Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

When my grandmother died she left jewelry to her daughters and granddaughters. I received a couple of cluster emerald pieces that I didn’t really care for, but my aunt really loved, so she offered to buy them from me if I promised I’d take the money and put it into jewelry that I like for myself. Well, that was a couple of years ago, and I’ve been putzing around but never really taken any action. I finally saw a ring that kinda makes my heart go pitty pat, and it’s in my price range.

To be clear, there are many many rings that make my heart go pitty pat, but damn seldom in my price range. I have expensive tastes.

Anyway, I’m seriously pondering. It’s a 1.3 carat yellow diamond center, and .7 carats of white diamonds on the band (plus .04 carats of teeeeeeeeeny little surprise diamonds that pretty much only I will know about, which I just love).

I’m still not sure about it yet. I like the pretty flashy sparkle of white diamonds, I really do – but they just seem kinda cold. I love fancy color diamonds.

See the little baby diamonds set under the center stone? So cute.

Ready for The Ring 2? Here’s a promotional website to whet your appetite.

I’ve been using a Macintosh since 1985. I buy a new one about every 3 years. It’s an informed decision. All of my software is on the Mac OS. I don’t want to change platforms. It’s what I’ve been using for damn near 20 years, I’m comfortable with it, I’m good at it, and I like it. For some reason I get a nasty comment at least weekly from someone about my choice in computers; more often if I tell someone new what I use. Do I denigrate their machines? No. Do I take random potshots about their cars, clothing, grocery habits, music preferences? No. I try not to pick on anyone like that. In return I have to deal with the stupid (and these days usually uninformed) comments about my computer. Friends, family members, people off the street – they all seem to think that I am fair game to dole out a ration of shit to simply because they think their OS is superior to mine.

Are they more expensive? Yes. But I can afford it, and it’s what I want to buy. Do you pick on someone who drives a Mercedes because he could have driven a Honda instead? Probably not. So back off. There are several hundred reasons why I like my computer and prefer it over my Windows machine (I have one of those) and Linux machine (I have one of those too).

De gustibus non disputandum est. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. To each his own. There are so many cliched phrases to cover the situation. Here’s a non-cliched phrase – if you don’t want me acting like a snob about your shit, don’t act like a snob about mine. It’s hurtful.

I don’t care how cheesy you think it is. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I have two copies on DVD. I can quote it as it plays. I never tire of it. It always makes me cry. I wish they still played it 30 times a day during the season.

We have this nightlight in the hallway. It was a gift that was given to me for being a moderator in Journalcon 2003. For some reason my cat Max has taken great umbrage to said nightlight, and keeps knocking the cover off of it. At first I thought it was just falling off, until one day I saw him in action. As I watched, the cat let out a mighty grunt and swatted the cover clean off. Then he sniffed haughtily and sauntered off, tail held high. What a weird little creature.

The nightlight:

The cat in front of the nightlight:

(Click for the full-sized versions.)

No matter how small you think the world is, it’s half that size.

I’m getting the Christmas spirit. Look out. I even have a fruitcake recipe, just waiting for me to use it.

Not much of note happening lately. Except for my in-laws’ attic catching on fire last night, which was definitely ungood. The girls brought home some grippe from hell from preschool and I got sicker than anyone. We went to see The Incredibles this afternoon, and it was really most excellent. It’s like Atlas Shrugged for Tots. I finally got to play with my new rifle, which I won at Gunstock. The trigger was too stiff to bumpfire it though.

Does anyone even read this still, my poor neglected blog?

I took a deep breath just as I was about to drink from my freshly-poured coke and realized that I was out of breath afterwards. I inhaled nothing but CO2.