You're only as crazy as I think you are.

And other excessively melodramatic things. Whee! In case LJ suddenly explodes or collapses or whatever it is that these giant social networking sites do, here's other places you can find me:

JournalFen · Inksome! · InsaneJournal · Facebook · MySpace · Twitter
email: incogneato83 at gmail · secondary email: toastandjam at gmail
AIM: incogneato83 · YIM: thoughtsplosion
Feel free to add me at any or all of those! If all else fails, I'll probably set up a WordPress blog at my site. In the meantime, I'm downloading all my entries [for this AND my old LJ -- dorkdance] using ljArchive, and considering migrating my entries to at least one other server, just to be safe.

As has become my winter break tradition, I spent most of the last two days deciphering my dad's longhand and turning it into a decent-looking gladiolus bulb catalog. This meant typing up descriptions of 72 different varieties of gladiolus, as well as making a spiffy cover, and trying to keep Open Office.org from crashing whenever I moved the order form in the final copy. Last night, I dreamed about the damn catalog. I think I take my work to seriously.

Here, have a picture of a pile of flowers that I took over the summer:


This variety is called Orchid Lace, and if pressed, I could tell you the person
who hybridized it, and the year its bulbs were introduced to the public for purchase.
Also, this damn cold that I caught from my nephews on Christmas Eve is still hanging on. Persistent little virus, I'll give it that.

I renewed my subscription to Hybrid Genesis Xclusive, finally. I figure that might kick-start an effort to be more creative, Photoshop-wise. The last time I'd paid for the service, Thia only had three brush sets available to subscribers, and now she's got like, 18. Also? I paid for a six-month subscription, but it expires in March of 2010. Filing error? Whatevs, it's awesome.

And holy crap, dentistry is expensive. I had a freakin' $100 X-ray, to see if I needed to get my wisdom teeth out this year [I do], and my dentist recommended to me that I upgrade to an Oral-B 3D rotary toothbrush 'cause my gums suck. And those? Also cost $100. *ignores shrieks of pain coming from general direction of wallet*

The Joker icon is entirely appropriate, given what I can remember of my older sister's wisdom tooth extraction horror story.

• 12:55 Apparently I'm going to Jackman. For those unfamiliar with Maine geography, it's 100 miles north of East Bumblefuck. #

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I waited until the very last minute to claim a prompt for j2_everafter, and still ended up with something that's really potentially fantastic. I'm totally excited, guys. gwentastic knows all about my devious plans for my prompt. And if she doesn't, she probably will, 'cause I tend to blabber about fic that I never end up finishing to her. She's awesome if you've got ideas and nobody to bounce them off of. *squishes Gwen*


Like leftovers? Second-choice claiming starts... next week, I think? *headscratch*
And now it's time for me to collapse, 'cause I've got a dentist's appointment to go to in the morning, and the weather forecast is calling for freezing rain. Ew.

I've now been to the part of my state with more moose crossing signs than houses. My sister's boyfriend lost his wallet in a bar fight [ooh, manly... *facepalm*] while he was ice fishing up in Jackman, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. They found it in the bar this morning, so my sister and I drove up to retrieve it. The drive to Jackman has a whole lot of pretty, but not much else -- a game of "I Spy" would inevitably end in "tree".

Also, my desk is a great place to leave my cell phone when driving off for a two hour trip north. Not that I'd have been able to use it past Bingham -- which is about the half-way point of the trip.

• 01:34 I've decided it's necessary for me to try Marmite. Since I'm at least a quarter English, it stands to reason I MIGHT not find it repulsive. #
• 01:40 Hey, I'll have you know that German food is blander than Irish food, and they're the ones who throw everything in a pot and boil for 3 days. #
• 01:40 @fiafortune That was directed at you, but TwitterFox complained about word length. #
• 10:45 @fiafortune You've eaten haggis, remember. #
• 11:19 @fiafortune Haggis is super-delicious, in fact. We should find someone who can cook it and make them be our haggis chef. #
• 12:17 @fiafortune Where does one get various parts of a sheep, other than, you know... on a sheep? #
• 12:55 @fiafortune Great! Know of any sheep farms? #
• 13:17 There were... tentacles... in me soup. #
• 15:51 I want pancakes. WTF, stomach. #
• 19:03 I have said "OH GOD WHY" too often today. :| #
• 19:53 @fiafortune About damn time. #
• 22:00 @fiafortune Now, really, did you expect any other response? #
• 22:15 @fiafortune Nah, that doesn't sound like me at all. #

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Signups for j2_everafter are INSANE, yo. Good job plugging it, guys! If I sign up, I'm doing it tomorrow, when there's not such a mad rush for prompts. I've got a bad track record for finishing ficathon assignments, so I'd rather wait, and not inadvertently snag someone's favorite movie.

I mainlined seasons 1 and 2 of Primeval this week. That show, it's super-fun. I mean, seriously. DINOSAURS. In modern England. *flails* And what makes the show watchable after the "Oh noes! A new monster has appeared! We must destroy it return it to its time!" storyline starts to get old is this guy right here:


Andrew-Lee Potts' character is totally delightful and dorktastic. He's just awesome, on like... a sublime level. Also, and I'm not sure what this says about my retention skills or the general teeny-bopperishness of my youth, but I called Hannah Spearitt being a former member of S-Club 7 the first time she appeared onscreen. *facepalm*

Okay, you got me. I actually capped the entire season of Merlin all at once. I just figured I'd be nice, and space the episodes out a bit instead of spamming everyone's flists in a ridiculously overdone fashion. Anywho! More Merlin caps can be found here.

Screencaps: Merlin
Episode: 1x03 "The Mark of Nimueh"
Amount: 843 [unsorted]
Size: 640x352px
Quality: Standard TV rip [medium?]
Synopsis: Camelot faces a double danger when a lethal plague starts spreading through the castle and Gwen is arrested for witchcraft. Merlin must team up with Arthur and Morgana to find the culprit behind the evil deeds.


( previews and download links )

• 12:09 Two words which are never a good sign at my house: "[nephew], NO!" I've heard them about five times so far this morning. #

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I just finished my first movie of 2009, The History Boys. ( Reactionary stuff. )

The short version is that it's a good, well-written, somewhat thought-provoking movie. I enjoyed it a lot.

Completely arbitrary film rating system [with stars!]: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

I'm totally not as filled with rage as my last post would lead you to believe. :| Don't be scared! I'm actually quite tame most of the time.

So here's some stuff that those of you who are here from shepsangel's Merlin friending meme should probably know about me [longer intro post has been forthcoming for about a year :P]:

My name's Margaret, but 'round these here internetty parts people call me Magz. For two-thirds of the year, I'm in school in New York state, where I'm majoring in German and minoring in international relations. The rest of the year, I'm in Maine living on my family's cut-flower farm, hanging out with my BFF from high school, fiareynne, and cooing over cows -- sometimes simultaneously.

I used to be pretty active in fandom, but then some drama occurred and I was off LJ for about six months. By the time I came back with a new journal, so much had happened that I spent a lot of time playing catch-up, and found that my writing muse had pretty much vanished. However! Then Merlin happened. And, well... at least now I make caps, eh? Might participate more in the future, depending on what my schedule next semester [18 credits! *gnaws fingernails*] gives me leeway to do.

So! Welcome, new friends. I've got a revolving door policy, so if you find that we don't click, feel free to drop me from your list. No hard feelings.

A day before New Year's Eve, my dad asked me to take him into town, because with his newly adjusted heart meds he wasn't supposed to drive until they'd settled. We ended up going to the Mart of Walls for some last-minute grocery items. When we walked into the store, I immediately noticed that there was a little boy -- maybe ten years old? -- kneeling on the floor next to a deli cooler, clutching a toy truck that was still in its packaging. He was rocking a little bit, and his eyes kept shifting back and forth, but you could tell that he wasn't really focusing on anything. I figured his parents were nearby -- there were a ton of people in line -- and although I thought it was kinda a dick move to plant your mentally-challenged kid on the floor while you order lunchmeat, it wasn't my business, and I continued on to do my shopping.

A half-hour later, I'd paid for my stuff and met my dad over by the deli, where he was contemplating dinner. THE BOY WAS STILL THERE. About five seconds after my dad talked himself out of a rotisserie chicken, the boy's mother shows up, pushing a full shopping cart, and tells him it's time to go. I was immediately filled with so much unadulterated, CAPSLOCKY RAGE that I was thisclose to starting something, right there by the Wal-Mart deli counter. Luckily for everyone, my dad chose that moment to go pay for his groceries, and the woman [and probably her kid, who it would've sucked to traumatize MORE] was saved from my wrath.

It took me three days to post about this without being overwhelmed by anger, you guys. Even now, I just... *mutters*

• 00:39 Happy 2009! #
• 00:39 @fiafortune one of these days I'm going to get your Twitter username right, all the time. #

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• 16:04 Augh. I hope that adage about doing what you did at midnight all year long isn't true, because I'm so very, very phlegmy. #
• 17:19 @fiareynne I decided not to go to the Quaker party -- I'm too phlegmy. I might watch bad movies and mock Seacrest or something. #

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HAPPY 2009!
Hey, it's true in Europe already, anyway. *wanders off in congested haze*

[ETA] Am now wearing pajama pants over my jeans, 'cause my TV room is cold and fiayrenne and dysisreynne are coming over for... something involving Canadians and high school. Not sure what.

How to Turn Your Old iPod Into a Newish External Hard Drive
An exercise in the trial-and-error method, by sockherder.

1. Remember that you own an older model iPod with video, after you find it in one of your desk drawers.

2. Hook it up to your computer.

3. Watch the iPod reboot itself eleventy billion times because it's been in your desk for at least six months and it can't get up enough juice through your USB connection to actually start charging.

4. There is no 4.

( 5. Attempt to format. Fail... )

Apparently it's unwise to use a recycled iPod as your primary external, as the drive was not meant for that type of prolonged, extensive use. However, from what I read it's perfectly fine to use it as a backup drive.

• 22:13 WTF crane fly in my room in December?! #

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• 08:26 My dad has to go to the hospital again for atrial fibrilation [I'm guessing]. Dammit. #
• 17:00 Well, my dad's fine. #

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My brother had to put a four-month-old calf down today. He found her lying on the ground outside the barn this morning, and she was unable to stand up. We think she probably slipped on some ice and broke a leg, or was bullied by some of the bigger cows until she had internal injuries, or something. I think the saddest part of this situation isn't that the calf died, but that her mother has been calling for her ever since. :( :( :(

Additionally, my dad was in the hospital again this morning for atrial fibrillation. He was back home by noon, though, after they'd given him three injections of some sort of heart rate stabilizers and let him marinate for an hour. So, uh. That's good, I guess.