wookiemonster

So, it's been a busy weekend, with a few more busy weekends coming up. This weekend was a slight water change on the fish tank and using my fish tank brush to tackle some of the algae. Specifically, the algae on the glass. Depending on how finances go over the next few weeks, I may go to the fish store and get some better algae eaters and maybe a few other fishies for variety.

Next weekend is vacuuming and washing the car, and the following weekend is opening the pool. Maybe. Depending on finances and subsequent procurement of necessary chemicals. Oh, and procurement of necessary 2 X 4 material to replace the steps leading to the upper pool deck.

I stopped at Pep Boys yesterday and got yet another window control switch for Cammie, as well as a funnel I hope is the right size for adding oil. While I was there, I checked prices on some other things, such as sand paper and body paint and rust inhibitor and such for my project of repairing or, more accurately, patching the hole on the passenger side and arresting the progress of rust over the rest of Cammie's body. Fortunately, that stuff isn't too expensive. I just need to root around the garage a bit and see what kind of drill tools I have with regards to the sand paper and whatnot. I also saw that they carry speaker wire, and another car project this summer is to replace the speaker wires. The stereo is good, the speakers are good, but the wires are falling apart. I figure it shouldn't be too hard to replace the wires... Just disconnect from the back of the stereo, tape new wire to the old wire, then go to the speaker and disconnect the wire and use the old wire to fish the new wire through the car.

But, hey, my fish tank looks more like a fish tank instead of a weird project by an unsocialized eccentric who has a fetish for algae...

Moving along, I've spent about 3 hours this weekend just reading articles from Cracked.com. I loved this one about hacking, though, the first page is screwy. Like the layout template isn't linked.

Though the one I found hysterical and at the same time tragic is the one on how Hollywood doesn't get technology. Hysterical, because I'm enough of a geek to at least know what GUI means. Tragic, because embedded within the article and especially pointed out in the last section is a big explanation why I can't get a decent date and why most people aren't worth my time. I tend to cringe whenever a pop show on ABC, NBC, or CBS attempts (and it's usually a piss-poor attempt at that) to explore some sort of sub-culture, be it nerds, trekkies, gamers, kinksters, steampunk, cat aficionados, hypochondriacs, and so on, as they usually show some sort of extreme case with someone who is maladjusted to begin with, and then thus profiles the maladjusted person as belonging to a group of maladjusted people. The lesson being given is that if you don't conform, you're not an individual, but rather a social reject capable of snapping at any moment.

Case in point: after Columbine, Goth kids were harassed, monitored, and given unwarranted counseling to make them normal, because the media portrayed Harris and Kleiborn as Goth kids who were bullied once too often. Other Goth kids (and as a caveat: I'm using Goth primarily because of the dark coloring, black trench coats and such that were "warning signs" of the time; many nerds and geeks suffered the same post-Columbine treatment as the Goths) were interviewed by reporters and psychologists looking for signs that these kids were traumatized ticking time bombs, and when the kids answered with, "Yeah, the jocks and cheerleaders harass us, but, we just plain don't care," well, that was unacceptable. The more these kids seemed normal, involved with community service, had plans for the future, and seemed better able to deal with stress, the more shit was made up to make these kids conform to what conformists expected to see. In short, the kids were fine, but the media, be it journalists or Hollywood, decided they couldn't handle that and both went the route of fiction.

Hence, why I don't watch much TV, and even less mainstream TV.

But that last bit, where Hollywood is obviously clueless about modern gaming (levels?)... And asking one guy (because everyone else is obviously well-adjusted and thus doesn't play video games) if he can play the game, and having him respond, "I live with my mother and have a Captain Kirk uniform in my closet" is just...insulting.

Hell, I live with my mother and I have a Captain Picard uniform in my... Oh dear...

In all seriousness, though, those of you who have been here for any length of time know that though I live with my mother, I'm not in the basement, and I also do a shit-ton around here because my mother is partially handicapped thanks to fibromyalgia and degenerative arthritis. In short, I'm here not because I'm maladjusted but because I have a sense of familial responsibility and responsibility in general. Granted, Mom's not an invalid, but it would be very difficult for her to be here by herself, and since I can use the extra space (compared to an apartment or townhouse), not to mention the pool, the driveway, and not having to worry about whether I can take the cats and birds with me, or which cats, and so on.

I hold down a decent job. I write in my spare time. And yes, it's science fiction stuff. And when I look at all the writers I am e-friends with, be they science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror, or anything else, they are all well-adjusted people. Sometimes a little harder on themselves than they need to be. But most have families and kids. A good many have a day job as well to pay the bills. They're aware of what's going on outside of their house and around the world, and aren't afraid to comment on it. They're involved in their communities. In fact, they tend to do more to make the world a better place than most other people. (Maybe it's because we have better role models, and that in turn has made the aforementioned people role models as well...)

Thank you, Cracked.com, for pointing this shit out to help me better understand myself, the world around me, why I should value my geeky and nerdy sides, and why my cats are better than most people. Thanks to all of you writerly and creative types for being beacons of hope and making this world just a little more tolerable, if not out and out better, for the simple fact that you have the courage to be yourselves and speak out.

Conformity can kiss my hairy Italian ass!

Meanwhile, as I have been composing this entry, I've had the laptop running so it can download updates from the past week. TomTom at first seemed interested in what I was doing on the main computer, and I told him I was busy. He then decided if he couldn't use the main computer, he'd settle for the laptop, and then started petting the laptop's keyboard...

Anyway, to round out what has already turned out to be a too long, too ranty, and mayhaps too other-worldly entry, here are

Non Sequitur