Author: heavenlyevil

I'm a bad, bad, girl.

I finally got my credit card in the mail yesterday. Rather than even pretending restraint, after activation I promptly purchased the 40″ 2.0mm Addi Turbo circular needle that I’ve been coveting. And then, because I felt bad buying only one thing (even if it cost $15) I bought some really bright green sock yarn that was on sale for half price. It could have been worse though. There were a couple more colours I considered getting, but I managed to stop the insanity after the pretty green yarn.


No Worries

I got my invoice in the mail yesterday. This is usually a pretty worrisome happenstance for me, since I never have money and have to wait to get my OSAP in January in order to get the Business Office off my back.

This year, however, is different.

I’ve been hoarding money like crazy since last January, hoping one of these days to have enough to handle paying the school for something on time for once. I paid them as soon as I got the bill, and I still have money left to continue hoarding for next year’s new computer purchase. Yay!

Of course, it’s just more of a reminder of how broke I really am. All my money is not mine at all, but a government loaner which they are going to want back with a vengeance. Let’s just hope all this school pays off and I can get rid of the debt in pretty short order. One can always hope.

P.S. New computer next year! Whoohoo!

P.P.S. I really need to make a new theme for this site. Suggestions?


Hide From The Monster

The “knit monster” as I like to call it, is attempting to escape in full force. People keep sending me links to sales for sock yarn, or free shipping on sites if you order more than $25. For those of you that don’t know, $25 is roughly the equivalent of yarn for two pairs of socks. So, very easy to do. Buying yarn online is much cheaper, but I have yet to do it. I’ve been resisting. But the deals lately are getting really really good. I assume it’s in anticipation of Christmas, since the retailers know all us crafty people are raring to make some cool stuff.

I didn’t have this problem last year because I didn’t start knitting again until just after Christmas, and I was at home with no internet access and no knowledge of the outside world. Now though, it’s a completely different story. There’s some really nice yarn out there for some really great prices, and it’s getting really hard not to crack and buy a ton of it. I bought some Regia from Cloth & Clay last week, thinking that would help and it has, somewhat. The problem is I am diligently trying to avoid the huge stash that most people seem to accumulate, and if I start buying yarn before finishing what I’ve got that is bound to happen.

Besides my crazy compulsion to be a fibre consumer-whore, the Regia socks with magic loop are coming along really nicely. This colourway is really bright, and it should definitely make for some interesting conversation once they’re done. I must admit I’m in love with almost all of the Canadian colourways. They aren’t as somber as most self-patterning sock yarns. I want to try at least five of the others to see how they knit up.

Wow, reading this over it sounds like I should attempt a Christmas list for once in my life. Send me some sock-knitting love.


Everything Is Breaking Down

Things have been pretty normal lately in the school sense. Midterms and papers abound, and stress levels are rising. So far it’s fine, manageable and not heart-attack inducing. But I still find myself too stressed to really sleep, which makes it harder to critically think and thus to do very well on any of my assignments. A lot of the problem is that one of my profs is marks incredibly hard, but he didn’t tell us this until right before he was about to hand our first two papers back. It wouldn’t be so bad except those are two-page “comment sheets” which we were lead to believe would be informal and relatively easy. Lo and behold, he’s marking them as if they were submissions to a journal or something. Scary. Now that he’s handed out the 10-page paper assignment I’m not sure what to think. The standards for it are so high. It’s not that it can’t be done, it’s that with the other three papers I’m supposed to be working on at the same time, I worry that I’ll neglect the others or not do as well as I should on his.

I haven’t been working on Blueprint as much as I should be, and that’s also getting frustrating. The Mambo template system is outdated and cluttered, which means a complete overhaul of any template I want to use, or making my own complete from scratch every time the content changes. It’s really making me think I should uninstall Mambo and use WordPress or something like that instead. Considering most of the features of Mambo aren’t necessary for the site and that a blogging software would be much more efficient it seems the better course.

I’ve said it before, I’m sure I’ll whine and say it again: I need more things to do. I really want to get a job at the library, though volunteering there would also be a huge help. Having less free time to waste would certainly mean that I would be more productive and probably have much more rewarding days. I hate feeling like I’ve just wasted the hours away. That’s fine for weekends or the occasionaly school day, but not right now when I should be getting stuff done but am too tired or bored to really be motivated. The knowledge that I have time to waste certainly means that I waste much more of it than I should.

Plus, when I am around Dean, I find I’ve wasted so much time during the week that I have to spend at least half of the weekend doing things I could have finished up before. It’s disappointing. Though my weekends are much better even so, just because he’s around. What a sweetheart.

Before I waste any more time, I should see if there are any positions open at the library and then sleep so I can get an early start on papers tomorrow morning.


Oh The IMPATIENCE

Now that I’ve decided for sure that I want to get a powerbook, I don’t want to wait. I feel like a petulant child whining for something that I know I’ll get anyway. It’s pathetic.

I wish there was a way I could get a loaner one to play with until then. Dreams. *sigh*


Damn Computer

I finally found a copy of Beyond Good and Evil. The only problem is it’s a PC version. It’s supposed to be able to play on my computer, but the driver I need messes up my screen resolutions and crashes the program. It won’t run. Very frustrating. In the last week I’ve reinstalled both Windows XP and Ubuntu twice on this machine because of the screw-ups trying to play this game. I wish I could find it for PS2 or GameCube, but for as great a game it is there’s not many copies around.

Since reinstalling I’ve been having problems with the integrated XP SP2 networking. It constantly says “acquiring network address” even though I have an IP and am obviously connected to the router. It’s not just a wireless problem, because it did the same thing when I plugged in with my LAN connection. But it’s not the router because everyone else’s computers are fine. There’s a fix for this from microsoft.com, which I installed, but that didn’t change anything. I am at a loss for what to do.

I still need to find out why Linux won’t give me all my possible screen resolutions. Apparently that’s another problem that comes with my video card. Crappy Intel integrated crap that needs weird drivers and messes with things!

Edit: My computer is now dead. Wonderful.


April's Fool…(me)

While poking around the ‘net the other day, I came across a press release for a new handheld gaming device Apple was developing (with pictures):

Apple Announces The gPod® Handheld Gaming System

Cupertino, CA (AP) April 1, 2005 — Apple® Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today unveiled plans for a first-generation handheld gaming system, dubbed gPod®. Combining the best features of the iPod® with cutting-edge gaming technology and a full color wide-screen, the gPod is expected to be available in early 2006.

“The gPod will be the next must-have consumer electronics device,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It has enormous appeal for music lovers, movie lovers and gamers alike. And with wireless integration, it can surf the Internet from thousands of wireless hotspots around the world.”

gPod is based on iPod’s pioneering design and interface, and will run on a optimized version of the Mac OS called “Cheshire.” Featuring a 300MHz G4 processor, 512 MB of RAM, 32 MB of dedicated video RAM and a 2 GB hard drive, gPod will have more than enough power to run the latest in contemporary video games. Integrated 802.11b/g wireless will allow multiplayer gaming between gPods or over the Internet.

gPod will work effortlessly with Apple’s iTunes®, providing music lovers with access to the iTunes Music Store, the world’s leading digital music service. Additionally, the gPod will have the ability to download movies and games on demand from Apple’s new Internet Movie and Video Game services. gPod will use Apple’s patent-pending Auto-Sync, which works seamlessly with iTunes to automatically download an entire digital library onto gPod with just one click, keeping it up-to-date whenever gPod is plugged into a Mac® or Windows computer using USB 2.0. Plugging directly into the USB 2.0 port will also conveniently charge the gPod. One connection does it all.*

“The video game business has grown to $10 billion, eclipsing the Hollywood box-office” says Apple spokesman Sal Pagicmants, “Now, Apple will revolutionize gaming the same way it revolutionized the music industry. Truly, we are on the verge of a Game Revolution.”

Pricing & Availability
The 2GB and 4GB models of gPod for Mac or Windows are expected to be available worldwide in Q1 2006. Pricing has not yet been determined, but gPod will be “very competitively” priced against current portable gaming systems.

All gPods will include rechargeable batteries with a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.

*Firewire options require an optional cable adapter, sold separately.

I thought, “This has got to be the coolest thing ever!” Later, after thinking it over, it sounded to me a little off. If you read it not-so-carefully, there are many clues that such a thing is not real. The date of the release being a big one. I’m not even embarassed for believing it though, since if it were real I’d get one in a second.

So, my question to you is this: What April Fool’s gags have you come across that you wish were real?


Change Is Coming…I Can Feel It

For some reason I’ve had this sense that this school year is going to be a good one. It’s not that last year was bad, it’s that in a lot of ways it was isolating and stressful. I need to get out of my shell and be a bit more impulsive. Hiding away at home is not the way to go. Most of the reason that I wanted to live so close to school is so that I could easily get there if something comes up.

Let’s see if I can do it.