December 26, 2001
Deck the Halls Well, tomorrow
Deck the Halls
Well, tomorrow we head off for Los Angeles where I will hang with friends and family, see Andy Corwin (of the Foremen in concert, and generally have a good time. I don't know if I'll be updating much, we'll see how things go.
While I'm gone, check out BillyBoyd.net, a website for the wonderful fellow who plays Pippin.
Happy holidays to everyone, and a very happy new year!
December 25, 2001
Merry Chanukwanzaristmas, Everybody! Aaaah, theMerry Chanukwanzaristmas, Everybody!
Aaaah, the joy of celebrating the holidays with my family.
We went out last night to see LotR again, and ended up slightly to one side of the front frickin' row because we didn't bother leaving early, since who'd be going to the movies on Christmas Eve?
Everybody and their siblings, apparently.
It was still cool, though. Gorgeous film, and I'm not just talking about the guys in it. Pip rocked the house as usual, and I still found myself jumping and gasping in all the right places. I can't believe we have to wait another YEAR for the next book (which, if I remember correctly, really rocks).
This morning we broke with family tradition. I was NOT the first one up (Dad was up, dressed, and breakfasted before I even dragged myself out of bed) and we had stocking candy downstairs instead of up. I got some fantastic presents and was gratified to see the gifts I'd bought go over really well. There's nothing quite so fun as watching people open gifts.
I knew I was growing up when I realized yesterday while wrapping that i was actually more excited about the stuff I was giving than the stuff I might be getting.
Well, I gotta head downstairs and see if Mom wants help with the Pumpkin Pies.
December 24, 2001
Brother, here we go again...Brother, here we go again...
I did it. I got all my shopping done before 3pm today. Hurrah for me. Got presents for EVERYONE, including the recalcitrant, list-less ones I was whining about yesterday. Whoo! I did, however, find myself humming Tom Lehrer's "Hunting Song" quite a bit ("I went a shot the maximum the game laws would allow / Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.").
Now I just have to survive until tomorrow morning. We're off to a Christmas Eve service this evening, then to see "Lord of the Rings" again. Aaah, just what I need, a nice big dose of Pippin before bedtime.
What is it with me and that hobbit, for pete's sake? I couldn't even tell Pip and Merry apart in the book most of the time, and now I'm crushing on one of them? I don't get it. But he is awfully cute (see right).
December 23, 2001
'Tis the Season I just'Tis the Season
I just want to state, for the record, that I hate shopping for someone without knowing what they want. I find myself second-guessing constantly. I'm going to have to give in and just call my cousin and ask what she and her hubby want/need for the holiday. Grrr.
December 21, 2001
Apples and Oranges So lastApples and Oranges
So last night I was talking with a couple of my students about "Lord of the Rings" and one of them asked if it was better than "Harry Potter."
This lead to an interesting discussion about the differences between the films. I argued (as several of my friends have, and as several film critics damn well ought to but haven't) that you can't really compare them. Consider:
"Harry Potter "Lord of the Rings" ...is based on a book primarily read by young adults with few if any dark undertones. ...revolves around a young boy ...Involves wave-your-wand-and-say-the-magic-word spells. ...is set in the present day, in our world (with some additions) ...revolves almost entirely around human characters (wizard or muggle). ...is essentially a movie for kids. ...is based on a book primarily read by teens and above with very dark undertones. ...revolves around a group of adults, the casting of youthful Elijah Wood notwithstanding. Frodo is supposed to be all grown up. ...involves complicated and involved spellwork and no wands. ...is set in Middle-Earth, which may or may not be meant to be ancient Earth. ...revolves almost entirely around hobbits, who are not human. Of the nine in the Fellowship, there are two humans. I've probably missed some, but you see what I mean.
It's apples and oranges. Both are very good, although "Harry Potter" stuck closer to the book.
December 20, 2001
One Ring to Rule ThemOne Ring to Rule Them All...
Well! Saw Lord of the Rings last night. Random thoughts:
Whoa, Legolas is WAY cuter on the screen than he was in the stills.
Pippin rocks. Seriously.
Frodo is WAY too EpIV Luke in spots ("But GANDALF, I was going to go to Bywater to pick up some new candles!" *whine*) but still quite beautiful and I will probably end up really liking him anyway.
Hugo Weaving is a great Elrond. But now I want to see "The Matrix" again.
Liv Tyler was as annoying as I expected. (Arwen is NOT a mouth-breather, Liv!)
Aragorn is a total babe.
Christopher Lee is THE MAN.
No, wait, Ian McKellan is THE MAN.
OK, they're both TOO FRICKIN' COOL!
They did a great job casting Sam.
The Balrog was freaky.
It's a beautiful movie.
Ealasaid
December 19, 2001
Up in the air! It's...Up in the air! It's...
Oh, man.
"Smallville" last night was a much-needed guilty pleasure. Sarah said recently, "the best metaphor for Smallville love is love for a baby. You know you're being played by a million years of instinct, and you're still going, "Awww, aren't you the cutest little thing? Look, it spit up! Isn't that adorable?""She is so very, very right. As usual.
I know the main reason I love the show is that it's got simple, direct storylines and attractive characters and fun dialog. It's not deep. It's not profound. It could be, but it's not. And I kinda like it that way. There's a certain pleasure in watching characters do stuff you could/would never do in real life.
For example, Lex cornering that crooked reporter and just owning the guy because he was stupid enough to try to blackmail Lex is just ... fun.
And like I said, the guys are babes.
I'm so shallow.
(Photos from the wonderful Debchan)
December 18, 2001
Aah, the joys of modernAah, the joys of modern technology
Well, drat.
I had a decent blurb about substitute teaching here but resized the window without thinking and lost it. *sigh*
Having expressed myself on the subject already, I am unfortunately now not in the mood to rewrite it, so you will have to go through the day without the benefit of my musings on substitute teaching.
I'm sure you'll cope somehow.
December 17, 2001
If I were a Dead
If I were a Dead Russian Composer, I would be Dmitri Shostakovich!
I am a shy, nervous, unassuming, fidgety, and stuttery little person who began composing the same year I started music lessons of any sort. I wrote the first of my fifteen symphonies at age 18, and my second opera, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District," when I was only 26. Unfortunately, Stalin hated the opera, and put me on the Enemy Of The People List for life. I nevertheless kept composing the works I wanted to write in private; some of my vocal cycles and 15 string quartets mock the Soviet System in notes. And I somehow was NOT killed in the process! And Harry Potter(c) stole my glasses and broke them!
Who would you be? Dead Russian Composer Personality Test
Comment: Robert Redford is muchComment: Robert Redford is much sexier than Brad Pitt in Spy Game. Discuss.
Yes, it's true.
I saw Spy Game over the weekend and have been thinking about it a lot. The plot is decent. Older spy recruits and trains younger spy, who is rebellious and cares about assets (read: people). Younger spy gets in trouble. Older spy has to decide whether to help him or not, and how.What makes the film shine, though, is Robert Redford. He steals every scene he's in, the sly old bastard. Pitt at least has the brains not to try and steal his scenes back. He has no hope, pretty though he is, because Robert Redford just oozes this incredibly sexy, aloof confidence. Marvellous.
What's that you're asking? Do I have a thing for older men?
Why, how on earth did you guess?
December 16, 2001
Through the Looking Glass Well,Through the Looking Glass
Well, hell.
Once again, I have a memory of thinking, "gosh, I should write about _____ in my blog, it will be clever and witty," and NO memory of what the _____ was.
At least my flow charts are done, thanks to a wonderful pal who taught me to use Micro$oft's Visio. I now have time to chill out.
Anyway. Since I can't remember what I was going to write about, I'll write about my newest video game acquisition instead!
I bought American McGee's "Alice" Friday, and I really like it. Found it for $19.99 in Staples' clearance section, yay. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically Alice in Wonderland on a very bad acid trip. A very, very, very bad acid trip. The Red Queen has taken over and everything is corrupted and warped. Alice must, armed with a set of thoroughly weird weapons called "toys", make her way to the Red Queen and destroy her. Whoo!
It's kind of nice to have a warped game where the heroine is a schoolgirl instead of a leather-clad dominatrix type.
December 15, 2001
The Joys of Living WithThe Joys of Living With Cats
So here I am in my den (the room formerly known as "Guest Room") and I hear some suspicious-sounding thunks from downstairs. Remembering that the cat is in, I jog down and find him standing innocently in the hallway. I bend over and pet him and start looking around for what he's knocked over.
One of the books in the bathroom is standing perfectly straight up. In the toilet.
It doesn't seem to have gotten too wet - just the top quarter inch or so.
It takes real talent to lodge a book in a toilet so it stands straight up.
Isn't it great having a talented cat?
December 14, 2001
Digression: Nicknames Why is itDigression: Nicknames
Why is it that the American people are so obsessed with nicknames? Maybe not Americans per se, but certainly the online communities I generally find myself in, which are mostly American. Cases in point:
One of the email lists I'm on is devoted to Professor Severus Snape of the Harry Potter books. Many people on the list persist in calling him, both in messages and in fanfiction, "Sev" or even, in moments of passion, "Sevvy."
Pardon me while I gag.
His name, dammit, is Severus Snape. No frelling nicknames here. He's much to stiff to let anybody call him anything but Severus or Snape or Professor. And if you're going to call him the former, you'd better damn well be his equal or close to it, or I bet he'd take your head off. Grr.
There's a similar situation on the list devoted to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens. In the book, there's an angel named Aziraphale. The listfolk, however, persist in calling him "Zira." AND in having the characters in their stories call him that.
Come on, he's an ANGEL, for crying out loud, he's not going to do nicknames that are corruptions of his own name. I could see him being called "Angel" (as Crowley calls him in the book), or some other pet name having to do with who/what he is, but not "Zira," please. Ack.
I don't have nicknames, not really. I am Ealasaid. Not Ellie, not Sadie, or any other corruption you can think of. When I was little, dad called me "The Big E" sometimes, and he still addresses cards to me like that from time to time, and that's cool. It's kind of a joke. And online I'm cool with folk calling me "E" because "Ealasaid" can be hard to spell if you're not used to it.
But that's it. Although I do have some friends who use my Überfan title, they don't use it in daily conversation, only to make a point from time to time. That's IT.
Nicknames are NOT necessary, especially if you have an uncommon name.
Okay, I feel better now.
December 13, 2001
Oh, dear. Just got backOh, dear.
Just got back from a meeting at the District about their site, where I said I would do up a tentative flowchart for the new organization of the site and its folders. By Monday.
So. No fun for me this weekend! Well, only a little. Can't totally ditch my social life, can I? But I still have to reorganize a 2Gb website in the next three days.
Wish me luck!
At least I now have Photoshop 6.0 to make me feel better. That is one kickass program.
December 12, 2001
Well! I am trying toWell!
I am trying to come up with something witty to put in here, but my brain appears to have gone on vacation. This is bad, since I have six hours of tutoring staring me in the face for the afternoon. Oh, joy.
December 11, 2001
Got me a sub jobGot me a sub job today (I always feel kinda kinky calling it "subbing"). Got to cover for a History teacher at my old High School. Boring as all get out, but hey, it pays well and one of the students remembered me from when I spoke at her PreCalculus class last week. Said she liked my presentation (which consisted of me taking questions about Life After High School (tm) and making bad jokes).
This evening, after I was done at the Learning Center my bud Jen and I watched Bob Roberts (go Alan Rickman!) and "Smallville" (whoo, Clark got to save Lex again!). Much fun. I am now catching up on email (haven't logged on properly since last night, ack!).
December 10, 2001
DAMMIT! So there I was,DAMMIT!
So there I was, on the mat at Aikido and Sensei said something REALLY cool, and I thought, "I must remember that and write it up in my blog."
So naturally I can't remember a DAMN THING.
ARGH.
And I was going to take a couple tests over at The Spark but it keeps crashing my browser. Grrrr. Clearly this is a sign. I'm going to sign off.
I am a Chieftan CarvedMy life is now complete.
I am a Chieftan Carved out of Cheese.
My raspberry motivation slides transparently beyond the elongated prune. I dig widely upon the bus of my leather mangroves. Hygienic cameras pardon my curly white atmosphere.
Grant the wise barnacle, forsooth? The Utterly Surreal Test
December 09, 2001
Ah ha! I appear toAh ha!
I appear to have succeeded in adding links. Hurrah for me.Now I have to go brush the dog, who is, contrary to all logic, shedding his winter coat. Please note that it is still winter here in North America. Maybe he's on Austrailia time or something.
Went to Dickens Faire today,Went to Dickens Faire today, which would have been a LOT more fun if (a) I hadn't been headachey and sickish and (b) I didn't have this THING about people TALKING to me when I'm feeling under the weather.
Tip: Do not approach me when I'm under the weather unless we're friends. Preferably good friends.
I drooled copiously over some GORGEOUS old books but didn't buy any (I really wanted a gorgeous two-volume edition of Ovid's Metamorphosis, but it was $50 for the set, so... no.). Man. Anybody wondering what to get me for the Winter Holidays: old books are nearly always a good bet. Latin, Greek, and 17th-century stuff in particular.
Okay. I'm going to see if I can make a box of links to blogs I read now. Wish me luck.
December 06, 2001
WHOO! I got a JOB!WHOO!
I got a JOB!
www.musd.org will soon be under my care. Yay me!
December 05, 2001
DAMMIT. Two days and alreadyDAMMIT.
Two days and already my blog is all tweaked. I figured it'd be easier to do it this way than run it by hand, adding to a file and uploading the thing with WS_FTP all the time, but DAMN! If this doesn't get fixed soon, I will have to consider the by-hand option.
DAMMIT. Two days and alreadyDAMMIT.
Two days and already my blog is all tweaked. I figured it'd be easier to do it this way than run it by hand, adding to a file and uploading the thing with WS_FTP all the time, but DAMN! If this doesn't get fixed soon, I will have to consider the by-hand option.
*yawn* Morning is SO not*yawn*
Morning is SO not my thing.
Fortunately, I recovered enough mental acuity to recall that I have a meeting with a bigwig at the local school district. Good thing... I almost went to the stable with Mom. I can just see that phone call.
"Erm, Hi. Sorry I totally forgot about our meeting... want to try again? Please! I want to work for you!"
*snerk*
December 04, 2001
Damn it. It's all WilDamn it.
It's all Wil Wheaton's fault. I read that interview with him over on Wired News and checked out his site, and he's actually cool.
I used to be a big Wesley-hater, but now I can't quite be as passionate about hating the little punk because Wil himself is so cool. Check out Wil Wheaton Dot Net.
And so, in the darkAnd so, in the dark days of winter, Ealasaid did give in to peer pressure and create her own blog. And lo, it was strange and peculiar, and made little sense. But it was filled with links, sarcasm, and humor. And she looked upon it, and saw that it was good.
Text by Ealasaid
Graphics from works 
Should look fine on almost any browser, but looks best
on Netscape with the OgdredWeary font installed
and Style Sheets and JavaScript enabled.