We had an old friend from college visiting this weekend. Our visiting friend is far more active and "outdoorsy" than we are, and likes to hike, so late yesterday afternoon we all drove over to Pilot Mountain State Park. Since it was already late, and it had rained earlier in the afternoon and might begin raining again, we just took a short walk ( Read more... )

The whole Michael Jackson thing hasn't really made much of an impression on me, one way or another. I never, you see, listened to popular music of any kind until my sophomore year of college, when a friend (rdansky, I believe) introduced me to Jethro Tull, with copies of "Stormwatch" and "Crest of a Knave" on audio cassette (when I was younger, we always ( Read more... )

• 01:04 Show support for democracy in Iran add green overlay to your Twitter avatar with 1-click - helpiranelection.com/ #

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Here is the meme itself, borrowed from meepodeekin and digitalemur:
Meme instructions:
1. Post your wallpaper image from your computer. Don't go changing it first before you post!
2. Explain why this is your wallpaper image, in a few sentences. (5 sentences was originally suggested)
3. Open to anyone and everyone!
I don't use wallpaper (other than the bland blue ( Read more... )

One of my co-workers takes regular trips up to New York City, and often returns with stories about the extraordinary things he saw on the streets there (e. g. a bicyclist dressed up as Batman, with mask and cape). Needless to say, everyday life in central North Carolina usually isn't nearly as interesting. This morning, however, as I was driving ( Read more... )

• 18:36 I just checked Amazon.com. I'm getting sick of them messing around with the delivery date for Peterson's translation of the Arbatel. #

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• 01:23 Fussing with GIMP. I'm trying to extract a person (with moderately untidy hair) from an almost (but not quite) monochromatic background. #
• 20:35 I just got back from Greensboro, where I had dinner at Boba House (faux-beef udon soup), and got a Talking Heads CD at Edward McKay's. #

(Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter)I'm a little ( Read more... )

A couple of days ago, I posted a story on Twitter about helping a library customer evade a fraudulent "credit repair" company. Obviously, my story must have caught the interest of somebody's (automatic?) keyword search, because today I found this in my email inbox:


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• 17:22 I just found out that I saved a library customer from paying $4,000 in fees to a fraudulent credit repair company. #

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Here's why the retaining wall which keeps our front yard from spilling down onto our driveway is probably going to need a complete overhaul within a decade or so. The crack over at the left edge of the picture is by no means the biggest -- there's a crack on the other side of that staircase that's wide enough to stick your thumb in.


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