All Done

Well, I seem to have managed it. I updated all three blogs that needed updating, and switched over the other three. I even dealt with a couple of tweaks that Elayne wanted on her blog, due to her aversion to negative space on the sidebar.

Now I'm just playing around to see what else can be done.

Test Post 2

Test Test Test Test Test...

Test Post 1

Test test test test....

Deep Thought

When everything seems to have been resolved, and your problems finally seem to be fading away, and life is beginning to look up... that's when you need to brace yourself for a kick in the face.

Thoughts

It was so beautiful here today that when my little sister posted the word "snow" referring to Seattle I thought she was joking.

Daylight Saving Time begins in the middle of Emerald City Comicon. I may need a lot of help getting up Sunday morning.

I took my car to the shop to get the AC fixed before summer, today.

Torvald is getting excited about the con. I really hope I'm able to snap a pic with Stan Lee, but I'm not counting on it. Leonard Nimoy is also a hope... but not counting on that, either.

I need to finish my jigsaw puzzle before the guests come for the Wizard of Oz weekend party in June.

I got new batteries for my camera, and it's working better than it has in years now. Just in time for the con.

I have Torvald cards to give out to people who are Trolled. I won't be printing many of my awesome "business" cards, though. I don't hand many of those out and I still have a small supply from last year (if I can find them).

I got a fire/water-proof safe and put our important documents and my sketchbooks in it. I feel better already. Now I need to take them out to bring to the con.

I need more Chocolove.

Don't Press the F1 Key?

Microsoft has issued an advisory telling users of XP to NOT press the F1 key if prompted by a website, because that could run a nasty script. The exploit was revealed on Friday by a Polish researcher, and Microsoft hasn't had time to patch it yet.

A better solution, however, is to stop running Windows Internet Explorer and start running a more secure browser like Firefox. The best solution is to just not run Windows at all, of course. Maybe I'll switch to Linux eventually...

Don't Use FedEx

If you are sending anything to me, don't use FedEx. After a week or two touring the country in a FedEx truck, they will dump off the package in an untrackable form at the USPS in Seattle, who might eventually deliver it a week or two later. If you have something to send to me, just go right to the US Postal Service or use UPS. But FedEx doesn't deliver here, so don't use them. Particularly if the package is something you want to track.

Glad You're Not Dead - Cheyenne Wright

Cheyenne Reports on his LiveJournal:

Hello my most surprising internet friends

As many of you may know, On Tues, February 23rd I became so ill that I was hospitalized. My feet legs and midsection were swelling with water. A nagging cough that had been hanging on for a month turned into a relentless dry hacking and I lost the ability to travel even short distances without needing to sit down to calm my breathing

after 3 days of observation I have been sent home with an Easter basket of medications. Looking over them all It's hard to say what they think I got. No doctor ever came forward and said "THIS one thing" was the culprit. We know my heart is big and floppy, possibly from years of stress deadlines and High Blood pressure, or just as likely for a guy my age - it's a virus. They don't know.

Now at home the swelling is down, but is still being controlled with "water pills" that are supposed to make me pee like a race horse. The Dry hacking cough has turned "flemmy" which I prefer -- get the stuff out of me I say -- but it's also more painful. I have a basket of Meds for Blood pressure, Cholesterol, Borderline Diabetes, and Antibotics, flu shots, N1H1. I got it all. Maybe one will do the trick -- if not back to the hospital I go. I guess.

<SOAP BOX>There is no union for a guy like me, A freelance artist. There is no easy 401K, no dental, no health care. All Eli and I have is our diligent scrimping and saving of every dime to plan for a future.

This one stumble could undo all of our hard work. Why? Because how the American system has chosen to take care of each other in this country is so fundamentally broken, it's like a Greek tragedy. Call/Write to your Senator or Congress Person and tell them that we can not continue to live this way. What is the United States of America if not the largest trade union on the planet? WE the people need that bargaining power. -- Universal Health Care - for all.</SOAP BOX>

NOW THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY....
What I wanted to talk about was you guys. Oh my god. the outpouring of love and support I have received in the past three days has me on the verge of tears. You are all such beautiful awesome people, and I can not thank you enough. Money has been coming in from the Donation Link that the Foglios set up. Which will go a long way to prevent my total financial collapse. I truly feel like George Baily at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" surrounded by so many friends. It's a lonsome life as a freelance artist. And you seldom get a chance to see what kind of an effect you have on other peoples lives. Thank you all so much

Cheyenne

If you want to contribute to help Cheyenne avoid bankruptcy when the medical bills come, you can donate through Paypal at arcanetimes at gmail.com.

Deep Thought

I got caught passing a note in school only once. This was generally because I didn't pass notes. The teacher took the note, which was from me to the student in front of me, and was about to read it in front of the class. But she scanned it, laughed, then went on with the lesson. I was not disciplined. The note read, "Please don't give me notes, I'm trying to pay attention!"

SO Much to Talk About, Where Do I Start?

Well, there's been a few... developments... in the greater world that I feel I should address. So I'll ramble on a bit. Those of you who hate my opinions may as well stop reading now.

First up is Tiger Woods. I don't care. Period. That's all I have to say on the matter.

Next up is the Haiti incident with the doofus missionaries: They are idiots. The children being brought out of Haiti had, for the most part, been in the process of being adopted for YEARS before the Earthquake. Waltzing in and thinking you can just take children off the street was ridiculous, if not actually evil. There's a reason the process takes a long time, and those missionaries deserved the punishment they got and more, and should be glad they are getting off easy. Twits. Morons like them make it more difficult for the legitimate adoption agencies to work.

Education: Big Brother is Watching You. This story makes me see red. The school claims the cameras were only turned on if the laptop was reported stolen, but if that's the case, why was the kid disciplined for "improper behavior" in his own home and NOT for falsely reporting his laptop stolen? I'm afraid that every school administrator involved in this act of spying should go to jail for some time and be forbidden to ever work with children again.

UPDATE 2/20: This article defines the improper behavior, "an official mistook a piece of candy for a pill and thought he was selling drugs." How exactly does that relate to a stolen laptop? Meanwhile, the school defends itself by contradicting the parents. They also contradicted themselves. They first claimed that the software had never been activated, and now say it's been used in 42 cases of stolen laptops.

Politics: I'm not sure why anyone is listening to that quitter Palin, the Democratic party needs a spine immediately, the stimulus DID create jobs and lower the job loss rate, and if health care isn't overhauled within the next year or so the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans will be one the hands of our congresscritters, who right now take so much money from the health insurance lobby that they might as well consider themselves paid assassins for health insurance. An aside: Republicans are great at winning elections, but lousy at actually running the country. Democrats are horrible at winning elections, but can't run the country without a supermajority. Ug.

Olympics: I don't care what anyone says, I love Curling. And the Simpsons got it so very wrong that I kind of wish they hadn't bothered (although the pin-collecting side plot was funny). I've also enjoyed watching the other sports, although the crashes have made me cringe and shudder more or less constantly. The weather conditions in Vancouver no more prove global climate change than the snow on the East Coast disproves it, but it sure is more evidence of something totally out of whack in our weather. I'm much more upset by NBC's decision to delay their coverage of the Games 3 hours for the West Coast, WHERE THE GAMES ARE HAPPENING, so we see all the results online before the events are shown on any local channel. NBC really screwed up this one.

Entertainment: I've got more to say about DC Comics than can fit in a summary, but I think the change in leadership is not a terrible thing, and will wait and see. I'm looking forward to Brightest Day because of the promised Aquaman content, but I expect to be disappointed. In other entertainment, can hardly wait for new Doctor Who to start up. And I'm still in training for Emerald City Comicon, which requires me to get lots of walking in.

I must give an annoyed shout out to Aaron Williams who directed me to this page of free downloads of the old Command and Conquer games. I'm utterly addicted to the original game, and I love just blowing up pixels. It's a lovely waste of time, but unfortunately I had more important things I should have been doing (if I'd had the brainpower to do them). Oh Aaron, you have hurt me so!

Um, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but this is more like a real blog post than anything I've done in months, so I'm signing off.