Archive: February 2004
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Thursday - February 26, 2004
FMA
I've posted a new Notebook entry about the Federal Marriage Amendment. I imagine some of you won't like it. Sorry about that. I generally avoid things political at joanna.org. But, the President's actions on Tuesday upset me more than I thought they would. It struck me as important to write my thoughts down. If you feel inclined to argue with me about it, I'd rather you held that impulse in check. Thanks.
Saturday - February 21, 2004
Snugs
Some snapshots of the latest addition to Jennie's family:
His name is Snuggles. Can you stand it?
Friday - February 20, 2004
Yankee or Dixie?
So...are you a Yankee or a Dixie? Take the quiz and find out. 'Turns out I'm 70% Dixie. Things that make you go hmmmmm....
UPDATE. The link seems to have died. 'Guess too many people wanted to know if they were Yankee or Dixie. If you didn't find out in the first couple of days I pointed to the quiz, it's too late now! Sorry.
Saturday - February 14, 2004
Valentine's Day snow
(1:30 AM) They've been talking about snow for a couple of days now. Snow in Austin is such a rarity that I tend to ignore the hype when they start talking about possible snow in the weather forecasts. I mean, it never comes true! But, I just saw a weather update showing live shots of snow falling at the capitol! So, I looked out my back window and...lo!...snow. They're saying it'll probably be over in a couple of hours. Here's my question: if it's only gonna snow once every 10 or 15 years, why is it snowing in the middle of the night?? I hope there's something worth taking a picture of when I get up in the morning.
UPDATE (11:30 AM): I couldn't wait. I got dressed and went out about 2:30 and took some photos. They have, for the most part, a very peculiar green glow to them (brought on by the eerie night lighting provided by our homeowner's association). No matter how much color correction I do, there just doesn't seem to be a good way to deliver color photos...so here are some black & white jobbies (click on a photo to see a larger version, then hit the back button to come back here):
I'm glad I got up and went out while it was snowing. There's not a whole lot left now. I wonder how long it's been since there was snow on the ground in Austin on Valentine's Day. Amazing.
Tuesday - February 10, 2004
Bad driver question
Question for the lady in the white minivan behind me at the intersection of Guadalupe and Airport earlier today: why would you pull up behind me at a red light and end up stopped on railroad tracks? Huh? Why? These are active railroad tracks.
Hey, lady!!! Pay attention. Please. The people in the other lane seemed to get it. Why didn't the soccer mom with the two kids in their child safety seats? Sigh...some people.
Friday - February 6, 2004
Happy Birthday + Campus Watch #6
February 6, 2004
Happy Birthday, Lar!! Woo hoo!
. . . .
From today's Campus Watch crime report:
Smoking Tobacco in a Building (Garrison Hall)
A UT professor was found smoking a cigarette in their office, which is a violation of state law. The professor said they were "too busy to step outside." Occurred on 2-5-04 at 9:20 pm.
Gotta love that gender-neutral "their/they" thing going on. One of our professors used to smoke in his office all the time after the smoking-inside ban went into affect. The second he'd light up, my office would start to smell like smoke. It was strange because his office is way down at the other end of the hall. And, you couldn't smell the smoke in any of the other offices in between. There is definitely something weird going on with our ventilation system and it took us several weeks to find the source of the smoke. He denied lighting up until we figured out what was happening and caught him in the act three or four times. Now, he goes outside.
Tuesday - February 3, 2004
Email and fractals
Here's an email message I just received (identifying info deleted):
Subject: Re: joanna.org
From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Date: 3 Feb 2004Hello,
I am creating a web directory, xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx, and would like to include your website Joanna.org under the "health/folk medicine" category. If you'd like to be added, please follow this url:
http://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/add.cgi
We shall put all our efforts into having your link up in less than 24 hours; and if you find our site useful for your visitors, please add a reciprocal link.
Link Back : xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx - A Spirituality Web Directory.
Thank you very much,
James Xxxxxxxx
webmaster
Ummm...excuse me? The "health/folk medicine" category? Yeah, sure...sign me up!
. . . .
And...not to change the subject or anything, but...apparently today's somehow significant in the world of fractals. 'Wonder what the deal is. That's a funky logo Google's got going on today:
Monday - February 2, 2004
Campus Watch #5
From today's Campus Watch crime report:
Driving While License Invalid
A non-UT subject was stopped for driving a brown 1978 Chevrolet 4-door the wrong way on a one-way roadway. The subject was found to have a suspended driver's license. Occurred on 01-30-04 at 8:20 pm.
Hmmmm...you don't suppose "inability to follow simple street signs" led to the license suspension in the first place, do you?