| Virgin: Main Class Select is actually a pretty good deal |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|05:29 pm] |
So on Virgin, "Main Class Select" is their "fancy" coach seating that you can pay extra for. On most airlines I find this a ripoff, but I'm starting to think it's a decent deal on Virgin:
- Cost is $25, but your first checked bag is free (regularly $15), so if you're checking something the cost is effectively $10.
- You get to order free food off the menu, further reducing the cost if you plan to eat. Maybe free drinks too, I haven't checked.
- You get to board first if you want.
- You get to use the first class line at security(!)
- Extra legroom
- If you're changing your flight, transferring TO a main class select seat (maybe from as well, I haven't checked) waives the normal $50 change fee
Anyway. Sitting in LAS waiting to go home. Just wrapped up FreedomFest in Vegas, which was fun, lots of good time with Patri, and some good time with our writing intern Will, my soon-to-be-new-neighbor Justine, and new volunteer Knud. The "small world" power of social networks continues to surprise me, I met a couple from Denmark who is friends with one of our Danish volunteers who I have been working with regularly for the past 6 months.
Tomorrow, first day of sleeping in and general rest in a few weeks with nothing scheduled... much needed! Mon-Wed is the move down to Tortuga. On Thursday, Danielle and I are off to Tokyo. |
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| Un-Social Media |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|11:36 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | wine | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | snarky | ] |
So my friend Alan has posted some interesting opinions on the whole Murphy-Goode saga. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but what I find absolutely hysterical is this reply to one of his posts:
Anonymous said...
Who the hell are you? I read your profile and I still dont [sic] know who you are. After reading it, I care even less. Nice job trying to catch a piece of the Martin Sargent wave - the only reason I found this crappy blog is because I have a Google alert set to Martin's name. Go ahead and blame him for being a "whiner" while you write blogs with his name in them to draw attention to yourself. The guy is an entertainer. Get over yourself loser.
The part I love most is "Anonymous said 'Who the hell are you?'" Quick, someone put on Alanis Morisette's "Ironic" before I stop laughing!!
And really dude? A Martin Sargent Google alert? Get a hobby. ;) And don't be telling people what they can and can't blog about. It's the Internet, and you are not one of its police force. Dropping Martin Sargent's name into a blog post isn't going to generate traffic for said blog, except from people who need to get hobbies. Martin Sargent.
Seriously, this whole MG/MS blowup is shining a bright light on how Un-Social Social Media really is. Martin Sargent.
I've been refraining from weighing in on the whole Martin Sargent thing publicly, because I really do like Martin-- I've been a fan since the TechTV days. I actually feel a little bad for him, because looking at this debacle from the perspective of someone who has (and will continue) to cast and hire people for video work, because of the way his fans have been acting I'm betting a lot of producers will be hesitant to even audition him for fear of backlash if he doesn't get the gig.
Oh well, what can you do except drop Martin Sargent into the post a few more times to be sure that Google Alert trips?
me
Martin Sargent. Martin Sargent.
ETA: Also, the comment is even funnier if you read it in Chris Crocker voice.... "LEAVE MARTIN ALONE!!" |
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| Another Tim's, another post |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|08:39 am] |
Long drive... Hope I didn't wake the others up when I took off.
left on time to get to Almonte at a good pace, even stopping for water and caffeine periodically. Jeez, how I am glad I don't need to rise at oh-my-god o'clock for work.
I like to be up late. There's that 'dark side' again, who likes to stride out of doors as the dusk gloams. If I had goofier hair I might be easily mistaken for Emo some days I swear. :)
but I say that with acceptance, just a little self-chiding. It's not there's anything wrong with loving a small dose of the tragic. Since Em posted that a new novel is coming, I'm reminded of a silly sappy self-indulgent quote from Bordertown. "We're tragic romantic heroes. We're so much cooler than you".
Hee. |
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| Hooray! |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|06:58 am] |
Scribal dry-spell somewhat broken! Paper was cut! lines were ruled! Paint applied, even! This one's long overdue, I hope I can power out of this stall.
And then I did something maybe unwise... Watched one of my favourite straight-to-internet films, Dr. Horrible.
Unwise because that film always spins me into a very dark and lonely place. I'm surprised it doesn't have that effect on more of its viewers. This is the place that I go to on those nights at camping events, when I feel disconnected and a burden, and go for long walks skirting past the edges of the fires.
something about the tragedy of inaction, maybe. I dunno. But as much as I adore that movie, it puts the gloom on me.
thank you Michaela and Tanya, who came and joined me at the scribes' table and brushed away that dark with music and good company.
So a mixed bag but a happy morning so far. |
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Good news on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) steelerdaddy! |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|10:39 pm] |
Just heard this from Nicole: [I am] delighted to report that Shawn was moved to the Eighth floor ~ a step down from ICU. However, he is still sedated due to the Peg tube inserted yesterday. They will lower his sedation when they start feeding him through it.
A big, positive step. More when it's available, of course. |
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| Wasting Time |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|04:10 pm] |
I thought LJ was a time-waster for me.
That was before I tried Facebook. Oooh boy, like I needed another mindless distraction to keep me from earning a living/writing/editing/raising my children. Just kidding. Heh.
OTOH, I found a gazillion people I went to highschool with! So I guess that's kind of cool :-P |
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| My baby is home! |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|12:55 pm] |
Belle is back home and needy as ever. She has a lot more energy and feeling better, although she hates the fact that she has a little wrap from where they stuck her with the IV. Diagnosis was HGE. It caused the stomach and intestines to swell causing vomiting and bloody diarrhea. Can occur in any dogs any age, but most common in young toy and miniature breeds. She is on antibiotics and special diet for the next 5 days. |
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| Capitulation... or is it networking? |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|09:58 pm] |
I have finally created a Facebook page. I am not sure what to do with it yet (it seems very busy compared to LJ!) but come and by and visit! (I am listed as Sonya M. Shannon in case there's confusion, because I think there's another Sonya Shannon on there already. oops!) |
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| Belle Update |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|04:25 pm] |
We called the vet. They didn't have a lot of info. She hasn't pooped yet so they haven't gotten a stool sample, but she's had a lot of fluids and has peed. They're treating her like it's HGE. She's being a little whiny so they're holding her a lot. |
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| Writer's Block: Duos |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
Susan and Ben Harper from the British comedy series, My Family! :D |
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| Belle Follow-up |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|12:59 pm] |
She's staying overnight at the vet. She was running a fever of 105°. They found blood in her stool, but it tested negative for anything parasitical or bacterial. They're going to put her on an IV to keep her hydrated. The vet said something about it possibly being HGE (something that's curable but not preventable and something to which dachshunds are very susceptible).
I hate when she's not here, and I feel like hell because it feels like we could have done more. |
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| Sick baby |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|10:56 am] |
We're taking Belle to the vet as soon as Leon gets back inside with her. She's having trouble pooping, is barely eating or drinking and is vomiting every few hours. At first, we thought it was the flea and tick medication that we put on her, but after washing that off (per the manufacturer's instructions -- I called), she's stil having problems and is really lethargic.
I hate seeing her like this. I want my baby all better.
:-( |
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| Doubt... well, actually, a general epiphany |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|10:17 am] |
It's kinda embarassing, but I had a small epiphany this morning. Feeling doubt, my options before have always seemed to be 1) freak out about it, 2) ignore it or deny it.
I don't know that I've ever consciously investigated my very important third option... embrace my doubt, accept that I doubt, let my doubt have its say, then carry on (under its advisement) regardless.
Because I do doubt. Oh yes, I doubt. Sometimes in the sense of uncertainty... Sometimes even in the far-earlier sense of dread and unwelcome certainty. For most of my life, doubt has been a thief that has deprived me of things, by having me afraid to attempt, ashamed to reach. Well, it's not just doubt for that last.
But doubt doesn't need to do that. I can doubt, I can fear, and still reach out. Seems so foolishly obvious, but I can't recall ever actually thinking about it this deliberately. Until now, the only way I could reach was to set aside my fears, somehow make them vanish by ignoring them or rationalizing them away. Why not accept them as a part of who I am today, and then accept the desire or need that provoked that doubt as another part of who I am today, and move forward with both, and do. |
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| I live an exciting life |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|11:07 pm] |
Except not really.
Since our last exciting update:
Our entire house had some form of horribly nasty gastrointestinal bug. If you find yourself feeling oogy with frequent trips to the facilities, then really tired, then nauseous, with lower back pain and the feeling of having a spike through your hips? That's it. Just resign yourself to two days laying on your arse, because you won't have the energy to do anything else except maybe read a book or play a game on a handheld console. Seriously. Also, it takes a couple of days to manifest. So awesome having us all come down with it in succession. So awesome hearing your kid make hacking noises in the middle of the night, only to run in and well. I had to change clothes.
One brother and my nieces are moving to CO. We went to the girls' birthday party um, a week and a half ago now? Sprout was glad to see her cousins, it'll be a while before we see them again.
Sprout continues to astound. Her vocabulary makes everyone think she's at least a year older than she actually is. Two years after her birth, we're finally starting to get into some routines with her that are supposed to make things go smoother, but are not yet managing to do so. It does mean that she's getting books read to her more often, which is important.
Other than that, the book is consuming my entire life outside of Sprout. I've actually written everything I can personally write; I'm on to the edits. Some of them are piddly and annoying, but for the most part, a lot of them are very good and I'm glad to have them. It's kind of weird to be this close to done with the book, except for where merlinofchaos changed the UI for the entire last section of the book and now I have to fine-tooth-comb the entire thing and redo all the screenshots *sob*. I'm waiting for him to finish what he's doing so I can spend a couple of days fixing all of that. ANd then hopefully he'll be able to finish all of his stuff. Argl. I'm ready to be done.
I've also done a couple of craft projects. I finished a stole, and even made a cushion for the top of Sprout's toybox. I'm pretty darn happy with it. |
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| Memories |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|04:15 pm] |
The Diabolka made me do it.
If you read this, even if we don't speak often, post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want, either good or bad. When you're finished, post this on your profile. You will be surprised at what people remember about you.
I *know* some of the stories that are bound to come up, but it should be good for a lark anyhow. Those of you on LJ (as opposed to facebook) feel free to post anonymously if you need to, just no lyin'! ;) "Spin" is just fine, though. Juuuust fine. :) |
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| Vat-Man Unmasked! |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|08:08 pm] |
Yes, fillet wrapped in bacon was his undoing. Nom nom nom.
Sent from my iFone...
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