Blog – Page 83 – Home of the Autographed Cat

Sidekick replacement, and a request for info

On December 10, 2005

I think I only mentioned somewhat obliquely that my T-mobile sidekick broke back in September. At the time, I couldn’t afford to replace it, and so I just swapped my SIM chip into one of the old GSM phones we had and figured I’d look into getting another decent phone later.

Today, I finally went in to see what could be done. T-mobile no longer offers replacement plans on the phone, so the best they’d offer was a new phone at $X, with an extension of my contract. I haggled with the store manager and got it down to $X less $50, and brought it home.

Unfortunately, all my data from the old phone is long gone, which includes what was at the time my most current address book. So, If you’d like me to have your most current contact info, please put it in a comment to this entry (all comments are screened and will remain private), or send an email to me (autographedcat@gmail.com). I’d love to have the following info:

Name
Postal address
home phone
mobile phone
e-mail address
birthday

Thanks in advance!!

Narnia/1776 crossover

By autographedcat

On December 9, 2005

In Blog

Mr Tumnus: [as Aslan is about to swat a fly] Mr. Secretary, Narnia abstains, courteously.

[Aslan raises a huge paw at Tumnus, then draws back]

Aslan: Mr. Tumnus, [pause, then roars] WHAT IN THE NAME OF TASH GOES ON IN NARNIA?

Mr. Tumnus: I’m sorry, my lord, but the simple fact is that our legislature has never sent us explicit instructions on anything!

Aslan: NEVER? [slams paw onto his desk] That’s impossible!

Mr Tumnus: My lord, have you ever been to Caer Paravel?

[Aslan shakes his head “No”]

Mr. Tumnus: There are four thrones there, to seat the two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve who are to rule all of Narnia. But the four thrones have been empty for a very long time. With the result that nothing ever gets done. [turns to the Congress as he returns to his seat] I beg the Congress’s pardon.

Aslan: [grimly] My sympathies, Mr. Tumnus.

Update on

By autographedcat

On December 7, 2005

In Blog

Hey, everyone. kitanzi went into surgery for her shoulder at 10:30am, and was done in about an hour. The doctor said that everything went smoothly, and she’s now resting comfortably on the couch in front of the TV. She probably won’t be in front of the computer much the next few days, since her arm is in a sling, but so far, everything is going very well. She’ll see the doctor again next Thursday and they’ll start to discuss rehab/PT options at that time.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support. They mean a lot to both of us!

Dear Santa

By autographedcat

On December 5, 2005

In Blog

Dear Santa…

Dear Santa,

This year I’ve been busy!

Last month I put gum in telynor‘s hair (-12 points). In July I committed genocide… Sorry about that, cadhla (-5000 points). Last Monday I helped kitanzi across the street (6 points). In August I donated bone marrow to catalana in a life-saving procedure (300 points). Last Wednesday I didn’t flush (-1 points).

Overall, I’ve been naughty (-4707 points). For Christmas I deserve a spanking!

Sincerely,
autographedcat

Yeah, that sounds fair. Any volunteers? 😉

There’s always room for puppets…

By autographedcat

On December 1, 2005

In Blog

Thanks to lysana, I just wasted a perfectly good half-hour reading The Hand Puppet Movie Theatre’s presentation of Serenity.

I am amused, verily.

Squirrel Name Generator

By autographedcat

On November 30, 2005

In Blog

So, katyhh points to the Squirrel Name Generator. And I thought “Well, that sounds cute.” So I went and entered my name, to see what it spit out.

My squirrel name is “Arch Bishop Bushkisser”.

How oddly appropriate. 🙂 (I wonder what my anteater name is….*blinks innocently*)

Tis the season

By autographedcat

On November 28, 2005

In Blog

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us, it’s time to look forward to December. I love this season, no matter whether it is Christmas or Solstice or Hanukkah or something else entirely, or even if it’s just December. Folks just seem more decent and nice to one another, and the days seem cheerier, and the world is a brighter and happier place. So, in that theme, some holiday oriented links to get the season off to a good start:

Tris McCall’s Christmas Abstract
Ok, I know I post this every year, but I just love this entire essay. Tris McCall runs down all the popular Christmas music and offers opinions on them, according to a very specific and idiosyncratic criteria. I don’t agree with everything there, but it’s compelling reading. Some excerpts

Linus and Lucy

Speaking of Peanuts, I consider A Charlie Brown Christmas the high point of Western civilization. Okay, I’m kidding. A little. No, really, since Christian theology has been the font for monumental artistic expression from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to Of The Heart, Of The Soul, and Of The Cross, it’s possible to see the Peanuts special as a sort of crown — a succinct and poetic articulation of ancient principles. If you can understand why Charlie Brown chooses the tiniest and most unhealthy-looking tree in the lot, you’re at least halfway to the proper spirit in which to approach the Gospels. Incidentally, the famous Linus speech I alluded to in the last entry is Luke 2.8-14, straight from the King James Version. I don’t think that is made clear during the program. CBS certainly knew, and they were shitting bricks that audiences would find the special too preachy. This was 1965; in 2003, a project like this one doesn’t even get out of the gate. Thank God it’s been grandfathered in as an annual event — by now it’s too much of an institution for the seculars to gripe about St. Schulz, and really, how much Heatmiser can a person take?

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas

God, what a retarded song. What the hell is a “cup of cheer”? It must have taken the composers all of three minutes to put together this lyric. Here are the rhymes, or what passes for them: year/cheer, street/meet, see/me, hear/year. It is a damning critique of our culture that it makes songs like this inescapable for a full twelfth of our lives. Anybody who thinks there’s any ground for substituting “Holly Jolly Christmas” for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” — on progressive grounds or otherwise — deserves to have to listen to records like this. “Have a holly jolly Christmas/ and in case you didn’t hear,” it wraps up, before it repeats the title as if there are only five words in the whole world. I heard.

I love Christmas music, so a huge long catalog of the best and worst of the genre is always worth revisiting.
Speaking of revisiting, if you’ve ever wondered how some of those Christmas classics came to be written, here’s a wonderful article that goes into just that history. Definitely fun reading.
Atlanta’s free altweekly newspaper, Creative Loafing, has a great article this week on Seventeen ways you can make a difference, even if you’re broke. The specific contact info for various volunteer organizations tends to be Atlanta-specific, as is to be expected, but the ideas given here are universal. If you find you have a little spare time or energy this holiday season, see if you can’t find some inspiration here to go and make a difference in someone’s life.
Finally, just for enjoyment, absolutely the coolest home holiday lights display I’ve ever seen. Thanks to danea for pointing me towards it.
I hope everyone has an utterly fantastic holiday season!