Archive for September, 2011

What I’m Watching: Big Bang Theory


30 Sep

I am a geek. Most of my friends are geeks. That means that if feels like I know everyone in this show. Even though none of us are in academia, every single one of these characters is more relatable to me than anyone on Friends ever was.

Christine Baranski as Leonard’s mom might be my favorite guest starring role on television, and casting Mayim Bialik as Sheldon’s love(?) interest was pure genius on the part of the producers.

It boggles my mind that the man responsible for this show is also responsible for the awful Two and A Half Men.

MythBusters (ep 171)


29 Sep

Welcome back Mythbusters!

My biggest problem with the car vs motorcycle for “greenest” mode of transportation, comes from understanding the California Emissions standards. Cars are subject to them, but motorcycles obviously have different standards. If cars from states that don’t require the stricter CA emissions criteria were used, the results might be very different.

Love that RPGs really only destroy what is in front of them, and that a bullet can set one off, but only if the RPG is already armed. I think if I were in high school today, I might be dreaming of attending New Mexico Tech.

What I’m Watching: Castle


28 Sep

I fell in love with Nathan Fillion on Firefly and Buffy, so naturally when I heard he was getting his own show on regular network television, I knew I would watch. I loved Castle from the beginning because of the cheese. We assumed, though, that it would only last a season. We first realized we were wrong when my mother mentioned she watched the show. Hmmm, maybe there was a chance.

Last Monday marked the start of Castle’s 4th season. The cheese is still there, but the characters have also developed nicely, and there’s great tension between the two leads.

TV without the DVR


27 Sep

When we dumped cable, we got rid of the DVR. Now, I am faced with a new season of television without the ability to watch two shows that are on at the same time. So far, that doesn’t seem like it will be a big deal. What does seem like a big deal- probably no American Idol for me this year and likely little X Factor, as I always preferred to DVR the shows and just watch the performances, skipping the filler and the judges. I think I’ll manage The Voice and The Sing Off , but not the others.

Only 3-0 Team in our Fantasy Football League


26 Sep

I don’t live in the market where my favorite football team plays, but I do live in the same time zone, so if the local team is playing, I can guarantee that I will not see my team play.

Fantasy football means that I don’t just care about one or two games a week. I care about a lot of them- either because I have a player in the game or my opponent does. It also makes it easier to convince the husband he should put up with me watching football all day on Sunday, because suddenly, he cares, too.

WarHammer Quest


25 Sep

Started playing WarHammer Quest in RPG mode. This allows the hubby, our friend, and I to play essentially without a GM. There’s not a whole lot of role playing; it’s definitely a dungeon crawl, but that’s okay for right now. It’s still fun, though we’re definitely a pragmatic party, not an idealistic one.

Tonight, we went through all the event cards on our way back to the portcullis that blocked off half the dungeon and the final room. We did get the key, but instead of going to complete our mission, we said forget it and headed in to town.

Queen of my Domain


24 Sep

Pondering having my own website where I can have all of my writing endeavors housed under one roof. Considering there are two other blogs besides this one and the micro-fiction site, plus the 100 Words Project book and my fiction writing, this seems like it would make my business cards simpler, if nothing else.

Playing around in Publisher this morning to create the home page design. I’ll happily use wordpress for the blog pages, but I want the home page to be uniquely me. And it is nice to be able to design it myself without having to learn html.

Propanoplosaurus marylandicus


23 Sep

Sometimes it amazes me how long science can take. Fourteen years after a fossil was discovered, it’s being written about in the Journal of Paleontology. At the same time, we’re talking dinosaur bones- fourteen years isn’t even a drop in the bucket.

What makes this fossil special? It’s a new genus and species (and being named after the state in which it was found), and it’s the only newborn fossil ever found in theUS.

There’s a part of me that is sad something so young died, and yet, I am also excited about what this find can teach us.

Crowdsourcing Science


22 Sep

I’m a huge fan of crowd sourcing. In my own life, I sometimes get so caught up in a problem that I stop seeing it clearly. An outside source, even (especially) one who knows nothing about the problem, can often provide insight that I need to solve it.

And that’s why I love the idea of using a video game to help solve actual scientific puzzles. In less than ten days, doing this in their free time, because they enjoy it, players of the video game Foldit, solved a molecular mystery that had been stumping scientists for over ten years.

The era of DADT is officially over


21 Sep

As of yesterday morning,12:01am EDT, September 20, 2011, to be exact,  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell officially stopped being the policy of theUSmilitary. Let’s just take a moment to smile and celebrate that. All pending investigations and discharges have been halted. Applications are being accepted from openly gay recruits. This, my friends, is good news.

Yes, there will be some problems, as there still are with women serving, and some people (politicians) will try to blame the policy change, but overall, nothing about this policy change will hinder our military, and in many ways, we will all be helped.

100 Words On

topics explored in exactly 100 words