Guess I'm not the only one who responded to President Yudof's call for comments on the furlough plan. Seems several thousand other University employees, both faculty and staff, responded as well, and based on the newest version of the proposal it looks like a fair chunk of those suggestions were taken into consideration.

( Latest proposal... )

This plan is scheduled to go before the Regents on Wednesday, and actual action on it will probably be on Thursday. The Regents have final say on these things so it may get modified again, but President Yudof has already made clear he's going to recommend this plan as strongly as he can manage. Regardless of the actual outcome, I expect President Yudof will have another message for us soon afterward.

Tags: budget, day job
Current Mood: lethargic

Hi,

So here's something that you ladies might not know about guys. We never talk about it much but I realized yesterday that my wife didn't know and she's pretty knowledgeable. So for the rest of you ladies out there, prepare to have 50% of the battle:

You probably knew that most guys start growing facial hair during puberty. What you probably didn't know is that the hair is actually undergoing "follicle transfer". The facial hair has always been there, but it's been growing on the *inside* of the cheek and mouth area. During puberty, the hair follicles invert and push out to their external facings.

Every pre-pubescent boy you meet has a full, luxurious "inner beard" or "mouth beard" which is mostly invisible. Actually, since the inner beard is caught up in the mastication process, it's naturally controlled and never gets too unruly. There are some boys though where the beard is particularly hirsute and can cause problems.

As a general precaution, Dentists will always include a full cheek and lip shaving as part of their procedures when working on boys. Hence the general distrust most men have of dentists and the medical profession as a whole. This also explains why boys are so eager to being shaving. Once follicle transfer starts, they can handle their own shaving (and eating becomes a more enjoyable experience).

So there you go, a little Sunday Night Science for you
Tom

Tags: science!

We're changing our sleeping setup for SCA camping because of the new baby, so we no longer need the cute little toddler bed that profesor made for Aeryn last year. I've listed it on craigslist (http://nh.craigslist.org/bab/1266306347.html) for $75 but I'll sell it for $50 to a fellow Scadian.

Olympic amateur goes pro... sorta.

Tags: humour

I do feel some sympathy for the irritated neighbours of this woman, but I still think the Asbo is a complete tool of fascism.

(Mind you, there is some bizarre amusement value in the fact that the Asbo only applies "anywhere in England." Apparently it's okay for her to go annoy the Welsh or the Scots or the Northern Irish...)

Tags: bizarretude, politics

Odd Lots has gotten in a bunch of old City of Villains box sets. The codes in them are STILL VALID. So it's $6 for a month, plus you get a CoH Heroclix and the various CoV paperwork (Rogue Isles map, instruction manual if you want one). I only bought one because I wasn't sure the code would work and figured the other stuff was worth $6 for me to get one copy, but if there's any left next time I'm in Topeka I'm cleaning them out.

Tags: city of heroes

Do you know what the very best thing about 6 straight weeks of rain was?

The $#*(#@$&$(#@ motorcyclists didn't gather together into packs of 100+ bikes with non-street-legal exhausts and go roaring past my house in cavalcades that take over 10 minutes to pass by, DURING AFTERNOON NAPTIME.

I realize there are a few of you motorcyclists who aren't assholes, but you're not enough to make up for the $#%& jerks who do this EVERY FREAKING WEEKEND for the entire summer. And no, I'm not going to move somewhere else. I'm just going to complain about it, every weekend, until the kids are old enough that we can go back to traveling on the weekends so I don't have to listen to it.

Coulda been decent, but hobbled by low production values.

Tags: revenge of the fallen, review, transformers
Current Mood: disappointed

Recently read: (None new since last time.)

Currently reading: A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, Robert J. Schwalb; Age of Heroes Campaign Sourcebook, Nicky Rea [for AD&D 2nd Ed.; rereading, because I got a replacement copy for my birthday].

In the queue: The Sharing Knife: Passage, Lois McMaster Bujold.
---
Recently watched: 300; Sin City; The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything [re]; The Light Before Her Eyes [my 1st Netflix Instant Play]; Fanboys [Netflix] (my new favorite paean to fandom, I think!); The Corpse Bride.

In the queue: Reign of Fire; El Mariachi. (And towards the end of the month, when meranthi is taking some vacation: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And likely rewatching movies 1-5 before then.)

Tags: movies, reading list

For my birthday I acquired a K-12G stereo tube amp kit from s5electronics.com. It's a pretty basic little kit, and from the research I did beforehand is about the best tube amp you can find for under $200 (kit or otherwise. A read a couple of reviews that said they thought it stood up to $1000ish amps but I guess we'll see). Since this is a second amp and I'm not quite sure where it'll live (either in the bedroom for lounging and listening or on my desk at work as part of the most ridiculous computer speaker setup ever) I don't really need anything too fancy, just something that'll make noise come out of my iPod or whatever.

So, here's the board. It's a cute little kit. The case is about the size of 2 kleenex boxes together. Some of the hardware is a little cheesy-- in particular, I'm replacing the wires they give you to run between the board and the banana jacks for the speakers with something a little heavier and I'm replacing the banana jacks themselves with something a little less likely to short out on the case.

Of course, when I finish I will no longer be able to use this image.

Tags: humour, zombies

Some of you may have seen this already, but those of you who haven't, should. Especially gridlore.

Forklift Driver Klaus

The first 4:30 or so is pretty slow (especially if you don't speak German), but then Hilarity Ensues. And keeps on Ensuing.

Current Mood: amused

( First successful cape mission without stealth, too )

Tags: city of villains

( Adorable 'plush' Terra Khan )

Tags: kitbash, monsterpocalypse

I've been playing Live Action Roleplaying Games for more years than I can count, now. I've worn all sorts of costumes and wigs and makeup for them, and made all sorts of changes - dyed my hair, changed my posture, put on or taken off jewelry, had tattoos temporarily drawn onto my body - but somehow it's always the tiny changes that are the most noticeable to me, as I'm getting ready for the games.

The character that I'm playing right now is a tomboy, and one who leads a fairly rough and physical lifestyle. I love her costume, her hair (always braided, usually straggly), her mannerisms, everything about her. The only tough thing about playing her is her nails - while I am fairly vain about my long, shaped, never-painted but usually well-cared-for and strong nails, Miryam would never have them.

So preparing for games means packing shoes and costume and jewelry, finding the right hair elastics, making sure that the flashlights have batteries and the sunscreen hasn't expired, and cutting off my nails down to the quick. It's a tiny, stupid little detail. I'm fairly certain that no one but me would notice - but the one time I forgot to do it, it grated on me all weekend. My hands didn't look right.

On the other hand, it also means that the 48 hours before game starts, as I'm sitting at work or packing at home, my hands feel like they're not quite my own. I can feel my fingertips, in a way that I usually can't. My fingers feel shorter, my dexterity is off, I have to change the way I type or sew or hold a pen. More than costume bits, more than the Sharpie tattoos that will be drawn onto me Friday night, more than anything else, this is the physical reminder of becoming someone else for a few days.

The game will be over, and they'll grow back soon enough. But right here and now, I have someone else's fingers, and it feels extraordinarily weird....

Tags: larp
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: commercials on the radio

When adding a line to my .procmailrc last night to kill those greetingcard.org spams, I goofed and the result was that everything from about 11PM July 8 to 7AM July 9 went to /dev/null. Granted, almost everything I usually get overnight is spam, but still....

Current Mood: D'oh

Like pretty much everyone, there are contradictions in my nature. But two that are helpful to know are these:

1. Despite my preoccupation with the fantastical and speculative, I am a rather hard-headed skeptic when it comes to drawing a firm line between what happens in fiction and what I accept can happen in reality.
   
2. Despite my finely-honed critical faculties (or, at least, frequently-exercised faculties), I can enjoy something like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, because just as I can distinguish between fantasy and reality, I can distinguish between fun and good when the two don't overlap. ;) RotF is NOT good. But it's fun.
   

( Other-Media: Super-Hero Squad Deathlok/Iron Man 2020; Book of Note: Gold Digger v3 #108 )

   Dave Van Domelen, "As long as you stay inside the white tape you're perfectly safe from any and all ANCIENT DEATH RELICS!" - Gina Diggers, who could probably write a full-sized book of nothing but her own Famous Last Words, Gold Digger v3 #108.

Tags: comics, peebo, transformers

Recent Savage Love columns have me wondering whether he truly prints a representative sample of the letters he receives, or cherry-picks the ones that he can answer in the most smugly judgmental manner possible.

Current Mood: irritated

Seen in a Puzzle Pirates forum sig:

Sweeswabby says, "Jenny, meet the internet. Internet, put it back in your pants. This is Jenny."

Current Mood: amused