Short version: Choose a musician or group and then answer all of the questions with song titles.

• Pick your Artist:
"Weird Al" Yankovic

• Are you a male or female?
Such a Groovy Guy

• Describe yourself:
White & Nerdy

• How do you feel:
Good Enough for Now

• Describe where you currently live:
Smells Like Nirvana

• If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Genius in France

• Your favorite form of transportation:
Airline Amy

• What did you get on your last Birthday?
It's All About the Pentiums

• Your best friend is:
Harvey the Wonder Hamster

• You and your best friends are:
Trapped in the Drive Thru

• What's the weather like:
One of Those Days

• Favorite moment:
The Night Santa Went Crazy

• If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
One More Minute

• What is life to you:
I Love Rocky Road

• Your last relationship:
She Never Told Me She Was a Mime

• Your fear:
Stuck in a Closet with Vanna White

• What is the best advice you have to give:
Don't Wear Those Shoes

• Thought for the Day:
Why Does This Always Happen to Me?

• How I would like to die:
Twister

• My soul's condition:
Everything You Know Is Wrong

• Most Faithful Companion:
I Remember Larry

• My motto:
Dare to Be Stupid

I finally edited and uploaded the video I recorded of the San Jose Holiday Parade this year to Youtube.



If that doesn't work, try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PYkqvLfVVM.

edit: I put up the 2008 video by mistake, fixed now.

Dear Internets:

The World Wide Web is nearly drinking age now, and yet you still can’t seem to figure it out: using the width and height attributes to resize multi-megabyte images into thumbnails in-browser is a horrible idea. It doesn’t work that way, so stop doing it already. You are supposed to produce separate images for the thumbnails. If you are unwilling or cannot figure this out, I’m going to have to take your computer away.

Anybody interested in joining me for this weeknight event?
StonyBrook campus can be reached directly by train, though travel should be made ahead of the rush hour.

Please RSVP to me here or on related LJ postings, note signup deadline. Details follow:

Wolfie’s 15th Birthday Celebration!

You have been invited to participate in Wolfie’s 15th Birthday Celebration at the Stony Brook University Indoor Sports Complex!

Wolfie is turning 15 this year and would like to celebrate his birthday with all of his mascot friends! If your company or school mascot is available to participate please send a confirmation e-mail to Andrea.Lebedinski@stonybrook.edu no later than Friday, January 29, 2010.

Please see the information below which details the format of the event.

Details for Wolfie’s 15th Birthday Celebration (2/10/10):
Seawolves Men’s Basketball
Stony Brook vs. Maine 7PM

Main Contact: Andrea Lebedinski cell 631-379-8907 (Office: 631-632-7705)

Where: Pritchard Gymnasium-Stony Brook University Sports Complex

Arrival Time: 5pm (7pm game time)

Directions/Parking: Basketball (Indoor Sports Complex) Use the north entrance to campus. At the top of the hill, make a right (Circle Road). Make your first left (Gym road). The Indoor Sports Complex is the white building at the end of Gym Road. Parking for the Indoor Sports Complex is on the left.

Autographs: If you have autograph cards, please bring them.

Activities: There will be plenty of “working the stands/court” as well as mascot intros on the court and even a mascot in-game contest.

· Pregame/Postgame: Autographs/Interaction with attendees
· First Half: Mascot Dance-Off
· *Half-Time*-Singing “Happy Birthday Wolfie”-Cake & Candles
-All mascots will join Wolfie at center-court for a special birthday ceremony
· Second Half: Participation in “Cotton Eyed Joe” Dance that occurs at every game

End Time: About 8:30pm (After 2nd on-court mascot participation)

Please e-mail or call me with:

1) Names of all staff members attending the game (mascot and handler)
2) Cell phone number of the main contact for the game
3) Any questions you may have

We hope that you are available to participate in this fun and exciting event for the Stony Brook Seawolves. Call me with any questions!

-Andrea Lebedinski

Andrea Lebedinski
Coordinator of Merchandise and Branding
Stony Brook University Dept. of Athletics
SBU Indoor Sports Complex
Stony Brook, NY 11794-3500
O - 631-632-7705
F - 631-632-8841
Andrea.Lebedinski@stonybrook.edu
www.goseawolves.org
Get Your Red On!

Get to know My Guests. Want to know who's checking you out? You can now view the 100 most recent, logged-in users who visited your journal during the past 30-day period with My Guests. For those who prefer to fly under the radar, you can update your My Guests privacy setting here.

Introducing My Stats. If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can now see detailed reports on how many people are visiting your journal, friends pages, and entries (wherever they're posted on LiveJournal). You can also view data on comments and RSS requests. My Stats is only available to Paid and Permanent account holders, but you can upgrade anytime. (FYI, an annual subscription costs less than a large pizza with everything on it, PLUS it's rumored to make you lose weight in your sleep!) For additional details on this feature, read this article in paidmembers.

Get ready to check your vital statistics!. To begin, mouse over Journal in the upper nav bar and select My Stats from the dropdown menu (Horizon) or select My Stats under Journal in the side bar (Vertigo). If you're using another design scheme, you can visit My Stats directly. You'll find My Guests on the My Stats tool bar.

Happy holiday promotion!

We're delighted to tell you about our holiday coupons, which will help you share the love with your LiveJournal friends! If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send up to 10 LiveJournal Basic/Plus users a $10 coupon for an annual paid subscription now through January 15th, 2010. Recipients can upgrade for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25). Please note that these coupons are not transferable and cannot be used to renew existing paid accounts. If you're a Paid/Permanent user, you can send out your holiday coupons now!

Tweaks and Enhancements

1. The search is on: We've replaced our default search tool with one from Yandex, a leader in search engine technology. This means you'll get smarter, more granular results! To get started, enter your search terms and click the Go button to the left of the Find box on the upper right of the LiveJournal header. This will take you to the search landing page where you can further refine by Entries, Comments, People & communities, and FAQs. You can also access the search page directly.
2. Whitelisting: We've released a new option to help you moderate your busy communities more efficiently. If an entry contains a link to a whitelisted (i.e., trusted) site, it will be posted automatically without need for moderator approval. If a post contains a link that is not on the whitelist, you'll be prompted to approve. To access this option, please visit settings for any community you maintain and select the third option in the Community Moderation box (located in the lower left-hand corner). Click the enable link to custom-edit your community's whitelist, which has been prepopulated with trusted domains. You can manually add or delete URLs in the text box. Please note: If you're the maintainer of an unmoderated community, you may see the radio button for this setting checked, even though it's not active. This is a known issue. Please select whichever option you prefer and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. If you're happy with your current settings, then no need to do anything!
3. TMI, dude: We've added some fun FREE sponsored vgifts! You can send up to 50 TMI vgifts to mutual friends (btw, you cannot send free vgifts to communities). If you're a Paid/Permanent user and you want to view sponsored gifts, click Show sponsored gifts on your homepage or visit the sponsored gift page. These vgifts will only be available through Wednesday, December 23rd.

You can view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Until next time, stay snug!

I simply love December and everything about it. I am not decorating this year because I am going to go enjoy my moms decorations later this month when I go visit her. During this month I tend to reflect what has happened all of this year and I can say this year was packed with a lot of new things. I can list a few things that made 2009 different from others, but as always every year is different.



Trying to draw my fursona as close to me as I could :). I love big earphones ^.^



2009

-I started reading again. Not just manuals or magazines but devouring books one after another. I love reading and I am not sure why it took me this long to really sit down and just read.

-I lost a close member of my family, my grandfather in February. It was the first death I got see and the first person that was very very close to me to see die. I was able to go go back to Colombia after being away for about 11 years. The place was great, going for such a sad occasion was not. Sad as it is, I am still reminded of him in daily activities or things I hear. Forever here and hard to let the fact set in he is gone.

-Finally took my honeymoon a year late as I was married the year previous. Went with friends and my husband of course on a cruise. I love cruises! best vacations hands down.

-I went to Germany for the first time and loved it. Same thing goes to EF, best con ever! (going back next year)

-Skipped the most amount of cons this year compared to previous years and can't say I miss it. I am happy I took a break and glad to say my next convention won't be until FWA next year :D.

-My aquariums grew and I now have 2 large tanks that are self sufficient for the most part. A very fun hobby and very cute.

-My tamagotchi love was re-sparked this year. I went from finding a few I owned a few years ago, to collecting over 100 now. I have a giant wall and a few boxes to prove it with a lot of virtual pets. Collection is always growing :D!!

-Started going to clubs and just relaxing a bit more and enjoying my life. I have been to scared of work, so scared of everything that I had turned into a hermit in my mid twenties. I slowly have realized you are only this age once, go out and have some fun.

-I am glad to say I have found true friendships. I have never been happier with the friends I have now. Friends I can count on, love and know they are genuine compared to some past fake friendships :(. Some old friends have been brought back too, differences put aside. Others well I rather them stay away ;).

-Soon being able to have normal work hours. The work will remain heavy until February, but so close I can taste it. Normal lists here we come!

-MJ died this year and that actually really bummed me out. I grew up listening to his music and always wanting to dance like him. Will always be an MJ fan <3

-Happier with my art as of late. Posting more sketches as I usually do not post so many. Comfortable posting art that is both innocent and adult.

-Happy with our costumes and the amount we have produced. We have over 240 costumes posted up to show in the gallery/LJ/flickr. We will be breaking 300 next year! (party time for sure!)

etc.....

So I hope 2010 is full of fun and surprise. I have so many things planned for next year already. I want to go do my first lock down at a haunted hospital. Going back to Europe and finally showing my husband Colombia. So much to do, so many things I need to plan, 2010 you better not disappoint :D.


Christmas is around the corner, it will be nice to enjoy a warm xmas this year for a change ^__^

I have a King bed in the main hotel from Thursday to Monday. Possibly looking for 1 more interested in splitting the bill. Cost would be 300$ for the stay. I'm a fursuiter and gay, dont smoke but I do drink and might have a small get together. But if you are looking for a room that is pretty quiet and not cluttered let me know either here or better on AIM at SilvyShadow.

So far its just me in the room, so 1 other would make for 2. 600$ total room cost after tax, so 300 each would be an even split.

Thanks to the folks who responded to my FC suite request. It's been filled. =)

Hi guys just here on posting to say that I have two spots in my room for FC at the main hotel I had it filled but shit happen the other two that were going to room backed out saying i was charging a lot not sure if I was or not but yeah I need to fill this asap and stuff only asking 125 thats it so far its just 3 fursuiters in the room and yeah feel free to contact me and stuff message me and I will give you my IM or comment here if you want to talk it over if interested. :)

thanks
-xtremefoxx

I need roomies for FC, I had a couple that were going to room with me but they backed out the only thing I got kind of disappointed too is that I had to contact them and ask them if they were still going to room then they said how much I was I askin i said 125 so they backed out I was like wtf I told them months earlier how much and stuff but oh well. So who wants to room with three fursuiters? only asking for 125 thats it only have room for two people though.

Also the birthday wishes thanks guys :) I had a sucky boring B-day but sayin that makes it worth it .heh. really appreciate it guys. should post some pics up though of the suit I bought though, too lazy right now .lol. I hate that.

other then that I am dealing with some drama but you know fuck it I ain't dealing with that you know just someone thinks they know me but they don't and yeah I don't give a shit I hate being like that it bothers me a bit but yeah hope it does not lead to shit though at FC like seriously. btw who is going that I might see? :)

-xtremefox

Tonight ABC reran "A Charlie Brown Christmas". When it previously aired last week, I took the opportunity here to comment on the oversignificance and power of real estate in my personal life and in society in general.


This past weekend, NBC aired the classic holiday movie "It's A Wonderful Life". Now in that movie, the character of George Bailey (as played by James Stewart) is someone who should be admired. It's good-hearted folks like him that should be running the real estate market and not the Henry Potters of today for the big banking industry. You can bet that Bailey's Building and Loan would have likely offered people like me low-interest loans with low-or-no down payments and not balloon payments. He wouldn't be selling people sub-prime mortgages.

Just like I know a few good-hearted people who should be running the mascot biz and not those who are today.

....It seems as though the state has allowed me to renew my drivers license yet again. All they had to do was check if I could see (which I could), snap a photo, and get a thumb print, and it was all done.

Today is a good day for me, but a dark day for anyone on the bay area roads. And if you see a black honda accord, probably blasting Rush on the stereo or something, get out of the way!

This past weekend was the tenth anniversary of a horse I've known over 20 years leaving for the great green pasture in the sky.

He was a buckskin mamed Drifter, and I rented him from the Claremont Riding Academy here in New York to ride in Central Park from late 1978 through his retirement at the end of 1995. Drifter was pretty much the first horse I ever rode solo as close to regularly as I could, and the first horse that I struck up a friendship with. Claremont's horses had a reputation for being rather lively and a bit tricky to deal with but Drifter was one of their few "quiet" ones who was ok with most of his riders as long as you at least knew the basics. The owner of the stable was nice enough to give me barn access so I could visit Drifter at his stall after riding him, and even when I didn't have the money or time to ride but took the opportunity to say hello and drop off carrots. (This was a privalege usually not granted to renters.) We spent many hours over those 17 years riding through Central Park, and I even got to take Drifter out in several special events, including twice in the big St.Patricks Day Parade up 5th Avenue. Drifter himself even got into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1990 when he was rented from the stable by the New York Renaissance Faire.

So with Drifter being at Claremont for a long time (in horse years) and working as hard as he did (because he a gentle mount), eventually he had to be retired when his faithful service was over. I last rode him in December 1995, and only found out a couple of months later that he had in fact been retired. I did say hello to him that day, hoping for some sort of going-away party for Drifter but that did not happen. It was late in the Spring of 1996 that he was unceremoniously trucked down to Stuart FL into the hands of a nice lady named Pat O'Connor who ran a rescue farm down there and long wished to take care of Drifter. I was on jury duty at the time Drifter was trucked out and found out a couple of weeks later that he went South. At least the stable was nice enough to put me in touch with Pat, and we eventually arranged for me to visit the farm, which I did in January of 1997. Despite his retirement and reversion to his earlier feral self, Drifter was glad to see me and it was comforting to spend a couple of final days together. I still remember how I was being driven out of the farm for that last glimpse of him when I called out his name from the moving truck and Drifter tossed his head in the air as if to wave goodbye to me.

Ten years ago in 1999, I received a phone call from Pat who informed me that after 3 years of happy retirement, Drifter's legs finally gave out and he had to be put down. (Such a mercy had to be done quickly, to head off the agony of being eaten alive by the fire ants.) Pat said he went out with dignity and before his end, she had gave him one extra hug and a carrot, saying "This is from your friend Richard who loved you very much."

In January of 2001, with the help of timberwlfy and seaweedotter, I returned to visit Drifter one last time on the farm, this time to lay flowers on his grave. He is even lucky to have a grave, it's actually illegal in Florida to bury animals on a farm due to the high ground water table. But for the wonderful and friendly horse he was, Drifter deserved no less.

Rest in peace my horsey pal.

It was a soggy miserably rainy soaking day here in NYC so I couldn't walk around Midtown with Tenderheart Bear today as I had planned. Nevertheless I did have evening plans in Manhattan so I pounded the puddles on 5th Avenue beforehand.


Well it's official. The World of Disney Store NYC will close its doors for good this coming New Years Eve when their lease expires. Goofy and Pluto weren't even making their in-store holiday appearance upstairs in the Friendship Room as they have in past seasons. Don't look for any liquidation bargains though...the only items marked for closeout were anything (mostly t-shirts) that had the Disney NYC logo or was city-themed, in other words stuff that couldn't be sold anywhere else outside this location. There was the word over a year ago that this store will eventually be replaced by a "Disney Store" (smaller cookie cutter store like in the shopping malls and run by the consumer products division) elsewhere in Manhattan but no update on that. So for my final visit and purchase I bought one of those t-shirts, a city Mousepad and CD set of recordings documenting Disney's presence at the 1964 NY Worlds Fair.


A few blocks to the North, I passed the Bergdorf Goodman clothing store on the old site of the original FAO Schwarz store and saw this very lovely window display diarama of the dinner scene from the movie "Fantastic Mr. Fox". If you enjoyed this movie in theaters then you have to drop by this window during the holiday season while it's still there.

Took a quick swing through the FAO Schwarz toy store. Despite now being owned by the Toys R Us company, the place still maintains its upscale atmosphere and stock. The Muppet Whatnot Shop inside was doing a brisk business.

Then I hopped a bus down towards 34 Street but alighted a few blocks early so I could glance the famous holiday windows at Lord & Taylor. These are always animated Christmas scenes from "old" New York with that classic feel. I love the living room scene with a boy riding a rocking horse and another one with carousel decked out as a frosted layer cake with a Hansel & Grettel theme.


From there I walked over to the Theater at Madison Square Garden where I had a reservation for tonight's performance of Cirque De Soleil's "Wintuk".


Thi was actually the very first time I ever saw a Cirque show in person and I was very impressed. It is in effect totally a circus show but with a unifiying theme among all the acts that doesn't quite tell a full story but the action does go somewhere. And it's wall to wall dance and acrobatics.


While I thought the singing lamposts were a little weird, the dogs just stole the entire show! Furs and fursuiters would definitely find them alone worth the price of admission.

Happy Birthday to frysco! I hope you get turned into a cake and eaten by happy partygoers!



-Reveille

I spent the last half of last week dealing with Harley's Magnificent Exploding Asshole. Friday night, I did a much-needed decompression by walking to Hardy's Bavaria and getting trashed while tastyeagle (who was my sole company, save for an odd couple at the bar) watched.

Saturday morning saw me waking up early, with a massive hangover, and fretting about what to bring to a small lunch gathering with my old Guqin friends, up in SF. I finally came up with the idea to make brownies, thanks to Slate's suggestion (and since I had everything I needed for it at home already), and then rushed up to the city. As I got to the host's place, I did a final check of my watch. Wait, what? It's the 12th? But the party was on the 13th, which was a Saturday. Except it wasn't a Saturday, it was a Sunday. So I covered my face with my tail and scampered home. Was a nice drive, nonetheless. I don't often to get to drive the Miata for long distances. Sunday evening was a lovely party at Casa de chairoraccoon, for iamweasel_2112's [slightly early] 30th Bday party, which was a blast. I was DD for Orzel, but I had a good time nonetheless, and even got to let Godric out for a while, which was much needed. Poor dragon hasn't had a chance to play in a while. Pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29314661@N02/sets/72157622880097675/

Sunday morning I skipped kung fu and slept in until noon. Oh, gods, how I needed that. The evening was spent playing 4E D&D, and me being frustrated by the lack of utility of my Paladin. I'm working on revising him AGAIN, because I only ever use one attack (yeah, I only had one attack in 3/3.5, but I also had spells). I'm still pretty okay with 4E, though I'm starting to see the limitations. Not a deal-breaker yet, though.

I began fasting Harley on Friday. So I began feeding him again on Saturday evening. He began passing small, mostly-solid stool on Sunday morning. By Monday afternoon, his Magnificent Exploding Asshole made a triumphant return. I cleaned up the mess, then worked on Picardy, made significant progress on the wings, and then went to bed. Then I woke up to the joy of cleaning up the kitchen, again, and then sponging off the Magnificent Exploding Asshole with wet paper towels. He has a vet appointment at 2pm.

Have a good week, folks, and always remember, it could be worse.

-Reveille

Need a badge for the up-coming convention?
Want something to keep your head warm when walking from place to place?
Why not combine the two? Hat badges! The hat that keeps you warm, looks like the markings on your character’s head, and has your name on it!
Or in need of a sturdy, one-of-a-kind tail?
Or a cute hand-made stuffed animal to give to friends or family or even just for yourself?
Want to have a verity of personal, hand-crafted items that are made especially for you, with new options every few weeks?

Why not give Muddle Designs a try?

http://muddledesigns.webs.com/

Friendly, quick service, quality materials, communication with every step of the process, fair prices, and new items being offered all the time, Muddle Designs is a California local, just starting out business that would love to make you happy! Order before January 5th to guarantee item delivery before FC. Or there’s the option for M.S. Manuscript, owner of Muddle Designs, to hand-deliver your items to you at the con!

Come on over, and keep an eye on Muddle.

Written and compiled by someone with 14 years of experience in an major airline call center, "YOU SAID WHAT??? - THE MOST HILARIOUS THINGS PEOPLE SAY WHEN THEY CALL AN AIRLINES CALL CENTER" is just that. It's a collection of some of the dumbest, most clueless, most asinine statements, rants, and requests made by frequent and infrequent fliers.

Some actual calls from the book:

"And where would you like your seat assignment?"
"Well, not in the front and not in the back."

"Can I use my South Carolina handicapped sticker on a flight from Detroit to Indianapolis so I can get a seat with more leg room?"

"Which credit card would like to use?"
"Mine."

"I was told I could have one carry-on bag and one checked, but I don't have any checked bags. All I have are plaid."

"Would you like an aisle or window seat?"
"Don't put me near a window. I just got back from the salon, and I don't want my hair messed up."

If you like pointing fingers and laughing at stupid people, you might like this book. :)