Well, those blood tests I had came back okay. I'm not anemic (now, while taking iron supplements regularly; I definitely do GET anemic if I don't take the supplements) and I apparently don't have hypothyroidsm. Going back to the doctor tomorrow, because I'm still unwell. There are a couple of possibilities as to what's wrong, and none of them are appealing, mostly because they're all chronic and there's no cure at all, just symptom management. Yippee.

...that you're not a turkey.

And yes, in case anyone wonders, I did make the image myself.

Just because people disagree with you vehemently doesn't mean you're right in your position. It could mean that you're dead wrong, too, you know...

Why do people always say, "You're so easily amused," like it's a BAD thing? I tend to be quite easily amused, but I like that about myself. I like to be amused. Who cares if it's something minor? Smiling, giggling, chuckling, laughing, etc., this is all GOOD for you, and good for the world, IMHO. If more people were easily amused, maybe the world wouldn't suck quite as much.

I think I'll have to start using this tagline: Easily amused and proud of it.

Yeah, I find the whole thing quite amusing, in a self-referential way. You wanna make something of it? Huh? Huh?

Okay, I know I'm probably a technosnob or something, but I have no pity for people whose browser crashes on perfectly valid code because they insist on using a browser from 1998.

Since 1998 I have gotten divorced, changed careers twice, started a company of my own, gotten married, had two children, moved household four times (including one time internationally), gotten citizenship in a new country, and acquired literally thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and software.

But people can't manage to upgrade their web browser?!

It's not that I don't believe in writing sites that are tested in older browsers. In fact, I DO test sites that way, and my sites are Lynx compatibale, as well (how many designers can say that?). I just don't have much pity when people complain about how their browser crashes all the time when they're using what amounts to ancient technology by computer terms.

Yeah, call me a technosnob, because I believe that if you're using crappy, second-rate, unsupported software you should pretty much expect to have problems...

Call it spam rage: A Silicon Valley computer programmer has been arrested for threatening to torture and kill employees of the company he blames for bombarding his computer with Web ads promising to enlarge his penis.

Check out Furniture Porn, your source for all the hot furniture action you can handle! (And be sure to check out the pages with email correspondance, there's some good stuff there). Oh, and NO, there's no actual porn on the site (just in case you were worried that I'd suddenly lost all decorum and taste and started posting links to porn sites, although now that I've written the word "porn" so many times, I wonder what the search engines are going to do with this entry? How about I add in: bondage, redhead, Rubenesque, amateur, cheerleader, spanking, pictures, pics, imags, boobs). Hehehe. That ought to give 'em something to get annoyed about!

E-mail security hardware maker IronPort Systems Inc. will announce next week that it is buying anti-spam company SpamCop for an undisclosed sum, according to information obtained by the IDG News Service.

Now THAT hurts! (Did the same to my knee many years ago.)

Just read. You'll see. Real quotes/comments from web design clients.

As a shameless and long time Monty Python fan, I found Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow most amusing. And as a bonus, the page even addresses the question, "What is the capital of Assyria?" Now I can cross the Bridge of Death secure in the knowledge that I'll probably survive. Woohoo! Holy Grail, here I come!

A man and a pay phone were rushed to a hospital after he got his finger stuck in the coin return slot while trying to retrieve his 50 cents.

Ugh. It's hot. I hate to complain, because I dislike the cold more than I dislike the heat, but I'm just exhausted today, after going out with Zoë for her speech therapy and then to the shopping center to get some stuff from the green grocer and miscellaneous grocery items.

This exhaustion is really quite troubling. I also have considerable joint pain (feet, mostly, but also my hips) for no apparent reason. The level of pain/discomfort is way out of proportion to the amount of exertion.

Good thing I have a doctor appointment Saturday. I'm more convinced than ever that there's something medically askew (and I have a good idea what it is, but I'll let the doctor do the diagnosis).

The US would wage war again, and alone if necessary, to ensure the long-term safety of the world, George W Bush, the US President, said in an interview published today.

Can't remember if I commented on this at the time, but a while ago the Australian government spent $15million to send every household in Australia a "terrorism kit". It had in it a bunch of leaflets and a fridge magnet of some sort. I wrote "Return to sender" on ours and sent it back as a means of protest because I thought it was damned stupid and a HUGE waste of money that would have been far better spent on more productive things.

Well, it now it seems that "The Australian Government's $15 million fridge magnet campaign to educate Australians about terrorism has scooped an international award as one of the most stupid security measures introduced since September 11."

I just sort of decided to do PromoGuy's Monday Mission on a whim. No reason why. Just found it kinda interesting, even if it IS Tuesday here.

1. I read an article that said the reason many people like hot and spicy food is because that pain actually causes them pleasure. Do personally find a connection between pleasure and pain?

Yes. Oh, yes. And that's all I'm going to say.

2. On the local NPR station their was a news item that about a recent study which said men who do housework get more sex. What do you think about that? Why would that be the case?

Well, you know, if I thought it'd work, I'd be happy to participate in an exchange of this sort!

3. A friend and I were talking about the stigma attatched to divorce. He said that men can usually be divorced and not have much social backlash, but that women are often looked at as having failed in some way. The church especially, he said, tended to look down upon divorced women as if it were totally their fault and not the man's. Do you think there is a double-standard when it comes to men and women and the stigma of divorce?

I think there used to be. I don't know about now. I'm divorced, and I never noticed any particular issues with that, except third-hand from the parents of a male friend of mine, but they were the most narrow-minded, bigoted, insensitive people you can imagine, so I hardly think they make up the majority.

I also tend to stay away from churches that are judgemental in hurtful ways. I just find it distateful. Sometimes things happen in people's lives that are beyond the scope of dogma, that's just the way it is. Using dogma to punish people is just plain WRONG, and I think Jesus had it quite about throwing stones and having a log in your eye when you're complaining about a splinter in someone else's.

4. On that same topic, I just read an article (look on Google News) that said parents with daughters are more likely to divorce than parents with sons. Do you think there is any validity to this?

Never thought about it. I didn't do the study, and I have no idea what controls they used to reach this conclusion, so I officially have No Opinion (for a change, hahah).

5. Do you think the way a Father raises his daughter has an impact on the type of men she will eventually have relationships with?

Yes, absolutely. I used to have a habit of getting involved with insecure men who tended toward abusive behavior. Nuff said.

6. Have you ever found your body craving some sort of food? Meat, chocolate, fruit and even water, the body tends to know what it needs. Do you get food cravings? Which are the most powerful?

Well, yes, but I don't think it's my "body" craving them. I think it's just me wanting them. I crave chocolate when I'm upset, it's the ultimate comfort food. I also crave water a lot of the time. I just really like to drink water.

7. Do you have any type of skills you can "fall back on" if you needed to change careers suddenly?

What, like, waiting tables? I dunno, I suppose so. I could go back to floral design or retail if I really HAD to, I suppose, or go work at some ISP doing tech support. But since my true career right now is looking after two small children, one of whom is disabled, I think I've got some job security for a while, anyway. The rest of the stuff I do (digital art, web design, etc.) is just what I do to keep myself more or less sane (and I make some personal income that way, too).

I've heard that the U.S. has been quite nasty to foreign journalists lately, deporting them at will, treating them poorly in detention, various other not-so-nice things.

Well, it's happened to the editor of a completely harmless Australian tabloid, New Idea. This is a magazine where you can write to a psychic for advice, get recipes for various things, read bad short fiction, get all sorts of celebrity gossip, etc. It's hardly a threat to anyone.

Anyway, you can read the article for yourself, if you're interested. To be fair, she was attempting to enter on a visa that U.S. customs officials felt was inappropriate, even though she'd used the same visa eight times previously with no problem and never being told it wasn't the correct one. It's still no excuse for the treatment she received. Like I said, this woman and her tabloid are hardly a threat to national security.

I've got an appointment with the doctor this week. I'm exhausted all the time. I have a strong suspicion as to what the problem is, and if it's what I think, it's easily treated with medication. It's a condition my mother had, and I suspect her mother had, as well. Blergh. Until I get an actual diagnosis, though, I won't say, because I'm not, after all, a doctor.

Suffice it to say, though, that I'm not depressed (trust me, I know the signs and symptoms of that). I'm just damned exhausted.

Just got this "suggested site" for the web design resource index I maintain on the Alicorna domain:

We are an established & trusted name in the travel industry specializing in vacation
packages, cruises, Condos and hotels in US, vacation packages, all inclusive resorts, golf resorts, ski vacations etc. Visit us to avail heavy discounts

Obviously, I'm not including the URL. Also obviously, I'm not adding it to the list.

Yes, I blocked their IP address. Bloody morons.

I used to just plain dislike people in general (note that I do like individual persons, sometimes a great deal ). This was helped by having worked as a waitress (where you were put on the face of the earth specifically to bring customers precisely what they want, the moment they want it, and to take abuse for the kitchen screwing up an order), and later in retail and then as a floral designer working with... *shudder* brides.

Then, after I ened up as a supoort technician for a medium-large ISP, not only did I think people were rude, I also came to believe they're STUPID, too.

*sigh* I'm so jaded.

You know, I used to dream of the day I could honestly say in some forum setting that I had "a client" who wanted or needed something or other.

Now I wonder why on earth I thought that...

Andrew and I "met" (via email) in November of 1994. Can't remember the precise date because I just didn't make a note of it at the time, but we both agree it was November.

He was 21 at the time, and it showed. He was arrogant, sarcastic, and fairly insensitive, although he had (and still has) good qualities, as well, of course. I'm happy to report that he's now worlds away from that cocky 21 year old boy, although he's retained all of that boy's good qualities.

Today he cooked bacon and eggs. When I sat down to eat he said, "The bacon has rind on it, you'll have to cut it off." I didn't say anything at all, but generally speaking I prefer rindless bacon and I was thinking, "Why didn't you buy rindless?" Mind you, I said NOTHING, just started quietly cutting up the bacon, but he volunteered, with no prompting whatsoever, "I buy this because it's much cheaper than the rindless bacon."

You see what happens when you've known someone this long and this intimately? They start answering your freaking questions when you haven't even asked them!

Time to get out the tinfoil hats, methinks.

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes/exhanges. It's from a Star Trek film (I'm not a Trekkie or a Trekker, but I've been watching Star Trek since I was a little child, when it was on the first time, and one of my earliest memories is of sitting on the floor in my pyjamas watching Mr. Spock on telelvision). The concept pretty much sums up one of my greatest beliefs:

Spock: You must have faith.
Savvik: Faith?
Spock: That the universe will unfold as it should.

I really, really, truly, profoundly, and in all other ways genuinely believe that the universe unfolds as it should. Bad stuff, good stuff, all stuff. Some of it sucks, some of it is incomprehensible, some of it is wonderful, but while I'm not especially fatalistic (i.e., I DO believe people can change things, and that sometimes those things have a ripple effect), I do believe that in the long run, it all works out the way it ought to. Simplistic, maybe, but I believe it.

The other thing I really, really, truly believe is that we get back what we give out and that we reap what we sow. Maybe not immediately, maybe not in ways that we even realize, but I truly believe it happens. This is a nearly universal concept in the religions and philosophies of the world, so I figure it resonates with an awful lot of people. It certainly does with me.

And now I have that Savage Garden song stuck in my head....

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye...

Yeeeeeeeeeehawwwwwww!

Andrew's in the other room, listening to Led Zeppelin on the headphones. This is because I'm in here, listening to country music, which he doesn't care for a great deal. I already went through a whole Patti Loveless CD (When Fallen Angels Fly, in case you're interested). Now I'm onto the Garth Brooks. Mmmm.

Folks call me a maverick
Guess I ain't too diplomatic
I just never been the kind to go along
Just avoidin' confrontation
For the sake of conformation
And I'll admit I tend to sing a different song
But sometimes you just can't be afraid
To wear a different hat
If Columbus had complied
This old world might still be flat
Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained
Sometimes you've got to go against the grain

You can guess why I like that one...

Another interesting thing about this album is it's got a cover of a Billy Joel song (Billy's another one of my all-time favorites). The song is Shameless, and Garth really does a damned good job with it.

Well I’m shamemeless when it comes to loving you
I’ll do anything you want me to
I’ll do anything at all.

And I’m standing here for all the world to see
Oh baby, that’s what’s left of me
Don’t have very far to fall

You know now I’m not a man who’s ever been
Insecure about the world I’ve been living in
I don’t break easy, I have my pride
But if you need to be satisfied

I’m shameless, oh honey, I don’t have a prayer
Every time I see you standin’ there
I go down upon my knees.

And I’m changing, swore I’d never compromise
Oh, but you convinced me otherwise
I’ll do anything you please.

You see in all my life I’ve never found
What I couldn’t resist, what I couldn’t turn down
I could walk away from anyone I ever knew
But I can’t walk away from you.

Yup, I know just how that feels... The funny thing is, I think maybe Billy Joel wrote that about Christie Brinkley (heaven knows, he wrote an awful lot of songs about her), and they're now divorced. Ah, well. Guess he found his shame... ?

Anyway, when this CD is done, I think I might just put on another Garth Brooks album (I've got plenty of 'em, believe me).

Later, we might compromise and pick something we both can appreciate (not that I dislike Led Zeppelin, but Andrew's a proghead and I really can't get into Yes or Rick Wakeman or some of the other prog rock Andrew likes). Maybe Pink Floyd or Queen or summin.

For now, though, I'm just gonna sit here and do my stuff and enjoy the sound of fiddles and pedal steel guitars and Garth Brook's fine, strong voice...

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores... and

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Earlier this week I got a spam inviting me to buy the domain elizabyte.com for $89.95. I reported it as spam and deleted it from my filter.

Today I got ANOTHER one. I was curious, so I went to my domain registrar and checked, and it was available to register (it hasn't been for some years, but I guess the owner let it expire). So I registered it. Two years, fifteen bucks.

The actual spam (with URLs edited to protect the guilty):

Are you perhaps interested in buying ELIZABYTE.COM ?

I'm selling the domain through [scam-operation] for $89.95.

If you are interested signup here:
http://www.[scam-operation].com/transfer/e/?ELIZABYTE.COM

Well, no need for that, you moron. But thanks for letting me know it was available, eh?

(For those who might be interested, I've got it set up to forward to elizabyte.net at the moment; I may eventually use it for something else, but I did want to have it, so there you go.)

Now here's a place where I could do some shopping: Despair Inc.. Perfect for pessimists and cynics!

If you live in or are planning a trip to the UK, be sure to find out where all the best Entances to Hell are! And even if you're not planning a trip (or you don't live there), it's still pretty entertaing reading.

Someone just dropped me a note to tell me that a link I provided from Alicorna was now pointing to a porn site. The link originally (and for years and years) went to a really GOOD site with information about the Lynx browser, why and how to make websites Lynx accessible, and a few other things. I mean, the site was absolutely venerable. It was around since the very early days of the graphical web. I've been linking to it for ages.

And suddenly it's a porn site. Apparently the domain expired and the sleazy bastard pornmongers bought it and now people looking for Lynx information are being directed to a porn site. GRRR!!!

The only thing amusing about it is that when I followed the link I couldn't see the site, just the HTML for it. Their server is configured incorrectly, and when you try to view the page with Netscape it just shows the code. It was quite obvious what the site was just from the code, of course, but at least I didn't have their images in my face...

In her first TV interview, broadcast on Tuesday, she criticised the Pentagon's handling of her rescue as propaganda.
 
"They used me as a way to symbolise all this stuff, It's wrong," she said.

Haven't done one of these in ages, so I thought I'd have a look and see if any struck my fancy, and they did.

1. Members of many religious orders swear oaths of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Which of those vows would be the most difficult for you to fulfill for the rest of your life?

My first reaction is to say obedience, but actually I think it would be poverty. I've been dirt poor, and it absolutely SUCKS. I hate it. I can do it, but it's pretty damned awful. Chastisty is no biggie. I can do that when/if I want to (I've done it). Much as I like sex, at this point in my life I can really do without it (not that I want to do such a thing, of course). As for obedience, I guess it depends to whom I'd have to be obedient. If it was a trusted source, I don't think I'd have too much trouble with that.

Well, this is why I'm not a nun, okay... ? (That and the fact that I'm not Catholic; the Church frowns on Protestant nuns for some reason.)

2. If you were going to have chronic pain in one part of your body, which would you choose?

Hah. I already have or have had chronic pain in various parts of my body. The WORST was an inflamed pelvic joint. That completely incapacitates you. Hmm. If I HAD to have pain... not in my head (that makes you a little crazy, or it does me)... Maybe a pain in the arse would be okay. I think I could live with a pain in the arse. (I do now, ha ha ha, and yes, Andrew saw this and laughed; he may be a pain in the arse, but he's got a good sense of humour).

3. Would you rather be able to keep one person (besides yourself) happy all of the time, or many people some of the time?

Bah. I couldn't care less about "many people". I'd rather just keep one person happy. Even if he is a pain in the arse.

Well, I still don't feel like "an Australian". I feel like an American who has gone to live in Australia and now calls it home and intends to stay here for the rest of her life (except for the occasional overseas holiday).

But then, what does "an Australian" feel like, anyway? Australia is a multi-cultural nation. That's probably the biggest thing about Australia. It's a multi-cultural, many-peopled melting pot, perhaps even more than the United States, because the U.S. is really big and Australia's population is much smaller, so you kind of notice it more (if that makes sense).

Last time I did any research on the topic, I read that there were around 40,000 expatriate Americans in Victoria, alone. My best friend, Lori, is one of them (she's a dual American/Australian now). She and I are very, very similar in many ways. I guess it's safe to say I feel relatively like she does...

So, hey, I guess I DO feel like an Australian. Fair dinkum. Mate.

It's quiet. No television, no stereo, just the hum of the fan in my computer and the tapping of the keyboard. I can hear birds outside. The sun is shining through the windows, although it's not too hot in here, nor is it too cold.

Both children are asleep of their own free will.

Life is good.

Just what every dog lover needs: a NEW! Bow-Lingual® Dog Translator.

Let me guess, it says, "This leash demeans us both"...

I found this Top Names by Decade report interesting. It's North American (probably mostly the United States), but it's still interesting.

Of course, on a list of recent Aussie names you'd have to include Lachlan and Kylie...

Nothing new, but new to this domain. I've moved all my free desktop wallpaper downloads to my Picture Gallery, since they're all made from my photographs.

I won't apologize for liking the Bangles, dammit. It's better than Abba (I like Abba, too). This CD always reminds me of my very first homepage, which I made back in 1994 (yes, really) for Netscape 1.1 (yes, really), using Paint Shop Pro 3 or so and Win3.x (yes, I'm an old fart).

Anyway, I'd just gotten this CD then (Bangles Greatest Hits, but I had a couple other of their albums on cassette), and I go in cycles. I was in a Bangles kind of mood then.

And I'm having a fairly crappy day today for various totally mundane and minor reasons (it's just a crappy day, we all have them), so I went and found some of the peppiest, most upbeat music I could think of. It was this or Amy Grant...

Slide your feet up the street bend your back
Shift your arm then you pull it back
Life is hard you know (oh whey oh)
So strike a pose on a Cadillac

If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in the donut shop
They sing and dance (oh whey oh)
Spin the clubs cruise down the block
All the Japanese with their yen

The party boys call the Kremlin
And the Chinese know (oh whey oh)
They walk the line like Egyptian

All the cops in the donut shop say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian

Heh... Bet THAT sticks in your head....

Serious questions have been raised about whether the American government passed up opportunities that might have averted war in Iraq.

Just a few links I found interesting.

Plot was Guy-normous - If Guy Fawkes had succeeded with his gunpowder plot he would have devastated much of London as well as blowing the palace of Westminster sky-high.

Guy Fawkes - Poor Guy Fawkes burns on our bonfires each year. It seems a bit harsh, so why is he there?

MAN & MYTH: Guy Fawkes & Green Man - Two characters asoociated with fireworks: one real, one mythical

Samhain and the Gunpowder Plot - The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain shares certain similarities with the modern-day celebrations which take place on the night which many people around the world know as Guy Fawkes' Night (or Bonfire Night). Is there in fact a link between the two?

Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, twas his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's mercy he was catched
With a dark lantern and lighted match.
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the King.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

You need Flash and there are popups on the site (so a good pop-up stopper might be in order), but it'w worth finding out if this gives you nightmares. As for me, it just gave me a number of really good giggles.

You'll need to be Flash-enabled to play with this, which I found to be both creepy and oddly fun.