Monday, January 29, 2001
I've known for quite a long time that it's possible to download and use skins and objects for the Sims, but I didn't know how easy it is. I just spent a pleasant 30 minutes at SimFreaks.com downloading a bunch of goodies for my Sims. Heh, I'm just a big kid ;)This is refreshing: Full-sized models who aren't wearing frumpy clothing. This is an awesome picture.
I love posters and I think I've just found the perfect place to buy them. I've always wanted a poster of a lion, so I think I'll buy this one first.
If you want to hear a message from me, click the below button:
I'd love to hear from you: Leave a message in the guestbook! :)
Posted by Joanna @ 01:17 p.m.Friday, January 26, 2001
Institute for Naming Children Humanely. Every expectant parent should look at this site or something like it! I've always known that your name affects how other people view you and even how you view yourself. The site isn't very comprehensive with the names, though: They had my dad's name (David), and my brothers' names (Andrew, Benjamin, Daniel, and Michael); but not mine (Joanna), nor my mom's (Laurie).
[Thanks to Quiddity for the link]Heh, Newt Gingrich does book reviews for Amazon.com
Disturbing Search Requests. I've received so many hits from people looking for "sctief," yet I have no idea what that is, nor can I find out what it is. It seems like a lot of other people have that problem too.
Posted by Joanna @ 02:36 p.m.Thursday, January 25, 2001
This is a great article about feminism and domesticity. I highly agree.
[Link via sadgirlseven]DIY corner shelves. I think I'm going to make some.
I didn't know that Indiana, Arizona and Hawaii don't use Daylight Savings Time, although Indiana's Governor wants to implement it. Many in the state are opposed to that idea -- they agree with these people.
Gene splicing is inherently dangerous. There are so many things that can go wrong, it's scary!
Watch out for Bjorn!
Posted by Joanna @ 02:13 p.m.Wednesday, January 24, 2001
:::Groan::: I could hardly stand to read this; the stupidity of most of these people is mind-boggling.
[Link via Strange Brew]At G.W.'s inauguration: a three-fingered "W". I bet a lot of people feel like giving her the "one-fingered salute"!
[Link via the aaronland weblog]Get free sci-fi books by authors like Eric Flint, David Drake, David Weber, Dave Freer, James C. Glass, and K.D. Wentworth in digital format for free. I love the net! ;)
More fonts: TypeAround.com. Heh, I'll never be able to use all the fonts I've downloaded!
Write101.com: The Definitive Source For Writing on the Web. Sometimes, when I think of all the educational resources available on the web, schools seem obsolete.
Did you know that January is national oatmeal, soup, and hot tea month? Hmm, interesting. Those are some of my favorite foods!
Posted by Joanna @ 02:18 p.m.I just got a new job, and I'm very, very, very happy about it -- but it's a full-time job. Meaning I'm not going to have as much time to update the weblog. As soon as I get into my new routine, my posts will probably become more frequent. I just can't promise that I'll update as often as I normally do; which I realize, isn't as much as many people who have full-time jobs, plus kids and other things they've got to do. Heh, so much for excuses ;)
Eye glasses make the geek? Maybe so, maybe so. My glasses are an amalgamation of the 'cat eye' and the 'butterfly.' I think it's time to get a new pair. Oh, in case you're wondering, I really do need them to see properly.
So, am I the INFP or the INTP? Every time I take this test, I get one of those two. Maybe I have a split personality... ;)
Posted by Joanna @ 12:50 a.m.Monday, January 22, 2001
No, you're eyes aren't deceiving you: I did put up a new layout. The neon pink in the last one was too much. I've retreated to more familiar greens.More links later. Right now I've got to go to bed!
Posted by Joanna @ 03:41 a.m.Saturday, January 20, 2001
It was a beautiful today, the first clear day we've had practically all month. I was just beginning to feel like I was living in Seattle, not south Texas! That's not to say that I didn't appreciate the cooler weather. No, I soak up any coolness I can get: The summers are way too hellish not to appreciate good weather when we have it!IGoUGo.com: Read other's travel journals, or create your own. This is a really great site, very interesting to browse, even if you're not going to be travelling.
Does your mind work differently than 98% of the general population? Do this mind game to find out.
Posted by Joanna @ 06:38 p.m.Friday, January 19, 2001
It's been 10 years since the Gulf War ended -- already! I was only 10 when it was happening, I didn't quite understand it all, but at school, the teacher's had us whipped into a patriotic frenzy. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but we did have a moment of silence every day and sang God Bless The U.S.A. over and over again in music class. Now that I think about it, it seems like some sort of brainwashing, but I live in Texas, the ultimate patriotic state, so I shouldn't expect less.Speaking of God Bless The USA, there's an urband legend about the performer who sang the song, Lee Greenwood. It says that he fled to Canada during the Vietnam war so he wouldn't be drafted.
Who Would Buy That?! I most certainly said that when I saw this!
[Link via Quiddity]The Rejection Collection: The Writer's and Artist's Online Source for Misery, Commiseration, and Inspiration.
I found a font with my name, and it costs $135.99. Too bad it's so plain.
Three of the "Malevolent 7" may be in NYC. Hmm, seems rather outrageous to me, but who knows?
Posted by Joanna @ 12:48 p.m.New layout. Yeah, I know, it's so...pink. Usually I use cool colors, but I thought it was time to do something different. I didn't think I'd like the pink, but I tried it anyway, and turns out that it's growing on me.
More links soon.
Posted by Joanna @ 11:29 a.m.Thursday, January 18, 2001
This has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever found in my referrer stats: Vote Ox.
Posted by Joanna at 9:13 p.mIf I'd known about this site or this one, I wouldn't have named my cat Sam. Of course, I was only eleven when I named him (in 1992), so the sites weren't even in existence then; and I had no idea what the internet was, even though I had access to our local BBS.
Posted by Joanna @ 9:10 a.mThey're making The Lord of The Rings Trilogy into movies; the first of which is going to be released some time this year. I only read the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. I liked it, but I felt that it contained too much gratuitous information. I know, that's part of the whole mythology of the story, but I didn't enjoy it. I think I'll like the movies, though; and I might give the books another try.
Posted by Joanna @ 8:12 a.m.I found the original Good Will Hunting script at Script-o-rama!
[Thanks to PCJM for the link!]Emode has a new test up: Presidental Trivia Challenge. I took it and here are my results:
You got 14 out of 20 right.Me, president? Hah! ;)
You earned a B. Congrats — that means you're pretty sharp! This kind of presidential knowledge either means you were a political science major in school, you have a photographic memory, or you just don't get out much. Just kidding. Seriously, you rank higher than most Americans in this particular subject. Maybe someday YOU can be president!Find a movie to match your mood @ Film Unlimited.
About a year or so ago (maybe it was longer, I can't remember exactly...) I watched Frontline's A Farmer's Wife. It was heartbreaking. If you've seen the documentary and want to know more, Juanita Buschkoetter did a Yahoo! chat on 9/7/99. Read it here.
An interview with Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes. Much of it is about writing, which is great for me, since I'm always saying I'm a writer, yet I often lack (or think I lack) the inspiration to write.
I <3 Gator. No more lost passwords!
There's a doughnut shop right down the street from my house, and early every morning, I can smell the doughnuts cooking: yeasty and sweet, the scent makes me hungry. It's a great way to wake up.
Posted by Joanna @ 06:00 a.m.Saturday, January 13, 2001
I find photography to be endlessly captivating: The Pultizer Prize Photographs, from the Newseum. I remember seeing "Viet Cong Executed" when I was younger; it jolted me -- and still does, every time I see it.'Cause truth is stranger than fiction: This is True
Posted by Joanna @ 2:00 p.m.The author of the above article seems to think that giving animals antibiotics is not harmful to humans. He doesn't even seem to think that it will exacerbate the problem of doctors over-prescribing antibiotics:
"Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is on the rise. The bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae, the cause of most acute ear infections in U.S. children, was susceptible to all penicillins and cephalosporins until 1974. By 1996, 21 percent and 9.3 percent of pneumococci resisted those drugs. "There is a simple cause for this, and it has nothing to do with farm animals. It has everything to do with doctors handing out antibiotics like candy."
It seems to me, that since we eat the meat of animals given too many antibiotics, we would be affected by what is given to them.
Some interesting articles: Two lovers in Pompeii, together as Vesuvius erupted; The World's Oldest Insole. ; The "Iceman" Wasn't a Vegan, After all ; The Vikings May Have Settled in North America Long Before Columbus Arrived.
I absolutely love these t-shirts, especially the "AntiPorn Star" t-shirt! :)
I saw my first episode of Freaky Links last night. I enjoyed it -- it had some funny parts and Ethan Embry is one of my favorite actors -- but it seemed a bit like a cheesey X-Files episode. I normally don't get to watch it, since I work in the evenings, so I don't know if I'll get to watch it again.
I watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure last night. It's an absolute classic! Poor Keanu, I think that's where he started the ubiquitous "Whoa." ;)
From the movie:
Teacher: Who was Noah's wife?
Ted: Joan of Arc?Ok, ok, I know it sounds really stupid, but if you saw the movie, I assure you, you'd be laughing hysterically!
It turns out my real name is Stellar Lemur. Heh.
Serendipitous e-zine find: Splendid.
Posted by Joanna @ 1:17 p.m.Have you ever been Googled? At first, it seemed like a good idea to me, but as I read further into the article, I began to get creeped out. It just doesn't seem to write to investigate someone online and then use that information to try to get them to like you.
I made a little trooper that looks like me (my hair is shorter than that, though) :
[Thanks to sadgirlseven for the link.] At first, the stories at Etiquette Hell were hilarious, but as I read more and more, they started to depress me -- too many egregious manners are just hard to handle.
More links later today...
Posted by Joanna @ 03:53 a.m.Thursday, January 11, 2001
I don't know why I didn't link to this earlier, I knew about it: A lunar eclipse happened on January 9th. Some of the best views were in Europe.More space news from CNN.
Ricky Martin is going to perform at G.W.'s inauguration. So, does that mean he's a Republican?
Amuse-o-matic 2000. LOL!
Uhmm, ok...Robert: The Sexy Orange Monkey
Posted by Joanna @ 12:07 a.m.Wednesday, January 10, 2001
I know there are other Lifehouse fans out there, so if you want to help promote the band, sign up to be on the Official Online Lifehouse team! :)More Lifehouse stuff: download "Hanging By a Moment" for free.
Jason Wade's Top 10 Songs of All Time:
1. "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," U2
2. "Yesterday," the Beatles
3. "Iris," Goo Goo Dolls
4. "Angel," Sarah McLachlan
5. "Beautiful Day," U2
6. "Everything You Want," Vertical Horizon
7. "Nothing's Gonna Change My World," the Beatles
8. "Bridge over Troubled Waters," Simon & Garfunkel
9. "Tiny Dancer," Elton John
10. "Slide," Goo Goo Dolls
Wow, two Goo Goo Dolls songs! I think I'm in love...heh ;)
Posted by Joanna @ 01:28 p.m.Monday, January 8, 2001
The Future No One Wants: eBooks
I'm most definitely not a Luddite; I embrace computer and internet techonology wholeheartedly for the most part, yet I am not to the point where I feel comfortable reading e-books -- not because I'm afraid of the technology, though. I don't like reading any sort of literature that's longer than a short story online. It's just not as comfortable, plus being able to carry a book around is nice. Yes, there are handheld e-book readers, but I wonder if I'd like them. I don't have an extra $500 - 1,000 buy one, though. I do think there is a great potential in e-publishing, I just think it's probably 10 or so years in the future, once all the bugs have been worked out.
[Link Via Arts Journal]The Anomalist: Lots of weird occurrences.
[Link via ghost rocket]
Posted by Joanna @ 10:32 p.m.Sunday, January 7, 2001
I opened my email today to be pleasantly surprised to see that new issues of both Roadrage and *spark-online have been posted. This reminds me: I've got to update my web zine: It's been seriously neglected since June of last year. Why am I such a procrastinator?!I received The Sims as a Christmas gift and am very pleased with it. I've yet to become addicted, unlike so many others, although I do feel it coming on! ;) More Sims stuff: CNN chat transcript with Will Wright, creator of Sim City and The Sims.
[Latter link via Mood Swings]I'm pretty sure most everyone has heard about the British girl whose parents were going to let her get breast implants for her 16th birthday. Well, it turns out that the surgeon who was going to do the operation has decided not to do the surgery. Good for him, but I wonder: Would he have gone through with the surgery if there hadn't been such an outcry from the public and news media?
Word o' the day: anachronism. Try repeating that three times in a row! ;)
Jan always makes me laugh. Go read her journal.
I Would Like A Boy/Girl...
That site makes me feel so wishful/wistful.
Posted by Joanna @ 01:16 p.m.Friday, January 5, 2001
The Free Expression Network: A Guide to Free Speech and the First Amendment.I think I've linked to this before, but it's such an awesome site that I think it deserves it: For all your DIY needs, check out DIYsearch.com
Now you can say "Gillian Anderson is beautiful" in 42 languages/ways. Heh.
Reverse Text. This is pretty silly. You put in any text and it looks for any hidden backwards messages. I put in the text of an email from a Matchbox 20 fanclub that I'm in and reversed it. The results: "A bad son gives a bad name to his father," but it was totally random, I could tell. It's still interesting, anyway.
Bored of your desktop's wallpaper? Amazing-Wallpaper.com
I love personality quizzes, even though most of them are inane.
Fonts, yay! :)
Posted by Joanna @ 12:05 p.m.Thursday, January 4, 2001
Note to self: Must watch Lifehouse on the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn tonight!Arthur C. Clarke on the next thousand years. Very interesting.
Take the "Kill Your Weblog" test to see if your weblog is worthy. Heh.
Posted by Joanna @ 03:15 p.m.Wednesday, January 3, 2001
21st Century Folks: So many Americans are immersed in internet technology (using it on a daily or weekly basis), that it's hard to believe that there are people out there who have no clue what the internet is!
Posted by Joanna @ 1:32 p.m.There have been sequels written to The Wind In The Willows? Why wasn't I aware of this?! The Wind In The Willows was one of my all-time favorite books as a kid and Mr. Toad one of my favorite characters. I'm definitely going to have to check them out, even though they weren't written by the original author: The Willows In Winter and Toad Triumphant
Speaking of favorite childhood books, here are more of mine:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
Little Women
All The Little House on the Prairie Books
Charlotte's Web
James and the Giant Peach
The Chronicles of Narnia
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Secret Garden
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Posted by Joanna @ 1:12 p.m.The idea that my personality can shine through my handwriting is quite intriguing. The official term for handwriting analysis is graphology. I'm not about to pay someone to analyize my handwriting, but I am curious to see if there is any truth to the theory. I pulled this free graphology site, got out my journal and conpared my writing to their samples. The results were surprisingly accurate. I'm still skeptical, though. I guess I view graphology the same way I view astrology: Maybe there is the tinniest bit of truth in there, but I'm not about to sludge through all that muck to find it.
Posted by Joanna @ 01:44 a.m.Tuesday, January 2, 2001
My New Year's Resolutions:I don't make any grandiose resolutions, because I know if I do, I won't be able to accomplish all of them and I'll feel awful at the end of the year. This way, I can actually accomplish my goals and have some breathing room to create some more once I've finished the originals.
- Read More
- As a corollary to the above, start a reading journal / scrapbook
- Learn more about vegetarianism
- Write more and not just in my journal!
Lifehouse is now one of my favorite bands (I'm coming closer and closer to saying that they are my favorite band), and I was extremely happy to find this fan site. It has so much more information than the official site! Found via the aforementioned site: The Orignal Lifehouse Fan Club.
If you need (or want) free web access, I suggest that you use NetZero. I'm switching ISPs and during the interim, I'm using NetZero, and so far I've had no complaints. Just one warning: Sometime this month or next, if you get online for more than fourty hours-a-month, you'll have to pay for the extra hours, though I'm not sure how much.
Yes, we're two days into the new year (and new millennium), but it's not too late to take a look back: What They Said: RS.com's Year in Quotes.
The Fix Express: Get your daily quote, "smile," trivia, word and bit of history.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I just put my portal online: Check it out.
Posted by Joanna @ 08:13 p.m.Monday, January 1, 2001
I have so many links saved; now all I have to do is go back over them, cull out the superfluous and write something intelligible. I've noticed that weblogging hasn't been very helpful to my writing habits: It makes it so easy to write just a few sentences and leave it at that. I've got to do better! I'd like to do more research, write longer entries. It'll just take me a while to get use to it, that's all. I guess I now have another entry for my '01 resolutions: Research 'blog entries more throughly!
Posted By Joanna @ 11:52 p.m.
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* * * eclectica, a weblog © 1999-2001 by Joanna Blackwell. Email me if you want to borrow anything, please.
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