Insignifica

Great One, OCA Meeting, Green and Black, DLR, Adsense, Friday

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

My lamp and clock. Part of the "Picture a Day" series from earlier this month.

I'm setting up AdSense today, so you're gonna see a few changes. Of all the advertising companies I've looked at, however, Google's seem the least intrusive and most relevant. But feel free to ignore them if you don't like them. If the urge to click should consume you, though, I won't stop you...

I've heard it on my XM radio twice this week, so I'm obliged to comment: David Lee Roth's version of "Just a Gigalo/Ain't Got Nobody" is super catchy, and very well could have my favorite video of the 1980s. Discuss.

If you really like chocolate, and really want a chocolate experience, my I suggest Green and Black's bars. They're pricey, but they're organic, a little friendlier to the world, and they're amazingly good.

If you're into such things, the Next Orange County Atheists meeting will take place Saturday, February 28 (tomorrow) at 6:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine, near John Wayne Airport. In addition to our standard dinner and discussion, new American Atheists president Ed Buckner will be joining us and talking about what's happening with the national group. You can RSVP here.

I'm hoping today's not nearly as busy as the rest of the week has been. It'll be nice just to get my regular work done. I hope the same goes for you. Have a great one!

My Blog, Walking, AdSense, Busy, Tax Refund, Thursday

Oh, hello. Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

More "Aliens are putting signals into my daughter's brain" art from Katie. This time with diapers. Compare with this one.

For the first time in my life, my federal tax refund came in before my state. This could have something to do with California not having to nickels to rub together...

Very busy morning - so much so that it's past noon, and I just remembered I hadn't posted here yet. It's gonna be 7pm before I know it.

Any of you out there use Google AdSense? Insignifica gets many hundreds of hits per day, and I'm wondering it would be a good idea to see what I can do with some generally unobtrusive ads. Thoughts?

Got my walk in this morning, but not much otherwise. Need to find some good upper body workouts, though.

That's all I'm writing today, cause it's my blog. There ya go. Have a great one!

What's Happening, Journalism, Workouts, Two Bits, Pull The Plug, Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Light in my closet. There's a lot of neat composition in the larger version.

How cute - Ray Comfort (you may have seen his Youtube idocy "proving" the existance of God via the phallic shape of the banana, or perhaps his "Dinner with 40 Atheists, staring me) put up a billboard in Los Angeles calling for Christians to "pull the plug on atheism". I'm not sure what that even means, but have fun with that

I got a haircut (and shaved) this morning. Feelin' fine.

Did quite a bit of working out yesterday, and took it easier this morning (had to get a haircut, after all). Still liking where I'm at. My new goal is to be sub 200 by April 1. Also, to get a scale.

Speaking to a coworker's journalism class tonight - looking forward to it. I have what I consider to be one of the more interesting non-reporter jobs in journalism.

What's happening today, my friends?

Beads, Roomba, Used Electronics, Workout, Tofu Fighting, Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras!

Picture of the day!

Jen wins the "most beads" award from this weekend's party.

Speaking of Mardi Gras, my king cake pictures and recipe are up at Tofu Fighting.

Very good work out this morning - did my 1.4 miles and some strength and cardio at home. I'm getting my el cheapo Costco 24 Hour Fitness membership today, though I'm going to try to convince LA Fitness to give me the same deal (the nearest 24 Hour Fitness is 2+ miles away. The nearest LA Fitness is 1000 feet away). We'll see what works.

So, I have some tax refund money. If you've got a used (but still usable) LCD or Plasma TV, small 4MP+ digital camera, car-mountable GPS dealy, or iPhone that you'd like to sell, let me know.

Today's "Free Chipotle" day, 'cause they're a good neighborhood business, and wants to give everyone who works here a burrito. Thanks, awesome burrito guys!

Roomba's still mostly retarded, though I won't know how well he's done at home until I check in at lunch. But while I was there, he spent a lot of time spinning in place and trying to back up. Poor little guy.

Have a great Mardi Gras, friends - I'll throw some beads your way!

This Week, Oscars, Not Enough Sleep, Baby Carter, Good Weekend, Birthday

Good day! Holy Moly it's Chris's birthday!

Picture of the day!

Baby in the king cake. You simply must click here for detailed picture goodness.

Fantastic weekend with friends, great food, and some nice down time yesterday. There'll be a couple of TofuFighting posts later today or tomorrow.

Congrats to Jen and Chris on the birth of their son, Carter. He's a good lookin' boy.

Not enough sleep last night, and it was entirely my fault. I'm generally well rested, and I'm sure I can find enough caffeine to get me through the day.

I watched the Oscars yesterday, and was entertained. I'm not usually one for awards shows, but it was on. I especially enjoyed the "five former winners come out together and talk about the nominees" thing. It was classy.

What's going on this week, folks?

Great Weekend, 100%, Kiwi Allergy, King Cake, Hello

Hello my friends, and welcome to the end of the work week!

Picture of the day!

Mini Peanut Butter cupcake, used in my Tofu Fighting entry here.

Baking tonight will include a King Cake for Mardi Gras. I'm looking forward to making it.

I remembered this morning how very, very allergic to kiwi fruit I am. But it's so delicious! It makes my hands break out, though I have to eat a lot of it before my mouth goes numb. I think I just need to be careful.

After 2 1/2 weeks, I can say that today, I feel 100%. The last week's been in the 90% range, but yesterday and today have been pretty much normal. I'm just hoping the other colds that people have right now are the same I had.

It's getting late - that's gonna be it for today. I hope everyone out there has a great weekend!

All I Got, TofuFighting.com, Gym Membership, Church Suicide, Ryan's Birthday

Happy Thursday, and happy birthday to Ryan!

Picture of the day!

Ryan, at my birthday in 2003.

News: Man kills self at Crystal Cathedral. This isn't the first suicide there, either. A few commenter on the site have this question: If God exists, he either a) didn't care about the suicide (since he could have stopped it, and didn't), b) wanted it to happen, or c) was powerless to stop it (these options are true anytime anything happens, obviously, but you'd think He might have something to say about a suicide in a church). What do you think, readers? Am I missing an option?

With some of my tax monies, I'm considering a gym membership again. There's an LA Fitness across the street from my house (and several others around), so that'd be most convenient. But as I expected, their website doesn't list plans, prices or specials, and I remember my monthly dues were around $25 or $30 two years ago. 24 Hour Fitness, however, has a deal going with Costco for a 2 year, $300 membership - only $12.50 a month. Problem there is that the nearest one is a drive away. I'm hoping I can convince LA Fitness to give me the 24 Hour Fitness price, but I'm thinking that's not gonna happen.

I hope to have a TofuFighting.com post up later today.

What's happening with you, my friends? That's all I got.

Beautiful Day, Cheerios, Taxes, Feelin' Fine, Hump

Hump!

Picture of the day!

Homemade pizza.

Feelin' fine this morning - woke up rested, got the kid off to daycare, walked my 1.4 miles, made a tasty breakfast, and now I'm at work.

The tax man was very kind of me - I was worried because my unique circumstances, but the automatic withholdings were more than enough. Tax tip of the day: You can't claim gambling losses unless you also have gambling winnings. So, win lots of money. It helped me.

I'm not that big on cereal, but I know enough to tell that you Honey Nut Cheerios (or fake Cheerios, if you're buying in bulk) kick the ass of the "regular" style. There is a 45 calorie difference per serving, and ever sneaky, General Mills calls 1 cup a "serving" of Cheerios, while it calls 3/4 cup a "serving" of Honey Nut. This makes the calories look very similar (within 10) if you're just scanning the nutritional info.

It's a beautiful day out there - sunny and clear, and it's gonna be that way for a while. Get out and enjoy it!

Great One, Google Reader, Nigeria, Snarky Vegetarian, Rainy, Birthdays

Happy Tuesday, friends! Happy birthday to Nhan and Colleen today!

Picture of the day!

Mushrooms.

Quite rainy this morning, but that should hopefully move on by afternoon. The weather and a later-than-usual wake-up means no running today (well, it would have been a brisk walk, but I didn't get out at all). I'm going to see about some smallish weights to keep at work for downtime - I think that'd be useful.

If you'll allow me to get my snark on, I just love it when I ask about vegetarian options at a big lunch, and get a very enthusiastic "Yes! We'll have green salad and pasta salad!". Meanwhile, I just about guarantee that there'll be one or two trays of meaty sandwiches left uneaten.

Still getting the occasional cell phone call from Nigeria. It's becoming annoying.

I know I'm about 8 years late to the trend, but Google Reader has finally made collecting my feeds into one place useful. If you prefer reading in your reader, my feel is here.

That's that, today. Have a great one!

Fantastic Day, Just Work, Pitchers and Catchers, Normal, Productive Weekend, Federal Holidays, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her dad.

I'm at work. As is the case with many people, I don't have any federal holidays off between New Years Day and Memorial Day - a span of almost 6 months. At least I'm employed - that's always nice.

I had a very productive weekend (especially Sunday) - got my room and office cleaned and most of my paperwork filed, got all my tax documents together for my appointment tomorrow, made a tasty stuffed shell with mushroom cream sauce for Valentine's, made homemade pizza last night, cleaned the kitchen and got the living room well straighten. Feelin' good about that.

Speaking of feeling good, Yesterday was the most "normal" I've felt in about 3 weeks. As I say that, I'm sniffly again, but that could be the weather playing havoc with my sinuses. I'd like to see what a few days of blue skies brings to my nose and head.

Pitchers and catchers have reported. Happy times! We'll have games to watch in a few more weeks.

I love Ubuntu, and think it's pretty darn awesome. But you know, I think I should be able to plug in my Canon printer, and have it Just Work. Alas, mine's not easily supported, and apparently requires all sorts of under-the-hood tinkering. Sigh. At least I don't print much.

No run or walk today, cause it's all rainy and such. I plan on starting up again tomorrow. Have a fantastic day!

Angry?, Pet Peeve, Cupcakes, Roomba, Valentine's Day, Weigh-In, Friday The 13th

Happy Friday the 13th!

Picture of the day!

Katie at the SD Zoo last weekend. Easily one of my favorite pictures ever.

No weigh-in this week, I'm still sick and the scale's still broken. Hoping to remedy both situations soon.

I went to Albertson's yesterday, and I'm pretty sure Cupid came in and threw up all over the place - everything was "pick up and go" sweets, flowers, and balloons. Do whatever you'd like for Valentine's day, but this kind of thing makes me stabby. Also, if you judge someone based on a GIFT they give you (or if you require a "gift" of a certain magnitude), then you're probably in a loveless sham of a relationship. Just letting you know.

I pulled Roomba out this morning to see if he'd fixed himself, and low and behold, he did - for about 10 minutes. Then he went back to his "OMG I'M GONNA FALL, I BETTER BACK UP!" routine, and didn't get out of it. I could reboot him and he'd be fine until he touched something with a bumper, at which point he'd mess up, again. It may be fixable - but I don't think it'll be easy.

There are still a few cupcakes here, if anyone wants one.

Pet peeve: People who write hundreds of characters in the Subject line of their emails, but nothing in the body. Seriously.

Wow, this is an angry day of blogging! I don't feel angry. I'm actually pretty happy it's Friday, and feeling better than yesterday. I'll leave you with that. Have a great weekend!

Busy Thursday, Feeling Better, Cupcakes, Geekery 6000, Darwin, Lincoln

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln!

Picture of the day!

My daughter, being dragged around the floor by The Girlfriend.

Today's Abe Lincoln AND Charles Darwin's 200th birthdays. For those of us who like nice round numbers, that's pretty cool. That said, I'm not nearly the Darwin "fan" that a lot of Atheists are - he had some great breakthroughs, but to focus on him, and equate all of evolutionary theory with him is to ignore 150 years of amazing science that's been done since. There was an intersting piece on that subject in the NYT this week.

More math geekery: If you add up all the posts before this one (2301) with all the comments (3699), you get an even 6000. Just sayin'.

Made mini peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting last night. They're pretty good. If you'd like one, come get one. Look for a post later today at TofuFighting.com with more.

Feeling better still today. I may be back to normal sometime in the middle of next week.

Thursday's my busy day, so I'll get to it. Have a great one!

Thanks, God FAQ, Workaholicism, Roomba, Better, Hump

It's Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Zoo critters.

Feeling better. Still congested, but it's more of an annoyance right now than anything else. Except for the whole "not being able to breathe well" part. I might have to take it easy this weekend.

I'm really suffering without my Roomba working right. I don't know if it's fixable, but I'm not in the market to buy a new one, yet. It does such a better job than I can with a vacuum, though. Anyone have a robot I can borrow?

I'm reading through various discussions online about being a workaholic, and man, I'm glad I don't have the need to desire to kill myself for more. Don't get me wrong - I work hard while I'm here, and I'm willing to go the extra mile, but I can't imagine 80 hour weeks and absurd workloads just for the potential of advancement. Be happy with what you have, and be glad when you have more.

Check out the official God F.A.Q.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Have a Great One, Lunch Thief Deterrent, White Bentley Chase, Recovery, Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Some weeds in my backyard last February. Nothing nearly as cool back there this year.

I'm having a hard time shaking this cold. In general I feel much better, but now I'm so gunked up that I can't do things like climb stairs or jog, because I'm not getting as much oxygen. I hope for a miraculous recovery today and tomorrow.

So there was a police chase in LA last night, in which a white Bentley led police on a slow-speed circle through Los Angeles. Ultimately, it ended sadly, but during the chase, it was fascinating to see how Twitter lit up with others watching too (I turned off Heroes, in fact, because I saw @wilw talking about it first). In very short order it because one of the most talked about things on the network, and someone registered and starting updating @whitebentley (now with more than 700 followers), and did a pretty funny job (until it turned sad). I'm loving this new fangled technology, folks!

Generic question: Is it wrong to "spike" a lunch you bring from home with something disgusting if people have been stealing it at work? Nothing poisonous, just something like dog food, over-spiced or hot-sauced tuna or egg salad, PB & anchovy paste - anything that'll make them think twice before doing it again. This is based on a discussion I've been having - no one's stealing my lunch.

That's all for today. Have a great one!

Monday Ho, WTF Australia fires, Mardi Gras, Not 100%, Hail, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Trees and Benches.

It got all haily on me on my way to work this morning - big drops of rain, too. Hopefully we get a couple days of better weather after this.

Still not 100%, but getting better - if my head clears today, I'll be much better. This cold has provided the worst sinus-related headaches I've ever had. I'm very much looking forward to it being over with.

I realized this weekend that Mardi Gras is upon us. I'd be remiss if I didn't have a party. Remiss!

A "WTF" question: Australia's having some wicked wildfires right now, and they've killed 170 people. Now, I know wildfires - Socal is famous for them - and in cramped suburban neighborhoods, often with less than an hour notice, we have almost NO deaths. In dozens of fires, thousands of homes, tens of thousands of acres burned - just a small handful of deaths. What is it that's causing so many people in these fires to die?

I'll leave you with that. Monday ho!

What Should I Do, Chipotle, Gas, Sick, APAW, Friday

It's Friday!

Picture of the day!

Yosemite. Click through to really appreciate the number and density of the trees.

A Pound A Week - Weekly Weigh-In: ?lbs
Weight lost this week: ?lbs
Total weight lost: 3.6lbs

Scale's broken. My wake-up weigh in was 207.6, which then went up to 208.4 (with AND without my shirt on) after dropping off Katie (but before breakfast), then up to 209. I'm gonna have to get a new one, cause while I was sick this week and didn't work out, I'm pretty sure I didn't gain 1.4lbs over the course of the morning, without eating...

Still sick, but instead of sore throat and aches and pains, it's almost all sinus and nasal now. I'm blaming the weather as well as the illness.

Needing gas this morning, I was thrilled to find my cheap Arco station had it for $2.05 - a good $0.10 less than most everywhere else. I was shocked to see that the station near my house that's usually within a few cents of my Arco was selling at $2.36 - 17% higher. Yikes.

Mmm. New Chipotle opens today near my house - no more driving two miles. Not only that, it's on my way home from work. Rock on.

What's happening this weekend, friends? Other than the rain, that is. Sunday should be nice, and I have the day free. What should I do?

Thursday, Prop 8 Donors, Getting Better, Pictures, Good Day

Good day, friends and neighbors!

Picture of the day!

Zzyzx. 126 points on the Triple Word Score, assuming you're playing the fantasy Scrabble with three "z"s.

Speaking of pictures, my "Picture a Day" project on Flickr's still progressing, though I've started to change it up. Every picture in January featured me - even I was getting tired of my ugly mug - so February's shots are featuring just my house. But I'm already kinda bored with it. I think I just need to get creative, get in the water heater closet, etc.

Slowly getting better, as is the Girlfriend. They're going to the SD Zoo this Sunday, so hopefully everyone will be better by then. I have the whole do free, so likewise for me.

In case you're curious, here's a prop 8 donor database to dig through. See who supported it so you can boycott, or whatever, and see who opposed it so you can thank them personally.

That's Thursday for ya. What's happening?

Busy, TofuFighting, Busy, Stimator, Sick, Hump

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Jesus at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, December 2008.

Still under the weather, but marginally better today. Sad that I'll probably have a full week without any meaningful exercise. Alas, the only person I'm competing with me, so that's always nice.

So there's this site making the rounds that's supposed to help estimate what your domain is worth. To show how useless it is, it gave the 6-character, "could be used for porn" name I'm squatting on a rating of $92, while it gave insignifica.org (a personal blog with a .org and 11 characters) a rating of $9,187. Weird and dumb.

Busy day here at work - I'm really starting to fall into all the responsibilities I had no idea I'd be in charge of a few months ago. I'm still shocked at actually being the person responsible for decisions here - it's like I'm a grown up or something.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out my new food blog, TofuFighting.com. There won't be daily posts like there are here, but I hope to keep it current.

Speaking of busy, that's all for today!

Happy Trails, Retarded Roomba, TofuFighting.com Up, Sick, Tuesday

It's Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Killer lime.

I'm sick. I'm hoping it's what Katie had, and it would explain a lot if it was. The Girlfriend's got it too. Luckily, Katie's feeling better. I'm hoping I get over this faster than it's taken her.

While it's not complete, I'm happy to announce that TofuFighting.com is up and running, and has some content. I installed the open source Movable Type 4.23, and boy, is it different from the MT 2.x I've been using. I never bothered to update because I liked the functionality, but I wanted to try something new for this blog. It's not that different from Wordpress I had used for the LAV blog, and I'm savvy, so I'm up and running. Check it out!

My Roomba's gone retarded on me - all its sensors seem to be functioning properly, but it'll dart around, make sharp turns, and then get "stuck" like it thinks there's a ledge nearby. Oddly enough, its issues seem timed, not dependent on where it actually is. Might have to get a new one.

That's all I'm typin' here today, gonna work on the food blog. Happy trails!

Have A Great Day, "Wasted" Time, Poker, Workouts, Cough, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Cute baby.

Katie continues to recover. She's still got a cough, but those tend to linger. I now may have what she had, so that's great. At least the drugs seem to help.

No run today, though I weighed in yesterday and wasn't concerned. Assuming I don't get sick (and that's a big assumption at this point), I'd like to step up my workouts a bit this week.

Finally, after coming close in both online and live tournaments, I did well at the poker table last night. Placed 5th out of 180, turning $12 into $128.70. Not bad for two hours of my time.

I had most of the day to myself yesterday, "wasting" it in front of the computer, and I enjoyed it very much. I did miss the Superbowl. Oh well. That said, I'm wondering how I spent all my free time before this baby - I had TONS of it!

As often happens, I write up everything above, then forget to post until the afternoon. Oh well. Have a great day!