BIT BY THE TORRENT

I have discovered the true purpose of my cable modem - BitTorrent and fansub anime.

I am happy and well-stocked, since Prince of Tennis (currently) has 152 eps and an OAV available.

Now to test out the DVD burner ... :)

BLACK MARKET BEAGLES

So today was spent updating my FanDone.com website with our latest offering: black market beagles! (Watch the Firefly episode called "Safe" for the reference).

Also upgraded to a Paypal shopping cart until I have time to create a real eCommerce solution (like during my other vacation at the end of the year).

Tonbo got off work early and we went for a walk. Clear, warm, non-raining day that was really nice. This is the kind of autumn weather I really enjoy. Supposed to be 32 tomorrow. Figures.

Watched Initial D: Third Stage and like Stage One (in the ORINGINAL JAPANESE VERSION - I have not seen the "tricked out" dub, but ph33r it with all my heart and do not wish to be subjected to it least my ears turn in upon themselves in horror) and Stage Two, it's very cool . Someone told Tonbo it was merely a recap movie of the previous two series, but it's got some important info in there, and the flashback\eposition scenes are minimal. It stands on its own as a continution of the Takumi Fujiwara saga. Highly recommended. Yes, the series it about downhill racing in Japan, but there is so much more to it, and the racing aspects themselves are presented in a very engaging manner so that even I, who has very little interest in cars, am completely involved in each race. And the opening and ending songs by MOVE are also great (although I could do with less of the rapping and more of her singing ;).

GARDEN DAY

Mom called (earlier than she said she would) and we met at Home Depot. Well, I stood around for a while after getting paving stones and recycling bags, took a tour of the store, wandered the plant isles, stood around for a while ... and then we met.

We got home just as it started pouring rain again, so outside work is out. Instead, we sealed the stove top. Then Mom showed me how to load the caulk gun and I took care of sealing the sink and backboards.

This took a while, as I wanted it to look "good", which meant "damn near perfect", which involved a lot of paper towels and finger smoothing. But it was worth it because I can look at it on a daily basis and not want to "fix" it. Mom was also quite impressed.

I was impressed with the state of my bathroom after she was done with it. I most definitely did not get the clean gene that exists within my Mom, but I can appreciate the work and am happy to benefit from it. Turns out the clogged bath tub may also be a "specialty" like the dishwasher switch. Figures.

We were going to have lunch but another storm was coming through so she took off.

Five minutes later it started to hail, and I am filled with foreboding having just sent my mother into a hail storm. Got a call a little bit later that she had stopped at a gas station about 5 miles away and was waiting it out. Felt much better.

Hail went away.

Sun came out.

Clouds came by.

Sudden, violent rain storm existed for about 15 minutes.

Sun came out.

Such is the weather in Texas. Don't like it? Wait 10 minutes.

It's slowly starting to feel like vacation, although I know I won't get through all the things on my TTD list.

But that's okay.

No, really.

I think ...

WHY IS IT NEVER SIMPLE?

So sometime between 10 am and 1 pm (glad I don't have to go to work), my new dishwasher and oven will show up. And they did. Dishwasher went it without a problem. Turns out the dedicated power switch is a "Plano specialty". At least I didn't get to the point of ordering a new machine, thinking the original was broken, only to have the installation guys show up and flip the switch to get the original working. Just took me almost a day to figure it out. :P

Oven, on the other hand, is not so solid. Turns out the inner dimensions are too small for the existing hole. Need to get a 27". The installation guys were very cool, and the main dude said he'd take back the oven and have the charges reversed on the card. I went online and found the specs for the 27", but will go to the store to actually purchase, since a nice little coupon book for 10% off was left behind after the dishwasher installation.

Tried out the dishwasher and while not silent, it is much quieter than the old cheap one, and at least sounds like a dishwasher, compared to a bunch of rocks being cleaned by someone who hates their job.

More house cleaning while watching the rain. Got a headache in the evening, but since it wasn't an ice pick and there wasn't any nausea, I consider myself very fortunate.

NEW BBQ

My turn to travel. Went down to the parents' house to shop for a new BBQ since my 8 year old circular patio thingy was now past the point of repair. Sam's, like a bad mall experience, only had really high-end stainless steel ones. First Home Depot had the model, but not in box in stock. Lunch at Schlotsky's. Second Home Depot was paydirt. Also got the extra tank it came with filled so I will no longer but in trouble if the gas goes out in the middle of my meal cooking.

Unfortunately, new BBQ did not fit in my car. Thought we had it resolved that Mom would bring it up to me on Tuesday when she came by for garden work, but Dad ended up following me home with it. He's a good Dad.

Kitchen workable and getting back to norm. Rest of house still traumatized. Steaks cooked brilliantly. Moved dining room table with Tonbo's help so that the oven and dishwasher which will arrive on Monday will have a clear path to the kitchen. Also need to put up remaining sharp objects so they will not be tripped over.

Patryn came by for our (mostly) weekly Stargate SG-1 Season 7 viewing. Dr. Felger had another ep, and some parts were difficult to watch in that they (I do believe) are very accurate. Sam is sooo high-class with that brilliant idiot.

THEY FINISHED.

They showed up not too early and we got the sink-side countertop done. Dad had to crawl under the back corner to secure that angle since it didn't work to fix it in place first and then lay it down, even after the slight adjustment. Dex also helped at this point, and has the glue spots to prove it. Extra trip to Home Depot to make the project official since a part was missing form the sink set and water was going everwhere else but where it should. Mom & I cut and cleared out the front flower bed during this time and when we were done, I had a working kitchen sink. Had Tonbo help with the stove-side countertop, since it was the 12 footer with 2 corners and required the extra hands.

Cake for the celebration of completion. Then they left. Took some pictures. House still in a state of shock. They said they weren't coming back tomorrow.

And while I didn't have a headache, it's been raining like some other state than Texas all week and looks like it will into next week as well.

THEY SAWED ...

Came home from work to see the rest of the backboards up and secured. Worked with them to get the sink-side counter top on. Required a couple of variations before discovering that my walls aren't exactly square where they should be and that the short corner countertop had to be taken back to the parents' house for a slight adjustment.

So no fixed countertops, no working sink. Sink and that countertop are actually 90 degrees from where they should be making it quite obvious that I'll not get water from there yet I still walk that way out of habit.

No cake for the weary. They left. Took some pictures. Still a bit in shock. They said they'd come back tomorrow to finish.

THEY CAME ...

Came home from work to see the remains of my original countertops and backboards in my hallway. New counter tops were in place, but not secure. New backboards were up and secured on half the kitchen. My old sink was on the patio (?) and my new sink (?!) was sitting where it should, but neither secured nor hooked up to the water lines.

Dinner was Chinese food. Then they left. Took some pictures. Still a bit in shock. They said they'd come back tomorrow to finish. Need to use the hall bathroom to fill the water pitcher. Paper plates and plastic utensils made for easy clean-up.

Be careful what you ask for ...

ICE PICK - TAKE 2

Okay, this is not fair. Headache started at 11:30 am, ice pick to the left temple showed up around 1 pm at the beginning of my rather important mtg. Nausea kicked in around 2 pm, and I had to head home. Lying down helps stop the stomach flipping, but after guzzling caffeine all day to keep the pain away, sleep was not forthcoming.

Tonbo stayed in to help take care of my because this evening was really bad. It's a bit scary to feel this weak. Even just standing up and walking from the bedroom to the futon in the living room wears me out. Dinner and some more Initial D. Also had a fire which was really nice and comforting. It's not exceptionally cold, even for November here, but the warmth and light from the fire is re-assuring in some core, low-level way to my mind and soul.

Tried to sleep a bit more but there were several conversations with the parents as they figured out the best time to come up. Turns out they'll be here tomorrow after morning traffic clears, with a saw. So much for having a chance to clean up before they show up. But, it means I'll likely have partial or complete kitchen counters by the time I get home. w00+!

TREE TURNING

Totally pain free day - makes me appreciate my health in a whole new way.

Oak tree is the back is showing signs of yellow. More and more trees are bringing out a palette of falls colors now. The bend on Old Dickson road on the way to work is very pretty. Especially the bank of red sumac in front of the turnpike access. Also seeing more redtails around. Probably migrators, given the time of year.

Stayed up late and made a (very) small dent in the pile and list of TTD. So very much looking forward to a non-office week. There will still be working going on believe me, but at the very least I get an extra 1.5 hours for 5 days since I don't have to drive to my job.

Got a call from Home Depot that my counter tops are in. Need to call the parents to find out when they want to come by. They're using their trailer to haul the counter tops from Home Depot to my house, as well as the backboard that will replace what's left of the existing pressboard.

ICE PICK TO THE TEMPLE

Still dragging from this weekend, but there's Work to do and a mortgage to pay so hi ho, hi ho ...

All of which came to a halt around 3 pm as I had to leave the office due to the large ice pick being pushed into my left temple. Some headache pain I can muddle through, but much caffeine and Advil later, this very sharp pain wasn't going anywhere and it was causing nauea, something I can't work through. At all.

Home to a dark room and sleep. Woke up around 8 pm and checked email to find a 8:30 am meeting waiting for me tomrrow morning. Should be fine, since most of the ice pick has been removed, although the nausea is still there.

Spent some time with Tonbo watching the last couple of eps of Initial D. Very cool show (in the Japanes, of course ;) that's got racing cars and an actual story to go with them. And the music matches the beat in my head.

ITZACON - DAY 2

Made a mistake about the opening hour and got there a bit late. Didn't miss much. Unfortunately.

MoonOtter & NeedlesEye came by again, this time in street wear. Banks also sat the table again which meant between the four of us we could keep ourselves entertained pretty well. Another Browncoat showed up for a little while to do some Christmas shopping and I walked the tables with her, pointing out different safe anime for a 10 year old girl. She decided on the Angelic Layer manga, which I think will be a great gift.

Much shorter day, which was good because I'm still running low from Saturday. Packed out everything and went home. Tonbo had another video shift and stayed to help them pack out.

Did BlueSunShirt inventory and ended up short. Not sure what happened (loss or theft), but it's another learning experience. And this con did go better in terms of hauling stuff based on what I learned from the Dallas Comic Con. Which means the next con will be better interms of keeping up with merchandise. ^_^;

ITZACON - DAY 1

Up early to get to the con. Our Browncoats booth was across from Comic Book Craze who were also at the Dallas Comic Con last month. Very nice people, and their son is a wizard at Firefly quotes. You can see some pics of our booth in the background of some of their pictures. :)

BBee was there to help set-up which helped a lot. Her sister showed up a bit later, and the MoonOtter & NeedlesEye came by in full garb as the Abbotess and Inara in gold from "The Message". Beautiful outfits. Organizer came by with his son, and MJ's garage sale got rained out so she was able to bring the Summer Glau (River Tam)autograph by for the drawing.

I had a talk on anime music videos from 2-3 pm, and got some applause, which is always cool. I think the part I like best is seeing my amv projected really big and listened to fairly loud. ;)

Not as many people as I expected or hoped. Could be the rainy weather, the fact Halo2 came out, or the location. Regardless, sales were down from my only other experience and it looks like tomorrow may be less, which means this was a rather expensive Firefly \ Serenity awareness event.

Looking into ConDFW for the end of February which will have an older and (hopefully) more interested audience.

Again, about 1/2 and 1/2 of people who knew of Firefly and those who didn't. Surprised again at those that love Firefly and have no clue about the movie Serenity which is coming out on April 22, 2005. Then again, once the trailers start showing up in January 2005 infront of the Elektra movie, overall public awareness should be on the upswing.

Long day - 8 am to 8 pm. Pretty much exhausted because unlike Tonbo, being extroverted doesn't give me energy, it drains it right out. PizzaGuy and bed was the sum total of the evening.

PTO

Oven & dishwasher were supposed to show up but didn't sue to someone's error. This is the day it comes to the warehouse, not my house. Bummed.

Final fixes for Itzacon this weekend. Didn't get done all I wanted to, but that's pretty typical for me right now.

Office is still in a state of disarray, but that isn't going to change anytime soon. Ditto for my bedroom.

WEEK OF 11/8

Work.

Prepping for Itzacon.

Headaches.

Green oak tree.

Colder weather, but not by much.

BROWNCOAT ON BOARD STICKER

Updated Fan Done with the "Browncoat on Board" sticker w/FireFlyFans.net URL.

Currently using the Paypal BuyNow button because if I kept waiting until I could set up a shopping cart, the site wouldn't get anupdate until next year. Right now the plans are to program the shopping cart during my Christmas vacation. :)

Have posted to FireflyFans.net so we'll see how many orders come through. I've set aside Tuesdays to process order with shipping happening Wednesday's before work.

And so it begins ...

BROWNCOAT MEETUP

This time we went straight to the Jason's Deli, which was surprisingly busy compared to last time. 1 new guy, lots of regulars. I debuted Dex and several people signed for timeslot for our table at Itzacon. Talked with MoonOtter about painting ceramics and got lots of good tips. Our Organizer may be in CA while some of the Big Damn Heroes are at GenCon, so I asked for a Nathan Fillion (someone worthwhile to share a birthdate ;) autograph. I haven't actively collected autographs in a while, but I'd really love to have one from each of the Firefly cast. And Joss, of course. Cilantro! As always, a fun Meetup with great people.

Stop by Michael's on the way home but didn't buy anything. Found the paint & video set MoonOtter was talking about, but I want to try my stuff from Asel first.

More furniture moving and home office organizing. File cabinets are wonderful things, really. They can hold up a countertop to create another desk and have spiffy rail to put hanging folders on in which to put stuff. Of course, it helps if you label the stuff you put in there. Then again, that assume you want to be able to identify it later, compared to just getting it out of sight. ;)

MINE

I am stuff girl. I love things as tangible memories. And, for things that are not easily (or cheaply) replaced, I'm possessive. Extremely possessive, I'm finding out.

oi-toi-de ...

Figured out how to turn off the logo on the DivX player, so I'm all set to create mvs on Atlantis now. At least from the one super .avi file I have that Patryn passed on. Have 2 different ideas for music. One will rock because it is, and the other is much more the mood piece, although since I'll have all the footage already cued, I might as well create it next. In all my copious free time, that is. :P

Heard The Incredibles is incredible and hope to see it soon. In the mean time, check out the teaser trailer for the next Pixar movie: Cars.

BIZ & MOVIE ADVICE

After only about 15 minutes of futzing with the network setting, I successfully hooked up my work laptop to Atlantis (my new HP box) to transfer my files. Have also gotten all my stuff off the Win95 box so Patryn can walk out with that on Sunday when he comes by for more Stargate Sg-1 Season 7 DVD goodness.

On the financial side, my Amazon Associates quarterly check came in. Many thanks to everyone who clicks through my links and buys something\anything on Amazon.com. It worked out to a little over $25 this time.

And while this is called Kestrel's Financial Freedom Blog, I realize there hasn't been a whole lot of financially related info in here lately. At least not on the surface. Underneath, however, I'm still improving and growing and trying to be a better person. To balance work and play and get a head a little bit more than before.

But you get to watch me start another business and learn from my mistakes. Like putting my personal cell number on the DBA form. Lots of people wanting to set me up with credit card services, let me tell you. And they don't leave messages, so I have this list of numbers that don't match up to anything in my current phone book that I have to go through and delete every couple of days, because I'm not answering if I don't know the number any more. sheesh.

Fan Done is really wonderful. I know it doesn't look like much online right now, but it will be. I get really excited about the merchandise, going to the cons, sharing Firefly and Serenity with people. It's funny that I hate crowds so much and yet being on the inside of a table is easy. Talking to individuals is easy. And at the very least, a few more movie tickets to Serenity are likely sold because of my efforts.

Note to the more enthusiastic Firefly fans out there - however many times you are planning on seeing the movie, space out your visits to the theater by that many weeks. Seeing the movie 5 times opening week doesn't look nearly as good to the bean counters as seeing it one time each week for 5 weeks. It's staying power that matters. A blockbuster first week is cool, but not if it tanks the next week. A good opening week and consistently good weeks afterward are more important. And who knows, maybe some extra people will see it when the lines for Episode III are too long or get the shows are sold out. ^_-

DA-TO

Tonbo treated me to dinner and we watched Harsh Realms, the short Chris Carter TV series. Interesting, has potential, feels X-Files-ish. There are 13 episodes, although I think only like 3-4 were actually shown on TV. Fox brilliance strikes again. It's not bad, but it doesn't grab me the way Stargate SG-1 or Firefly does.

Also had a roaring fire most of the evening. It's actually Fall weather now, although my oak tree is still extremely green. I remember I was entertaining my co-workers and the client in New England this time last year as I'd run around with my camera taking pictures of all the beautiful fall foliage. They were surprised and asked if that didn't happen where I was from. Basically not, and when it does, it's in a much shorter time frame and much later in the year - like December.

Really nice evening. Managed to put all the things I have to do to the side for a bit, which was nice for a change of pace. :)

BMB

Came home to several large boxes in my living room. Tonbo had moved the BMB in. I had told him about them, tried to describe them, but apparently my words were lacking because his face was something to behold as I unwrapped a BMB for inspection.

Cute beyond words. A few adjustments and Dex is all set to premiere at Itzacon next weekend. I have 19 in stock, so we'll see how well they sell at the con and how many are left for Fan Done.

Speaking of which ...

Wanting to do it "right" but not having enough time to learn and create and program it all and thinking I just need to put up what I have and trying to find an acceptable method which keeps running up against my perfection and control issues ... which means nothing has gotten done.

Yet.

Hope to change that this weekend.


"Success is not perfection - it is slightly above average."

HARRY POTTER PERSONALITY

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

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Which HP Kid Are You?

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LOTR CHARACTER(s)

Which Lord of the Rings Charater are you?


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Galadriel If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Galadriel, Elf, Queen of Lothlorien, wife of Celeborn and grandmother of Arwen. In the movie, I am played by Cate Blanchett. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

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Samwise

Race: Hobbit

The loyal friend and gardener of Frodo Baggins,
Samwise Gamgee is a stout hearted Hobbit.
Though simple in outlook, he is dependable and
brave. When Gandalf chooses him to accompany
Frodo on his quest, Sam makes a simple promise
not to lose his master and friend. To that task
he held true, following Frodo as his unshakable
companion even into the desolate, ashen waists
of Mordor and almost certain death.


Which Lord of the Rings character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

OS PERSONALITY

Which OS are You?

ME & MY GIMP

So while the rest of the population (including Tonbo) is glued to their TV sets watching the election results come in, I was online looking for a less expensive alternative to Adobe Photoshop. I own a full edition for the Mac, but my new PC is now the powerhorse and where I want to do my image manipulation. But not for the cost of a new full edition.

Enter The GIMP.

Tonbo had told me about this open-source program a while ago, but I didn't pay much attention since I had my Mac and my full version of Photoshop. Typing in "Photoshop alternative" into Google got me the GIMP home page and that was that.

And you gotta love any program that lets you easily change the splash screen. Especially if they provide you instructions on how to do it. :)

Stargate Atlantis GIMP splash screen featuring Wilbur


- photo uploaded courtesy of Hello

DIFFERENT AMVs

Just changed out my anime music video page for 2 different mvs. Will eventually have PHP set up to do it automatically, but until then it's just when I get to it, sometime close to the 1st and 15th of each month. The limited number of available amvs has done wonders for the bandwidth bill. ;)

KestrelSempai.com - Music Videos

ps. head almost back to pain-free state of being - woohoo!

ANIME LEMMING RADIO

I used to listen to this online anime radio station all the time before it got blocked at the office. It suddenly occurred to me that with my spiffy high-speed cable internet I can now listen at home ... without my headphones ... and with the speakers cranked up ... ^_^

http://www.animelemming.org - "the best in cheap, knock-off radio stations"

ATAMA GA ITAI*

Hallmark "A Day in the Life of a Screaming Banshee" ... 'nuff said

Went to work, had a meeting, got out and went to a meeting from which I was pulled out into another meeting.

Started a headache around 1 pm and by 4 pm it was a pretty good migraine so I went home and laid in the dark for a while. I guess I fell a sleep because Tonbo came by on his way out to SpoonPrez and it was almost 6 pm.

Dinner, Wolf's Rain, and finished up the work I couldn't do that afternoon due to the ice pick being slowly inserted into my left temple. It's still there, but the edge has worn off.

Rain, rain go away, make my head hurt some other day ...

But at least I have high-speed cable because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this entry. Are you people lucky! ;)


* my head hurts

HIGH SPEED INTERNET CABLE

w00+! I'm surfing at 21st century speeds now!

In the 8 am - 11 am time window, cable guy showed up a little after 11 am (but he did call first to say he was running last which was appreciated). After finding out that the wire and plug I thought was cable, wasn't (which means I have no idea what it is), he ran cable from the real outlet behind the door (?!) along 2 walls and over to Atlantis. A bit of time outside hooking stuff up, including running a cable through the backyard from the alley to the house. He said they should be by in 10-14 days to bury it.   ^_^;

Anyway, I was online in about 1.5 hours and played around a little bit before going into work. Didn't really have to, but it made some things easier to take care of.

Left around 5 pm to haul over to Asel before 6 pm. Very helpful guys showed me paints and pens, and I have a few things to experiment with tonight.

And now I can post blog entries from the comfort of my own home! Ha-pi!