Um Yeah

magidnaywards @ 2010-02-16T18:22:00

2010-02-16T23:22:38Z

I was recently mucking about on the internet and discovered these two web sites.

www.inkpop.com

Then I discovered there's one for adults.

www.authonomy.com

Book Meme

2010-01-31T05:03:05Z

Random essential reading list for reproducing my current brain:

Childhood:
all 14 Oz Books -- L. Frank Baum
all the Narnia books -- CS Lewis
"Getting Rid of Yet Yet" and "Michaela and the Cobbs" -- children's books my grandmother wrote before she died. They were never published.
Dealing with Dragons books -- Patricia C. Wrede
a fascinating biography of Harriet Tubman
Edward Eager "Half Magic" and E. Nesbitt -- excellent writers my mother loved from her childhood
and Dick King-Smith -- also recommended by my mother. ok, yes he wrote "Babe the Gallant Pig" or whatever it was called.
"Goneaway Lake" by somebody Enright
"Tom's Midnight Garden" Phillipa Pierce
the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to a lesser degree
Calvin & Hobbes

Middle School:
everything I could get my hands on by Diana Wynne Jones
"The Sword in the Stone"
"Absolutely Normal Chaos" Sharon Creech
"Wise Child"
"A Wizard of Earthsea" my first halfway successful piece of fiction was set in this world. I couldn't figure out why only men got to go to the wizardry school, so I wrote my own version about a girl named Polly who dressed up as a boy to enroll. Her roommate was named Geoff. Eventually he found out she was a girl and other people did too. I never figured out what happened after that. I thought maybe she moved back to her rural village with the goats and became a witch or a midwife or something. There didn't seem to be a job market in her rural village for all that lofty abstract wizardry knowledge anyhow.
Mark Twain
Harper Lee
"From the Notebooks of Melanin son" and everything I could find by Jacqueline Woodson
I was instilled with Victorian sentimental nonsense and enjoyed it immensely from L.M. Montgomery
"Briar Rose" Jane Yolen
a book about the Holocaust by a woman named Rena something
a girl's diary who lived in Kosovo during a war ... Zlata's Diary.

High School:
everything I could get my hands on by Douglas Adams
Italo Calvino. particularly "The Baron in the Trees." (maybe this was middle schoool)
"Rats Saw God" by ?
a book about a teen who commits suicide with a lot of imagery involving peach orchards. maybe i read this in middle school too. by ... Richard Peck I think it was ... someone who wrote a lot of other stuff that he is better known for, but none of which was as good as this book.
everything I could get my hands on by Sherman Alexie
"Things Fall Apart" Chinua Achebe
"The Metamorphosis" Kafka (tried to reread it recently and found it dreadful)
I really enjoyed my 10th grade world lit class so I took to reading writers just because they had international-sounding names, whether they were actually international or not. I think this must be how I discovered Italo Calvino.
But also: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Eduardo Galeano (who very nearly made me a socialist). Isabel Allende. Julia Alvarez. all from West Asheville library. all of whom turned out to be quite good (or atleast i thought so at the time).
"Annie on my Mind" Nancy Garden --a sweet little lesbian romance in the teen section at West Asheville library
some books my mom was reading: Sharyn McCrumb, Rita Mae Brown, Laurie R. King, Amy Tan
"I know why the Caged Bird Sings" maya angelou.
I really wanted to read gay-themed books, but couldn't find in the high school library any except James Baldwin and something about being gay in Nazi invaded Netherlands called "Hard Love" so I took to reading books about the civil rights movement instead. I know it's not the same, but it filled that gap. and it gave me enough of a background in african american history to appreciate Allison Dorsey's classes in college and do well in them, and want to major in them.
Also read a biography of Gandhi, that had belonged to my dad when he was young. It had bits underlined by him. I think that's when I realized my dad was cool.
"The God of Small Things" Arundhati Roy. one of few books I've been able to read and re read.
some plays by Federico Garcia Lorca. I'll never forget how good it felt to read my first book in spanish. It was "Bodas de Sangre." a kid from Peru in my chemistry class said it was hard for him to read. He said it was like Shakespeare.

College:
"Meridian" Alice Walker
"An Environmental History of the Southern Appalachians" Donald Edward Davis
Zora Neale Hurston's autobiography
De Soto Chronicles
some books about midwives
(that's what i read for fun. the academic list, you probably don't want it, even if it did change how I see things)
1491

Post-College:
my brain isn't really all that formative anymore. Now I read things and they bounce off and don't really change who I am or how I view the world. I read good books. and then i forget them.

magidnaywards @ 2010-01-23T23:04:00

2010-01-24T04:04:39Z

i'm obsessed with this music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj8HDe5M-Jo

I know you think my taste in music is weird but

2009-11-08T15:45:38Z

I just found the perfect pandora radio mix.

Citizen Cope
Rhonda Vincent

refrigerator/freezer poll

2009-10-08T00:36:03Z

My refrigerator is warm enough that a fly is merrily flying around in it. Everything in my freezer is thawed, and somehow, seems to be dripping into the refrigerator compartment. This seems to be a sort of pink water. Whether it is blood or melted strawberry popsicle that colors the water pink, I do not know. Nor do I want to know. There is also a sort of pink puddle under the fridge as well.

View Poll: What should I do

The washington post's dreamy surreal article about Asheville

2009-08-18T01:49:08Z

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/08/14/ST2009081402295.html?sid=ST2009081402295

challah dreams

2009-07-16T23:59:29Z

Last night I dreamed I was telling someone what challah bread is like, how good it is, and that you can buy it at The Fresh Market (an Asheville grocery store).

I didn't remember this dream until I was standing in the Fresh Market staring at the challah bread, and that fragment is, of course, the only part of the dream that I remember.

I think I was like 11 years old the last time I ate challah bread. My mother stopped buying bread when she got a bread machine around 1996.

Challah bread is of course, deeply symbolic, but not being and never having been Jewish, or particularly familiar with Judaism, I knew nothing of the symbolism until I googled it just now.

an article about homeless high school students

2009-06-20T21:27:58Z

excerpt from leicester news-leader (a fledgling local newspaper owned by the folks from the weaverville tribune):

"...Capps is just one of many Erwin students facing tremendous challenges to succeeding in school. Of all the Buncombe County Schools, the Erwin district has the highest rate of free or reduced lunch, second only to the Community High School BCS East.

"Erwin also has the highest number of students identified as homeless. Emily Walters with the Buncombe County Board of Education said last year Erwin High School had 39 students identified as homeless and as of May 1, the total is 64.

"'We've added more since May first,' Walters said. 'Historically Erwin has had the highest.'"

--------------------------

I realized of course, they're comparing Erwin to the other Buncombe County schools. Who knows what the rate is in Asheville city schools. That may be higher.

Nonetheless, what the hell? What can this community do about this?

magidnaywards @ 2009-05-05T18:55:00

2009-05-05T22:56:19Z

OK, so I bit when Sarah posted this in her journal, so I guess I should go ahead and post it in mine

The first TEN people to comment in this post [though I doubt there will be that many - prove me wrong, people] get to request a drabble(Short little plotless interaction so to speak) of any pairing/character of their choosing from me. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level. If you absolutely can't write, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to offer drawings or icons or something instead.

Why not? It seems like good times. Any pairing/character, though if you ask me something I don't know, I will freely make it up.

Will be in play format. I promise at least one pun per scene unless you specify otherwise. Regardless of characters/situation.

magidnaywards @ 2009-04-22T18:28:00

2009-04-22T22:29:02Z

the more I understand, the more confused I am.

ballot

2008-10-15T22:35:56Z

US Senate
Hagan -- a genuine, intelligent person who understands the issues facing folk in north carolina
Dole -- a power-hungry former beauty queen.
Cole -- the libertarian candidate? who cares?

House of Representatives District 11
Shuler -- sort of an environmentalist good-old-boy. the current issue on his blog is Mexican trucks
Mumpower -- Hmmm. The only issue on his web site that he discusses with any conviction is illegal immigration, an issue he and shuler agree on. And his web site's graphic design is just creepy. ... his graphic designer must not like him much? Otherwise he seems to really be a libertarian. His big fight on Asheville City Council was cracking down on illegal drug dealers, but he doesn't mention any of that on his web site. He is a licensed psycologist. which explains a lot i guess.
Smith -- the libertarian

Governor
Perdue -- She is experienced and the things she says are intelligent. i didn't like a radio ad she did a while back... it made her look like a hypocritical bitch.
McRory -- is sounding more awesome than Perdue, more coherent and more together and focussed. I've never voted for a Republican before, but damn, he is for mass transit. and it sounds like he believes in the same God that Jean believes in. how cool is that? I will have to do more research.
Munger -- the libertarian

... there are a lot more people on the ballot, but I've had enough political research for one night.
thoughts anyone?

Texas

2008-09-12T23:47:49Z

Ike: 22 foot storm surge
to hit the area w/ 25% of the u.s. refineries.
the largest hurricane since katrina to hit a major u.s. city.

and everyone in north carolina is bitching about gas stations raising their gas prices. "Oh my god, it's price gouging, they're making a profit."

supply and demand, people. there's a hurricane coming, you'll know what's going on once it's hit.

for some reason, from what i understand, houston evacuated, but galveston, which is where it's going to hit didn't. 40% of people are still there. but the island is going to be underwater. ... so they're having a curfew. ... because that makes sense.

atleast that's my understanding. i might be wrong. my understanding of houston area geography is nonexistent. galveston has been flooding since 9 am, and my understanding is the storm hasn't even hit yet. ah it's to hit land about midnight. water is already 9 feet above normal.

:)

2008-09-08T01:13:44Z

i was listening to public radio this evening while I was heating up lasagne and sauteeing swiss chard, and they played this long, amazing, in depth, fascinating radio documentary about a Philadelphia doctor from Ghana who eventually went back to Ghana and started a bunch of sickle cell anemia clinics and all about sickle cell anemia in Ghana.

The documentary was put together by one Aaron Schwartz, 2009, and it was funded in part by Swarthmore College.

Thankyou Aaron Schwartz, Swarthmore College, & NPR for a fascinating and educational program.

magidnaywards @ 2008-08-28T22:45:00

2008-08-29T02:45:56Z

i hope everyone is listening to or watching Barack Obama right now. He is being awesome and historic in his speech.

advice?

2008-08-17T02:56:42Z

One thing i've learned by doing this whole working from home/freelancing thing is that it's impossible.

You take a 5 minute break and somehow three hours has passed. You manage to work for two hours, and then you're hungry again. 10:00 p.m. comes and goes and you haven't got anything done. even the three hours was eaten up by some dumb procrastinating project and not something important.

I'm beginning to realize why I was so horrible at Swarthmore. My time management skills are shit. I expect to get days off. I don't like having work to do on the weekends. I prioritize and prioritize and I never make it through my list. People invite me to dinner and I go. I always want to go to sleep at 11 pm and sleep until 9 am.

How do I do this? How do I improve my discipline and focus? When I'm at work, I don't have this problem. I am always doing something. always moving forward. I am on time. I am able to set everything else in my life aside and just focus on work. What do you do when you have to bring this into your house?

and other cooking disasters

2008-07-04T16:04:29Z

Most of you out there have probably read Calvin & Hobbes, and you remember that Calvin's mother always cooks this amorphous green (sometimes orange) blobby stuff for dinner, and Calvin finds it very threatening. ...

I've figured out the recipe.

Cooking with spam for dummies

2008-06-20T00:01:34Z

Is spam any good in soup or is that just the sort of thing one should never try?

I'm assuming it works basically like hot dogs, which are ok in soup. Right?

Cicada

2008-05-26T16:45:30Z

The cicadas have arrived. They have this awesome sci-fi-ish sonic sounding buzz that is reminiscent of alien-movie-landings.

Interesting

2008-04-06T01:53:48Z

http://www.swarthmoorhall.co.uk/index.htm

Poll

2008-03-30T14:05:25Z

1. If you are wearing a knee-length skirt to a job interview, what sort of shoes do you wear with it? What do they look like? Can you walk in them? Are they remotely comfortable? Do you think they're attractive or are they just something you bought to wear to job interviews and for that matter, you absolutely hate them? Do they have that necessary, I-am-sitting-here-looking-posh-but-not-drawing-attention-to-myself look? Where did you buy them and how expensive were they?

2. If you are wearing a knee-length skirt to a job interview, do you wear pantyhose? black socks? knee-high socks? no socks? something else?

Option 3: You never wear skirts to job interviews.

Option 4: You only wear long skirts to job interviews.

:)

2008-01-07T23:55:07Z

There is nothing so luxurious or awesome as owning a dishwasher.

cooking pancakes with coconut milk in place of butter

2007-12-29T22:34:12Z

We got macademia nut pancake mix and maple syrup for Christmas.

I'm mixing it up. I realize I only have one teaspoon of butter. I'm out of cooking oils.

The only other option is to break open the coconut milk and use it as my cooking oil.

It burns. But the burned bits taste good, like little bits of burned sugar.

the mix creates light, fluffy pancakes, and the subtle flavors of maple syrup and coconut and macadamia together are fucking awesome. the best pancakes ever.

a book you should read

2007-12-14T02:08:23Z

"Confessions of an Economic Hitman"

fascinating book -- sort of a personal narrative of global economics. that tells an indispensible history of American foreign relations in the past 30 or so years.

links together a lot of things i knew were related but couldn't figure out how they were related to each other.

sometimes the writer gets annoying, but it's worth the read for the solid info.

magidnaywards @ 2007-10-29T19:25:00

2007-10-29T23:26:43Z

[img]http://www.rdos.net/eng/quizpoly.php?p1=57&p2=35&p3=54&p4=70&p5=36&p6=26&p7=60&p8=26&p9=59[/img]

Stable version, release 5.0 (2007-10-19)
Thank you for filling out this questionnaire.

Your Aspie score: 120 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 75 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie

i was driving home and

2007-10-03T22:24:52Z

i just saw a sign advertising hillbilly tacos and sno kones.