Random Links

Taking half a day off today to get a few things done; blogging may as well be one of them:

Quick reminder: those of you not watching My Shared Items are missing most of my pithy (or perhaps obnoxious, according to taste) commentary on things I encounter on the web.

A few new blogs I'm reading:

• With Words Unsaid and Thoughts Unallowed; Cousine Celeste's freshly minted take on the world. She's witty, pretty, and can make salvadoran pupusas - line up fellas.


• SpyTalk - Despite the name, its surprising what passes for news coverage of 'intelligence' - this one's pretty good so far.


• Amagi Games - Levi Kornelson is energetic, creative, and giving away lots of handy ideas, techniques, and templates for role-playing games.

Finally, this video I ran across - next time you want to play H-O-R-S-E, try it up against these girls:

Auction House Finds & Rock Clambering

So on the 4th of July we went to the local auction held every Friday - lots of people had recommended it and I'd browsed their offerings once or twice online and seen a few cool things. I looked at what would be up for auction and saw a few things I wanted to see in person. Here's what I ended up with:

Mahogany Leather-topped Library Table & Half-moon Mahogany Stool


Close-up of one of several Decanters that came together with some other junk


Prices were pretty decent - I spent less than I expected to - and the auction process itself was pretty fun; I expect I'll be checking it from time to time to pick up some cool furniture and other odds & ends.

Then after H got out of school, we went to nearby Brimham Rocks to clamber around & take pics.



flickr set is here.

Padme

If you've seen Juno, you should see Padme. If you haven't, you should see both.

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Conundrum - Abulafia Random Generators

I made a random generator tonight to help jumpstart fictional situations like short stories or imaginary TV pilots I make up in my head. It poses the main question facing a protagonist.

Conundrum - Abulafia Random Generators:

"When it comes down to it, the choice is between preserving a shred of dignity and keeping your family together, isn't it?

Is it possible to overcome mental illness and still end up forgiving someone?

When a family secret interferes with a solemn promise, which will you follow?"

Work in progress, but I like it so far

Project Rooftop

I don't count myself a Superman fan, but some of these costume redesigns are pretty neat.
Project Rooftop: "Superman: Man of Style Finalists!"

Adirondacks Vacay

Dawn on Moose Lake
Originally uploaded by Foucalt

Vacay photos are up.

I had a job like this once...

The Great Bed Race

Bed Racers 11
Originally uploaded by Foucalt

Today we went to the Great Knaresborough Bed Race one town over. We walked into the town center, had lunch and went to the train station to grab a train for about 10 minutes. Read all about it over on Shells and the Gang, or just look at the pretty pictures

Happy Birthday to my best girl!

You can read all about it over on Shells and the Gang, and there's a flickr set, too.

Sunday Drive

Going through all the stuff I have to move into my new office at home, I came across this shot of the little guy taken by a ride at Chuck E Cheese's before we left Virginia. I just love his expression; just out for a carefree drive through the country with a giant mouse.

Spofforth Castle

This morning's excursion was to Spofforth Castle ( 53.95481, -1.452384 for you Google Earth folks out there). Afterwards we had a picnic in the car (too windy on the field). Flickr set is here.

Thomas and Friends

Today we went a couple of towns over to see Thomas the Tank engine, Percy, and others. The big bouncy Thomas moon bounce (or Bouncy Castle as they're all called here, whether or not they're castles) was a big hit, as you'll see in the flickr set (I love my new camera!)

More details over on M's blog.

New Hotness!!

Week of new things!

- New Nephew! Congrats to the Mechams!
- New Camera! Michelle surprised me with a Canon digital SLR - I LOVE IT! flickr set is here
- New Knives! I got a couple of Calphalon Katana series knives to see if I want more. Guess what: I like them!
- New TV! We don't have our furniture yet, but we got a new TV since we couldn't ship our old one!

I cheated.

I wanted to be Lizzy, and cheated on question 7 to help my cause.

Take the Quiz here!

(via Cousine Marie)

Five word movie reviews

Pleasantville - Interesting idea gone horribly preachy!

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Too much Sam Rockwell butt.

A River Runs Through It - Pretty; plodding. Like fly fishing.

District B13 - Best French Parkour movie, EVER!

One Fine Day - Arguing is not romantic comedy.

Spirited Away - Original, yes, but also overrated.

Transformers - HOT DAMN that was fun!

Key Largo - Hey Bogey: Grow a pair!

The Darjeeling Limited - I could watch this again.

White - Some Europeans cannot be understood.