Hacker called it "enforced unpaid vacation."

[cmzero]

They're spending today prepping the office for the move, which means the network and a good number of the computers are going to be completely non-operational, which means there's really very little I can do today at work other than sit around and read. So they told me not to come in today. Con: there went a hundred-odd bucks. Pro: I get today off to run errands and such.

From westmarked:

20 Random Facts about me

1. I collect fanart and odd quotes.
2. I spent five months in Japan. I'm not sure my Japanese is any better today for doing so.
3. I have never spoken the word f&$^ aloud save when quoting someone else, and if this sentence wasn't a give-away, I don't like typing it either. Same goes for s&^%.
4. I still have a scar above my eyebrow from an accident at age four. I'm told I threw myself to the floor in a tantrum and whacked my head on the broken knob of a cabinet. I'm also told that the next time I threw myself to the floor, I checked to make sure my path was clear first.
5. I own two framed pieces of artwork. One is a sketch of the UCI campus shortly after its original construction; it's framed with my degree. The other I picked up at Disneyland: it's a painting of Pooh and Piglet fishing.
6. I grew out my hair into a ponytail throughout college, then lopped it off early this year because someone told me it was killing my job prospects.
7. I used to imagine whole worlds, mentally write stories about the people/creatures therein, and doodle the results. I no longer do the last one.
8. I'd love to watch Lost, but I hate the idea of jumping into such a plot intensive show without seeing all the episodes in order.
9. When ripping a newly purchased CD to mp3 format, I carefully select which songs on the disc I actually want to listen to and rip only those. I've got a backlog of CDs to rip for this very reason.
10. As a kid, I hated the Simpsons episode where Homer catches the huge catfish because he feels the need to beat it up with his oar.
11. I've received two offers to redesign someone's website (for free on both counts, but it's a portfolio boost). I've been procrastinating on both for so long I'm amazed they haven't found someone else.
12. My first (taxable) occupation? Selling cutlery. I made decent money and got to keep my sample set afterwards.
13. I enjoy watching others play computer/video games almost as much as playing them myself.
14. I've only kissed one girl (save friendly family kisses) in my entire life.
15. Besides furniture, the only thing I had to abandon (that I didn't want to) when moving back to Orange County was about half my books. If Mom or Dad get rid of them before I can retrieve them, there will be pain.
16. My freshman dorm was "The Shire," part of a complex called "Middle Earth." I think that was the original impetus for my reading Tolkien.
17. Related to the previous: when my freshman year ended, the RA handed out "awards" to everyone ("best dressed," "most social," "most corrupted by college life," etc.) I was declared "Shire nomad" because I would never be found in my room except to sleep (my computer at the time was pathetic, I had no TV, and there wasn't enough room on my desk to read or do schoolwork). Hence the online handle I still use in several places.
18. The only time I've ever been close to drunk was in Japan. Apparently I'm very talkative in that state.
19. I can milk a meal for leftovers for days without minding.
20. I've told my closest ally from City of Heroes my real name, but I'm beginning to wonder if she thinks "Chris" is short for "Christine" or similar because of some of the things she's said to me since. I should probably clarify things next time I see her online.

From matadin:

A reminder that it's Banned Books Week!

Below is a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books for the decade between 1990 and 2000. Copy the list, bold the ones you've read, and make a promise to read another one real soon.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel (Isn't "Clan of the Cave Bear" the start of that series? Then yeah, I've read part of it.)
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Own it, pretty sure I packed it, but haven't read it; maybe I'll tackle it next.)
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (Think I read this one in late elementary school; not completely sure.)
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

And that political meme that was floating around:

You are a
Social Conservative
(38% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(60% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Centrist




Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test