lips on Queen Latifah, Sarah Jessica Parker, Adrian Brody, and Lenny Kravitz.
Now I have to revise my rant. The ESPN body issue has athletes looking like athletes, Black people with their own skin tones, and triathlete Sarah Reinertsen and her way-cool prosthesis on the cover. If you are not familiar with this remarkable young woman, there's an interview with her here.
Sure, they're all airbrushed, but still, it's a nice change from the usual.
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08:18 am
[Link] | It's common advice now: think carefully about what you post on the 'net because companies routinely check you out on google and the social networking sites. As a freelancer working the sales funnel, it's the first thing I do when my network sends a new name my way.
So I do a search on a name and come up with a list of fascinating results, including Miss Jacksonville 2007, a folklorist, a foster parent self-help advocate, a young woman whose profile says, "I hatz to read, but luvz me so pr0n," adorned with a cheeky-pants photo, and an assistant planning commissioner for a town in Indiana.
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08:17 pm
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Meet my friend Bear
Thought it was time to introduce my new friend Bear to everyone. ( I'm not great with photos )
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