one day a tortoise will learn how to fly

Upon watching rokk_lobster replay Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, I have realized that this game is so very, very, uh, endearing. And probably why it appealed to me in the first place, but that's besides the point.

An example of this is The Infinite Tower. Which ends at floor 50. Or the death Knights ride T-Rex/raptor mounts...that also spew fire. Or assassin zombies. Or sniper Orcs. They are all so very, ah, cute.

Very, very charming, really.


Lastly, does Persona 4 ever stop being P3 with a Teevee? I'm not really complaining, because I obviously loved P3, until the point I got frustrated and walked away for a while, but the WHOLE POINT of starting P4 was to play something similar to but not EXACTLY like P3.

I think the MC of P3's ennui speaks to that which I am talking about. If that makes sense. I dunno, I've never been prone to ennui. I just like typing it.

There are ants all over my miniature roses. And gross eggs on the buds. I thought I might have had aphids and that was what was attracting the ants, but clearly the ants are just assholes that won't leave. So, I'm probably going to sprinkle everything in diatomaceous earth and spray with garlic and water. And hope for the best because I really, really don't want to resort to chemicals on the plants.


On a happier aside, the ant problem has given me an excuse to plant some hyssop in hopes of attracting ladybugs. I'm also dragging the significant other to the local gardening center because obviously big, deep pots are the best birthday present evar. Well, if someone has given you a bag of heirloom carrot seeds with promises that the carrots will be a mix of yellow, white, orange, pink and purple, they are. And some yummy beefsteak tomato seeds. I think it is much too late in the Ohio growing season to be starting stuff from seeds, so I have my doubts about whether any of it will do any good, but the seeds will go to waste because I don't really know how to preserve them...aaaaaaaaaaaaand having successfully grown from seed chives, cilantro, minto and dill aaaaaaaaaaaand having used them all recently in cooking, I just want the rush of awesome feelings you get from the accomplishment. Plus, right now all the experience I can get is going to be very valuable, even the failures.

Oh Jeremy Wade, your fishy, geeky antics cheer me up immensely. I will never get tired of watching them. Or your face when you see something particularly dangerous. You're a silly man.

Apparently there is a Drizzt book scheduled to be released in October of this year. I did not know this! I didn't think the next one was due till fall of 2011.

It is titled Gauntlgrym and judging by that it appears that it may actually pick up a huge hanging plotline that was mentioned and alluded to in The Hunter's Blade trilogy but was promptly and irritatingly dropped in the Transitions trilogy.


I cannot stop my sickness.

Guys, one the most satisfying aspects of my job is getting to use the Stamps. I have several, of different shapes, that say differen things and three colors of ink. I love using the Stamps. I love busting out the red ink and the "discarded" stamp. The other day, I even found a stamp to mark things "obsolete". Needless to say, I promptly ordered purple ink to use with it and now when I throw stuff away, I stamp it. I am fond of the horseshoe shaped stamp that proudly proclaims that the CD or DVD in question does, indeed, belong to SoLo Library. Stamping things officially is just so pleasing. It fills me with contentment. Stamping Things in an Offical Capacity With Authority was what I yearned to be able to do, from the moment I saw the librarian in my school library stamp my little ticket with the date due to the moment when I was first hired as a shelver. I had to wait awhile because at the building I first worked, shelvers didn't Stamp Things. But, now that I am no longer a shelver and am treading in the waters of pseudo-librariandom, I get to stamp things. It isn't often, as computers and the chattering minions, printers, made the "Date Due Stamp" as well as the awesome "Date Due Stamp" gun largely obsolete. But one of my duties is marking things when they are discarded and another is processing new items and donations. These activities require Official Stamping.

So let us take a moment and contemplate the beauty and the authority that an Official Stamp can invoke. Do no judge me. I know this activity seems to be a waste of time, but once one has discovered such as stamp as "obsolete" one is beholden to use it, even if the items in question are going straight to the trash. It is Official and it must be done.

and because I love eating at Aladdin's but find myself strapped for cash, I can rarely eat there*. But, thanks to the magic of the interwebz and the fact that mamma taught me to be a pretty okay cook, I have successfully made Mujadara! The Mujadara plate is my favorite dish at Aladdins and it's more than ten dollars when you add the garlic sauce, which is also a must. BUT, BUT for about 7.39, I have not only made enough Mujadara for the next like week, I have also successfully made the garlic sauce*!



*okay, let's be honest, I can rarely eat out period.

**this turned out pretty damn tasty, but, I will admit, Aladdin's is still better. Probably because the yogurt I used was the plain Dannon's on sale. I probably should have bought the Greek yogurt, which is tastier and thicker, but I have no monies.

I have challenged the manga club kids to read a thousand manga* before the end of our summer reading program. Their reward, my eternal affection and some pizza.


It is actually working.



*I am an adult that works under the assumption that some reading is better than no reading.

Haven't posted about books in awhile, mostly because I've been reading technical, scholarly stuff about Aliciabes and Athenian citizenship, as well as the relationship between the private and the public in Athenian urban life, so needless to say, nothing exciting to anyone but me.

However, I did finish some short and sweet stuff. Nothing to crow about, but not bad either.

House of the Stag, Kage Baker.

( the new and improved Dark Lord comes with jokes )

Black Butler, Yana Toboso.

( Of course Jack the Ripper was there ).

I'm showing this to the manga club kids in June. OMG, the bewbs. Oh well, I made signs, I'm not going back.

That being said, LOL WUT?!!! I don't even know about this anime but I think I love it.

The aesthetic is awesome. I like every single character and I don't even know, can it be crazier?


Fools, do you know what this hat is?!

Lately, it seems every bit of non-fiction I've read has been about education. Apparently, despite having no desire to have children of my own, I desperately want other people's kids to succeed because when it comes down to it, I really, really like kids and I want them to grow up to be happy, well-adjusted adults who will in turn raise kids to be happy, well-adjusted adults. I ran across this article in Times awhile ago, and I still don't know what I think.  My initial gut reaction was the reaction that many of the people had to Fryer's idea which was "But, but you should WANT to learn. Learning isn't just about getting  a job! It's about using knowledge and making connections that will help you with your entire life process!" and "Not everything should have tangible rewards. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do because it's the right thing, the just thing, the hard thing, it's the thing that's the most worthwhile, no matter the payoff." and "But people have got to want to help themselves and sometimes helping yourself doesn't mean an immediate, tangible reward." But those reservations aside, I dunno, maybe it is valuable to get kids to associate good grades and the things you learn from school like being on time, not being rowdy, learning how to work in groups, learning how to deal with authority and all that with financial well-being because it increasingly is. The only people in America right now who are going to be able to succeed in the completely brand new information economy are people who go to some sort of institution for higher learning whether it be a traditional college or university or some sort of trade school. Basically, the shit you learn in school is way more important now because there really isn't any unskilled labor around that's going to pay you a living wage. As my brother, who hates school, thought he could buck the system and not continue his education in some way (and actually succeeded, he works full-time at Burger King, was made manager in about a year and a half and has health insurance! All without college.) but soon came to the realization that that was no life and as he says, "Gotta have skillz, son."

So I guess the things that stuck out for me in the article were these:

It's pretty scientifically rigourous and Fryer doesn't think it's a magic bullet, just part of the solution. He feels like I do, which is that there is no ONE solution to the quandry of American education, but rather a whole system of reform, whose relationships with each other will effect the change (which is exactly what Fryer says.)