What are we all doing for the 4th? I’m heading to a hot dog party in the afternoon at Walt’s, which is not actually a party where the men outnumber women ten to one, but where everyone brings different toppings to make a variety of different hot dogs. I’m making chili and coleslaw, which is one of my favorite dogs. I imagine later on I will watch my annual screening of Born on the Fourth of July and watch the PBS Washington DC fireworks show.
You?
Valdivia
I’m making dinner for my parents and then we’ll probably sit in the balcony and watch the fireworks in the Mall, we have a nice view from here.
Mnemosyne
This video convinced me to try to spiral cut the hot dogs we’re having for dinner tonight. I just have to wait for poor G to get to leave work so we can eat.
(He’s leaving for Chicago tomorrow to see his dad, so he’s trying to get as much cleaned up at work as he can. Things are not looking good for his dad at all. The whole nursing home question may turn out to have been completely moot.)
Baud
BBQ and BJ
Just like the Founders intended.
Bmaccnm
Working tonight, then on call tomorrow for 24 hours starting @ 8pm. My street is a center for neighborhood fireworks. I don’t imagine I’ll get much rest tomorrow. When I was a kid, my mother’s 13 siblings would hold their family reunion at my grandfather’s place on July 4th. The biggest day of my year. It was far more exciting than Christmas AND my birthday combined. It’s been anticlimactic ever since, even somewhat depressing. Meh.
Comrade Mary
I’ll be in a cubicle, but y’all have fun without me. /sniff
Oh, and I missed the Canada Day thread (I was oot, eh?), but I LOVED this picture of SamKitten learning about the imminent arrival of SiblingKitten.
I wonder what his dad was telling him? “Your Mommy peed on this stick and now you’re going to get a new little brother or sister.” Let’s just hope the SamKitten doesn’t extrapolate a way he can get a puppy or a kitten or a gecko or whatever.
(Congrats to Les Kittens!)
Just Some Fuckhead
The whole family is doing volunteer work at the local festival. We’ll get live music and free fireworks and be in a tent in case it rains.
Bnut
Nashville has banned fireworks due to dry conditions (with heavy fines levied) and has “strongly recommended” that people not use grills. LOL, let’s see how that turns out
Valdivia
@Comrade Mary:
how did I miss that pic? Classic. And so glad we get to be part of it! I am so happy about the incomingKitten.
Hawes
Fucking working, thanks for asking….
General Stuck
We got a decent thunderstorm this afternoon, to finally cool things down. You might know it, me and the pooch got caught in the middle of it during the daily walk. And found a dead mouse in the bottom of one of the box fans. Watching the Dodgers Reds game, but don’t think I can stay awake long enough to watch all of it.
Charlie all wet. Looks like a big brown rat
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
We’ll just be home, sleeping late, dodging the thunderstorms and so forth, hoping the power stays up… :-/ Another mini derecho rumbled through an hour or so ago.
A friend just released a new app on iOS (soon to be on Android) that may be of interest to some here. It takes up to date contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and plots them in an entertaining way.
http://www.sponsoredbyapp.com/
(Just a customer, no financial interest, etc., etc.)
Enjoy the 4th!
Cheers,
Scott.
Raven
Not much beside getting ready for Maui and freaking out about leaving the critters for 8 days!
AliceBlue
Just hanging out at home. Shrimp and grits for supper.
Fluke bucket
@Mnemosyne: That is a wonderful thing to do to a wiener. I have never seen that before. I will be at work tomorrow but I hope to be able to follow the rebirth of the TEA Party. Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day for them.
Cap'n Magic
Its hot as Heaven here-just going to keep the shades down, get abused by my Persian, and figure out how to make Rick Santorum the GOP presidential nominee in Tampa, denying Mitt his chance to pull a GWB and succeed where his daddy didn’t (Sorry, Paultards)
jl
Mom’s and cousins birthdays on either side of fourth. Obligatory family Bday mashup every year for Mom and Country, and cousin.
I mean, how can you beat that for patriotic Fourth of July?
Mom is a strident (it’s true, what can I say?) liberal, and cousin is a borderline teabagger and they love to argue. You can see this gleam in their eyes when they are ready to fight out the fate of the universe.
That is our family fireworks, though we try to talk them down before they get started.
Raven
Some of you may be interested in “The Quantitative Self”
“Are you interested in self-tracking? Do you use a computer, mobile phone, electronic gadget, or pen and paper to record your work, sleep, exercise, diet, mood, or anything else? Would you like to share your methods and learn from what others are doing? If so, you are in the right place.”
Strandedvandal
Pre-riding the State Time Trial Championship course, followed by trying to keep drunken hillbillies from burning down our neighborhood.
Bmaccnm
@Fluke bucket: The TEA Party is getting born again? They weren’t perfect the first time?
jl
@Raven: Thank you. But I would probably just blow the thing up, inadvertently. Due to chaos.
Omnes Omnibus
I am buying a bicycle.
Cap'n Magic
@efgoldman: You may be off if you’re customer-facing: those of us who keep the engine up and running 24/7-not so much. At least I was able to ditch the pager-problem is, my smartphone is now my pager. :(
Strandedvandal
@Omnes Omnibus: Excellent. What are you getting?
General Stuck
Your daily wingnut
Brilliant, health care is so great in this country, nobody hardly dies of deadly diseases anymore, so that is what we are paying for, market based immortality/
scav
melt. I’ve gotten rather good at it, looks like I’ve a while more to work on my technique.
EriktheRed
I won’t be doing anything but enjoying not working.
jl
@General Stuck:
That is insane.
But I just installed Chrome, and now I understand what the ‘incognito window’ is good for. You can click on links like that with the ol’ iw and they won’t pollute your browser history.
Assuming I understand what the incog window thing is.
rlrr
It’s tempting to think mittromney.tumblr.com is a parody site design to make Mitt Romney look like an idiot (not that he needs any help in that department)…
scav
@General Stuck: Should we bring up how so very many more of those deadly things we’re no longer dying of apparently are due to tax-based efforts (probably maintained by union members) such as sewage systems?
BGinCHI
Supposed to be 99 tomorrow, so probably just foam fingers indoors all day. USA! USA!
And of course watch the Tour de France.
Omnes Omnibus
@Strandedvandal: Trek FX or a Cannondale Quick. Leaning toward the Trek right now. I want to re-enter the world of riding and the hybrids seems to be good all-arounders. I didn’t want a mountain bike, and pure road bikes aren’t particularly suitable for ramming around town. I intend to use this as my reintroduction to riding and then, in a year or so, get what a Dutch friend calls a “speed bike” and then use this one for around town – errands, riding to work, etc.
General Stuck
More daily wingnut
TaMara (BHF)
I have a cat question. My Tuxedo has laryngitis. This is the second time in about a year that he’s lost his voice. Besides being funny, because he’s such a big talker and losing his voice hasn’t seemed to stop him. Has anyone ever had this experience with their cat before?
I’ve had 7 cats over the years and this is a first for me. No watery eyes, seems to be fine otherwise.
Ideas?
Keith
Urban Dictionary + Chili dog = John Cole looking for a new favorite hotdog.
Just Some Fuckhead
@TaMara (BHF):
Thursday night recipe featuring cat.
Strandedvandal
@Omnes Omnibus: Nice choices both of ’em. I’ve got a buddy who rides an FX with us on our road rides. He loves it, and there are days when I’d much rather be riding his bike than my race bike. Yeah, it’s fast, but not real comfortable. Welcome back to cycling!
Violet
@Comrade Mary: I didn’t know there was going to be a new Kitten. Congrats to RedKitten and family! When is the new Kitten expected to arrive?
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m on my second Trek and I’ve been happy with them, FWIW. (Second one because the first one was STOLEN by some a-hole in January, not because I had any trouble with it.) I was looking at the ladies’ version of the FX for my replacement bike, but then I fell deeply in love with Cocoa. She’s not speedy, but she’s fun to ride and she can haul 50 lbs of groceries without a problem.
ruemara
I’m your friendly volunteer for OFA. Hello, are you ready to vote? Can I interest you in working for Obama and the Dems in a contested state? What would you like to know regarding darned near any issue you are disappointed in Obama with?
My friends are rather worthless, house is now ex-house, so I guess I’ll just drink tea, workout and maybe do some film work before my volunteering shift. Rather like a saturday but with less sat.
Omnes Omnibus
@Strandedvandal: Thanks. I am glad to hear that the bike shop lads weren’t lying when they said these bikes good handle road rides – there would just be a bit more work involved.
@Comrade Mary: Congrats on kittening(?).
asiangrrlMN
Trying not to have my face melt off. It was 99° here today. WHAT. THE FUCK. You can miss me with that shit.
PurpleGirl
Tomorrow will be quiet. I may go shopping and to a Johnny Rocket’s for lunch. In the evening I’ll look at what I can see of the Macy’s fireworks across Manhattan. (They are on the Hudson River again this year.)
Thursday is the more important day — it’s the annual Staten Island Ferry meeting of the NYU Science Fiction Society. It’s been held for over 30 years. This is the original club which was started in 1969. (I was one of the founders.) Whoever wants to come just has to be at the Ferry for the first boat after 6:30 P.M. We used to try to ride multiple round trip crossings but lately it’s been one round trip. At one time we had the same boat captain for 3 or 4 consecutive years and he remembered us. We bring food and soda and guitars and sing and talk and make a lot of noise. Not like what we once did, but enough.
ETA: John — How do you make your coleslaw?
PsiFighter37
I have no plans aside from drinking and playing Diablo III, as George Washington wuold’ve wanted me to.
SUCK ON THAT!
PF37 +7 (I’ve been drinking for about 6 hours at this point)…really blasted
Violet
I’m looking for smartphone recommendations. What’s the advantage of an iPhone over an Android phone (and vice versa)? Anything you wish you’d known before you bought your phone? Advice welcome.
Valdivia
@Violet:
I think it is end of January from what I read.
jl
@asiangrrlMN: Hi. Glad you’re surviving the heat. How are things up MN way?
Roger Moore
@Bnut:
I think making fireworks illegal just increases the attraction. It means we can celebrate our Independence the way the Founders intended: by refusing to obey any law we think is too stupid to follow.
RyanayR
I live in seattle: its 60 degrees outside and threatening rain, as it has been all june. I would take 90 degree heat any day.
Cap'n Magic
@TaMara (BHF): I have a VERY talkative rescued Persian that I got when he was 3-he’ll be approaching 10 in another year (Persian’s are not known for being vocal, moreso for their massive fur rendering and laid-backness–but this particular hellspawn is.) For the life of me I have never heard of Felius catus catus ever suffering from laryngitis. Is this cat captive indoors or allowed to roam outside?
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: So, serious cyclist here. You could get a cyclocross bike, which would allow you to have a useful training bike that is almost as fast as a road bike but more versatile. Then when you move on to a nicer road bike you’ll have that as your B bike that you can also ride on gravel and so on (it will accommodate wider tires).
I have a Van Dessel cross bike, which I love, and a De Rosa King 3 for the road.
Felt makes a nice bike for the money, and I’d go with Cannondale over Trek.
Comrade Mary
Just to clarify for anyone confused: I am not having kittens. The personal KittenWorks are non-operative. However, RedKitten will be presenting SamKitten with SiblingKitten ca. January 21 (that is, yet another damn Aquarian).
@Omnes Omnibus: Have fun with the bike. Road tires are fine on a hybrid, but if you’re anywhere near train tracks, learn how to cross at a true 90 degree angle. Slanting across tracks is baaaaad news, especially when they’re wet. Also: re-train yourself in safe braking at speed. Please don’t ask me how I know these things.
This video is interesting, but seriously, they’re not even going 15 km/hour in this (and what the hell was that cop doing riding in the door zone?)
Cap'n Magic
@RyanayR: At what humidity level? 5%? 30%? 80%?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: Cool looking bike, but I want – need – the capability of going fast; it is a personality flaw. If I see a car ahead of me on the road, I want to pass it – even if it is on the horizon. I’ll be patient and creep up on it, but if it is front of me it must be passed. It is my old X-C runner coming out.
robertdsc-PowerBook
Playing Modern Warfare 3 on the PS3 and trying to read Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I’ve read others of his work and got through OK but this Green Mars is hard to take. It’s so cluttered with detail that I’m struggling to read it.
asiangrrlMN
@jl: Mother. Fucking. Hot. Other than that, not bad. How you be out west? It’s messed up that y’all have cooler temps than we do.
Gozer
Dr. Mrs. and I are going to do the garden party thing with some friends tomorrow evening. I’m glad we’re going to someone else’s home ’cause those academics can surprisingly throw-down pretty well in the drinking department.
Roger Moore
@ruemara:
Nothing. You’re just going to tell me I shouldn’t be disappointed because Obama’s actually done a lot to fix whatever it is that has me upset. How can we maintain a proper circular firing squad with that kind of attitude?
Linnaeus
Probably working, since I have nowhere to go during the day and I’ve fallen behind on work. I’ll head to a friend’s place to watch fireworks in the evening.
Cap'n Magic
@BGinCHI: Damn you cyclers-especially since I live in a very bike-friendly state, even when its sub-zero winters (why else would my local store sell Nokian studded 700c tyres?)
Anyhoo, before I moved to where I moved to, I picked up a Giant Cypress DX (hybrid) with disc brakes, and I have been dutifully ignoring riding it-even after spending money to put new Continental tyres and outfitting it with a rear rack where I can slap on some panniers. WTF am I doing wrong?
jl
@asiangrrlMN: I hope you survive. I know you are a cold weather person.
Actually, it is hotter than normal out here. But, for obvious reasons I will not complain lest some of you come out here and punch me in the neck or whatever Balloon Juice discipline is in fashion these days.
I forgot that you blog with ABL and searched ‘Asiangrrl’ to find yours, like nitwit I am. Got lots of interesting stuff, but the weren’t you. Funny, huh?
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
i am going to celebrate to subversion of a political act, the signing of a decree, into another day like memorial day, similar to flag day, a kissing cousin of veterans day. its like we don’t actually believe any of the bullshit about how the people are supposed to control the process, because given the slightest opportunity, we substitute the fight for the reason we are fighting.
nah, i may just get shitfaced.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yep, that was definitely the trade-off. But since 99 percent of my cycling has to be stop-and-go (my city has decided to put some kind of stop sign or stoplight on every goddamned block, it seems), I decided that I would just get frustrated having a fast bike that I was constantly having to slow down on.
If I get in better shape and have more room, I might buy a second, faster bike for longer trips, but right now Cocoa fits perfectly inside my five mile radius bubble.
BGinCHI
@Cap’n Magic: It sounds like you need to get it out, sit on the seat, and start fucking pedaling.
Bring a phone and money and your ID.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
We finally got some rain so I’ve stopped worrying that an errant bottle rocket would set the yard ablaze.
I’ll be writing tomorrow and listening to records. I find when I have to make stuff up with words, standing up every 20 minutes to fiddle with a record player keeps things flowing.
Have a happy Independence Day BJ-ers.
Despite all the crabbing lately there’s much to be thankful for.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: The reason I am looking at hybrid rather than cyclocross is the geometry. I am not as bendy as I once was, so I don’t want discomfort to keep me off the bike. When this bike doesn’t suffice for my speed needs, and, in a while I know it won’t, I will be consulting for recommendations on something fast. In the meantime, I really need something that will get me out often.
Cap'n Magic
@asiangrrlMN: No kidding-when its 84 at 4 AM in Richfield, we’re talkin’ some seriously fsck’ed up weather-and Winter 2012 was mild.
Comrade Mary
@Cap’n Magic: Get up early. Ride when few other people are around and before it gets stinkin’ hot. It’s addictive.
ruemara
@Roger Moore: Curse you, you’ve uncovered my strateegery.
asiangrrlMN
@jl: Ha! Yeah, I bet you came across all kinds of interesting links by Googling Asiangrrl. Hm. I should change my url. Hopefully, this will take.
Hope you’re staying cool. This weather is insane! By the way, you still crack me up with your wit when I read your comments.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: With an upright stem and sloping geometry that shouldn’t matter that much. Unless you are talking about sitting completely upright.
In which case: yoga, yoga, yoga. Get fit and your cycling will come to you.
I hate to see you get a hybrid and be sick of it as soon as you get stronger.
Pen
I’ll be busy working, running a crew in a factory predicted to be an ambient temperature of about 110-115F. My boss is a greedy billionaire, do you really think he’d give his employees off for something as mundane as a national holiday? Pfft… what hippy utopia do you think we live in?
Cap'n Magic
@BGinCHI: Yep-true enough. At least I was smart enough to buy a helmet, and I’m close enough to some nearby local lake trails.
(Ironically enough, when I was in High School the bicycle (AMF Roadmaster 10-speed (!)) was my main mode of transportation, as I wasn’t old enough to drive to when I graduated-as a matter of act, I was programming computers in COBOL before I learned to drive. In 1975. No doubt about it-I’m one fsck’ed up dood.)
dead existentialist
I’m killing Republicans like you told me to in that other post ’cause they’re sociopaths, and if I don’t do it now, Obama may take my guns and fireworks away.
I love this horridly malignant country. Have a wonderful and safe 4th, America (whatever colors you fly).
jl
@Valdivia:
If you see this, clue me in your pics. I see they are copyrighted. You a photographer too?
I’d like a high quality version of a couple of them.
And not sure I should just rip off your stuff if you have them copyrighted. Not like I’m going to use for anything but on my computer so I have fine art handy, but thought I should ask.
Cap'n Magic
@Comrade Mary: Noted. Thanks for the suggestion.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Cookout at the SILs place, bringing LittleMan back for a long weekend. Dad’s birthday too.
jl
@asiangrrlMN:
Well, just the best anecdote I could come with.
I missed your rants, and though maybe you had issued one recently.
Valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
just wanted to say hi!
and wish you a happy 4th :)
burnspbesq
Sleeping in, working for a few hours, watching baseball.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: My anticipation is that this bike will end up as my around town bike. You know Madison; it is very bike friendly. So my thought really is that this bike will get me restarted and then I will look for something light, fragile, and fast as hell. At that point, this bike will purely be for getting around town and such things. I will, however, take another look at cyclocross bikes to see if they might work for me.
TaMara (BHF)
@Cap’n Magic: Yes, indoors, except for a morning dash outside to remind the birds he does indeed live here.
I wish I could remember when it was last year that he had it, because it may be the fans I’ve been running 24/7.
BTW, looks like monsoon season is arriving early and we could see afternoon thunder/showers rest of the week. Yay!
Lizzy L
In the morning I will turn on my radio and listen to the good folks at NPR as they read the Declaration of Independence. I will express my private thanks to Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, and the gang.
I will walk the dog around the neighborhood, twice, slowly, stopping to greet my neighbors.
I will do pretty much nothing all day, until evening, when I intend to bbq a chicken and grill some veggies. I may also drink a beer.
After sunset, I shall sit on my front porch and watch the local fireworks.
Enjoy the holiday, all!
Valdivia
@jl:
Thank you! that gives me a huge happy!
the photography began as a hobby a year ago, all with my phone. I can’t tell you why I started taking pictures of buildings, I walk a lot so I guess it came from that and my love of architecture. So it sort of just happened, and the more I did it, the more I realized I seem to have an eye for the geometry of architecture.
They are copyrighted simply because they are public on flickr but feel free to use them or if you want a cleaner bigger file let me know which one’s you like and I will send them to you (there’s an email on flickr you can use or I can give you another one)
Comrade Mary
@Omnes Omnibus: Keep in mind that if you’re in a college town, it should be really easy to re-sell your hybrid for a decent price on Craigslist. I’ve learned to buy for my current needs and sell when it’s time to move up.
That said, I do have a secret lust for cyclocross bikes. If I had the bucks, that would be my next purchase.
asiangrrlMN
@Cap’n Magic: Agreed. I think I used the heater maybe once this winter*. That ain’t right!
*I have it set at 60°, but still.
@jl: Aw, how sweet! I have more than one at ABLC, plus some fiction I’ve written. My latest at ABL’s place. Not a rant, per se, but a thanks.
Strandedvandal
@Omnes Omnibus: Great plan. My next bike is going to be a 29r. It’ll be nice to get off the road every now and then, and we’ve got some fantastic trials here in Idaho.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Another possibility, though it’s just a recreational bike really, is the Bianchi Milano. Nice looking and comfy, and affordable.
You could also look at Swobo’s city bikes.
When you’re ready for speed, let me know.
TaMara (BHF)
@asiangrrlMN: I’m a heat girl myself, but even this, a straight week of 100+ has been too much for me. Ugh.
I did get my first ride in since the fires started (I think 3 weeks ago) – it was relatively cool (86) and not smokey.
Think cool thoughts and sit with your head in the freezer whenever possible. I eat a lot of fruit popsicles this time of year.
Cap'n Magic
@Violet: I am partial of Andriod phones as widgets rule. On my main screen on my Samsung Galaxy S II (upgraded to ICS), I can see all the latest headline news, date/time, weather, and outstanding alerts (which I can customize via the many apps in Google Play) on one screen without having to even lay a finger on it.
While there are many aftermarket items for the iPhone, I can REPLACE the battery without a screwdriver (and in my case, I have a 3.8 Ah battery at my disposal, so I can go for almost a week w/o having to charge the thing if I’m not actively using it.)
Omnes Omnibus
@asiangrrlMN: ((hug)) but not too close due to the heat.
@BGinCHI:
Will do.
handsmile
During daylight hours, the handsmiles will be seeking the comforts of climate-controlled environments; the Metropolitan Museum is a likely destination.
Will bring along something appropriate for the day to read in the cafe of the museum’s American wing. Probably the recently purchased Patriotic Gore, Edmund Wilson’s classic study of Civil War literature.
A movie in the late afternoon: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Unforgivable, Snow White and the Huntsman are all under consideration.
New York City barbeque (yes purists, I’m aware that is an oxymoron) for dinner, and then after night falls, we’ll do the postmodern thing: watch the city’s Macy’s fireworks spectacle on television.
Enjoy the holiday, fellow countrymen.
asiangrrlMN
@TaMara (BHF): I’m just thankful my AC is holding up. I have a friend in NC whose power went out over the weekend when it was 106° – thankfully, only for a couple of hours. Head in freezer sounds delightful, as does frozen fruit.
Cap'n Magic
@asiangrrlMN: During the winter I opened my blinds to heat my abode (all of my windows face West)-but now I have to keep ’em closed, lest my A/C spins up-arrgh. And this winter was just mind-blowing: in 2011 we got dumped on pretty good–I’m used to sub-zero winters having been a Detroit/Chicago denizen and all-but still….
jl
@Valdivia:
A year ago, iphone? You have some kind of talent, I think.
And, OK, yes, little envelopes, I remember what those mean now. FlickrMail! I am slow at this stuff.
The one I just downloaded loses all the resolution and is no fun anymore on my computer.
I like the ones with the clouds.
Thanks very much. Too sleepy to chose wisely now, though. I appreciate it.
jl
@asiangrrlMN:
thanks for the heads up. I just opened it on my new Chrome icognito window(!), ’cause, its AsiangrrlMN, and you can never tell what that might be…
Uh, oh. Looks like some kind of notice being delivered there.
I am near pass out stage from getting up at 5 this morning, so everyone have a good fourth.
Valdivia
@jl:
I am trying not to blush, seriously. And yes email and I will send you whichever ones you want.
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: You are going to become famous as a photog. Among us. But we are very discerning. So you have that going for you. Which is nice.
asiangrrlMN
@Omnes Omnibus: ::careful hug back:: You staying cool?
@Cap’n Magic: Tell me about it. Last summer, air went on maybe three times. This year? Three times in one day.
@Valdivia: Hey, grrrrl! Same to you! ::careful hugs::
jl
@jl: Great post Asiangrrl, and thanks for posting all of Cooper’s email, that was good too. I had not seen the whole thing before.
Edit: no, that was a reply to Asiangfrrl. Got fatigue out of control here.
@Valdivia: Yes, ma’am. Thanks again. Have good fourth with the folks.
Omnes Omnibus
@asiangrrlMN: On Monday, my wall unit AC tripped breakers every half hour if I had anything else plugged in. I lived, but I was not sympathetic to my minions at work when they complained about anything.
Cap'n Magic
@Violet: Also, too: I’ve been dealing in Smartphones since 2003, when Nokia ruled the smartphone world, Microsoft released Windows Mobile and Apple was shilling hard-drive based iPods. Fortunately, my livelihood does not depend on who wins and who loses in the space-just one datapoint.
asiangrrlMN
@jl: Thanks. I think it’s important to read the whole email and not just the excerpt. It was beautiful. Sleep now!
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh hell yeah. I can imagine you might have been a tad terse with them!
mai naem
@Violet: I haven’t had an Iphone so my experience is just with Android. I don’t claim to be an expert on phones but I figure at some point Android will beat the Iphone numerically because of Google. The first one I got did not have a qwerty keyboard which I couldn’t get used to. I just want that tactile thing with the keyboard. Also get one that is either a wifi hotspot or that you can add it to. I read somewhere that Koreans use the 7″ Samsung Galaxy tablet as a phone. That kind of appeals to me. My sis has a Blackberry which I find difficult to navigate and the screen is too damn small. FWIW I’ve had 2 samsungs that I liked, a Sanyo which was a POS and Huawei which was a good one. IMHO, I don’t think one needs the newest bestest with all the bells and whistles. I would check out the user reviews of the phones at different websites. Also, make sure you get the screen protector and the plastic phone case/cover as soon as you get the phone.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
thank you Omnes. it was nice to discover this particular artistic outlet. I can be in any city and my eye is up, enjoying its math, its geometry. It’s fun. Even better to know others like them too.
good luck with the bike–miss riding, my back won’t allow me. /tries not to pout
Thatgaljill
We’re taking our 7 year old to the San Francisco Symphony’s outdoor concert and fireworks show.
mainmati
Well, I have two brothers that are journalists (Reuters and Dallas News) and we are meeting up here in the DC area. They are disgustingly members of that liberal media bias that actually use facts in their stories (both Pulitzer Prize group winners in the past). So we went to watch the Nationals (live). The Nats were trashing the Giants 8-2 by the 7th inning and then the heavens opened so the game got rain-delayed. We left. (I think teams are way too timid about this quick stop play if there is any slight rain but I guess it is because how much they pay their players.)
We’ve been getting a lot of the heavens lately (we had no power for 4 days after the derecho). Having lived most of my adult life in the tropics this was mostly irritating because of the fridge meltdown and no media not so much the heat, which you just accommodate and embrace by adapting.
Gravenstone
Concert with a college buddy, seeing Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden. Unfortunately it looks to be stupid hot (again), although I’m hoping for some relief since the venue is right on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: Did you know that one of the best places to hide something is above eye level? Most people habitually look down.
Cap'n Magic
@asiangrrlMN: It’s worse for me as I’m one of those evil ‘telecommuters’-and my home office is where my 12-drive heat-spewing home server lives in a closet-with a red Persian to boot!
Valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
may a cold breeze surround you til it gets cool again!
asiangrrlMN
@Cap’n Magic: I work from home, too. If things get really bad, I hide out in the basement. I haz two black cats who are diligent in getting fur all over me and my laptop!
@Valdivia: Thanks, Valdivia. I really would be screwed without my AC. #firstworldproblems #hashinlikeitsTwitter
Omnes Omnibus
@Gravenstone: Get a smoked salmon sandwich at the Alterra at the foot of LaFayette Place. It is f-ing delish. The lake should help a bit. It will be over 100 in Mad-town.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
I know! Most people, when they see me, looking up, pointing my camera they think I am insane. Specially when I get really low on the ground to get a good angle, or very very close to the wall, like I am molesting the building. But sometimes people just stand behind me and watch me do my thing and then they say: yeah, that’s really cool. I love to go shooting in new cities. Like a kid in a candy store. :)
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: Nothing over about 11 stories here, but some buildings are quite lovely.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
Not too tall buildings can be wonderful to photograph. The really tall ones in nyc can be really hard to handle. You’re in Madison right? I’ve seen amazing pics from your city that made me want to come and shoot there.
G’night BJ, calling it a night. Have a wonderful 4th.
Cap'n Magic
@asiangrrlMN: Before I had to put Minuet down at the ripe old age at 16 (prior to my relocation) due to her cancer, I had two fur-throwers back in IL-and they hated each other. Fortunately for the late Minuet, Ozzie was unarmed (that’s how I got him from the rescue organization)-which he has more than made up for with his biting.
Cap'n Magic
ALERT: Justice Roberts hedged his bets.
asiangrrlMN
@Cap’n Magic: Aw, I’m sorry about your Minuet. It’s never easy to lose an animal friend. Ozzie sounds like a fighter! My boys are litter-brothers and were born to a stray, but in captivity (foster home). I adopted them when they were nine months. They are bonded and best friends – unless they are mortal enemies! Fortunately, the latter usually only lasts five minutes at a time.
Cap'n Magic
@asiangrrlMN: I was fortunate to have Minuet: she got me through some rough times. Ozzie is the prototypical cat who purrs and bites within a millisecond-one resaon my HTPC is instructed to record My Cat From Hell.
(BTW-did I tell you I have a weakness for Asians? )
Mnemosyne
@Violet:
I just got my first iPhone and I’m very happy with it, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t want to constantly futz around with electronics. I want to plug it in and have it work, and I don’t care if it works because I’m in a “walled garden” or whatever. I’m not so desperate to have porn on my phone that I can’t deal with the censorship at the iTunes store.
Sawgrass Stan
I’m making coleslaw (right now!), and my wife’s ex-brother-in-law (it’s complicated) is bringing the chili for the dawgs, the dawgs, and his daughter–my niece, sorta. I’m maybe going to do a sweet potato pie, but that may be overreaching. Definitely making coconut cream ice cream, tho–got a recipe that kills from delight. After reading Soonergrunt’s post, tho, I’m thinking I ought to say a little to my adopted 8-yr old niece about why we do this. Then fireworks, tho.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: You can’t get pr0n on an iPhone? Hang on a moment… let me try.
Awww…. the phone is plugged-in in the bedroom and it is too far to walk.
Nellie in NZ
The sun is setting with beautiful colours on the Fourth in New Zealand. The earth celebrated with a good 7.0 earthquake last night, but a bit out to sea and very deep, so no big damage. No tsunami either. All is well. Have fun, you guys.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well, you can, but you’re forced — FORCED, I tell you! — to go through Safari instead of downloading it directly from the iTunes Store.
Seriously, this is one of the complaints I’ve heard about the iPhone — you can buy p0rn directly from the Android store, but not the iPhone store.
suzanne
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so it’s supposed to be only 97! WOOT! So probably going to take the munchkins ice skating. Something nice and chilly.
Want to see cute? Yeah, you do. Mia in her first pair of pigtails.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: Oh well, the screen is too small to see anything interesting anyway.
bago
Winphone, hybrid. Biker here. HTC titan is awesomesauce, and there is no way I’m riding Seattle with a road bike.
Yutsano
@suzanne: SQUEE!! Auditioning for bride of SamKitteh?
suzanne
@Valdivia: Yay architectural photography!
I got threatened with arrest taking pictures of this Richard Meier masterpiece. I suppose I shouldn’t have told the federal agent to “shut the fuck up”.
I swear to God, sometimes I think it’s a miracle that they let me outside without a leash.
suzanne
@Yutsano: SamKitteh should be so lucky. ;)
Mustang Bobby
The South Florida Region of the Antique Auto Club of America is hosting a 4th of July picnic and car show in west West Kendall, seemingly halfway between Miami and Naples, so I’m going out there with my barely antique 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE Safari station wagon and hope to find a shady place. It’s supposed to be in the 90’s with a heat index of 105.
Then tonight the entire population of Miami-Dade County will gather on the golf course of the famed Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables to watch the fireworks. It’s the first time in five years they’ve done it and it will be like Norman Rockwell on crack with picnickers, a band concert, and the whole Americana schmeer with a Cuban accent. Hilarity and sparks will fly upward.
Yutsano
@suzanne: You could do worse than a Canuckistani son-in-law. Just sayin’.
suzanne
@Yutsano: True dat. At least she’d have health care.
Yutsano
@suzanne: Hell I almost married one. The health care would have been gravy.
asiangrrlMN
@Cap’n Magic: I don’t know what I would do without my boys! And, don’t we all? #waitwhat
@suzanne: Awwwwwwww! She’s a doll-baby!
suzanne
@Yutsano: Isn’t she just a dolly? She’s a beautiful kid, but then has a great personality on top of that. Except for right now, she’s being a shithead. Ah well.
Yutsano
@suzanne:
Heh. Wait for the hormones.
suzanne
@Yutsano: The teeth are bad enough, considering tat she seems to get five at a time.
Yutsano
@suzanne: Better than one painful growth after another. Maybe.
moderateindy
Living in Chicago every day is a hot dog party. Sorry New Yorkers but Kraut is strictly for Brats and Rubens. Chili dogs are fine, but really only put into play if you have a crappy quality dog. Now Cheddarwurst, there’s a Sausage of near perfection! It is the white Castle hamburger of the sausage world. It’s consumption is immeasurably enhanced by being seriously wasted, and always ends with serious regret the next morning. Of course the Cheddarwurst has the added peril of completely torching your mouth with the nuclear hot cheese. Still it’s greatest advantage is that adding condiments is completely superfluous. A bun and a grill is all that are necessary to enjoy its self contained goodness.
Valdivia
@suzanne:
ok, I would so completely love to take pictures of that. I would talk back to that agent too :)
and yes, those two pigstails were adorable
AnonPhenom
Upstate on a mini vacation with the spouse. We’re going to visit FDR’s home in Hyde Park. Happy Birthday America!
mcmullje
Happy Fourth of July to my favorite people on the internets!
J.W. Hamner
People were shocked when I said I was working today… but taking off a Wednesday doesn’t excite me, and even if I had bbq or fireworks plans how would working at least half a day get in the way of that? As it is, when I get home I will likely chill and ignore the festivities because the fiance is in Maine and I am a communist.
danielx
Let’s see…no fireworks, ‘personal fireworks’ have been banned. Since we’ve had about an inch of rain since May 5th and it’s supposed to be 102 with 20 mph wind today, I reckon this is a good idea…although I’m sure there will be the usual crop of idiots who disagree. It’s too hot to cook out, so I’m thinking staying in and watching movies sounds good, after a morning bike ride and a little (very little) yard work before it gets hot.
Svensker
Here in Canuckistan we’re helping our son move back in today (hiatus between undergrad and grad) and trying to help 83-year-old mom figure out why her U.S. passport was denied — she wants to come up and see us but won’t be able to get back into the U.S. at the moment if she does.
I imagine there are a lot of 83-year-old 95-pound terrorists with two canes, though, so ya can’t be too careful.
Happy 4th!
electricgrendel
Working. :( I’m a nurse’s aid until they finally have me start training for a nursing position. So tonight will literally be same shit/different asshole.
gelfling545
@Mnemosyne: My daughter did the spiral cut hot dogs on Sat. (which I thought was nonsense) but they were excellent and she used just plain old cheap hot dogs. I was surprised that it made quite a difference in flavor. Now that I think of it, our most popular local hot dog emporium slices the hot dogs on several places while on the grill so this must actually do something or other.
opie jeanne
Going to a baseball game today, I think. Mariners vs. Orioles, if my daughter got the ticket. Her boyfriend is a huge Orioles fan, my kid is a wishy-washy Mariners fan, and we are Angels fans. Should be a fun outing.
Then we’re having a party and watching the fireworks over Lake Washington.
Lex
Having just moved, I’m getting the last of my stuff out of my old place (cleaning supplies, basically), then setting up my home office desk and putting my desktop PC back together and doing some banking and bill paying.
And then I am doing schoolwork. But after dark tonight, I am grilling something — either brats or a Big Ass Salmon Filet, haven’t decided which.
For the first time in many years, I had two hot dogs with chili and slaw last night from Yum Yum Better Ice Cream here in Greensboro, and damn if they weren’t just as good as I remembered.
IamNoYoda
Lobster sandwich from Panera, good but expensive.