THX on Tap
Came home last night after a busy day at work (that’s become a theme, hasn’t it? And a good thing; keeps me from being deathly bored), tossed some laundry in the machine, vacuumed my bedroom (for the first time in months), and headed outside. I dug up about two square feet of soil, added some good garden soil, and went back inside. Seems odd, but I’m experimenting with spending ten […]
Sunday, August 20, 2006
I’ve had a very busy weekend; apologies to various friends for not being as responsive as usual (Mandy, in particular). My parents have been over, installing a new counter top in my kitchen, replacing the faucet, and doing a few other touch-ups around the house. Since I moved in, I’ve had a bunch of renovations to be done. Now most of them are done (at least, it feels like most of them are done; hard to tell […]
Something’s Different
So I saw Snakes on a Plane yesterday evening, and had a truly unique experience. The film itself was a perfect summer blockbuster. It knew exactly when to be silly, when to have action, when to slip in some comedy, and when to move the plot along. The characters were cardboard and the plot was obvious, but this is a summer blockbuster. It’s not supposed to be Deep; it’s meant to be thoroughly entertaining. And that […]
Tea
Just stumbled on A Nice Cup of Tea, a short article on tea making by George Orwell. As always, well-written and thought provoking, even when writing about tea. I certainly prefer tea to other drinks, and I always take it without sugar or milk (unless I’m ill and want something sweet that will go down easily). But when it comes to style and flavor, I admit that I prefer fruit-flavored tea to the stronger Darjeelings […]
Homemaking
And I still can’t get rid of a nagging cough left over from the Hungarian Death Plague. How long can it take? Guess I shouldn’t be complaining, though; I could have serious complications and be unable to breathe for the rest of my life. There’s always that. Anyway. A good day. Dropped off some old things at Goodwill, so there are no more piles of clothes laying around my bedroom. (They’re under […]
Another Inkscape tutorial
Just uploaded another tutorial to Inkscape Tutorials, “Creating Text with a Dropshadow.” I could use a less bland name for the Inkscape Tutorials site. Any suggestions? Comments: Brennen Inktut Scapetorials? Stephen Inkscape Methods? Anonymous Really amazing! Keep working. I enjoyed me visit. Brennen spambot Brennen (I could be wrong about that, incidentally, but you might want to check your comment code, Brent — I think I may […]
Evening
The lamps bathe the soft beiges of the living room in soft, warm light. The cats lay on the couches, sleepily staring at me sideways. Freshly-baked muffins cool on a rack, while chocolate chip cookies patiently scent the house from their hiding places in the oven. My Bible lays open on my lap as I dive through Romans chapter four, which I’m now reading at full comprehension for the first time in my life. It was a long, busy day […]
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Nothing quite like a walk around town to make one feel a little more alive. Helps after spending the past four days locked up in the house. Which is not exactly fair; on Friday my parents were kind enough to bring out some emergency rations (ginger ale and baked beans; what better for when you don’t want to cook? Except chicken noodle soup, which none of us thought […]
Inkscape
I’ve been playing around with Inkscape, a graphical editing program. That’s a clunky description, I realize, but there are about five hundred and twenty-three different applications that “manipulate images,” and it seems each does something slightly different than the rest. None can be described in three words. Anyway, Inkscape lets you draw vector-based graphics, which means when you draw a line, the program remembers […]
Miscellany Born From Exhaustion
I’m back from Otakon 2006. It was exhausting but great fun; got to hang out with several friends. It’s always much better with friends than alone. Infinitely better. I’ve gone to quite a few anime conventions alone. In fact, I think I spent Otakons 2001 through 2004 alone, as well as my visits to Katsucon. The only reason I wasn’t alone at last year’s Otakon was because I was […]