The End

No, this isn't the end of my blog. Instead, its the beginning of another one, which just happens to be called The End!

Normally, I don't remember my dreams. There have been a few that have stood out over the years, and many that stood out for a day or two. But on your average morning, I don't wake up and recall any of the dreams I had overnight. According to some researchers, the average person has 6-8 dreams per night. Despite this, I don't recall a single one... most of the time.

In the past few weeks however, I've had two dreams I at least vaguely recall that has lead me to write this new blog. The intent is not to be prophetic, nor is it to attack or criticize our government. Rather, the intent is simply to tell a story. I'm no author, and the last 'book' I wrote was in second grade. Ten chapters spanning something like 20 pages was a literary feat at the time, but seems a bit brief by todays standards. And so far, I'd say not much has changed. So instead of attempting to write a book, I'm instead writing a journal. A journal... from the future!

The dreams I had both dealt with the same topic, though the outcomes were a little different each time. The United States is attacked, and cities such as Seattle are destroyed by nuclear bombs. The journal is written from farther on in the future, looking back at the things that have changed since The End.

This is by no means a new idea. Most recently I've been reading Terry Brooks' Genesis of Shannara series, which takes place after a similar sort of downfall, and even takes place here in Seattle. But this story is of my own design, and lacks many of the elements that make the Shannara series what it is, such as magic, elves, faeries, and the Knights of the Word. Its also more immediate, beginning with the first few days following The End.

Whether I will follow this project to any sort of finish has yet to be decided. I became rather enamored with the idea on my way in to work today and started writing down ideas as soon as I had an opportunity. And since I only know of one person currently reading my blog, I may end up letting it fall by the wayside strictly from lack of (perceived) readership. But today, right now, I'd like to think I have a good number of posts in me. I hope someone enjoys it!

The End

Tuning in on the tele

For a long while now, I've been regularly visiting TV Links to watch shows I had no interest in purchasing but was curious about. It also saves me the trouble of finding and downloading old episodes of shows through BitTorrent or UseNet, which can often times take hours to do. And having watched several shows over the past year or so that aren't available in the US, I've come realize how much better British television seems to be!

Now thats not to say it doesn't have its real stinkers. Remember, the UK is where shit shows like Big Brother and American Idol originated from! Its a bit of a wonder we haven't blown them into tiny tea-soaked bits for that. But comparing good show to good show, and how frequently a new series actually turns out to be worth watching, I think the British are doing a much better job of it than we are. So good, in fact, that the US seems to have stopped trying to create its own material and just borrow as many shows as they can from across the pond. The Office is a prime example of a popular British show getting remade for American audiences. ABC is also re-making the extraordinarily wonderful series Life on Mars for the US. So far the only saving grace I see with the US version is that Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brian from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine) will be playing DCI Gene Hunt.

Documentaries and non-fiction shows also tend to be better. Terry Jones from Monty Python did a short series on Medieval Europe, told with some Python-esque humor and imagery that has stood out in my mind since I saw it while visiting Britain a few years back. Top Gear is a car show, of all things, and yet I watch and re-watch it as regularly as my room-mate watches Friends! Jeremy Clarkson, one of the presenters on Top Gear, has done several other documentaries as well that are very well done. His 5-part Meets the Neighbors series is both informative and funny in a way only Jezza can be. And his Geneology-focused episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was certainly worth viewing, too.

We see it the box offices as well. 28 Days Later is about as good as it gets for zombie movies. Casino Royale was a superb action film which even trumped the entertaining Bourne series. The Full Monty makes US comedy look twice as crass and juvenile than it already is, and Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are in a class of their own. Half the cast of 300 and most of the cast of Band of Brothers were from the Island.

Monty Python, Patrick Stewart, Pink Floyd, Wallace and Gromit, the list goes on! When did Britain turn the tables on Hollywood and make them look like such a great bunch of tossers? And how can I join in the fun?

The Hair Up There

I realize I'm going to come across as a conservative mother from the Beatles era here, but I really want to know, what's with hairstyles these days?!

Growing up in the 80's, I'm not at all offended by big hair like the guys from Poison and Twisted Sister would wear. Nikki Sixx, Bon Jovi, Brett Michael, they all had hair they'd been cultivating since the 3rd grade. They even used dozens of cans of Hair Net to give it an overall volume that made the Pacific Ocean look rather small. But it never bothered me, nor does it now. It was right for the time, and it fit into the whole androgyny 'thing' that was going on. These days though, its a whole different story.

The problem is that nowadays, you don't grow your hair down to your waist and volumize it with a Costco pack of hair spray. Instead, you only let the hair on the very top of your hair grow out, and cut everything else short (and only on your own, as raggedly as possible). You then spend your morning in a warm, moist room to ensure your hair is as flat as possible and has the density of the Sun. It also makes you look like an absolute tool.

One of the biggest problems I have with this hair style isn't the general 'I have a dead animal on my head' feel, but rather how disproportionate it tends to be with the rest of the person's body. Because while most of the morons wearing this hair style are 60-pound waifs wearing their younger sisters pants, even a normal person's head looks massive when you have the follicle equivalent of Mt. Rainier on top of your head. Much like a wrecking ball, this look gives the impression that if the wearer were to fall over, his head produce enough momentum to crack the world in half.

Thankfully though, we are saved this fate through a delicate balancing act of nature. In all the encounters I've had with these Hamburgler-wannabes, I have yet to have a conversation with one that convinced me they are still in possession of a brain. To grow this impressively bad head of hair, the human body appears to use the nearest available source of convertible matter. This then helps explain why these hair styles look so bad. So much unused grey matter could only be refined into something else useless and dull. Like My Chemical Romance!

With extra bacon

It may not come as much of a surprise that I am not the world's greatest cook. Gordon Ramsey opens restaurants in his sleep, Jamie Oliver looks like an 80s oik that apparently can cook like a God, and my room-mate has a nack for taking the most unrelated ingredients and tossing them together in some combination that pleases the senses (and often much much more)! I on the other hand can do two things adequately, and thats about it: Steak, and chicken orzo. Beyond that, I consider myself useless.

You'll notice that I didn't say steak and grilled cheese, or something else usually considered easy, and instead said chicken orzo. Obviously, there must be a reason I have such an odd recipe as chicken orzo as one of my two 'things', right? Right! Which brings me to to the focus of tonight's post: Everyday Foods Magazine

Ryan and Angela (of Amazing Knitting Kitty fame) made this wonderful chicken orzo when I was over at their place once a while back, and I was so astounded by how tasty it was, I bravely asked for the recipe. Whats more, I had the guts to try making it myself weeks later, and was surprised to find things didn't immediately explode on me. Since then, my girlfriend and I have tried a few variations with varied results, but we keep coming back to the original. It must be mentioned, we do follow Ryan's chicken recipe in leu of the pre-cooked chicken mentioned in the recipe. Eyeball a tablespoon of butter, another of soy sauce, toss in some sage and some thyme, and a clove of crushed garlic; microwave then brush on your chicken, then cook in a skillet. We even use Chez Jane's garlic stuff instead of the minced garlic, and find it even better!

Tonight, while bored on the reference desk, I browsed through the magazine's site, and found many new recipes I may try in the coming weeks. By the looks of it, the first one I'll be trying is this Soy-glazed beef with green beans, hopefully soon. Man that looks tasty!

A law about WHAT?!

One of the most time-consuming, and often very interesting, parts of my job is to answer reference questions submitted via e-mail. The Ask A Librarian service is a popular spot for patrons to ask difficult questions, knowing trained librarians will spend inordinate amounts of time doing research the patron was otherwise unable to do themselves. And while this sometimes means we want to bang our heads on our desks trying to explain the simplest of answers to the simplest of patrons, more often than not it means we get to find some very interesting information. And today was no exception!

While researching Statutory Rape laws for Washington State via the Revised Code of Washington, I stumbled across what must be the most important piece of law ever concieved: RCW 91.49 - Lasers! While at present it mostly deals with laser sights on weapons, and laser pointers to harass emergency officials such as fire fighters and transit drivers, like most laws in existance I believe it is the building ground for a much bigger law. A law that will encompass robots, mutant sea bass, and pirate monkey assassins everywhere!

But what does that mean to you, the average resident? Well most importantly, it means tomorrow if a robot pirate monkey astride a mutant sea bass blows your arm off with a gigantic laser, there's no legal prescedent stopping him from doing so again. OK, yes, 9A.49.030 does include a provision for use of a laser to cause "substantial risk of an impairment or interuption, but that only accounts for substantial RISK! Actual impairment (such as losing an arm) is not covered! The lesson here is, if a robot monkey pirate is lining up his lasers to blow your arm off, dodge. That way you can argue there was a risk that your arm was going to be blown off, and you can prosecute his hairy monkey ass off!

In the Beginning...

...I had no idea what I was going to do with this blog. Fortunately, I was recently promoted to Library Associate for the King County Library System, and I think its safe to say this new job gives me ample opportunity to find new and interesting things on the internet to post about! With that in mind, I feel its only right that I start off with Darwin. Well, kind of...

The Rare Books Room is a relatively new site dedicated to providing access to rare old books you wouldn't normally find in your local library. A prime example being Zoology of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. The site has some excellent high-res pictures of every page of the book. Once you find the page you're looking for, you can click on the individual scan to zoom in and read the book straight off the page! The images are well done and the text is very easily readable.

For music lovers, there's even some original and reprinted music scores from the likes of Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and more! Without a doubt, this website has a lot of interesting information for you to browse. Check it out when you have a few spare hours, you'll probably need it.