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February 17, 2004
v2.0
I am currently working on v2.0 of this site. It will be sans frame and will contain an ass load of JavaScript. I will keep you all (well, the one person that probably reads this) up to date on the progress.
I just saw the perfect example of someone who has entirely too much time on their hands. If you are a fan of the original Star Wars Trilogy you need to see this.
Open up a command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd -> OK) and type
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
into the command line. (Linux users can do it in their shell prompt. Mac users should also have some sort of shell or command prompt, but I have no idea where it would be because I don't have a Mac.)
Press Enter and watch the fun.
Star Wars: Episode IV in ASCII.
Posted by amanda at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2004
Well, I did it.
I took the plunge.
Yesterday I bought a new car.
w00t!
It's really cute. A little silver Ford Focus three door hatchback. I will post some pictures as soon as I take some.
It still needs to get the stereo upgraded to a six disc changer - that will hopefully be happening some time later this week.
It also has a nifty alarm on it, though no remote keyless entry. According to a coworker that has the same type of alarm, it can be wired to unlock the doors as well. I will have to inquire about that. It is just annoying having to disarm the alarm then open the door with the key.
It's so cute though. Seriously.
Posted by amanda at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2004
Yesterday was a good day...
...to Feis.
For those of you who don't know, a Feis is an Irish dance competition. Lately I have not been fairing too well in them, but yesterday my luck turned around.
I got 11th in my Slip Jig Special (got a cute little trophy for that one), 5th in my Treble Jig, 2nd in my Slip Jig and 1st in my Hornpipe.
That's right.
I said 1st.
I 0\/\/n3d h0rNp1p3!!1!
It was incredibly nervewracking since I had to dance by myself. We usually dance in pairs, but there was an odd number in my competition and I was last. There was also no one on the other stage either, so it was just me. My first step kicked so much ass. I was right on time, my sound was loud and
That 1st place moves my hornpipe up into the Prizewinner level and it also means that I only have three more dances to move up before I am a preliminary championship dancer.
Oh yeah.
Posted by amanda at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2004
It is cold and rainy outside.
Those are two words rarely used to describe the weather here, but to me it's the perfect weather.
Though the drizzling rain has subsided for the time being, the dark clouds still hang in the sky. The brown haze of pollution is suspended at the horizon, obsuring the mountain range to the south.
In this dreary landscape I just witnessed one of the most depressing sites I can remember seeing.
I was driving back to work from my lunch run. There was the usual mid-day traffic, nothing too thick, but enough to slow things down a bit.
Stopped at a red light, I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the Irish jig that played from my car stereo. The steps for my treble jig ran through my mind, a frequent activity of mine, especially the week before a competition.
As I waited for the light to change, something on the corner caught my attention. Standing under the Church's Chicken sign was an employee in a chicken suit.
It's certainly not a new or unusual thing for fast food places to have their employees wear mascot costumes to try and drive in business. I have seen Sonic Shakes and Taco Bell Tacos among others. They are usually seen at grand openings or special promotions handing out coupons and hugging (or scaring) little children.
This was not the case for this particular guy in a chicken suit. First of all, the suit, which was probably white at one time, was now a particularly nasty shade of dingy. The beak was crooked, smashed in on one side. And if the condition of the chicken suit didn't make the scene depressing enough, the poor sap that was inside it just stood there, occationally shuffling his feet. Simply resigned to his fate - standing on a street corner wearing a nasty chicken suit.
I would have stopped to buy some chicken, if I hadn't already stopped at their direct competition right up the street. My box of chicken strips and mac & cheese sat on the seat next to me, compounding my depression.
I am not usually one to be so affect by these sorts of things. I generally just laugh it off and thank gawd that it's not me in the nasty chicken suit, feeling better about my life. But this time, whether it was the dingy chicken suit or the complete and utter lack of fight left in the employee within, I was deeply saddened.
Sappy. I know. But it really made me stop and think.
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Posted by amanda at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)