capsule 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 Morethat facebook thing
I know this is an old and tired subject, but it has been on my mind all day, and I am participating in NaBloPoMo so I don’t have time to talk myself out of writing it. Today I posted a note on my Facebook profile stating that while WordPress, Tumblr, and Twitter would be automatically updating my wall, I would not be present. Thus I began my Facebook vacation. I don’t hate Facebook, but I dislike the false knowledge I glean from it, the pretense of knowing who my contacts are by reading arbitrary updates, photos, and links they post. I also wonder about the reverse: which assumptions are my contacts making about me from my blurbs? Eventually I will return, but not without reconsidering Facebook’s importance in my life, and severely limiting...
Read Moreanother three things
Three things I wish I hadn’t told the reporter who showed up at work 14 minutes before my shift ended: Something about a party, and maybe even a keg of beer, in an analogy regarding print resources Anything about that ill-fated Chronicle article on webcams My name Three aspects of my commute home I would have changed: Sharing my LRV-boarding strategy with two vaguely unappreciative strangers Realizing that I had an LRV-boarding strategy Comprehending just how much of a dork I am Three things I wanted to do that I didn’t in favor of feeling sorry for myself: Exercise Finish a first draft of a short story Really anything else Three things I will avoid for the rest of the week in favor of actually living my life: Facebook Brizzly‘s Facebook...
Read Morefalling for portland
breakfast at kennedy school Originally uploaded by cygnoir We had planned to leave Portland before breakfast, but overslept, so we decided to enjoy one last meal at Kennedy School. Here FunkyPlaid reads the Oregonian as we wait for our delicious food to arrive. Falling for Portland took me completely by surprise. I am sure that a small measure of the starry-eyed wonder had to do with my utter SF burnout, but I hadn’t expected to feel so at home in a new place. Portland fuses the best parts of three of my favorite cities, Seattle and Pittsburgh and Chicago, and the result is a homey yet cosmopolitan mixture with incredible people and food and art and architecture and geography and weather all at once. Back at home, I am able to gaze upon the very...
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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