Anybody recommend a Livejournal client (for Windows) which will give me a notification or tray icon or something when there's new stuff on my friends page? I noticed I check it reflexively and the habit annoys me.

I'm also interested in something that will tell Twitter (not my main account, one for the purpose) when there's a new post here, since it doesn't happen that often.

Riding back to destinynova's from the houselet (zigdon's adorable name for S&DC's house-but-not-yet-a-home) two nights ago, I found my anklebiter gone when I arrived. Oh well. Tonight, riding here again, I came to a stop with my lights reflecting off the anklebiter. It probably fell off when I was dismounting, and I didn't notice until I got inside. 8)

But you're wondering about the new bike. Little bit of a story, actually. S found it on Craigslist--she's been keeping an eye out for a bike which fits me better, and found what seemed to be a newer one in the same family as mine. It had belonged to the lister's wife, and he was selling it after she passed away. Not until we got to his house did I connect the dots (name, location) and realize that I KNEW the seller. And I had spent a significant bit of my childhood in his wife's old house. They're the parents of my best friend throughout junior high. Small world. As sad as the task was, he was glad to be selling the bike to a friend (which he did, because it turned out to suit me).

And the cyclists are STILL wondering about the bike. Okay, okay. It's a Specialized Crossroads hybrid, S thinks early nineties. Big fat seat, squeaky shocks, currently-fairly-upright-but-super-adjustable handlebars. Both comfier and faster than the old bike, which I wasn't expecting to get both of, so that's neat. Haven't moved the rack over yet, and don't have anywhere on it for either my u-lock or my cable, so there has been a lot of stuff in my backpack. This makes the weight difference between bikes seem even bigger than it actually is (which is a lot).

There was a slight mishap when the two of us were riding the three bikes down a steep hill. Specifically, 1/2 of the people and the 2/3 of the bikes which she was managing fell over at once. S got a scraped knee but is otherwise fine, and her bike got a wheel out of true ("False?" suggested arisrabkin). I'm now wondering if mine did also (I was riding the old one at the time), since my front brake is inconsistently rubbing the wheel. (Earlier, it was consistently rubbing the wheel, which S fixed.) I will have to get that looked at when I get home in a few weeks.

Oh, yeah. I'm going out of town on Thursday, visiting altoone. If you're local, and you'd like to see me before mid-December, you've got two days to catch me. If you're in the Boston area, and you'd like to see me at all, it will probably need to be at the very beginning or very end of this trip (the 3rd/4th or the 15th/16th). Unless you wanna come see me in Rhode Island. :)

And I and a friend went to stalk another friend from the internet today. Long story short he lived nearby and couldn't be bothered to come hang out with us, so we figured out what school he went to and his class schedule based on remarks in IRC and showed up outside his class on his birthday to take him to lunch. He was weirded out, but thoroughly entertained (he's done the same thing to other people so he could hardly have been mad at us), and didn't even call the police. But we couldn't take him out to lunch, since our stalking research had been imperfect, and he had another class we didn't know about. Still. Overall a success. This was our third (3rd) attempt to pull this off, and we are satisfied with it. Plus, having gotten it done today frees up my Thursday so I don't have to stress about getting to the airport.

That's all, I think. (Phew!)

Everybody go over and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to altoone! She'll never know what hit her. 8)

In my last post, I listed among my assets a supportive community of friends who, exactly as I predicted, turned out in droves to give advice and support and ideas and encouragement.

I thought, but did not write, "except my father," at the end of that bullet point in the list. He also behaved exactly as I expected when I mentioned the idea (which I wasn't necessarily going to bother doing): he laughed at me, and then rolled his eyes, and then when I cheerfully rambled on about everything I've learned and all the great resources I have access to, and pointed out that there was no possible way this could affect him unless he chose to participate, he wandered off without acknowledging any of it. So I mocked him a bit, because I'm sure as hell not going to take him seriously. He lost that as soon as I caught on that he never gives his support for anything I do unless he told me to do it.

stonesundial put it really well, and I quote her with her permission:

After I told my dad I had accepted this position [with Americorps], he asked me when I will get a real job. I explained that in terms of volunteer experience, and now this employment, I do have a crisis-service-social-work theme which is genuine and consistent. I applied to BA-level social work positions right out of college with no luck. This new job can only add to my desirability. It also (finally) matches my college major, sociology, another point of despair for him ("What is sociology good for, and if it is good for something why aren't you doing that?"). Finally he admitted that maybe he simply didn't find the work interesting, rather than there being any personal/filial/moral calamity involved if I took the job. Neutral, for him, is the same as supportive.

Dad is pissy when I have work, when I quit work, when I find new work, when I volunteer, when I take classes on my own, when I make art, when I don't make art, when I make a decision, when I follow someone else's lead . . . He thinks I am too old already to still be finding out what I want to do for a career. I think he is a doofus.

His attitude is his own problem. The movement I need is on my shoulder.

There's no point to this post, really--I'm just getting it out of my system. Dad is, indeed, a doofus. It would be neat to have two supportive parents, but most people aren't as lucky as I am to have one.

I wonder if he's happy, and if he's not, I wonder if he believes he can be.

( I had an idea which I think can fix a bunch of reasons I've been unhappy for the last half a year or so. Then I rambled about it for a page or two. )

* * *

( But it's actually a really simple idea, so here it is in one sentence. ) Anyone want to help? Time and effort would be fantastic, expertise is awesome, and capital wouldn't hurt, although I don't expect the required outlay to be extravagant (which is part of the point).

* * *

( Later, other people pointed out smart things. )

Three months ago I thought I would probably never ride a bike.

Two months ago I couldn't really imagine feeling safe riding alongside cars on a major street, never mind one without a bike lane.

Seventy-five minutes ago I was flying south on MLK somewhere near the top of my third chainring (downhill on a well-paved road with a breeze at my back), because someone I love wanted to see me and I don't have to wait on anyone else's schedule or permission to go places any more.

I want to talk to myself three months ago and just say "Hey, Fizz. Guess what? You're going to love this."

This is the sort of thing I'd normally restrict a bit but I thought Stephanie would like to see it. Thanks, Stephanie.

I enjoyed this whole video of an 86-year-old WWII veteran speaking against Maine's Prop 1, which would rescind gay marriage rights in Maine. The gist of it, for those who dislike watching internet video as much as I do, is that he fought for the rights of all people, not just some, and that he didn't raise his four sons to be good men just so that the three straight ones could have more rights than their brother. There are, not surprisingly, pages of supportive comments following it. But the best one of all was this, posted anonymously:

"I'll be honest I was on the fence before hearing this man. Not anymore."

People who already agree each other can blubber all they want without accomplishing anything. That comment is what matters. Somebody watched the video and made up his mind to treat people who are different from him with as much respect as he gives to the ones who are like him. That gives me hope.

I can't mount the bike with the basket on it. It goes where I want my leg to go. I'm sure there's another way to do it but I suspect there is no other way which is nearly as comfortable for me.
I cannot stand over my bike with the new seatpost. Well, I can, but on tiptoes. Annoying when I'm trying to stretch at lights. Despite that, my knees and quadriceps hurt more with the new post. I think this has to do with different stresses put on them when I'm trying to relieve my hands but can't, so I end up kind of propped awkwardly against my pedals and my seat and my handlebars.
I suspected the new height was causing me to put more stress on my hands, but asrabkin reminded me that I'm also now wearing thinner gloves. More intact, but thinner. Anyway, I FEEL more stress on my hands. And I have a lot more trouble sitting back in my seat to relieve that stress. Yes, the more level seat is easier to sit in without slipping, but it also puts me a couple inches further from my handlebars when I shift my weight back, and I cannot pull back far enough to ease off on my hands for any length of time while maintaining anything resembling a line.
When my derailleur is changing gears on its own, it does it a lot at a time or else not at all--as opposed to doing it every once in a while, spaced out over the course of a ride. This suggests that it's triggered by certain conditions. I've only ever noticed it while riding uphill, but that's not surprising since I do much more pedaling there. Also, I didn't try on the way back, but on the way to game night I could not shift to my large chainring. (I could do it just fine with the bike upside down on the floor.)
I do not need to keep up with Ari's natural pace and it's comfier not to try. This is exactly the same as walking with him. I forget how much better shape he's in than I am!
I should eat and drink before going upstairs because once I go to bed I'm not going to want to leave.

Edit: Forgot, also the front corners of the basket press into me. Not hard enough to be really painful but enough to be suboptimal.
Also, that eating and drinking thing? Definitely needed to happen. I have a headache now and I'd bet a dollar it's just dehydration.

I have the loan of a rack + bag for my bike from Jim, which is awesome. One of the bolts for the rack interferes with the gearing, which is not awesome. Dan and Stephanie adjusted the limit screws so I couldn't shift into the bolt (and derail my chain), which, uh, is sort of awesome, but now I can't get into my top gear.

So now riding is like this: *pedal a couple times* *pedals go slack* *slowly glide to a crawl* *start pedaling tentatively until they catch* *pedal a couple times* *pedals go slack* ... mid-block this is merely annoying, but in an intersection it's downright scary. I actually cannot cross streets at what I feel is a safe speed. Also, it's hell on my knees, because I'm doing so much more work per distance.

I got fed up around Berkeley Way, dismounted, and walked for a few blocks to give my knees a rest. It wasn't literally faster but it felt a lot more useful because I wasn't spending so much time waiting to be able to accelerate. When it started to get hilly I got back on, because I would have been coasting down the hills anyway and the lack of high gear doesn't matter as much going uphill. I rode all the way up the last hill, which I hadn't done before, and then apparently while carrying my bike upstairs snagged the sleeve of my relatively new shirt. Ugh.

P.S. If you're curious, my worst ride was the exact same route in -only- my highest gear, because I didn't know any better yet. I had company for that one, which was a vast improvement, but it was really hard and hurt and made me feel like I can't do this and shouldn't try. I've since learned that the feeling that I'm too weak to propel my own weight on a bicycle means I need to downshift. (Going slow drives me nuts, though. If I wanted to go slow I'd be walking!)

I am (disproportionately? What is the "proper" proportion?) creeped out by the number of my friends who have been raped.

Part of it might have to do that these are all women friends, and I don't have a whole lot of women friends, so as a percentage of them it is especially horrifying.

Part of it, of course, is that the crime is so disgusting and knowing that it has happened to my friends brings it into my life, where (I am thankful) it would not otherwise be.

I find it interesting that I am not nearly so bothered by the number of my friends who have been suicidal. There are fewer of those, and it's also something much easier for me to understand and relate to. destinynova points out that the impetus there comes from the individual, not from the outside, which reduces the creepy factor immensely--although it's still scary, and I don't want (any more of) my friends dying either.

I don't want to give the impression that I don't want to hear about it! Honesty is important, as is education of the public, as is privacy, and it is your right to tell or not tell your own story as you choose. I'm mostly just examining my own reaction. I don't think of myself as particularly squeamish. Maybe I'm just naive, never having thought about the statistics in much detail.

I'm not looking for any specific kind of feedback but I'm screening comments so you can speak freely if you wish.

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."

We showed up at about five thirty and I dutifully looked over the license. Shortly, R- arrived, calling out ahead of him,

"Hi, I'm here for the C-C- wedding?" as he entered their home. We laughed, and chatted for a bit, and then someone said,

"Well?"

"I'm ready when you are," I said. We were spread around the living room, and R- said,

"I feel like you guys should at least be at the same table." So they traded seats, putting S- and D- across from each other. I stood up, thought about the various things I had considered saying, and picked the one part that was common between all of them.

"S-, do you promise to take good care of my friend D-?" I asked.

"Yeah. I can do that."

"D-, do you promise to take good care of my friend S-?"

"Absolutely." His tone was briefly serious enough to stand out against the mood of the room.

"All right. In that case, you're allowed to be married. And you don't need anybody's permission to kiss!"

They laughed, and S- said, "Okay, I think we have some paperwork to do." The witnesses signed, I signed, and they folded up the license to mail to the county clerk on their way out.

Yes, I married two of my good friends today--really and actually. And yes, it was that quick and informal (the lady and I were in jeans, the gentleman in board shorts, witnesses similar). The emotional commitment implied by marriage is something they'd long since made to each other; this was merely an exercise to satisfy the state and make sure that the house they're in the process of buying will belong properly to both of them. They decided to do it over the weekend, asked me to officiate on Sunday evening, my ordainment with the Universal Life Church was confirmed on Monday morning, they obtained the license, and we did the wedding in the afternoon. They are emphatically not making a big deal of it, being uninterested in supporting an institution which is based heavily on someone else's religion and excludes many of our friends from participation, but I was still glad to be able to participate.

Click here for my solution to yesterday's geometry puzzle.

If the side length of the whole diagram is 2 and the things which look like quarter-circles are, what's the area of the red sections? Answer will follow. :)

It is known that to the right of the Indies there exists an island called California very near the terrestrial paradise; and peopled by black women among whom there was not a single man since they lived in the way of the Amazons. They had beautiful robust bodies, spirited courage and great strength. Their island was the most impregnable in the world with its cliffs and headlands and rocky coasts. Their weapons were all of gold

. . . because in all the island there was no metal except gold. And there ruled over that island of California a queen of majestic proportions, more beautiful than all others, and in the very vigor of her womanhood. She was not petite, nor blond, nor golden-haired. She was large, and black as the ace of clubs. But the prejudice of color did not then exist even among the most brazen-faced or the most copper-headed. For, as you shall learn, she was reputed the most beautiful of women; and it was she, O Californias! who accomplished great deeds, she was valiant and courageous and ardent with a brave heart, and had ambitions to execute nobler actions than had been performed by any other ruler — Queen Califia.

(Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Las sergas de Esplandián)

Finally bumped into something on the bike for the first time; giving a wide berth to the cars stopped at a sign, I ran gently into the side mirror of a parked car. It swiveled obligingly and the only harm done (other than to my pride) was that I derailed my chain ... but I try to make a point of watching people when they fix things I might have to later, so I knew how to put it back and I went on my merry way. 8)

And it was merry. I took Milvia to Berkeley Way without further incident, then walked the bike the last block up to Missing Link. Picked up a cable so I could lock both my (quick release) wheels and the frame at the same time, and then ran into centaur on the way to the library. We stopped in a gelato place, then I dropped off my books and picked up a bike map for zigdon.

Looking at my own copy of the map, I had noticed that we weren't really farther from Alan's place than Ashby BART, so we walked to it. (I was just as happy to avoid dealing with the end-of-school-day traffic around Berkeley High on a bicycle.) The new apartment is quite something--big, comfy, and it even had a bike rack for me! I said hallo to his roommate when she arrived, watched them bustle around discussing how to arrange the place, and then headed back out and rode to Dan's to deliver his map.

After a break on the porch, I rode back along California, which was uneventful. Crossed University without a problem, mostly because the light was good to me. I took a break in Ohlone Park to watch frisbee players and dogs. The bit I wasn't looking forward to--coming up the hill on Virginia--was tough but fine, and Josephine was worse (except it had downhills too). At Josephine and Rose I said screw it and walked the last couple of blocks. :P

I started writing this shortly thereafter, while making myself a big bowl of polenta to refill some of that energy. (Boring food + butter, salt, parmesan, red pepper, paprika, and tarragon = tasty food.) Then I got distracted by the arrival of destinynova; we watched Dr. Horrible and then walked to the grocery store for supplies so he could make sausage, shrimp, and black bean chili while I made cookies for dessert. He departed, arisrabkin swung by to partake of cookies (which is not cannibalism, since he specifically is not one), and then I found the time to finish this. Phew!

I know I mentioned these ages ago but I only just got around to taking photos of the jewelry I made for me and Aaron:

( Read more... )

Click either for pictures for gallery which includes the other sides of both.


Also. Today I did something that I have been putting off, afraid of, or just figuring I'd never do for almost two decades: I learned to ride a bike. (Newcomers: Yes, for the first time, at 23.) There was a lot of wobbly balance practice, and then Stephanie had the good idea of using the sidewalk next to arisrabkin's apartment for its length and continuous slope (as opposed to his driveway). That was helpful, and then we wound up in a driveway across but parallel to the street, and at some point while over there balancing clicked for me. So Stephanie had me try starting to pedal from next to a curb, which I didn't quite get the hang of; I kept tipping over. I'd try a few times, moving along the curb each time, then loop around and coast back to where I started and try again. After a few such loops, Stephanie had an epiphany, and called out, "Why don't you try pedaling -now-?" while I was mid-coast ... so I did ... and pedaled off around the corner and turned around and came back.

Still a lot of work to be done: practice balancing until it's second nature and I can focus on steering, practice steering until it's second nature and I can focus on safety, etc. Need to be able to start on a level surface, too! But ... I got it. And for two hours' work that's not too damn bad.

Much love to S for instruction and patience and encouragement, and to A for the use of his bike and helmet (and gloves, although mostly because they were already in the helmet and I didn't know where to put them so I wouldn't lose them other than my hands).

Also I sold several more games, also I finished the pants-skirt conversion I made for Stephanie and it looked fantastic and she loved it, and I have two more things to sew for her, and I bought more lemons to make more lemonade out of. Life is good.

Hm, haven't updated my to-do and done list in a while. I made two more skirts out of my other pairs of ripped pants. All three are quite different from each other and they look great. The blue denim skirt is a little below the knee, flared from the hip, and frayed at the hem; the olive green one is straight and has panels a bit like a peasant skirt, but only one row because it's knee length; the black denim is a pencil skirt, slightly shorter than knee length, with a slit on the right side.

We did a bunch more cooking and I think I cleaned the kitchen twice since I last mentioned putting it off. I am going through a lot of dishes, but also a lot of tasty food. Pork roast, cornish game hen, beef and veggie shish kabob, soup stock from the hen carcasses, more cookies. Things my hands have smelled like at different times recently include mint + rosemary (which is an amazing smell combination), metal (from button-making), and butter.

I ran my various errands, mostly successfully. I need to shunt some money around, but I'm waiting on a new PIN for an old account before I finish doing that. Then I need to use that account a bit and it will give me some more money out of gratitude. I have money to shunt because of a big button order which just came in with very good timing.

Things currently on my plate: inventory fabric (gonna do that right now), try to do a page of buttons a day, mail out a game. Get Pinpoet buttons onto Etsy and Ebay. Oh, and go to Books, Inc. in the city some time ... apparently they're inviting the coauthors of World According to Twitter to sign copies for them and that sounds like fun. Anyone want to tag along? It's a bit out of my way to go without company.

Okay, Livejournal right now is Fizz's short-term goal tracking. Hope that's okay.

I did the sewing! Most impressively to myself, I remembered how to thread my sewing machine! Those jeans are now a knee-length skirt which I think came out quite well. I took it for a test wear to dinner and then a friend's place for cheese cake and chat, and got complements and no trouble at all from it. Still haven't tidied my kitchen although now I need to even more. I made the fried rice--a little sesame oil in the pan, rice, tiny bit of soy sauce, the leftover mongolian beef, a little can of water chestnuts I had sitting around, and a couple of eggs. Very tasty. I'm glad I didn't use the pork; it's too good for that, and will be tasty on its own (maybe accompanying eggs in the morning!). I remembered, barely, to get the garbage and recycling down to the curb tonight, and need to remember to have the car moved across the street tomorrow (after they sweep the side it's not on and before they sweep the side it is).

Tomorrow ... shower, breakfast, clean kitchen if I have time, move car, go to the Academy of Sciences, dinner with the boy. Next day, party. Day after, game night. I am a busy girl this week!

Also, everyone go give zigdon a big hand! He put an offer in on a house earlier this week, received a counteroffer, and as of a couple of hours ago accepted that counteroffer. New high score in the house-buying process! Wouldn't it be nuts if he had a place up here by the end of the summer. :) I went with him to look at this house and liked it.


Edit: Pictures of the skirt. There may be one of it on me tomorrow. I need to press the seams, but can't decide if I want to press them flat or make kick pleats. This is all assuming I can lay hands on an iron, of course.

Following up on my goals from this morning, I didn't do any tidying or sewing (although I may check out those pants before I go to bed), but I did make the lemonade and also a whole pile of coconut chocolate chip cookies. Both are edible (or potable, as appropriate) but neither exceptional. The cookies might do well crumbled onto ice cream or something similar--or maybe microwaved to make them both warmer and softer.

destinynova was kind enough to appear with some ingredients I was missing for the cookies, as well as some pork and ingredients for a marinade. Specifically, I believe the full list of things in the marinade turned out to be: apple juice, apple vinegar (to help get the flavor in since it only had about 90 minutes), mint, garlic, tarragon, and lemon pepper. Long story short, it was DELICIOUS. Tomorrow, the leftovers will be in a sandwich for him and probably fried rice for me. (The rice was a little undercooked. Will it still fry well, do you guys think?)

Tomorrow ... meet friend at airport and really actually tidy the kitchen because we used a hell of a lot of dishes for all that. Possibly not in that order. If I feel like it/there is extra time, scan stuff, sew, etc. Mail back scam tea (long story).