maintainance reports

Still having a Strange Interlude. Have some New Things while I chase this stupid Muse around with a chainsaw:

• New Thing Learned for 22 November: Iceworms eat the algae and bacteria living in the ice with them. Just in case you were wondering, which I was right before they said it. [Source: documentary on Denali?]
  
  
• New Thing Learned for 23 November: Someone actually thought it was a good idea to make a movie about a vampire motorcycle. Let's not all go rushing to add it to our NetFlix queues at once... [Source: Wikipedia.]
  
  
• New Thing Learned for 24 November: Humans grow three distinct sets of kidneys in succession during fetal development. I always knew "Intelligent" Design was a crock... [Source: Body : the complete human : how it grows. how it works, and how to keep it healthy and strong.]
  
  
• New Thing Learned for 25 November: Nisus Writer Express lists "captain hicks" as a possible thesaurus replacement for "six". I'm guessing it's cockney rhyming slang, but it still seems unnecessarily obscure. [Source: this program has an odd turn of mind in general.]
  

got a little Captain in you?

The Strange Interlude appears to have drawn to a close. I'm guessing that it was largely brought on by the professional disappointment of having a knitting pattern I had high hopes for rejected by Knitty.com, and my overall crappy state of mind in general. {*grumblegrumble*ifanybodyneedstogetlaidaroundhere*grumble*} Still very weirded out by the experience. (It's not unlike being possessed, and Captain Jack Harkness isn't exactly the most considerate houseguest I've ever had to put up with. Talk about your free-floating memes...) On some level I'm sure it's a reaction to the general impossibility of doing original work in a climate that's reduced everything to endlessly recycled Product (don't even get me started on the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie) and the lack of a cultural headspace for not wanting to find a Mercedes under the tree, and then again, it could just be that it's November, when the rising curve of "GOD I NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE" intersects with the falling curve of the possibility of actually accomplishing same in this region at this time of the year. Not sure whether Thanksgiving having been a non-starter is really a factor, considering that going to see my relatives generally makes me end up feeling worse, but at least it would have been something Social to complain about... Bah.

Okay, then, back to regular programming:

• New Thing Learned for 26 November: LSD can be lethal to elephants in large enough doses. I guess experimenting further on Cary Grant would have been cruel and unusual. [Source: NewScientist.com news service.]

Oh, and did I mention this?

( mm, blue-haired old lady... )

Fading dreadfully already, alas, but hey, it's Hat Weather. And yes, I've already startled myself pulling off a blue hat in front of a mirror, thank you.