I will be changing hosts shortly. After many years of satisfying service and prompt and competent support, my current host is sort of going out of business, at least the business of hosting this site, and all the related sites. I have already made new hosting arrangements, and am in the process of moving. If all goes well, the most that regular readers might notice is a day or two of wonkiness as the new numbers resolve. There are, like, seven or more years of archives here, and I am trying to get them moved intact, but that turns out to be a hell of a job with moveable type. If all goes wrong, I guess, the worst that could happen is that everything would suddenly dissap

Sigur Ros is having a contest. The details are here. It sounds like fun.

Psychological test: when you see this picture, is your first thought, “Sarah Palin”?

• There are two species of giant beaked whale: Baird’s beaked whale and Arnoux’s beaked whale.
• Arnoux’s beaked whale, first described in 1851, was named for the doctor on the ship that transported the skull from New Zealeand to France. Baird’s beaked whale (1883, Bering Sea) is named for Spencer Fullerton Baird, who was once a Secretary of the Smithsonian.
• The only difference between the two species is that one lives in the “north”, the other in the “south”.
• And maybe the Arnoux’s giant beaked whales are a little smaller.
• We’re talking, 12 meters or so for the Arnoux’s, 12-13 for the Baird.
• So we’ll just say, “giant beaked whale” for now.
• Giant beaked whales and moving parts: not a match made in heaven.
• Although: a giant beaked whale is not without a sense of humor. When its car breaks down on its way to have its iBook repaired, it must chuckle.
• When its car is finally repaired and it is driving into town to pick up its electric cello from the post office, and it leaves extra super early because the office opens at 6.30 so, you know, it can take care of this on its way to work and it calculates extra time for getting lost, and then as soon as it is on the freeway there is a gigantic traffic jam because a truck turned over and when it passes the truck it sees it was a double-long truck loaded with dirt, it must chuckle again.
• And when it finally buys a new Macbook because the old one could not be saved, the shop is nice and migrates all its data, and it gets a surprise discount on the Macbook due to some sale, so it buys iLife; and when it gets home and discovers that it already has all the iLife programs pre-installed, it has another chuckle.
• Finally, sitting on the sofa with the new toy, trying out programs, it finds one unfamiliar one that opens up a very ugly picture on the screen that it gradually realizes is 1. a picture of a giant beaked whale 2. of this particular GBW, in fact, and 3. is moving, which it quickly figures out means it must be a live webcam feed. It’s all chuckled out by this point however, and observes itself with horror, vowing to lose a little weight and do something about those jowls, and that hair, Christ.
• This despite the fact that the giant beaked whale is rather slender, with girth less than 50% of length
• Although females are larger than the males, making them preferable as targets, 2/3 of those caught by whalers are males.
• The behavior of Arnoux’s beaked whale is largely a mystery, but scientists figure it is not much different from that of Baird’s beaked whales.

My wife was kitten-sitting. Every day while her cousin was away she went over to her house and fed the kittens, a male kitten and a female kitten. Usually Gamma went with her and sometimes Beta and once I did.
Cute little guys.
When we left, they kept trying to leave with us. So I did the laser pointer thing, you know, first you shine it on the kitten (always keep away from eyes, of course) and say, “Yargh! Sniper!” and then you let them chase the dot around for a while, luring them further and further away until they’re over in the next room going, Shit, where’d the dot go? And you’re outside locking the door.
“Why,” my wife asked me, “do you carry a laser pointer?”
“In case of kittens,” I said.

I went out onto the stoop. It was still dark and the air was cold and full of autumn.
I wondered where summer had gone so suddenly.
Depression flooded me like I was a Coke bottle on the conveyor belt in a bottling plant, and it was Coke.
Classic Coke.
Squirt!
Like that.
It took me by surprise, because it had been so long.

Ehn and depressed are closer in my universe than I had realized.
Thin membrane yadda yadda.
Anyway, darkness, suddenly.

Darkness: Yo, dude. Despair, despair, despair. Suicide, suicide, suicide.
Me: Hello darkness, my old friend.
Darkness: [sputtering] Gah! I… Gah, that song! I… I…
Me: Heh.

Alpha and Gamma and I went for a walk along the creek last night. That always helps.
My dad used to take off for long walks at night when he was in, what, his forties.
I used to wonder what the hell he was doing. In bed, staring at the darkness, I distracted myself with other thoughts to avoid wondering if he were up to No Good.
Thoughts of, I dunno, the Playmate of the Month or something.

Name: Mig
Age: 49
Measurements: 100-100-100 or something.
Likes: Long walks in the dark, kittens and laser pointers.

I had planned another walk along the creek this morning, but it was too dark and I couldn’t be arsed.
Watching the sun come up, though, is a good thing, and that neighbor lady who gets dressed with the light on*; and listening to the traffic grow in volume.

Continue reading →

I saw a list of the 100 most beautiful words in the English language somewhere recently. Some were nice, some seemed like subjective choices that I would not agree with. Based either on sound, meaning or both, or something else, here are a few of mine, off the top of my head. I reserve the right to add more.

• grunion
• payday
• vacation
• hammock
• humus
• mucus
• abide
• tortoise
• apocaplectic
• handcuff

What are yours? (Include English translation if in another language, please).

Continue reading →