Being Amber Rhea

Tomorrow evening I’m heading to Minnesota to visit Jenny and Niki. :-) And I might be without internet access while there — oh heavens!! ;-)

To Live is to Sin?

An interesting bit of etymology to ponder…

The modern English word sin derives from Old English synn. The same root shows up in other Germanic languages — e.g., Old Norse synd, German Sünde. It may ultimately derive from the Indo-European root *es-, which meant “to be.”

A Homegrown Blog

Am I the only one left with a homegrown blog? That is, am I the only one left who doesn’t use some pre-existing content management system like Movable Type, WordPress, or what-have-you? -Not that there’s anything wrong with those systems. Some are better than others — some suck, and some are pretty darn good. But there’s just something satisfying (to me, anyway) about having written all the code for my own blog, and knowing that *I* am in 100% control of it. It has the features I want, nothing less and nothing more. Even with the best content management systems, you are still relying on someone else’s work.

Badger Badger Badger

I could watch this all day long.

Car Trouble

I had to have my car towed to Pep Boys this morning. :-P Yesterday the engine started shaking really badly, especially when idling; and there was also a not-so-pleasant smell. They towed it around 9:30 this morning, so hopefully I will have the diagnosis soon. It’s fortunate that both Chris and I live close to where I work. (I left the car at Chris’s overnight, because it was there when it started having issues.) I walked from Chris’s apartment this morning — uphill all the way! — and god I feel pretty gross right now — it is so hot out. :-P Anyway, here’s hoping the car will be ok!

Amber Endorses HyperEdit

I thought it wouldn’t be possible, but it’s happened: I’ve found a text editor that I like better than BBEdit! That’s right, it’s Tumult HyperEdit. It’s awesome, has several features BBEdit lacks, and also costs about $160 less than BBEdit. I highly recommend it.

You’re the United Nations!

Most people think you’re ineffective, but you are trying to completely save the world from itself, so there’s always going to be a long way to go. You’re always the one trying to get friends to talk to each other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.

Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

Fresh Air

A couple of anti-abortion protestors have been outside the building where I work all morning. One has a bullhorn and is shouting about genocide, and the other is holding a huge poster of a late-term aborted fetus. These must be the same people that came to UGA a year or so ago and set up a big display at the Tate Center. (Except in this case there are only 2 of them, whereas at UGA there was a whole passel of them.) About 30 minutes ago, another small group showed up, carrying small signs that say “Keep Abortion Safe and Legal” and “Fight Racism Now” and are circling the block. I don’t know why the protestors are in front of this building. Maybe they just figure it’s a major intersection? I don’t know. Anyway, I had gone outside to get some fresh air because I’m not feeling that great today, and things appear to be escalating. So who knows what’s going on. On the way back up, I was in the elevator with a woman from our legal department and she was absolutely fuming about it. So much for a breath of fresh air!

I’m about to get more Javascript experience than I ever wanted. For work, I have to create a detailed quiz that will calculate someone’s risk of heart disease based on a number of inputs (total cholesterol, age, etc). I know the learning experience will be good, but Javascript irritates the hell out of me. :-P

Also: I hate the phrase “learning experience.” Some other phrases I hate: “state of the art”, “hands-on”, “as it were”, “if you will”, “per se.”

It’s raining pretty heavily at the moment, so Chris and I are taking a break from moving Chris’s stuff into his new apartment. It has been a day of heavy lifting — with more to come after the rain subsides. (Shout-out to Jenny and Niki: hope everything’s going well in moving Jenny into her new apartment!) In the meantime, yet another picture from back in the day… my mom and me, September 1981: