:: Venting Insanity ::

:: Saturday, August 16, 2003 ::

updates
I updated my quizzes page. I hadn't realized how far behind I was. WOW... O.O;; Anyway, it's all done now. Yay!!!

blackout blues
Well, now that power is back, I'm still bored. I have no idea on what to do. LOL... I had been planning on working on my site today, but got a bit bogged down by IM's right away. So, I caugh up on some RPGs. Plus, I'm just not feeling all that motivated to do much today. We had off yesterday, since power hadn't returned to the office, yet. So, Dad and I got the oil changed in the car, got it washed, and filled the tank. Then, we hit Friendly's for lunch. After we got home, I went to take a nap. Dad didn't wake me up until dinner time. At that point, I just didn't want to be bothered with anything, so I just went back to sleep.

chatting with the neighbors
I spent most of the blackout outside with my neighbors. We were talking about the other neighbors. LOL. We were just hoping that the renters in 6, 7, and 8 are going to be out of here soon. We figure that, if we complain enough about some of the illegal things they're doing in 6, they'll get evicted by the owners. ^^;;

Bad us.

snapple "real fact" #160
One alternate title that had been considered for NBC's hit, Friends, was Insomnia Café.

:: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 ::

juno troubles
I can't get my e-mail off my Juno account. It's frustrating the hell out of me. It won't connect, but I can't find the error message I'm getting anywhere in any of their help areas. I really don't want to have to call them and pay $1.95 a minute for help. That's gonna suck big ones.

delays
And yes, I know there have been major delays in getting my layout finalized and launched. I just really haven't been in the mood to do anything serious on the computer when I get home lately. I've even cut down on blogging. Today's posts were a combination of yesterday's with today's, just broken apart for easier reading.

Of course, I did miss the forum update two weeks in a row. I've now added it to my Outlook calendar in order to keep reminding myself. That way, I'm bound to change it on time.

There's also the issue with getting the webcomic up. I was considering using one of my Stores Online storefronts for it and slam the hell out of the marketing world to try for an audience, but, if my current job situation continues, I'm not going to be able to handle paying this puppy off for the first several months. The last thing I need is another bill. Web comics aren't exactly cash cows unless your selling subscriptions or selling your own advertisement space. I can't do that until I have the traffic. Who knows when that will happen?

I'm at a loss...

snapple "real fact" #175
In 1634, tulip bulbs were a form of currency in Holland.

bloggers noted
We were watching TechTV the other night and there was this report on blogs on The Screensavers. They did an interview with Rebecca Blood.

I wandered my way around their site a bit and found some interesting links. I have some new accounts set up, so keep watching for some new features.

hackers thwarted
I mentioned a while back about a hacker challenge that had been issued to the web. Well, in a recent news story, it turns out their "I hacked here" reporting site was hacked, rendering it practically useless for several key hours during the hacker challenge.

The site's moderators reported surprisingly low numbers of hacking reports, but felt it was due to their downtime.

A taste of their own medicine?

the governator
It's all over the news that Arnold is running for governor, but Yahoo! News reports that the creators of The Terminator movies will be making a fourth installment of the series regardless of whether Arnold is elected.

Whether or not Arnold will be like Jesse Ventura of MN (who returned to the wrestling forum for a guest spot on one of their big Pay-Per-View events) and actually return to his action star roots for the fourth movie is unknown, but the creators don't mind either way. They're making it anyway.

My question is, judging by what was going on in the last movie (the start of the machine race?), what could they possibly do for a plot in the fourth??? O.O;;

celestial seasonings
No, you tea freaks, not what you think... LOL... I'm talking astronomy.

August is the apparent 'season' for meteors. A story on MSNBC the other day reported a peak in meteor showmanship for last night.

There was just one problem... the moon.

Last night, the moon when full, glaring light across the sky in a normal monthly show of it's cold beauty. But, the moon outshone the shooting stars, preventing a good sighting of the light show.

Guess I'll just have to watch next year...

do not call does not make money
For all of us who signed up for the famed "National Do Not Call Registry", our tactic in preventing annoying phone calls while stuffing our faces with dinner has caused some nasty side effects. Telemarketing firms all over the country are suffering heavily, according to a news report on MSNBC. There are now big layoffs in the telemarketing industry.

In a way, I feel a bit guilty, but I'm just glad no one can sell my phone number to someone else. I think that's the worst part.

this one's not a hoax
It's rare I'll pass around virus warnings or anything of that nature. But, to know that MSNBC was pointing out a Windows virus, that caught my attention.

I guess it's time to go run some updates.

organization is good
I set up Outlook yesterday after finally installing all the updates my computer needed to catch up. {{sigh}} Now I can use the calendar and task list features like I use here at home. It's a neat thing to have. I use it all the time. I got hooked on using it while I was working at Nortel.

disturbing discussions
Bill and I were talking today about ways to implement this data switch over. Unfortunately, it's looking more and more like my function in this may actually be redundant. Of course, actually getting the salesmen to use the tools they're provided with is another story in itself, but there may be a way for these guys to go through and just move all the data over themselves. And I wouldn't have to sit there doing such monotonous work.

Then again, I'm getting paid to do such monotonous work. It's an income I sorely need at the moment to cover the never ending influx of bills. I'm not much of a quick thinker on my feet, but I hopefully convinced Bill to keep me around a bit. He also has a tendancy to not like laying people off, so that's in my favor as well. {{crosses fingers}}

My job luck sucks.

on the good side
However, the meetings for the internet company are moving quicker now. We have another meeting already tomorrow night. This time, Dad's hitching a ride home with Billy and Freddie, while I take my car to the meeting. We're back in Farmingdale again. {{sigh}} I just hope these weeknight meetings in Farmingdale don't become a huge habit. It's inconvenient for me (ride arrangements) and the diner itself isn't exactly the greatest (dire need of renovations...).

But, I'm looking forward to getting more work done. Unfortunately, I haven't had much of a chance to look over Dan's fake database. I should try to go over that tonight, I guess... I'm just too tired to think...

:: Monday, August 11, 2003 ::

survey says
1. What's your full name? Jessica-Lynne Sullivan (hyphen unofficial)
2. What kind of pants are you wearing? jeans
3. What are you listening to right now? the clothes dryer and my computer fan
4. What was the last thing you ate? Taco Bell
5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? some shade of blue
6. Where did you go on your honeymoon? I need a boyfriend before I can start thinking of that
7. Last person you talked to on the phone? a survey caller from Sprint PCS
8. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Facial features (eyes, complexion, any hair, nose, mouth)
9. There was a 9?
10. Do you like the person that sent you this? Well, I enjoy playing games with them all...
11. Your favorite drink? soda: Wild Cherry Pepsi, other: Snapple Raspberry Iced Tea
12. Favorite alcoholic drink? beer: Killian's Irish Red, mixed: mudslide, electric lemonade, Khaluha and vanillia ice cream, or melon sour
13. Favorite outdoor activity? erm... I guess swimming or biking
14. Favorite sport to watch? football or baseball
15. What's the next CD you're going to get? Not for a while, yet… but probably the new 3 Doors Down album (the last one was Jewel)
16. Did you ever wear braces? nope, but I had orthodontic work with a series of retainers...
17. Best memories: erm... I have to pick one?
18. Favorite restaurant? erm... see last question
19. Siblings and their ages? N/A (only child)
20. Favorite month? hm... June
21. Favorite food: erm... see question 17
22. Last movie you watched? theatre: The Italian Job, rented: Ghost Rig (do not see that movie... it was bad)
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out? 9 times out of 10, yes
24. Favorite place to go on a date? erm... see question 17
25. Do you like scary or happy movies better? Depends on my mood
26. Summer or winter? summer
27. Hugs or kisses? definitely hugs, cuddling is fun!
28. Your idea of the perfect vacation: tough one... I can't decide
29. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla
30. Who is most likely to respond? Anyone here on the board
31. Who is least likely to respond? Anyone not on the board
32. What books are you reading? Star Trek: Section 31, "Cloak"
33. What's on your mouse pad? I've got more than I need... butterflies, space scenes, Taz, a stylized computer mouse, a frazzled looking guy, the characters from Gundam Wing... Depends on which mouse pad I want to use that month
34. Favorite magazine? erm... see question 17
35. Favorite smell? burnt candles
36. Least favorite smell? old garbage
37. Worst feeling in the world? tough one... I'd rather not get into it
38. How many rings before you answer the door? don't have a doorbell
39. Future child's name? see question 6
40. Glass half empty or half full? depends on my mood
41. Favorite movie(s): erm... see question 17
42. One nice thing about the person that sent this to you? hard to say, got it off a message board
43. What's under your bed? another bed
44 How long do you spend on the computer? probably too long
45. Many friends or one best friend? quality over quantity, baby
46. Favorite current TV shows? hmm... that's a tough one. haven't really spent a lot of time watching TV lately.
47. What is your #1 obsession? finding a real job that'll last
48. What's your birthday? October 4th, 1977 (10/4... my grandfather used to call me the "Okay Kid")

:: Sunday, August 10, 2003 ::

hanging out
Erin, Estelle, and I hung out at Erin's last night. They filled me in on Erin's new apartment, showing me how she wanted to decorate it. She told me all about how the last tenant trashed the place, leaving the land lady to clean the whole thing. Erin's been helping out, and she's hoping to be able to move in soon.

Of course, she won't be living there full time until after the wedding. Similar to what Michelle and Jim did before their wedding, Jason is going to be living at the apartment while Erin continues to live at home with 'visiting rights'. Then, after the wedding, she's going to move in full time.

the miracle of life
Erin's parakeets are mating like crazy. O.O;; She's got two 3 month old birds, and two more babies with the downy grey feathers in the nesting box. They've very cute. If we didn't have Ivy, I'd consider one. But, I'd want a bird that's hand tamed that I can have sit on my shouder or something. I don't know if I'll have the time in the future to dedicate to something like that.

movie time
Yes, another review...

We had popcorn and stuff, and watched a UK flick called Ghost Rig. I didn't see Ghost Ship, but the cover art was very simliar... only it had the oil rig there instead of the boat. I couldn't help but wonder if they were similar stories. If they are, I know not to see Ghost Ship.

A group of activists move in to save an oil rig that's going to be destroyed. They take up residency on the rig to prevent it from being toppled into the sea. The rig is being closed down because of rumors (rumors that were apparently true) of a quarantine. It turns out that the rig workers opened a dimensional portal and summoned a demon to our world. It takes up residence in a host body, but the host only remains in control of the demon when he's standing inside a circle of runes. Somehow, something got messed up, and the demon unleashes itself among the crew of the rig. It travels from body to body by biting, leaving the former host dead after the transfer. Having taken up living in a rat after the last crew member dies, the demon finds new hosts as the activists board the rig.

Ghost Rig wasn't really all that great. It was a dry movie that couldn't decide if it was an occult arts ghost film or a murder mystery film. While those sometimes can be one and the same, this one wasn't put together very well. It was hard to follow as more people began turning up dead and the ending seemed almost fake or part of another movie.

next
After that, we sat and watched Will & Grace for a bit. I love that show. I took Estelle home then, as it was getting really late (or early? try 4 am).

I've gotta stop these late night stints... I'm so tired in the morning...

snapple "real fact" #165
Your eye expands up to 45% when looking at something pleasing.

movie review
Oops... I just realized I never wrote the review for Dare Devil. John S and I watched it the other night.

Ben Affleck (Pearl Harbor, Gigli, The Sum of All Fears, Jay & Silent Bob movies) plays Matt Murdock. As a child, Matt was involved in an accident that left him blind. However, his other senses overcompensated for it, leaving him with a type of echo-location where he can actually use sound to see (like bats and dolphins). Matt eventually becomes a lawyer, determined to help those who cannot help themselves. After the death of his father, Matt also uses his abilities to become an avenger of the night, dealing swift justice to criminals on the street. He eventually meets Elektra Nachios (Jennifer Garner from Alias), the daughter of billionaire Nikolas who works for Wilson Wisk, aka: Kingpin (Micheal Clarke Duncan from The Green Mile, The Scorpion King and Planet of the Apes). When Kingpin hires Bullseye (Colin Farrel from S.W.A.T., Phone Booth, and Hart's War) to kill Nikolas, Elektra vows revenge, using her past training in the various martial arts to fight for her father's memory. She quickly becomes a target of Kingpin and Bullseye, but Matt's love forces him to protect her.

As exciting as all that sounds, I found the movie to be a bit dry. It's definitely a comic book movie for fans. True fans may not appreciate some of the casting or whatnot, but I found myself feeling very neutral about it at the end. There were great parts and there were crappy parts. They did an excellent job on Matt's "Shadow World" sight, but the other effects were worse than Spiderman and The Matrix. They were too obvious in today's world of seamless effects.

There were some very good action scenes. Matt and Elektra spar in a playground during their first meeting. Their relationship develops wonderfully through the film, and, when he sees her for the first time using "Shadow World" during a rain storm, the visuals are stunning.

All in all, while I was completely impressed by it, I also wasn't overly disappointed.