May 31, 2003
if i were still
an Everquest enchanter named Nyxa, here is what I would look like (although she is two steps from that snakey stick):
Thanks for the diversion, Ancarett...I love silly things like this.
Posted by crystallyn at 08:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 30, 2003
maiden?
Every day I have the fortune to look out my office window on the Friendship of Salem, a replica of a 1797 sailing vessel which they have been slowly building over the last ten months that I've been there (actually, they brought it to Salem in 1998 and have been building on it ever since, even after it was hit by lightning at one point). Every day I see this lovely image...
Today, for some reason that we couldn't figure out, they decided to sail it away. Well, not exactly sail it because not all the sails are rigged yet (only the lower tier are installed as you can sort of see from the pictures).
It was rather odd...they have been slowly adding the rest of the masts, the crossbeams, the rigging and in recent weeks the sails. Not all the sails were even on the ship yet. They sailed the one lifeboat/dinghy up to it, someone climbed up the ladder...they pulled the ladder and the boat up and that was the majority of the fanfare.
Read on for...
There were SOME passengers, but not really very many. A handful of people. There wasn't any press, which I thought was odd for the maiden voyage of such an amazing vessel. The wimpy coast guard ship played tugboat (which is odd since there is an actual little tugboat tied up in the docks nearby).
Finally they pulled away...you can sort of see the figurehead in one of the pictures...a woman in blue with a bouquet of flowers.
I was so surprised that they didn't wait till all the sails were on it before they sailed it away. It wasn't back at the dock when I left work at 5PM, so it must be staying somewhere for the weekend--maybe Marblehead or Boston. Ignore the factory in the background...I try to...
I scoured the web looking for news on why she was sailing but nothing. There wasn't any press, there was no fanfare except that she was sporting a strange amount of flags (with symbols that, for the most part, had no meaning for me). Human Resources even called the chamber of commerce...they had no clue.
I feel so lucky though, to be able to be watching the progress of her building...and to be there when they finally moved her out of the bay. She's a big ship and very beautiful. I should have taken a picture of the empty dock...everything looks rather forlorn now.
Posted by crystallyn at 11:29 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 29, 2003
today
I saw:
A father teaching his little boy (must have been under five years) how to ride a bike in a park's parking lot.
A black shoe left near the old Salem jail on a stairway. I want to take a picture of it.
A tennis shoe on the on-ramp from 128S to 93S. Why do people lose shoes on the highway????
A man on the tip top of the mast of a sailboat, fixing a little flag. He made me dizzy watching.
Another person smoking, talking on her cell-phone and driving very slow in the fast lane. My favorite kind of person.
A pair of brilliant red cardinals flitting through the trees around our house.
I heard:
A woman in the apartments behind our house, singing, very loudly, VERY horribly, for at least a couple of hours. As Joe said...she's the type of woman who would try to get onto American Idol because she thinks she's got talent...and Simon would tell her she's "quite possibly the worst singer I've ever heard."
Posted by crystallyn at 09:28 PM | TrackBack
May 27, 2003
anthony hopkins, bad dreams and gollum as a rapstar
This weekend, Joe and I watched Red Dragon, the pre-quel to Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ed Norton, Ralph Fiennes and Harvey Keitel. Wasn't too bad a movie...it's just a shame that it had to follow the massive bomb, Hannibal, which was arguably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'll never be able to look at Ray Liota and not think about eating his brain for lunch.
Oddly enough, we watched that on Saturday night and last night I had a dream that I was with a group trying to hunt down Anthony Hopkins in a big old hotel (it was more of a mansion than a hotel), and one of my co-workers found him in a room upstairs. She ran out hysterically, saying that he was up on the ceiling and that he was going to kill her. She wouldn't stop, even though I had the distinct feeling that he wouldn't have killed her if she could have just calmed down a bit. Very strange.
That dream was on the heels of another dream in which I was moving into a very tiny, dark apartment with twisty passageways into each room (the main entrance was off of a dorm hallway and it was so small I called it a rabbit hole...you had to crawl into it). The movers were supposed to come at 1:30AM and so we got up at 1:20, turned on the lights and the porchlights, but the movers never came! The next day I had to try and remember which movers we used...I couldn't remember and they had all our furniture.
Sunday we picked up the boxed DVD set for The Fellowship of the Ring and watched the long version for the first time. It was so much better, including extra scenes which I felt were very crucial to the movie (the gifts from Galadriel, for example). Thanks to a tip from James, I know that I should wait till the long version of Two Towers comes out in November, rather than buying it in August.
Somehow, in the course of some conversation I had this weekend (Joe is a huge Built to Spill fan and he was surprised to find out they were from Boise--I assured him, that, like me, some good things do come from there), I had a long memory of someone that I used to know and always wondered what happened to. Every so often I look for him online and it turns out he's finally got a web presence (and a two year old son!! congrats!). Ned was one of the more talented people I used to know and it looks like probably still is.
It was sort of timely that in perusing his site I discovered this little tidbit--
Gollum going a bit nutty with one of his orc buddies.
This is great for a serious laugh. I should post this to the geek Everquest boards I used to go to, but I think I'll let Sean/Corwin or Shanna/Ciado do it for me.
Posted by crystallyn at 06:24 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 24, 2003
lots of nature
spent the evening at Tapeo...mmm. Lots of sangria. Lots of tapas. Mmm. The goat cheese, honey and figs were the best part.
But back to earlier today at the Harvard Museum of Natural History...
They had a LOT of dinosaur bones but for some reason I was more amazed by these whale pictures...I mean, check them out! Joe is!
This was a funny pygmy whale, about four feet long:
They had cases and cases of mothball smelling stuffed animals from all the continents. It was amazing to see them all...that hummingbird case in the previous post was just a small sample.
Keep going to see more pictures...
They also had many jars of formaldahyde preserved creatures...fish, tapeworms, frogs, and more. Honestly, it was pretty damn cool. I didn't even really notice the million kids running around because I was so mesmerized.
I took lots of pictures. The worst part is that in looking back, I wish I had paid a bit more attention to WHAT I was taking pictures of.
For example, here is this great mirror picture I took but I am not entirely sure what the animal it is that I took the picture of...I just plumb forgot!
And this mirror picture...
But the best? The glass flowers. As the site says, "This unique collection of over 3,000 models was created by the glass artisans, Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph. The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and represents more than 830 plant species."
I had heard about them for years but hadn't seen them. I walked in and after ten minutes I think Joe was ready to leave me there...I think I was driving him crazy saying, "These can't be glass! I can't believe they are glass!" But they were. I tried to take some pictures but they really don't do them justice.
This place was a botanist's dream as far as being able to look at the plants, their cross-sections, reproductive systems, etc. But for the rest of us...it was an exercise in pure admiration for the handiwork of the Blaschkas.
Here are some...ALL glass and trust me, you couldn't tell in person, so don't feel bad if you can't tell in the pictures.
Hurry...before now and the end of May, if you live in New England and have a Fleet card, you can go to this and other area museums for free!
Posted by crystallyn at 10:58 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
harvard museum of natural history
We explored the Harvard Museum of Natural History today...I can't believe I have never been there before. Only a short time to post a quick picture of one of the hummingbird display...
I'll post some of the pictures of the glass flowers tomorrow...it's shocking, the beauty and exquisite detail of the flower specimens there, all in glass. I also managed to get a couple neat pictures for the mirror project.
Posted by crystallyn at 05:48 PM | TrackBack
May 23, 2003
bizarre search words
a great thing about being on BlogOMania for my host is that it comes with this kickass control panel with every web-related feature you can imagine, including several web email options (with calendar, tasks, addressbook and more!!), web ftp capability and several different types of super comprehensive web stats.
I discovered some very odd search words were taking people to my site:
huge zit pictures
poems about crushes
lost pounds food poisoning
wench
you wanna manage a hedge fund?
flip your eye lids
and several Everquest related types of searches...
Posted by crystallyn at 09:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
friday five
1. What brand of toothpaste do you use?
I prefer Crest but Joe hates it and so Colgate is what we get. Usually some whitening, tartar control kind but I think the whitening is worthless.
2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer?
I like the Cottonelle but Joe (see how this works? hehe) prefers Scott so that if he cuts himself shaving he is using the brand with the least amount of lint. Plus it IS inexpensive.
3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear?
Whatever ends up looking good! I have Steve Madden, Nine West...the boots I have on at the moment are Covington. I just don't end up keeping up with the brands...I wouldn't do well on Sex In the City.
4. What brand of soda do you drink?
Joe won't let me drink soda unless I have a sore throat... No really, he's NOT that restrictive! He just wants what is best for me and soda isn't in that category. I love regular Coke but never drink it. Diet Coke here and there and Sprite when I'm sick. I do drink more Ginger Ale these days than I have in my past.
5. What brand of gum do you chew?
I don't chew gum that often, but probably Wrigleys. My cousin, Rhett, taught me to chew gum when I was about 5. We were at his older sister, Marnie's, ballet recital on some afternoon and he had a pack of a brand new type of gum, Bubblicious. We chomped and chewed and made lots of LOUD bubbles. He showed me how to crack my gum. I remember that people were really angry with us for being loud and that we got yelled at. Marnie was really upset that we were rude during her recital.
Posted by crystallyn at 07:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 22, 2003
sooo what do you think?
made the switch to Moveable Type! I had a bit of trouble in the end and one of the MT support staff, Brenna, was super responsive! I didn't expect real-time help and I got it! If any of you are considering a switch to MT and are worried about all the technical stuff, it's definitely worth the $40 for them to help you with the install.
Overall it's more complex but the flexibility, scalability and the features make it worlds above Blogger. I couldn't figure out how to import my old Blogger entries though and in the end I figured that I would just link to the archives. I don't really need to categorize them and all that.
Now to switch over poetry.crystallyn.com
Posted by crystallyn at 08:02 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
May 21, 2003
two things
well, maybe three...or four.
Going to move over to Moveable Type from Blogger...having them do it (I got freaked out thinking about how I could mess it all up), so unsure when it will take place--hopefully in the next day or so.
Thanks James for getting me hooked on Blogshares. I went from $500 to $192,000 in less than a week. Joe thinks I'm obsessed. Now it's getting to be too cumbersome and time consuming to trade, however.
Clay better win tonight, that's all I can say.
Joe put his name into the Googlism and it had WAY better things to say...
joe is my interactive bra
joe is love
joe is a good man
joe is the hottest man alive
joe is rad
joe is appearing with his own band
joe is so getting laid tonight !!!
joe is interrogated at the police station
joe is having a drink in his local bar when in walks this beautiful woman
joe is the devil
joe is your pwner
joe is not happy about being left behind in episode 101
joe is not an expert in voodoo and he promises to be nice to his followers
joe is controlling transmission
joe is a highly secret paramilitary organization whose job is to stop the diabolic organization of cobra from taking over the world
joe is nasty
joe is hurtled to purgatory
joe is a priest
joe is no ordinary gorilla
joe is so smart
joe is enjoying a lot of success with his latest album
joe is truly a beer fanatic
joe is working to ensure that northwest florida becomes a place that is as unique
joe is dancing in the streets
joe is not stoned
joe is gorgeous
joe is awesome
joe is a sick monkey
joe is founder and president of hypnotic marketing
Posted by crystallyn at 10:24 PM
crystal is
according to Googlism:
crystal is highest quality of over 30% lead
crystal is a public health consultancy group
crystal is our specialty
crystal is crucial
crystal is one kind of piezoelectric material
crystal is currently a hot item nationally
crystal is approximately 10 cm high
crystal is stolen
crystal is cheap !!!
crystal is golden nintendo
crystal is forever
crystal is a fourth ``state'' that certain kinds of matter can enter into under the right conditions
crystal is at heart a collector
crystal is transparent
crystal is truly magnificent
crystal is a nice point with a centrally located point and an isis face
crystal is concentrated energy
crystal is a reward in itself
crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality
crystal is a fragrance free stone that neutralizes odor causing bacteria for 24 hours
crystal is manufactured in large sheets up to 3" thick
crystal is sent to you for continued healing
crystal is bound with jute twine
crystal is making tremendous adjustments within your energy field
crystal is found almost everywhere you see white quartz rock on the ground
crystal is president and chief
crystal is from brazil and arkansas
crystal is pervasive in the market with 85% of fortune 1000 (wow I would like that)
crystal is the crystal of death or outcasting
crystal is a tabby and hosts soft green tourmalines
crystal is one of the largest weyrs on pern (any Anne McCaffery fans out there?)
crystal is amazing
crystal is priced at $400
Posted by crystallyn at 03:23 PM
May 20, 2003
if ruben wins i'll be
pissed. Joe got me watching American Idol...he's been very sucked into it. Ruben is good, but he isn't better than the others. The John Lennon "Imagine" cover that he did was just NOT good...sorry, but that's the truth of it. Come on, let the gay guy win...he's much much better.
The amazing thing is that there are thousands of clueless teenage girls who idolize him...my gaydar is like a siren when I see that guy. I mean, come on...his favorite male singer is Peter Cetera???
Posted by crystallyn at 03:20 PM
May 19, 2003
so we REALLY scored
what I didn't mention about the typewriter bracelet is that it cost $40 and the really nice man that was there threw one in for Paulette for being such a nice friend to get it for me for my birthday. So today, in looking at Reusablog, I discover this link to the same sorts of bracelets. We made out like bandits!
Posted by crystallyn at 03:01 PM
May 17, 2003
we scored
at Brimfield. Now we are exhausted, but we came home with a few treasures. I spent nearly $70 on postcards, sigh. I wish my scanner were hooked up! Paulette got me a cool, funky bracelet for my birthday (it's in a couple weeks) made by this guy from Tacoma, WA (we called it Tacky-Aroma when I lived in Seattle). He collects keys from old typewriters and makes bracelets out of them.
We also picked up a great plant stand for the balcony as well as some old milk bottles for me to use as flower vases. For the kitchen, we acquired a nifty print of the incubation of a chicken egg that had been hand colored by an artist. You can't see it well here, but the colors are beautiful and it's just so odd that we had to have it.
The artist said that she found it wonderful that Joe and I liked the same art (well, from what she saw!). She said that most couples would come by and one of them would love the prints and the significant other would hate them. Speaking of art, we came across a guy selling vintage posters. They were in excellent condition and the art was unusual and interesting. Some of them were quite beautiful. I wish we could have afforded the ones that we liked...this one I absolutely loved, from a series of public service announcements on working and behaving better...
and this one, which I found on the website, but didn't see at the show:
There were also many many strange and odd things, but I think that this was one of the strangest:
Tiles made on the thighs of a woman. I can hear the men saying YEEHAW!
Posted by crystallyn at 02:57 PM