Category Archives: goodness

goodness

Firefox is all warm and fuzzy

I rebooted Firefox at work today.  When it loaded back up, there was an option to view live streaming video of red panda cubs frolicking around their playpen.  Firefox is apparently made by a non-profit organization that funds stuff like this.

http://firefoxlive.mozilla.org/

way more adorable than previously thought

WHO WAS THE GENIUS WHO THOUGHT OF THIS?!

Their names are Amber and Spark (firefox, get it?), and I’m really enjoying watching them roll around and act cute.  The highlight reel is a heart-melter.

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badness, goodness, humor, martial arts

When nerds collide

Remember when I got asked to blog for a website about comics?  Turns out they didn’t exactly, how do you say… have their shit together.  I would submit a blog, and weeks later, it still wouldn’t be on the website.  This happened a few times before I stopped submitting ideas.  I gave them a blog after they sent me to ComiCon; it’s still not up, and I’ve given up on expecting anything of mine to ever go on their website again.  So sad.  I was really excited about that, and the people were cool.  In fact, they were extremely warm and seemed almost as excited as I was to join the team.  It’s too bad it didn’t work out.  But I lived the dream, for a short time.  And I’m happy about that.

I was also on one of their radio shows.  I don’t come across as too noobish, and I’m happy about that.  All they really do is ask me about the KickAss [comic] contest, and martial arts in general.  Overall, I’m pretty happy with the result.  I’m only in the first fifteen minutes of the cast, which is perfect.  I don’t think I could stand hearing more of myself than that at a time.  I had only been awake for about twenty minutes at the time, so I sound a little husky (Lauren Bacall, woot!).

hey look, it's me and Diminutive Roommate

I just found the email I sent to my friends announcing the publication of my first blog.  *sigh*  Memories.  I was so fucking excited.  Everyone was so supportive.  And that post was pretty good!  So I’ve decided to publish the blogs that were (and were not) published on the comics website here.  Get ready for a quick injection of a whole lotta nerd-speak.

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goodness, life, martial arts

Just your friendly neighborhood masked vigilante

I’ve never actually given up on being a superhero (superheroine).

I’ve been reading comics since age… 8? I started with Archie, but soon blossomed into comics with fully violent characters who pranced around in sexually inappropriate S&M outfits in broad daylight, and saved the world from equally bizarrely-motivated and strangly dressed evil-doers in the process (I’m lookin’ at you, X-Men).

i would strike terror in the hearts of criminals with my adorable otter face

I was brainwashed by said sexy/violent comics from a very young age to believe that with the right timing, martial arts training and clever one-liners, I too could beat the shit out of criminals on a semi-nightly basis. Is it childish to believe I could still do this?

Here’s the biggest problem with fighting crime: you have to be there as it happens. How long does Batman spend crouched on rooftops night after night, watching nothing of note unfold on the streets below? I’m guessing hours and fucking hours. But with supervillains running around, there’s plenty of lawless extra-curricular activity to shut down.

So here’s my problem: I don’t live in Gotham. There aren’t a bunch of crazies scheduling heists and telling everyone and their mom about it so I can show up to save the day. Crime in the real world happens fast and usually without much planning, and definitely without uniformed goons carrying out the plans of some lunatic. I do not have my ear to the ground for news within the cocaine racket. I am incapable of learning about significant illegal activities (to a point where I could be a useful masked crusader) without joining the police, or a gang. Neither of which is sounding too appealing right now.

But that hasn’t stopped me from considering going through with it.

I look at masks online, considering the pros and cons of displaying the lower-half of my face. I think of what my outfit would look like (no cape), what my equipment might consist of (short, blunt weapons, stun gun). Then I think practically: when would I get the chance to change into this getup? While the crime is going on? So I would just leave while people get robbed or shot at or beaten? Would I wear my costume beneath my clothes all the time so I wouldn’t have to change into it? The whole situation is totally impossible.

but that chick in the wheelchair is toast

But then I think, I don’t need to be on the prowl for criminals. I would just have to react if I ever got the chance. No time to change into costume, or even reveal a costume.

But there would be time to don a mask.

Masks… are really, really cool. I want one. I want to wear one. I want to need one so I can justify spending too much money on one. But then I think, The paper trail! Don’t leave one! In case this whole thing gets out of hand. In case I end up on Youtube as some local heroine, and the police search for someone who purchased a mask like mine in the last year, and they’ll find me! And then bring me in for questioning! That’d be pretty gnarly.

There’s a part of me that will always think of this a totally doable because I want to protect those around me. It’s in my nature to be a guardian.  I can’t imagine that ever changing.

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goodness, nerd

Y’know what’s awesome? Firefly.

the nerd army finally has a uniform they can afford

I’m a nerd, no mistake, but I like to think of Firefly as a series anyone could get behind.  It’s really funny with lots of action and amazing characters.  It might be the best action/comedy series ever, but that’s not really fair to say since there isn’t even a full season worth of episodes to compare it to. Still, there isn’t a single person I wouldn’t recommend it to.

The movie (Serenity) is basically a feature film length and quality season finale.  Serenity was on the Syfy channel (I can’t believe they changed their name.  Stop hiding what you are, nerd!) earlier today, and I had to watch.  So good!

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anime, goodness

Sometimes, deadly child ninjas > awesome female vampire killer

Can I just say the ViZ Media logo makes me excited?  It precedes every episode of Naruto, and it makes me smile.

spin spin spin!

I’m sick of the filler, but I can’t keep watching Buffy right now, it’s so damn depressing.  I’ve been waiting for sixteen episodes to see who’s gonna die in the final confrontation.  It’s all I can really think about, knowing it’s the last season, so I’m not really on board with the episodes leading up to the finale.

Death Predictions (with results):
Buffy (for sure) NOPE- how does that mortal wound not do it’s job?
Spike (either defending Buffy, or at the hands of Principal Wood) YEP- Aw, he was so happy, too.  That’s nice.
Willow (she’ll happily join Terra and die casting some awesome and/or touching spell to protect her friends) NOPE- she goes all white witch and runs out of juice?  What about turning into dark Willow and fucking shit up downstairs?
Xander (his last words will be to Anya: “I do.”) NOPE- I cannot believe Anya was the one to die.  Super, super sad.
Principal Wood (defending Spike… maybe) NOPE- Again, with the mortal wound not being… mortal.  Surprising.
Most of the Potentials (this is a no-brainer, right?  Those girls are toast.) um… NOPE?- I can’t really tell if the majority of those girls died, but the one in The Guild survived, and I’m pretty pleased about that.

EDIT March 2, 8:52pm

O shit, Faith is back!  I hope she dies.  I mean, another slayer has to take over.  I’m gonna call it: Faith dies before Buffy.  Now back to your irregularly scheduled blog.

Hey, y’know what I just realized?  Shikamaru is for Naruto what L is for Death Note.  The brilliant statistician who sits in his trademark pose in order to increase his focus and come up with a plan!  amirite?  Yessssss 🙂

the creepy bird perch. classic L.

in his signature one-knee crouch

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goodness

Y’know what’s awesome? Muffins.

I used to eat these muffins from the cafeteria in middle and high school.  They were some kinda maple, apple muffins; they were delicious and they were only a dollar.  Turns out you can get them at Costco, where they’re called “apple crumb” muffins.  They’re made by Costco’s own brand, Kirkland, which is creepy.  Let’s have a quick look at the other items Kirkland contributes to the capitalist marketplace:

i've broken the land speed muffin-eating record several times with these babies

-Health products: vitamins, supplements, age-defying bullshit cream, baby wipes, diapers, formula, makeup, etc.
-Photo paper
-Hearing aids
-Batteries
-Pots and pans
-Luggage
-Bedding
-Latex gloves
-Food: nuts, cooking spices, beef, chicken, ham, bacon, fish, chicken, turkey, shrimp, cheese, chocolate, crackers, fruit, eggs, milk, oatmeal, yogurt, berries, juice, cereal, lasagna, chips, maple syrup, tea, and muffins

…just to name a few.  It’s creepy that one company makes so many items, right?  I just don’t like the idea that the people who make my batteries are making my breakfast foods.  Regardless, I just bought a dozen of them with my folks at Costco yesterday, and this hypocrite is mighty happy about it 🙂

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goodness, humor, work

Old work goodness

I was looking through a folder called “Me from work,” meaning the stuff I had saved on my old work computer that I removed promptly before leaving.  There’s an image folder.  It’s full of hilarious wierdness.

Old Work Goodness Number 1: The Beavers

looks like someone needs a good ass-kicking

WTF is this?  I mean, aside from clearly being a Japanese ripoff of The Beatles.  This album cover made me laugh out loud.

Time for some research.

The initial search (cleverly done: “beavers”) yielded nothing but pictures of beavers, and an informative Wikipedia article which described beavers as “large, semi-aquatic rodents.”  Not the kindest set of adjectives and nouns to string together to describe an animal that can build its own home in a single night.  Be cool, Wikipedia.  Beavers are pretty great.

Second search: “beaver music”  A Swedish group came up.  I listened to one of their songs all the way through; all three minutes and forty two seconds.  Specifically, I watched the music video, which consisted of stock footage of someone typing on a typewriter, a silhouette of a happy couple in front of a sunset, and shitty home footage of some horses running in slow-motion on a beach, for fuck sake.  I should have stopped fifteen seconds in.  Here’s a sample of their lyrics:

Hesitation in a place pristine / Revelations of a space unseen / Knowing you from the inside out / That’s the only way to let you out / And that’s all that I care about.

Yikes.

Third search: “the beavers japan”  Apparently there’s a clothing store called Beaver in Japan that resembles a very abstract hairy va-jay-jay.  Just squint.  See?  Eew.

the Jimi Hendrix era of album covers

Fourth search: “the beavers music japan”  Jackpot!  Someone wrote a quick bio of one of the band members, Hideki Ishima on a website called Golden Best Japan.  Before The Beavers, this guy was a member of such ridiculously named bands as: Jarows, The Outlaws, and Spiderduction before some genius at the record label told them to change it to something “cuter.”  According to this website, they only released one album with five singles.  Here are a couple of them!

Kiminaki Sekai (The World Without You), the moody, wail-y version of something that sounds like Love Potion #9.

Why Baby Why, a poppy hit in which the band shouts ‘why baby why’ and ‘I love you’ amid much more comfortable Japanese verses, and some screeching that actually sounds pretty cool.

The author of  thought the following sentence made sense: “The Beavers were known as “Japan’s Yardbirds” so it’s not suprising that they covered “I’m a Man” and “Over, Under, Sideways, Down” on this album.”  Uh, right… thanks for the insight.

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goodness, humor, life

El vino

So… I dunno if you’ve ever heard of this stuff.  It’s called wine.  It’s this thing where people take grapes, and do stuff to them, then they squish ’em, then more shit happens to them, then BOOM, fuckin’ wine.  It’s delicious by the way.

Waaaaay back when, I traveled alone to Romania to meet up with a group of random students to do volunteer work and explore the country.  We spent the first two weeks in a city called Arad.  Lots of dirt roads, gypsies, wandering dogs, and other shit to make young Americans feel unsafe.  Plus we were there to spend time with “derelict youth” or something.  Most of us were around 19 or so, so naturally, we got drunk as often as possible.

nectar

Everything was über cheap, so we threw our U.S. dollars around like that shit was weighing us down.  I found this little liquor shop in town.  The owner flirted with me and the other girl I was with (he said something like, “you ladies are so tan, I wonder if your skin is light under your clothes” or some shit with his best broken English and child molester smiley-wink.  What an asshat).  Anyway, he sold really fuckin’ cheap wine that turned out to taste like sugar-infused liquid gold.  I shared my bottle the first night.  The second night, everyone showed up to hang out with their own bottles.  What a bunch of lushes.  It’s a fond memory.  There was a guy there, he was… 17 I think, named Adi.  What a cutie.  He was my first adult white boy crush.  He was so sweet.  I should hit him up.

Right, so it took me forever to figure out what the fuck that stuff was (I was clever enough to NOT bring the label home with me).  But I found it (or something just like it), dammit, and it is delicious.  In fact, time for a refill.  No I’m not fucking kidding.

So anyway, I finally found this stuff.  It’s called an Ausbrüch, which is usually apparently white, but this one is red red red.  The only real drawback is that it’s salty or something, so if I drink a bunch of it, I have to wake up twice in the middle of the night to chug a whole cup of water.  Huh.

UPDATE: February 25th, 9:46pm (my timestamp is screwed up, it’s not the 26th yet)

Holy shit!  I just found Adi on facebook!  Sent a request with a message like, hey you probably don’t remember me, we held hands and drank wine and I told you to stop smoking and stuff.  kthxbai!  For the record, I am not optimistic about this reunion.  He probably remembers me as the boorish American chick who harassed him for two weeks straight.  Ugh.  My first drunken facebook contact might turn out to crush me entirely.

UPDATE: February 26th, 4:09pm

Adi’s my facebook friend!  So random!  No contact, it’s just weird to see his face again.  Craaaaaazy.

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goodness, life

A month of decadence

Sunday, February 6th
Home made fried chicken with BBQ’d carrots, garlic bread, lemonade, at the Treehouse (my friend’s apartment; the place a group of my friends is most likely to congregate to hang out, meet before an excursion, etc.).

Friday, February 11th
Bday dinner at Animal with Boyfriend.  Bone marrow, flatiron steak, ox tail, foi gras.

Saturday, February 12th (birthday!)
Bluberry pancakes for breakfast at BLD, mac and cheese for dinner at Barney’s Beanery, followed by ice skating.

my stomach is so happy, it's gone anime

Monday, February 14th (Valentine’s day)
Bday lunch with coworkers at MortonFig.  Dinner with Boyfriend: home made penne asparagus with garlic.

Tuesday, February 15th
Buffalo burger with sweet potato fries for work lunch at LA Athletic Club.  Ritzy!

Friday, February 18th (Treehouse Friend’s bday)
Medieval Times!  Soup, chicken, garlic bread, potatoes, apple dessert.

Saturday, February 19th
Bday dinner with family at Tagine.  Hummus, bell pepper salad, bastillab (sweet meat in phyllo), scallops, sea bass, lamb, vanilla ice cream in chocolate soup.

Monday, February 21st
I make ramen dinner at the Treehouse for Boyfriend, Treehouse Friend, and Artist Friend, with green onions, hot oil, and salmon and scallop sashimi.

Out of all this food, I only paid for two meals (Medieval Times and ramen).  So far soooo goooood.  I love food so much.  I need to go to Daikokuya with Boyfriend soon.  It’s my favorite ramen place so far.  I wish it wasn’t downtown, but its Little Tokyo location is part of its charm.

UPDATE February 25th, 9:58pm

Friday, February 25th
That wine I love arrived a few days ago, and I finally had some.  It’s perfect.  See my first drunken post, ‘El vino.’

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