Archives: September 2002
Saturday, September 28, 2002
PreZ's interview and 'technical grilling' on the phone was followed up today (Friday) with another phone call with more 'tech grilling' and also a request to go into the office there on Monday to meet the team there. This sounds very positive and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that they'll offer him a job then.
I finished with a title logo for the site I'm working on, and am now rethinking the layout of the site due to an email I got this morning. It was from a friend of mine, whose father runs his own webdev company, and he was letting me know that his dad might have some html work coming up and if I could master the art of table-less pages (all css based) and get an example of that to him... then there might be something for me to do. Considering I'd not yet started on this site other than some PhotoShop work, this was quite fortuitous timing. Now I'm going through various online css tutorials trying to figure out how to get what I want done, with only css and no tables. I'm going to break down and order a good book on Monday I think, because these online tutorials are all very basic and don't give me the depth and examples I'm looking for, plus they're a pain in the ass to reference as well.
We'll see how it all goes.
@ 03:35 AM EST
Friday, September 27, 2002
PreZ had another interview today (Thursday). First with a recruiter, followed later with a face-to-face interview with the company and later a 'technical grilling' on the phone in the evening. So now the waiting begins yet again. No word from the company he interviewed with 2 weeks ago, which is a shame. With techie jobs going a lot slower than a year and a half ago, this is really frustrating and it's not even me doing the job searching.
Did some domestic stuff around the house, boring but necessary. I also tried out one of the recipes that was submitted to the GOTH.NET Recipes email list (details on the forum in the General Discussion section) which turned out well, scalloped potatoes.
Next on my plate sometime this week is a concept for a website for someone I know. I've been looking around for some fonts and windings and she sent me some graphics I need to look at and see what I want to use. It will be an interesting challenge to make a site with appeal for adults and kids for a small business.
@ 02:35 AM EST
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Monday night we went and saw The Four Feathers with Heath Ledger. I've seen kind of mixed reviews about it online, but personally I enjoyed it. It was interesting to see some other historical events depicted than is usually the case. Some of the scenes were really lovely, the scene where the British soldiers are formed in a square with the Mahdi's soldiers attacking has some gorgeous shots of the attack from a fairly distant vantage point, very impressive.
I also liked Heath Ledger's acting in this movie, he put down a moving performance without going over the top in my opinion. The costumes, when we weren't looking at him dressed in his drab ancient desert gear, were also lovely.
Another movie that's on the 'To See' list now is Spirited Away, which PreZ brought to my attention earlier this week. It's the new anime movie by Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Princess Mononoke, which automatically renders it "Must See!". The preview I saw on the moviefone.com site looked breathtaking, and I'm looking forward to seeing this so much. Apparantly it's breaking the Japanese box office records previously held by Princess Mononoke, which says something.
Other than that last night (Monday night) was the night of excruciating back pain. I think I pinched a nerve or something sometime on saturday or sunday night, and it *really* start to hurt last night, to the point where I was virtually unable to move at all and laying in most positions hurt like hell. After sleeping for about 8 hours it had luckily diminished to the point that I could actually move without feeling the need to scream. Range of motion is still somewhat limited, but I doubt it will be keeping me awake when I go to sleep in a while.
In much better news, I received email from my brothers that their tickets are booked and the details of their flight. I'm looking forward to their arrival a lot, in a few days it will be a year since I've seen them... so time spent with them over Christmas will be most excellent :)
@ 07:01 AM EST
Sunday, September 22, 2002
This weekend PreZ and I, with accompaniment from Cherie and Kit, went to our first outing with the NYC goth outings list, a posh snooty tea. We went to the T-salon on East 20th, and had a great time. Yummy tea and a scone, and meeting a whole bunch of new people, good stuff. We were both in need of a dose of socialising with a bunch of new people, and this was a good start.
After the tea we went on to the East Village to a Tibetan restaurant Shangrila. Incredibly yummy food at an incredible price... dinner was about the same price as tea with yummyness. All in all a very good and tasty time was had by all.
I'm looking forward to Kit hosting a 'Stitch and Bitch' for the list at his place, as he's offered to give pointers on the making of simple items such as skirts, which would be very much appreciated for sure.
Other than the above, the weekend consisted of sleep mainly. Nice and boring ;)
Oh, and a mental note: find out how far an intended restaurant is from a meeting venue, 'cause walking about 15 blocks (either way) on 3.5" heels is not fun ;)
@ 10:34 PM EST
Friday, September 20, 2002
One week and still no word about PreZ's interview. I wish they'd hurry up and send word either way. In the meantime there's a new prospect on the horizon... interviews with the recruiter to be set up, and then they'll submit him on to the company, on paper he's apparantly the only one qualified, which is always a good thing.
For your amusement a conversation from an irc channel I hang out in... someone who wasn't happy that Mes and I made fun of his appendage ;)
@ 04:44 AM EST
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
No word on Monday whether PreZ got that job or not. Hopefully news will be soon, and hopefully it will be good. It will be such a load of both our minds if he gets that job.
The mailman had a busy day today, the other ring I won on eBay arrived today, as did the pointy witch boots I ordered on torrid.com. I'm very happy with both items. The boots are way more comfortable than I expected, they have a padded insole which makes them really comfy. With the boots on sale, and including shipping, I still paid about $10 less than I would have if I'd paid full price for them. At $28 a pair of GAF comfy boots is a bonus.
@ 05:49 AM EST
Friday, September 13, 2002
The people at the Sci-Fi Channel have decided that they need to axe their number 2 show, Farscape. Bastards!
There are currently many campaigns afoot to save Farscape from an untimely death, or to at least have the rights handed over to someone willing to take on this incredible show.
As a starting point, please check out nebari.net Caitlín R. Kiernan's site dedicated to the Nebari, currently a good place for further information on the current status and contact details needed for a rescue effort.
Here's hoping that one of the best shows on tv can be saved from a network who obviously doesn't appreciate its success.
@ 01:09 AM EST
PreZ had his interview today (well, Thursday). He said it went well. Now the agonising wait ensues until we hear back whether it's yay or nay.
I hate this. I hope so much that he gets the job.
September 11 was spent avoiding the tv. By way of an act of mercy the gale force winds knocked power out for 3-4 hours. I do not need to remember the horrors of that day by watching 'griefsploitation' on tv. Griefsploitation being the exploitation of grief. I first saw the word used here, and it's stuck as I find it very apt when watching the endless shoving of political agendas, patriotic horseshit and 'commemorative' merchandise. My thoughts are with those who lost someone or something that day, but I've seen enough for the moment thanks to media overkill and the aforementioned.
Congratulations to Trejkaz and Vulpine who are getting married today!
@ 12:57 AM EST
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
I forgot to mention that on monday my youngest brother called me asking if he could come and stay for Christmas, which is very cool indeed. Finances allowing my other brother will also be coming as well.
I really do hope they manage to get some good deals on plane tickets and make it out here. Come the end of September it will be a year since I last saw them. Getting to talk to both of them over the course of two hours it made me realise again how much I do miss not having them around. It's pretty cool that even though we spent a lot of time bickering growing up that they do want to come spend time with their big sister ;) They're also just a lot of fun to be around, and especially in the last 2+ years or so we did become quite close while there was a lot of other family drama going on.
Fingers crossed for the good fares...
@ 10:13 PM EST
Sunday we ventured into the city and met up with Kit, Cherie and Audrey for a fun filled day which happily coincided with PreZ's birthday.
First we saw the movie Simone, with Al Pacino, about a director frustrated by the whims of diva actors who decides to use a computer generated actress who then becomes a massive star, and of course all the comedy that ensues from trying to pretend she exists and keeping the secret of her digital origins a secret... and then trying to prove she is actually fake when things get out of control. A funny movie that pokes fun at actors and audiences.
Afterwards we wandered down to Union Square which was where our evening show was to be held. We had a coffee while waiting for the time to count down to go and see De La Guarda. I really can't explain very well what that show is about, but it's absolutely amazing. It has light and sound effects, water, fog and mist, tribal drumming and singing with throbbing beats, actors on wires flying around the room (think Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider) and audience participation which meant you also got a bit wet, got showered in confetti and balloons and got to dance and jump around and get into things (no seats in the venue), and which meant I had lipstick marks all over my neck from a very friendly actress ;) It's kind of like a tribal dance party in a lot of respects.
The website contains a link "El Show" which gives you a brief runthrough of the entire thing, and that's probably the best impression you can get of it without actually seeing it. It's absolutely amazing and pretty much just assaults your senses. Go see it if you're near NYC and have the chance to, or in Amsterdam for that matter because it's running there until October.
In other news PreZ's phone interview went well and he has a face-to-face interview scheduled for Thursday. Fingers crossed that that goes well.
And one of the rings I won on eBay arrived today, yay! :)
@ 08:52 PM EST
Saturday, September 7, 2002
Lunch on thursday with a few of PreZ's ex-colleagues was enjoyable... sushi, yum! PreZ was even given an old computer by another former employee... which I believe is the box that will eventually become our mail and news server. Newsgroup access again will be good.
Once again our computer room has turned into an obstacle course because of this, computers, cases, parts and tools strewn across the floor all waiting to be assembled, reassembled and stripped for parts. Just when you get some order, it all descends back into chaos.
I had a nice incident with my computer yesterday which meant I had to go and rid it of a lot of nastiness which was a pain in the ass. Dodgy software downloads suck.
Tomorrow is PreZ's birthday, and I don't have a gift. Though, he didn't get me one either, and neither of us is really that fussed about birthdays... so it works out I guess. He'll order stuff he wants to have anyway ;)
Tomorrow also we'll be heading into the city to go see a show with Kit and Cherie. It's some Argentinian show with wirework from what I've heard... Cherie said it was absolutely spectacular, so I'll take her word for it. A full report will be issued tomorrow ;)
@ 01:10 PM EST
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
So my new keyboard and mouse arrived today. Both cordless which is good, though I'd have preferred an optical cordless mouse, but then they don't seem to come along with the ergonomic split keyboards, which is the kb I wanted. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.
I'm still feeling like shite currently. The weekend really took its toll on me. I've been feeling extremely listless for the last few days, I've been sleeping excessive amounts as well. Along with general feeling hot and then cold and headachey and even a tad nauseous and off my food. Fun stuff.
Tomorrow is a lunch with PreZ's ex work colleagues, I'll have to see if I'm actually up to going to that. I'll probably be back in a relatively normal sleeping pattern tonight. Barring a 1 hour nap this afternoon I'm pretty much on schedule for normal sleeping hours, yay! Anyway, we'll see what happens in the morning.
@ 06:58 PM EST
So PreZ had a phone interview this morning, with a company that's direct competition to his former employer. Considering they're going to be setting up a face-to-face interview it sounds promising. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it pans out, because the job market in the computer/programming sector is quite slow at the moment, in very stark contrast to a year and a half ago.
Today an attempt to get back into a normal sleeping pattern. After attaining it on Sunday morning, all was lost after sleeping 15 hours that night after that long day. But, take 2... we'll see how it goes.
Convergence 9 voting ended either at midnight, or it will end at midnight tonight... my voting key never arrived even though I was registered to vote. The bids are between Atlanta and Las Vegas. I'm pretty sure Vegas will walk away with it this year after coming a close second last year, so my lost voting key doesn't bother me as long as the vote doesn't come down to the crunch, which I doubt. It should be interesting to go to in Vegas, that's for sure.
@ 10:22 AM EST
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Sunday meant a trip to Philadelphia with Kit and Cherie. For some insane reason we'd decided we were going to meet up at their place at 11am. Why, I'll never know, but I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was already seeming like a worse idea even before we left the house after both PreZ and I were awake at 5am and inable to fall back asleep. He was fine, I was starting to feel tired just before the alarm was set to go off as 4 hours of sleep is not enough for me.
An hour and 15 minutes to NJ and then some hanging about and lunch and an hour and a half to get to Philly. By around 4 we'd purchased tickets to the Dracula's Ball, the event we were there to go to, and I'd picked up the new Crüxshadows cd Wishfire and the new Roman Dirge and Jhonen Vasquez projects. After this everyone was feeling really drained, all of us having had insufficient sleep. It was bad to the point that we considered trying to refund our tickets, but instead ended up trying to sleep in the parked car. Not comfortable, but I think I managed to pass out for at least 15-30 minutes. Then we spent a while being bored out of our skulls between the period of stores closing and the club opening.
Dracula's Ball itself was entertaining. A large contingent of vampires, being a vampire event and all... and a charming absence of so-called 'cyber' (read: neon/fluro) goth from the scene, something that's rife in NYC. I could have done without the cloak/cape wearing people, especially one guy whose cloak was white and was disturbingly reminiscent of a bedsheet. Met one of the people that frequent the GOTH.NET Forums which was fun.
Unto Ashes and Seraphim Shock were the two bands that performed at the ball. The former having my personal preference. They put on a great show. Seraphim Shock isn't really my thing, I found that a lot of their songs seemed to be too reminiscent of each other and the vocals were fairly indistinguishable when the singer was doing a kind of grunt/scream style of 'singing'. When not trying to be indistinguishable, he didn't sound too bad, but the songs were still too "same". And it kind of leans towards metal-ish sounds for me, kind of ear bleed inducing. Their lead vocalist and their dancer had amazing bodies though [/shallow moment].
We left shortly after Seraphim Shock's set which was around 1am I believe... we were all pretty knackered. Made it back to NJ after which I took over the wheel to head us home. My preference would have been not driving, but I was more awake than PreZ and he requested it. It probably wasn't the safest thing in the world to do, but I prefer to sleep in my own bed if I can help it. I've noticed you get kind of tunnel vision when driving when tired, not very good. But, we made it home safely. I passed out around 5am and then proceeded to sleep a whopping 15 hours till 8pm the next night. To say that the trip to Philly wore me out is an understatement... I've never slept that much, not even when overcoming horrendous jetlags induced from Europe <-> Australia intercontinental flights... and that's saying much considering I usually need a lot of sleep.
All in all a good time, but I'm never ever leaving the house with a long day like that planned when I'm tired as all hell before I set foot out of the door. I'm too old for that shit :P
@ 01:02 PM EST