Always with me.

At dinner tonight, we got to talking. We talked about so many things, but one I wanted to write about before it slipped through the old brain-sieve. I am listening right now to a song that makes me think of someone I have not seen in years, someone I loved desperately with my then-heart. If I saw him again, I likely would have a flash of feeling, that electric eel around the collar one, remembering what it was like. Then I would have that certain relief of not having to love him anymore, of not having to succumb to muscle memory. The love is under glass in a museum I no longer visit. Sometimes I walk past the museum, and I can hear this song playing inside.

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Posted on 11 Dec 2010 | Comments Off

On “Community” and Christmas episodes.

On “Community” and Christmas episodes.

When I heard that “Community” was doing a stop-motion Christmas episode, I started to worry. No, scratch that, I didn’t worry at all. If any show right now could do this idea justice, it would be this one. And it did. Normally I avoid treading into the territory of others’ opinions, but when I read things like “this just wasn’t as funny as the rest of the show has been” I become disappointed in the lack of appreciation for subtlety. Christmas episodes, even in comedies, have never been about bringing the funny. The whole point of a Christmas episode is the warm fuzzies, and this one had nuanced fuzzies, and even some downright sad moments that had my eyes a bit misty. Plus jokes. The show regularly makes me laugh out loud,...

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Posted on 10 Dec 2010 | 2 comments

Gift niftiness.

Gift niftiness.

I love giving gifts, but my budget this year is very small. Good thing the web is filled with nifty ideas! Smitten mitten for hand-holders. [Etsy] Owl tea mugs and tea set. [VivaTerra] Fern frond necklace. [Fernworks] Now Panic and Freak Out t-shirt. [Threadless] Redwood wreath. [Erica Rose Design] Pelikan highlighter fountain pen. [Levenger] Loads of games in Gamescape North’s gift guide. [Gamescape North] Are you selling anything this holiday season? Tell me about it in the comments. I would like to post about you and your...

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Posted on 9 Dec 2010 | 2 comments

Singing in the rain.

Singing in the rain.

I would like to dedicate the school project I just turned in to Girl Talk’s album “All Day”. I listened to it while constructing my presentation, while writing my paper, and while walking to and from one of my project’s subjects, the horticultural library in the botanical garden. It was a brisk walk through the pouring rain, and it was just what I needed. The music was blasting and the calves of my jeans were completely soaked and I was singing along as I hopped over puddles. This lovely place is tucked just inside the main entrance of the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. You can walk right in and use any of its resources that you like. The collection is primarily focused on horticulture and botany,...

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Posted on 8 Dec 2010 | Comments Off

I needed that.

I needed that.

I am feeling a bit antsy about the end of the semester because I am so close to pulling it off. That is how I feel about it: I am going to pull this off. Like a bank heist, or a triple Lutz. Enrolling in an online graduate school program seemed like the sensible thing to do, but I realize now that I seriously overestimated the ability of current technologies to deliver what I considered an adequate academic setting. I am lucky to have met a few classmates whose commiseration and support have helped me readjust my expectations, and even luckier that I made a full-fledged friend. Speaking of luck, here is a nice fortune I received at dinner tonight: School will get easier, and in no time at all it will be done, and I will be moving forward, and any number of...

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Posted on 7 Dec 2010 | Comments Off

Then there is everything else.

I don’t know what I thought being intentionally unemployed was going to be like. So far it is very busy! I turned in a big school project yesterday but I have two more to go, plus an exam. Then there is everything else. School seems to expand to fit the empty space, but I am elbowing it out of the way to write resumes and cover letters. Resumes are easy for me; cover letters are significantly less so. Today is the first day of Holidailies, and although I have a crappy headache I wanted to get something up for the first day. I am supposed to introduce myself and my website. This is kind of like writing a cover letter! So I know what I will say. My name is Halsted and my website is cygnoir.net. I am not an ornithologist. I am not a Taleb fangirl. I have not...

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Posted on 6 Dec 2010 | 2 comments

meta is not the thing

This may have to count as my Holidailies post today, despite it being entirely meta. Whatever I write comes out as a rant about how frustrated I am to spend yet another Saturday at home and awfully sick. So we’ll skip that part. Inspired by Courtney, I now have a lifestream! The sidebar had become too cluttered, so I moved all of the blow-by-blow online notices to their own page, where you may ignore them en masse. This site now supports both OpenID and coComment Disqus. The new theme is subject to change. That is all for now. [ETA: My FeedBurner feed will cease to work in 30 days. Please point your RSS readers at http://cygnoir.net/feed instead. LiveJournal syndication has already been...

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Posted on 6 Dec 2008 | 1 comment