I have never lost a friend or family member to AIDS (thank Ghod) - but I graduated from the Fine Arts faculty at my University. Far too many of my fellow alumni from then were experimenting, taking risks...
I haven't kept up with many of them in the 10 years since, but I always hope that they're okay.
At work I've moved forward a step on a Flash effect that I've been struggling with for weeks: making text scroll inside of a scene. Problem is, now it only works once, not a second time. A step forwards, two back.
Then work on the HTML side of things: the files I've worked on appear invisible to my Web editor and FTP apps. I can tell that they're there; just the necessary apps can't.
Must not kill the computer. Must not kill the computer. Must not kill the computer...
Another difference from the US: our pundits say we had our poorest turnout to vote in about 80 years; the percentage of Canadians who voted was 63. Big difference from the 59% mentioned in the States as a poor turnout...
As to the final choice: I'm not very happy with it. The Liberals failed to keep many of their promises in the past 8 years, and nearly destroyed our country's health and other social systems. The most pathetic thing here though, is that no better political option is present.
Okay. Enough is enough!
I'm not a George W. Bush fan - and he proved himself to be just as petty when it seemed he was losing - but I think this has been drawn out far too long as it is.
The people have spoken Al, and we have to accept it, whether we like the result or not. Just let it pass already... bad enough this'll be the Presidency most mired in petty political games as it is.
I've been studying my tracker logs for Jazzlife lately; things that are mentioned briefly in passing are showing through the Yahoo search as part of this site.
That wouldn't be a problem... if it weren't for the fact that several of the searches to this site have been for online sex. Jazzlife is most definitely not in the market for that!
From a link on The Breast Chronicles, I visited Danni's Hard Drive yesterday (sorry, you won't get the link here. Unlike Colleen's Blog, it isn't worth it). I've been searching for this site for awhile, the interviews on Entertainment Tonight piquing my curiosity to see the woman who thinks she deserves Cindi Margolis' title as "Most downloaded woman on the Internet".
Danni Ashe is a woman with a 34G sized chest. She uses the site for nothing but naked pictures and video feeds to pornography. Oh yes... and you have to pay to see that.
You won't find nudity on Margolis' site. She doesn't want to exploit herself that way. Seeing Danni's site, I applaud her for it.
I'm anything but a prude, and I very much appreciate the female form... but catering to the lowest common denominator in my book may make you the most sleazy person on the Internet, but doesn't deserve celebrity.
Granted, I'm in Montreal... but lapdances are most definitely not something I talk about here... nor do I go out of my way to find it!
"Internet Hell" is over; I got a month's worth of my overdue net account paid this afternoon. Apparently, that was enough to get me back in. Good thing I'm the honest sort; I'll have it all paid up to date within a couple of weeks.
I'm currently posting from Internet Hell... my account for my ISP is well past due, so they shut me out. Currently, I'm posting from a free net account that takes up a chunk of my screen with its ad banner, and if I don't click on it once an hour, it shuts...
I'll hopefully have my account snafus cleared up within the week.
Montreal meanwhile saw its first real snowfall of the year overnight. Some of it is still staying on the ground too. Blah.
If the people of the city wanted it, that'd be fine. Here though, you have to wonder how many people have to say "It's a bad idea, and we don't want it!" enough times for him to get the message... and in what language it would get to his head.
I heard him talking about it on the radio today; in his view, people are "Just afraid of change.", but that they'll be happy once it's done. The difference is: Toronto and Ontario are younger cities, ones that don't have nearly 300 years of history in each place, each smaller city. This is just a grab for power, pure and simple.
I didn't vote for him. Unfortunately, what other people were available to vote for didn't inspire most people to vote against him, so he got into office. The man who made idiots sound intelligent during the Ice Storm of 1997 got to ruin the city even more.
At least there's one silver lining to this black cloud: next municipal election, there'll be 25 other candidates who can run, all the mayors put out of work by this. Finally, we'll be rid of the worst mayor in our city's history.
One major gripe I have about the voting snafu: because of it, half of my TV shows get pre-empted in part just because it's so important that we hear party member speeches about it all. Bleh.
Not that Montreal politics are much better: as of yesterday, the city merger plans - plans that have led to millions of ways for the people to say, "We don't want it!", all to deaf ears it seems - are going through. Within a short span of time, areas with dozens of years of cultural history will be erased to just be yet another suburb of Montreal. Pathetic.
Getting back to Netscape: the final release of version 6 does do everything none of the pre-release versions did: support standards. Style sheets finally work.
What bugs me about this is the fact that none of the pre-releases did this; we got stuck with a program that wasn't appealing for Web surfing in the least until now. This marketting plan was like Netscape shooting themselves in the foot, bleeding away users for about a year because of it. It made no sense!
Oh, for the days when having a .com still meant something... who would have thought it would dry up within a year?
Okay... stalling moves for the vote are indeed a bad move... but does anyone else find it convenient how G.W. suddenly doesn't want the recount to stand, when his win is becoming far less of a possibility? Or is it just me?
At least I got a major chunk of my apartment cleaning done today: I got a broken-down shelf unit out of the house after an intention to get it done for weeks. More impressive, I managed to get it out of the house myself, without the help of others.
Still, that's a bit of stubborn movement I don't forsee doing again anytime soon.
While most people have Sunday as a day of rest... well, I did keep to that plan for most of the day. :) I finished my week's hours for work in the evening though. I'm testing out some new tricks in my own CV movie as I go though.
December 14th is coming up very quickly... and having just started the steps to trying to get my contract renewed, I have to plan for anything.
I think it's a feeling of ennui striking many; jo the webmistress of the webmistressweblog even stated on her blog today that she was taking a break to do other non-computer related things.
I think your US election with the big vote snafu in Florida has just left us all tired.
I composed a letter to send them next week, explaining my financial situation in no uncertain terms, and how it's impossible to pay them their blood money.
If they still want to try hassling me, I'm ready to speak with my MP and/or MNA. With this being a Canadian election year, results will be more forthcoming.
No matter how, the provincial gov won't get blood from this stone!
My dad had heart surgery on Monday. That took up a lot of my mindspace... he came out of it, but with infection complications - complications that the cardiac institute medical staff wouldn't deal with. Words can't quite cover how little I feel for them right now.
Thursday I got my paycheque from work. By today, one day later, I'm already reduced to about 12 bucks until next payday. Simple way to be broke: just get a job.
Adding insult to injury, the Quebec government has now given me 15 days to pay them back the remaining $2139 in deferred interest from student loans I got over a decade ago. Said money they only decided I had to pay them - without any notification of the amount in advance - two years after I wiped out my savings paying off the loans. Now, I've been off Welfare since May, and even though I have to start getting food from a food bank to survive week to week, they figure I'll find the funds to pay them.
Sometimes, life really blows.
Our Canadian elections are in a few weeks, and we've sadly been reduced to voting for the lesser evil (as in "Who would screw the country less?"). You have a similar choice in America, I think.
To offer my 2k worth: yes Al Gore lacks charisma. Yes, his V-P running-mate is a Board member of the PTC... but let's face it: George W. Bush is in many ways Dan Quayle with a different name. He's stupid, mean-spirited, and spearheading a party that plans to drive the country back into financial doldrums while looking to start a war somewhere, hoping to recreate the economic boom WW2 brought.
The Republicans back in office would be a disaster for women, ethnic groups of any flavor, and generally anyone who isn't a rich white male. Mind you, that's just my opinion, and you can take it or leave it.
Just make sure to vote. My motto is "If you don't vote, you have no right to complain."
Geez... if I was doing much worse than I am, I think that conference would be nowhere near my thoughts.
I learned from a doctor yesterday that a rash and itch I've felt since the past weekend comes from Shingles. At a much younger age then folks usually get it, and I 'lucked out'.
If you don't know what Shingles is: remember getting chicken pox as a child? Me too; like many, I had 'em then. Shingles is the adult version that comes to some of us who had it already.
You'd think that, having years to learn more self-control, you could handle it; not so. I have to keep chanting the mantra of "Don't scratch that itch. Don't scratch that itch..."
So of course, they only have a transport available at 8:35 to bring me there, and 2:45 to get home. Which may likely cut several hours from my office day.
Sheesh.