6:52 PM: Journalcon Update!

In happier news, I've purchased my plane tickets for JournalCon!

For that matter, I've modified my plans a bit. It turns out that my first day of classes will be September 13th... and, rather than leaving my job at the end of August, we've just settled that I can keep at it until September 10th. This gives me more days of work, and hence more income, which is generally a good thing, but I had hoped to visit New York one more time before the end of the summer. Plus I'd like to make my annual visit to my ocular plastic surgeon in Manhattan, which ought to be in late August. So I'm flying to Washington D.C. for JournalCon on Friday, August 20th, then flying to New York on the 22nd. I'm still settling on the final step of the plan, but I'll most likely take the bus back to Boston on the 24th.

I love it when a plan comes together.

In other news, Blogger now has what is allegedly a spiffy new editor for posts, the only catch being that it doesn't work with Opera. I don't have any problem with that-- I prefer hand-coding to WYSIWYG bells and whistles, and one can still compose Blogger posts just fine using Opera.

The catch is that if you start a post and put it aside until later, you can no longer, in Opera, go back and edit it without wiping out everything you've already written. Nor can you publish it to the Web as-is. The only way to edit or publish such a post is to switch browsers. Personally, I don't want to have to start up Firefox every time I want to get back to a post, nor do I want to switch to what I find to be a slower, clumsier, less satisfying browser.

Blogger has, in the past, provided different editors for different browsers; given that this is a known issue, why don't they simply feed the old editor to Opera users?

Boston cites store owner for posting "Go Bush" sign across from FleetCenter

This article just might encapsulate why -- as much as Boston is generally a pleasant enough town, totally better than a certain one in Michigan -- I can't see myself settling down here permanently.

For one thing, you've got the effects of the Democratic National Convention. Large chunks of the mass-transit system are being closed or rerouted, making it very hard to get in or out of the part of town containing the convention... which is to say, the part just north of the city's center, including a major transit hub. Major roads are also being closed. Anybody commuting to or from the north is pretty much screwed. Business owners in the area are even more screwed. Still, not to worry, the city has provided both an inspiring slogan and some helpful advice for local residents. In that order, they are: "Let's Work Around It," and "If at all possible, take a vacation out of town next week." (The former is an exact quote; I'm paraphrasing the latter.)

As a New Yorker, I'm alternately amused and appalled by all this. What kind of alleged city can't handle a single convention without falling to pieces? (And, for that matter, why on earth did the city try to get the Democrats to hold their convention here if it was going to cause them this much trouble?)

Civil liberties are also flying out the window, although here one gets the feeling that the convention is being used as an excuse to ram through policies the city has wanted to impose anyway. So you've got the random searching of backpacks on the public transportation system, the central monitoring of security cameras placed on streets throughout the city, and various other fun stuff that's not going away once the convention ends. Oh, and apparently you've got the fining of storeowners for placing signs stating unpopular opinions on their own property.

Still, there's always a silver lining. After all, I now have another pizza parlor on my list of places to try in the area. I know I like its owner already.

11:06 PM: When Columnists Snap

This past week has featured out-of-character columns by both Roger Ebert and Dan Savage, the sort they can get away with only because they are out of character, and their audiences are therefore willing to sit back and enjoy the ride.

In the first, Ebert pans A Cinderella Story, and such is his contempt for the film that he devotes only one paragraph to it, giving the briefest of plot summaries. The clear subtext is "Screw this. I'm just gonna take the space and have fun with it." It's not a very good review, but it's a lot of fun to read.

Similarly, Savage blows off his sex-columnist duties this week, instead throwing a fit about attempts to pass laws against gay marriage. Again, not a good sex advice column this week, but it's fun. Both are recommended reading. (Standard disclaimer regarding Savage: adult content, not so much for the squeamish. Ebert's is particularly family-friendly this time around.)

It seems worth reiterating that each keeps his day job only because these columns are atypical. Ebert's reviews are usually the sort he describes as being good, the sort that tells you enough about a film that you're left with a good idea of whether or not you'd like it, regardless of whether he did. Savage's columns -- while outspoken, opinionated, and sometimes confrontational -- do usually provide interesting information and advice. If either were always going off on a rant without any substance to speak of, nobody would bother... to... read...

...hmm.

Okay, so Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh both disprove that hypothesis. Never mind.

11:55 PM: Quiz time again...

Take the What High School Stereotype Are You? quiz.

Fits my mood tonight, that's for sure.

And here are a few I took last month, but never got around to posting:

If I were a D&D character, my stats would be:
STR 9
INT 16
WIS 15
DEX 11
CON 8
CHA 9

(Mind you, I totally made stuff up for the strength questions.)


Your Patronus is the Wolf! The wolf is a symbol of wisdom, loyalty and independence. He is one of history's more revered (and feared) characters.

That your Patronus is a wolf says that you are very wise as a person. You tend to be loyal to your friends, even when they screw up, but you are also independent. Finding that balance is key; finding it will ensure that you will be a wonderful witch or wizard!
What is Your Patronus? Version 1
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You are Form 5, Dragon: The Weaver.

"And The Dragon seperated the virtuous from the sinful. He tore his eyes from his sockets and used them to peer into the souls of those on trial to make a judgement. He knew that with endless knowledge came endless responsibility."

Some examples of the Dragon Form are Athena (Greek), St. Peter (Christian), and Surya (Indian). The Dragon is associated with the concept of intelligence, the number 5, and the element of wood. His sign is the crescent moon.

As a member of Form 5, you are an intelligent and wise individual. You weigh options by looking at how logical they are and you know that while there may not always be a right or wrong choice, there is always a logical one. People may say you are too indecisive, but it's only because you want to do what's right. Dragons are the best friends to have because they're willing to learn.
Which Mythological Form Are You?
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(Found via Erin and Annie.)

10:49 PM:

I feel the need to reiterate that Joe Schmo 2 is freakin' brilliant.

12:52 AM: It's been awhile, hasn't it.

I could say that the problem is that I've been working full-time, and my boss made it clear at the start that blogging on the job was not an option (not that I'd generally have time for it anyway), and that by the time I get home, I'm too tired to write much. This has some truth to it, but it's a bit wide of the mark. It's more that doing the full-time corporate thing is completely unlike anything I've ever done before, and I've been falling into an entirely new daily routine... one which hasn't included regular journal updates. I'll try to see about folding those into the mix.

There hasn't been all that much to report, anyway. I spent much of last week compiling an Olympics timeline, which turned out to be unexpectedly interesting. It has, however, had the side effect of making me prone to spouting lots of Olympics trivia to whomever is unfortunate enough to be within earshot. At least it's better than the trivia about the world's tallest towers, which had been on the agenda the previous week...

Dance class is over... unsurprisingly, considering that I made it to four out of six sessions, I was pretty much at the bottom of the class. But it was fun anyway, and I'll probably go for another one in the fall, if it fits my schedule and I can afford it. Otherwise, I was kinda planning to ask a particular one of my classmates out, but she didn't turn up for the final session. It's probably just as well.

For whatever reason, my basic-basic cable package includes Spike TV. Oddly enough, I like a lot of their programming. They've got various generations of Star Trek, the cheesy fun of MXC ("right you are, Ken" is never ever going to replace "Fukei-san!" in the annals of great dubbed catch phrases, but, alas, I don't get the Food Network), and, perhaps most of all, the brilliance that is Joe Schmo 2. Which brings me to the main point of this paragraph: if you're watching the show, you totally need to check out its website, including the blog of one of the producers.

Finally, there's one more thing I told my notify lists about, which I'll get to here in the near future, I hope. It ended up not really going anywhere anyway. Plus there's a karaoke update, but it's late by my current standards. Next time. Hopefully soon. G'night!