Sorry, Leaguers! Not much to report. I sort of had a day off before starting the new job tomorrow. But I was scheduled to come on down for a monthly potluck the folks at my new office were having, so I came by to say "howdy" and meet folks in a bit more of a social context.
I'm feeling pretty positive. These guys (I say guys because of the 30 people in my office, two of them are women. One is my boss, the other won't work with me directly) really know their stuff, and they have a good sense of humor.
I not only saw my new office, but with some help, I monkeyed around a bit and moved my furniture into position. Tomorrow is HR, etc... Must be at UT at 8:30. Which means I need to get up a bit earlier than I would at Enspire when accounting for parking and traffic.
In the afternoon I meet with my team, and I feel like I should have prepared something for them, but... oh, well. I don't think a Patton speech at this point would be a good idea, anyway. They know what they're doing, and its more my job to make sure they do it with the least amount of static possible.
Aside from that, grabbed dinner at a new place (to us), Zen. It was good, and not terribly expensive. I'm hoping it was fairly healthy, too. Read some comics. And filled out HR paperwork.
Oh, and I randomly ran into Lauren on the drag when I was going back to my car.
Jamie is maybe slightly better. Hopefully this will continue to improve.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
TTSNB: Gene Simmons Plush Doll
Break out the disinfectant!
Indeed, a Toy That Should Not Be.
Now, the man that you would never want to be anywhere near your daughter comes in adorable plush doll form! KISS lead rocker, Gene Simmons, can still sell out a stadium in a heartbeat, but why not expand into an line of increasingly bewildering product?
Hopefully Carla will do the right thing and get one of these for young Xander.
Gene Simmons plush doll.
Indeed, a Toy That Should Not Be.
Now, the man that you would never want to be anywhere near your daughter comes in adorable plush doll form! KISS lead rocker, Gene Simmons, can still sell out a stadium in a heartbeat, but why not expand into an line of increasingly bewildering product?
Hopefully Carla will do the right thing and get one of these for young Xander.
Gene Simmons plush doll.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Jamie under the weather
Just an FYI: Poor Jamie has the creeping funk. There's stuff going around all over, it seems. Steven's been sick for, like, a month. CB has been sick since, like, the start of 2008. Jason had something a while back. Jamie has some not-fun symptoms. Fever. Little bit of acheyness. Sore throat. I feel bad for her. She doesn't look happy, and I'm honestly not sure if she's holding steady, getting better, or what...
I don't know what's going on this year, but, man... I'm going to try not to get the big that's going around.
I don't know what's going on this year, but, man... I'm going to try not to get the big that's going around.
Superman Slamdunk
In case you missed it, Dwight Howard pulled off a crazy dunk during the All-Star Game festivities, employing a Superman theme.
Look at where his feet leave the ground, and where he is in the air when he releases the ball. Holy smokes.
Look at where his feet leave the ground, and where he is in the air when he releases the ball. Holy smokes.
New Frontier
Today is my final day at my current job. Tomorrow I sort of have the day off. I have to go fill out criminal background check paperwork, and, I believe, enjoy part of a potluck. (I think I am going to Central Market and grabbing some cupcakes as I don't know how to cook for that many, and I don't know where I'd park with a crockpot.)
I'm going to miss the folks at Enspire. They're really creative and fun, down to the last employee. I'll also miss the clients, which sounds weird, maybe, but I will. I know I was very lucky with my clients, as they were pretty much, across the board, very easy to talk to and work with. I know this is not the usual case in a professional environment when you're working with contracts, etc...
That said, I am thrilled to be starting my new position, full of new challenges and new faces. Wish me luck!
I'm going to miss the folks at Enspire. They're really creative and fun, down to the last employee. I'll also miss the clients, which sounds weird, maybe, but I will. I know I was very lucky with my clients, as they were pretty much, across the board, very easy to talk to and work with. I know this is not the usual case in a professional environment when you're working with contracts, etc...
That said, I am thrilled to be starting my new position, full of new challenges and new faces. Wish me luck!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Science Fair
I hated Science Fair. It was time consuming, expensive, and if I hadn't known exactly what was going to happen, I wouldn't have performed the experiment at all.
The first time I ever had to do Science Fair was 1990ish, in 9th grade. Somehow my middle school allowed us to dodge that particular bullet. High School was not so kind.
A few years before me, Jason had been asked to do a science fair experiment, and, being Jason, had gone to the World Book Encyclopedia and looked up "Science Fair". Or "Biology". I can't remember which. Anyhoo... detailed in the Encyclopedia was a complete description of a science fair experiment, right down to results.
So that's what Jason did.
So, knowing most science teachers see, literally, hundreds of science fair projects, when I was in 9th grade and had to do science fair, I figured... why reinvent the wheel?
I bought, I think, eight mason jars, a handful of water snails, a handful of plants and proceeded to slowly kill off a whole lot of plants and snails. PETA would not be pleased. I was pretty diligent about the snails for the first part of the experiment, but, honestly, forgot to look at them at all for the last week or two. By the time I returned to the snails, there was at least one jar that was nothing but browninsh, brackish water with snail parts and shells sloshing around.
Panicked, I realized I better fake some results. So between some coaching from Jason, some intuition and basic accounting for randomness in my results, I faked the slow trudge toward death of a few jars of snails deprived of plants, and therefore, 02 in their water. Essentially, all of my data was fiction. Or, dare I say? Science-Fair-Fiction?
What I did not take into account was how heavy it was going to be bringing in eight mason jars filled with water and snail carcases, plus the huge wooden board thing I'd spent a Saturday afternoon crafting in the garage. Do they even let kids get spray paint anymore?
I was, honestly, completely disinterested in my own project, and I resented how heavy it wound up being. This was nowhere near as fun as the time I had built a scale model of Stone Henge in 5th grade, or the castle with the working drawbridge in 6th grade (thanks, Dad!). When they asked us to take home our projects, I remember pondering the weight of the jars and the backing board and my ability to transport them all on the bus ride, plus the uphill two block walk from the bus stop. Also, the smell that would come from the bottles if a single bottle broke. By now all of the snails had passed the pearly gates for gastropods.
"What if we don't want our project back?"
"You have to take them home."
"You don't want it? Some kid next year might want it."
"No. Take it home."
"What am I going to do with a science fair board and eight jars of dead snails?"
"Ryan, take it home."
"What if I don't?"
"Then someone will probably throw it away."
It is safe to say that the lesson I learned from Science Fair was not the lesson I was supposed to learn.
In 10th grade, I moved to a new school and wound up having to take biology with freshmen, and I was really, just... not... very... involved. Mr. Bryant was awesome as a teacher, but I was far more interested in Swamp Thing, X-Men and whatever monologue Jeff Wilser and I moght cook up for the worms we were dissecting. Plus, I just didn't get out in front of the project in time.
I wound up doing some half-baked project on how and why people lie, and got back about 100 surveys. Not much of a sample, but apparently my report was good enough for at least a B+, because I don't remember being dissatisfied with my mark, and it most certainly would have affected my 6-week grade as well.
I do recall Lee in my 9th grade class had simply forgotten to do a science fair project, which led to, possibly, the greatest science fair project of all time. A 1/2 page, hand-written report called "Black Holes: Who cares? I don't."
It had to do with things really, really sucking. Like his grade.
I did not ever get my snails into a science fair contest, so I was spared that humiliation. I barely ever understood what I was doing from ages 8-19, anyway, so I can only imagine what that experience would have been like, being quizzed on my wholesale starvation and asphyxiation of snails.
Why this trip down memory lane?
This is why.
The first time I ever had to do Science Fair was 1990ish, in 9th grade. Somehow my middle school allowed us to dodge that particular bullet. High School was not so kind.
A few years before me, Jason had been asked to do a science fair experiment, and, being Jason, had gone to the World Book Encyclopedia and looked up "Science Fair". Or "Biology". I can't remember which. Anyhoo... detailed in the Encyclopedia was a complete description of a science fair experiment, right down to results.
So that's what Jason did.
So, knowing most science teachers see, literally, hundreds of science fair projects, when I was in 9th grade and had to do science fair, I figured... why reinvent the wheel?
I bought, I think, eight mason jars, a handful of water snails, a handful of plants and proceeded to slowly kill off a whole lot of plants and snails. PETA would not be pleased. I was pretty diligent about the snails for the first part of the experiment, but, honestly, forgot to look at them at all for the last week or two. By the time I returned to the snails, there was at least one jar that was nothing but browninsh, brackish water with snail parts and shells sloshing around.
Panicked, I realized I better fake some results. So between some coaching from Jason, some intuition and basic accounting for randomness in my results, I faked the slow trudge toward death of a few jars of snails deprived of plants, and therefore, 02 in their water. Essentially, all of my data was fiction. Or, dare I say? Science-Fair-Fiction?
What I did not take into account was how heavy it was going to be bringing in eight mason jars filled with water and snail carcases, plus the huge wooden board thing I'd spent a Saturday afternoon crafting in the garage. Do they even let kids get spray paint anymore?
I was, honestly, completely disinterested in my own project, and I resented how heavy it wound up being. This was nowhere near as fun as the time I had built a scale model of Stone Henge in 5th grade, or the castle with the working drawbridge in 6th grade (thanks, Dad!). When they asked us to take home our projects, I remember pondering the weight of the jars and the backing board and my ability to transport them all on the bus ride, plus the uphill two block walk from the bus stop. Also, the smell that would come from the bottles if a single bottle broke. By now all of the snails had passed the pearly gates for gastropods.
"What if we don't want our project back?"
"You have to take them home."
"You don't want it? Some kid next year might want it."
"No. Take it home."
"What am I going to do with a science fair board and eight jars of dead snails?"
"Ryan, take it home."
"What if I don't?"
"Then someone will probably throw it away."
It is safe to say that the lesson I learned from Science Fair was not the lesson I was supposed to learn.
In 10th grade, I moved to a new school and wound up having to take biology with freshmen, and I was really, just... not... very... involved. Mr. Bryant was awesome as a teacher, but I was far more interested in Swamp Thing, X-Men and whatever monologue Jeff Wilser and I moght cook up for the worms we were dissecting. Plus, I just didn't get out in front of the project in time.
I wound up doing some half-baked project on how and why people lie, and got back about 100 surveys. Not much of a sample, but apparently my report was good enough for at least a B+, because I don't remember being dissatisfied with my mark, and it most certainly would have affected my 6-week grade as well.
I do recall Lee in my 9th grade class had simply forgotten to do a science fair project, which led to, possibly, the greatest science fair project of all time. A 1/2 page, hand-written report called "Black Holes: Who cares? I don't."
It had to do with things really, really sucking. Like his grade.
I did not ever get my snails into a science fair contest, so I was spared that humiliation. I barely ever understood what I was doing from ages 8-19, anyway, so I can only imagine what that experience would have been like, being quizzed on my wholesale starvation and asphyxiation of snails.
Why this trip down memory lane?
This is why.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Hey, Kids! Want to Win a Copy of New Frontier?
Hey, Leaguers!
Jorge the Marketing Guy sent me a copy of Justice League: New Frontier for my review. I'd already pre-ordered the movie on DVD, so I want to share the wealth. So who wants to get a free copy?
I'm not just going to wrap this up and send it. Instead, I invite you to sign up for a giveaway contest.
If you're interested in getting a copy (the very copy which I reviewed!), shoot me an e-mail with your name and address. I'll pull names out of a hat.
In order to get your name put into the hat twice, write me a few sentences about who is your favorite Justice Leaguer and why. I'll post the responses here.
Submit your request by March 7th, 2008.
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