RKNet Blog... Thing

This Words To Know is being brought to you today by “why the hell not?” and also by “not formatted anything like the other ones”. Now with 99% less Wikipedia and 100% more link mouseover info. This makes it sort of revolutionary among its brethren, and also somewhat of a jerk.

First thing's first. With the recent pet food scare, and me owning a kitty of which I have yet to take pictures, I decided it was time to find out what kitty ought to be eating. There were a lot of resources out there, but the best has to be this recipe for a “raw food” catfood. More on how that works out later.

One of the suggested ingredients in there is a whole rabbit (minus skin and fur of course). That's not a euphamism for kibble, either. That's the real deal, 1 whole Peter Cottontail, 1 whole Benjamin Bunny, 1 whole hexen hase[2]. I myself am going to settle for the chicken option, it's a lot more accessible and ultimately much more afforadable.

That's just one of several things I've managed to suss up lately. I've gotten into a lot of bizzare philosophical debates on IRC lately, and one of the most recent involved average IQ. (Intelligence has been on my mind a lot lately, particularly the calling into question of my own. Which is a patently ridiculous scenario, I realize.) Of course, show me a person with a truly average IQ and I'll probably be so stricken by the unlikelihood of it all that I'll spontaneously develop bizzare psychic powers to not be outdone in the oddity department.

Speaking of the oddity department, and discoveries, I've decided that I'm intensely enamored of the whole “Gothic Lolita” fashion style. The lovely Annalee over at ToM pointed out the store site for Baby, The Stars Shine Bright. I spent a while browsing there and then struck out on my own, looking for more super-fun visual styles in that vein. It is of course by no means practical, but it's so enjoyably artful that I can't help but be fascinated by it.

This leads to my last little bit, which like most of the rest of this post will be less of an proper WTK and more of a personal aside. At some point while gushing over how adorable a bunch of cosplayers were I quipped something to the effect of “quick, everybody gimme me money so I can buy a Suiseiseki costume!” However, my attempt to be funny went slightly off-center with someone and I wound up being donated $15 through PayPal. …so now I intend to hold that money aside and put it towards buying real hosting for my site as I mentioned wanting to months ago. I guess I am willing to take other donations but I'm not really all that keen on the idea since it feels sort of absurd to take handouts for something as simple as hosting. What I will accept with open arms are suggestions on a low-cost, stable hosting solution that will support wordpress.

kuro5hin.org posted a story yesterday that at first made me laugh, then made a minor amount of sense, then made me cluck my tongue in irritation with this country's rampant paranoia.

TRON, as in battle bikes, everybody's glow in the dark, Master Control Program TRON - that TRON, has been cited as a “sensitive” by the illustrious US Department of Homeland Security.

To paraphrase, TRON contains scenes of a former government testing facility. The scenes they're talking about are the “real world” ones with all the intense lab equipment strewn about. Showing this lab equipment, which is apparently the actual lab equipment that was used at that facility, is a potential security breach.

In a move that I can only describe as “shutting the barn door after the horse has run out”, the DHS is going on a crusade to sieze all copies of the movie. In addition to writing Disney a huge nasty-gram, they have also been sending nasty-grams out to film retailers large and small.

Thankfully, there was some dissent among the working class, even if Disney officials were scared to say anything.

Government conspiracy to undermine our morale in subtle ways? Disney plot to move a copies of TRON?
YOU DECIDE!

After finishing up The Illuminatus! Trilogy I decided it was time to finally read some Umberto Eco. It's been recommended to me often. I picked up Foucault's Pendulum… and got about 5 pages in before I realized I'd need a dictionary before I'd feel comfortable going any further. It frustrated the hell out of me at the time because it had been a long day and I was irritable to begin with. However, I remain undaunted at this juncture. I'll get said dictionary and try again. Hell, I may even turn this reading into a series of “Words to Know” posts. Not that I've followed through on the last promised WTK post, but I'll get to these things in due time.
To offset the frustration of realizing I'm barely literate, I picked up Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. I didn't get terribly far into that, but that probably had more to do with being tired than anything else.

I technically speaking didn't wear a bra today! *GASP* Given my overall build, it's typically fairly impractical for me to go without a bra and also without attracting unnecessary attention or getting annoyed.
However, the last few days have left me with aches and pains in my back and ribs, and I believe it has to do with weight gain coupled with a poorly fitted bra.
So today as an alternative I wore a tanktop with one of those “shelf bra” type things in it. I typically don't trust that type of garment any further than I can throw it (i.e. not far), but today has worked out fairly well. I threw a button down over the tank, and I've been comfortable and devoid of awkward attention all day. Although the “awkward attention” factor definitely hinges on how much I focus on whether or not I should feel awkward. Well, I haven't really thought about it all that much all day, and everything has gone swimmingly.
I don't have stomach pains, rib pains, back pains, general discomfort, and I haven't had to fuck with my bra straps all day.
They haven't made the shelf bra top yet that can truly, properly contain my extreme boobage, but this one I got from Express for Christmas comes pretty close to perfect.
Thank goodness, too, because with the rampant stresses and my general lack of personal care a break on some level was more than necessary.
With that, I say unto you Ladies of Larger Bust: Try out a shelf tank! Your body will thank you for it.

What does your drawing say about YOU?

The results of your analysis say:
You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
You have a peaceful mind, viewing the world with calm and serenity. To you, life is not about struggle and strife but about existence and co-existence.
You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
You feel morose and are prone to lethargy.

This is accurate in the way that newspaper horoscopes are accurate. The trusted haven of psychological testing can be marginalized and made to look stupid too, if done with a slipshod approach.
The opening statement to the test says how the freeform nature of asking a subject to draw their own image instead of using pre-determined symbols has a great and measurable effect on the results. The instructions for the drawing experiment are as follows:

Everyone knows that a proper landscape drawing contains
a mountain
a path, like a dirt hiking trail or even a paved highway
some trees.

So be sure to include those in your picture below — just click and hold the mouse button to draw.

Fuck proper. I drew based on what I felt like, and the general concept (hey draw a landscape with a mountain). There is no road on my mountain, and yet there is a question assuming I drew a road, and that it fits into one of three descriptions. What does it say about my personality that I ignored the list expected elements and drew as I pleased based on the concept of how a “drawing personality test” is supposed to work?
Once I was finished with the test, you know what I really thought?

What does your drawing say about YOU?

http://thesurrealist.co.uk/space?user=giania
My space adventure is pretty hilarious, as is my dungeon adventure!
http://thesurrealist.co.uk/dungeon?user=giania

was kind enough and clever enough to take some important legislative news in regards to music, internet radio, broadcast radio, and everybody's favorite group: the RIAA, and break it all down for We T.

On March 2, 2007, The CRB approved royalty rates that will bury any small webcaster, and create a heavy burden even for big broadcasters like Yahoo, AOL Music and Pandora. How high will these rates be? Around 100% of a small webcasters revenue, give or take a few points, in most cases. What?! That's impossible to pay! Yep, it sure is…

- source: Help Internet Radio Avoid Extinction (reposted)
I believe that's what you call “serious business”. He's provided several links to more news and resources on how you can learn more and how you can attempt to battle Bureaucratic Bullshit on Bureaucratic Bullshit's terms. I wish everone good luck with that, by the way. I will almost certainly throw in my two cents to people who are supposedly elected to serve We The People.

Another web comic I felt worth noting today, another icon inspired by my grouchy-ass mood and an overwhelming feeling when I saw the image.
BOASAS.com - Boy on a Stick and Slither has been doing a one panel per day comic for quite some time now, and every day there is a dose of simplistic art peppered heavily with philosophy ranging from the serious to the smarmy. It's like Family Circus… only it doesn't suck ass.

Today's dose struck a chord with me, particularly at the moment I read it. I'm sitting here all by myself and while on one hand it's a relief, I could be doing some unsanctioned partying if I had elected to set down the yolk just a bit earlier.

Without further ado, the icon:

(let me know if you think the text wound up blurry)

trendy livejournal shit: use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following

Your Name: Georgene

Famous Music artist/group: Garcia, Jerry ;)

3 letter word: gas

Color: Grass Green

Gifts/present: gravy bowl

Vehicle: Geo Storm. XD

TV Show: Gideon's Crossing (best serious doctor show, EVAR)

Country: Greece

Boy Name: Gregory (or Gaston, to fulfill my meme-nerd quota for the day)

Girl Name: Galatea

Alcoholic drink: Getaway Car

Occupation: Grief Councelor

Flower: Gardenia

Celebrity: Gabriel Byrne

Food: Garbage if you are a goat, or Goulash if you aren't

Something found in a kitchen: grater

Reason for Being Late: gastro-intestinal distress

Something You Shout: “GIMME!!”

In honor of The Zombie Hunters updating after a long hiatus, I have created an icon based off of this strip. It just seems so fitting of the last few days. I hope you all enjoy it. Drop me a line if you decide to gank it for your own use, because I'm curious as to who else is down with the idea of TZH icon action. :)