A sad day for animation

Sounds like talks between Disney and Pixar have broken down. It *might* just be a negotiating tactic on Pixar's part, but I don't want to get my hopes up. And I think Disney will ultimately be the loser here. We shall see. This is the best article I have found on the subject. I certainly wish both studios the best of luck, and I hope that Pixar, wherever they end up, continues to produce outstanding films.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Hey, I can do better than that! I, me, moi, am only 4 degrees from Mr. Bacon. I just found out that a very good friend of mine went to high school with French Stewart. French Stewart is famous for being in 3rd Rock from the Sun with John Lithgow, who was in Footloose with (you guessed it) Kevin Bacon! So, anyone who has actually met me is only five degrees away. Don't you feel special now? LOL

A $40 lesson

This will teach DH and me two things: follow the established routine, and never assume the other person did something. At the grocery store on Tuesday night, unbeknownst to me, DH did the "cash back" option when we paid for our groceries. Now normally, this is not a problem. I'm usually standing down at the end of the self-checkout machine (we LOVE this feature) where the money comes out, so I pick it up with the receipt. This Tuesday, however, I was standing at the opposite end holding our cart that wouldn't stay put. We loaded up the cart, I remembered to grab the receipt at the last minute, and we left. Last night, DH was going to pick up dinner, and he says "where did you put the two $20?" Um, what two $20? "Ha, ha, very funny. The ones from Kroger." I have no idea what you're talking about. "Tell me you're joking?!" Nope. I had no idea he had gotten cash back (I wasn't watching him; I was still wrestling with the cart), nor was I at the end of the machine where it spits out, so I didn't hear or see them when they came out. Had I been in my usual spot, I would have picked them up, and I don't think he will ever just assume that I got the cash ever again. ::bangs head on wall:: So we had to scrounge up enough cash for dinner last night. A $40 lesson well learned. I hope whoever found it is enjoying it, literally at our expense.

Thought for today

This just made me laugh and laugh, so I thought I'd pass it on, compliments of an email from my grandmother.

"I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on."
~ Roseanne Barr

Academy Award noms are up

Not that I think there is really anyone who hasn't seen or heard about this already, but I thought I would post a link anyway. Certainly some surprises, mostly in the *not* nominated categories, like Nicole Kidman (not nominated for Cold Mountain), and Cold Mountain itself not being nominated for best picture. And not that this is a surprise, but I was so afraid that he *wouldn't* get nominated: Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean. Seriously doubtful he'll win, especially up against Bill Murray for Lost in Translation and Sean Penn in Mystic River, but I'm still thrilled he was nominated. Of course, all of this is based purely on buzz. I haven't actually seen Cold Mountain, Mystic River (though it's on the list), or Lost in Translation, so what do I know? However, regarding a film I did actually see: why Master and Commander is nominated for everything under the sun is beyond me. I really didn't care for it. ::shrug:: Those are just my initial impressions. We'll find out in about a month. Hopefully, I'll be back from Myrtle Beach in time to catch the ceremony.

Still employed

I don't think I've talked much about the most recent downsizing rumors here at work. We found out through the grapevine on Friday that packages would most likely be handed out today. Given that our grapevine tends to be about 85-90% accurate (pretty reliable, IMO), that did not bode well. Normally, they announce that one is coming a few weeks ahead of time. Not this one. My boss called me into a conference room, and commented that even he didn't know, beyond the rumors, that packages were coming out today. Turns out no one in my immediate group is affected. No word about the rest of my district (lots of people I work very closely with) or my division (a little higher up, but we're all frequently on cross-district teams together). I'll keep you posted as news starts trickling in.

Not much happening

I apologize my posts haven't been more interesting lately (though the electron joke seems to have gotten a good response, LOL). Just nothing happening right now, at all. Even the cats have been boring. Cleo was trying to "hide" behind the belt I left laying in the floor the other night which was pretty funny. She has the toddler mentality if "if I can't see you, then you can't see me," I think. It's amazing she made it as long on the streets as she did. Hmm... perhaps that would be a good topic for later posting: Days of our Kitties. We'll see. Anyway, all they've done of late is lay around being useless. Well, except for maintaining that protective coating of kitty hair on everything. ::rolls eyes::

More Movie Musings coming soon (The Last Samurai, Paycheck, Mona Lisa Smile), probably Monday or Tuesday, and that's about it. I hope your lives are at least a little more interesting! Have a great weekend everyone.

Learned something new on Wednesday

But it was too late to post it when I got home. I went to a Chinese New Year party last night (thanks David and Ina!), and the invite had said that it was the year 4701. After arriving, there was some confusion as to whether it was 4701 or 4702. Turns out, each dynasty chose a different place to start counting (I didn't know that), so which year was defined as "year 0" is now in some dispute. Doesn't matter. Happy 470X everyone! In case you were wondering, it is now "the year of the monkey."

Geek Joke

Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One of them says, "I think I lost an electron." The other one says, "Are you sure?" The first one says, "Yeah. I'm positive." ::cheesy grin::

You learn something new every day

I have always loved this statement, because it's so true. For a while now, I have been trying to consciously mark when I learn something new each day. It just makes me smile to know that, even though I'm no longer "in school," I'm still learning. (Yes, I was one of those ubergeeks who loved school, and I miss the structured learning environment sometimes.) So, going forward, I am going to try and post my "learned something new" every day. I'm thinking of doing "Seven Things I Am Thankful For" as well (if not daily then weekly), which I picked up from another blog. We'll see.

So, Erin's "learned something new" for January 21, 2004: A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle of geese (this I knew already). A group of geese up in the air is a skein of geese. I had no clue there would be different names for them on the ground an in the air, did you? Thanks to Shannon (nacl4y) from TWBB for today's new piece of knowledge.

Childhood trauma

Sometime in high school, I remember the joking phrase "I was traumatized by (fill in the blank) as a small child" popping up and becoming common. You know, something funny like "I don't do homework because I was traumatized by a textbook as a small child." Sure, we were kidding, but it's really very true that things like that do happen. I actually have two of those in my life. The first one is dogs. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not big on dogs. Now all you dog people, don't go getting your knickers in a twist. Dogs are fine, and once I get used to them, I'm usually okay. I am much better with small dogs than big ones. Why? Well, I was literally traumatized by a large dog when I was a child. I'm not sure how old I really was. 7 or 8, I think. We were visiting my cousins in Illinois, and they let in their dog Blitz (short for Blitzen, though blitzkrieg may have been more appropriate). At that age, I was not very big, and Blitz seemed HUGE! In truth, he was almost as tall as me, a massive black lab, IIRC. And he was soooooo excited by the new people in the house. I found him very scary, but he really didn't bother me much, so I was fine the rest of the day. Sometime in the middle of the night, I had to get up and go to the bathroom. The bathroom was directly across the hall from JJ's bedroom where I was sleeping, so no problem. I open the door, I take two steps out into the pitch black hallway, and then it happens. Blitz was guarding the hallway, sitting just outside the bathroom door, but in the darkness, I didn't see him. He must not have remembered me, and he barked, right in my ear. And I screamed bloody murder. You would have thought that The Hound of the Baskervilles was attacking me. It woke up the *entire* house, and I was just terrified of him from that point on. Since then, large and/or excited dogs still strike fear into me. Once I get used to them, I'm okay, and little dogs are fine! LOL But it's still there, niggling around in the back of my mind, and I am never fully comfortable around large dogs, particularly black ones.

I was reminded of my other childhood trauma on my way into work this morning. I passed a billboard for the circus. I don't do circuses. Why? No, I was not traumatized by clown as a small child. In fact, the reality is much worse. We were at the circus, where a woman was suspended above the center ring by her hair, and she did various tricks mainly involving spinning [geek] angular momentum at work [/geek]. There was no net, but she was secured into this little hat thing, so no problem. Until I watched her fall to the ground from what seemed like 100 feet up (probably only 30-40, but still). She didn't die, but I think she broke her back. I don't know her name or what ever became of her, and I do still have fond memories of Gunther Gable Williams and his white tigers, but I will never again go to the circus. I still associate it with that memory, and just the thought of it starts that fluttery nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. But the ultimate irony? I love Cirque du Soleil. Which is nothing but a bunch of acrobats doing stunts. Granted, they're usually wired or have nets, and that's not to say that it's still not dangerous, but I can watch them with no problems. How that is different than being at Ringling Brothers, I'm not sure, but as far as I am concerned, they are *vastly* different. Funny how the mind works, isn't it?

Comments have returned!

A-ha! Comments are back, thanks to Haloscan and Blogspeak working together. I haven't checked to see if my old ones are indeed still there, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that now you can all tell me how beautiful my new template is, since comments went down just about the time I got a new one. :-) (No, I'm not fishing for compliments, I promise.) Enjoy!

New Musings are up

Forgot to post this on Friday. Movie Musings now available on Peter Pan (2003 version) and Big Fish. Enjoy!

All is not lost for comments!

Since I am currently incapable of sleeping, I thought I would finally get around to signing up for a new comments provider. Imagine my surprise when I read this post at Haloscan. All accounts will be transfered, with all old comments intact?! Works for me. Now it simply remains to be seen if they can follow through on such a promise. But, if all goes well, comments should return soon. Until then, just remember that you can always email me directly if you have something to say.

I am here

Not that anyone seems to be missing me (and with no comments available yet, you can't contradict me; ha!). Just busy with stuff, particularly work crap (hope no one finds that word too offensive; I'd much prefer to use the sronger one, but I shall refrain). I'm not even enthused about my usual web haunts. I'll get another comments provider soon, and I owe my "fans" two Movie Musings: Peter Pan (I liked it, though I know why it's not doing well), and Big Fish (loved it, and I usually hate Tim Burton). No stitching, no reading, no other excitement. But I'm not complaining, I promise; sometimes boring is good. More soon....

Comments site down

Looks like the comments site that I use is down. Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with the TWBB's new obcession with blogging? Also makes me wonder if NeoPets (which I have, so far, successfully avoided) is having similar problems. LOL! No clue when it will be back up. Can't decide if I want to wait to see if they get their act together, or if I want to go on and pick a new comments provider. Probably won't do anything about it today, but if still no joy by the end of the week, I'll look into alternatives. Until then, you can always email me directly if you have anything to say. Ah, the wonders of technology.

Okay, I think it's ready!

So, what do you think of my new look? I'm quite happy with it, actually. There are a couple of other things I would like to do as well, but this will do just fine for now. (Yes, the archives still have the "old" look; I'm working on that.) So, comments, questions, sneid remarks? LOL Have a great weekend everyone!

Please excuse my mess

Okay, as you can see if you're reading this, I'm fiddling with the look of my blog. I'll be tinkering with it most of the afternoon, so if it looks a little different each time, it's not your computer. It's just the goddess of this blog having a visual identity crisis and tweaking code. Yes, I know my archives still have the "old" look. Let me get the main page working, then I'll fiddle with those. But regardless of how I tweak it going forward, the basics should stay the same. So, what do you think?

My Confession: I love Josh Groban!

Okay, I've been hearing about this boy for a while now, but it wasn't until *someone* (I won't mention any names, like Stacey!) mentioned that I really should check him out that I took an active interest. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was the same guy I kept hearing in the local Hallmark store, but they didn't know his name, despite my repeated questions. So, this was mid-December, and I was good. I mentioned it to my brother that I thought I wanted one of his CDs, and lo and behold, I received one (Closer, by far my favorite of the two I now have) for Christmas. Such a good brother I have. Didn't have "O Holy Night" on it (I have since found (but not yet bought) the correct CD for that), but who the heck cares! ::swoon:: What a voice!!! I have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since then; I just can't get enough. I read a quote from him somewhere that said he hopes to have three more albums out in the next 5 years. "Closer" came out in November, that means the next one should be hitting the stores any time now, right? Please? I *need* more! LOL It's been a long time since I was this passionate about any music, much less vocal music, so I'm rather enjoying my current minor obcession. Too bad all of his concert dates are sold out. :(

Where have 4 days gone?

How the heck is it Tuesday already? It was *just* Friday, like, yesterday, right? (No, that can't be, as I'm at work right now; obviously not Saturday.) Sheesh. I did a lot more running around this weekend than is normal, so I guess that made it just fly by, and then yesterday was the first Monday of the new year, which meant work was bonkers. Quite a bit calmer today, but still a bit of a frenzy. 2003 Year End numbers are due by early next week, and we have a new upper management structure, so they want to know all the gory details. Joy. Data is all pulled, I think; now I just have to process it into 14 reports and 3 scorecards.

BTW, to hear a wonderful description of Tuesday's purpose and name meaning, please check out Kay's (Rambling Prose) Tuesday post on Tuesdays. It really made me smile this morning.

In stitching news, I am actually enjoying Chatelaine's Christmas Mystery, *despite* this first part being over-1 on 32 count fabric. I thought I would go cross-eyed, but after the first day, it has really gone well. No frogging even (knock on wood)! 9 hours so far, and I'm not even close to being done, but I am enjoying it, so that's all that matters. I'll post a pic if I do ever get it done (hopefully before the next part comes out). Also picked up a slew of new charts from my friend Sandy. She was doing her New Year's craft clean-out and let me take what I wanted from her "to get rid of" pile. Yeah, just what I need, more stash, right before doing my own clean-out! LOL Ah well.

You may notice that I don't have resolutions posted. I've done it in years past, but I always make too many, only a couple of which I'm really serious about, so why bother. Like most people, I intend to lose weight this year, but I really am serious about that one. I had actually started Body for Life in August last year, and did really well for 5 weeks. Then I got super-sick with bronchitis, which put any and all exercise on hold for almost 3 months, as I simply could NOT breathe. Then it was the holidays and I wasn't willing to try and start up something (yes, I was lazy). I gained way more than I thought I would (or even could!) over Christmas, so it's really time to get down to business. It's January, I'm on day 3 of the first 84-day challenge, and it's going pretty well so far. I'll let you know about any loss on my weigh-in day on Saturday, and you'll probably "hear" me babble about it off and on for the next few months. I also have new incentive to keep it up, but it's a secret, so I can't tell you (yes, I'm cruel in telling you that, but I hope to be able to elaborate soon; and no, I'm not pregnant, so don't get too excited).

Wow, that was a marathon post for me! LOL I haven't blogged that much in ages, but I had to make up for my December slackness. I feel another blog post coming on, but I'll save it for later, perhaps tomorrow. I'll let y'all soak all that in for now. Oh, and be on the lookout for a potential visual blog change. I'm on the hunt for a more personal template, and things are likely to fluctuate frequently over the next couple of weeks while I play and tweak. If I post one you like, just let me know! That's why I have the comment box, ya know?

Happy New Year!

Okay, so I'm a day late, but I was busy enjoying my day off yesterday. New Year's Day is the *one* holiday that I get to spend at home every year. I'm usually travelling the rest of them (you know, all 5 others that I get each year), so I definitely enjoy being in my own house, doing absolutely nothing! It's grand. LOL

Anyway, wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2004!