stuff to consume
I love coming home from pub trivia to a house that smells like freshly-baked bread. Whole Foods’ 365 gluten-free sandwich bread mix is the best mix I’ve baked so far. It tastes like real bread, and by that I mean it has a sweet aftertaste that FunkyPlaid immediately picked up on when he tried it. Most gluten-free mixes have a powdery, slightly sour aftertaste. On another tactile note, I am testing out some new fragrances. Patchouli Garden’s vanilla sandalwood is enticing at first, but on my skin it evens out to what I can only term “old lady musk”, which is disappointing. Song of India’s sandalwood oil, on the other hand, is the perfect blend of woodsy sweetness. I am still undecided on the patchouli sandalwood. Erik...
Read Moreempty-handed
I dreamed of preparing to move away. Everything I owned had to be packed into suitcases and boxes. The sky outside was light but I knew it was nighttime. As I packed my clothes, they changed colors and shapes. Some of them hopped or crawled out of their containers. It was a losing battle. Finally I decided to leave with empty suitcases. As I was zipping the last one up, I looked down to see a necklace I lost a decade ago: an iridescent glass bottle shaped like a teardrop with a tiny cork stopper. I put the necklace around my neck and left, empty-handed and smiling.
Read Morecute robots
warehouse party Originally uploaded by cygnoir Due to this annoying stomach bug, I am not at the TMBG concert tonight. I am trying not to be bitter about it. In an effort to avoid this bitterness, I have been distracting myself with other media. Earlier, I watched “WALL-E”, which was even better than I thought it would be. Then I downloaded a demo of a new game by Amanita Design called Machinarium. If you like puzzles and robots and grungy animation set to a gorgeous soundtrack, you will like this demo. The cute robot is a newly-discovered and powerful weapon in my anti-bitterness...
Read Morecapsule of water and life
I am not in the mood to post anything, but stubborn enough not to let chronic illness “win” today, so here is a random memory. During my first semester at UAB, I lived on campus in a single room. My bedding was black and white; the walls were beige cinderblock; the furniture was light wood. Nothing about my room was remarkable in any way. To make it more my own, I bought a small octagonal aquarium, some neon tetras, and a tiny aquatic frog. I was far from home, hundreds of miles from everyone I knew, and this capsule of water and life became my nightlight and my lullaby. The fish and frogs did not live long. I remain captivated by aquariums, but have not owned another since.
Read Moreno longer of consequence
She thought that it would be enough when they had to register as no-gods, when they divided the line between types of belief. She never thought it would come to enforced sterilization. What was once a practice they so readily embraced as “choice” was now a mandatory medical procedure for all no-gods at age seven. The last procreating generation would be allowed to live, openly pitied as if they were unbaptized babies sent to limbo, checkboxes forever grayed-out. They were no longer of consequence. – excerpted from an untitled story in progress
Read Morelittle box of money
Princess Obvious makes an announcement: weddings are expensive. They are not the kind of expensive that makes me want to save up my money and splurge eventually. They are the kind of expensive that makes me count how many Apple products we could be buying with this unheard-of sum, and then quote that number at inopportune moments. “Two.” “Two?” “Two iMacs. That ALONE is going to cost us TWO IMACS.” But the sum has been heard, many times before, and will continue to be heard as long as we as humans consider this tradition an important part of our culture. I know I can’t think of these numbers in daily-life terms. The difficulty I am having, I have pinpointed, is feeling like I am worth the fuss of something this...
Read Moreyou are the one
merit badge Originally uploaded by cygnoir Straight to the links, as I’ve had some gin and trivia tonight: What if “The Matrix” had been produced in the silent film era? Wir Sind das Volk. Rupert Murdoch has a funny — and not funny “ha ha” — idea of the future of newspapers. The new visual bookmarking service, Toobla, looked interesting to me, so I created an account and got all excited about it and now all of the pages give me an “oops, something happened” error. Anyone else? Okay, time to fall asleep on the couch while FunkyPlaid plays Panzer...
Read Moresundays are for
funkyblur Originally uploaded by cygnoir Sundays are for laundry and chores and errands and then gaming. If I had a higher-level World of Warcraft character, I might be raiding on Sunday nights. Instead I do my own thing, which usually involves reading, writing, knitting, and watching something on Hulu. Tonight I decided to play World of Warcraft too. I played for about an hour and logged off as soon as I got bored. I like the game, but am unwilling to spend the time required to be good at it, and I am easily bored by grinding XP. I end up inventing my own stories and getting distracted with wandering throughout the different areas. Some of the lush forested areas in the game reminded me of Portland, so I decided to look at some of the photos I took. The...
Read Morepower couple
cloaker in progress Originally uploaded by cygnoir Today’s NaBloPoMo post is a short one because I have spent most of the day offline. A large chunk of this offline time was in transit to Gamescape North for pizza and painting night. My first project is a cloaker. FunkyPlaid is teaching me how to paint as I go. I love working on projects with tangible results. While on the Golden Gate Transit 70 bus this evening, I overheard a woman’s phone conversation. She was scolding someone named Patrick who apparently called her mother and “nearly put her in the hospital with worry.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, this woman informed Patrick that he was disappointing to her because she needs to be “in a power couple.” The...
Read Moreten times
Predictably, I love Fridays. The first hour on the desk today was, true to form, outstanding. The late opening time should make people crankier but instead I tend to have the loveliest patrons. One thanked me no less than ten times. Ten times! And because I am trying to break myself of the habit of saying “sure” instead of “you’re welcome” I said “you’re welcome” ten times, which sounded pretty silly but felt better than saying “sure” ten times. I know, rockstar life, huh? Today I am trying something different, because I love other websites with this format, so here goes: Hello, cutest teapots ever. There is even a swan. (thanks, FunkyPlaid) There are many downsides to the e-book, but the one I...
Read MoreNestcam
The cam was last on Friday, May 4.
Hello What
I am Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, and I do stuff with words.
My favourite things to do with words are keeping this diary, writing stories, and organising information.
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Reading
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Tenacious D
5 days, 1 hours and 1 minutes ago - To Be The Best
Tenacious D
5 days, 1 hours and 2 minutes ago - They Fucked Our Asses - Explicit Version
Tenacious D
5 days, 1 hours and 3 minutes ago
Plugging
