Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in albichorizon's LiveJournal:

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Monday, February 25th, 2008
8:36 am	Cats-Part 1 & 2 of ? I keep meaning to post an entry about my cats (it is required!). However it would be long and I'm lazy. So instead I will try and post in short snippets. And yes, there will be pictures. ( How I Became A Pet Owner ) ( On Naming Kittens ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
9:26 pm	Location, Location, Location Most of the time my apartment is rather mediocre. It is on the older side and shows its age. Also the lack of a dishwasher has proved to be trying for me (especially when I want to bake a bunch of stuff). But tonight my apartment is pretty cool. This is why. Location: In the suburbs of a decent sized town, eight and half miles against rush hour traffic from my office. Location: On the top floor (3rd) on the highest hill in the surrounding area. Location: In the apartment facing the parking lot, instead of facing the building behind mine. This results into a great view - I can actually for miles. And when I look up, I can see the moon from inside my apartment. So right now I'm enjoying the lunar eclipse from the comforts of my heated apartment. And the 4th of July is pretty spectacular, too. :) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
9:20 am	Happy New Years! Holiday season is over! I think New Years might possibly be my favorite holiday. It isn't associated with a lot of travel and family (The family factor is both good and bad, but when family comes in large amounts it tends to stressful and annoying). There aren't any religious sensibilities to be cautious of or presents to stress over or buy - in fact New Years is a pretty cheap holiday. All you really have to worry about is who draws the short straw for being the designated driver and what outfit to wear. New Year's even comes with fireworks! :) Besides it being a holiday for getting a bunch of people together and having a party, I have my own little traditions for New Year's. I try and finish up personal projects and tasks before New Year's. I also will be spending the rest of the week throughly cleaning my apartment. I like finishing old projects and having a clean start in the New Year. Another New Year's tradition of mine is mimosas (leftover champagne and OJ) on New Year's Day. Today will be a good start for 2008. Happy New Year's! Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
6:06 pm	Cat accessories I keep meaning to do a long post on my kittens (Dexter and Sinister) with lots of pictures. I'm still feeling lazy so that will have to wait for another day. For now, enjoy a couple cute kitten photos Dexter A blurry picture of Dexter and Sinister playing with each other even with a door between them. Sinister Anyways the kitten are now wearing collars - and I am searching for ones that will look nice on them with little luck. Sinister is looking spiffy in his current collar of black with silvery-grey fasteners, but the bronze ID tag does not match. Dexter has gone from a blue collar with white fasteners, which looked dorky, to a tan, rust, and black collar with black fastener, which is a little better but still doesn't look good. You'd think that with all the money being spent on pets each year they'd have better collars at pet stores. My goal, actually, is to find pet collars in the colors of Slytherin (for Sinister, of course, even though he has his Gryffindor moments) and Ravenclaw (for Dexter, though at heart I think he may be a Hufflepuff). I am surprised that there aren't any out there - how could HP merchendising machine have missed this angle? I mean you could collar your cat like Crookshanks! Shame on you, Merchendising People! Shame! Anyways my quest continues for cooler and spiffier breakaway collars for my kittens. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
9:14 pm	New roommates A coworker of mine found two kittens that had been abandoned in an empty lot near his house. He captured them and asked if anyone in the company wanted kittens since he wasn't able to keep them. I am pretty sure that these two boys are brothers since their eye color is the same (a golden brown) and they are close to each other in size. When I got them they were about 8 weeks old. The kitten are named Dexter and Sinister. We gave the bigger one the name Dexter, since he seemed more friendly. However after a couple of days of getting used to me Sinister turned into quite a cuddlecat and now he often rubs against my legs for petting and loves to stay in my lap and be petted as long as this doesn't interfere with play time. I am suprosed by how vocal both kittens can be, since, along with mews, they can trill, growl, and make several other noises. I like to say Dexter is the good cat and Sinister is the cute cat. Dexter is gentle when play fighting with me and is excellent at scratching on the appropriate devices and will start purring if I'm withing a few feet of his resting place. He is a black cat with a few white hairs on his throat. I often see him doing some classic black cat poses, like Egyptian Cat and Halloween Cat. Sinster's name turned out to be apt - he is the kitten more likely to be doing something he shouldn't be. Right now he's learned how to play fight correctly but still has to learn that blinds are not climbing devices; albichorizon's ponytail is not a play toy; and the sisal rug underneath the dining table is not an appropriate scratching area. It is a good thing he is smaller and cute and that I am fond of leftys (being one myself). Sinsiter is a black cat with white patches at his throat, underneath both front legs, a little along his belly and between his back legs. His face is also narrower then Dexter's rounder face. Here's a few pictures of my kittens. More will follow. That is Dexter, the bigger kitten, on the upper shelf and Sinister on the lower shelf. Here again Dexter has taken the high ground on top of the couch to observe Sinister playing with the new cat toy. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
8:47 pm	A year in review - picture post So I've been working at my job for a little over a year now and I've taken some pretty neat pictures during that time. So I've decided to post some of the prettier ones and tell a little bit about them. Note: Please ask before you take any of these photos. I'll mostly likely just say yes and let you do whatever you want with them, but I'd like to know first. ( WARNING - IMAGE HEAVY ) (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 10th, 2007
6:18 pm	I should be less surprised... So I was wandering around Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com looking for cheap books and even cheaper secondhand books (Winner? Amazon - because they show the lowest secondhand price right there on the books page. BN doesn't.) and I find this: Mugglenet.com's What Happens in Harry Potter Seven?. (Or something like that title - I can't be bothered to go back and get the exact name.) I was a little surprised - they can write published a book? But then I read through the reviews and I discovered not only did they lean towards their interpretation of events to come, but most of this information is reprinted from their website! So basically they are cashing in on their well-known name; which, for some reason, I expected better of from fans. And not only that, but they don't even bother to do quality work and publish new material. But then, these are the people who gleefully trashed the Harry/Hermione shippers in that interview with JKR (I think it was then). Anyways this just lowers them even more in my opinion as fans and as decent human beings. (Yes, I think H/Hr shippers are being delusional when they read the books, but that's no reason to stomp on someone's ship. People sail whatever ship appeals to them, and I have a very low standard for determining legitimate ships. The only ship I think it is OK to bash is Harry/Ginny, because I had to read it.) Anyways for superb meta with an emphasis on Slytherins, go read sistermagpie (because she likes Draco :). Red Hen is also excellent and online. There is quite a bit of excellent meta online, people just need to not be idiots and not spend money on a book like that. The rip-off: http://www.amazon.com/Mugglenet-Coms-What-Happen-Harry-Potter/dp/1569755833/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8155761-4777636?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181513501&sr=8-1 Red Hen website: http://www.redhen-publications.com/ Current Mood: annoyed (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 16th, 2007
7:36 pm	Just a really bad day So unless you're selectively blind or deaf, you've heard the news today. There was a shooting at my school today (and even though I graduated nearly a year ago, it's still my school) - I don't want to call it a massacre, but I might eventually use that term because I kept checking on the news and numbers kept rising and rising. When I heard the news I started searching from my little sister's phone number - she doesn't go to Virginia Tech, she goes to Radford which is close by and I just wanted to be sure she was alright. By the time I had found her number she had emailed me and then we kept in contact for the rest of the day. Each time she emailed me with a higher total I was thinking "No that can't be right - that's too many," and I'd check the news and the total she had given me would be mentioned. She had the luxury of not trying to do work between checking for updates. It was a surprise to hear that two of my coworkers were at Virginia Tech for a conference - they got locked down in the Library. They're alright - they were back at work before I left. It's just a huge shock. I haven't been to campus in nearly a year, yet I know the places mentioned - West Ambler-Johnston, the site of the earlier shootings, was my dorm when I lived on campus and my best friend lived on the fourth floor. I had several classes in Norris Hall. Each time the news showed pictures or video from cameraphoes or webcams I knew where the person was standing. I've emailed my favorite professor - we've kept in touch and we were pretty close before I graduated - but I haven't had a response yet. I'm pretty sure he's alright - his offices are on the other side of the campus from Norris, and he's never taught a class there to the best of my knowledge. It's just wrong and wasteful that 32 ,33 people are dead and more are injured. Virginia Tech is great college. It has a beautiful campus - even though people some people didn't like the gray skies and the gray building in the winter, I always did. I was ok at work. I left and I just went about my errands - but I couldn't really bring myself to really talk to anyone - I couldn't say anything more then a word or two without it all coming out. It just feels like all my good memories of the place have been trampled on today and it will take a while before they recover. So just take care today am pass out a few hugs I wouldn't mind some cute pictures of puppies and kittens - especially some pictures of cuddling puppies and kittens. And liver springer spaniels and Cavalier King Charles spaniels are especially awesome. Current Mood: melancholy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 25th, 2007
11:17 pm	Venting Warning - I'm just letting off some steam here - this is not going to be a coherent discussion. Also this trial is near the end, so helpful suggestions are not necessary - I'm leaving this place soon. ( Rant here ) yes I think that covers the basics... Current Mood: aggravated (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
12:40 pm	*my reaction on looking out the window* "Where the hell did that come from?" What a difference a little latitude makes. Current Mood: impressed (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 28th, 2007
11:28 pm	Experiments in baking Can you make chocolate chip cookies in a slow cooker? Yes, you can (at least an approximation of chocolate chip cookies). Will they taste any good? No, not really. (And when you bite into them you recall the how long it took to cook them and how nice a cookie dough it was and you swear to yourself that you are never going to make this recipe again!!!11!!) In other news, I looked at a tempting recipe of Rachel Ray's (the annoying Food Network cook) and said to myself - "You know, I bet I convert this recipe into a slow cooker recipe. Which would completely defeat the purpose of a '30 minute meal.' insert deranged laughter Take THAT Rachel Ray!!!" Current Mood: nauseated (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 21st, 2007
12:09 pm	SNOW!!! (flurries - but it should be getting heavier!) Current Mood: happy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
9:25 am	The weather forecast says there's a 70% chance of snow around 3PM. My blinds are open, all my stuff for the day is ready to go, and I am waiting patiently for the first snowfall of the year. Current Mood: excited (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007
6:49 am	Year in review January - nothing much happened. Feb - ditto  At least that I can remember March - I think around this time I started becoming paranoid about never being hired and living with my parents forever.  I love my parents, ut I really don't want to live with them anymore. April - good month. My first visit to Las Vegas, Californa, and the Pacific Ocean  in that order.  Participated in a national contest and did very well (We took 1st place in the Team event, which was a first (bad pun), I took 8th place in the individual competition.  Totalled up the team took 2nd place overall - which is very cool since we came close to winning the year after we took the championship) May  - Finally graduated. Got some names from my favorite professor - and actually talked to people interested in hiring. Got picky and asked for more names - got an email recommendation to one more guy who emailed me to set up an interview.  Had a 10 hour interview and can home really excited. That night I had a grading scare - but I really just misunderstood what the stuff meant. Luckily I had a sister there for a hug. Set up an interview in the time I was waiting to hear back from the first- because the parents nagged me to.  Got a call back from the 10 hour interview and got a job offer - I was going to be all cool and say I was going to think it over, but I really I got so releaved and excited I accepted on the spot. I canceled the other interview. June- two weeks and a few days after being hired I started work.  Total time from moving out of my college apartment to my parent's house to my new shared townhouse: ~1 month Started trainging.  Started the incredibly long project. July - turned 23 - I'm still not used to it. Continued to do field work on the Long Project.  Went on a canoe trip. August - Field work.  Met up with my old professor to help him at a fundraiser for old team.  I had some enjoyable time with my old teammated and had an interesting look into what guys talk about when women aren't around. September- The attack of the Mosquito Swarms desended upon us at the Long Project site. October- Finished fieldwork. November - Finished paperwork round 1 on long project. Started another project and started expirencing what other people do in the company by being traded around. Revised paperwork and made corrections.  Finished paperwork round 2 December - Paperwork round 3 and corrections and corrections and corrections.  Got to work with a bunch of  other scientists in interesting places (off a major interstate - engineering proving grounds).  Started doing uncessary-paperwork-but-the-boss-thinks-its-a-good-idea for the long project.  Found out that People in Charge wanted to sell the best Girl Scout camp in the area. This may turn into something big... (Comment on this)
Monday, December 18th, 2006
9:53 pm	Christmas cookies Here is a  recipe for Christmas cookies that I tried recently. This comes from the December 2006 issue of Gourmet PISTACHIO CRANBERRY ICEBOX COOKIES This recipe is relatively simple. easy, and produces great results! Regular text is the recipe as is is written. Italics are my comments ( Recipe ) My Comments- These cookies are crisp, fragrant (all that cinnamon and orange zest!), and flavorful. All the ingrediants are easy to find.  And since they are icebox cookies, they are really quick to make once you have the dough in the fridge. Current Mood: busy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
7:41 pm	My Xmas Stocking ( my xmas stocking ) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
10:25 am	50 things I want to do before I die gacked this from dan_madison while I lurked on his lj. So ... Fifty things I want to do before I die: (in no particular order) 1. Make a near-perfect batch of french macaroons (no, not the coconut type). 2. Write a perfect report on the first draft. 3. Make an error free map on AutoCADD on the first try. 4. Bake a loaf of bread from scratch. 5. Make pizza from scratch. 6. Get a puppy. 7. Read a good book without skipping ahead a few chapters/reading the ending. 8. Own a home. 9. Fill a wall with books I've read and loved. 10. Get a M.A. 11. Give a good constructive criticism of a piece of fiction. 12. Visit Alaska during the darker time of the year. 13. See the Northern Lights again. 14. Have everything in my suite be clean at the same time. 15. Grow a decent sized house plant from bud or seedling. 16. Make a piece of stained glass art. 17. Be able to identify most of the plants at a work site with confidence. 18. Get a kitten. 19. Refinish a piece of furniture. 20. Drink a properly prepared glass of absinthe. 21. Travel by train to the West Coast. 22. Eat sushi that actually contains raw fish. 23. Go to the opera. 24. Make a piece of stained glass art. Repeated this one. How about make a piece of art by quilling it? 25. Learn how to drive stick-shift. 26. Then drive a MINI Cooper. 27. Dine in some high class restaurant. 28. Take a hike in Joyce Kilmer National Forest. 29. Write a good piece of meta. 30. Visit that bizarre Cathedral in Spain. La Sagrada Familia 31. See Mount Everest in person. 32. Write a decent piece of fanfiction. ok it was a drabble... but it took some planning! 33. Plan a garden. 34. Plant a garden. 35. Do something with the pile of kimono silk 36. Visit England. 37. Visit Wales. 38. Visit Scotland. 39. And since I'm in the neighborhood, vist Ireland. 40. Take a long tour of Italy. 41. Visit Hungary. 42. Visit Austria. 43. Visit Japan. 44. Visit Australia. 45. Visit France. 46. Stay at a spa for a day. 47. See all tweleve soil orders. 48. Watch five old classic movies. 49. Read five classic authors that I haven't already read. 50. Find the perfect leather jacket - and buy it. HA! Done! You can tell I ran out of ideas around #35... Current Mood: contemplative (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 18th, 2006
8:40 pm	Quizzes! Your Vocabulary Score: A- Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person. How's Your Vocabulary? Pepperoni Pizza Robust and dominant. When you go for something, you go full force. You tend to take control of situations easily. And in return, you get a ton of respect. What's Your Pizza Personality? Dark Purple To others, you seem a bit dark, mysterious, and moody. In truth, you are just a very unique person who doesn't care what others think. And you really enjoy your offbeat interests and friends. You've decided that life is about living for yourself - simple as that. What Color Purple Are You? You Belong in Fall Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you What Season Are You? (Comment on this)
12:32 pm	Gacked from lilian_cho: The most significant SF/F novels from 1953-2006 according to Time. lilian_cho "Thought it's ridiculous that the Hobbit and Narnia aren't in here, so added those in :-P" I agree. :) Bold the ones you've read, strike out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk* beside the ones you loved. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien the part where Boromir dies, because Sean Bean is hot. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov Dune, Frank Herbert* Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein I'll get back it someday... A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin* Neuromancer, William Gibson Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley Book was too heavy Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury*** The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras Cities in Flight, James Blish - But I enjoyed his "A Case of Conscience" The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett* because Death talks in CAPS as he should. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey* But this series should have stopped with "All the Weyrs of Pern" Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card "Ender's Shadow" was better. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson The Forever War, Joe Haldeman Gateway, Frederik Pohl Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams* I Am Legend, Richard Matheson Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin The title is too cool for me not to finish reading this someday. Little, Big, John Crowley Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith On the Beach, Nevil Shute Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke* Ringworld, Larry Niven I'm sure I started this sometime Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks Timescape, Gregory Benford To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien I tried reading this at least three times... I think I can't handle reading about the dwarves... The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis Ah... the beginning of my issues with religion. And despite one very pretty explination, I still have Susan-issues. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006
11:47 pm	The Joy of Not Losing Stuff... So I'm packing up my room again(because I'm moving tomorrow to my new apartment and my new JOB and OMG I'm finally really moving out of my parents house!) and I found my favorite scarf. This scarf has been lost for a long time... around a year and half I think. This is another confirmation of my personal theory that I don't lose stuff, I just can't find it for a very long time. The joy of finding it is balanced out by the fact it was laying in plain sight on the back of the rocking chair in my room. How did I not see this? Current Mood: good (2 Comments |Comment on this)