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May 4th, 2012
 | 11:54 pm - Sacred Harp / shape note
I am totally in love with shape note music, specifically the Sacred Harp tradition. That is all. :)
Current Music: Cowper, Soar Away, and many others
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April 15th, 2012
 | 11:40 am - Update on spam e-mails
Well, they're still at it. :P But they're not actually sending it from my account (not sure if they did hack my account at some point and thereby get all the e-mail addresses that way or what, but the last two weeks I can verify I'm the only one who's accessed it). They're faking the headers. So if you get what looks like a spam e-mail from me, check the headers and see what the IP is that it's coming from: My IP is NOT 124.6.181.55, for instance! You can check WHO-IS sites like ARIN to see where the IP is that it says it's from--if it doesn't say the city/state that you know I live in, it's not me.
Unfortunately that IP address range isn't one I can send an e-mail to an ISP (probably overseas in a country that doesn't crack down on that sort of thing), so there's not much I can do about it. :( Hopefully you don't all end up blocking my e-mail address as a result, lol. At least most e-mail accounts *should* recognize it as spam, and I'm sure everyone by now knows I would not start an e-mail without capitalization, so that's a dead giveaway that it wasn't me.
Current Mood:  annoyed
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March 30th, 2012
| 07:36 pm - Spammy fun :P
Apologies to anyone who got a spammy e-mail from me this last week; apparently someone hacked an account somewhere where I used the same password as my e-mail address. That no longer is the case (though I still have no idea which account they could have hacked to get the password since I'm pretty sure they weren't actually able to hack into my e-mail and nothing looks tampered with on the accounts I've looked at). I didn't even get a chance to post this until now because life was so hectically crazy this week that this was the first chance I had to think about things like that. (Yay for realizing that I have to re-create my math assessment and learning system from the ground up--and here's to hopefully doing it *right* this time.)
Feel free to complain about spammers here. *g*
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March 21st, 2012
| 11:03 pm - General note to software developers (not that anyone's listening)
I ended up typing up this rant as a comment somewhere and wanted to preserve it, not that it really is going to make a difference, lol. Anyone else hate the ribbon as much as I do?
(begin rant)
I'm a veteran user of Office and found the ribbon in 2007/2010 so distasteful (I've had to use one or the other occasionally at work) that I installed LibreOffice everywhere. My boss doesn't mind me using that instead, and it does the job just as well. I rarely have difficulty discovering a feature I need or would want, I'm lightning fast at getting to what I need and getting the work done, and it doesn't take up enormous amounts of screen space (a major turn-off for me--when you don't have a gigantic screen, having a menu that takes up four or five times a typical menu is pretty distasteful). So Microsoft actually lost me--permanently--as a customer for this reason, and I actively avoid all software that try to follow in the ribbon footsteps.
I think the biggest issue that designers have not considered is to allow people to have CHOICE. I find myself more and more disgusted by the tendency to control exactly how the user will interact with the software, like telling a someone "you may only eat food if you use the utensils the way we do in our culture" (this is a valid rule as a parent in a particular culture, but there are multiple cultures with different ways of eating in the world, and it is NOT as valid to tell people from other cultures "your way of eating food is wrong, you need to learn ours"). Perhaps it would be good to consider that people may have valid reasons for continuing with the gui style they are used to! For instance, I know of people who, even after getting to know the ribbon interface in Office, find that it is less productive, MORE clicks involved to do the complex tasks they want--not less as is frequently advertised, more macros than will fit in their customized section, and more difficult to discover some features (not to mention wasting tons of screen space at the top every time it's used, and no ability to switch where the ribbon IS--side, bottom, etc.). I dislike being treated like a child, but that is exactly how it feels, as if the software designers are absolutely positive that they know best how we should interact with our software. For the newbies, they are right--and I don't mind the default interface being whatever they think is the easiest and best. But please do not REQUIRE everyone to use that interface or else!
Clearly Microsoft itself is not listening, and pooh-poohs everyone with complaints about the ribbon as misguided and uninformed users who are too stuck in their ways, not thinking about the fact that veteran users of a piece of software might have good reasons for sticking with the gui they're used to (consider the impact on work productivity, for instance, especially for people who were used to the shortcuts of the underlined letters on menus and could bring up complex commands with rapid-fire keystrokes, and are now reduced to clicking--which is unquestionably slower). But for those of you who may be designing ribbon interfaces for other software, consider allowing users an option to switch to a more classic-style menu for those who would prefer. I, for one, might consider using your software instead of rejecting it instantly.
(end rant)
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November 16th, 2011
November 14th, 2011
| 12:43 am - Holiday Wishes! :D
Wishlist posted: http://holiday-wishes.livejournal.com/1808722.html
Link me when you post yours! :)
I'm leaning toward NOT nomming The Pretender just to be able to request the character I would want, and sticking with three requests only. Which means I actually have a free nom slot. (This will make me very popular on channel, lol, since a lot of people found they didn't have enough, actually.) Have to decide by tomorrow afternoon, since noms close tomorrow evening while I'm at work.
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November 12th, 2011
| 09:45 pm - *waves hello*
So I haven't died yet, lol. I've just been extremely busy. So far I've created 72 topics--packets of anywhere from 3-11 worksheets, and answer keys to go with nearly all of those. I'm on track--but not really ahead. *sigh* Oh well, if I keep going, eventually they'll get done.
I caught up with everyone's LJs Thursday night--I read them all, at least, and tried to comment on new entries, at least one, lol. If you posted something since, haven't gotten to that yet, but I will.
And I think I must be insane, but I really really want to do Yuletide this year, so I'm going to give it a shot. If you want to as well, note that nominations are open NOW through Monday night, then signups through the rest of the week, so get in on it while you can!
I'm going to be offering my latest fandom obsession, Rizzoli & Isles. Is anyone on my flist into it as well? That's been my sanity break in between creating materials--watching, reading fanfic, reading discussions, writing fanfic . . . I have one betaed and posted on AO3 already. Actually, should note that I have moved my "good" fanfics over to AO3 and you can find them here if you're curious.
I'm currently waffling on my 3rd nomination--whether to request Pretender and therefore nom it just to get Miss Parker on the list, since the person that nommed it skipped over her :P--or whether to scratch that altogether and use the nom for someone who desperately wants some obscure fandom nommed? Hopefully I'll have that sorted by tomorrow.
Oh, and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2) holiday_wishes opens for posting tomorrow! I'll post a link to mine here--will any of you be posting one this year? It's always fun to see friends' wishlists. :)
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August 11th, 2011
 | 11:48 pm - Blessings
I was reminded of this song tonight, and had to go look it up. It is beautiful, both lyrically and musically, so I had to share. :) (You might find the music lovely even if you don't believe the words.)
( Embedded Youtube video )
( Lyrics )
Current Mood:  happy
Current Music: Laura Story - Blessings
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August 2nd, 2011
| 09:47 am - Sunday alliance
Was just alerted today to take a look at this site: European Sunday Alliance
It's not the US . . . yet. But I firmly believe it will end up that way, and that the logical consequence of this will eventually be laws mandating rest from work on Sundays (and beyond that, punishment for anyone who would dare try to rest on another day).
I submitted an opinion, but upon submittal found this text: "European Alliance Sunday" reserves the right not to publish any illegal, unprofessional or morally questionable posts or delete them. We apologize for any inconvenience.
I suspect they will find something wrong with my opinion and delete it. So I decided to share it with you here:
( My opinion )
I know my voice will not be heard, ultimately, and that in the end the decision will come down to the simple one in Joshua 24:15: "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
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July 5th, 2011
| 01:25 am - WIP meme
Stolen from ![[info]](http://l-files.livejournal.net/userhead/464?v=1320668402) mizzy2k. :D Looked like too much fun to pass up.
* Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.
* Upon request, I will post a random line or two from any of these you choose. Or if I don't have a line to post, I'll tell you about the story.
A FoLC Wishlist
As the Sands of Time Fall
Logan fic
Lost in Translation
Ororo fic
Pilot - alternate ending
Rogue fic
They Don't Talk
Untitled Narnia fics
X-Men fic
Lol, not a lot to choose from, and several of those I barely started on. Comment away! :)
Edit: Forgot the STFBE fic I had in a subfolder. And lol, I don't have much of an imagination for titles, do I?
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| 01:08 am - I've been busy *sg*
Which is why I actually let LJ lapse through most of June, then caught up with all but about a week's worth towards the beginning of June. (I was mostly caught up before this last weekend but I didn't get around to posting this till after the weekend, so had to catch up a few more days.) If you posted something important you want me to comment on and I haven't, feel free to link me and I'll be glad to do so, but otherwise I had to catch up in a hurry.
Life has been hectic! In a good way, though. I'll go through the major points below, in case anyone's interested:
- My cousin graduated from academy (high school). We had about 40 people in the house at one time that weekend. (Well, technically, most of them weren't IN the house at the time--we got a carport cover thing that we put on our deck out back and everyone was enjoying the shade and nice day.
- Camp meeting was amazing. The speakers were good, I met a new kindergarten teacher to connect with who wants to use my phonics curriculum next year in her classroom, and we got to eat Sabbath lunch with a music artist I grew up listening to. (She's a neat person; I wrote out one of her pieces once--she doesn't read music well so has never transcribed anything she wrote--and it is incredibly gorgeous.)
- Phonics curriculum has been taking off--I have gotten some questions answered, and have been creating lessons as fast as I can (in between everything else), also saving pics from the public domain sites as fast as possible. Clker is awesome.
- And this last weekend was our annual family "retreat". My uncle has 20 acres a few hours south, so we all converged on his house and had a blast. Yesterday was their "Amazing Race"--idea being to have fun with friends and family while doing various activities. I missed out on the badminton (aww, I've played it before and like it even though I'm not that GOOD at it) and cricket (never played it) because I was helping with an urgent cleanup project, but joined in on archery (got 3 bulls-eyes in the 27 shots allotted, more than anyone else, but I have to shoot left-handed!), swimming (didn't get littlest splash, didn't even bother trying for biggest splash, but I did get one of the thingies off the bottom of the pool after trying quite a bit), and horseshoes (came in late there and only tossed a couple times but got one point, yay). So I wasn't particularly spectacular, other than a surprising hidden talent in archery (but still weird that I sight MUCH better with left eye than right, despite being right-handed and right-footed). But it was fun. :D Plus sharing music with cousins and watching movies on my uncle's wall with a projector. (And taking advantage of no monthly bandwidth cap to get a few things I couldn't at home.)
*yawns* I think that's about it for tonight. Gotta get some sleep so I'll be alert for work tomorrow.
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May 31st, 2011
| 12:34 pm - Omnitopia Dawn
So I read Omnitopia Dawn, by Diane Duane, last night. I'm not a gamer but I found it very fascinating--if this software/hardware existed, I would totally go in to just have fun with things on the non-battle side, lol. If you play MMORPGs or anything of the like, or have an interest in hacking in some way, you definitely should read it. Very interesting.
And just because I had so much fun reading, here's a short passage that cracked me up:
Dev stood there a moment and took in the newest evidence that his shuntspace crowd was a law unto itself. Keeping the naughtier Omnitopia players in the dark and well fed with manure byproducts often wore on them. As a result they tended to act up, or out, in ways that other Omnitopia employees didn't, so discovering that they had erected a triumphal arch at the gateway to their virtual space was merely a matter for amusement. It really was a spectacular construction, pure white marble, intricately carved, and five hundred feet high at least. Across its great lintel was graven in very perfect Trajan Roman letters the first part of the ancient warning:
FACILE DESCENSUS AVERNO
"It's easy to get down into Hell . . ." Dev chuckled to himself, realizing they were reminding him of another, older joke. He walked forward under the triumphal arch, toward the portico leading to the main door of the Palace. Above the door was the space in which some wit three years ago had written (in beautifully drafted archaic Latin) that other famous Dantean quote, ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE. Having seen this apparition and been reduced to guffaws on the morning it turned up, Dev had Frank send the building maintenance guys around to formally incorporate the writing into the arch. However, his jokey threat to make the inhabitants of the palace pay for the alteration had resulted in six hundred sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents’ worth of nickels and dimes (and six pennies) being dumped on the lawn outside Castle Dev by a private contractor who found himself unable to identify the culprits because they had also paid him in nickels and dimes (and six pennies). All Dev could do then was have Frank arrange for a cleanup crew, find out which of the city’s charities was best set up to deal with vast numbers of nickels and dimes (it turned out to be the Archdiocese of Phoenix), and make a note to schedule all the shuntspace management for salary reviews.
*snicker*
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May 13th, 2011
| 12:36 pm - Open SP is growing :D
So I still have the Tumblr, but I got stalled on the language. (Too many concepts I'm struggling with and I don't have a personal tutor to help me *get* them, lol, so I'll come back to it later, as I always do. At least I went over the mutation system and tweaked grammatical number some. :D )
What I'm REALLY excited about is I finally learned Git--it made a difference when I demanded to be able to use a gui, lol. It detracts from my geek points, I know, but although I can use cli, I do prefer a gui whenever possible other than certain simple commands I run. (And hey, I use cli all the time when I restart utorrent on the home server, or check how much bandwidth I've used this month, etc.) But the SmartGui program is NICE. I do have to start up a virtual machine (Linux Mint) to do the Git updates, but maybe that restores some of my geek points? *g*
This page should be a great starting point for anyone who's curious: http://frogandowl.github.com/Open-SP/
All files have new licensing info added now. :D I created a bunch more of the decodable readers in the past while that should get added to the collection within the next week. Now that I can do it myself, updates should come far more frequently.
Again, if you know any teachers of the early primary grades, parents homeschooling children just beginning to learn to read, feel free to link and let them know that they are free to use any of the materials they like, or contact me through the e-mail address on the page there. :D
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Geoff Moore - Life Together
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April 19th, 2011
| 11:28 pm - Cerstan and Tumblr
So I got a tumblr, or a "tumblelog", as they call it. For the express purpose of practicing my conlang, lol. So no need to rush over to it (same nickname as here) unless you feel like digging through the (out-of-date) wordlist on my website and trying to parse out grammar without any help (since I never got around to uploading my grammar yet--I have to finish working with it first).
If you're really that fascinated, do let me know; I would be utterly shocked. *g*
Anyway, so my rule for it is that I have to use my language *somehow* in every post. Not just talk about it, but say at least a short sentence in it. That forces me to look up vocabulary, double-check grammar, and it's inspiring me to go finish up some grammar in areas I just haven't gotten around to. There's something really fun about the idea of saying *something* out there where everyone can see--and yet making it still incomprehensible to all but the most dedicated. *G*
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April 3rd, 2011
| 11:17 am - Quotes from Madeleine L'Engle & Luci Shaw's book Friends for the Journey
I found this book interesting; not an amazing read but it has nice thoughts to make one think.
It's all about friendship and love and life and . . . just those important themes. :)
" "Networking" and "peer associations" and "connections" are three words often used in the professional world of business. To me they all seem cold and empty, even calculating--words that tell of advantages I intend to gain from you in order to speed my climb up the corporate ladder, or references that would look good on my resume. Self-absorbed, myopic words, they seem blind to the idea of the warm bonding of kindred spirits that comes with commitment. Such words reflect the fragmentation of humanity in self-protective singleness that shuns the risk of relationship for fear of betrayal or hurt. The idea of giving yourself to someone else in kindness, for the other's benefit, has almost evaporated in the hot friction of our mobile society."
"We were all created with the ability, the need to reach out, to join ourselves with others, in love, to feel with and for others. The words sympathy (with-passion) and empathy (in-passion) both tell a story. We are to stand alongside our friends, entering into their passionate struggles and trials and triumphs, feeling their pangs of pain and the brimming over of their pleasure. Mirroring back to them, sometimes, their better selves, when they need our affirmation and encouragement. Giving them permission to mirror back to us our less attractive attributes, so that we can better "see ourselves as others see us" and work on personal transformation, with God's help."
"True friendship means both giving and receiving without obligation, receiving without guilt. This is a way we can move out of self-absorption, which can become morbidly toxic, into a profound, redemptive awareness of others. How do I know when a friendship is true and deep? If it is close enough that I can confidently call the friend at midnight or 3:00 A.M., knowing I'll be listened to and responded to without a second thought. It's accepting responsibility for the friend's welfare. Which really means that in that friend we are also being responsible toward God, and in the long run, to the universe."
"Yes, friendship is risky. But, the risk is worth it. It is worth it to strip off your protective coating. To be vulnerable. To be known. To risk being loved.
The Risk of Love
The risk of love
is that of being
unreturned.
For if I love too deep,
too hard, too long,
and you love little,
or you love me
not at all,
then is my treasure given,
gone,
flown away lonely.
But if you give me back
love for my love
and add your own
dark fire to light my heart
then love is perfect
warm, round, augmented,
whole, endless, infinite,
and it is fear that flies.
--by Luci Shaw"
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March 30th, 2011
| 11:44 pm - Mission trip experiences
Here's a list-version of the trip for you all. :)
What we (as a group) accomplished:
- built two churches, one each for two different communities (at least one is very much the nicest building in the whole surrounding community)
- held a free medical clinic in three locations and gave out vitamins as well as various basic medications as needed
- held children's programs in two different locations, giving the children free goodie bags with things like pencils, balloons, toothbrushes, and a stuffed animal/beanie baby
What I did personally:
- lead out in the children's program at one location (I spoke Spanish the whole time and did not have a translator--I *was* the translator, eep)
- teach English to children in the local public school for three days (3rd & 2nd graders one day, 1st graders the other two days)
- assisted two different doctors in interviewing patients since my Spanish skills were better than theirs
- helped plan the worship service for one of the churches one of the two Sabbaths
Fun things I did:
- sing songs with a bunch of adorable kids
- ride a three-part zipline
- see a ton of exotic birds (like wild parrots)
- see geckos, lizards, and an iguana
- take a boat ride through a mangrove-thick swamp
- go into Guatemala
Crazy/random stuff that happened:
- the first Friday, all the sandwiches went to one job site and all the pasta salad (minus plates or forks) went to the other (they bought hot tortillas and made pasta burritos)
- Friday afternoon I was tapped by the project coordinator to go translate for him--with enough warning to say "see you later" to my mom, lol! (that was one random afternoon)
- one of the nurses found a scorpion in her shoes one morning (thankfully she shook them out before putting them on!)
- a small frog loved our shower--more than once I would find him in there when I went to take one, and have to remove him to the outdoors
Things that gave me some culture shock:
- broken or missing toilet seats
- having to put toilet paper in the trashcan, not the toilet (I remembered having to do that from my previous mission trips and experiences but I had forgotten how disgusting that was, lol)
- speed bumps every mile or so on major highways
- a single yellow line down the middle of the road that was frequently ignored by drivers
- skinny, pitiful-looking dogs
- trash everywhere in some areas
Things I wish I could import to the US:
- the "open door" lifestyle, slow & relaxed, where you actually get to know your neighbors
- the comfortable early mornings, where you could walk around and not need a million layers, nor get sweaty
- some of the gorgeous birds
- (from my previous trips) guanábana (or soursop) juice and the good brand of plantain chips
- the chance to speak Spanish more often
Things I took down with me:
- a ton of stuffed animals
- little story mini-booklet thingies for children (in Spanish, of course)
- other supplies for the children's program, such as stickers and gold crowns
- a ton of toothbrushes & toothpaste
- a jar of peanut butter
- a roll of toilet paper
Things I came back with:
- greater fluency in Spanish (including a ton of new vocab in areas such as food and gynecology)
- a sunburn/tan on my arms/face/neck/throat (it's not peeling, yay, but it itches and I have to keep slathering aloe vera on it)
- a sandal tan on my feet (the alternating white/brown strip pattern is really interesting, actually)
- a T-shirt that says "I remember Tapachula" in Spanish ("Recuerdo Tapachula")
- a gorgeous native-style shirt with embroidery on it
- an even more gorgeous skirt with three shades of green on it
- a bunch of pictures (mostly of birds and lizards)
- the knowledge that I was used by God to help people in a real way
- memories that will last for a lifetime
Current Music: No importa de donde tú vengas
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March 15th, 2011
| 10:57 am - Yay for rediscovering old music! :D
Old favorites or so, that is. I lost this song in a hdd crash a few years ago and finally got around to asking the person I first got it from if I could get their music again, since I couldn't find it online.
And since there's a Youtube vid of famous friends on TV shows and movies set to the song, I figured I might as well share for you all to enjoy. :D
( LJ-cut to spare those of you who don't want to see a Youtube vid )
Current Mood:  bouncy
Current Music: Geoff Moore - A Friend Like U
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March 3rd, 2011
| 10:30 pm - *snickers*
Found this on a signature on a forum somewhere and had to quote, despite the language being a little questionable:
The problem is that the world is like, "Heyyyy, Anonymous, are you a square or a circle???" And you are like, "Well, I have a few right angles, but also I'm sort of round in parts, and then there are these, like, zig-zagged sections, and sometimes there's this crazy-a** 3D s*** going on..."
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February 10th, 2011
| 01:24 am - Lyricplay restarted
To anyone on my friends list who doesn't watch lyricplay, go take a look at it. I asked Kaylle if I could restart it and she encouraged me to go ahead, so feel free to join it and give it a shot!
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February 6th, 2011
| 10:23 pm - Celtic prayer
I was cleaning out my room tonight and found where I had written this on a piece of paper. I found it first in a book called Fingernail Moon, about a mother who kidnapped her 6-year-old daughter when the courts gave unmonitored visitations to her ex-husband--who had AIDS and was molesting the girl. They went on a multi-year journey around the world, having to trust God to protect them and take care of them, and found the experience strengthened their faith in Him. One of the chapters began with this lovely prayer:
As the rain hides the stars,
as the autumn mist hides the hills,
as the clouds veil the blue of the sky,
so the dark happenings of my lot
hide the shining of Your face from me.
Yet, if I may hold Your hand
in the darkness, it is enough.
Since I know that,
though I may stumble in my going,
You do not fall.
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doranwen's journal