Bucket List: Making a Mini Crossbow

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

The following is a tutorial on how to make a mini crossbow. This is officially now on my bucket list.

Should be an easy one to cross off. :D

Go Back To Bed

Tags

, , , , ,

First, sorry this post is so late, but I didn’t want it to pass me by completely, so here it is.

It’s no excuse, but I’m exhausted. I’d say I don’t know why, but I think it has to do with a ton of feathers. Have you heard that question? What weighs more, a ton of feathers or a ton of bricks? We may instinctively want to answer “bricks,” but truth is, a ton is a ton. A ton of any material will crush you. And that’s how I feel. Now, I know I don’t have it that bad; plenty of people have it worse, but I am worn down just the same, and that’s why there was no blog this morning.

Fortunately (and I say that with a hint of irony), a few of my stories are mildly amusing when conveyed appropriately.

You think your work is crazy? Trying throwing in an ACTUAL crazy person. I wish I were kidding. I won’t go into detail, for reasons of discretion, and also because I know everyone has a least a bit of imagination (or their own stories).
And here I thought I left the crazy people behind when I went from customer service to an office job…

Oh, and did I mention that my stove tried to catch fire? Oh yes. I was happily thinking of the chicken strips I had just placed in the oven for dinner and sat back down when I heard a very strange BzzzSHZZZZSHzzzshZZ sound coming from my kitchen. When I investigated, I saw the element in the bottom had disjointed in the back corner, and energy was actually arcing between the two ends, with flame coming up off it as well. Naturally, I started freaking out, but fortunately I also turned off the stove right away, and I was lucky enough that that was enough to simmer the situation down. The element ends still glowed white-hot for awhile, but they slowly cooled and no damage was actually done.

And my suite hasn’t just had fun with fire. It’s also had oodles of with water! My door doesn’t seal at the bottom, and as I’m in a basement suite, water likes to waterfall down my steps when it rains too hard and turn my doormat into a swamp. Water also comes from the ceiling occasionally (usually due to plumbing escapades upstairs), and don’t get me started on the time my toilet broke and wouldn’t stop draining (and filling, so it could keep draining). It sounded like I lived under a waterfall for a couple weeks.

Inside my suite.

At least my landlord got rid of the people who were responsible for the cigarette (and other) smoke pouring into my suite through the vents of my non-smoking suite. :D

My computer has also turned into a moody little piece of machinery, a headache that exactly no one needs.

So yes, those are a few of my ton of feathers.

Okay, but I just can’t resist adding to my first note about craziness. Despite my inclination towards discretion, I will say that at one point, a bed was thrown off a balcony. I dare anyone to beat that.

Anyways, I know many of these things I will (or already do) laugh at, and I hope it came across as more humorous than complain-y. Life goes on, despite its little mishaps. You just have to plug through and distract yourself in the meantime. I did manage to find time to read Lindsay Buroker’s new book, Balanced on the Blade’s Edge, and it was excellent, as is all her stuff. If you’re interested in steampunk/fantasy adventure/romance, you should totally go for it. I love her Emperor’s Edge stuff too.

So does anyone else have rental-suite woes they’d like to share? Or maybe you have some stories about crazy people too (diagnosed or otherwise). Or just a few “Did that really happen?” moments you’d like to share. I know we’ve all been there.

Those Rare People

Tags

, , , , ,

hilarious obituary

It’s a tragedy this fellow is no longer with us.

obituary bench reincarnation

Driving On Air

Tags

, , , , , , ,

New Hybrid Car Runs On Air!

What does this world have tons of? Air! Talk about a renewable resource. Of course, it’s rarely as simple (or cheap) as it sounds. IFLS does a good job (as usual) of breaking down the science, so if you’re curious, take a read.

But sometimes I wonder if oil’s grasp on the world will ever loosen. There are all kinds of hybrid vehicles operating on different sources of energy out there, but it seems like they’re all just too expensive. The problem is this – they need infrastructure to be feasible. So do gasoline-powered vehicles, but since theirs is already in place, let’s face it, it’s “cheaper.” Like with electric cars, I see the plug-in problem here. How does one recharge without plugging in at some point, and where/how are we going to get the resources wide-spread enough for it to be feasible? It’s great to hear that hybrid technology is becoming (at least a bit) more cost-effective, but I have to wonder.

Are we waiting for an apocalypse to overhaul everything? :P

So what do you think? Will we be seeing a new kind of vehicle (not necessarily air-powered) widespread on our roads in the future? What form do you think they’ll take, if they do?

And where are our flying cars?

Implosion

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

When life feels like this:
divide by zero

Remember this:
cute duckling

Happy vernal equinox!

Your Life In Six Words

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Got a couple new articles for interested readers: The Psychology of Limitations: How and Why Constraints Can Make You More Creative and Six-Word Memoirs. I found the second article through the first, but it’s the second article I find the most fascinating.

Now, I have to admit, I’ve never been a big fan of short stories. I don’t like overly long and flowery things either, but I’ve simply never cared for short stories. With a few notable exceptions, they’re either boring or too short to properly flesh out a story. (This is my opinion. If you like short stories, more power to you. You probably like “deeper” literature than I.)

However, the notion of a six-word memoir struck a chord with me. This could be fun! To borrow their graphic:
six-word memoir
Go to the articles above for more.

Here’s mine: “I’d still rather be a dragon.”

What’s yours? You can come up with something real or fanciful or humorous – odds are, I won’t know the difference. ;)

P.S. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Honest Slogans

Tags

, , , , ,

So I discovered HonestSlogans.com.

My favorites?

Wikipedia honest slogans

WebMD honest slogans

Netflix honest slogans

Ranch dressing honest slogan

hot pockets pizza pops honest slogans

Nature Valley granola bars honest slogans

Cheerios honest slogans

Revolutionizing Reading?

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

So I ran across THIS article. As always, IFLS does an amazing job of breaking down and explaining things, although really, this one isn’t too complicated.

Basically, there’s this new thing called Spritz. Basically, the people who made Spritz want to revolutionize reading.

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.

When I saw IFLS’s title, “Read a Novel in 90 Minutes With a Smartphone App,” I was skeptical. How was an app going to make people read faster? Well… I’m somewhat convinced.
I already read faster than the statistical average (I don’t know how much faster), so when I tried the first “level,” it actually felt frustratingly slow to me. But then it picked up speed, and then some more, until I had to go back a “level” and repeat it a couple times before moving ahead. This thing has potential.

I strongly urge you to check this Spritz thing out. (Link is to their homepage, which has a demo.)

However, I did run into two problems. One: blinking.

The Doctor: “Don’t Blink. Blink and you’re dead. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck.”

If you get distracted, get something in your eye, or blink too slowly, you can miss a LOT in a very short period of time. What will they do about this? Use the camera to track where your eye is looking and pause if it looks away? (That’s kinda creepy, but okay.)

Problem two: Lag.

My internet happened to be kinda iffy when I went to their page, and even slight lag was making me miss whole words, often multiples in a row. So processing speed would be a BIG deal for this app.

Regardless, it’s fascinating stuff with potential. I hope they get what they need to fund and develop this app to all it can be.

So, what do you think? Would you try this for something novel-length? Do you think this app has a future? Let me know in the comments!

I, for one, welcome our fishy overlords.

Tags

, , , , , , , ,


What horrors will fish unleash with their newfound power?

What is the most terrible (or hilarious) fish-pocalypse can you come up with?

We’ll have to develop similar apparatuses (apparati?) for dolphins to protect us. Unless they leave us before the fishpocalypse (So long and thanks for all the fish?)

Happy Face Thinking

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

So I stumbled across this article: Emoticons Are Reshaping Our Brains, We Now Process :-) As A Human Face
Essentially,

A study in Social Neuroscience posits that, since they were introduced two decades ago, emoticons have begun to actually reshape our brains—but only some emoticons.

By way of background: When a human views another human’s face—even if it’s upside-down—a particular part of the brain is activated.

…Before 1982 there would be no reason that ‘:-)’ would activate face sensitive areas of the cortex but now it does because we’ve learnt that this represents a face.

I personally go for no nose.

At any rate, there’s definitely something to this. I’ve used a startling array of emoticons since I discovered the internet, including (but not limited to): :) ;) :D ^_^ ^_~ o.o O.o :( :P >.< XD XP =^..^= and orz. ("orz" is a little guy kneeling on the ground pounding his head on the floor. Do you see it? DO YOU?)

How amazing are our brains that they can change and adapt like this?

Also, an amusing argument about smilies: Should Smilies Have Noses: The Great Emoticon Debate

So how about you? Are all my above emoticons familiar to you? Nose or no nose?