For the anime fans

TechTV has started (and probably has had it for a while, since I don't tend to follow them) a show called Anime Unleased, (website at http://www.techtv.com/animeunleashed/ ). I tivoed their marathon of Crest of the Stars last night, although we haven't watched it yet (if it's nothing but crap, by all means let me know). They're doing Serial Experiments Lain this week, which is one of the true greats, imho. For the most part, their shows seem aimed at people like me, who like anime in theory, but are still somewhat picky about which shows they watch.

Bah

There's no point in attempting to have writing time (since Elayna and shadesong are out shopping with anexstacy), if the phone rings every five minutes, and (because at least two sets of plans later rely on the phone), you can't unplug it.

So I gave up, and vented my disgust by taking care of the disgusting things in the house -- Max's litterbox, Elayna's toilet, the gerbil cage and the circle (approx 2' in diameter) where they manage to fling their bedding (and anything that might be caught in it), the fridge and any food that has evolved into a new lifeform, etc.

So, there are fewer disgusting things in the house. And that's a good thing.

And I'm now watching Max carefully redistribute the cat litter, as he apparently doesn't like my method of pouring a nice thick layer of litter in the box, but prefers to shove all of the litter to one side of the box with his paw.

Maybe I should attend class reunions, after all.

Years ago, I signed up for a free account at classmates.com, the website that keeps track of your high school classmates, as long as they remember to sign up with them as well. Seeing as there are few folks from high school I care much about, and that just as few of them appear to be online, it's not something I ever paid attention to. I log in two or three times a year to see if anyone else is online, but that's about it.

Having just gotten spam an email reminder from them, I logged in. And saw that my high school was up to seven people registered. The new person was named Sarah Brown, and attended Collegiate from 1985-1990, according to her entry.

But here's the rub: Collegiate was, and is, and all-boys school.

It's also a small school. My graduating class, which was damned large for the school, had 53 people.

So, there are two possibilities. "Sarah Brown" might be someone who, intentionally (as a joke), or unintentionally (because she went to a different school with "collegiate" in its name, and didn't pay attention to the location section) added herself to the "Collegiate" alumni section. Or, a classmate of mine, sometime in the last thirteen years, has undergone a sex-change operation (or is in the preparatory stages for doing so).

I know that the former is more likely, but the latter, frankly, is more intriguing. I wouldn't pretend to have the slightest idea of who from my graduating class would be a likely candidate (I mean, I'm talking 53 eighteen-year-old boys, all of whom carry the baggage associated with attending an all-male school for anywhere from three-twelve years; repression ran rampant). But I'd love to see the reaction such a revelation would elicit. Who'd take it in stride? Who'd flip out? I could no more predict that than I could predict who would switch genders in the first place. But I think I'd learn more about how my classmates turned out that way than I do from the occasional newsletters I receive.

Whereas, if it was all just a mistake, the possibilities are just boring. :-(

(aside: "Sarah Brown" was not the real name I saw on my Classmates page, for obvious reasons).

Hot Sauce and comics!

You know, I was just sitting here thinking that what the world needs now is a line of hot sauces created by an indy comics god. And lo and behold, the good folks at Chicago Comics seem have come up with that product. Yes, there is now a James Kochalka line of autobiographical hot sauces.

Life is good.

Note that the link above will also allow you to see the Jeff Smith Smiley Bone Martini Glass, another item I probably can live without, but will still endeavor to own.

The Ivan Brunetti paddleball set is something I can do without, though. I don't want every toy. Just the cool ones.

I have no shame

So, in my efforts to get a copy of the Chicago Soundtrack, without having to wait until payday, I just entered two contests for the album. One was at Ellegirl.com, and the other at Womansday.com.

It's a great soundtrack, and I'm perfectly willing to change the tone of my spam to try to get ahold of it.

More fun with Amazon

So, on the right-hand side of the page I was one, there was a column marked "recommended authors, artists, and directors." The author was Alan Moore. Fair enough. And there were three of his titles listed, too: Saga of the Swamp Thing, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Baby Massage.

Never having heard of the last one, I clicked on it, only to find that it was a link to the DK book entitled Baby Massage: The Calming Power of Touch. Written by four people, one of whom was named Alan, another of whom had a last name of Moore.

I shudder at the thought of an Alan Moore book called Baby Massage.

Quote of the night

shadesong: Nooo! Leave my juicy brain alone!

I'm not sure context will improve it any.